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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; Spokesperson: Navalny Now In Penal Colony In Serbia> Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired December 25, 2023 - 11:00   ET

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

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BIANNA GOLODRYGA, HOST, CNN NEWSROOM: Hello, and welcome to all our viewers around this world on this Christmas morning. I'm Bianna Golodryga in New York. Just ahead, Israeli airstrikes continue in Gaza as the Pope calls for a ceasefire and the release of hostages on this Christmas Day. Thousands of migrants are joining a caravan headed towards the U.S., as local authorities warn they can't handle the surge. And we'll tell you about a group of British swimmers who aren't intimidated by the cold. They've been racing in freezing waters on Christmas for generations.

Most people around the world celebrate Christmas. For Palestinians in Gaza, there is more suffering and death. The Hamas-run Health Ministry reports at least 70 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike at the Al-Maghazi refugee camp. Israel's Military says that it is reviewing the incident. We want to warn you we're going to show you some disturbing images. This video shot by a CNN crew shows casualties from the strikes. You can see body bags and family members looking on. The reported strikes come as Israel's Prime Minister vows to intensify the fight against Hamas.

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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (TRANSLATED): 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)

GOLODRYGA: In Rafah, chaos at a border crossing for aid trucks. Gunshots rang out as people tried to get desperately needed food. It's unclear who fired the shots or why they did.

Will Ripley joins me from Tel Aviv. Quite a busy and deadly weekend for both the IDF over the weekend, and as we reported, that Israeli strike in Gaza. Will, what's the latest? WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Bianna. More than a dozen IDF soldiers and scores of civilians in Gaza. The video of the body bags is tragic. It is upsetting, and yet it is sadly familiar. We keep seeing these images over and over again. And then, of course at the Rafah crossing, that desperation of people who don't have enough to eat, don't have clean water, don't have supplies, people so desperate that they would storm the aid trucks, preventing the aid from getting to people, reliably, from getting to most people, people just basically grabbing what they couldn't, a bundle running away, gunshots in the crowd. But, this is the hell that people in Gaza are living on this Christmas Day.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister, actually, they just released some photos from his office, showing that he made his second visit into northern Gaza since the beginning of this war on October 7, which does show that Israel has some semblance of operational control in the north, so that they're confident enough to send in their Prime Minister. But, the situation is very volatile in central Gaza to the south. And while there is no active warzone over in the Israeli occupied West Bank, home to the city of Bethlehem, the biblical birthplace of Jesus, a city that is so crucial for Christians on this day, well, a very different kind of suffering happening there.

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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 (TRANSLATED): 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. So, not to give up from hope.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Hope is in short supply in Bethlehem.

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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.

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RIPLEY: Every single person we met in Gaza, Bianna, whether they were young or old, people that have been there their whole lives, nobody has seen a Christmas season this sad in Bethlehem, and that was striking to hear. It wasn't just one person. It wasn't two people. It was everybody. And people were wandering around. Normally at this time of year, they know what to do. They know where to go. But, there is a loss of purpose for them as they just watch from afar and grieve for what's happening in Gaza to so many people who don't even have the luxury of thinking about a holiday like Christmas because they wonder if they're going to be alive one hour from now.

GOLODRYGA: This war really creating a Christmas like no other in the Holy Land for all the wrong tragic reasons. Will Ripley reporting from Tel Aviv, thank you.

Well, we're learning that jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has been moved to a penal colony in a remote region of northern Russia. Supporters had lost touch with him for more than two weeks. Navalny was tracked down to a colony called Polar Wolf in Siberia. His lawyer was allowed to visit him earlier Monday, and says that the activist was doing well. Navalny's move comes days after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he would run for reelection next year.

CNN's Nada Bashir is tracking the story from London, and joins us with the latest. Nada, a relief for those that are in his inner circle and his family and supporters, no doubt. There have been two weeks now without any signs of Navalny. But, we know about this penal colony, and it is quite severe.

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: It certainly is, and there still will be concern for the safety and security of Alexei Navalny. As we know, of course, he had been imprisoned and detained in another penal colony, some 150 miles east of Moscow, before his lawyers and other associates and family members lost contact with him some two weeks ago now. But, of course, as we have learned in the last couple of hours from his lawyer and others, part of his Anti-Corruption Foundation, he has now been moved to another penal colony in northwestern Siberian region. Of course, this is a huge point of concern, as you mentioned. This isn't a penal colony where we do expect to see the conditions being faced by Alexei Navalny, a key critic of Vladimir Putin, to be quite harsh.

We've heard earlier in the day from the Director of Alexei Navalny Anti-Corruption Foundation. He issued this statement just a short while ago, saying Navalny is in IK-3 in Kharp called Polar Wolf, one of the northern most and most remote colonies. The conditions there are harsh with a special regime in the permafrost zone. It is very difficult to get there and there are no letter delivery systems. And of course, his lawyer was able to meet with Navalny, to see him in this penal colony to confirm his presence. Navalny was of course in prison for 19 years, charged with -- charges related to extremism back in August of this year. He had already been serving 11 and a half year sentence for other charges, including fraud. And these are charges that Navalny, his team, his lawyers have consistently denied. They say these charges are politically motivated.

And of course, Alexei Navalny has posed perhaps the most significant challenge, political challenge to President Putin's legitimacy throughout his role, continues to be a key figure in the criticism of Vladimir Putin.

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There continues to be widespread concern, particularly amongst his team and legal defense teams around his safety and the conditions he may face in this new penal colony.

GOLODRYGA: All right. Nada Bashir, a welcome news, though, so many had been worried about his safety and whereabouts. Thank you so much.

In Vatican City, Pope Francis called for a ceasefire in the Israel- Hamas war during his annual blessing from St. Peter's Square. He also urged the release of the hostages being held in Gaza, and express sorrow for those who've been killed in the conflict. CNN's Vatican Correspondent Christopher Lamb has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Pope Francis has used his Christmas Day message to call for a ceasefire in the Israel and Hamas war, and for an end to conflicts that are taking place across the globe. The Pope made his remarks in his Christmas Day "Urbi et Orbi" message, which means to the city of Rome and to the world. And in those remarks, he called war an inexcusable folly, and said that the world should say no to war. The Pope prayed for an end to military operations that are taking place in the Israel and Hamas conflict. And he also reiterated his appeal for hostages to be freed.

Now, the Pope's remarks on hostages come a day after Sara Netanyahu, the wife of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, had written to Francis asking for his assistance in trying to free those hostages taken by Hamas and being held in Gaza. Elsewhere in his address, the Pope called the peace in Ukraine, and for an end to conflicts in Syria and in Africa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and in South Sudan. The Pope, who recently turned 87-years-old, delivered his remarks from the balcony overlooking St. Peter's Square. Francis has recently had a bout of ill health, having contracted bronchitis, but the Pope seemed to be recovered from that and was able to deliver his remarks without too much difficulty.

Francis also criticized strongly the arms trade which he said was profiting from wars across the world. And he said that children being caught up in these conflicts were the little Jesuses of today. Christopher Lamb, CNN.

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GOLODRYGA: Still to come for us, law enforcement officials in Texas say they're overwhelmed by the ongoing surge of migrants at the U.S.- Mexican border. We'll have a live report.

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GOLODRYGA: Well, thousands of migrants are heading through Mexico on what's being called an exodus of poverty. They are on their way to the U.S. border. Organizers say they're helping poor people from places like Cuba, Haiti, and South America, leave what they describe as inhuman conditions.

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Further north in the U.S., sheriffs in the border town of Eagle Pass, Texas, say they're completely overwhelmed by the migrant crisis, as they also try to handle their policing duties. CNN's Rafael Romo is live near the U.S.-Mexican border in Eagle Pass, Texas. And this comes, this caravan, Rafael, comes as the U.S. Secretary of State Blinken is planning on a trip to Mexico to meet with Mexico's President. Talk about the pressure on the administration to address this crisis, and what you're seeing at the border right now.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Now, there is a lot of pressure, Bianna, because of the situation here the border. What local officials that we talked to are telling us is that it's unsustainable because they have enough problems as it is with tackling local crime and protecting the community. And this is a community of only 30,000 people. And if you consider that thousands and thousands of people are getting here every week, it is hard -- it is easy to imagine how bad the situation is here.

And Bianna, over the weekend, this holding area behind me was filled with immigrants who were re brought here after they surrendered to immigration officials at points along the border or at ports of entry. CBP managed to empty this area yesterday. But, just about an hour ago, it started to fill up again, and they're processing them as fast as they can. It is a cold morning here. We've been traveling to different points along the border, and we've seen how immigrants keep crossing even when immigration officials and the State of Texas have installed obstacles, including barbed wire on the banks of the Rio Grande, and buoys in the river itself that serve as floating barriers.

We talked to a mother who traveled with her three-year-old son and 16- year-old daughter by land from Honduras in Central America. All three of them surrendered to immigration authorities at the border on Christmas Eve, and were hoping to spend this Christmas Day at a shelter. We also talked to a woman from Cuba, who says she, her sister and her sister's daughter were kidnapped as they traveled by land in Mexico after their family paid ransom. They were then robbed before getting to the border. In spite of all that, she says she feels blessed this Christmas day.

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MILAIDIS DUARTE FELIPE, MIGRANT (TRANSLATED): That I'm going to spend it with my family, that I'm going to live in a free country that at least, I don't know. I'm going to be happy because I'm going to live in a free country where the rights of citizens are respected. That wasn't the case where I lived. I was under a lot of pressure.

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ROMO: And Bianna, Customs and Border Protection has just released new figures regarding apprehensions at the U.S. border, with Mexico officials saying, during the month of November, more than 242,000 people were detained by Border Patrol, compared to 235,000 for the same month last year. Bianna, back to you.

GOLODRYGA: Yeah. Those numbers keep going up. You speak to these families, and all of them have a story that's so emotional. But, at the same time, you see that authorities there really are overwhelmed at the influx and the amount of people trying to cross the border. It's just not sustainable. Rafael Romo, thank you.

Well, still to come, imagine spending Christmas morning every year braving the elements to take part in a swim race. Some people do this folks. We will meet some of them, the hardy souls who do it every year straight ahead.

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GOLODRYGA: Well, scientists say 2023 is officially the hottest year on record, and warned that next year could be even hotter. Simon Cullen looks back at the world's extreme weather over the past year, and reports on some of the progress made toward battling the climate crisis.

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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.

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.

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GOLODRYGA: Well, while most of us might prefer to spend Christmas morning in our pajamas, I'm one of those people, there are a group of swimmers here -- there in London who prefer a very different start to the day with an icy plunge. Meet some of the participants 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 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. 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.

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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, 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)

GOLODRYGA: Okay. Sign me up for a summer swim. These people swimming in the cold winter, much braver than I am. Well, that story. Well, an annual Christmas message from King Charles aired just a short time ago. Earlier today, the British Royal Family attended the morning service at St. Mary Magdalene Church in Norfolk. Hundreds gathered outside to see the King and Queen along with the Prince and Princess of Wales. The King spoke of the need to care for the environment and those who are less fortunate.

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KING CHARLES, UNITED KINGDOM: So, on this Christmas day, my heart and my thanks go to all who are serving one another, all who are caring for our common home, and all who see and seek the good of others, not least the friend we do not yet know. In this way, we bring out the best in ourselves. I wish you a Christmas of peace on earth, and goodwill to all.

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GOLODRYGA: Lovely and thoughtful message there from King Charles. Thank you all for joining me here on CNN Newsroom. I'm Bianna Golodryga in New York. Inside Africa is up next.

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