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Civilians In Gaza Seek Safety, Shelter Amid Ongoing War; Iraq Condemns U.S. Airstrikes On Iran-Backed Militants; Ukraine Claims It Destroyed Russian Landing Ship In Crimea; "Parasite" Actor Lee Sun- Kyun Found Dead In His Car; More Than 11,000 Migrants Wait In Mexico To Enter U.S.; Spokesperson: Alexey Navalny In "Good Spirits"; Benjamin Netanyahu Confidant Meets With Senior U.S. Officials. Terminally Ill Mother of Israeli Hostage Asks President Biden to Help Bring Her Daughter Home; Beijing Records Longest Cold Snap in Decades; Gangs Force Trafficking Victims to Scam Americans Online; More Than 20,000 Victims of Pig Butchering Scam Reported This Year; Apple Pulls Latest High-end Watches From Shelves; Taylor Swift Reigns Supreme as Artist and Business Person; Kanye West Apologizes to the Jewish Community in a Post in Hebrew After Repeated Anti-Semitic Remarks. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired December 27, 2023 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[02:00:33]
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Eleni Giokos in London.
Just ahead, Israel warns the war in Gaza is unlikely to end anytime soon, even as global pressure builds to calm the situation and do more to protect civilian lives in Gaza.
Ukraine's bold strike against Russia's Black Sea Fleet coming as it faces potential setbacks in its ground campaign.
Plus, a CNN investigation a California man scammed out of more than a million dollars. And it all started with a simple text message, we'll explain.
Israel's military chief says the war against Hamas will likely go on for many months. The Israel Defense Forces says it's using ground air and naval troops to strike as what they claim are terror targets in Gaza.
And on Tuesday, dozens of its fighter jets struck more than 100 Hamas targets including tunnels shafts and infrastructure, but scores of Palestinians have also been killed. Hamas controlled health ministry says the death toll in the enclave is now nearly 21,000. Though CNN can't independently verify those numbers. Here's a top Israeli military chief describing what lies ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HERZI HALEVI, ISRAEL CHIEF OF GENERAL STAFF (through translator): The war will go on for many months. And we will employ different methods to maintain our achievements for a long time. There are no magic solutions. There are no shortcuts in dismantling a terrorist organization, only determined and persistent fighting. And we are very, very determined.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: And as the war in Gaza intensifies, a close confidant of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to Washington to meet with senior U.S. officials about the next phase of the conflict.
That meeting comes as the White House looks for Israel to move away from the high intensity war it has waged for nearly three months in Gaza, a war that has left so many civilians there struggling to find safety. CNN's Will Ripley reports from Tel Aviv.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The terrifying sound of ongoing bombardment, Israeli shells hitting targets. Closer and closer to this U.N. run school in central Gaza. For thousands sheltering, here it's time to move again. Families forced to flee for their lives and this is not the first or even second time for many.
Once again, they carry the war torn pieces of their lives in pursuit of elusive safety. Just days earlier, many here vowed they would never move again, never. A vow they are now willing to break, only because they know their children's lives are at stake.
OM MOHAMED, GAZA RESIDENT (through translator): There is no safety in the school. We are looking for a safer place. I'm leaving because of the intensity of the airstrikes and the suffering.
RIPLEY (voice over): Everywhere else is crowded, there's no guarantee you'll find a spot. But what else can they do?
Even if they have nowhere else to go, they can't stay here. They don't want to die here. The scene, a grim reminder of what their parents and grandparents endured, in 1948 when Zionist militias forced them out of their hometowns. In the cold winter, blankets and mattresses are precious commodities.
Cars and the fuel that run them are scarce. Those who can't afford it hire donkey carts. For the rest, it's a long trek on foot.
It's very tough back there, he says. Bombs are falling on people everywhere. People were injured there. We don't know where we're heading. Everywhere is under threat. We're just moving with the rest of the people.
The destination for many, relatives homes, a roof over their heads even though they are neighborhoods already devastated by Israeli airstrikes.
Street battles raging across Gaza, turning areas north and south of the strip into ghost towns. The scars of battle, raw. [02:05:03]
YOAV GALLANT, ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER (through translator): We are in a multi-arena war. We are being attacked from seven different sectors, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Judea, and Samaria, Iraq, Yemen, and Iran. Anyone who acts against us is a potential target. There is no immunity for anyone.
RIPLEY (voice over): Iran's allies in the region engaging a low level hostilities in response they say to Israel's war in Gaza.
Yemen's Houthi attacking ships, ships they claim already Israeli affiliated, turning the Red Sea into a dangerous route for world trade. Iran's vow to avenge the killing of an Iranian commander in Syria, sparking renewed concerns of expanding the conflict. Especially on the Lebanese Israeli border, artillery fire with Iran-
backed Hezbollah keeping both countries on edge since October 8th.
In Gaza, a race for survival between a routine of airstrikes rushing to hospitals and burials and the ongoing search for food and water and a pursuit of shelter for close to two million people displaced.
Will Ripley, CNN, Tel Aviv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: U.S. Central Command says the Navy has intercepted a barrage of drones and missiles over the Red Sea. The launch has started early Tuesday morning and came from Houthi rebels supported by Iran and Yemen. As senior U.S. official says the Houthis have launched at least a hundred attacks in the past month.
Meanwhile, Baghdad is condemning a series of U.S. airstrikes on Iran backed militants inside Iraq. More on that from CNN's Oren Liebermann.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Rising tensions in the Middle East with U.S. fighter jets carrying out a series of strikes in Iraq against Kataib Hezbollah, one of Iran's regional proxies. The U.S. said the Monday strikes targeted drone facilities used by the militant group and its affiliates. Mourners leading a funeral procession through the streets of Baghdad as U.S. Central Command said the strikes likely killed a number of militants.
President Joe Biden ordered the strikes after Kataib Hezbollah, recognized by the U.S. as a terrorist organization, claimed responsibility for the Monday drone attack on U.S. Forces in Iraq. The attack injured three U.S. service members, the Pentagon said, including one in critical condition.
In a statement, the National Security Council said, the president places no higher priority than the protection of American personnel serving in harm's way. The United States will act at a time and in a manner of our choosing should these attacks continue. U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria have been targeted approximately 100 times since October when the Israel-Hamas War started. The U.S. has tried to calibrate its retaliatory strikes to send a message to Iranian proxies in the region without sparking a wider war.
Last month, the U.S. also carried out strikes against Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq, killing at least eight of their fighters, according to the group. Iraq's government has condemned both of the attacks, calling them hostile acts that are unacceptable under any circumstances.
The unrest has not been limited to land. Over the weekend, the U.S., as a one-way attack drone launched directly from Iran, struck a chemical tanker in the Indian Ocean. No U.S. Navy ships were in the vicinity. The attack caused no injuries, but it did spark a fire on the ship, according to Central Command, as it raised concerns of a broader conflict the U.S. has been trying to avoid.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIEBERMANN (on camera): U.S. Central Command says according to their preliminary assessment of the U.S. airstrikes in Iraq, there were no civilians affected.
However, the Iraqi government says there were 19 people injured approximately, one servicemen and 18 others including civilians.
So, that is part of the reason the Iraqi government is angry over these strikes. Again, also seeing them as an infringement of Iraqi sovereignty. An important point here is the U.S. operates with its forces in Iraq at the invitation of the Iraqi government.
Oren Liebermann, CNN in the Pentagon.
GIOKOS: The Ukrainian military claims it destroyed a Russian Navy landing ship in Crimea in an overnight strike Tuesday.
And you can see that massive explosion there. CNN has not been able to independently verify that it was destroyed. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised his forces for the strike and the Ukrainian Air Force also held it as a significant win.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YURII IHNAT, SPOKESPERSON, UKRAINIAN AIR FORCE COMMAND (through translator): This is such a powerful events for us. In fact, we destroyed both the city and occupiers through a well-coordinated actions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Well, the Russian defense ministry doesn't say the ship was destroyed. But does admit it was damaged in the Ukrainian attack. A Russian appointed official in Crimea says one person was killed and two others injured in that strike.
[02:10:06] If the ship was indeed destroyed, this would be the third major military hardware loss for Russia in less than a week.
Meantime, CNN Military Analyst and retired U.S. Army Major General James Spider Marks says the Ukrainian attack on the Russian warship is crucial in bolstering their morale. Here's what he told CNN's John Berman earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, any strike that can decrease the amount of capability, capacity to conduct offensive operations that the Ukrainians can do against the Russians is a plus, it goes into the plus side of the column.
The challenge is it is an amphibious landing craft, I mean, pretty significant. And you can see from the explosion that it was loaded with ammunition, a lot of those are secondary explosions. I mean, that's quite significant.
That ship is out of commission now, obviously, that's a good thing. Russia still has the law of large numbers, John, we've talked about this for a while, they can continue to bring capacity to the fight where the Ukrainians have limited capacity to do that. And that's where we are right now.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: Is this in some way compensating like a spectacle, and it's very visual, and it is a spectacular demonstration of what Ukraine is capable of. But they've struggled on the ground.
MARKS: Well, they have. I mean, absolutely, morale is incredibly important. If you were to list the top three factors in combat, morale would be at the top.
If you feel good about what you can accomplish. If you trust your leadership. If you trust the individual to your right and your left, there's almost any obstacle that you can overcome.
This is incredibly important for the Ukrainians. The Russians, on the other hand have a -- have a limited capacity to resist this coming from Ukraine.
Yet, Russia can take a blow like this, and then can continue to show up. That doesn't mean they're very effective. That doesn't mean they have good leadership. What that means is they can just keep bringing good money after bad basically. More young men can come forward and they can have a fight like this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Well, that was CNN Military Analyst and retired U.S. Army Major General U.S. Army James Spider Marks speaking with CNN's John Berman a little earlier.
Well, Ukraine's top general says the city of Avdiivka could become the next Bakhmut in just a few months. The battle for Avdiivka is now one of the most fiercely contested on the Eastern front, and a warning that its fate could match Bakhmut is a grim one. That city was all but destroyed in grueling warfare, with fighting lasting from months on end.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's commander in chief says his forces have withdrawn from Maryinka, a village about 40 kilometers from Avdiivka. He says Russian forces are ravaging it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. VALERY ZALUZHNYL, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, UKRAINIAN ARMED FORCES (through translator): The methodology is exactly the same as it was in Bakhmut, street after street is destroyed, block after block our fighters are buried, and then we have what we have.
So again, this is war. And the fact that we have now withdrawn to the outskirts of Maryinka, and in some places have already equipped positions behind Maryinka. There's nothing in this that can cause any public outcry there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that control of the Avdiivka could determine the outcome of the war. Ukraine's top generals saying even if his forces do withdrawal from the city, they will make that decision to save people and then retake it.
And in the southern city of Kherson, Ukrainian officials say Russian forces shelled a train station on Tuesday as dozens of civilians were waiting to be evacuated. At least one person was reported killed and four others wounded in that attack.
Kherson, which was retaken by Ukrainian forces last year has come under near constant Russian attacks.
And still to come, we're learning new details about the death of South Korean actor Lee Sun-Kyun, one of the stars of "Parasites".
Plus, the first comments from Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny since his transfer to a Russian penal colony in Siberia.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:16:22]
GIOKOS: Welcome back, now new details are emerging about the death of South Korean actor Lee Sun-Kyun, who was best known for his role in the Academy Award winning film "Parasite".
According to police, Lee was reported missing by his manager and was later found in his car. Police say his cause of death is presumed to be suicide after Lee claimed he was tricked into using drugs and then blackmailed.
CNN's Hanako Montgomery is live in Hong Kong for us. Could you give me a sense of the latest and what more we know about his death? HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, of course. So Lee Sun-Kyun, his death was very sudden and very tragic in South Korea. We're still trying to confirm a lot of details surrounding Lee's death. But what South Korean police has confirmed to CNN is that his death is a presumed suicide.
We also know that Lee was being investigated for alleged drug use. He was called into questioning three times, most recently in on December 23rd. When he was questioned for 19 hours, he was released on Christmas Eve.
Now, it's very important to know that for all of the drug tests that Lee took, all the test results came back negative. He also claims that he was tricked and blackmailed into using drugs and he reportedly had a lawsuit against this blackmailer.
Now, on social media, there has been an outpour of grief surrounding his death. As you mentioned at the top there, Eleni, he was beloved all across the world. And he really shot to fame internationally after the film "Parasite", which won four Oscars in 2020, notably the Best Picture award, which was the first award given to a non-English film.
Now, in South Korea, his home country, he was also a household name. His career spanned two decades where he starred in a number of T.V. shows and a number of films. And as news of his death unfolds today, there are thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people who are just mourning his sudden death.
GIOKOS: Hanako Montgomery, thank you so much for that update.
More than 11,000 migrants are waiting in northern Mexico to cross into the U.S. according to local leaders. They're living in shelters, open air camps and abandoned homes and are growing more desperate by the day. And the U.S. border officials aren't growing desperate too as they struggle to deal with massive numbers of people entering the U.S. illegally. Rosa Flores shows us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As the migrant caravan forms in southern Mexico with thousands from Central and South America, the scene on the U.S. southern border in Eagle Pass, Texas, has changed. The areas where thousands of migrants were waiting outdoors to be transported for immigration processing last week were emptied out this week. The flow this morning appearing to be down to a trickle.
A senior Customs and Border Protection official telling CNN that while the scene in Eagle Pass has improved, the agency is not out of the woods yet.
CBP is still grappling with elevated numbers of migrant encounters on the U.S. southern border. More than 11,000 migrants are waiting in shelters in northern Mexico, 3,800 in Tijuana, 3,200 in Reynosa, 4,000 in Matamoros. Many hoping to enter legally but some opting to cross illegally, say community leaders. U.S. federal authorities report of the seven-day average of more than 9,600 migrant encounters in December. That number was 6,800 at the end of November.
U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is scheduled to meet with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador Wednesday in Mexico City. The Biden administration is expected to put pressure on Mexico to do more to stem the flow of migrants.
[02:20:09]
To deal with the flow, CBP has temporarily suspended operations at several ports of entry in several states to reassign personnel to process migrants. This as CNN learns from a CBP official that the surge is in part driven by pseudo-legitimate travel agencies abroad that promise trips to the U.S., but instead connect travelers to smugglers self of the border. That might explain this recent scene in Arizona.
FLORES: I work for CNN. Now, I'm wondering where you're from? What country are you from?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senegal.
FLORES: Senegal? Senegal? Senegal? Senegal? Everybody from Senegal?
FLORES (voice over): Smugglers are dropping off 500 to a thousand migrants in remote areas of Arizona, the officials said, creating a logistical nightmare for Border Patrol agents who have to find ways to transport them for immigration processing.
For the volunteers who distribute water to migrants in the desert, it's the children who get them every time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's heartbreaking when you see the little children.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FLORES (on camera): Migration appears to be feeding migration. I met one migrant woman from Ecuador who says that the amount of violence in her country has spiked and that has led business owners, the job creators in her community to flee her country and come here to the United States and she says that that is snowballing, that is forcing the workers to also flee their country, and you guessed it, come to the United States.
Rosa Flores, CNN, Eagle Pass, Texas.
GIOKOS: A spokesperson says Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny is in good spirits after his transferred to a Siberian penal colony. His journey to the prison north of the Arctic Circle took nearly three weeks. CNN's Nada Bashir has the details for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): One of President Putin's most famous adversaries relieved, exhausted, but most importantly, alive.
KYRA YARMYAH, NAVALNY SPOKESWOMAN: We filed a 680 request in different Russian prisons trying to locate Alexey.
BASHIR (voice over): For weeks, Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny's whereabouts were unknown. Now, his team has located him at a remote penal colony north of the Arctic Circle, after a journey Navalny says took almost three weeks.
They brought me here on Saturday night, messages posted on social media by his aides say. I didn't expect anyone to finally here, before mid-January. Navalny's team raised the alarm weeks ago, after he failed to show for recent court hearings. At the time, the Kremlin stated it had neither the capacity nor willingness to monitor prisoners' whereabouts.
YARMYAH: According to Russian law after the prisoner is being transferred to another colony, they have to notify his relatives. But we know very well there is no law that applies to Alexey, and they will never notify anyone about his whereabouts.
BASHIR (voice over): In a statement on Monday, the director of Navalny's Anti- Corruption Foundation said the colony in northwestern Siberia, known as the Polar Wolf colony, is infamous for its remote location and harsh conditions.
Navalny was sentenced to 19 years in prison in August, after he was found guilty of extremism related charges, which he and his legal representatives have consistently denied. This in addition to a previous 11-1/2-year sentence for fraud and other crimes.
Known for organizing anti-government street protests and using his blog and social media to expose alleged corruption in the Kremlin, Navalny has posed one of the most serious threats to Putin's legitimacy during his rule.
His disappearance coming to light just days after Putin announced he would run for reelection in March 2024.
VLADIMIR MILOV, NAVALNY ADVISER: It is no coincidence that Navalny disappeared exactly at the moment when the so-called sham presidential elections were announced. And Putin announced that he's going to be running again for, sorry, I lost count, which term already.
BASHIR (voice over): And more news of his whereabouts has brought some reassurance to supporters. There is deep-seated concern over the conditions the opposition figure now faces at Polar Wolf.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASHIR (on camera): According to a local government media outlet in Siberia. The focus at this particular penal colony is reeducation through occupational therapy. But the conditions there are of course said to be harsh and there is concern over what Alexey Navalny may face during his time in detention.
Important to underscore that Navalny, his legal team, and his supporters have consistently denied the charges laid against him. They say they believe this is a politically motivated attempt to stifle criticism of President Putin.
GIOKOS: Right, that's Nada Bashir for us there.
And still ahead, a close confidant of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the White House on Tuesday, the details of the talks that's coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:27:57]
GIOKOS: A top U.S. official met with a confidant of the Israeli prime minister for more than four hours at the White House on Tuesday to discuss the next phase of Israel's war against Hamas. The high level talks also included the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza as well as securing the release of the remaining hostages.
CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is in Washington with the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Senior U.S. officials meeting on Tuesday with a close confidant of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The hours long meeting comes as the U.S. looks for Israel to move away from its high intensity war. Now, Ron Dermer met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken here at the White House along with national security adviser Jake Solomon.
The big question going into the meeting was what the next phase of the war looks like, especially Israel's ground operation in Gaza.
Up until this point, Israel has assured the U.S. that it plans to transition to a low intensity war with a more precise military strategy in targeting of Hamas leadership. But they haven't offered a timeline.
So, U.S. officials were looking for more information on that. Again, as that death toll continues to rise in Gaza.
Now, over the course of the day, senior Israeli officials were expressing confidence about the nature of the conversations between the U.S. and Israel, describing them as good and saying that the U.S. and Israel are on the same page.
But President Biden is under increasing domestic and international pressure over the destruction and devastation in Gaza. And he said earlier this month that Israel risks losing support on the international stage if it doesn't contain those casualties.
So, the U.S. officials and the close confidant of Benjamin Netanyahu meeting here at the White House to try to get more answers on what this next phase looks like.
Priscilla Alvarez, CNN at the White House. (END VIDEOTAPE)
[02:30:00]
GIOKOS: The terminally ill mother of an Israeli hostage is asking U.S. President Joe Biden for his help to secure the release of her daughter. Liora Argamani says she is dying and she wants to see her daughter before it's too late. In a letter to Mr. Biden, she wrote, I am terminally ill with Stage 4 brain cancer. All that is running through my mind before I part ways with my family forever is that chance to hug my daughter, my only child, one last time. The warning, the video you are about to see, is disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Noa Argamani was abducted at the Nova Music Festival on October 7th. Her family wants the video of her kidnapping to be seen in hopes that she can be found.
Now, it's been a year of weather extremes for Beijing. Six months ago, the Chinese capital was experiencing record temperatures in June. Now, the city is caught in its longest cold snap in decades and many people are struggling to just stay warm. Our Marc Stewart has more for us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARC STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): China has been shivering through bitter and biting cold.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I think it's the coldest winter in the past 20 years.
STEWART (voice-over): For around two weeks, the Chinese capital has seen sub-zero temperatures, the longest cold snap here since records began in 1951.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The temperature is very, very low. I have to wear this kind of cloth to this weather.
STEWART (voice-over): By bike and by foot, it's a struggle to stay warm in this megacity.
STEWART: This is what is known as a hutong, a collection of small homes in narrow streets, very typical here in downtown Beijing. But many lack central heating, and that can be challenging and expensive when the temperatures take a plunge.
STEWART (voice-over): This man showed us his home and how he keeps warm.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We use electric heating.
STEWART (voice-over): Even though the government helps to pay the bill, for some families, it can still be a lot. UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Frankly speaking, this is not as good as the high rise, which has 24-hour central heating, but it's not too cold here right now either.
STEWART (voice-over): The Arctic chill has been felt far beyond Beijing. Across the country, coal powered plants have been on full drive to warm up homes. Yet, problems at a plant in Central China forced heating in one city to be temporarily cut.
And in northwest China, the weather got in the way of rescue efforts after last week's deadly earthquake. Residents in the quake zone set bonfires to get warm. A burning stove and a bowl of warm noodles enough to comfort these children.
Back in Beijing, the forecast is for the cold wave to pass, making tasks in the city of more than 20 million people a bit more tolerable.
Marc Stewart, CNN, Beijing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: And still to come, thousands of Americans are losing money in a fast-growing financial fraud scam based in Myanmar. A CNN investigation is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:35:00]
GIOKOS: Criminal gangs apparently based in war torn Myanmar near the Thai border are scamming millions of dollars online from thousands of unsuspecting Americans. And they are forcing human trafficking victims to do their dirty work. CNN's Ivan Watson filed this report from the Thailand border.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's been a living hell day in day out.
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is one of tens of thousands of U.S. victims of a fast growing new form of financial fraud.
JAMES BARNACLE, SPECIAL AGENT, FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION: The bad guys are getting good and they are getting better.
WATSON (voice-over): Scams run by gangs working in the war-torn corner of Southeast Asia.
WATSON: Is this a form of modern day slavery?
MECHELLE MOORE, GLOBAL ALMS: Definitely, yes. And no one can do anything about it.
WATSON (voice-over): Using fake online profiles and modern-day slaves.
WATSON: How did the bosses keep you working?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're treating us like slaves. If you not interested -- you are not working means, they will get punishment.
WATSON (voice-over): In northern California, CY (ph) is piecing together his life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can never forget or forgive myself losing that kind of money.
WATSON (voice-over): He asks to remain anonymous to protect his family after he lost more than $1 million to a scam called pig butchering.
It started in October 2021 with a text message from a stranger.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This person texted me out of the blue in WhatsApp.
WATSON: What was the name of the person you were communicating with?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She claims her name is Jessica.
WATSON (voice-over): The two quickly became friends. She shared photos and CY (ph) talked about the pain of caring for his dying father. After nearly a month, the conversation turned to money.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She started to introduce me into cryptocurrency, trading gold using cryptocurrency.
WATSON (voice-over): Jessica showed CY (ph) how to invest by installing a trading app on his phone that he says looked legit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Around this point is when she was instructing me or showing me how to deposit my money into cryptocurrency.
WATSON: You thought in just a matter of weeks, you doubled your money?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.
WATSON (voice-over): Little did he know, he was a victim pumping money into a sophisticated con, for the scammers, a pig fattened up for the slaughter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I logged back in, the (inaudible) is gone. What the heck had happened? What did I do? That is 30 years of my life building up this wealth.
WATSON (voice-over): Panicking, CY (ph) begged Jessica for help.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please help me. I don't know what else I can do. I don't have any more money. I cannot buy anything. I lost everything.
WATSON (voice-over): But Jessica disappeared and probably never even existed.
BARNACLE: The victims think that they're making an investment opportunity, doesn't understand that they are buying cryptocurrency, transferring it to the bad guy.
WATSON (voice-over): The FBI says it has seen exponential growth in losses due to pig butchering scams with more than 20,000 victims reported so far this year.
BARNACLE: This is the professionalization of fraud services.
WATSON (voice-over): An organization representing scam victims tracked their crypto transfers halfway around the world, to this border region in Myanmar.
WATSON: U.S. scam victims say they've been able to trace their money to places like this. This walled compound across the river is just inside the territory of Myanmar. And that is where we are learning about the conditions inside that some people who worked there, they say that they were forced against their will to try to scam Americans out of their hard-earned money in conditions that they describe as amounting to modern day slavery.
WATSON (voice-over): This compound is where an Indian man named Rakesh (ph) says he was forced to work for more than 11 months without pay for a Chinese criminal gang --
WATSON: The guards have spotted us.
WATSON (voice-over): -- until they recently released him back to Thailand.
WATSON: Where was the job supposed to be?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They told for me in Bangkok.
WATSON (voice-over): He, too, was the victim of a scam. Rakesh (ph), who doesn't want to be identified, says he first flew to Thailand for what he thought was an IT job. Instead, he says he was tricked into crossing the border to Myanmar where a Chinese gangster told him to work, or else --
WATSON: He threatened to kill you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. He warned me like that.
WATSON (voice-over): And the job, spend 16 hours a day on social media targeting Americans with a fake profile.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like they are providing for us, I got a Russian girl with using a Russian girl fake profile, I need to scam the people.
WATSON (voice-over): Posing as a Salt Lake City based investor named Klara Simonev, Rakesh (ph) flirted online with potential targets.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 70 to 80 percent shall fall for fake love.
WATSON (voice-over): Rakesh (ph) shows secretly filmed images of what at first glance seems to be an ordinary office. [02:40:00]
WATSON (voice-over): But he says the bosses routinely punished workers, forcing them to do hundreds of squats, and beating them if they did not produce.
WATSON: And you have helped rescue people who were trapped inside, behind the barbed wire?
MOORE: Yes.
WATSON: -- Of that very compound?
MOORE: Yes.
WATSON (voice-over): Mechelle Moore is one of a group of aid workers are based in Thailand who has helped rescue hundreds of victims of trafficking, like Rakesh (ph), over the last 18 months.
WATSON: What are the measures that are being used to keep them there?
MOORE: Lots of psychological manipulation, coercion, physical torture.
WATSON (voice-over): She drives me along the border.
MOORE: There, there is a guard tower just there, green roof.
WATSON (voice-over): Showing compounds only a stone's throw away where she says trafficked victims are forced to work as online scammers.
MOORE: This is why this is modern slavery. And it's right under everybody 's nose.
WATSON (voice-over): Satellite images show rapid construction of these compounds on the border territory of Myanmar over just three years. Thailand's Minister of Justice labels these facilities as hubs for criminal scamming activity.
SOMSAK THEPSUTHIN, MINISTER OF JUSTICE, THAILAND (through translator): These scammers have to use telephone signals to communicate. That's why they base themselves near the Thai border, so they can use Thailand's telephone network.
WATSON (voice-over): But he says Thailand has no jurisdiction to crack down on suspected criminals operating across the border in Myanmar. CNN asked the military government in Myanmar why it hasn't taken action against alleged criminal gangs operating on its territory, and did not receive an answer.
So, for now, no one is going to stop this poisonous cycle of exploitation, where trafficked victims in Southeast Asia work like slaves to scam Americans out of their savings.
Ivan Watson, CNN, on the Thai border with Myanmar.
(END VIDEOTAPE) GIOKOS: Shoppers in the U.S. won't be able to buy the latest Apple Watch anytime soon. The White House, as expected, did not overturn the ban with a last-minute emergency action to keep the best-selling smart watch on store shelves. The U.S. International Trade Commission ruled that Apple's latest watches violate patents registered to another companies. So for now, top-of-the-line watches like the Series 9 and Ultra 2 cannot be sold in the U.S. until Apple makes some changes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANIEL IVES, MANAGING DIRECTOR, WEDBUSH SECURITIES: While the consumer right now can't buy an Apple Watch in the U.S., you could buy it Europe and Asia. But it definitely raises an eyebrow and I think it's something where Apple has the trust as one of the brands that has the such (ph) trust for global consumers, it is a PR black eye.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Apple says it's pursuing both legal and technical options to get the defending -- offending watches back on the shelves, including submitting a redesign of the watches for U.S. Customs approval. The company is asking for a stay on the ban until U.S. Customs can consider its redesign which is expected to happen by mid-January.
And still to come, her concerts have brought a huge economic boom to every city she has played and she even managed to increase NFL ratings. A look back at Taylor Swift's blockbuster year; that is coming up.
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[02:45:00]
GIOKOS: She doesn't run a major company or country, but the magazine's "Person of the Year" for Time enjoyed the best year of any business leader in recent mystery. Taylor Swift's North American shows are expected to bring in around billions of dollars in revenue, making her concert tour the highest grossing of all-time. CNN's Anna Stewart has more on Swift's blockbuster year.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TAYLOR SWIFT, AMERICAN SINGER-SONGWRITER: Welcome to the Eras Tour.
ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): She's certainly not the anti- hero of 2023.
(ANTI-HERO BY TAYLOR SWIFT - VIDEO PLAYING)
STEWART (voice-over): In fact, she is Time "Person of the Year."
Even in Taylor Swift's wildest dreams, it would be hard to imagine greater success, or bigger revenues. Not one but three bestselling albums. They're not all exactly new, "1989" and "Speak Now" were re- recorded as Swift continues to reclaim ownership of her music.
SWIFT: We are about to go on a little adventure together, and that adventure is going to span 17 years of music.
STEWART (voice-over): In March, Swift embarked on a record-breaking worldwide tour. It is expected to rake in more than $2 billion in North American ticket sales alone. Swift even helped bail out the Box Office in a difficult year with a movie version of the Eras Tour concerts. It made $96 million on its opening weekend in the U.S. and Canada. Spotify and Apple Music have both named her "Artist of the Year."
ZANE LOWE, HOST OF "THE ZANE LOWE SHOW," APPLE MUSIC: There isn't an artist on the planet who has achieved so much in the calendar year, and we at Apple Music, we felt the same way, and it was just no denying that what she has achieved over the last 12 months, in my lifetime at least, from a productivity and a quality point of view is sort of unprecedented.
STEWART (voice-over): Bloomberg says Swift came a billionaire in October, and Swift-fluence (ph) spread beyond music this year. The artist was spotted not on the beaches (ph), but in a box, as she debuted a new relationship.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(LOVE STORY BY TAYLOR SWIFT - VIDEO PLAYING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART (voice-over): The "Love Story" boosted ticket sales and NFL TV ratings. It all comes down to a powerful bond Swift has forged with her fans, using hidden messages and clues known as Easter Eggs in songs, performances and social media.
LOWE: Every time she puts anything out, there's a sense of anticipation that surrounds that experience and also the idea that we as fans can be invested in that by uncovering details, moving in different ways. I mean, the depth of Easter Egg placement is sort of on believable. It just strengthens that connective tissue between the artist and the fan, which is what this is all about and something that Taylor Swift has been completely dedicated to her whole career.
STEWART: Do you think we have now hit peak Taylor Swift?
LOWE: If Taylor Swift has proven anything, even the people who don't listen to her music, is that she will not stop creating at the highest level. So, not only Taylor will decide how and where she moves, and when she comes back, like every other time, she will be dedicating and committed to it. That's one thing I really appreciate about Taylor Swift, is when she comes out with a record or a tour, she is all in.
STEWART (voice-over): The Eras Tour continues through 2024. So we know all too well that it will probably be another year of Swift success.
Anna Stewart, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE) GIOKOS: Joining us now to discuss Taylor Swift and other acts who were huge in 2023, Music Writer and Analyst for "The Lefsetz Letter," Bob Lefsetz, great to see you. Thank you so much for joining us. I had the best time reading your latest letter. Frankly, it really just struck a chord with me. But let's talk about (ph) Taylor Swift. Pretty much an enigma, she is a real musician, writer in music (ph), plays so many different instruments, and she made it on Time Magazine cover as well.
Do you think there is consensus around her success and her talent?
BOB LEFSETZ, MUSIC WRITER AND ANALYST, THE LEFSETZ LETTER: Watch a bunch of crap that last five minutes was.
(LAUGH)
LEFSETZ: I want you to go around the studio and ask everybody there to sing two Taylor Swift songs. I don't want to make it about Taylor Swift.
GIOKOS: Yeah.
LEFSETZ: If she is the biggest act in the world, that is how small she is. No one has ever been that big, yet so small. Time Magazine, when was the last time you even saw "Time Magazine" as opposed to even reading it? This is a mainstream media hype that does not reflect what is going on in the landscape whatsoever.
GIOKOS: OK. So, I'm glad you asked about whether I've been walking around the office here to find out if people know Taylor Swift versus, by the way, " The Beatles" because you referred to "The Beatles" in your letter and you say we don't have a new Beatles.
[02:50:00]
GIOKOS: I actually had to school my 22-year-old intern, May (ph), two major songs by The Beatles, right, " Can't Buy Me Love" as well as "A Hard Day's Night," two songs she didn't know of. But I know all the lyrics. These are songs that resonate with me. Do you feel the current landscape we are in, that we don't -- we just don't have those songs, those bands, those artists that can strike a chord like they used to?
LEFSETZ: Well, we have two things going on here.
GIOKOS: Yeah.
LEFSETZ: We used to live in a monoculture, both in the '60s and the '80s, with Music Television. We no longer live in a monoculture, so no one can reach everybody. Those Beatles songs were known because everybody was listening to the same radio stations. Everybody knew these songs. I can sing every lick of Louis Armstrong's "Hello, Dolly" because I was reading for a Beatles song, even though I didn't like that.
Yes, I do believe that today's music is not as good, this has got to do with a lot of things like income inequality. Middle-class people, they are not making music anymore. You have the lower classes who will do whatever they're told. The power of music is to speak truth to power. So when we hear about all the money they are making, good for them, $1 billion. But if you say something negative, or you speak the truth, that has much more resonance.
One of the biggest acts of the year is Noah Kahan, the average person --
GIOKOS: Yeah.
LEFSETZ: -- doesn't know who that is. That person can sell out stadiums. He speaks about his mental health and he's not doing endorsements. We have a complete distortion of the landscape. More acts are successful than ever before, but the ubiquity is history. Most people are listening to different things and as the consumer, you are overwhelmed, so when you read something like about Taylor Swift or Beyonce's Renaissance Tour, you say, "Is the joke on me? Or -- "
GIOKOS: Yeah.
LEFSETZ: " -- is this really not that good?
GIOKOS: It's such a good point because I don't want to give my age away, but I am a millennial and I grew up in the '90s. So, radio was really important because it really influenced the way I thought about music. But also, I was more prone to listening to very deep soulful lyrics that would really describe how I was feeling. Why do you think we've lost that element? Do you think that it is just the sort of fast, this aggression of trying to get feel-good music very quickly on social media platforms for example?
LEFSETZ: Look, TikTok is really a bastion of mental health and a lot of truth. That is why it is so vital around the world. In music, we have acts, that's a burgeoning scene. But, they are not written about -- we don't have songs as good as Joni Mitchell, but there is --
GIOKOS: Yeah.
LEFSETZ: --definitely something happening there. But it's harder than ever to gain mainstream appeal. You're talking about being a millennial, you remember the song "Tubthumping", everybody knew that song.
(LAUGH)
LEFSETZ: "Pissing the Night Away," you talk about the songs in the last ten years, we have this duality of the quality not being as good.
GIOKOS: Yeah.
LEFSETZ: And there being so much in the landscape that we can't have any consensus that one or two songs are the biggest. I mean we talk about Drake, we talk about The Weekend, these are big acts. But most people have no idea what the music is. We have never encountered this before. But this has mostly to do with the internet and the landscape. The quality of music is a separate issue, significant, but mostly nobody can reach everybody. GIOKOS: So, I mean I thought it was just me, but you wrote this and it really just -- this is how I'm thinking and feeling. You say in your letter, chances are this scene is overwhelming, you're just listening to the same dance stuff over and over again. I think people really feel that way. It just is so much and it's -- I guess it's just not the same as it used to be and that is what you're describing. So, how do we fix the broken system?
LEFSETZ: We cannot fix this broken system. We have an evolution. Music was the canary in the coal mine for digital disruption. We figured it all out. You got all the music ever recorded for GBP 10 to GBP 12, or dollars in your country. So the focus now is on the software, the music.
Yes, we have not had a new sound in 20 years, something will happen, we will have someone like Bob Dylan or The Beatles, who speak truth to power, who are really talking about what is going on in society. But no one can reach everybody.
GIOKOS: Yeah.
LEFSETZ: Other than politicos like Donald Trump, nobody reaches everybody.
(LAUGH)
LEFSETZ: We talking about Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift. The percentage of people who even watch football is not that high.
[02:55:00]
LEFSETZ: But all media needs to focus on these mainstream things to justify their existence, instead of saying, it is an incomprehensible world...
GIOKOS: Yeah.
LEFSETZ: -- with so many successful things right now.
GIOKOS: So 2024, what are your predictions? Are we going to get the new Beatles? What is the song for 2024, anything you suggest?
LEFSETZ: Well, the real world today is live. There are a couple of acts that are gigantic. Zach Bryan, a country artist, he sells out stadiums. Morgan Wallen, the biggest country artist and when it comes to new music, even bigger than Taylor Swift. What has happened because of the problem of Tower of Babel society, it's harder and harder to get consensus. So, one would anticipate that the same acts will be successful.
There will ultimately be a few new acts, but one of the fascinating things is, we have more big shows than ever before, more stadium shows than ever before. The landscape is healthy, but incomprehensible. We all have our favorites --
GIOKOS: Yeah. LEFSETZ: -- but we are not familiar with everyone else's favorites.
GIOKOS: Bob Lefsetz, great to have you on the show. Thank you so much.
LEFSETZ: Great to be on.
GIOKOS: Just days ahead of his new album dropping, Musician Kanye West is apologizing to the Jewish community for anti-Semitic remarks. West who legally changed his name to Ye posted an apology written in Hebrew to Instagram on Tuesday, writing "I sincerely apologize to the Jewish community for any unintended outbursts caused by my words or actions. It was not my intention to hurt or disrespect, and I deeply regret any pain I may have caused."
It is not clear what prompted West's post, but it does come ahead of the expected release of his new collection of music titled "Vultures" and it follows a host of offensive statements West has made about the Jewish and black communities. In response to West's apology, the Anti- Defamation League said, after causing untold damage by using his vast influence and platform to poison countless minds with vicious anti- Semitic and hate, an apology in Hebrew maybe the first step on a long journey towards making amends.
Well, thank you so very much for your company. I'm Eleni Giokos in London. "The Whole Story" with Anderson Cooper is up next. After that, "CNN Newsroom" will continue with my colleague Bianca Nobilo. Take care.
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