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CNN International: Escalating Attacks On US Troops And Commercial Shipping; Israeli Military Chief: War Will Go On "For Many More Months"; Fighting Intensifies As Russian Ship Hit By Explosion In Crimea; Michigan Supreme Court Keeps Trump On Primary Ballot; US Pressing Mexico To Help Reduce Border Crossings; New York Times Sues OpenAI, Microsoft In Landmark Lawsuit; Gangs Force Trafficking Victims To Scam Americans Online; Call To Earth: Coral Gardening; Taylor Swift Reigns Supreme As Artist And Businessperson; Beijing Records Longest Cold Wave In Modern History. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired December 27, 2023 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:26]
PAULA NEWTON, CNN HOST: US warships in the Red Sea are drawn into an escalating conflict intercepting drones and missiles fired by Houthi forces.
The US Secretary of State lands in Mexico for robust conversations about the surge in migrants over the border.
And "The New York Times" sues OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement.
Live from CNN Center, it's Wednesday, December 27th. I'm Paula Newton, and this is CNN NEWSROOM.
Good evening, and we do begin with fears of a widening conflict in the Middle East. The US says it is downing a growing number of missiles and drones in the Red Sea launched by Iran-backed Houthi rebels who claim to be acting in solidarity with Palestinians.
Now, Iran denies any involvement. This is just days after another group backed by Iran attacked US forces in the region. Washington is on edge this holiday season with the worsening situation -- security situation, not just in the Red Sea, of course, but also in the Indian Ocean, Iraq, and Syria.
The Danish shipping company, meantime, that giant Maersk, has said it will resume operations in the Red Sea in the Gulf of Aiden. That's after the establishment of the US-led naval mission to protect commercial shipping in the area. But other big names, like Hapag-Lloyd and Evergreen are steering clear for now, telling CNN they will continue rerouting vessels via the Cape of Good Hope, which, of course, adds thousands of nautical miles to that journey. It's leading to new concerns about global supply chains and the prospect of rising costs.
For more on all this and those fears that the Israel-Hamas war could become a wider regional crisis, Oren Liebermann joins us now from the Pentagon. Oren, I know how close you've been watching this for weeks. Now, if we deal with those attacks, given the seriousness of these attacks, especially at times when it has struck US personnel, was this kind of a response inevitable? And do you think any kind of more robust response does deter from more attacks?
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think very much, given the latest attack in Syria against US forces, one in which Kata'ib Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy in the Middle East, launched an attack drone on US forces in Erbil, in Iraq, and wounded three US servicemembers, one of them critically, a US response was very much inevitable.
Largely, the US has tried to calibrate its responses, not retaliating against each individual strike, but waiting and seeing if there was a large enough batch and a large enough group of attacks on US forces that it felt it needed to respond. But given this latest attack, which injured specifically US forces in Iraq, the US responded quickly, carrying out three different strikes against positions in Iraq where Kata'ib Hezbollah -- again, an Iranian proxy -- worked its drone program.
US Central Command says a number of militants were likely killed and no civilians were affected. However, this does cause some tension with the Iraqi government, which called them hostile acts and an infringement of Iraqi sovereignty. So there is this tension that the US is always watching, given the fact that the US operates in Iraq at the invitation of the Iraqi government.
This is just another one of the layers of complexity here when the US tries to figure out if, how, and when to respond. The US warning, as it has in the past, Paula, that if these attacks continue, the US will respond again. And from what we're seeing, these attacks are very much continuing. It's about 100 at this point against US forces in Iraq and Syria since the beginning of the Gaza war.
NEWTON: Yes. Certainly, a lot to look for in that region, especially given what's been going on with the Houthi rebels in Yemen as well and those critical shipping canals.
You know, we have been speaking about the risk of regional escalation for weeks now. I mean, you've been covering it both on the ground in Israel, but also from the Pentagon. What were you hearing about officials? And crucially, you know, just understand right now, is the risk of escalation as grave as it was in the days after the October 7th Hamas attack?
LIEBERMANN: I don't know that I've necessarily compare it and say it's worse or it's better in terms of the risk of escalation, but it's clear the US is still watching it and considers that there is very much a risk of escalation. The US has, ever since October 7th, tried to separate Gaza and the war there from the rest of the region, but has been almost completely unsuccessful in doing so, and it's because many of these Iranian proxies and other groups are acting in solidarity with the Palestinian people. The Houthi rebels in Yemen, another Iranian proxy, have said that explicitly as they tried to go after ships with some link to Israel. And that's specifically why, in the Red Sea, the US has built up this multinational task force.
[15:05:13]
Now, it has worked to some extent, even as they intercept a large barrage just a couple days ago fire from the Houthis in Yemen. Maersk, one of the largest shipping companies, said they would resume operations in the Red Sea.
But still, Paula, as you pointed out, a number of the companies say they're not comfortable with that proposition just yet, and they'll stay away from now. They, too -- global shipping -- understands the risk of escalation in the region where everything, frankly, looks like it's far more intertwined than the US wants it to be right now.
NEWTON: Yes, absolutely. And given, you know, how bold those Houthi rebels in Yemen seem to be at this point in their posture, it will be an interesting region to watch in the days and weeks to come.
Oren Liebermann for us at the Pentagon, really appreciate it.
Meantime, Israel's military leaders say the war with Hamas won't end anytime soon. The chief of staff for the IDF said Tuesday the fight will continue for, quote, "many more months." He says Israel is close to its goal of dismantling Hamas in northern Gaza and is now concentrating more on the southern part of the territory. And I want to warn you now, we have some alarming new video that's just come in to CNN. We are going to show you a still image, as the video is just too disturbing here.
The footage, which has been circulating on social media, you see it there -- that's the still -- appears to show Palestinian men and at least two children stripped down, as you can see there, to their underwear while in IDF detention. CNN is unable to confirm where the video was shot. There was CNN geolocation shows it was filmed in Yarmouk Stadium in Gaza City.
CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment, but has not yet heard back. In the past, though, the IDF has said it has stripped detainees to ensure they were not carrying explosives.
Elliott Gotkine is with us now from Tel Aviv. And, Elliott, obviously, as you said, disturbing images just given the vulnerable position that those men, but crucially, children are in, we did not receive any kind of comment from the IDF. But we do note there are comments in the past. And yet, this is obviously going to raise questions about their tactics in Gaza right now and, you know, the accusations that it's heavy-handed on all fronts.
ELLIOTT GOTKINE, CNN JOURNALIST: Paula, I think Israel, as you say, has come out and said in the past, because this isn't the first time we've seen images like that, although I don't recall images of young boys being in previous ones that we've seen, that this is to prevent the risk that the people coming out, surrendering or coming in for questioning or being detained are not carrying explosives that could threaten Israeli soldiers.
So I don't think, you know, Israel will make any apologies necessary for doing what it has -- we believe, it has done in that particular stadium. And presumably, this is not, as I say, the first time that we've seen these kinds of images and won't be the last because in this war zone -- that is the Gaza Strip right now -- Israel and the IDF feels that it's up against an enemy that is completely embedded within the civilian population, that it's impossible to tell who is a militant and poses a potential threat and who is not. And that is why it is taking those precautions. That is the IDF's perspective.
But as we say, we've heard from the chief of the general staff about this war potentially lasting for several months, obviously, there's pressure to kind of reduce the intensity of this phase of war from these, you know, strikes from the air, land, and sea to make it much more focused on a higher value Hamas targets. And that was one of the main topics of conversation that Ron Dermer, who's a member of the war cabinet, one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's closest allies, that was one of the topics of conversation that he had on Tuesday with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. So that is very much something that is being discussed.
Israel has made some moves to factor in what it's being asked to do by the US, such as opening the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza to allow humanitarian aid to go directly from Israel to the Gaza Strip, something it said initially that it wouldn't do.
And we heard from just Mark Regev, one of the government spokespeople earlier on CNN, saying that civilian casualties are going down. But at least according to the Hamas-run health ministry, death toll now in Gaza since the start of this war nearing 21,000 and says most of those are women and children, although it doesn't distinguish between combatants and civilians -- Paula.
NEWTON: Yes. As Mark Regev have said, going down, but still aid groups point out too high in any kind of situation. Elliott Gotkine for us from Tel Aviv. Thank you so much.
Now, fighting is intensifying, meantime, in Ukraine, while there was a dramatic airstrike on a Russian naval ship on Tuesday. This new video we see here captured the moment of explosion after Ukraine claimed to hit the vessel in Crimea. Meantime, Russia has launched attacks in eastern and southern Ukraine.
[15:10:05]
CNN's Fred Pleitgen has our update now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Russia's most recent claimed battlefield victory driving Ukrainian forces to the outskirts of Marinka on the eastern front. The prize, though, dust and rubble as the vicious fighting has turned the town into a wasteland. Still, Russia's defense minister claiming this is significant progress for Moscow.
(SERGEI SHOIGU speaking in foreign language.)
PLEITGEN (voice over): "The Russian army is constantly taking more favorable positions and expanding controlled territories in all directions," he said. "We are consistently moving forward, achieving the stated goals of the special operation."
Russia says its forces are now pressing in the entire east, looking to encircle the Ukrainians in Avdiivka, increasingly laying waste to that city as well, Ukrainian authorities still operating their show.
(UNIDENTIFIED MALE speaking in foreign language.)
PLEITGEN (voice over): "We have been bringing humanitarian aid and food here for a long time," he says. "People have already left. I hope there were no casualties. This is what Avdiivka looks like. There's nothing here."
Kyiv says the Russian army is suffering catastrophic losses during their assaults, but Ukraine's military also acknowledges their own large-scale counteroffensive started this summer has essentially stalled, a situation compounded by severe ammo shortages.
Ukraine desperately hoping Congress will end its impasse and greenlight for their US military aid after months of delays. Ukraine's top general, in a rare press conference, says he's confident the assistance will come, and that on the whole foreign military help for Ukraine has made a huge difference.
(GEN. VALERY ZALUZHNY speaking in foreign language.)
PLEITGEN (voice over): "We have rather ambitious goals in 2023," he says. "I was not disappointed by the level of assistance in 2023. Of course, it was not everything, but it allowed us to conduct confident military operations."
While gains on the ground remain incremental for both sides, the air war continues. Russian missiles and drones striking in Kherson and in Odessa, killing two people.
And Moscow now admits Kyiv's air force managed to strike a large Russian landing ship, but only vaguely says the vessel suffered damage. Ukraine, though, claims the ship and its cargo were completely destroyed.
(YURII IHNAT speaking in foreign language.)
PLEITGEN (voice over): "Footage on air now is impressive indeed," the air force spokesman says. "A warship was destroyed, most likely a warship with a set of ammunition, powerful ammo."
A key strike for Ukraine, but on the frontlines, the war grinds on in the harsh eastern European winter. Little territory changing hands, but many soldiers on both sides killed and wounded. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin. (END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: The US Secretary of State is in Mexico, asking for more help controlling the surge of migrants trying to crossing into the United States. A closer look at the new request and the situation on that border. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:15:12]
NEWTON: State Supreme Court of Michigan has rejected an effort to move Donald Trump from the state's primary ballot. Now, Trump's critics have been trying to disqualify him over his role in the January 6th attack on the US capitol. About a week ago, Colorado Supreme Court did the opposite, ruling Trump is ineligible there. The Colorado court cited the Constitution's insurrection clause, but that decision has since been paused pending appeal.
CNN's Marshall Cohen joins us now from Washington DC with more on the case and what it might mean for the presidential race. Marshall, I'm glad that you're on this because it's been hard for legal analysts -- never mind voters -- to try and understand where any of this is leading. Does the Michigan case offer any more clarity?
MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: Well, not really, Paula, unfortunately, because now we've got a decision in Michigan, the opposite decision in Colorado. Everyone pretty much agrees that the final decision is going to be up to the United States Supreme Court. But notably, Trump has not yet filed his appeal of the Colorado decision, but it's expected. So clarity is needed.
But the news today, as you mentioned at the top, is that the Michigan Supreme Court went and affirmed the decision from lower courts in Michigan to reject this 14th Amendment challenge. Remember, after the civil war here in the US, the members of Congress passed the 14th Amendment. And one of the provisions of that amendment says that anybody who's sworn oath to uphold the constitution and then engage in insurrection is banned from office.
But enforcing that ban in a 21st century context has proved very challenging. Of course, it is a novel legal effort.
So the Michigan justices said that this was not the right venue, that the courts are not the right place for this. They upheld the decision from a trial judge there that said Congress needs to weigh in. Let me read for you something that one of the justices said this morning in her ruling. It's very notable that she went out of her way to make this point.
She said, "I would affirm the Court of Appeals' ruling on this issue, which still allows the appellants to renew their legal effort as to the Michigan general election later in 2024 should Trump become the Republican nominee." What that means is that, okay, these challenges have been rejected for now in a bunch of states, including Michigan, but in those same states, Michigan -- Minnesota, too -- Trump can be challenged again for the general if he's lucky enough to win the Republican nomination.
And it sounds like that might be exactly what the challengers in Michigan want to do. One of their lead attorneys, Mark Brewer, said in the statement that "the decision is disappointing, but we will continue, at a later stage, to seek to uphold this critical constitutional provision designed to protect our republic."
So a huge win for Donald Trump today in the critical battleground state of Michigan, but he suffered a huge loss last week in Colorado. And everyone, as I said, is waiting for the Supreme Court to possibly get involved and provide some guidance for the entire nation on this critical question of who is and isn't eligible to be president of the United States.
NEWTON: Yes, key point there is possibly weigh in for the Supreme Court. People are waiting to see when and likely if, although I'm not sure they're going to be able to sidestep this one. Thanks so much, really appreciate that legal update.
Now, the US Secretary of State is in Mexico at this hour. Antony Blinken has been holding talks with the Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. The pair are set to discuss the near record number of migrants trying to enter the US from Mexico.
US Homeland Security Secretary, meantime, Alejandro Mayorkas, is also part of the US delegation. The US is asking Mexico to help drive down that number.
Meantime, there was a slight drop -- we say slight drop -- in the number of migrant encounters reported Tuesday, but officials say the surge is still stretching resources. And we get all of that information from our Rosa Flores, who is at her post at Eagle Pass Texas, on the border.
Rosa, I know how carefully and closely you've been watching all of this. You have told us before, right, Mexico is key in controlling who arrives at the US southern border. I mean, what kind of real progress are White House officials looking for, given this ask has happened before, right? They had been, at this point, asking Mexico to help with this kind of a surge.
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And you know the story very well to, Paula. And we've seen this before. You're exactly right. There have been prior migrant surges, and the same things happened.
There are talks between the US and Mexico. Usually, officials from the White House go to Mexico City. They talk for a bit, and then we see those numbers go down.
[15:20:05]
So what does that actually mean in practice? What we've seen, and what I have heard from sources, and once those talks -- and sometimes what happens is my phone rings and I get to hear what's going on in some areas of the northern border of Mexico. Sometimes, what happens and what we have seen in the past is that Mexico ups enforcement. So there will actually be more feet on the ground -- more boots on the ground -- on the Mexican side. Now, that provides an enforcement for the border that then stems the flow of individuals coming to the United States.
The other thing that we've seen Mexico do in the past is also control the railways. As you know, that migrants use La Bestia, the train system in Mexico, to travel from southern Mexico to northern Mexico and end up in towns like the ones that you see behind me, Piedras Negras, Mexico. That's how they get here very quickly, atop of these trains. And so, Mexico has also controlled the access that migrants have on these trains.
And these are some of the things that the White House has signaled that Antony Blinken is going to be asking Mexico's president. And that includes a control of their railways -- for Mexico to have more control of their railways, for Mexico also to provide incentives to these migrants so that they can stay in Mexico, perhaps, with visas -- things like that. They're hoping that Mexico does something because, Paula, as you know, what Mexico does or doesn't do directly impacts the number of migrants that then US authorities have to deal with -- Paula.
NEWTON: Rosa, we also know, as you've been covering, the fact that this is a lot of hardship right now for those border communities. What more are they telling us?
FLORES: You know, there's a lot of frustration in border communities like Eagle Pass, where I am right now. Just to give you a sense of what's happening, if you look over my shoulder, you see a bridge.
If you're an American, if you live in this border town, and normally, you cross back and forth to see family or you go to a restaurant in Mexico and then come back, right now, the wait time, it's 15 hours. On a bad day, people here in Eagle Pass tell me that it'll be two or three hours if there's a lot of activity, but 15 hours. And so, regular Americans really don't have access to their international bridge right now because to deal with the migrant crisis, one of the things that the Biden administration has done is that they closed several ports of entry, and that includes one of two bridges here in Eagle Pass, Texas.
Now, here's the other part of the story. You look behind me over my right shoulder, you see this empty field. Just last week, there were thousands of migrants that were -- they're waiting to be transported to processing facilities.
Now, the US government, the federal government, has gotten really good at something called "decompression." What that means is that when there's a migrant surge, they move migrants from an area that is overcapacity to an area that has space. And they've gotten a lot of practice because there's been a lot of migrant surges.
And so, if you see behind me, if you're a migrant who has crossed illegally into the United States here through Eagle Pass Texas, you're being moved very quickly. You don't see anybody behind me. And that's for a reason. The United States is trying to surge resources, not just personnel, but also transportation resources, vans, buses, that sort of thing, so that they can move these migrants to an area where they can be processed very quickly.
But, Paula, even though the scene looks better, it's improved from last week, the US Customs and Border Protection says that they're not out of the woods yet. It's back to what you were saying at the beginning. If your house is flooded and you've been flooded for -- you've been flooded about five feet, if the water level drops two, three inches, your house is still flooded.
NEWTON: Yes.
FLORES: And so that's what we're seeing on the US southern border. The numbers might have dropped a little bit, but that doesn't mean that they're still not overwhelmed -- Paula.
NEWTON: Yes, especially given the numbers that you say are waiting still on the Mexican side of the border. Rosa Flores for us -- live for us on that border crossing. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.
Now, an unprecedented media battle is brewing between "The New York Times" and the firms behind ChatGPT. The famed newspaper announced Wednesday that it is suing OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement. It says the tech giants used millions of "Times" articles to train ChatGPT and other AI models without compensation.
Other big media firms, like the Associated Press and German publisher Axel Springer have reached licensing deals with OpenAI for use of their data, but "The New York Times" has not been able to reach a deal. This is the first such lawsuit of its kind by a major news publisher. It will be watched closely, as you can imagine, by both media and the tech world.
[15:25:05]
Microsoft and OpenAI have not commented on the suit, but they have said in the past that news articles can be accessed under, quote, "fair use provisions."
Now, for more on the gray lady seeing red, I'm joined by Noam Shemtov, Professor of Intellectual Property and Technology Law at Queen Mary University in London. And glad to have you with us for your insights. Can you outline for us the basis of this case?
You know, "The New York Times" alleges its news was used to train AI, teach it to actually think and feed off of that intellectual property, which "The New York Times" says is not free to use.
NOAM SHEMTOV, PROFESSOR: Yes, well, thank you for having me. And in essence, ChatGPT, so that's the OpenAI's chatbot, is an AI language model that without going into the fine details of the technology that underpins it, it uses or it identifies patterns from a huge or vast amount of data, and then it employs those patterns in its output as a chatbot.
Now, sorry, in "New York Times," a complaint appears to focus on the input that is the content that is created by "New York Times" and is being used for training, rather than the output, which is generated by OpenAI or by ChatGPT. And for most intents and purposes, or in most cases, the use of copyrighted material in the training of chatbots is likely to involve copyright infringement, not because it uses about copyright infringement, but because it use -- involves the creation of copies, so machine copying in the creation of those vast datasets. And this is where the dispute -- what the dispute is all about.
NEWTON: Interesting. I want to talk to you about the dollar figure here because the lawsuit doesn't pin it down to a certain number of damages, but what's at stake in revenue terms? You know, is this a legal tactic? Meaning, they are doing this, launching this lawsuit so that they have a stronger hand when it comes to asking for that compensation.
SHEMTOV: I think this is quite likely. But what is also likely is that that would give them a stronger hand in negotiating a license, which is more to their liking with OpenAI.
Now, when I look at, admittedly, this early stage, the little details that we have, it appears that "The New York Times" focuses -- if I'm actually going to your article is focusing on the fact that it uses its data in order to ultimately compete with "The New York Times." And this is where the connection to fair use, I believe, is being made because OpenAI claims that the use or the complaint is the contested use is fair use.
One of the things that I can see "New York Times" doing here is trying to preempt that by focusing on one of the four factors of fair use, which is the nature and character of the contested use. And if it is commercial in nature, then that would weigh against finding of fair use.
And interestingly, this is even more so in light of a very recent Supreme Court case of May 2023 of Warhol versus Goldsmith, a very different fact of the matter ...
NEWTON: Right, but still involving intellectual property.
SHEMTOV: ... but fair -- it -- absolutely. And where the Supreme Court seems to focus on the commercial nature of the complaint use, hence "The New York Times" focusing here on OpenAI competing with it, and that's ...
NEWTON: Right.
SHEMTOV: ... I believe that this is a ...
NEWTON: Which -- yes ...
SHEMTOV: Yes.
NEWTON: ... which may be a fair argument at this point, and then we'll see what happens in court given that the valuation of some of these AI companies.
Professor Noam Shemtov, we'll have to leave it there, but thanks so much.
SHEMTOV: Thank you.
NEWTON: Really appreciate it.
SHEMTOV: Pleasure. Thank you.
NEWTON: Still ahead for us, a popular South Korean actor has been found dead, what police are saying about the death of Parasite actor, Lee Sun-kyun.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:32:55]
NEWTON: Hello, I'm Paula Newton and there is more CNN NEWSROOM in a moment when we'll investigate how unsuspecting victims have been swindled out of millions by scammers in Myanmar.
And the holidays are nearly over but for some bookworms, the most wonderful time of the year is just beginning. We'll head to Iceland, where they're celebrating the annual book flood.
But before that, these are the headlines for this hour.
The office of special counsel Jack Smith is asking a U.S. federal court to prevent Donald Trump from politicizing his upcoming trial on charges he tried to overturn the 2020 election. The counsel says the former president should not be allowed to air, quote, "irrelevant disinformation and partisan attacks in an attempt to distract the jury."
The man called a founding father of the euro has died. Jacques Delors, was president of the European Commission from 1985-1994. He was a major proponent of the E.U.'s single currency project. French president Emmanuel Macron says Delors served as an inexhaustible architect of our Europe. He was 98 years old.
A U.S. federal court has temporarily blocked a sweeping import ban on Apple's latest smart watches. Apple had filed an emergency request to halt the ban as it appeals the U.S. agency's decision that its top-of- the-line watches violate the patents of a medical technology company.
The White House declined to get involved in the dispute, instead allowing the ban to take effect. Cheaper models of the Apple watch are unaffected.
So it's a sophisticated online scam that's luring thousands of Americans and stealing millions from them. The targets don't find out, unfortunately, until it's far too late. As CNN's Ivan Watson explains, many of the suspects are being forced to take part under slavelike conditions.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please help me, Jessica, please help me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's been a living hell.
IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Northern California, C.Y. is piecing together his life after losing more than $1 million in a crypto scam.
[15:35:00]
C.Y., SCAM VICTIM: I can never forget or forgive myself, losing that kind of money.
WATSON (voice-over): He asked to remain anonymous to protect his family after he lost more than a million to a scam called pig butchering.
It started in October 2021 with a text message from a stranger.
C.Y.: This person texted me out of the blue from WhatsApp.
WATSON: What was the name of the person you were communicating with?
C.Y.: She claims her name was Jessica.
WATSON (voice-over): The two quickly became friends. She shared photos and C.Y. talked about the pain of caring for his dying father. After nearly a month, the conversation turns to money.
C.Y.: She started to introduce me to cryptocurrency. Trading gold using cryptocurrency.
WATSON (voice-over): Jessica showed C.Y. how to invest, by installing a trading app on his phone that he says looked legit.
C.Y.: Around this point is when she was instructing me or showing me how to deposit my money to crypto currency.
WATSON: You thought in just a matter of weeks you doubled your money?
C.Y.: Yes.
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.
C.Y.: I logged back in. The account is gone. What the heck had happened?
What did I do?
That's 30 years of my life -- in my life, building up this -- this wealth.
WATSON (voice-over): Panicking, C.Y. begged Jessica for help. C.Y.: Please, help me. I don't know what else I can do. I don't have any more money. I cannot buy anything else. I lost everything.
WATSON (voice-over): But Jessica disappeared and probably never even existed.
SPECIAL AGENT JAMES BARNACLE, FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION: This is the professionalization of fraud services.
WATSON (voice-over): The FBI says it's seen exponential growth in losses due to pig butchering scams.
BARNACLE: The bad guys are getting good and we're getting better.
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're learning about the conditions inside, that some people who work 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?
RAKESH (PH), SCAMMER SLAVE: 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 I.T. 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?
RAKESH (PH): 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.
RAKESH (PH): Like, they were 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 Clara Simonov (ph), Rakesh (ph) flirted online with potential targets.
RAKESH (PH): Seventy percent to 80 percent fell -- fall for fake love.
WATSON (voice-over): Rakesh (ph) shows secretly-filmed images of what, at first glance, seems to be an ordinary office. But he says the bosses routinely punished workers, forcing them to do hundreds of squats and beating them if they didn't produce.
WATSON: And you've helped rescue people who are trapped inside, behind the barbed wire --
(CROSSTALK)
MECHELLE MOORE, AID WORKER: Yes.
WATSON: -- of that very compound?
MOORE: Yes.
WATSON (voice-over): Mechelle Moore is one of a group of aid workers based in Thailand, who have helped rescue hundreds of victims of trafficking, like Rakesh (ph), over the last 18 months. She drives me along the border.
MOORE: There, there's 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.
TAWEE SODSONG, THAI JUSTICE MINISTER (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.
[15:40:06]
So for now, it looks like no one is going to stop this poisonous cycle of exploitation -- Ivan Watson, CNN, on the Thai border with Myanmar.
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NEWTON: Korean cinema fans are mourning today after the death of Lee Sun-kyun. The actor, known for his role in the movie, "Parasite," has been found dead in Seoul. CNN's Hanako Montgomery now with more from Hong Kong.
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HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Loved at home and abroad, Lee Sun-kyun's sudden death has shocked his fans around the world. The 48 -year old actor, who was known globally for starring in the Oscar winning movie, "Parasite," was found dead in his car on Wednesday.
South Korean police believe Lee died by suicide. We also know that police have been investigating Lee since October for illegal drug use, allegations the actor repeatedly denied. Lee instead claimed he was tricked into taking drugs and then blackmailed.
He brought a lawsuit against the alleged blackmailer, according to South Korean police. Authorities questioned Lee three times over his alleged drug use, most recently, on December 23rd, when he was questioned for 19 hours and released on Christmas Eve.
Throughout the investigation, Lee's drug tests repeatedly came back negative. On social media, fans have been paying tribute to the star, whose career spanned two decades. In the United States, news of his death was a top trending topic on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
Lee first shot to international fame in 2019, starring as Park Dong- ik, the father of the wealthy Park family in "Parasite." The film went down in Hollywood history, becoming the first non-English language film to take home an Oscar for Best Picture.
It also won in three other categories. A funeral for Lee will be held quietly, according to local media, with (INAUDIBLE) family members and colleagues in attendance -- Hanako Montgomery, CNN, Hong Kong.
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NEWTON: Still ahead for us, you may want to think twice before ringing up your Icelandic friends this holiday season. There's a very good chance you'll be interrupting a very special Christmas tradition involving books. You'll hear all about it after the break.
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NEWTON: All week, Call to Earth is turning the spotlight on French Polynesia and an organization working to restore coral reef ecosystems around the globe. Titouan Bernicot started Coral Gardeners in 2017 when he was just 18
years old as part of the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative. The association is on a mission to plant 1 million corals worldwide by the end of 2025, a strategy that they have dubbed Odyssey 2025.
[15:45:03]
Here's a look at the progress.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): This is Tiaia, one of three permanent ocean-based coral nurseries in Moorea. As coral gardeners, both by company name and by profession, these sites are at the core of what they do on a daily basis.
TITOUAN BERNICOT, FOUNDER, CORAL GARDENERS (voice-over): Coral gardening is the coolest thing on Earth. You are underwater. There is nobody talking. You will hear the sound of the parrot fish like -- the noise of the waves.
You have those thousands of little coral fragments. And you have the fish. They become your coworkers. It's something so tangible. It's such a rewarding feeling to see your tiny coral fragments growing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): First on the days to-do list is installing new underwater foundations, a task assigned to gardeners, Lowek (ph) and Johann (ph).
BERNICOT (voice-over): I think that is the most physical part.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Meanwhile, team members, Hannah (ph) and Salome collect data from the nearly 6,000 pieces growing in this part of the nursery alone.
SALOME CHAUVELOT, CORAL GARDENER (voice-over): We are looking at the overall health of each fragment for signs of degradation or disease and bleaching signs as well. And then the last part is out of all the corals that are growing, we have some sample that we follow and monitor for growth.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Right now is also outplanting season, meaning there are healthy and heat-resilient coral ready to be relocated back onto the damaged reef.
BERNICOT (voice-over): Well, as we learn my very mowdy day (ph) and we are planting those beautiful (INAUDIBLE) corals. That is the pinky (ph) coral. We were shooting the right spots, removing the algaes, placing the big mother colony of coral from -- coming from our nurseries.
And then using the coral clips to attach them, the marine cements (ph). And it is really satisfying.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): And the cycle continues by refilling the nursery.
BERNICOT (voice-over): (INAUDIBLE) some corals?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Yes.
BERNICOT (voice-over): So right now we are at the donor site, that's the place where we are collecting segments of corals coming from big mother colony that are more resilient.
It survived through all the last bleaching events. And the plan right now is that we're going to place all the -- all the ropes in the coral nursery.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): To preserve the health of the colony, they will take no more than 10 percent.
BERNICOT (voice-over): Then I will treat the coral rope. That is the process of coral gardening. We have (INAUDIBLE), nursery number two, rope number one. That's how we do all the scientific monitoring here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): And they say on average it will take 12 to 18 months for those fragments to grow big and healthy enough to make it back onto the nearby reef.
BERNICOT (voice-over): And there you go.
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BERNICOT (voice-over): It was our dream one day to have a job where you get paid to be on the water and taking care of the place we love the most. And we just made it happen.
It was not a job. But now it is real. Maurite (ph), Teijano (ph), Tejas (ph), Salome, they are living proof that, today, you can be paid to do something meaningful and that ocean conservation is not obliged to be a part-time job, only volunteering.
You can wake up every morning with one single priority and focus: how to save the most important place on Earth.
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NEWTON: Gorgeous, isn't it?
Be sure to watch CNN's half-hour special, "Call to Earth: Reviving the Reef." It airs this Saturday at 11:30 am in London, 3:30 pm right here, Abu Dhabi time. We'll be right back.
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NEWTON: Technically, she doesn't run a major company or country but "Time" magazine's person of the year has enjoyed the best year of any business leader in recent memory.
Taylor Swift's North American shows alone are expected to bring in billions in revenue, making her concert tour the highest grossing of all time. CNN's Anna Stewart has more on Swift's blockbuster year.
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TAYLOR SWIFT, SINGER: Welcome to the Eras Tour.
ANNA STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She's certainly not the anti-hero of 2023.
SWIFT (singing): It's me. Hi. I'm the problem, it's me.
A. STEWART (voice-over): In fact, she's "TIME" Person of the Year.
Even in Taylor Swift's wildest dreams, it would 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're about to go on a little adventure together. That adventure is going to spend 17 years of music.
A. STEWART (voice-over): In March, Swift embarked on a record-breaking worldwide tour. It's 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 her 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, APPLE MUSIC HOST: There isn't an artist on the planet is achieved so much in the calendar year and we at Apple Music, we felt the same way.
And there was just no denying that, you know, what she's achieved over the last 12 months, in my lifetime at least, from a productivity and equality point of view, is sort of unprecedented.
A. STEWART (voice-over): Bloomberg says Swift became a billionaire in October. And Swift-fluence spread beyond music this year, the artist was spotted not on the bleachers but in a box, as she debuted a new relationship with Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce.
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 unbelievable. 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 over her whole career.
A. STEWART: Do you think we have now hit peak Taylor Swift?
LOWE: If Taylor Swift has proven anything, even to people who don't listen to her music, it's that she will not stop creating at the highest level. So no, only Taylor will decide, you know, how and where she moves.
When she comes back, like every other time, she'll be dedicated and committed to it. That's the one thing I really appreciate about Taylor Swift, is when she comes out with a record or a tour, she's all in.
A. STEWART (voice-over): The Eras Tour continues through 2024. So we all know all too well that it will probably be another year of Swift success -- Anna Stewart, CNN, London.
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NEWTON: Now all parts of the U.S. dig out from this week's snowstorms, China is witnessing a historic wave of frigid temperatures, setting records in Beijing. Here's CNN's Marc Stewart.
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MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: China has been shivering through bitter and biting cold.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it is the coldest winter in the past 20 years.
M. STEWART: For around two weeks the Chinese capital has seen sub-zero temps, the longest cold snap here since records began in 1951.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The temperatures very low.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have to wear this kind of clothes for this weather.
M. STEWART: By bike and by foot it is a struggle to stay warm in this megacity.
[15:55:00]
This is what's 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.
This man showed us his home and how he keeps warm.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We use electric heating.
M. STEWART: Even though the government helps to pay the bill for some families it can still be a lot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 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.
M. STEWART: 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 force 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.
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NEWTON: All right, there are just moments left to trade on Wall Street. We'll have the final numbers and the closing bell, right after this.
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NEWTON: The closing bell, yes, that is about to sound on Wall Street. Major averages, though, were little changed. The bulls were hoping to see a record high for the S&P today but yes it will have to wait.
There are just two more trading days left in 2023 and Wall Street will remind you it is riding its longest weekly winning streak since, get, this 2017 with the S&P up some 25 percent this year. That is absolutely extraordinary.
But right, now not in record territory. We know the markets really want to try to hit that record before the end of the year. Given the slim trade, we'll have to wait and see if it can actually reach it.
Right now, as you see there, the Dow up a 0.25 percent, not bad on this kind of a slim trading day. We want to look at some of those Dow components. Some of the big winners of the session include Walmart, biotech firm Amgen, Travelers Insurance, Caterpillar. Apple shares, you can imagine under some pressure.
[16:00:02]
That said, a reminder that a U.S. appeals court on Wednesday temporarily blocked the U.S. import ban on Apple smart watches.
That is pending an appeal, that does not mean they are out of the woods yet, though, given that court case. I will, also say as you see, there a lot of positive territory. But on thin volume, this will be a bit of difficult issue for the markets in the day to come.
Listen, tomorrow, we're going to have something for you called jolabokaflod. I'll tell you tomorrow what that's about. In the meantime, that's it for this edition of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Paula Newton. That closing bell has rung. "THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER" starts right now.
