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Kim Jong-Un Orders North Korean Military to Ramp Up War Preparations; Major Carriers Reroute Ships From Red Sea After Houthi Attacks; Legal Victory for Trump in Michigan, Michigan Supreme Court Keeps Trump on Primary Ballot; Former EU Commission President Jacques Delors Dead at 98; New York Times Sues OpenAI, Microsoft in Landmark Lawsuit; SpaceX Aims to Blanket Globe With High-speed Wi-Fi. Aired 2- 3a ET
Aired December 28, 2023 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[02:00:25]
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Eleni Giokos in London and just ahead. Fears of a widening war in the Middle East, Israel warning if Hezbollah doesn't pull back from Israel's northern border, the IDF will push them back.
A top-level meeting in Mexico as U.S. officials look for a solution to easing the crisis at the southern border.
And a CNN investigation inside the underground world of dogfighting. How a vicious disturbing practice thought to be in decline is now thriving.
And we begin with a warning from Israel's foreign ministry as tensions along the country's northern border with Lebanon intensify. The ministry says failure to implement U.N. resolution 1701 could lead to war in Lebanon. That resolution called for the cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah following the 2006 Lebanon War and the withdrawal of troops from a demilitarized zone.
That morning coming after the Israeli Foreign Minister rather visited the border. And as new shelling is reported on Wednesday, Hezbollah claimed a targeted and Israeli border city with 30 Katyusha rockets. The attack Hezbollah says was in response to earlier IDF airstrikes on a Lebanese village and Israeli war cabinet member now saying time is running out to reach a diplomatic solution to the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENNY GANTZ, ISRAELI MINISTER (through translator): The situation on Israel's northern border demands change. The stopwatch for a diplomatic solution is running out. If the world and the Lebanese government don't act in order to prevent the firing on Israel's northern residents and to distance Hezbollah from the border, the IDF will do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: And just one day after Israel's military chief said forces are concentrating their efforts in southern Gaza, reports of deadly strikes in the city of Khan Yunis. The Palestine Red Crescent Society said dozens of people have been killed after IDF shelling near a hospital on Wednesday.
CNN's Will Ripley is following those developments for us from Tel Aviv. We want to warn you some of the images in his reports are hard to watch.
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WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTENATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Smoke rises over southern Gaza haunting from a distance. Horrifying up close. Video obtained by CNN showing a sidewalk covered in blood and bodies. Men, women, children, at least 20 dead from yet another Israeli airstrike this time near a hospital, the Hamas-controlled health ministry says. CNN is not able to independently verify the staggering death toll around 21,000 and rising.
The wounded rushed to Al-Amal Hospital. One of a handful still operating. In the parking lot pandemonium. Doctors and nurses already overwhelmed, scrambling to save lives. An international team of surgeons gaining access to emergency rooms on life support.
Doctors warn supplies are running dangerously low. Severely limiting treatment of trauma patients. Some dying as they wait for urgent care. Civilian casualties climbing fast more than 55,000 injured since October 7th. The Hamas health ministry says inside a crowded medical tent in Jabalia, Palestinian Red Crescent medics treating a tidal wave of patients. Wounded women and children many injuries horrific.
The pile of body bags growing by the hour. At times the dead seem to outnumber the living. Naval ships comb the coast as drones hover overhead documenting the destruction explosion after explosion. The IDF targeting tunnels used by Hamas fighters hitting both military and civilian infrastructure. The Israeli offensive in Gaza showing no signs of easing up Israel's goal to root out Hamas leaders.
An edited video circulating on social media appears to show Palestinian men and at least two children detained. Stripped by the Israel Defense Forces in a stadium in northern Gaza. The fighting is fierce, the offensive expected to translate shift into a slower intensity mobile campaign, soon Israel says.
[02:05:05]
The question haunting Israeli leaders, will the change in strategy be effective? Will it neutralize Hamas' military power? Israeli artillery hitting a U.N.-run School in Central Gaza, leaving holes in the walls, blood on the floors. Next to the sleeping mats of displaced families. At this school in Rafah, some of those families crowded into classrooms, sharing what little food and water they have. Supplies are running low after 10 long weeks of war.
The Palestinian Prime Minister says Israel is starving people to death. This teacher's lesson, a welcome distraction for children surrounded by suffering and death, trying to find some semblance of a normal life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RIPLEY (on camera): But a normal life may prove elusive for the children of Gaza for many months, if not years, or even decades to come. That's how long it could take some of these communities to rebuild after the just extensive devastation that has surrounded them. And back to that video that appears to show in addition to Palestinian men being stripped to their underwear, at least two children.
That edited video CNN cannot independently verify when it was taken. It was posted on Christmas Eve. But we did geo locate it. It did happen in Gaza and the IDF has said in the past that they strip people down because they need to check them for explosives. And in fact, within the last week or so, the IDF said that it found among other weapons in Gaza explosive vests modified to fit children.
Will Ripley, CNN, Tel Aviv.
GIOKOS: And with me now from Gaza, we've got Sean Casey, emergency medical teams coordinator with the World Health Organization. Sean, thank you so much for taking the time today. I know that you are in Rafah right now. We've just seen these very difficult images coming out from Gaza. And frankly, across the board. I want to start off with the northern part of Gaza. You visited hospitals there. Could you give me a sense of what you saw?
And we keep hearing how dire the situation is? Could you -- could you perhaps paint a clearer picture of the needs right now?
SEAN CASEY, EMERGENCY MEDICAL TEAMS COORDINATOR, WHO: Thanks, Eleni. It's difficult to put into words how dire the situation is, particularly in the north, where there's huge amounts of food insecurity. The hospitals are on their knees, barely functioning, huge numbers of patients coming in every single day. And a very small number of staff. Staff have been -- health workers have been detained, some of them have been displaced.
Some of them are unable to access the hospital safely. So, the last time I was in Al Shifa Hospital which is the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip, there were five or six doctors and five or six nurses caring for hundreds of patients with -- many with very severe injuries. And everywhere we go, everybody's asking for food. Everybody's asking for water. So, it's a -- it's a very desperate situation in the North.
And here in the south part of the Gaza Strip where I am. We see more and more internally displaced persons every day. People driving south in vans riding on donkey parts, setting up camps all over Rafah from -- running for their safety basically. GIOKOS: Look, we've spoken to so many doctors and they keep describing scenarios that are very difficult to imagine and sort of get your head around specifically on embarking on very serious surgeries without anesthesia. Is that still the case? And I asked this because during the truce, we saw more aid going in. But it's always getting to the hospitals. It's that last mile, there has always been a challenge. So, we're still seeing those very difficult scenarios playing out.
CASEY: So, there's some complexity to this. First of all, there's not enough aid getting across Gaza. We're getting some across the border, it's very difficult to get it to the northern areas to the middle area. And so, there are -- our items that are lacking. There's a severe shortage of health workers because so many of them have been displaced. Actually, Gaza has a huge health workforce, but they've now had to resort to spending their time trying to survive and take care of their families that are unable to get to work sometimes because there's so much fighting around the hospital.
And then there's a challenge of the number of patients relative to the number of operating theatres. So, it's not just that there's a lack of medicines or lack of anesthesia, but actually there aren't enough operating theatres, operating rooms to perform the surgeries and there's a lack of specialists to do it. So, in the hospitals that do have operating theatres are running 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and still can't keep pace.
But in the biggest hospitals like Al Shifa in the north, they're not able to do surgery at all. The operating theatres are not functioning. The hospital doesn't have enough power. And IDPs are living inside the hospital. They become safe havens for people who've been displaced.
GIOKOS: Look, and we cannot stress this enough. I mean, doctors keep telling us that they have to make very difficult decisions about who to save and who to assist in the scenario.
[02:10:01]
Nine out of 36 health facilities are still operational. I mean, it gives you a sense of just how deteriorating the situation is right now. But the WHO is trying to work on creating more space in hospitals and increased capacity. You're on the ground, other teams have been on the ground, how far are you getting in terms of increasing capacity at the moment?
CASEY: That's right. So actually, those that are functional are actually partially or minimally functional in some cases. So, it's obvious even if they're really fully there. We just had yesterday, three international emergency medical teams arrived, teams of specialized surgeons, doctors and nurses. We have more that are on the way. There are field hospitals that are being set up.
We're also trying to find ways that we can support the health workforce here in Gaza, the local health workforce, to get back to work safely. It's a combination of those, but we do need more beds, we need more operating theatres, we need more specialists. Unfortunately, there's amputations that are happening that would normally be unnecessary because there's a lack of a vascular surgeon or another specialized surgeon.
So, we're working to bring them in, we had a number of come in yesterday, and we have to have more search support in the coming days, and more beds being set up across Gaza, in Rafah but also in the north, in the coming days and weeks.
GIOKOS: Well, now that the war has moved to the south, give me a sense of what you're seeing in terms of uncertainty and the uncertainty that people face on a day-to-day basis, and how that affects the ability for aid organizations to do their work?
CASEY: So, I think it's important to say the fighting is not only in the south, there's more fighting lately in the south in the Rafah area but it's still happening right across Gaza. And people are -- feel fearful for their lives and their safety right across Gaza. But what we're seeing now in the south, even 30 meters away from me, there's a cap than has spontaneously been set up with people who are displaced.
And in the last two days, we've seen truckloads and truckloads of people fleeing from the north in the middle area because the fighting has intensified and pushed farther south. So, it becomes logistically challenging when we go up to the north, but I go with my colleagues and partners to the north. We have to deal with horrific road conditions, buildings that have been destroyed, that great rubble all over the road, power lines that are down.
Areas where fighting is ongoing and where we're having to change routes, spontaneously because of access constraints. So, it's very difficult and we're dealing with a population that's really desperate. So, anytime people here see any truck, they hope and pray that it's good and they -- and many times rush of the truck and, you know, we're taking medical supplies, once people realize that it's medical supplies, they have to pay the way but the level of desperation is also part of this integration.
GIOKOS: And that's really important. You know, we speak to aid organizations, they were talking about how they're worried about people dying of dehydration. I've even spoken to people that were saying that were scrambling to find pieces of bread and food, despite an increase in aid coming in, is that -- has that scenario been alleviated in any way, in terms of accessibility to water and importantly food as well?
CASEY: It's improving in some cases, but not nearly enough. Particularly in the north, there's just clearly not enough food going in. Here in the south, we've had a huge number of people displaced. Gaza is only 2.2 million people, about 1.9 million of them have been displaced. So, they're setting up their tents. They're setting up new shelters. They're looking for food. There's very little on the market. We're getting more in, but that's been challenging.
But there's not nearly enough food. Most people are skipping meals and everywhere we go, when -- even when I'm in a hospital speaking to somebody with an open fracture with his bone exposed, he's asking me for water or for some food. So, it really indicates the level of desperation and hunger that the Gaza is facing from north to south. GIOKOS: Absolutely. Devastating to watch and also hear these stories. Sean Casey, thank you very much for taking the time and for the work you're doing on the ground there.
And if you'd like information about how you can help humanitarian efforts in Gaza and Israel, you can go to cnn.com/impact. And we've gathered a list of vetted organizations responding to the crisis. That's cnn.com/impacts.
Mexico and the U.S. appear to have reached agreement on ways to deal with a crisis on the shared border. As senior U.S. delegation traveled to Mexico City for talks Wednesday with Mexico's president and other officials. Mexico's top diplomat says the meeting was very good and details on agreements will be announced later in joint statements. The talks come as both U.S. and Mexican governments are under pressure to address an influx of migrants in recent weeks.
CNN's Rose Flores reports.
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ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): as border authorities near a breaking point from the weekslong migrant surge.
[02:15:02]
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas meet with Mexico's president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in Mexico City to discuss ways to drive down the unprecedented number of illegal migrant crossings. The seven- day average earlier this month, 9600. Blinken in and Mayorkas are expected to ask Mexico to move migrants south, control railways that are used by migrants to move north and provide migrants incentives to stay in Mexico like visas.
In Eagle Pass, Texas, although migrant apprehensions dropped from about 3000 daily encounters last week to about 2000 Monday according to a law enforcement source. One of two international bridges are still closed to vehicle traffic to redirect personnel to process migrants. The wait time to cross by car Wednesday afternoon and astounding 15 hours, many Americans who frequently drive back and forth are opting to cross on foot like Minerva Castro.
She says that when she ditched her car in Mexico, she saw a group of about 100 migrants walking towards Eagle Pass, some with children. One Eagle Pass business owner says the migrant surge is tearing the community apart.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But I can tell that tempers are flaring everywhere you go. That's why I'm hoping that there is a peaceful resolution to this crisis.
FLORES (on camera): Would you like to see President Biden visit Eagle Pass?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would very much so. FLORES (voiceover): Texas State Representative Eddie Morales a Democrat who represents residents from 11 West Texas counties along the states border with Mexico says the federal government's ongoing closure of the bridge and the recent five-day closure of the international railway cost the U.S. economy hundreds of millions of dollars.
EDDIE MORALES, TEXAS STATE DEMOCRAT: Every day Texans are the ones that end up suffering.
FLORES (voiceover): Morales says he's hopeful that the top level talks in Mexico City will pave the way for realistic change at the border, but says he would have liked to see Texas Governor Greg Abbott have a seat at the table.
MORALES: We're only going to get there if there's communication between these two countries. And also, with the state of Texas.
FLORES (voiceover): Texas recently passed its own immigration bill and has come under fire for Abbott's border security tactics like busing and flying migrants to blue states, separating migrant families and deploying controversial border buoys and concertina wire. Morales initially supported Abbott's border security push, which has cost billions of dollars, but now says those efforts have fallen short.
MORALES: We have nothing positive to show to our taxpayers for the amount of money that we've invested.
FLORES (on camera): If you take a look behind me, you'll see an open field with no migrants. And you might think that there is no border crisis. Well, here's the thing. The U.S. federal government has gotten really good at something called decompression because they've had a lot of practice. That's when migrants that are in an area that is overcapacity are transported to an area that has processing space.
Now when it comes to the talks in Mexico City, one of the things that I'll be looking for as a possible clue for the outcome of those talks is the posture of law enforcement on the Mexican side of the border.
Rosa Flores, CNN, Eagle Pass, Texas.
GIOKOS: U.S. House Democrats Henry Cuellar spoke to CNN about the migrant crisis. His district includes a portion of the U.S. border with Mexico and he says he hopes any new agreements between the U.S. and Mexico include an immediate plan of action.
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REP. HENRY CUELLAR (D-TX): I'm hoping that what they finalize will be something that we can use and we can use right away. I'll tell you this, when the Mexican stop people on their southern border with Guatemala is that number slowed down. It's just a straightforward thing. They got to do their job on the Mexican side. The only problem is that the Mexicans don't want to be seen doing Americans dirty job that is stopping migrants over there. They got their own internal politics like we have our own politics also in the U.S. ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: So, as we wait and as we watch, I'm sure you are hearing so much of this. And you know, we have spoken a number of times over the years. Last night I spoke with the mayor of Eagle Pass, Texas who says frankly, they just feel forgotten by the federal government. Take a listen.
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ROLANDO SALINAS, EAGLES PASS, TEXAS MAYOR: Our city here in Eagle Pass, we've been getting slammed with two to 3000 people a day. And it's just an unfair, unethical situation. What's going on here in Eagle Pass, we feel ignored by the federal government.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: As I understand it, it's been nearly a year since January since you had a real substantive conversation with the President about immigration. Do you also feel ignored by the administration?
CUELLAR: Well, I think for many years, I don't think they've listened to people that live here at the border and understand the border. I think the mayor from Eagle Pass is right. I mean, you know what they're doing is just processing people. They get people from Eagle Pass or Rio, send them over there to San Antonio flying from San Antonio into the interior of the U.S. We're good at processing people but we got to go back to what work.
If you look at the number of straightforward for the last 25 years, for the last 25 years when somebody goes in front of the immigration judge 13 percent will be accepted and the rest will be rejected.
[02:20:06]
So, why are we processing hundreds of thousands of people where at the end of the day, which I'm talking about four or five years from now, they're not going to be accepted. So, I agree, you know, the border has been ignored. They're listening too much to the immigration activists. The White House, and a lot of members of Congress in the Senate listen to the immigration advocates but who's listening to the border communities?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: U.S. House Democrats Henry Cuellar speaking there with CNN. Now, the Congressmen also warns that if the migration issue isn't seriously addressed, the Democratic Party will lose support from voters.
And still ahead, a new batch of Ukraine aid gets the green light. But with the funding fight in Washington, there's no guarantee when the next one will be coming.
Plus, strong storms lash eastern Australia destroying buildings and leaving thousands without power. Details after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) GIOKOS: Stone Garrett is walloping the British Isles with a one-two punch at ground parts of the Scottish Highlands to halt dumping heavy snowfall on the A9. There's been widespread disruption to rail services and it also caused widespread flooding in some areas. Farther south in England, high winds and rough surf or lashing parts of Cornwall, with gusts expected up to 120 kilometers per hour.
Thousands of homes and businesses across the U.K. are without power. Now in Australia, at least 10 people were killed during severe storms in the eastern part of the country. Reuters reporting that torrential rains large hail and strong winds blew off roofs and knocked down trees and power lines on Christmas Day and on Tuesday. Tens of thousands of homes and businesses are reportedly without power.
Authorities are warning that fast rising rivers and streams could burst their banks and flood campgrounds which are usually crowded during the holidays.
A new batch of U.S. military aid will soon be headed for Ukraine but long-term support for its war efforts remain in limbo. On Wednesday, Washington approved a quarter billion dollars in new aid including ammunition for air defenses artillery and the so-called HIMARS rocket systems. But the White House has made it clear that the end of the line for Ukraine aid until Congress approves more.
Republicans in Congress are blocking a bowl including more than $60 billion in aid, demanding more concessions on immigration and border security. Negotiations over the ball have been stalled for weeks, but they're expected to resume next month. We now want to show you before and after images of Ukrainian striker in occupied Crimea. Ukraine says a destroyed a large Russian landing ship and Tuesday which would be Moscow's third loss of a major piece of military hardware in less than a week.
[02:25:05]
But Moscow says the vessel was only damaged and is pressing ahead with its ground forces. Fred Pleitgen has more.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Russia's most recent claimed battlefield victory driving Ukrainian forces to the outskirts of Mar'inka 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.
The Russian army is constantly taking more favorable positions and expanding controlled territories in all directions, he said. We aren't 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. We've 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 counter offensive started this summer as essentially stalled. A situation compounded by severe ammo shortages. Ukraine desperately hoping Congress will end its impasse and greenlight further U.S. 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.
We had 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 Odesa 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.
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.
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PLITGEN (on camera): The Ukrainians do acknowledge that the Russians really are pressing along the eastern front but they also say that the Russians are suffering immense casualties, saying the Russians lost about 3000 soldiers in just a week's time with thousands of those killed. The Russians themselves of course, not giving any exact numbers.
GIOKOS: Russia lashing out at Japan have a plan to send Patriot missiles to the U.S.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARIA ZAKHAROVA, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SPOKESPERSON: If you sent him verbally to breach of switch, we should like to warn that if Japanese missiles fall into the hands of Ukrainian armed forces, such actions will be regarded as ambiguously hostile to the Russian Federation and will have grave consequences for Japan in the context of bilateral ties.
(END VIDEO CLIP) GIOKOS: Well, the Russian Foreign Ministry says it is a well proven scheme that such weapons ultimately end up in Ukraine. Japan announced its plan to send missiles to the U.S. last week saying it would further strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance. The Patriot missiles are manufactured in Japan under licensing from a U.S. company.
now provocative moves from Pyongyang as North Korean leader Kim Jong- un orders his military officials to ramp up war preparations. It's in response to what North Korea called confrontation moves by the United States. CNN's Oren Liebermann explains.
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: According to North Korean state media, Kim Jong-un ordered and I'll quote here, "the munitions industry, nuclear weapons and civil defense sectors to further accelerate the war preparations due to the anti-North Korean confrontation moves of the U.S. and its vassal forces unprecedented in history. In that case, vassal forces means South Korea coming from Kim Jong-un there.
So, he is pushing his weapons programs and his nuclear programs even further as he orders this to accelerate here in the face of what he accuses the U.S. of doing, of expanding its own efforts in the region. It's worth noting that just 10 days ago, North Korea tested the Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile. It is the third solid fuel ICBM test we've seen coming from North Korea this year. It also came with a short-range ballistic missile tests.
[02:30:02]
So, you can see here, Kim Jong-Un seeing the U.S. working with South Korea and Japan. He is pushing his country even harder as well.
GIOKOS: Oren Liebermann there for us, reporting from the Pentagon. Now, just last week, Seoul, Tokyo and Washington activated a system that assesses and shares real-time data on North Korean missile launches.
And still ahead, a legal victory for Donald Trump in Michigan. But things could change from the primary to the general election. Plus, U.S. federal agents cracking down on the illegal sport of dog fighting, a CNN investigation that is coming up later.
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GIOKOS: Welcome back, I'm Eleni Giokos in London. Now, the French president is urging Israel to protect civilians in Gaza and ensure lifesaving aid is delivered. According to Emmanuel Macron's office, he spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and expressed the deepest concern over the civilian death toll and humanitarian emergency. President Macron also stressed the need to work towards a lasting ceasefire with the help of regional and international partners.
Meanwhile, an Egyptian official saying another 92 trucks with aid and commercial goods entered Gaza Wednesday through the Rafah crossing, but that is still far below the daily amounts Gaza received before October 7th. The IDF says there are logistical limitations to getting aid into the enclave and has urged the international community to find additional solutions. Spokesperson said that the Israeli military checks more aid trucks than can enter Gaza.
An edited video, in the meantime, circulating online appears to show Palestinian men and at least two children detained and stripped down to their underwear by the Israeli military. While inside a stadium in northern Gaza, they're walking and holding the hands up. CNN cannot verify when these images were captured, the Israel Defense Forces have said in the past that they strip people down to check them for explosives. CNN asked the IDF about the specific video late Tuesday night, but has not yet heard back.
CNN's Kaitlan Collins brought up the video during her interview with the Israeli Lawmaker Danny Danon, who is the former Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. He said he's not familiar with what is happening in that particular video, but provided this context.
[02:35:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANNY DANON, ISRAELI PARLIAMENT MEMBER AND FORMER ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: When we detain people, it's only when we know that they're involved in the terrorist activities. And unfortunately, what we saw in Gaza, many cases of teenagers and women that are actually collaborating with Hamas and that is why we take precautions when we arrest them. If we found out that they are not involved, we will release them immediately, but we have arrested hundreds of people who collaborated with Hamas. And many times, there were able to attack our troops, so (inaudible) when you see somebody who seems innocent, but right after he passes by the troops, he will bomb himself. We had one issue of a suicide bomber. That is why we take those precautions.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: You said when we know, I mean, these are detainees that are suspected, but they're not all confirmed, right?
DANON: As I told you, I don't know to which video you are referring to, but yes, we do arrest people who collaborate with Hamas. But let me remind you that we have 129 hostages that were kidnapped from their homes, nobody knows where they are, including women that we know that are being tortured every day. So, with all due respect to those videos, even if those people will get arrested, they will be arrested in Israel, they will go to court, they will see a lawyer. What about our hostages? Even the Red Cross haven't visited them for almost three months. So, I am not disturbed by those videos.
COLLINS: But these are children. I mean, is that typical idea of practice to detain even children and strip them to their underwear? Because we see at least two children in these videos.
DANON: Well, we have no intention to arrest innocent children. But sometimes, Hamas will use those children to transfer explosives to target the IDF troops in Gaza. So when we have no choice, yes, we will detain minors and we will treat them properly. We are not eager to do it, but we know that Hamas will use women and children in order to attack us. (END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Well, that was Israeli Parliament Member Danny Danon speaking to CNN's Kaitlan Collins for us. Recent attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea are creating headaches for major shipping companies and that includes some of the biggest names in the business. Hapag-Lloyd and Evergreen say they will keep rerouting ships around the Cape of Good Hope. The global shipping giant Maersk said it would resume Red Sea shipments. Another company, CMA CGM says that it is making plans to gradually increase the number of vessels through the Suez Canal. These moves follow attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels on commercial vessels in the Red Sea.
The Mayor of New York City says protests over the Israel-Hamas war are adding to concerns for New Year's Eve celebrations. Mayor Eric Adams says he is sure that protesters will try to use the famous celebration at Times Square for their own purposes. He added that there was already an attempt to disrupt the lighting of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center. The mayor says the city will use a lot of technology to help secure the event on Sunday night.
Earlier this year, the police department used high-tech drones to monitor complaints about large gatherings. Some civil liberties advocates denounced the tactic.
Now to the race for the White House, the Michigan Supreme Court has rejected a bid to remove Donald Trump's name from the state's primary ballot. But, he could still be kept off the general election ballot. A voters advocacy group filed the lawsuit in September and they argue Trump should be disqualified because he violated the 14th Amendment of the constitution by engaging in an insurrection. The Michigan courts did not address that issue, but rejected the lawsuit on procedural grounds.
Trump's ballot ban in Colorado is now on hold indefinitely after an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the challenge did not come from Trump's legal team. CNN's Paula Reid has the details.
PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: The Republican Party of Colorado has filed an appeal asking the Supreme Court of the United States to overturn that unprecedented decision from the Colorado Supreme Court last week that removed Former President Trump from the ballot. Now, Trump has signaled he too will appeal that ruling, but he has not done so yet. But the GOP has been a party in this litigation.
They are fighting for the ability to list Trump as a candidate on the primary ballot and one of the immediate impacts of this appeal is that the Colorado decision is now on pause until the Supreme Court reveals whether it wants to get involved. They are under enormous pressure to take up this case and to offer some clarity on exactly who the 14th Amendment applies to and the extent the states have power to remove candidates from the ballots. It's unclear if the Supreme Court will take this up or how long it will take them to decide, but because of this appeal, that Colorado decision is now on hold.
[02:40:00]
REID: Now, one of the places where this question of whether Trump will be on the ballot is still outstanding is the State of Maine. Now, what's interesting about Maine is there, the Secretary of State is actually the first one to review valid eligibility and then it can go to the courts to be appealed. Trump and his team are calling for the Secretary of State to be recused -- to recuse herself from this case. They are arguing that things that she said about January 6th should make her ineligible to review this case.
She is expected to make her decision on this any day now. She did not respond to our request for comment, though it does appear unlikely that she would recuse herself. Now, the Special Counsel Jack Smith also hard at work just days after the holiday, he has filed a request with the court to limit Trump's ability to argue that he is the victim of political persecution, if and when the January 6th federal case goes to trial.
Now, that whole case is on hold right now while larger constitutional questions are appealed. But, the Special Counsel hopes to be able to take that case to trial before the 2024 election. In order to make that happen, he continues to make filings in request of the court, so that once those are resolved, if he prevails, he can move ahead with trial as quickly as possible.
Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.
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GIOKOS: The man called a Founding Father of the Euro has died at 98. Jacques Delors was President of the European Commission from 1985 to 1995 and he was a major proponent of the EU single currency project. Current EC President Ursula von der Leyen called the late statesman "A visionary who made our Europe stronger. His life's work is the united dynamic and prosperous European Union that has shaped entire generations of Europeans, including mine."
French President Emmanuel Macron called Delors "A statesman with a French destiny inexhaustible architect of our Europe and a fighter for human justice. His commitment, his ideals, and his righteousness will always inspire us."
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GIOKOS: Well, now to a CNN investigation into the brutal, heartbreaking practice of dog fighting. The blood sport slipped into the shadows after it became a federal felony in 2007, but it is back now and it is growing, thanks to the internet were hundreds of thousands of dollars may change hands on a single match. CNN's Isabel Rosales rode along with officials as they made one of their biggest single-day busts ever. We want to warn you, some of the images of the dogs in this report are disturbing.
[02:45:00]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ISABEL ROSALES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's pitch black outside a South Carolina church. At the ready are dozens of armed law enforcement officers. Today, they're seizing fighting dogs. Behind them --
JANE TAYLOR, CHIEF OF THE CRIMINAL DIVISION, and U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE: I'm definitely anxious. I'm always anxious to see the dogs.
ROSALES (voice-over): We ride along with the federal prosecutor overseeing the criminal case.
TAYLOR: It's heart breaking. I get very emotional.
ROSALES (voice-over): Emotional because of how vicious dog fighting is, made all the more clear in court documents. Dogs who have been fought may have scars, puncture wounds, swollen faces, or mangled ears. In one case, prosecutors say an owner killed his dog by hanging it and authorities found this contraption made from jumper cables, allegedly used to electrocute dogs inside the home of a Pentagon employee.
This CNN exclusive video, evidence from a closed case, shows two dogs getting ready to fight. The illegal sport has spiked federal interest. Last year, officials seized roughly 400 dogs from suspected fighting rings, more than in any other year since at least 2007, according to a CNN review of civil forfeitures. Jane Taylor tells me she was a life- long narcotics prosecutor until she first saw the injuries on fighting dogs.
TAYLOR: I had a case where we had a wiretap and we were listening to the calls of the individuals involved in drugs, and we started hearing a lot of conversations about dogs and dog fighting.
ROSALES (voice-over): We arrived at the first of five homes.
ROSALES: What sort of things are you on the lookout for when you enter a property?
ELLE KLEIN, ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY, DISTRICT OF SOUTH CAROLINA: I'm looking at the conditions of the dogs themselves. I'm looking for any sort of scarring, any fresh wounds. And then I'm also looking for, what I'll call, dog fighting paraphernalia.
ROSALES (voice-over): Like these treadmills to make the dogs stronger and faster. And--
KLEIN: Something called spring poles where the dogs are used to jump up and they latch on, so as to strengthen their jaws.
ROSALES (voice-over): Experts say dogs are often tied down with heavy chains and weighted collars to increase their strength. Some dog fighters inject their animals with drugs or vitamins to increase aggression. And before a big fight, some fighting dogs are starved to keep them in their weight class, like a boxer.
Tucked away in this wooded area, federal agents find the first of roughly 120 pit bulls that would be seized in what will turn out to be South Carolina's second largest single-day seizure of fighting dogs ever, say investigators. They're photographed and loaded into trailers to get medical care and shelter.
MAJOR FRANK O'NEAL, SOUTH CAROLINA LAW ENFORCEMENT DIVISION: When we go onto a property, they'll wag their tail because they haven't had any interaction, I mean friendly interaction.
ROSALES (voice-over): Major Frank O'Neal with the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division.
O'NEAL: They've been abused by the owner and a fighting dog. It just breaks your heart.
KLEIN: People are making a lot of money off of this. My opinion, even $1 is too much to be making money off of this.
ROSALES (voice-over): And there are plenty of ways to get paid. According to court documents, in South Carolina, participants paid $200,000 to have their animals fight against a top dog. Another fighting dog won over $50,000. The owner of a champion dog can make even more money on semen, stud fees and puppies.
O'NEAL: Many of them are drug traffickers because they have to fund gambling of these dogs and these dogs are very expensive. They are going to have weapons and if we haven't already arrested them, the chances are we will arrest them in another arena.
ROSALES (voice-over): Inside this home, officers find several guns. The homeowner declined to speak with CNN. Federal agents pack up and head to the next house.
KLEIN: We're about 20 minutes out. They say it's about 12 dogs.
ROSALES: Dog fighting became a felony at the federal level back in 2007. The maximum sentence a suspect can face is five years in federal prison. Meanwhile, for the animals, experts say that some dogs are too aggressive to rehabilitate, but others can be adopted and get a second chance at life.
Isabel Rosales, CNN, Atlanta.
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GIOKOS: People have been racing to dominate the final frontier for decades and, this year, there was a renewed spotlight on the race to the moon. The latest on that, coming up right after this short break. Stay with CNN.
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[02:50:56]
GIOKOS: A media battle has broken out between the New York Times and the firms behind ChatGPT. That is a chatbot that uses artificial intelligence to produce amazingly crafted, but often inaccurate, text and answers to questions. The Times announced Wednesday that it's suing OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement. The newspaper says the tech giants used millions of its articles to train ChatGPT and other AI models without compensation.
This is the first such lawsuit of its kind by a major news publisher. Microsoft has not commented on the suit, but OpenAI said it hoped to find a way to work together. In the past, those companies have said that news articles can be accessed under fair use laws. We heard more context about this from Kara Swisher, a CNN contributor and journalist, who has covered the tech industry for decades and she spoke with CNN's Abby Phillip about what makes this case so significant.
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KARA SWISHER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: This is different than, say, a Google search that points to the New York Times. This actually dives in a New York Times articles and serves them up as if OpenAI made them or created them. And so, it is shoplifting essentially in a digital style, much more deeply than anything that has happened previously.
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR: Do you think that this is about getting more a lucrative licensing deal, or are they looking for more than that here?
SWISHER: Well, they want to be paid for their content. I don't think that is a difficult thing to be understood. Everyone, you all get paid by cable companies. Everybody gets paid for their content that they make and they pay for, it is called a business. So, they are saying we want to get paid more and it might be to get a better deal. Others are -- Apple is trying to do deals, all kinds of companies are trying to do deals around this content.
And the question is, is it fair use, which is what OpenAI is claiming, which is well beyond fair use, I think most people would agree. Or is it something that they have to pay for? And the question is, what is the price? And it seems to me the New York Times spends a lot of money on its content. I know they paid me to write content for them, and they should get paid for the content that ChatGPT might scrape.
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GIOKOS: That was CNN Contributor Kara Swisher speaking to Abby Philip earlier. After some legal back and forth, Apple says it will begin selling its latest and most technologically advanced Apple Watches in its U.S. stores in the coming hours. The watches are manufactured abroad, but an import ban on the Series 9 and Ultra 9 Watches had gone into effect earlier this week. U.S. officials ruled that Apple's Watch violated another company's patents. But now, a U.S. federal appeals court has temporarily blocked that ban. Apple was expected to redesign the watches by January 12th.
This year, we saw a renewed space race to the moon. There were some historic successes and epic failures, and efforts to perfect a new lunar landing system. Here is CNN's Kristin Fisher for us.
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JOHN F. KENNEDY, 35TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.
KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More than 60 years after those famous words, it was full steam ahead for a new space race in 2023. Space agencies from around the world are once again competing to get to the moon and, this time, they're hoping to stay for good, leaving more than just flags and footprints.
In 2023, India's space program took a giant leap forward, successfully landing it uncrewed robotic Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft on the lunar surface in August. It is only the fourth country to do it after the United States, the former Soviet Union, and China. But, so far, India is the only one to reach the south pole of the moon, where water in the form of ice has been detected.
NARENDRA MODI, PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA: India's successful moon mission is not just India's alone. This success belongs to all of humanity.
[02:55:00]
FISHER (voice-over): Russia tried to beat them to it, but 2023 wasn't its year. Its first lunar mission in nearly 50 years ended in failure after the Luna 25 spacecraft crashed into the moon. NASA has ambitious plans to land astronauts on the moon again and, eventually, create a lunar base camp. But first, it has to perfect the technology for a new crewed landing, which is set for the Artemis III mission in 2025.
2023 was all about the lunar landing system that will help them get there. With SpaceX continuing to test its Starship spacecraft that will carry the crew on that last leg of their journey to the surface of the moon. The first two test flights ended in explosions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And as you can see, the super heavy booster has just experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly.
FISHER (voice-over): But SpaceX says that is part of the process. Lessons were learned with each attempt and valuable data was gathered to refine designs, though there is still widespread speculation that Artemis III will be delayed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And lift off of Starlink. Go Falcon! Go Starlink!
FISHER (voice-over): But it's not just lunar landers going up. SpaceX sent satellites into space in rapid fire succession in 2023, launching on average, once every four days. And in 2024, it is aiming even higher, shooting for launches 12 times per month. The goal is to expand its Starlink internet system and blanket the globe with high- speed Wi-Fi.
ELON MUSK, FOUNDER, CHAIRMAN, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AND CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER OF SPACEX: You see the reaction there, just moments ago, as they got that sample back on the ground? FISHER (voice-over): And there were big cheers when a capsule full of rocks and dust parachuted back down to earth. The OSIRIS-REx mission marked the first time that NASA brought samples from an asteroid back to earth. NASA hopes that the particles from the metal-rich asteroid Bennu, which dates back 4.5 billion years, will help answer some of humankind's most existential questions.
BILL NELSON, NASA ADMINISTRATOR: Why are we doing this? Because at NASA, we are trying to find out who we are, what we are, where we came from, what is our place in this vastness called the universe?
FISHER (voice-over): Kristin Fisher, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[03:00:00]
GIOKOS: Wonderful story as we head to the New Year. Well, thank you so very much for joining us. 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. Bye for now.
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