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Blinken Embarking On High-Stakes Middle East Trip As Tensions Boil; Protesters Heckle Biden With Calls For Ceasefire In Gaza; French PM Elisabeth Borne Resigns Amid Cabinet Reshuffle; United, Alaska Airlines Report Loose Bolts On Boeing 737 MAX Planes; Underground Network Helping Migrants Flee China for the U.S.; India's Supreme Court Overturns Decision to Free 11 Rapists/Murderers; South Korea Votes to Ban Breeding and Slaughtering Dogs for Meat; First U.S. Lunar Lander in Decades Suffer Major setback; German Football Legend Franz Beckenbauer Dies at 78. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired January 09, 2024 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up here on CNN, the U.S. Secretary of State in Israel as cross border attacks with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon escalate and the risk of a second war inches closer.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, Bob.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Bob, the teacher who found the door plug from Alaska Airlines flight laying there in his backyard, and mission failure for Astrobotic, the first ever moonshot from the private sector.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.
VAUSE: U.S. Secretary of State is in Tel Aviv this hour the latest drop in shuffled diplomacy to prevent Israel's war with Hamas from escalating beyond Gaza. At the same time, the Israeli assassination of a senior Hezbollah militant in Lebanon has dramatically raised the risk of a full scale war in Israel's northern border.
Secretary Blinken will hold talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet in the coming hours. Blinken is also expected to push Israel on reducing a soaring Palestinian death toll now close to 23,000 according to the Hamas controlled health ministry in Gaza. CNN cannot independently confirm those numbers. Here's Secretary Blinken.
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ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: It's clearly not in the interest of anyone, Israel, Lebanon, Hezbollah, for that matter to see this escalate and to see an actual conflict. And the Israelis have been very clear with us that they want to find a diplomatic way forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: But late Monday, Israel's Foreign Minister took responsibility for the assassination of that senior Hezbollah commander, who according to a Lebanese security source, was killed by an Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon.
Cross border attacks with Hezbollah and the IDF began shortly after the October 7 attack by Hamas and have continued to escalate each day, even as the Israeli military operations in Gaza have pushed on. And this is now day 94 of Israel's military offensive in Gaza, a wall with an unprecedented death toll and a level of utter devastation to match.
For the past few weeks, Israeli operations have focused on central Gaza and CNN traveled there and IDF escort for firsthand look not just at the destruction, but also at what the Israeli military say they've uncovered about Hamas terror infrastructure.
The CNN crew was under escort at all times and agreed to a standard condition for embedding with the IDF, submitting all images and sound recorded in Gaza for a security review. A report though was not reviewed by the IDF and CNN retained editorial control at all times, and are warning some of the images you're about to see in Jeremy Diamond's report are disturbing.
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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After three months of war, this is a glimpse of central Gaza, buildings flattened or partially collapsed. Others riddled with bullets or scarred by smoke, civilians nowhere to be found.
On the outskirts of Al-Bureij rage now under Israeli military control.
DIAMOND: The Israeli military has now been fighting on the grounds here in central Gaza over the last two weeks and you can see all around me the results of that military campaign destroyed building, smoke still billowing from parts of central Gaza.
DIAMOND (voice-over): As the fighting rages the Israeli military is also uncovering the scale of Hamas is underground infrastructure, inviting CNN into central Gaza for the first time to show what they are uncovering. Alongside now bulldoze farmlands and inside a nondescript building the opening to a tunnel system.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are standing in one of the main entrances to the manufacturing terror center.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Which the Israeli military says Hamas used to manufacture and transport weapons.
DIAMOND: So this is the entrance to a tunnel that the Israeli military found in central Gaza. You can walk through here and they say that if you follow this tunnel all the way down, you get eventually to what is a weapons manufacturing facility that Hamas has been using throughout the war.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Inside that facility, Israeli commanders say Hamas builds rockets and mortar shells like these and then filled them with explosive material like fertilizer below ground. The military did not allow reporters underground saying the chemicals made it too dangerous, but it provided this video it says was filmed inside that underground facility.
[01:05:05]
Steps away in a warehouse alongside a residential building long range rockets capable of reaching Tel Aviv or Jerusalem.
REAR ADMIRAL DANIEL HAGARI, ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES SPOKESPERSON: What we're seeing is using the embedded civilians industries to build a rocket industry.
DIAMOND: But some would say that you are making this point that Hamas and civilians are embedded that it's all happening in the same places to justify the enormous civilian casualties that we have seen in Gaza so far.
HAGARI: We are focusing on Hamas. We're focusing on a war on Hamas. Not fighting the people of Gaza.
DIAMOND: When you look at the numbers of thousands of children who have been killed in Gaza, are you doing enough to distinguish between Hamas fighters and civilians?
HAGARI: Every death of every child is a tragedy. We didn't want this war.
DIAMOND (voice-over): More than 9,000 children have been killed so far, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, like this girl pulled from the rubble in central Gaza. Tens of thousands of civilians who fled the fighting in the north now at risk here.
in Al-Bureij the Israeli military dropped these warning flyers days ago, urging civilians to flee to nearby Deir al-Balah, but the fighting is now raging there too. Jeremy Diamond, CNN inside Gaza with the Israeli military.
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VAUSE: Joining us this hour from Washington is Cedric Leighton, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and CNN military analyst. Welcome back. It's good to see you.
CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good to see you too, John. Thanks for having me here.
VAUSE: You bet. Now with another Israeli assassination on Lebanese territory, this time it's a senior leader from Hezbollah, the Lebanon based militant group backed by Iran. Now already heightened concerns about a regional escalation have risen even further. With that in mind, here's U.S. Secretary State Antony Blinken, who's in the region.
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BLINKEN: Everywhere I went, I found leaders who are determined to prevent the conflict that we're facing now from spreading, doing everything possible to deter escalation to prevent a widening of the conflict.
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VAUSE: So Blinken was talking about other regional leaders, not specifically Israeli leaders, it seems everyone from the Pope to the French president has one of the dangers of a full scale war between Israel and Hezbollah.
So is there a diplomatic solution here? Does Israel want a diplomatic solution? And if there is no diplomatic solution, can Israel fight two wars on at the same time and win?
LEIGHTON: Yes, that's a really difficult question for the Israelis. And of course, what is really the failure of diplomacy? Yes. And that's what Blinken is trying to avoid in this particular case. I think a lot of the Arab countries do want to have some kind of a -- either a ceasefire or cessation of hostilities. And they're certainly keen on avoiding war, at least a major war in the Middle East, because that can only serve to drag them down.
However, on the Israeli side, one of the things that we've noticed in the last few days and really few weeks, is the increased volume of attacks between the Israelis and Hezbollah up in northern Israel, it's more than frontier the northern border with Lebanon.
And that indicates that Israel is, I think, poised to strike at Hezbollah in a more concerted and more meaningful way than we've seen up until this point, the volume of attacks has increased on both sides. And that, of course, tells me that it's going to be the possibility at least is very high that there is going to be a two front war for the Israelis. Can they fight that war? I -- they can. They've done it before. But it's going to be really, really difficult.
VAUSE: It shows the big picture, though, it doesn't make a lot of sense to have a full on knockdown, drag him out, fight to the death with Hamas in Gaza, or a much bigger, more threatening hostile force, like Hezbollah is allowed to continue to exist just across the northern border.
LEIGHTON: So that's actually a very good question. So from a military standpoint, if you put, you know, some of the other concerns aside for a second, it really makes sense for the Israelis to get rid of the big threat to, you know, the 150,000 or so could you and other rockets that are poised to go against the Israelis.
That is certainly a major concern from a security standpoint. The problem that you run into, of course, is one of resources and whether or not the Israelis can actually make it, but from a pure military perspective, that actually is a valid military goal. The key will be for the Israelis to avoid as many civilian casualties as possible, but they don't seem to be doing that in Gaza at the moment.
VAUSE: Well that in mind, here is the latest about the war in Gaza from the IDF.
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HAGARI (through translator): While there still terrorist and weapons in north they are no longer functioning within an organized military framework, we are now operating differently in that area with a different mix of forces to deepen our achievements.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: That took 93 days. So now the focus shifts to central and southern Gaza. Can the Israeli military achieve the same outcomes there keeping in mind that about one in 100 people have been killed since this October 7 offensive began, that's going to Palestinian statistics, which we haven't verified coming from us controlled Gaza strip that's close to 23,000 or 1 percent of the entire Gaza population.
You know, the thinking has been Israel must lower the operation tempo across all Gaza, by the end of this month, reduced civilian deaths or risk alienating the United States. So can Israel achieve the same kind of goals at the same time, at a reduced operation tempo?
LEIGHTON: I think it's going to be really difficult for them to do so, John, you know, certainly the type of operation of the conducted in the North was based in large measure on the concentration or perceived concentration of Hamas forces in that area.
The problem that Israelis are running into in this particular case is that Hamas is basically moved a lot of its operations to the central into the southern part. Now those operations are less effective than they were in the north.
And so in that sense, the IDF spokesman is absolutely correct. They have a better chance of, in essence, mopping things up in the Central Park and in the south, and the -- with the resources that they currently have than they did in the north with the similar set of troops.
But this -- in this instance, I think that it's going to be very difficult for them to keep Hamas in essence tied up in this manner.
VAUSE: Cedric Leighton, good to see you, sir. Thank you.
LEIGHTON: You bet, John, thank you.
VAUSE: A big picture level the overall death toll of Gaza is staggering. 1 percent of the pre-war population is now dead. On a personal level for some families it's beyond comprehension. In October, an Israeli airstrike killed the wife, son, daughter, and grandson of Al Jazeera's bureau chief. This past Sunday, his eldest son was killed an Israeli drone strike. Nada Bashir has his story and a warning there are some disturbing images in a report.
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NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): A final painful goodbye. Not the first for revered Palestinian reporter Wael Dahdouh. His eldest son Hamza, a fellow Al Jazeera journalist, killed in an Israeli airstrike in the southern region of Khan Younis on Sunday.
Laid to rest just a few short months after his mother, brother, sister and nephew were killed in a strike on Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp. This family's utter despair seems impossible to put into words, and yet day after day through so much loss. It is the words of Wael Dahdouh that have given crucial testimony to the reality faced by all in Gaza.
WAEL AL-DAHDOUH, AL JAZEERA GAZA BUREAU CHIEF (through translator): The world should see through its own two eyes what is happening to the Palestinian people, not through Israel's eyes. What did Hamza did to the Israelis? What did my family do to them? What did the civilians do to them? They did nothing but the world has closed its eyes what is happening in the Gaza Strip.
BASHIR (voice-over): On Monday, the Israeli military confirmed that it had carried out the airstrike which killed Hamza and fellow Al Jazeera journalist Mustafa Thuria, saying they had quote, struck a terrorist that declining to provide further details.
Israel says categorically that it does not target journalists maintaining that the IDF is targeting Hamas in retaliation for the October 7 attack. But it is hard to reconcile Israel's expressed intentions with the overwhelming number of civilians killed in Israeli airstrikes.
In Jabalya bodies lay tangled in the rubble of this residential building. At least 70 were killed here survivor safe, struck overnight as many were sleeping.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): My mother, my father, my brothers and sisters, all of them my whole family has been wiped off the civil register. There was nothing here. No fighters.
BASHIR (voice-over): Such grief is felt across Gaza in the central region of Deir al Balah, there is little hope left as men dig with their bare hands in a desperate search for survivors. At the nearby Al-Aqsa hospital, the only emergency care center left functioning in the area. Medical teams are dangerously overwhelmed.
Now, fresh warnings for the Israeli military have forced doctors from several international NGOs to evacuate their patients left with nowhere else to turn.
[01:15:00] GEMMA CONNELL, OCHA GAZA TEAM LEADER: What I'm seeing today inside of the hospital is an absolute shame on humanity. I've seen children lying in their own blood I've seen a child who was hit by shrapnel and doesn't know when his family is. I've seen a woman who was hit in the face by air strike for his waited six days, six a whole days to access health care because the fighting around her was so virtuous. So what I've seen inside this hospital and asked to end the ward has to end.
BASHIR (voice-over): As calls for a ceasefire continue to go on heated, the humanitarian situation in Gaza grows more desperate. It is a reality painstakingly documented by gardeners journalists. Wael Dahdouh back on just hours after his son Hamza was buried a symbol of resilience for many.
DAHDOUH (through translator): We will not hesitate for a single moment. We will not stop for a single moment, as long as we live as long as we are able to fulfill our duty.
BASHIR (voice-over): But also one of determination for the world to see and acknowledge exactly what is happening inside Gaza. Nada Bashir, CNN in Beirut.
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VAUSE: According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 79 journalists have been killed in Gaza since October 7. 16 journalists are reported injured, three are missing, and 21 reported arrested. The CPJ released a statement saying that journalists must not be targeted by warring parties. Israel says it does not target journalists in Gaza.
Protesters angrier the U.S. support for Israel's war with Hamas interrupted a major campaign speech by the U.S. president on Monday.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ceasefire now. Ceasefire now. Ceasefire now.
JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: That's all right. That's all right. That's all right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ceasefire now. Ceasefire now. Ceasefire now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: (INAUDIBLE) well, Mr. Biden was speaking to voters at a church in South Carolina Monday. The Biden campaign says the president will continue to listen and engage with Democrats who disagree with his policies on Gaza.
Biden officials draw a contrast between the President and Donald Trump. They say ban Muslims from coming to the United States and uses the Israel-Hamas water fan plans of Islamophobia.
Black voters are a key component of the coalition which sent Biden to the White House back in 2020. And he's now trying to regain their support for this coming November. Details down from CNN's MJ Lee.
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MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Biden returning to the state --
BIDEN: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
LEE (voice-over): -- and the voters --
ALL: Four more years. Four more years.
BIDEN: Thank you.
LEE (voice-over): -- that he has credited for saving his last presidential campaign.
BIDEN: Thank you, South Carolina. We are very much alive.
LEE (voice-over): Now as he seeks a second term at the White House, Biden is once again counting on South Carolina to have his back.
BIDEN: We've come too far from where we started. Nobody told me to grow to be easy. I don't believe he brought me this far to meet me.
LEE (voice-over): The story of Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston was where nine black worshippers were shot and killed by a white supremacist in 2015. Biden recalling visiting the grieving community as vice president just days after the death of his son Beau.
BIDEN: We came here to offer comfort. Receive comfort from you.
LEE (voice-over): As the Biden campaign starts to ramp up heading into the new year, the President's advisors say they recognize the importance of shoring up support among communities of color, including and especially black voters, with recent polls showing some warning signs of softening support, Congressman Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, a co-chair of Biden's 2024 campaign.
BIDEN: Is because of this congregation in the black community of South Carolina, and not exaggeration and Jim Clyburn that I stand here today as your president.
LEE (voice-over): Ringing the alarm bell over the weekend.
JIM CLYBURN, U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRAT: We have not been able to break through that MAGA wall in order to get to people exactly what this President has done.
LEE (voice-over): Attacking the so called MAGA movement led by his predecessor Donald Trump is already emerging a central focus of Biden's reelect. The President, again invoking the January 6 insurrection of three years ago.
BIDEN: That violent mob was whipped up by lies from a defeated former president. Insurrectionists waving Confederate flags inside the halls of Congress, built by enslaved Americans for hours to defeat a former President sat in the private dining room off of my off in the Oval Office and did nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing. Losers are taught to concede when they lose. He's a loser.
LEE: And in so many ways, this was meant to be a promises made, promises kept speech.
[01:20:04]
President Biden ticking through some of the things that he has done in his first term aimed at supporting African American voters like naming the first woman to the Supreme Court, lowering the cost of insulin and making investments in HBCUs. And President Biden of course knows very well that this is a critical part of his face that he needs to convince one more time to turn up to the polls again come November. MJ Lee, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: France's Prime Minister is out ahead of an expensive government reshuffle. Elisabeth Borne faced a lot of criticism last year over controversial reforms to immigration, as well as pensions. She was the second woman in French history to hold the country's second highest office and will stay on until her replacement is appointed.
Still to come, Alaska Airlines find some loose hardware on some of this Boeing 737 Max 9 the same type of aircraft involved a midair scare last week. Details in a moment.
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VAUSE: Nearly two dozen people have been hurt after an explosion at a hotel in Fort Worth, Texas. Investigations are underway to determine the cause at the Sandman Signature hotel which is in both City Hall and the city's convention center. But at this early stage of the investigation appears some type of gas may be to blame.
Maintenance technicians with Alaska Airlines say they found loose hardware on some of the Airlines Boeing 37 Max 9s. 737 Max 9 we saw a terrifying incident Friday. A fuselage jaw plug blew off mid-flight at an altitude of 16,000 feet. (INAUDIBLE) come after the FAA temporary grounded seven Max 9 aircraft until they are inspected. CNN's Mike Valerio has details.
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MIKE VALERIO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Critical inspections underway after a meteor skier at 16,000 feet, when a piece of the plane a door plug blew out on Alaska Airlines flight 1282 carrying 177 people on board. United Airlines saying it found loose bolts around the door plug on an undisclosed number of its Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft.
171 of those Boeing models have been grounded with the FAA announcing quote enhanced inspections after what the NTSB chair calls an explosive decompression during Friday's flight passengers reliving the harrowing moments.
EVAN SMITH, PASSENGER ON ALASKA AIRLINES: You heard a big loud bang to the left rear, rear like a road 20 and whooshing sound and all the oxygen masks deployed instantly and everybody got those.
VALERIO (voice-over): A Portland school teacher finding the door plug of the Alaska Airlines flight in his backyard a crucial piece of evidence for investigators.
MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVAITION ANALYST: Getting the door and the other pieces they will hopefully be able to pinpoint exactly where the failure point was. It remains to be seen if all the fasteners bolts or latches are still on that piece.
VALERIO (voice-over): The plane's mechanical history also under scrutiny prior to Friday's accident Alaska Airlines restricted the aircraft from flying over the ocean to Hawaii so it could quickly return to an airport in case of any warnings.
[01:25:10]
This after the aircraft's auto pressurization failed light came on three times in the past month, the NTSB says. It's unclear if there's any connection between those warning lights and Friday scare.
JENNIFER HOMENDY, CHAIR, U.S. NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD: That is what we are looking at with Alaska right now and with Boeing right now, that alert that illuminated those three times certainly is very disconcerting to our investigators. Then we want to look at that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Found a phone belonging to an Alaska Airlines passenger sitting on the ground.
VALERIO (voice-over): Shawn Bates heard the NTSB calling on the public to help find the missing part of the plane and found this iPhone on the side of the road.
It didn't have a screen lock on it so I opened it up and it was an airplane mode with a travel confirmation and baggage claim for Alaska 1282.
VALERIO (voice-over): The NTSB says the phone screen intact and a second iPhone quote most likely fell off the plane.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Thanks to Mike Valerio there reporting in from Portland, Oregon.
Ecuador has declared a state of emergency after high profile gang leader escaped from prison Sunday. More than 3,000 police officers and soldiers have been deployed in the hunt for Adolfo Fito Macias. He's the leader of Los Choneros, one of Ecuador's most feared gangs linked to maritime drug trafficking and both Mexico and the United States. Macias reportedly serving a 34-year long sentence.
Still to come, by any means necessary why a growing number of Chinese are risking a dangerous journey to reach the United States.
Also in stark relief from India's highest court by ordering group of convicted murderers and rapists, get back to prison and why they've ever raced in the first place.
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VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone. I'm John Vause, you're watching CNN Newsroom. Sunday's general election in Bangladesh has been severely criticized by the U.K., saying democratic standards were not consistently met, and acts of intimidation and violence occurred both before and during the campaign.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina secured a fourth consecutive term on Sunday, even though the election was boycotted by the main opposition party. U.K. claims a large number of opposition members were arrested before voting.
More Chinese than ever before seeking political asylum in the United States after a decade under the rule of strongman president Xi Jinping. And they're using some unconventional means to do it sometimes pay smugglers to help navigate a dangerous path through South and Central America to reach the U.S. border.
CNN's David McKenzie spoke with migrants fleeing the world's second biggest economy who say that everything there is as it seems.
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DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As soon as we pull up they rushed towards us.
My mic, not even on, but that does not stop this crowd of Chinese migrants from venting to producer Yong Shiong (ph). They're angry having to wait in the cold for border patrol.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where are we? What's the place called?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're all sick. We have been here two, three days now.
CULVER: This is just one of three makeshift border camps we stopped at in eastern San Diego County. Alongside migrants from Latin America, at each camp we meet dozens from China.
The numbers reflect the surge. From 2013 to 2022, CBP recorded fewer than 16,000 Chinese migrants illegally crossing the U.S. southern border. This past year alone -- more than 31,000. That is roughly double the prior ten years combined.
But unlike those fleeing countries in turmoil like Venezuela, Cuba or Haiti, these migrants are leaving the world's second largest economy.
What was the reason you left China? Their answers very. Most cite deepening financial hardships despite the Chinese governments narrative of a steadily rebounding economy.
How did you get here? How did you get to southern California?
Their trek north primarily starts in one Latin American country where Chinese do not need visas to enter.
To Ecuador? How many of you here came through Ecuador?
To really understand their journey, and how it differs from other migrants you need to see it in action. We touched down in Ecuador's capital, Quito, and standing outside of international arrivals, we noticed this man. A hired driver, scrolling through photos and messages in Chinese.
A few minutes later, passengers began stepping out. They tell us they are from China and planning to go to the U.S. But most ask we do not show their faces. The driver approaches this group, making sure that he got the right passengers.
He has got a booking for them.
We uncovered an assortment of travel packages offered specifically to Chinese migrants. You can pay smugglers who promise to ease some of the planning stress. From $9,000 to $12,000 flights, hotels, transportation booked for you.
For $20,000 or more thousand it's a premium service. Getting you to the Mexico side of the U.S. Border, skipping some of the most treacherous crossings.
We drive through Ecuador's capital city with Long Fanwei (ph), he shows us private homes and AirBNBs where Chinese migrant stay when they arrive.
Long has lived here in Quito five years, he runs a travel agency. He has witnessed the recent surge in Chinese migrants. And with it, a spike in businesses catering to them like this Chinese run hotel.
The owner estimates there are as many as 100 hotels in Quito that like hers host Chinese migrants headed to the U.S.
Take a look at this, they've got essentially a how to guide to go from here, and to continue north. And they tell you here, how many days you should be preparing, vaccinations you might need, other documents that you should carry with you. They even mention bringing $300 and hiding that amount of money because of presumably being robbed at some point and needing cash as a backup.
It's advice Zheng Shiqing could've used a few days earlier.
Your parents still think you are in China? They have no idea that you left?
ZHENG SHIQING, CHINESE MIGRANT: Yes.
CULVER: We meet the 28-year-old back in Quito, after he was robbed at gunpoint in Columbia.
I left China because I was not able to save any money. It was difficult to support myself, he tells me. He says some employers in China refused to pay him even after working.
Even if they say the Chinese economy is strong, it is all about the upper class, he says. I wish I was never born. Living feels so exhausting.
After saving up enough to restart his trek, Zheng heads to this Quito bus stations, where ticket sellers hold up signs like this one in Chinese. It reads, "(INAUDIBLE) Colombian border".
More than a dozen Chinese migrants board the bus north, we go with them to the four hour plus ride. On board Zheng and the others to plan their next moves.
California, California. That is the ultimate goal. Zheng plans to stay here in (INAUDIBLE) for two nights, and then hire a cab to take him over the border.
[01:34:52]
CULVER: As a lot of the Chinese migrants are able to pay their way in taxis to get to the international bridge crossing from Ecuador to Columbia. We noticed that a lot of folks, migrants from like the one from Latin American countries like these over here do not have any money to do that, so they walk.
In the cold rain, we meet Angel and Isabel from Venezuela.
They say it's really expensive to try to cross so they have to walk.
Vulcan (ph) residents tell me they see hundreds if not thousands of Chinese migrants passing through each week. And because they are often carrying more cash, they are now prime targets for corrupt police and cartels.
But like Zheng, they remain determined. As we returned home, he updates us on his trek. Over two weeks Zheng travels through five Central American countries. At times messaging Chinese speaking smugglers who remotely coordinate with local cartels to get him and others on vans, buses, boats and on flights.
It cuts his travel time down to about half that of most Latino migrants but it is costly.
By the time he reaches northern Mexico, he has spent more than $10,000 with one more border to go.
A camera we set up, facing the U.S. southern border captures weeks of crossings, thousands entering the U.S., through this gap in the wall. Group after group, day and night, you can hear the migrants shouting in Chinese.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Goodbye my motherland. CULVER: They end up where we started, San Diego County, burning fires through the night to keep warm, and during the day, expecting border patrol to pick them up.
Just before New Year's, Zheng messages us that he too has crossed into the U.S. and is waiting to be processed for asylum.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: America.
CULVER: Joining the thousands who have crossed before him, and the many more to come.
David Culver, CNN -- Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: A brief taste of freedom is over for 11 rapists and murderers in India. They took part here in perhaps one of the most heinous and vile crimes in recent Indian history. The 2002 gang rape a pregnant woman during a Hindu-Muslim riots and the murder of 14 of her family members including a three-year-old daughter.
As CNN's Vedika Sud reports, a landmark court ruling means they are now back in prison.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VEDIKA SUD, CNN REPORTER: It has been hailed as a historic judgment by many within India's illegal fraternity. India's top court (INAUDIBLE) quashed the early release of 11 convicts who have been jailed for life for gang-raping pregnant Muslim woman, Bilkis Bano and murdering her relatives in the communal riots in the western state of Gujarat, in the year of 2002.
The supreme court has also directed the men to surrender to prison authorities within two weeks. Convicted in 2008, the convicts walked out of prison in August 2022 by order of the Gujarat government which is led by prime minister Narendra Modi's ruling party government.
The decision to release them prematurely and the celebrations as they left prison had caused massive national outrage. In his ruling on Monday, the top court said the Gujarat government was lacking in competency to pass a remission order as the trial and sentencing happened in another state.
The court said the state government who served and abused power not vested in it when it ordered the release of the 11 convicts. A verdict was announcing after a hearing a batch of thieves challenging the government's decision.
The court order was celebrated by supporters of Bano who had decried the men's release as an attack not only on Muslims, by women's rights in the country, where government data shows a woman is raped every 17 minutes.
Vedika Sud, CNN in New Delhi. (END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Pope Francis, urging a universal ban on surrogacy. He says the practice is deplorable. Also says surrogate motherhood is a grave violation of the dignity of a woman and child.
The church has long opposed surrogacy and in vitro fertilization IVF saying the use of embryos is equivalent to abortion. But it should be noted, IVF has helped a lot of couples who struggle to conceive their own child, anyway.
When we come back, a moon lander launched from the U.S. on Monday already facing some major issues. A few problems to say the least. And now a historic mission to the moon is at risk. We'll tell you what happened. We'll tell you why.
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VAUSE: South Korea's parliament has passed a bill outlawing the dog meat industry. Breeding and slaughtering dogs for meat is a centuries old practice in South Korea but not common these days. More people support animal warfare. And they like dogs for treating, not for eating.
Marc Stewart is live for us in Seoul with more on this. It's a dying trade, it's a dying practice so I guess the question is, these dogs are so cute. Anyway, why now? I guess. Why take this move now?
MARC STEWART: You know, John, I think it was just time. And the fact that this was passed by a politically-divided legislature in South Korea shows the changing attitudes. We are here at a dog cafe, not by accident but as a reflection of how society here views dogs. In fact, one in four South Korean own pets. So they are very much a part of a household, aren't they? Yes.
Let me give you a bit of history here. You know, the idea of consuming dog meat is something that dates back centuries really to a time when South Korea had food shortages. And there was a need for a protein source but eventually, the country got wealthier and more prominent and this started to fade.
What happened though recently was in part by a big push by South Korea's first lady. She is a known animal advocate. And she and President Yoon have a house full of pets.
In fact when she was recently on a state visit to the Netherlands, she visited an animal shelter in Amsterdam. So along with her efforts, as well as animal rights activists, this ban, this vote came to fruition.
I talked a leader of the Humane Society a short time ago. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LEE SANG-KYUNG, HUMANE SOCIETY INTERNATIONAL KOREA: I think the political will is growing With the first lady's interest. And the growing interest in animal welfare from the public, an animal protection organization is peak.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: And there are two sides to this issue. There are farmers who have made a living off of breeding dogs for human consumption. And as part of this bill, they have been given -- there will be opportunities for them to transition into new ways of making a living. There is also a grace period.
And John, as you look at the attitudes here in South Korea toward dogs and the idea of consumption. We talked to the owner of a restaurant here in Seoul that serves dog, they told us that it is something that they have been transitioning away from, and in fact may go out of business altogether, John.
VAUSE: That will be a good thing. Now do we see it happening in China. That will be the big one.
Marc Stewart, thanks for being with us. I guess the dog cafe now is for them, not for eating. Thank you.
An historic mission to the moon is set to go down as an historic failure. The company behind Peregrine, the first U.S. lunar lander to launch -- a lot alliterations, thank you, in five decades says it saw a critical fuel loss just hours after lift-off.
The space craft then had trouble turning towards the sun to recharge batteries. A lot of problems. It means Peregrine may not land on the moon after all when it happens.
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VAUSE: It will be a major loss for NASA which is having this private sector mission with (INAUDIBLE) data for future lunar missions.
Miles O'Brien is a CNN aviation and aerospace analyst, as well as science correspondent for the "PBS News Hour". Welcome back. It's good to see you, it's been a while.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION AND AEROSPACE ANALYST: Yes, likewise John. Good to see you.
VAUSE: Thank you.
Now, the first images from Peregrin come from a camera which is mounted on top of the payload deck with multilayer insulation in the foreground, that's what we're looking at there with this note from the company Astrobotic.
The disturbance of the MLI, Multi-Layer Insulation is the first visual clue that aligns with our telemetry data that points to a propulsion system anomaly." They also add that the batteries are now fully charged, which means the first problem appears to be fixed only to be followed by another much more serious problem and one which most likely will end this mission.
O'BRIEN: Yes, a little bit of whiplash here, John. Quick hat tip to Astrobotic though for being transparent and sharing the information in a forthcoming way. In this era of private space, we don't always get this kind information in a timely manner.
But when you see that kind of crumpled insulation, you know there is trouble. It appears there must have been some difficulty with the propulsion system, perhaps just leaking out propulsion somehow, and losing the precious prop that they need to fly this mission which also made it difficult, of course, for solar rays to be pointed directly at the sun.
So it seems very likely they are talking about alternatives for the mission. It appears the moon is lost for this one, unfortunately, but this is just the start.
VAUSE: And this mission to the moon by Astrobotic was all about proving the private sector can do what the government has already done but do it cheaper and more efficiently. Joel KEARNS NASA talked about the bigger picture just a few days ago before the launch. Here he is.
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JOEL KEARNS, NASA DEPUTY ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATION FOR EXPLORATION: It's going to allow us to do more frequently, a more cost-effective and a more rapidly accomplished trip to the lunar surface to prepare for Artemis.
But I have to tell you that it's a really difficult thing in this industry to do. You know, success of every attempt isn't assured.
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VAUSE: Indeed, isn't that the truth. Just a reference to your point but between the start of the space age or space race in 1958, all the way to 1976, the U.S. and Soviet Union launched a total of 111 missions, 40 failed and most of this coming during the early years as you would expect.
It does actually take rocket science to do this. And it's a whole lot harder without the never-ending rivers of government funding that NASA had during the space race.
So you know, they're doing it tough. They're doing it hard, and this is part of the job.
O'MILES: Yes, you know, that lean and mean line comes to mind here. It's mean for sure. And this is what we are seeing. You know, that statistic you just shared, that would be good enough to get you into the major league hall of fame as a hitter. But it gives you an idea of how difficult it is to get to the surface of the moon and, you know, you can't cut corners in the wrong places, and it's difficult to know which corners to cut, particularly if you are a start-up enterprise like Astrobotic.
So lesson learned here, as NASA said when it announced its commercial lunar payload program, we want to get shots on goal here. You don't score unless you have shots on goal to get back to sports analogies here.
But the idea is to develop a vibrant way to get to and from the moon so a permanent colony there can be supported. This is the first step and there was success with the rocket, we can talk about that. And there is another mission coming up next month which has a very similar lander, maybe they'll have better luck.
VAUSE: Yes. You can't hit the ball, if you don't swing the bat. That's what I was told. But yes, as you mentioned there is some talk about (INAUDIBLE) because this was a twofer mission for the private sector.
There is this reporting from "The Wall Street Journal". "Monday's launch was a so-called, certification flight for Vulcan as ULA seeks to win permission from U.S. military officials to start using Vulcan to handle the Pentagon spy agency flights already under contract."
The ULA which is owned jointly by Boeing and Lockheed Martin is now one step closer (INAUDIBLE) providing real time competence and real- life competition Elon Musk and SpaceX.
O'BRIEN: Yes. And competition is always good. The main engines were built by Blue Origin which of course, is Jeff Bezos space company. Long delays on this program and you know, they hope this rocket would've flown a few years ago. But so be it. It flew, and it flew pretty flawlessly.
It wasn't the rocket that was the problem with Peregrine. Peregrine had its own issues. So certification flight, one, you can check that box for that company. They have a book of orders waiting for them, and the company is for sale.
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O'BRIEN: Lockheed Martin and as you say Boeing own it together. And they're trying to sell this entity, and it might be very likely that this will end up in the hands of Jeff Bezos, to offer up a counter to Elon Musk and SpaceX. And that will be a very interesting thing to watch.
VAUSE: Yes. A throwback to, you know, the great industrialists of the United States back in the day.
Miles, great to have you with us. Really appreciate it. Good to see you too.
O'BRIEN: Pleasure, John.
VAUSE: The New Year's day earthquake appears move part of Japan's western coastline. The University of Tokyo's Earthquake Research Institute took a preliminary surgery. Found the coastline is the past is now 250 meters closer to the sea. And parts of another peninsula may have risen by 3 to 5 meters. Those findings are yet to be peer reviewed.
Hundreds of volunteers are now working to clean up beaches in northwestern Spain, after millions of plastic pellets washed ashore from a container ship last month. The pellets make everything from water bottles to shopping bags, and are a major source of pollution in the oceans and rivers.
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LUIS PEREZ, MAYHOR -- RIBEIRA, SPAIN (through translator): The vessel's spill of this type of material is causing major troubles to our ocean. A major problem formed by millions of plastic particles, which are now depositing in our sea and our beaches affecting marine and terrestrial flora and fauna.
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VAUSE: Right now, it seems the volunteers are on their own and are demanding help from the regional and national government.
Well, he's been named Der Kaiser, one of the best ever to play the beautiful game. In a moment, a look back at German football icon Franz Beckenbauer.
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VAUSE: A year after Brazil saw a post-election insurrection, the president has now (INAUDIBLE) announced (ph) a tax on democracy. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva hosted ceremonies with other leaders in Brasilia on Monday. He said all those who executed the coup attempt on January 8th, 2023 must be punished. And that forgiving them would give a pass to more terrorist acts.
Last year, supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro, stormed government buildings, just days after Lula da Silva was inaugurated. They insisted the election was stolen and were encouraged by Bolsonaro himself.
Many are now mourning the death of German legend Franz Beckenbauer, known as Der Kaiser, who had passed away at the age of 78. Representing West Germany, Beckenbauer was one of the very few to win the World Cup as both a player and a manager.
CNN World Sport's Patrick Snell looks back at an unforgettable career.
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PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: Franz Beckenbauer is widely regarded as one of football's all-time greats. The man who won it all both club and country, twice going on to become the European footballer of the year.
Born in September of 1945, it wasn't long before the teenaged Beckenbauer was making a name for himself in postwar Germany, at his home town Bayern Munich. Known as Der Kaiser, Beckenbauer was a stylish, elegant defender, a leader befitting his emperor nickname. A pioneer who revolutionized the role of sweeper as the silver ware kept coming in the trophy laden 1960s and 70s.
Four German league titles with Bayern, triumphs that would help propel the Bavarian Club towards becoming the huge global force it is today. On the international stage he would score twice on his World Cup debut against Switzerland for West Germany in 1966 before his team's heartbreak in reaching the final that year where they lost to host, England.
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SNELL: Elation would finally arrive though in 1974, when West Germany hosted the World Cup. Already, European champions, Beckenbauer's team delivered the ultimate prize and the country's 2nd world title, beating Johan Cruyff's Netherlands team in the final amid joyous scenes in his hometown of Munich.
Beckenbauer would also go on to help Bayern become the kings of Europe from 1974 to 1976.
West Germany's historic 3rd World Cup triumph came at Italia '90 with Beckenbauer again at the helm, only this time as manager. It came just months after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and in what would be the team's last World Cup match of West Germany. Beckenbauer's men delivering victory with Argentina who'd beaten them and him in the 1986 final. A jubilant Beckenbauer becoming just the 2nd person to win the World Cup as player, then head coach.
Beckenbauer also successfully headed his country's bid to stage the 2006 World Cup. A moment of huge cry for now unified Germany.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After a game Germany played and after the game, there were 9 billion people celebrating on the street. And it was fantastic. All nations mixed and culture, and skin colors, you know, different religions.
SNELL: But not without eventual controversy. In 2016, Beckenbauer and 3 other German football officials became the focus of a criminal investigation related to their bid for the 2006 event.
Swiss prosecutors alleging financial corruption, including fraud, and money laundering. Beckenbauer and the others strenuously denied any wrongdoing. A trial would follow, but proceedings having earlier been put on hold due to the global coronavirus pandemic ended in 2020 without a verdict, because the statute of limitations had expired.
But it's as a superbly gifted player that Franz Beckenbauer will be best remembered, undeniably one of football's all-time greats.
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VAUSE: Thank you Patrick Snell.
And thank you for watching.
I'm John Vause. Please stay with us. CNN NEWSROOM continues with my friend and colleague, Rosemary Church in just a moment.
See you right back here tomorrow.
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