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Blinken Heads To Egypt For Talks On Last Leg Of Mideast Trip; Security Council Strongly Condemns Houthi Attacks On Red Sea Shipping; Haley And DeSantis Clash Over Lies On Iowa Stage; Ecuador Gang Members Still Hold Up To 140 Prison Guards Hostage; Ecuador Vows to Catch Escaped Gang Leader Known as "Fito"; Deep into Hamas Tunnels in Gaza; South Africa to Present Genocide Case at International Court of Justice; Russian Opposition Leader Blasts Conditions in Penal Colony; Judge: Trump Can't Speak During Closing Arguments. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired January 11, 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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[01:00:38]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up on CNN, still no off ramp. The U.S. Secretary of State now in Egypt is 10th stop in search of a diplomatic breakthrough to end the war in Gaza.
You lying, you lie a lot more. The fifth GOP debate gets nasty with DeSantis and Haley slugging it out for second place in the Republican primary.
And now Adolfo Macias notorious leader of Ecuador's biggest drug cartel triggered the country spiral into bloodshed and chaos.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.
VAUSE: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken heads to Egypt Thursday, the 10th stop on his latest visit into the region, which until this point has seen no diplomatic breakthrough in ending Israel's war with Hamas.
Blinken made an unexpected stop in Bahrain Wednesday. Earlier he had met with the leader of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah in the West Bank. Mahmoud Abbas urged the U.S. to do more to stop what he called Israel's aggression against Palestinians, not just in Gaza but also the West Bank, as well as Jerusalem.
They discussed Gaza's urgent need for increased humanitarian assistance. And the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross has once again stressed the current level of a crossing into Gaza is dwarfed by the incredible magnitude of need.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT MARDINI, DIRECTOR-GENERAL, INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THR RED CROSS: There are two parties in this conflict with Israel and Hamas and they are bound by those obligations. Civilians are in harm's way. They are caught in the line of fire day in and day out. This conflict is a nightmare. It has been a nightmare for the families of hostages for now, more than three months. It's been a nightmare day in, day out for Palestinians being killed, being injured, the lacking food medicines, medical supplies, access to water, shelter and the freezing cold.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: This war is now into a fourth month and while the intensity of Israel's military offensive is expected to ease on Wednesday, Israeli airstrikes hit central Gaza and the humanitarian crisis overall continues to spiral from bad to worse. Very (INAUDIBLE) from CNN's Jeremy Diamond reporting in from Tel Aviv.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They emerge from the dust screaming. Another Israeli airstrike, this time hitting a market less than 200 feet from the largest hospital in central Gaza.
Here even the injured must dig themselves out of the rubble. Piece by piece, bloodied and covered in dust they emerge from their brush with death. Doctors say at least 70 people were injured. Some carry to the hospital amid tense for the thousands of displaced Palestinians who have sought shelter here. At least six were killed including two men working at this falafel stand.
DR. MOHAMMAD RAYYAN, AL-AQSA MARTYRS HOSPITAL (through translator): The street was full of people and many of the injured had arrived to the hospital. There were many, many injured and marches on the floor.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Hours later first responders turn casualties of war. Four members of an ambulance crew dead after the Palestine Red Crescent Society says the Israeli military targeted their ambulance. Two patients were also killed.
The Israeli military did not respond to CNN's requests for comments. 121 ambulances have been struck during the war, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Inside the hospital, Fuad Omani (ph), a paramedic could do nothing to save Fadi (ph), the son who followed in his footsteps can only say goodbye.
After three months of horror, these first responders are inconsolable. Unable to put into words, the unending nightmare they cannot escape. Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Recent surge in attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea by Houthi rebels in Yemen has been condemned by the U.N. Security Council.
[01:05:05] Vote Wednesday was 11 in favor, none opposed but for extensions that included Russia and China. The U.S. ambassador applauded the result and played around for backing and funding the Houthis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: The facts are indisputable. The Houthis are targeting a range of vessels, few of which are owned or operated by Israelis. And so what is at issue here is not any particular conflict, but rather the simple principle of holding freedom of navigation and a waterway vital to the free flow of global commerce.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: They say the attacks commercial vessels which are connected to Israel to show solidarity with the Palestinians. Senior Houthi leader issued this response to the U.N. resolution. The decision that was adopted regarding the security of navigation in the Red Sea is a political game. The United States is the one violating international law.
Meantime, a British warship is now helping the U.S. to repel the Houthi attacks provide security of the Red Sea. According to the U.K. defense minister, the HMS Diamond, a guided missile destroyer was shut down multiple attack drones from Yemen with no injuries or damage to the shipper crew.
Ryan Patel joins us now from Los Angeles. Ryan is a senior fellow at Claremont Graduate University's Drucker School of Management. Good to see it's been a while.
RYAN PATEL, SENIOR FELOW, DRUCKER SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, CLAREMONT GRADUATE UNIVERSITY: Good to see you John.
VAUSE: OK, so here's the U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen speaking to CNN just a few days ago about how great everything is.
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JANET YELLEN, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: We have 23 months in a row, unemployment under 40 percent haven't seen that in 50 years.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN NACHOR: So the soft landing that had happened.
YELLEN: What we're seeing now I think we can describe as a soft landing, and my hope is that it will, it will continue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: But then the Houthi attacks really ramping up. And on Wednesday, Britain's The Independent reported, the U.K. economy may see inflation rise by 0.2 to 0.5 percent due to commercial disruption caused by the Houthis in Yemen, as they continue to target vessels in the Red Sea according to Whitehall. It's not just the U.K. which could see higher inflation. But, you know, some countries should be more concerned about this than others. So why is that?
PATEL: Well, I mean, part of it is we're already going into 2024 with the GDP numbers for many the developing countries in emerging markets, they're not having that high of a growth plan already. That's before these attacks. And before that, the fragile system of the supply chain.
So when you think about that, we're already coming into 2024 with the emerging markets already behind, John. So if it's already behind, how can you catch up in the next couple of years, when things like this is going to provide a big, you know, a big roadblock for many countries to catch up.
And so to me, when you think about prices, increasing inflation a little bit higher, they will -- those countries will hit really much harder.
VAUSE: Yes, and a closer look at where this is happening actually kind of helps understand the risks. So, the Houthis are in Yemen, they don't control all of Yemen. It's on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, but they control enough territory, to fire missiles and attack drones, at commercial shipping in the Red Sea. And that's as that shipping transit through the Suez Canal in Egypt.
And yet, it's been weeks out since major shipping companies started using safer, but much longer and more costly routes. And yet those costs have not been passed on to consumers, at least not yet. So why is that? And how long before they are?
PATEL: Well, two things, one-six of the 10 biggest containers, shipping companies chose to go around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, why? Crew cargo vessels to reroute the danger. So that was immediate, why people were asking, why was it so fast? It was a no brainer for them? Or for majority of them.
Two, why haven't you seen the prices yet? It's because they've actually got to use to abstain some of those pricing from the past from COVID. They've been resilient. Also, if you pass the prices right away, John, it will cause a ripple effect through all the wholesalers and to the consumers.
So obviously, they're in the middle personal supply chain, they're eating some costs hoping that it can maintain stability, otherwise, you get people of buying less of it. And that's even worse, John, there's even less, you know, more instability into it.
So if you're going to ask me, when are you going to start seeing prices? It's probably, you know, I can't guess, but you know, the longer this goes over the next couple of weeks, you're going to start to see. We're already have before going this, we already have supply chain issues in general, especially in the U.S. when you think about produce. I know you and I talked with lineup of tomatoes and cucumbers and the prices that are not there available.
So to me, I think the supply chain has been resilient. But I think we'll start to see prices go especially when energy costs in the Red Sea start to have that aspect.
VAUSE: Yes, the U.S. has led an international naval task force to try and protect commercial shipping in the region. And on that, listen to the Director-General the World Trade Organization Speaking to CNN. Here she is.
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NGOZI OKONJO-IWEALA, WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION DIRECTOR-GENERLA: And I don't think that that is a really sustainable solution for getting traffic through. So I think the best is to find ways diplomatically to stop what is going on in terms of the potential attacks.
[01:10:10]
VAUSE: So in other words, what, supply chains are still vulnerable, the world economy is still so fragile that global trade can essentially be held hostage by a group of rebels in Yemen. And really, there's nothing else that can be done apart from negotiating?
PATEL: Well, that's because 15 percent of the global trade through the sea goes through the Red Sea. So to your point, when we see some of these crisis is when you cannot have a maintain predictability, it causes a ripple effect.
And unfortunately, we live in this global world now, John, before maybe 20 years ago, wouldn't really matter, right, would be less than the GDP, less interaction, but definitely is not sustainable.
I don't know that negotiation is the right term. But you got to find a long term solution for this issue. Otherwise, John, as you just mentioned, anybody can come and disrupt it and cause a ripple effect.
VAUSE: There's a precedent here, which I guess is that one of the concerning things about all of this, and Ryan, good to have you. Nice to see you.
PATEL: Thanks, John.
VAUSE: Now to the race for second place in the Republican presidential primary. Just days before the Iowa caucus, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis went head to head in the fifth GOP debate, both trailing Donald Trump in the Hawkeye State.
They were critical of the former president for not showing up again, but save their sharpest attacks for each other. Haley and DeSantis repeatedly accused each other of lying on issues ranging from China's influence in the United States to military funding for Ukraine, to gender changing surgeries for minors.
Just a few hours before the debate, a surprise announcement from former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie suspending his presidential campaign. Christie says moral character is the most important issue for a candidate. CNN's Jake Tapper asked Haley and DeSantis if they think Donald Trump has the character to be president.
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NIKKI HALEY, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT CANDIDATE: I think the next president needs to have moral clarity. I think you need to have moral clarity to understand that it's taxpayer money, not your own money. I think you need to have moral clarity to understand that when you're dealing with dictators in the world, that we always have to fight for democracies and human rights and protecting Americans and preventing war.
And so when you look at Donald Trump, I have said, I think he was the right president at the right time. I agree with a lot of his policies, but his way is not my way.
RON DESANTIS, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I appreciated what President Trump did. But let's just be honest, he said he was going to build a wall and have Mexico pay for it. He did not deliver that. He said he was going to drain the swamp. He did not deliver that. He said he was going to hold Hillary accountable. And he let her off the hook. He said he was going to eliminate the debt and he added $7.8 trillion to the debt. So we need to deliver and get this stuff done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Chris Christie focused his campaign on New Hampshire, which is after Iowa, but he struggled to get support in polls. He didn't say if he would endorse anyone else, but made it clear which candidate he will not be supporting.
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CHRIS CHRISTIE, FORMER U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I know I can see from some of the faces here, that I'm disappointing some people by doing this. People who believe in our message and believe in what we've been doing. I also know though, it's the right thing for me to do. Because I want to promise you this. I am going to make sure that in no way to I enable Donald Trump to ever be President of the United States again. And that's more important than my own personal ambition.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: More details now on the Haley-DeSantis debate from CNN's Julia Benbrook in Des Moines, Iowa.
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JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Republican rivals Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis met in their first ever one on one debate Wednesday nights. They're fighting to become their party's alternative to front runner Donald Trump. The former president once again opting to skip the debate instead participating in his own town hall.
HALEY: I wish Donald Trump was up here on this stage. He's the one that I'm running against. He's the one that I wish would be here. He needs to be defending his record. BENBROOK (voice-over): With just five days to go before the Iowa caucuses, both candidates aim to use the narrower stage to drive home their messages to voters. Haley is promising a return to more traditional pre-Trump conservatism.
HALEY: His way is not my way. I don't have vengeance. I don't have vendettas. I don't take things personally.
BENBROOK (voice-over): While DeSantis pledges to be a more effective implementer of Make America Great Again policies.
DESANTIS: I appreciated what President Trump did, but let's just be honest, he said he was going to build a wall and have Mexico pay for it. He did not deliver that. He said he was going to drain the swamp. He did not deliver that.
BENBROOK (voice-over): Haley has emerged as a strong debater in previous clashes with rising poll numbers to prove it. DeSantis went into the night looking to curb Haley's momentum in early voting states.
DESANTIS: We don't need a candidate is going to look down on Middle America.
HALEY: He wants to talk about me insulting I was no when you're telling a joke. The fact that he's only running in one state is not the way you went President.
BENROOK (voice-over): Reporting in Des Moines, Iowa, I'm Julia BenBrook.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[01:15:00]
VAUSE: And that town hall on Fox seem to be filled with Trump supporters, armed with softballs and adoration. Trump in turn pulled out some his greatest hits the usual false narratives about immigration, abortion, Hunter Biden. He also defended his record on one of the most important issues for many voters, the economy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So when the alien Ron DeSantis hit you again and again on this $8 trillion figure and call you a big government Republican, what do you say?
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I say very simply, we were starting to pay down debt. We were going to pay down a lot of debt. When COVID came along, if I didn't inject this country with money, you would have had a depression, the likes of which you've never seen. You had to inject money.
We gave businesses that were going bankrupt, temporarily bankrupt, but they needed money. We helped businesses. If I didn't do that, you would have had a depression in this country. (END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Wrong. Let's bring in Alice Stewart, CNN political commentator, also Republican strategist and Ron Brownstein, CNN senior political analyst, and the senior editor at The Atlantic. Thank you for staying up late. We appreciate you guys being with us.
So unlike the previous four GOP debates, this time, both candidates were notably critical, the front runner, again, here's the no-show Donald Trump is a sample.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HALEY: That election, Trump lost it. Biden won that election and the idea that he's gone and carried this out forever, to the point that he's going to continue to say these things to scare the American people are wrong.
DESANTIS: Build a wall and have Mexico pay for it. He did not deliver that. He said he was going to drain the swamp. He did not deliver that. He said he's going to hold Hillary accountable. And he let her off the hook. He said he was going to eliminate the debt and he added $7.8 trillion to the debt. So we need to deliver and get this stuff done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So Ron, I guess we'll start with you essentially, you know, (INAUDIBLE) was brave enough to say Joe Biden was elected fairly in 2020. Or DeSantis went after Trump with the vitriol of a wet piece of lettuce. But there were still some moments of substance in this debate, unlike the other ones, right when it came to Trump.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. No. First of all, it was an interesting debate. I thought for much of the debate as through much of the campaign, they kind of lost sight of the real issue, which is that they're both running in someone who's beating them by what 40, 30 points in Iowa and 40 points nationally.
But there were moments where they delineated their differences with Trump, more than I have in the past. DeSantis running at him from the right consistently, basically trying to make what I think is, you know, squeezing through the eye of a needle argument that Trump can't be trusted to deliver the MAGA agenda. And Haley, I thought was more critical of her just behavior after the election than we've seen from her before.
John, I thought the -- about the 80-minute mark, there were about 10 minutes there were Jake and Dana Bash asked a series of questions about Trump and the Constitution and Trump's assertion that he can assassinate rivals without consequences unless he is impeached and convicted, where I thought you got the clearest public expression from the two candidates about what they really thought about him than we've ever seen them let their guard down about before, but that was kind of a fleeting moment.
And I still think on balance, they focus too much on each other and not enough on the guy that they both have to take down to progress.
VAUSE: Yes, there was a lot of this other stuff, a lot of accusations of lying. Have a listen to this.
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HALEY: I've said it again. Ron says stop lying.
DESANTIS: And then she said she never said it. Of course you're lying.
HALEY: It doesn't change the fact that Ron's lying because Ron's losing.
DESANTIS: I thought he lied a lot. Man, Nikki Haley may give him a run for his money. Since she's on video saying this. I know she'll say it. She never said it. But she did.
HALEY: You snippet.
DESANTIS: She did do it. She did that.
HALEY: You took a little piece of that. That is not true.
DESANTIS: She also --
HALEY: You are lying again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Alice, from a Republican strategist point of view, which is days before the Iowa caucus does this sort of bickering between Haley and DeSantis up anyone from Donald Trump?
ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It was a very helpful specifically as you mentioned, John, there was a counter programming by Donald Trump on another network and if you had the opportunity to switch back and forth, Trump look like he was on a beach sipping a pina colada, getting softballs and DeSantis. And Haley looked like they were running through a hail storm with no umbrella.
And that's what a lot of people are taking away. There was so much back and forth, calling each other liars. And I thought, just the tempo and the tone of this was quite divisive. And you know, a takeaway from Ron DeSantis calling Nikki Haley a mealy mouthed politician when she says that his campaign is exploding.
It was tough to watch. I think at the end of the day, I think Nikki Haley is strong on foreign policies. She's got the right position now on abortion, moving forward and she's strong on The moral character issue and holding Trump for being a chaos and drama.
[01:20:04]
But I do think DeSantis came across a little bit better in this debate tonight simply because he was able to focus more on issues that appeal to the people of Iowa, his position on the life issue was resonates more with people of Iowa and the positions he had on immigration, and as well as education and parental involvement, education, those are issues that resonate with the American people, specifically people in Iowa, but we'll see heading into Iowa and certainly New Hampshire, Nikki Haley has a lot of momentum and money behind her.
So, I look at this as a wash in terms of going after each other when they should have been directing their fire at Donald Trump.
VAUSE: And Ron, that you're lying defense, I guess seem to be a fullback (INAUDIBLE). So Nikki Haley, when she was struggling to defend her record, which was being attacked by DeSantis.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes, you know, we saw this -- we talked about this after the last debate, when DeSantis really began the strategy of attacking Haley from the right, you know, I talked to people in South Carolina, she's ever really experienced that in her career. I mean, she, you know, she kind of came out in the Tea Party here in 2010. She has ever really had a sustained attack from her right, arguing that she's not conservative enough.
And she seemed unsteady again, as she was the first time about how to respond. I mean, you know, mostly she responds by saying, well, you're lying, and in this case, kind of robotically repeating the idea of going to a website, but she doesn't really defend where she was or criticize where DeSantis is.
I do think that there was a, I think Alice would agree, I kind of tick of the dial up in terms of her willingness to basically say that Trump behaved improperly around the 2020 election, and after and in criticizing January 6, and criticizing him for sustaining these falsehoods about the election. Maybe that as a signal of where she is going post-Iowa, as some people think.
But again, it was mostly about each other as they have been, more importantly, than even what they said tonight. That's where they're spending their money on television. They're attacking each other and largely ignoring the guy who was so far ahead of them. It really does not feel that anybody in the Republican race is doing everything they can in the way we've seen before to try to take down the front runner.
VAUSE: Meantime, on Fox, Donald Trump was drinking pina coladas on the beach. Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you say tonight that political violence is never acceptable?
TRUMP: Well, of course, that's right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What about any of the people who you've run against? Would you be open to mending fences with any of them?
TRUMP: I will. I will.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you be committed to NATO, for example, in a second Trump term?
TRUMP: Depends if they treat us properly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Oh, sorry. Yes, Alice, this was an hour of adoration softball questions, no follow up for the moderators. What was the point for voters in all of this?
STEWART: Well, the point was for the other network to have another hour, or however long of uninterrupted Trump time. And you know, Trump, in essence was saying it's hard to be humble when you're as great as I am the entire time.
But interesting, you know, as these debates go, Ron knows, when you're actually in the debate on a stage with other candidates what your campaign does is what is called rapid response, and you send out information to campaigns to sort of correct the record on your opponent.
Well, Donald Trump wasn't on the stage with DeSantis and Haley. They did do this rapid response, and he sent out notices to whether it's the media or people that speak on this topic. He attacked Haley and DeSantis, on immigration, on China on taxes on a litany of issues.
But the interesting thing, and I think the disturbing thing, and I think insulting thing to the voters, is that he didn't have the respect for voters to actually share the stage. But he did want to take time to correct the record, which I think is really unfortunate, but it doesn't seem to be hurting him.
BROWNSTEIN: You know, John --
VAUSE: Very quickly, Ron. Yes.
BROWNSTEIN: I mean, the maybe the most important thing that happened tonight was Trump's answer about abortion. I mean, if he is the nominee, again, as he did at the CNN debate -- at CNN town hall last summer, taking credit for ending Roe saying that the only reason they're abortion restrictions passing is because of what I did.
I mean, that was the ship that launched 1,000 democratic commercials for Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. You can bet you are going to see that video clip of him taking credit for ending the national constitutional right to abortion.
VAUSE: Which he has also said is a loser for Republicans but yes, it's a good point to end on, Ron, thank you for that. Ron Brownstein there, as well as Alice Stewart. It always good to see you guys. Thanks for staying up.
BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.
STEWART: You too, John. Thanks.
VAUSE: Well, we'll come back, the man hunt from notorious gang leader who escaped from prison is ongoing.
[01:25:00]
Ecuador's president has a warning for those who help them out known as Fito and his escape from behind bars.
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VAUSE: In Ecuador, at least 139 prison guards and staff are still being held hostage by gangs at five prisons right now going to officials could we're going to have essentially declared war on the state with Ecuador's president saying the country is fighting more than 20,000 what he described as terrorists and wave of violent kidnappings and prison riots rattle the nation Tuesday.
President Daniel Noboa said on Wednesday he has sympathy for the families of those who have been kidnapped and vowed not to give in to the terrorist groups. Military and police operations continue nationwide to find the gangs behind the week's widespread attacks.
Noboa (ph) says its arrest -- arrested nearly 330 people belong to so called terrorist organizations just the last few days. Security forces killed five alleged criminals and recapture dozens of escaped prison inmates as well.
Ecuador's governors vow to catch the notorious gang leader who's escaped set off the crisis. Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, also known as Fito was discovered missing on Sunday. Official so conceded he could have escaped before then. Ecuador's president says prison officials who were on duty at the time will be prosecuted. More details down from CNN's Patrick Oppmann.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He should have been Ecuador's most closely guarded prisoner. So how was it that notorious gang leader Adolfo Macias alias Fito was able to escape from prison? Ecuador's government can't say how or even when Fito who was serving a 34-year sentence for drug trafficking, murderer and organized crime escaped from this prison Guayaquil.
His disappearance was discovered Sunday just as he was about to be transferred to a maximum security facility. Officials vowed to catch him.
ROBERTO IZURIETA CANOVA, ECUADOREAN GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSON: Whole forces of this date are after him and I am convinced that we will catch him because he does not have the protection that he has from the old system.
OPPMANN (voice-over): It is the second time the burly and bearded leader of the notorious Los Choneros gang has slipped away from officials. In 2013, Fito escaped from another prison in Guayaquil, and was on the run for three months before police recaptured.
For years, many of Ecuador's prisons had been under the control of drug gangs, as the South American nation increasingly became a key conduit for cocaine trafficking. More than 400 inmates have been killed in drug gang violence in prison since 2021.
As the groups battle for valuable turf and smuggling routes, Los Choneros have been linked to Mexico's brutal and powerful Sinaloa Cartel, once led by Joaquin El Chapo Guzman.
[01:29:46]
In 2023, presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio ran for office on a platform of confronting the gangs that he said were corrupting Ecuador's political system. Villavicencio said he was threatened by the gangs for speaking out.
FERNANDO VILLAVICENCIAM, FORMER MEMBER OF ECUADOR NATIONAL ASSEMBLY (through translator): I was told that if I keep mentioning Fito's name and the Choneros they will destroy me.
OPPMANN: Villavicencio was gunned down while campaigning in November. The alleged hitmen arrested for the candidate's killing were themselves murdered in prison and officials have yet to determine who masterminded the assassination plot.
Following Fito's escape and ensuing violence, Ecuadorian officials said gangs would be treated as terrorists.
ADM. JAIME VELA ERAZO, ECUADORIAN ARMED FORCES (through translator): From this moment on, every terrorist group identified in the affirmation degree has become a military target.
OPPMANN: Fito is sure to be at the top of the government's list.
Officials say thousands of police and military personnel are searching for the fugitive and another gang leader who also escaped from prison.
Ecuadorians are reeling from a wave of gang-related violence on Tuesday, including the brazen attack on a TV station that was carried live.
Ecuador is a country in shock as their government hunts for its most wanted fugitive who fights a war on all fronts.
Patrick Oppmann, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Brett Bruen is president of the Global Situation Room, which specialize in crisis and risk management. He's also the former director of global engagement for the Obama White House.
Good to see you. Thanks for coming back.
BRETT BRUEN, PRESIDENT, GLOBAL SITUATION ROOM: You bet.
VAUSE: OK. So this now seems to be what -- a battle between two men. There is Adolfo Macias, also known as Fito, the drug lord who ran Ecuador's most powerful cartel from prison until escaping on Sunday. And there's the recently elected 36-year-old President Daniel Noboa, who for the record was working for his dad exporting bananas in 2011 when Macias was actually sent to prison. It seems quite a contrast, quite a matchup.
BRUEN: Yes, this is bananas so to speak, John. I think we have a situation where Ecuador has been overrun by a foreign mafia or criminal network. So what has transpired over just the last few years is it went from having one of the lowest homicide rate in Latin America to the highest this year. And that's as a result obviously of this and other criminal gangs.
You have a young new president who is coming to office to fill out the term of the president that was ushered out. And I think right now, this is a real test whether or not a young president can fully try to pull the country back from the brink of whether it's civil war or just outright criminality spreading out into the street.
VAUSE: Well, President Noboa declared a state of emergency Monday and in some ways that seems to have triggered, you know, a surge of gang- related violence. Riots erupted in six prisons. Armed men stormed that TV studio live on air. Elsewhere, police was kidnapped. And one was forced to read this message. "You declared a state of emergency, we declared police, civilians and soldiers to be the spoils of war."
It is not often you have criminal gangs declaring war on the actual state. And if that's what this is, looking at this in military terms, which side has the more firepower? Which side has more battle-hardened troops in this battle?
BRUEN: Well look, the advantage is still with the security forces, with the armed forces of Ecuador. But it was a brazen move obviously by this criminal gang.
I think the images that have now been seen around the world of some of those are gangsters storming into one of the most popular TV news programs, seizing the anchor as well as the staff in those studios shocked a lot of people, including people in Ecuador.
And I believe, John, this is one of the situations where they have gone -- (INAUDIBLE) steps too far and now what you're seeing if you Google on social media is that there is the population is out in support of security forces. They're there hopefully to restore order and obviously to push back some of these outrageous acts that we've seen in the last few days.
VAUSE: And all of this is happening with the economy very fragile right now which has created more challenges for Noboa. Here's a risk assessment from (INAUDIBLE) Americas, "The task of returning peace to the nation will not be easy due to limited public funds. Ecuador ended 2023 with a fiscal deficit of U.S. $5 billion dollars. Experts underscore that there are scant possibilities of obtaining financing at present, which will likely affect economic activity, undermine the chances of attracting foreign investment to key sectors as well."
[01:34:46]
You know, this is sort of an economic spiral right now for the government. So are they capable of retaking control of the country on their own, or will that only be possible with the support which has been offered from countries like the United States and other friendly neighbors?
BRUEN: Yes, I think it's going to take support from the U.S., from other nations, both in the western hemisphere as well as beyond our own hemisphere.
But look, John what we saw in the last few days, that's a lot of people concerned. This level of instability, this level of just brazen criminality, I think will incite leaders here in Washington and in other capitals to find the funds to push back.
But John, one last thing, this issue is a regional one. It has spilled over from Colombia, spilled over from Venezuela. But we have to tackle this not just in Ecuador.
VAUSE: Yes. Good point to finish on, Brett. Thanks so much for being with us. Brett Bruen there, president of Global Situation Room. Thank you, sir.
BRUEN: Sure thing.
VAUSE: Coming up here on CNN, a glimpse of the maze of tunnels under Gaza, where Israel says Hamas held some of the hostages kidnapped on October 7th. More in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: As the war in Gaza begins Day 98, Israel says Hamas is no longer in control of large parts of the Palestinian territory. But according to the IDF, Hamas fighters still pose a threat, hiding in a maze of tunnels underground.
CNN reports now on those tunnels. This report was done under the IDF escort at all times, and a condition for journalist to embed with the Israeli military, media outlets submit footage which is taken in Gaza to Israeli military for security review.
CNN did not submit the final report to the IDF and retained editorial control at all times. So with more now, here's CNN's Nic Robertson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Khan Yunis, a gunner's view driving in, scouring the landscape for threats. Problem for these IDF troops, their enemy is mostly hiding in tunnels they say.
DON GOLDFUS, IDF DIVISION COMMANDER: The biggest issue is that fact that we're actually maneuvering above ground, underground.
ROBERTSON: Goldfus, who commands Israel's biggest military division ever, is adapting.
GOLDFUS: So you use all your senses that you have. Use your vision sensor, you use your field sensor, your smell sensor.
ROBERTSON: He's invited CNN to go deep into the tunnels. We are told this is the heart of Khan Yunis and that hostages are likely underground nearby and that some were held here.
[01:39:45]
ROBERTSON: This tunnel were going in here is one where some of the hostages were held. That first round of hostage releases -- some of them came out from down here.
So how deep this tunnel go?
Our first time to get up close to what's shaping this war.
GOLDFUS: We are moving underground, we are maneuvering underground. We're going to reach every -- each and every militant, each and every terrorist underground here.
ROBERTSON: no modern army has had to fight above ground and underground like this before. How is that to do it?
GOLDFUS: It's difficult. And it's going to be a very, very hard long fight.
ROBERTSON: to see just how hard, he takes us deeper.
so we came down a metal ladder. We've come down one flight of stairs. We are going down a second flight of stairs here -- a double flight it looks like.
And down here, command and control were running all the way down. It's a deep, deep system. How deep are we underground do you think right now?
GOLDFUS: At the moment, we are more or less between 10 to 15 meters underground.
ROBERTSON: 10 to 15 meters.
GOLDFUS: Yes.
ROBERTSON: And now we're going down another level, down more steps.
We're about to go down again another level. It's so low my head keeps banging off the roof. What are we looking at here?
GOLDFUS: This is a small room.
ROBERTSON: With some kind of air ventilation system?
GOLDFUS: Yes. The air ventilation system. This goes up.
ROBERTSON: And a metal frame around the door?
GOLDFUS: These metal frames, this can be as much as this is a small room. This is how a different cages that they put the kidnapped.
ROBERTSON: So they were held in cages?
GOLDFUS: In cages, yes.
ROBERTSON: Hidden and utterly cut off.
And down here, you really can't hear anything, what's going on in the outside world. Now we must be 20 or 30 meters down?
GOLDFUS: Almost 20.
ROBERTSON: Almost 20. So they have tunnels three times as deep as this.
GOLDFUS: Three times.
ROBERTSON: Wow.
What's clear here, the money, planning, and preparation invested for a long siege.
We are 20 meters underground here, 20 meters. And there is a fully flush toilet. And it's even painted. There's a place for a light bulb and light switches, tiled.
The labyrinth keeps going.
OK. Now it's so low we're getting down on our knees to get through.
Goldfus pauses, lays out his path to victory.
GOLDFUS: Underground, it's Hamas. We have to reach this Hamas core to finish them off.
ROBERTSON: But those Palestinian people above ground are also dying still?
GOLDFUS: I understand that. I understand. That's why we're trying to do it as fast as we can. Yesterday, there were mortars and rockets fired from north of Gaza in the state of Israel.
ROBERTSON: To the civilians --
GOLDFUS: Into the civilian part of Israel.
ROBERTSON: So as long as those rockets are coming out of northern Gaza, the people of the south -- who have moved to the south, can't go back to the north?
GOLDFUS: As long as we haven't carried out our mission all the way, as long as we haven't finished this mission, I don't think we will leave here. ROBERTSON: We head back. Half an hour underground, we've seen only a
fraction of this war-changing labyrinth. Goldfus' challenge, find all the others.
Nic Robertson, CNN -- Khan Yunis, Gaza.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: In the coming hours, South Africa will present a genocide case against Israel to the International Court of Justice. Israel's president strongly denies the allegation of trying to destroy Palestinians in Gaza, describing the case as atrocious and preposterous.
At the same time the Israeli government has a new Web site with gruesome images from the Hamas attack on October 7th, intended quote, "to show the world some of Hamas' crimes against humanity." The Israelis will present their case on Friday.
In the meantime, CNN's Melissa Bell reports now on what could happen in court.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Three months after Israel launched its military campaign targeting Hamas in Gaza, South Africa is taking on Israel at the International Court of Justice in the Hague, accusing it of genocide in urging the U.N. body to order Israel to stop the war.
RONALD LAMOLA, SOUTH AFRICAN JUSTICE MINISTER: South Africa cannot stand idly and watch when a genocide is being committed by the state of Israel in full view of the international community, clear acts that they aim to annihilate the population of Palestine.
BELL: Allegations that will be refuted by Israel when it takes the stand on Friday.
[01:44:41]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will be there at the International Court of Justice and when we present proudly our case of using self-defense under our most inherent right, under international humanitarian law, where we are doing our utmost in under extremely complicated circumstances.
BELL: In its 84-page application to the court, South Africa accuses Israel of breaching the 1948 Genocide Convention by engaging in acts with the intent to destroy in whole or in part the Palestinian people, including through killings, the causing of serious bodily and mental harm, and other measures.
The petition claims that Israel's actions are rooted in what it calls a 75-year-old system of apartheid. It also draws on the rhetoric of Israeli politicians since the war began.
YOAV GALLANT, ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER: We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly.
MAJ. GEN. GIORA ELLAND, ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: Can we have such a huge pleasure on Gaza, that Gaza will become an area where people cannot live.
ISAAC HERZOG, ISRAELI PRESIDENT: It's not true, this rhetoric about civilians not aware, not involved, it's absolutely not true. And we will fight until we break their backbone.
BELL: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who met with Israeli and Palestinian leaders this week, dismissed South Africa's case as a distraction.
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We believe the submission against Israel to the International Court of Justice distracts the world from all of these important efforts. And moreover, the charge of genocide is merit-less.
BELL: The public hearings begin on Thursday, and whilst a ruling on genocide could take years, a possible injunction on the Gaza war that Pretoria has asked the ICJ for could come much sooner.
Melissa Bell, CNN -- the Hague.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Still to come up here on CNN, Donald Trump muzzled. A New York judge says the former president will not be allowed to speak at his civil fraud trial. We'll explain why in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny will soon appear before the country's supreme court via video link arguing for greater access to (INAUDIBLE) materials. Navalny made a separate court hearing Wednesday, his first since he was transferred to a remote penal colony in Siberia.
CNN's Clare Sebastian has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alexei Navalny is making it clear that even being banished beyond the Arctic circle will not stop his protest against Putin's regime and the ills of the Russian justice system.
His court appearance was part of a lawsuit against the Russian prison service over one of his many previous stints in a punishment cell that's a strict form of solitary confinement.
The (INAUDIBLE) in itself is not significant. Navalny has long claimed of course, that his imprisonment is politically motivated. So these separate courts cases under conditions of his detention are really more about keeping his cause in the headlines. He will likely appear again at a separate scheduled hearing on Thursday. [01:49:48]
SEBASTIAN: And the protests are not working, despite ongoing concerns about Navalny's health. The conditions of his detention have not improved. According to social media post by his aides on Tuesday, he's once again been consigned to a punishment cell for seven days. And that apparently now includes only early morning walks in a place where temperatures are routinely sub-zero.
It's never been colder than minus 25 degrees Fahrenheit, says one post on his social media channel. Even at that temperature, you can walk for more than half an hour but only if you have time to grow a new nose, ears, and fingers. You can hear the sarcasm there, of course.
Navalny's team says none of this is coincidental. His move to Siberia coming around the same time that Putin announced his bid for an almost certain reelection to a fifth term as Russian president, and as Navalny's team launched their own PR campaign under the banner "Russia without Putin".
Clare Sebastian, CNN -- London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Donald Trump expected to take closing arguments Thursday in his $370 million civil court trial in New York. But the judge says because Trump would not agree to the court rules, he won't be allowed to speak.
CNN's Katelyn Polantz has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Donald Trump is going to be going to the courthouse on Thursday in New York for the final day of his civil fraud trial. So that's where the New York attorney general has accused him and his businesses of defrauding the state by their business practices, by over inflating their worth as they were getting bank loans.
And in this final day, it is the closing arguments. Trump wanted to speak, but the judge said he is not going to be able to because he was not willing to comply with the rules of the court, the rules that the judge was trying to get him, or get at least an answer out of his attorneys on on Wednesday, it just didn't happen.
So what will happen in these closing arguments is the New York attorney general is going to be telling the judge that they are seeking $370 million for the "ill-gotten gains", those are their words, from Donald Trump and his business empire. And also that Trump should be barred from doing business in the state of New York.
Trump's side will probably very likely do much of what they did in their previous parts of this trial, and that has included attacking the judge and saying that this is unfair and this is not something that they agree with these findings. But the judge has already found that Trump and his business empire,
they are liable. He's just assessing the consequences at this point, and will make that determination, announce it at a later date.
But what happened in the final hours before these closing arguments, that was a bid of drama that Trump is now pointing to the judge at creating. But it was a situation where his lawyers very, very abnormally told the judge that Trump himself wanted to address the court in its closing arguments. That is not typical at all. The judge said, ok, fine, but you are going to have to follow the rules of the court. You're not going to be able to introduce more evidence, speak about things that are irrelevant to this case, or give a campaign speech, and gave them a deadline to confirm that Trump would do this and would comply with the court's rules and determinations.
As of Wednesday at noon -- and Trump's team never responded. So the judge was quite clear Donald Trump will not be speaking in court on Thursday. That does not mean though he won't take the opportunity to speak to cameras as he heads into and out of that courthouse.
Katelyn Polantz, CNN -- Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Still to come here, the head of Boeing talks about the investigation into what went wrong during an that in-flight blowout on Alaska Airlines.
[01:53:30]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: The Federal Aviation Authority in the United States says grounded 737 Max planes will remain grounded for the foreseeable future until it's safe for their return.
Now, Alaska Airlines says that means flight cancellations will continue -- it's only 150 flights a day. This (INAUDIBLE) came after part of a 737 Max 9 Jet broke off during a flight last week on board Alaska Airlines.
Why the door plug blew out is under investigation but the head of Boeing took responsibility on Tuesday while addressing employees
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID CALHOUN, CEO, BOEING: We are going to approach this, number one, acknowledging our mistake.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The CEO offered more information about what actually went wrong on Wednesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CALHOUN: A fuselage plug blew out. That's the mistake. It can never happen, we're not allowed that to happen.
We're going to want to know what broke down in our gauntlet of inspections, what broke down in the original work that allowed for that escape to happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Since Friday's incident, hundreds of flights have been canceled on United and Alaska Airlines, the two U.S. carrier, which fly the 737 Max 9.
2023 was a blockbuster year for "Barbie" and toymaker Mattel has big plans for everyone's favorite doll this year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Barbie in the real world. That's impossible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Barbie's big screen adventure grossed more than a billion dollars at the box office. But Mattel wants to show Barbie's young fans she could be more than just be a movie star, she can run Hollywood.
A new line of Barbie's career of the year deals have been revealed, showing her taking on jobs rated from studio executive, complete with cell phone, got to have a cell phone, to director, also of cinematographer, adding to the 250 jobs barbie has worked since she was born in 1959.
God bless Barbie.
Thank you for watching, I'm John Vause.
Please stay with us. The news continues after a short break with my friend and colleague Rosemary Church at the top of the hour.
See you next week.
[01:57:10]
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