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U.S. In New Strikes Against Houthi Targets In Yemen; Israel's Netanyahu Reiterates Rejection Of Palestinian State After Gaza War; Iran Conducts Extensive Military Exercise Spanning Strategic Regions; North Korea Says It Has Tested Another Underwater Nuclear Drone; Russia Intercepted Drones Near Moscow And St. Petersburg; Gaza Cemeteries Damaged Amid Conflict; Ecuador Police Arrested Two Suspects in Prosecutor's Murder; Uber CEO: World Must Speed Up Transition to Electric Vehicles; Concerns in the U.K. AS Princes of Wales Hospitalized. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired January 19, 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: Ahead here on CNN Newsroom, the U.S. president admits military strikes in Yemen and not stopping Houthi attacks on commercial shipping. But he warns they will continue nonetheless.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I also feel ashamed and shocked that, that we're doing this to fellow humans.
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VAUSE: Two weeks in a brutal war zone what a British doctor saw while volunteering at a hospital in Gaza. And why there's so many more accidents in the first year when drivers switch from gasoline to electric vehicles.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.
VAUSE: U.S. forces have hit Houthi targets again in Yemen and despite five separate strikes in less than a week, Houthi fighters have continued their attacks on commercial shipping in the region. And while those attacks will not stop until Israel ends the war in Gaza.
U.S. Central Command says to Houthi anti-ship missiles aimed at the critical waterway of the Red Sea were ready for launch and we're both destroyed Thursday. The Pentagon says the military strikes overall have degraded Houthi capability, but by how much remains unknown.
Houthi spokesperson says the attacks by the U.S. and also the United Kingdom are a persistent act of aggression, and one's vessels linked to Israel will continue to be targeted.
On Thursday, the .U.S president admitted the strikes have been unable to stop the Houthi attacks, but they will go on.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are the airstrikes in Yemen working?
JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: Well, when you say working, are they stopping the Houthi? No. And they're going to continue? Yes.
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VAUSE: More now, CNN military analyst and retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton joins us from Washington. Well, it's good to see you. Thanks for being with us.
COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Thanks, John. Good to be with you.
VAUSE: OK, so let's start with the Pentagon spokesperson with an assessment on the impact on the Houthis capabilities after these five U.S. military strikes. Listen to this.
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SABRINA SINGH, DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: They still retain some capabilities. They've been degraded in some areas, but I can't predict when they will continue to launch or how long they'll continue this trend for all we can say is that we continue to urge them to stop.
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VAUSE: Is that at least a little partial admission of sorts that right now the U.S. doesn't really know, the full extent of the Houthis' military capability, their weapons stockpiles what they're actually capable of doing?
LEIGHTON: Yes, I think in many ways it is John. I mean, it's clear that the Houthis have certain capabilities, most of which they've received from Iran. The latest figures that we had in the, you know, open press were somewhere around 30 to 35 percent of their capability had been degraded by the previous strikes, that were launched against them, primarily the U.S., U.K. strikes plus the solo U.S. strikes that happened a few days after that.
But I think the key thing here is that the intelligence picture of the Houthis is very limited. And it's going to be one that changes quickly, especially if the Iranians are successful, in resupplying them with missile parts, with actual missiles and with the warheads that they need in order to accomplish this mission.
And then the other thing, of course, to keep in mind is that they have certain capabilities on the intelligence side that the Iranians have given that there was an Iranian ship that is in the vicinity of the Gulf of Aden, and that is providing a intelligence support to the Houthis at this time.
VAUSE: OK, so you mentioned the sort of the scorecard over the past week in terms of Houthi military hardware taken out by the U.S. as ally. So starting last Friday, when the U.S. and U.K. forces hit more than 60 Houthi targets across Yemen, that included radar systems, air defense systems storage and launch sites for attack drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles.
The next day, the U.S. destroyed the Houthi radar site, then on Tuesday four anti-ship ballistic missiles were destroyed, followed by another 14 on Wednesday, two more anti-ship missiles hit on Thursday.
So that's what we know from the, you know, the reporting -- the public reporting, that's either a huge blow or barely scratches the surface without an accurate assessment of the weapons stockpile. I guess it could be either.
What we do know though, is that the Houthis continue to fire missiles at ships in the Red Sea and they continue to be this ongoing threat. Right?
LEIGHTON: That's right, John. And in fact, one of the things that we have to keep in mind is that when we have store cards like this they don't give us the complete picture.
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There's still a possibility that the Houthis have weapons in storage, that although we hit 60 targets on the first day, we may not hit have hit the right 60 targets. And it just takes one launch site, one UAV area, one radar site to keep them active. And if those are active and they continue to be active, then it's something that will require a continual restraint capability on the part of the U.S. and its coalition partners.
VAUSE: And things with this strategy that they're using. They don't need to be successful. They don't have to have hit a ship every single time they fire a missile or a drone. They just have to continue to be a threat.
LEIGHTON: Exactly. And that's a key point, because what is actually happening is they're really not very successful in terms of the percentage of weapons fired and weapons that successfully hit intended target. In fact, that percentage is fairly low on the Houthi side is probably somewhere around 12, 15 percent if that.
But the very fact that the threat exists, is forcing all these shipping companies to change the routes of their vessels, it is also forcing the U.S. military coalition partner militaries to move into the region. And that is what is really a meeting this issue.
VAUSE: During a televised address in Yemen, the leader of the Houthis Mr. al-Houthi said we confirm to the world as it continues, the American-British aggression will contribute more and more to developing our military capabilities even further.
He said they've always emerged from any conflict stronger than before, which I guess is, you know, I guess that's a fair point. But here's the question, aren't they still fighting a civil war against the Saudi government of Yemen? And wouldn't this be a good time for that Saudi backed government in Yemen to do something?
LEIGHTON: It wouldn't be. And the key problem that that Saudi backed government has is that the Saudis themselves are reluctant to provide that support. In fact, they want a peace agreement with the Houthis. And of course, the Houthis are taking advantage of that.
And one of the reasons that we've been reluctant in the U.S. and in the U.K. to actually do more against the Houthis is because we don't want to derail this possible peace agreement between the Saudis and the Houthi.
So, this very complex situation that everybody's tripped into is one in which yes, the Yemeni Houthis and the Yemeni state that is fighting them are at loggerheads spot. The Houthis are definitely getting an advantage out of this because they are seen as the ones that are defending the Yemeni homeland, and that is going to provide them with a lot of political benefits.
VAUSE: Colonel Leighton as always, sir, good to see you. Thank you for your insights. Thank you.
LEIGHTON: You bet, John, thanks for having me.
VAUSE: And it was Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has again pushed back on U.S. calls for the creation of an independent Palestinian state once the war with Hamas is over, a plan which Netanyahu's long opposed during a news conference Thursday, he argued Palestinian sovereignty, we pose a serious risk to Israel's security.
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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Any agreement, with or without agreement, the State of Israel must control security between the Jordan River to the sea and the clashes of the sovereignty idea. I'm telling our American friends, I stopped at a reality which would have hurt the security of Israel. the Prime Minister of Israel should have the ability to say no, even to our greatest friends when he has to.
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VAUSE: But the U.S. State Department has been pushing a two-state solution around the region once the Gaza -- once the war in Gaza is over, as the only way to guarantee Israel's long term security.
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MATTHEW MILLER, SPOKESPERSON, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: There is no way to solve their long term challenges to provide lasting security and there is no way to solve the short term challenges of rebuilding Gaza and establishing governance in Gaza and providing security for Gaza without the establishment of a Palestinian state.
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VAUSE: Right now the current reality in Gaza is misery, destruction, and death. One British doctor so all of this firsthand and up close during her two weeks as a volunteer at a hospital in Gaza, two weeks which is fulfilling but shocked and ashamed. Dr. Deborah Harrington spoke to CNN and Christiane Amanpour.
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DR. DEBORAH HARRINGTON, OBSTETRECIAN WHO VOLUNTEERED IN GAZA: On one day, I was thinking this is New Year's Day. And there was one moment where I just looked at my watch. It was at two in the afternoon and we had mass casualties coming in. And in fact, it was from a school shelter where there had been bombardment and blast and we had mass casualties coming in. Then I looked around the resource room, which is where all the sickest patients are taken. And out of the five patients in the resource room, four of them were children.
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One with an injury with a horrendous injury, a shrapnel injury to the brain weren't going to survive. And then the other children with horrendous mix of, you know, open fractures, partial amputations, open chest wounds, horrendous lacerations from shrapnel to the sort of chest and head, and burns.
And that was every day, you know, looking around the emergency department. My overwhelming impression was, why have so many children here? I also feel ashamed and shocked that we're doing this to fellow humans.
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VAUSE: Earlier I spoke about rebuilding Gaza. Once the war is over with Yara Asi. She's an assistant professor of Global Health Management and Informatics at the University of Central Florida. She has many potential international NGOs are reluctant to invest in Gaza, because they've been there before.
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YARA ASI, ASSISANT PROFESSOR OF GLOBAL HEALTH MANAGEMENT AND INFORMATICS: You can imagine after being called to spend millions and billions to help rebuild Gaza in the past because Gaza has never been fully rebuilt.
At this point, donors have been rebuilding the same hospitals, the same green houses, the same houses, in some cases, schools, hospitals, multiple times.
And so at this point, I believe that they're seeing this level of destruction, the level of investment it would take to even get back to a baseline standard of living. And they're saying we don't want to commit unless we're sure that we won't have to rebuild these structures yet again.
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VAUSE: And it's way too early to try and even estimate how much Gaza's rebuilding will actually cost.
The latest now on rising tensions between Iran and Pakistan after tit for tat airstrikes earlier this week. Islamabad has signaled a willingness to de-escalate but at the same time, Tehran is now saying is carried out a large scale military exercise. CNN's Ivan Watson has more.
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IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Survivors sifting through rubble after a series of deadly cross border missile strikes. This week's flare up between Iran and Pakistan, adding fuel to a region already on fire.
WATSON: The Islamic Republic of Iran and Pakistan shear along and porous border. In a 48-hour period their militaries have carried out tit for tat drone and missile strikes into each other's territory and unexpected crisis for two neighbors who just days ago, appeared to be getting along.
WATSON (voice-over): On Tuesday, Pakistan's Prime Minister held face to face talks with Iran's top diplomat in Davos. But hours later, Iran carried out what it called precision missile and drone strikes on what he claimed were Iranian terrorists in Pakistan's Baluchistan region.
Pakistan condemned what he called a breach of its sovereignty that killed at least two children. And on Thursday, the Pakistani military struck back.
MUMTAZ ZAHRA BALOCH, PAKISTANI FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON: This morning, Pakistan undertook a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts in Sistan, Baluchistan province of Iran.
WATSON (voice-over): Using killer drones, rockets and loitering munitions, the Pakistani military says it targeted separatist militants from the Baluch ethnic group. Iranian authorities say at least 10 people died, prompting Tehran to condemn Pakistan.
In fact, this week, Iran also carried out missile strikes against Northern Iraq and Syria. A deadly show of force after ISIS claimed responsibility for twin blasts in the Iranian city of Kerman on January 3, which killed scores of civilians.
ALI VAEZ, IRAN PROJECT DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: This was really primarily a demonstration of force in a place that Iran thought would have limited repercussions in terms of the risk of escalation. I think they underestimated now this would put the Pakistani government in a very difficult situation.
WATSON (voice-over): For each part, the Pakistani government seems to be willing to de-escalate.
BALOCH: Iran is a brotherly country and the people of Pakistan have great respect and affection for the people of Iran.
WATSON (voice-over): The question now, does Tehran want a conflict with its much more populous nuclear armed neighbor, Ivan Watson, CNN.
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VAUSE: Well, Ukrainian flies drones deep inside Russian territory hundreds of kilometers from the front lines by that could be happening more and more often in the coming months. In a moment.
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VAUSE: North Korea has reportedly carried out a successful test of an underwater nuclear capable drone. This came after joint U.S.-South Korean and Japanese naval drills earlier this week with Pyongyang described as a serious threat to national security.
All this comes with Pyongyang set to declare South Korea its biggest threat and dropping a long held goal of rate reunification of the Korean Peninsula. Still, South Korea's prime minister seems unconcerned.
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HAN DUCK-SOO, SOUTH KOREAN PRIME MINISTER: Without those kinds of provocations, the situation might be better, but we are not so much worried because we are so much accustomed to what they are.
So two things are clear. We will open our doors and windows for negotiations, dialogue and diplomacy. But up to now, North Korea have never accepted in a very, very serious way.
So what we will do in between is that no options but to make clear deterrence capabilities for us to deter their threat and dissuade them to you know, not to proliferate. And also, you know, persuade them have more interested in dialogue and diplomacy.
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VAUSE: Many experts on North Korea say this time seems different. All the talk of walk could in fact be real preparations for some kind of conflict. CNN's Will Ripley explains.
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WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Korean Peninsula staring down the barrel of a catastrophic conflict. That warning from one of America's leading nuclear scientists, one of two longtime North Korea observers who say Kim Jong Un is sending signals in state media may be prepared to take advantage of global chaos to exploit what he sees as weakness and vulnerability between the U.S. and close allies, South Korea and Japan.
SIEGFRIED HECKER, PROFESSOR, MIDDLEBURY INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: They are talking about war. They're talking about war preparations for their country. And so we're quite concerned. RIPLEY (voice-over): For years former Los Alamos director Siegfried Hecker had unparalleled access to North Korea's highly secretive nuclear program, seeing more than almost any American. What he's seeing now he says reminiscent of the lead up to the catastrophic Korean War more than 70 years ago, a chilling shift and leader Kim Jong Un's strategy was far more than the usual saber rattling.
HECKER: I think this time is different. He may have decided that it is time to actually take some actions.
RIPLEY (voice-over): For the past 30 years, North Korea's goal was normalizing ties with the US. Hecker says that ended in 2019 when summit talks in Hanoi, Vietnam collapsed. Former President Donald Trump and Kim walked out humiliating and infuriating the North Korean leader riding his armored private train back to Pyongyang empty handed.
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Perhaps giving up on us diplomacy, making a strategic turn towards conflict.
HECKER: He may believe that there actually there is some way sort of what one would say what's the path to victory that He may be thinking very differently than what our conventional thinking is.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Kim's confidence may be bolstered, he says, by closer ties with China and a deepening military alliance with Russia. North Korea's foreign minister Choe Son-hui visiting Moscow just this week, also labeling South Korea a hostile country.
CHOE SON-HUI, NORTH KOREAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): This is a political provocation.
RIPLEY (voice-over): And not just political, North Korea testing a new hypersonic missile, potentially nuclear capable, adding to Kim's rolling arsenal. Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.
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VAUSE: Russian air defenses have intercepted a number of drones hundreds of kilometers from the Ukrainian border. According to Russian Defense Ministry, the drones were heading for Moscow and St. Petersburg. CNN's Fred Pleitgen has details now reporting from Dnipro, Ukraine.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIOANL CORRESPONDENT: Drones are increasingly having an impact in this war and the Ukrainians have now apparently managed to fly a combat drone all the way to the area around St. Petersburg. Now that's hundreds of miles away from Ukrainian held territory. And the Ukrainians would also have had to fly that drone through the western part of Russia, where the Russians have some pretty capable air defenses. It's unclear what exactly happened with this drone. The Ukrainians are
saying that it managed to hit its target that the mission was successful. The Russians for their proud however, are saying that they managed to take the drone down and that it crashed in the area of an oil terminal near the city of St. Petersburg.
All this of course happening as the war here in Ukraine is continuing to heat up and as the Russians are pressing with offensives in several area along the south eastern and eastern front line, all this a big concern for the Ukrainians.
And one of the things that the defense minister of this country has said is that the Ukrainians are suffering from a shortage of ammunition. He said that that's both real and pressing a big concern for the Ukrainians, of course, in general, the fact that the Ukrainians are struggling, also a huge concern for NATO as well.
And NATO has now started its largest exercise, since the end of the Cold War. It's going on in areas in North America, across the Atlantic and in Europe as well with some 90,000 troops that are involved. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Dnipro, Ukraine.
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VAUSE: British Foreign Secretary David Cameron has compared Russian leader Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler. The rise came at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and he explained what he meant to CNN's Richard Quest.
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RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR: You used an analogy that it was like the 1930s, like being a minister in the 1930s, or a government in Europe in the 1930s. At the same time, the Prime Minister has said this is the most unstable time that in decades. So how do we, you, navigate in the 1930s?
DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: The reason I made that analogy is in the 1930s, we didn't sufficiently stand up to a bullying dictator who was taking parts of other people's countries. And I think what we've seen with Putin's invasion of Ukraine is the most naked, the most flagrant breach of another country's sovereignty and territorial borders.
And so I think it's the challenge for our generation. How do we respond to that? Do we back the Ukrainians with all that we've got? Do we stay in for as long as it takes? I say, yes.
QUEST: The latest reports suggest that the Ukrainians are finding it much more difficult. And that Russia, if not exactly prevailing, is certainly seeming to be on a stronger footing. It's got armor production. And all of this.
CAMERON: I would challenge that because look at the Black Sea there. You've seen the Ukrainians push the Russian Navy right back across the Black Sea. They've opened the grain corridor, they're exporting grain. 600 ships have been through that corridor, and they've sunk about 20 percent of the Russian Navy.
So, you know, there is a different narrative here that Putin's he's lost 300,000 people, he's lost half of the territory that he took, he seen NATO get bigger and stronger. This has been a strategic catastrophe for Putin.
QUEST: But now he's got longer and he has to keep going. And from the Ukrainians point of view, they look at the E.U. who can't decide on whether to what they've decided to provide there but they can't find the mechanism. And in the U.S., the Republicans are holding it up in Congress.
And before you said I'm aware of what the Prime Minister has offered. These other two big groupings are not giving that same full throated.
CAMERON: but that will happen the E.U. money will be taken through and I'm pretty confident the U.S. money will too. There is a majority in Congress to support Ukraine because ultimately America knows that Ukrainian security, European security it's also American security.
If you allow Putin to win in Ukraine, he'd be back for more. And we know from our history that when that happens, America ends up paying a bigger price in treasure, and also in lives lost. I mean, right now, the Americans for the use of 10 percent of their defense budget have destroyed about 50 percent of Russia's military capacity without the loss of a single American life.
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VAUSE: British Foreign Secretary David Cameron speaking there with CNN's Richard Quest. Well, Saudi diplomat has a blunt message as she calls for a ceasefire in Gaza. Still ahead, why she believes the escalation of the war with Hamas could take the region in her words to the stage.
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VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN Newsroom. The Saudi ambassador to the U.S. has warned the war in Gaza escalates, the region will go back in her words to the stone age. She made the case for a ceasefire during an interview with CNN's Becky Anderson at Davos.
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PRINCESS REEMA BINT BANDAR AL SAUD, SAUDI AMBASSADOR TO U.S.: Today, cooler heads must prevail. There's trauma and pain on both sides. I can't take that back. But what we can do is ceasefire now, because how many more children need to die. How many more limbs need to be lost? How many more parents need to lose their livelihood? It can't happen anymore.
And the kingdom has condemned violence on both sides. It doesn't matter in which country, which people, which faith at the end of the day we are human beings and human beings today must say ceasefire now.
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VAUSE: European Parliament has also passed a non-binding resolution calling for a permanent ceasefire as well as the immediate release of all hostages and Hamas also must be dissolved. Lawmakers say the human costs on both sides can no longer be ignored.
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ANTONIO LOPEZ-ISTURIZ WHITE, CONSERVATIVE EUROPEAN LAWMAKER: Nobody can turn a blind eye to the losses of human life in Gaza, and the humanitarian challenge faced by the Palestinian people.
As we cannot forget either the pain of the Israeli families waiting in despair for the return of their loved ones, we all want it to end. And there is a solution for that. The release of Israeli hostages and the demilitarization of Gaza.
PEDRO MARQUES, SOCIALIST EUROPEAN LAWMAKER: The total destruction of Gaza. The flattening of every inch to the ground will not bring peace or justice to the region, will not keep Israel safer. The bloodshed must stop now. Humanitarian aid must be allowed to access the entire Gaza urgently and then immediate and permanent ceasefire must be settled, which is the only thing that can pave the way for any variable.
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VAUSE: Israeli soldiers have taken their search for Israeli hostages to a cemetery in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Officials told CNN bodies were exhumed part of the effort to account for those Israelis who were taken by Hamas on October 7th. But it's not the only cemetery in Gaza which has been damaged during the conflict.
CNN correspondent Jeremy Diamond has details and warning for viewers: they may find the following images disturbing.
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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In Gaza, even the dead cannot escape the indignities of war. More than a dozen cemeteries like this one in Jabalia desecrated by the Israeli military. Gravestones destroyed, soil upturned, tread marks leaving little left for the living to honor their dead.
This is that same graveyard before the war. One month later, a series of tread marks can be seen on the northwestern edge. It is no exception. A CNN analysis of videos and satellite imagery found that 16 cemeteries have been damaged or destroyed by the Israeli military since it launched its ground offensive.
As Israeli forces pushed deeper into Gaza, they crushed the graves of thousands of Palestinians between November and January. Janina Dill co-director of Oxford University's Institute for Ethics,
Law and Armed Conflict says destroying graveyards violates international law set under very limited circumstances.
JANINA DILL, CO-DIRECTOR, OXFORD UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE FOR ETHICS, LAW AND ARMED CONFLICT: Cemeteries are not military objectives. They are in fact, what international law would consider an object that is normally dedicated to civilian purposes like places of worship generally. So this is protected from intentional attack. It can only be intentionally attacked or destroyed if it becomes a military objective.
DIAMOND: In some cases, like this cemetery and the Shajaiya refugee camp, Israeli bulldozers turned cemeteries into military outposts, parking armored vehicles behind freshly-raised berms.
The damage is often deliberate and progressive. Over two weeks in December, the military bulldoze more and more of this cemetery east of Khan Yunis, building defensive fortifications.
CNN witnessed firsthand the results of Israel bulldozing of graveyards while embedded with Israeli forces last week. The armored personnel carrier CNN was traveling in, drove right through this cemetery in Al- Bureij on a freshly bulldozed dirt road.
And then there's this, tombs opened at a cemetery in Khan Yunis this week, bodies removed from their graves. In a statement, the Israeli military acknowledged exhuming bodies from the cemetery as part of its search for the bodies of Israeli hostages.
An IDF spokesman could not account for the damage to the 16 cemeteries identified by CNN, but said that in some cases there is no other choice providing this photo of what it says is a Hamas rocket launcher at a cemetery in Gaza. CNN could not independently verify where it was taken.
The spokesman could not account for the military posts over graveyards, but said, "We have a serious obligation to the respect of the dead and there is no policy to create military posts out of graveyards".
In at least one case, the Israeli military appears to have taken pains to maneuver around a graveyard.
The Deir al-Balah War Cemetery, which holds the remains of many Christian and Jewish soldiers from World War I left intact despite devastation all around.
At the al-Teffah (ph) cemetery a very different picture. Residents say bodies were uprooted by Israeli bulldozers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're currently retrieving the corpses of the martyrs that are present in the cemetery. The occupation forces have run over most of them with their bulldozers. And we've only identified a small number of corpses and masses (ph). As for the rest, their identities remain unknown. DIAMOND: South Africa cited Israel's destruction of cemeteries as part
of its case, arguing Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Israel denies the allegation but experts say cemetery destruction could be evidence of Israels intent.
DILL: There is huge symbolic meaning to the notion that not even the dead are left in peace. It suggests that disrespect towards the kind of spiritual life of your enemy, their cultural property inheritance, is evidence of an animus against your enemy that -- that is unhelpful in this context.
DIAMOND: The Israeli military is still desecrating graves in Gaza.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They dug up the graves -- these are the graves.
DIAMOND: At the Khan Yunis cemetery where the military dug up bodies this week, the damage is extensive and all too familiar. Tombs destroyed, shrouded bodies sticking out of the soil, the dead roused from their final rest.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.
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VAUSE: Two suspects have been arrested in Ecuador for their alleged involvement in the assassination of prosecutor Cesar Suarez. Ecuador police believe the prosecutor who was focusing on organized crime was targeted by gangs.
His murder is the latest in a recent slew of violent incidents that have prompted a 60-day state of emergency. So far, authorities say they detained more than 2,000 people since the crackdown began.
CNN's David Culver has the very latest, now reporting in from Guayaquil, Ecuador.
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DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ecuador's armed forces and national police working together on Thursday to enter a large prison complex.
Now one military source telling us that this is part of a scheduled visit so as to search for prohibited items as well as to maintain control.
But the timing is worth noting. It's coming a day after the assassination of one of this country's prosecutors, somebody who in this province was investigating terror groups, in particular. Among the cases Cesar Suarez was tasked with investigating, the takeover of the TV studio during a live news broadcast here in Guayaquil.
Now that of course, was really what awoke much of this country, quite frankly, much of the world as to what was happening here in Ecuador. Now all of this sparked off in this most recent surge of violence on
January 7. If you go back to when this country was alerting the possible escape of one of their notorious gang leaders, known as Fito. They say possible escape because one top military commander telling me, well, quite frankly, we don't know if he escaped.
And that speaks to the dysfunction and really somewhat of the disorganization within these prisons. And so the day after Fito's suspected escape is when President Noboa here declares the state of emergency. The day after that is when we saw violence spark not only in that television station and the takeover, but also quite frankly in the streets here in Guayaquil.
And there were shootouts. One of them, even claiming the life of innocent bystanders. And that's been the big concern is that this would cause collateral damage for a lot of the folks here, which is why many of them for several days wouldn't even leave their homes.
Little by little we see folks are starting to come back out, but they're still hesitant and they tell me that they don't question that this is still very much an active internal armed conflict as the president calls it.
But some even going a step further, they say this is war and its one that they are determined to try to stand up against, but they also say, if it gets to a certain point, they may have no choice but to pack up and leave. And that speaks to a larger crisis in this region and really involving the U.S. and that is the migrant crisis.
For years Ecuador has been known as the island of peace around what has been a Latin America that's a lot of turmoil. And so if this falls into that destabilized state then you have folks who would then flee and contribute to the ongoing crisis in the U.S.
Now to stop all of this President Noboa has been asking for resources, particularly from the U.S. so as to combat these terror groups. But as it now stands they're in the midst of what is a very active campaign that has no signs of slowing down.
David Culver, CNN -- Guayaquil, Ecuador.
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O'DONNELL: When we come back here on CNN why insurance claims have soared for the first year after drivers switched from gasoline cars to electric vehicles. What are they doing wrong? Plenty, it seems.
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VAUSE: Uber is now offering incentives for U.S. drivers to move to EVs as part of the company's moved to be emissions-free in the U.S. and Canada by 2030.
CEO Dara Khosrowshahi spoke to Richard Quest at Davos. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DARA KHOSROWSHAHI, CEO, UBER: I think the good news to start with is that EV penetration is increasing all over the world. So for example, on Uber, the Uber driver is seven times more likely to move over to EVs because of economic incentives we're putting forward because of the quality of the cars, et cetera.
And the average Uber driver is driving four to five times more than the average driver.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR: What's your responsibility in all this? Because I read the article and there was lots of well, if this city council did this, and if this government did that. And if that tax break was made available. So what's your role?
KHOSROWSHAHI: The majority of our drivers a couple of years ago were buying gasoline-powered cars and we want to encourage them to switch over to EVs and we're putting up $800 million of our own capital to improve the economics for an EV driver. For example, they get more money per ride if they are driving an EV so that they can make more money so that they can pay the premium for that electric vehicle.
So we don't believe that it's everyone else. We are absolutely doing in a part, we're pushing forward. But climate is a team sport. We need everyone.
QUEST: Charging of the vehicles is quite significant in terms of the range and the regulation. What I've been doing a bit of looking into this. It's all in the details.
KHOSROWSHAHI: For drivers they are often charging every single day and what we do is we actually help them on the app to know where they can charge. We'll tell them the best time to charge, et cetera.
And usually, if they're integrated, if we integrate with the car, the smart car then we can tell that driver we won't give them a dispatch that's too long so that they could be comfortable knowing that their charge isn't going to go away. And that there's charger right next door to charge up again.
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VAUSE: Uber CEO there speaking at Davos.
Well, the insurance claims tell the story. When drivers first make the switch to electric vehicles, it seems they're in more crashes, more often than gasoline cars, at least in that first year.
That has not gone unnoticed by rental car company Hertz, now selling 20,000 EVs and replacing them with gasoline vehicles.
The electric cars involved in crashes are mostly Teslas that's because they make up 80 percent of Hertz's EV fleet.
Joining us now, the Car Coach, Lauren Fix, automotive industry analyst, carcoachreports.reports.com and author Lauren Fix's Guide to Loving Your Car.
Lauren, thanks for being with us. It's good to see you.
LAUREN FIX, CAR COACH: Thank you. Good to see you as well.
VAUSE: Ok. So according to analysts over at LexisNexis, who looked at all the insurance data, in the first year when a driver switches from a petrol or gasoline-fueled car to an electric vehicle, the frequency of insurance claims rises by about 14 percent, while the severity of claims or the amount that has to be paid out increases by 14.5 percent.
So we'll get to some of the reasons there in a moment. But how reliable is this analysis? Because there is at least anecdotal evidence from Hertz, which kind of supports these findings right?
FIX: Right. It is true.
I think the insurance rates are the biggest thing that people see every day, whether you're a good driver or you're a driver that doesn't pay attention. But the cost replacement parts is really expensive. And of course, the cost of labor is higher. So all of these are really solid numbers.
VAUSE: And in the U.S. when we are talking about electric vehicles we're essentially talking Tesla simply because of their dominance of the EV market.
I want to show you what happens to a Tesla Model X during a crash test. There it is.
What is notable in this is that because of Teslas battery being so heavy, when a Tesla hits something one of the reasons here for this increased payout or claims and the extra cost of claims when it hits something, a Tesla of course, gives a lot more damage than a gasoline powered vehicle, right
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FIX: Absolutely. It's a heavier vehicles, so you just got forward motion in this case. But also think about the fact that if you're a repair shop and you're repairing a gasoline-powered car or a hybrid, you replaced the components as we've always done that, we know it's expensive. We try to replace them with factory parts.
We're talking about a batter used to replace the whole battery cell assembly and a lot of times in this would make the situation even worse. If one battery cell overheats and potentially get -- catches fire, there'll be a chemical reaction that will take the whole vehicle out. It'll be a total loss.
So car manufacturers are aware of this, but the insurance manufacturer very concerned and so are the reinsurance companies. They ensure the insurance companies. They know it's going to be higher, so they're charging higher rates for the possibility of a total. VAUSE: Wow. Ok. And some of the reasons for the increase in accidents
and the increasing claims include acceleration. The Tesla model 3, for example, the long-range one, it goes zero to 60 in full -- in 4.1 seconds, just over 4 seconds. That compares to a BMW 330-I, zero to six feet in 5.6 seconds.
There's also the fact the EVs don't have the sound of a combustion engine which you, for many drivers were used to that as an indicator of speed. So are these issues similar what Toyota experienced with Prius, you know, adding an engine noise because of a jump in the number of pedestrians being hit. Or are there bigger issues at stake here.
FIX: Well, I think there's a lot of issues at stake. When you drive a car, if you've been trained to drive any vehicle, you're used to using your vision, you're feeling the sound, but there's no sound.
When there's no sound, you don't have an expectation of acceleration. It's sort of like using a video game. People don't have that engagement. And so when that's missing, you have no crescendo of noise; or the noise gets louder.
And so I think the consumers missed that, especially if you're used to driving a gasoline powered vehicle. And that is quick acceleration. I mean, unless you've got a lot of experience, I know these car is a little different. I'm used to that, but someone who's not used to that quick acceleration could find themselves in an accident very easily in a traffic light.
And now you don't realize it until they've already hit something. So these are all factors to be considered. I mean, I think just overall it's a matter of learning these cars and that would be something that you could overcome over time and if you're just paying attention.
VAUSE: I'm just worried about that issue though. Are these issues big enough, for example, to require maybe an extra level of training, extra certification for people who actually get behind the wheel of electric vehicles be it a Tesla or whatever and learn about these things before they hit the open road.
FIX: Well, I would say the driver said does not teach people much like they did when we learned how to drive. Now they teach you there's three fluids and that's it and go drive. And if there's a problem, let us know. Call AAA because they're the ones doing a lot of the classes.
So it's really important to note that if you have a new driver in your house or you're new at this, try playing with it in a parking lot where there's no telephone poles, like you would when we learned how to drive on snow.
Go out there and get used to it, get comfortable with this. You understand the acceleration and the braking. You should be doing that anyhow. And that's just a matter of learning like anything else and for new drivers, have them take the time to learn it because that can be real expensive on your insurance if a young driver's had an accident, it's definitely going to elevate the price of your insurance on a monthly basis.
VAUSE: And just overall for Tesla not exactly the best kind of news for Tesla, which has had its own, you know, history of safety issues in the past to add this onto, you know, what the company has already experienced. It's not a good look is it.
FIX: Well, I think that Tesla has led the market by a longshot, 63 percent. I'm not the biggest fan of their build quality, but they have a huge amount of fans. And you say anything negative, all their fans come and attack. They really love their cars. And that's great.
But note that he's lost quite a bit of market share and other countries such as China were BYD has outsold them for the first time. So I think you're going to start seeing them, maybe reduce some of their footprint and increase in other brands.
But Tesla literally is the leader in this market and they blazed the trail. Everyone is following. And although they've had a lot of issues along the way, they seem to always get around them. I'm not sure how that happens, but it just seems to be that Elon Musk is made of Teflon.
VAUSE: The Teflon Tesla.
Lauren, thanks so much for being with us. Hope to see you again. See you again soon.
FIX: All right, thank you so much.
VAUSE: In a moment, we head to Canada, (INAUDIBLE) us from an optic blast.
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VAUSE: Britain's Queen Camilla says her husband King Charles is fine, looking forward to returning to work as he waits treatment for an enlarged prostate.
While you may say long live the king, it's the health of the Princess of Wales, which seems to be the overwhelming concern for many after her abdominal surgery.
CNN's Max Foster has details.
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MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Loved and admired, a royal health scare has caught the nation by surprise when on Wednesday, Kensington Palace shared that Catherine, the Princess of Wales needed medical treatment.
It circulated questions about the condition of one of the most senior royal's health, who aside from having morning sickness during a pregnancy, has never had any known health problems while she's been a royal.
Now, she's forced to stay out of the public eye for up to three months until doctors give her the all clear. Last seen over Christmas with her family at Sandringham, the Princess of Wales lives an active lifestyle, by having a regular royal schedule of engagements, some 120 last year and by being a hands-on mum, looking after her three children.
She still finds time to enjoy the outdoors and keeping up her favorite hobbies like skiing and working out. All to keep the princess fit and healthy.
Her relatability to the public has made her a role model amongst adoring fans who might try to catch a glimpse of her at Wimbledon where she's regularly seen every summer watching the games.
A patron of the All-England Lawn Tennis Club, the princess' interest in the sport extends beyond the annual championships. Known to enjoy cooking for the Prince of Wales and her children, Catherine has even been spotted stocking up at a British supermarket, showing that she doesn't like to rely on staff for shopping and trying to maintain a normal lifestyle.
But now all the appearances slowed down as Catherine recovers and with Prince William juggling child care at home, the couple have canceled all travel plans for the foreseeable future. With King Charles and two other senior royals taking a backseat, heads turn to Queen Camilla and other members of the family to step up as the public faces of the royal household to reassure Britons that all is fine and it is business as usual.
Max foster, CNN -- London.
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VAUSE: Here's why dogs are the best. 65-year-old man fell through the ice on Lake on Lake Michigan but then came furry help. Here's body camera video from Thursday morning. (INAUDIBLE) say, because of the icy conditions, a police officer was unable to reach the man when he was stuck on the ice. But Officer Cameron Bennett spotted the man's dog. They put a rescue disc on the dog's collar, and then he -- the man who is stuck in the eyes called Ruby he grabbed that disk. Officer Bennett and a local firefighter were then able to pull him to safety.
Officials say Ruby's dad, the owner, was treated and then later released from a nearby hospital. Dogs are the best.
With the weather rolling through the U.S. and Canada bringing some freezing temperatures, snowy conditions and icy roads. One Canadian man, takes the time to take advantage of the extreme cold conditions, creating some cool and unusual photos, which are literally frozen in time.
Here's CNN's Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When it's 40 or 50 degrees below zero, you can't blame a guy for taking boiling water and blowing off a little steam, watching it instantly turn into snow and ice.
But photographer Joe Chowaniec of Alberta, Canada, got a kick out of seeing what other people did.
How cold is it? Cold enough to use a banana, to pound a nail, cold enough to beat a frozen shirt like a drum, to turn jeans into a battering ram. So Joe decided to do his own game of you froze your water off.
JOE CHOWANIEC, PHOTOGRAPHER: The next one was the plate of Ramen noodles.
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MOOS: In 60 seconds, the boiled noodles were frozen stiff.
CHOWANIEC: They're frozen in time. The Frozen in Time Series, I guess I'm calling it.
MOOS: The next experiment involved placing an egg on a couple of straws and cracking it open. Forget hard boiled, we're talking frozen solid.
CHOWANIEC: My neighbors were looking out the window and thought I was crazy.
MOOS: And finally, there was something charming make that sharman (ph) about what the severe cold did to toilet paper.
CHOWANIEC: People should make the best of the conditions they're in.
MOOS: But don't try using it or you will truly freeze your butt off.
In the immortal words of Annie Lennox -- Jeanne Moos, CNN -- New York.
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VAUSE: Well, SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket from a European astronauts -- with European astronauts rather from NASA's Kennedy Space Center just a few hours ago.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Four, three, two, one. Ignition, engine full power.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: A private space company, Axiom Space, organize this multinational mission. Those on board include the first Turkish citizens to travel into outer space, a trip paid for by Ankara. Italy's air force paid -- picked the tab up for an Italian astronaut, the European and Swedish space agencies are paying for the third astronaut there, a Swedish test pilot. Everyone's going up on the governments tab, why not?
An American also has a Spanish citizenship is mission commander -- and some big Palooza. (INAUDIBLE) experiments at the International Space Station for two weeks.
Peregrine lunar lander has likely burned up over a remote area of the South Pacific Ocean after a failed mission to land on the moon. Launched just over a week ago from Cape Canaveral, Florida but hours after liftoff came a fuel leak. The first U.S. spacecraft to attempt a lunar landing in decades, this one, paid for by a private enterprise, a big setback for NASA and Astrobotic technology, which goal was eventually to transport a crew to the moon.
Astrobotic posted one of the last images captured by Peregrine showing a stunning view of earth with a sliver of sunlight around it. What appears to be part of the spacecraft that's the multi-layer insulation which was damaged somehow during the launch.
Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.
Please stay with us. CNN NEWSROOM continues with Kim Brunhuber just after a very short break.
I'll see you next week
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