Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Three U.S. Troops Killed In Drone Attack In Jordan; Growing Number Of Countries Pause Funding For UNRWA; Israeli Protesters Block Aid Trucks From Gaza; Court orders China Evergrande To Liquidate; Two Masked Attackers Kill One In Shooting At Istanbul Church; Three U.S. Troops Killed in Drone Attack in Jordan; U.S. GOP Calls for Tough Response to Attack, Blames Biden; U.S. Border Battle; Migrants Waiting for Shelter in New York; X Removes Explicit Taylor Swift A.I. Images, Limits Search; Treehouse in Amazon Serves as Classroom. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired January 29, 2024 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:00:24]
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome. I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company. Coming up here on CNN Newsroom. Vowing to retaliate, Joe Biden says the U.S. will respond whenever and however it chooses to the deadly attack on its troops in Jordan.
Israeli protesters block a key crossing, preventing vital aid getting to desperate Palestinians in Gaza. Their demand no aid until hostages are released.
And a court orders China's property giant Evergrande to liquidate. We'll be live in Hong Kong with the details.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN Newsroom with Michael Holmes.
HOLMES: We begin this hour with a developing story out of the Middle East where a deadly attack on us troops is marking a significant escalation of an already precarious situation in the region. Three American soldiers were killed, more than 30 other service members injured in a drone attack in Jordan at an outpost known as Tower 22.
That small military base is located near the border with Syria. The attack marking the first time U.S. troops have been killed by enemy fire in the Middle East since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas.
Mr. Biden is blaming Iran backed militant groups for the attack, while in Iran, state media reports Iran's permanent mission to the U.N. denies the country had any involvement. The U.S. president vowing to hold those responsible to account.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: We had a tough day and last night in the Middle East. We lost three brave souls in an attack at one of our bases. And I'd ask for a moment of silence for all three of those fallen soldiers. And we shall respond.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: CNN's Kevin Liptak now with more on the U.S. reaction from the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Biden calling the attacks on U. S. troops in Jordan despicable and wholly unjust, saying that America's heart is heavy and vowing to respond at a time and in a manner of our choosing.
President Biden was on the road in South Carolina as this was all unfolding, briefed by his national security team, including the defense secretary, Lloyd Austin and the national security advisor Jake Sullivan.
And you can imagine in those discussions a talk about how to respond in a way that would deter these attacks from happening again, but also the imperative to prevent this conflict from spreading even further.
And at the end of the day, President Biden does have quite a consequential choice to make. Here he is coming under pressure from some Republicans to respond directly in Iran to some of these attacks. But certainly the imperative inside the White House has been to prevent this conflict from broadening and the fear among American officials as these attacks had proceeded on U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria is that it would eventually result in fatalities.
Now that fear has been realized, the decision President Biden has is how to respond so that it doesn't happen again. And certainly he will be making that decision over the coming days. But in a statement, President Biden saying that the three American service members we lost were patriots in the highest sense and their ultimate sacrifice will never be forgotten by our nation. Together, we will keep the sacred obligation we bear to their families.
Now, at the same time, the president is dispatching his top intelligence official, Bill Burns, to France for talks with his counterparts from Egypt and Israel on these hostage negotiations. Certainly the hope among American officials is that these will be fruitful in securing the release of all of the remaining hostages in Gaza, paired with a prolonged cessation of hostilities.
And really the hope had been that this pause in the fighting could cause some space for American officials and Israeli officials, along with their counterparts in the region, to come up with a plan to end this conflict permanently. And certainly the death of the American soldiers in Jordan will lend some urgency to these talks as the U.S. continues to try and come up with a solution to this conflict and eventually result in lasting peace. Kevin Liptak, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[01:05:04]
HOLMES: Mark Hertling is a CNN military analyst and former commanding general with the U.S. Army, Europe and 7th Army. Always good to see you, sir.
Now, the U.S. has, I think, by and large responded in a fairly measured way to these sorts of attacks militarily. But now troops are dead and wounded. How does that attack change the calculus for the U.S. in terms of its options?
LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, it certainly crossed the president's red line. What he said would cause some additional retaliation. So I think what's going to happen, Michael, is we will see additional strikes, probably a lot more kinetic activity on some major bases that belong to the popular mobilization forces that are the puppets of the Iranian government.
Don't know how difficult that's going to because, as you know, in this kind of environment, you can go after some forces, but it's difficult to hit all of those that are trying to harm the United States citizens, soldiers in the area.
So, there will be some more kinetic activity. And I would guess there might be some covert action, too, against not just the PMS and the al Quds Force, but also possibly even some elements within Iran itself because they know, they have intelligence that Iran is behind this or so that's what the NSC has stated.
HOLMES: Yes. I guess when you look back since October 17, I think it's been nearly 160 attacks on U.S. forces in the region. You got the war in Gaza, which many in the region see the U.S. as a partner in with Israel. They've got clashes on the Lebanese border. Houthi missiles are flying, these clashes in Syria and Iraq. There's talk of the risk of a regional war. But is a low level regional war already underway?
HERTLING: No, I don't think so, Michael. And I'm going to revert back to what you've experienced. I mean, you've been in this region multiple times. Everyone's counting the 160 strikes or so that have happened since October the 7th when Hamas invaded or, you know, conducted terrorist attacks inside of Israel.
What we have to remember is this has been going on for a lot longer than that. Years of popular mobilization forces, the proxies of the Iranian government have been conducting multiple strikes against not only the U.S., but also the Iraqi government.
They have been fighting hard not just against ISIS in Syria, but also against the, of the United States and anyone else that's trying to tamp down ISIS. So this is an opportunity for Iran to use their proxy forces.
And by the way, let me state for the record, Iran could care less about any casualties that occur with the Houthis or the PMFs or Hezbollah or Hamas. They just know this is an opportunity to continue to conduct strikes against the west, against the United States because they don't want the U.S. forces in any of these Middle Eastern countries. So this has been going on for a long time. You know that.
HOLMES: Yes. President Biden said a couple of weeks ago before all of this, that after one of the sites, he said that he delivered a message to Iran and he said, quote, they know not to do anything. Well, here we are. I mean, when you look at the message and the receipt of that message in the context of what's happening in the region, what would deter Iran?
HERTLING: Yes. Well, the thing is Iran still has plausible deniability. They can say it's not us, it's the Houthis, it's the mobilization forces inside of Iraq. It's something the Iraq government has to do something about. It's Syria. It's free floating electrons in Syria.
So they can continue to deny that they're behind this. The only thing that might cause a shift if the United States released pretty decisive intelligence saying this is what we have. We have communication between the Iranian government and these forces. We have some type of action where we detected the supply of weapons or the Quds Force from Iran actually leading some of these forces.
If there was solid proof that could be made available to the Middle East, first of all, it may change things, but truthfully, as you know, it may not either.
HOLMES: When you look at a lot of these militias, when you look at Hezbollah, when you look at the Houthis, I mean, it all sort of goes back to Gaza. The enormous destruction, the level of death in Gaza does play into all of this, the effects of Israeli actions there.
How has the unbridled us support for Israel in Gaza played into regional fury with the US? And in a way, given Iran a regional rallying call against the US?
[01:10:05]
HERTLING: It certainly has contributed. What we're seeing is the building of alliances with some of these forces. The attacks that Israel has conducted in Gaza that has harmed civilians and caused damage to the Palestinian infrastructure, certainly that is resonating with the Arab world throughout the Middle East.
So there is a building of alliances. Yemen, the Hezbollah forces, the PMFs in Syria and Iraq. Even the Iraqi government we're seeing, tend to be swayed by some of these arguments because they know they have Iran as a next door neighbor. And when it comes to a choice between U.S. forces inside of Iraq continuing to fight ISIS versus Syrian pressure through some of these PMF forces that have been allowed to flourish within Iraq, that's going to be a difficult choice.
HOLMES: Wish we had more time. Mark Hertling, thanks so much.
HERTLING: It's a pleasure, Michael. Thank you. HOLMES: The main U.N. agency in Gaza is urging countries to reconsider
cutting off funding over allegations staff members were involved in the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. France and Japan have joined several other countries. You see them there on your screen, including the U.S. and U.K., in suspending funding for UNRWA.
An Israeli official says the country shared information with us officials on the intelligence they had on the UNRWA staffers who were allegedly involved in the attacks. The official said that they also reached out to UNRWA several days before briefing the US.
Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians are dependent on aid from UNRWA, and some say a pause in funding would be disastrous.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FATIN SAFI, DISPLACED PALESTENIAN (through translator): The situation we live in right now has support from all around the world. The whole world is responsible for the situation that we live in right now. It is the world that cuts the aid from children and women. We are not talking only food. We are also talking uncutting medicine.
They would also cut us off from the air if they can. What is our fault as a Palestinian people? Our land has been occupied, our houses have been destroyed, and we have been through many wars, and this is the worst. We don't have any hope in life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Meanwhile, Palestinian civilians mourning the deaths of family members killed in overnight Israeli strikes. The Hamas run health ministry in Gaza says at least 165 people were killed in just the past 24 hours, bringing the overall death toll to more than 26,000, most of them women and children since the war began.
It comes as heavy fighting continues in Khan Younis in the southern part of Gaza. Israel defense forces say they're carrying out what they call precise operations against members of Hamas operating in and around Nasser and Alamal hospitals. But the Palestine Red Crescent Society says the hospitals have been under siege over the past week.
And hundreds of Israeli protesters once again blocking aid trucks from even getting into Gaza. They're demanding the remaining Israeli hostages be freed before any more assistance is delivered to the enclave. CNN's Nic Robertson with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: This has been a very calm and peaceful protest throughout the day. You can see behind me here the actual fence that the trucks would normally come through. The aid trucks are parked up around there. There's this heavy metal gate along here.
The trucks would normally come through here and pass along, but they haven't been able to come through because the protesters have been blocking them.
Joining me now, Sefi, you've been in charge of the protest here. What was happening just now, there was a bit of a kerfuffle.
SEFI BENCHAIM, PROTEST ORGANIZER: They thought that there is more eight trucks that are getting to Gaza and we want to stop it because we don't have our people right now. They're now --
ROBERTSON: The hostages.
BENCHAIM: The hostages now in Gaza. The problem is in Hamas. Hamas needs to take responsible and the war that he opened, that's the seventh in October. He needs right now to bring all of the 136 hostages are in Gaza right now to Israel.
ROBERTSON: And you've been blocking this route for how many days now?
BENCHAIM: It's four days.
ROBERTSON: Four days, no trucks getting through.
BENCHAIM: No trucks.
ROBERTSON: When you stop the food going in, there are hundreds of thousands of starving people in there.
BENCHAIM: The responsible about the Palestinian kids and families is on Hamas. Hamas, one second. Hamas has our hostages when he will give us back our hostages, it will get back the aid.
[01:15:11]
ROBERTSON: But don't you feel bad about the women and children suffering?
BENCHAIM: First of all, I feel bad, first of all, about my people. I have 136 people inside. I feel about them bad.
ROBERTSON: And of course, this isn't the only situation affecting humanitarian aid at the moment because there is huge pressure and tension with the main U.N. agency, UNRWA, that's actually delivering the aid once it gets inside Gaza. There are allegations that some of their staff members were involved in Hamas's brutal October 7 attacks.
And that, of course, is calling into question their work and the United States and many other countries now saying they're going to suspend funding for UNRWA. Not clear how quickly that actually impacts the humanitarian aid going in, but it's not an easy road.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Joining me now from Jerusalem is Andrea De Domenico. He is the head office for the UN for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories. Thanks so much for your time.
The reports coming out of Gaza continue to be horrific surgeries without anesthetics, spreading disease, awful living conditions in terrible weather. What is your assessment of conditions right now?
ANDREA DE DOMENICO, U.N. OFFICE FOR COORDINATION OF HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS: Good morning, Michael. I was in Gaza last week and I could witness with my own eyes. The dire situation inside of Gaza. And the situation has worsened because since couple of days, rain and wind are hitting hard on the people that have been located from Khan Younis, where the Ffront is coming down, and moving more and more people to the south, to Rafah, which is already.
And so, you know, needless to say that the conditions of those people, particularly children, women, are a big concern for us, and we are struggling to deal and to cope with their needs.
HOLMES: Yeah. The World Health Organization says there's been at least 150,000 cases of diarrhea. There's been cases of jaundice, respiratory disease, hepatitis. And that's separate to the deaths and wounds from the offensive.
And as you point out, storms flooding the area, nine out of 10 people living one meal a day, according to the World Food program. Did you get the sense that Gaza is on the brink of collapse, as some have suggested?
DE DOMENICO: I mean, the capacity of people to cope with the situation for me is extraordinary because I would have thought that they were already beyond that point, honestly. And the fact that there are another, you know, 70,000, 1000,000 probably people moving farther south, it's just putting additional pressure on Rafah in particular.
I don't know where is the breaking point. What I know is that we have to do more and we need to do better because it's really important to be there with the assistance that they deserve as soon as possible. Civilians need to be supported.
HOLMES: Yes. And just for clarification, Rafah used to have a population in normal times of about, I think it was about 250,000. Now there's a million extra people there. More than a million extra people.
Despite the International Court of Justice ruling that aid needs and must be massively ramped up, the flow of aid in reality is being -- it's drip feeding into the strip. Most organizations say 500 trucks a day are needed for the most basic needs. Most days it's less than 200. A couple of days this month, 30. And now you've got Israeli protesters blocking any trucks on the Israel side. What do you say to that situation?
DE DOMENICO: So since the very beginning, the United nations have asked for unimpeded access and multiple point of entry. I do understand the suffering and the concern of the family members of the hostages, but I think we have always said, and I repeat it today, there should not be conditions on the freedom or the liberation of the hostages and we should not have condition on the delivery of humanitarian assistance.
Those two principles are fundamental and we keep on advocating for those because then the suffering of the civilian people that are completely not involved on whatever the parties are doing, it's something that we cannot simply afford any longer.
HOLMES: Yes. You know, getting aid in is one thing. Issues with district to areas of greatest need is entirely another, isn't it?
[01:20:04]
I mean, so often attempts to deliver to the northern areas are stopped by fighting or infrastructure or destruction. And routinely Israeli forces refusing to let aid pass. What are the challenges when it comes to aid not just getting in, but being distributed?
DE DOMENICO: Absolutely correct. And, you know, we are negotiating every day with the Israeli military and the other parties to make sure that humanitarian convoy is passed through. Unfortunately, this is not happening. The rate of denial or even the non-success of some operations is unacceptable.
The overall idea of our notification system with the parties of a conflict is to allow humanitarian assistance to go through a battleground. So all parties, both parties, have to respect that and have to allow us to deliver assistance.
Today we are struggling, for example to reach al Nasser. The north, as you said, has been constantly, constantly difficult to access with an even higher rate of denial of access. And this is simply not acceptable for the impact that this has on civilians, on innocent civilians, on women, on children. We have to do better as a system, and we need to find a solution for that.
HOLMES: Unimaginable conditions. Andrea de Domenico in East Jerusalem there. Thank you so much for your time and the work that your organization does.
DE DOMENICO: Thank you for having me.
HOLMES: Israel joined high stakes talks with the U.S., Qatar and Egypt on Sunday. Officials trying to work out a hostage release deal and a pause in the fighting in Gaza. The Israeli prime minister's office says the meeting was constructive but inconclusive, with, quote, significant gaps to be worked out in additional meetings this week.
A diplomatic source tells CNN that Qatar's prime minister is expected to travel to Washington this week. U. S. officials cautiously optimistic the talks are heading in the right direction and that an agreement could be soon within reach.
Still to come on the program, one of China's largest real estate developers is being forced to liquidate. We're live in Hong Kong with Kristie Lu Stout with more on that order and mass arrests following a deadly attack on a catholic church in Istanbul. We'll bring you the latest when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HOLMES: A court in Hong Kong has ordered the Evergrande Group, one of China's largest property developers, to liquidate. It comes years after the company defaulted on more than $300 billion in debt and sent the Chinese real estate industry into a tailspin. It still has it recovered from.
[01:25:00]
CNN's Kristie Lu Stout is following all of this for us from Hong Kong, joins me now. Kristie, good to see you. What does this ruling mean for the property sector in China? And that's the world's second biggest economy after all.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. This move, this ruling could certainly send more aftershocks to China's already troubled property market. On Monday, a judge here in Hong Kong ruled to liquidate Evergrande after years of failed attempts to restructure this company. And when she announced this ruling this morning about 9:30 a.m. local time, the Hong Kong judge, Linda Chan, she said, quote, it is time for the court to say enough is enough, unquote.
Now, shares in Evergrande, they were trading down by as much as 20 percent before today's hearing, but trading was halted in China Evergrande and its listed subsidiaries.
Now, for years, this company has been the posterchild of China's nationwide property debt crisis. It was back in 2021. It triggered this market panic when it defaulted on its offshore debt. Evergrande is the world's most indebted property developer. It has more than $328 billion worth of liabilities.
And in addition to that, analysts say that, oh, we also want to mention this. In September, its founder and its chairman, Xu Jiayin, was suspected of crimes. He was detained by police. Now, analysts, they say that this decision to liquidate the company is good news long term for the economy of China.
But this is going to be a very, very painful process. We heard from Andrew Collier of Orient Capital Research. Let's bring up the quote for you. He said this, quote, Evergrande's liquidation is a sign that China is willing to go to extreme ends to quell the property bubble. This is good for the economy in the long term, but very difficult in the short term, unquote.
We also heard from Gary Ng, analyst with Natixis, and he says this, quote, it is not an end but the beginning of the prolonged process of liquidation, which will make Evergrande's daily operations even harder. He goes on to say, investors will be concerned about whether there will be a snowball effect on other developers as the queue to liquidation is long.
Now, this process will be complicated given just the sheer number of authorities, of players involved here. Earlier, there were questions about whether authorities inside China would uphold a ruling from a judge here in Hong Kong. But ahead of the decision, China Supreme Court, as well as the Department of Justice in Hong Kong signed an arrangement to enforce this judgment. And this hour, Michael, the Hong Kong judge who presided over this morning's hearing.
Right now, she's presiding over another hearing regarding the fate of Evergrande. And we expect to learn more details about the liquidation of Evergrande. And it's very complicated winding up process. Back to you.
HOLMES: Yes. And we'll know you'll be across it. We'll check in with you as more developments come in. Christie Lu Stout there in Hong Kong. Appreciate it.
LU STOUT: Thank you.
HOLMES: Well, Turkey says it's arrested at least 47 suspects linked to Sunday's church attack in Istanbul. Turkish security forces carried out more than 30 raids looking for two gunmen who opened fire during mass at a catholic church. At least one person died.
At least two of the suspects are believed to be affiliated with ISIS. ISIS issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack, saying it was a result of a call from ISIS leaders to, quote, target Jews and Christians everywhere.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the church to express condolences, and Pope Francis expressed his support for the church following his weekly Sunday prayer at the Vatican.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POPE FRANCIS, LEADER OF CATHOLIC CHURCH (through translator): I express my closeness to the community of St. Mary Droppery's church in Istanbul that suffered an armed attack during mass that caused one death and several wounded.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, three countries led by military juntas have announced that they are leaving the Economic Community of West African States. They released a joint statement declaring their intent, but the bloc known as ECOWAS says it has not received formal notification.
ECOWAS has refused to recognize the juntas and has urged Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso to return to democratic rule. The military leaders of those nations say they want to restore security before holding elections and say ECOWAS does not represent their interests.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ABDOURAMANE AMADOU, NIGER MILITARY SPOKESPERSON (through translator): After 49 years, the valiant people of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, regretfully and with great disappointment, observed that the organization has drifted from the ideals of its founding fathers and the spirit of Pan-Africanism.
They argue that ECOWAS, under foreign influence, betrayed its founding principles and became a threat to its member states and their populations, which it was supposed to ensure the well-being of.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[01:30:00]
HOLMES: And when we come back, we'll have the latest on our top story, that deadly attack on us military personnel in northeast Jordan, along with reaction from U.S. Republicans.
Also some U.S. cities struggling to keep up with the stream of migrants being bussed in from the southern border. We'll show what it's like at an overcrowded New York shelter.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Welcome back. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM with me, Michael Holmes.
Now, we return to our top story. The first U.S. troops killed in the Middle East since the war between Israel and Hamas began. President Joe Biden vowed to respond and held a moment of silence at a campaign event after three U.S. Army soldiers were killed in a drone attack. At least 34 other personnel were wounded; eight so severely that they required medical evacuation for high level care.
It happened at a U.S. outpost called Tower 22, located in the northeast Jordan area near the Syrian border. U.S. officials believe an Iran-backed militia is responsible and are working to pin down exactly which group, but Iran's permanent mission to the U.N. denies the country had any involvement in the attack.
Some U.S. Republicans though are urging a harsh military response to the attack and using it to score political points against Mr. Biden.
Senator Roger Wicker said the U.S. should include quote, "striking directly" against Iranian targets and its leadership, adding "The Biden administration's responses thus far have only invited more attacks."
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, echoing Wicker's response.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NIKKI HALEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We need to start telling our enemies what we expect of them and stop being reactionary. When have we ever let men and women sit there and take strikes like that and do nothing to stop it?
He's done nothing. He's got to put the sanctions back on. He's got to stop trying to get back into an Iran deal that doesn't help us. And he's got to start making sure that we show American strength. Thats the only way we will get that done.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No new wars. We don't want the military industrial complex. HALEY: None of us want new wars. None of us want new wars.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: On social media. Former President Donald Trump said, it was quote, "a horrible day for America" and called the attack a consequence of Mr. Biden's quote "weakness and surrender".
[01:34:53]
HOLMES: A key negotiator on a possible border deal in the U.S. says the text of a compromise could be ready to go to the Senate floor in the coming days. But Democratic Senator Chris Murphy adds that its passage depends on whether Republicans are willing to ignore former president Trump's opposition and support the bill.
SENATOR CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): We do have a bipartisan deal. We're finishing the text right now. And the question is whether Republicans are going to listen to Donald Trump who wants to preserve chaos at the border because he thinks that it's a winning political issue for him, or whether we are going to pass legislation which would be the biggest bipartisan reform of our border and immigration laws in 40 years and would give the president of the United States whether that president is a Republican or a Democrat, new important power to be able to better manage the flow of people across the border.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: U.S. President Joe Biden has endorsed the bipartisan border deal but House Speaker Mike Johnson is already warning it will face strong opposition in his chamber.
Thousands of migrants have arrived in New York City since last spring. Some of them bussed in from the southern border. New York City Mayor Eric Adams has warned that the city is running out of shelter space.
CNN's Gloria Pazmino reports from Randall's island where some migrants are waiting in the snow and rain for a place to go.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GLORIDA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A warm meal after a day of cooking over an open flame on a shopping cart turned stove outside Randall's Island migrant tent city.
Robinson Bata says he shares this pot of rice with fellow migrants on the island. And to one of New York City's sprawling tent facilities built with capacity to house 3,000 men and women.
Robinson, 31 years old, is from Colombia just one of the more than 170,000 migrants who have arrived here in New York City since the spring of last year. More than 68,000 of them are still in the care of the city and space is running out.
For now Robinson counts himself among the lucky ones. He says he's at a shelter in the Bronx that's safe, a hotel where
there are cameras and security. But it's different here on Randall's Island. The massive facility has security, but no metal detectors.
Two weeks ago, a 24 year-old man was stabbed in the neck during a fight that resulted in 18 arrests according to police. And earlier this month, a man was stabbed and killed after a fight broke out inside the tent cafeteria.
MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D-NYC): Still an investigation, but it's horrific, you know, to have someone come here to pursue the American dream, see it turn into a nightmare to lose a life.
PAZMINO: CNN has learned there are dozens of security cameras around the island and the city is in the process of installing more.
In the meantime, the administration is also exploring a plan to install metal detectors. While Mayor Adams continues to plead for federal intervention, his administration has put strict limits on shelter stays.
ADAMS: Our humane policy that would tell a single adults 30 days, of children and families, 60 days.
PAZMINO: back at the food stalls, migrants make do with what they have. A steaming pot of coffee and pastries to fry sold by migrants at $2 a pop, it will help keep some of them warm overnight.
This makeshift camp provides shelter to dozens of migrants who are waiting for placement inside the big tent and city shelters. The crude set-up is just one reminder of the struggle migrants here in New York continue to face as winter drags on.
Still, Robinson is hoping.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The reason for the hat, as he says, well, this is the American flag and the American flag is what's helping me out right now. So I wear it with pride because I'm -- he's telling me he's hopeful that in the next few months his situation will improve significantly and he'll be able to get settled and provide for his family back home. PAZMINO: Now, New York City is just one of the few municipalities around the country that guarantee the right to shelter. The city is currently in the middle of a legal fight to make some changes to that rule, something that advocates have criticized.
The Legal Aid Society and the Coalition for the Homeless tell us that those changes to the rules are simply pushing people on to the street.
I'm Gloria Pazmino in New York, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Meanwhile, the Spanish Coast Guard rescued nearly 350 migrants on Saturday off the coast of the Canary Islands. Spanish state media reports that at least three of them died when they tried to reach the Canaries' southernmost island.
[01:39:53]
HOLMES: Official data shows that since January 16, the number of migrants entering Spain by sea has jumped nearly 300 percent since the same time last year.
Farmers in France are planning to encircle Paris as part of their protest for better pay and living conditions. They held similar protests outside of Paris on Friday, shutting down roads.
But government officials pledged to keep Paris open for business. They are planning to mobilize 15,000 police officers and other law enforcement officers to maintain order.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GERALD DARMANIN, FRENCH INTERIOR MINISTER (through translator): The second instruction is obviously for law enforcement to show great moderation, as I have done since the start of this protest movement for protesters and farmers we who do not seek escalation.
We want people to be respected, first of all, law enforcement and for property to be respected. We don't intend to allow government buildings or tax collection buildings, or grocery stores to be damaged or trucks transporting foreign produce to be stopped.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Far-right French politician Marine le Pen is showing her support, taking a ride in a tractor and saying France's position as Europe's largest food grower is essential to national security.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARINE LE PEN, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL RALLY GROUP (through translator): If agriculture is sinking in France, our entire country is sinking because our country is a great agricultural power. And if it renounces to be one than it is also our sovereignty and our food security which will sink. we must therefore put in place a major agricultural rescue plan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Farmers in Belgium protested Sunday. Many European farmers are worried about crops entering the E.U. market from countries with fewer regulations.
Still to come here on the program, explicit photos of Taylor Swift designed with A.I. go viral online. How social media sites are fighting back against the dangerous trend.
Also still to come, in Paris, activists launching a sneak attack on the world-famous Mona Lisa. We'll tell you why after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HOLMES: Well, Taylor Swift can breathe a little easier after a weekend being in the spotlight for something other than her music, A.I. images showing the singer in sexually explicit positions were taken down from social media -- A.I. images, we emphasize.
They were mainly being circulated on X and were viewed tens of millions of times. The company has limited the ability to search for Swift's name temporarily, instead showing an error page in many instances. X has policies which ban the sharing of quote, "synthetic, manipulated media that may a deceive or confuse people and lead to harm."
[01:44:48]
HOLMES: All right, let's discuss this with Amanda Manyame, a digital rights adviser for Equality Now. She joins me from Johannesburg. And thanks for doing so.
I mean, we've known about deepfakes for a while, but the Taylor Swift controversy really stirred things up. What has that controversy revealed about the risks of A.I. in the deep fake context, especially with social media.
AMANDA MANYAME, DIGITAL RIGHTS ADVISER, EQUALITY NOW: Thanks for having me. First -- just firstly it has shown that it is possible to happen to anyone. It has also shown that it is easy to generate and to spread the deep fake images.
And lastly, it was also shown that you don't need to have any explicit images or intimate images of yourself on the Internet. You could just use simple, everyday pictures that you would post on Facebook or Instagram.
HOLMES: According to one report published last year about deepfakes, it said, quote, "it takes now less than 25 minutes and costs zero dollars to create 60-second deepfake pornographic video of just about anyone using, as you say, just one clear facial image.
So with it being that easy and the result being reasonably convincing and will only become more so, what to do about it?
MANYAME: It's very difficult for the everyday person, let alone a celebrity to be able to individually do something about it. When a deepfake image of yourself comes up, the least you can do is reported on the social media platforms.
However, we would call for governments to come up with laws and policies that make it mandatory for tech companies to scroll through the Internet and find these images and take them down. Because as an individual, it'll be extremely difficult to do.
HOLMES: Yes. And so with Taylor Swift to protect her, they made her invisible on Twitter, X. Is that a bit like throwing the baby out with the bathwater, I mean, in the context of if Internet free speech means having to go off the grid for a major -- on a major platform. Where does that lead? Not just for her, but for all of us?
MANYAME: Yes. So one of the challenges that we are definitely seeing globally is that a lot of women, particularly women that are in the spotlight. So women politicians go off the grid. It is a lot easier to just not have any content of yourself there.
So the laws do need to try balance between the right to freedom of expression, as well as the right to be on social media, the right to be safe when you're on these platforms.
Hence, why we would require that tech platforms make it a lot easier to firstly report, but secondly, use the very same A.I. that is being used to generate these harms to also locate these images and take, take them down.
It's easier for someone as prominent as Taylor Swift for X or any other platform to react that quickly. But for the everyday person, we are aware it can take months, if not years, to have the content taken down with multiple reaches (ph).
HOLMES: Yes. I mean, its dreadful. I mean, I've seen reports of schoolboys doing it to their school girl classmates using some of these apps. Currently here in the U.S. anyway, only nine states have laws against what's called non-consensual deepfake photography.
And so are governments and companies doing enough to, you know, bring in digital guardrails. What can they do? Or in some ways, is this a, you know, the toothpaste is out of the tube moment. It's out there.
MANYAME: Firstly, in the U.S., nine states is not enough. And even if you had to look at those nine state laws, they may not be able to adequately protect because we're not aware of any court case that has been successful or any victim that has taken up by a court case.
So with the nine states, it's also unclear whether those laws would actually protect you.
But secondly, nine states is not enough. We do need federal laws in the U.S. to ensure that this content does not even go online. So it should be extremely difficult to upload the content.
Secondly, it should be extremely difficult to generate the content so it is ok to use ChatGPT to maybe help you out with the outline for an assignment but it should not be that easy to use it or any other platform to create a deepfake sexual image of someone.
So already at the coding or the production stage of A.I. or any other technology we have coming out. State laws or national laws that both in the U.S. and everywhere else in the world should make it extremely difficult and require that tech companies have safety by design, which is implemented at the coding stage.
[01:49:48]
HOLMES: Yes. Yes, that's a very good point.
Amanda Manyame with Equality Now, thank you so much. Appreciate you making the time.
MANYAME: Thank you.
HOLMES: Well, activists have once again sought to vandalize art as a method of protest. In the latest incident in Paris, two people threw pumpkin soup at Leonardo Da Vinci's masterpiece, the Mona Lisa, leaving some visitors disgusted and angry.
Officials say museum security helped visitors evacuated and the painting's protective case prevented any damage. That museum is planning to lodge a formal complaint against those two there.
Still to come, we'll take you to a treehouse like no other. It gives new meaning to the phrase higher education. Stick around. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Now, tensions reached a boiling point at one of the world's most revered archaeological sites on Saturday. Clashes broke out between police and demonstrators at the Machu Picchu ruins in Cusco in Peru in response to Thursdays launch of a new online system to book tickets to the ancient Incan ruins.
Train service to the site was suspended on Friday due to protestors blockading the railway. Opponents of the virtual system say the privatization of ticket sales could pose a threat to the livelihood of tour operators, and many others in the country at large.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EMERSON QUIROZ, DEMONSTRATOR: All of the people of Machu Picchu are protesting here to tell the Peruvian state to stop the privatization policy. We believe that outsourcing virtual ticket sales for Machu Picchu is one more step towards privatizing not only Machu Picchu, but also the main archaeological sites in the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now a treehouse in Peru is giving new meaning to higher education. The classroom is 30 meters off the ground, and as we hear from Rafael Romo, environmentalist hope students will learn more about preserving the Amazon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Class is in session in Peru's Amazon rainforest.
One of the most biodiverse places in the world that according to the World Wildlife Fund, the Madre de Dios forest covers more than 21 million acres and is home to a wide variety of plant and animal species and more than 32 indigenous communities.
Deforestation and poaching have seriously harmed the area. But one local organization is working to conserve it. And they're using an incredibly tall treehouse to do it.
PAUL ROSOLLE, FOUNDER, TAMANDUA EXPEDITION: So we had to find a tree that was at the edge of the terra firma that looked out over the rest of the jungle. So you have that view to the east.
ROMO: A conservation group called Junglekeepers partnered with online education company Udemy. These two groups are teaching students in a 32-meter-high treehouse turned classroom.
According to Reuters, built from sustainable wood, the jungle canopy is solar-powered with high-speed satellite Internet. While it may take more than 140 steps to get to the top, it's worth the effort as students are able to see the environment they're working to save from a unique vantage point.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These people are not only learning their skills up there, but they're learning more about their surroundings, about their community, about nature, about this land they're trying to preserve.
[01:54:50]
ROMO: Those new skills they hope will lead to new kinds of jobs in this area, where children as young as 11 or 12 are often forced to leave school and work as miners or loggers in the Amazon, say the Junglekeepers.
They're giving local adults the opportunity to become forest rangers and learn how their land can be protected rather than contributing to deforestation.
J.J. DURAND, VICE PRESIDENT, JUNGLEKEEPERS: Because they will have different jobs to do. Also, they can have a little bit of money, so they can buy other things, then only be (INAUDIBLE).
ROMO: As they maintain the land, attract wildlife and report illegal activity, organizations like Junglekeepers are hoping to make a difference.
Already the trends are positive, the non-profit MAAP says Amazon deforestation has declined with forest loss dropping by more than 55 percent in the last year.
Leaders in this initiative stress the importance of education in different communities.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It gives them the skills to not only better their own community, but then take that a step further and better themselves and really get them to where they want to go and maybe put them in better situations moving forward.
It's a real game changer for them.
ROMO: A lofty goal for an even loftier classroom to save one of the most precious areas in the world.
Rafael Romo, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: the NFL's defending champions the Kansas City Chiefs are headed back to the Super Bowl for the fourth time in five years and they will be facing one of the league's hottest teams, the San Francisco 49ers.
Sunday's AFC championship game between the Chiefs and Ravens in Baltimore was a defensive battle. Kansas City managing to contain Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson for much of a game. And the Chiefs held on to win 17 - 10.
In the NFC title game. It was just the opposite. A shoot-out between the 49ers and the Detroit Lions. The Lions on the road and against all odds, they've never been to the Super Bowl, they dominated the first half up 17 at half time.
But after that, it was all San Francisco scoring 27 unanswered points for an epic comeback, winning 34 to 31.
Super Bowl 58 between the Niners in the Chiefs is February 11 in Las Vegas.
Really wanted Detroit to go to the Super Bowl.
Thanks for spending part of your day with me. I'm Michael Holmes. You can follow me on X and Instagram @HolmesCNN.
Stick around. My friend and colleague Rosemary Church is up with more news in just a moment.
[01:52:23]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
