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Biden Weighs Response To Deadly Drone Attack In Jordan; Nikki Haley Reacts After Drone Attack On U.S. Troops; Biden Meets With Natl. Security Team On Deadly Drone Attack; U.S. Identifies Soldiers Killed In Drone Attack In Jordan; Israel Details UNRWA Workers' Alleged Role In Oct. 7 Attacks; U.N. Warns Halting Funding Would Impact Millions In Gaza; Several Large Donor Countries Suspend Funding To UNRWA; Ukraine: Troops "Expand Foothold" Across Dnipro River; NATO Secretary General Urges Allies To Support Ukraine; Ukraine Struggles To Hold Lines Amid Ammo Shortages; Pope: Pushback From African Bishops "A Special Case"; Babies In Gaza Born To A World Of Misery, Hunger And War. Babies in Gaza Born to a World of Misery, Hunger and War; President Calls for 'Alliance Against Extremism'; Prominent Women in Kim Jong-un's Powerful Inner Circle. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired January 30, 2024 - 00:00 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 CORRESPONDENT: Coming up here on CNN.
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JOHN KIRBY, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL COORDINATOR FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS: We will respond. We will respond strongly.
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VAUSE: The Goldilocks dilemma, the U.S. President considering his options for a strike on Iran. That's not too hard, and not too soft, but just right.
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JAN EGELAND, SECRETARY GENERAL, NORWEGIAN REFUGEE COUNCIL: The impact will be devastating.
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VAUSE: A growing number of donor countries pull their funding for UNRWA, the biggest aid agency in Gaza, after Israeli alert, after Israeli allegations rather, the UN agency is a haven for Hamas.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: They beat me up, stabbed me.
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VAUSE: And the online scam targeting Nigeria's LGBTQ+ community, which ends in a violent ambush. ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.
VAUSE: The U.S. President right now is weighing his options on how best to retaliate to a weakened attack on a U.S. military base in Jordan, which killed three American soldiers and injured more than 40 others. U.S. officials say the President is likely to order a significant military response powerful enough to send a message of deterrence, but not start a war, in other words, a Goldilocks strike. Monday, Biden met with his national security advisors who say Iran- backed militants were behind the attack. Iran, though, is denying any involvement.
White House officials have repeatedly insisted the U.S. is not looking for a war with Iran. Even so, the possibility of strikes on Iranian territory is still on the table. The drone strike Sunday was the deadliest attack on U.S. forces in the region since the withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. It also marks a significant escalation in ongoing attacks on U.S. forces since Israel's war with Hamas began in October. The three soldiers killed in the attack was Sergeant William Rivers; Specialist, Kennedy Sanders, and Specialist Verona (inaudible) all part of a Reserve Unit based in Georgia. CNN's MJ Lee following developments now reporting in from the White House.
MJ LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. has been responding to attacks from these Iran-backed proxy groups for a month now, but this weekend marking a real turning point for this White House after the death of three U.S. service members. The President and his national security team is now actively deliberating how to exactly respond to this attack. Two things that the President, in particular, is having to balance right now; one of course is the desire to keep the situation in the Middle East, contains the White House has said since the beginning of the Israel Hamas war that it does not want to see this war broaden out into a bigger regional conflict.
And the second is to respond with serious force given that now three American service members have been killed, the White House on Monday not confirming or ruling out the possibility of the U.S. striking inside Iran. Take a listen.
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KIRBY: This attack over the weekend was escalatory. Make no mistake about it. And it requires a response. Make no mistake about that. I will not get ahead of the President's decision making.
LEE: You are not saying either way, whether striking inside Iran is or isn't --
KIRBY: We are not looking for a war with Iran, MJ. I am not going to speak to the President's decisions.
LEE: Now there continues to be intelligence gathering to figure out exactly what happened over this weekend, including whether Iran had specifically directed this attack or whether it was the responsibility of a proxy group largely working on its own. And all of this, of course, is further complicating for the president because there are growing calls for a ceasefire. There are also ongoing hostage negotiations, which of course remains a top priority for this White House with six American hostages still unaccounted for in Gaza. MJ Lee, CNN, at the White House.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Malcolm Davis is a Senior Analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. He is with us this hour from Canberra. Good to see you, Malcolm, thanks for taking the time.
MALCOLM DAVIS, SENIOR ANALYST, AUSTRALIAN STRATEGIC POLICY INSTITUTE: Thanks, John.
VAUSE: So next move is now with the U.S. So far, no real indication of when, where, how this response will take place. So, here's the U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken. Listen to this.
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KIRBY: We will respond. We will respond strongly. We will respond at a time and place of our choosing.
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VAUSE: To my mind, that old line always seems to be used as a way of buying time because there's often a lack of good options. Is that the case right now for the U.S. President, especially if he wants to sort of Goldilocks strike, one that's not too soft, one that's not too hard?
DAVIS: Yeah. I think that's correct, John, I think that the President and his staff are probably taking their time over this, because it is a critical decision. If they strike in a manner that's perceived as too weak and too small in scale. In other words, more of the same what they've done in the past, then around the backers of these militia groups could take that as a sign of weakness, and become emboldened, and strike U.S. forces even more. On the other hand, if they strike in a manner that is directly against Iran in a way that demands an Iranian retaliation, then we're in the same boat. And we -- either way, we potentially end up with escalation to a wider war.
So, I think the Biden administration on this is between a rock and a hard place, they have to strike back, but to do so in a manner that sends a deterrence message to Tehran, whilst at the same time not touching off that wide war that everyone wants to avoid.
VAUSE: Nikki Haley, who is still trying to be Donald Trump for the Republican Party presidential nomination, has this advice for President Biden.
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NIKKI HALEY (R) 2024 GOP PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You have to figure out which Iranian leaders are making the decision. And you take them out. This isn't about hitting Iran. This is about being strategic and smart about what you do take out, find one or two of them that are making the decisions, it will chill all of them when you do that.
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VAUSE: So, they have a future President, Nikki Haley, what do you make of her plan? Pretty straightforward, no problems without any potential red flags?
DAVIS: Look, I think if we hit Iranian leadership, we're several steps ahead of what we need to be. I think that probably what we can do is for the U.S. to have a series of military operations, gradual escalation, that is carefully planned. So initially, we go after not only the militias, but the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC. There's an opportunity, for example, to hit an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps spy ship that's currently in the Red Sea that's directing Houthi strikes on shipping, so we could take that out.
And then, we go after the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps forces, and the militias more directly. I think the last thing that we would do would be to suddenly hit Iranian political leadership, because that would almost guarantee a massive Iranian response. It may be the case that we end up in a wider war anyhow, either because we're forced into that in an escalatory cycle, or because the Iranians don't see deterrence from our part as credible and they continue to attack. But we should try to avoid that if at all costs, whilst at the same time, trying to force the Iranians to back down.
VAUSE: I want you to listen to the Pentagon with details about the Iran connection to this weekend attack.
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SABRINA SINGH, PENTAGON SPOKESPERSON: We know this is an IRGC-backed militia. It has the footprints of Kata'ib Hezbollah, we know that Iran is behind it.
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VAUSE: Yeah. There's no doubt that Iran is linked to these proxies. Yeah, the question is, how closely are they linked? I'm still kind of amazed that that's an open question right now.
DAVIS: Look, I think they are fairly closely linked. I think we should not kid ourselves. The Iranians are behind this. The question is, do they actually have direct input into this particular attack? We don't know that. But we do know that the Iranians and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps do support sponsor and equip, and train and coordinate, these militia forces in Iraq and Syria. And the Houthis in the Red Sea. So therefore, there has to be some sort of retaliation against Iran.
But the question is, how to do it without actually then generating that rapid escalatory cycle that we're trying to avoid that ends up in a much wider war, which would be catastrophic for the region, and catastrophic for U.S. interests. And there's a more global geopolitical context here, which is important that the U.S. can't afford to be sucked into a major Middle Eastern war when they're facing a much more escalated threat from Russia and Europe, and a growing threat across the Taiwan Straits from China.
VAUSE: Well, with regards to the attack itself, according to a number of reports, including from CNN, the U.S. base was slow to respond because of confusion at the base, which was caused by the enemy drone, which followed the American drone as it approached, but it is not clear whether the enemy drone intentionally followed the American one, or if it was a coincidence.
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So, in your opinion, what's more likely here? Human error on the base, or a clever move by the militants behind the attack?
DAVIS: A combination of all. I think that for the enemy drone to follow the friendly drone in, it can't be coincidence. That was a very clever tactical move on the part of the militias, they could see that drone returning to base, they decided to mask their drones, approach in the radar signature of the friendly drone. And at the same time, there was probably confusion at the base as to what was actually happening.
So, you know, this is the tug of war type stuff. This is what happens in war, things go wrong. There is uncertainty. There's miscommunication. There's miscalculation. It's just the nature of war. And, you know, the enemy took advantage of that, and we need to make sure that, in future, air defenses around these bases are much more effective than they were clearly at this base.
VAUSE: Malcolm, as always, great to have you with us. Really appreciate your insights. Malcolm Davis, here in Canberra. Thank you.
DAVIS: Thank you.
VAUSE: New details have emerged about Israeli allegations that some workers for the UN Relief and Works Agency in Gaza were directly involved in the October 7th attacks by Hamas. An Israeli official shared a summary of the investigation with CNN, which accuses more than a dozen employees of UNRWA, the biggest aid agency in Gaza, are being associated with a deadly attack, including involvement in taking hostages, setting up an operations room and supplying logistics.
Some are accused of infiltrating Israel that day as part of the Hamas attack. The summary does not provide evidence supporting those claims and CNN has not seen intelligence behind the allegations, and cannot corroborate Israel's claims. Here's more now though from CNN's Nick Robertson.
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NICK ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): More than 110 days into the ugly war, Hamas' brutal attack triggered Israeli allegations, 13 UN staff took part, are themselves threatening to bring more suffering.
According to a document shared with CNN, six UNRWA employees infiltrated Israel as part of the attack, four were involved in kidnapping Israelis, and three additional UNRWA employees were quote, invited, via an SMS text message to arrive at an assembly area in the night before the attack, and were directed to equip with weapons, although it's not known if they showed up.
Israeli officials briefed US counterparts Friday, who quickly paused UNRWA's funding. A dozen other countries have followed, raising concerns the agency's absence could escalate suffering in Gaza.
EGELAND: The impact will be devastating of cutting aid to the organization that is the backbone of services to Palestinian civilians. There is no other organization including my own, we are all there in Gaza, that could take over what UNRWA is doing.
ROBERTSON (voice over): UNRWA is the only organization bringing aid into Gaza. Most of Gaza's 2 million residents depend on them. They provide food, water, and shelter. Desperation already so bad, aid trucks often looted before they reach warehouses. A cut in funding here is feared on a par with Israel's bombs.
ALAA KHDEIR, UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR: (Foreign Language)
ROBERTSON (voice over): This will mean more starvation, poverty and deprivation, this university professor tells us, which ultimately means more death.
SUHAILA NOFAL, GAZA RESIDENT: (Foreign Language)
ROBERTSON (voice over): This decision means killing us, killing the human being, she says. This is a death sentence. This is the only thing we live on and you want to cut it?
UNRWA has fired nine staff over the allegations and is investigating two others. One person is dead, the UN promising a comprehensive and transparent investigation. Israel's Foreign Minister is calling for UNRWA's Director, Philippe Lazzarini, to step down and cancelled a meeting with him Monday, as other government lawmakers press for scrapping UNRWA altogether, a long-held aim for some.
DANNY DANON, MEMBER, ISRAELI KNESSET: For many years, we have said that UNRWA is involved with terrorism. They collaborated with Hamas for generations. The UN is in charge of the UNHCR, which take care of all the refugees worldwide. Why do you need a special agency for the Palestinian refugees?
ROBERTSON (voice over): Egeland points to the ICJ ruling, Israel must enable humanitarian aid for Gaza.
EGELAND: There will be epidemic disease because of this unless it is reversed. The stakes are enormous here, and I'm very disappointed with these donors who spent zero time in suspending aid to an entire organization for the sins of a few staff.
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VAUSE: Well, a major step closer now to a deal on hostages at a pause in fighting in Gaza with negotiators agreeing to a broad framework to some kind of deal. An official familiar with the talk, say, Hamas has been presented with this framework. And as though details will be difficult to work out. And Israel's Prime Minister has expressed concerns about some conditions he considers to be not acceptable. The framework, though, would call for the first phase of civilian hostage release to take place over a six-week pause in fighting, with three Palestinian prisoners held by Israel released for each civilian hostage return from Gaza.
That ratio would be expected to go up for Israel Defense Force's soldiers. A longer pause is possible beyond the six weeks for the latter phases. Officials from Israel, the U.S., Qatar, Egypt had met in Paris over the weekend, to discuss this framework. Well, CNN crew in Ukraine under fire while reporting on the war, when we come back, trying to show you how Ukrainian forces are surviving continued Russian attacks as supplies and funding run low. That's up next. Also, dating apps meant for the gay and lesbian community in Nigeria, all too often they result in abuse, violence and extortion.
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VAUSE: Welcome back. Ukrainian forces claimed to expand their foothold in the ROSS Controls Kherson region just across from the Dnipro River, which serves as a natural defensive barrier for Russian forces, and control of both sides of the river has been a major objective for Kyiv. Ukrainian officials stress, the situation in the area remains fluid.
Russian attacks continue unabated. NATO's Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, urging allies to send Ukraine more weapons as well as ammunition, calling it investment in their own security. He spoke at a press conference on Monday alongside U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and thanked the U.S. for its continued commitment to Ukraine.
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JENS STOLTENBERG, SECRETARY GENERAL NATO: Russia's brutal war against Ukraine is nearing the two-year mark, and a Russian victory would embolden Iran, North Korea and China. That matters for Europe's security, and it matters for America's security.
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VAUSE: Still, Ukraine's military is struggling to hold-off Russian attacks as supplies run low and other round -- another round of U.S. funding though continues to be stalled in Congress and going nowhere. CNN's Fred Pleitgen has details now on what it's like on the frontlines in eastern Ukraine. Some of the images in his report are graphic.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): All-out warfare in unforgiving terrain. Forest battles in Eastern Ukraine mean facing a near constant Russian onslaught. Vladimir Putin's army trying to break through Ukrainian defenses. Dmytro is one of those holding them up.
DMYTRO, BUREVIY BRIGADE, UKRAINIAN NATIONAL GUARD: (Foreign Language)
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PLEITGEN (voice over): The situation is very active and very tense, he says, because the enemy has much more equipment and manpower, basically every day they try to storm the positions.
A dead Russian soldier and the destroyed tank show just how close the Russians have come. It's a fight for survival and against the elements. The trench cold, wet and soggy, the only heat coming from candles the soldiers cower around, gathering strength to face overwhelming Russian firepower.
DMYTRO: (Foreign Language)
PLEITGEN (voice over): They shoot direct fire. Planes are flying. Basically, they have it all, he says.
DMYTRO: (Foreign Language)
PLEITGEN (voice over): But probably, the worst are tanks. When they fire, you don't even hear it. You hear an airplane when it comes over. With a tank, you're in God's hands. Artillery fire another threat here, as we found out, when we came under fire trying to make it to the area.
PLEITGEN (on camera): This is unfortunately something that when we work here, in the east of the country, happens all too often. We were getting ready to film here, and then, all of a sudden, we heard what appeared to be outgoing artillery, but that is (inaudible) 100 meters, got you.
We're now trying to make our way out of here as safe as possible. That means we have to keep distance between our cars. But we also, of course, have to keep moving the entire time to make sure that we can get out of here hopefully safely.
PLEITGEN (voice over): We believe a Russian drone spotted us and directed the artillery fire. But two can play that game. Nazariy is a Ukrainian drone pilot. He guides Kyiv's artillery guns targeting Russian infantry, but also armored assault formations including main battle tanks. He says ammo shortages mean he has to be extremely precise.
NAZARIY, DRONE PILOT: (Foreign Language)
PLEITGEN (voice over): It's no secret we're starved of artillery shells, he says. We try to work as efficiently and accurately as possible to hit the enemy's firepower; trying to fight back any way they can on one of the toughest battlefields of this war. Fred Pleitgen, CNN in Eastern Ukraine.
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VAUSE: Pope Francis has addressed criticism from within the church after giving his consent to priests to bless same-sex couples. The Father says pushback came from African bishops who were a special case because for them homosexuality, he said, is something bad from a cultural point of view, not to be tolerated. The new Vatican guidelines, though, have received strong support from across Europe, including Catholic clergies in France, Austria, and Germany.
Well, to Nigeria now where the LGBTQ+ community is being lured via an online scam into a situation where they're often assaulted and extorted and verbally assaulted, as well as physically assaulted. It's called Kito. CNN's Stephanie Busari has more now as part of our As Equals ongoing series on gender inequality. Wanting, parts of her report may be difficult to hear.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They beat me up, stabbed me --
STEPHANIE BUSARI, CNN SENIOR AFRICA EDITOR (voice over): Izy's (ph) story is hard to hear.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was being tied on my back, like my hands were on my back, so I could not do much. So, they did what they wanted to do. They had their way with me.
BUSARI (voice over): Raped, abused and extorted, all because of her sexuality, a practice known in Nigeria as Kito. For Izy (ph), whose real name is not being used for safety reasons, it began when she met a woman online, they exchanged messages, and soon agreed to meet in person at her date's house. Izy (ph) says it all changed when there was a knock on the door. Two men came in and things quickly got violent.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They stripped me naked forcefully and they were just playing with my private parts, playing with my body parts.
BUSARI (voice over): It soon dawned on Izy (ph) that the woman she'd been dating had set her up. But Izy (ph) is far from being alone. CNN has now spoken to 16 women here in Nigeria who describe being Kitoed.
BUSARI (on camera): Lured through online relationships to meet people who then assault and often extort them. And these are just a fraction of the thousands of LGBTQI+ people subjected to this practice here, according to data shared with CNN.
For Rusvia (ph), it started with pressure from her parents to be straight.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was ridiculed, I was treated like a non-entity. I was extorted.
BUSARI (voice over): She moved in with a man she had met on Tinder, who knew she was gay. But he soon turned that against her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He would tell me that, you know I know a thing -- something that people shouldn't really know about you. Do you know what they would find out -- what they would do if they found out you were like this?
BUSARI (voice over): In Nigeria's deeply religious and conservative society, where same-sex relationships are outlawed, members of the LGBTQ+ community are vulnerable to exploitation and attack.
AFOLABI AIYELA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THE INITIATIVE FOR EQUAL RIGHTS: People in the community are regarded as lesser, and they don't have the same rights as everybody else.
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So, it's very easy to take advantage of that. It's very easy to extort. It's very easy to target people in the community.
BUSARI (voice over): With the focus of Nigerian law enforcement on queer people as the criminals, experts tell CNN Kito victims find it difficult to find resources to get help. Victims have instead taken things into their own hands, going online to warn each other of individuals who pose a threat, doing what they can to shine a light on the abuse, while many continue to suffer in the shadows, unseen and unheard.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's the most painful part, when you're going through all sort of abuse because of who you are and you can't even say anything. It's a different type of pain.
BUSARI (voice over): Stephanie Busari, CNN, Lagos, Nigeria.
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VAUSE: Coming up here on CNN, amid a soaring death toll in Gaza, there is life. Somehow, a baby is born every 10 minutes, we will show you how they are coping.
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VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN Newsroom. Well, war or no war, it seems Gaza's young population continues to have a very high birth rate. CNN's Ivana Kottasova reports now on these new lives amid a warzone. But a warning, some of the scenes in her report are difficult too much.
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IVANA KOTTASOVA, SENIOR PRODUCER, CNN INTERNATIONAL (voice over): Born into this world, all alone, no parents by her side. Only a stranger's touch for the baby with no name, delivered by C-section last month to a mother already gone, fatally injured in an explosion. She's been in an incubator since. Stable now, but still fragile, doctors say.
She's one of the nearly 20,000 born into this war. Every 10 minutes, a baby is born in Gaza, the UN says. Gaza is where the blessings of life are now a curse. Umm Yazan is five months pregnant. Like most Gazans, her family is homeless. This -- the toilets of a school-turned-shelter is where they live.
UMM YAZAN, PREGNANT MOTHER: (Foreign Language)
KOTTASOVA (voice over): This is our life in the toilets, Umm Yazan says, we lay our mattresses and sleep here. Umm Yazan and her husband can hardly feed their children. There's not enough for their unborn child.
YAZAN: (Foreign Language)
KOTTASOVA (voice over): I'm in my fifth month, craving foods, but there's no food, no flour, nothing, she says. She's not had her iron supplements, not even a checkup in months.
YAZAN: (Foreign Language)
KOTTASOVA (voice over): We wanted to check if there is a heartbeat, but there are no hospitals. They're only dealing with emergencies, she says. There are no scans to see if the baby's alive or not. Life is non-existent for pregnant women.
Gaza's few remaining hospitals are overwhelmed with the seemingly endless flood of war casualties. There's no chance of carrying out routine care. And the estimated 50,000 pregnant women and their unborn babies are left out in the cold, their already precarious situation before the war now, dramatically worse.
About 40 percent of all pregnancies are now high-risk, aid groups say. Miscarriages, still births, preterm labor, and maternal mortality are much more likely.
For first-time mothers like Hiyam, excitement is overshadowed by this miserable existence that's now her life, soon to be her baby's. "Being pregnant with your first child should be nice. You eat, you rest, you sleep, but I didn't get any of that," Hiyam says. Instead, she's had to flee several times, taking shelter in overcrowded hospitals, walking miles, searching for safety.
"After walking for many hours, I was exhausted," she says. "The baby was very weak. They told me I should be staying in the hospital. But there was no room, so I had to leave."
She's now in this tent, sleeping on the sand floor. "How will I give birth in war, when I have nothing for the baby? No formula, no diapers. We're in a tent, and it's very cold for us. What would life be like for a tiny baby born into these conditions?"
It's how this burnt-out classroom in what's left of Northern Gaza is the only shelter Nujood could find. She barely made it through the bombardment and labor, struggling to keep her newborn healthy, clean, and warm.
"We want to clean the classroom, but there's no disinfectant," Nujood says. "There's no health care, no clinics, no vaccinations for the baby." War has separated Nujood from her husband. She's only been able to reach him once when she told him they had a baby girl, Habiba.
Nujood's mother spends her days trying to find what she can to feed her daughter.
"This is my first grandchild. It's supposed to be happiness," she says because they couldn't celebrate. "I wanted to prepare so many things for her to celebrate her rivals. My precious first granddaughter, she didn't even get the new clothes I bought her."
It's never been harder to be a mother in Gaza. All you can do is hold your baby tight and hope you both survive this nightmare.
Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Germany's president is now calling for a broad alliance against extremism. This comes amid revelations. The main far-right party is reportedly considering the mass deportation of migrants, all of a so-called master plan.
And as CNN's Sebastian Shukla reports, those fears, along with concerns over the economy, are fueling nationwide protests.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE
SEBASTIAN SHUKLA, CNN PRODUCER (voice-over): "Let action speak. I don't know where to start, but let's meet on the street," this rapper rhymes.
Weekends in Berlin and across Germany are quickly becoming days of demonstration. These anti far-right protesters have a message of light for Germans. "Never again" means now, as they fear the rise of the far right.
LOUIS MOTAAL, SPOKESPERSON, FRIDAYS FOR FUTURE: "Never again" is now, and we have to protect our democracy as society here together in Germany, because it's under threat.
SHUKLA (voice-over): That stems from a reported secret meeting of right-wing extremists at this hotel outside Berlin. Allegedly, members of Germany's far-right party, the AFD attended, discussing the mass deportation of immigrants and German citizens of foreign dissent.
Countryside and capital city also collided for the third straight week, with farmers furious at fuel subsidy cuts.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They make regulations that harm every one of us, not -- not only the farmers, but everyone in this country. And we think enough is enough.
SHUKLA (voice-over): Train drivers have just paused a nationwide strike so they can go back to the bargaining table, demanding higher wages. SHUKLA: The fundamental cause for the protests are economic headwinds,
but also the government of Olaf Scholz and his coalition is deeply unpopular. And that is starting to create a split in German society.
Marcel Fratzscher is the president of the German Institute for Economic Research.
MARCEL FRATZSCHER, PRESIDENT, GERMAN INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH: And Germany is currently in a state of mental depression where people have the impression politicians are not acting. They're only fighting. They're not offering solutions.
[00:35:06]
SHUKLA (voice-over): That is benefiting the AFD, surging particularly in rural areas, and that support is shunting Germany to the right.
FRATZSCHER: Germany, the German government, is becoming more skeptical towards engaging with Europe. It is changing its economic policy, its tax policy. It's cutting social benefits for people with low income. So indirectly, the AFD is setting the policy.
SHUKLA (voice-over): That prospect of success, policy wavering, and economic fears is one of the root causes for consecutive weekends of protest from liberal-minded Germans. Their end, they say, to ensure history does not repeat itself.
Sebastian Shukla, CNN, Berlin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: When we come back, the powerful women close to the North Korean leader and why one of them is likely to be the next dear leader.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Two members of Britain's royal family are recovering after time in hospital. King Charles and Queen Camilla waved to crowds Monday. The king was discharged out to receiving treatment for an enlarged prostate.
Buckingham Palace says public engagements have now been rescheduled to allow time for King Charles to recover.
The princess of Wales was more private with her exit following a two- week stay for abdominal surgery, according to Kensington Palace. A spokesperson says Catherine is making good progress but is unlikely to resume public duties until after Easter.
North Korea has launched a flurry of cruise missile tests this week, the latest taking place just hours ago. Kim Jong-un frequently presides over missile launches. In the past, he's being accompanied by his very powerful sister, but lately, he's been taking his daughter with him.
CNN's Will Ripley takes a look at the prominent females within his inner circle.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): North Korea's most powerful man making an emotional appeal to women. Kim Jong-un, wiping away tears, urging moms to have more babies to boost the plunging birthrate.
Pyongyang's patriarchy persists, observers say, but things may be changing in Kim's Korea. The North Korean leader bringing powerful women into his orbit.
Foreign minister Choe Son Hui, who recently met with Russian president Vladimir Putin Kim's younger sister, Kim Yo Jong, a close aide and trusted confidant, famous for fiery speeches.
And this dramatic demolition of the inter-Korean liaison office. The younger Kim's meteoric rise, likely fueled by her close brotherly bond and powerful Kim family bloodline.
The family photo that shook the world, the supreme leader revealing his daughter, believed to be Kim Ju-ae, at a missile launch in late 2022. The first in a series of carefully staged father-daughter photo- ops elevating the profile of Kim's elementary-age child, raising questions about succession.
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LEE SUNG-YOON, WILSON CENTER FELLOW, AUTHOR OF "THE SISTER": Kim Jong- un is saying, by appearing in public with his daughter, My nukes are here to stay, and my power will be handed down to my progeny, or maybe somebody else, his sibling.
RIPLEY (voice-over): For three generations, the men of the Kim family ruling North Korea with an iron fist. Now, many wonder, could a woman be next in line?
Could Kim be grooming his own daughter to someday take command of North Korea's growing nuclear arsenal?
LEE: The power will be kept. This absolute power will maintain, will be maintained in the family.
RIPLEY (voice-over): A family where the women seem to be faring better than the men.
Kim's own uncle, Jang Song-thaek, half-heartedly clapping when Kim came to power. South Korean lawmakers said he was executed by anti- aircraft guns. And possibly decapitated, former President Trump claimed, Kim's exiled older half-brother, Kim Jong-nom, assassinated by poison at a Malaysia airport.
Whoever the next North Korean leader is, man or woman, Kim is top priority, analysts say, protecting his family's fortune and power.
RIPLEY: Historians on both sides of the political spectrum, left and right, agree that North Korea has essentially perfected the model of the totalitarian state.
They have near total control of information, very heavy propaganda. They surveil the population. It is a recipe, experts say, for success, for the next North Korean leader, whether they be a man or woman, especially given the size of Kim Jong-un's nuclear arsenal.
Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.
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VAUSE: Elon Musk's company, Neuralink says it's implanted the first brain device into a human patient.
The announcement came Monday on X, Musk adding this. That initial results are promising for the neuron spike detection. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given the company clearance last year to conduct its first trial to test the implants on humans.
This picture from 2020 shows the surgical robot used to perform the procedure, which requires invasive surgery.
The implant itself is about the size of a five-stack of coins, with the initial goal of allowing people to control a computer cursor or keyboard with their mind alone.
Somehow, that's really creepy and terrifying.
I'm John Vause, back at the top of the hour with more CNN NEWSROOM. But first, WORLD SPORT starts after the break.
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