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Biden Weighs Response On Iran After Deadly Drone Attack; Israel Details Claims Against U.N. Workers It Says Aided Hamas; Ukraine Says Aims To Expand Foothold On Bank Of Dnipro; Venezuela Opposition Leader Machado Banned From Public Office for 15 Years; IDF Claims a Tunnel Ran Through Gaza Cemetery; German President Calls for Alliance against Extremism; LGBTQ+ People in Nigeria Targeted by Dating Apps; Russian Skater Kamila Valieva Banned for 4 Years; King Charles, Princes of Wales Recovering from Hospital Stays. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired January 30, 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.
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ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We will respond. We will respond strongly.
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VAUSE: A Goldilocks dilemma the U.S. president considering his options for a strike on Iran. That's not too hard, not too soft, but just right.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 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 allegations the U.N. agency is a haven for Hamas. And better late than never with Russian ice skater Kamila Valieva, now officially disqualified for doping at the last Winter Olympics. The gold medal she never deserved will be awarded to the US.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.
VAUSE: The U.S. president continues to weigh his options on retaliation after a weekend attack on a us military base in Jordan, which killed three American soldiers and wounded 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 Goldilock strike.
Monday, Biden met with his national security advisors, who say Iran backed militants were behind the attack. Iran, though, is denying any connection to the drone strike. And while White House officials have repeatedly insisted the U.S. does not want war with Iran, the option of strikes on Iranian territory remain on the table.
Sunday's attack on the U.S. base, known as Tower 22, was the deadliest on us forces in the region since the withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 and marks a significant escalation since October by militants targeting U.S. forces.
Those attacks have been over us support for Israel, and since the war in Gaza began, hostilities within that region have been escalating almost daily. Sunday's attack was the first to claim the lives of us military personnel. CNN's Natasha Bertrand reports the U.S. president is now vowing retaliation.
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NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: The U.S. military on Monday identified the three us army soldiers who were killed in a drone attack on a us military outpost in Jordan on Sunday. According to the U.S. Army, they are Sergeant William Rivers, 46, Specialist Kennedy Sanders, 24, and Specialist Brianna Moffat, 23. Sanders and Moffatt enlisted in 2019 and Sergeant Rivers enlisted in 2011.
Now, we're also learning more information about the U.S. service members who were injured in this drone attack, including eight who had to be medically evacuated from Jordan to Baghdad and three of which of those medically evacuated had to be transported to Landstuhl medical facility in Germany for further treatment.
Five of those service members were now told are expected to return back to duty and were diagnosed with relatively minor traumatic brain injuries.
But bigger picture here, this was an extremely serious attack that the U.S. is responding very forcefully to. They have pointed the finger directly at Iran backed militant groups that they have not said specifically which group was responsible for this particular attack, but they have said that ultimately they do hold Iran responsible for this kind of strike because Iran funds and supports militarily these Iran-backed proxy groups all across the Middle east.
Now, this is not the first time that we have seen these Iran backed proxies attack U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq and Syria. Just since October, there have been over 160 such attacks on U.S. and coalition forces by these proxy groups. And previously there had been pretty minor injuries resulting from these strikes.
And never before have we seen the level of casualties and devastation wrought by these kinds of drones and rockets that these proxy militias have been firing at these U.S. military bases. And so this is really an unprecedented attack just in terms of the scale of damage and, of course, the casualties that it resulted in. The U.S. now planning to respond, according to Biden administration
officials, however, they have telegraphed very clearly that they do not want to go to war with Iran directly. And so now the question is the U.S. going to conduct strikes against these Iran-backed proxy groups in Iraq and Syria yet again? That approach has not worked up until this point.
And so the administration right now is trying to come up with a response that is going to be forceful enough to deter these proxy groups from ever trying to launch these kinds of attacks again. But it has to be calibrated enough to not risk sparking a wider regional war. Natasha Bertrand, CNN, at the Pentagon.
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VAUSE: Trita Parsi is an expert on Iran. He's the executive vice president of the Quincy Institute. Welcome back. It's good to see you.
TRITA PARSI, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, QUUNCY INSTITUTE: Good to see you.
VAUSE: OK, so I want you to listen to the White House national security spokesman John Kirby laying out the challenges here for the U.S. president as he weighs a response to the weekend's attack.
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JOHN KIRBY, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL COORDINATOR: We are not looking for a war with Iran. We are not seeking a conflict with the regime in a military way. And as I said in the opening, we're not looking to escalate here.
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 to take a step.
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VAUSE: So take sit back and explain why does there have to be a response? Kirby and Joe Biden have made it clear the U.S. does not want a war with Iran. So whatever that response may be, will it ever be enough to really make any kind of impact on the decision makers in Tehran if they aren't willing to go all the way?
PARSI: There's two aspects here. On the one hand, from a deterrence standpoint and from a political standpoint, the president definitely feels that he has to do something to make sure that the killing of three Americans does not go unanswered.
However, at the same time, the president does not want to see escalation, according to the spokesperson of the White House, which I think is true. And that requires him that whatever response he does first tactically is not such that it will be yet another reaction from these different militias or from Iran, particularly if the strike is directly aimed at Iran and so that it stops there and doesn't go further.
But then strategically, the president should have come to the viewpoint at this point that the continuation of the war in Gaza is a threat to us national security because it fuels tensions throughout the region and fuels particularly for specific fronts that target the US.
And as a result, if we don't want to have an escalation in the region strategically, then we need to get a ceasefire in Gaza.
VAUSE: I wish you'd listen to an assessment from the Pentagon of where Iran is with all of this.
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SABRIAN SINGH, PENTAGON DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY: We certainly don't seek a war. And frankly, we don't see Iran wanting to seek a war with the United States.
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VAUSE: I guess, you know, while a war with the U.S. may be deeply unpopular with the majority of the Iranians, it's a different story when it comes to a small number of very hawkish, very influential members or very supporters rather, of this government in Tehran?
PARSI: Yes, I think there are elements inside of Iran that wouldn't mind some form of an escalation. However, I don't think that the system as a whole is seeking a war with the United States. In fact, the Iranians and the U.S. essentially agreed to a truce back in September of last year, which lasted at least up until the invasion of Gaza. And I think the preference both in Tehran and in Washington was that they would like that truce to go on at least until the American presidential elections this year.
VAUSE: Well, apparently, as far as Iran is concerned, they're just on the sidelines here of all this. They're cheerleaders, but they're not active participants in these attacks on U.S. targets in the region. At least that's what they're saying publicly. Listen to this.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): While the Islamic Republic of Iran does not welcome the development of conflict in the region, it does not interfere in the decisions of the resistance groups on how to support the Palestinian nation or defend themselves and their people against any aggression and occupation.
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VAUSE: This is the $64 question. How directly involved are the Iranians in all this? How much control do they actually have over their proxies?
PARSI: So I think there's two exaggerated narratives. One is the Iranian one, in which essentially they claim to have no control over these different groups, and then the narrative in Washington, which sees them as nothing more than Iranian proxy, then whatever they do, it's because the Iranians wanted them to do so.
Neither narrative is true. The Iranians certainly have a degree of control and they probably can do much more to rein them in, but they don't have complete control. Take a look at, for instance, what the Houthi spokesperson said last week. When asked as to whether the Houthis in Yemen are an Iranian proxy, he said, rest assured, if the Houthis were a proxy of Iran, they would not be in a direct confrontation with Israel right now, which seems to suggest that the Iranians are not terribly happy, at least with the extent to which Houthis have been attacking ships in the region. And that tells you something, that there are divisions there.
VAUSE: Well, some Republicans in the U.S. Congress are calling for a U.S. strike on Iranian territory. Senator Lindsey Graham tweeting, hit Iran and hit them hard. Similar message also from another Senator John Cornyn.
So, if the U.S. decided to go down this road, a direct strike on Iranian territory, what would Iran do? What does that then look like?
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PARSI: The Iranian red line is an attack on Iran's territory. If that were to take place, I think the Pentagon's calculation is clearly that there will be a direct strike by the Iranians against U. S. troops or bases in the region and that it would lead to a major, major escalation.
Of course, Lindsey Graham is essentially tweeting bomb Iran once a month. So that in and of itself, nothing new. And I think from the standpoint of some of the Republicans, they've been looking for a war with Iran for the last 15, 20 years.
Some others are just using it as a political tool because they can push for it to look tough. And if Biden goes ahead and actually strikes Iran ends up in a war that actually will benefit the Republicans electorally because it will be very, very unpopular with the American voters.
If he doesn't strike Iranians, then they will accuse him of being weak. So, I think some of them are calculating that this is a win-win situation for them.
VAUSE: In some ways, I guess. yes, it's very cold, very calculated. Trita, thanks so much for being with us. We appreciate your analysis.
PARSI: Thank you for having me.
VAUSE: More details now, but Israeli allegations that some workers for the U.N. relief and works agency in Gaza were directly involved in the October 7 attack by Hamas. Israeli officials shared a summary of their investigation with CNN, which accuses more than a dozen UNRWA employees, the biggest aid agency in Gaza, of being associated with the deadly attack, including involvement in hostage taking, setting up an operations room, and supplying logistics.
Some are accused of infiltrating Israel as part of the October 7 Hamas attack. The summary, though, does not include evidence, and CNN has not seen intelligence behind the allegations. Still, CNN's Nic Robertson has our report.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): More than 110 days into the ugly war, Hamas's brutal attack triggered Israeli allegations 13 U.N. 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 brief U.S. counterparts Friday, who quickly paused UNWRA's funding. A dozen other countries have followed, raising concerns the agency's absence could escalate suffering in Gaza.
JAN EGELAND, SECRETARY GENERAL, NORWEGIAN REFUGEE COUNCIL: 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're 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.
This will mean more starvation, poverty and deprivation, this university professor tells us, which ultimately means more death.
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 U.N. promising a comprehensive and transparent investigation.
Israel's foreign minister is calling for UNRWA's director, Philip Lazarini, to step down and cancel a meeting with him Monday as other government lawmakers press for scrapping UNRWA altogether, a long held aim for some.
DANNY DANON, KNESSET MEMBER: For many years, we have said that UNRWA is involved with terrorism. They collaborated with Hamas for generations. The U.N. is in charge of the UNHCR, which takes 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: While New Zealand is latest country to suspend funding for UNRWA, the foreign ministry in Wellington described the Israeli allegations as serious and must be investigated urgently. The European Union also wants an independent investigation but will continue to fund the agency.
A major step closer to the release of hostages and a pause in fighting in Gaza after negotiators agreed to a broad board framework for a deal. An official familiar with the negotiation says there's now a sense of optimism, but admits agreement on final details remains difficult. More now from CNN's Alex Marquardt, reporting in from the US State Department.
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ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: According to most of the parties who were involved in talks over the weekend, it does appear that progress has been made in trying to reach a deal for hostages and for a pause in the fighting in Gaza.
There was a meeting on Sunday in Paris attended by the CIA director as well as his Egyptian and Israeli counterparts, and the Qatari prime minister. who then came here to Washington and on Monday talked about a broad framework that the parties had discussed with initiatives from all of them. It is clear that a lot of work still remains to finalize this deal and get it across the finish line.
But a source familiar with the discussions tells me that a broad framework was agreed to by those parties who were in Paris that would include an initial phase of civilian Israeli hostages released by Hamas and other groups that would be accompanied by a six-week pause in the fighting.
That pause could be extended if more of the hostages are released, including the IDF soldiers, both men and women, and the bodies of hostages who are still being held in the Gaza Strip.
Now Hamas would expect Palestinian prisoners to also be released from Israeli prisons. Three Palestinian prisoners for every civilian hostage. That ratio could go up with the IDF's soldiers.
Now I asked Secretary of State Anthony Blinken about the deal that is being discussed. He called it a strong and compelling proposal and said that there is real hope going forward. Take a listen.
BLINKEN: I can just tell you that there is again strong, I would say, alignment among the countries involved, that this is a good and strong proposal. And the work that was done over the weekend, including by CIA director Bill Burns, was important in helping to advance this.
MARQUARDT: Now one party not at those talks in Paris was Hamas. The ball now essentially in their court. I'm told that Egyptian intelligence has delivered the proposal of this framework to Hamas. And the source who said that the framework had broadly been agreed to by the others said, quote, I sense optimism. Alex Marquardt, CNN of the State Department.
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VAUSE: Under fire in Ukraine. When we come back, CNN on the front lines reporting on Ukrainian forces holding off Russian attacks as ammunition supplies dwindle. That's next.
Also ahead, another presidential hopeful of Venezuela banned from running. That brings a warning from the United States.
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VAUSE: Ukrainian forces claim their foothold has expanded a Russian control Kherson region, just across the Dnipro River. Control of both sides of the river has been a major objective for Kyiv because it serves as a natural defensive barrier for Russian troops.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is urging allies to send Ukraine more weapons and ammunition, calling it an investment in their own security. He spoke at a news conference Monday alongside U.S. Secretary State Anthony Blinken.
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Jens Stoltenberg NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: 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: CNN's Fred Pleitgen traveled to the front lines in eastern Ukraine, where, along with his crew, he came under fire, reporting on this battle for survival amidst some very cold and wet conditions and a warning. Some images in his story are graphic.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): All out warfare in unforgiving terrain. Poorest 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. 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 a 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.
They shoot direct fire. Planes are flying. Basically, they have it all, he says. 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: And 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 then a shelf came in 100 meters. 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. Naziri 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.
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 one of the toughest battlefields of this war. Fred Pleitgen, CNN in eastern Ukraine, the.
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VAUSE: Wait is finally over. No more will he or will he because he is the Russian president Vladimir Putin, that is officially running for reelection. To the surprise of absolutely no one, Putin's candidacy was approved unanimously by the election commission. He's seeking a fifth presidential term to keep him in power until 2030.
Opposition candidate Boris Nadezhdin is also expected to make a run. He has just a day or so left to submit the 100,000 signatures needed to qualify. He says he's already has that. He's collected twice that number. The presidential election is scheduled for March 15.
There's new political turmoil in Venezuela after another opposition leader was banned from running for president. The Supreme Court, which is controlled by President Nicholas Maduro's ruling party, recently disqualified Maria Machado from holding any public office for 15 years.
After that decision, both the U.S. and the Venezuelan opposition accused the Maduro government of violating a deal signed a number of months ago, promising free and fair elections in exchange for some U.S. sanctions to be lifted.
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KIRBY: The Maduro regime, when they signed on in October down in Barbados, made some commitments about opposition political parties, about free and fair elections and what all that meant. And they haven't taken those actions.
Now, accordingly, they got till April to do so.
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So we have options available to us. I'm not going to preview any of those at this time, but we certainly have options with respect to sanctions and that kind of thing that we could take.
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VAUSE: Machado has been very critical of the court's ruling and has promised to stay in the presidential race. More now from Stefano Pozzebon.
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STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: Political tensions are rising in Venezuela after on Friday the Supreme Court ruled that Maria Corina Machado, an opposition leader who won her coalition primary to run as president later this year, is banned from running and from holding public office due to corruption charges.
On Monday, Machado denied the charges, accusing instead the government of breaking its word.
MARIA CORINA MACHADO, VENEZUELA OPPOSITION LEADER (through translator): About that ban or the so called sentence. Once again, the government is walking back on their commitments. Once again they break what we agreed. They invented documents and presented a decision that we cannot call a sentence. This is judicial crime.
POZZEBON: In the last few days, both the government of authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro and the opposition traded accusations of breaking the deal, which was agreed on October 22 in Barbados.
Under that deal that was mediated by Norway and with the support of the United States Treasury and State Department's, Maduro would allow for free and fair elections in exchange for partial sanctions release. But the new ban on Machado has seen politicians both in Venezuela and in the United States calling on the White House to reinstall the sanctions, which include sanctions on the oil exports of Venezuela.
Late on Monday, the White House said that Maduro has until the spring to commit to what he pledged in Barbados and that sanctions remain on the table. For CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Bogota.
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VAUSE: Still to come here, the IDF invited CNN to report on a so called terror tunnel, which they claim was built under a cemetery in Gaza which IDF soldiers had recently damaged and destroyed. We'll tell you what our reporter found in a moment.
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VAUSE: Welcome back. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
The United Nations is urging Israeli survivors of sexual violence during the Hamas attacks to come forward. The U.N. special representative for sexual violence and conflicts says this. "We owe you all more than solidarity. We want to ensure that you have justice."
Israel strongly criticized the U.N. for a delay in condemning Hamas' brutal acts of sexual violence and torture on October 7. Israel's foreign ministry says it invited the U.N. special representative so that she could hear the extent of the atrocities for herself.
After a CNN investigation uncovered destruction caused by Israeli troops in more than a dozen cemeteries in Gaza, the IDF invited us to report on what they say was a Hamas tunnel dug underneath one of those cemeteries.
Here's what CNN's Jeremy Diamond found.
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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is no ordinary quarry. It's where the living once buried their dead. Gaza's Bani Suheila Cemetery hollowed out by Israeli excavators.
These were all graves. This was a cemetery. But the military says that they were forced to come in here because they discovered a Hamas tunnel running right underneath that cemetery.
But the Israeli military failed to prove that stunning claim during a three-hour tour of the area.
They invited us here a week after we first uncovered this graveyard's partial destruction using satellite imagery, part of a CNN investigation that found 16 cemeteries in Gaza damaged or destroyed by the Israeli military.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The whole are here is a military compound from the mosque over there underneath the graveyard? All the way down north and south.
My forces at the beginning, we tried to flank this area were fired from this area again and again and again. We couldn't understand why. DIAMOND: So that's how you determined that there was a tunnel here because you were being fired upon?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.
DIAMOND: Our journey to investigate the Israeli military's claims begins in the rubble of what they say was a residential building.
Even just standing at the mouth of this tunnel, you can feel the humidity just like emanating here. And this is the way that we go in to what they say is an extensive tunnel system in Bani Suheila.
We descend into a dark, seemingly endless labyrinth.
There's tight spaces like this in certain parts of this tunnel. But then you get here and you have full headspace pretty much.
All throughout it, you can see that there's electricity, there's telecommunications. The Israeli military says that this tunnel system actually leads to a Hamas command center, which they say was used by Hamas fighters to coordinate their attacks.
The Israeli military says this is that command center. Multiple rooms equipped with plumbing and electricity. Maps like this once lining the walls.
You can see a kitchen here equipped with a sink, running water, with the pipes running through the tunnel wall. You have a fan, plates.
I mean, you could imagine this being in a house, but instead, its deep, deep underground.
Where are we right now? I mean, what's above us?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So we're in the headquarters of a Hamas commander. Above us is the cemetery that I showed you from the outside.
DIAMOND: If you look at the satellite imagery of this cemetery, there is a wide area that the military has cleared. Why is that necessary in order to uncover these tunnels?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: we have to reach the tunnels. We have to reach the tunnels. We had to uncover the tunnels. We had to prevent from the enemy to flank us.
DIAMOND: But there's no way for us to verify whether we are actually beneath the graveyard.
General Goldfus takes us back out of the tunnel, but not into the cemetery. Instead, we leave the same way we came in before walking back to the enormous hole where the cemetery once stood.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold on.
DIAMOND: We're asking the general if we can actually see the shaft to the tunnel. But the answer is no.
So --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll move the machinery, I don't want you take pictures of the security (INAUDIBLE).
DIAMOND: What about if we don't film it? We just look with our eyes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You might fall in. The whole thing can collapse when you have to walk to the edge. The edge is not secured. It can collapse. This machinery and so on. Thats not something I'm going take a risk on. Sorry.
DIAMOND: The Israeli military later provided this drone footage showing the tunnel shaft we entered and another one nearby. CNN geolocated the footage using this satellite image. This outline shows where the cemetery once stood and these are the two tunnel entrances clearly outside the graveyard.
As for the tunnel, they say they found here where the cemetery once stood, the military never provided any evidence.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN -- Bani Suheila, Gaza.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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VAUSE: Still ahead, after weeks of protests, the German president calls for an alliance against far-right extremism. We'll tell you why that, along with the economy, are fueling nationwide protests.
Also, they call it "kito" in Nigeria, how a dating app for the gay and lesbian community are part of an ambush which often ends in abuse and extortion.
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VAUSE: New measures to protect French agriculture are expected to be announced in Paris in the coming hours as angry farmers try to block roads into the city. These are live pictures right now of tractors backing up traffic just about an hour outside Bordeaux in southern France.
Farmers have been protesting for weeks over grievances, which includes environmental regulations and competition from Ukrainian farms. The government has already scrapped a plan to phase out subsidies for diesel fuel.
Germany's president is now calling for a broader alliance against extremism. For two weeks now, large protests have been held across Germany, after an investigative report revealed details that a far- right party currently the second most popular in Germany according to recent opinion polls, is considering deportation of migrants, even if they're German citizens, part of a so-called masterplan. CNN's Sebastian Shukla has our report.
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SEBASTIAN SHUKLA, CNN PRODUCER: "Let actions 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 Germany. "Never again means now", as they fear the rise of the far-right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Never again is now. And we have to protect our democracy and society here together in Germany, because it's under threat.
SHUKLA: 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 descent.
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 only the farmers, but everyone in this country. And yes, we think enough is enough.
SHUKLA: Train drivers have just paused a nationwide strike so they can go back to the bargaining table demanding higher wages. The fundamental cause for the protests are economic headwinds. But also the government of Olaf Schulz and his coalition is deeply unpopular and that has started to create a split in German society.
Marcel Fratzcher is the president of the German Institute for Economic Research.
[01:39:47]
MARCEL FRATZSCHER, GERMAN INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH: And Germany is currently in a state of mental depression where people have the impression that politicians are not acting, they're only fighting, they're not offering solutions.
SHUKLA: 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: That prospect of success, policy-wavering and economic fears is one of the root causes for consecutive weekends of protests from liberal-minded Germans. They're in they say to ensure history does not repeat itself. Sebastian Shukla, CNN -- Berlin.
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VAUSE: Pope Francis has addressed criticism from African bishops of the new guidelines which allow priests to bless same-sex couples.
Francis says this is a special case for them because homosexuality in Africa is something considered to be bad, at least from a cultural point of view, and not be tolerated. The guidelines have received strong support both from bishops across Europe, including Catholic clergy in France, Austria, and Germany.
In Nigeria, the LGBTQ community is being targeted via an online dating app and has lured into an ambush where they're often physically or verbally assaulted and often extorted. the practice is called kito.
CNN's Stephanie Busari has more now as part of our "As Equals" ongoing series on gender inequality.
And a warning parts of her report may be difficult to listen to.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IZZY, KITO VICTIM: They beat or stabbed me.
STEPHANIE BUSARI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Izzy's this story is hard to hear.
IZZY: I was being tied on my back, 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: Raped, abused, and extorted all because of her sexuality, a practice known in Nigeria as kito.
For Izzy, whose real name is not being used for safety reasons, it began when she met a woman online. They exchanged messages and soon a greet-and-meet in person at her date's house.
Izzy said it all change when there was a knock on the door. Two men came in and things quickly got violent.
IZZY: They stripped me naked forcefully and they were just playing with my private parts, playing with my body parts.
BUSARI: It soon dawned on Izzy that the woman she'd been dating had set her up. But Izzy is far from being alone. CNN has spoken to 16 women here in
Nigeria who described being kitoed, 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 plus people subjected to this practice here, according to data shared with CNN.
For (INAUDIBLE), 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: She moved in with a man she'd 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 something that people shouldn't really know about you.
You know what they would find out what do we do if they found out you were like this.
BUSARI: In Nigeria's deeply religious and conservative society where same-sex relationships are outlawed, members of the LGBTQ plus community are vulnerable to exploitation and attack.
AFOLABI ALYELA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THE INITIATIVE OF EQUAL RIGHTS: People in the community are regarded as less than and they don't have the same rights as everybody else. So it's very easy to take advantage of that. It's very easy to extort. It's very easy to, you know, Target people in the community.
BUSARI: With the focus of Nigerian law and 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 are 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: Stephanie Busari, CNN -- Lagos, Nigeria.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Justice delayed and a once in a lifetime moment denied. Still Olympic medals will be awarded two years after a Russian ice skater was officially disqualified from the Beijing Winter Games. More on that in a moment.
Also King Charles and Kate Middleton out of hospital. We'll have the very latest on their recovery, also coming up.
[01:44:50]
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VAUSE: Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva has received a four-year ban for a doping violation. She's just 17 years old. But during the Beijing Olympics in 2022, she tested positive for a heart medication that can boost endurance. She says she ingested the drug by accident. Valieva's team finished first in the competition, but no medals were
awarded at the time. Now the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee confirms the American team will win gold.
Valieva's ban is backdated to December of 2021. That's when she actually tested positive.
Joining us now is Christine Brennan, CNN sports analyst, and award- winning national sports columnist for USA Today. It's good to see you. It's been a while.
CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: Yes, John, great to see you as well.
VAUSE: Thank you.
Now, looking back at all of this, it was sort of one of those real gob-smacking moments or bizarro moments at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Kamila Valieva had tested positive for a banned substance, but because of her age, she was 15 at the time, officials allowed her to continue to compete. The medals were put on hold.
Ok. So brings this to Monday. And here's the director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency who says, as far as those medals are concerned, better late than never. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OLIVIER NIGGIL, DIRECTOR GENERAL, WORLD ANTI-DOPING AGENCY: It's been a long, long case and we acknowledge the fact that it took a long time to get resolved.
But we have to appeal this case from a decision. Initially to basically clear the athletes of any fault.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So explain how all this ended up before the Court of Arbitration for Sport and the reasons for their decision.
BRENNAN: Once an athlete is going to be investigated, it is the nation's Anti-Doping Agency that has to do it. And this means RUSADA, the Russian Anti-Doping Agency, which is the greatest oxymoron in sports, this is the organization that itself, John, was suspended for three years from 2015 to 2018. The Anti-Doping Agency suspended for helping Russian athletes cheat.
They drag their feet, dithering and delaying for about a year. Ridiculous. So all of a sudden now 2023 -- 2022 is gone. And finally, it works its way because of an appeal from the World Anti-Doping Agency to the Court of Arbitration for Sports.
They met at the end of September and that was in Switzerland, I was there and covered that. Then they had a further delay, had two more days of hearings in November and then they took several months, obviously, to make the decisions.
So you add it all up and it is withering what happened when you consider that athletes in this case from obviously Russia, U.S. second, Japan third, Canada fourth -- all these athletes waiting and the athletes who won medals never got to put around their necks.
VAUSE: She will now lose her medal.
But what about the Russian officials who knowingly gave Valieva the drug, the heart medication and on that ahead of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency makes the point that this is a much bigger problem than just one ice skater.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRAVIS TYGART, CEO, UNITED STATES ANTI-DOPING AGENCY: Weve seen what Russia has done since 2015 when it was exposed, and they have been robbing the Olympic Games ever since that time period in 2014, and they're still non-compliant.
So let's wake up and see the harms that have been committed and actually do something about it if we truly care for an athlete.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[01:49:45]
VAUSE: Russia was already under a sanction, but it arrived in Beijing, you know. The anthem was banned. The athletes competed under a neutral flag. What comes next? What else can be done?
BRENNAN: When Valieva said that it was her father's -- grandfather excuse me -- her grandfather's heart medicine that somehow made its way onto something -- a surface, or she consumed it in some way which I don't know if any of us believe that story.
But once you're blaming it on the grandfather, then you can't blame it on the coach. And that's a bit of a problem and it's a huge problem because if that's a lie and you're covering up for the coach, that's terrible.
But as long as you're going with grandpa, then it's hard to blame the entourage. So you throw that into the mix of what is one of the most bizarre stories I've ever covered, and I covered (INAUDIBLE), among other things and you just kind of have to say to yourself, as you said, what's next, one hopes that they will look at the way these young athletes are being treated in Russia -- basically one and done.
They're just thrown on the discard pile before they hit their 16th birthday. And it's outrageous. But the International Olympic Committee and basically the entire Olympic world has allowed and coddled Russia to keep going because they never completely throw them out of the Olympics, which is of course, what should have been done back after that big doping scheme and scandal, state-sponsored at the Sochi Olympics in 2014. VAUSE: As far as medals are concerned the Americans will get the gold
-- expected to get the gold. The Japanese silver, bronze to the Canadian team.
There's some reporting there could be a special medals presentation in Paris -- at the Paris Olympics, which goes some way -- gets to making up for the disappointment. But it is so heartbreaking to think about what these athletes have been denied in that moment for so long, and not just them, I would say coaches. It said the team officials, their families, their friends, everyone it's just -- as I say, it's heartbreaking thing (ph).
BRENNAN: It is. It truly is -- it's terrible when you think about Olympic medal ceremony. I'm sure most people watching us, John have watched one or seen many of them where the flag's going up and that lovely moment when an official puts that medal around an athlete's neck and they stand either at the top of the podium for the gold medal or silver or bronze.
And it is a moment that you just, you live once or if you're Michael Phelps or Katie Ledecky or Simone Biles, you live a lot. But it is so rare and essentially an achievement that so few on earth have ever done.
And to think that you've got these athletes. Now the Russians, of course, obviously there'll be other team mates of Valieva who supposedly allegedly, hopefully were not doping but you've got the Americans and the Japanese and the Canadians potentially waiting in the wings in fourth place and especially the U.S. and Japan, and they never had that medal ceremony and they'll never have it the way it would have been in Beijing.
Having said that, there has been talk, I've written that about maybe if in fact Russia is not involved in the medal podium, you could have something in Paris.
VAUSE: Christine, good to have you with us. We really appreciate your insights. And good to see you.
BRENNAN: You too, John. Thank you.
VAUSE: Well, Elon Musk-owned company Neuralink has announced for the first time, human patient has received a wireless implant in the brain, which is designed to work as an interface with a computer. Musk made the announcement Monday on X adding early results show promising neuron spike detection.
U.S. regulators approved human trials for the brain implant last year. A surgical robot performs the procedure which requires invasive surgery.
The implant is about the size of five stacked coins. The initial goal of this one, this implant is (INAUDIBLE) to control a computer cursor or keyboard with their mind alone.
Freaky. Members of Britain's royal family are on the mend after hospital stays
for separate issues, King Charles and Kate, the Princess of Wales were both discharged on Monday.
CNN's Max Foster has details
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: A royal wave goodbye. King Charles heading home after undergoing a corrective procedure for an enlarged prostate. The message, "The Crown is still strong."
He left the London clinic on Monday afternoon accompanied by Queen Camilla to the applause of onlooking crowds.
Just hours earlier, a car full of flowers for the king's daughter-in- law, Kate, who left the same hospital following abdominal surgery and out of the site of cameras.
Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace, both releasing statements on Monday, thanking well-wishers for the kind messages towards the royal pair over recent days and weeks. King Charles is now set for a time of private recuperation, at an undisclosed home.
[01:54:49]
FOSTER: With a spokesperson saying the Princess of Wales is making good progress and is set to continue her recovery in Windsor.
FOSTER: It will be several more weeks until the world is able to see the princess again, with her as well as the Prince of Wales, pausing all public duties until at least easter.
It's unclear exactly what her surgery was for. However, a royal source confirmed to CNN that the condition was non-cancerous.
King Charles on the other hand, making the decision to be open about his diagnosis to prompt men to get checked. His announcement resulting in a surge of people looking into information about prostate cancer.
Queen Camilla, who visited Charles daily in hospital, told reporters ahead of the surgery that the king was looking forward to getting back to work.
The recent and unusually candid health updates from the royal family possibly a sign of a slightly evolving and more transparent monarchy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Good news there. Well, new images appear to show what could be the first recorded sighting of a new born great white shark in the wild.
Filmmakers took these images with a drone near the coast of California. Researchers say the shape and size match that of a newborn. They believe it was shedding its embryonic layer when those photos were taken.
Some experts are calling the finding highly speculative. Others say, regardless of what we know, it remains an exciting observation, giving more clues to where an actual breeding ground may be.
Let's not find it. Let's just leave it alone.
A painting stolen more than 50 years ago by mobsters has been returned to its rightful owner. The FBI shared these images of the painting and that owner.
The piece of art is called "The School Mistress" dates back to late 1700s. It disappeared during the 60s. It turned up in the 1980s when a man bought the home of a convicted mobster, that man did not know its significance when he died. His family discovered it and contacted authorities.
Thank you for watching. I'm John Vause.
Please stay with CNN NEWSROOM continues after a short break with my friend and colleague Rosemary Church.
See you tomorrow.
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