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U.S. Officials Push for New Measures to Counter Drones; Why German Chancellor Scholz Faces Confidence Vote Today; Israel: Unprecedented Number of Israelis Spying for Iran. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired December 16, 2024 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:00]
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Brazil's president out of hospital recent Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva underwent two emergency procedures last week to treat a brain bleed. Doctors say the 79-year-old will need to refrain from much physical activity but can take part in government meetings.
Seven tourists have been hospitalized for suspected poisoning in Fiji after drinking cocktails in an upscale resort. Officials say the victims suffered nausea, vomiting and neurological symptoms but are now in stable condition. The incident comes after six tourists died from methanol poisoning after drinking at a bar in Laos.
The ongoing rash of mysterious drone sightings in the northeastern U.S. now covers at least six states, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Virginia. State and local police are trying to figure out exactly what types of aircraft they are but they don't have the authority to counter them. But that could change under proposed legislation as Amy Kiley reports.
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ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, U.S. HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: We need from Congress additional authorities to address the drone situation.
AMY KILEY, CNN PRODUCER (voice-over): Calls are growing for new federal legislation to address drones. That's as several northeastern states now report unexplained sightings.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It can't be the wild west of drones out there in Jersey or anywhere else.
KILEY (voice-over): The homeland security secretary says he has deployed technology and personnel to New Jersey. That's where the reports began. New Jersey state police are trying to track the aircraft but only certain federal agencies have the authority to shoot them down.
MAYORKAS: We want state and local authorities to also have the ability to counter drone activity under federal supervision.
KILEY (voice-over): Democrats appear to support letting police do more about drones with limitations. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says he's going to co-sponsor legislation to, quote, give local law enforcement more tools for drone detection.
Some Republicans say they're frustrated the public isn't receiving more information about recent sightings.
Federal officials say they have no evidence of a safety or security risk. But President-elect Donald Trump's pick for national security advisor says the drones show gaps between agencies.
MICHAEL WALTZ, DONAL TRUMP'S PICK FOR NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: We need to take a hard look at our homeland defenses. We need to have an all of the above protection of U.S. airspace.
KILEY (voice-over): I'm Amy Kiley reporting.
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FOSTER: South Korea's constitutional court is reviewing the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol and announced the first pre- trial hearing will be held on December the 27th. The court has up to six months to decide whether to uphold the impeachment and remove Yoon from office or reinstate him.
He was impeached on Saturday nearly two weeks after refusing to resign after a sudden declaration of martial law. He's been barred from leaving the country and suspended from exercising presidential powers.
Meanwhile the ruling conservative party's leader Han Dong-hoon announced his resignation after party backlash over his calls for the president's impeachment.
Just hours from now German Chancellor Olaf Scholz faces a confidence vote that is likely to trigger early elections. Scholz is expected to speak ahead of a two-hour debate before the voting starts. CNN's Sebastian Shukla explains how Germany got to this point.
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SEBASTIAN SHUKLA, CNN PRODUCER (voice-over): Back on November 6th Germany's rocky coalition spectacularly fell apart.
OLAF SCHOLZ, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translator): To oft too many times did he act to serve his clientele and party. Too many times did he break my trust. Such egotism is completely incomprehensible.
SHUKLA (voice-over): Olaf Scholz the chancellor unceremoniously firing his finance minister Christian Lindner. The two massively disagreed about Germany's economic future.
CHRISTIAN LINDNER, HEAD OF LIBERAL PARTY, FORMER FINANCE MINISTER OF GERMANY (through translator): The chancellor gave me an ultimatum to suspend the constitutional debt break. I couldn't do that because I would have been breaking my oath of office.
SHUKLA (voice-over): But the divisions between governing parties go far deeper than a financial mechanism. LEONIE VON RANDOW, POLITICAL REPORTER, WELT: All three parties contributed to why this coalition fell apart by provoking one another, by publicly fighting.
SHUKLA (voice-over): Leonie von Randow is a political reporter at WELT. She's covered the coalition since it was formed. She says the euphoria of this government ended abruptly triggered largely by the war in Ukraine.
VON RANDOW: The government had to take on a huge debt to kind of put more money into defense and into the army and also the economy started to really stumble because we were so largely dependent on Russian gas and oil. So that's kind of where it all went downhill.
SHUKLA: By throwing out the liberal party in his traffic light coalition, a reference to party colors, Olaf Scholz was forced to call a vote of confidence in himself. His suggested timeline was a vote in January and elections in March.
SHUKLA (voice-over): The opposition saw their moment to pounce.
FRIEDRICH MERZ, HEAD OF CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY, CDU (through translator): This is not behavior that does justice to this office and above all it is not behavior that does justice to the situation of the country.
SHUKLA (voice-over): Parties forced him into a reversal, the confidence vote on December 16th and federal elections on February 23rd. The polls put the conservative CDU, the party of former chancellor Angela Merkel, way ahead of Scholz's party the SPD and a surging far-right AFD coming in second place.
[04:35:02]
VON RANDOW: The election is probably coming at a very good time for the AFD. This is just a moment when many people are generally very unhappy with the government so they kind of want to make a point and vote for an extreme party to kind of show how unhappy they are.
SHUKLA (voice-over): A crucial vote then beckons for Germany as this coalition has been unable to right itself.
Sebastian Shukla, CNN, Berlin.
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FOSTER: Pope Francis praised residents of the French island of Corsica on Sunday during a one-day stop to the largely Catholic area. People line the streets for the island's first recorded visit by a pope. The Vatican estimates more than 80 percent of the island is Catholic.
The pope celebrated mass with residents lauding the amount of children that he saw on the island and calling their presence a grace from God. He also met with French President Emmanuel Macron during what's likely to be his final trip for the year. Macron invited the pope to attend the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral earlier this month but the pope decided not to go.
The day also included an early celebration of the Holy Father's birthday. Pope Francis turns 88 on Tuesday, already 11 years into his papacy and there's the cake.
Bitcoin hit a new record high just a short time ago. The cryptocurrency surpassed $105,000 in early Asian trade but has since settled a bit. Bitcoin has been on a rally for the past few weeks of course, previously hitting $100,000 for the first time about two weeks ago and doubling its overall value this year. It comes amid expectation from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to make good on promises to embrace cryptocurrency once he re-enters the White House.
Researchers at the University of Sydney in Australia are working on building the world's first smart cow. They believe their AI-powered robot will help cattle farmers keep their fields green and their herds healthy. Linda Kinkade explains.
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LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): It's not something you see every day, a bright red cow-sized robot against a green backdrop of rolling pastures. But despite looking out of place, SwagBot is the field worker of the future.
SALAH SUKKARIEH, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY: Once the animals, once the cattle are used to the robot, they will follow the robot around and so if you move to certain parts of the pasture the animals will follow through and if you stop them they'll stop and they can graze that particular part. And why that's important is because if you overgraze then you ruin the pasture and so you don't want to overgraze so you want to move the animals to the right part of the pasture where there's good protein, good carbs.
KINKADE (voice-over): When it was launched in 2016 SwagBot's only job was herding cattle. Now sensors and AI give the smart cow the power to do much more.
SUKKARIEH: You can actually measure the property of the animal's motion as it's moving along so what we call its gait so how it's actually moving. And if you measure that information over a number of different days you start to build up a characteristic profile of that animal and from that you can determine whether or not the animal is healthy or not healthy on a particular point in time along that path.
But also we can sense a collection of animals and where they're moving as a herd and that tells us also information about the herd characteristics. And why those two things are important is that if the robot's going around and measuring pasture and measuring quality of pasture it can actually determine where the best part of the land is for the animals to move to.
KINKADE (voice-over): Australia is a top global producer of beef but overgrazing can hurt already poor pastures. SwagBot's creators hope to eliminate that issue. SUKKARIEH: The population of the world is growing and we have the same amount of land to feed that population and so maximizing how much food we deliver for the same amount of imports even less in terms of imports is what's important and the only way we can do that is with precision agriculture and doing that on such large scales needs robotics.
KINKADE (voice-over): Linda Kincaid, CNN.
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FOSTER: Still to come, his neighbors say he was the unassuming man next door. But Israeli authorities claim he's just one of an unprecedented number of Israelis recruited to spy for Iran. That story just ahead.
[04:40:00]
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FOSTER: Returning to the Middle East where at least five people were killed after an Israeli airstrike targeted a civil defense service office in central Gaza on Sunday.
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ZAKI IMAD EDDINE, CIVIL DEFENSE SPOKESPERSON (through translator): The civil defense unit stationed in the Nusrat refugee camp was targeted while teams were there. These teams work around the clock to rescue people. Everyone knows that the civil defense organization is a humanitarian body that provides service during both peace and war to civilians and has no political involvement. The team was directly targeted.
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FOSTER: An Al Jazeera photojournalist who was covering rescue efforts after an earlier bombing was amongst those killed. Al Jazeera is condemning the attack. The IDF claims the site was being used as a command center by Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists.
Israeli authorities say an unprecedented number of Israelis have been spying for Iran. Dozens have been arrested over the past year accused of carrying out missions like photographing military bases and even plotting government assassinations. Our Jeremy Diamond reports on the fallout following the arrests of one alleged cell leader.
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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In this low- income building in the city of Haifa, apartment five looks just as ordinary as every other until you notice the spot where police broke in. Israeli authorities say the man who lived here, Azis Nisanov, was the leader of a group of Iranian spies.
LEONID GORBACHOVSKY, NEIGHBOR (through translator): I wasn't surprised. I was shocked. It was like thunder amid clear skies.
DIAMOND (voice-over): His next door neighbor, Leonid Gorbachovsky, was home when police pried the door open with a metal bar. He says they turned the place inside out and found piles of cash. Israeli police say Nisanov led a seven-person cell of Israelis who gathered intelligence for Iran for more than two years and are now awaiting trial.
And the Haifa seven are allegedly just one cell. Israeli authorities say they have uncovered multiple spy rings in recent months.
SUPERINTENDENT MAOR GOREN, ISRAELI POLICE: If you go check the last years, the last decades, we can count in two hands how many people got arrested. For this last six months we have over 30 Israeli citizens that got arrested.
DIAMOND: So that's unprecedented.
GOREN: Yes, of course.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Superintendent Maor Goran, who oversaw the investigations, says the arrests foiled multiple assassination plots as well as ongoing intelligence gathering efforts.
DIAMOND: While some of these alleged Iranian spies were accused of plotting to kill senior Israeli officials, others had a different task, photographing Israeli military bases like the Nevatim Air Base right behind me.
[04:45:04]
And Israeli officials say those photographs, that information actually helped the Iranians carry out those ballistic missile attacks in April as well as in October.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Missiles struck Nevatim Air Base in both of those attacks. And while the base's location is known to Iran, police believe zoomed in photos and videos provided additional targeting intelligence.
GOREN: Some of them got recruited by the Iranian by using the social media.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Many of those Telegram messages provided by Israel's Shin Bet security service are wildly unsophisticated, spam style messages offering interesting and exciting jobs that pay a very high salary.
In one series of messages provided by the Israeli police, an alleged Iranian handler writes: We just need brave men. Are you brave for a lot of money?
Before tasking their mark with buying gasoline and setting off forest fires.
ODED AILAM, FORMER MOSSAD OFFICIAL: It's worked and based on the theory of the big numbers.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Oded Ailam, a former top Mossad official, says Iran is more interested in casting a wide net than in recruiting skilled operatives.
AILAM: And they said to themselves, OK, if we fail here, we'll go to the next one. And they don't really care of the outcome.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Unlike previous Iranian intelligence efforts in Israel, which have largely involved Palestinian recruits, the majority of those arrested in the last year have been Jewish Israelis. Many of them new immigrants, according to the police. They were also often poor or had criminal histories.
People like Slava Gushchin, who lived in this apartment and was allegedly part of the Haifa cell. For neighbors like Ricky (ph) and Moshe, who saw him struggling and had given him food and clothes.
RICKY, NEIGHBOR: Shock, shock.
MOSHE, NEIGHBOR (through translator): No one could believe it. People that know him, that also brought him food and everything. They want to kill him.
DIAMOND (voice-over): A sense of betrayal for the accused spy next door.
DIAMOND: And Iran did not return a request for comment about the spying allegations. As for Aziz Nisanov, the alleged leader of the Haifa 7, I spoke to his attorney, who did not deny that Nisanov photographed these military bases, but said he did not know that he was working for Iran. He said that his motives were purely financial and that he did not believe he was harming Israel's security.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.
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FOSTER: A stunning result from one of England football's fiercest rivalries. When we come back, the highlights from Sunday's nailbiter, Manchester derby on CNN NEWSROOM.
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FOSTER: The noisy neighbors were silenced on Sunday. Pep Guardiola and Man City suffered yet another defeat. This one ended in stunning fashion against long-time rivals Manchester United at home.
Our Don Riddell has the derby details.
[04:50:00]
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DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: Yes, they lost again for the eighth time now. In just 11 games, Manchester City are having an absolute nightmare and this one is going to really sting. You know, City have been so utterly dominant over the last decade that their current malaise just seemed unthinkable.
But they went ahead against Manchester United through Josco Guevara in the 36th minute and that actually looked as though it would be enough for all three points. However, their lack of ambition hurt them and their failure to manage the game proved to be just catastrophic. Bruno Fernandes equalized for United with a penalty two minutes from time.
And then, two minutes later in the 90th minute, City's defense dozed off, failing to spot the danger as Amad Diallo latched onto a long ball, rounding the goalie to score. As you can imagine, United were just jubilant. This has not been an easy season for them either, but City weren't just heartbroken, they were utterly shell-shocked.
PEP GUARDIOLA, MANAGER, MANCHESTER CITY: I don't have defense, so I'm the boss, I'm the manager, I have to find a solution and I don't find a solution. So this is a big club and big club, when you lose eight to ten, something wrong has happened. So I said, yes, I can see the scheduling stuff, yes, the injuries of the players, yes, but no.
So, yes, we give away again and what we have to do, keep working, but I'm the boss, I'm the manager and I'm not good enough. It's as simple as that. I have to find a way to talk to them, to train to them, the way you have to play, the way you have to press, the way you have to build up and I'm not good enough.
RIDDELL: He is one of the greatest football managers of all time. I never thought I'd hear Pep Guardiola say I'm not good enough. You know, this club used to be one of the most feared teams in all of Europe, but for all of their vast wealth, Manchester City just cannot buy a win.
Just once in their last 11 games in all competitions have they come out on top and their form in the Premier League is now officially the joint worst. Since the start of November, their points per game average is just 0.57. That is the same as the bottom team, Southampton, and poorer than every other team.
Next week, they're going to be away at Aston Villa, which will not be an easy game either. Manchester City really struggling. Big time at the moment. Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Skaters can now glide on ice in Paris' iconic Grand Palais, where one of the world's biggest ice rinks has been installed. Under sets of lights and to the rhythm of a musical DJ, skaters will have the chance to admire the glass nave of the French landmark and dance on ice on the Champs-Elysees. Closed for the past five years to ice skating enthusiasts for restoration, the venue did make a recent sports comeback, hosting fencing events during the 2024 Paris Summer Games, you may remember.
Swedish bakers showcasing their building and design skills at a gingerbread house competition in Stockholm on Sunday. The annual event has been held for more than 30 years at the Swedish Centre for Architecture and Design.
[04:55:02]
Bakers competed in three categories centered around this year's theme. Can you work it out? It's comeback. Visitors get to vote for their favorite entries, and the People's Choice Award went to a cookie recreation of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, as seen here.
Finally, the countdown to Christmas is on, as you might have been able to tell, and Santa Claus is popping up all over the world ahead of his big day. He must be exhausted already. In Washington state, he was spotted swimming in a Seattle aquarium as part of a 15-year-old tradition.
In Barcelona, thousands of them trading their customary reindeer for motorbikes. They rode through the city center despite controversy over pollution levels.
Festive runners spread holiday cheer Sunday on the streets of Kosovo's capital Pristina, thousands were in costume for the annual Run Santa Claus event. Local runners were joined by soldiers from NATO's peacekeeping mission in Kosovo.
Festive cyclists spreading holiday cheer in London this weekend. 1,200 of them dressed as Santa Claus elves, even the Grinch, riding their bikes through the British capital on Saturday to raise money for the children's charity Echo. This is the 10th edition of the annual Santa cruise.
This is the real story, though. The bravest of all, a group of Santas in swimsuits in Budapest. They braved biting winter temperatures as part of a run to raise money for a children's charity. Sunday's high temperature in Budapest was a mere six degrees.
Thanks for joining me here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster in London. CNN "THIS MORNING" up next after a break.
