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CNN This Morning

Fears Grow over Middle East Conflict; Trump Shares Word Cloud; Gangs Force Trafficking Victims to Scam Online. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired December 27, 2023 - 06:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:33:42]

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Well, this morning, a 10-hour battle at sea really highlighting the growing concern about a wired war in the Middle East. The U.S. Navy says it fought off drones and missiles that Iranian-backed Houthis militants fired at ships yesterday in the Red Sea. There is no report of any damage, but 10 hours of this.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: And this comes just days after President Biden ordered airstrikes on Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Iraq. The group allegedly attacked a base and injured three U.S. troops, one critically.

CNN military analyst, retired Colonel Cedric Leighton joining us now.

Colonel Leighton, just to start with, since we've seen this so often over the course of the last several weeks, what exactly happened yesterday?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, well, Phil, good morning. There are a lot of things that went on in that ten-hour battle that you talked about. So, let's just orient everybody. This is a broader Middle East, of course. And with this battle that we're talking about here occurred right here in the Red Sea. So, this is about 1,400 miles from here to here. It's like, let's say, driving from D.C. to El Paso or so.

But the big thing that occurred here was really several different efforts occurred with the Navy, and they ended up going after -- shooting down 12 one-way attack drone, three anti-ship ballistic missiles and two land attack cruise missiles. The ended up doing this using a combination of FA-18 fighter jets and the USS Laboon, which is a destroyer.

[06:35:05]

They were very busy doing this for over ten hours, but they were able to knock all that down because when you look at the different things that they took care of here that really protected all of the shipping going throughout the Red Sea, and at these various points right here especially, this narrow point right down here, Bab el-Mandeb, that is only about 20 miles or so wide, between Africa and Yemen. And that is one of the narrowest choke points in the world that we have to deal with here. And that's why the U.S. is protecting it. Twelve percent of all commerce goes through here.

HARLOW: You know, one of the thing we've been talking about a lot is, what happens if in these attacks a U.S. service member dies? What does that do in terms of the escalation, right? We've seen a number injured, three injured, one critically on the last couple of days, which is what prompted the Biden administration to go after those Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants in Iraq. But I just wonder how much you think it changes if indeed there is a U.S. service member casualty in all of this.

LEIGHTON: Well, it definitely makes a difference, Poppy. And one of the things to keep in mind here is, when you look at the kinds of things that occurred, the initial attack against U.S. personnel occurred up here in the north at Erbil Air Base. So, with that critically injured service member, the U.S. basically responded by going in after this attack here and making sure that they could go after the Houthi -- excuse me, the Kata'ib Hezbollah forces. This is an Iranian proxy. Kata'ib Hezbollah is an Iranian proxy.

And what they decided to do was go after this at three different points. So, there were three different attack areas in Iraq. And they accelerated the process here because it became really important for the U.S. to actually make a statement. And so we're risking ratcheting things up, Poppy, because there are so many different U.S. forces, about 3,500 in both Iraq and Syria. And the very fact is that these areas here are important for the fight against ISIS, which is not completely dead. And that's why we have U.S. personnel in this area. But anytime an American service member is injured, the U.S. feels it is necessary to respond. And that's why the administration did what they did.

MATTINGLY: There have been counter strikes in both Syria and Iraq. There have not been counter strikes that specifically target Houthis in Yemen. Why not?

LEIGHTON: Well, the big thing here I think when you look at the broader Middle East is, there are several different - different factors here. This is a very difficult area for us to go after. And there is still a possibility that there may be counter strikes against the Houthis in Yemen. One of the reason that that hasn't happened yet, the intelligence picture on the Houthis is not as good as it is against the forces in Iraq, the Iranian paramilitary groups, the Iranian associated paramilitary groups. And that is one of the reasons why the Houthis are not being attacked right now.

Also keep in mind, when Saudi Arabia had their war with the Houthis, they didn't do so well. And we don't want to get into that same quagmire.

HARLOW: Both really interesting points.

Colonel Leighton, thanks very much.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Poppy.

MATTINGLY: Well, revenge, dictatorship, power, those are words some voters associate with Donald Trump. And he appears to be giving them his seal of approval.

HARLOW: And check before you charge. The downside to the popular buy now pay later purchase plans growing at stores.

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[06:42:51]

MATTINGLY: Well, there's a word cloud that reveals how some voters feel about Donald Trump. Donald Trump seems to like said word cloud. Front and center in a survey for "The Daily Mail" about Trump's plans for a second term the words "revenge" and "dictatorship." So, naturally, Trump shared the word cloud on Truth Social yesterday. Those words and themes have been part of his campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He says you're not going to be a dictator are you? I said, no, no, no, other than day one. We're closing the border and we're drilling, drilling, drilling.

And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution. I am your retribution.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Back with us, Scott Jennings, Leah Wright Rigueur and Shelby Talcott.

Also, Scott, big on that word cloud, if we can pull it up again, "economy," "power," and "revenge." "Dictatorship" pretty big there as well.

MATTINGLY: Three out of four ain't bad.

HARLOW: Three out of four. But he's - I mean he is playing into this, which other candidates might see as negative. He is feeding right into that.

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, and I think he feels like it's trolling. You know, the press trolling the Democrats, trolling the people who don't want him to come back. I mean this is -- this is what he does and he's gotten very, very good at it over the years.

HARLOW: Yes.

JENNINGS: And so whether it was the dictator line or whether it was the poison line or, you know, you go - you go through some of these different things lately that have gotten people all bent out of shape, he then leans into it because he sees that all the people who hate him the most are the angriest about it.

And so, it's a tale as old as time, Donald Trump trolling the people who like him the least. And I suspect it's going to be a major part of what he does for the rest of the campaign.

MATTINGLY: I mean, let's be clear, it's a tale as old as like the last eight years. However, the last eight years have felt like the entirety of time on some level.

To Scott's point, because I think what Scott's says is really important. I never want to give Scott credit here, but I'm going to have to on this one because the point he's making here is spot on, which is like, Trump sees this stuff, he sees the reaction to it, he seizes on it and continues to kind of tease it out further. Is that fair?

SHELBY TALCOTT, REPORTER, "SEMAFOR": Yes, he leans into it, absolutely. And part of the reason he leans into it is exactly what Scott said.

[06:45:00]

And the other part is because there's a huge base of Republican voters who like that. They like that he is trolling the media. They like that he's leaning into these things. They like that people freak out over his comment and then he - he trolls them and continues to do so and leans in further and becomes more aggressive in his commentary. And so we've seen historically these things which, with any other presidential candidate I think it's fair to say would negatively affect them, has been a positive, at least from a primary perspective, for Donald Trump.

HARLOW: Kristen Soltis Anderson has a really interesting op-ed in "The New York Times" and she's basically arguing, look, yes, Trump ran as sort of the chaos candidate, et cetera, but he's also saying this time, I'm the one who can restore order. But it was this line of hers actually talking about Biden winning over Trump and how people feel now that struck me. She writes, "Americans had voted to put the adults back in charge and began to wonder if the control room was simply empty," talking about the risk for Biden. I wonder what you make of that. Everything he promised us stability, this and that, where is it for many people on economy, et cetera?

LEAH WRIGHT RIGUEUR, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST AND HISTORIAN: So, I think for a lot of people they're looking for Biden to be a decisive leader. And I think it's especially important given that the chaos of really not just the last five years but like the last eight years has been so prevalent in American lives. So, they're looking for that person who ran on the grounds of saying, I'm going to be the adult in the room. I'm going to bring order back into the American, not just economy, but the American population, into society. I'm going to be a boring president. I don't know if anybody remembers that, but Biden was like, I'm going to be boring. You're not going to hear about me.

And I think part of that, though, part of the problem that we're running into as we move into campaign season is that Donald Trump doesn't want to play on those grounds and the American people are also realizing that perhaps this idea of having a really boring president or having a president who is not in the news or not in the - not in kind of the headlines is not necessarily what they want. And I actually think that it's not Trump who benefits from this,

although certainly with Trump loyalists and the Trump base, but it's, again, it's somebody like Nikki Haley and it's somebody like Nikki Haley who can step in and say, I can be the adult in the room, I can be competent, I'm young, I'm quick on my feet, I have the experience. Oh, and I'm not an angry demagogue and I'm not trying to gain revenge on the country.

And so there's this interesting space that's being carved out between the candidates for somebody like a Nikki Haley to put her foot in and make an impression with the country.

MATTINGLY: If she can get past a primary.

RIGUEUR: If she can get past, you know, the big guy.

MATTINGLY: Which is why the general election polling is very clear in that regard.

Shelby, Leah, Scott, thank you, guys, as always. We really appreciate it.

HARLOW: In a major reversal, the convictions against former Republican Congressman Jeff Fortenberry are being overturned. You'll remember Fortenberry stepped down from his House seat after being charged with three felonies for lying to the FBI about an illegal campaign contribution. But a federal appeals court has now unanimously decided that the case was tried in the wrong jurisdiction. That's because he was charged in Los Angeles, where this investigation began, instead of Nebraska or Washington, D.C., where he allegedly lied to those agents. Fortenberry has always denied wrongdoing, arguing that the charges were politically motivated. Now, I guess, we see if they re-try this whole thing or not.

MATTINGLY: Be interesting to watch.

Well, a CNN investigation into scams masquerading as legitimate investments. Americans have lost millions of dollars.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did I do? That's 30 years of my wife and my life building up this wealth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Also, the battle over moving migrants from the border to other cities north of that. The mayor of Chicago joins CNN THIS MORNING, ahead.

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[06:53:29]

MATTINGLY: This morning we have a new CNN investigation into so-called pig butchering scams involving cryptocurrency. Americans are being cheated out of millions of dollars in a scheme run out of forced labor camps overseas.

CNN's Ivan Watson reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CY (ph) (voice over): Please help me, Jessica! Please help me!

CY: It's been a living hell.

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In northern California, CY is piecing together his life after losing more than a million dollars in a crypto scam.

CY: I can never forget or forgive myself losing that kind of money.

WATSON (voice over): CY is one of tens of thousands of victims of a fast growing new form of financial fraud called "pig butchering." He asks to remain anonymous to protect his family.

It started in October 2021 with a text message from a stranger.

WATSON: What was the name of the person you were communicating with?

CY: She claims her name is Jessica.

WATSON (voice over): The two quickly became friends. She shared photos and CY talked about the pain of caring for his dying father. After nearly a month, the conversation turned to money.

CY: She started to introduce me into cryptocurrency. Trading gold using cryptocurrency.

WATSON (voice over): Jessica showed CY how to invest by installing a trading app on his phone that he says looked legit. Little did he know he was a victim pumping money into a sophisticated con. For the scammers, a pig fattened up for the slaughter.

[06:55:03]

CY: I logged back in. The account is gone. What did I do? That's 30 years of my wife and my life building up this wealth.

WATSON (voice over): Wealth that had suddenly disappeared. Panicking, CY begged Jessica for help.

CY (voice over): Please help me! I don't know what else I can do! I don't have anymore money. I cannot borrow (ph) anything. I lost everything!

WATSON (voice over): But Jessica disappeared and probably never even existed.

JAMES BARNACLE, FBI SPECIAL AGENT: This is the professionalization of fraud services.

WATSON (voice over): The FBI says it's seen exponential growth in losses due to the pig butchering scams.

BARNACLE: The bad guys are getting good and they're getting better.

WATSON (voice over): An organization representing scam victims tracked their crypto transfers halfway around the world to this border region in Myanmar.

WATSON: U.S. scam victims say they've been able to trace their money to places like this. This walled compound across the river is just inside the territory of Myanmar. And that is where we're learning about the conditions inside, that some people who worked there, they say that they were forced against their will to try to scam Americans out of their hard-earned money in conditions that they describe as amounting to modern day slavery.

WATSON (voice over): This compound is where an Indian man named Rakesh (ph) says he was forced to work for more than 11 months without pay for a Chinese criminal gang.

WATSON: The guards have spotted us.

WATSON (voice over): Until they recently released him back to Thailand.

WATSON: Where was the job supposed to be?

RAKESH: They told me it was for Bangkok.

WATSON (voice over): He too was the victim of a scam. Rakesh, who doesn't want to be identified, says he first flew to Thailand for what he thought was an IT job. Instead, he says he was tricked into crossing the border into Myanmar where a Chinese gangster told him to work or else.

WATSON: He threatened to kill you?

RAKESH: Yes. He warned me like that.

WATSON (voice over): And the job? Spend 16 hours a day on social media targeting Americans with a fake profile.

RAKESH: They provided us. I got a Russian girl. With using a Russian girl fake profile I need to scam people.

WATSON (voice over): Posing as a Salt Lake City based investor named Clara Simoniv (ph), Rakesh flirted online with potential targets.

RAKESH: Seventy to 80 percent fall for fake love.

WATSON (voice over): Rakesh shows secretly filmed images of what at first glance seems to be an ordinary office, but he says the bosses routinely punished workers, forcing them to do hundreds of squats, and beating them if they didn't produce.

WATSON: And you've helped rescue people who were trapped inside behind the barbed wire of that very compound. MECHELLE MOORE, GLOBAL ALMS: Yes. Yes.

WATSON (voice over): Mechelle Moore is one of a group of aid workers based in Thailand who have helped rescue hundreds of victims of trafficking, like Rakesh, over the last 18 months. She drives me along the border.

MOORE: There is the guard tower just there. Green roof.

WATSON (voice over): Showing compounds only a stone's throw away where she says trafficked victims are forced to work as online scammers.

MOORE: This is why this is modern slavery. And it's right under everybody's nose.

WATSON (voice over): Satellite images show rapid construction of these compounds on the border territory of Myanmar over just three years. Thailand's minister of justice labels these facilities as hubs for criminal scamming activity.

TAWEE SODSONG, THAI MINISTER OF JUSTICE (through translator): These scammers have to use telephone signals to communicate. That's why they base themselves near the Thai border so they can use Thailand's telephone network.

WATSON (voice over): But he says Thailand has no jurisdiction to crack down on suspected criminals operating across the border in Myanmar. CNN asked the military government in Myanmar why it hasn't taken action against alleged criminal gangs operating on its territory and did not receive an answer. So, for now, it looks like no one is going to stop this poisonous cycle of exploitation.

Ivan Watson, CNN, on the Thai border with Myanmar.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: What a story.

MATTINGLY: Yes, indeed.

HARLOW: CNN THIS MORNING continues now.

MATTINGLY: Well, good morning, everyone. I'm' Phil Mattingly, with Poppy Harlow in New York. And today top U.S. officials will meet with Mexico's president to talk about the migrant surge at the U.S. southern border. We're going to be live at the White House with the administration's game plan.

HARLOW: A top Israeli military official says the war in Gaza will last, quote, "many more months." What came from an hours' long sit down between U.S. officials and a close confidant of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

And revenge, dictatorship, those are some of the top words people chose to describe a potential second Trump term. So, why is the former president shrugging that off and showing that off? [06:59:59]

CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.