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Mass Gravesites Found Across Syria; Top Russian General Assassinated In Explosion In Moscow; CIA Director To Visit Qatar For Gaza Cease-Fire Talks; Luigi Mangione Indicted In New York For Murder Of UnitedHealthcare's CEO As Terrorism. Electoral College Votes to Confirm Trump Presidential Win; Investors Watch Fed Meeting for Interest Rate Cut; At Least 14 Dead, Hundred Injured in 7.3 Magnitude Quake in Vanuatu; Horrifying Police Reports Shed Light on Pelicot Case. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired December 18, 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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RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello and welcome. I'm Rafael Romo in Atlanta. Ahead on CNN Newsroom, digging for loved ones. Mass graves are uncovered across Syria revealing the brutality of the Assad regime.
Russian officials are vowing revenge after a top general was killed by a hidden bomb.
And the man accused of murdering a healthcare CEO is indicted in New York. We'll have details on the charges.
We begin in Syria where civilians who fled the country during its 13- year-old civil war are beginning to return home after the fall of the Assad regime. The United Nations refugee agency says 1 million Syrians are expected to return in the first half of next year. And that's not including the many refugees who have already spontaneously returned to Syria from Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan.
The UNHCR has released a plan seeking $310 million to address the critical needs of the refugees going back to Syria and the more than 7 million people internally displaced in the country. The U.N. says Syria is still facing humanitarian challenges.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEIR PEDERSEN, U.N. SPECIAL ENVOY FOR SYRIA: The second challenge is the sheer scale of needs. Syria's economy has been ravaged by this dreadful conflict, its infrastructure destroyed, 90 percent of Syrians living in poverty. Let me just stress that these are enormous challenges that will require all of our support.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMO: Meantime, Syrians are beginning to uncover the extent of the Assad regime's brutality as mass graves are being discovered across the country. One advocacy group believes hundreds of thousands of bodies, quote, tortured to death by the Assad regime could be buried in those graves. Our Melissa Bell reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: More than two weeks after the fall of Bashar al Assad, the tragic next step in the search of many Syrians for their loved ones. Some of the first images emerging of what are believed to be mass graves that may have been used by the regime to bury some of those who were first taken to the detention centers and then tortured to death.
One at Qutayfah, which is on the outskirts of Damascus, not very far from the Syrian capital, where one advocacy group has been speaking of the truckloads of bodies that were brought each week. What we understand is that four tractor trailers carrying 150 bodies each were brought twice a week between 2012 and 2018 to this particular site.
Now be the subject of a search for some of those bodies in the hope that some may be identified. Another site in the southern province of Dira, also now believed to be another of those mass burial sites as Syrians try and establish the identities of some of the 150,000 people who've disappeared to try and figure out if any of them may lie in these sites. That's according to the International Commission on Missing Persons.
Still, many relatives frantically searching for their loved ones and their hopes that they might be alive. But these are the clearest indication yet, the first tangible proof of what we've long heard about from outside of Syria during the Assad regime of the brutality of its secret services, the brutality of its detention centers. With many of those bodies now no doubt beyond recognition, it's unclear also for the time being how many people may have been buried there. Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMO: Thanks to Melissa Bell. I'm joined now by Mouaz Moustafa, the executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force from Istanbul. Welcome to our program. I understand you had a chance to visit some of these sites, where the mass graves are set to be. Would you share with us how you first located the sites and what have you been able to find so far?
MOUAZ MOUSTAFA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SYRIAN EMERGENCY TASK FORCE: Sure. Absolutely. So were able to initially identify these mass grave locations back in 2021. It is when these workers that worked on the mass graves, whether it is the funeral office workers that pulled the bodies into the massive trenches or the excavator and bulldozer drivers, some of which had escaped to Germany, just like with the defector Caesar, these became very important witnesses and helped us identify where these mass grave sites were.
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We were able to see them on Google earth years ago and even go back in the timeline and see how the earth is changing and see these long lines and these trucks showing up from satellite imagery. But just the other day, I was able to go there in person and look at these locations, which is, you know, staggering in terms of size and unbelievable that the world turned away for so long.
Now that people have known where these mass graves are, I think it's really important for the world to do more to help us figure out the way forward.
ROMO: How did you come up with the figure of hundreds of thousands of bodies? How can you be certain that there are that many victims? It's just hard to believe.
MOUSTAFA: It is. It is. It's like -- it's hard to process, honestly, in so many things, you know, going around Damascus. I just came out on my way back to Washington for urgent meetings on Syria before having to return to Damascus. But speaking independently with the excavator driver, the bulldozer driver, the funeral office municipality worker who was in charge of driving there with a team and pulling the bodies in each of them, in separate conversations, mentioned the same things. That four tractor trailers would come to this specific Al-Qutayfa mass grave site twice a week, each of them having at the very least 100 bodies, most of the time 150 or more.
They would come every week from 2012 until 2018. The number that I actually, you know, in my conversation with Reuters, was very conservative, you know, saying 100,000 at the very, very least. But if you look at the numbers and you look at these witnesses that work these mass graves, dug them, pulled the bodies in from these trucks that were coming in twice a week for, you know, quite a few years, you can see that we're looking at 300,000 bodies or potentially more.
And this isn't the only mass grave site. There are others as well. This happens to be, at least from our organization, what we've seen, the biggest one yet.
ROMO: I want to go back to the point that you were making before about bulldozer operators. And you said that the bulldozer excavator driver described how intelligence officers force workers to use the bulldozer to flatten and compress the bodies, to make them fit and easier to bury before digging the next line or the next trench. What was your reaction when you heard that chilling and really Macao testimony for the first time?
MOUSTAFA: Hard to keep back tears, you know, hard to not cry, but then continue to have, like, we're having a meeting here, and we're trying to figure out and ascertain how this happened. And this isn't the only bad story.
Sometimes they would force, like they would want. Like, let's say a car comes by late, after the big trailer trucks have been buried. One time a car came, an ice cream truck came with an entire family, including an infant. They were put on the side of the mass grave. The excavator driver wanted to dig a hole, but the intelligence officers, the security officers of the Assad regime said, no, leave them out for a while and then we'll figure them out later. The next day, when he came, there was a dog, a dog eating that infant. It is unbelievable stories of horror.
And I think the world should move now. We need international experts, we need governments to go help the new Syrian government secure these places and then help us figure out, OK, well, then how do we go about preserving evidence, preserving the chain of evidence, having DNA tests, giving people closure that are still looking for loved ones that may be already buried in these horrific mass graves?
ROMO: Yes, this is about closure, about dignity. And you know better than I do that there are many families in Syria and others who have fled their country, who have loved ones who have gone missing over the years. Is there any hope you will be able to identify any of the bodies that are being found in the mass graves?
MOUSTAFA: So right now, our job as an organization is not to mess with the mass graves, not to try to dig anything, take anything, do anything, because that's not our expertise. Our job is to raise awareness, especially to the local populations. Look, we need to secure this place and then continue in coordination with the new Damascus government to call on the right experts, like people that work in Srebrenica and others to go in.
And we're also calling different organizations and stuff that would bring portable DNA testing and then do it in a professional way that preserves the evidence, because accountability is important, and just as important allows us to have a very controlled way of being able to identify these people based on their DNA and letting the many Syrians that are returning home and the ones that are there know what happened to their loved ones. They need closure.
I mean, sometimes knowing that your loved one's dead is honestly better than just living on a 1 percent chance, hope that he or she is not seeing them ever again.
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ROMO: Mouaz Moustafa in Istanbul. Thank you very much for the opportunity.
MOUSTAFA: Thank you for having me.
ROMO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to southern Syria on Tuesday where held a briefing on Mount Hermon, Syria's tallest peak. Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz reiterated that the military would remain on Mount Hermon for any length of time required.
Israeli forces captured the summit and surrounding foothills after the fall of Assad's regime. Mount Hermon is the highest point in the region, making it a prized military asset as it provides an unobstructed view of Lebanon, Syria and Israel.
The CIA director is expected to travel to Doha as early as Wednesday to continue talks for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal. Top officials from the U.S., Israel, Qatar and Egypt are all touting progress in the negotiations. The Biden administration believes a deal is closer than it has been, but says there are sticking points that remain between Israel and Hamas.
A group of former Israeli hostages who were released last year say they fear for the safety of those still held captive in Gaza. One diplomatic source tells CNN the terms of the deal being discussed are broadly the same as the proposal put forward by U.S. President Joe Biden in May. Now Hamas is also voicing Cautious optimism. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has the latest from Jerusalem.
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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Hamas now becomes the latest party to these negotiations to express some optimism about the prospects of reaching a ceasefire and hostage release deal. We have heard optimistic comments over the course of the last week from U.S., Israeli, Qatari and Egyptian officials and now Hamas is joining the fray.
But as with the others who are expressing optimism, Hamas is also adding a note of caution to their comments. In their statement, they are making clear that, quote, Hamas affirms that in light of the serious and positive discussions taking place in Doha today under the auspices of our Qatari and Egyptian brothers, reaching an agreement for a ceasefire and prisoner exchange is possible if the occupation stops imposing new conditions.
And that if is indeed that note of caution that they are raising, suggesting that Israeli negotiators are making an additional demands as this negotiating process moves forward. A second Hamas source said that they view the current state of negotiations as, quote, positive and optimistic.
And it is important to note that amid this optimism, we are also seeing a flurry of diplomatic activity in the region. The U.S. national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, just last week traveled to Israel, Egypt and Qatar to try and advance a deal. He said he hopes that he can put the conditions in place to reach a deal within the next month. And that is indeed the target here appears to be to try and reach a deal before President Biden leaves office on January 20, and President-elect Trump will then be inaugurated.
And we know, of course, that the Biden administration has also been closely coordinating with the Trump administration over this deal, as incoming Trump advisers have also been traveling to the region and coordinating closely with the officials who they will soon be replacing.
It is important to caution, though, that as we are seeing this momentum, as we are seeing this optimistic language, the reason why we are also hearing notes of caution from all of the parties involved is because we have been this close in the past.
We have been very close to a deal. And ultimately, talks have collapsed and that possibility still very much looms. But Israeli and American officials who I've spoken to have pointed to a new set of conditions in the region in terms of Hamas being increasingly isolated. Israel having accomplished a slew of military achievements in Gaza,
including the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar then might make them more willing to reach a deal. Now, all of this pointing us in the direction of a potential cease fire and hostage deal. But again, the deal isn't reached until it's done. Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.
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ROMO: Russian officials are vowing a severe response to the assassination of one of its top generals. Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov and an aide were killed in Moscow on Tuesday. Russia's Investigative Committee says Kirillov and his aide were targeted by a remotely detonated bomb in a terrorist attack, a warning. The video you are about to see is graphic. This footage shows two bodies lying on the ground at the blast site outside an apartment building some kilometers from the Kremlin. CNN's Matthew Chance has the details.
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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This was an audacious attack in the center of Moscow. Now, dramatic new video shows one of Russia's most senior military officers leaving his apartment building with his assistant before an explosion kills them both.
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Investigators say the attack was targeted. A device planted on a scooter outside, probably detonated by remote control. This is the controversial figure who was taken out. Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, here pinning medals on soldiers headed Russia's radiological, biological and chemical defense forces.
Just yesterday, he was accused by Ukraine of war crimes overseeing the use of chemical weapons against Ukrainian troops. He was also a prominent and enthusiastic advocate of Kremlin backed conspiracy theories, repeatedly accusing Ukraine of developing a nuclear dirty bomb and of hosting U.S. biolabs to develop biological weapons.
Kirillov also accused Pentagon contractors and Western pharmaceutical companies of testing toxic drugs on socially vulnerable Ukrainians. All allegations widely dismissed in the west as absurd.
Still, a Ukrainian security source tells CNN Kirillov was a legitimate target and was killed by them. With Russian officials now vowing revenge, including against the top Ukrainian leadership.
DMITRY MEDVEDEV, DEPUTY CHAIRMAN, RUSSIAN SECURITY COUNCIL (through translator): Law enforcement agencies must find the killers in Russia and everything must be done to destroy the perpetrators who are in Kyiv. These perpetrators are also known the military and political leadership of Ukraine.
CHANCE (voice-over): It's unclear how Russia, already battling hard in Ukraine, can respond to yet another high profile assassination. And there have been several in recent months, all well away from the front lines. But the deadly explosion on the streets of Moscow is a stark reminder how Russia's often distant Ukraine war can still come home. Matthew Chance, CNN, London.
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ROMO: Earlier I spoke with William Taylor, the former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine. I asked him about the impact of the attack on senior Russian military leaders.
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WILLIAM TAYLOR, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: This, as you say, attack on a very senior Russian military who's responsible, let's be clear, for war crimes. He's responsible for using prohibited chemical weapons against Ukrainian soldiers. Some 4,800 times, Rafael, and 2,000 of these soldiers have been hospitalized. Three have died. So this is a senior military who now has paid the price for that kind of action against Ukrainian soldiers.
ROMO: So help us put it in perspective here. What does the attack tell us about Ukraine's capabilities to strike the Kremlin deep into Russia? We have heard with our correspondent on the ground, Fred Pleitgen, that it is only a few miles away from the Kremlin.
TAYLOR: It's very close to downtown, it's a residential part of Moscow. And it demonstrates that the Ukrainians have reached the Iranians have the capability to go after military targets wherever they want. This is a demonstration of their capabilities as a demonstration of their competence in this kind of an action against military targets deep into Russia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMO: And coming up, a grand jury indicts a suspect in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO on a New York street why the killing is being called an act of terrorism.
Plus, authorities in Madison, Wisconsin are looking into how and why a 15-year-old carried out a deadly school shooting. The latest on the investigation ahead.
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ROMO: The suspect in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO on a New York street is set to appear in a Pennsylvania court Thursday for an extradition hearing. A judge is expected to rule on the next steps to return Luigi Mangione to New York where He's facing an 11 count indictment.
The charges include first and second degree murder as an act of terrorism and the death of Brian Thompson, meaning the murder was meant to scare and intimidate the public.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ALVIN BRAGG JR., MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEY: This was a frightening, well planned targeted murder that was intended to cause shock and attention and intimidation.
JESSICA TISCH, NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: There is no heroism in what Mangione did. This was a senseless act of violence. It was a cold and calculated crime that stole a life and put New Yorkers at risk.
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ROMO: A New York police intelligence report obtained by CNN says investigators believe Mangione was motivated by anger toward the health insurance industry and corporate greed. That sentiment is apparently shared by many who have vented their own frustrations about the health care system on social media. Some are directly showing their support for Mangione, sending him letters and money in prison.
Pennsylvania's Department of Corrections says more than 150 deposits have been made into his commissary account and he's received dozens of emails. CNN's Shimon Prokupecz has more details on the charges Mangione faces.
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SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Luigi Mangione was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury on murder in the first degree and murder in the second degree, rare charges also including in this indictment terrorism charges.
The Manhattan DA's office believing that the murder based on the writings that they have obtained of Luigi Mangione, that this was a politically motivated murder. And so based on all that and all the information that they have gathered, they have decided to charge him with murder in the first degree with an enhancement of terrorism.
Now as for Mangione, he's expected to be in a Pennsylvania court on Thursday and then at that point we expect that he's not going to fight extradition and that he will at some point be brought back here to Manhattan. Shimon Prokupecz, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMO: Authorities say determining the motive for the deadly school shooting in Madison, Wisconsin is top priority. As of now, they say it appears to be a combination of factors. A candlelight vigil was held to remember the teacher and student killed and the six others wounded at Abundant Life Christian School on Monday.
Investigators want to know why the 15-year-old female student opened fire and how she got the gun used in the attack. The Washington Post reports that the shooter had a turbulent home life, according to court records. They show her parents divorced and remarried multiple times and that she'd been enrolled in therapy. CNN senior national security analyst Juliette Kayyem shared what's known about female killers and why this case is so rare. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: The data about female killers, it tends to be more intimate, if that's the right word, in other word, a particular person or that person and people around them who they feel have done them a harm or may have in fact done them a harm. So when the police chief says they want to look to potential motives, I hear in that there are -- there's -- whether it's a letter or manifesto or whatever, you know, maybe a narrative about what it was and why she chose the school. And in particular, if you put shootings aside, female killers tend not to use guns. And so there's a whole bunch of this that's not fitting a profile.
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ROMO: CNN's Whitney Wild is following developments in Madison, Wisconsin.
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CHIEF SEAN BARNES, MADISON POLICE DEPARTMENT: We were brought together by a tragedy.
WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over) Madison Police Chief Sean Barnes solemnly addressing the school shooting Monday where a 15-year-old female student opened fire inside Abundant Life Christian School.
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Finding a motive remains a top priority for law enforcement and say it appears to be a combination of factors.
BARNES: We're looking into her online activity. We're asking anyone who knew her or who may have insights into her feelings leading up to yesterday to please contact the Madison area Crime Stoppers.
WILD (voice-over): Chief Barnes also addressing reports that the shooter may have left an online manifesto.
BARNES: We have detectives working today to determine where this document originated and who actually shared it online.
WILD (voice-over): The tragedy unfolded when a second grade teacher, not a second grade student as police originally reported, called 911 at 10:57 am.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Abundant Life Christian Church, 49-01 for Engine 5 and Medic 5 for a shooter.
WILD (voice-over): Officers arrived within minutes. At 11:05 they reported the shooter was down and the gun was recovered.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: MPD is saying everybody can come in. All EMS can come in. Shooter is down. WILD (voice-over): Madison police have identified the shooter as 15-
year-old Natalie Rupnow, who went by Samantha. They say she opened fire inside a study hall with students from mixed grades, using a handgun, killing a teacher, a student, and wounding six others before turning the gun on herself.
Law enforcement are working to determine how Rupnow obtained the weapon. Officers searched Rupnow's home Monday afternoon and are looking into her online activity. Chief Barnes says her parents are cooperating and they don't expect to charge them at this time.
BARNES: We also want to look at if the parents may have been negligent. And that's a question that we'll have to answer with our district attorney's office.
WILD (voice-over): Monday's tragedy has traumatized this small religious school and stunned the community. Just days before Christmas, some students describing the terror they felt. Sixth grader Adler Jean Charles says he was scared after hearing the gun.
ADLER JEAN CHARLES, SIXTH GRADER, ABUNDANT LIFE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: Just waited till the police came and then they exported us out.
WILD (voice-over): And a heartbreaking account from the second grader who says she could hear cries from a teacher wounded in the leg.
NORA GOTTSCHALK, SECOND GRADE STUDENT, ABUNDANT LIFE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: And she was screaming like, my leg. Help. Help.
WILD: Do you know that teacher well? What was it like to hear that?
GOTTSCHALK: I was really scared and I was really sad.
WILD (voice-over): Worried parents James and Rebecca Smith received a text from their teenage daughter saying she was OK after the shooting. Like many, they are grateful to be reunited with their daughter, but fearful of the lasting anguish of another senseless school shooting.
JAMES SMITH, FATHER OF STUDENT AT ABUNDANT LIFE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL: You plan for these things and you don't want to have to, but it's the world that we live in.
WILD: At a candlelight vigil to honor those lives, we saw people hugging, we saw tears, we saw prayers. And what was so striking is that most of the people here were from outside the Abundant Life Christian School community, but they were joining together to try to show their support for people they know are deeply grieving. Whitney Wilde, CNN, Madison, Wisconsin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMO: And still to come, assessing the damage in Vanuatu after a massive earthquake hit the island capital city. We'll bring you the latest on the recovery efforts.
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RAFAEL ROMO, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rafael Romo.
Donald Trump has officially clinched the U.S. presidency after winning the electoral college. Electors in Texas gave Mr. Trump the victory when they awarded the state's 40 electoral votes Tuesday in Austin.
The nationwide tally is a constitutionally-required formalization of the November 5th vote, where Donald Trump won 312 electoral college votes and Kamala Harris took 226. It takes 270 of the 538 electoral votes to win the White House.
The electoral tally is now sent to Congress, where lawmakers will meet in joint session on January 6th to officially declare Donald Trump president.
Mr. Trump is taking a new shot at what he perceives as left-wing media bias against him. He's suing pollster Ann Selzer and her firm, along with "The Des Moines Register" newspaper and its parent company, Gannett.
Selzer's poll, published days ahead of the November election, showed Kamala Harris with a surprising lead over Trump in Iowa. That lead never materialized, and Trump ultimately won the state by 13 points.
He says the news coverage of the poll was intended to artificially help Democrats, and that Selzer committed election interference.
The Federal Reserve is set to hold its final meeting of the year in the coming hours. Investors are watching for predictions about the incoming Trump administration. And they are waiting to see if the Federal Reserve follows through with an expected interest rate cut for the third time this year.
More now from CNN's Julia Chatterley in New York.
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JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN ANCHOR, "FIRST MOVE": The Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut interest rates by a quarter of a percent in their final meeting of the year, making it a nice round one percentage point of cuts to borrowing costs for the year.
But then comes the tougher part, which involves communicating some kind of plan for 2025. And that includes what's widely expected to be a pause in the cutting cycle in January. Why? Well, it's a few things. And actually a lot of it's good news, including solid growth, tracking up more than 3 percent annualized.
We can then add in a stronger than expected labor market plus a U.S. consumer that's actually increased spending into the holiday season. Then there's rising prices that actually have cooled a lot, but not enough. And then comes the bad news. Plenty of geopolitical risk, whether
that's the Middle East, Ukraine or the potential impact of tariff policy from President-Elect Donald Trump.
Now, the decision to pause rate cuts though would be far more, I think, about the relative economic strength, at least in my mind, than future policy decisions like tariffs that may not in fact materialize.
So first comes their updated economic projections and the so-called dot plot of where they think cuts in rates can come next year.
Now, if you remember back in September, they were thinking four rate cuts next year. That could very likely be reduced to just three cuts based on what they see today.
Though, let's be clear, as we've seen this year, nothing is set in stone. And Fed chair Jerome Powell will likely be keen to emphasize the degree of flexibility when he speaks on Wednesday. And that leaves the Fed with a core message that they've cut rates a full percentage point, that the economy is doing pretty well and that they do remain data dependent and that they can't react to things like tariffs until they get them. And then they'll see how things progress between now and the January meeting.
Julia Chatterley, CNN -- New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMO: Argentina has come out of a deep recession in a major victory for its unorthodox president, Javier Milei. The country's statistics agency says GDP grew 3.9 percent in the third quarter compared with the previous three months. The agriculture and mining sectors drove the expansion.
Milei, who is also an economist, has slashed government spending, reduced sky-high inflation and helped repair the country's finances since his election a year ago. But his policies have also pushed up unemployment and poverty.
Former Bolivian president Evo Morales says he is the victim of a brutal legal war carried out by the government after being charged with aggravated human trafficking.
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ROMO: The charge relates to an alleged relationship he had with a minor while in office. It was unveiled Monday when an arrest warrant and immigration alert were issued against him.
Morales criticized the government on social media, claiming it invents crimes against him.
In the South Pacific, at least 14 people are reported dead in Vanuatu after a 7.3 magnitude earthquake hit the islands on Tuesday. Officials say at least 200 people have been treated for injuries. The quake caused buildings to collapse, smashing cars and potentially
trapping victims beneath the rubble. The U.S. embassy in Vanuatu, which shares a building with other western embassies, was badly damaged and is now closed.
Here's how one journalist described the quake.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DON MCGARRY, JOURNALIST: It was the most violent earthquake I've experienced in my 21 years living in Vanuatu and in the Pacific Islands. I've seen a lot of large earthquakes. Never one like this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMO: Katie Greenwood is the head of delegation for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in the Asia Pacific region. She joins me from Fiji.
Thank you so much for joining us.
First of all, let me ask you, it is well past four in the afternoon on Wednesday in Vanuatu, what are authorities there saying about helping those affected and assessing the damage?
KATIE GREENWOOD, HEAD OF DELEGATION, IFRC PACIFIC: Yes. Thanks Rafael.
So the current situation on the ground in Vanuatu, it's very somber. It's very sad. There's a lot of grief and shock going on.
The commentary that you just heard about the large -- largest earthquake and the most shocking results of an earthquake in the Pacific is very true. And the population is very shocked and saddened by what has happened.
The main focus of efforts at the moment is on that search and rescue in the downtown area of the capital of Vanuatu, Port Vila. A number of buildings collapsed and people have been trapped in those buildings with the search and rescue efforts being absolutely phenomenal and a lot of effort is going into that.
But there has also been major infrastructure damage to the wharf from a landslide, to the main hospital that has no active operating theater at the moment. So there's an outdoor triage area that has been set up to assist people.
There's still quite a bit of confusion, but certainly the efforts for search and rescue are the primary focus of what's going on at the moment, as well as assessing damage outside of the capital in community areas to understand what the situation is there.
ROMO: Yes. And Katie, having covered the earthquakes before, I know that one problem is what you were mentioning just a moment ago -- infrastructure. What can you tell us about the condition of roads and bridges?
Are the Red Cross and the government going to be able to transport food, water and other necessities to those in need?
GREENWOOD: Well, that's exactly right. There is that infrastructure damage in terms of relief items coming in. We have had some humanitarian flights able to land in the country today.
Although the airstrip did suffer some damage and there are no commercial flights going in and out of the country.
Those humanitarian goods are getting in, but getting them around is a little bit tricky and difficult. There is some damage to roads and certainly the road between the wharf and the main center of town is badly damaged from landslides.
We do still have power outage there. Communications have been restored, which is great. Step by step, we're seeing improvements there hour by hour. But getting those goods out is tricky.
Certainly the Red Cross warehouse suffered some damage. The door is having to be taken off that big warehouse, which has involved machinery getting involved to cut the way out to get those humanitarian relief supplies out.
But the government's doing an incredible job of coordinating with key humanitarian partners to get that relief there and through to people.
ROMO: Yes, we wanted to have you on our program because you know the region well, and I wanted to ask you, what can you tell us about Vanuatu's capability to respond to something like this?
Will they need aid and support from other countries in the region?
GREENWOOD: Vanuatu is a very disaster-prone country and a very resilient population. They have every known geo-hazard and natural disaster phenomenon that you can imagine. They have suffered from volcanic eruptions, earthquakes in the past, tsunamis and cyclones are a regular feature. They had three in quick succession last year.
So this is a population and a humanitarian response atmosphere where people are very skilled and very experienced.
[01:39:48]
GREENWOOD: However, even when I was speaking with my Red Cross colleagues today on the ground, they said that this is a shocking experience for everybody, that even though they have experienced these kinds of earthquakes before, they are not used to the scale of this.
And certainly no one expected the kind of infrastructure damage and the collapse of buildings downtown that has trapped people. So there is still a feeling of shock and almost an immobilization for a short period of time, while people come to grips with what has happened.
(AUDIO GAP) are taking their toll on the broader community. in terms of international response, we have had assistance from outside Today.
There is, you know, government response from partner governments in the region, from New Zealand, from Australia, from the French governments. That assistance is mostly focused on the search and rescue efforts and bringing in specialist skill sets and equipment needed for that.
But it's also will be around medical assistance and those sorts of things. So it is an international community. There's no one of us can do this without the other. And so we're all banding together to do that work.
ROMO: That's great to hear and especially good news for those affected by the earthquake.
Katie Greenwood, thank you very much for the opportunity.
GREENWOOD: Thanks for having me.
ROMO: Authorities and aid workers in the French territory of Mayotte are working around the clock to keep the peace and prevent the spread of disease after the worst cyclone to hit the region in at least 90 years.
At least 22 people are dead, and more than 1,400 injured, according to a local mayor. But those numbers could rise significantly as crews move further into areas blocked by debris. For now, some residents are forced to wait for help.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But the hardest part is that since Saturday morning, when the cyclone passed, nothing has really happened apart from us, the people, trying to clean up. I haven't seen any municipal technical services.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the same for everyone. What's alarming is that we are all cut off from the world. No electricity, there's no connection. There hasn't been any water since Saturday, so its unlivable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMO: Much needed supplies began arriving Tuesday. The French government expects half of the island's water supplies will be restored soon, and nearly all of it by early next week.
We have exclusive new reporting on France's mass rape trial. Details on how Gisele Pelicot's husband was able to orchestrate the abuse. That report, after the break.
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[01:44:45]
ROMO: A verdict is expected Thursday in the Pelicot rape trial that has shocked France and much of the world.
Dominique Pelicot is accused of organizing the abuse of his own wife, Gisele. She decided to waive her right to anonymity and has spoken openly in court, saying it is time to look at this macho, patriarchal society and change the way it looks at rape.
15 men, including Pelicot, have pleaded guilty to rape. Others said they thought that a husband's consent was enough.
Now, exclusive access to French police reports reveals exactly how her husband found men to rape his wife. We must warn viewers the content is graphic and disturbing.
Saskya Vandoorne reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SASKYA VANDOORNE, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: I've come here to retrace the steps of all those men who visited Dominique Pelicot's house in the middle of the night.
This case really has captured the world's attention with so many people asking why. We're going to focus instead on how Pelicot led the men right here.
The way he communicated, the tactics he used, how he came to be on trial for mass rape and drugging his wife. What was his playbook?
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: 50 men accused in the mass rape of Gisele Pelico. She was drugged.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Drugged unconscious by her husband.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dominique Pelicot.
ANNA COREN, CNN ANCHOR: Dominique Pelicot admitted to recruiting --
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Enlisting other men to join --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- rape his wife.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It sparked outrage across France.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: -- global concern about violence against women.
VANDOORNE: CNN has gained exclusive access to police reports with thousands of messages that Dominique exchanged with the 50 men on trial alongside him. He didn't have to search far for his alleged accomplices. They all live within a 30-mile radius of his house in Mazan.
The horror is still felt here by local women.
NEDELJKA MACAN, MAZAN RESIDENT: This area was so quiet, a nice area. And now, we don't know if somebody who is the next shop (ph) is one of these men. It changed everything.
VANDOORNE: From a firefighter to a journalist to a nurse, from 27 years old to 74 years old -- all the men were connected by one Web site -- Coco.
Shut down this summer, Coco's chat rooms were easy to access.
It was not buried in the dark web, as one man accused of raping Gisele Pelicot said.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I got in touch through Coco in the evening when I was by myself. My wife had gone to bed and I was a little bored.
VANDOORNE: But because the so-called dating site was entirely unmoderated and anonymous, it boasted chatrooms selling date rape drugs and spaces to glorify sexual violence.
Under the pseudonym "Available All Night", Pelicot posted in a chatroom called "Without Her Knowledge". It was there that misogyny and sexual abuse were completely normalized.
VANDOORNE: While Pelicot has pleaded guilty to rape, most of his codefendants say that they believe Dominique Pelicot's consent was enough.
Coco was the door. Pelicot would then move the discussion to Skype.
He traded videos of his wife being raped for intimate images of the men's own partners, according to the police report.
MATHIAS DARMON, LAWYER, INNOCENCE EN DANGER: We saw Coco was a very dangerous Web site.
VANDOORNE: Innocence En Danger has been campaigning against the site for years.
DARMON: They went to this Web site to realize their worst fantasies. So it became a reality thanks to Dominique Pelicot.
VANDOORNE: He told police that over time he built a network of men.
DARMON: The place where they could meet, what time, what they could wear, they couldn't wear.
VANDOORNE: He allegedly told the men what drugs to buy and how to use them. This all went undetected for 10 years.
Dominique Pelicot never thought his text messages or his alleged crimes would see the light of day. And they probably wouldn't have if it weren't for the events that took place right here on September 12th when a security guard caught him red-handed filming up the skirts of several women.
DARMON: This is kind of Web sites -- as long as there is demand, then there will be supply.
VANDOORNE: In the wake of Coco's shutdown, more Web sites have gained in popularity in France. CNN extracted data from just one of those Web sites. [01:49:38]
After going through almost 6,000 messages from a 24-hour period, we found a strikingly similar pattern of men sharing explicit photos of their wives and girlfriends and asking to move the discussions to private messaging platforms.
Some men went as far as offering up their wives to other users in a manner like Pelicot, but it's unclear if any of them set up real-life encounters.
There are some Web sites that could be the new Coco. How does that make you feel?
MACAN: For these Web sites, it's a kind of marvelous thing what happened with Gisele Pelicot. It brings them advertising.
ANNETTE DUMONT, MAZAN RESIDENT (through translator): It could very well happen again tomorrow in another place.
MACAN: We expect that some laws will change, but of course, I'm not sure that it will be enough. So, I don't feel at ease here in the streets.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMO: That was CNN's Saskya Vandoorne reporting.
We'll be right back with more news.
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ROMO: Ecuador has now completed its second debt swap, this time to free up money for Amazon conservation. The government says it's buying back more than $1.5 billion of discounted existing bonds with new, cheaper money.
It will see a savings of $460 million over the next 17 (ph) years. That will go toward protecting and managing the rainforest. The Amazon Bio Corridor Program looks to improve the management and protection of millions of acres of forest and wetlands, as well as to protect more than 11,000 miles of river.
Pope Francis is expected to release a new book early next year. A memoir of his life, entitled "Hope", will include details of two attempts on his life.
CNN's Christopher Lamb has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Pope Francis says he faced two assassination attempts during his 2021 visit to Iraq, in what was the first time a pontiff had visited the country.
In a forthcoming autobiography, parts of which were released on Tuesday, the Pope said he was told of a female suicide bomber who planned to blow herself up in Mosul whilst a van traveling at high speed had the same intent.
Both these assassination attempts were foiled, the Pope said, by the U.K. intelligence services and by the Iraqi police.
Now, of course, Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, was under the control of Islamic state from 2014 to 2017.
In his autobiography, the Pope says he was advised strongly against visiting Iraq due to the security risk and the COVID-19 pandemic. But the Pope said he was determined to make the trip to a country that is rich in biblical history, and of course, is home to one of the world's oldest Christian communities that has faced extensive persecution in recent years.
Whilst in Iraq, the Pope was also able to have an historic meeting with the Grand Ayatollah Al-Sistani, a leading Shia authority in Islam.
The news of the assassination attempts against the Pope came as Francis marked his 88th birthday, making him one of the oldest popes in the church's history. However, the Pope shows no sign of slowing down, and he has a busy schedule ahead of services during the Christmas period.
Christopher Lamb, CNN -- London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMO: The European parliament is honoring opposition politicians from Venezuela. Edmundo Gonzalez and Maria Corina Machado have won the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.
[01:54:53]
ROMO: During Tuesdays ceremony in France, Gonzalez accepted the award on behalf of the Venezuelan people. Machado attended by video conference calling the award a tribute to every Venezuelan who has decided to be free, especially those who are hidden, exiled or imprisoned.
Venezuela's disputed presidential election took place in July. Vote tallies show Gonzalez won, but the electoral body declared incumbent Nicolas Maduro the winner.
In entertainment news, it will only be a few more weeks before you can check in to the new season of the award-winning TV series "The White Lotus".
Here's a look at season three.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Welcome to the White Lotus in Thailand.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm on an exchange program.
I'm starting to feel like something good is going to come out of this. Stress management meditation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMO: The dark comedy returns in February, this time traveling to Thailand with a new batch of issues for a new cast of resort guests. They include actors Parker Posey, Jason Isaacs, Leslie Bibb, and Lisa from K-Pop supergroup Blackpink.
"The White Lotus" season three premieres on Max, which is owned by CNN's parent company, Warner Brothers Discovery.
A new milestone in outer space. Two Chinese astronauts have broken the record for the longest spacewalk. According to the China manned space agency, it lasted nine hours on Tuesday.
That beats the previous record of eight hours and 56 minutes set by a pair of U.S. astronauts in 2001.
China has been increasing its role as a major player in space, with plans to land on the moon by 2030.
Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Rafael Romo.
Stay with us, I'll be back with much more news after this short break.
[01:56:46]
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