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Top Russian General Assassinated; Russia Vows Severe Response After Top General Killed; Mass Graves Being Found After Assad Regime's Fall. Verdict Expected This Week in the Pelicot Rape Case; Filipina Death Row Prisoner Returns Home After 14 Years; Denmark Releases Anti- whaling Activist Paul Watson; Return of NASA Astronauts Delayed Again, Won't Happen Until at Least Late March 2025; U.S. Navy Honors Tom Cruise; "Bluey" Movie Announced for 2027. Aired 2-2:45a ET
Aired December 18, 2024 - 02:00 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 SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world and to everyone streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Rafael Romo.
Just ahead. Russia's response after a hidden bomb took out a top general and Ukraine took credit.
Innumerable atrocities are coming to light in Syria. Newly discovered mass graves and disturbing details from the mass rape case in France, including an exclusive look at how the victim's husband recruited the perpetrators.
And we begin in Russia where officials are vowing a severe response to the assassination of one of its top generals. Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, then an aide were killed in Moscow on Tuesday. A warning the video you're about to see is graphic. Russia's Investigative Committee says Kirillov and his aide were killed by remotely detonated bomb in a "terrorist attack." This footage shows two bodies lying on the ground at the blast site outside an apartment building some seven kilometers from the Kremlin.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has not yet commented on Kirillov's death but Dmitry Medvedev of Russia Security Council is accusing Kyiv of the Killing. CNN's Fred Pleitgen has the details.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): One of Russia's top generals and an aide just seconds before the fatal blast. We're not showing the moment of the explosion in this video obtained by CNN.
PLEITGEN (on camera): Russian Investigators say the bomb with about 300 grams of TNT was hidden in an electric scooter parked just outside the entrance of that building. As the general and an aide walked out, it blew up, killing them both. PLEITGEN (voice-over): Russian investigators say the device was detonated remotely. The blast so powerful, it shattered windows several floors up in buildings across the street.
At first, we thought that cement might have been unloaded or something similar, this resident says, but the blast was so loud, it did not seem like construction work. It was very scary.
Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov was the head of Russia's nuclear, chemical and biological defense forces. Often accusing Kyiv of planning to use chemicals on the battlefield, the Ukrainians, for their part, accused Kirillov of overseeing the use of chemical substances against their forces, and have claimed responsibility for assassinating him, calling the general, "an absolutely legitimate target, and saying such an inglorious end awaits all those who kill Ukrainians."
The general is not the first, but the highest ranking Russian military official the Ukrainians claim to have assassinated. Moscow furious, launching both a terrorism and a criminal investigation.
Investigative actions and operational search activities are being carried out aimed at establishing all the circumstances of the crime committed, the spokesperson said.
Asymmetric warfare, like this brazen drone attack inside Russia two days ago, this is how the Ukrainian forces are trying to level the battlefield as Vladimir Putin's army has been making significant gains on nearly all frontlines.
The lieutenant general's assassination comes just hours after Putin met with his top military brass, ripping into the Biden administration for its support of Ukraine.
In an effort to weaken our country and impose a strategic defeat on us, the United States continues to pump the virtually illegitimate ruling regime in Kyiv full of weapons and money, sends mercenaries and military advisers and thereby encourages further escalation of the conflict, Putin said.
And Russian politicians have vowed revenge for the general's killing while acknowledging his death is a major loss.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.
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ROMO: An investigative journalist who previously worked as the lead Russian investigator for Bellingcat, says the assassination was partially intended as a wakeup call for people living in the Russian capital.
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CHRISTO GROZEV, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: This brings the war home to Muscovites, which has been a problem for Ukraine that Ukraine has always suffered from the fact that people in St. Petersburg and Moscow don't see the war as something close to them. And therefore, they are indifferent or supportive of the war effort. And Ukraine has tried to bring it home to Muscovites. This is one way to do. It
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ROMO: Earlier, I spoke with former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor and got his thoughts on the likely reasons behind the attack.
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WILLIAM B. TAYLOR, JR., FORMER UNITED STATES AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: This is not a sudden occurrence. The SBU, the security service, as well as the Military Intelligence Service Corps have both undertaken these operations to attack, as I say, military targets deep into Russia, using people that they've got planted there. I mean, this is an indication that both of these services have agents and that's got to make the Russians nervous.
But the answer to your question is, why now? It's been going on for months, and the answer is to try to show the Russians, demonstrate to the Russians they're not going to win this war.
ROMO: As you very well know, this is the most senior military official known to be killed since Russia launched this full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. What's the impact, Mr. Ambassador of this targeted assassination?
TAYLOR: Impact is to -- is on the Russian military. The Russian military now understands. They've understood before, but 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 4800 times, Rafael that -- and 2000 of these soldiers have been -- 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 reach. 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 inaction against military targets in deep into Russia.
ROMO: And finally, Mr. Ambassador, what kind of response would you expect from the Kremlin from Vladimir Putin? TAYLOR: More of the same. More the same, Rafael. I'm sure that the Russians will send more drones, more missiles, against civilian targets. The Russians go after civilian targets, energy and apartment buildings and schools and hospitals. So, the Russians do this regularly. So, I would expect more of the same of that kind of attack.
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ROMO: European leaders are meeting in Brussels today to discuss the war in Ukraine, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his allies might as -- might discuss the possibility of international peacekeeping troops in his country, which could potentially be deployed until Ukraine is able to join NATO. The topic had been first broached by French President Emmanuel Macron earlier this year.
Zelenskyy says Ukrainian troops need more support now, as Russian forces gain ground on the front lines.
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VOLODYMR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): There could be questions, not only about the foreign contingent, but also questions that Ukraine will raise. This includes our long-range strike capabilities, major investments in our Ukrainian weapons production to strengthen our armed forces.
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ROMO: The U.S. believe several 100 North Korean troops have been killed or wounded while fighting Ukrainian forces. The U.S. and Ukraine estimate that some 12,000 North Koreans have been sent to Russia to fight alongside Russian troops. A Pentagon spokesperson says that some enter combat a little more than a week ago and they're already suffering casualties. A senior U.S. official says North Korean troops of all ranks have been killed in action or have been wounded on the battlefield.
Turning now to Syria, where people 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, "tortured to death by the Assad regime could be buried in those graves." Our Melissa Bell reports.
MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS 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. 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.
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One at Al-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 Daraa 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 have 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 in 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.
ROMO: The United Nations Refugee Agency says one million Syrians are expected to return home in the first half of 2025 and that's not including the many refugees who have already spontaneously returned to Syria from Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. Meanwhile, in Europe, the future of asylum seekers hangs in the balance. Some E.U. countries and the U.K. have announced their pausing asylum procedures and Austria's interior minister says they're also looking into deporting people back to Syria.
The UNHCR has released a plan seeking $310 million to address the critical needs of the refugees going back to Syria, but urged nations hosting Syrians to rethink their stance as the situation in the country continues to unfold.
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REMA JAMOUS IMSEIS, MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA DIRECTOR, UNHCR: While we hope that current developments will eventually bring an end to this crisis, we also have to recognize that a change in the regime doesn't mean that there is an end to the humanitarian crisis already there. And what we're saying to governments that have suspended asylum proceedings is that please continue to respect the right to access territory to lodge an asylum claim but give us and Syrian refugees, time to assess whether it's safe to go back.
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ROMO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, traveled to southern Syria on Tuesday, where he held a briefing on Mount Hermon, Syria's highest 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 overlooks 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. Now, Hamas is also voicing cautious optimism. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has the latest from Jerusalem.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE 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 "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 additional demands as this negotiating process moves forward.
A second Hamas source said that they view the current state of negotiations as "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.
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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 20th 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, 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, that might make them more willing to reach a deal now. All of this pointing us in the direction of a potential ceasefire and hostage deal, but again, the deal isn't reached until it's done.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN Jerusalem. ROMO: A New York grand jury has indicted the suspect in the murder of the healthcare CEO. Why authorities say the charges against Luigi Mangione include terrorism just ahead.
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ROMO: A candlelight vigil was held in Madison, Wisconsin to remember the victims of Monday's deadly shooting at a Christian school where a 15-year-old female student opened fire, killing a teacher and a student and wounding six others. Authorities say determining the motive is top priority as of now. They say it appears to be a combination of factors, but declined to give more details.
Police say online posts and alleged writings by the shooter will be among the things they will examine and along with the why, investigators want to know how she got the gun used in the attack. We've now learned the team joined the local shooting range with her father months before the attack. He posted this photo on Facebook back in August. The Madison police chief has said authorities are looking into whether her parents own the gun used on Monday.
Young survivors of the attack are recalling those terrifying moments during the shooting, and parents are now speaking out as well.
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KELLEN LEWIS, FATHER OF FOUR STUDENTS AT ABUNDANT LIFE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL: The school was ready for this. They had prepared for it. They for this sort of a situation, students knew what to do, and they hid in the corners of their classroom. My third-grade son mentioned that his teacher stood between the door and where the kids were hiding with scissors, ready to do whatever he had to do to defend the kids in that class.
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ROMO: Police say, though many questions remain unanswered, officers will not pressure traumatized children from the school to help with the investigation.
The suspect in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO on a New York Street is set to appear in a Pennsylvania court Thursday. A judge will determine when Luigi Mangione could be extradited to New York where he's facing an 11-count indictment. The charges include first and second-degree murder as an act of terrorism in the death of Brian Thompson, meaning the murder was meant to scare and intimidate the public.
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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: The police commissioner also called the support Mangione has received on social media an appalling celebration of murder. CNN's Danny Freeman has details on how Mangione's supporters are reaching out and more on when he could be returned to New York.
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DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was an incredibly busy day in the case of Luigi Mangione, here in Pennsylvania and in New York. Several headlines made, and it seems like the soonest he could be back in New York could be as early as Thursday. But the biggest headline the Manhattan district attorney officially announcing that indictment against Luigi Mangione on first-degree murder charges in New York.
Mangione also indicted by a grand journey for murder in the second degree as a crime of terrorism. D.A. Alvin Bragg saying, clearly, this was a killing intended to invoke terror. Meanwhile, we also have updated information on Mangione's interactions with the outside world or really rather say the outside world's attempt to interact with him while he's been behind bars at this prison.
Per spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, as of Tuesday evening, Luigi Mangione has received 157 entries or deposits into his prison commissary account, and as of Tuesday morning, he's received 33 e-mails and six pieces of hard mail. That's up from just two pieces of mail that CNN reported he had received on Monday evening. And still at this point, the only visitors he's had while in custody has been his attorneys.
Now on Thursday morning, Mangione is scheduled to have two hearings not far from here out in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, one on those Pennsylvania charges, then the other right after on extradition and CNN has learned on Tuesday that Mangione is not going to fight extradition anymore. That's according to his new attorney from New York. And a prison spokesperson told me earlier on Tuesday that he could begin his journey back to New York as soon as court is over.
Danny Freeman, CNN, Huntington, Pennsylvania.
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 heat -- to hit the region in at least 90 years. At least 22 people are dead and more than 1400 injured, according to a local mayor. But those numbers could rise significantly as crews moved further into areas blocked by debris. For now, some residents are forced to wait for help.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): 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 (through translator): 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 it's unlivable.
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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.
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.
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DAN 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.
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ROMO: Earlier, I spoke with Katie Greenwood with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent societies in the Asia Pacific region. She gave us the latest update on the search and rescue efforts in Vanuatu's capital.
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KATIE GREENWOOD, HEAD OF DELEGATION, IFRC PACIFIC: The main focus of efforts at the moment is on that search and rescue in the downtown area of the capital event, Vanuatu Port Villa. A number of buildings collapsed, and people have been trapped in those buildings with the search and rescue efforts being absolutely phenomenal. A lot of effort is going into that, but there's 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: 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 very disaster-prone country and a very resilient population. They have every known geohazard and natural disaster phenomenon that you can imagine. They have suffered from volcanic eruptions, earthquakes in the past, tsunamis, 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.
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.
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ROMO: We have exclusive new reporting on France's mass rape trial, including details on how Gisele Pelicot's husband was able to orchestrate the abuse. That's next.
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ROMO: A verdict that's 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 her 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.
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SASKYA VANDOORNE, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: I've come here to retrace the steps of all those men who visited 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?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 50 men accused in the mass rape of Gisele Pelicot. She was drugged.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Drugged unconscious by her husband.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dominique Pelicot -- UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dominique Pelicot admitted to recruiting --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Enlisting other men to join --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- to rape his wife, caused outrage across France.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Global concern about violence against women.
VANDOORNE (voice-over): 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 and nice area, And now, we don't know if somebody who is in the next shop is one of these men. It changed everything.
VANDOORNE (voice-over): From a firefighter to a journalist to a nurse, from 27-years-old to 74-years-old, all the men were connected by one website, Coco. Coco shut down this summer, Coco's chat rooms were easy to access.
VANDOORNE: 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 chat rooms selling date rape drugs and spaces to glorify sexual violence.
VANDOORNE (voice-over): Under the pseudonym "Available all night", Pelicot posted in a chat room called "Without her knowledge." It was there that misogyny and sexual abuse were completely normalized. While Pelicot has pleaded guilty to rape, most of his co-defendants say that they believe Dominique Pelicot's consent was enough.
Pelicot 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 website.
VANDOORNE: "Innocence en Danger" has been campaigning against the site for years.
DARMON: They went to this website to realize there was 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: It's a 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 -- this kind of websites, as long as there is demand, then there will be supply.
VANDOORNE: In the wake of Coco's shutdown, more websites have gained in popularity in France. CNN extracted data from just one of those websites.
VANDOORNE (voice-over): 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.
[02:35:00]
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.
VANDOORNE: There are some websites that could be the new Coco. How does that make you feel?
MACAN: For these websites, it's kind of a marvelous thing what happened with Gisele Pelicot. It brings them advertising.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (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 will be enough. So I don't feel at ease here in the streets.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMO: Our CNN's Saskya Vandoorne reporting. A Filipino woman who spent 14 years on death row in Indonesia is back home today after years of negotiations between the two countries. Mary Jane Veloso, a former domestic helper and mother of two, tearfully reunited with her family in Manila. She was sentenced to death after authorities found heroin in her suitcase in 2010. She claimed she was an unwitting drug mule. Her sentence sparked outcry in the Philippines. Before boarding her flight home, Veloso told reporters that she is ready to start a new life.
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MARY JANE VELOSO, DRUG CONVICT (through translator): I can't say much, but I'm very happy. And during my time in Indonesia, everyone was kind to me. All the staff and inmates were kind to me, and they supported my repatriation. It's also sad for me, but I have to go home. My kids are waiting for me and I'll celebrate Christmas with my family there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMO: Veloso is now in a women's prison in the Philippines where she's hoping for a pardon from Ferdinand Marcos.
An anti-whaling activist is a free man after five months in detention. Denmark released Paul Watson Tuesday in Greenland's capital. Authorities rejected a request from Japan to extradite Watson who faces criminal charges filed more than a decade ago. He is accused of breaking into a Japanese vessel in 2010, causing property damage and obstructing business. 74-year-old Watson was detained in July when his ship docked in Greenland. He says he is relieved he is free and able to be with his children before Christmas, but he has also no intention of stopping the work he has done most of his life.
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PAUL WATSON, ANTI-WHALING ACTIVIST: Our ships are ready to sail again. I have one in Bermuda, one in Australia, and so, I've been doing this for 50 years, so I'm not -- I'm not retiring. If Japan returns to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, then we will return to intervene. And next June, go to Iceland to intervene against the killing of whales by the Icelandic whalers, which is also illegal under international law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMO: Up next, stuck in space for six months and counting. We'll have an update on when two stranded NASA astronauts may be coming home.
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[02:40:15]
ROMO: Two astronauts who have been stranded on the International Space Station since June will have to stay in orbit even longer. The one-week mission for Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore was unexpectedly extended due to issues with their Boeing Starliner spacecraft. Recovery effort was scheduled to launch this February, but on Tuesday, NASA announced it will be delayed until at least late March when a new SpaceX craft is expected to be ready.
Hollywood star, Tom Cruise has spent years playing military heroes, but his service is more than just make believe. The U.S. Navy is honoring him with this distinguished public service Award. The force says he significantly boosted its recruitment of pilots through his lead role in the 1986 action film, Top Gun. Cruise, a licensed pilot, played naval aviator, Maverick, and reprised his role as a captain in the 2022 sequel.
A certain beloved blue dog is heading to the big screen.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bluey.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMO: That's right, a movie based on the popular children's animated series, "Bluey," is now in the works. The project was announced on social media on Tuesday. The series creator, Joe Brumm, says he will step back from his involvement in the TV show with the third season being his last. But he added that he really loves the script for the movie, which will be an event for the whole family to enjoy. The show's voice actors are expected to reprise the roles for the Bluey movie scheduled to arrive in theaters in 2027.
My daughter Mila (ph) will be very, very happy. Thanks for joining us. I'm Rafael Romo. "World Sport" is up next. Then "CNN Newsroom" will continue with Max Foster in London in 15 minutes.
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