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Donald Trump Ramps Up Attacks On Minnesota's Somali Community; 19 Countries Affected By Donald Trump's Travel Restrictions; "Signalgate" Report Critical Of Pete Hegseth; U.S.-Colombia Relations Fractured Over Drug Trade; Ukrainian Official Says Russia Launches Nine Aerial Bombs; U.S.-Russia Talks on Ukraine End Without Breakthrough; Rights Group Claims Russian Sent Ukrainian Children to North Korea to Be Militarized; Virtual Reality Helps Children of Gaza War; Lebanon Working to Reassert Authority in Hezbollah Strongholds; Israel Has Continued to Bomb Southern Lebanon Despite Ceasefire; Remains of Last Thai Hostage From October 7 Attacks Identified; Never- Before-Seen Images From Epstein's Private Island Released; Doctor Who Sold Ketamine to Actor Matthew Perry Before His Overdose Death Gets 2.5 Years in Prison; London's Largest Lost Property Office Has Relics Dating to WWII. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired December 04, 2025 - 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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[02:00:37]
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.
Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, the U.S. launches new immigration crackdowns in Minnesota and Louisiana, spreading fear across the country as Donald Trump calls some immigrants garbage.
Growing controversy over the U.S. Defense Secretary about sensitive messages he sent on the Signal app, while scrutiny over his role in a double strike in the Caribbean intensifies.
And later, how technology is helping war scarred children in Gaza imagine a brighter future.
ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.
CHURCH: Appreciate you joining us. The Trump administration's immigration crackdown is spreading to more states with federal operations underway in Minnesota and now Louisiana, the Department of Homeland Security says they plan to make at least 5000 arrests in Louisiana.
Top Border Patrol official Greg Bovino and masked agents were seen in the New Orleans suburbs on Wednesday. Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, says they're going after, "The worst of the worst criminal offenders." Though, local officials say they're concerned Black and Brown communities are being profiled and targeted. Authorities are already making arrests. Federal agents wearing Border Patrol vests detained at least one person in a residential area.
Meanwhile, President Trump is doubling down on attacking Somali immigrants as federal raids sweep through Minnesota. He's also specifically calling out Minnesota's Somali American Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, a vocal Trump critic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They have destroyed Minnesota. She should not be -- and her friends shouldn't be allowed, frankly, they shouldn't even be allowed to be Congress people. They shouldn't even be allowed to be Congress people because they don't represent the interests of our country.
REP. ILHAN OMAR (D-MN): I'm not shocked, because we know that the president oftentimes resorts to very bigoted, xenophobic, Islamophobic, racist rhetoric when he is trying to scapegoat and deflect from the actual failures that he has himself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: President Trump is also criticizing the city of Minneapolis, calling it a, "Hell hole," blaming the Somali community and calling the city's mayor a fool. Mayor Jacob Frey has invited President Trump to visit to see how the Somali community is a proud part of the city.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACOB FREY, MAYOR OF MINNEAPOLIS: The Somali community is almost universally American citizens. They have come here legally. They are in our city legally. They have been here, in many cases, for decades, and they have contributed greatly to the fabric of who we are. They're part of our family here in Minneapolis.
I mean, they are our banker, they are our babysitter. You know, in my family, they're my body guard, and that's just the beats (ph). These are people that have benefited Minneapolis in a really beautiful way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: The Trump administration is intensifying its crackdown on immigration by halting or significantly tightening every form of entry into the United States. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is recommending that President Trump's travel ban should be expanded to include as many as 32 countries.
Currently, 19 countries are on the travel ban list. It's unclear which nations are being added to the list and when it will be announced.
On Tuesday, the Trump administration paused immigration applications for individuals from these countries effective immediately. The move is part of a number of policy changes in recent days that are adding confusion and concern for travelers and immigrants in the U.S.
Well, more now, from CNN's Omar Jimenez.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, they come from hell and they complain and do nothing but bitch. We don't want them in our country. Let them go back to where they came from and fix it.
[02:05:03]
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Trump now making a point of targeting Somali migrants as a new ICE operation from the Trump administration is underway in the Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota area, a federal official tells CNN. Targeting the largest population of Somali immigrants in the country.
Minnesota's Governor Tim Walz wrote in part on X, pulling a P.R. stunt and indiscriminately targeting immigrants is not a real solution to a problem.
Trump is also going after the highest profile Somali American elected to Congress, Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar, who represents the Minneapolis area.
TRUMP: She shouldn't be allowed to be a congresswoman, and I'm sure people are looking at that, and she should be throwing the hell out of our country.
OMAR: I would say the president's obsession with me and the Somali community is really unhealthy. It's creepy, and I hope that he gets the help that he needs.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): But President Trump's rhetoric is translating to policy. Somalia is one of 19 countries included in President Trump's latest travel restrictions implemented over the summer. Now his administration will reexamine all green cards issued to people from certain countries, which includes Somalia after the recent National Guard shooting allegedly carried out by an Afghan national.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do the Somalians have to do with this Afghan guy who shot the national?
TRUMP: Nothing, but Somalians have caused a lot of trouble. They're ripping us off for a lot of money.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): President Trump appeared to be alluding to allegations of large-scale fraud in Minnesota as his treasury department and small business administration launched new investigations, one into various allegations that fraudulently secured funds are being funneled from immigrant communities to terrorists overseas, and another into alleged networks of small business fraud. Aspects of the latter were already proven in court, including in what's been dubbed the largest COVID-19 fraud scheme in the country, to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars and more than 75 people charged going back to 2022, centered on a nonprofit and a pandemic program meant to provide free meals to kids in need.
The convicted mastermind, Amy Bach instead, used the money to fund lavish lifestyles, but the majority of the defendants in the case are Somali.
Wednesday, the governor seemed prepared for any coming investigations.
GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN): If they want to help us, I welcome them. I think they do an investigation, find out, but I don't think anybody in here really believes their motive and their timing is about actually doing something about this.
JIMENEZ: There are also two other sets of fraud charges that have come down in recent months, one tied to alleged fraud of an autism program, another tied to alleged fraud of a Housing Services Program.
And for his part, Governor Tim Walz reiterated Wednesday that anyone who commits fraud in his state will go to prison regardless of color or religion.
Now, for the Somali migrants, there are tens of thousands that live in the Minneapolis area, and they've been there for decades at this point, and it's part of why we heard from not just the mayor of Minneapolis, but also the police chief, acknowledge the real fear in many of these migrant communities and reiterate that the Minneapolis Police will not work with federal immigration enforcement operations, and it's a dynamic and a type of fear that has become increasingly familiar in immigrant communities across the United States this year.
Omar Jimenez, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Raul Reyes is an attorney, CNN opinion writer and immigration analyst. Appreciate you joining us.
RAUL REYES, CNN OPINION WRITER: Very nice to be with you, Rosemary.
CHURCH: So, a new ICE operation got underway in the Minnesota cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul on Wednesday, targeting the largest population of Somali immigrants in the United States. President Trump calls them garbage, and he says they should go back to where they came from. We're talking about 84,000 people in that community. What's your response to the president's words and actions?
REYES: Well, to be honest, these -- to hear this type of language from the President of the United States is just astonishing, because it's a type of open bigotry that I think most Americans are not at all comfortable with.
People from Somalia, the community, people have, you know, they have come here as refugees. They have come here seeking asylum. They have risked their lives, many of them getting here, and they are making enormous contributions to their communities. They are enriching their adopted state of Minnesota. And I think it's just very discouraging and disheartening to hear this
type of ugly rhetoric from the president. It reminds me back to the election when we heard the vice president making very unfounded claims about Haitians allegedly killing pets and eating them in Ohio. It's just the kind of rhetoric that doesn't belong in the United States.
CHURCH: And Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota said Wednesday that she's not surprised by President Donald Trump's rhetoric against her and other Somalis in Minnesota, insisting that he's trying to scapegoat and deflect from what she calls his actual failures. Why do you think the president is suddenly targeting the Somali population, reportedly, even those with American citizenship?
[02:10:22]
REYES: Right, even those with citizenship or who have been granted refugee status. Sad to say, it feels like for me at a broader level, when the president -- when this president is on the defensive, he very often goes into anti-immigrant rhetoric, because that seems to be, in a sense, his political safe space.
So, right now, there are many issues facing this administration over the attacks on the Venezuelan gun boats, questions about his President Trump's health care plan, the Epstein controversy. And at some level, this feels like a way that the president is trying to deflect attention from those very real controversies.
And as the representatives say, too scapegoat a very vulnerable population. And whether we're talking about Somalians, Haitian Americans, Latinos or any demographic in this country, everyone the United States knows that this type of language is so harmful, it can lead to violence, it can lead to discrimination, and it is just unbelievably disheartening from this administration, from this president that it's happening and that some leaders are defending it.
CHURCH: And Raul, Somalia is included in a list of 19 countries recently added to Donald Trump's travel restrictions, and now all green cards from this same list of nations will be reexamined after the recent National Guard shooting allegedly carried out by an Afghan national. What does this signal to you?
REYES: Well, this Signals to me what I see as a grave error by this administration, because it is fundamentally unfair to potentially punish an entire community or group of people for the alleged actions of one person. That's not how democracy works, but it also sends to, for me, it sends a signal to immigrants in the United States, whether they are undocumented or lawful residents, green card holders, that at any time, their status here could be jeopardized by the actions of another person.
So that, in a sense, is very chilling message. I know I must sound like I'm giving you a discouraging picture this country. On the political level, I do feel some a sense of hope, some optimism in that most Americans do not agree with this type of immigration agenda that we saw the most recent Gallup poll saying that only 37 percent of Americans see themselves as aligned with this administration's policies.
So, I think that most Americans recognize bigotry when they see it, they recognize unfairness, and I think we are seeing across the country real pushback from these harsh immigration policies and this type of punishing of this -- you know, this type of punishing moves in response on immigration, in response to completely unrelated incidents.
CHURCH: Raul Reyes, appreciate you joining us. Many thanks.
REYES: Thank you.
CHURCH: Turning now to the growing controversy surrounding the U.S. strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean, President Trump says he has no problem releasing video from a second strike on one of those boats in early September after the first attack failed to kill everyone on board.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I don't know what they have, but whatever they have, we'd certainly release, no problem. You know, we stopped every boat we knock out, we save 25,000 American lives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: U.S. Navy admiral Mitch Bradley, who the Trump administration says gave the order for a follow up strike, will meet with members of the Senate Intelligence Committee in the day ahead.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says he didn't know about the second strike in advance, but supports Bradley's decision.
Hegseth is embroiled in another controversy for his use of the messaging app Signal to discuss plans for a US attack on Houthi rebels. CNN's Natasha Bertrand has exclusive details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: a pentagon inspector general investigation found that Secretary Hegseth risked endangering service members' lives when he shared information about sensitive military operations on Signal, according to sources who have seen the final report.
Now, it doesn't appear that Hegseth will face any penalties for this, since the I.G. concluded that the defense secretary has the authority to declassify information if he wants to, and Hegseth told the investigators that he made an operational decision in the moment to declassify and share that information.
The inspector general essentially had to take his word for it, since there was no documentation supporting the notion that he declassified the plans according to the report, but Hegseth also refused to sit for an. Interview with the Inspector General and he submitted his version of events in writing. [02:15:15]
Sources told CNN a declassified, redacted version of the report will be made public on Thursday. Broadly, the report says that Hegseth should not have used Signal and that senior defense department officials need better training on protocols. It also references a larger review of how Signal is used by federal officials, and notes that current regulations for records retention don't sufficiently account for messages sent on commercial apps.
But the release of the investigation broadly could compound existing concerns voiced by lawmakers from both sides of the aisle about Hegseth judgment and bring renewed attention to an issue that nearly led to his firing several months ago.
Hegseth, for his part, is saying the report completely exonerates him because it doesn't accuse him directly of sharing or mishandling classified information, but he has not responded directly to the report's assertion that he risked endangering troops lives.
Natasha Bertrand, CNN in Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Still to come, we will hear from the president of Colombia on how his country is tackling drug traffickers, as well as recent criticism from President Trump.
Plus, cruise searched for survivors after the latest round of Russian strikes in Ukraine. Details just ahead.
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[02:20:52]
CHURCH: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro confirms that he spoke with President Trump as the U.S. continues its massive show of force in the Caribbean. He says he welcomes the talks because Venezuela will, "Always seek peace," but President Maduro did not elaborate on what they discussed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICOLAS MADURO, VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I received a call and spoke to the President of the United States, Donald Trump. I can say that the conversation was in a tone of respect. I can even say that it was cordial.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: The call comes after months of U.S. threats against Venezuela and strikes against alleged drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean. President Trump has suggested he's willing to go after other countries he believes are trafficking drugs into the United States. CNN's Isa Soares traveled to Colombia for an exclusive interview with President Gustavo Petro to see how the country is addressing the cocaine trade first hand.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Colombia's decades long struggle with narco trafficking, concealment has become an art born of desperation, driving traffickers from low level couriers to organized networks to employ methods that range from the absurd to a darkly ingenious.
SOARES: This is 1.2 tons of coffee destined for the United Kingdom. At least it looks like coffee, right? You've got the very official packaging, product of Colombia, that dated expires. If I look closer, actually looks and smells like coffee, but under a microscope, there's cocaine inside.
SOARES (voice-over): Lieutenant Colonel Hector (ph) says his unit tested this load after it was flagged by an artificial intelligence system they use to identify suspicious shipments, passengers and even mail.
It's one of the many examples of how drug seizures here at Bogota's El Dorado airport have become bolder and more frequent, forcing authorities to adapt as coca production in Colombia continues to rise.
SOARES: You can see that one, you can see the white inside.
SOARES (voice-over): That increase the reason why the U.S. says it has dropped Colombia as a partner in the fight against drug trafficking. Ending a partnership that had been in place for decades.
Mr. President Gustavo Petro, with whom I sat down for an exclusive interview, is also feeling the heat with U.S. hitting him with sanctions and accusing him of being an illegal drug dealer.
GUSTAVO PETRO, COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): What President Trump says is the opposite of reality.
SOARES: Why doesn't he listen? Why don't you think he doesn't hear you?
PETRO (through translator): Out of arrogance, because he thinks I'm a thug, a subversive, a terrorist, things like that. .
SOARES (voice-over): The tit for tat between both presidents has only escalated as President Trump goes after alleged drug boats off the coast of Venezuela and Colombia as well, actions that Petro has deemed illegal under international law, and as far as drugs are concerned, the Colombian president says he is doing his part.
PETRO (through translator): The government that has seized the most cocaine in history globally is the government of Colombia under my administration.
SOARES (voice-over): Major General Edgar Faila Vargas, who oversees Colombia's aero spatial forces in the southern hemisphere, tells me cooperation, collaboration and intelligence sharing with U.S. and 41 other countries have been key to their success in nearly eradicating drugs by air inside Colombian airspace.
MAJ. GEN. EDGAR FAILA VARGAS, COLOMBIAN AIR FORCE (through translator): In 2003, there were 639 aircraft leaving Colombia bound for the United States. This year, we can say we have had three involved in some type of illegal movement.
SOARERS (voice-over): Under pressure, traffickers have looked to the sea to make their gains. Most shipments leaving Colombia on speed boats or concealed inside shipping containers, but the main route, not the Caribbean as President Trump's campaign against Venezuela seems to suggest.
[02:25:17]
SOARES: That Caribbean corridor, is that the biggest? Is that the one you see the most action?
VARGAS (through translator): From my perspective, we have an increase in the Pacific corridor. However, activity in the Caribbean is not zero.
SOARES (voice-over): Despite tensions between both leaders and the threats of stopping intelligence sharing by President Petro, this is an area where collaboration is nonnegotiable.
Major General Vargas, who has repeatedly exalted the importance of intelligence sharing during our conversation, and prefers not to wade into the world of politics tells me very simply that when it comes to cooperation:
VARGAS (through translator): There really isn't a problem.
SOARES (voice-over): As drug production climbs and political rhetoric heats up, it seems both countries are bound by necessity, knowing all too well, perhaps if cooperation were to falter, only one group stands to gain, the drug traffickers.
Isa Soares, CNN, Bogota, Colombia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Coming up, what's next for peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine after meetings in Moscow fail to reach a breakthrough, we'll take a look.
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[02:31:00]
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWSROOM": Ukrainian official is warning there are no safe places left in the Donetsk region. Reuters reports the latest Russian attack has wounded at least eight people, including two children in Slovyansk. The regional governor says Russia launched nine aerial bombs, hitting a residential building on Wednesday. One woman says she was hit by shards of glass when the blast blew out windows and doors. Emergency crews are working through the night, clearing rubble and searching for survivors. The latest attack on Ukraine comes as peace negotiations are ongoing. A Ukrainian source says a delegation from Kyiv is on its way to Miami to meet with their American counterparts for talks. This comes a day after Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff and President Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner held lengthy talks in Moscow. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): I think what's remarkable on this particular stage is how little indeed, we know of the detail of Russian President Vladimir Putin's response to the proposal brought to him by Trump Envoy, Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. We know from aide, Yuri Ushakov, a 28-point plan was presented with perhaps three or four other documents, that some of it was rejected, some of it was potentially to their liking. But we've heard very little elaboration from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy himself, who has said that his team is open to contacts, be they in person or on the phone with the American side going forwards and hope they happen reasonably soon.
His Chief Negotiator, Rustem Umerov has met with European National Security Advisors in Brussels, presumably a bid to try and come up with a forward strategy after that Kremlin meeting. It's likely that Umerov has heard some of the results of what Witkoff heard, but what is staggering is the silence from the United States.
President Trump remarkably prolific on social media over the past days, but utterly silent on this key issue. Remember, he gave a deadline of Thanksgiving for Ukraine to agree to a peace. Instead, Secretary of State, Marco Rubio silent. Steve Witkoff, silent so far. Jared Kushner, silent as well.
PATON WALSH: And a question I think really being asked is whether this reflects a new era of more intense negotiation in which all sides have agreed the constant leaks and public airing of their differences won't take them to a more productive place. Or if indeed more darkly, is it a reflection of Vladimir Putin's rejection of what Steve Witkoff had to offer and how ultimately, he said, thank you for this, but I simply need more. And that now, the Europeans and the Ukrainians are urgently trying to respond to that to keep a sense of a process alive, potentially fearing that Trump might react harshly to the failure of his latest proposal.
We simply don't know. There is clearly a lot of activity still occurring, a lot of desire for the Ukrainians to see yet more activity. But ultimately, the decisions here have been gifted to the Kremlin. They have dictated the pace of this, the pace of the meetings. And indeed now, we are still waiting to see exactly how the Washington response to this will be conveyed. A dark moment for Ukrainians who had perhaps hoped that the lead up to this might bring a ceasefire slightly closer, but instead are now left frankly, with a bit of an abyss as to what the next steps forward are, while Russia continues to make slow, painful, yet still irrevocable progress on the frontlines. Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Kyiv, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his country was heard and listened to at recent meetings and he expects that to continue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We are preparing meetings in the United States of America. Everything is developing quite effectively right now. At the meetings in Geneva and in Florida, Ukraine was heard and listened to, and this is important. We expect it will continue this way. Only by taking Ukraine's interest into account is a dignified peace possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[02:35:00]
CHURCH: Zelenskyy's comments came after Ukrainian officials met with European and NATO allies in Brussels. A Ukrainian human rights group says Russia sent abducted Ukrainian children to a re-education camp in North Korea to be militarized. Ukraine's Regional Center for Human Rights says they have documented 165 of those camps across Russia, Belarus, North Korea, and even occupied Ukrainian territories. The group has pushed back against Russia's foreign minister's assertions that those locations are public information.
But Russia has acknowledged the transfer of Ukrainian children without guardians. A source tells CNN, a U.S. State Department-backed group is keeping a database tracking more than 30,000 Ukrainian children allegedly abducted since the start of the war.
Israel has been firing on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon for months, and we're now getting a firsthand look inside deep mountain tunnels used and abandoned by the militant group. That story, just ahead. Plus, children in Gaza are dealing with the trauma of war with help from virtual reality. We'll go live to the Enclave to see how it works, after the break.
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[02:41:04]
CHURCH: Israel and Lebanon have no diplomatic relations, but civil representatives from both countries held talks on Wednesday as part of a U.S. push to preserve their fragile ceasefire. Israel says the meeting was held in a positive atmosphere and that the two sides are open to exploring economic opportunities. Israel has been bombing, what it calls, Hezbollah infrastructure on a regular basis and warns it may ramp up operations if the militant group doesn't take steps to disarm by the end of the year.
CNN's Ben Wedeman got an inside look at old Hezbollah infrastructure, now under the control of the Lebanese army.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are the mountains from which Hezbollah, until a year ago, fired missiles into Israel. But now, under the control of the Lebanese army who took reporters on a rare tour of parts of the south, normally off- limits to the press.
WEDEMAN: We are entering a Hezbollah tunnel, well up a rugged ravine. It took a very long time to get here. This is a tunnel that the Lebanese army is telling us, it was not used for the storage of weapons, but rather was for personnel. Now, it goes in deep, deep into this mountain.
WEDEMAN (voice-over): The Lebanese army says it has found 74 such tunnels. As part of the year old ceasefire agreement that halted the war with Israel, the Lebanese army told reporters it has seized large amounts of weapons and ammunition, and more than doubled its troop strength south of the Litani River, all part of an effort to reassert government authority in areas where Hezbollah operated.
WEDEMAN: This looks like it was the kitchen. There's still food here, tins unopened. This clearly was a serious operation. This was some sort of field hospital or clinic. These are hospital-type beds. We also saw other medical equipment in here, and there's a very unpleasant smell as well. We have ventilation pipes, a water pipe.
WEDEMAN (voice-over): This tunnel appears to have been one of several in this area, which Israel heavily bombed.
WEDEMAN: And of course, this is really how Hezbollah has fought Israel for decades. I've been to other parts of southern Lebanon where, during the 1990s, when they were fighting Israeli troops inside Lebanon, they dug similar tunnels, had similar facilities, but things have changed. Military technology has reached the point where it's very difficult to do anything without being seen by a side with superior technical abilities. And that's certainly what we know Israel has had.
WEDEMAN (voice-over): Israel continues to target on an almost daily basis, what it claims, are Hezbollah members and infrastructure, saying Hezbollah is re-arming and re-grouping. Hezbollah is holding its fire for now.
WEDEMAN: What matters is that Lebanon is under intense pressure from the United States to disarm Hezbollah before the end of this year. If it does not do that, the threat is that Israel will start the war all over again.
Ben Wedeman, CNN, South Lebanon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: The Israeli military says the remains of the last Thai hostage abducted from Israel during the October 7th attacks have been identified, after being handed over by Hamas.
[02:45:00]
The victim, Sudthisak Rinthalak, was 42-years-old when Hamas launched its surprise attack. Israel says his body was taken into Gaza and held by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group. Only one hostage body that of an Israeli citizen remains in Gaza, and Israel says it's working tirelessly to bring him home for burial. The return of all hostages, dead or alive, is a key requirement for the first phase of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire.
Officials in Gaza report at least five people have been killed and dozens injured in an Israeli strike on a displacement camp in Khan Younis. Israel says the strike targeted a Hamas terrorist and was in response to ceasefire violations by Hamas. The IDF reports five of its soldiers were injured in an attack earlier Wednesday in the Rafah area. The Israel-Hamas ceasefire is still holding, but occasional infractions are taking place.
The Palestinian Health Ministry says more than 350 people have been killed since the ceasefire started. Overall, more than 70,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the October 7th, 2023 Hamas attacks. That includes more than 10,000 women and 20,000 children. And for those children who are living with the trauma and hardships from the war, who may have witnessed firsthand the death of parents, siblings, and friends, and the loss of their homes, technology may be able to help.
Some of them are getting a break from the hardship and looking at an alternate world using virtual reality headsets. So, let's learn more from Lama Abu Dalal, Content Writer and Translator for TechMed Gaza, joining us from the Al-Zawayda Camp in Gaza. Thank you for talking with us.
LAMA ABU DALAL, CONTENT WRITER & TRANSLATOR, TECHMED GAZA: You are welcome. Hello, everyone. I'm Lama Abu Dalal from Palestine. I'm (inaudible) Gaza, especially (inaudible). And I'm so happy for this chance to talk about our project as TechMed Gaza team. I'm the translator and content writer. Nice to meet you again, Rose.
CHURCH: It is good to have you with us. So I want to ask, how exactly does this initiative use virtual reality as therapy for children traumatized by the Gaza war? And what do the children see when they put on these headsets?
ABU DALAL: OK. I want to -- first, I want to talk about TechMed Gaza project. How it is born. OK. Our project or TechMed Gaza project, this idea formed with our martyred engineer (inaudible) when his son, Ameen (ph), injured at, in 2023, under this genocide. So, he began showing -- it was severe psychological symptoms on his conditions, like continuously crying, avoiding to eat or to drink. He can't sleep. He can't see anyone. So, he think, why not? I can the virtual reality, or we say the VR headset to wear to our children in Gaza. And they can see forest and animals, trees. And I can see beautiful things like beach, the sea, fish, green plants, things like that. We can see beautiful things and calm things or space of safe, calm, beautiful things, unlike that. For our project, our idea, it's to integrate the technology with our medical services. In TechMed Gaza, we provide physiotherapy sessions, psychological therapy sessions and speech therapy sessions by using a virtual port (ph) technology like the VR headset.
CHURCH: And --
ABU DALAL: Yeah, that's it about VR headset.
CHURCH: And how are children and indeed adults responding to this virtual reality therapy and how does it make them feel?
ABU DALAL: Yeah. OK. If we wanted to talk about the VR headset, it can transport the children or any person who we need to ask like, oh, who have trauma or psychological -- have severe psychological symptoms.
[02:50:00]
We transport them from this world, the world under genocide, under war, under the restriction, under shouting, everything bad. They say blood, they say martyr, they say everything we can say it is so bad. And it's so -- it's so hard, very hard. It take them away, far, for space of calm, of beautiful things, far of pain, far of -- far of anything can hurt their small hearts. So, when they wear the headset, they say, as I say, they see like the beach, like forest, the animals, the trees.
I can't tell you -- I can't tell you that some small captions we heard from our patients or our cases, before and a week, our case or our patient, he say that when he -- when he wear the VR, she say that I feel like I'm return to my life again. I feel like there is a beautiful or gentle things that waiting me. I feel like I wanted to complete my dream. I can't do it. There is a lot of things good and beautiful in this world. I can live for it.
Not everything bad in this world. Yeah, this really, we have a beautiful, a kind, a lot of things we can achieve it or we can waiting it. So, this is what we heard from our children, our cases.
CHURCH: Lama Abu Dalal, thank you so much for talking with us and I know indeed, you are looking and hoping for more headsets. We appreciate you joining us and sharing what is happening there. Thank you.
Still to come, umbrellas, phones, cooked frogs and wheelchairs, we will take you inside London Transport's largest Lost Property Office. Back in just a moment.
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CHURCH: U.S. House Democrats have released never-before-seen images from late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's private Caribbean Island where underage girls and young women were sexually abused and trafficked. The photos and videos show several bedrooms and bathrooms from the opulent estate, as well as images of what looks like a dentist chair.
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It's in a room filled with strange looking masks hanging on the walls. Meanwhile, two weeks after Congress voted for the release of the Epstein files, there's still no sight of them. And many wonder what's taking the U.S. Justice Department so long. They have until December 19th.
A doctor who pleaded guilty to selling actor Matthew Perry Ketamine in the weeks before his death has been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison. A federal judge told Dr. Salvador Plasencia, he "exploited Mr. Perry's addiction for his own profit." Perry took the drug, a surgical anesthetic, as a treatment for depression. He sought out the doctor and others when his regular physician would not prescribe the amounts he wanted. The popular star of "Friends" overdosed on the drug in 2023, after struggling with addiction for years. Four other defendants have also pleaded guilty in connection with his death.
Well, from phones and jewelry to cooked frogs and prosthetic limbs, London's largest Lost Property Office holds an array of items gone missing on the commute in England's capital. Some items have been missing for months. Other relics since World War II. Check it out.
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DIANE QUAYE, LONDON LOST PROPERTY MANAGER: So, this is Lost Property Office for Transport for London. So when the items are lost, they'll hopefully end up here if someone hands it in. And what we do, we input it, put it into our system, and collect as much information regarding the item. So if you do inquire about it, we'll try and match the item and return it to you.
So this section is our famous umbrellas. This area is one of my favorite areas. It is items that we've kept for longer than three months, some as long as World War II. So, one of the items I really like to look at is the stuffed puffer fish because it's just unbelievable. If the items are not found within the three months, we basically put all those items together and decide if it should go to auction or charity.
I always say miracles happen on Transport for London because, as you can see, we got a few wheelchairs. About 5,000 items are lost within a week. The items can be from an umbrella to a mobile phone, money, jewelry, I could go on. You name it, comes through these doors.
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CHURCH: What a selection. Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. I will be back with more "CNN Newsroom" in just a moment. Do stay with us.
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