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Donald Trump Unveils New "Trump Class:" Fleet Of Battleships; Heading Home To Mexico For The Holidays; Bari Weiss Shelves "60 Minutes" Report On Deportations; Christian In Gaza Cling To Hope This Christmas; Volodymyr Zelenskyy Says Negotiations Are Very Close to a Real Outcome; Ukrainian Draft Dodgers Go to Dangerous Lengths to Flee War; German Engineer Becomes First Wheelchair User in Space. Aired 2- 3a ET
Aired December 23, 2025 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:00:49]
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. ramps up aggressive action to seize oil tankers near Venezuela as another alleged drug boat is struck in the Pacific,.
Controversy at CBS News, after a "60 Minute" story on Trump deportees is shelved at the last minute.
Ukrainian men taking desperate and dangerous measures to flee their country to avoid fighting the war against Russia.
And a Swedish Christmas tradition is now being practiced by people all around the world.
ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.
CHURCH: Good to have you with us, and we begin this hour with the simmering tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela. The U.S. military reports hitting another alleged drug boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing one person. It's the latest strike in what the Pentagon calls operation southern spear, meant to curb the flow of narcotics to the U.S. 105 people have been killed since early September.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump is again warning Venezuela's president to step down. He says, If Nicolas Maduro wants to play tough, it will be the last time he's ever able to play tough.
Mr. Trump confirmed, the U.S. is still in active pursuit of an oil tanker near Venezuela accused of carrying sanctioned oil. If the U.S. seizes it, the ship would be the third taken by American forces since early December, reporters asked what the president plans to do with the tankers and the oil.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you able to share what became of that tanker? Was the U.S. able to seize it?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, it's moving along, and we'll end up getting it. Yes, we're actually pursuing it. Can you imagine? Because it came from the wrong location, it came out of Venezuela.
We're going to keep it. We'll keep it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where's it -- are we going to sell it or put in the strategic oil reserve?
TRUMP: Maybe we'll sell it, maybe we'll keep it. Maybe we'll use it in the strategic reserves. We're keeping it. We're keeping the ships also.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Venezuela is warning the seizure of tankers and a U.S. naval blockade will have unintended consequences for the U.S. and the world.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YVAN GIL PINTO, VENEZUELAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): We responsibly warn that these aggressions will not only impact Venezuela, the blockade and piracy against Venezuelan energy trade will affect oil and energy supply, increase instability in international markets and hit the economies of Latin America, the Caribbean and the world, especially in the most vulnerable countries.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: More now, from CNN's Senior White House Reporter Kevin Liptak.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: President Trump says the U.S. remains in pursuit of an oil tanker in international waters off the coast of Venezuela that began almost 24 hours before he was speaking on Monday. The U.S. looking to interdict this vessel as part of President Trump's efforts to cut off Venezuela's top economic lifeline, its oil industry.
You know, he was speaking from down here in Palm Beach, he was announcing a new class of U.S. battleship that's called the Trump class. He says it will be the most advanced in the world. That it will replace what he says is a tired U.S. naval fleet. He says he will be heavily involved in its designs, because, as he says, he's a very aesthetic person.
But of course, the backdrop to that announcement was this growing pressure campaign that the U.S. is executing on the Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. The president says that, ultimately, the goal could be to oust Maduro from power. Listen to what the president said.
TRUMP: I think it probably would. I can't tell that. It's up to him what he wants to do. I think it would be smart for him to do that.
But again, we're going to find out, he can do whatever he wants. We have a massive Armada formed the biggest we've ever had, and by far the biggest we've ever had in South America. He can do whatever he wants. It's all right, whatever he wants to do, if he wants to do something, if he plays tough, it will be the last time he's ever able to play tough.
[02:05:10]
LIPTAK: So, you hear the president there discussing his strategy when it comes to Venezuela. He has been saying now for weeks that he could order strikes on land in that country. He keeps saying that that will happen soon, but so far, he's stopped short of giving the order, which perhaps speaks to some of the reservations the president has about becoming embroiled in a prolonged conflict, about the U.S. getting mired in a foreign war.
Now, these oil tankers do seem to be a separate matter. The tanker that the U.S. is continuing to pursue is the third boat that the U.S. attempted to intercede as the U.S. tries and enforce this oil embargo that the president has announced on Venezuela. He seemed confident on Monday that the U.S. would eventually be able to intercept this boat. And he seemed confident that the U.S., as it continues to intercept these oil tankers will be able to keep the oil.
Kevin Liptak, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Brian Fonseca is the director of Florida International University Institute for Public Policy. He joins me now from Miami. Appreciate you talking with us.
BRIAN FONSECA, DIRECTOR, FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY: Thanks for having me.
CHURCH: So, as the U.S. pressure campaign on Venezuela intensifies, the U.S. military has struck another alleged drug boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing one person while still actively pursuing an oil tanker near Venezuela, and President Trump is again warning the country's president to step down. Is this about drug trafficking, regime change or oil? What's the real mission here?
FONSECA: I think it's probably about all of the above. I mean, first and foremost, yes, it is about regime change. The White House is hoping that the pressure that it's mounting with the flexing of U.S. military off the coast is going to be enough to create a fracture within Venezuela that will ultimately see the ousting of Maduro from power.
But it is also about drug trafficking, I think again, despite the fact that not a whole lot of the narcotics that flow into the United States come to the Caribbean, the region that the United States is conducting these strikes offers a relatively low barrier of entry to use the military in targeting drug trafficking with lethality.
Imagine doing something like this in Mexico or in Central America. And so, I think the United States is seizing an opportunity that it can do both pursue drug trafficking as well as, you know, put pressure on Maduro in the hopes it can get to regime change. And it's also about oil in sending messages to American rivals like Russia, China and Iran, who operate fairly liberally in places like Venezuela.
CHURCH: And President Trump claims that the U.S. has rights to Venezuela's oil sector, does it?
FONSECA: Yes, I mean, the president does have a point. It was Hugo Chavez that expropriated American assets when he was in power prior to Maduro. So, he took a lot of American assets that U.S. companies had on the ground and expropriated those for the state.
And in fact, U.S. involvement in Venezuelan oil production dates almost back to a full century. The country became a founding member of OPEC in the early 1900s and so, the United States has had in a presence on the ground in Venezuela's oil sector, contributing to the infrastructure development for more than a century now.
And so, the president's claims, while, certainly, you know, seem outlandish, do have some legitimacy in terms of the expropriated American assets that Chavez did, you know, about 15 years ago.
CHURCH: Right amid this rising tension in the Caribbean, President Trump is also taking aim at Colombia's President Gustavo Petro, saying he's no friend of the United States. And as this continues, President Trump is not ruling out war. Is this a prelude to war, as Republican Senator Rand Paul has suggested and has warned?
FONSECA: Yes. I think that -- I think the White House wants to avoid boots on the ground. I think it would be far more costly to have American military, you know, committed on the ground in Venezuela for a pronounced period of time. I think that jostling with President Petro of Colombia, you know, is sort of more, you know, political leaders kind of on polar opposite sides of the political spectrum, taking shots at each other. The United States and Colombia have an incredibly deep and long relationship that certainly isn't going to be upended by the two presidents that occupy the respective you know, executives at the moment.
But certainly the jostling makes, you know, for a lot of animated engagement between Colombia and the United States, despite the deep relationships and the ongoing engagement that the United States and Colombia have, particularly in areas of security.
You know, that said, again, I don't think that all of this is a prelude to a land invasion, but again, the United States is putting itself in a position that if it continues to at least acknowledge that regime change is the end game, then it has to go all the way coming home short of regime change means the White House will come home with mud on its face. CHURCH: OK? So, if this is regime change in Venezuela, what would that look like?
[02:10:01]
FONSECA: Well, I think regime change would probably look like some type of transition government. I don't think that it will swing all the way over to the opposition, at least. I don't think that's the best thing to do, because a lot of the governing institutions are still under the control of the regime, and sort of those loyal to the regime.
And so, I think you're going to have to have some type of power sharing between, you know, members of the opposition, members of the current government, the military will play a heavy role, and they'll probably occupy sort of the governing structure while calling for new elections in 18 months, or something like that. I mean, that's a scenario. There's certainly a few other scenarios, but I think that's probably the most likely, is that you have a fracture within then you have some type of power sharing that goes on for about 18 months until you can hold new democratic elections and have a democratically elected president for Venezuela.
CHURCH: And under that model, does Maduro leave voluntarily?
FONSECA: I don't know if it's ever going to be voluntarily. I think that again, he's in survival mode right now. And there's a saying in Latin America that dictators either go into exile, into jail or into the ground. And I think at this point, he would probably rather go into exile than the others, and so some type of negotiated transition where he leaves would likely mean that he leaves the country.
CHURCH: All right, we'll watch to see what happens. Brian Fonseca in Miami, thank you so much for talking with us. Appreciate it.
FONSECA: Thank you.
CHURCH: Well, President Trump appears to be once again, making a play for Greenland. On Monday, he announced the appointment of Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry as a special envoy to the self-governing Danish territory. Landry has publicly declared that he shares Trump's wish to see the resource rich island become part of the U.S. President Trump is now defending his decision.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We need it for nationals -- we need Greenland for national security, not for minerals. We had some -- we have so many sites for minerals and oil and everything. We have more oil than any other country in the world. We need Greenland for national security.
And if you take a look at Greenland, you look up and down the coast, you have Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. We need it for national security. We have to have it.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH: And there was swift reaction from Denmark, where the foreign minister said he was deeply upset by the appointment and would summon the U.S. Ambassador to Denmark in response to the move.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARS LOKKE RASMUSSEN, DANISH FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): Out of nowhere, there is now a special U.S. presidential representative who, according to himself, is tasked with taking over Greenland. This is, of course, completely unacceptable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: At least five people, including a 2-year-old child, were killed when a Mexican naval plane crashed in Texas. The plane was transporting burn victims and went down in the waters of Galveston Bay on Monday afternoon, according to officials.
The Mexican Navy says eight people were on board, four naval crew members and four civilians. Search and Rescue crews recovered two people alive, but one person is still unaccounted for.
The holidays bring a unique sight to some border crossings between Mexico and the U.S. Mexicans who live in this country line up to visit their homeland, often loaded with gifts and supplies for their relatives. CNN's Gustavo Valdes reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUSTAVO VALDES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hundreds of travelers from all over the United States gather at this parking lot in Eagle Pass, Texas as they wait to cross the border.
They are paisanos, people of Mexican descent going to Mexico for the holidays.
VALDES: And they don't make the journey empty handed. Many have truckloads of stuff that they're taking to their loved ones in Mexico. Luis is going to Michoacan. He's coming all the way from California. Why are you doing this?
He says he likes to spoil his relatives with presents from the States.
VALDES (voice-over): Rosario Ibarra is taking medical supplies for relatives and donations to local hospitals.
All this cargo makes them a target once on Mexican soil. Robbery and extortion are an unfortunate reality for them. The Mexican government acknowledged the problem, and every year, helps organize caravans to assist and protect them along the way.
This group is going to the state of Zacatecas in central Mexico. Ivan Reyes (ph) is one of the organizers. He says the National Guard will join him all the way to Zacatecas, traveling more than 800 kilometers.
Their journey starts before dawn, led by local police to an international crossing point where they wait with other paisanos who are not part of the caravan.
For Juana Rivera (ph) and her family, these are the last hours in the United States. They are retiring after more than 20 years and going back to their hometown.
[02:15:13]
This pilgrimage is not unique to Eagle Pass tens of thousands of vehicles cross the international bridges from coast to coast in the week before Christmas, the traffic bottleneck can last hours.
Miguel Tapia (ph) doesn't mind it. He's waited 31 years to return to Mexico because up until a few months ago, he was undocumented and could not leave the country.
How does it feel to be so close to Mexico? He says he feels Mexico won't be the same he remembers. Guillermo Roman (ph) packed most of his belongings in this truck, taking even his cat, because after 21 years in Texas, he's calling it quits.
He says it's a bittersweet moment, happy he is going back, but sad he can't return, leaving behind half of his life.
His parents are getting old and need help. He is undocumented and with the current situation, he says staying in Mexico is his best option. Most of these travelers will be making the journey in reverse in a couple of weeks, full of memories and experiences that will encourage them to come back next year, regardless of the challenges.
Gustavo Valdes, CNN, Eagle Pass, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Still to come, intense scrutiny on CBS as the news boss shelves a "60 Minute" segment, details after the break.
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[02:21:12]
CHURCH: Welcome back everyone. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a pill version of the popular weight loss drug Wegovy.
Currently, patients need a weekly injection to take the drug. It's a man-made version of a hormone the body produces naturally to regulate food intake. According to health data, about one in eight Americans say they are taking some form of appetite suppressing medication, the pill will be available by prescription in the U.S. in January.
A decision by CBS News editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss, to shelve a "60 Minute's" piece on Venezuelan deportees has sparked a crisis inside the news organization, and is attracting intense public scrutiny. CNN's Chief Media Analyst, Brian Stelter, has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHARYN ALFONSI, "60 MINUTES" CORRESPONDENT: I'm Sharyn Alfonsi.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST (voice over): It was a report from Sharyn Alfonsi shelved by Bari Weiss that has put "60 Minutes" under the microscope again.
Viewers were supposed to see this report on Sunday night. CBS released this video clip ahead of time, encouraging viewers to tune in.
ALFONSI: The deportees thought they were headed from the U.S. back to Venezuela.
STELTER (voice-over): Alfonsi interviewed men deported by the Trump administration to a notorious maximum security prison in El Salvador.
ALFONSI: Did you think you were going to die there?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We thought we were already the living dead, honestly.
STELTER (voice-over): Alfonsi said in an internal email to her colleagues, quote, "These men risked their lives to speak with us." CBS put the segment to bed on Friday. But then Weiss weighed in on Saturday. She said the segment didn't sit right with her, sources told CNN.
One of Weiss' main concerns was the lack of response from the Trump administration. She wanted someone like Stephen Miller on camera, on the record. In an extraordinary internal memo, Alfonsi decried corporate censorship and said she had, "Asked Weiss for a call to discuss her decision. She did not afford us that courtesy/opportunity."
Alfonsi went on to say, "Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices." And "We requested responses to questions and or interviews with DHS, the White House, and the State Department." "Government silence," Alfonsi said, "is a statement, not a veto."
And here is the key quote. "If the administration's refusal to participate becomes a valid reason to spike a story, we have effectively handed them a kill switch for any reporting they find inconvenient." Weiss criticized the story on Monday morning, telling staffers on a conference call, quote, "While the story presented powerful testimony of torture at CECOT, it did not advance the ball."
That comment created even more indignation inside CBS, with staffers wondering if the Trump administration is pressuring CBS parent company Paramount.
TRUMP: I beat CBS for much more money than that.
STELTER (voice-over): Trump sued CBS over 60 Minutes last year, and the old owners of Paramount agreed to settle, stoking outrage. Then Trump praised the new owners, the Ellisons.
TRUMP: Larry Ellison is great, and his son David is great. They're friends of mine. Big -- they're big supporters of mine.
STELTER (voice-over): But this month, Trump has been blasting them.
TRUMP: 60 Minutes has treated me worse under the new ownership than -- they just keep treating me, they just keep hitting me. It's crazy.
STELTER (voice-over): That comment coming just hours before Weiss intervened in the Alfonsi piece. Weiss, a New York Times Opinion Desk veteran, launched The Free Press website in 2021, and sold it to Paramount this year for $150 million.
Paramount CEO David Ellison put her in charge of the CBS newsroom while she's still running her startup, causing concern that she's overstretched. Former CBS reporters like Harry Smith say Weiss is now being tested.
HARRY SMITH, FORMER CBS NEWS ANCHOR: Who does she need to please, and what does she need to please? And if that's not journalism as the number one answer, then there really is a problem at CBS.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STELTER (on camera): And all this is happening while CBS parent Paramount tries to buy CNN parent company Warner Brothers discovery.
[02:25:02]
On Monday, Paramount revised its hostile takeover bid offer, and said Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison will personally guarantee the financing. Any deal will need Trump administration approval, and Trump has said he'll be personally involved, which means CBS News coverage is really under a microscope right now.
Brian Stelter, CNN.
CHURCH: One of Israel's oldest media institutions, will be off the air soon, after 75 years, the Israeli government is pulling the plug on the country's army radio come March, and that's raising concerns over press freedom.
The attorney general called the decision part of a broader move to undermine public broadcasting and restrict freedom of expression.
Army radio is a unit of the Israeli military, but has a vibrant news department operated by soldiers and civilian journalists. Several media and civil society groups say they will challenge the decision before the Supreme Court.
The cease fire in Gaza has largely been holding, but hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are facing a fresh struggle, winter weather. As temperatures drop, many must decide whether to shiver in flimsy tents, exposed to the elements, or risk sheltering in bombed out ruins prone to collapse.
But despite all the daily hardships and shortages, Gaza's small Christian community is still determined to mark Christmas. CNN'S Paula Hancocks explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Christmas Mass in Gaza this year had many messages hope, resilience and a direct response to the U.S. president's early plans for a post war Gaza.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I remember during the war, especially at the beginning, there were plans to transform Gaza into a resort. but we are here, we will not be a resort. We will rebuild our lives as we want
HANCOCKS (voice-over): The most senior Catholic cleric in the Holy Land traveled to Gaza to support the tiny Christian population, just 1,000 people before the war started in 2023 living among a population of more than two2 million. He states, we are still here, highlighting the fight for survival after two years of war.
CARDINAL PIERBATTISTA PIZZABALLA, LATIN PATRIARCH OF JERUSALEM: House, housing, schools, hospitals, the condition of life and poverty are catastrophic.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): Bells rang out for the baptism of a new baby, Mario (ph), marking new life and new hope, the patriarch said.
But memories are still fresh of a strike last July on the only Catholic Church in Gaza by the Israeli military killing at least three people sheltering in the building. Israel's Prime Minister's office said at the time that it deeply regretted that stray ammunition hit the church.
I was in there, this 11-year-old says, and I was hit by a glass shard in my foot. My wish for the new year is to get out of here and meet my family outside Gaza and for us all to be at peace.
We're trying to make this prayer more than just a celebration. This woman says, we decorated the tree and its simple decorations, we're trying to make it a spiritual joy.
A rare moment of hope so desperately needed after more than two years of misery.
Paula Hancocks, CNN, Abu Dhabi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Coming up, dodging the draft, the dangerous journey some Ukrainian men are making to avoid the front lines. Back with that and more in just a moment.
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[02:33:56]
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWSROOM": Welcome back, everyone. Ukraine's president is expressing optimism over negotiations to end the war, writing on X, "We are very close to a real outcome. We are also developing the first draft of the agreement on Ukraine's recovery, economic strategy."
But Volodymyr Zelenskyy also said there are certain points that Ukraine is not prepared to accept, and he is sure the same is true for Russia. To that point, a Kremlin spokesperson told a Russian newspaper that the weekend talks in Miami could not be considered a breakthrough.
As the war rages on, CNN's Clarissa Ward shows us the dangerous lengths some Ukrainian men are taking to escape fighting Russian forces.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN BENGA, DIRECTOR, SALVAMONT MARAMURES MOUNTAIN RESCUE: So what you see on the right-hand side, there's Ukraine.
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dan Benga knows how dangerous these mountains can be. He and his team have rescued hundreds of Ukrainians who tried to cross them.
BENGA: They don't have the knowledge; they don't have experience.
[02:35:00]
And they don't have professional equipment. Because on these mountains, you need professional equipment to be alive.
WARD: To survive.
WARD (voice-over): The Carpathian Mountains that cut along Romania's 400-mile border with Ukraine have become a deadly magnet for Ukrainian men fleeing conscription at home and seeking freedom in the E.U.
WARD: You can see how steep these mountains are. It is frankly astonishing that up to 100 Ukrainians are making this crossing still every single week.
WARD (voice-over): The risks are huge. Since Russia's invasion in 2022, the Salvamont Mountain Rescue Service has carried out countless perilous missions that have saved 377 Ukrainian lives. The longest operation lasted nearly six days. Not everyone makes it.
The Romanian Border Police say 29 Ukrainians have died crossing the mountains and the Tisza River that separates the two countries.
BENGA: This is a job we were prepared. We are training every day and this is a job we are doing. It's not about being Ukrainian or Russian or American; it's about being human.
WARD: A human being.
BENGA: Yeah. WARD: So if you could deliver a message to the men of Ukraine, would you tell them stop trying to cross through these mountains? It's too dangerous.
BENGA: I really can't say don't cross the mountains. I can say take care of you.
WARD (voice-over): It's a lesson that Dima (ph), who asked us not to reveal his identity, learned the hard way. He made the crossing shortly after receiving his draft papers early on in the war. Things quickly went wrong when his group got lost.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Minus 20 degrees Celsius, without food, without water.
WARD: No water?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): No.
WARD: No food?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Only snow.
WARD: Just the snow?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I walked 20 kilometers barefoot. I realized I had problems with my feet, but at that time, I didn't feel it. I only felt it when I was already in the hospital.
WARD: And then, did they have to remove all the toes?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Yes. If the rescuers hadn't found me within two hours, I wouldn't be talking to you now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Freedom!
WARD (voice-over): Stories like Dima's (ph) have done little to stop the flow. According to the Romanian Border Police, more than 30,000 Ukrainians have entered the country illegally since the war began.
Martial law prohibits eligible men between the ages of 23 and 60 from leaving Ukraine. Many see crossing these mountains as their only option. Numbers are down from their peak in 2024, when the mobilization age was lowered to 25. But even now, as winter sets in, the crossings continue.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Friends, this is the place for a proven, safe, reliable and fast way out abroad for men.
WARD (voice-over): For those who can afford it, some smugglers openly sell their services on TikTok and Telegram. 9,000 Euros to get to Moldova; 12,000 Euros or around 14,000 dollars to Romania.
Artem, as he calls himself, says he helps facilitate these escapes.
ARTEM, BORDER-CROSSING FACILITATOR: We rescued, I think, more than, in this moment, more than 600 people.
WARD: I find it really interesting that you use the word rescue.
ARTEM: Of course, because I see the situation like that. And I think we rescue people who just want to leave, to build their future.
WARD: And what do you say to people who view you and who view those who are trying to leave as traitors?
ARTEM: I don't take care about them, to be honest. I help people, I save people.
WARD (voice-over): Ukrainian authorities see it differently, faced with a manpower crisis as the war heads towards its fifth year. Men caught trying to leave the country illegally are rounded up. Some have reported being mobilized shortly afterwards.
WARD: Hi, Victor, how are you?
WARD (voice-over): 34-year-old Kyiv taxi driver, Viktor Pinkhasov, has just crossed into Romania.
WARD: I'm glad you're OK. You survived.
VIKTOR PINKHASOV, UKRAINIAN DRAFT EVADER: Yes, thank you.
WARD: How long did it take you?
PINKHASOV: Five days, four nights.
WARD: Five days, four nights, walking through the mountains?
PINKHASOV: Yeah, yeah, three big mountains.
WARD (voice-over): He says the journey was tough, but the decision to leave was easy. His five-month-old daughter, Eva, is in Switzerland and he has little faith in ongoing negotiations to end the war.
[02:40:00]
WARD: Do you believe that there is going to be peace?
PINKHASOV: No.
WARD: No?
PINKHASOV: I want to believe, but I see nobody wants peace.
WARD: What's the most important reason you left?
PINKHASOV: My daughter, freedom. I want to live and understand that I'm free. I can't go, I can't live in prison. I'm a free man.
WARD (voice-over): It is a bleak outlook shared by many Ukrainian men, willing to leave their homeland behind to take their futures into their own hands. Clarissa Ward, CNN, Maramures, Romania.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Scientists are digging deep into the Arctic ice core to learn about the Earth's history. Coming up, what they believe it could also reveal about the planet's future. Back with that in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:45:33]
CHURCH: From volcanic activity to greenhouse gas concentrations, Arctic ice cores can reveal a lot about the history of the planet and the impact humans have on it. A team of scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Research Center is braving the extreme cold at the top of the world to understand what could lie ahead for us all. CNN's Bill Weir has more on "Call to Earth."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL WEIR, CNN CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As an ice core scientist and high-altitude mountaineer, Alison Criscitiello is comfortable working in harsh conditions.
ALISON CRISCITIELLO, DIRECTOR, CANADIAN ICE CORE LAB: Right now, it's a super nice day, probably only minus 10 with a little bit of wind. But when we got here at the beginning of April, it was in the low minus 30s. Quite cold, but it's warmed up to kind of Arctic spring.
WEIR (voice-over): For nearly two months, she's been camped out on Axel Heiberg.
CRISCITIELLO: And here's all our sleeping tents.
WEIR (voice-over): An uninhabited island in the Canadian High Arctic.
CRISCITIELLO: I am on Muller Ice Cap, which is almost exactly at 80- degrees North. And I'm here with a big international team because we're drilling an ice core. And actually, we're drilling a few ice cores.
WEIR (voice-over): But they aren't doing it all by hand. That's only done to extract the first couple of meters, which are lost in preparing for the bigger equipment to operate.
CRISCITIELLO: I'm going to give you a view inside of the drill trench. Inside the main deep drill trench, currently, around 268 meters down.
WEIR (voice-over): Led by teams from Canada and Denmark, and accompanied by scientists from as far away as Brazil and Australia, they've set up two separate drill sites on this expedition.
CRISCITIELLO: That is actually quite unique. The reason we have two drills is because we're collecting a lot of material to be able to do a lot of different analyses. So, the Danish drill that we spent the last two months drilling from the surface all the way down to 613 meters to bedrock. We're either at or very close to the bottom. There's a lot of rocks. And that core will be used for what we hope will be 10,000 to 20,000 years worth of climate reconstructions.
The other drill, the Canadian Eclipse drill, is drilling a series of 70-meter cores to look at the transport of environmental contaminants to the far north. Sending out 4,000 pounds of ice today.
WEIR (voice-over): Alison says that planning for this 51-day expedition took about five years.
CRISCITIELLO: Here comes the twin otter.
WEIR (voice-over): From here, the cores are sent back to the Canadian Ice Core Lab at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, where Alison is Director. It's been about five months since she has returned, and the team has reassembled to begin processing and imaging the ice for analysis. Each one-meter section will be cut into five pieces and shared with various scientific labs around the world.
CRISCITIELLO: I think we're all really hoping that it's going to allow us to reconstruct Arctic sea ice in the past, over a long time period, the full Holocene, and hopefully can let us look at Arctic Ocean variability in the past.
WEIR (voice-over): The first step will be to learn the age of the ice by analyzing the layers with various methods, like ice flow modeling using volcanic eruptions as time markers.
CRISCITIELLO: At the end is the electrical conductivity, which is really just these two electrodes that get dragged on the surface of the ice, and extremely useful in locating particle layers, so where there are volcanic tephras.
WEIR (voice-over): Because of the complex analysis process, it could take a year or more until they confirm the age scale of this ice, and then many more years for additional scientific data to be revealed.
CRISCITIELLO: It's hard to put a value amount on this ice, but I would say it's invaluable.
WEIR (voice-over): It's a process that's a true test of one's patience. But for Alison, it's well worth the time, energy, and effort, if for anything else, the sake of the planet.
CRISCITIELLO: Why should people care about this? Well, I think understanding our past climate in a way that helps us better predict and understand future climate and what's to come is something that impacts every single person and living thing on this planet.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Let us know what you're doing to answer the call with the hashtag, #CalltoEarth.
[02:52:30]
CHURCH: Each year in December, white-robed singers appear in schools, workplaces and churches across Sweden. They perform traditional Lucia songs meant to bring light to the darkest time of year. This 18th century tradition is now spreading globally. And in London, the Lucia Choir of the Swedish Church can barely keep up with demand.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARA LINDVALL, LUCIA CHOIR MEMBER: Everyone's heard the horror stories of like the hair catching on fire, plus the fainting, falling on my face in front of everyone. I'm a bit nervous; I'm not going to lie.
FREDRIK KARLSSON, DIRECTOR OF MUSIC, SWEDISH CHURCH IN LONDON: Lucia is a Swedish Christmas tradition. I think it's exploded a little bit amongst the English, you know, word by mouth. Oh, go for that, that's lovely. It's different. And people go and they think, oh, yeah, it is different, isn't it?
LINDVALL: Lucia is one of the best kind of celebrations in Sweden. It's a very joyous occasion where we can all gather and celebrate the light. Every year, from middle school to high school, there's always a Lucia choir. I've always tried to participate.
LINDVALL (through translator): When we are singing, will they turn off all the lights?
KARLSSON (through translator): Yes, all off.
LINDVALL: There's usually one Lucia per year.
LINDVALL (through translator): We've chosen you to be the Lucia in Westminster Cathedral.
LINDVALL: To be the Lucia at the front of the procession, carrying the crown with the candles, that's a huge honor.
KARLSSON: Lucia, or Saint Lucy, was a noblewoman who, according to legend, wouldn't marry the nobleman that her parents had decided for her. And for this, she was sentenced to death. She gave her dowry away to the poor, delivered food and bread to the poor people, down in the catacombs, she had a tray. In the dark catacombs, hmm, couldn't really see. So she put a crown of candles on her head.
LINDVALL: OK, ready? The crown, it's quite heavy and it's quite unstable. Any sudden turns or movements will cause the candle wax to burn me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): My personal preference is that it will drip behind rather than at the front.
LINDVALL: Upstairs, everyone!
KARLSSON: Now, not five minutes ago! Upstairs sanctuary, now! The procession has to be practiced quite meticulously. On the day, I worry about all sorts of things. Limited window of rehearsal, I'm afraid. Are they going to remember the words? No, no, no, no, no. Is everyone going to be OK?
[02:55:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you feel like fainting, blow out your candle and sit down. If you see someone fainting, help them sit down on the side or something, or just sit on the floor. Make no big deal out of it. It's fine, it happens.
LINDVALL: I wouldn't say it's common for Lucias to faint, but it has happened in the past. You're wearing quite a heavy crown on your head with the candles and it gets quite warm.
KARLSSON: It's a pitch-black cathedral, so all the lights go down. So you only have the candles. Three, two, one, are we ready? Are there stairs there? Are they going to fall over?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Are there a lot of stairs now?
KARLSSON (through translator): It will be fine.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Oh, I walked too fast.
KARLSSON: It's blown out of capacity a little bit. It's so much really that we have to cut couple of services down.
LINDVALL: We are selling out cathedrals here in the U.K. like, why is that happening?
There is Lucia celebrations in New York, in Paris, Brussels they do it, Berlin.
LINDVALL: So obviously, there is something making people want to come and watch.
(CHOIR PERFORMING)
LINDVALL: Especially when we are living in quiet like challenging and dark times, I think we need a bit of light more than ever. I
KARLSSON: It's important to make sure people are welcome, feel welcome, and everyone are welcome. I think with Lucia, you can do that.
(CHOIR PERFORMING)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: A wonderful tradition there. An historic milestone in spaceflight this weekend, a European Space Agency engineer became the first wheelchair user in space. 33-year-old Michaela Benthaus travelled about 62 miles above Earth on a Blue Origin capsule. After a mountain bike accident resulted in a spinal cord injury in 2018, Michaela had to change a lot of things about her lifestyle, but she never lost her adventurous spirit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You told me after the accident that you thought this dream of going to space was no longer possible. You just showed the world that it is possible.
MICHAELA BENTHAUS, ENGINEER, EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY: I know! Let's not stop here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What would you say to folks that have given up on a dream because they thought it was impossible?
BENTHAUS: I think you should never give up on your dreams, right?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Good advice. Thanks 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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