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Connect the World
CNN Gains Exclusive Access To Struggling Hospitals In Caracas; CNN Gets Across To Scene Of Assassination; Ethiopian Refugees Say They Were Targeted Due To Ethnicity; Ashton Kutcher Urges E.U. To Allow Tech Giants To Keep Tracking Online Child Abuse; Thirty-Three Of 39 Billion Californians Under New Stay-At-Home Orders; La Nina System Means Cooler, Wetter Conditions. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired December 07, 2020 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We may never know what knowledge perished with Dr. Fakhrizadeh or what impact that will have on Iran's critics, the hawks who
claim that it could be as little as four months away from a possible nuclear weapon.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A CNN team at the Sudan/Ethiopia border spent days gathering testimony from refugees who say they were targeted because of
their Tigray ethnicity.
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Abu Dhabi this is CONNECT THE WORLD with Becky Anderson.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: A new world moving as fast as ever. Right now, we're taking you everywhere from Ethiopia, to Sudan, to
Australia, to Venezuela and Iran to show you what is going on. Welcome back to the program.
I want to start in Venezuela. A country exhausted, exhausted by hunger, exhausted by death, exhausted by chaos, people starting to give up. We are
going to get you on the ground there in just a moment.
First, let me set the scene for you so you can get a sense of exactly what is going on and what is causing such a sense of resignation. Remember, even
before the pandemic came along, Venezuelans struggling under an economic crisis brought on by years of sanctions led mostly by America and just
outright government neglect.
What do words like economic crisis mean? What it means is hyper inflation, money losing its valuing to the tune of 4,000 percent this year. That is
exhausting. It means they are not being enough to eat, and I don't mean for a few people I mean for a third of people who live there others skip meals
that's exhausting.
The government's advice in the past raise rabbits at home. It means queuing for petrol in for hours and more in a country that all that floats on oil,
it means, power cuts all the time, exhausting, and on top that a deadly pathogen exploiting your country's poor conditions which the government
prefers to pretend simply don't exist. It is exhausting.
That government led by this man. In weekend election the opposition an outside observers called fraudulent, Venezuelans overwhelmingly voted to
keep the government of President Nicolas Maduro in power. Even by official measures just a third of people who could vote did so it's hardly a ringing
endorsement.
CNN's Isa Soares has been reporting on Venezuela's crisis for the past few years. She is today in Caracas getting rare access to hospitals and the
conditions inside those hospitals that literally have to be seen to be believed. Isa, what did you see and how are people coping under the weight
of COVID-19?
ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You said it, Becky. It's exhaustion and that's exactly what I'm seeing exhaustion and desperation. We wanted to get
a sense of what's happening inside those public hospitals and really, Becky, there are no words.
In - public hospital in Caracas, remnants of the once wealthy nation lie strewn on the dirt floor. Its shackle wards hiding what the Venezuelan
government doesn't want us to see. Here COVID-19 has unmasked Venezuela's open wounds and practically every floor this hospital is empty tells me
that this hospital workers who prefers to remain anonymous.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's empty because there is nothing here, there are no supplies. There is no way to treat patients, no lights, no working pipes,
the baths are clogged and there's no water. If patients don't die of disease they die of containment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: It's a risk only a few dare to take. This is the COVID-19 ward. Only this part of it is functional. The rest is completely run down after
years of mismanagement. So it's no surprise many would rather face the pandemic outside these walls choosing instead their homes over these
decrepit rooms, where darkness has literally taken over.
This is the intensive neo-natal ward, and the reason I'm holding up this light right here is because there is no electricity in this hospital. Have
a look around. Bare bones and what I've been told by doctors around Caracas and outside of Caracas is that this is the situation day in, day out.
Even in the morgue death comes with shortages. There's no pathologist here and with intermittent electricity the stench is unbearable. Now imagine
having to face a pandemic in these conditions.
[11:05:00]
It's why this doctor is no longer afraid to speak out. I have friends of mine who have been criminally charged. Why, for protesting the conditions
in which they are forced to practice so he doesn't hold back. In Venezuela, he tells me, there's only as many recognized COVID cases as the regime
wants.
With testing limited to three government-control labs the doctor says it's impossible to paint an accurate picture. With regards to COVID, he says, we
don't know where we are. The government, however, claims the pandemic is under control, say its strategy has worked a government that shows us
inside a hotel where suspected patients are kept in quarantine for up to 21 days.
It's a lockdown strategy employed by China which the government of Nicholas Maduro has been keen to extol. Dr. Rodriguez shares a similar pride.
Venezuelans have shown immunity to the virus he says. The families of those who have died on the front lines may see it differently. 272 health care
workers have lost their lives in Venezuela as of November the 30th. At this hospital in Caracas you can see why. They are overworked and unprotected.
It's one nurse for this whole area here. This is evident all around, and as I walk this ward I stop to speak to a patient's daughter. She tells me her
frail 69-year-old father is here because of malnourishment, is staple state and - that we've seen across Venezuela. His immune system is compromised
yet he shares this room with a COVID patient. He needs iron supplements that this hospital simply doesn't have.
Look at this. This is what they have to work with here nurses and doctors. Syringes, they have got nothing. There's a vast emptiness all around and a
sense of disillusionment and surrender painful, no doubt, for those who saw this once oil-rich country as one of the wealthiest in Latin America now
teetering on the brink of survival.
And Becky, CNN reached out to the government here in Venezuela for comment on the conditions we saw in those two public hospitals as well as for the
criticism that we had from various healthcare professionals and so far we haven't heard back, Becky.
ANDERSON: Isa Soares is on the ground in Caracas. Isa, thank you for that. I want to bring in someone who has had firsthand experience of the pandemic
himself in Venezuela, Ovidio Velazquez, had COVID-19 himself and so did his wife and father. Sadly he lost a close family friend, too.
He joins us no from Puerto La Cruz which is about 300 kilometers East of Caracas. Thank you, stir. Just explain what you have been through.
OVIDIO VELASQUEZ, VENEZUELAN COVID-19 PATIENT: Hi, Becky, thank you for the opportunity. Well, I had the virus, and we - me and my family had the virus
almost at the same time, and we had to face this by ourselves and without the help of any public medic or without going to the hospital.
Most of all because we were afraid to go to a public hospital because we know there is no condition in the hospital to attend people with COVID. I
mean, you can see it and you describe it over there, and that's a reality in all - all the public hospitals in our country that we don't have the
conditions to be treated if you have the COVID.
So you have to face it by yourself, and that's what we did. Thankfully we survived from COVID but without any help from the government or - or any
public institution.
ANDERSON: Well, that's shocking, sir. We've just seen my colleague Isa Soares and her team reporting about the dire state of hospitals, and you're
telling me that you are - that you were simply too scared to seek medical attention and when you had the virus yourself.
VELASQUEZ: Yes.
ANDERSON: So how did you cope? What do you do?
[11:10:00]
VELASQUEZ: So, you have to call friends and, you know, somebody whoever is also a doctor, at least a friend of the family, helped us through the time
we were sick, and that was the way. She told us about what to buy, what to drink and what to take and that was the way we made it through the --
through all, and that's the reality about 80 percent of the people that have - that have already had the virus and have survived and everybody
tried to make it by themselves because you don't want to be in one of those hospitals. That's almost sure that you won't make it if you get to one of
those hospitals in those conditions.
ANDERSON: So what do you make of the government's response to the pandemic and the message that the government wants the world to accept which is that
it has this pandemic under control?
VELASQUEZ: Well, you know, here you can't - there is a - the people don't want to believe in politicians, you know, and the government is - has been
already making all those stories about the virus and the reality that you can see in the streets, you did see out. It's so different from what they
say so you don't believe them. You don't - you know that it's truly different from what they say.
ANDERSON: Sir, I'm so sorry for your loss. We do wish you and your family well. Do stay safe and well and check in with us again. Thank you very
much, indeed, for joining us tonight.
VELASQUEZ: Thank you, Becky. Thank you for the opportunity.
ANDERSON: Thank you. The American Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeting, "The U.S. condemns the illegitimate Maduro regime fraudulent December the
6th legislative election. They do not immediate any minimum standard of credibility and are nothing more than to steal Venezuela's democratic
future. We call on all countries to reject this electoral sham".
For those Venezuelans who are hoping to - just trying to survive and coping with COVID I'm sure those will be words of some comfort. You'll often find
Mr. Pompeo speaking out against Iran in similar terms which is like Venezuela of course attracts significant ire from D.C.
In fact the Secretary recently swung through this region at another tour of aimed at positioning America further against Iran and its maximum pressure
campaign. That's all as Iran deals with its third wave of the Coronavirus. The Iranian government claims the sanctions are blocking access to vaccines
and all manner of medical supplies.
Well, Iranian lawmakers are poised to fight back following the aftermath of last month's assassination of Iran's top nuclear scientist. Nick Paton
Walsh and his crew are on the ground in Iran getting rare access to the scene of that killing and he joins us now from Tehran, Nick.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Increasingly complex explanation we're hearing from state media, Iranians, security officials
about how their most prominent nuclear scientist Dr. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was killed last Friday on the outsides of Tehran saying now that it was
artificially intelligent powered facial recognition remote control machine gun that in fact carried out the killing which has brought the question of
whether diplomacy can succeed here in the region for Iran with the United States and the other European - of a nuclear deal or whether we do risk
some sort of escalation.
Amid Tehran's holiday homes by the snowy roadside is where the man whose work Iran says must go on was fatally shot reportedly in front of his wife.
Nuclear scientist Dr. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was Iran's repository of nuclear bomb knowledge, Israel has claimed, while not saying they were behind the
assassination.
A lot of the debris has been cleared away other, but you can still see the soot from the explosion on the curb and the damage done to the road below
me. There are still so many different versions of the events of what happened here, but one witness we've spoken to says at first they heard an
explosion, a wood truck that they say detonated here.
[11:15:00]
WALSH: And then there was an exchange of gunfire that lasted about eight to ten minutes. You can see over here the damage still done to the side by the
bullets. From the orchard nearby a possible vantage point for a low-tech ambush even though Iranian security officials are telling state media this
was a high-tech plot involving an AI-powered facial recognition satellite- controlled robot machine gun into whose bullets Fakhrizadeh stepped when he got out of his bulletproof car can.
One of the many reasons offered for a lapse in security in this neat back water. Fakhrizadeh's son told state media his father ignored warnings from
his security detail the day before. My father said he had a class, the son says, one he could not teach virtually and an important meeting so they
could not persuade him to turn back.
Deep inside the Defense Ministry Sunday they remembered him against at the highest levels. Among Iran's critics louder and louder, the question, does
this another lapse in security make a race towards a possible nuclear weapon a good idea or a worse one?
Officially Iran says it does not want the bomb, but its parliament last week demanded Iran enriches uranium to 20 percent in the first weeks of the
Biden Administration. That could make a weapon a lot closer. There remain two versions of Iran, both a bit visible here. It's hard hit by sanctions
and wants to talk or has resisted and will hit back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We know our campaign is working because now the Iranians are desperately signaling their willingness to
return to the negotiating table to get sanctions relief.
SAYEED MOHAMMED MARANDI, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF TEHRAN: The Israeli regime, if it feels that it can continue to carry out acts of terror the
Iranians will pay an unnecessary price. The only way to stop these acts of terror for them to pay a price that makes it not worthy. I have no doubt
that the Iranians are going to respond.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALSH: Iran has been here before a lot at this museum of blown-up cars attest, all Pojo models going back in the ages and all nuclear scientists
assassinated in Iran's pursuit of what it says is peaceful nuclear technology that it needs alongside its huge oil reserves.
We may never know what knowledge perished with Dr. Fakhrizadeh or what impact that will have on Iran's critics, the hawks, who claim that it could
be as little as four months away from a possible nuclear weapon.
Deals, scientists, assassins, all have come and gone but the mounting tension which Joe Biden has a huge diplomatic task to ease in a matter of
months has about 40 days left to build. Adding to the complexity here, the EU three, Germany, France and the United Kingdom expressing their deep
concern that Iran will be adding centrifuges to its Natanz nuclear facility, yet another potential problem here in the bit to get everyone
back to the negotiating table, Becky.
ANDERSON: Nick, what chance does diplomacy have at this point?
WALSH: I think a reasonable one, frankly, because it is what Joe Biden wants. It is clearly most likely to bring some sort of sanctions relief to
a country that was hit incredibly hard by the pandemic and by sanctions before that.
Yes, they are proud of what they call resilience and resistance here, but it is having a doubt about that and that can be fastest changed if the
moderate negotiators here can get some kind of quick relief as part of diplomacy.
The issue is what comes first. There are penal in Tehran here who says you heard that simply all the U.S. should do is get back into the 2015 nuclear
deal but we're hearing from the German Foreign Minister and partially from Joe Biden, too, that maybe a nuclear plus deal that deals with what Joe
Biden calls the missile issues here may be necessary.
There's a lot of lifting to do here, but both sides have been looking for this moment for quite some time. The Trump Administration is soon behind
them. So the possibility for some success is there but there are so many other players here in so much volatility that could easily derail that
possibility. Becky?
ANDERSON: Nick Paton Walsh is on the ground in Tehran. Nick, thank you. And staying in region, I just want to connect you to news next door to Iran and
Iraq which is preparing to play host to Pope Francis. The Vatican says the pontiff will go there next March making his first trip outside Italy since
the COVID pandemic began.
The four-day visit will include stops in Baghdad, in Mosul and indeed in other cities. Iraq has seen an exodus of Christians in recent years and the
Pope has been pushing Iraq's President to do more to guarantee their security and you will also remember that Mosul was once fully under the
control of the terror group ISIS.
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ANDERSON: You're watching "Connect the World." I'm Becky Anderson next, more exclusive reporting for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Sudan-Ethiopia border, the last leg in the journey to safety.
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ANDERSON: We'll give you a look that you can only see right here, the journey of several Ethiopian refugees as they escape the violence in the
Tigray region and in Australia a desperate attempt to contain what was started by an illegal camp fire. The latest as people are told to leave
their homes.
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JAN EGELAND, SECRETARY GENERAL, NORWEGIAN REFUGEE COUNCIL: The government TPMN all of these men with guns and power have to sit down and talk because
women, children are bleeding here and we should not allow for another ethnic conflict.
On the horn of Africa there are too many. We need peace here, and we need the international community to come and urge peace. Their neighbors,
African Union, everybody we need to urge that there is reconciliation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Long time - Leader Jan Egeland there speaking to me driving home urgency of the situation in Ethiopia's Tigray region. In the past month
here on this show "Connect the World" we've brought you every development that we can on this Tigray conflict. It's been a difficult task considering
the government-mandated communications blackout.
Well, recently we learned that neighboring Eritrean forces are operating alongside Ethiopia's government in Tigray. A member of the Executive
Council of the Tigray People's Liberation Front has confirmed to CNN as much in the first interview with the member of the TPLF since the fall of
Mekelle.
Well, earlier the Ethiopian Prime Minister office tweeted a statement claiming the active military operation was over, "Without civilian
casualties", but a CNN team at the Sudan-Ethiopia border has spent days gathering testimony from refugees who describe horrific violence. CNN's
Nima Elbagir has out story and I want to warn you that some of the accounts and some the images that you are about to see and hear are disturbing.
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Sudan-Ethiopia border, the last leg in the journey to safety. In the first weeks of the
conflict thousands of refugees from Ethiopia's Tigray region crossed daily. Now the figures are dwindling day by day and those that do make it here
come bearing scars and testimony.
This - he says he fled the City of Sharara in the Ethiopia-Eritrea border. He says the Eritrean soldiers beat them with machine guns, lay them on the
gun and put weapons in their mouths.
[11:25:00]
ELBAGIR: He says if you showed fear they would kill you, but if but were brave you escaped with your life and the scars on your back. This young man
is also from Sharara, and he described the same scene but asked that we not share his name. Like many here he's still afraid.
It's very hard to know what's happening in Ethiopia's Tigray region because the government has enforced a communication blackout. A CNN team at the
Sudan-Ethiopia border spend days gathering testimony from refugees who say they were targeted because of their Tigray ethnicity.
They are taking dangerous risks to find safety. This woman arrived in Sudan with a newborn. Heavily pregnant when she was attacked by the Ethiopian
army she fled through back roads giving birth in a field. She tells us only she and her mother-in-law made it to safety.
We can't independently verify their accounts but they all tell a similar story. The Ethiopian army enters the town they say, tells civilians they
are safe. Ethiopian soldiers leave and then other armed groups arrive.
This man fled a region not too far from the Sudanese border he says the final militia opened fire and people started to flee. He was hit in the leg
with a bullet and fell on the ground. His body mingled with that from other bodies that were piled on top of him, and the militiamen threw him in a
stream and left him for dead.
The militia allied with Ethiopian forces. He said he was saved by other Tigray refugees who found him and helped him flee to Sudan. This man is 21
and he also say he was left with --. He shows us the bandaged wound where he says he was attacked by an axe.
A spokesman for the Ethiopian Prime Minister denies these claims and told CNN these refugees' testimony are a result of the fear of the other
propaganda, the Tigray leadership, had fed its people over the past three decades.
The spokeswoman denied the existence of the militia but simultaneously confusingly acknowledges the militia of - regions were engaged to the
extent of securing bothered towns between the two regions. Sudan is struggling economically post the ouster of Ahmed Bashir and this influx of
refugees has found little comfort on this side of the border, but at least it's somewhere safe. Nima Elbagir, CNN, London.
ANDERSON: Well, CNN has attempted to reach the Eritrean government for comment but has been unsuccessful. Well, a credit card giant joining the
fight against online child exploitation that started with a "New York Times" column accusing the porn site "Porn Hub" of hosting abusive video.
The column's author joins me live in a few minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:30:00]
ANDERSON: We're watching the European parliament as soon as it takes up a vote that could have big consequences for the fight against child sexual
abuse. We will get their verdict the issue, where the giant tech firms can keep scanning social media websites and personal messages to detect
predators. Some critics say that's violation of privacy. Nina Dos Santos has more from London for you.
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: With countries lockdown and people spending more time online authorities in Europe are sounding the alarm
about a rise in sexual exploitation of children.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YLVA JOHANSSON, EUROPEAN COMMISSIONER FOR HOME AFFAIRS: We have so many signs that grooming is growing rapidly, and that means that perpetrators
find children, children are being victims. We are obliged in my view to protect these children.
DOS SANTOS (voice over): For more than a decade law enforcement agencies across Europe like Europe Hope have been able to work with technology firms
to scan social media, websites and online communications for evidence of child pornography.
TIMOTHY ZAMMIT, CHAIR, EUROPEAN UNION CYBERCRIME TASK FORCE: The information that we are receiving through these types of references is a
great part of our job and through the references we have been able to identify a number of victims in our investigations and those who prevent
the abuse to these children.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are looking forward to the questions and answers.
DOS SANTOS (voice over): But now a debate that EU privacy rules could change that. On one side the EU Commission wants to maintain the status quo
and has proposed a temporary piece of legislation that would allow tech companies to continue screening online platforms.
JOHANSSON: This is about protecting children. It's not that they are into reading everything that somebody is texting on the platforms.
DOS SANTOS (voice over): On the other hand, some members of the European parliament like Patrick Breyer say the screening is a breach of privacy
that could be open to abuse itself.
PATRICK BREYER, MEMBER OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT (GREEN/EFA): Examining and searching the content of everybody's digital correspondence is as if
the post office were just opening all our letters. All it may achieve is that criminals will be using encrypted channels instead.
DOS SANTOS (voice over): Last month the actor and tech investor Ashton Kutcher waded into the debate.
ASHTON KUTCHER, CO-FOUNDER, THORN.ORG: If it was your kid that was being sexually abused and it was their content that was being shared on the
internet and you knew that tech companies had had the ability to identify and remove that content or even prevent the abuse from happening, but a law
was standing in the way from you providing your kid with a better life, would you be OK with that?
DOS SANTOS (voice over): For police fighting cyber crime across the EU losing a tool they say is vital at a pivotal time is deeply concerning.
So how would you change on a day-to-day basis for police forces across the EU if you didn't have this ability to screen communications?
ZAMMIT: The reality is that we'll have to wait for reports to come in or else employ other proactive measure and other exercises that are already in
play.
DOS SANTOS (voice over): The matter will come to a head on Monday with a vote on how to proceed? If no compromise is reached by default screening
will stop by before the end of December with implications for millions of children across can the EU and elsewhere in the world. Nina Dos Santos,
CNN, London.
ANDERSON: You saw actor and activist Ashton Kutcher joining this fight against online child abuse. He's Co-Founder of the Child Protection Group
Thorn and told CNN that even though the EU will be voting on a law, abuse knows no boundaries.
KUTCHER: This isn't an EU issue. The Internet is a global tool so children that are being abused in the United States, their content are being shared
in Europe. Children that are being abused in Europe, their content could be shared in the United States so this is a global issue.
[11:35:00]
And as the EU makes a very critical decision on how this is going to be legislated, it's going to affect the rest of the world. It's going to
affect all of us and frankly I don't understand anyone that isn't - that has children and cares about children that isn't interested in this issue
and taking it on because it's your kids' lives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: He's right. It is a disgusting problem. The activists and tech companies work to wipe out online child abuse Mastercard is joining that
fight. It is going after "Porn Hub", this after "New York Times" column used the porn site of hosting videos on its platform that show the sexual
abuse of children.
Now the credit card company accepts payments on the website it says it has, "Zero tolerance for illegal activity on its network and that it works
closely with law enforcement". Well, the author of "The New York Times" column accusing Porn Hub of child exploitation is Nicholas Kristof and he
joins me live to connect us to the facts.
I have to say it's an alarming article but everybody watching this should read it because it is excellent. In your article you write the world has
often been oblivious to child sexual abuse from the Catholic Church to boy scouts too late we prosecute individuals like Jeffrey Epstein or R. Kelly
but we should also stand up to corporations that systemically or systematically exploit children. With Porn Hub we have Jeffrey Epstein
times 1,000. Talk us through what you unveiled in this investigation, sir.
NICHOLAS KRISTOF, COLUMNIST, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Sure. Well, Becky, first of all, I don't think many people realize just how big a company Porn Hub
and holding company that owns it, how big they are. Porn Hub has more visitors than Netflix.
It's one of the ten most visited sites in the world, more visitors than Amazon, and, you know, let's be clear that most of the pornography on this
site does involve consenting adults. It's a minority of the videos that are problematic, but a minority of millions and millions of videos is deeply
problematic.
And, you know, I saw - this isn't about porn. This is about rape and about sexual abuse of children, and on that site there are videos of unconscious
women whose rapists touched their eyeballs to show that they are completely unresponsive while being assaulted and there are videos of a young child,
of one the people I've spoke to was a girl who at 14 years old, had her life completely disrupted when naked videos of her were put on Porn Hub.
And she was an "A" student. She ended up leaving school, self-medicating and attempting suicide twice. You know, this is something that
corporations, large corporations, should not be able to get away with.
ANDERSON: Nic, today you tweeted that Serena, the 14-year-old that you were just talking about, has now moved into a hotel room after readers raised
money for her in a "Go fund me account". I wonder as an author of the article and, you know, given the work that you have done on this, how do
that make you feel?
KRISTOF: It's just so wonderful. You know, Serena was so gutsy and telling her story and allowing her photo to be taken and run with the piece and
using her name as you know Becky it's helps so much to have a face to have a name that gives credibility to an allegation like this.
She was nervous about the results. She said she was worried about attack from creeps but she also wanted to challenge Porn Hub by telling her story.
And we were both deeply apprehensive about what might unfold but readers just enveloped her in love and she - she had been homeless living in a car
with three dogs.
And now she has housed her dogs are with her. People have offered her homes. They have offered to pay for her to go to school to become a vet
tech which is her dream. So Serene has problems I think are resolved.
[11:40:00]
KRISTOF: The issue is the problem of so many other keeps that are still on Porn Hub, their rates being exploited by a company and monetized by a
company.
ANDERSON: Nic, Porn Hub is responding. It has sent the following statement to CNN about child sexual abuse material or CSAM. And let me just read that
for our viewers, "Eliminating illegal content and ridding the internet of child sexual abuse material is one of the most crucial issues facing online
platforms today. Any assertion that we allow CSAM is irresponsible and flagrantly untrue. We have zero tolerance for it. Porn Hub is unequivocally
committed to combating CSAM. As you hear that response you think what?
KRISTOF: Well, I think that they have - I think that the play list that they have like less than 18 or underage. How can a company have playlists
like that when it says it's combating child sexual abuse material?
I saw - there was a video from Indonesia of a - that was - that the title was about a junior high school girl being sexual assaulted. There was
another of - that describes the title, whereas that China high school girl is lured up on her roof and is raped. This was a video documenting that
rape.
Can you imagine the humiliation of these children, as they're not only raped but when that assault is over that assault video is there for
millions to see around the world? As a company it makes money on it. No, they are not doing all they can and they should be held to a higher
standard.
ANDERSON: In the piece you end on some solutions they include allowing only verified users to post videos prohibiting downloads and increased
moderation. How viable are these solutions sir?
KRISTOF: So these solutions themselves I think are pretty viable, pretty straightforward. YouTube does not allow downloads right on the site and
Porn Hub could not allow downloads on the site. Some people can get around that of course but likewise Porn Hub already has a system for verified
users to upload.
It could restrict uploads to those people so at least it knows who is uploading videos. And, you know, right now it has about 80 moderators.
Meanwhile, Facebook has 15,000. It would not break Porn Hub's bank to double that number for example to triple that number.
But look, I want to be clear with that these are imperfect solutions. This would help but it would not resolve the problem. If there is a broader
problem with child sexual abuse material on all websites and it's one that we're probably not going to 100 percent clean up. But can we do a better
job, and can Porn Hub do a better job? Absolutely, I'm hoping that Visa and Mastercard are now essentially putting pressure on the companies to behave
better.
ANDERSON: Nicholas Kristof on these stories for you, Nicholas thank you. We will be back right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:45:00]
ANDERSON: White House Coronavirus Task Force Adviser Dr. Deborah Birx is warning Americans not to let down their guard after an alarming surge in
COVID-19 cases. As we speak a record 101,000 Americans are hospitalized with the virus and this map is a sea of red and orange is deaths increased
in more than 40 states in the last week.
I want to zone in on California, 33 million out of 39 people who live there have been ordered to stay at home. Stephanie Elam is there in what is
America's most or second most populous city, Los Angeles. Stephanie?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Becky, the picture is really bad. In fact, I have to admit I was kind of shocked yesterday when I saw that
California reported more than 30,000 people infected with the Coronavirus for the first time.
This is just what they reported in one day yesterday and also taking a look at our deaths in it the state and - and it's probably going to be in the
next couple of days that the state is going to surpass 20,000 people who have lost their lives to this virus.
Also looking at the positivity rate it continues to trend higher as we saw throughout November same is happening here in December as well. Now it is
above 10 percent for the seven-day period. But the issue here is ICU bed capacity that is what Governor Gavin Newsom has been saying that his team
is keeping an eye on to decide when these stay-at-home orders would go into place regionally.
They broke up this state into five different regions. And two of those regions now have fallen below 15 percent capacity and that would be the San
Joaquin Valley, which is in the central part of the state a lot of the growing area, where we see a lot of our vegetables and fruits and nuts all
grown.
And then here in the Southern California region where I am and that is really going to encompass most of the population of the state by far, and
they saw their ICU bed capacity, according to state of Southern California at 10.3 percent left and San Joaquin Valley just over 6 percent left.
This is why now as of last night restaurants are closed except for takeout and delivery, stores are open but just for 20 percent of capacity, museums
are closed, all personal care service, no getting your hair cut, no going to the salon, no barber shops, and this has some people very annoyed
because they are saying how can we keep our businesses alive and thriving if you keep shutting us down. Becky?
ANDERSON: Yes. Stephanie Elam reporting on a dilemma that's not just specific to the city she is in or the state she is in. In fact, it's a
dilemma that is faced by governments and leadership around the world. Thank you, Stephanie, particularly distressing story there though.
Well, just one year after its black summer, the skies of the parts of Australia are again darkening by smoke. A hugely important story tied to
the well fare of our planet is up next.
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[11:50:00]
ANDERSON: Well, two images that almost a year on are still so heartbreaking to look at, the moment Harvey Keaton, not yet 2 years old, took the place
of his father at his funeral to receive a medal of bravery.
Jeff Keaton died volunteering to protect Australia from some of its worst fires in its recorded history. Harvey along with Charlotte, the daughter of
fellow fallen firefighter Andrew Dwyer well, the first kids to explore a new playground in the honor of the heroes.
Australia's Prime Minister was also saying that they're saying the country will be forever grateful. You're looking at pictures from a year ago in
Australia. This is just a glimpse of the blood red skies spewing ash, the searing flames that marked that tragic summer.
Add to that the deaths of nearly 3 billion animals most of those images too distressing to share again. Well now, new bush fires have been tearing
across Australia for weeks. We'll explore what it all means in terms of the climate crisis up next. First though Angus Watson has the latest on the
current situation in Queensland.
ANGUS WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hot winds fuel the fire front as it blackens pristine rain forests on Australia's Frazer Island. Half of this
UNESCO world heritage site has now burnt. Over 82,000 hectares already up in smoke, according to Queensland Fire and Emergency Services. Now the fire
is it ripping towards the tiny township of Happy Valley.
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ELSPETH MURRAY, HAPPY VALLEY COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION: Smoke is getting heavier. I can hear the aircraft going over the head. That's another one of
the crop dusters going over.
WATSON (voice over): Water bombs pound the blaze from above and authorities say they are dropping more than 1 million liters on this canopy of smoke
each day but it's just a drop in the bucket compared to the rain that is so desperately needed.
GREG LEACH, COMMISSIONER, QUEENSLAND FIRE & EMERGENCY SERVICES: This fire in Frazer Island is a marathon, not a sprint. There's no significant rain
in the forecast and really rain is the only thing that is going to put this fire out.
WATSON (voice over): This fire has burnt for more than 7 seven weeks now sparked by an illegal camp fire according to CNN Affiliate 9 News.
Australia on high alert in this first month of the Southern summer the memory of the last tragic bush fire season still fresh in the mind here.
Nearly 3 million animals were affected then according to the World Wildlife Fund, including 61,000 koalas, killed, injured or affected in some way.
LEACH: The vegetation on Frazer Island is extremely dry because we haven't had substantive rain on Frazer Island for some time so the vegetation is
cured and ready to burn and when you get a strong wind behind this you get a lot of intense fire behavior.
WATSON (voice over): Fire brigades across Australia were bolstered with new equipment this year, bought with donations that poured in from the around
the world. The pride of the New South Wales Fire Service set north on Monday to drop a flame-retardant gel from the air working to save this
unique Island on the Great Barrier Reef, a front line for the climate crisis Angus Watson in Sydney, Australia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: So, big question why are the fires in Australia not as bad as last year? Well, it's down to the fact that Australia's weather is
currently being influenced by La Nina Climate. You can almost think of it as the opposite to La Nina it tends to in cooler and wetter conditions
including as Australia's Bureau-of-Meteorology points out here cyclones.
Tell that though to the people of the Islands that Angus - Frazer Island that Angus was just reporting on. Jennifer Gray is at home in Atlanta for
you but with a snazzy setup to help us understand this. What is the La Nina weather event? How does this play into our increasingly changing
environment?
JENNIFER GRAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are in a La Nina pattern right now and that impact the weather patterns around the entire globe. Now for
Australia in particular it does mean that the warmer water from the Pacific is being pushed westward due to the stronger trade winds. That is going to
result in much more rain as well as cooler temperatures.
[11:55:00]
GRAY: Like you mentioned, you could see an increase in cyclones as well, so it impacts every area of the globe differently, so this is how La Nina
impacts Australia.
Now, it is going to mean more rainfall, likely mentioned, and so it is going to result in fewer fires or it should. Now the reason we're still
seeing a lot of fire activity in Australia is because we're not out of the woods in the drought.
We still have dry areas across Australia especially Eastern Australia across the South. We've had some decent rainfall that across the Eastern
half of Australia. We've had some very, very dry conditions. So that's going to fuel those fires until the rain comes down from this La Nina
event.
And you can see from this graphic we are going to expect a lot of rainfall across much of Australia with the even. Now a lot of you may remember 2010
to 2012, that's the last time we were in a La Nina. We had - a lot rain, we don't expect this event to be quite as extreme, but we are going to expect
to have a wet and cooler term during this La Nina event Becky.
ANDERSON: Thank you for that. Good setup. While La Nina brings temporarily cooler and wetter temperatures to Australia or certain parts of Australia,
the rest of the world is still heating up, according to a report from the European Union's Climate Change Service. This last month was the hottest
November ever recorded and it was the hottest Autumn Europe has ever seen.
November was 0.1 degree Celsius warmer than last year a record that the Service Director said should ring alarm bells. Well, this year has been
pretty bad in ways isn't it, we can't sugar coat it, but spare a thought for those who have it worse than you, and that will likely be most people.
Imagine those in Venezuela where if you get sick, there's really nowhere to go. The hospitals just don't function properly so do what you can to help
others' to make the world a little bit better. Do look after yourselves wherever you're watching in the world do what you can to make our world
just a little bit better. Take care. Good night.
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