stopping the search. top white house officials in mexico city seeking help to stop the flow of migrants coming into the united states. that as the caravan of thousands slowly makes its way to the southern border. in michigan donald trump staying on the ballot. the state supreme court rejecting the attempt to kick the former president off the primary ballot for his actions on january 6. we have details on the legal arguments coming up a man is trapped in his car after crashing it under the bridge. or six days he waited to be rescued and had given up for dead until the most unlikely thing happened. we are following these developing stories and many more coming in right here to cnn news central. good afternoon. i am boursin chess with the

jessica dean in washington dc. moments ago some of the president biden top officials landing in mexico city meeting with the mexican president to discuss one of the most difficult issues facing the biden administration. the near record number of migrants trying to enter the united states right now. the american border towns and major cities are overwhelmed by the arrivals. notably earlier this month the u.s. reported the seven-day average of over 9600 migrant encounters per day along the southern border. >> that is higher than the november average of 6800 per day. yesterday a slight drop at 6000 apprehensions. at this hour antony blinken and homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas expected to press mexico for help in reducing the influx of migrants. our reporter priscilla alvarez is here. what specifically will the secretary asked of the mexican president? >> reporter: u.s. officials

prepared a series of measures they want mexicans to take to drive down the number of border crossings at the u.s. southern border. for example, moving migrants out, at the mexico northern border to decongestant area as well as controlling roadways which are often used to more quickly get to the u.s. southern border. providing incentives like visas so that migrants remain in the country, and not travel up to the u.s. southern border. clearly it's an urgent issue not only because of the numbers but also because of who the president is sending to have these talks. this is an extension of the president biden call with mexican president andres manuel lopez obrador. last week both agreed that additional enforcement was urgently needed. eric kay of state antony blinken, homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas and homeland security advisor liz sherwood-randall in the talks that will happen in the

next hour. again, as mentioned earlier, the numbers have dropped slightly since a few days ago. yesterday there being 6000 encounters at the u.s. southern border. officials say it could be because of the holidays and they are still bracing for what the next few days could bring. these are still high numbers and overwhelming border towns growing increasingly restless, putting pressure on the biden administration to do more. the meeting today is a step in that direction, to try to provide relief for these towns on the u.s. southern border. >> that is priscilla alvarez like from the white house. taking you live at the southern border with the epicenter of the southern crisis. we are live in eagle pass, texas. as priscilla mentioned a slight drop in migrant arrivals reported yesterday in the united states and what you see where you are in eagle pass?

>> reporter: there is a slight drop but you have to think of it like this. if your house is flooded with five feet and water levels drop two or three inches, your house is still flooded. that is what we see at the u.s. southern border. u.s. border patrol is still overwhelmed. they are stretch then creating gaps in border security. the searching resources that the border using personnel from other agencies sent to the border to help with the processing and transportation of migrants have also transportation assets, buses and vans to try to move migrants areas to get process very quickly. they also closed several ports of entry at the u.s. southern border including one bridge at eagle pass, texas. that is one of two bridges impacting and having a real impact on communities and the economy, including here in

eagle pass. individuals are very frustrated because of the wait times and the bridge only here to my left. i just checked in the wait time is 15 hours. locals tell me normally when they cross back and forth for everyday business to go to a restaurant or visit family, normally takes them on a bad day two or three hours but right now is 15 hours. that his legal trade and travel impacted by this border surge, by the migrant crisis going on right now. there is another debate happening in border towns which is what to do about the migrant crisis because individuals and americans impacted. one business owner here in eagle pass says it's tearing this community apart. take a listen. >> i can tell that temperatures are flaring. everywhere you go. it is the topic of discussion. i'm afraid of what is coming. that is why i'm hoping that there is a peaceful resolution to this crisis, and that we,

state and federal, work together. but if we don't get together, it's going to be bad. you think it's bad right now, it's going to get worse. >> reporter: jesse and other locals hope that after the top level talks in mexico city that the bridge here in eagle pass will open. one other thing i will be looking at, as a first clue, if there is actual action from the talks, looking on the mexican side. you can see that over my shoulder. that is mexico. in other instances we have see more law enforcement, i change in posture. we will look at that to see if that happens after the top level talks in mexico city today. >> that is rosa flores in eagle pass, texas. let's discuss this further with someone representing the border town, warmer texas congressman

will herd. thank you for making time to come on with us today. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle represent border states and communities ringing the alarm and had been for some time. if you are part of the meetings today with the mexico president, what are you saying to him? >> this is part of the problem, what shows the biden administration does not know what they are doing. the fact that secretary of state antony blinken and alejandro mayorkas are in mexico city is part of the problem. the solution to the border crisis are not in mexico city. solutions are in washington dc. is the policies of the biden administration that has led to 5.8 million people being apprehended during the administration of joe biden. to give context to that number, that is 1.35 million more than the previous 10 years. that is only eight three-year. >> at that 5.8 number.

if i reprise it, i would change policies. cnn has done great reporting today on interviews having with many migrants coming here illegally. all of them have said that we thought it was easier to get into the country. that is because the policies and the biden administration treating everybody like an asylum-seeker. that is what the biden administration needs to address. not trying to have these -- look, mexico can do more, no question about that. it is a problem to mexico. i guarantee you that when the meeting happens that president andres manuel lopez obrador is telling secretary blinken and alejandro mayorkas, what you doing to stop the sucking sound that the united states is causing in other parts of latin america.

>> diving into what the u.s. can do to fix the issues but digging into the visit from the secretary of state unfolding right now. priscilla outlined some steps that the u.s. administration is seeking from mexico, including moving migrants from the southern border further south to decongestant the area better control roadways. also for mexico to offer basis for migrants from other countries to stay there as opposed to moving to the united states. how does the u.s. get mexico to agree to take those steps? >> i think the only way to greet you said this is what we are doing on our side, and to look at this joint problem. i think the u.s. also needs to work with the mexican government on dismantling the human smuggling operations moving the majority of the people. those smuggling operations are impacting the mexican economy as much as it is the american

economy. i think there is a package of sharing intelligence and information. that he is to some groups we can work with in mexico in order to dismantle those human smugglers moving all of these people, creating this humanitarian chaos. those are two things i think to be on the table in these negotiations with the mexican government. >> i hear what you're saying about the policies and your criticism of the biden administration policies. there's a bipartisan effort in the senate right now trying to work through immigration reform. we will see where that ends up going. republicans wanted tied to the aid to other countries. the fact of the matter remains that immigration is an issue that congress has had the option an ability to go after fix report for decades but simply cannot get it done. is it now too far gone, and why is this such a vexing question for american lawmakers? >> great question. let me answer your first or

last question first. is vexing because republicans and democrats would rather use the issue at the political bludgeon to knock each other over the head rather than to solve the problem. ultimately in the negotiation right now democrats are the ones that have the upper hand in the senate, but they are being fraudulent as well. they are not willing to streamline legal immigration. the fact they have historically been against that, a lot of that is pressure from the various big unions, to not streamline legal immigration, not to streamline the h2 a program or to fix the other issues. all of that would do a lot in order to make legal immigration, which we need in so many industries, a reality. what the biden administration and democrats have to read, is

the reason that joe biden is losing bike double points to nikki haley. why joe biden is losing in a head-to-head matchup with donald trump is because the general election voters see this issue as something that needs to be addressed. that these problems and this crisis is squarely created by president biden. again, cnn reporting prior to christmas, did a lot of the cross tabs on these voters in the general election, of why they would vote for a republican over joe biden. so this is something that if the democrats need to look at whether it will impact the 2024 election. >> it has been issued for very, very long time on both sides. congressman will hurd, thank you so much della had this afternoon the israeli military chief says the war in gaza will last "many

more months" after the hours long sitdown between u.s. officials and close confidant of prime minister benjamin netanyahu. "the new york times" suing microsoft and openai over copyright infringement. ahead, why the times says the companies are responsible for billions of dollars of damages. cnn investigating the cryptocurrency scam apparently cheating americans out of billions of dollars by using enslaved people. it is been a living day in and day out. >> the stunning report next on cnn news central.

no signs of slowing down. the white house says that israel assured the u.s. that at some point it would transition into lower intensity operations in gaza. the israeli operations chief now says the war with hamas will continue for many more months. listen to this. >> there are no magic solution. there are no shortcuts. dismantling the terroristic organization. only determined and persistent fighting. >> we are in tel aviv. the idf says it is ramping up operations in southern and central gaza now that is close to dismantling hamas in the north. what more are you learning? >> reporter: we are hearing from the idf and defense minister said there was trouble in the north for some time, for

couple of weeks now. they are focused more on units in the south. in terms of the war being complex and many more months to come, that is dashing the hopes of some that thought at some point it would end sooner rather than later. however, we know it is a complex situation and the chief of the general staff say they are increasing pressure in various ways. constantly learning and adapting to their enemy. in terms of communication we get from idf in the many days, war as usual. land and sea targeting militants and hamas infrastructure like tunnels and storage facilities. talking about the tunnels they are discovering going through civilian infrastructures like hospitals, mocks -- mosques and

schools. so we can never repeat the massacre it is promise to do time and again. of course to get those israeli hostages, more than 100 still alive and still in the gaza strip held by hamas and other militant groups but the cost we see not only the lives of soldiers but more worrying for the international community is the sheer scale of palestinian casualties, almost 21,000 now according to the hamas run health ministry. >> on the question of aid, idf calling on the international community to quote "find solutions for distributing aid in gaza. " tell us more about that. >> the contentious point is that israel is under much criticism for either obstructing or preventing more aid for going to the gaza million or so people. the situation described as a nightmare level by the world health organization on a recent visit. there is the crossing between

israel and gaza strip to let them go directly from israel to gaza, something it would not do initially. it did that after pressure from the united states. there's nowhere near enough aid going into the gaza strip. something like 844 trucks went through, not literally enough. the appointment to make sure the stuff going in should be going in and the stuff that shouldn't, does not go in. >> with us to discuss more is retired army brigadier general. general, great to have you with us. we are listening to elliott's reporting. we know that the u.s. has publicly privately urged benjamin netanyahu and his government to turn to lower intensity phase of the war, to focus on position. not justãyou know, to be more

concerned and focused on civilian deaths. we keep hearing from the idf and benjamin netanyahu that it will continue, going to hire intensity phase. at what point does he not listen to the u.s. or does he need to listen to the u.s.? >> i think we need to be humble in this regard taking a look at our win-loss record in recent years. i'm not sure i would take advice from the yes on how to fight a war like this. in fact, the last war we truly won 80 years ago and similar tactics that were used by us are being used by the israelis. there is a little bit of 21st century conceit we might want to consider, and understand the perspective of the israeli's better than we have up to this point. >> general, when it comes on is recalling on the international community to do more to distribute aid in gaza, and announcing simultaneously it will stop automatically granting visas to the u.n. workers. how do they balance the effort

to preserve civilian life in gaza, and get in aid with the security considerations? >> i think are less security considerations than there are that the fact that hamas seems to be hijacking a significant amount of that. that seems to be the security concerns that they have. if there was some way for the u.n. to set up these regional points themselves rather than letting the aid be controlled by hamas, i think we would see a lot more aid coming in. we have one of our best diplomats, david satterfield, running the humanitarian assistance representing the united states. i think we could not have a better person but we are running into these problems. the aid comes in but at the same time that is being taken by hamas, primarily for their military operations. >> let's broaden out a little bit. the israeli defense minister warned this is a multi-front war, coming under attack from

different regions like gaza, lebanon, syria, west bank, iraq and iran. we have seen them trying to quell any escalation. how much in danger are we seeing this continue to escalate beyond just where the key conflict is right now in gaza? that is the question. >> that is a question to ask the iranian government and not u.s. government. it's clear the united states that a significant amount of firepower into the region to try to contain the pie, but we continue to allow iran hope from seven different directions against this. the united states needs to take a stand. i think we need to reemphasize the carter doctrine from 1980, that says nobody will interfere in the persian gulf area which is exactly what iran is doing. by the way at the same time, just revealed they have tripled their uranium production,

weapons grade uranium production . so iran is taking advantage of the situation and will continue to do so unless we take a strong stand. >> any concern over potential escalation that could lead to war? i think from listing to u.s. officials one concern is that the too harsh response like in the red sea, for example, could lead to iran getting involved more drastically. that creates conditions for much more lethal atmosphere in the region. >> let's be clear. u.s. policy is contain, deter, dissuade, and the expansion of the war. that has not worked yet. i think it is time to take a determined stand and send a very clear message to iran. that if you continue this activity we will respond appropriately. that is one thing we know about iran.

we have to draw a tough line with them. they will stop and back off. the notion of somehow hoping that americans won't get killed, hoping that international traffic won't stop, hope that ships will not be sunk. hope is not a method. >> brigadier general, always appreciate your perspective. thank you for being with us. still to come on cnn news central, the mere -- mid air terror. still ahead, removing donald trump from the primary ballot and what it means for other states and the 2024 presidential ballot. we also have a story about turbulence to tell you in just a few minutes.

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michigan just became the latest estate to keep donald trump on the ballot for the 2024 primary election. >> the state supreme court redacted the effort to remove donald trump from the ballot. this comes one week after the colorado justices accepted efforts to kick off trump off the primary ballot next year. we have the details. the minnesota high court reached a similar conclusion as michigan last month but it is still striking the see the comparison between what the supreme court of michigan decided versus colorado. >> very different outcomes in these two states. in colorado there was a week- long try with witnesses, cross- examination, testimony and findings of fact. michigan is a very different story. they dismissed the case at the very start, a decision upheld

today by the michigan supreme court. they upheld the decision to reject this on procedural grounds, basically finding no role here or the courts. it was an unsigned opinion and really just a few sentences long. one of the justices published the thought that i will read the quote. it is a very important key distinction from justice elizabeth welch. >> i would affirm the court of appeals ruling on the issue which still allows the appellant's to renew their legal efforts as to the michigan general election later in 2024 to trump become the republican nominee for president. make it clear that this applies to the primary, but not the general. they can refile for the general and file another challenge if trump ends up winning the nomination and felt like that is exactly what they are going to do. >> that's very important. this will continue to work its way through the court system and what if anything has the latest ruling mean for the appeals process facing the supreme court? >> that is exactly what the supreme court is here for,

different outcomes at different states where we need national guidance. trump and his team did not filed the appeal and colorado but we know that is coming. these are the things that justices in dc will look at while examining the different outcomes. >> pivoting to another trump legal matter, special counsel jack smith presenting a new filing today. >> shifting to donald trump criminal case here in dc for the federal election subversion . that trial is scheduled for march, very soon. we will see if that trial date holds because of the appeals going on in that case but what jack smith filed today as he gets ready for the trial, he is trying to prevent trump from making arguments in front of the jury that prosecutor say have no business being in the courtroom. they say in the filing, the court cannot permit the defendant to turn the courtroom into a form in which he propagates irrelevant disinformation and should reject his attempt to inject politics into this proceedings.

specifically jack smith does not want trump to blame law enforcement for january 6 or two to try to claim that 2020 was rigged or spreading false claims about the legitimate of the results, and does not want trump can his lawyers to argue or claim in front of the jury that is all politically motivated prosecution. >> smith continues to be so specific in the movie this making as they attempt to get this to trial. thanks so much. the first of its kind lawsuit, the new york times suing openai and microsoft for copyright infringement and what the times is accusing the companies of doing. a man left trapped in a mangled truck after an accident, drinking rain water to survive. you have to hear how he was finally spspotted and d rescued

to a potential blockbuster lawsuit targeting artificial intelligence companies for copyright infringement. new york times is doing openai and microsoft for allegedly using articles published by the times with the chatbots

competing with times for source of information. openai is of course the company behind chatgpt. >> we are here to break it down. walk us through what we are talking about here. especially considering we do what we do. we are interested to see how this shakes out. >> there are all of these concerns especially among journalists about a.i. stealing jobs and the new york times is fighting back. the times claims millions of copyrighted works used by microsoft and openai do train these large data miles like chatgpt and the microsoft big chatbot. the times claims because these articles were used to train the tools, they cannot use responses that mimic the times journals and in some cases repeating it verbatim. one example on the complaint we can pull up where the chatgpt users go to the chatbot and could not read the times

article and in response chatgpt provided the user with the first three paragraphs of the story. the times worries technology like this will remove the need for readers to go to the website and pay for subscriptions, potentially harming its business to the tune of millions of dollars. the time said by providing times content without permission or authorization, the a.i. tools undermine and damaged the times relationship with its readers, and deprive the times of subscription, licensing, advertising and affiliate revenue. the times said he spent months negotiating with mark soft and openai to tie -- come to an agreement but companies failed to come to a deal. taking a step back, it really reflects the larger fight over how the future of the internet will be built. on one hand you have companies like microsoft and openai that said the a.i. tools are essential for the future, and that they need to

train them on high quality sources if we want them to work well and be reliable. the times says not so fast. we need to come to an agreement on how we can be compensated so that our work is not compromised. >> that is one aspect of how a.i. will disrupt everything. we also want to get an update from you on the apple watch fed. the federal appeals court issued a ruling and what did it find? >> the federal appeals court essentially pausing the supreme court ban that bans the series 9 and ultra 2 that officially went into effect today. it relates to the ongoing patent dispute over whether the blood oxygen monitoring technology infringes on the patent owned by california- based company and it found it infringed and apple has

appealed the ban. the ruling today essentially means that apple continues to import and sell the most advanced models, the highest priced models as the appeals process is ongoing. it is a temporary win in the ongoing dispute. >> more to come on that and thank you so much and great to see. the truck driver indiana is lucky to be alive thanks to a pair of curious fishermen. >> they were about to call it a day and noticed something shiny under the bridge passing by and it turned out to be a truck. the driver was inside, trapped and allied, stuck for weeks. >> we have more on this amazing rescue and walk us through how they found him. >> reporter: it's nice to share uplifting story. this man is very fortunate to have been found in that mangled wreckage of the truck after six days. he was found by two fishermen. a man and his son-in-law were out scouting for fishing location.

they were by the creek and about to wrap up the day when they spotted something shiny off in the distance. they were not sure what it was. it was not obviously a truck so they went to investigate. he is more from one of those men, matthew guerra. >> we were getting to the fishing hole. the truck was mangled. it caught our curiosity. i walked over and he followed me, and we went up to it. i looked inside in moved the white airbag. there was a body inside. i went to touch it. he turned around. it almost killed me. it was shocking. he was alive and very happy to see us he was really happy and i have never seen relief like that. >> extremely relieved after six days. this young man is 20 something years old. he could not reach the cell

phone that slid down into the another part of the car. he was pinned in place and was about to give up hope. there he is, matthew reum, admitted to the hospital in critical condition. there is a go fund me page set up to help with his recovery. >> how is the driver now ? >> according to the union, he is a welder, and they city has several broken bones throughout his body. he has injuries to his legs that could require surgery. will have to wait to see what happens. right now listed in critical condition. he is very fortunate to be alive. the police said one lucky break was relatively mild weather and not as cold as it usually is at this part of indiana this time of the year. that is one thing that helped him to survive, in addition to the luck of the two fishermen happening upon this vehicle. >> a very incredible story but glad it is ending happily. he is on the mend and lucky to find those fishermen. coming up, lives destroyed in billions of dollars stolen

in the sophisticated scam known as pig butchering. help unsuspected americans lost their entire life savings the fake promises of love.

we have a new cnn investigation to bring you that you have to a see. it goes into a scam that's cheated americans out of billions of dollars. the schemes are run out of forced labor camps overseas and earned the nickname pig butchering. >> this is a wild story. the reason, the scammers fatten them up with promises of a romantic relationship and lead them to slaughter by robbing them blind. ivan watson explains. >> please help me, jessica. >> it's been a living hell. >> reporter: in northern california, cy is piecing together his life after losing more than a million dollars in a crypto scam. >> i can never forget or

forgive myself. losing that kind of money. >> reporter: cy is one of tens of thousands of victims of a fast growing new form of financial fraud called pig butchering. he asks to remain anonymous to protect his family. it started in october 2021 with a text message from a stranger. what was the name of the person you were communicating with? >> she claims her name was jessica. >> reporter: she shared photos and cy talked about the pain of caring for his dying father. after nearly a month, the conversation turned to money. >> she started to introduce me into crypto currency. trading gold using crypto currency. >> reporter: jessica showed cy how to invest by installing a trading app on his phone that looked legitimate. little did he know he was a victim. pumping money into a fist indicated con. for the scammers, a pig fattened up for the slaughter.

>> i logged back in. the account is gone. what did i do? that's 30 years of my life building up this wealth. >> reporter: wealth that had suddenly disappeared. panicking, cy begged jessica for help. >> please help me. i don't know what else i can do. i don't have anymore money. i cannot borrow anything else. >> reporter: but jessica disappeared and probably never even existed. >> this is the professionalization of fraud services. >> reporter: the fbi has seen growth in losses due to pig butchering scam. >> the bad guys are getting good and better. >> reporter: an organization representing scam victims tracked their crypto transfers half way around the world. to this border region. u.s. scam victims say they've been able to trace their money to places like this.

this compound, across the river is just inside the territory of myanmar. and that is where we're learning about the conditions inside that some people who work there. they say they were forced against their will to try and scam americans out of their hard earned money in conditions they describe as accounting to modern day slavery. this compound is where a man said he was forced to work for more than 11 months without pay for a chinese criminal gang. >> the guards have spotted us. >> reporter: until they released him back to thailand. where was the job supposed to be? he too was the victim of a scam. he doesn't want to be identified, but he said he first flew to thailand for an it job. he was tricked into crossing the border to myanmar where a chinese gangster told him to work or else. he threatened to kill you? >> he warned me. >> reporter: and the job?

spend 16 hours a day on social media targeting americans with a fake profile. >> like they provide for us. i got russian gold. >> reporter: posing as a salt lake city name man, he flirted online with potential targets. he shows secretly filmed images of what at first glance seems to be an ordinary office. he says the bosses routinely punished workers. forcing them to do hundreds of squats and beating them if they didn't produce. and you've helped rescue people who are trapped inside the barb wire? michelle moore is one of the group of eight workers based in thailand helping to rescue hundreds of victims of trafficking over the last 18

months. she drives me along the border. >> there's a guard tower just there. green roof. >> reporter: showing compounds only a stone's throw away where she says trafficked victims are forced to work as online scammers. >> that's why this is modern slavery. and it's right under everybody's nose. >> reporter: satellite images show rapid construction of these compounds on the border territory of myanmar over just three years. thailand's minister of justice labels these facilities as hubs for criminal scamming activity. >> these scammers have use telephone signales to communicate. that's why they base themselves near the border to use the telephone network. >> reporter: thailand has no jurisdiction to crack down on suspected criminals operating across the border in myanmar. cnn asked the military government in myanmar why it hasn't taken action against alleged criminal gangs operating on its territory. and did not receive an answer.

so for now, it looks like no one is going to stop this poison sickle of ex explotation. >> that's horrifying. >> be careful of who you meet on the internet. >> ivan watson, thanks to you for that piece. in a few minutes secretary state antony blinken is meeting with mexican's president. this as president biden faces increasing pressure over immigration. we'll be live from the border and the whwhite house. that's nexext.

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