winnipeg like to enjoy the cold, winter months. >> this is winnipeg winter water gun fight. >> don't try this at home. we're trained professionals. >> thank you, winnipeg free press for giving us this awesome video and telling us what it's really like to live up there in the cold arctic temperatures. that was minus 33 celsius, minus 27 in fahrenheit. thanks for watching, everybody. stay warm. "around the world" starts right "around the world" starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com basketball and a birthday song. dennis rodman pays tribute to north korean leader, kim jong-un, while many wonder why he is literally bowing to a dictator plus, harsh words for president obama by his former secretary of defense. but it doesn't even stop there. robert gates slammed vice president joe biden and former secretary of state hillary clinton, as well. so what impact will it have

potentially on the 2016 election? welcome to "around the world. "i'm suzanne malveaux. bowing to the dictator after blasting cnn. this hour, new pictures of dennis rodman in north korea. his team of former nba players, they actually lost the exhibition basketball game today against the koreans. the game is all a part of a birthday situati birthday celebration, as you know, for the country's leader, kim jong-un, who rodman fiercely defended in an exclusive cnn interview heard around the world. now rodman shocked many people by implying that the american man, kenneth bae, who has been in prison without explanation in north korea, deserved his fate. >> you don't understand what kenneth bae did. >> yeah? >> do you understand what he did? >> what did he do? you tell me. you tell me, what did he do? >> no no, no. you tell me! you tell me! why is he held captive? >> they haven't released any charges. >> why? >> they haven't released any reasons.

>> listen -- >> no, let me do this. i would love to speak on this. >> go ahead. >> you know? you've got ten guys here, ten guys here, they have left their families, left their damn families. to help this country in a sports venture. ten guys, all these guys here. does anyone understand that? >> well, we've got reaction to rodman's rant, just hours ago from kenneth bae's sister, who also spoke to our own chris cuomo. >> i was shocked by his words, and i think i don't think dennis rodman -- i'm not sure where he's getting his information. and i'm not sure how much credence would i give to his outbursts -- i don't think -- he's certainly not a diplomat and not an authority on this case at all. and i don't think he has any -- in any kind of position to remark on his case.

especially after making -- making it clear he has no intention to help. we do know for certainty that kenneth bae had never any hostile intentions against the dprk. i am sorry that his intentions to help were interpreted unkindly, and, you know, as deemed as hostile against the state. but i can say with certainty that he never had any intentions to overthrow their government. >> kenneth bae's family has been pleading with officials in washington to help secure his freedom. seems as if dennis rodman, however, is the only werner who has any sort of relationship with the north korean leader. he even got a happy birthday serenade today from rodman himself. here's how it went. ♪ happy birthday to you ♪ happy birthday to you ♪ happy birthday >> all right. i'm going to bring in paula hancock on the phone covering

this controversial birthday celebration from neighboring south korea. and paula, first of all, who actually got a chance to see this game? was it for the north koreans, was it simply for the leader? how widespread was this actually seen around the world? >> reporter: well, suzanne, as far as we know, this wasn't televised live on north korean television, but we do expect to see it in the next couple days. the people allowed there were, of course, the elite from the north -- [ no audio ] >> looks like we don't have paula hancock. we'll try to bring her back with more details there. we're also following as dennis rodman is certainly not the first celebrity to perform for a dictator you had rapper kanye west in kazakhstan singing at a wedding reception for the grandson of the long-time president accused of human rights abuses. and last january, jennifer

lopez, sang for the regime of one of the world's most repressive. and beyonce donated money she received for performance in saint bart's in 2009 at a party hosted by family members of then libyan leader moammar gadhafi. and earlier, maria carey also performed for the gadhafi family and later said she felt horrible about it. she said she was naive and unaware of who they were and donated the money to charity. but not so much for the british musician, sting. he performed for the daughter of uzbekistan's president, despite reportedly knowing about the president's poor human rights record. this is making news. one of president obama's former closest advisers now hammering him. in hinld sight, this is robert gates, the president's first secretary of defense. he stayed on from the previous administration, and for two years, gates stood by the president. it was a picture of solidarity and partnership. gates now says that that was not the case. his book, "duty" by robert

gates, it's his memoir, and some prays for president obama. but he doesn't have much good to say about the handling of the war in afghanistan. gates says he was convinced that president obama doesn't believe in his own strategy, doesn't consider the war to be his. for him, it's all about getting out. he also pulls no punches about the vice president, saying joe biden has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy, and national security issue over the past four decades. wow. let's bring in jim showedo from washington. and jim, covered both the bush administration and the obama administration. and robert gates really was the figure of somebody who was passing the torch. it was some consistency in foreign policy, whether it was republican or democrat. so this makes a difference here that he is speaking out and he is speaking out so clearly, criticizing president obama, saying, look, he didn't even own the war. >> that's right, suzanne. here is someone who bridged those two administrations and he was the quiet man in both those

administrations. a man of duty, as said there in the title of his book. so this is an interesting one. i've been speaking to a lot of u.s. officials about this, and while, you know, everybody in washington is used to political tell-always when officials leave office, this one particularly critical, but also contradictory. you mentioned the quotes, critical quotes about the president's afghanistan policy there. but he also says some very flattering things about the president. for instance -- and we just, suzanne, now have a copy of the book, as well. so it's made for some very interesting reading as we have been going through it. but he says, as well, this about the president. i always thought obama was presidential. he treated the office of the presidency with respect, he was a man of personal integrity. he was an excellent role model. you have comments like that. earlier he said that the decision to carry out the bin laden raid was in gates' words, the most courageous decision he had witnessed in the white house. so you have this kind of contradiction there, really. you know, in terms of these

descriptions. very harsh criticism, but also some very real praise. >> and jim, what i find fascinate something what is happening this afternoon, how the white house is really in damage control mode. you've got the president and vice president normally meeting behind closed doors for lunch. they're allowing the cameras to come in. clearly they want to address this, make a statement, show solidarity here. how damaging do you think this is? >> well, the line about vice president biden was particularly biting, saying he didn't get a single national security or foreign policy decision right in the last four decades. you know, that surprised a lot of people i've been speaking to about this. so the white house last night pushing back, saying that biden is a very trusted adviser. as you say, they've got the top photographers in there when obama and biden meet. but it is interesting, looking at the book, that gates is at least bipartisan in his criticism. of course, he served george w. bush, and says that bush squandered gains in both afghanistan and iraq.

he also had another line that caught our attention this morning, where he said that when he was going into his interview, but with bush 43, quote, i had one thing going for me. most people had low expectations about what could be done to turn around the war in iraq and change the climate in washington. so even under the bush administration, he's talking about how bush was not confident -- that he could turn around iraq. so this is a very rich book, very rich reading, suzanne. and, you know, you have both parties taking it here, all levels of the administration taking it. but also, you know, gates sprinkling in some praise, as well. >> jim sciutto, thank you very much. interesting to see comments that come out of the white house today. it is going to be really clear, they want to address this in the briefing this afternoon. we'll be watching. want to bring in paula hancocks back, live from south korea, to talk about the birthday celebrations that took place in north korea for kim jong-un. and we were talking about it before you got cut off there.

you say this was something that eventually the north koreans are going to see. what was this set-up for? i mean, how widespread? what do you think is the influence or the reverberations of what we're going to see from this ceremony? >> reporter: well, according to ap, there was about 14,000 people there. and the sort of people that made the cut were certainly the north korean elite. you had kim jong-un and also his wife. you had some of the military officials, and their wives. you had also some foreign diplomats, those within the country itself would have been expected to come to this kind of an event, those from embassies, as well. and also some students and, according to state-run media, people from all walks of life, is how they put it. and sports fans. it was certainly interesting, as one tour guide from korea told us. basically, it did appear to be quite spontaneous, the fact that dennis rodman suddenly launched into a rendition of "happy birthday" and some of the crowd

started clapping, some joined in. and this is very unusual for north korea. spontaneity is not exactly celebrated in this country. it's a highly choreographed country. and something as spontaneous as this would be very unexpected. and they also said, according to state-run media, that kim jong-un was greeted warmly by rodman, and kim jong-un said the visit was a good opportunity for people from both countries to understand each other. so certainly, state-run media saying that this was a very good thing that's happened we're seeing outside of pyongyang, outside north korea, there aren't many people that necessarily agree with that. >> and paula, i have to ask you this. obviously, this is a regime and a country where things are very, very secretive. the people who live there, i mean, is there any benefit for them from this exchange here? do they have any idea that this is taking place, and any idea of the controversy surrounding this basketball game and what this means? >> reporter: the vast majority of the people in north korea wouldn't even know this had

happened. and they definitely wouldn't have known about the controversy. they don't get to see outside television. they don't get internet in the vast majority of places. pyongyang is a very elite city. some people there would be able to have limited access to the internet. but, of course, this is simply the elite. this is not the everyday man on the street. so it is entertainment for those that were allowed to go. it will be entertainment if this is televised, which we would expect it to be and shown on state-run television in the future. but it's a propaganda coup. this is propaganda for the north korean leader, this is the way it will be played within the country itself. and most people have no idea what's happening outside. >> all right. paula hancocks, thank you. appreciate it. here's more of what we're working on for "around the world." a former ms. venezuela wanted to show her 5-year-old daughter her native country. but instead, she was attacked and murdered by armed robbers on a highway. >> do you want to spend christmas and new year in

venezuela, to travel around venezue venezuela, to let her little daughter know her country. plus, warmer weather starting to make a comeback, thank goodness. but it's still pretty cold out there. we're going to take a live look at the weather, up ahead. and now that lindsey vonn is out, who is going to become the face of the u.s. team at the winter olympics? we're going to show you some possibilities among those headed to sochi. my dad has aor afib.brillation, he has the most common kind... ...it's not caused by a heart valve problem. dad, it says your afib puts you at 5 times greater risk of a stroke. that's why i take my warfarin every day.

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british authorities say it could take another day to recover the bodies of four american service members. now, they were killed last night when their air force helicopter crashed during a training mission on england's east coast. the chopper left its british base, and was flying low when it went down in a nature preserve. right now it is not clear why it crashed. and three years ago today, former arizona congresswoman, gabby giffords, was gravely wounded in a mass shooting. today she wrote an op-ed in the "new york times" comparing her

slow recovery from being shot in the head to her efforts to get new gun laws passed. giffords says it is a slow process that takes daily grit and determination. she says it's like learning how to talk again and walk again. and she admitted, congressional inaction on gun control has left her disappointed. but she also says she is optimistic. this is what she says. our fight is a lot more like my rehab. every day we must wake up resolved and determined. we'll pay attention to the details, and look for opportunities for progress. even when the pace is slow. today giffords plans to skydive to mark the shooting anniversary and all of the progress she has made. in her op-ed she reported, new movement in her right arm. good for her. and who knew that a wind chill above zero would be considered a warming trend. that is the case. it's been so cold, we have actually had to redefine what warm means. but finally, this polar weather, that's held much of the u.s. hostage is getting blown back

into canada. temperatures now climbing into the double digits. cnn's george howell is in chicago. george, you have been braving this all week. you know, it was funny. you started with the beard and the mustache i thought maybe to warm up a little. you shaved it off. it's getting warmer. how are you doing? >> reporter: you know, i missed the beard yesterday, because -- >> i miss it. >> reporter: negative 10 degrees. hey, you know, it really helped. when you feel that wind coming on your face, very, very cold. and then, suzanne, the day before that, i believe it was sunday, to be in green bay, wisconsin at negative 40 degrees. that's like a new religion. negative 40. it's something i've never experienced as a texas guy, and living in atlanta for some time, this is very new. so fair to say, i'm getting, you know -- getting used to chicago in that sense. but look at the chicago river back here. you get a sense of what this means to be so cold. right now, it's 9 degrees. suzanne, it feels toasty here. i'm not wearing a hat. and it's more bearable. but this has been an intense

weather system. and keep in mind, we know that there have been at least 24 deaths, and still counting, because of the system that has really plunged several cities in the midwest and the east coast into record lows. >> and george, i'm glad it's warming up there. it is beautiful out there. please be safe. be warm. i used to live out there. and so i know what you're going through. but it is a killer there. never seen those temperatures in many, many years. george, take good care of yourself. thank you. sad news. a beauty queen gunned down, killed in one of the world's most violent countries. we're going to talk about what she was doing there. it is a place where some people say life doesn't matter. that's next. [ female announcer ] hands were made for playing. ♪ legs, for crossing. ♪ feet...splashing. better things than the joint pain and swelling of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis.

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police believe it was a crime of opportunity and a place where one study says people are murdered at a rate of three an hour. here's our own rafael romo. [ speaking in foreign language ] >> reporter: monica spear was ms. venezuela 2004 and represented her country in the ms. universe pageant the following year in thailand. her popularity opened the doors to leading roles in soap operas that eventually made her an international star, working in colombia. her close friend says the 29-year-old was taking a break in her native country, when tragedy struck. >> they went there, because she wanted to spend christmas and new year in venezuela, to travel around venezuela, to let her little daughter know her

country. but she paid a really high price for that. >> reporter: venezuelan authorities say spear, her estranged husband, thomas henry berry, and their 5-year-old daughter were attacked by armed robbers on a rural highway. only the girl survived the shooting. >> her little daughter, maya, who is just 5 years old, was shot in the -- in her leg. but thank god she is -- she is out of danger. but she will have a scar forever, not only in her leg, but in her heart. >> reporter: a top venezuelan government official sent condolences to the family and friends of monica spear through twitter. condemnation for the attack against spear and her family has also been widespread on social media, with movie stars, fellow soap opera actors, sports figures and government officials, expressing sorrow and concern. in recent years, venezuela has become one of the most dangerous countries in latin america, with the murder rate soaring to nearly 80 deaths per 100,000

people, according to an ngo. though government statistics put the figure significantly lower. >> i'm sad, and i'm angry, and i don't know. i'm trying to look for some explanation for what it's going on, and it's getting worse every day. so i'm going to miss monica a lot. >> reporter: in one of her last tweets, spear described herself as someone who likes to travel light, like a passing cloud, like running water, like blowing wind. words that now seem to describe a life that was cut too short. >> rafael is here to join us. such a sad, sad story. i mean, she was just visiting. she wanted her 5-year-old to see her home country, her native country. where is the little girl now? >> the little girl is still in venezuela, caracas. her grandparents went to venezuela to make funeral arrangements. and what they said before leaving, they're trying to bring her back, because now she has no

one in the world. she lost both her mother and father, and tragically, a witness to it all. it was very, very sad. >> it's just hard to understand, imagine what the little girl is going through. this is -- the community in which they live is in miami, is that right? that's where people -- that's where she lives? >> she was living in miami, because she was working for the telemundo tv network. her family moved to the orlando area in florida in the year 2000. she attended seminole community college there and also went to the university of central florida. so she was very much friends and product not only of venezuela but also florida. she still has many friends and family there. >> yeah. i imagine a lot of people are mourning the loss. thank you so much, rafael. appreciate that. and dennis rodman's return to north korea, his praise for the dictator has got a lot of people talking about what is going on there. we're going to tell you about the alleged unspeakable atrocities that are under way in north korea. why it's considered one of the worst places in the world.

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this just in. we're getting word here now, a u.s. navy helicopter is down.

this is off the coast, the virginia coast. this is what the navy said. and we know that at least five people were on board. that is all we know at this time. u.s. navy helicopter down. this is off the coast of virginia. as soon as we have more details, we're going to get back to you, and let you know the condition of those folks aboard. millions of you on twitter and facebook, other social media sites, still reacting to this story. dennis rodman's rant, his visit to north korea. >> no, no, no! i don't give a [ bleep ] -- i don't give a rat's ass what the hell you think. i'm saying to you, look at these guys here! look at them! >> that outburst during a cnn exclusive interview with chris cuomo. rodman's repeated visits to north korea have a lot of folks questioning, what is going on inside of north korea? very reclusive, communist country. these are some of the things happening there. a mother being forced to drown her own baby. a prison camp inmate compelled to eat rats and lizards just to

survive. these are just a couple of the atrocities documented by a u.n. inquiry into human rights abuses in north korea. want to bring in our georgetown university professor, victor cha, joining us from washington. also former director of asian affairs at the white house. professor, thanks for joining us once again. we have been talking about this all week. and you testified before the human rights committee about these atrocities that take place. a lot of people don't understand. they don't realize what's taking place inside that country, because it's so reclusive. open the window. pull back the curtain. tell us. >> reporter: sure, suzanne. there are no societies in the world, except north korea, where every ounce of freedom is completely squeezed out of the country. the stories you told are about prison camps. they have gulags in north korea where people say one thing bad about the leadership are thrown into these gulags. there a terrible food shortage in the country because the country has mismanaged the country. and there is no freedom of expression to speak.

no right to congregate. the images we see of rodman at the basketball game, those people look happy, because they're the elite in pyongyang. they're the party members, military members. but outside of pyongyang in a population of 22 million, there are many other people that have in absolutely horrible conditions. >> can you put it into perspective for us, when you talk about the elite? how many people make up the elite? is it 5%, 1%? those people who actually live well. >> reporter: the people who live well in this city -- we're talking maybe in the city of pyongyang, in a couple of million, within the elite, the real elite, even a smaller number. this is, again, out of a population of 20, 22 million people. there is, according to u.n. world food estimates, a 1.3 million metric ton shortfall of food in north korea every year. and you have an entire generation of north korean children that are growing up stunted, both physically and mentally challenged, because of basic malnutrition. >> what can be done?

>> reporter: well, i think this u.n. commission on inquiries, one of the things -- raising awareness about the problem, i think, is one of the ways to address the issue. again, the society is so close, it's hard to actually do something in the country. the other is that the north korean human rights problem in many ways is nameless and faceless. we don't know the names, the stories of these individuals who suffer. in the case of china, for example, we have named cases of human rights abuses. kenneth bae, the american, is one example of a named case. but in general, the human rights problem is a statistic. we read and hear about it, but it's not person filed. and one of the things this commission can do is raise awareness and get people to understand, these are real human beings that are suffering. >> absolutely. and professor, i covered former president bush, he said there were few people that he hated, that he actually hated. but he said that kim jong-il, kim jong-un's father, was one of them. because he let his own people starve while he was living a

very rich life. what do you suppose the son is trying to do here? is he trying to brandish a reputation, get that kind of infamy? >> well, you know, the -- perhaps the most disappointing thing about the son's rule in the year that we have seen is this guy is supposed to be educated outside of north korea. he's supposed to be educated in switzerland. but we haven't seen one solid piece of evidence of economic reform to -- for the country. in the meantime, he's hosting basketball games, he's building ski resorts. you know, he's visiting amusement parks. all these things. you know, literally he's fiddling while rome is burning. and that is not a good omen of the future for the country. >> all right. professor cha, thank you. appreciate it. and, of course, we'll talk about what, if anything, was accomplished by this rodman trip to the basketball game, certainly later in the week. thank you, professor. the winter olympics about to put sochi, russia on the map.

but how do these games turn into the most expensive ever? the price tag is billions more than the summer olympics in beijing and london. that story, up next. ♪ love love is strange ♪ in the nation, what's precious to you is precious to us. so when coverage really counts, count on nationwide insurance. we put members first. join the nation. ♪ nationwide is on your side ♪

countdown to the winter olympics is on. the games open in shoichi, russia, in less than a month.

and given two terror attacks, authorities are not taking any chances when it comes to security. more than 30,000 police and other officers are going to be working the games to keep the athletes and the fans safe. security, a new road, and a new railway are pushing the cost of the games above $50 billion. that is about seven times more expensive than the 2010 winter games in vancouver. it's about $10 billion more than china spent on the 2008 summer games in beijing. so the sochi games could actually be the most expensive olympics ever. but one valuable thing seems to be missing here. we're talking about star power. at least when we're talking about american athletes. lindsay von, for instance, really disappointing, the gold medalist alpine skier supposed to be the american to watch but says she's shot going to be able to go because of her bad knee. david zirn is the sports editor

for the magazine. and who do you think the break-out stars will be? i like shani davis? >> shani davis, great speed skater, someone everyone should watch. i want people to remember the name julieia mancuso, always lived in the shadow of lindsey vonn. julia mancuso has had a difficult year but is what is known as a big game player, someone who shines when the light are brightest. this might be julia mancuso's olympics to shine. other folks to look out for, shaun white, who is involved in the extreme games, the x games style sports. something that really is like a niche operation, lucrative. this might be shaun white's opportunity to get into the mainstream. the mainly i really want people to remember is 19 years old sarah hen trick son, the best ski jumper in the world. arguably male or female. and this is the first time in history female ski jumping at the at the olympics. this has been a long-time

movement to get women who historically have been some of the best ski jumpers on earth actually able to compete at the winter games and sarah hendrickson should be the star. >> wow, that's great. let's talk about why this thing is so expensive. it's unbelievable when you look at the dollar signs, the zeros behind this. how did it get so out of control? >> reporter: every winter games combined. does not cost as much as these games. the price tag is looking at $51 billion. the original bid was $12 billion. in a short word, it's cronyism and corruption. let me give one story here. the road, the train road that was paved between the olympic village and the top of the mountain where the skiing is taking place is costing $8.7 billion. that's more than the entire vancouver games. they could have paved that entire road with beluga calf caviar and would have cost less. and when you look at who the got contracts, long-time friends of

putin. these two brothers got $7 billion over the course of 21 government contracts. so this is just cronyism and corruption large all over these games. >> who pays for all this? >> reporter: the russia state is paying for it. so when we look at statistics of things like education in russia, literacy, hunger, people have to understand that this is where a lot of the resources in russia are going right now. >> it's a same. well, hopefully security will be paid for and tight. but, yeah, it is a shame, auto the waste, corruption you're talking about. dave, appreciate your time and u of course, we'll be following olympics every step of the way. we are following this, as well. the elephant population in africa has been nearly wiped out, because of poachers. and all this week, we've been looking at how the congo is dealing with this very serious problem. next, our own arwa damon takes us along on an investigation into the illegal ivory trade. well ladies, now there's big news

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following up on a breaking news story here, we are learning that a u.s. navy media representative is confirming now it is an mh-53 helicopter that has gone down. this is off the coast of norfolk, virginia. this is close to ft. story, we're told. there were five people on board at the time. they were on a routine mission. now, the coast guard is

currently operating a search and rescue mission. this just in. the coast guard confirming that helicopter, that mh-53 helicopter, is down. ask & they are in search and rescue mode, hoping to find those five people on board. chinese ship has arrived in the waters off the coast of syria. the ship's crew is working oh with crews from several other countries to help remove chemical weapons from syria. the first batch was loaded on to a danish ship. that happened yesterday. that was a week behind schedule. the united nations is overseeing the removal of the weapons, which eventually are going to be destroyed. more than 60,000 people have fled their homes on the indonesian island of sumatra. a volcano now is very actively erupting. started rumbling back in september, but the mountain really started throwing ash and lava into the air, just in the past couple of days. this tickle volcano, it was dormant for several centuries before it just woke up about

four years ago. so far, no reports of any injuries. and all this week, cnn is reporting, this is a horrible situation. this is the killing of thousands of elephants every year. and the problem is so bad that central africa has lost almost two-thirds of its elephants. our own arwa damon went along for the hunt for the poachers in the congo. and this time the guards made an important find, the discovery of some carved ivory not far from where they found an elephant slaughtered for its parts. >> oh! >> reporter: evidence in hand, he has had enough. his eco guards have just found a carved ivory ring, while searching vehicles at their check point, right outside the national park. the two passengers, chinese nationals. >> we made the search. >> reporter: he's referring to a chinese road construction camp. a month ago, his rangers detained two chinese men with ivory tusks, who work there.

he went to the camp with the local prosecutor and found small pieces of ivory scattered on the ground. but rather than being allowed to search the buildings, his unit was told to leave. we spoke to the prosecutor, who is with the ecoguard unit the day they found the pieces of ivory. he refused to grant us an on-camera interview. we asked why they didn't conduct a broader search at that exact moment. he responded by saying it was because the translator was not on the premises and unless they were able to explain to the chinese why they were searching the site, they would not be able to do so. he believes the camp runs an underground ivory carving workshop, but despite the accumulating evidence, no one has been able to search the camp. now, with this carved ivory ring, he has a new link to the camp. but he doesn't know who owns the ring. the chinese worker or his boss, who speaks english.

both are cuffed and driven off to jail. on the way, more denials. >> ask if you know about ivory. >> i asked him. he doesn't know. >> reporter: when they reach the jail, the chinese camp manager and others are already waiting. he makes one last tomato. attempt. >> maybe you will sleep in jail and you will understand. >> reporter: the english-speaking boss now says his employee is the owner of the illegal ivory. the worker signs a written confession in french, which he does not speak. but the chinese are angry, and so is ecen. to ease tensions, the bosses agree to let ecen search the camp the next day. the u.n. says insatiable asian demand for ivory has almost wiped out africa's elephant population. according to the u.n. data, the illegal ivory trade has tripled since 1998. here in the congo, especially, the government's minister for

forest economy says there has been an increase in arrests and seizures. it's because of the increase in their activities, he tells us. why? because of the international bosses. they are using all means necessary to access these resources through our people, our criminals. the next morning, we join the eco guards as they drive to the chinese road construction camp. off camera, the managers tell us they are not aware of any illegal activity in the camp, and promise to report any illegal activity to echo. minutes later, he makes a find. this white powder, what is it, he asks, holding up a tool. they respond that it's to carve wood. ecel isn't convinced. in the same spot he found the ivory pieces a month ago, another small ivory fragment. this is ivory, he says. if there was more evidence here, it's gone. and the fragments found are not enough to make a bust.

for the eco guards, no arrests today. but they remain convinced that the pipeline remains wide open between this remote corner of africa and the ivory markets of asia. arwa damon is joining us live from london. arwa, an amazing, fascinating seri series you have been doing all week here. and it seems frustrating for these folks trying desperately to convict or prosecute somebody who is responsible for poaching these elephants. and every step of the way, they seem to come against these barriers. ultimately, do they end up finding people, do they prosecute people? it just looks like it's a very frustrating experience. >> reporter: it most certainly is, suzanne. and people are actually very rarely prosecuted. we have been in touch with the african parks team, and they told us that all of the chinese who were in jail were released with no court date. their passports weren't confiscated and the african parks team suspects they must

have paid a hefty bribe to be released from jail without any sort of prosecution whatsoever. and that's another big problem, of course, is this widespread, rampant corruption. >> and what is behind this? why is this so important? why is it so valuable, these elephant ivory tusks that they are killing these elephants over? >> well, it's highly valued in the asian markets, especially in china. we're talking about what's roughly estimated to be a $10 billion industry. what's happening in the republic of congo is simply a small piece of a much larger link between the elephants of africa and the demand that the u.n. calls insatiable of asian markets. it's something that keeps increasing every single year. in the capital of the republic of congo, for example, suzanne, they're not only busting people with ivory tusks, but they also more recently busted a ivory trafficker who had an entire bag filled with carved pieces of ivory in it. >> and arwa, tell us quickly

about part four oh of your series tomorrow. >> reporter: in that we're taking a look at this program that the african parks group has developed, trying to convince people to turn away from poaching and more towards protecting, especially the pigmy indigenous population, suzanne. >> excellent as always. this is related to the story. this is a landmark move. china just destroyed six tons of confiscated ivory. authorities crushed hundreds of these carved ivory tusks. you see them there, the ornaments, the carvings. the ivory was reported to have come in shipments from africa, intercepted by customs officers. and from carving factories and shops across china. so animal welfare groups, they say this is actually a powerful, symbolic act, showing that the chinese government is at least concerned about the toll that ivory trafficking is taking on the elephant population well,

you use the gym to get in shape, right? this cyber gym in israel actually whips international companies into shape to keep them from becoming the victims of hacking. we're going to show you how they do it.

actually, former computer hackers are helping put companies to the test to make sure they don't get taken down

online. cyber gym exists for government spying abilities. watch. >> a hacker group has now taken down the vatican's website. >> chinese hackers attacked a federal election commission. >> cyber attacks against u.s. newspapers. >> hacking into the private e-mails of the bush family. >> reporter: welcome to cyber gym, a training ground for the defense of cyber attacks. located on a nonscript farm between tel aviv and hiva. it pits elite former hackers of israel's intelligence community against cyber warriors of private companies who pay cyber gym for the training. trainees practice over and over again on real-world scenarios, ranging from attacks by a lone wolf to complex terror and state actors. >> we're trying to point out and cause the trainees to feel and

to touch the damage that could occur from a cyber threat. >> reporter: the goal here isn't to learn how to stop an attack, but how to contain it, minimize the damage, and discover its origins. >> tell me, i forget, show me i learn. let me do it, i understand. and this is what we do here. >> reporter: today's trainees from israel electric corporation take turns playing offense and defense. this real-world scenario is preparing these computer experts for one of the most active battlefields on the planet. israeli electric corporation receives between 6 to 8,000 attacks per day. some advice from the experts, whose identities we're asked to conceal. the biggest mistake you can make online -- >> clicking the okay button without reading and understanding the windows. >> reporter: and for large companies like target and snapchat who have recently been in hackers' cross-hairs, this advice. >> invest in the training of

personnel that are exposed to the critical systems and their security status would be much higher. >> reporter: the lesson taught here, a good defense comes from knowing a strong offense. ian lee, cnn, huh dara, israel. and ralph lauren's niece will have to pay a $2,000 fine after an ugly incident that took place on a plane. jennifer lauren pleaded guilty to being drunk on a flight from barcelona to new york. the pilots made an unscheduled stop in ireland, where she was arrested. lauren pleaded guilty to two charges and authorities say the cost oh of the flight diversion monday was more than $43,000. several stories, photos catching our attention today. take a look at this. this is in scandinavia. sky-watchers enjoying a spectacular show on christmas, really amazing solar activity hitting an 11-year peak in december.

making for a magical aurora borealis. making it into a wonderful film. in china, the official mascot of the 2014 world cup being produced in a factory in chong chang. it is a yellow armadillo called fuliko oh, which comes from the portuguese word from football. the world cup will be held in brazil this june. and in germany, chancellor angela merkel, making her first public appearance on crutches after fracturing her pelvis in a ski accident. she met with 100 children all over germany for a carolling concert. the chancellor joined the kids on stage and even got to help out a little bit with the singing. and former president of egypt, mohamed morsi, didn't show up in court today to face charges of insighting murder. this was a letter read by the judge in court that said the helicopter that was picking him

up from prison couldn't take off because of bad weather. the trial was postponed until february 1st. egyptian authorities have accused morsi of ordering supporters to attack protesters of the guards refused to do it. morsi, as you recall, was ousted by the military during widespread protests of his rule. thanks for watching "around the world." cnn "newsroom" starts right now. have a good afternoon. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com fall out from defense secretary robert gates taking shots at the president and obama administration. the white house is firing back in its own way. >> right now, a big hit to the economy from the big chill sweeping the country. we're taking a closer look at the cost of the polar freeze. and right now, the federal government is cracking down on some diet products deemed just too good to be true. you'll want to hear what's going on.