Four ships for the breaching sanctions on the regime. Three of those ships fly north korean colors. The flag of the fourth ship is not clear. North korea has defied u. N. Sanctions and restrictions in the past. Now a north Korean Defector tells cnn the regime has a sophisticated Smuggling Network and can easily trade in banned goods. Cnns brian todd has this report for us. We have new information tonight from this defector on exactly how kim jong uns regime gets weapons and other banned material out of the country to sell on the black market. This man knows how kim gets his cash and helped him get it, funneling billions of dollars a year to the young dictator. August 2016, a freighter is heading to the suez canal. Around 30,000 rocket propelled grenades made in north korea. Part of what a north korean
defector describes as a smuggling to line the pockets of kim jong un. How do north korean Smuggling Operations work . Are there people with false names . Are there ships with false names being moved around . Translator smuggling is conducted by any means you can imagine. Mostly done by ships, for example, by filing a cargo list from whats written is different than what is really being shipped. For decades, ri jong ho says he would sometimes hand bags of cash to ship captains. Redefected in 2014, he says he worked mostly in legal imports and exports but gave us insight into north koreas Smuggling Operations which he describes as unstoppable. On the north korean sea, the yellow sea, there are hundreds of fishing boats, both from china and north korea. And others. He has the political loyalty, so he needs the Walking Around money to hand out. As a for our interview with ri jong ho, a north korean official says ri is telling lies to save his life. From the russia investigation to Immigration Policy to midterm elections that could reshape congress, the president has a lot of head in the coming year. Hes already started to stake out his terms for addressing the socalled d. A. C. A. Immigrants. The president tweeted Legal Protections for them would not be restored, would not be restored, he says, unless there is funding for a war along the u. S. Southern border. As mr. Trump wraps up his first year in office, his policies so far have not been popular with
most americans. His Approval Rating at 35 . That is one of the lowest in a decade for any president at the oneyear mark. Make no mistake about it, that pa 35 that has been in place at the moment, the president s voter base insists that mr. Trump is doing a great job and isnt getting proper credit for it. Cnns gary tuchman went out to speak with voters about the trump presidency. Dawson county, georgia, is the heart of nascar country. It happens to be one of the most republican counties in a republican state. Who did you vote for on election day . President trump. In the Dawsonville Restaurant where they honor bill elliott, they also now honor President Donald Trump and his first year in office. George washington was the father of the country. Abraham lincoln held it together. Ronald reagan saved us from communism and now donald trump is going to save us from
ourselves. Hes going to build a strong economy. Hes done excellent as far as im concerned. Restaurant regular Sonny Simmons is like many here saying good news about donald trump is getting swept under the rug. What do you think is getting done that is not getting reported . He has signed no telling how much legislation that does not get reported. He just said himself he signed more legislation since the president issy of harry truman. He has. Objective people looked at this and said he signed less legislation than eisenhower. So the question is how do you figure that out . Its pretty easy. Just count them. If it werent for that democratic senate, we would have some good stuff done. Does it concern you when he kind of embellishes a little bit, when he kind of fibs . Kind of what . Fibs. Dont bother me at all. How come . Because every one of them up there is big liars. Many of them say the news media, democrats, and established republicans have been working to keep the president down. I dont blame him for nothing. He said what he can do. Hes trying to do it. Like i say, politicians, you know how politicians are. How come he doesnt get any responsibility for not being able to pull people together when he promised he would . Hes trying. For proof of that, many here point to the legislation he just signed. A poor man aint going to create a job. The rich people create jobs. So you like this tax plan because of the benefit to corporations . Definitely. Do you think that will benefit you . Yes. How is that . Everybody will be spending mope. Its going to stimulate the
economy. So you have faith these big corporations are going to invest it in more workers and better salaries . Yes, i think so. And here is the advice for the president from his most loyal supporters. He could probably do better with his had Public Relations. What would you advise him if you were his Public Relations expert . Not to tweet. If you could be talking to the president , what would you say he should be doing . I would tell him whatever you want to. Blank check with you. Yeah. Whatever you want to do, youre the boss now. Gary tuchman, cnn, dawsonville, georgia. Lets talk now about the president s year in review with gina from essex, england. From what you just heard there in gary tuchmans report, he went out and spoke to people who
believe in the future of this presidency. What do you make of where trump voters stand right now . I think trump voters stand exactly where they stood before, which is that they support him pretty much no matter what they hear. And i think its important to realize that somebody like President Trump exaggerates quite a bit and tends to issue statements sort of at the extreme, for example, that he was treated better in china than any person ever has been. These people also expect that other people will be exaggerating just as much. So when gary tuchman said he has passed less legislation than anyone since eisenhower, that comes through as an exaggeration. And people dont really believe the negatives. Had they believe the positives if thats what they want to believe. Note that 35 approval is still more than the 25 vote that he
got of all adults in the United States. So that is more people than actually voted for him. America is certainly still a divided nation. In garys piece, we heard from some of the loyalists. Take a look at this most recent cnn poll that shows his Approval Rating. At 35 , its lower than most president s at this time. So the question, three fold here, gina. Who remains on the trump train, who is getting off that train and how does this set up the Republican Party come the midterm elections . This is actually a pretty complicated question. The people on the train are the people who have always supported him. There are some people on the train who are not really quite interested in politics. Dont really care Whats Going On internationally. And they feel like their situation is just fine. The republicans are really
scrambling to figure out what to do right now. Some of them are going to have to be very much on the fence in terms of their support of mr. Trump and theyre going to have to ask him to step out of their campaigns in the midterm elections because his support could actually be damaging to them. But others are wondering whether they need to tie their wagons to him or continue to keep them hitched, so to speak. And theyre sort of struggling with figuring out what to do and whether or not they need him as an endorsement. What this means going into the midterm elections is that we could actually see a lot of sort of desperation. And the fear is that when we combine this with the situation in north korea, for example, we dont want somebody to try to incite violence or try to encourage war to boost Approval Ratings. So the president has signed less legislation than many of his predecessors, though he does end this year with a win on tax
reform. This is the new law of the land, divided right along party lines. But as far as his priorities for the year from infrastructure to health care and im dwragz, how important is it for this very polarized presidency to pivot, to gain bipartisan support . It doesnt seem like bipartisan support is necessary for him to pass monumental legislation. This tax bill is enormous. And huge in the sense of its implications but also in what it accomplishes that hasnt been done in 30 years or more. But even after the midterms, though, is the question, the uncertainty with what happens there. How important is bipartisan support . Youre asking if its critical for him to pass this
legislation. It would be helpful to pass legislation prior to the midterm elections. It would be helpful for his Approval Ratings and for other republicans. But he doesnt seem to be courting bipartisan support, despite the fact that he says he is. So it really depends, i think, on if there are any critical events that take place between now and the midterms that might sort of tip Public Opinion in one way or another. And would sort of shame the democrats or shame the republicans into trying to get their act together. And gina, one other question that i have for you, the russia investigation, it continues to loom large. Does it overshadow achievements moving into 2018. . It absolutely overshadows achievements. And, in fact, if the russia investigation heats up or if it seems to be targeting President Trump or revealing evidence about him, i think were likely to see a lot more drastic proposal of policies and
activities coming out of the white house. Gina reinhart, we appreciate you being on the show with us, giving us a perspective on the president s fist year in office. Thank you. Well be the in touch with you, for sure. Thank you. Rare political protests in iran taking mays, the largest in in nearly a decade. We look into whats driving the new unrest, still ahead. Plus, families mourn their dead and yet another attack in the christian minority in egypt. Details on one of the gunmen who opened fire at a Church Killing nine people. Stay with us. Growing up, we were german. We danced in a german dance group. I wore lederhosen. When i first got on ancestry i was really surprised that i wasnt finding all of these germans in my tree. I decided to have my dna tested through ancestry dna. The big surprise was were not german at all. 52 of my dna comes from scotland and ireland. So, i traded in my lederhosen for a kilt. Ancestry has many paths to discovering your story. Get started for free at ancestry. Com. This is a rare sight anywhere in iran, let alone in seven separate cities, including the capital, tehran. The u. S. President applauded the Demonstration Tweeting the this, many reports of peaceful protests by Ranliranian Citizend up. The iranian government should respect their peoples rights, including the right to express themselves. The world is watching says President Trump. In egypt, isis has claimed responsibility for an attack on a Coptic Church near the capital city of cairo. Nine people were killed on friday when a gunman opened fire as people left the church service. Grief stricken families held a Funeral Service for the victims. Reporter egypt is reeling after attack attack on its
christian minority today. Lets go through what happened. Shortly after friday services ended, the Coptic Church in greater cairo as worshippers were leaving the church, two gunmen opened fire on the crowd, armed with guns. A Gun Battle Ensued between them that lasted for about 15 minutes. Nine people were killed. Among them, one Police Officer and separately one of those two gunmen was killed, as well. The second one was arrested. He is the man that authorities have described as a known terrorist, one who has been involved in previous attacks and they say he had a bomb with them and he had intended to enter the church and detonate this explosive device. Still, the attack was bloody and brazen, taking place during the day in cairo. It is absolutely terrifying for residents, but it is cryptic for
this minority population. They have long said theyre treated as second class citizens in egypt. As president cici has waged war on his opponents, as terrorism has been on the rise in the country, more and more of these types of attacks on Coptic Christians have taken place. One of the deadliest attacks on christians in egypts history happened this year on palm sunday. That was in april. Two churches were bombed. Almost 50 people killed. But its important to remember that its not just Egypts Christian community that is suffering terrorism. Just last month, a mosque was attacked by isis. Almost 300 people lost their lives. The entire country really reeling from terrorism. President sisi has issued his condolences to the victims of this attack and said it will only strengthen the countrys
resolve and during this Holiday Season when people are on edge, christmas for the Orthodox Community will be coming up in january during these times. They want to feel safe. But theyre going to point to attacks like this one to say the state Isnt Doing Enough to protect them. Cnn, paris. Thank you for the reporting. All this year, weve seen some stunning reporting on the worlds biggest stories. Our picks for the top seven stories of 2017 just ahead. Plus, many places in the United States will see one of the coldest new years eves in years. Well tell you just how cold it will get and why thats not the only thing that officials in new life from atlanta this hour. Thank you for being with us. More news right after the break. You wont see these folks they have businesses to run. They have passions to pursue. How do they avoid trips to the post office . Stamps. Com mail letters, ship packages, all the services of the post office right on your computer. Get a 4 week trial, plus 100 in extras including postage and a digital scale. Go to stamps. Com tv and never go to the post office again. Response to rising food and gasoline prices. The demonstrations have become mainly antigovernment demonstrations. In egypt, families grief stricken. They held Funeral Services for the victims of Fridays Church attack in this case. Nine people were killed when a gunman opened fire. Near cairo. Isis has claimed responsibility for that attack. In in New York City, security stepped up forces for the celebrations. Officials say there are no Credible Threats at this point. They are just being cautious. There have been plenty of major headlines to cover around the world this year. Cnns reporters have been all over it. They followed every story, no matter where it took them. Our Klarissa Ward looks back at the top seven International Stories from 2017. Reporter its our job as cnn correspondents to take you to foreign shores, to front lines. We at cnn go there. And in 2017, that journey unveiled the unthinkable. Ethnic cleansing, countries collapsing, human beings sold like commodities. These are the stories that change the world. Our first story, a cnn expose. A crew traveled into libya to track down a dark secret and they found it. Some of the most desperate people on earth think they found a way to safety, but instead, they found themselves in the hands of predators. Captured like animals and auctioned. 700. 700. 800. The numbers roll if in. These men are sold for 1200 libyan pounds, 400 apiece. The cnn report sparking selfreflection in europe and the u. S. About the wests own response to the migrant crisis. In audi arabia, a powerful prince is shaking things up. Bolstered by close relations with the trump you white house. The crown prince embarking on a series of reforms, arresting many of his own cousins in a sweeping crackdown on corruption. He has swept away a generation of elderly and experienced ministers. While also taking on the kingdoms powerful clergy. There is only one country in the world where women cant drive and soon there will be
none. Reporter but as he tries to take on an increasingly assertive iran, things get complicated. As defense minister, he initiated air strikes on neighboring yemen. Reporter involvement in a war that has brought 8. 4 Million People to the brink of famine. Its not the bombs and the bullets killing the most people. Its the humanitarian crisis that is growing by the day as yemen edges closer to become ago failed state. In venezuela, a perfect storm of economic and political crises. President finally admitted that its government can no longer afford to pay its bills. Venezuela may now be in pore more violence and Kayo Ahechaos ahead of the dictator. Politicians who spoke out against current president maduro were yanked out of their homes during midnight raids. A cnn team goes under cover and is stunned by what they piped. This food truck, breaking down for mere seconds before it was looted. Basic food is scarce. Virginia has been doing this for 18 months to feed her five kids. Bringing with them a war crime so sickening, it is difficult to put into words. From his rooftop, he quickly sees this is no ordinary strike. I warn you, the pictures you are about to see are graphic. This is cnn breaking news. We