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Transitioning To Trump; Finance Minister Calls For Israeli Sovereignty In West Bank; Marco Rubio Likely To Be Picked As Top US Diplomat. Russians React to Trump's Election Win; 'Unprecedented' Toxic Smog Clouding Skies Over Pakistan; Daily Pompeii Tourists Limited to 20,000. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired November 12, 2024 - 00:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello. I'm Anna Coren live in Hong Kong. Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, Team Trump is taking shape. The US President-elect makes new picks for his administration, people who have vowed to roll back environmental regulations and deport millions of undocumented migrants.

Plus, a far right Israeli minister says Trump's victory brings opportunity while pushing for the annexation of settlements in the West Bank. And a Spirit Airlines plane is hit by gunfire while trying to land in Haiti's violent capital city. A second airplane now says, its plane (ph) was also hit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Hong Kong, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Anna Coren.

COREN: Well, it's not yet been a week since Donald Trump won the US Presidency, but he's wasting no time lining up his team of loyalists for key positions in his cabinet and administration. The latest name dropped, Florida Senator Marco Rubio.

A source says Trump is likely to choose Rubio to become Secretary of State or top US Diplomat, but no formal offer has been made. Rubio, who Trump used to mock with the nickname Little Marco, sits on the Senate Foreign Relations and Intelligence Committees.

We're also hearing Florida Representative Mike Waltz has been asked to serve as Trump's national security adviser. And former New York Representative Lee Zeldin says he has accepted Trump's offer to head up the Environmental Protection Agency. He went on Fox News earlier vowing to restore, "energy dominance.'

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEE ZELDIN, FORMER US HOUSE REPRESENTATIVE: There are regulations that the left wing of this country have been advocating through regulatory power that ends up causing businesses to go in the wrong direction. And President Trump, when he called me up, gosh, he was rattling (ph) off 15, 20 different priorities, a clear focus. He wasn't reading off of some sheet. It's the top of his head. And if I challenged him to give me 50 more ideas of what to do with this agency to improve the economy, I'm confident he would have done that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: And sources say Trump is expected to appoint Stephen Miller as his deputy chief of staff for policy. Miller is best known for the hardline immigration policies that separated migrant children from their parents at detention facilities, and the travel ban targeting people from Muslim majority countries.

Let's head to Los Angeles now, and political analyst Michael Genovese, who is the President of the Global Policy Institute at Loyola Marymount University. Michael, as always, good to see you.

I'd like your thoughts first on Marco Rubio as Secretary of State. We know he was in contention for the vice president and is obviously close to Trump's chief of staff.

Hello, Michael, can you hear me? OK. We seem to be having some communications. OK. We might return to Michael once we've established communications.

But turning now to Israel. Israel's far right Finance Minister says Donald Trump's election win brings an important opportunity for Israel. Bezalel Smotrich's comments come as he calls for Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank next year, and orders preparations for the annexation of settlements. The Prime Minister's Office has yet to comment, and it's not clear whether Smotrich's push has any chance of being implemented soon.

Around half a million Israelis live in west bank settlements which are considered illegal under International Law. Smotrich says Israel was on the verge of applying sovereignty during Trump's first term, but says now is the time to do so.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEZALEL SMOTRICH, ISRAELI FINANCE MINISTER: I intend, with God's help, to lead a government decision that says Israel will work with the new administration of President Trump, and the international community, to apply the Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria for American and international recognition, and to end the Israeli Arab conflict in the Middle East.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: His announcement drew swift condemnation from the Palestinian Authority and from the EU's top diplomat who wrote on X, "I unequivocally condemn Mr. Smotrich's call to apply sovereignty in the West Bank, a clear step towards illegal annexation. Such rhetoric undermines international law violates Palestinians rights and threatens any prospects for a two state solution. CNN's Jeremy Diamond is following all developments from Tel Aviv.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: There's no question that the Israeli finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, is seeing an opportunity here to realize one of his long held dreams of annexing Israeli settlements in the West Bank. And that is exactly what he is laying the groundwork for, announcing in a speech to lawmakers that he is ordering key departments that he oversees within the Ministry of Defense, to begin making preparations for applying Israeli sovereignty to those settlements in the West Bank.

[00:05:22]

Effectively, taking steps that would allow the Israeli government to annex those Israeli settlements into the State of Israel, into full blown Israeli territory.

Now, Israel, he said, would work with the Trump administration to, "apply sovereignty and achieve American recognition." And that's what's key to all of this. And the reason why he's doing it now, he made explicitly clear that he believes now is the moment to push for this annexation move in the wake of the election victory of President Donald Trump.

He believes that a Trump victory and a Trump presidency, most importantly, will mean support for Israel in terms of moves like this regarding Israeli settlements in the West Bank. He even said that he has, "no doubt" that President Trump would support Israel with this initiative.

And he has good reason for believing that. When Donald Trump put a peace plan on the table back in January of 2020, it did indeed call for allowing Israel to annex those Israeli settlements in the West Bank. And that the US, after a four year freeze of any settlement expansion activity, that US would indeed recognize that annexation. That, of course, never actually came to pass.

And we don't yet know how President Trump would actually react to this latest plan from Smotrich, especially as it comes amid the ongoing war in Gaza, amid Israel's war in Lebanon, and so much turmoil already happening in the region. But there's no question that Smotrich, Netanyahu and other members of this right wing government are certainly hoping for and expecting that they will get far more leeway from a Trump administration than they currently do under a Biden administration.

And Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, is certainly preparing for that. He said that he has now spoken with President-elect Trump three times in just the last week. Certainly seems to be the most times that any foreign leader in the last week has spoken with the President- elect. And very much an indication, as Netanyahu said, that he believes he sees eye to eye with Trump, especially on the number one concern for Netanyahu. And that is Iran.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: Jeremy Diamond reporting there. Well, Yaakov Katz is a Senior Columnist for the Jerusalem Post, and a fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute. Yaakov, good to see you. He's also the author of "Shadow Strike: Inside Israel's Secret Mission to Eliminate Syrian Nuclear Power."

Yaakov, I want to start by asking, you know, right wingers like Smotrich, you know, pushing for sovereignty, illegal annexation of the West Bank. This is nothing new, but how much support is there within Israel for this?

YAAKOV KATZ, SENIOR COLUMNIST, JERUSALEM POST: Well, I think that in Israel, there are in some circles, definitely within the right wing. There's a feeling that right now with Trump's return to office, there is an opportunity for Israel to gain, once again, some strategic benefits. It looks back at the four years of Trump's first term in office when he moved the embassy to Jerusalem, recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital, recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

And there were talks at the time, between the prime minister and the president, about the prospect of annexation, or Israel's application of sovereignty, also in the West Bank, territory that is still disputed ever since Israel conquered that land back in 1967. So the right wing in Israel definitely feels like there is a windfall and there's an opportunity right now to try to gain some of these benefits.

It'll be a question to see whether Trump is willing to give his support for that to happen.

COREN: Well, in the past, Trump has said that he is, "not a big fan of Israel's settlements in the occupied West Bank." But could he be persuaded to change his mind and give Israel his blessing?

KATZ: Well, I think it really will depend on maybe the bigger picture, what else is at play here, right? The way it was -- potentially was supposed to go down last time, was you recall, Anna, back in 2020, President Trump outlined his -- what he called the peace to prosperity, what he often also referred to as the deal of the century, a peace deal that he was trying to create between Israel and the Palestinians.

And on the one hand, the deal basically embraced past concepts, such as the establishment of a Palestinian state, dividing up part of the West Bank. But what it did not call for was the demolition or evacuation of Israeli settlements. And it basically said that Israelis would be able to remain inside those homes that Israel has built over the years throughout the West Bank.

[00:10:13]

In that case, Israel could potentially make once again the argument if Israeli homes are staying, then we should at least apply land to those parts of the West Bank. Obviously, I think in the right and bizarre, Smotrich, the leader of one of the more far right parties in the Israeli Parliament, is calling for an application of Israeli sovereignty over the entire territory. So not just where the Israeli settlements are, but that opens the door for some sort of negotiation, maybe in a compromise on both sides that would allow for something like this to happen.

COREN: Smotrich said that Trump's election win brings, "an important opportunity for Israel." What does he mean by that?

KATZ: Well, I think he feels that after four years of the Biden administration that for him personally, at least, they were not willing to engage with him, they were not willing to meet with him, and they basically cut him out of any dialogue between Israel and the United States, because of his more radical views on the right wing spectrum here in Israel. He feels that now, with a conservative movement and the Republican Party now coming into office, there's an opportunity for them to be able to work together and meet, maybe achieve some of these objectives.

It's important to remember, Anna, that there are members of the Trump administration who might be coming in, definitely of the past administration. We saw that, for example, with the former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, big advocates and proponents of Israel's presence in what is referred to as Judea and Samaria in the West Bank.

So there is a hope in that side, in small church's circles, that there will be people who will come back to office and hold similar views. But I think that Israel, and at least the prime minister for the time being, has his eyes set on, I don't call it necessarily the bigger prize, but yes, the bigger prize, which is Iran. And a way to align opinions and views between Jerusalem and Washington on how to confront Iran, we saw that Prime Minister Netanyahu has said that he's already spoken with President-elect Trump three times over the last few days. Maybe the most any foreign leader has spoken with the President.

He's dispatched his Strategic Affairs Minister to meet with Trump. They sat for a couple hours just the other day. So there's a lot of alignment and dialogue that's taking place right now between Israel and, not just the Biden administration but also the incoming Trump administration. And I would argue that it has a lot to do more with Iran than anything to do with the Palestinians at the moment.

COREN: Well, on that issue, Netanyahu has previously called Trump the best friend Israel has ever had in the White House. I mean, what is the Prime Minister hoping to get out of Trump in his second term?

KATZ: Well, as you recall, in the first term, back In May of 2018, Donald Trump pulled out of what was known as the JCPO, basically the 2015 Iran nuclear deal that Barack Obama had reached with Iran. And on the one hand, Israel was very supportive of that.

Prime Minister Netanyahu a couple months afterwards boasted that it was because of his convincing that Donald Trump pulled out of that deal back in May of 2018. So the vacuum, though, that was created, that's where things get a little more controversial. Was it good? Did it allow Iran to plow forward with its nuclear program or did it help stop Iran? But now there's an opportunity, and I think that Israel definitely feels that there's an opportunity to align with the Trump administration. We're seeing some hawkish appointments there of different officials who are hawks definitely on Iran. And Israel feels that this might be an opportunity to crack down with more, what has been called crippling sanctions on the Iranians.

But also if needed, maybe military action. We've seen just last month Israel's strike against Iran taking out its surface to air missile systems, the famous S300 that had been supplied to the Iranians by the Russians. Basically, Iran is more vulnerable today than it has been in the past when it comes to defending its own nuclear facilities.

And I think that Israel feels that there is an opportunity to coordinate very closely with the incoming administration, and take advantage potentially of this opportunity with Iran on the ropes, maybe get it to finally, once and for all stop its race towards a nuclear capability.

COREN: Yaakov Katz, we appreciate your insights. Thanks for joining us.

A group of eight aid organizations say the Israeli government has failed to meet the criteria requested by the US to improve the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza. The group released a joint scorecard coinciding with a 30-day deadline for action set by US officials to act on more than a dozen measures.

The organizations note that as many as 95,000 people remain besieged in northern Gaza without food or medical supplies and said, "Israel not only failed to meet the US criteria that would indicate support to the humanitarian response, but concurrently took actions that dramatically worsened the situation on the ground, particularly in northern Gaza."

[00:15:10]

The scorecard was compiled by Anura (ph) CARE International, MedGlobal (ph), Mercy Corps, Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam Refugees International and Save the Children.

Well, let's now return to our top story with the second Trump administration taking shape, and sources tell us that Florida Senator Marco Rubio will likely be the next Secretary of State. Our political analyst Michael Genovese is back with us. Michael, good to see you.

I'd like to get your thoughts on Marco Rubio as Secretary of State. We know he was in contention for vice president. Do you think this is likely?

MICHAEL GENOVESE, PRESIDENT OF GLOBAL POLICY INSTITUTE, LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY. I think this was no surprise to anyone in Washington. His name was being floated around, and he is a strong presidency, the strong ally of Donald Trump's. He's very loyal to Trump now after initially being very opposed to Trump. But Donald Trump is using this as an example of how he can control people and control the process. And he's doing a very good job of managing the process so that each day a different story is leaked out that draws attention to Trump.

COREN: Well, of course, he is drip freeding these appointments, one of those being the EPA head. Trump campaigned on mass deportations of illegal immigrants. Obviously, this is another appointment. By appointing immigration hardliner, Stephen Miller, his deputy chief of staff, and, Thomas Homan, his border czar, he is certainly staying true to his word.

Let me now play you some sound from both of these men.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When will the deportations begin?

STEPHEN MILLER, TRUMP SENIOR ADVISER: As President Trump said, they begin on Inauguration Day, as soon as he takes the oath office.

CECILIA VEGA, 60 MINUTES CORRESPONDENT: Is there a way to carry out Mass deportation without separating families?

TOM HOMAN, FORMER ACTING IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT DIRECTOR: Of course there is. Families can be deported together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: Michael, what will US immigration policy look like with both these men at the helm?

GENOVESE: Well, it's hard to imagine mass deportations starting on day one. It's such a massive undertaking. I think what they'll probably do is try to go after some of the more egregious examples of criminals and people who are sort of the bottom of the barrel. They don't want to separate families. The optics are terrible.

Plus, they know they can't put millions and millions of people into detention centers, put them on buses, put them on planes and get them out of the country. It's just too massive an undertaking logistically. So I think what they're trying to do is make a statement and send signals.

And the signals are chilling. I know at my university, we have students who are not legal and are dreamers, and are worried and they have a reason to be worried because the signals being sent out from Washington are that things are going to get ugly and they're going to get ugly very quickly.

COREN: What -- is the hope that if they send out enough of these scary signals that people will leave, undocumented people will leave of their own accord?

GENOVESE: Well, that was the hope that, if you remember, Mitt Romney, when he was running for president, had that idea. People come here for a reason. It's incredibly hard to get here.

They get here and they plant down roots. They pay taxes, they get jobs. Almost all of them are very law abiding citizens. But the fear of God has been struck in them. And you can imagine how day to day these folks are now saying, is today the day, and it serves no positive purpose.

COREN: Michael, we know that the Environmental Protection Authority is clearly in Trump's sights. It certainly was during his first term. He rolled back more than 100 environmental policies and regulations. Many of them were restored and strengthened under Biden.

We can expect, obviously, to see a dismantling of landmark climate regulations. What is Trump's second term going to look like for the environment?

GENOVESE: Well, he has a mandate. He has the trifecta. He controls -- his party controls the White House, the Senate and the Supreme Court. And so, they feel that they know, they're feeling their oats. They feel that they can do just about anything.

And so, this will be a real test of Trumpism. And what they want to do is stamp their personality and their policies onto American government in a way that they were unable to do in the first term. When Trump brought in people, he didn't know, and a lot of them were not Trump allies, the grownups in the room prevented him from doing certain things that he wanted to do. The second term will be very different.

He's going to bring in people who are loyal to him, people who are extremists, people who will do all the jobs that people refuse to do in the first term. So it's going to be a very different term. And on the environment, you're going to see deregulation take place.

[00:20:10]

You're going to see a lot of the Biden policies undone, and it's going to be a massive change on the environment.

COREN: Michael Genovese on that sobering note, we thank you for joining us.

GENOVESE: Thank you, Madam.

COREN: Well, the possible appointment of Marco Rubio as Secretary of State is likely to raise eyebrows in Beijing. The US Senate Republican is known as a China hawk. CNN's Marc Stewart is following this from the Chinese Capitol. Marc, good to see you.

Tell us the implications for the US relationship with China if Marco Rubio is appointed.

MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I will tell you this, Anna. Just the mere mention of Marco Rubio is going to, or if not, already have made an imprint here in Beijing. It sends a message that this incoming administration is going to be tough and not going to be afraid to confront some of the most contentious issues in this US- China relationship IT could be trade and tariffs, some of the tension in the South China Sea, including Taiwan. Marco Rubio is well-known here in China.

In fact, if we look back to 2020, he was actually sanctioned along with some other lawmakers by the Chinese government for, "behaving badly" on Hong Kong related issues. And as you know from being in Hong Kong, the changing political landscape of Hong Kong and the Chinese influence has been a very contentious point.

It is not clear at this point that if this moves forward, and he is sworn in as Secretary of State, if Beijing will lift those sanctions. But that's a question that is looming. But if we look at Marco Rubio and some of his statements, and his actions over the past decade or so, it is clear that China is a part of the world that he has studied. It's been a point of interest that he's been keen to study.

Let's listen to some remarks from Senator Rubio from back in 2023 about his stance on China.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL): China today is the single most formidable adversary the United States has ever faced. Soviet Union was not an industrial power, a technological power, commercial power. And, you know, we have both foreign policies, geo-economic policies and military postures that were built for a world that no longer exists.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEWART: Beijing has taken a lot of care to establish the framework for this incoming administration. If you look at the statement or the government readout, I should say, of the congratulatory message from Xi Jinping to President-elect Trump, it talks about issues of win-win cooperation and mutual respect. But clearly this potential appointment of Rubio is going to send a strong message.

And coming up in just about two hours from now, is when China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs holds its daily briefing. I am all but certain there will not be just one, but maybe several questions about this potential of Marco Rubio in this new role, Anna.

COREN: I know you'll be keeping a close eye on that for us. Marc Stewart in Beijing, many thanks.

Well, Russians are waiting to see what a new Trump administration will bring and whether it will advance the Kremlin's goals in Ukraine. We'll have a report from Moscow. Plus, the US State Department warned against travel to Haiti, after commercial aircraft are hit by gunfire while trying to land in the capital city. Those details next on CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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COREN: Haiti has suspended all flights to the international airport in the capital until November 18th after two US airline flights were hit by gunfire coming and from Port-au-Prince. The State Department is warning of gang led efforts to block travel in and out of the capital. Stefano Pozzebon has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: What we know as of now is that on Monday morning, a plane owned and operated by Spirit Airlines was hit by gunfire as it was approaching landing at the international airport in Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital. The airline said in a statement that the flight, which originated in Fort Lauderdale in Florida, was safely diverted to the Dominican Republic.

However, one flight attendant reported minor injuries in the incident. And footage and photos verified by CNN show bullet holes on the body of the plane and inside the main cabin. The airport in Port-au-Prince has been shut down as a result of this incident that occurred as this deep political, social and security crisis in the Caribbean nations shows really no signs of resolution.

Last month, a UN helicopter was also targeted by gunfire as it was flying over Port-au-Prince. And the same occurred to vehicles owned and operated by the US Embassy that was driven on the streets of Port- au-Prince, which is ridden by criminal gangs all across the capital.

On Monday, the Transitional Presidential Council swore in Alix Didier Fils-Aime as the new Prime Minister who pledged to restore democracy and security to the nation. And we will be monitoring closely whatever happens in Haiti in the weeks to come.

For CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Bogota.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: Right now, Moscow is leveling tremendous military pressure on Ukraine. Russian forces are ramping up their ground offensive on the eastern front. Thousands of troops, including North Koreans, are fighting top Ukrainian forces out of Russia's Kursk region. And Russia has been launching relentless airstrikes for weeks on end.

Well, Mondays, deadly strikes on Ukraine's Dnipro region are just the latest example. Reports say three people have been killed, including a woman in the city of Kryvyi Rih. Officials say her three children could still be trapped under the rubble of their home.

Well, residents in the Ukrainian capital are seeking shelter in subway systems as air raid sirens blare. On Saturday alone, Ukraine said Russia launched 145 Shahed drones, a record for a single night.

And the outcome of the US election could embolden Moscow to pursue its special military operation with even more force. CNN's Fred Pleitgen and brings us the Russian reaction to Donald Trump's win.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Russian state TV feasting on Donald Trump's election victory. The main talk program showcasing a social media post by Donald Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., mocking Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying his so called allowance from the US will soon run out.

The message from Russian media Ukraine is concerned US aid could dry up and Russia will win the war. On Moscow streets, optimism about the incoming administration in Washington.

Since the war in Ukraine, relations between Moscow and Washington have continued to plummet to new lows. But now many people here hope and believe that a new Trump presidency could bring those relations back on track.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): I don't think he can directly stop the war, but I feel he can set ultimatums to both sides, which will definitely bring this conflict to closer to an end.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: Trump also said he wants to end the war in Ukraine.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We all want that. We really want the war to end now. The situation is impossible. I hope we get to a mutual understanding.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: But what could a so-called mutual understanding look like?

This video from Ukraine's military purporting to show Kyiv's forces hitting Russian troops in the Kursk region of Russia, where the Ukrainians say they are now facing off against nearly 50,000 Russian and also North Korean troops.

The Ukrainians acknowledge they probably wouldn't be able to sustain their operations without U.S. military aid. Aid Donald Trump has in the past insinuated he might cut altogether in an effort, he claims, to end the war.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: They're dying, Russians and Ukrainians. I want him to stop dying, and I'll have that done. I'll have that done in 24 hours.

Take over, Elijah (ph).

PLEITGEN (voice-over): A Ukrainian source now saying Trump was joined by billionaire Elon Musk on a recent phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Musk, who while helping Ukraine by providing Starlink satellite Internet, has in the past also criticized military aid for Ukraine, ridiculing Zelenskyy in posts on his platform, X.

The Kremlin is vehemently denying "Washington Post" reporting claiming a Trump-Putin phone call has already happened. Still, Vladimir Putin openly praising the president-elect's stance on Ukraine and on Russia.

"What was said concerning the desire to restore relations with Russia to help end the Ukrainian crisis, in my opinion, seems to me to be at least worthy of attention," Putin said.

The incoming Trump administration certainly has the attention of many in Russia hoping for improved relations with the U.S. and even possible sanctions relief.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Day two of the U.N. climate conference will get underway in the coming hours. We'll have a look at how the U.S. could continue the fight against global warming, even under Donald Trump.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COREN: Welcome back. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Anna Coren.

The COP-29 climate summit is underway in Azerbaijan. Dignitaries began their 12-day conference under a cloud of uncertainty after Donald Trump's reelection.

The U.S. president-elect disputes the existence of man-made climate change, and he's vowed to pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement once again.

Well, U.S. climate envoy John Podesta said his country remains committed to its green energy goals, even with Trump set to take charge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN PODESTA, U.S. CLIMATE ENVOY: What I want to tell you today is that, while the United States federal government under Donald Trump may put climate change action on the back burner, the work to contain climate change is going to continue in the United States, with commitment and passion and belief.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[00:35:08]

COREN: Climate activists held a silent protest on the sidelines of the summit's opening day.

Demonstrators said the U.N. prevented them from chanting or making speeches, and they could only congregate in designated areas.

Well, new satellite images from NASA show just how extensive the toxic smog has become over parts of Eastern Pakistan. Officials say this season's smog has reached unprecedented levels. It's all thanks to a dangerous combination of coal-fired power plants,

traffic, burning waste, and weather. On Monday, air quality levels in Lahore reached more than four times the level considered hazardous by IQAir.

Well, CNN producer Sophia Saifi joins us from Islamabad with the very latest.

Sophia, explain to us the situation where you are and how bad it is in other parts of the country.

SOPHIA SAIFI, CNN PRODUCER: Well, Anna, I'm in the capital city of Islamabad, which is quite green (ph). But however, there is a high level of IQAir (ph) here in Pakistan, in Islamabad.

But in Lahore, for example, we're seeing a toxic bubble, which has been created by farmers burning agricultural stubble; of emissions by industries that have not been contained; as well as the fact that there is the main issue of the fact that it has not rained here in Northern Pakistan at all in the past couple of weeks.

Winter starts with the rains arriving and clearing the heavy air that gets trapped here in Punjab, which is the largest province of the country.

Eleven million children under the age of five are at peril, according to UNICEF, because of this terrible air crisis, that bad air crisis that's happening in Lahore, in Punjab. We're seeing IQAir levels reaching catastrophic levels.

It's a city of 14 million people, which are trapped in this toxic bubble. There's been a lot of criticism of the government, of the local government, which has come out and said that, yes, we do have a roadmap to deal with these emissions, with these local issues.

However, we have to realize that Pakistan only emits about 1 percent of global emissions. It is the recipient that has been at the tail end of all of the climate issues that have been ongoing internationally.

So, we'll have to wait and see when the rains will come. There have been attempts to try seed clouding to -- to make rain happen in this country. But we're going to have to wait and see when this smog dissipates and the situation gets better.

COREN: Yes, some of those images, Sophia, absolutely shocking.

Sophia Saifi joining us from Islamabad. Thank you.

Well, no respite yet for the Philippines, which is bracing for two possible typhoons just days after being hit by back-to-back tropical storms.

Typhoon Toraji made landfall in the Northern Philippines on Monday and will continue to bring heavy rain and dangerous storm surge across a region that's been devastated by storms in recent months. Well, two storm systems on the horizon, Usagi and Man-yi, are expected

to strengthen into typhoons before possibly impacting the Northern Philippines this week.

We're going to pause to take a short break. Back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:40:43]

COREN: Italian authorities are going to start limiting the number of tourists allowed to visit Pompeii each day.

The site of the ancient volcanic eruption has been a popular attraction for many years, but after a record-breaking summer season, the cap is being introduced to ensure public safety and to better preserve the site.

Well, CNN's Barbie Latza Nadeau has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Starting November 15th, the site of Pompeii in Southern Italy will start limiting visitors to just 20,000 a day in an effort to combat mass tourism and make this experience safer in the event of an earthquake, the site organizers say.

NADEAU (voice-over): The new regulation comes after a record summer of visitors, with peaks of over 36,000.

Visitors will also have to buy personalized tickets with their names on them, in an effort to stop travel groups from buying up tickets to sell at higher prices.

The changes are part of an effort to make important tourist destinations like Pompeii sustainable by focusing on the quality of the experience for the visitor, rather than on the quantity of tickets sold.

Pompeii was destroyed when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D.

NADEAU: And is an ongoing archeological dig with just two-thirds of the site excavated.

Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: Thank you for your company. I'm Anna Coren. I will be back at the top of the hour with more of CNN NEWSROOM. But first, WORLD SPORT starts after this short break.

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[00:44:56] (WORLD SPORT)

[00:57:20]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COREN: Hello. I'm Anna Coren, live from Hong Kong. Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.

Team Trump is taking shape. The U.S. president-elect makes new picks for his administration, people who have vowed to roll back environmental --