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Trump Begins Naming Hardliners to New Administration; Elon Musk's Deepening Connection with Donald Trump; Fighting Climate Change Under Trump; Finance Minister Calls for Israeli Sovereignty in West Bank. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired November 12, 2024 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Elon Musk has been at Mar-a-Lago virtually every single day since Donald Trump won the election.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Musk, who, while helping Ukraine by providing Starlink satellite Internet, has also criticized military aid for Ukraine.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Last week's outcome in the United States is obviously bitterly disappointing. It is clear that the next administration will try to take a U-turn and reverse much of this progress.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tens of thousands of Chinese students on a 40-mile impromptu adventure, most joining for the thrill. Then came the crackdown.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster and Christina Macfarlane.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, a warm welcome to our viewers joining us from the U.S. and around the world. I'm Max Foster.

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christina Macfarlane. It's Tuesday, November 12th, 9 a.m. here in London, 4 a.m. at Mar-a-Lago, where Donald Trump's second administration is quickly taking shape. And reports of his picks for top posts have been trickling out.

Now, none of these choices are confirmed, but according to sources familiar with the matter, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem is getting the nod for Secretary of Homeland Security. Florida Representative Mike Waltz has been chosen for White House National Security Advisor.

FOSTER: Trump is likely to select U.S. Senator Marco Rubio as Secretary of State. And longtime aide Stephen Miller expected to become Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy. Miller is one of several hardliners gaining new power over the country's border controls.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN MILLER, SENIOR ADVISOR TO DONALD TRUMP: Who's going to stand up and say the cartels are gone, the criminal migrants are gone, the gangs are gone? America is for Americans and Americans only.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When will the deportations begin?

MILLER: As President Trump said, they begin on inauguration day. As soon as he takes the oath of office.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is there a way to carry out mass deportation without separating families?

TOM HOMAN, FORMER ICE ACTING DIRECTOR: Of course there is. Families can be deported together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Meanwhile, former First Lady Melania Trump is expected to skip a meeting with current First Lady Jill Biden. Donald Trump will be at the White House on Wednesday to meet with President Joe Biden. And it's a tradition for the future First Lady to join.

But sources say Melania Trump is sitting this one out.

FOSTER: CNN's Alayna Treene has a closer look at the Trump loyalists who've been named as possible appointees. And the common theme that unites them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, President-elect Donald Trump on Monday, we're told, offered the role of National Security Advisor to Florida Republican Mike Waltz. Waltz is a former Green Beret. He had served in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa.

And his military experience could help him as he navigates some of the wars abroad, including in the Middle East and in Ukraine. Now, Waltz's pick really is keeping in what Donald Trump is valuing most for some of these top positions. And that is loyalty.

We saw him name Susie Wiles as his chief of staff. CNN reported that Stephen Miller is going to be named deputy chief of staff for policy. There's been a number of other people, Tom Homan, to serve as his borders czar. Elise Stefanik as his U.N. ambassador.

All of these people have one thing in common, and that is that they are loyal to him. And particularly so they are loyalty stretching back to the time that he had departed the White House in 2021, when many people had tried to distance themselves from Donald Trump following the January 6th attack. All of these people stood by him. And I'm told that is his version of rewarding them.

Now, I also want to note that Waltz, like some of these other picks, has been seen at Mar-a-Lago in recent days. He's also been a strong defender of the former president on television, particularly when it relates to some of these military matters.

Now, another influential voice that we are continuing to see him move sway with is Elon Musk. He has been at Mar-a-Lago virtually every single day since Donald Trump won the election. And I'm also told that he's been not only calling up Trump allies and lawmakers, but they are calling him as they seek to exert as much influence as they can in this process, really hoping that Musk will help them paint a bigger -- a better picture of them to the president-elect.

Alayna Treene, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: Well, Musk, of course, campaigned heavily for Donald Trump throughout the election.

[04:05:00]

The billionaire tech mogul hosted rallies on behalf of Trump and sung the former president's praises to crowds of supporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELON MUSK, TESLA FOUNDER: I'm not just MAGA, I'm dark MAGA.

MUSK: President Trump must win to preserve the Constitution. He must win to preserve democracy in America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Longtime tech journalist Kara Swisher has interviewed Elon Musk many times. She spoke with CNN earlier about why she believes the world's richest man is now taking such an interest in U.S. politics and how she sees the relationship between Musk and Trump developing in the coming weeks.

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KARA SWISHER, NEW YORK TIMES OPINION CONTRIBUTING WRITER: We have two very narcissistic people who like being dominant. And so there can be only one, like they say in Highlander. And that would be president- elect Donald Trump versus Elon Musk, even if he's the world's richest man.

Trump is an older man and he's set in his ways and he likes to do what he likes to do. And, you know, I think one thing that Musk is going for him is he's enormously wealthy. And Trump loves an enormously wealthy person and looks up to them.

And so maybe he feels acceptance with the richest man in the world. Being a sort of a super fan. Right. There's nothing more complimentary to someone who desperately craves affirmation.

You have to cozy up to the Trump administration because this is an administration that operates in a very transactional way. And so Elon understands that. He also wants some influence for his various ideas about reforming the government, which I think he'll run into a buzzsaw of more difficulty than in just bossing people around, wandering.

He has a tendency to wander into a company and then kick all the trash cans and scare people. Right. That's his thing. But I don't think it's particularly helpful when it comes to government because you can't blow up rockets every day. You can't do that.

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FOSTER: Well, Senator Marco Rubio is indeed appointed U.S. Secretary of State. China won't be very pleased. We can assume he's had a combative relationship with the Chinese government.

MACFARLANE: He absolutely has. Marc Stewart is following this for us live from Beijing. And presumably, Marc, this would be a worst case scenario for China. Someone who's not only been outspoken against China but helped craft aggressive policy against them.

MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I can tell you, Christina, there is no question at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who is Marco Rubio. He has been a long outspoken critic of China. He is very well versed and has been very involved in some of the most contentious issues.

He comes from this legislative background, serving as the top-ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee. Among the issues he got involved with was blocking tax credits on EV batteries that were used -- that were made using Chinese technology. He had a big role in the TikTok hearings grilling the FBI chief about the influence of Beijing.

The issues in this part of the world, it's a very long list. Of course, he's familiar with trade and tariffs. But he may also have to deal with the security issues surrounding the South China Sea and the presence of Taiwan.

He has been very bold about his concerns about not only China itself, but also its bigger role on the world stage. Let's listen to some remarks he made back in 2023.

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

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STEWART: Again, I think it's noteworthy he used the term formidable adversary. So that gives you a little bit of idea about the lens that Marco Rubio is going to bring to this job if indeed this comes to fruition. As far as Beijing is concerned, it had its daily press briefing at the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The only response was that this was an internal U.S. matter. It's trying to diplomatically try -- diplomatically trying to play it very safe. He has been sanctioned twice by the Chinese government for his stance on human rights in Xinjiang, as well as the Hong Kong protests.

But Max and Christina, no question, Marco Rubio, a very familiar face within the upper levels of the Chinese government already.

MACFARLANE: All right, Marc Stewart there live from Beijing. Thanks very much, Marc.

Now the COP29 Climate Summit is underway in Azerbaijan. Dignitaries began their 12-day conference under a cloud of uncertainty after Donald Trump's re-election. The U.S. president-elect disputes the existence of man-made climate change.

FOSTER: And he's vowed to pull the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Agreement once again.

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

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JOHN PODESTA, U.S. CLIMATE ENVOY: For those of us dedicated to climate action, last week's outcome in the United States is obviously bitterly disappointing. It is clear that the next administration will try to take a U-turn and reverse much of this progress. And of course, I'm keenly aware of the disappointment that the United States has at times caused the parties of the climate regime.

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FOSTER: Let's speak to Nic Robertson about this. Because, I mean, you were making the point earlier, you kind of question who's in the audience there listening to Podesta. Because the key world leaders don't go anymore.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, the U.N. Secretary General was there in the audience. We know that because he had a statement saying that we're in the sort of last ditch effort, almost sort of in the final round. I think it was exact words over trying to maintain this 1.5 percent or keep below 1.5 degree centigrade rise in global temperatures. Which I think most scientists are saying that's not even possible right now. He's trying to frame it that it's still within the realms.

But absolutely, I mean, President Biden isn't there. President Putin of Russia, President Xi of China. The Mexican President herself, who was a former climate activist. The Brazilian President, who will be the host of the COP next year, isn't there. Emmanuel Macron, the French President, not there. Olaf Schultz, the German Chancellor. The European Union's Ursula von der Leyen. A lot of very big and important figures are just not there.

Interestingly, one person who is going, who has a very popular mandate at the moment, is a new British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer. And he is saying clearly that it's important to go to set leadership.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I think it's very important for the United Kingdom to show leadership on the climate challenge. It's a very important challenge of our time. It's also, I've long believed, the single biggest opportunity for the next generation of jobs.

And that's demonstrated in the fact that this morning here at COP, I'm announcing a one billion pound order for blades for offshore wind, which will be jobs in Hull. Now, that's really welcome news.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: So, what, one billion pounds, that's about $1.3 billion. And what he's saying there is, look, by engaging in this, by accepting that it's a problem, by spending money and investing, we create jobs of the future.

But I think that's one of the reasons why there are many world leaders absent, because this is a toxic issue back home. The economies are hurting. And if they spend on addressing climate change, that has a very negative public perception.

MACFARLANE: I guess it begs the question, what meaningful change can come from this COP29? One of the big goals of this was the climate financing. I think that's one of the big topics on the agenda, to help finance developing countries. I mean, do we expect any meaningful advancement there?

ROBERTSON: I think the countries that hope to receive funds do. Keir Starmer was asked about his Britain's contribution, and he said we're not putting any more money forward. Again, the money issue. But we do want to see it distributed.

So I think there will perhaps be progress there. But is it really going to ameliorate the concerns and the realities for these countries in a timely fashion? It doesn't appear so because there's not enough political weight globally to be taken significantly.

MACFARLANE: Can I just ask, do you think that we are seeing the number of nations sitting this one out because of Donald Trump? Because it's actually perhaps better for them to wait till Brazil to see what the state of play is with the leading climate, you know, a country like America, who are one of the leading climate emissions. What do we call it?

Emissions? Emissions. So how much is that at play here? ROBERTSON: You know, perhaps you could apply that to Olaf Scholz, who pulled out recently, although he's got his political crisis at home. Dick Schoof, the Dutch Prime Minister, won't be going. But then he's had a sort of a mini crisis at home over the violence in Amsterdam last week.

So perhaps this has weighed on their decisions. But I think we're more likely to see more of this in the future. I think one of the reasons people didn't go this time is that there hasn't been that feel-good factor for the leaders.

If we go back to the Paris COP, there was such a feeling of euphoria that they'd achieved something. And, you know, Trump was an instigator -- it was a principal instigator in sort of breaking that when he pulled out before Biden put the United States back in. Trump says he's going to pull out again.

So I think we'll see more hesitation.

[04:15:00]

And, you know, Antonio Guterres, the U.N. Secretary-General, has made this issue, since he took over as Secretary-General at the U.N., climate change. The heating of the planet has made it a central issue.

More than 300 people in the United States died this year in hurricanes. That's sort of a record figure. You know, his beating a drum saying, you know, now is the time to take it seriously. We seem to be entering a four-year space where the United States at least won't.

MACFARLANE: Nic, thank you.

FOSTER: Speaking of climate change, dangerous wildfires are being fueled by bad weather on the east and west coasts of the U.S. In California, the Mountain Fire is just one of the multiple blazes firefighters are attempting to contain. So far, it's burned an area larger than 10,000 football pitches and is less than 50 percent contained due to those strong winds.

MACFARLANE: On the East Coast, a historic drought is driving the Jennings Creek Fire burning in New York and New Jersey. CNN's Gloria Pazmino has details on how the fires are affecting local residents.

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GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From a New York City park to forests across the Hudson River in New Jersey, unprecedented fires are burning across the northeast, fueled by strong winds and months without significant rain.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've never seen it like this before.

PAZMINO (voice-over): The Jennings Creek wildfire in New Jersey has scorched thousands of acres and is still going.

Across New York and New Jersey, 600 wildfires have burned since October.

THOMAS HOWLEY, GREENWOOD LAKE, NEW JERSEY MAYOR: In my over 50 years of living here, this has been the most significant and probably most potentially dangerous situation I've seen or been involved in.

PAZMINO (voice-over): Dariel Vasquez, an 18-year-old parks and recreation employee, was killed Sunday while he was responding to a fire.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a very dangerous profession. This is a very dangerous incident that we have here.

PAZMINO (voice-over): Strong winds across the region have carried the heavy smoke across New Jersey and New York, leading to air quality and red flag warnings for millions of people. The water supply is also under strain.

ERIC ADAMS, (D) NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: October was one of the driest months we've had in recorded history.

PAZMINO (voice-over): A man was charged with arson after he fired an illegal shotgun believed to have sparked a fire in Jackson Township, New Jersey, prompting evacuations in surrounding communities.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My daughter and I, we packed up our important papers and all of our prescriptions and got the dog ready. And when they said go, we were ready to go.

PAZMINO (voice-over): Gloria Pazmino, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

FOSTER: CNN meteorologist Chad Myers has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: What a couple of weeks for the Philippines. I mean, this is an area that is used to typhoons, but four so far and possibly two more on the way. Yinxing, then Toraji, and here's Yinxing, making landfall as a Category 3 hurricane equivalent here across the northern part of the Philippines that has now moved toward Da Nang, kind of falling apart. This really made landfall at the end of last week.

But here's the landfall here right around Da Nang, kind of coming on land and really losing an awful lot of power. Here's Toraji as it moved a little bit farther to the south, but still made torrential rainfall, especially in the mountains.

There will be places. And if you add it all up from the storms that have already made landfall and the ones that are still due to make landfall because there are still two out there, there will be places that will have 2,000 millimeters of rainfall from these storms just over the past couple of three weeks.

Here is another storm. Here's Usagi. This was tropical storm number 27 earlier, now has a name. Guess where it's headed? Right toward the Philippines. And yes, maybe a glancing blow to the northern part of the island of Luzon here, but there's still going to be significant rain in the same places that have picked up so much that likely makes landfall on Thursday. There are still a few more back out there to the east, and yes, they're going to get very close as well.

It's kind of the crossroads here into the Philippines of one storm after another with the wind gusts with the next storm, probably somewhere in the ballpark of 140, maybe 150 kilometers per hour.

Here's Man-yi. We're still watching this. This is way off toward the east, but there's Guam. We'll have to watch out for that because there's certainly a landfall possibility there. Somewhere in the 100 kilometer per hour. But again, it's more of that surge in the wind and obviously the rainfall still to come.

So one, two, three, four, they're all lined up. And most of them, at least this year, have been getting too close to the Philippines.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[04:20:00]

FOSTER: A far-right Israeli minister's comments are drawing condemnation after he called for Israeli sovereignty over settlements in the West Bank. We'll have a live report for you coming up next.

MACFARLANE: And the airport in Port-au-Prince shuts down after two U.S. flights are hit by gunfire over Haiti's capital. Details ahead.

FOSTER: Later, one of the biggest tourist destinations in Italy taking a bit of time out. Why the ancient city of Pompeii is preparing to limit the number of visitors.

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MACFARLANE: A group of eight aid organizations say the Israeli government has failed to meet the criteria requested by the U.S. to improve the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza.

FOSTER: The group released a joint scorecard today, coinciding with the 30-day deadline to act on more than a dozen measures set out by U.S. officials. They said not only did Israel not meet the U.S. criteria, but it also took actions that dramatically worsened the situation in Gaza, particularly in the north.

MACFARLANE: The scorecard was compiled by ANIRA, CARE International, MedGlobal, Mercy Corps, Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam, Refugees International and Save the Children.

FOSTER: Israel's far-right finance minister says Donald Trump's election win in the U.S. brings an important opportunity for Israel, meanwhile. MACFARLANE: Well, Bezalel Smotrich's comment comes 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.

FOSTER: 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.

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BEZALEL SMOTRICH, ISRAELI FINANCE MINISTER (through translator): 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)

MACFARLANE: His announcement drew swift condemnation from the Palestinian Authority and from the EU's top diplomat, who wrote on X, quote, 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 Paula Hancocks been following this, joins us from Abu Dhabi. Paula, clearly this is something the far right in Israel have been pushing for and calling for, for some time, but how much weight is it likely to hold with the incoming Trump administration do you think this time around?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christina, it is something the far right has wanted, it's something they've called for and it's something that's been overwhelmingly rejected around the world.

[04:25:00]

It hasn't really been taken seriously up until this point. It has been more of a far right fringe desire to annex the occupied West Bank and certainly the settlements within that.

But the fact is what we're hearing from Smotrich and also from the Israeli foreign minister is that this was discussed during former President Trump's first term and so that does lend it some credibility, the fact that if this has already been raised with the president-elect then we're hearing very clearly from Smotrich that this will be brought up again. Saying that he has asked his department to put in the plans and start planning for the infrastructure for applying sovereignty to the settlements within the West Bank itself.

Now we don't know for sure what the president-elect will decide, we don't know whether he will go along with this idea, we're still waiting as well to hear officially from the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

But we can go from the precedent, we can see what happened during Trump's first term and there were some very pro-Israel decisions and policies that were made. We saw the former president recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, that's going against decades of U.S. policy and of international policy. It's not something that was accepted by many countries around the world, but the U.S. is the main ally of Israel.

We also saw the former president agree to recognize the sovereignty of the Golan Heights, this is territory that was captured from Syria back in the 1967 war.

So looking at those precedents, you can understand why the far right is feeling emboldened at this point to come up with these ideas. Of course, it will have international condemnation, you heard from Josep Borrell there, you will hear far more if this looks like it could be something that will be put into place.

The Palestinian Authority, for example, condemning it in the strongest possible terms, we heard from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that it's a blatantly colonial and racist extension of the ongoing campaign of extermination and forced displacement against the Palestinian people.

But the fact that Smotrich feels that he can talk to the Israeli parliament about this, the Knesset, the fact that he feels he can put these plans in motion shows that they have confidence that they could have the ear of President-elect Trump.

FOSTER: We're seeing a lot of activity as well in Lebanon today, some strikes, I think.

HANCOCKS: Yes, we're hearing reports of some more strikes in southern Beirut. This is the Hezbollah stronghold of southern Beirut. We understand there may have been evacuation orders before that took place.

We have a view there earlier of the skyline of southern Beirut and it comes, as we saw as well overnight, further airstrikes from Israel into northern Lebanon. You can see one of the impacts of the strikes in southern Lebanon just there. In northern Lebanon there was a village where eight were killed, according to local authorities, 14 wounded.

The Israeli military said in that event it was actually a building they believed that belonged to Hezbollah. They questioned as well the death toll as being higher than they believed. But we are seeing continual airstrikes, most recently in the southern suburbs.

But at the same time, as we are hearing Israel saying that they are getting the upper hand on Hezbollah, we are still seeing rockets coming over into northern Israel -- Max, Christina.

FOSTER: OK, Paula, thank you so much for the updates there. Haiti is suspending all flights in and out of Port-au-Prince Airport

until at least next Monday after two commercial jetliners were hit with gunfire, would you believe?

MACFARLANE: Yes, this is incredible. One flight attendant was wounded when a Spirit Airlines flight from Florida was struck by bullets as it tried to land in the Haitian capital a short time later. JetBlue Airlines announced a stop to its Haiti service after a bullet was found in the exterior of one of its planes upon arrival from Port-au- Prince.

FOSTER: The U.S. State Department is warning people against travelling to Haiti, which has been embroiled for months in violent civil unrest.

MACFARLANE: New Zealand's Prime Minister has offered a national apology to hundreds of thousands of victims of physical and sexual abuse. A report found that more than 200,000 children and vulnerable adults were abused in state and faith-based care institutions between 1950 and 2019.

[04:30:03]

FOSTER: Abuse included rape, forced sterilization and electric shocks targeting the indigenous Maori community and those with mental and physical disabilities most heavily. Here's Prime Minister Chistopher Luxon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPHER LUXON, NEW ZEALAND PRIME MINISTER: Today I'm apologizing on behalf of the Government to everyone who suffered abuse, harm and neglect while in state care. Today I make this apology to all survivors on behalf of my own and previous Governments. You deserved so much better and I am deeply sorry that New Zealand did not do better by you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Well, the Royal Commission also recommended calling for public apologies from Pope Francis and the Archbishop of Canterbury.

FOSTER: Donald Trump said he would end the war in Ukraine in a day but what can he actually do in 24 hours? The view from Russia just ahead.

MACFARLANE: Plus, how a Disney cruise ship heading to its new home in Florida helped rescue four people. Details of that ahead.