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Trump Team Surprised by Allegations against Defense Pick; GOP and Dem Senators Asking for House Ethics Committee Report; U.N. Committee Sees "Characteristics of Genocide" in Gaza; Israeli Strikes Target Beirut for Fifth Day; U.S. Air Crews Describe Midair Battle with Iranian Drones; Elon Musk Embracing Role as "First Buddy"; Giuliani Hands over Valuables to 2020 Georgia Election Workers; India's Capital Battles Toxic Air; World's Largest Coral Found in Southwest Pacific. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired November 16, 2024 - 03:00   ET

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

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ISABEL ROSALES, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers watching from around the world. I'm Isabel Rosales in Atlanta.

Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, more backlash over U.S. president-elect Donald Trump's picks for top jobs, some of it catching Trump's team off guard.

A super typhoon is expected to make landfall in the Philippines, the fourth to hit there in under two weeks.

And an underwater discovery has scientists thrilled. The world's largest coral, now found. We'll show you an up-close view.

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ROSALES: There are new questions surrounding some of Donald Trump's controversial cabinet picks. Among them, his selection for Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth. The transition team is said to have been surprised by word of an investigation seven years ago into an alleged sexual assault involving Hegseth.

He was not charged and he denies any wrongdoing. But it is casting a shadow over his selection.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: I think the problem they're facing in this case is what prosecutors always face in he said/she said cases that happened behind closed doors, which is they have two distinct, different versions of what occurred and what was consent.

And the prosecutor's office probably came to the conclusion that they didn't have enough to sustain a conviction at trial to go forward. So that file is basically closed right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: Meanwhile, there's new information about the investigation into Trump's pick to be attorney general, Matt Gaetz. The attorney for a woman who testified before lawmakers says she told them she saw Gaetz have sex with a minor.

And Trump is said to be considering a push from right wing allies to put controversial loyalist Kash Patel in charge of the FBI. Patel has threatened to go after Trump's perceived political enemies and government and the media. CNN's Kristen Holmes has more on the controversy around Pete Hegseth.

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KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We are learning more about those sexual assault allegations against Pete Hegseth, particularly how the Trump team is feeling about it.

I was told by sources close to Donald Trump that they were surprised to learn about these allegations, that they actually came after Hegseth had been announced as the nominee for Defense Secretary.

We were told that the nomination process for Hegseth was so quick that there was little to no actual internal vetting. In fact, he wasn't sent to an outside firm before his name had been announced. Now the allegations caught them by surprise.

It stunned some members of Trump's inner circle, who have really tried to control the vetting process around all of these candidates. It actually led to Susie Wiles, the head of the transition, having a phone call on Thursday with Hegseth, in which she questioned him about these allegations.

In addition to that she asked him if there was anything else that they needed to know at this time before they moved forward. Now another source told me that they are sticking with Hegseth at this time, despite these allegations.

But Donald Trump still has his back, as did the transition team.

But clearly, this is a rocky start to a potential nomination, to a confirmation of someone who would lead one of the most critical agencies, the Department of Defense, in a critical time for Donald Trump as we head into this new administration -- Kristen Holmes, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROSALES: And now to the controversy surrounding Trump's pick to be his attorney general, Matt Gaetz. Again, that attorney for a woman who testified before lawmakers says she told them she saw Gaetz have sex with a minor. And Gaetz has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

The House Ethics Committee was investigating Gaetz and was set to release a report before Gaetz resigned this week.

To become attorney general Gaetz would have to be confirmed by the Senate. The Senate Judiciary Committee asked the House for that report I mentioned from its Ethics Committee. Meanwhile, the Speaker of the House says he doesn't want the committee's report released to the public.

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REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), HOUSE SPEAKER: If someone is no longer a member of Congress, we are not in the business of investigating and publishing reports on people who are not part of this institution. House Ethics Committee's jurisdiction is over sitting members of Congress.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): I was shocked, as were many of my colleagues, by the nomination of representative Matt Gaetz because there are many serious allegations pending against him.

[03:05:00]

Fortunately, that's why we have the Senate advise and consent process. It involves a background check and investigation by the committee and public hearings, at which he can be fully questioned.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: And CNN's Paula Reid has the latest on the Gaetz investigation.

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PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: I've been speaking with my sources in and around the Gaetz investigation. And one source who spoke with Hill investigators tells me that the Hill has obtained, quote, "highly damaging evidence" against the former congressman.

We've learned those investigators have spoken with many of the same people who were interviewed in the Justice Department's federal criminal probe, including a witness, who was just 17 years old when Gaetz allegedly had sex with her, and Gaetz's ex-girlfriend, who was also a key witness in the federal investigation.

Now a lawyer for the underage girl has called for the ethics report to be released. But I've spoken with witnesses who have been interviewed both for the criminal probe and the Hill probe. And I got mixed reaction when I asked if this should be released.

Some witnesses don't want to live through it again. They dealt with these salacious allegations for several years while the criminal probe was pending. No charges were brought against the congressman and they'd rather not relive that.

So right now the question is, will this report be released?

And when it is released, how much of this evidence will be included? And also what else did they learn?

They've likely looked at issues far beyond those explored by the Justice Department. Unclear, though, if we'll get any answers -- Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.

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ROSALES: And joining me now to talk about all of this is Thomas Gift, Director of the Centre on U.S. Politics at University College London.

Thomas, thank you for being with us.

With these more controversial picks like Tulsi Gabbard, Pete Hegseth, Matt Gaetz and RFK Jr., how much of an actual worry do you think it is for Trump's transition team in getting them confirmed?

THOMAS GIFT, DIRECTOR, CENTRE ON U.S. POLITICS, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON: Well, thanks so much, Isabel. It's great to be with you.

I think certainly it's a concern and it really raises questions right out of the gate, if the proper vetting has taken place. And, of course, given the challenges that might be ahead, Donald Trump may turn to recess appointments.

Those recess appointments are constitutional. But they were designed when Congress met less frequently and the president needed to fill spots on an emergency basis. They weren't designed as a loophole to circumvent proper vetting. So this is not the start that Donald Trump wanted for sure.

ROSALES: OK.

And under how much pressure are Republican senators right now to fall in line?

And you mentioned recess appointments but obviously there would be an expectation for Trump to -- for his senators to pick his choices.

Under -- how much pressure are they under right now?

GIFT: Well, I think that that's absolutely right. I mean, Donald Trump came in with a mandate. You could say that all the down ballot races that were successful for Republicans were due to Donald Trump. Or at least that's the case that he's going to make.

And it's hard, I think, for Congress members to push back against Trump. Even in sort of the dark days of Donald Trump, whenever he wasn't especially popular, we saw how difficult it was for individuals in the House and the Senate to push against Donald Trump.

But I do think that they can exercise independence. I really think that the Matt Gaetz confirmation is really going to face an uphill battle, almost to the point where you start to wonder if Matt Gaetz is just a sacrificial lamb so that Republicans can show that they're independent, separate from Donald Trump.

Reject him and then Donald Trump might put in his quote-unquote "real" attorney general pick.

ROSALES: Yes. And based on what you're saying there, the senators have told us that they take their advice (sic) and consent duty under the Constitution very seriously. So it might be an uphill battle still in this confirmation process.

Let's talk about House Speaker Mike Johnson. He said he will ask the House Ethics Committee not to release a report on former congressman Matt Gaetz covering allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use.

Johnson said it is about maintaining House traditions on not issuing ethics reports on people who are no longer a part of Congress, even though that has happened twice before.

So Thomas, is it more about the rules or what's in the report?

GIFT: Well, largely, I think it's about norms here. And the norm is that the congressional investigation will stop. But that doesn't necessarily mean that the output from it will fail to be released.

So I think that it is important to have transparency, especially whenever you have a nominee who is potentially going to be in such a high level position as the Justice Department. That information should be out there.

Obviously, Matt Gaetz did resign from Congress but given that he's sort of a key political appointment, I think it's going to be hard for Republicans to say the American people don't deserve to know this. The Senate doesn't deserve to know this when making their confirmation.

ROSALES: And Washington is certainly notorious for leaks.

How likely do you think that this report sees the light of day either way, either via a leak or the committee actually releasing it?

[03:10:00]

GIFT: Yes, I think it's very high at this point. I mean Washington is good at one thing and that's leaking information, as you just suggested. So even if this doesn't formally come out, I think a lot of the details sort of will probably be known either to Congress or the American public or both.

It's going to be very difficult to keep this under wraps. There's sort of a lot of antagonism right now, particularly among Democrats, against the Donald Trump administration. And they may feel that this is kind of one way to get him right out of the gates.

ROSALES: And we've put out reporting that president-elect Donald Trump's transition team is bypassing traditional FBI background checks for some of his cabinet picks and instead is using private companies to vet potential candidates for administration jobs. That is according to people close to the transition team. What do you make of that, Thomas?

GIFT: I think that that is problematic and it's very possible that some of the allegations that are going to come out or have emerged already, for example, with Pete Hegseth and the sexual misconduct charges, that should have been sort of looked into before.

And so I think that, you know, Trump is going to be asking questions about whether his personnel are kind of doing the proper background information, proper vetting because if, you know, if they don't, then politically it's going to be a problem, even if it isn't whenever they come to Congress.

ROSALES: Thomas Gift, thank you sir.

GIFT: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROSALES: U.S. President Joe Biden is in Peru for the APEC summit, where he is trying to reassure allies in the face of the coming Trump administration. He admitted the world was facing, quote, "a moment of significant political change."

But he didn't share publicly at least how the world should deal with that change.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: What do you tell allies who have fears about the incoming Trump administration?

What is your message to allies, sir?

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ROSALES: Biden met with the leaders of Japan and South Korea and celebrated the strengthening of that three-way coalition, which is something that he considers a major part of his legacy in East Asia.

China's president Xi is also in Peru and will meet with Biden today. Given Donald Trump's past disdain for multilateral organizations, it is thought that China is really sensing an opportunity for expanded influence on the international stage. CNN's Marc Stewart reports from Beijing.

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MARC STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The anticipated meeting between President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping obviously comes at a time when world leaders are trying to assess what life will be like under the incoming Trump administration.

And as China tries to portray itself as a world leader and a stable alternative to the U.S.

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STEWART (voice-over): An example of that ambition was on full display Friday.

In addition to the APEC visit, Xi was in Peru to formally open a massive deep water port. It's a $1.3 billion investment by Beijing. As the world's second largest economy, China wants the world to know it's a global player, especially amid uncertainty over what Trump's next term will bring.

As one observer told us, China wants to send the message to other nations it may not be smart to completely side with the U.S. and to consider working with them.

As far as the meeting between Xi and Biden, it may be a way for Beijing to signal to the next administration that it wants communication and stability.

The incoming administration and its potential China critics, like secretary of state nominee Marco Rubio, could be challenging, especially alongside Trump's calls for new U.S. tariffs on Chinese made products.

While ties plummeted to some of their worst in history earlier in the Biden administration, the two nations currently are holding more diplomatic talks and visits. Just this year, secretary of state Antony Blinken, national security advisor Jake Sullivan and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen have all made visits here to China.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEWART: And we've seen some agreement to work together on issues like climate change and fentanyl, diplomacy that Beijing would most likely hope to maintain -- Marc Stewart, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROSALES: The Philippines is bracing for super typhoon Man-yi, which is now starting to bear down on the eastern part of the country.

The storm, with winds of almost 260km/h, equivalent to a category five hurricane, could get even stronger. This will be the fourth typhoon to hit the Philippines in less than two weeks.

And tropical storm Sara is nearly stationary as it just hovers over Honduras. Sara has already brought catastrophic flooding to parts of Central America. But there is potential for deadly mudslides. Dozens of homes have been damaged and at least three people are missing.

Israel's conduct when it comes to the war in Gaza is facing serious criticism again. Still ahead, why U.N. investigators believe Israel's actions could amount to genocide.

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Plus diplomats are getting more optimistic about a new ceasefire plan for Lebanon. The reason it may be falling on receptive ears in Hezbollah.

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ROSALES: For the second time this week, Israel is being accused of serious violations of international law. This time, it is coming from a United Nations special committee, which concluded that Israel's conduct in Gaza is, quote, "consistent with the characteristics of genocide."

The committee points to mass casualties among Palestinians, Israel's use of starvation as a weapon of war, as well as what it called Israel's disregard of its obligation to distinguish between civilians and combatants and take adequate safeguards to prevent civilian deaths.

CNN has reached out to Israel for response. Now earlier this week, Human Rights Watch said the massive displacement of Palestinians and the enormous, enormous damage wrought in Gaza amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. Israel said it is committed to international law and operates accordingly.

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We're just getting word of new Israeli strikes on southern Beirut which hit the city for a fifth straight day. Lebanon's national news agency says there were at least three airstrikes. There are no immediate reports of casualties.

That is happening as a U.S. Israeli cease-fire proposal for Lebanon is making more headway. According to sources who spoke with CNN, they say the plan is now being considered by Hezbollah, whose response is expected in the coming days. And there is some optimism that the group will agree to it. CNN's Melissa Bell has details.

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MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A proposal for a U.S.- Israeli backed ceasefire has been handed to the Lebanese government by the U.S. ambassador to Lebanon, a ceasefire deal that would last 60 days.

But it is hoped to be the basis for a more long-lasting peace along the lines of the agreement of U.N. Resolution 1701 that had ended the 2006 conflict. Israel itself, under a great deal of pressure to quieten that northern front, specifically with the day to day cost to Israeli civilians and the 60,000 who would then be able to return home.

The Israeli government under pressure to bring that front toward peace on the part of Hezbollah. The question of how the decapitation of Hezbollah, its weakening will impact the Lebanese decision to accept or not the ceasefire. One of the remaining questions when a resulting ceasefire, should it

be agreed, might be announced, whether it would be during the last few weeks of the outgoing Biden administration or as a sort of gift to an incoming Trump administration -- Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.

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ROSALES: We now want to give you a firsthand account of a dramatic midair battle that played out in the skies over Israel.

Last April, U.S. warplanes were sent to intercept hundreds of Iranian drones and missiles headed toward Israeli targets. The operation was a first for the U.S. Air Force, which had never fought a prolonged large-scale drone attack. Natasha Bertrand has more.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on. Let's go, go, go, go, go.

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As missiles and drones exploded overhead, U.S. troops scrambled to get fighter jets in the air.

MAJ. BENJAMIN "IRISH" COFFEY, UNITED STATES AIR FORCE: The scale that we expected for the most dangerous was vastly under probably four or five

times under what actually occurred on April 13th.

BERTRAND (voice-over): Iran had fired over 300 missiles and attack drones at Israel, an unprecedented strike. In their first interview since that

night, F-15 pilots and crew call signs, Irish, Sonic, Rifle and Voodoo describe trying to hit dozens of missiles and slow moving drones while

flying over a thousand miles per hour.

CAPT. LACIE "SONIC" HESTER, UNITED STATES AIR FORCE: It just took a few seconds that all of a sudden, the next sweep of our radar, we just see all

of these dots. And I think that first picture was a little overwhelming, I think for me in the back seat, just seeing how many are airborne and how

many are tracking in our direction.

BERTRAND (voice-over): For the F-15 squadron shown here at their home base in Lakenheath, England, this was the first real test against a large scale

drone attack.

BERTRAND: Can you talk a bit about how difficult that was to take down these very small, slow moving drones? COFFEY: You're talking about something that is on the very edge of a fighter aircraft's ability to detect what we call find, fix, track, target,

and engage. We weren't sure if our radar, the best radar in the inventory, is in this airplane behind us. No one really knew whether or not its

capability to find these things even existed.

BERTRAND (voice-over): Several of the F-15's air-to-air missiles failed to launch, leaving live munitions hanging on the wing.

BERTRAND: I mean was there anything that really surprised you about that night?

Anything that went wrong?

MAJ. CLAYTON "RIFLE" WICKS, UNITED STATES AIR FORCE: I mean, a lot of stuff went wrong. We had lots of jets that were coming back with hung ordnance.

BERTRAND: And that's treated as an emergency, isn't it?

WICKS: Yes. It is. So they are by default, an emergency aircraft.

BERTRAND (voice-over): Rifle was managing operations at an undisclosed base in the Middle East, where missiles and drones were exploding overhead. The

chaos is shown here for the first time.

Pilots called in asking what to do as debris fell on runways.

WICKS: Really all we could tell them was like, hey, stay airborne as long as you can with the gas that you have. don't divert because even our, you

know, divert air fields, we don't know what's going on there either. So if stuff is blowing up over our heads very likely, stuff is blowing up there

too.

BERTRAND (voice-over): Many troops refused to head to bunkers.

LT. COL. CURTIS "VOODOO" CULVER, UNITED STATES AIR FORCE: There was an airman at one point standing next to a fuel truck with tons and tons of jet

fuel in it, just pumping gas into the jet with stuff exploding over the base. I mean, the courage of that person to stand up and do that for an

ally is incredible.

BERTRAND (voice-over): Almost every single plane that landed had to be reloaded.

BERTRAND: So had you ever seen that situation before where these jets were using all of their munitions and then they have to come

back and get, you know, all of those replaced at once?

WICKS: We train to it. I'd never actually seen it.

BERTRAND (voice-over): Ultimately, U.S. and allied forces shot down nearly every projectile Iran launched at Israel.

[03:25:00]

Sonic, Irish, Voodoo and Rifle all received awards this week for valor in combat -- Natasha Bertrand, CNN, Lakenheath, England.

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ROSALES: The German chancellor is drawing the ire of Ukraine's president by opening dialogue with Russia after years of silence.

In a phone call, Olaf Scholz urged Russian president Vladimir Putin to withdraw from Ukraine and begin peace talks. But the Kremlin says any agreement would have to recognize what it calls new territorial realities. It was the first time the men had spoken in nearly two years.

And now Volodymyr Zelenskyy is criticizing that exchange. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Olaf Scholz, in my opinion, is Pandora's box. Now there may be other conversations, other calls, just a lot of words.

And this is exactly what Putin has long wanted. It's extremely important for him to weaken his eyes on the nation, as a nation of Prussia, and conduct talks as ordinary talks, which won't have any result, the way he did it for decades.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: Meanwhile, in southern Ukraine, one person is dead and tens of thousands are without heat after Russia struck the port city of Odessa. One official says that Thursday night attack damaged residential buildings, as well as the city's heating infrastructure.

It appears the main heating pipeline was damaged. Ten other people were wounded, including two children.

Protesters stormed the parliament on Friday in the Russian backed Georgian breakaway region of Abkhazia. Opposition to a recent investment agreement with Moscow has been building.

Some in the region have expressed fear that the deal would result in pricing locals out of the property market in favor of Russians. The governor's office of the breakaway region said it has now scrapped that agreement.

President-elect Donald Trump is building his new cabinet and creating a great deal of controversy along the way. Why there is growing worry that several can't make it through the Senate confirmation process.

And Rudy Giuliani is paying a big and long overdue price for the big election lie he told about Trump winning in 2020. What he has given to a pair of Georgia election workers and what's still yet to come. That's next on CNN.

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ROSALES: Donald Trump is working swiftly to put together his new administration with little concern about the controversy surrounding many of his choices.

There's growing doubt that Matt Gaetz, Trump's choice for attorney general, can get confirmed by the Senate. Lawmakers want to see the findings of a House Ethics investigation into Gaetz alleging sexual misconduct and illegal drug use.

And troubling new details are surfacing about Trump's Defense Secretary pick. Officials in California confirm former FOX News host Pete Hegseth was the focus of a sexual assault investigation back in 2017.

Elon Musk seems to be enjoying his new role as the president-elect's, quote, "first buddy."

But is the billionaire in danger of overreaching within Trump's circle?

CNN's Brian Todd has more.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: Take over, Elon. Yes, take over.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Elon Musk, the billionaire new best friend of Donald Trump, has been such a constant presence with the president- elect in recent days that Trump joked about it at Mar-a-Lago.

TRUMP: I can't get him out of here. He just likes this place.

TODD: When musk flew to Washington with Trump this week on Trump's private plane and attended a meeting with House Republicans, Trump joked, I can't get rid of him.

MARGARET TALEV, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: He also has more proximity to president-elect Trump right now than Trump's running mate J.D. Vance.

TODD: Musk, who's been tapped by Trump to co-lead a new Department of Government Efficiency, has, according to sources who spoke to CNN's Kaitlan Collins, been omnipresent with Trump at Mar-a-Lago since the election, exerting enormous influence over the president-elect.

Dining with Trump, hanging out at the golf course with the Trump family.

When the Trumps were posing for family photos like this one the day after the election, the president-elect encouraged Musk and his young son, X, to be included.

TRUMP: We have to get Elon with his boy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely.

TODD: Trump's granddaughter, Kai Trump, posting a photo with a caption, Elon achieving uncle status.

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Maybe one thing that attracts Elon Must to Donald Trump and Donald Trump to Elon Musk is that they're kind of the same person. They like being the one person in the room, they like walking into a room and sucking all the oxygen out of it.

TODD: Following this comment from CNN analyst Gloria Borger --

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I think Musk is becoming like first buddy.

TODD: Musk posted, quote, "I'm happy to be the first buddy."

Musk has sat in on Trump's post election phone calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other leaders, posted this photo from Mar-a-Lago after meeting with Argentina's there.

And according to "The New York Times," Musk met with Iran's ambassador to the U.N. He's also weighed in on staffing decisions.

But is Musk overextending with Trump's inner circle?

"The New York Times" reports that, one recent evening, Musk walked into the dining room at Mar-a-Lago about 30 minutes after Trump did and received a similar standing ovation to the president-elect.

TALEV: There is some conventional wisdom, if you followed the first Trump presidency, which is that, if you begin to overshadow the principal, it usually ends quite badly.

TODD: Then there's the matter of the enormous power Musk could have with his new portfolio. Musk's companies face multiple federal investigations, some of them by agencies whose budgets he might be able to cut.

RONAN FARROW, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST, "THE NEW YORKER": He's now positioning himself to have potential oversight of the agencies that are investigating him. That would be an unprecedented level of conflict of interest.

TODD: No matter when or how this high powered partnership between Elon Musk and Donald Trump ends, Musk seems to have already benefited from it financially.

It's been reported that, since Trump's election victory, Musk has gotten about $70 billion richer on paper, much of that due to Tesla stock skyrocketing -- Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROSALES: Trump ally Rudy Giuliani is finally starting to hand over several valuable possessions and $30,000 in cash. That is to settle a $150 million debt he's owed to two Georgia election workers for more than a year.

Giuliani repeatedly and publicly smeared the women while serving as Trump's attorney, while falsely claiming that Trump won the election. Giuliani was ordered to give over this right here, his 1980 Mercedes- Benz convertible, to the pair, along with his New York condo and a collection of these vintage luxury watches.

Our Kara Scannell explains why the matter is still not settled.

[03:35:04]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So he has been in the process of transferring his Manhattan apartment, that penthouse apartment, to the women.

But today he has new lawyers and they're saying they want the refrigerator that was in that apartment back. He was supposed to turn over a number of items that were in a personal storage unit in Long Island, including sports memorabilia.

Using that same logic, he's saying that, since he's allowed to keep apparel, he should be able to keep a signed Joe DiMaggio shirt. So we'll see what the judge thinks of all of this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: India's capital has been smothered by toxic air pollution for days now. City officials are rolling out new restrictions to fight the smog. We'll have details.

Plus, the latest on the efforts by South African police to get hundreds of miners to leave an illegal, abandoned gold mine. Stick around.

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ROSALES: India's rolling out strict new rules to combat severe, toxic air pollution that's covered its capital recently. On Friday, Delhi banned non-essential construction work but the agency says the air quality there will remain very poor in the coming days. More now from CNN's Kristie Lu Stout.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): A canopy of toxic smog hangs over the skies of Northern India, blotting out the country's color, choking

its people. Across Delhi, people go to hospital with serious respiratory problems.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Within last 15 days, there's been at least 25 percent rise in my OPD patients.

STOUT (voice-over): Many like 65-year-old Atatia Kumar Shukla (ph) tried to stay home. So many others in Delhi are forced out into the pollution each

day to work often menial jobs for little pay. People like auto driver Mohammad Ibrahim.

[03:40:00]

MOHAMMAD IBRAHIM, AUTOR RICKSHAW DRIVER (through translator): It feels like chilli in my eyes with the pollution. When I go home in the evening and

wash my hands and face, Black stuff comes out of my nose. If I don't go to work, how will I fill my stomach?

How will I pay my rent?

How will I pay my

autos rent?

I'm a poor man. How will I eat?

Only if I earn can I eat.

STOUT (voice-over): Delhi is in its dry period. When emissions from cars and factories hang in the winter air, smoke from farmers burning their

fields after harvest lingers all day.

LALITA KUMARI, NURSE (through translator): I use a mask. I use a cloth to cover my face. When I feel the problems acutely, I do deep breathing and

exercises. That is what I do.

STOUT (voice-over): This month, the particulate matter in Delhi's air has levels 40 times over the WHO's safety levels. And many say government

efforts to reduce air pollution are not working.

ASHA MISHRA, DELHI RESIDENT: There is no question of it getting better. Last year, it was not this bad. This year it's worse. Next year it'll be

even worse than now.

STOUT (voice-over): In Delhi, some outdoor work has been stopped and schools have moved classes online. Flights have been diverted for poor

visibility but so many throughout Northern India must struggle through the haze.

Kristie Lu Stout, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROSALES: The South African human rights commission is now investigating the police for cutting off crucial supplies to hundreds of miners holed up in an underground mine.

Relatives of the miners are waiting to get news of their loved ones. Some of them have been in the illegal mine for months. CNN's Victoria Rubadiri has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VICTORIA RUBADIRI, CNN INTERNATIONAL REPORTER (voice-over): Exhausted but finally above ground. An illegal miner in South Africa forced to return to

the surface and into the hands of police. At the bottom of this mine shaft, hundreds of others like him holed up without food or water. A bid by South

African authorities to cut off and flush out workers illegally operating in a disused gold mine.

Any miner who leaves is searched for gold dust as the government continues its crackdown on illegal activity in the industry. Nearby friends and

relatives left to wait anxiously to see if their loved ones resurface alive. "One worker has a wife here," this family member says. "She's just

crying. We don't know how to help her. Her husband went underground in April and has been down there until now." Many clearly angry with the ANC-led government's hard line approach. One

decomposed body was brought to the surface on Thursday. It's not clear how many others may have already died.

"We are asking for help from the government," this woman says, "so our children can come out of the mine. All we are asking is for their remains

to come out." This is one of several abandoned mines where illegal workers, many from neighboring countries like Zimbabwe can travel up to 4 kilometers

underground and sometimes spend months beneath the surface.

Authorities are physically blocking any supplies from going into the mine shafts and detaining anyone who comes out. A mining community group told

CNN, food replenishments had been halted for as long as three months, with supplies now running dangerously low.

SENZO MCHUNU, MINISTER OF POLICE, SOUTH AFRICA: We want by end of the week to hear positive news. We can't say by end of the week they will have been

-- been moved out. But we want to see results within the shortest possible time. And it must happen because it is dangerous to stay like that. So the

sooner the better.

RUBADIRI: Extreme measures to tackle a practice the government says costs South Africa $1 billion a year -- Victoria Rubadiri, CNN, Nairobi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROSALES: There is much more to come on CNN, including an underwater discovery so big it can be seen from space. We'll talk with the man in charge of the expedition after the break.

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It has been a big week for marine scientists as researchers announced the discovery of the world's largest coral. At 34 by 32meters, it is so big, it can be seen from space. And unlike a reef, which is made up of many colonies, this coral right here is a single specimen. Scientists say it has been growing continuously in the southwest

Pacific for some three centuries. The coral was spotted near the Solomon Islands in October by a National Geographic Pristine Seas expedition.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSALES: Joining us now is Paul Rose, expeditions leader for National Geographic Pristine Seas and he is one of the people who made that incredible coral discovery.

Paul, thank you so much for joining us.

And can I say that this is like a rare piece of good news?

Because normally when we're talking about coral, it's usually about the widespread decline in coral bleaching, the rising ocean temperatures. So describe to me that moment when your team realized what it is you had found.

And am I right that it was initially mistaken for a shipwreck?

PAUL ROSE, EXPEDITIONS LEADER, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PRISTINE SEAS: Exactly, Isabel. And you're absolutely right. We do get swamped. We almost get sort of like, you know, battle weary of this constant bad news about the natural world.

But in this case, we have a really bright, vitally important message. And that is that, even in an area that has suffered some damage, if it can be left alone, it can regrow. The ocean is enormously resilient, resilient if we just give it a chance.

And yes, what happened is we thought that this was a shipwreck or you know, what could it be in the ocean?

In fact, Manu San Felix, our lead underwater filmmaker, thought it was a wreck.

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So at the end of the day, he gave it a quick dive to see what was there. And sure enough, he was blown away. He's a marine scientist. He's incredibly experienced, came back on board and said, all stop. I found something absolutely amazing.

But it's complicated to do an all stop on an expedition like this, because we've got targets to meet. We're trying to get in the right places. On that particular evening we had remote cameras, many miles away, 10, 15 miles away, on the bottom of the ocean that were recording and come up at a timed moment. And we have to collect them.

So it is hard to stop. But we listened to Manu. We changed the schedule, which was great to do -- very flexible, high performing team we've got here. And we organize, you know, I don't know if you can see it but this is the method of the survey. And we've still got this beautiful board here as to how we were going

to dive it. And sure enough, the team went in, made the measurements, took the film and said, you know, this is the largest coral in the world.

We then checked it, double checked it, had our team headquarters (INAUDIBLE) check it and it is. And what a beautiful moment, Isabel. Just amazing.

ROSALES: Oh, your energy, your joy is just contagious with this and rightfully so. This is, you know historic. And you were talking about the measurements there. This mega coral three times larger than the previous record breaker.

So to my understanding, the sheer size of this thing was a challenge to even measure.

How did the team do that from the bottom of the ocean floor?

ROSE: Exactly. That was one of my greatest memories on this expedition was the excitement of finding it. And then very quickly putting the team together to dive it. So you know, this is the board that that made it happen. And it was all about we were going to have one good, long, solid dive to make it happen.

And the way we normally measure coral and all of the species underwater is by measuring tape. So we had these long measuring tapes and had divers swim in different directions.

And because it goes -- it's deep at one end, it's like 40m at the bottom and 14 at the top. So it's a complicated dive to organize. I think on the surface of it, you think, well, just swim around and measure it.

But it's very complicated to do that kind of thing. And do it accurately and do the whole 3D thing over the top both ways. And it was quite the thing to organize. We did it very quickly.

And by doing measuring tapes, we went, wow. Look at the size of this thing. And it was a lovely moment that evening, sitting around.

What do you compare it with?

You know, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, blue whales, basketball courts, buses and coaches. Something to have a sensible analogy. We were just overwhelmed by the fact that we'd found this thing. We'd found a globally significant mega coral on our expedition.

And, you know, we work at the end of a beautiful silver thread. We're at one end of the of the -- of this silver thread, where we're, every single field observation, every data point, every science report is helping to drive global economies and smart political decision making.

Everything we do is connected to nature, whether economists or politicians. But sometimes, at our end of the silver thread, it's hard to feel that because our results take months to get results. But this, we had an instant result.

Can you imagine what that was that evening when we found it?

ROSALES: Oh, man, I can sense it from how happy you are, your excitement. I love this.

Can you talk about the significance of this discovery?

What makes it so special?

Because we know that coral are so important for marine life. And to my understanding, that is -- that's not a coral reef. It's not multiple being creatures right there. This is one huge mega coral.

ROSE: That's it. Yes, when you swim along a coral reef, whether you're on the surface snorkeling or if we're, as we are diving, moving along a coral reef, a healthy reef is completely vibrant. It's all kinds of different colors and shapes and sizes.

That's because each single one is a separate coral organism living there. And each coral is made up of tiny polyps. You know, it looks like rock. But it's a live thing. So it's a very colorful, beautiful experience. But this is just one. So if you imagined or quickly looked now at an image of a healthy coral reef, you'd see all these colors.

Well, just imagine one of these lumps, the size of, you know, all those tennis courts and basketball courts.

You know, you can't -- you can't believe it, can you?

Something that huge, one of these single ones, it is one single coral.

ROSALES: Wow, wow.

And I'm sure this mega coral is getting a lot of attention right now from researchers, from tourists. I imagine a lot of activity will be coming to the Solomon Islands. Paul Rose, head of expeditions for National Geographic Pristine Seas, sir, thank you so much for your time.

[03:55:00]

ROSE: Thank you, Isabel. Thanks to everybody else. See you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROSALES: The last supermoon of 2024 graced the skies of Venezuela Friday night with stunning images over Caracas. All full moons in November, listen to this, are called beaver moons, which is believed to be because beavers are especially active this time of the year.

When full moons are closest to the Earth in orbit, they become super moons, appearing up to 7 percent larger from the ground compared to a regular full moon.

Twenty-seven year old social media star Jake Paul has defeated the 58 year old former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson in their highly anticipated Netflix showdown. Paul won in a unanimous decision. He landed 78 punches to just 18 for Tyson.

Paul's boxing record now stands at 11 wins and one loss. The fight took place before more than 72,000 fans at AT&T Stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys. Let me just tell you, that is an impressive showing by Tyson because he hasn't fought in a pro situation in about 19 years.

But at the end of the day, both are still winners, reportedly making tens of millions of dollars off of this fight.

Well, I am Isabel Rosales. Thanks for spending part of your day with me. CNN NEWSROOM continues with Christina Macfarlane in London after this quick break.