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Biden Authorizes Ukraine To Use Long-Range U.S. Weapons In Russia; Trump Determined To See Gaetz Confirmed As AG Despite Controversies; Syracuse Residents Fear Lead Poisoning In Drinking Water Despite City's Claims Of Safety; Drinking Water In Asheville; Israeli Bomb Hits Beirut Building. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired November 17, 2024 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If you get deported, would you regret your support to Donald Trump?

He's saying that he wouldn't regret supporting Donald Trump. So you're really not thinking about yourself. You're thinking about your children and the future of your children.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I want the better for my children.

FLORES (voice-over): Cesar says he feels guilty for bringing so much uncertainty to his family.

FLORES: What's it like for you to see your wife go through this and the emotions that she's going through?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I apologize to her a lot. But we fell in love right away and we got married almost right away because when you know.

FLORES (voice-over): We asked Velasquez and Espinosa the same final question.

FLORES: Do you have a plan in case you get deported?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I respect the decision. I leave the country. I'm not coming back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is a plan. We've talked about it openly with our family.

FLORES (voice-over): Turns out these two Hispanic families with two different takes on Trump's win have the same plan if they get deported, they would go to Mexico as a family. Rosa Flores, CNN, Houston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News. FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so

much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. All right, we start with this breaking news. President Biden now authorizing Ukraine to use long range U.S. weapons inside of Russia for the first time.

The decision comes as North Korean soldiers have been deployed to the southern Russian region of Kursk, the site of Kyiv's only major military success this year. A U.S. official tells CNN that the weapons are intended to be primarily used in that region for now. CNN's Kevin Liptak is traveling with President Biden in Brazil. Kevin, what more is the White House saying at this point?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, we should specify, Fredricka. The White House isn't saying anything at all about this. We've learned about it from a senior U.S. official. But neither the White House nor the State Department are actually confirming this decision, which I think gives you a sense of the sensitivities that are surrounding it. And it is a major change in American policy.

President Biden now allowing Ukraine to fire these U.S. provided long range missiles into Russia. And it comes at what American officials say is an inflection point in this war. You do have tens of thousands of Russian troops massing near the Kursk region as Russia prepares an offensive to try and claw back some territory. They are being supplemented by thousands of North Korean troops. And that in the end is part of what officials say led to this decision.

President Biden wanting to send a signal to the North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un that sending his troops into war with Russia in Ukraine could lead to their certainly own peril. And I think that is part of what is contributing to this decision.

But I also don't think you can necessarily separate this from the fact that Donald Trump will be president in two months. And certainly he has taken a very different view of the war in Ukraine than President Biden. He has cast a very skeptical eye towards continued American assistance to Ukraine, be it military or financial.

And he's also said that he would be able to resolve this conflict in one day. He hasn't necessarily said how he would do that. The implication, of course, is that it would require some territorial concessions on the part of Ukraine.

And I think what the Biden administration is trying to do in this decision, but also in trying to rush as much financial assistance to Ukraine as possible before Biden leaves office, is to position Kyiv in the best possible place going forward, given the uncertainty of what will happen once Trump comes into office.

Now, this decision was a long time coming. It was the subject of quite an intense internal debate inside the Biden administration. Certainly you had the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, very vehemently calling on Biden to allow this capability.

But you also had officials who were worried about escalation, worried about the number of these missiles that actually exist that are in the stockpiles. But certainly President Biden now coming to this decision as he prepares to meet world leaders here in Rio de Janeiro.

WHITFIELD: And then, Kevin, does President Biden plan to address this at the G20 summit, which begins tomorrow there in Brazil?

LIPTAK: Well, certainly the war in Ukraine will be a topic of discussion for the leaders here once they start meeting tomorrow here in Brazil. You'll remember the G20 is quite a large bloc of countries. Russia is a member of the G20. So it has not necessarily been the most natural venue in these world organizations to elicit change or to elicit action when it comes to Ukraine.

But certainly the leaders who are going to be encountering President Biden here do have questions about what American support for Ukraine will look like come January.

And that, at the end of the day is sort of the overwhelming backdrop to this world summit is what exactly does a Trump presidency portend for these world leaders as they prepare for another four years of Donald Trump?

[16:05:10]

WHITFIELD: All right, Kevin Liptak, thank you so much. All right, let's now go to CNN's Fred Pleitgen can live for us in Moscow. So, Fred, how are officials there reacting to all of this?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I have, Fredricka. I've actually been in touch with the spokeswoman of Russia's Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova. And, and she told me, look, Vladimir Putin already commented on all of this three weeks ago. So went back and looked what the Russian president said back then, which obviously completely still pertains to what is going on right now.

And back then, Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin said that if the United States and NATO partners would allow the Ukrainians to use NATO supplied weapons, American supplied weapons, to strike deep into Russia, that could lead to a severe escalation not just in the war in Ukraine, but between the United States and Russia and between Russia and NATO as well.

Essentially what Vladimir Putin said back then is that he believes that these types of weapons, the ATACMS, surface to surface missiles, but also, of course, some of the weapons that other NATO partners, like for instance the Brits and the French have been supplying to the Ukrainians, that these weapons cannot be used without the help of NATO specialists, without the help of U.S. specialists or other specialists. That is the belief of Vladimir Putin.

And he said that the fact that NATO specialists are needed to make these weapons works means that this is now direct involvement, as he put it, of the United States in combat with Russia.

So he believes that if Russia were to get struck with weapons supplied by the United States to Ukraine, that this would be the United States essentially striking the Russian Federation, which obviously the Russians are saying would lead to a big escalation in the war there.

He also, and this is probably even bigger, changed Russia's nuclear doctrine because of all of this to now include a scenario where a non- nuclear country attacks Russia with long distance weapons but is aided by a nuclear nation, that could then also lead to a nuclear response from the Russians.

So certainly the Russians are saying that potentially if U.S. supplied long distance weapons are used to strike deep into Russia, that this could bring a big escalation between Russia and the United States.

And the Russian spokesman for the Kremlin already said that Russia could do what they call a, quote, appropriate response. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Fred Pleitgen in Moscow, thank you. Coming up, President-Elect Donald Trump moving forward with his administration selections and determined to get his controversial cabinet picks confirmed. We have new reporting. Stay with us.

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[16:12:22]

WHITFIELD: All right, now to President-Elect Donald Trump's transition as he prepares for his inauguration in just over two months from now. Today, there are new revelations and concerns about some of his most high profile cabinet picks.

The attorney for Trump's defense secretary pick Pete Hegseth now says the former Fox anchor did pay a woman who accused him of sexual assault, but he says the 2017 incident was a consensual sexual encounter. Meantime, we're learning Trump is determined to see former Congressman Matt Gaetz, his embattled pick for U.S. Attorney General, be confirmed to that position despite allegations of sexual misconduct and illegal drug use. CNN's Steve Contorno is joining us right now. Steve, what more do we know about Trump's plans to press forward with Matt Gaetz as his U.S. Attorney General?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Fred, Trump is very aware of the concerns about Matt Gaetz's nomination, as well as the belief on Capitol Hill from Republicans that he has an uphill climb to getting the 51 votes that he needs in order to be confirmed. There are several Republicans who have already made clear that they have many concerns about Gates and they are not sure whether he can reach that threshold.

But Donald Trump remains adamant that Matt Gaetz is his top pick, not only for attorney general, but he views it as the most important nomination in his entire Cabinet. And one person telling CNN, quote, he is not going to back off. He is all in.

And so there's now this period where we're going to have to wait and see whether Trump can convince Republicans that they should stand by his side on this.

Sean Spicer, a former White House press secretary, telling CNN, quote, telling Donald Trump something isn't going to happen is a surefire way of him doubling down. And we are seeing him do just that and these early reactions to his nomination of Matt Gaetz.

WHITFIELD: And now, Steve, update us on what we know about these new details involving Pete Hegseth, Trump's pick for U.S. defense secretary.

CONTORNO: Yes, this is an incident that first came to light in the days after Trump nominated Hegseth to become his defense secretary after a very quick period where he was considering other names and suddenly pivoted to Hegseth.

And here's what we are learning from Hegseth's attorney. The attorney said that Hegseth paid a woman who accused him of sexual assault in a settlement agreement that also included a confidentiality clause.

[16:15:04]

Now, this is all dating back to an October 2017 incident which his lawyer describes as, quote, a consensual sexual encounter. Now, they are also pointing out, and we should point out ourselves that he was not charged this the city of Monterey, California, where this took place will not be releasing the full report at this time.

We did try to reach out to the victim in this case and she declined to be interviewed partially because she was not sure what she was allowed to authorize to say due to this confidentiality agreement. We do not know how much the settlement was for. And we are told by the lawyer that he agreed to this settlement because he was worried about losing his job at Fox News, this all transpired during the middle of the MeToo movement in which several Fox News high profile figures were caught up in some of the accusations. Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Steve Contorno, thanks so much. All right. Joining me right now to talk more about the Trump's transition is Tia Mitchell. She is a Washington correspondent for the Atlanta Journal- Constitution. Tia, great to see you.

TIA MITCHELL, WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION: Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: So what lengths is Trump going to take to make sure his picks like Gates can endure scrutiny?

MITCHELL: So right now it's looking like his mode is A, to put pressure on Republicans, particularly in the Senate, both privately and publicly. He's also floated the idea of recess appointments, basically having the Senate kind of avoid voting on some of these more controversial Cabinet picks altogether by allowing Trump to appoint them when Congress is not in session.

The question is, will Trump dig in or will the Senate? We've heard from top senators, even Trump allies who've indicated they want to treat these Cabinet appointees like any other, which means hearings, which means committee stops before you get to the floor, which means a vote on the floor. Who's going to give? Because we know that when you bring some of these more controversial picks like Gaetz, like Hegseth, there might not be the votes to confirm them. We don't know what Trump would do then.

But we also don't know if there are enough Republicans who are willing to go against who Trump wants to serve on his Cabinet and actually vote against Trump appointees.

WHITFIELD: We'll get to a little bit of that in a minute, too. And I wonder, you know, your thoughts on this. You know, because earlier today House Speaker Mike Johnson told our Jake Tapper the House Ethics Committee report on Gaetz should not be released because Gaetz resigned Congress. So, is it the case potentially that the U.S. Senate will subpoena the report or at least the committee will subpoena the report.

MITCHELL: So that's another question about whether there are Republicans who are willing to side with Democrats, for example, to vote to subpoena the reports, to vote to bring Matt Gaetz in for hearings and questioning what other people they might want to hear from.

You know, there have been, you know, there's precedent for confirmation hearings to bring in, you know, other speakers, other witnesses.

WITHFIELD: Like witnesses. Yes.

MITCHELL: Other character witnesses. Yes, we've seen that with Supreme Court justice confirmations. So there are other things they could do in addition to trying to get their hands on the report. Again, to me, the big question is, are there Republicans who are willing to risk getting on Trump's bad side by pushing back on these appointees, by pushing to get that report?

There's also a question, quite frankly, the more people ask for the report, the more pressure of a possibility it.

WHITFIELD: Right, right. OK. And so now more on the who will side with whom, you know, maybe this is another little window into that, because this morning on the Sunday talk shows, a few members of Congress described, you know, both the landscape on Capitol Hill and navigating it under the incoming administration. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TROY NEHLS (R-TX): We have a unified government now because of Donald J. Trump. No one else. Donald J. Trump made that happen. And so now it is incumbent upon the House of Representatives and the Senate to look at President Trump's agenda and his mission statement. He's going to have a mission statement, and we do not waiver off that mission statement. We follow it, every single word of it.

REP. JIM HIMES (D-CT): These people are manifestly unqualified, and, you know, they're not prepared to run the very complicated organizations they've been asked to run. Well, the Republican senator who votes to confirm Matt Gaetz or Robert Kennedy or Tulsi Gabbard will be remembered by history as somebody who completely gave up their responsibility to Donald Trump. (END VIDEO CLIP)

[16:20:10]

WHITFIELD: Wow. Huh? So, I mean, will this be a test of allegiance to country or president?

MITCHELL: I guess in some ways, yes. But again, we've been here before. We've seen highly controversial picks be confirmed by members of the President's party. And some people felt that it hurt them at the ballot box. Other, others didn't.

And so I think one of the question is, of the senators that we know may have their concerns about a pick like Matt Gaetz, for example, which ones are willing to actually vote against him? Those are two very different things. But they're not just factoring in how they feel about Matt Gaetz and how they feel about President Trump.

Some of these senators will be on the ballot in 2026. So they're factoring in how this will play back home. Some of them are in states where voting against Trump may play poorly. Some of them may be in states where voting against Trump actually helps them come across as independent minded.

So all of that is kind of part of the calculus. That's why Trump has said, hey, don't vote at all. Just let me appoint who I want during the recess. Now, that also carries risk. You know, it's a lot on the senators' plates, and we're just going to have to see where it shakes out. We're going to see which senators really are the ones to watch who may fuck the system.

WHITFIELD: OK, one last question. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries acknowledges there will be challenges, but he remains focused on important issues. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): I've congratulated incoming President Donald Trump. And as House Democrats, we look forward to working with the incoming administration whenever and wherever possible to find bipartisan common ground to solve problems for the American people. That's what the American people want us to do, to deliver real results on the issues that matter.

But at the same period of time, we will continuously push back against far right extremism whenever necessary. We will protect Social Security, we will protect Medicare, we will protect the Affordable Care Act, we will protect reproductive freedom, and we will protect the progress that we've made on having a sustainable planet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: How will this test the unity of Democrats?

MITCHELL: Yes, I mean, I will say that, you know, for the past two cycles where -- well, this past. The past two years. I'm sorry, where Democrats have been in the minority, they've shown that they have been able to stay unified. Republicans are the one who struggled to keep their slim majority all one page, all with the same message.

Now, I do think under Trump, Republicans will look a little bit more unified. I think the question now will Democrats remain patient and remain one accord as they remain in the minority? I think people are willing to give Hakeem Jeffries time because they do understand that, you know, he's in line to become the first black speaker of the House. He's with a new kind of leadership trio that again, has only been in power about two years.

But I do think there could be some restlessness if members the Democrats are in the minority for much longer. They're hoping to change that, of course, in the midterms in 2026.

WHITFIELD: All right, Tia Mitchell, we'll leave it there. Great to see you. Thanks so much.

MITCHELL: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Still to come, seven weeks after Hurricane Helene devastated the area, Asheville, North Carolina, residents could get safe drinking water.

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[16:28:17]

WHITFIELD: All right. People in Syracuse, New York, are raising new concerns about the safety of their drinking water. The city's water department had sent notices to residents warning them about elevated lead levels, saying they far exceeded levels above the federal limit. In some homes, the levels in water samples were more than four times the limit.

The National Resource Defense Council also sent a letter last month urging local, state and federal officials to declare a state of emergency.

Let's bring in now CNN's Gloria Pazmino. Gloria, Syracuse officials are insisting that drinking water, however, is safe. So then why send out the notices?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fred, this happened after the officials had to go back and retest those home. And once they did these retests, they found that the original tests had been done erroneously. But that has not really comforted many of the Syracuse residents who have now been told that there are these old lead pipes and old feeding lines into many of their homes.

They want the city to take action and they say that the city should fast track the replacement process, given that lead is a chemical that you cannot see or taste and you certainly can't boil it out of the water. They say that children and young people are at risk. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIK OLSON, SENIOR STRATEGIC DIRECTOR, NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL: A lot of people still don't even know that there's a lead and drinking water problem in the city. We need a declaration that will let people know that there's a problem, that they need to install filters, and that they need to take action to protect their families.

DEKAH DANCIL, PRESIDENT, URBAN JOBS TASK FORCE: You can't boil lead out your water. There's nothing we can do. They have to replace these pipes.

[16:30:00]

They have to give everybody filters. They have to declare a state of emergency and they have to act on this stuff fast and urgently.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAZMINO: Now, the EPA says that when local governments and municipalities find these kinds of levels, they're supposed to put a plan right into action.

And I want to just show you, Fred, the number, the percentage of children that tested for elevated lead levels last year. Nearly 10 percent of the children that were tested in Syracuse were found to have those elevated lead levels.

So, it's data like this that is making residents say there's still something wrong here, even if you're telling us that the water is safe to drink. That's why they want them to take action.

WHITFIELD: Very alarming. All right, Gloria Pazmino, thank you so much.

So, for seven weeks now, residents of Asheville, North Carolina, have lived under a boil water advisory after that storm, Helene, struck in late September. And now, city officials say that notice could be lifted as soon as Tuesday. The storm barreled through the state as a tropical storm, causing catastrophic floods and damage to water systems.

CNN Correspondent Rafael Romo is here with more details on all of this. So, you know, what needs to happen before that advisory is lifted?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there are many actions that need to be taken. We're talking about people's health, ultimately, so they want to be very careful.

And, Fred, according to city of Asheville officials, there's a meticulous sampling process that must happen before they can lift the boil water notice. The good news is that this sampling process is well underway.

Asheville Water Resources spokesperson, Clay Chandler, said Friday that the boil water notice may be lifted as soon as Tuesday. People have faced service interruptions and boil water advisories since Tropical Storm Helene struck western North Carolina in late September.

As we previously reported, Helene dumped so much water in the region in three days that the National Weather Service has called it a once in a 1,000-year rainfall event. This means Asheville residents have been facing issues with their water system for the last seven weeks, as you mentioned before.

Chandler, the Asheville spokesperson, said that the goal is to gather and analyze a target of 120 samples throughout the system at the rate of about 40 per day. He said the tab staff -- the lab staff should be done by late Monday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLAY CHANDLER, SPOKESPERSON, ASHEVILLE WATER RESOURCES: Those bacterial samples have an incubation period between 18 and 24 hours. And so, by Tuesday afternoon, evening, next week, we should have a pretty good idea of the health of our distribution system and whether or not we will be able to lift the boil water notice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: And, Fred, Chandler also said the Environmental Protection Agency working with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, jointly, developed this crucial water sampling process. If the boil advisory is lifted this coming week, that's going to be several weeks ahead of schedule, considering officials had originally said that wouldn't happen until mid-December.

This running water challenge is not only affecting residents. A restaurant manager told CNN affiliate, WLOS, that their establishment is spending about $1,000 a week to have purified water delivered for use in the kitchen and coffee machines.

WHITFIELD: Wow.

ROMO: So many people are going to be happy, if that actually happens.

WHITFIELD: Oh, they certainly will. And, you know, I mean, yes, a Christmas gift kind of early, right? That's one way of looking at it. But I know people are looking forward to this kind of relief. Every little bit counts.

ROMO: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Still a long way to go, though, in that recovery.

ROMO: That's right. We'll see what happens in the next couple of days.

WHITFIELD: Yes. All right, Rafael Romo, thanks so much.

All right. Still ahead, Israel says they have killed a spokesperson of Hezbollah, following a rare strike on Beirut, amid ongoing efforts to achieve a ceasefire with Hezbollah.

[16:33:51] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, breaking news out of Lebanon. A second Israeli strike hit a densely populated neighborhood in Beirut, killing at least two people and injuring 13 others. First responders are trying to contain the massive fire.

Earlier today, Israel struck the headquarters of a pro-Hezbollah group in central Beirut, killing Mohammed Afif, a spokesperson for Hezbollah.

Horrific images also captured an Israeli jet dropping a bomb inside a building on Friday, causing it to collapse. This all comes as Israel and Hezbollah are negotiating a potential cease fire deal proposed by the U.S.

Joining me right now, live from Jerusalem, is CNN International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson. So, Nic, what more are you hearing?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, it kind of all -- this begs the question, doesn't it? If there's a cease-fire deal in the proposal, why appear to, sort of, up the scale level of number of strikes inside Beirut?

I mean, particularly, when you look at it, the two strikes today, right, there, the fourth and the fifth time only that the IDF has struck in the center of Beirut since 2006. So, these are not insignificant strikes.

And we've got new numbers, by the way, on the second strike this afternoon. Four people, we understand now, have been killed, including a woman and two children. Fourteen people now are known to be injured, according to Lebanese authorities.

We're not aware, as of yet, of any potential high-value target that was killed there.

[16:40:01]

ROBERTSON: But the strike in the morning that killed Mohammad Asif, who was a very senior communications head for Hezbollah. In fact, he had been running Al-Manar T.V., which was the main communications point mouthpiece, if you will, for Hezbollah in Lebanon.

And, indeed, he wasn't just that. He'd been a main and principal adviser to Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah chief who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in September. And then, since Nasrallah's death, he'd become much more visible, giving several press conferences, more available to the press.

So, again, it sort of begs the question. If this was somebody who was sort of more in the public domain now, albeit a senior figure within Hezbollah but not a military commander, a more sort of political position, why was he killed now? And that sort of throws into the real question of the talks with Hezbollah that are going on right now.

WHITFIELD: So, will considerations of that U.S. proposed cease-fire agreement continue?

ROBERTSON: You know, it's really hard to know, right? Is Hezbollah going to take this and say, hey, we're trying to talk and you're killing us?

But the reality is that Israel has made it very clear it's going to continue to strike Hezbollah's armed stores. It's going to continue to try to push them out of southern Lebanon, where Israel says that they are a threat to the -- to the peace and security inside of northern Israel. So, I think that's sort of taken as written.

What I have been hearing from sources is that Hezbollah has been inclined to accept the terms that the U.S. is putting forward in its proposal. Even though I'm told that these conditions and terms are tough conditions, a Lebanese official told CNN, just a couple of days ago, that he expected Hezbollah to have an answer by Monday, whether or not they'd go forward with the U.S. proposal.

But I think the reality, partly for Hezbollah, is this, at the moment. That they are not an effective fighting force the same way they were. Their communications are crippled. Their leadership is decimated. They can fire rockets with some effect into Israel, not a huge effect into Israel, but they are not the force they want -- once were.

And, in those terms, for military grouping like Hezbollah, you'd expect them to be trying to find a way to kind of back out of the fight, so they can lick their wounds and prepare and come back another day. And, obviously, Israel is going to put forward demands that are not going to let them do that.

WHITFIELD: Nic Robertson, thank you so much, in Jerusalem.

All right. President-elect Donald Trump has tapped an oil executive and climate change denier to lead the Energy Department. Why scientists are ringing the alarm about the Trump Administration's potential impact on the lungs of the planet.

[16:42:56]

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WHITFIELD: A sitting American president has never set foot in the rainforest, Amazon Rainforest, until today. Now, Biden wants to use his presence to highlight the climate crisis. After an aerial tour of the Amazon, Biden described his fight against global warming as a defining part of his presidency and gave a clear message as he prepares to leave office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's no secret that I'm leaving office in January. I will have my -- I will leave my successor and my country in a strong foundation to build on, if they choose to do so. It's true. Some may seek to deny or delay the clean energy revolution that's underway in America. But nobody, nobody can reverse it. Nobody. Not when so many people, regardless of party or politics, are enjoying its benefits.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The President announced millions of dollars in funding and signed a proclamation, designating today as International Conservation Day.

President Elect Trump is, meantime, filling out his cabinet, as he looks to launch his agenda. This weekend, he tapped fracking company CEO, Chris Wright, as his pick for Secretary of Energy. Wright has been skeptical of transitioning from fossil fuels in the past, sharing this about his views on climate change just last year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS WRIGHT, CEO, LIBERTY ENERGY: There is no climate crisis, and we're not in the midst of an energy transition either. Humans, and all complex life on earth, is simply impossible without carbon dioxide. Hence the term, carbon pollution, is outrageous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: It's that skepticism that has many climate scientists worried about the future of our planet's critical natural resources. CNN's Stefano Pozzebon has more on how politics are impacting the world's most important rainforest, the Amazon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR (voice-over): The Amazon, the world's largest river by volume and, arguably, also one of its most traveled transportation networks. Here, there are no roads. People traveling ferries, boats and canoes.

But as the Amazon battles a climate-change fueled historic drought, getting around is more difficult.

CILENE SANTOS, TOURIST BUIDE, BRAZIL (translated): There are sandbanks everywhere. The boat could hit one and break its propeller, says this tourist guide.

[16:50:01]

POZZEBON: This month, UNICEF reported that more than 400,000 children are being affected because of the current drought conditions. More than 1,700 schools closed or inaccessible because of low-water levels in the Brazilian part of the forest, alone.

As U.S. President Joe Biden flies over the Amazon on Sunday, the dramatic effects of climate change will be impossible to miss, including sand dunes that look like they belong in a desert but were underwater not too long ago.

BRAM EBUS, AMAZON ANALYST, INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: It's a very important moment right now in the Amazon. Because for the first time, there are two progressive presidents in the two biggest Amazon economies, which is Colombia and Brazil. So, there is a tiny window of opportunity that both presidents come up with concrete proposals to conserve biodiversity in the Amazon.

Nevertheless, next year, when COP30 on climate change will be organized by Brazil in the Amazon, Trump will be in power.

POZZEBON: The U.S. President Elect is the elephant in the room, throughout Biden's visit to South America. Donald Trump is a climate skeptic, who pulled the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement once before.

EBUS: What we fear is that Trump will represent the corporate powers that actually drive Amazon destruction and fuel climate change.

POZZEBON: Trump has vowed to reverse Biden's climate policies, which could drive other countries in South America to shrug off their own pledges.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESEDENT ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: We don't have a global warming problem. They don't use that term anymore anyway, because, as you can see, the planet is getting -- it's very cool out here today, isn't it?

POZZEBON: Experts say the Amazon is approaching a tipping point. If deforestation and climate change-fueled extreme weather continue, the rainforest could collapse and release large amounts of planet-heating carbon. Like many other critical ecosystems overwhelmed by global warming, the next four years are crucial for this jungle and for the world alike, with incoming commander in chief seemingly in denial.

Stefano Pozzebon, CNN, Bogota.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: When we come back, their last sunset in over two months. Why a small, remote Alaskan town is getting ready to say goodbye to the sun until next year.

[16:52:25]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A new study predicts that almost 260 million people will be overweight or obese by 2050. That's sharply higher from about 209 million in 2021.

And as America faces a growing obesity epidemic, there is a surge in popularity of so-called miracle drugs. GLP-1 like medications, including Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound. But there are questions about their long-term effects.

CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta just wrapped a -- up a year-long investigation into these revolutionary medications. Here's a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: GLP-1 seems to act in a way that no other known hormone can. Here's how it seems to work. Every time you eat, all sorts of hormones are released, like GLP-1. They are called post-nutrient hormones.

They travel here to the hypothalamus in the brain to tell you that you are full or satiated. They also travel over here to the pancreas to kick out more insulin to help absorb the energy you just consumed. And also over here to your gut to slow down the emptying allowing you to better digest your food.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought it was just going to happen --

GUPTA: In so many ways, it seems like the perfect hormone to help you stop eating as much. Seemed perfect for Rashida (?). In that first year, she lost 100 pounds. It changed her life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Wow. Join Doctor Sanjay Gupta as he ventures across the globe to see how the new weight loss medications are transforming lives. Doctor Sanjay Gupta reports "Is Ozempic Right For You?" That premieres tonight at 8 p.m., right here on CNN.

All right. And then, starting tomorrow, a small, remote Alaskan town will see the sun for the last time in two months. Think of it like this. By the time the sun rises there again, a new U.S. president will be in the White House.

CNN Meteorologist Elisa Raffa is joining us now to tell us more about this polar night.

ELISA RAFFA, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, no sun --

WHITFIELD: Many nights.

RAFFA: -- for two months. Just incredible. And it's going to be the case for many towns in northern Alaska, parts of Canada, really anywhere in the Arctic Circle. And this happens every year.

They're going to have now 66 days of darkness. No light until January 22nd. That's when the sun will come back up again in the Arctic Circle.

On the flip side, in the summer, they get 83 days of sunlight. The opposite happens. They have daylight all the time without darkness. And that happens in the -- in the summertime.

And the reason why is because the earth is round. It goes around the sun. And it's also crooked. It sits on a tilt. So, what happens is it works its way around the sun.

But, again, it's wobbling and it's tilting. So, because of the way that it's tilted, as we go into winter in the northern hemisphere, it's tilted away from the sun. So, you can see, that puts the Arctic Circle in darkness. [17:00:02]

RAFFA: And, again, there it is for the next 66 days.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh, it's so fascinating. All right, Elisa Raffa, thank you so much.