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Trump's Controversial Cabinet Picks; Hegseth Paid Accuser But Denies Sexual Assault; Trump Picks Chris Wright As Energy Secretary; Trump Names Gov. Doug Burgun As Secretary Of Interior; Biden And Xi Meet For Final Time; China Prepares For U.S. Policy Changes; Typhoon Man-yi Hit The Philippines; Explosions Rock Lebanon's Capital; Eight Killed In China's Campus Stabbing; Russia's Large-Scale Attack On Ukraine; Zelenskyy Weight On Second Trump Term; Giuliani Turns Over Luxury Assets; Prosecutors Says Sean "Diddy" Combs Shouldn't Get Bail; Issues Swinging California Voters To The Right; Biden To Visit Amazon Rainforest. Aired 4-5a ET

Aired November 17, 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]

HILL HARPER: Some of the blame for his suicide and his erratic behavior on the brain damage he clearly suffered from the game of football. And here's an ironic twist, in Massachusetts, if a convicted felon dies before his appeal has been heard, then his original conviction is thrown out. So, in the eyes of the law, Aaron Hernandez died an innocent man.

I'm Hill Harper. Thanks for watching.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, welcome. I'm Max Foster in London. Just ahead, Donald Trump's controversial cabinet. The president-elect's pick for defense secretary embroiled in even more scandal just days after being named. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping hold their final meeting together as world leaders as China tries to gauge what a Trump presidency means for them. And explosions rock Beirut as officials discuss a ceasefire proposal in Lebanon.

ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN Newsroom with Max Foster.

FOSTER: We begin with new information about a scandal involving Donald Trump's pick to be secretary of defense. Pete Hegseth's attorney says Hegseth paid the woman who accused him of sexual assault, but denies assaulting her. The payment was part of a settlement that included a confidentiality agreement. Hegseth's attorney says the incident was a consensual sexual encounter. Hegseth hasn't been charged in any criminal case or named as a defendant in any civil lawsuit in connection with the incident.

As for Trump himself, he spent Saturday night in New York. In an ultimate fighting event. He was with several allies and newly selected administration picks, including his former -- rather his choice for health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. And his choice for director of intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, as well as Elon Musk, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and Kid Rock. Earlier in the day, Trump selected the head of a fracking company to be his secretary of energy. He's a man who's expressed doubt that climate change is linked to extreme weather.

CNN's Steve Contorno has more from West Palm Beach in Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Donald Trump on Saturday continued to build out his cabinet, naming Chris Wright as his secretary of energy. Wright is the CEO of Liberty Energy, a company that services oil and natural gas exploration and production companies. Along with his wife, he is also a major Republican fundraiser.

And he's also someone who does not necessarily believe in manmade climate change. In fact, he has said, there is no climate crisis. Of course, that is a belief that Donald Trump also holds, though it is notable given the department that he will oversee. He will also be named to the newly formed Council of National Energy. That will be chaired as well by Doug Burgum, the North Dakota governor, who is also named by Trump as his secretary of the interior.

Even as Trump builds out his incoming administration, he continues to face questions about some of his picks that he has already made, including Matt Gaetz as attorney general. Gaetz is a figure who has many enemies on Capitol Hill for starting intraparty fights over the years. He is also the subject of multiple investigations into alleged sexual misconduct. And Trump remains steadfast in his determination to get Gaetz across the finish line, despite concerns that he cannot get the 51 votes in the U.S. Senate to be confirmed.

A source telling CNN on Saturday that Trump remains, quote, "100 percent" committed to seeing Matt Gaetz through and believes that he is one of the most important, if not the most important appointments of his cabinet, this source telling CNN, he is not going to back off. He's all in on Matt Gaetz.

Steve Contorno, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Richard Johnson watching this unfold from London, he's a lecturer in U.S. politics at Queen Mary University. Thank you for joining us. I mean, we've got a climate skeptic now potentially running, you know, the energy brief. You've got a vaccine skeptic running the health brief potentially as well. What do you think Donald Trump is trying to say and do here?

RICHARD JOHNSON, LECTURER IN U.S. POLITICS, QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON: Elections have consequences, and Trump is using probably the moment that he has maximum political influence, I would say much more so than eight years ago when he came into the White House to try to put in install people who are of his mindset in top positions.

This is going to be very difficult for some Republican senators. He has a different Senate now than he did eight years ago. And what I mean by that is that Republican elected officials have learned that if they cross Trump, they jeopardize their position because many of the Republican senators and congressmen and other officials who went against Trump in the days gone by, they lost primary challenges.

[04:05:00]

And so, even those Republican senators who may have serious reservations over some of these nominees and more is coming out about them day by day, they're going to be under intense pressure from the Republican grassroots to stay loyal to Trump. And that's the test that there'll be under over the next couple of months.

FOSTER: And if we look at the Senate, it is much more MAGA than it was last time Trump came to power, of course. I mean, what sort of numbers are we talking about of moderate Republicans who could be swayed or go with their own conscience?

JOHNSON: Well, the two that immediately come to mind are Susan Collins in Maine and Lisa Murkowski in Alaska, who have demonstrated at various intervals some degree of independence from Donald Trump. They were part of the trio that killed Trump's attempt in his first term to repeal Obamacare, along with John McCain, who of course has passed away. Trump can afford to lose those two votes. He can afford to lose a third vote. If the vote is 50/50 in the Senate, then J. D. Vance, as the president of the Senate, casts the casting vote.

I think there are other senators who are not died in the wall Trump supporters, but have -- as I was sort of saying before, they're going to be much more reticent and directly challenging Trump, at least publicly. But I think one thing that's interesting, if I may say, is that if we look at the leadership election for the Republican leader, the stated preferences of the senators were somewhat different from the revealed preferences. And then, what I mean by that is that John Thune, who's a more moderate figure than Rick Scott won the election in a secret ballot. And of course, these nominations, these confirmation votes are not a secret vote.

And I do think that if they were secret -- if it was a secret ballot, Trump would probably lose a lot more of these confirmation votes than he will when it's on the record ballot, because the Republican grassroots, voters who voted in the primaries, will be able to follow along and put pressure on their senators.

FOSTER: And what about the idea that people are being put in charge of departments who don't believe in what those departments have been doing? It's going to be a challenge, isn't it, keeping the departments on board for a start, but you know, there are issues with the way these places are often run. There always are because they're big organizations, and a lot of people will be thinking they do need to be disrupted.

JOHNSON: Well, this is actually a much longer standing tactic of the sort of conservative political movement in the United States. I mean, you can go back to the Reagan administration when President Reagan installed people as the head of the housing, urban development or in the Justice Department or in the Economic Opportunity Office who weren't really believers in what we might call the kind of founding mission of many of these departments, who certainly felt that these departments were much more proactive than they ought to be.

Trump in his first administration also installed people whose personal politics often win against the sort of historic mission of agencies like, say the EPA, the Environmental Protection Agency. And so, we're seeing a continuation and an intensification of that.

In the last administration, there was some internal pushback from career civil servants, and there are accounts of the Trump -- first Trump presidency where career civil servants did, in some cases, seemed to soft pedal some of the moves that were coming out from Trump and his closest advisers. This time, the Trump administration is going to be, I think, much more determined to root out internal dissidents as they would see it, and what that probably means is removing some of the employment protections that some civil servants have or at least threatening that as a way of ensuring compliance with the mission of the of the agency heads.

FOSTER: OK. Richard, as ever, thank you so much for joining us today with your analysis.

Well, candid, constructive, and wide ranging, that's how one U.S. official described the final meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. Meeting on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in Lima, Peru. The leaders agreed that A.I. should never be allowed to control nuclear weapons.

President Xi said he hoped for continued stability and cooperation in the U.S.-China relationship. And Mr. Biden raised issues including Taiwan trade, the presence of North Korean troops in Ukraine, which he called deeply dangerous. For more, CNN's Marc Stewart joins us now live from Beijing.

[04:10:00]

This question of whether A.I. should control nuclear weapons is -- you know, a lot of people will be asking whether it should be -- you know, they'll wonder -- you know, be amazed rather the question being asked in the first place.

MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Max, look, I think this is a question and a situation that the world finds in that is very unsettling. And for that reason, this has been something that the Biden administration has talked about, something that it was brought up in conversation with China.

So, there was agreement to form a process in place when it comes to the most sensitive of issues concerning A.I., such as the use of a nuclear weapon, that any of the human checks would never be skirted and that there would be human intervention.

With all of that said, on such a heavy topic, the point of this meeting wasn't so much about agreements and treaties or deliverables, but this was also a chance -- in fact, the prime goal of China at least, a chance to send a signal to the incoming Trump administration that it very much favors this idea of open communication and stability.

In fact, we were looking at some of the reporting earlier today from Chinese state media, and among the few, phrases that President Xi was conveying to President Biden was win-win cooperation, mutual respect, peaceful coexistence. What is interesting is that when President-Elect Trump was elected Beijing, President Xi, gave a congratulatory message and these exact phrases were used in that. So, Beijing realizes with this incoming Trump administration is going to be very important to play it diplomatically safe. In fact, a lot of talk about managing differences and striving for a smooth transition of China.

President Xi and President Trump certainly are familiar with each other. It was back in 2017 that then-President Trump hosted President Xi at Mar-a-Lago. It was a photo-op in the making. And there were some -- definitely some high moments. I mean, I think everyone goes back to that moment when the two leaders shared chocolate cake. Their wives were there.

But things did change. First of all, a lot of these trade and tariff issues became very complicated, very thorny. And then, of course, we saw President-Elect Trump, when he was president, at least the first time around, criticized China about its COVID response. So, this is what Beijing is going to have to balance going in. And that's why it has been making this very considerate effort, using the best of diplomatic speak, to try to have an open arms, open line feeling for this incoming Trump White House.

But there are going to be some very difficult times ahead most likely. First of all, if we look at the cabinet, if Marco Rubio is indeed confirmed as secretary of state, he is a well-known China hawk as well as many others in the Trump circle, and they will be confronting very difficult issues such as trade.

Max, one thing that makes the China-U.S. relationship very difficult is that China very much believes in this idea of tit for tat, you hurt me, we will do something to hurt you back. So, all of that looms over these very sensitive issues, Max, including that of trade and tariffs.

FOSTER: And now, looking ahead to the Trump administration, Xi would have wanted to get as much information from -- as possible from Biden about how China might handle that. What do you think he gleaned?

STEWART: Well, I think the White House has made a very big point to say, you know, we are this administration. The next administration is going to operate as to how it chooses. We do know that Beijing is trying to get insight, maybe not necessarily from the administration, but just on its own research to try to get some kind of game plan in place because it wasn't that long ago that diplomats here in Beijing spent many sleepless nights worried about what they would wake up to the next morning.

And that is a theme that it has been projected during this most recent APEC meeting and then also the G20, which begins this week as well. This incoming Trump White House is going to certainly be a point of conversation with many of these world leaders.

FOSTER: OK. Marc Stewart in Beijing, thank you so much.

CNN Analyst David Sanger says China's no limits partnership with Russia will complicate relations between Washington and Beijing even further in the second Trump term.

[04:15:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: While you look at these images, it looks like every other China-U.S. meeting you've seen. I'm just a few miles right now from where the Woodside meeting took place a year ago. And the thought was at that time that that was stabilizing the relationship.

In fact, on both sides, it's not as stable as it looks. Obviously, the entree of President Trump brings upon the possibility not only of tariffs, but of a much broader change in other policies that the U.S. has pursued, including military to military communication, including a fairly lengthy dialogue on the future of the South China Sea and on Taiwan, on which President Trump's views are still not well known.

But the biggest difference is that when Trump left power four years ago, the relationship that exists now between Russia and China was really nascent. It had not turned into much. Now, we have China supporting Russia's invasion of Ukraine, providing it with technology. And the question is going to be, is President Trump going to view it as his strategy to get in the way of that superpower partnership? And we don't know. It was -- never came up in the course of the campaign. It's probably the biggest single change in geopolitics since Trump left office.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: U.S. and European leaders accuse China of enabling the Russian war effort in Ukraine by sending tools and technology to produce missiles, aircraft, and tanks as well.

The fourth typhoon to hit the Philippines in less than two weeks is battering the country right now. Man-yi has regained strength and is a super typhoon once again with sustained winds of 240 kilometers per hour. It's beginning to make its way across the more populated areas now, north of Manila. Meanwhile, more than half a million people have been reportedly evacuated across the eastern regions already.

Turning to Central America, where heavy rains from Tropical Storm Sara are spreading over parts of Belize and the Yucatan Peninsula. In Honduras, tens of thousands have been affected by the storm, with at least one person dead. Officials report more than a hundred homes and several bridges have been damaged.

And Lebanon's capital is seeing the scenes that have become all too familiar in recent weeks.

Well, still ahead, Beirut takes a pounding from Israeli strikes, just as we're getting word about possible progress. On the ceasefire front. And music mogul Sean Diddy Combs could be in hot water yet again. Why prosecutors are saying he shouldn't get bail.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:20:00]

FOSTER: Well, Beirut keeps taking fire from Israeli strikes, which are now pummeling the city for a sixth day in a row. At least two explosions rattled the Lebanese capital early today, and that's happening as Israeli ground troops push further into Lebanon.

But sources are telling us that the latest ceasefire effort is getting some traction in Beirut. Nada's been trying to figure out how much traction there is. Nada.

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, we'd heard on Friday that Hezbollah officials were considering taking a look at a proposal put forward by the United States in conjunction with Israel with regards to this latest ceasefire proposal. Sources tell CNN that officials, political officials in Beirut are still considering this proposal and that we may expect to see an official response as early as Monday night, though, of course, with these sorts of things and with past previous attempts to secure a ceasefire that may not necessarily pan out as is hoped.

But of course, there is some optimism that this might be able to bring some calm to Lebanon after what has been weeks of near nonstop bombardment, including in the country's airstrikes where we continue to see airstrikes now. This current proposal on the table would stipulate a 60-day pause in fighting in the hope that this would then lead to a lasting ceasefire proposal.

And what is crucial here is that officials and sources tell CNN that this current ceasefire proposal stands within the parameters of the U.N. 1701 Resolution, which brought an end to the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war. Crucially, that resolution says that the armed forces or armed presence in Southern Lebanon be beneath the Litani River should only be the Lebanese army and U.N. peacekeeping forces. Crucially, that would mean no presence by Hezbollah militants in this particular area of Southern Lebanon.

Of course, Israeli government has continuously pushed for Hezbollah forces to be pushed out of Southern Lebanon. So, this would be a crucial step in terms of trying to secure some sort of peace between Hezbollah and Israel, but of course, it would be a significant concession on the part of Hezbollah.

It remains to be seen whether or not they agree to this current proposal on the table, but there is certainly mounting pressure as we continue to see the Israeli forces expanding their incursion in Southern Lebanon. Of course, as you mentioned, the continuous airstrikes that are now targeting parts of Beirut.

FOSTER: OK. Nada, thank you so much. For more analysis, we're joined by H.A. Hellyer, a senior associate fellow of the Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies. He's speaking with us today from Cairo in Egypt. Thank you so much for joining us. What do you think Hezbollah is thinking right now?

H.A. HELLYER, SENIOR ASSOCIATE FELLOW, THE ROYAL UNITED SERVICES INSTITUTE: So, I think that Hezbollah recognizes that the moment that they change their position on what's frankly a Lebanese sovereignty, then their own standing in Lebanon, I think would diminish tremendously.

So, I think that they will keep on fighting. I think that there is a recognition that if they don't move somewhat towards negotiations, then the Israelis are going to increase their attacks. They're going to increase the scale of attacks. In fact, Israeli media pretty much reported that last night, that the idea behind the increased attacks Lebanon was a way to entice Lebanese parties to the negotiation table.

[04:25:00]

But what we might find is that if the attacks from the Israelis on Lebanon increased, then the attacks from Hezbollah might increase because they really have only one of two options, capitulation, which doesn't seem to be the way that they're going as of yet, or to show that they still have a fighting force ready to strike.

FOSTER: What has to be in any potential deal for Israel to sign it?

HELLYER: So, I think the question is what has to be in any potential deal for the Lebanese to sign it? I mean, the Lebanese are insisting on the upholding of U.N. resolutions, And the Israelis are clearly trying to negate them. I mean, the attacks in and around areas where you have UNIFIL, the United Nations, Special Forces, for the south of Lebanon from the Israelis has been quite intense over the last month in particular. There's been an increased effort on the Israeli side to get those forces to be removed from Lebanon, even though they are there by United Nations Security Council mandate.

So, I think what has to happen in order for the Israelis to sign the deal is for external powers to make it clear to them that they have to uphold international law and U.N. resolutions. And unfortunately, at the moment, the power that is most able to do that, it seems unwilling to do that, i.e., the United States.

FOSTER: Do you think they're after a very wide buffer zone basically between them and Hezbollah?

HELLYER: I think that they're after a wide buffer zone. I also think that they're looking for de jure as opposed to de facto, but de jure permission for Israeli forces to move into the south of Lebanon whenever they see fit, whether on the ground or in the air, i.e., in airspace and I think that that's going to be a no go for the Lebanese government, for Hezbollah. Frankly, I don't think that there'll be anybody in Lebanon who would accede to that.

FOSTER: Where does public support stand right now for Hezbollah? Obviously, they didn't have full support of the Lebanese, a lot of people assume that they did, but there's lots of people that don't support Hezbollah. Is it weakening the support that they do have though because of the -- you know, the apparent losses they're receiving and the -- and what many would see as a lack of defense against Israel?

HELLYER: Absolutely. So, I don't think that the question here is really about support for Hezbollah. I think actually support for Hezbollah is pretty low in comparison to the entirety of the Lebanese population. I think what you do find, however, is that in spite of not just lack of support, but outright opposition to Hezbollah I think the near entirety of Lebanese public opinion is opposed to these Israeli operations, irrespective of how Israel is framing them as attacks on Hezbollah, it's Lebanese more generally that are suffering the losses. And they don't see a distinction here, if there is indeed a distinction here.

The Israeli strikes are not simply striking Hezbollah, they're striking Lebanon, they're striking civilian areas. And I think that Lebanese public opinion is very immune to this idea of sort of splitting them off in that regard. It's not to say that this means increased support for Hezbollah. I don't think that that's the case. I think that it means a rallying around, defending Lebanon against this Israeli campaign.

FOSTER: OK. thank you so much, H.A. Hellyer, as ever for joining us with your analysis of the region there. Now, a stabbing attack in Eastern China has killed eight people and injured 17 others. It happened Saturday night on a college campus. A suspect was taken into custody at the scene. Police said the suspect is a recent graduate of the college. He failed an exam, didn't receive a graduation certificate, and was dissatisfied with internship compensation. This is the latest mass casualty incident in the country. Last Monday, 35 people were killed and 40 injured when a driver plowed through a crowd in Southern China.

Still to come, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is speaking out about Donald Trump's win and what he thinks it means for Russia's war in Ukraine.

And two election workers are starting to collect on a $150 million debt owed by former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:30:00]

FOSTER: Russia has launched one of its largest air attacks across Ukraine over the past few hours. Ukrainian air defenses could be seen shooting down incoming missiles in the skies over Kyiv early on Sunday. Excuse me, at least two people have been killed and eight wounded. Officials in Ukraine say the targets or the attacks targeted energy facilities using both drones and missiles. Blast could be heard across the country, including the western regions. Ukraine's foreign minister slammed Russia for launching air attacks against quote, "peaceful cities, sleeping civilians, and critical infrastructure."

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, says he believes Russia's war in Ukraine will end faster once Donald Trump takes office. Here's what he told a Ukrainian radio station on Friday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I believe that the war will end. And it will not end in the abstract. But there is no exact date. However, the war will end faster with the policy of the scheme that will now lead the White House. This is their approach, their promise to their society, and it is also very important to them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, President-Elect Trump has repeatedly claimed that the war in Ukraine, which has been raging for more than two and a half years, would not have happened if he was in the White House. During his campaign, he vowed he could settle the war in one day, but never explained quite how he was going to go about it.

CNN's National Security Analyst Beth Sanner explains the potential scenarios.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BETH SANNER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: In some ways I think that there are certainly parts of Ukrainian society and leadership who welcomes the Trump administration and their kind of realistic approach and they're hoping that what happens in the end here is that Trump will realize that Russia actually is not willing to compromise. And that he is going to have to support them and force Russia to make compromises.

[04:35:00]

I think the worst case is probably not the least -- is not the most likely. I do not think that President Trump wants to go down as the greater -- greatest appeaser of Russia in history, you know, like -- looking like a chamberlain. I don't think he wants to do that. I think he wants to end this war. But -- and I think that he believes that it is on fair terms. I think that fairness is in the eyes of the beholder. And so, that measurement stick is really going to be about how each side sees this. And it's going to be a little harder than it looks at first glance.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: The E.U. has vowed to stand with Ukraine, regardless of what changes in U.S. policy may take place under the Trump administration. Now, it's time for former New York mayor and Trump associate Rudy Giuliani to pay up and begin handing over luxury assets to the two Georgia election workers that he defamed. Some of those items include a Mercedes convertible, a diamond ring, and his Manhattan apartment. There's also a sizable luxury watch collection. The former New York mayor has owed nearly $150 million for almost a year now. CNN Correspondent Gloria Pazmino is following the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. There's a long list of items that former mayor Rudy Giuliani is supposed to hand over to Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman. They are the two women who sued him for defamation, and a judge found that he had defamed them after he, without evidence, accused them of having tried to steal the 2020 election and of rigging the votes in Georgia.

Now, some of the items that Giuliani has to turn over include his $6 million apartment, a watch, a collection, a diamond ring, furniture, a television, and a 1980 Mercedes Benz convertible. Now, this past Friday was a critical deadline for Giuliani, who has tried to delay having to turn over some of these items while he tries to argue that he should be allowed to keep some of them. But we got video from Friday showing one of his assistants preparing to ship the luxury watch collection via FedEx to both Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman.

Now, this is a remarkable fall from grace for the former mayor of New York City, a man who was once referred to as America's mayor. And it's been a long running saga after he accused Moss and Freeman of having something to do with rigging the election, which of course we know did not happen.

Now, in the last several months, Giuliani has tried to delay this judgment, at first by arguing that he was bankrupt, that proceeding was thrown out of court after he failed to comply with basic requirements of the court. And now, by saying that he wants to be able to hold on to some of the items. There are some things in the list of things that Giuliani has to turn over that the judge will still get to decide on. But for now, the process has started.

Now, we're talking about $148 million judgment against Giuliani. So, the reality is that it's unlikely he'll ever be able to fully pay what he owes to Moss and Freeman. But for now, by turning over his watch collection, as well as his apartment, some of the sports memorabilia, as well as the car, it seems that process has finally gotten started.

Gloria Pazmino, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: In a new federal court filing, prosecutors say Sean Diddy Combs is trying to obstruct the investigation into his sex trafficking case and trying to taint the jury pool. Prosecutors allege that even while behind bars, Diddy. has been using other inmates phone accounts to contact people he's not supposed to. The music mogul allegedly has sought to contact potential witnesses and accusers with the goal of blackmailing them. The court filing argues that Diddy should not be entitled to another bail hearing in the wake of these allegations. CNN Legal Analyst Joey Jackson explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: There's large issues in the filing of the government, and that is that remember what did he is doing, his immediate objective is to have another bail hearing. Remember, he has made efforts to be released on bail. The first time it was denied, the second time it was denied. This motion seeks to secure a third bill hearing where he would be released from jail.

[04:40:00]

We should note that the judges previously were concerned about two major issues. One is whether he posed a danger to the community. They answered yes. The other issue is whether he would obstruct and influence witnesses while released on bail, and that was apparently a concern.

And so, here, as it relates to the allegations that the government says, and that is him flouting rules, Mr. Combs in jail, that does not bode well, either to permitting another hearing, for him to potentially be released, or to actually getting released if he has that. And so, to the extent that you cannot follow rules allegedly while you're in a facility that doesn't speak well to your ability to follow them once you would be released from a facility. And that's really the issues here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Well, coming up, why a reliably blue state is not as blue as it's been in the latest election and the issues moving voters to the right?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Votes are still being counted in California. And while the state has a history of being reliably blue, this election has shown that many are choosing more conservative policies, especially when it comes to crime. CNN's Camila Bernal has a look now at why voters shifted to the right in this election.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With it's dark interior and festive lights, friendly servers, traditional Mexican food, and of course, margaritas, many consider Casa Vega a Los Angeles institution.

CHRISTY VEGA, OWNER AND PRESIDENT, CASA VEGA: Our little immigrant family from Tijuana made such an impact on L.A. And it's my honor to continue this legacy.

BERNAL (voice-over): But to continue the legacy, Owner Christy Vega says she's recently had to vocalize her political views.

VEGA: As a Democrat, lifelong Democrat, I 100 percent feel the Democratic Party turned their back on people like me.

[04:45:00]

BERNAL (voice-over): Among her top concerns, crime and homelessness. You've seen it on viral videos, smash-and-grab stores being targeted, vandalism, and it's happened at the restaurant. It's why Christy decided to support California's Proposition 36. The get-tough-on-crime measure passed in blue California and will now increase penalties for repeated theft offenses and certain drug crimes.

VEGA: I voted for Kamala Harris. I voted for Adam Schiff. But I voted for yes on Prop 36 and on Nathan Hochman.

BERNAL (voice-over): She's referring to the newly elected Los Angeles district attorney, a former Democrat-turned-Republican and now Independent, who beat L.A.'s more liberal D.A. George Gascon.

NATHAN HOCHMAN, LOS ANGELES COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY-ELECT: So, many people would come up to me, and they would just shake their head, and they'd say, what the heck is going on here in L.A. County? They were fed up with crime.

BERNAL (voice-over): In San Francisco, a Democrat also defeated its current mayor, seen as being ineffectual in fighting homelessness and crime. And in Oakland, the mayor and the Alameda County district attorney both recalled after similar criticism, a trend USC Professor Christian Grose says is directly related to crime.

CHRISTIAN GROSE, PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE & PUBLIC POLICY, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: The national views on crime are not that different than the state attitudes on crime.

BERNAL (voice-over): He says social issues still trend blue, and voters here still prefer liberal candidates.

GROSE: But the crime issue is the one exception, where the crime issue is really becoming more conservative in this state.

BERNAL (voice-over): It's about perception, he says. Adding that while crime may not be at historic highs, that public perception is what motivated people to vote. At Casa Vega, it was also crimes that were not prosecuted. But Christy says that the election results give her hope.

VEGA: I will definitely continue to be a Democrat, but I will not just be a tribal Democrat. And I think that that's where the country in general has lost its way.

BERNAL: And after various incidents here at Casa Vega, the owner said she had to get private security, that adds up to about $100,000 a year. She says that she's hoping that the changes that this election will bring will allow her to spend more money on her restaurant and on her employees instead of that private security. But really, only time will tell how much of a difference this election will make.

Camila Bernal, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Still to come, U.S. President Joe Biden making history today with a trip to the Amazon rainforest as he prepares for the G20 summit in Brazil this week.

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[04:50:00]

FOSTER: Drought conditions across the northeastern U.S. have triggered fire warnings for parts of the region, but some much needed rain has could be on the way now. CNN's Elisa Raffa has the details.

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ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Drought conditions continue to plague the Northeast. Most of the Northeast is at least abnormally dry. We have all of New Jersey in severe drought conditions. Parts of South Jersey, including Atlantic City, feeling extreme drought conditions. All of Delaware again, feeling some severe impacts.

New York City has only gotten an inch and three quarters of rain since the beginning of September. Philadelphia is barely over an inch in that time. That means that our deficit for fall is well over eight inches in these locations. We desperately need the rain. That's what keeps igniting these fire weather conditions and those will continue as we go through the weekend.

Now, we do find that these fire weather days are increasing in Northern New Jersey. We find 10 more hot, dry, and windy days in New Jersey since the 1970s. We will find some rain as we go into the work week. That will put down maybe an inch or two in a lot of these locations in the northeast. It's not much, but it at least helps alleviate that fire weather for the coming days in the work week.

Now, this rain is going to come as this storm ignites in the Central Plains, that will start with the showers and storms on Sunday. See this red area, that's where we could find some strong and severe storms with maybe some isolated cases of damaging winds, large hail, maybe a brief tornado. That front continues to flourish as we go into Monday. Again, that could bring some damaging winds, large hail, maybe brief tornadoes as we go into Monday. This area continuing to move east, going into the Central Plains.

Heavy rain is also a concern across parts of Northern Texas and Oklahoma where some four to six inch rain totals are possible.

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FOSTER: CNN -- rather U.S. President Joe Biden is planning to visit the Amazon today whilst in Brazil ahead of the G20 Summit which is in Rio de Janeiro. Indigenous protesters sank a giant poster of his face and other world leaders in the waters of Rio, calling on them to do more to stop climate change. They held up a banner reading, we are the answer, urging officials to listen to them.

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KLEBER KARIPUNA, EXEC. COORDINATOR, BRAZILIAN INDIGENOUS PEOPLES ASSOCIATION (through translator): Anticipating the reunions of big global leaders in G20 we are sinking these heads to represent how these leaders who head some of the biggest economies in the world are failing to face climate change.

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FOSTER: Well, Biden will be the first sitting U.S. president to ever visit the Amazon Rainforest where he plans to speak with local leaders about protecting the ecosystem. Stefano Pozzebon reports.

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STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST (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 travel in ferries, boats and canoes. But as the Amazon battles a climate change fueled historic drought, getting around is more difficult.

There are sandbanks everywhere. The boat could hit one and break its propeller, says this tourist guide.

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.

[04:55:00]

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's 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 (voice-over): 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 (voice-over): 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, U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT: We don't have a global warming problem. They don't use that term anymore anyway because, as you can see the planet, it's getting -- it's very cool out here today, isn't it?

POZZEBON (voice-over): 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, crucial for this jungle and for the world alike, with incoming commander in chief seemingly to blame.

Stefano Pozzebon, CNN, Bogota.

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FOSTER: Well, thank you for joining me this hour. I'm Max Foster. I'll be back with another hour of Newsroom after this break.

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