Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
CNN International: UK Intelligence Warns of Instability on Ukraine's Front Lines; International Court Issues Arrest Warrant for Netanyahu, Gallant; Gaetz Out, Pam Bondi in as Trump's Attorney General Pick; Brazil's Bolsonaro and Allies Indicted in Coup Plot Probe; Support for Trump's Wall in AZ "Hot Spot" for Migrants, Drugs; Zoo Animals in Chicago Enjoy Season's First Snow. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired November 22, 2024 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:00]
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hi everyone, and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Fredricka Whitfield, and this is the CNN Newsroom. Just ahead, a tense week in Ukraine. Parliament closes on Friday due to the threat of missile strikes from Russia. We're live in Kyiv shortly.
And six tourists have now died in Southeast Asia after drinking suspected tainted alcohol. And from Gaetz to bonding, President-Elect Donald Trump announces his new pick for U.S., Attorney General, is this election more likely to win U.S. Senate confirmation?
Ukraine's parliament is closed today after a long, intense week in Russia's war against the country. Lawmakers are pointing to the risk of a Russian missile attack on a part of Kyiv, where government buildings are located. And there's still plenty of reaction coming in after the Russian President said Moscow launched a new ballistic missile on Ukraine's Dnipro region on Thursday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy calls that move, quote, a clear, severe escalation of the war. China is calling for restraint, and British intelligence is warning about instability on Ukraine's front lines. Let's get right to CNN's Nick Paton Walsh, who is on the ground for us there in Kyiv. Nick, so we now know a bit more about the type of missile Russia launched yesterday. What message was Vladimir Putin trying to send?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That Russia still has technology on the battlefield that it can deploy, and technology the key part of Vladimir Putin's message, technology that's hypersonic, non-nuclear, and he says, can evade all known Western air defense systems that was essentially the reason why it seems this.
According to U.S., official experimental medium range missile was used over Dnipro in the early hours of yesterday morning, the skyline lit up by something new. It seemed multiple projectiles emerging from the same missile. That's what's called a MERV, a Multiple, Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle.
What you'd normally expect to be used on a nuclear missile. This wasn't the case this time, conventional weapons. Russia trying to show that it had the means to totally thwart Ukraine's air defenses, and therefore the West as well. Details emerging slowly about this, Vladimir Putin claiming it was a Mark 10 Hypersonic non-nuclear missile called the Oreshnik.
Ukraine, echoing some of those specifics and suggesting it's, in fact, something called a Kedar (ph). We've heard from the United States. They believe it was, as I say, experimental medium range ballistic missile. But clearly something new here, and that's what Vladimir Putin is trying to say, is that there's more Russia can do in response to the stark decision by the Biden Administration on Sunday to allow Ukraine to use its supplied ATACMS missiles to hit inside of Russia.
A dramatic change in U.S. policy in the war, one that Ukraine swiftly took use of also using UK's supplied Storm Shadow missiles to hit targets inside of Russia as well. That's I mean, remarkable change in the stance of both Moscow and Washington.
And just bear in mind, Moscow felt it had to give the U.S. a 30-minute heads up of the use of this missile, because they feared potentially it may look on U.S. radars to be something more directed towards Western Europe. Ultimately, I think that is the subtext here, that Russia has new missiles that could fire in that direction and could potentially carry nuclear warheads.
That's not what happened here, or has even appeared, frankly, in the language, but it is essentially in the background. And we are into a remarkable moment in this conflict Fred. You mentioned earlier the British Intelligence Assessment that's the Ministry of Defense in London, normally quite rosy in what they say about Ukraine's war effort.
But saying yesterday that the front line was unstable unlike any time it had been since the invasion. That's a euphemism for the fact that nearly every point on the compass. We're here hearing bad news from soldiers on the front line. They are -- I mean, this weather is extraordinary, but even prior to it, finding Russia has an enormous tolerance for casualties and is pushing forwards.
And just cast your mind back to seven days ago, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz telephoning Vladimir Putin, breaking nearly two years of isolation from Western leaders through that move of diplomacy, essentially to try and curry favor with shelters own East German Electorate.
It was slightly pro-Russian because of forthcoming elections, that sort of started really a diplomacy which may pick up ahead of the Trump Administration, but instead we've seen remarkable days of escalation between two nuclear powers, the United States and Russia, where Ukraine has been our unfortunate proxy battleground for 1003 days now.
[08:05:00]
But in the last week, it felt like those two capitals were ever closer not to direct conflict, I think that's still far off, but to more intimate involvement against each other in this war Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. Nick, Paton Walsh in Kyiv thank you so much. I want to bring in now Retired Major General Mark MacCarley, who is also on the ground there in Kyiv. I got that right, General?
MAJ. GEN. MARK MACCARLEY (RET.), U.S. ARMY: You do. I'm at the entity called -- one of the private defense manufacturers here trying to develop systems to defend against that type of attack.
WHITFIELD: So, what do you expect Ukraine's strategy will be now?
MACCARLEY: Well, the best way of answering that is to establish the facts, as we have heard statements from the President Zelenskyy. And his request, certainly echoed by some of your earlier reporters today, is that President Zelenskyy is asking for significant and additional support with respect to missile and air defense.
And that means that NATO, U.S. has got to begin to consider committing what we call the highest-grade missile defense systems that we certainly in the United States use, and have used. And so, get some of these acronyms. I'm going to throw a new acronym. That system is called THAAD that's a theater high altitude air defense system.
This is the very system that we have developed for the purpose of shooting down sort of a kinetic attack on ballistic missile systems that come forward. We contributed, provided the THAAD system, of course, with support personnel. These are military personnel, U.S. military personnel to Israel just two or three months ago when Israel was beset with the Iranian attack, Iranian ballistic missiles. So that really is the next step. We heard it from Zelenskyy.
WHITFIELD: So, Vladimir Putin is weighing in now. He's been escalating his threats to Western countries supplying weapons to Ukraine, and in a statement on Thursday, the Russian Leader said this, I'm quoting now, we consider ourselves entitled to use our weapons against the military facilities of those countries that allow their weapons to be used against our facilities. And in the event of an escalation of aggressive actions, we will respond just as decisively and in kind.
I mean, a veiled threat to the U.S. right and others supplying weapons. So, is that just talk hyperbole? He does like to -- you know send threatening messages as part of his arsenal, or is there more to it?
MACCARLEY: Well, first and foremost, because we've heard similar statements from Putin over the last 1003 days of this war. He has continuously threatened that if the motherland Russia is attacked by Western powers, he will resort to nuclear weapons. So, he's established this fear quotient, and I think this is part of his strategy to set Russia up for what looks to be some form of negotiation.
Now, whether you call it, both countries come to a tactical draw, or the polite statement is work toward a negotiated sentiment. Or, as our president, collect has used the term deal. Putin is putting himself in a position where he is saying, don't move any further. If you shoot there could be consequences. I demonstrated yesterday, little over 36 hours ago, that I can come up with tools that are terribly intimidating. And indeed, when you look at it, where I am in Kyiv, those were frightening.
WHITFIELD: Well then that's interesting, because we talk about that, that is very strategic. It's very calculated, and it may perfectly --
MACCARLEY: Yes.
WHITFIELD: -- segue into the next U.S. administration?
MACCARLEY: Absolutely, you are absolutely echoing what I was attempting to say.
WHITFIELD: Well, I think you said it because I heard you loud and clear on that. So --
MACCARLEY: You -- humor.
WHITFIELD: I like it. So then let's talk about this new weapon, because we heard our Nick Paton Walsh talk about -- you know Russia is sending a message that we've got this new technology. You know, aside from -- you know whatever political strategizing is going on here, that Russia is sending this message. We have this technology.
[08:10:00]
But do you interpret something else here in terms of the payload or lack of payload that was used here, whether this kind of weaponry can go a greater distance? I mean, what -- what are you reading between the lines here on that?
MACCARLEY: I have to answer in multiple ways. First of all, if I pronounce the Russian correctly, the Obelisk System, which today, earlier today, our DOD Department of Defense has confirmed, or what it's confirmed, we use that term that the system was not, quote, an intercontinental ballistic missile, but a hypersonic, intermediate range ballistic missile.
Now it's important when you -- when I was on yesterday, there was huge concern ICBM, because for the last 70 years, we have been intimidated around the world by the term ICBM because that term meant that the rocket system was carrying nuclear weapons.
What we now have is nothing unusual, except for the fact that this IRBM, the Obelisk System, is, in fact, hypersonic. And number two, it provides for multiple entry or what we call multiple entry vehicles, which turns out to be multiple projectiles that are released close to the point of impact.
I saw some of the -- I got this released from Ukraine, but I think it's now open source, where what we saw were multiple bursts, four or five bursts. Those bursts represent the release of these multiple projectiles that, in and of itself, is a concern. But the difference between an ICBM and an IRBM is really when you get down to brass tacks only the difference between the weight of the payload that can be carried by the rocket system.
And second the distance that that particular rocket system can fire. So, you could with adjustments. I've never had the opportunity to examine this system and but I would presume that through adjustments in the propellant and other ignition systems that Russia could obtain greater range. And I suppose when you talk about the real threat, which was the introduction made just a few minutes ago by yourself, that the big concern here in Kyiv is that that particular system with a multi entry, re-entry vehicles or systems would rain down on the center of Kyiv, right next to Parliament, right in the central square.
And that purpose would be to generate that sort of fear. And that's the degradation, I guess that's the best term of the morale, the extraordinary morale the Ukrainian people, when Ukraine is under that level of attack.
WHITFIELD: Wow, fascinating. Major General Mark MacCarley, I appreciate it. I learned a lot. I think we all learned a lot from what you said and what you are inferring as well. We're paying attention. Thank you so much.
MACCARLEY: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: Be safe. All right, there is both outrage and approval over the International Criminal Court arrest warrants issued for Israel's Prime Minister and former defense minister. Key countries in Europe, the Middle East, even Canada, are all agreeing to complying with the ICC ruling, which would mean arresting Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant if given the opportunity.
The ICC accuses them of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including starvation as a method of warfare. Human Rights agencies say the decision must be a turning point for the 13-month war in Gaza. The Israeli Prime Minister calls the allegations absurd and anti-Semitic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: The truth is simple, no war is more just than the war that Israel has been waging in Gaza after Hamas attacked us unprovoked, launched the -- launching the worst massacre against the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Israel does not. Israel will not recognize the validity of this decision.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: CNN's Nic Robertson joins us now from Jerusalem. So Nic, talk us through -- you know Netanyahu's response. He said something similar in his statement, and then he took a beat further with his spoken word.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, he did. I mean, what he's done is what he often does when he faces criticism. And this is sort of the ultimate criticism. It's, it's an arrest warrant in his name for war crimes and crimes against humanity. He frames the situation that this is the international community, specifically ICC, not just going after him and the -- and the former defense minister.
[08:15:00]
But by implication, going after the whole country. And the rationale for that, he says, by attacking us, by setting these sanctions, this -- by setting these arrest warrants rather. This undermines our ability to defend ourselves against enemies like Hamas, by implication, others like Hezbollah in Lebanon, and by doing that, that makes us weaker, because our hands are effectively tied.
And that underscores why says Israel is going to ignore this. But he very much makes this not just about him, but about the whole country. And I think that resonates with what a lot of people here will feel. This is a broad-brush stroke analysis when I say a lot of people. But a lot of Israelis, why they will not favor the prime minister, perhaps some of them even criticize him for the way that is prosecuting the war inside of Gaza with a high civilian death toll, and not prioritizing the release of the hostages.
As a nation, they will stand together in the face of how the prime minister paints it, this criticism against them as a nation. But the response coming from countries in Europe that are signatories to the Rome Statute, which means they would have to arrest Netanyahu if he landed in their country and turn him over to the ICC, be obligated, at least, to do that.
There's a nuanced response, interestingly, from Germany, saying, look, we will continue, on a case-by-case basis, to continue to supply weaponry to Israel. We will only make a decision on the issue of turning him over to the ICC if he has a planned trip to Germany.
The French have said more clearly that they will enforce the ICC arrest warrant, and that has triggered in Israel a response saying we don't think France should be involved in the diplomatic solution in Lebanon. The Italians have said that they will turn him over to the ICC, but they criticize the ICC's decision.
President Biden has said it's an outrageous decision. Further north in Canada, Justin Trudeau has said, no, we stand for this decision. We stand for international law. So, it's a very complicated picture, but it's very simple in that this does limit Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Former Defense Minister's travels overseas.
WHITFIELD: And has there been a response for Netanyahu saying the arrest warrants are not just absurd, but anti-Semitic?
ROBERTSON: This is something that I think that gets to the core of the national feel here, that that Israel isn't understood. It is need and right for self-defense isn't understood. Again, people may differ here over how that should be executed on the ground, and therefore differ with the prime minister over the decisions he's taken.
But as a nation, when they see organizations like the ICC essentially, they feel put them in the same category as Hamas terrorists, they say that this is an anti-Semitic decision. So yes, that implication is felt broadly across the nation. WHITFIELD: All right. Nic Robertson, thank you so much in Jerusalem.
All right, in London, the U.S. Embassy has resumed operations after police cleared a suspicious device with a controlled explosion. The Metropolitan Police confirmed the item appeared to have been a hoax device. They add an investigation is underway into the incident.
And six tourists have now died in Laos after drinking alcohol which is suspected to have been tainted with deadly methanol. The list includes two Australian teenagers, a British woman, one American and two Danish citizens. They had all been staying in the town of Vang Vieng, popular among backpackers. And local police told CNN that a special task force is investigating the deaths. CNN's Marc Stewart is following the story from Beijing and joining us now live. Marc, what more are you learning?
MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, this is a very curious story, because according to state media, the government feels that some of these deaths may have been the result of tainted alcohol. Yet, if we hear from the United States and from New Zealand, they suspect this is a case of methanol poisoning.
Nonetheless, governments are reacting. In fact, the United States issuing a warning to tourists because Laos is such a tourist hot spot, telling people to be careful what they drink, where they get it from. This is, for the moment, a very open investigation. It is possible that this was deliberate, yet it's also possible this was an accident, that perhaps someone was making homemade alcoholic beverages, which is not uncommon and perhaps something went wrong in the process.
[08:20:00]
We just don't know at this point, no one has been charged. But Fredricka here is why this is so scary. You cannot see methanol. It is clear. So, if it's added to a drink, you really have no idea that it's there, but it can cause brain damage. And in about 20 to 40 percent of these cases, Fredricka, depending on how much someone has consumed it, unfortunately, as we have seen here, cause death.
WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh. And then tell me about why so many people are drawn to Laos? I mean, this is a big tourist destination. We saw those pictures of people to have a good time -- you know in the water with swings, et cetera. But what is the big draw there?
STEWART: Right. For young people across the world, including the United States, it is one of the go-to places to go backpacking. I mean, as you said, it's a beautiful place. There is water. There's lots of green spots, there are cliffs. It's also very cheap. It's a place where young people go to have a good time.
There are lots of youth hostels there. So, it makes it an affordable and accessible place in Southeast Asia. But we also have to remember, Laos is a very poor nation, and tourism such as this is a big part of its economy. So that's why we are seeing so much sensitivity in this story, because it's that valuable of a property, of a commodity for Laos. WHITFIELD: Right. And then your description there, then tells me trying to seek medical care if you got an emergency. I mean, there's likely a dearth of being able to get that kind of emergency addressed right away. All right. Marc Stewart in Beijing, thank you.
All right. Back in the U.S., Donald Trump waits very little time finding a new pick to be his selected U.S. Attorney General. After the break, we'll tell you more about the Former Florida Attorney General who could be getting a big promotion. And now the attention turns to Donald Trump's other picks, like Pete Hegseth. Does that help or hurt their chances of getting confirmation. We'll take a look.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Well, it didn't take long for Donald Trump to find a new pick to be U.S. Attorney General. Only hours after Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration, Trump announced Pam Bondi was his new pick to head up the Department of Justice.
Bondi is a Former Florida Attorney General and is well known to Trump and his closest advisers because she was part of his defense team during his first impeachment trial. She also has a long history of criticizing the DOJ for investigations into Trump and his allies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAM BONDI, TRUMP'S PICK FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL: When Republicans take back the White House, you know what's going to happen? The Department of Justice, the prosecutors will be prosecuted, the bad ones.
[08:25:00]
The investigators will be investigated. Because the deep state, last term for President Trump, they were hiding in the shadows, but now they have a spotlight on them, and they can all be investigated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: CNN's Alayna Treene, has been tracking all of this. Alayna, good morning. So, Trump announced this replacement pretty quickly. What do we know about Pam Bondi and why he trusts her so much?
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was very quick, Fred, and that was also by design. I was told pretty quickly, after Matt Gaetz had withdrawn his name, that Donald Trump was really going to set aside some of the other decisions that he is still contemplating, including his treasury pick, his labor pick, many other Cabinet picks to really focus on who would be his next attorney general.
And part of that is, and we discussed this repeatedly over the last couple of weeks now, is that the attorney general role is the most important role to Donald Trump. He wants a legal attack dog who will not get in his way, who will help him carry out the different policies that he wants. And he really wanted someone who is loyal to him. He thought that was Matt Gaetz, but now he also believes that that could be Pam Bondi. Now, part of the reason he selected Bondi, I'm told, is one she was already on some of the list of names that he was considering before he even announced Matt Gaetz. She was already kind of been floated by people and Donald Trump himself. He's always liked her. He's known her for several years.
But she also has relationships with others within Trump's orbit, including his incoming Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles, who herself has been in Florida politics for a very long time. You mentioned that she has worked with him in the past as well. She was one of the lawyers defending him during his first impeachment trial.
That also means that she knows some of the people on the Hill and in the Senate that will be involved in her confirmation process. So, there's a lot of history with regard to Pam Bondi. But one big thing, and this was one of the key things I was told when talking to people working on the transition yesterday, as many of them did believe that she will have an easier time getting confirmed than Matt Gaetz.
We were told that it was very quickly apparent to many of those around Donald Trump that -- you know he wasn't going to receive the votes necessary to get him through the Senate confirmation process, and especially after he had gone around with J.D. Vance on Wednesday, meeting with the Senators who would be crucial to that process.
They told Donald Trump that it didn't appear that the math was there. We also learned that Donald Trump called Matt Gaetz himself Thursday morning, just hours before Gaetz ultimately withdrew his name for consideration, telling him that it looked like the writing was on the wall, but leaving the decision for him to withdraw up to Matt Gaetz, and then, of course, we saw him pull him his name from consideration.
I was told that he called Donald Trump and J.D. Vance directly to do that. But all to say, I do think that many people working with Donald Trump, kind of feel relieved that he has a new attorney general pick now, and they do believe that she'll have an easier time, even as they recognize that she's going to be confronted with a lot of tough questions herself and for her history, both as attorney general and a prosecutor in Florida.
But also, some of the things that she said in the aftermath of the 2020 election, including repeating some of the false claims that Donald Trump had not lost that 2020, election.
WHITFIELD: All right. Well, confirmation hearings are always very theatrical. Let's put it that way. So, it will be expected to continue to be so. All right Alayna Treene, thank you so much. All right, with Former Congressman Matt Gaetz out of the AG running heightened scrutiny of some of the other Trump cabinet picks.
Trump Defense Secretary choice, Pete Hegseth is being pressed to answer questions. Hegseth spent Thursday meeting with Republican Senators trying to convince them that he is qualified to run the Pentagon. This as he is pressed on being investigated for sexual assault in 2017 and reportedly paying the alleged victim to keep quiet about the incident. This was Hegseth's response in the hallways on Capitol Hill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you sexually assault a woman in Monterey, California?
PETE HEGSETH, TRUMP'S PICK FOR DEFENSE SECRETARY: I have, as far as the media is concerned, it is very simple. The matter was fully investigated, and I was completely clear, and that's why I'm legal. Thank you very much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: CNN's Congressional Correspondent Lauren Fox is joining us right now. You've been following this for us. He wasn't completely cleared. It's just he wasn't charged, right? And does Gaetz dropping out make it more likely that Senators can focus now on Hegseth and others to dig a little deeper.
LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. I mean the overlap between members who are on the Senate Judiciary Committee and those who are on the Senate Armed Forces Committee, it's not very many members, right? And so, the members that we're going to have to deal with both of these nominations first in committee.
You know that was a huge question mark going into both of these nominations. But I would tell you that there is renewed scrutiny into Pete Hegseth.
[08:30:00]
And there is concern that has continued about whether or not he has fully answered all the questions that senators have. We are still likely two months at this earliest of considering this nominee in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
A lot can happen, as we've seen in just the last week with these nominees, and this is going to be a grueling process. I'm told that in these meetings, senators are making clear that this is going to take time. That there's going to be a lot of tough questions. That not only is there a public hearing, there's also questions that senators are going to submit in writing, that these nominees have to answer for.
And then there's just the media storm that comes with every single one of these nominations. Especially when you're dealing with people who don't have government experience, who have not been vetted previously for Senate confirmed positions. There are a lot of questions about Pete Hegseth.
Last night, Senator Mike Rounds was reacting to the new news of Pam Bondi being named as Trump's AG pick. But he also said that he has some additional questions about Hegseth's past, here he was.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MIKE ROUNDS (R-SD): My first impression was that it was a good pick. You've got an individual who has experience as a prosecutor and was an attorney general in Florida. Those are good signs. I think he trusts her. I think he would feel comfortable with her as the attorney general.
I want an opportunity to visit with Pete. I want to visit with him, see what his thoughts are, how he would handle the department he's going to have to answer those questions with regard to anything that's in his record.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOX: And yesterday, Kevin Cramer, who is a conservative from North Dakota, he serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee. That is the committee that is going to have the first opportunity to decide whether or not to advance Pete Hegseth nomination to the Senate floor.
He actually said that he has some serious concerns about Pete Hegseth and the questions around that incident that happened in Monterey, California. He said that, you know, given the fact that sexual assault has become such an important issue in the military, he said he wants to be really careful, and he wants to really consider this as he moves forward.
So that just gives you an example of at least one member who sits on that committee who still has a lot of work that they need to do before deciding whether or not to support Hegseth's nomination, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Lauren Fox, thank you so much. All right. Still to come, a Former Brazilian President is indicted by police. Details on the alleged coup plot involving far right politician Jair Bolsonaro. Plus, an American kayaker faked his own death and fled overseas. Now he's revealing how and why he did it. The story after the break,
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:35:00]
WHITFIELD: Brazilian police have indicted Former President Jair Bolsonaro and 36 others over an alleged plot to keep him in power after losing the last election. According to CNN, Brazil police allege that Bolsonaro had full knowledge of a plan to prevent his successor and his government from taking office.
Bolsonaro said Thursday that he had yet to see the indictment. He has previously denied claims that he tried to cling to power. Let's go now to Stefano Pozzebon, who was following developments from neighboring Colombia. So, Stefano, now that he's been indicted, what happens next?
STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: Well, Fredricka, next, the matter passes to the Brazilian Attorney General. We understand that the Brazilian Federal Police presented their investigation report yesterday to the Brazilian Attorney General. We're talking about a report of over 800 pages.
And now the attorney general will need to make a decision whether to toss the investigation or to indeed confirm these charges, this indictment and put Bolsonaro on trial on the charge of being complicit with an alleged coup d'etat. Given the severity of these charges, you can imagine that we will indeed go to a trial.
Our sources at CNN Brazil are telling us that it's unlikely that this trial will start before the end of the year, probably between March and April. So, a lot more to come on this story. But you can imagine that it's a story and a scandal that is already rocking at least the Brazilian political establishment, if not the entire Latin American political community.
Because we're talking here not just of Bolsonaro himself, but 36 other members of his cabinet, former generals, ministers. It's the entire group that helped Bolsonaro rule the country between 2018 and 2022 that is now put on to the stand. And you can imagine that the reactions have been fierce so far.
WHITFIELD: And what has been their reaction there, not just from Bolsonaro and the other 36 indicted, but generally, voters, people.
POZZEBON: Yes, exactly. Well, these charges were already, we knew that they were coming. This investigation has been going on since at least January 10, when the -- what in 2023 when the Bolsonaro crowd stormed, you probably remember the Brazilian capital to try to prevent Lula from taking office.
But I think one person that has spoken on the record is Lula himself, who is in this alleged coup d'etat, is a target for assassination. Take a listen to what he said yesterday, just hours before these indictments were unveiled.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LULA DA SILVA, BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT: I can tell you, I have much more to be thankful for, because of my life, the attempt to poison me and alchemy did not work. We are still here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
POZZEBON: And I think it's a good moment now for trigger to just take a step back and see in the context of this, you have the sitting president of one of the largest countries in the world, the largest economy in South America, acknowledging that there was a plot to assassinate him.
The plot didn't go to Frisian, as he said, he jokes about the fact that he's still alive. But now we learn that his predecessor was indeed, or allegedly indeed involved with these plots. So, a moment of great tension, not just in Brazil, but just like I said, in the entire Latin American region, because, for example, one of the indicted is also a member close -- a member of the Argentinian government, very close to the President, Javier Milei.
You can see that the ramification of this potential scandal, are already crossing borders, and with Donald Trump and the White House, a new White House Administration taking over in in January, it won't be hard to imagine that there will be a reaction from Washington as well.
WHITFIELD: All right, Stefano Pozzebon in Bogota, Colombia. Thank you so much. And we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:40:00]
WHITFIELD: Mexico says it has a plan to receive Mexicans if President- elect Trump implements mass deportations. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Thursday that her government will work to show that Mexicans have no reason to be deported and even benefit the U.S. economy.
Meanwhile, sources involved with the Trump transition tell CNN that they've identified an aggressive strategy to persuade Latin American countries to take back deported migrants at what they said would be a large scale. David Culver went to the border in Arizona to show just how hard it is to secure the border and the biggest nemesis, the cartels.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More than 30 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to go run that. Absolutely not. I just had him at 85 so we're going to talk.
CULVER (voice-over): Arizona deputies close in on a suspected migrant smuggler. This SUV going 40 miles over the speed limit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get back in the car now.
CULVER (voice-over): After a quick search, though, no migrants found they let the driver go with a reckless driving ticket and move on to the next, running down cars like this all day. It's part of the stepped-up search efforts for cartel backed drivers. On average, deputies tell us they bust two to three vehicles a day carrying migrants or drugs here.
SHERIFF MARK DANNELS, COCHISE COUNTY AT ARIZONA: This is a really hot spot, so the cars are come down from Phoenix, take a three-hour journey along this highway, pull into a spot in here, hit the horn. They'll pop out of the brush.
CULVER (voice-over): Sheriff Mark Dannels tells me most smugglers are U.S. citizens paid by Mexican cartels.
DANNELS: We've got to get back engaged to what the cartel is all about, ruthless, murderous gang. And number two is you have no respect for this country.
JIM CHILTON, OWNER OF CHILTON RANCH: They need to secure the border. At the border --
CULVER (voice-over): Jim and Sue Chilton, tell me the cartels use their ranch as a crossing round.
J. CHILTON: The idea that people coming through here, through my ranch, are coming in to poison our people is very, very objectionable to me.
SUE CHILTON, OWNER OF CHILTON RANCH: You can see they're all carrying backpacks -- identical.
CULVER (voice-over): They show me about two hours of surveillance footage collected from just 5 cameras on their 50,000 acres in Arivaca.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They all look like they're wearing fatigues camouflage. It almost looks like a military operation.
J. CHILTON: Over 3000 people coming to my ranch in the last 3.5, four years are in the country. We have no idea who they are. They're what's called got aways.
CULVER (voice-over): The Chiltons say the surging got aways started when President Biden took office and halted construction of the border wall. Sue points to the half mile gap on their ranch that she calls the door.
S. CHILTON: Obviously, if you leave your door standing open in your house, where do people come in.
CULVER: The open.
S. CHILTON: The door. Right, OK.
J. CHILTON: Federal Government's warning us that there are bad people coming through here.
CULVER (voice-over): Jim says he's come face to face with them.
J. CHILTON: About 20 guys ran across the road and up that hill to going Northwest, and the guy in front appeared to have an AK-47.
CULVER: Do you carry any protection while you're out here?
J. CHILTON: I always have a weapon, David. Here's my pistol. You have a weapon. People go the other way.
CULVER (voice-over): We soon learned Jim isn't the only one armed in these parts.
TIM FOLEY, ARIZONA BORDER RECON: You name it. I've been called it.
CULVER (voice-over): Some called Tim Foley a vigilante. He says his self-funded group Arizona Border Recon is here to deter the cartels.
FOLEY: It's a game of chess or whack a mole.
[08:45:00]
CULVER: Who's winning?
FOLEY: Them.
CULVER (voice-over): Volunteers from across the U.S. join fully in his unofficial and at times controversial patrol effort.
CULVER: And so why you do it?
FOLEY: I love my country, and that's why I said I'll be here until I feel it's secure.
CULVER: When you look at where the border wall lands, what goes through your mind?
J. CHILTON: Why did it end? Why wasn't it finished? But I'll guarantee you, that President Trump is going to finish it and secure the border.
CULVER (voice-over): Pulling up to where the wall ends. Jim warns us, the cartel has been battling it out to control this corridor.
CULVER: Would you hear gunfire?
JAIME CHAMBERLAIN, PRESIDENT OF CHAMBERLAIN DISTRIBUTING, INC.: I've heard gunfire. Yes.
CULVER: Like a war zone?
CHAMBERLAIN: A war going on over there. I don't hang around. I get out of here.
CULVER: We see some movement up on the ridge, which, according to Jim, is very likely one of those cartel scouts, because they have lookouts all over. They'd likely be watching us, because we're at, as the Chilton say, the doorway into the U.S., and that also happens to be their money-making route.
CULVER (voice-over): About 50 miles east of the Chilton ranch. Nogales businessman Hyman Chamberlain knows the economic importance of the border. His produce import company relies on the port of entry here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any time that you take away those resources, whether it's personnel or whether it's funding for Border Patrol, you are weakening those ports of entry.
CULVER (voice-over): But he believes the economy and national security are about to improve.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the new administration has made it clear that they're going to go after criminals first.
CULVER: Are you nervous with President Trump coming in? Do you have uneasiness about him?
DEPUTY DAN BRENNAN, COCHISE COUNTY SHERIFF'S INTERDICTION TEAM: Yeah, that's different. Trump is different. I respect him too. CULVER (voice-over): Along the border wall, we meet Rafael celebrating his 34th birthday with his mom and son visiting from the other side. A decade after crossing illegally, he is still undocumented, working on a construction site with a team of about 10.
CULVER: How many of them would you say are undocumented?
BRENNAN: --10
CULVER: 10, everybody?
BRENNAN: Yeah.
CULVER (voice-over): But Cochise County deputies say they aren't focused on migrants like Rafael. They want the cartel fueled smugglers who operate day and night.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can kind of safely assume that. I think activity will pick up in the coming days, until the inauguration.
CULVER: And that's just the cartels basically saying --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, let's get it. You know, we're here to make money. Let's get it while we can.
CULVER (voice-over): David Culver, CNN, Cochise County, Arizona.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right, pretty eye opening on many levels. All right, the Wisconsin kayaker accused of faking his own death and leaving his family has been located. He is somewhere in Eastern Europe, but whether he'll ever come home to the U.S., to his wife and kids or face the music for what has been a costly and emotional search, pretty unclear. CNN's Whitney Wild has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RYAN BORGWART, WISCONSIN KAYAKER: Good evening. It's Ryan Borgwart. I'm in my apartment. I am safe, secure. No problem.
WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ryan Borgwart speaking barely above a whisper in this video, he says, was recorded November 11th. These are his first comments since disappearing in August. Police now believe the husband and father of three is alive and living in Eastern Europe with no plans to come back to the U.S.
Though Green Lake, Wisconsin Sheriff Mark Podoll says Borgwart talks to investigators regularly.
SHERIFF MARK PODOLL, GREEN LAKE COUNTY: Our biggest concern that we had was if he was safe and well, we asked him a number of questions that pertain to him and his family, that he would only know. And then we asked him for a video of himself. WILD (voice-over): The search for Borgwart began this summer after he failed to return home from a day of kayaking and fishing. Law enforcement found his capsized kayaker and other belongings, but no trace of him.
PODOLL: While we might have stopped the search on Green Lake. That didn't stop our search continuing to look for life.
WILD (voice-over): The Green Lake County Sheriff now says he planned an elaborate escape. Borgwart told investigators he paddled his kayak and a child-sized boat out into the lake, overturned the kayak and dumped his phone in the water, paddled the inflatable boat to shore, got on an E-bike and rode through the night to Madison.
There he boarded a bus, went on to Detroit, and eventually crossed into Canada and hopped on a plane to Europe.
PODOLL: There are communications we are expressing the importance of his decision to return hold, clean up the mess that he has created.
WILD (voice-over): A digital forensic search of Borgwart's laptop revealed that he replaced the hard drive and cleared his browser history on the day of the disappearance.
[08:50:00]
Podoll says investigators found that the 44-year-old moved funds to a foreign bank, changed his email, communicated with a woman in Uzbekistan, purchased airline cards and took out a $375,000 life insurance policy in January. Now that Borgwart has been found alive, law enforcement is laying out potential charges.
PODOLL: The information that the Green Lake County has at this point leads us to an obstructing charge.
WILD (on camera): In terms of restitution. Sheriff Podoll says that, that could be between 35 and $40,000 at least, Whitney wild CNN, Chicago.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right, you're watching the CNN "Newsroom". Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the world has lost 75 percent of seed diversity among food crops since the 1900s and without seed diversity, it's difficult for plants to adapt to changing climate conditions.
A company in North Carolina is relying on generative artificial intelligence to accelerate the adaptation of crops to climate change.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): In the Kenyan Highlands, this potato harvest might change the lives of local farmers. An ambitious crop breeding program is tapping into the genetic diversity of 5000 different potato varieties to future proof the tubers.
THIAGO MENDES, POTATO BREEDER OF INTERNATION POTATO CENTRE: The climate changing is challenging us every day. We have issues about drought. We have issues about heat. It's part of the mission of breeders to develop materials that will help farmers growing potatoes under those conditions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Tiago Mendez is a breeder for the Lima based International Potato Center. It's a research facility that in 2021 announced the release of a tuber like no other, the Matilda potato.
MENDES: Today is a big day because it's the first time we have seen those potatoes on the ground in Kenya.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): A product of extensive research, the tuber was crossed with wild potato varieties to enhance its resilience to changing climate conditions in the Peruvian Andes.
MENDES: Through this project, we are just open an opportunity to increase the genetic diversity available for breeding programs in the region, and taking potato to non-traditional growing zones that farmers are not still cultivating yet.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Developing new crop varieties can take up to 15 years. As weather patterns become unpredictable, a crop development startup is using AI to speed up that process.
MARIANO ALVAREZ, CEO OF AVALO: If we can only release a new variety every 10 years, we'll always be 10 years behind what the weather conditions are going to be or what the newest disease or the newest pest pressure is going to be. But if we can release new varieties every four to five years, we're much closer to keeping pace with the rate of environmental change that farmers actually see in their fields.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Mariano Alvarez and Brendan Collins are Co-Founders of Avalo. It's a company that uses machine learning models to identify the genetic basis of complex traits like drought or pest resistance in hundreds of crop varieties
ALVAREZ: The traditional breeding process is really the same as it's been for thousands of years.
[08:55:00]
We are also taking pollen from one flower and depositing into another one. The difference is that a machine learning algorithm is deciding which flowers are going to be the best performers ahead of time. So that lets us accelerate this traditional process by 50 percent or 70 percent.
BRENDAN COLLINS, CEO OF AVALO: It's kind of almost like looking into the future of what could actually the potential of agriculture be
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Super fascinating. All right, Chicago, it's just now seeing snowfall. It's the first snowfall of the season. And the animals at the Brookfield Zoo are frolicking in the wintery weather. They love it right there. Visitors got to see a polar bear named Hudson playing with the ball in the blanket of snow there.
And the Siberian tiger doesn't seem phased at all by the snow, but just blending right in and lounging in its enclosure, enjoy the snow, and then you've got brown bears there. We're having a good time there too. Lots of fun. All right. Thank you so much for joining me here in the CNN Newsroom. I'm Fredricka Whitefield. "Connect the World" with Becky Anderson is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
