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Israeli Strike Kills Lebanese Hospital Director; Trump Defense Secretary Pick Facing Fresh Sexual Assault Allegations; Nicaraguan Lawmakers Approve Reform Expanding Ortega's Power; Iceland Volcano Erupts Seventh Time This Year. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired November 23, 2024 - 03:00   ET

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

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PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): And a very warm welcome. I'm Paula Newton. Ahead right here on CNN NEWSROOM, at least four people are dead after Israeli airstrikes hit Beirut, one of those on a residential building.

Filling in the gaps, the president-elect reveals his choices for several more top jobs.

And the end of the U.N. climate conference in Azerbaijan is delayed as nations try to hammer out a deal to combat the effects of climate change.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from New York, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Paula Newton.

NEWTON: Ceasefire efforts involving Israel and Hezbollah are still ongoing. But Israel is not slowing its attacks on Beirut.

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NEWTON (voice-over): This is the scene right now in central Beirut after one strike hit a residential building. Those are live pictures. Lebanon's health ministry says that at least four people were killed and 23 wounded.

And as you can see there, rescue workers in the densely populated area are still searching for survivors. Now Israel did not issue a warning before this strike and, in another attack, one building was flattened.

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NEWTON (voice-over): CNN has geolocated this video that shows an Israeli missile striking a building in Beirut's southern suburbs on Friday. As you can see, the building was completely destroyed.

The Israeli military earlier issued an evacuation warning to people in the neighborhood. CNN's Paula Hancocks is live for us in Abu Dhabi.

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NEWTON: And she's been following all the latest developments.

Paula, you know, we are looking at the strikes right now. Obviously, they continue. And yet we heard all last week that ceasefire talks between Israel and Lebanon were on solid footing.

What more do we know now?

Paula, I believe perhaps you can't hear me.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Paula, in the middle of last week, we certainly heard an awful lot about the negotiations that were ongoing.

We knew that the U.S. envoy, Amos Hochstein, was in the region as well. He went to Lebanon, followed by Israel, trying to see if he could hammer out the final details of this ceasefire. Now when he was in Beirut, he did say that that things were close.

But it did rely really on the two parties to be agreeing. So he said, it is within our grasp now. We haven't heard an awful lot since he went to Israel. And what we have actually been seeing on the ground in northern Israel and also in Lebanon is once again an escalation of the Israeli airstrikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Now Israel says that they are targeting Hezbollah infrastructure. They say they're targeting weapons caches. And what we have seen, though, overnight is another airstrike in central Beirut.

Now this is becoming more commonplace. It was certainly, up until a couple of weeks ago, quite rare for these strikes to be hitting in the center of the capital. It was more in the southern suburbs, which was a Hezbollah stronghold in southern Lebanon and also in the east of Lebanon.

But you see these pictures which show the clear-up of that targeting of a building, a residential building, we're told, by Lebanese health officials, in the densely populated Basta area. Four have been killed. We understand 23 wounded, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

Now the IDF did not issue an evacuation order for this particular airstrike. And we are waiting for a public comment from them for this particular strike. And it is, as I say, the latest in central Beirut, which is an escalation in itself.

Also, another strike I need to mention is in the eastern part of Lebanon. This is near Baalbek. And we understand the director general of the Dar al Amal University was killed in a strike along with six of his colleagues.

This coming to us as well from the ministry of health in Lebanon, calling it a treacherous Israeli aggression that targeted Dr. Alam's residence next to the hospital. [03:05:00]

Now we have asked the IDF about this. They say that they are looking into the report. They haven't given a reason at this point as to why they struck that particular area.

But they have been saying consistently in the past that they are targeting Hezbollah infrastructure. Now they also say that over 16,000 rockets have been fired from Lebanon into Israel over recent months -- Paula.

NEWTON: Yes. Paula Hancocks for us in Abu Dhabi, thank you for following those latest developments. Appreciate it.

Now an avalanche of cabinet choices from Donald Trump have been announced as we head into the final weekend before the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. Among them is Trump's pick for Treasury Secretary. That's Scott Bassett.

He is a stark contrast to some of his earlier, more controversial selections and Wall Street seems unfazed, with some really applauding this move. Trump has also chosen a more controversial figure from his first term to lead the Office of Management and Budget.

Russell Vought is the president-elect's former budget director who oversaw a widespread push to deregulate. Now meantime Dr. Janette Nesheiwat is picked as surgeon general. That was just announced today by the former president as well. She is a family practice doctor and FOX News contributor.

Now sources tell CNN that Trump's pick to lead the intelligence community, Tulsi Gabbard, was briefly placed on air -- on air transport watch list. That was earlier this year.

It appears Gabbard's overseas travel patterns and foreign connections triggered a government algorithm. But she was quickly removed from the list after she publicly claimed she had been added to a, quote, "secret terror watch list."

The TSA says Gabbard was placed on a little known list called Quiet Skies, which they say -- and they stress -- is not a terror watch list. Now amid the turmoil around Tulsi Gabbard, Trump and Trump's team is pushing ahead with a controversial choice for attorney general. CNN's Kristen Holmes has more.

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KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Donald Trump's team is full speed ahead, trying to make sure they can get Pam Bondi confirmed through the Senate, while Matt Gaetz is planning his next moves and his first interview since he withdrew his name from attorney general.

He said that he would not be joining the next session of Congress. Of course, we knew he had resigned from this current session of Congress but he had just been elected to serve again. This, of course, coming as this ethics report looms over Matt Gaetz's

head. Now one thing we do know that Matt Gaetz is now doing is that he has set up an account on Cameo. We'll see if this is the only thing he does.

He said he would support president Trump in whatever way he could but it would be from a different perch as speaking about, specifically, not serving in Congress. Now when it comes to Pam Bondi, I've spoken to a number of Republicans who say that they are thrilled with this pick. They are relieved.

They believe that she has a much better chance of getting confirmed and even some of the diehard MAGA loyalists, who maybe don't think that she's as much as a firebrand as Matt Gaetz was, they are still happy that she will be there. They do believe she is loyal to the former president.

She will follow through on his plans to gut the Department of Justice and make sure that the White House oversees the Department of Justice -- Kristen Holmes, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.

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NEWTON: Noelle Nikpour, Republican strategist and fundraiser and the author of "Branding America: What Does Your Brand Say about You?"

And I thank you for being with us as we continue to get so much news here from this transition team. I'm going to get to the more recent cabinet picks in a moment. But I do want to pick things up with Tulsi Gabbard and perhaps even the nominee for Defense Secretary, Peter Hegseth.

I mean, how forcefully do you believe Donald Trump will push for those two candidates, given we're learning about new controversies related to them nearly every day?

NOELLE NIKPOUR, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST AND FUNDRAISER: I think that, you know, Donald Trump has got a lot of people around him.

He has a lot of strategic advisors around him with this transition team. And I really feel like he has probably had these picks long before he, you know he won the office. And I think that Tulsi Gabbard has been a real force and really on the campaign really, really helped him.

So I am sure that they have had discussions about, you know, potential things that she thought that maybe she would be an expert in or could lend her talents. And so I don't think that any of these are random.

With Pete Hegseth, he's been a very loyal and very big supporter of Donald Trump's. He's been very vocal about that and, you know, a lot of people felt like that was a controversial pick.

[03:10:00] And those people that that know Pete Hegseth knows, you know, know that he is a big patriot, that his, you know, his heart is in the right place. He is very decorator -- decorated.

He's also, you know, very highly educated Ivy League education. Really, you know the stint that he did on FOX News. you know, was basically commentary. But you know, it lends itself for his passion, you know, Republican politics but -- go ahead.

NEWTON: No. And just certainly in keeping with what we've heard, that the president wants people that are going to advocate for his positions to the public. Still, though, obviously a lot of concern there.

I do want to move on to the Treasury Secretary nominee, Scott Bessent. A solid choice. And many Democrats are saying that as well, saying he's exceedingly competent, even though he formerly was employed by George Soros, as many know, a wealthy Democratic donor.

What do you think Trump is signaling with this pick?

NIKPOUR: I -- bravo to Trump for picking Bessent because, if you look at his background, if you read his background, as a Republican, a big name is going to stand out and that's George Soros.

You know, there has been a lot of super PAC advertising, you know, saying, you know, that George Soros backed this and that. So that's not a name that Republicans like very much.

So the sheer fact that he had this in his background and he got picked for one of the highest honors within the cabinet, I think my hat's off to president Trump for, you know, president-elect Trump for choosing such a guy.

And he is going to be entering in this position if he gets confirmed, which I think he will, with a lot to tackle. You know, the national debt. He's got the tariffs. He's got a lot of things to unpack and the promises that Trump economically has promised, you know, the voters.

He's promised these things to the voters. So, Bessent has got a really tricky road ahead for him.

NEWTON: And I am glad you mentioned that because it just goes to the heart of so many promises that were made during the election and how tough that job is going to be.

I do want to Russell Vought. I want you to listen here to him speaking to Tucker Carlson just a few days ago. Listen.

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RUSSELL VOUGHT, OMB CANDIDATE: You can have a president who steps in and says, you know what, there's no constitutional amendment for me to take control of the administrative state.

What you need is people who are able to absorb political heat. They don't have a fear of conflict. They can execute under withering enemy fire. They are up to speed. And they are no-nonsense in their own ability to know what must be done.

And they are unbelievably committed to the president and his agenda.

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NEWTON: You know, by definition, he wants more decisions made directly by the president, not Congress.

Is that what Americans voted for here?

Because remember, Democrats could come in in four years and do the same thing.

NIKPOUR: Yes, but you going to look at, you know, Trump won the popular vote.

Trump overwhelmingly, you know, won. I mean, it was a -- it was a landslide. So if you like Trump and if you voted for Trump, then you're going to like this pick because you agree with this. You agree with the way that this person, if confirmed, is going to go about things.

NEWTON: And, well, we'll have to leave it there for now. But I really do thank you for parsing this with us. Appreciate it.

NIKPOUR: Thanks.

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NEWTON: Still to come for us, Russian president Vladimir Putin is ramping up his threats to the West while bragging about his military's new experimental missile.

And tourism turns deadly with six deaths in a vacation spot popular with backpackers. Those stories when we come back.

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NEWTON: President Vladimir Putin says Russia will keep testing a new experimental ballistic missile that was fired at Ukraine on Thursday. He claims the missile could not be intercepted by air defenses, adding that Russia will begin mass producing the new system.

The Kremlin says this is in response to the, quote, "reckless decisions" of Western countries that supply weapons to Kyiv. NATO and Ukraine are reportedly planning to hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday to discuss Moscow's latest strike. Now Putin continues to send thousands of Russian troops to the front

lines. The mothers of those soldiers, rarely heard from throughout the war, are speaking out to CNN. Fred Pleitgen reports now from Moscow.

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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As the war in Ukraine is close to entering its fourth year, more and more Russians are signing up to fight.

Vladimir Putin saying more than 700,000 are currently stationed in and around Ukraine.

We got rare access to an event in Moscow honoring the mothers of Russian soldiers battling in what the Kremlin still calls its special military operation -- mothers whose sons are fighting have been killed or injured.

Oksana Medvedeva's son, Yegor (ph), was severely wounded on the battlefield earlier this year.

"He had surgery on his leg and the nerves had to be sewn back together," she says.

"He also had surgery on his jaw but it still has not recovered properly. He is still being treated. I am proud of my son that he is such a hero."

While the Russians have been making significant battlefield gains recently, they appear to come at a heavy price. Moscow doesn't publish casualty figures but Western governments believe the attrition rate among Russian forces is significant.

To increase manpower, the U.S. and Ukraine say more than 11,000 North Korean troops are now also on Moscow's side mostly in Russia's Kursk region.

Yelena Melina's (ph) son, Mikhail, is still fighting in Ukraine. She won't say where but acknowledges for him it's tough.

"He went through a lot of moments he doesn't like to talk about," she says.

"But I found out by chance. I think he's a true hero."

The U.S. and its allies continue to condemn Russia's president, urging him to withdraw from Ukraine immediately.

But this week instead, a major escalation, after the Biden administration allowed Ukraine to use longer distance U.S. and U.K. supplied missiles to strike deep inside Russia.

Putin hit back with a new intermediate range ballistic missile capable of delivering devastating nuclear warheads and he threatened to hit U.S. assets as well. "We should we consider ourselves entitled to use our weapons against the military objects of those countries that allow their weapons to be used against our objects," he said.

Back at the event for soldiers' mothers, a Russian parliamentarian backing Putin up.

"We are a strong country and we've been patient for a long time," she said.

"But in the case of mass deaths of our people, if the collective West does not sober up, we should proceed to more decisive actions. We can no longer lose any of our men."

But for now, the battles continue to escalate and the losses continue to mount, as Vladimir Putin warns.

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The war is increasingly becoming a struggle between Russia and the West -- Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.

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NEWTON: Lawmakers in Nicaragua are moving to expand president Daniel Ortega's powers.

Now the parliament dominated by the ruling Sandinista Front approved a constitutional reform Friday to hand more power to Ortega as well as the police and military. The reform increases the president's control over the media, extends his term from five to six years and changes the roles of the vice president to, quote, "co-president."

That means that Ortega's wife, Rosario Murillo, will now become his co-president. She was made vice president in 2017. The reform must pass a second legislative vote next year before becoming law.

Now in an idyllic vacation spot in Laos, six tourists have now died after drinking suspected tainted alcohol and many others may have been affected as well. CNN's Melissa Bell has more now from Paris.

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MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Six people are now believed to have died as a result of tainted alcohol poisoning in Laos. The

latest victim, a 19-year-old woman from Melbourne, Australia, who'd been backpacking through Asia with her best friend. The two women are believed,

according to the Associated Press, to have been given free shots in the hostel they were staying at before heading out for a night of drinking in

Vang Vieng, a popular hotspot for backpackers in Laos. In Laos, the other victims include British woman, an American citizen, two Danish citizens as well, with several western consulates saying they're

working with some of their citizens who are believed also to have been impacted by the tainted alcohol. Those countries believe that methanol

poisoning is to blame, although no cause of death has been announced. We spoke to one doctor who told us about exactly just how poisonous methanol

was.

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BRUNO MEGARBANE, LARIBOISIERE HOSPITAL, PARIS: Even a drop of methanol is toxic. It has been estimated that an amount of 10 milliliters of methanol could result in the death of an adult of 70 kilograms. So it is really very toxic. And the fatal amount is very low.

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BELL: According to the Associated Press, several people have been taken in for questioning, including the manager of the hostel where the two young

Australian backpackers were staying, although no charges have yet been brought. What the deaths have triggered are warnings about the dangers of

tainted alcohol and the need to take care.

Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.

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NEWTON: Climate talks in Azerbaijan are going into overtime. When we come back, the heated negotiations between nations at odds over confronting climate change.

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NEWTON: A corner of Iceland is facing a hotter December than usual and it's not because of the weather but because of scorching lava spewing from an erupting volcano near the country's capital.

And it's producing scenes so spectacular, I mean, look at that. The pilot of this jet had to tell excited passengers to just stay calm and keep their seat belts on. The fissure is, as you can see there, about three kilometers long now. It erupted on Wednesday, the seventh time since last December in this

area. Air traffic is not threatened but a nearby geothermal plant, two hotels and the world famous Blue Lagoon have all been evacuated.

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Now developed and developing nations are still far apart on reaching a climate deal at the U.N.'s COP29 talks in Azerbaijan. Demonstrators quietly protested the draft of a climate finance deal which offered $250 billion to developing nations to help them tackle the effects of climate change. That proposal was rejected outright.

Now negotiations are running into overtime to reach a final agreement, emphasizing the dire need for climate action. Brazil's environmental minister said the offer fell short of what was needed from richer countries. Listen.

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MARINA SILVA, MINISTER OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE, BRAZIL (through translator): We're facing a drought in the Amazon and terrible floods in south Brazil, terrible fires and floods in the United Arab Emirates, threatening dire heat waves and hurricanes in the Caribbean and the United States.

The total imbalance of the climate globally has caused great suffering for humanity. The means of implementation, which is the central goal of this COP, I do not believe, is properly being addressed here.

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NEWTON: Host country Azerbaijan said talks would continue right through the next few hours and a final deal will be put before the nearly 200 nations for approval sometime today.

Telehealth is taking on a whole new meaning in rural Tennessee. Now virtual doctors' visits have gained popularity with many of us right now. They're a welcome alternative for patients with busy schedules, less access to transportation or medical ailments that cause pain when traveling.

Now thanks to hologram technology by Los Angeles-based Proto, patients at West Cancer Center in Memphis can see their doctor from 100 miles away, as if he's right in the room with them. Take a look at this.

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DR. CLAY JACKSON, PALLIATIVE CARE SPECIALIST: Two words: blown away. My patients can't believe how great the technology is. I've heard it from patients unprompted multiple times. It's just like you're in the room.

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NEWTON: Yes, it is incredible. Now with this new hologram tech, patients can visit a satellite office near them. And as you can see there, still see the doctor they trust with onsite nurses and office staff there to help as well.

This elevates the level of care for those who obviously need it most.

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NEWTON (voice-over): Mariachi players, you know what that sounds like. They staged concerts and a parade on Friday in Mexico City to honor their patron saint, St. Cecilia. There they are.

The colorful jackets and traditional instruments were out in abundance during the annual three days of shows and festivities, which include a pilgrimage to the city's Guadalupe basilica. Mariachis symbolize, of course, Mexico, right around the world.

We're used to seeing them and they liven up parties, weddings and night spots.

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NEWTON: Sounds terrific.

Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Paula Newton. "BOLD PURSUITS" is next and then there's more CNN NEWSROOM with my friend, Christina Macfarlane. She'll be in London in 30 minutes from now.