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Syrian Rebels Reach Center of Aleppo in Surprise Offensive; Woman and Two Children Crushed in Crowd at Gaza Bakery; Georgia's Pause in E.U. Bid Leads to Street Violence; Trudeau Dines with Trump after Tariff Threat; Haitians Flee Ohio City before Trump Takes Office; U.K. Parliament Votes to Allow Assisted Dying; Uganda Landslide Death Toll Rising, 100+ Still Missing; Humanoid Robotics Conference. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired November 30, 2024 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A very warm welcome to our viewers in the United States and right around the world. I'm Isa Soares, coming to you from London. And this is CNN NEWSROOM.
Syrian rebels advance deeper into Aleppo just three days after launching a surprise offensive after eight years. Russian and government warplanes strike back.
Demonstrators in Georgia clash with the police for a second straight day, as the country's gripped by fierce protests over its bid to join the E.U.
And guess who's coming to dinner?
Justin Trudeau heads to Mar-a-Lago, hoping to head off Donald Trump's threat of 25 percent tariffs on Canadian goods.
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SOARES: Good morning, everyone.
We begin with the Syrian civil war heating up again long after the government and its powerful allies appear to crush the rebellion. Syrian rebel forces are pushing further into Aleppo after launching what has been described as a surprise offensive just this week.
Video geolocated by CNN shows rebel fighters reaching the center of the second largest city on Friday night. It is the first time, just for context, here, they have set foot in Aleppo since 2016. But one of president Bashar al-Assad's chief allies is striking back.
Russian state media reports that Russian warplanes launched airstrikes on Friday, targeting rebels in Aleppo and Idlib provinces. Russia claims to have killed at least 200 members of a Syrian jihadist group. Let's add some context here. The man, who knows this region very well,
our Ben Wedeman, following all the developments. He joins me now from Rome.
Ben, good morning. Good to see you. And look, they certainly took the Syrian army by surprise.
What do you make, Ben, of how quickly they have gained ground here and how much -- how deep into Aleppo they are at this stage?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's no question, Isa, that the rebels did take the Syrian army by surprise. And it appears that they'd simply overrun dozens and dozens of villages in Western Aleppo province.
And what we've seen, geolocating video and speaking to people in Aleppo, is that these rebels have made it to the very center of the city. We've seen a live stream by rebels last night, who were at Aleppo's ancient citadel, which is very much the center of the city.
We also saw a video and still photos of rebels in Saadallah al-Jabiri Square, which is a large open square next to a public park in the center of the more modern part of the city. So this has definitely been a lightning offensive that only began this Wednesday.
This was an area of Syria where certainly the rebels have had a presence for a while. We do understand that there were sleeper cells for the rebel groups in Aleppo itself. But the fact that they were expelled, driven out by Syrian government forces, supported by Russian airpower, supported by Hezbollah ground troops in 2016, they're back.
And really, they seem to have gotten -- gained much ground within Aleppo without much in the way of actual fighting. Now there are many explanations for this.
One, it's believed, is because Hezbollah, which provided the real shock troops for the Syrian government when it was fighting the rebels, many of those fighters have gone back to Lebanon.
And, in Lebanon, the leadership of Hezbollah has been essentially decapitated by the Israelis.
Meanwhile, the Russians, for instance, have reduced their presence in Syria as a result of the war in Ukraine.
And finally another important backer for the Syrian regime, Iran, has come under sustained attack by Israel this year in Syria itself.
So the three main backers for the Syrian rebels, or rather for the Syrian regime, have really been crippled or have reduced their numbers to the extent that it's now up to the Syrian regime itself to fight off its opponents.
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And clearly it's not up to the task. SOARES: Yes. And the patrons clearly as you've outlined, they're
being preoccupied with other concerns across the region and that's left them vulnerable. As always, Ben, appreciate it. Thank you very much.
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SOARES: Let's get more on this. Jerome Drevon is the senior analyst on jihad in modern conflict with International Crisis Group. He joins us now from Geneva in Switzerland.
Appreciate you being with us, Jerome. And look, this is a significant turning point. As we we're just hearing there from our Ben Wedeman, it's a conflict that has been static for years.
Just your assessment of not just the surprise that we've seen here but how quickly they're gaining ground.
JEROME DREVON, SENIOR ANALYST, INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: Yes.
I mean, the front lines have been basically frozen for the past four years.
So the armed opposition had been speaking about a forthcoming operation for the past two months. But initially the idea was to push forward the front lines, take some of the some of the cities in the south of Idlib but not directly necessarily target Aleppo, which was seen more as a midterm or long term objective.
But I think they were surprised themselves as how quickly the regime troops simply crumbled under pressure by the armed opposition.
SOARES: And Jerome, and the reports seem to suggest that the government forces kind of withdrew from several of the neighborhoods and parts of the city they hadn't even taken, you know, touched previously.
Does that give you a sense, Jerome, at all of how strong or otherwise Bashar al-Assad is, both politically and militarily here, given how quickly this is all unfolding?
DREVON: Yes, clearly it shows that the regime of Bashar al Assad is not able to protect itself without ground troops from Iran and supportive militias and from Russia.
His troop and his army is simply not as well structured and organized as the armed opposition, which has really focused for the past few years on increasing its readiness in its military organization to conduct that type of large scale armed operation.
SOARES: Yes.
And let's just expand on that. And this is something that, you know, that my colleague touched on and this is the timing of this, Jerome. Right. Because rebels seem to have taken advantage of the fact that their patrons, Iranian patrons, Russian patrons have been preoccupied, let's say, with other wars war in Ukraine.
In the case of Russia and in Iran perhaps focus more on domestic issues, concerns over Hezbollah.
How much have these wars affected perhaps what is happening on the ground?
DREVON: It clearly had a direct impact because it means that the foreign backers of the regime, which has really -- which have helped the regime survive up to this day, have been preoccupied by their own issues.
Hezbollah has been extremely weakened, losing all its leadership in Lebanon and is not able to conduct armed operations elsewhere outside Syria because it has to focus on its own reconstruction now in Lebanon.
Iran is looking forward at the forthcoming Trump administration, so it has to see a different pathway as well. So it cannot fight in Syria as much as it used to fight before. And so the armed opposition just seized really the momentum to conduct its own -- its own agenda.
SOARES: And do you think, I mean, we've seen Russian forces now applying force.
But do you think they have the manpower or the latitude here to really come to the aid of Bashar al Assad at this stage?
Given, you know, we're in the third year of the conflict in Ukraine.
DREVON: Not really because Russia has never had many men in Syria. Russia, what it has is political support for the regime but also aerial support through --
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DREVON: -- through its military but without having really ground troops to take over territory.
SOARES: Let's focus on Turkiye because Turkiye is also a major player here, backing, I believe, the opposition to Assad's regime.
The spokesperson, Jerome, for the foreign ministry, has posted this on X. It was a long statement. This is the ministry of foreign affairs.
He said, "We have warned on various international platforms and the recent attacks on Idlib have reached a level that undermines the spirit and implementation of the Astana agreements. And there have been enlarged civilian casualties.
"We have emphasized that these attacks must come to an end. In fact, the recent clashes have resulted in an undesirable escalation of tensions in the region."
So just talk to Turkiye's role right now in this. DREVON: I mean, Turkiye is supporting different types of rebel groups
very directly, those in the north of Aleppo and, indirectly, those that are conducting this operation. So Turkiye has given more a light, a yellow light, as opposed to fully a green light.
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It's supported the idea of some limited operation. But Turkiye did not necessarily want to take over Aleppo. And I think Turkiye itself was surprised at the rapidity of the armed opposition's gains.
So Turkiye has helped in terms of coordination. Some of the armed opposition group. But most of the reorganization and restructuring of these groups is very much an indigenous process, conducted by the -- by these groups themselves over the past few years.
SOARES: So, Jerome, just looking ahead, what will you be looking for here if this continues at this pace?
And speak also to the potential for destabilization in a region that already has -- there has been so many wars in this region.
DREVON: Well, what we have to see first is, is the armed opposition going to take over all of Aleppo?
And I think that it seems to be quite likely now. And then they're probably going to head south, take over some of the cities, like Saraqib, which they probably took over yesterday, but also Maarat al- Numan, which means that then Aleppo will be secured.
Because by securing those cities in the south of the Idlib province, it will be simply impossible for the regime to get back. So it means that Aleppo will be lost, potentially forever, for the regime.
So that's a real change in terms of the civil war because it means that all the narrative of a regime victory is just proving to be to be wrong. And the opposition is again seizing the momentum.
SOARES: Jerome, really appreciate you taking the time to speak to us. A fantastic analysis, Jerome Drevon there. Thank you very much. Coming to us live from Geneva in Switzerland.
DREVON: Thank you.
SOARES: Thank you.
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SOARES: Now a top U.S. general is in Beirut to lead international efforts to monitor the tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. The truce is now in its fourth day and has largely held so far, though Israel and Hezbollah have both been accused of violations.
Israel's military carried out another attack in southern Lebanon on Friday, following two announced on Thursday, this time targeting what it called, quote, "terrorist activity" and the movement of a Hezbollah rocket launcher.
Israel says it will work with the monitoring efforts at times. But an official emphasized that Israel will take unilateral military action in certain situations in southern Lebanon, in particular.
Hezbollah, for its part, says it will work with Lebanon's army to uphold its side of the deal.
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NAIM QASSEM, SECRETARY GENERAL, HEZBOLLAH (through translator): The coordination between the resistance and the Lebanese army will be at a high level to implement the commitments of the agreement. No one is anticipating problems or disagreements.
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SOARES: The World Health Organization says 90 percent of displaced people in Gaza are now living in tents, leaving them vulnerable to disease and malnutrition in the cold winter months.
The WHO says that, a year ago, almost everyone displaced by the war was sheltered in public buildings or by family members; 12 months later and the situation is, quite honestly, catastrophic. The war between Israel and Hamas has pushed Gaza into a worsening and dangerous food crisis.
Things are so bad a woman and two children were killed in a crowd crush outside a Gaza bakery on Friday. And a warning: our report contains scenes of desperation that may be disturbing to some viewers but it is a daily reality for people in Gaza. Now Jeremy Diamond has this report.
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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: In this ocean of desperation, a crush of bodies pressed against one another, heaved toward the same goal, a loaf of bread to survive.
Wave after wave of distraught Palestinians at this bakery in central Gaza fighting to feed themselves and their families before the day's bread runs out. Amid the shrieks and shoves, one girl clutches her precious cargo, struggling to keep her head above water.
Inside the bakery, a vignette into the chaos outside. "My hand, my hand." This woman shouts as her hijab is ripped from her head. "Uncle, please." another girl shouts, struggling for air.
"Take the money, please. I beg you." But she is slowly being crushed by the crowd.
Outside the bakery, the scale of the desperation becomes apparent. And this is just one bakery.
"The suffering here is unimaginable," Karam Afana (ph) says.
"I've been standing for four hours trying to get a single loaf of bread. Four hours and I still can't bring bread home."
For those who left empty-handed, there is nothing but uncertainty ahead. The World Food Program says all its bakeries in central Gaza have now temporarily shut down due to a lack of humanitarian aid entering the strip.
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For this woman's niece, it is already too late.
"What is the crime of this child?
"She is only 13 years old.
"Why did she have to go to a bakery and stand in this crowd?"
Zina (ph) was one of three people killed while trying to buy bread at that same Gaza bakery, crushed by the desperate crowd.
"Our bread is soaked in blood," the father of another victim says.
"Where did she go?
"How did she get in?
"How did she leave?
"I don't know. I only found her when they brought her out dead," he says.
He simply cannot comprehend how his daughter could die while trying to buy bread -- Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.
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SOARES: And just ahead, right here on the show, frustration in the Republic of Georgia. Protesters take to the streets and things get ugly after the nation paused its bid to join the European Union.
Plus, Trump and Trudeau amid threats of tariffs. Details just ahead of the Canadian prime minister dining with U.S. president-elect days after those threatened tariffs. We'll explain.
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SOARES: Welcome back, everyone.
Protesters were back on the streets in the Republic of Georgia with their rallies reportedly doubling in size on Friday. Have a look at this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES (voice-over): Police used tear gas and water cannon as they clashed with protesters for a second straight day in the capital, Tbilisi. The demonstrators are furious that the government has paused Georgia's bid to join the European Union for four years.
And the decision was announced on Thursday, hours after the European Parliament slammed Georgia's recent legislative elections as neither free nor fair.
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SOARES: Let's get more analysis on this. We're joined now by Natia Seskuria, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute. She is in London for us this morning.
Natia, good morning. Great to have you on the show. Let's start really with this very clear U-turn that we've seen on Europe that has so many Georgians just furious because as we all know joining the E.U. is overwhelmingly popular there.
Speak to the anger that you are hearing in the streets of Tbilisi right now and beyond.
NATIA SESKURIA, ASSOCIATE FELLOW, ROYAL UNITED SERVICES INSTITUTE: Thank you very much, first of all, for having me on your show.
Well, I think the anger is very much obvious. So we have seen thousands of people marching into the streets to express their rage. Really, because as you mentioned, 86 percent of Georgian citizens support Georgia's European integration.
And as you know, Russia is seen as a major security threat for Georgians, that currently occupies 20 percent of Georgia's territory. So many believe and fear that this shift means that Georgia is returning to the Russian orbit, unfortunately.
SOARES: And this is a concern we've heard previously.
Right?
President Salome Zurabishvili, who I've spoken to on numerous occasions this year because we have seen a protest throughout the year. She addressed the country yesterday. Now let me just play what she said and we can talk afterwards. Have a listen to this.
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SALOME ZURABISHVILI, PRESIDENT OF GEORGIA (through translator): We are entirely by your side and we will remain united until Georgia achieves its goals to return to its European path, secure new elections and ensure that its future is protected once and for all.
(END VIDEO CLIP) SOARES: So, you know sticking, supporting people there. She doesn't have a very formal role there. So as president there. So I wonder whether you think this goes because she has in our previous conversations accused the Georgian government of kowtowing to Moscow.
So speak for our viewers right around the world to the -- to the Russian influence or the allegations of Russian influence at play here.
SESKURIA: Well, indeed she does not -- she is a very important political figure but her term is coming to an end. She has been very much supportive toward the E.U. integration of Georgia. And she also mentioned that she sees clear traces of Russian influence.
I think, unfortunately, the current developments are only to the benefit of the Kremlin, that has been looking for decades for many, many years to undermine Georgia's European aspirations.
And it is within Kremlin's interest to see Georgia formally closing the doors to its aspirations and to the aspirations of thousands of people who are now into the streets and fighting fearlessly for this, to achieve this goal.
SOARES: And these aspirations, from what I understand, Natia, I mean, they are enshrined right in Georgia's constitution. So I wonder, I'm not sure whether you can answer this.
But can this be fought through the courts, through the legal courts, you think?
SESKURIA: Well, unfortunately, the fear is that the court is also highly controlled by the government, by the current government.
But you're absolutely right. It is enshrined in the constitution, that any government that Georgia will have should protect the aspirations of Georgia, to integrate into the E.U. and NATO.
SOARES: Natia, really appreciate you taking the time. I imagine that we will continue to see for the next coming days protests, passionate protests on the streets of Tbilisi as we have seen the beginning of the year. But as always, thank you for your time, Natia. Thank you.
SESKURIA: Thank you very much.
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SOARES: Now, Canada's prime minister has made an apparent bid to head off Donald Trump's plan to impose a 25 percent tariff on Canadian imports.
Justin Trudeau flew to Florida Friday, as you can see there, to dine with the president-elect. This photo of the dinner party was posted by Pennsylvania senator-elect Dave McCormick. Trump has proposed a tariff on both Canadian as well as Mexican imports. Our Alayna Treene has more for you.
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ALAYNA TREENE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, president-elect Donald Trump on Friday hosted Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau for dinner at Mar-a-Lago, a source familiar with that dinner tells me.
[04:25:07]
And really, this is a very important and notable moment in their relationship. This dinner comes just days after Donald Trump threatened to impose massive hikes on tariffs if both Canada and Mexico did not do enough to crack down on drugs coming over the borders as well as migrants.
Now we did hear the prime minister actually address reporters on this issue Friday morning earlier in the day, before he flew down to meet with Donald Trump. I'm going to read for you some of what he said.
He said, quote, "It is important to understand that Donald Trump, when he makes statements like that, he plans on carrying them out. There is no question about it," he said.
He went on to add that, "Our responsibility is to point out that he would not just be harming Canadians who work so well with the United States but he would actually be raising prices for American citizens as well and hurting American industry and business."
So clearly Trudeau being very public, criticizing that threat from Donald Trump. I think the clear question now is whether or not they were able to come to some sort of deal or agreement over that dinner.
Now I can also tell you that these two men know each other very well. They worked together during Donald Trump's first term. Trudeau's team helped renegotiate the North America Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA, as it more commonly -- as it's more commonly known, with the United States.
Really working on his relationship with Donald Trump and ensuring that the United States and Canada continue to have a great working relationship. Now we do know that, shortly after Donald Trump had made that post on Truth Social, threatening to impose steep tariffs on Canada, Trudeau actually got on the phone with Donald Trump.
He said that they had a conductive (sic) call and that he believes that they will continue to work together.
He added, quote, "This is a relationship that we know takes a certain amount of working on. And that's what we'll do" -- Alayna Treene, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.
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SOARES: We're taking a short break. We're back on the other side.
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SOARES: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States, Canada and right around the world. I'm Isa Soares and you are watching CNN NEWSROOM.
I wanted to return to our top story this hour and that's the Middle East, where Russia launched deadly airstrikes against Syrian rebels on Friday. That is according to Russian state media. Moscow claims to have killed at least 200 members of the Syrian jihadist group in Aleppo, as well as Idlib provinces.
And it comes after rebel forces kicked off a surprise offensive this week, crossing into Aleppo for the first time in eight years. They were seen pulling down the Syrian flag after reaching the statue of Bassel al-Assad, the late brother of president Bashar al-Assad.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, meantime, is pledging to further strengthen his country's ties with Russia and that is according to North Korean state media. Kim spoke during Friday's meeting with Russian defense minister in Pyongyang. The two countries have already expanded their military ties to levels unseen since the Cold War.
And they've signed a mutual defense pact this year. And North Korea has sent thousands of troops to help Russia fight against Ukraine and that is according to Western officials.
Well, Washington is trying to give Ukraine some clarity about the future of U.S. military aid. U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart on Friday and Blinken briefed him on what he called or what the official statement called, quote, "the U.S. goals for sustainable support for Ukraine."
The future of the U.S. military aid is in the hands of president-elect Donald Trump, who begins his second term in January. Officials say his Ukraine policy is still in the works. But his future special envoy proposed using the aid as a condition to push Kyiv to negotiate with Moscow.
Friday's conversation happened after Russia pummeled Ukraine's power system this week, leaving more than 1 million homes in the dark. As Fred Pleitgen reports, those strikes are creating more diplomatic friction between Moscow and Washington.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Kremlin continuing to criticize the Biden administration after the White House came
out with a statement calling that big aerial attack by the Russians using drones and missiles from Thursday outrageous.
The Kremlin saying that that big attack was a direct response to the Biden administration, allowing the Ukrainians to use those U.S. supplied ATACMS,
surface-to-surface missiles, to strike targets deep inside Russia.
Of course, both the Russians and the Ukrainians have confirmed that targets were struck in the western regions of Russia using attack ATACMS surface-
to-surface missiles. At the same time, the Russians definitely ramping up their aerial campaign against targets within Ukraine.
The Ukrainian saying that in the early morning hours of Friday, the Russians launched about 130 strike drones toward Ukrainian territory.
The Ukrainians are saying they managed to take a lot of those drones down. At the same time, they do acknowledge that there was damage caused,
especially in the town of Odessa but also in Kyiv as well.
However, the big thing that the Russians are talking about, that Russian state media is talking about, that the Kremlin is talking about is Russia's
new gigantic intermediate range multiple warhead ballistic missile called Oreshnik.
In fact, Vladimir Putin came out and said that that missile could have a devastating effect on any sort of positions that the Ukrainians would have on the ground.
And he said several of those weapons paired together could actually cause an explosion that is almost the size of a nuclear weapon.
So the Russians definitely very much threatening. The Ukrainians, of course, trying to dissuade them from continuing to use those U.S. and U.K.
supplied weapons to strike deep into Russia -- Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: A number of Haitian immigrants living in Springfield, Ohio, are reportedly fleeing the city, afraid they'll be deported once U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office. During the presidential campaign, Trump's lies about Haitians eating pets there generated threats as well as lockdowns.
Trump also said he would remove the temporary protective status that allows these migrants or these immigrants to work and live there legally.
Viles Dorsainvil, who leads the Asian community center, spoke to our Jim Acosta earlier about how Haitians are fleeing their community. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VILES DORSAINVIL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HAITIAN COMMUNITY HELP AND SUPPORT CENTER, SPRINGFIELD, OHIO: Some folks left out of fear and anxiety. Matter of fact that they do not know what might be happening with the upcoming administration.
As I said, it's not a mass exodus but you know that people are not dealing with fear and anxiety the same way.
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Especially when they know that they are here legally and there is that rhetoric that they're going to be removed. So they try to relocate themselves in a safer place or any other place they believe that they will be safe.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: And so, there are some folks leaving. How are -- for the folks who are staying, how are they feeling?
I have to think there must be some anxiety as to whether or not Donald Trump is going to take away their status and they may be forced to go back to Haiti. What can you tell us?
DORSAINVIL: Yes, I think that the folks here they have that kind of confidence because they believe that they are true and peaceful citizen working for the wellbeing of the community. They hear what the president-elect said.
But they believe that that will have an economic impact on the city if they remove them. They believe that any government with common sense will rather work with them instead of removing them because they participate in boosting the economy of the community.
And there will be a huge economic impact on the community if they remove them.
So they stay here and they believe that the government -- the upcoming government will think twice before taking that decision because of the role they play in the community by boosting the economy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Taiwan's president will embark on a tour of Pacific nations in the coming hours.
The trip will take him to the U.S., where he'll spend two nights in Hawaii and one in Guam. But there's uncertainty on the self-governing island these days, as Taiwan waits to learn what a second Trump presidency will mean for its future. Will Ripley has more for you from Taipei, Taiwan.
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DONALD TRUMP (R), U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT: Taiwan, they stole our chip business.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If this is a preview of the next four years, Taiwan better buckle up.
TRUMP: They want us to protect and they want protection. They don't pay us money for the protection, you know. The mob makes you pay money, right?
RIPLEY (voice-over): President-elect Donald Trump's transactional tone rattling nerves in Taipei, raising serious questions about U.S. support for this island democracy, already under relentless pressure from Beijing.
RIPLEY: What do you do when you're on an island with less than 25 million people, with a neighbor like China and a political situation like what's happening in --
CHEN MING-CHI, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, NATIONAL TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY: Oh, we have to -- we have to arm to our teeth. And we have that kind of mentality. We are willing to fight.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Taiwan will need to invest even more in defense. Professor Chen Ming-chi says, including billions of in U.S.- made weapons, despite a $20 billion backlog of undelivered fighter jets, tanks, artillery and missiles.
RIPLEY: Is Taiwan more or less safe during Trump 2.0?
MING-CHI: We don't know. One -- one characteristic of Trump, especially during the second Trump administration, will be the unpredictability. So we don't know we will be safer or more dangerous. But the thing is that we are going to pay higher price for either way.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Taiwan could be caught in a bind, facing skyrocketing defense costs and growing economic uncertainty.
RIPLEY: What are you guys thinking here?
KRISTY HSU, CHUNG-HUA INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH: A lot of worries going on. I mean, worries about this post-election may have a big shift of policies toward trade, toward investment.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Kristy Hsu is a top economist in Taipei. She says Taiwan's chip industry is bracing for impact if Trump reshapes trade policy policies or imposes steep tariffs. Taiwan produces most of the world's advanced chips, powering everything from smartphones to missiles.
TRUMP: These chip companies, they stole -- they stole 95 percent of our business. It's in Taiwan right now.
HSU: Taiwan is not actually stealing jobs or stealing business opportunities from the U.S. Taiwan is actually helping U.S. to extend -- extend its semiconductor supply chains.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Leaders in Taipei are publicly optimistic, emphasizing strong ties with Washington. On the streets, feelings are more mixed.
CHANG CHIA-CHEN, ACCOUNTANT (through translator): Trump doesn't like war, so that's reassuring.
ERIC CHU, STORE MANAGER: In the long run, I fear Trump may put Taiwan's safety at risk.
RIPLEY (voice-over): An uncertain future under Trump 2.0 is pretty much the only guarantee -- Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: The British Parliament has voted in favor of legalized assisted dying. The House of Commons passed the bill by a vote of 330- 275 after hours of debate. It was a culmination of a years-long campaign by high profile figures, drawing on emotional first-hand testimony.
Canada, New Zealand, Spain and most of Australia allow the practice in some form, as do some U.S. states, including Oregon, Washington and California.
[04:40:04]
After approval by the House of Lords, the law will allow people with a terminal condition and less than six months to live to take a substance to end their life.
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REV. CANON VALERIE PLUMB, PRIEST, CHURCH OF ENGLAND: It's one of total and utter relief, relief that there are so many people out there that have a hope that they may not have to suffer the way that so many loved ones have suffered in the past.
This can only be a positive result. It feels to me like, finally, Parliament has listened to the will of the people. And I'm delighted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Take you to Ireland now, where they have begun counting the votes from Friday's general election. The country's main opposition party, Sinn Fein, appeared to be on course to win the most votes by a very narrow margin.
But its two main center right rivals may have enough seats to form a coalition government without Sinn Fein, which is similar to what happened in the 2020 election, when Sinn Fein also narrowly won the popular vote.
The party has lost support in the past year, partly due to the anger from its working class base at its relatively liberal immigration policies.
Brutally cold temperatures will hit more than half of the United States. Just ahead, where the serious snowfall will hit the hardest as Thanksgiving travelers try to get home safely. We'll bring you the latest there next.
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At least 27 people have died after a boat capsized on the Niger River in central Nigeria. The boat was carrying mostly traders who were en route from Kogi state to a weekly market in neighboring Niger state. A local official says none of the passengers was wearing a life jacket.
Authorities say 27 bodies have been recovered so far but search and rescue operations are continuing and the final death toll is not yet known. We will stay across that story for you.
The death toll from a devastating landslide in Uganda has risen to 17.
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And unfortunately, it is expected to keep going up. More than 100 people remain missing and rescue efforts are still underway.
Torrential rain triggered the landslide on Wednesday. The East African nation has experienced unusually heavy rainfall for weeks. Uganda's prime minister has promised aid for people impacted by the landslide. But the government is urging those remaining in the region to relocate.
Well, millions of travelers returning from the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States may face some serious winter weather, as you can see there on your screen.
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SOARES (voice-over): This is what roads in Erie, Pennsylvania, looked like on Friday, when more than two feet of snow is expected before it's all over.
Temperatures across much of the eastern U.S. are expected to plunge over the next few days, as you can see there, with the rain and snow accumulation. The National Weather Service is advising people to delay travel as much as possible.
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SOARES: Please be careful out there. Nearly 70 percent of the U.S. population will see temperatures below freezing over the next few days. This story we will keep monitoring for you as you return back home.
Well, investigators are trying to figure out how a stowaway passenger managed to board a plane and fly from New York to Paris this week. She got past multiple security checkpoints with no boarding pass and apparently hid in the aircraft's restrooms during the flight. Our Polo Sandoval has all the details for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this case is both puzzling, as it is alarming, given the potential security failure here, as authorities try to find out exactly what went wrong.
Federal officials, specifically the TSA, confirming that this stowaway passenger was in her mid to late 50s. She had no boarding pass for this flight this past Tuesday that originated at JFK headed to Paris, had cleared one security checkpoint but then bypassed two subsequent ID verification stations.
The TSA saying that she was a Russian passport holder and also held a U.S. green card. And she also failed to secure asylum in France after she applied for that several years ago, which may potentially speak to a possible motive in terms of why she wanted to head to Paris in the first place.
The TSA conducting its own investigation right now along with Delta Air Lines.
In a statement to CNN, a spokesperson said, "Nothing is of greater importance than matters of safety and security. That's why Delta is conducting an exhaustive investigation of what may have occurred and will work collaboratively with other aviation stakeholders and law enforcement to that end."
Rob Jackson, who was a passenger aboard that flight, telling CNN that there were no empty seats aboard that flight, that he overheard the crew discussing how the stowaway was able to hide in one lavatory board and then moved to others during the flight before she was ultimately caught by the crew.
CNN has reached out to the FBI and Customs and Border Protection for further comment -- Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.
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SOARES: Thank you. Polo.
Well, holiday markets across the globe are drawing millions of shoppers. Just ahead, we'll visit a Christmas market in Germany that's been operating since the 16th century. You have to watch this.
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SOARES: Welcome back.
A dynamic dynasty with Mercedes is coming to an end. Just two races with the team remain for seven time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton. He sat down exclusively with CNN's Bijan Hosseini to reflect on a historic career with Mercedes thus far. Take a listen to a piece of their conversation ahead of the Qatar
Grand Prix.
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LEWIS HAMILTON, BRITISH RACE CAR DRIVER: The most successful partnership in the history, which is something we could have, you know, when we started out, we didn't know that was necessarily going to be the case. But you know, just the greatest memories.
And, you know, we create a history together. So something I'm really, really proud of. I don't look at what we wish we did more, because there's literally no more we could have done. And we created great bonds, great friendships.
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SOARES: Hamilton's career takes aim at new heights as he embarks on a new partnership with Ferrari. And that is happening in 2025.
Well, robots and their human designers gathered in France last weekend to show off their newest artificial intelligence bots that could one day live and work inside the typical home. Our Saskya Vandoorne just checks in on the progress.
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SASKYA VANDOORNE, CNN PRODUCER (voice-over): Household humanoid robots have long been the stuff of science fiction. But dozens of companies are now racing to make them a reality.
More than 30 companies showcased their latest robots at the International Conference on Humanoid Robotics in Nancy, France.
SERENA IVALDI, DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH, INRIA CENTRE, UNIVERSITY OF LORRAINE: In the last year, there has been a revolution in the actuation and in some mechatronics components. And so the robots now are more robust, more efficient, more performing.
And so we are really witnessing a huge revolution and a huge increase in the number of startups and number of companies that produce new platforms.
VANDOORNE (voice-over): In the coming years, the humanoid robot market looks to take off. With the merger of AI and engineering, the field is rapidly evolving.
Engineers design robots to copy the way we walk and move, using AI to provide their so-called brain power. This allows the machines to learn from their environment, make decisions and complete tasks.
IVALDI: We're going to see robots that are more and more interactive, that they can understand our instructions and then translate them into plans and actions but also that they can understand new actions on the fly, new actions that are explained by the humans on the fly. VANDOORNE (voice-over): These machines have the potential to
transform industries from health care to disaster response. But some say otherwise due to the machines' intelligence.
AGNIESZKA WYKOWSKA, PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR, ITALIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: I think this is still a big challenge and we're very far away from making robots fully autonomous to be able to interact with humans in such a way.
VANDOORNE (voice-over): Large tech companies like Google, Meta, Amazon and Microsoft have invested billions into adopting AI.
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By the end of 2024, funding into AI and cloud companies in Israel, Europe and the U.S. is estimated to hit $79.2 billion, according to venture capital firm Accel.
IVALDI: My view is that the robots are piece of technology that are there to improve our lives, make our lives easier, better, healthier.
VANDOORNE (voice-over): Saskya Vandoorne, CNN, Paris.
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SOARES: And Christmas and holiday markets are opening right now across the globe, like this one called Christkindl Market. That's in Nuremberg in Germany and it's one of the oldest.
In fact and most famous in the world. It's beautiful. It's been around since the 16th century and it attracts some 2 million visitors every year. The tradition is said to have started in Vienna in Austria, where the first holiday market dates to the year 1298.
Truly stunning. Indeed if you have time, go and visit it.
And that wraps up this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I will be back at the top of the hour with more news, including the latest on the ground in the offensive in Syria, as well as all U.S. politics news. So do stay right here.
