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Trump Fills Top Jobs with Staunch Loyalists; Biden to Meet Israeli President at the White House; Finance Minister Calls for Israeli Sovereignty in West Bank; Judge Delays Ruling on Trump Hush Money Trial; Archbishop of Canterbury Resigns over Child Abuse Scandal; Kremlin Denies Reports of Trump-Putin Phone Call; Trump Presidency Impact on Middle East; COP29 Focus on Emissions Cuts and Adaptations; Israel Fails U.S. Criteria for Humanitarian Improvement in Gaza; IDF Claims to Opening New Aid Crossing on Day of Deadline. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired November 12, 2024 - 10:00   ET

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

Faisal J. Abbas is the Editor-in-Chief of the Riyadh-based leading Middle East English language daily, Arab News.

[10:00:00]

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is CONNECT THE WORLD with Becky Anderson.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): Welcome to the second hour of CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi for you.

President-elect Donald Trump is wasting no time putting together his future administration. He has already begun assembling a team of loyalists,

including reportedly former rival Marco Rubio for the position of secretary of state.

Eight international aid groups say Israel has failed to meet a deadline set by the U.S. to boost humanitarian assistance to Gaza and has, in fact,

dramatically worsened the situation instead. I'll speak to one of those groups later this hour.

And the most senior leader in the Church of England has just resigned over the handling of the church child abuse case. The Archbishop of Canterbury

has been under pressure to resign for failing to do more.

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ANDERSON: All eyes are on Mar-a-Lago, where we are waiting for the president-elect to announce a slew of high profile picks. His team is

already shaping up for his second term. The most prominent pick to emerge so far, likely Florida senator Marco Rubio. The Trump foe turned defender

is expected to be nominated as secretary of state.

Well, the list also includes former immigration official Tom Homan in the new role of border czar. One trait they have in common is demonstrated

loyalty to president-elect Donald Trump. Steve Contorno, who is with us now from St. Petersburg, Florida, has more.

So we have, up on the screen for our viewers, those that are either already announced or likely to be picked.

What do we make of those who are coming together as a cabinet post inauguration in January?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you said, he has been pulling from people that he has had a tremendous allegiance from in recent years,

especially after leaving the White House, and those who stood by his side, despite efforts from some in the Republican Party to move on from Donald

Trump.

And Marco Rubio fits that description, even, even though he is someone who, as you said, was a onetime rival. He ran for president against Donald Trump

in 2015 and 2016 and, during that time, he was immensely critical of Donald Trump's foreign policy chops.

He suggested Trump was not up to the challenge of competing and putting America on a world stage with China and Russia and handling issues in the

Middle East.

But he eventually warmed up to Trump. And during Trump's first term, he was very influential in forming Donald Trump's approach to Latin America and

some of the policies that stem from there.

It's still somewhat of a interesting pick because Rubio is known as somewhat of a saber rattler. He is someone who has been very critical of

Iran, of China.

He is someone who has pushed for regime change in Venezuela. He was very, very close in the -- with the White House, with John Bolton, who was one

time Trump's one of his top national security advisers and then became one of Trump's biggest critics.

And Trump would push back by saying, this guy wanted to go to war with everyone and Rubio was very close with that individual. So I think for

those who were looking for the Trump administration to perhaps bring in people who aren't, don't fit the bill of a, quote-unquote "neocon," Rubio

is somewhat of a puzzling pick.

Although, like you said, loyalty is sort of supreme in these picks so far.

ANDERSON: Yes. You could argue that any incoming leader would necessarily be looking for people who are loyal to be effective. And this has been,

Steve, it has to be said, pretty orderly so far as the transition, at least that we've witnessed to date.

[10:05:00]

Correct?

CONTORNO: Absolutely, especially if you compare it to what we saw in 2016, when Donald Trump, after he was elected, was sort of the dog that

accidentally caught the car and he had no idea how to go about a transition.

He had put Chris Christie in charge of orchestrating that transition and his son in law, Jared Kushner, essentially threw out the binder that

Christie had put together. And instead they just kind of winged it with these sort of daily "Apprentice" style auditioning of people from his

residence in Trump Tower in Manhattan.

And instead, while there is certainly a lot of pageantry and there's definitely, certainly a bit of a circus going on around Mar-a-Lago right

now, behind the scenes, they have been preparing for this moment for months and months and months.

They have put in charge of this process Susie Wiles, his campaign manager, who is a very disciplined person. And they have been rolling out these

choices and these picks for his cabinet in a pretty timely and orderly manner.

ANDERSON: Well, as things come together, we will get more of a sense of where policy may lie. For the time being, Steve, thank you.

A little more than two months before taking office again, Donald Trump has Israel in focus. Axios reporting the president-elect met this weekend with

the Israeli minister of strategic affairs, Ron Dermer, at Mar-a-Lago.

Dermer is a close ally of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Next hour the current U.S. president, Joe Biden, will meet with the Israeli

president, Isaac Herzog, at the White House.

This happening as eight aid groups say Israel has failed to improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza. The U.S. has given Israel until today to

do that or face a potential reduction in military assistance. Well, Kylie Atwood, back with us this hour.

And you've been leading on the reporting on this.

So what do we know at this point about what is going on on the ground?

We know at least eight agencies have said that not enough is being done. We've seen some progress made today on the humanitarian front.

Where do we stand at this point?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, listen, we've heard a lot from humanitarian organizations, U.N. organizations over the

last few weeks, one of them calling the situation on the ground in Gaza "apocalyptic," recently saying that it's basically a perfect disaster.

Because you don't have enough humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza. You have these ongoing Israeli strikes in northern Gaza. And then you also

don't have commercial support, commercial trucks with support getting into northern Gaza.

So they have effectively said this is a crisis situation on -- bordering online with a famine.

Now what they have done, these aid organizations, these humanitarian organizations, today has put out a scorecard, looking at exactly what the

Biden administration was demanding that the Israelis do over the course of the last 30 days, to improve those conditions on the ground in Gaza, the

humanitarian situation.

And they say that, on all of those demands that the U.S. made, more than a dozen very explicit demands, there was not any full or significant progress

on any of them. And I want to read to you a quote from the report that they did put out today.

Saying that "Israel not only failed to meet the U.S. criteria that would indicate support to the humanitarian response but consistently took actions

that dramatically worsened the situation on the ground, particularly in northern Gaza."

They go on to say that there weren't adequate humanitarian pauses to allow those trucks to get into Gaza while there were strikes happening, that

Israeli strikes occurred on humanitarian sites in the last 30 days.

So their overall assessment is that Israel would get a failing grade for this test that the U.S. was giving them. What we don't know at this point,

Becky, is what the Biden administration's assessment of what Israel did over the last 30 days is.

And as you say, the ramifications could be quite large if the Biden administration chooses to follow through on what they laid out in this

letter, saying that if Israel didn't demonstrate continued commitment to these measures, to making the situation on the ground better, they could

risk policy decisions from the Biden administration.

Because they could potentially be violating those laws that govern U.S. military assistance to Israel. So we're watching this incredibly closely,

particularly given the assessment that we already have from these humanitarian organizations and also the fact that, you know, the Biden

administration is in its final months here.

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Do they want to do something with more teeth in it, with response to what they are seeing on the ground in Gaza and Israel's potential impeding of

humanitarian aid getting into northern Gaza?

We just have to watch and see this, as you said. President Herzog is at the White House today. Ron Dermer was at the State Department yesterday. So

this is an ongoing, active discussion between the U.S. and Israel right now.

ANDERSON: And there's been much discussion about whether the U.S. has really used its leverage with the Israelis effectively at this point.

I mean, the Biden administration would argue, you know, against its critics. And they will say, I'm sure, that they have kept the pressure on

Israel.

So I guess the bottom line here is, very simply, what's the likelihood to your mind, Kylie, that the U.S. would withhold military aid at this point?

ATWOOD: Well, I think it's a good question. There's one piece of this letter which said that, by the end of the month -- and this was written in

October. So by the end of October, the U.S. wanted to see an actual conversation, an actual hotline, you know, set up between the U.S. and

Israel over civilian deaths in Gaza.

They wanted to see that by the end of the month. They didn't see that. The Biden administration didn't do anything about the fact that that hadn't

been stood up.

So if that is indicative of what they're going to do with response to Israel not actually meeting the demands of this letter, that demonstrates

to us that there isn't necessarily a thirst by the Biden administration to do more than they have in the past.

They use this letter, of course, as a tool to push Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza. But when it comes to how much they actually

want to, you know, lay out implications, put any costs inflicted on Israel, it doesn't seem that there is an actual appetite within the Biden

administration at this point to do that.

We'll have to watch and see if that changes over the course of the next few weeks.

ANDERSON: Good to have you, as ever. Thank you.

And later this hour, I'll speak to Mercy Corps. The group was one of several aid organizations that compiled a scorecard, saying Israeli

actions, instead of improving conditions in Gaza have -- and I quote them here -- "dramatically worsened" the situation. That is coming up.

And to make matters worse for Palestinians, Israel's far right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has ordered preparations for the annexation of

settlements in the Israeli occupied West Bank, giving a nod to president- elect Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. elections.

Smotrich, who is in charge of the settlements and is a settler himself, said that he had instructed his department to, quote, "prepare the

necessary infrastructure for applying sovereignty."

Israel's foreign minister said his government has made no decision on annexation just yet. CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Jerusalem for us.

So I think, at this point, Jeremy, it's important just to lay out for our viewers what exactly Smotrich intends to do here.

What immediate change could we see take effect from these preparations?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, no actual changes on the ground in terms of the settlements in the West Bank.

But what Bezalel Smotrich has done is that he has taken these two departments that are at the defense ministry responsible for settler

activity, which he controls in his kind of dual role as both the finance minister and as a minister in the defense ministry.

He has ordered them to begin making preparations for applying Israeli sovereignty to these settlements, effectively laying the groundwork for the

potential annexation of these Israeli settlements inside of the West Bank.

And he is making explicitly clear that he is taking this action because he sees an opportunity in the wake of the election of Donald Trump. Smotrich

has long wanted to annex Israeli settlements, to expand settlements in the West Bank.

And he is also making clear that he is doing so because he believes it will help eliminate the possibility of a future Palestinian state, which he and

other far right members of the Israeli government view as an existential threat to the state of Israel.

And he believes that now is the moment, because he thinks that Trump will, when he comes into office, support Israel's annexation of these Israeli

settlements.

Now he certainly has reason to believe that, when you look at Donald Trump's 2020 peace plan, it does indeed note, it does indeed allow for

Israel to annex those settlements as part of a kind of future two state solution, one that would cater very heavily to Israeli demands.

And that would effectively result in the loss of 30 percent of the West Bank from Palestinians.

[10:15:03]

And going into becoming officially a part of the state of Israel. And Israeli officials certainly are expecting more latitude under a president

Donald Trump than they currently enjoy under President Biden.

But it remains to be seen whether president Trump would actually support a move like this, especially at such a volatile time in the region. Becky.

ANDERSON: Yes, it's going to be interesting to see what happens next. It's good to have you, Jeremy, thank you.

And there are more deaths to report in Gaza. Health officials there report at least 62 people killed and nearly 150 wounded in Israeli airstrikes over

the past few days. The death toll since the war started now tops 43,000.

The ministry of health in Ramallah says nearly half of those killed are women and children. And another 10,000 people are missing. It also says

right now only 17 of Gaza's 36 hospitals are functional.

And in Lebanon, the Israeli military hit Beirut's suburbs on Tuesday with a heavy daytime attack on the Hezbollah controlled area. On Monday at least

eight people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a village in northern Lebanon.

An Israeli military official said that strike hit a building belonging to Hezbollah. Meanwhile, Israel's newly appointed defense minister, Israel

Katz, says there will be no ceasefire until Israel reaches its goals.

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ANDERSON: Some breaking news just coming in to CNN.

Donald Trump's lawyers and the Manhattan district attorney's office have agreed to delay activity in the hush money case until November 19th. This

gives the president-elect's lawyers time to make new arguments on how his election victory impacts the case.

In May, you'll remember a jury convicted Trump of falsifying business records to cover up a payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels. CNN senior

crime and justice reporter Katelyn Polantz is live in Washington.

Can we just explain what's behind this delay?

It is an important decision, of course.

Is that the reason for the delay?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Becky. The reason for it is, quote, "the unprecedented circumstances of Donald

Trump becoming president."

That is some of the words that the attorneys were writing to the court when the prosecutors in this case in New York state spoke with Donald Trump's

team. They decided essentially over the weekend -- and we're seeing this through emails that are now in the court record -- that everything in this

case should be on ice.

That's because Donald Trump, coming into office as the president-elect, that puts them in a situation where both sides are going to want to advise

the judge what to do next. And they're going to -- they're saying that they want to make sure that there is a balance of the competing interests here.

One, the needs of the Office of the Presidency. So the role that Trump will be stepping into. And then also making sure that there's an acknowledgment

of the jury verdict of guilt, which was the conviction of Trump as a criminal defendant in this case, in the state of New York.

So what they're going to do is they're going to tell the judge what they want to see happen next by next week. We were already expecting some

movement in this case today. Judge Juan Merchan, who oversaw the trial, was looking at whether the guilty verdict of the jury could stand.

Because there were questions over whether parts of it would need to be cut out because of the immunity that the Supreme Court says should be around

the presidency, though much of this case was not about Donald Trump's time in office. It was about his time before he became president in 2017.

So that decision from Judge Merchan, it's not going to be rolled out today. That's also frozen. And the sentencing of Donald Trump that was scheduled

to take place before he was going to be entering the Office of the Presidency again in the U.S., that also is going to be on ice.

And we're going to await what both sides advise the judge to do next week. And then see if Judge Merchan agrees. Becky.

ANDERSON: And Katelyn, as you speak, we are looking at images of Donald Trump as he went into court back in April. And these were images we saw, it

seems like for weeks, only six months ago, as that court case and others, of course, continued.

And I'm just bringing those pictures up again here for our viewers. And they're so familiar. This is a sort of day in, day out sort of vision,

wasn't it, of the now president-elect.

His lawyers then going to use this time to make new arguments on how his election victory impacts the case.

[10:20:04]

Do we know what those arguments might be at this point?

POLANTZ: We have a little bit of an inkling of it because of what they're writing in court right now. They're saying that there needs to be a

dismissal of this case, even this conviction against Donald Trump, because it is necessary to avoid unconstitutional impediments to his ability to

govern.

Now there is a long standing understanding in the federal government that a sitting president can't be facing the fallout of criminal charges. And

that's why the other cases against Donald Trump are all frozen or gone at this point.

But in this situation, this is a case from New York State. In New York State court, Trump as president wouldn't have power -- pardon power over

it. So he couldn't pardon himself to get out of this conviction.

But his attorneys are trying to make every argument that they can to get this case dismissed, saying he's coming to the presidency. You can't

sentence him if he's coming into the presidency.

But, Becky, I will say they have tried over and over and over and over again to have the case dismissed outright and have failed every single

time. We were waiting to, on that other ruling today about immunity, if that was going to resolve the case or lead to its dismissal, that was

supposed to come today.

So much here is up in the air and we're just going to have to learn it piece by piece in the days ahead. It's unprecedented times really.

ANDERSON: Yes, I was going to say, I don't -- off the top of your head, is there any precedent for this?

You've just given me the answer to that. It's good to have you there, Katelyn, because you will keep us bang up to date and honest on this as the

details develop. For the time being, thank you very much indeed.

Still to come, Donald Trump has said he would end the conflict in Ukraine in one day.

But what can he actually get done in 24 hours?

We'll have a report from Moscow. It's after this.

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ANDERSON: The Archbishop of Canterbury, the senior leader of the Church of England, has stepped down over a church sex abuse scandal.

Justin Welby was under intense pressure to resign after a damning report into his handling of the abuse of more than 100 boys and young men for

decades by one man, even after Welby was made aware in 2013.

Let's bring back Christopher Lamb.

We spoke in the past hour on this as the story was breaking. Just provide some context for this, if you will, Christopher.

What's going on here?

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, the archbishop has resigned after the damning report that you mentioned was published last

week.

[10:25:00]

And it concerns one of the worst abusers to ever be associated with the Church of England, a man called John Smyth, who was a lawyer and who

groomed and abused young men and boys over a long period. As many as 130 victims were tormented by him.

Now in that report, it found that the Archbishop of Canterbury could and should have done more to report Smyth's abuse. The archbishop knew Smyth

from many years back. The archbishop has always claimed that he -- the first he heard of the abuse was in 2013.

He has admitted to not doing enough. And in his statement, he says that he must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and

retraumatizing period between 2013 and 2024, when he is accused of not doing enough.

Now, Becky, this is a huge decision by the archbishop. It's not clear when the last Archbishop of Canterbury resigned, certainly not clear if the

archbishop has ever resigned over the abuse crisis.

And so it's -- it just underlines what a major and serious scandal the scourge of abuse in the church is. The archbishop stepping down just this

afternoon, Becky.

ANDERSON: Where does this leave the Church of England, briefly?

LAMB: I think it leaves the Church of England in a series -- serious crisis.

The archbishop is going to step down. They're going to -- has to now be a process to find his successor. The whole question of safeguarding and how

that is handled, how historic abuses are handled, needs to be addressed.

The Archbishop of Canterbury says he's done a lot of work to address it and he has taken significant steps to do so. But with his resignation, there is

still a mess that needs to be sorted out.

ANDERSON: Good to have you, Christopher. Thank you.

Well, the outcome of the U.S. election could encourage Moscow to pursue its special military operation in Ukraine with even more force. That's how

Moscow describes what is the war in Ukraine. CNN's Fred Pleitgen brings us the Russian reaction to Donald Trump's win.

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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Russian state TV feasting on Donald Trump's election victory, the main talk

program showcasing a social media post by Donald Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., mocking Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Saying his so-called allowance from the U.S. will soon run out. The message from Russian media, Ukraine is concerned U.S. aid could dry up and Russia

will win the war. On Moscow streets, optimism about the incoming administration in Washington.

PLEITGEN: Since the war in Ukraine, relations between Moscow and Washington have continued to plummet to new lows. But now, many people here

hope and believe that a new Trump presidency could bring those relations back on track.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I don't think he can directly stop the war but I feel he can set ultimatums to both sides, which will

definitely bring this conflict closer to an end.

PLEITGEN (through translator): Trump also said he wants to end the war in Ukraine?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We all want that. We really want the war to end now. this situation is impossible. I hope we get to a mutual

understanding.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): But what could a so-called mutual understanding look like?

This video from Ukraine's military purporting to show Kyiv's forces hitting Russian troops in the Kursk region of Russia, where the Ukrainians say they

are now facing off against nearly 50,000 Russian and also North Korean troops.

The Ukrainians acknowledge they probably wouldn't be able to sustain their operations without U.S. military aid, aid Donald Trump has in the past

insinuated he might cut altogether in an effort he claims to end the war.

TRUMP: They're dying, Russians and Ukrainians. I wanted to stop dying and I'll have that done -- I'll have that done in 24 hours.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): A Ukrainian source now saying Trump was joined by billionaire Elon Musk on a recent phone call with Ukrainian President

Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

[10:30:05]

Musk, who while helping Ukraine by providing Starlink satellite internet, has in the past also criticized military aid for Ukraine, ridiculing

Zelenskyy in posts on his platform, X.

The Kremlin is vehemently denying "The Washington Post" reporting claiming a Trump-Putin phone call has already happened. Still, Vladimir Putin openly

praising the president-elect's stance on Ukraine and on Russia.

"What was said concerning the desire to restore relations with Russia to help end the Ukrainian crisis, in my opinion, seems to me to be at least

worthy of attention," Putin said.

The incoming Trump Administration certainly has the attention of many in Russia hoping for improved relations with the U.S. and even possible

sanctions relief -- Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Well, still, to come, we are getting a better idea of what Donald Trump's team will look like going forward once he takes the White

House for the second time. Leaders in the Middle East also making preparations ahead of his inauguration. What his presidency could mean for

the region, that is just ahead.

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ANDERSON: Welcome back. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky, Anderson. Time here in the UAE is 7:33. It is just after 10:30 on the East

Coast.

As Donald Trump's second administration takes shape, reports of his picks for key posts are beginning to emerge. Topping the list, Marco Rubio, who,

sources say, Trump is likely to tap for the role of secretary of state.

When it comes to policies in the Middle East region where I am, we still don't know what Donald Trump wants to we do when he assumes office. What we

do know is that he says he wants to bring peace. How he plans to achieve that is still unclear.

Over the next 2.5 months, it will, one assumes, become clearer and we are already seeing key positioning from stakeholders in the region who would be

key partners for any deal of the century, as Trump likes to call it, peace in this region.

Saudi Arabia, for starters, a country that was on the cusp of normalization with Israel before the October 7th attacks and the ensuing bombardment of

Gaza. Normalization a key priority for the Trump administration.

Of course, the kingdom has most recently said no normalization without a Palestinian state or at least a credible path toward an independent state.

And that reality?

[10:35:00]

Well, it does seem as if it is becoming less and less real. Just yesterday, Israel's new foreign minister, Gideon Saar, was asked about the possibility

of a Palestinian state and in a word replied, no, saying it would pose a security threat to Israel.

And at a high profile meeting in Riyadh on Monday, Saudi's crown prince gave one of his harshest criticisms since the war started, accusing Israel

of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

All of this as Israel's far right finance minister orders preparations for the annexation of settlements in the occupied West Bank, stressing that

Trump's victory brings what he calls an important opportunity for Israel.

Right. We've laid the table. Let's look to see what we can do with what is on there.

Elon Pinkas is an Israeli diplomat.

And Trita Parsi, an expert on U.S.-Iranian relations, author of "Losing an Enemy."

It's good to have you both.

Trita, let me start with you.

What should we take out of the meeting in Riyadh yesterday?

TRITA PARSI, QUINCY INSTITUTE FOR RESPONSIBLE STATECRAFT: I think it's a very strong indication of where some of the Arab states in the Persian Gulf

are leaning toward.

The analysis among some of the hawks in the Trump circle is that they can go back to the situation in 2016 and 2017, where they laid the groundwork

for some form of an Arab-Israeli alliance against Iran, which the Arabs at the time were quite in favor of.

Things have changed, however. At this point it's very clear, both the Saudis and Emiratis want to make sure that they absolutely stay out of any

war that involves the United States, Israel and Iran.

And part of the reason for this, of course, is the anger amongst their own populations with what Israel has been doing in Gaza and the West Bank and

increasingly in Lebanon but also because of realization that Iran's ballistic missiles are so effective that they penetrated Israel's many

layers of air defenses.

And as a result, will also be able to penetrate whatever the United States has provided these countries. So they're much more vulnerable vis-a-vis

Iran as well than what they thought they were back in 2016.

All of this is adding to their desire to stay out of any type of a conflict and help de-escalate the situation.

ANDERSON: I want to come very specifically to where you believe Iran's sort of thinking is at present, of course represented at this meeting in

Riyadh. And that is a change since 2016 and, of course, the first Trump administration. The region has changed significantly.

The architecture moving around since the last time that Donald Trump was in power. Let's hold that thought just for the time being.

Alon, let me bring you in. On the Israeli side -- and this is -- I'm quoting Faisal Abbas here, who writes for "Arab News." And I thought it was

a very good line.

On the Israeli side, given what we've just heard Trita say, "Benjamin Netanyahu's hard right coalition and battlefield successes," Faisal says,

"are hindering any sort of apparent opportunity for compromise at this point."

Would you agree with that, given what we are hearing from his appointees, his finance minister across settlements and indeed from his foreign

minister?

A one word answer when asked about a Palestinian state, the answer was no.

ALON PINKAS, FORMER ISRAELI CONSUL GENERAL, NEW YORK: Yes, I totally agree with that. And you know, it sounds very catchy to say no.

But if there was a follow up question of, well, what then do you propose, you will get nothing because they have nothing. And that's probably the

tragedy of it.

On the one hand, you have the finance minister whom you mentioned several times. And he's a right wing fanatic. He's driven by Biblical dictates and

all kinds of theological messianism, pretending to be policy.

On the other hand, you have Mr. Netanyahu, who's not exactly a messianic, a religious messianic. But he's become a geopolitical messianic. He thinks he

can actually topple the regime in Iran.

He thought so, by the way, in 2002, when he advocated that the U.S. invade Iraq, because that would "reverberate," quote-unquote, in the region and

bring about the fall of Iran.

His dream, his geopolitical ideal scenario for the last year was to drag the U.S. into a war with Iran. I doubt that would happen under Donald

Trump. So both these gentlemen, Mr. Smotrich wants to annex the West Bank because the Bible says so. And Mr. Netanyahu wants to bring about a regime

change in Tehran.

[10:40:00]

Both may (ph) disappointed with what they'll see coming out of the Trump White House.

ANDERSON: And how significant is this leverage that the Saudis hold over sort of, you know, what happens next with regard normalization?

I mean, the Saudis have made it very, very clear at this point, without a credible path to an independent Palestinian state, there will be no

normalization. Look, you know, nobody's prepared to say what that -- very specifically what that credible path might look like.

But Tehran must be -- you know, this is -- this is sort of music to the ears of Tehran, to a certain extent, who clearly, Trita, not looking for an

a normalized region with Israel any time soon. So let's just have a go at that.

How much leverage do the Saudis hold?

Alon, to your -- to your mind first.

PINKAS: I think they hold tremendous leverage over Trump. I think it's a mistake.

I mean, you said that in your introduction and that it -- that was the conventional wisdom before October 7th, 2023, according to which there was

a trilateral deal in the works, a U.S.-Saudi defense alliance and a Saudi- Israeli normalization, with no one giving a damn about the Palestinian issue.

OK, I'm not sure that would have worked. But it doesn't matter. It's all academic now because October 7th occurred. And the ensuing war and the

Saudis cannot go back to October 6th just because Donald Trump is going to ask them.

Now this is how it's going to play out. I won't take too much of Trita's time. The -- Trump is going to come to the Saudis and say, join the Abraham

Accords. Let's expand this. Let's create a regional loose alliance, even though he's averse to alliances.

But this is what he's going to say because that shows that he's doing something that Biden failed to do.

The Saudis are going to say, OK, Mr. President, we're all ready for this, provided that the Israelis show us, as you said, Becky, a clear path to a

Palestinian state. Trump is going to go to Netanyahu, who's going to say, not a problem. I'll take care of that. Don't worry about that. We'll start

a process.

Trump will then say, I'm good with that, right?

He's going to go back to the Saudis and the Saudis are going to say, absolutely not, Mr. President. Netanyahu has been manipulating American

presidents for the better part of the last 20 years. He's been -- he's going to manipulate you unless we see clear, tangible signs of such a

process.

We're not going to participate in this game. And their leverage over Trump, because he's transactional, because of the oil, is much greater than

Israel.

ANDERSON: I want to bring you in, Trita.

Then what's the strategic calculus here for Iran after all?

Back in from the cold with the Saudis?

And the UAE for example, warmer relations. But keep your friends close and your enemies closer, you know, is clearly, you know, the sort of strategic

calculus potentially from this region.

So what, you know, what's the thinking in Tehran at this point?

PARSI: I think the first thing the Iranians are concerned about at this point is to see exactly what type of an Iran policy the new Trump

administration will adopt.

As you know, the Iranians, particularly the new president, came in with a very strong desire of restarting negotiations with the United States. They

amended some of their positions, added greater flexibility, agreeing to make a deal with the U.S. directly, even with Trump.

That doesn't necessarily build off of the JCPOA or is identical to the JCPOA. But then Trump has come in and I think they're looking at it very

nervously.

On the one hand, they recognize that Trump actually wants a deal.

The question is, will he have a team around him that will help ensure that the deal is secured?

Or will it be like it was last time, where he had a team around him that actually pursued a policy that was far more likely and designed to bring

about a military confrontation between the United States and Iran?

And essentially duped Trump into that direction. So the nervousness on the Iranian side is whether Trump actually is capable of coming to a deal,

depending on who he is appointing.

And some of the decisions that were made yesterday, I'm sure, has made the Iranians more nervous, with names such as Rubio, et cetera.

ANDERSON: Yes, absolutely.

It's good to have you both. We'll have you back; 2.5 months until we get the new Trump administration.

But as you rightly point out, Trita, you know, we are beginning to see what it might look like going forward. And it's not clear what policy will be as

of yet.

Good to have you both. Thank you.

All right. We're taking a quick break. Back after this.

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[10:45:00]

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ANDERSON: The reelection of Donald Trump looming large this week over U.N. climate talks in Azerbaijan.

Experts warning of disastrous global consequences if climate falls off the U.S. agenda. A top U.S. climate official in the Biden administration is

trying to allay those fears, saying -- excuse me -- there are plenty of things to be done to shore up climate policies before Trump takes office.

Well, a major theme at COP29 this week is how to finance what scientists say must be dramatic climate action. The U.N. says it will cost trillions

of dollars to make the needed changes to things, to limit global warming and to protect people from its impacts.

One area that's been dealt a severe blow from extreme weather is eastern Spain. It's getting pelted with yet another round of heavy rain. Warnings

are in effect for the same region hit by deadly floods just weeks ago.

Well, new details on the humanitarian situation in Gaza when I speak to Mercy Corps after this quick break. Stay with us.

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ANDERSON: As we reported earlier this hour, eight international aid groups call a failure on Israel's part to address humanitarian conditions in Gaza.

And instead having dramatically worsened the situation in a joint scorecard. The U.S. had given Israel a 30 day deadline that ends today.

[10:50:02]

To do that or face a potential reduction in U.S. military aid. But we've just learned that the U.S. is not planning to announce any policy changes

regarding its support for Israel, at least not today.

One of the groups involved in creating that scorecard for conditions in Gaza is Mercy Corps. Kate Phillips-Barrasso is the group's Vice President

of Global Policy and Advocacy and joins me now from Washington.

And, Kate, it's good to have you. First of all, your reaction to what we've heard today, the fact that the U.S. is not planning to make any policy

changes, at least not today.

KATE PHILLIPS-BARRASSO, VICE PRESIDENT, GLOBAL POLICY AND ADVOCACY, MERCY CORPS: Well, I'm actually just learning this as you announced that on, on

your broadcast.

And I have to say that the reaction is one of disappointment. This is also part of a consistent pattern over the last year, of organizations on the

ground providing real-time information about humanitarian conditions and our inability to assist people in Gaza, which has gotten worse over time.

And not taking action on that, which has led us to the point where we are today at the threshold of famine in parts of the Gaza Strip.

ANDERSON: In your joint scorecard, not only do you say that Israel has failed to meet the U.S. criteria but also concurrently took actions that

dramatically worsened the situation on the ground in Gaza, particularly in northern Gaza.

Can you explain further?

PHILLIPS-BARRASSO: Sure. Well, as your network and other outlets have covered, there has been a very intensive military operation in northern

Gaza that has led to further displacement and civilian harm. And it is also really ground the provision of humanitarian assistance nearly to a halt.

I'd add to that, that commercial deliveries, one of the metrics that Secretaries Blinken and Austin asked to increase was 50 to 100 trucks a day

of commercial goods getting into the Strip.

Because that has really been what's sustaining people, not necessarily the humanitarian aid that's been getting in. And that has, in the last 30 days

since that letter was sent to Israeli authorities, ground to a complete halt.

So what you are essentially witnessing in the north of Gaza is no humanitarian assistance or very little humanitarian assistance getting in

and no commercial assistance getting in, which means that people there have been left entirely on their own in an active conflict zone.

With no assistance and nothing to buy, to sustain themselves and their families which, in practical terms means what we've been hearing that

people are not only skipping meals as they have been over the past year but now eating every few days.

And so we really are at a tipping point in terms of this turning into a catastrophic food insecurity situation.

ANDERSON: The IDF has announced some further openings for humanitarian aid today.

The scorecard that you took part in authoring, wrote at the end, quote, "The effectiveness of international diplomatic efforts to alleviate the

humanitarian crisis in Gaza hinges on the willingness of the United States and other countries to push Israel to comply with these priorities."

As I say, we're reporting that there will be no policy change today. That doesn't mean necessarily that things won't happen after this deadline. And,

you know, Israel is announcing today that it has made further moves to increase humanitarian access on the ground.

What do you make of the Israeli moves today?

And ultimately what happens, ultimately, if this situation continues on the ground?

PHILLIPS-BARRASSO: Well, I mean, noting that there was an announcement of an additional border crossing that's been added to the other existing ones,

which, by and large, for the course of this crisis, have not been open all the time or frequently closed and have really been bottlenecks to getting

aid into Gaza.

This is obviously a positive development and one of the things that we very much hope would happen.

But I think it's important to note the announcement of another border crossing or maybe a few days of enough trucks getting in is simply not

going to cut it when it comes to aiding the 2 million plus people who are at imminent risk of acute food insecurity at a scale that is going to

matter.

So the 19 points that were laid out in the Blinken and Austin letter must be all met together to have a sustainable impact and turning the ship

around on this famine.

[10:55:04]

So I -- while we look to these bright spots for hope, it is the consistency and delivering all of these things in tandem, not as one-offs here and

there that can also have progress turned backwards or shut down or reversed in coming weeks.

They all have to be working in tandem in order for us to avoid what now inevitably looks like, if dramatic changes are not taken, will result in

famine, particularly in northern Gaza.

ANDERSON: We've -- we have got 60 seconds.

As Biden looks to meet Israel's president, in the next half an hour, that scheduled meeting, what's your message to him and Isaac Herzog?

PHILLIPS-BARRASSO: I think, you know, we would particularly look for the United States, which sent this letter outlining its own terms in order to

be able to continue providing support to Israel and also as a as a chief humanitarian actor globally, to look at the evidence that has been

presented.

Not just today through this report card but consistently over the course of this conflict and recognize that, over the course of the year, conditions

have not been set to help people at any scale that is making a big enough difference.

And as a result, we are likely to have people starving to death literally miles away from where food is available. So that that is where we are.

And we should expect not only that to continue but to deepen and worsen unless that conversation that you just referred to is about making real and

substantial and sustainable changes to turn this around.

ANDERSON: Thank you very much indeed for your time today.

That's it from us. "NEWSROOM" is up next.

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