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Isa Soares Tonight
Ukraine Fighting 50K Troops in Kursk; Trump's Re-election Bring Uncertainty to Ukraine; Kremlin Denies Trump-Putin Call; Paris Tightening Security; Increased Online Anti-Women Messaging; Pompeii Caps Daily Visitors; Rome's Famous Trevi Fountain Undergoes Restoration Work. Israeli Minister Seeks Sovereignty Over West Bank Settlements; Trump Shapes Up His Cabinet with New Picks; Azerbaijan to Host COP29. Aired 2-3p ET
Aired November 11, 2024 - 14:00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:00:00]
ISA SOARES, HOST, ISA SOARES TONIGHT: A very warm welcome to the show, everyone, I'm Isa Soares. Tonight, shocking remarks from an Israeli
Minister as they make plans for settlements in the West Bank. We are live from Tel Aviv with more. Plus, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is
announcing his key players today. What we know on who will be part of his cabinet. We have the very latest for you.
And it's not -- it's just not just the U.S. getting ready for a Trump presidency, we will speak with Estonian Foreign Minister and what European
countries are preparing for and what this means for the war, of course, in Ukraine. But first tonight, just days after Donald Trump's election win, a
key Minister in the Israeli government says he is ordering preparations for the annexation of settlements in the West Bank.
Bezalel Smotrich says 2025 will be, quote, "the year of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria", using the biblical term, of course, for the occupied
Palestinian territories. Smotrich is Finance Minister, Bezalel is also responsible for civilian affairs in the West Bank, overseeing settlements
there. It is unclear whether the government will go along with his plan. But Smotrich says Trump's election victory gives Israel an important
opportunity. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEZALEL SMOTRICH, FINANCE MINISTER, ISRAEL (through translator): I intend, with God's help, to lead a government decision that says that the
government of Israel will work with the new administration of President Trump and the international community to apply the Israeli sovereignty over
Judea and Samaria, and for American and international recognition, and to the end of the Israeli-Arab conflict in the Middle East.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Meantime, Israel's new Foreign Minister, Gideon Sa'ar says no government decision has yet -- has been made yet on the West Bank
annexation, but he's flat-out rejecting the creating -- the creation of a Palestinian state. Jeremy Diamond is following developments tonight for us
from Tel Aviv.
And Jeremy, what we heard there from Bezalel Smotrich is basically instructions in many ways of the annexation of the West Bank, which
shouldn't surprise us. As you and I have spoken before, he is one of the most far-right ministers in Netanyahu's cabinet. But give us a sense of
what the Prime Minister is saying, if he's commenting at all and how likely this has to go ahead?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, listen, Bezalel Smotrich has been dreaming of Israeli annexation of settlements in the West Bank for years
now. He is a settler himself as you mentioned. He is one of the most right- wing members of this current government, which is the most right-wing government in history.
And he sees an opportunity in the wake of Donald Trump's election, what he's calling an important opportunity to annex these Israeli settlements in
the West Bank. And so, he's directing these government entities that he oversees to begin making preparations for that possibility. And he also
says that he believes -- he said he has, quote, "no doubt, actually, that he believes that President Trump, once he comes into office, will support
Israel in this initiative.
And he certainly has reason for that belief. And that is because in 2020, when Donald Trump put out his peace plan at the time, it did indeed call
for Israeli settlements to be annexed into Israeli territory, in addition to creating a future Palestinian state that did not include some 30 percent
of the occupied West Bank.
Now, that doesn't mean that Donald Trump is actually going to go ahead and support annexation, certainly not right at the beginning of his term. Now,
in terms of the Israeli Prime Minister himself, you know, he had the opportunity following that 2020 plan to actually move forward with
annexation.
He chose not to at the time. And so far, we haven't heard from the Israeli Prime Minister directly on this matter.
SOARES: And we have heard from the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in what regards his conversation with President-elect Trump. I
think they've spoken numerous times. Give us a sense of what has been said between them.
DIAMOND: Yes, three times in just a matter of less than a week, which is quite remarkable certainly --
SOARES: Yes --
[14:05:00]
DIAMOND: Would seem to be the most conversations that any foreign leader has had with Trump since he was elected last week. And it speaks, of
course, to not only the close relationship that they both enjoyed during Donald Trump's last term in office, but also of course, to the fact that
Netanyahu has some ground to make up and is trying to re-establish that closeness which was somewhat a relationship that was somewhat damaged after
Donald Trump lost the 2020 election when Prime Minister Netanyahu quickly congratulated President -- then President-elect Biden on his election.
And that drove a bit of a rift between the two men. But Netanyahu is saying that this was a very good and a very important set of conversations, and he
also indicated that Trump and himself see quote, "eye-to-eye on the Iranian threat." And that is, of course, quite notable because, you know, we've
been trying to get a sense of how much latitude will a Trump administration give to a Netanyahu admiration?
Who just this evening we heard from that newly-installed Foreign Minister talking about the threat of Iran, talking about opportunities as the
Defense Minister did as well tonight to potentially go after the Iranian nuclear threat after having disabled many of Iran's air defenses in
Israel's last retaliatory strike against Iran.
So, it certainly is going to be very high on the agenda as Trump comes into office. And while Trump has indicated that he doesn't want to start any new
wars, he has of course, signaled a much tougher posture as it relates to Iran than the Biden administration. The question for Netanyahu and for the
world of course, is how will he enact that tougher --
SOARES: Yes, exactly --
DIAMOND: Posture? Will it simply be through diplomacy, through increased sanctions or could we see some kind of green-lighting of Israeli military
action?
SOARES: Yes, important context there from our Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv this hour, appreciate it, thanks, Jeremy. Well, Donald Trump has long
indicated that he would reward loyalty if he returned to the Oval Office, and it certainly appears that way as he chooses his new staff. CNN has
learned that staunch Trump ally Stephen Miller there, is expected to be named as White House deputy Chief of Staff for Policy.
Miller played a major role in drawing up Trump's plans for mass deportation of undocumented immigrants. The President-elect is nominating Republican
Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, another of his strongest supporters, of course, to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Earlier, Trump
chose Tom Homan as his so-called border czar.
Homan served as the acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement during the first Trump administration. Let's get more then on these
transition developments. I want to go in to Steve Contorno, CNN's Steve Contorno. And Steve, let's start then with the transition and not just the
border czar announcement, but also in Stephen Miller. Talk to us about their roles and why they were picked?
STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Yes, Donald Trump signaling with these selections that he intends to make good on the top priority of his
presidential campaign, which is the promises that he has made around the U.S.-Mexico border and how he intends to execute a mass deportation of
undocumented migrants in the United States.
There are not two people in his orbit who have been closer to him on this issue than Stephen Miller and Tom Homan. And Miller was one of the
architects of his policies throughout the first term. On immigration, and Tom Homan was the enforcer of those policies as his ICE director, and he
will continue in that role now as a border czar, which will give him some additional leeway that won't tie him to one, not having to have a Senate
confirmation.
But he also will be in charge with overseeing what Donald Trump says will be an effort that will span not just the Department of Homeland Security,
but also the Pentagon and local and state law enforcement as well. So, Homan will be in charge of all of that, and Miller will be helping Donald
Trump execute that as his White House deputy Chief of Staff.
SOARES: Steve, appreciate it, thank you. Well, Donald Trump is not wasting any time flexing his power after his election win, already creating ripple
effects being felt from Washington to Kyiv as well as beyond. Our CNN Politics senior reporter, Stephen Collinson joins us now to take a closer
look.
And Steve -- I think Steve hit on the head there in terms of the patterns we are starting to see at least with these new appointments. And of course,
there's a caveat here. These are the initial -- they've got a long way to go in terms of announcements, but so far, these Trump picks not only speak
to the loyalty, but also to the question of immigration. How it's very much a front and center with these two in particular, Miller and Homan.
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, Donald Trump told us exactly what he was going to do on the campaign trail, initiate mass
deportations as soon as he could, and this is the result. The American people gave him a majority. He believes he has a mandate, and this is going
to be the focus of his administration.
The two things that Steve was talking about are correct. There's ultra loyalty to Donald Trump, nobody will be challenging exactly what he wants.
That can be seen in the appointment of Elise Stefanik, the New York congresswoman to the U.N. post.
[14:10:00]
She is a real Trump loyalist. She used to be a generally sort of down-the- line Bush conservative, but she completely flipped in order to get close to Donald Trump, and she's risen very quickly in the congressional ranks. And
now she's going to have one of the most senior foreign policy posts in the U.S. government if she goes ahead and accepts that.
So, that is very interesting, and it's indicative of what we will see I think when the other big appointments come out, Secretary of State,
Secretary of the Treasury, Defense Secretary, head of the CIA, there's going to be no barrier between what Donald Trump wants to happen and what
happens.
SOARES: Yes, and on that, you write on cnn.com, "Trump is showing he plans to rule a GOP monopoly on power if Republicans win control of the House" --
which, of course, CNN has not yet projected "with unchallenged authority." He sees Congress as a rubber stamp rather than a separate, co-equal branch
of government.
Early signs you want to say suggest that when he moves back into the White House in January, bolstered by a thumping win, a Democratic mandate, he
will act with maximum force." And I wonder then, what changes you think, given what you just set out we're likely to see from him. How different do
you think this will be, the second presidency to the first?
COLLINSON: I think they're going to be a lot more focused to start with. Susie Wiles, his new Chief of Staff didn't really rein in Trump on the
campaign trail, but she ran a parallel campaign that was actually working and quite disciplined. We might see that in the administration fewer
distractions.
But we're also seeing that Trump is going to be Trump. His announcement of Tom Homan as the border security czar came on his Truth Social network at
11:30 on a Sunday night. So, Trump is going to still try to surprise people. When Presidents come in, they have a certain amount of time to
maximize their power, the first 100 days or at least the first year or so in Congress before the specter of a midterm election starts to come into
view.
It's clear that Trump believes that the experience from his first term has taught him that he needs to act quickly and with focus, and I think that's
what these new people around him and the ones still to be named, that will be their mission when they come to Washington. The first time around, it
took Trump ages to settle on some of his key cabinet picks. There was this bizarre audition process, it's much more organized this time around --
SOARES: Yes --
COLLINSON: And just being around the campaign over the last year while a lot of the old guard Republicans have been swept away, there are a lot of
young, committed ideological MAGA Republicans who are going to fill out the lower posts in the government, who are deeply committed to Donald Trump,
and he's going to face less, I think resistance within the bureaucracy even before he begins his purge of career civil servants.
SOARES: Stephen Collinson, as always, thank you, Stephen.
COLLINSON: Thank you.
SOARES: Well, let's get more on this discussion -- joining me now is former U.S. Republican Congressman for the state of Pennsylvania Charlie
Dent. Charlie, and let me pick up, good to see you and welcome by the way. I'm just continuing the conversation --
CHARLIE DENT, FORMER U.S. CONGRESSMAN: Thank you --
SOARES: That I've had with Stephen Collinson there. And I just want to get your take first of all on these new positions that -- and the names for
administration. What do you make of the appointments so far?
DENT: Well, Susie Wiles by all accounts is seen as a competent and effective administrator. Of course, her challenge will be can she control
Donald Trump? Previous Chiefs of Staff like John Kelly couldn't, so, I suspect she'll suffer the same fate. But she strikes me as a very competent
individual and even-tempered.
Stephen Miller, I mean, that's a -- that's a sub to the hard-liners. He is obviously a very incendiary figure himself. And that should send a signal
on immigration that there will be a real crackdown there. Elise Stefanik over to the U.N., she's been a total Trump loyalist, actually her
appointment would probably set off a real scramble in the House to become - - someone will have to fulfill her leadership position as House conference chair.
And that will set off a little bit of a battle, and obviously President- elect Trump has made some appointments over in the Homeland Security area.
SOARES: Let's go back, Stephen, let's go back to Stephen Miller, if you don't mind, Charlie, and you hinted at that there, that he has been a
leading advocate, I think it's fair to say for kind of more restrictive immigration policy. He's a long-time hardliner on immigration. I want to
play some of the things that we have heard from him. Just have a listen to this and we can talk after that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHEN MILLER, NEWLY APPOINTED DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF FOR POLICY: America is for Americans and Americans only!
You have two policy objectives that you proceed with, other determination on -- seal the border and no illegals in, everyone here goes out. That's
very straightforward. You would establish a large scale staging grounds for removal flights. So, you grab illegal immigrants and then you move them to
the staging grounds.
[14:15:00]
And that's where the planes are waiting for federal law enforcement to then move those illegals home.
(APPLAUSE)
MILLER: You deputize the National Guard to carry out immigration enforcement.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: So, Charlie, I mean, do you expect to see mass deportation? I mean, just -- and just how that would that work, do you think? Just explain
that to our viewers around the world. From what I saw, there's something like 10 million undocumented -- undocumented immigrants. And the cost, has
nobody mentioned the cost?
DENT: Well, it's a lot easier said than done --
SOARES: Yes --
DENT: To deport illegal immigrants, and let me tell you why? I served in the House Homeland Security Committee for many years. I remember we had
many thousands of individuals who had removal orders against them. They were supposed to go back to seven countries. We could not repatriate them.
And I believe the number was in the hundreds of thousands. And these are again people who went through due process. Many of them had criminal
records, not always easy to send them back to places like Iran, Vietnam, Somalia, not easy. And so, he'll find too -- this administration is going
to have to prioritize the deportations.
Those who are criminals or national security threats or terrorists need to be at the top of the list. That will take some time by itself. And
obviously, many people who came in recently and were abusing the asylum process will probably have to go as well. But again, rounding them all up
sounds pretty easy, but it's not.
And of course, Stephen Miller has a bad reputation because of the child separation policy from the first --
SOARES: Yes --
DENT: Trump administration. So, they do have a mandate to crack down on the border. The question is --
SOARES: Yes --
DENT: Will they be able to do this somewhat humanely?
SOARES: Yes, and that is something, of course, like you said, they have a mandate, that's what Americans vote on the economy and immigration, very
key policy choices. But you know, let's put that aside for one just -- for a moment, Charlie, because I want to pick your brain about Musk.
Of course, according to -- this is my colleague's reporting, Kaitlan Collins reporting basically that Elon Musk has been ever present at Mar-a-
Lago since the election. What kind of influence do you think that he's likely to have or is having on this administration as this administration
takes shape? Do you think he would end up with a formal role you think in the White House?
DENT: No, I would -- I would doubt that Elon Musk would have a formal role in the White House --
SOARES: Yes --
DENT: There might be pretty too many conflicts of interest given his relationship with SpaceX and all the issues he has with the U.S.
government. So, I would doubt that. But I suspect that Elon Musk will be an informal adviser. Many Presidents have had informal advisors. Now, some
might question having Elon Musk on the phone with Zelenskyy, I know Republicans would have gone crazy had Joe Biden had a George Soros on the
phone with him --
SOARES: Right --
DENT: While talking to foreign heads. Well, there might be -- so, the bottom line is, he's free to have Musk and other business leaders as an
informal adviser. The question is how close will that relationship be? And will Musk be involved with the operational aspect of governing? That's
really the question.
SOARES: Yes, two big egos, it will be interesting to see how they get on, that's for sure. Charlie, really appreciate you taking the time to speak
to us. Charlie Dent there, thank you. Now, in just a few minutes, we will get some more international -- new international reaction, to say, to a
second Trump term. I will talk with Estonia's Foreign Minister to discuss what Trump's presidency could mean for the war in Ukraine.
I want to break you -- bring you some breaking news coming in to us out of China. Police say scores of people are hospitalized after a hit-and-run
incident in southern China. And authorities say the car hit multiple pedestrians at a sports center in Zhuhai, then fled the scene.
A 62-year-old suspect is now in custody and investigations are underway. The exact number of injured is still unknown, but one hospital said more
than 20 people were taken to its facility alone. And it is unclear at this stage if anyone has died. But we are -- there's a new development that's
coming in to CNN.
Police say scores of people hospitalized after a hit-and-run incident in southern China. We will stay across any new lines coming out, as soon as
there are more developments, we will, of course, bring that to your attention. Coming up in the meantime, as the COP29 Climate Conference gets
underway in Azerbaijan, we'll chat with our Bill Weir about what to expect over the coming days. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:20:00]
SOARES: Well, a volunteer forest ranger has died responding to a wildfire in New York State. The 18-year-old was killed on Saturday while fighting a
fire near the New York and New Jersey border. The Jennings Creek fire has burned more than 3,000 acres or about 1,200 hectares, and it's only about
10 percent contained.
It's absolutely tragic. Recent rain has helped firefighting efforts and improve -- and improved air quality. However, the wind is picking up and
there could be an increased risk of course on Tuesday. Well, Cuba is recovering from a powerful earthquake, it struck on Sunday off the eastern
coast of the island nation.
The quake was magnitude 6.8 and hit right before noon local time. Cuba's President says the quake caused landslides and damaged homes and power
lines across the island. Cuba was just hit last week if you remember by three -- by the Category 3 Hurricane Rafael. A month ago, it was also hit
by Hurricane Oscar.
Well, today marks the beginning of COP29, the annual United Nations climate change conference. And it comes -- just a new data reveals that 2024 is
likely to be the hottest year on record. Representatives from 198 countries are gathering in Baku, and that's in Azerbaijan to discuss new goals on
climate finance.
This decision to hold it there has been -- well, criticized by activists including Greta Thunberg due to the country's ties to fossil fuels and she
has written a very lengthy piece today in one newspaper in the U.K., "The Guardian", you can see there -- "how can authoritarian and human rights-
trashing Azerbaijan -- quoting here -- possibly host that."
This is Greta Thunberg opinion piece today in "The Guardian". Our chief climate correspondent Bill Weir joins me now in New York to discuss. And
let me just pick up, Bill, with that. I mean, Azerbaijan is one of Europe's biggest suppliers of oil and gas, its economy is driven largely by fossil
fuels. Just explain to our viewers why it's being held there.
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it does show the power of the wholesome of the United Nations who are there to vote on where these
things happen. It's supposed to rotate around the globe. This one was designated for eastern Europe, Poland very much wanted to host this COP,
but Russia, Vladimir Putin's government vetoed that, leaving very few options, Azerbaijan is there, as Greta Thunberg points out, it's a petro
state with no real climate ambitions.
In fact, just a few days ago, climate activists posing as potential sponsors for COP29 recorded a secret conversation with one of the chief
executives as he seemed to be talking about oil and gas deals and infinite production of the fossil fuels that most of the world had agreed to walk
away from last year.
So, there's that suspicion overall, that there's you know, fossil fuel interest has captured the COP process. But much more dominant these days in
the conversations is the Donald Trump win in the United States --
SOARES: Yes --
[14:25:00]
WEIR: And his threats to pull out entirely. And so whether the Paris Accords, whether the entire treaty can hold together without the richest
and historically biggest emitter at the table, that remains to be seen right now. The world is moving forward with this clean energy revolution.
How much that will slow it down, that's the huge question.
SOARES: Yes, and on that, we haven't heard much. I think it's fair to say at least, I haven't on climate policy from Trump team and campaign in the
last few months. Have you heard anything of what that may give us an insight bill as to what their policy, if they have one, when it comes to
climate change?
WEIR: Well, what we know about Donald Trump is, he's purely transactional. And before the campaign --
SOARES: Yes --
WEIR: He was offering oil and gas executives, we will give you carte blanche when it comes to regulation. If you donate, you know, tens of
millions to my campaign -- some did that, and we'll see what kind of promises they want kept. Some oil majors in fact, the President, the head
of a French oil company said we don't want a wild west of regulation in the United States.
Even oil majors don't want that. So, we don't know yet. But in the first administration, he did claw back hundreds of environmental protection laws
and gutted the agencies that regulate them, and has shown nothing but sort of sneering derision for climate science since then. And now things are so
pivotal in terms of other nations getting loss and damage funding promised last year, all in that is up in the air now.
SOARES: Bill Weir, appreciate it, thank you, Bill.
WEIR: You bet.
SOARES: Well, Brazil is set to hold the next COP30, and that's happening next year in an exclusive interview with my colleague Christiane Amanpour.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva spoke about whether he expects Donald Trump to again withdraw the U.S. from global climate accords
as Bill was just saying. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA, PRESIDENT, BRAZIL (through translator): Well, I believe that President Trump, he has to think as an inhabitant of the
planet earth, and if he thinks as the ruler of the most important, richest country in the world, most important has the high more technology, and that
is better prepared from the arms viewpoint.
He has to have the notion that the U.S. is in the same planet that I am, and that in an island of 300,000 inhabitants is. And so, all of us, we have
to take responsibility for the maintenance of this planet of the earth. We need to guarantee that the planet should not be -- suffer a warming of more
above than 1.6 degrees.
We need to guarantee that the rivers should continue healthy with clean waters. And so, we need to guarantee that the biomes of all the countries
should be preserved. And so, this is a commitment that I have not only as the President of Brazil, as a human being that lives in the planet called
earth, and that there's no other place to live, only earth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Lula da Silva there. And still to come tonight, the Kremlin's latest escalation tactic. Russian and North Korean forces prepare to push
Ukraine out of Russia's Kursk region. We have reporting from Moscow just ahead for you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:30:00]
SOARES: Ukrainian President Zelenskyy says his troops are trying to hold back nearly 50,000 troops in Russia's Kursk region. A U.S. official says
Russia has amassed tens of thousands of troops, including some from North Korea, to push Ukraine out of Kursk. Now, Ukraine has held ground, if you
have a look at that on your map there, since it launched a surprise counteroffensive that happened over the summer, although that incursion has
since stalled.
As the war enters its third winter, efforts are escalating on both sides, Russia and Ukraine exchange a record number of drone strikes that happened
just over the weekend. And it comes of course at a time when Donald Trump's re-election brings uncertainty for the future of U.S. funding for Kyiv.
Off the back of his election victory, The Washington Post cites unnamed sources saying Trump spoke with Russian President Putin about Ukraine on
Thursday. The Kremlin, I should say, strongly denies this claim, while a spokesman for Trump declined to comment on the report. Our Fred Pleitgen
has more for you from Moscow.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, while the Kremlin is certainly going a long way to try and shoot all of this down,
this report, it was earlier today that this call took place with the Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov, and he said basically, all of this is
completely fabricated.
I want to read some of the words that he used in this phone call that he had with journalists earlier today. He said, this is completely untrue, it
is pure fiction, it is simply false information. So, basically, he couldn't go any further than that. He was then, once again, asked directly. So,
there was no conversation. And then he said, yes, there was no conversation. Of course, all this comes as the Kremlin and Russian
President Vladimir Putin saying they are looking quite favorably at Donald Trump taking office in the near future. Obviously, in January.
The Russian president on Thursday at a forum in Sochi, in the south of Russia, saying that he obviously took note of some of the things that then-
candidate Trump said about the war in Ukraine, wanting to end the war in Ukraine, of course, also, in general, trying to improve relations with
Russia, and Vladimir Putin saying that that alone made it worth listening to.
So, the Russians are saying that they want a conversation to take place, they believe a conversation between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump could
take place before Donald Trump takes office, at the moment, though, however, they are also saying something like that right now, not in the
works.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: So, That's our Fred Pleitgen there. World leaders across Europe are looking for clues as to what a second Trump presidency will mean for
the war effort in Ukraine. My next guest says the relationship between the European Union and the U.S. will remain intact. Joining me now is the
foreign minister of Estonia, Margus Tsahkna, live from Cape Town in South Africa. Foreign Minister, great to have you back on the show.
Let me pick up really with these concerning developments, I think it's fair to say, out of Ukraine. U.S. official telling us that Russia is readying
tens of thousands of troops, including some from North Korean troops, of course we know on the ground, to launch an assault on Ukrainian forces in
the coming days. What are you hearing about this plan?
MARGUS TSAHKNA, ESTONIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: Yes, it is. It is obvious that Putin is using this opportunity when a new president is not in office yet
and pushing the lines as far as possible. But also, we have a new player here, and I think that we need to take it very seriously that North Korean
troops are very close to Europe, actually in Europe, fighting on the ground. And this is a totally new situation.
Though, I think that more and more different leaders of the different governments are talking about the peace, though Putin is going to use and
using actually this opportunity to push as heavily as possible. But I don't see any -- like the will of Putin to have actually the peace in the meaning
of the just and the peace, which is following the conditions, what President Zelenskyy has put on the table.
[14:35:00]
SOARES: So, you don't believe he wants peace. He wants to go there. But let me just first on this push here, because we know that Ukrainian forces
have held, and I think we've got the map -- oh, there it is -- to Kursk for some time, right, since the summer. We also heard President Zelenskyy today
say that his troops were holding back a group of nearly 50,000 in the region.
So, my question is then, Foreign Minister, you know, what would you like to see in the months ahead from the Biden administration who has got several
months to try and push through aid, weaponry, there's long-range missiles, of course, that, you know, Ukraine and so many foreign ministers have been
calling for on the show, do you think now that the election is over, Foreign Minister, that Biden -- President Biden may be more amenable to do
that -- to go ahead with that?
TSAHKNA: I think that President Biden has now the opportunity to prove actually that he's supporting Ukraine in all means and also, he has a funds
up to like $6 billion worth to give a military support, constant military support and also, all the others allies should do the same, because Ukraine
is fighting for us and also, we in Estonian saying that we -- they are fighting instead of us.
So, the military support will be very important and also taking down very strict restrictions of using the weapons from the long-distance rockets and
anything that Ukraine needs. So, it shows as well that whatever -- yes?
SOARES: Sorry. I was going to ask you, are you hearing any signs, Foreign Minister, that that might be -- that might go ahead, that green light may
be lifted from the United States?
TSAHKNA: I do hope, but of course, I'm not in a White House. Estonia has been very clear from the very first day that no limitations must be put on
the military support to Ukraine, because Ukraine has all the rights to fight against Russia.
SOARES: Let's look ahead, Foreign Minister, to January the 20th, of course, when President-Elect Trump takes over the White House. You served
as minister of defense, from what I understand, during the first term. I think that I got that right. Can you give us a sense as to what your
expectations are the second -- with the second Trump presidency, what that may mean for Ukraine? Any concerns from your end?
TSAHKNA: You're right. Actually, I was serving as a minister of defense at the time when Trump entered first time in the cabinet and also, I remember
the speculations that what will happen, but I'm now very honest that the Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, our region got more troops on the
ground. We got more military support and -- but without these U.S. elections, we are doing anything what we can to prepare for the probable
invasion from Russia.
So, we are putting close to 4 percent of GDP to fulfill the nature of regional defense plans adopted already in Vilnius last year at the summit -
- the NATO summit. So, what I'm thinking about, with Donald Trump, what opportunity he has, actually, he has an opportunity to become our -- how to
say, the Churchill in our time.
And I published as well an article that we are in the year on 1938 when we can actually make the right decisions, we can understand, and we have this
opportunity that Russia will remain a threat in the future. We must finish this aggression against Ukraine in just the proper ways, but also, we're
talking more globally. We have many different conflicts in Middle East. We have a relationship with China and tensions there. And also, the one part
of the Africa. So, I think that U.S. leader who's entering the office must understand as well the responsibility he has.
SOARES: Yes.
TSAHKNA: And I think that there is an opportunity to become the Churchill in the meaning, as you understand, the background of the history years
back.
SOARES: And of course, he -- you know this, Foreign Minister, he said that he would end the war, I think he said in one day, it will set in one day,
but he hasn't provided any sort of details. What we have heard, and this is according to what we have seen in the last few days to the Wall Street
Journal, reporting from the Wall Street Journal, and I want to quote him there -- quote them there, "One idea proposed in Trump -- inside Trump's
transition office would involve Keith promising not to join NATO for at least 20 years. In exchange, the U.S. would continue to pump Ukraine full
of weapons to deter future Russian attack."
Does this sound like the sort of peace plan that Ukraine wants, that NATO wants, that Europe wants?
TSAHKNA: To be honest, only Putin can finish this war within 48 hours, just withdrawing, only he can do it. And all the other options are like
dealing and bargaining. And also, we are a bit concerned about any deals without Ukraine, without Europe, because actually, we are creating the new
architecture for defense and security of our region.
[14:40:00]
I do believe that the only security guarantee can be the membership of NATO, but also other options that one or the other country is keeping real
military security guarantees. It's an option, but I don't see it right now. But let's see what happened in the future.
Because the deal, what -- so-called we made in Minsk years ago, it wasn't the deal in the meaning of long-lasting peace. We need to understand that
Putin is pushing the lines. Any ceasefire is actually for him to prepare for the next aggression. And we need to learn from the history. It's not
very far away. You know, we are talking about the year 2014.
SOARES: Yes, he's always been playing the long game, that is clear. And we shall touch base, Foreign Minister, in about six months to see if anything
at all has changed, just hoping. Foreign Minister, thank you very much, sir.
And still to come tonight, Paris is tightening security ahead of a France- Israel football match, saying it won't tolerate any violence after Israeli fans were attacked in Amsterdam.
Plus, the ancient City of Pompeii is taking steps in preserving its past by scaling back the amount of steps taken in its city. We have the details
just ahead for you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: While security will be extremely tight for Thursday's football match between France and Israel, Paris police say they will deploy 4,000
officers to maintain order in and around the stadium and on public transportation, while the venue itself will have 1,600 stewards on duty.
The move comes days after Israeli football fans were assaulted by young people after a match in Amsterdam. Police in Paris said they won't tolerate
any violence.
Our Melissa Bell joins us now from Paris. So, Melissa, you covered that story for us out of Amsterdam. I suppose lessons, of course, that they will
be learning from this as we prep for this match. What are you hearing from French authorities?
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. The security that you mentioned, there's many thousands of policemen and women,
but also, that they're simply going to sell fewer tickets. The Stade de France seats 80,000, only 20,000 will be sold. So, they're simply limiting
the numbers of people who are going to be able to attend this match.
But clearly, it is in the wake of what happened in Amsterdam last week that the concern is that protesters might come out, that there might be
difficulty between the protesters or, indeed, that we might see a repeat of the violence that we saw on Thursday night.
[14:45:00]
This is a France-Israel match that no doubt, Isa, would have -- could have been tense. Remember, that in France, we have the largest Muslim
population, Europe also the largest Jewish population, and since the start of the war in Gaza, very strong feelings. In the country about the way the
policies of the Israeli government.
I think what you saw last week in Amsterdam was tension around a match, and there had been Palestinian flags taken down by Israeli supporters. Then by
Thursday night, the tension was such that what we're learning from the Amsterdam police is that with the help of WhatsApp messages, messaging
services, people were coordinating these targeted attacks, hit and run attacks, as they were described by the Amsterdam mayor, on individual
Israeli football fans.
So, you can expect also that they will be very well protected here in Paris. In fact, it'll be a French elite police force that'll be
specifically tasked with making sure that they're safe. Isa.
SOARES: Melissa Bell for us in Paris this hour. Thanks very much, Melissa. Good to see you. Well, the defeat of Kamala Harris for U.S. president is
thanks in part to the turnout of men in the voting booth. Since then, a report has been released citing an online increase in anti-women messaging.
Phrases such as, your body, my choice, and get back into the kitchen. Is this an instance of a winning side taking it too far, indulging in the
anonymity of online trolling, or perhaps a glimpse into a deeper sexism?
Let's get more from our Clare Duffy. And, Clare, I remember seeing some of these tweets, the comments, the rhetoric, it's sexist, it's abusive. Just
give us a sense of what you've been seeing.
CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Yes, Isa, these are the kinds of characters and the kinds of language that have existed in dark corners of
the internet, but I think we're getting a sense that these folks are feeling more emboldened in the wake of this election, where we know that
women's rights, women's reproductive rights were such a focus.
This increase in this kind of hate speech and harassment really began on Tuesday night when, as you put up there on the screen, white nationalist
Nick Fuentes tweeted, your body, my choice forever. And since then, we've seen a huge surge, 4,000 percent surge in the use of that phrase on X,
according to this analysis by the Institute of Strategic Dialogue. The group also recorded increases in the use of phrases like get back in the
kitchen and calls to repeal the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote.
This is all part of this continuing growth of what some researchers call the manosphere, these misogynistic online communities where the discussions
range from anti-feminism to more explicit calls for violence against women. And there have already been some women who have said they've been targeted
by this language. Women posting videos on TikTok saying that this phrase, your body, my choice was posted in their comments and their DMs.
But I think the real concern for online expert -- online misinformation and extremism experts here is that this kind of language, the normalization of
this, will end up spilling out into the real world in terms of harassment and violence offline, Isa.
SOARES: Yes, and that is a concern. It goes from offline into the real world. What are you hearing? What is X saying? And how have changes, of
course, to the platform X? How is that contributed? Is there a way to relate both, the contribution to this rise?
DUFFY: Yes, I mean, I think, look, you have to look at the sort of changes that Elon Musk has made to X. We've seen a rise in just sort of more
extreme content on the platform in general. More conspiracy theories, more sort of hateful rhetoric over the last two years. And so, it's not totally
surprising to see this kind of language, again, crop up more than anywhere else on this platform.
X has not said anything in particular about this report, but the company's harassment policy really only takes action against specific targeted
harassment against individuals. So, when you have this kind of harassment that is aimed at women in general, it doesn't necessarily violate the
platform's policies.
SOARES: What about -- are we seeing there, Clare -- I mean, this is X. Are we seeing any similar language or posts on TikTok or on any other social
media on this or is it just TikTok -- or is it just X, pardon me?
DUFFY: It is. I think, most pronounced on X, although we are seeing this phrase was trending on Facebook over the weekend. It was also similar
videos trending on TikTok. But then a lot of what we're seeing on those other platforms is also pushback from women, women saying, you know,
reacting to this kind of language, saying we're not going to put up with this kind of language. In some cases, you're seeing sort of threats of
violence from the other side.
And so, I think it is sort of this we're seeing this anger and the rhetoric kind of turned up across the social media ecosystem. But when you look at
these specific calls, threats of violence against women, I think it is certainly most pronounced on X.
SOARES: Absolutely disgusting and unacceptable. Clare, appreciate it. Thank you very much. I'm going to take a short break. Be back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:50:00]
SOARES: First it was Venice, now Pompeii is tackling over tourism. Officials in the ancient Roman City will start capping daily visitors to
just 20,000. This after the city saw a record-breaking summer season of more than 4 million people. Pompeii Archaeological Park officials say the
mass amount of visitors is causing problems at the ancient site. The new measures are set to begin on Friday.
Well, a big cleanup in Rome, offering a rare chance to see the famous Trevi Fountain up close. As workers painstakingly, you can see, their clean and
restored masterpiece. The city is offering a bird's eye view from a metal walkway over the fountain. Our Barbie Nadeau is in Rome with more for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): The Trevi Fountain is normally gurgling with water into which millions of tourists throw coins
each year. But thanks to a massive renovation project worth more than $300,000 that includes cleaning and scrubbing up of calcium, rust, and
dirt, this iconic fountain is dry.
NADEAU: You know, where the water should be is this metal walkway that is going to offer the tourists who come here a rare opportunity to take an
intimate look at this 18th century masterpiece.
NADEAU (voice-over): The walkway will also allow the city to study a proposed ticket system by tracking the ebbs and flows of the tourists
through the day.
ROBERTO GUALTERI, ROME MAYOR: By improving the experience of visitors to make, unique experience to admire the fountain, to avoid overcrowding,
that's why there is a limit on people that can stay on this walkway, but also after the end of the maintenance working, there will be a cap on the
people that could at the same time be inside the fountain, to admire it, in order to avoid the fact that, overcrowding, makes the experience worse.
NADEAU (voice-over): Rome sees some 35 million visitors a year, and around four million are believed to visit this site. The city believes that by
eventually charging a small entrance fee, they can better control over tourism and protect the ancient stone.
ARLENE SPELING, FLORIDA TOURIST: It was one of the things I couldn't wait to see, and I'm sort of disappointed, but I still get to see the beauty of
it. You know? So, yes, I would pay.
NADEAU (voice-over): The fountain's last cleaning and repair began in 2014 and took more than a year. But increasingly, hot temperatures and a steady
growth in tourism traffic have also led to the erosion of some of the basin.
The Trevi project is one of many conservation and renovation projects slated to finish in time for the kickoff of the Vatican's Holy Jubilee Year
of 2025, which will draw millions more visitors than usual to the eternal city's popular sites.
And for those who have come during this Roman construction season, all is not lost. They can still throw their coin into this smaller basin for luck.
And they're getting an opportunity of a lifetime to see this fountain up close.
Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN, Rome.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[14:55:00]
SOARES: Or just save your coin, that's another option. And finally, today, puzzle lovers are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Rubik's Cube. The
iconic 3x3 grid has stumped millions of players and sold half a billion toys for half a century. Hungarian inventor Erno Rubik came up with the
first prototype in 1974. He was teaching design and wanted teaching aid for his students. The box went on to be a pop culture icon. Rubik's cubes can
be found in movies, TV shows, and of course in the hands of game lovers all across the world.
That does it for us for tonight. Thank you very much for your company. Do stay right here newsroom Jim Sciutto is up next. I shall see you tomorrow.
Have a wonderful day. Bye-bye.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:00:00]
END
