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One World with Zain Asher

Biden Speaks After Wreath-Laying At Tomb Of The Unknown Soldier; Trump Expected To Fill Cabinet Spots In Days; Trump Considering Remaking Rank-And-File Federal Jobs; Israeli Minister Seeks Sovereignty Over West Bank Settlements; Zelenskyy: Ukraine Fighting 50,000 Troops In Russia's Kursk Region; What A Second Trump Term Might Mean For The Environment; Tight Security Ahead Of France-Israel Football Match; Trump's Chief Of Staff Is First Woman To Hold The Job. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired November 11, 2024 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00]

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Veterans than ever before in VA history. We invested record resources to reduce the scourge of veteran

vices to suicide. We took action to protect veterans from scams because no veterans should be defrauded by those defended -- they defended.

All these actions are vital, but I'm particularly proud of finally passing the PACT Act.

(APPLAUSE)

This is the most significant law in our history, our nation's history, to help millions of veterans who are exposed to toxins like Agent Orange and

burn pits during their military service. Pits the size of football fields that incinerated the wastes of war. Tires, chemicals, batteries, jet fuel

and so much more. Pits that left too many veterans with headaches, numbness, dizziness, asthma and cancer.

PACT Act has already helped over one million veterans and their families, get the benefits they deserve. They deserve those benefits.

(APPLAUSE)

Today, I'm proud to announce that the VA will expand the number of cancers covered under the PACT Act. And to all veterans, we served at K-2 Air Base

in Uzbekistan, constantly surrounded by toxins. We want to honor you. We want to have your back, just like we did in Agent Orange, just like we're

going to rule to make sure you don't have to prove your illness as a consequence of your service, which is often too hard to do.

God willing, we will make sure that any rare condition you've developed is covered. We're committed to getting this rule in place by the end of my

term. Folks, this matters. Too many of our nation's veterans have served only to return home to suffer from permanent effects of poisonous

chemicals. Too many have died, like our son Beau and like Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson, whom the PACT Act was named.

A couple years ago, after I signed the PACT Act, I handed a pen to his daughter, Brielle. She and her mom are with us today. I don't know where

you are, but God love you. There they are. Stand up, ladies.

(APPLAUSE)

And give me more of what I mean, this I'll never forget. After I handed the signing pen, that beautiful young lady who lost her whole world, she held

the pen in her hand, and she looked at me, and she said, thank you. Thank you for my daddy. God love you, honey. God love you.

But I don't think she was just thanking me. She was thanking all of you here, all of us, everyone who fought hard and came together to keep our

promise to our veterans, to keep the faith.

My fellow Americans, we stand here today. We think about all that our veterans have given to our nation, serving and sacrificing in uniform, just

as they serve and sacrifice here at home, as educators, firefighters, law enforcement officers, construction workers, entrepreneurs, business

leaders, doctors, nurses, elected leaders, and so much more.

Just as routinely, they routinely put aside differences to work together. This is the moment. This is the moment to come together as a nation, keep

faith in each other. The world is dependent on each of you and all of us, all of you. Keep honoring the women and the men and the families who have

borne the battle, keep protecting everything they fought for, keep striving to heal our nation's wounds, keep perfecting our union.

We're the only nation in the world building an idea. Every other nation is based on things like geography, ethnicity, religion. But we're the only

nation, the only in the world, building on that idea. That idea is we're all created equal. Deserve to create equal throughout our lives.

We haven't lived up to it every time, or we've never walked away from it. Even when it's hard, especially when it's hard.

[12:05:05]

And today, standing together to honor those Americans that have dared all, risked all, and given all to our nation, I must say, clearly, we never will

give up. God bless our veterans and their families. And may God protect our troops today and always. God love you. Thank you so much.

(APPLAUSE)

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: You've been listening to President Biden deliver remarks as the U.S. Marks Veterans Day, honoring U.S. veterans, the

president noting the bipartisan work done during his administration on that front.

Hello, everyone. I'm Bianna Golodryga. Zain is off today.

The president calling it his greatest service to this country in this position and his connection to the military, obviously, comes to the fore.

His son, Beau, served in the Armed Forces for more than a decade, including a tour of duty in Iraq.

Kevin Liptak has been listening to the president joins me now live in Washington. Kevin, this is always a very personal and meaningful subject

for the president of the United States. Talk about what we heard today.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. I think it is certainly the president referencing his son, Beau. And referencing the PACT

Act, which he links directly back to his son. Remember, this is a bill that the president signed that made it easier for veterans to receive care if

they were exposed to toxic chemicals.

And that speech his announcing an expansion of the conditions that would be included in that act. So certainly a personal moment for the president.

But he also acknowledged in this speech that this would be the very last time that he stands there at the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington

National Cemetery and delivers this kind of speech. And he says that it was the greatest honor of his life to lead you, to serve you, to care for you,

and to defend you, to really acknowledging that this is a moment of transition for him as he departs office.

And it was interesting he opened the speech by quoting a Lincoln second inaugural address that he delivered in April 1865, talking about the needs

to bind up the nation's wounds. And President Biden returned to that sort of theme in the speech over and over, talking about the nation, you know,

at an inflection point and saying that this is the moment to come together as a nation.

And I think in this speech, the implication is that service to veterans and caring for veterans is something that can receive bipartisan support, even

in a Trump administration. And returning to this theme that he so often talks about, that the nation hasn't always lived up to its ideals, ideals

like equal under -- equality under the law. Those kind of constitutional bedrocks that he certainly was intending to run on as president and saying

that we haven't walked away from them.

So interesting context to that now that we know that we are in for another Trump presidency. And I think President Biden trying to both burnish his

legacy when it comes to veterans' issues, but also calling for a degree of unity as we enter what is, by all accounts, something of an uncertain

period of time going forward.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. And prior to the speech, we saw President Biden, along with Vice President Kamala Harris, laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown.

Kevin Liptak, thank you so much.

Well, now to the day's other news, a flurry of announcements and reports over the past few hours is giving us a real sense of what Donald Trump's

government will look like. And as you might imagine, it is filled with the people who have been his staunchest allies over the past couple years.

Stephen Miller, the architect of Trump's aggressive stance on immigration, is expected to be named deputy White House chief of staff for policy. Now,

speaking of immigration, Trump says Tom Homan will be his border czar.

Homan was acting director of immigration and customs enforcement, otherwise known as ICE, Trump's first term and has talked about building a large

force to carry out mass deportations.

And New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik has been tapped for the high- profile job of ambassador to the United Nations. Stefanik rose to prominence with her forceful questioning of college presidents about anti-

Semitism on campus.

So, let's bring in CNN's Steve Contorno with more on the Trump transition. And, Steve, as noted, we're starting to see Trump's campaign themes and

promises really take shape through these appointments to his administration.

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: That's absolutely the case. If you look at the two people he's already named two jobs, Tom Homan and Stephen Miller,

these are people who have been influential in shaping his views on immigration, going all the way back to his first campaign for president.

Tom Homan was the ICE director that he carried over from the Obama administration and who was the enforcer of his immigration policies and

also the architect of his family separation policies.

[12:10:01]

And Stephen Miller was right there with him in shaping how the Trump administration wrote its Muslim ban and pushing back against efforts to

give Dreamers permanent status.

All of that goes back to Stephen Miller's work, and he has also remained influential in Trump's orbit throughout this campaign. He has often spoke

on the campaign trail at Trump's rallies and events, and Trump often references Tom Homan as someone that he still closely is working with as he

planned for his return to Washington.

And then you look at the elevation of Elise Stefanik, someone who has been an important figure in the MAGA movement, especially in the House of

Representatives, one of Donald Trump's close allies there.

And her position with the U.N. ambassador, as a U.N. ambassador, speaks to how Trump intends to change America's relationship with the world. He is

someone who frequently is more critical of our allies in Europe than he is of authoritarian regimes. He is someone who has spoken glowingly of Xi

Jinping in China and of Vladimir Putin and the North Korean leader and such.

And these are all people that Trump will be working with in a second administration. And Stefanik will be sort of the face of our foreign --

U.S. foreign policy going forward in her role as U.N. ambassador.

GOLODRYGA: All right. Steve Contorno, thanks so much.

One of the biggest questions about Trump's incoming administration is not who he picks for big jobs, but what he does with rank-and-file government

workers.

Trump and his allies have looked into reclassifying thousands of seemingly routine government positions allowing Trump to fire the people in those

jobs and replace them with partisans who will be loyal to his agenda.

He has promised to reinstate a 2020 executive order known as Schedule F, which would give him the power to fire civil servants that he calls the

deep state. By some estimates, 50,000 government employees could lose their jobs when Trump takes over.

CNN's Renee Marsh has been looking into what current government employees are saying about this.

Renee, what are you hearing from them? Because this has been a topic that I've heard a lot about over the course of this campaign, especially among

longtime employees of the federal government who view themselves as nonpartisan.

RENE MARSH, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We are in a dystopian hellscape. So that is the sort of messaging that I'm hearing from these

federal employees. I got that one via text message just last night. And that is the mindset of many of the federal workers who I'm speaking to who

are anticipating Donald Trump's return to office.

And to be clear, Bianna, what Donald Trump is promising for federal workers is unlike anything we have seen in our lifetime. He's proposing reverting

to a structure of government that existed 141 years ago, when political parties gave government jobs to their supporters. And that's what has these

federal workers who I'm speaking to so anxious and so scared about this plan that we know as Schedule F, which, as you mentioned at the top, would

give Trump the power to start these mass firings of nonpartisan career employees perceived as disloyal, who might get in the way of his policy

actions at these agencies.

But as you point out, his plan for the federal workforce is no surprise. He repeated this plan to voters on the campaign trail and called federal

workers agents of the deep state working against him and his agenda.

So some of these employees who lived through this first Trump administration. They say right now, they are feeling that they are

experiencing PTSD. One of them saying, we are absolutely having conversations among ourselves about whether we can stomach a second round.

But, Bianna, to put a finer point on this, it's not just mass firings. We also expect a second Trump presidency will mean mass transfers of these

senior executives and relocation of agency offices, something that he did last term, and it forced many to retire or step away from their post.

Because if you're working in Washington, D.C., and all of a sudden you're being transferred to Boulder, Colorado, that's quite a decision that you

have to make. And so by default, many of those people ended up leaving.

GOLODRYGA: All right. CNN's Rene Marsh, thank you so much.

Well, Michigan Republican and former U.S. Congressman Fred Upton served more than three decades in the U.S. House of Representatives before

retiring in 2023. He voted to impeach Donald Trump after the January 6th attack on the Capitol in 2021. And he joins us now from St. Joseph,

Michigan. Welcome to the program.

First of all, let me get your reaction to what we just heard there from Rene and concerns among many longtime civil servants who are apolitical,

working in very important jobs in the federal government, many of them in areas of expertise, that there is a concern about they could be replaced

with those who don't necessarily have the qualified skills but would remain loyal to this administration.

[12:15:10]

Talk about your concerns, if you have any, about the potential that we could see mass firings of apolitical civil servants. And what does that

mean for very important whistleblowers who actually take the risk of raising their hand and speaking publicly when they see something that's a

foul?

FRED UPTON, FORMER UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE: Well, a couple of things as it relates to whistleblower. I mean, that law is in place. That's not

going to get changed.

But as it relates to Schedule F and the fear that federal employees may have, it really is, as she said, no surprises. Trump talked about this. He

talked about being a dictator from day one. He's going to have his team in place. Looks like they may proceed with recess appointments for his

cabinet. So that means you're not going to have the normal hearings for new cabinet members.

It may take weeks to happen, maybe some bumps in the road with a -- with a couple of them based on, you know, what their background might be. But, in

fact, if the Senate's out of session, the president can just name so-and-so to take that spot, and they're in for the rest of the year.

Without a hearing, without a vote of the Senate, it would be done, so that he'll have his whole team in place literally on January 20th, when he takes

the oath of office, so.

But I have to say, bottom line is, it is not a surprise. I mean, I don't know his new chief of staff. She has pretty high marks from the people that

I've heard from, Republicans as well as Democrats, in fact.

But as it relates to Tom Homan, who's going to be the new border czar, and some of the other people that he's named, they're very hardcore loyalists.

I know Elise Stefanik pretty well. She was elected to the House. She served in the House when I was there. She's our new U.N. ambassador. She's going

to be terrific. She's going to be talking about the American position, rallying, building a coalition of her counterparts there in New York. I

think that's really an outstanding pick for him.

She's going to be a strong voice. She showed that both in the leadership in the House as well as serving on Education and Workforce Committee. And, of

course, many will remember the hearings that she had as it related to Harvard University and some others.

GOLODRYGA: Yes.

UPTON: They really went, I think most Americans would say, a little bit over the line, which cost the presidents of some of those universities

their job.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. That was really stunning to see some of their -- that the lack of just any sort of personal regret for what they viewed as leaders of

those institutions. And she really rose to prominence and exposing a lot of that as she oversaw those hearings.

But let me get back to Tom Homan being appointed to border czar. Going back to some of the comments he's made recently on "60 Minutes" when asked what

mass deportation would look like, would it include separating families? His answer was, well, families can be deported together if necessary. He went

on to say there's not going to be a mass sweep of neighborhoods. He's not going to be building concentration camps. But he did say that it would

entail large scale, even targeted raids at places of work and employment.

Talk about the implications of that. Is that something that you would support? I know there could be some bipartisan work and support on really

focusing on those who are undocumented in this country who have broken the law criminally.

UPTON: Well, a couple of things. I do have some concerns, so that's for sure. And I wish --when I served in the Congress, I was part of a number of

bipartisan efforts that tried to bring folks together and actually solve the issue. As we saw the Senate fail at the end a little bit earlier this

year on a bipartisan proposal.

But it was one that included, not only building a wall, but adding more border patrol agents, more judges, reverse the catch-and-release plan, keep

people in their -- in their countries before they could apply for asylum. And also provide a pathway for those without a criminal record,

particularly the Dreamers.

Now, my district in Michigan included a lot of Dreamers. A lot of Dreamers that came at age 3 and 4 years old from a whole number of different

countries, not only Central America but from Poland and other places. They went to school. They learned the language. They became part of the fabric

of communities. Many of them got married because they've been here now for 20, you know, some more than 20 some years.

And ICE knows where they are. You know, they came technically illegally because they didn't have -- you know, they came with their parents at age,

again, 3 or 4 years old. ICE knows where they are.

[12:20:11]

And because they are, quote, illegal, I guess you could use that term somewhat loosely, they can be, at least from what I'm seeing, could be

deported back to their host country. These are -- these are workers in our community. They're paying taxes.

Obviously, there's a standard, if they have a criminal record, that's a little bit different in terms of --

GOLODRYGA: Yes.

UPTON: -- you know, whether it's assault or something like that, versus coming in with their parents.

But the concern that I have is, what do -- and I know cases like this. What if -- what if you have someone that's married, so they're an American

citizen is one of the spouses, and they have kids that were born here, so under the Constitution, they're American citizens. We know that. I know the

president wants to -- President Trump wants to change that, but I believe it will take a constitutional amendment to do so.

But the answer that I'm hearing the last couple of days, not only from the "60 Minutes" interview, but also an interview that Cuccinelli had, a former

fellow that ran for governor in Virginia, is that, well, the whole family would be, in essence, deported. They can stay together if the whole family

goes back.

GOLODRYGA: Including citizens. Yes.

UPTON: Correct. I have real -- I have real -- no, I'm not a legislator anymore. I have real concerns about that and the standards that it was

established. But again, it's really no surprise. The administration -- the new administration has taken this hard line for the last number of months.

Steve Miller, Tom Homan and others, they're going to see that this happens.

And I'll tell you the other thing is after January 20th, if it doesn't happen, there will be a lot of questions from the MAGA base as to why it

didn't.

GOLODRYGA: Well, there will also be a lot of lawsuits, no doubt. Where do you see this landing? How far do you see this going, perhaps all the way up

to the Supreme Court?

UPTON: Well, I'm not a lawyer, but I would imagine that will take place. But we also know that President Trump has got the Supreme Court there with

him on a six to three basis.

So I would guess that ultimately he's going to prevail. So whether or not some compromise, some legislation can move forward. I mean, it's not like

willy-nilly you're going to hire 1,500 new border agents without getting an appropriation through the Congress that actually funds them that pays their

paycheck. You're going to have to work legislatively to get some of these things done.

So I would like to think that maybe the arrangement that James Lankford had. He's the very conservative Republican senator from Oklahoma. And he

struck a deal with a lot of parties in the Senate last spring that would actually bring some bipartisan resolve to the immigration issue, including

the border wall, security, a number of different things.

You'll recall that President Trump said, no, I don't want that legislation because I want the issue. He had the issue. He won on the issue. And now

maybe it's time to come back and see if you can't put those same players together and get a comprehensive bill that makes some sense that, frankly,

I think a majority, a strong majority of the American public would support and would provide that pathway for Dreamers.

The people that have been here working, whether they be doctors or educators or, you know, we have a lot of different employers that are

looking for employee --

GOLODRYGA: Yes.

UPTON: -- skill in lots of different fields. We need that workforce.

GOLODRYGA: Listen, as you know, the landscape has changed quite a bit since James Lankford wrote that bipartisan legislation. Question is, will people

like Senator Lankford come back to the table and try to work again now that Republicans can rightfully tout that they have received a mandate from the

American public? It's a very important issue. Obviously, we will continue to cover.

Michigan Republican former U.S. Congressman Fred Upton, thank you so much for joining the show. We appreciate the time. Please come back.

UPTON: Yes. Nice to be with you. Thank you. Have a great day.

GOLODRYGA: You too.

UPTON: Good day for veterans. I'm going to my dad's grave site a little bit later this afternoon to pay my respects.

GOLODRYGA: Well, we thank him and all the other veterans for their service to this great country. We appreciate it.

Still to come for us, a far-right Israeli minister makes a move for full sovereignty in the occupied West Bank, emboldened perhaps by Donald Trump's

reelection. We'll have a live report from Tel Aviv, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:25:27]

GOLODRYGA: We turn now to new developments out of the Middle East. A far- right Israeli minister is making a push to seek full sovereignty over settlements in the West Bank.

Bezalel Smotrich, Israel's finance minister, who is also in charge of West Bank settlements, told the parliament that with Donald Trump coming back to

power, quote, the time has come. He also says it's the only way they could remove what he called a threat of a Palestinian state.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond joins us now live from Tel Aviv, Israel.

And, Jeremy, I was struck by our contributor, Barak Ravid, who was on our air earlier this morning following this news, saying in his analysis that

Minister Smotrich is getting way over his skis with this. Tell us more about how this is playing out in Israel.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, he may very well be. And we don't yet have any comment from the Israeli prime minister's office yet.

The prime minister would, of course, have to green light a significant step like this. And we certainly also don't have comment yet from Donald Trump.

But there is reason for Bezalel Smotrich and his supporters to perhaps be somewhat optimistic. You know, there's no indication yet that this is

something that Trump would support, certainly not in the very beginning of his term, with the war in Gaza still roiling and those issues being kind of

a top, you know, more of a top priority.

But if you look back at the Trump administration's actions in Donald Trump's first term, and you look in particular at Trump's 2020 peace plan,

it's all there in terms of supporting Israel's annexation of settlements. It's a peace plan that proposes no territory swaps between an Israeli and a

future Palestinian state.

Instead, it would recognize Israel's annexation of those Israeli settlements as long as Israel freezes further settlement activity for four

years from the date of the plan's release.

Now, Netanyahu, at the time, interestingly, indicated that he was going to start the process as a result of annexing those settlements, but he

ultimately shelved those plans. And that may ultimately be the kind of critical point here, is that Netanyahu, when previously presented with this

opportunity, has declined to do so.

Now, a lot has changed, and it's possible that this is something Netanyahu could support now. One thing is clear. Bezalel Smotrich made explicitly

clear that he is taking this action because he believes that Trump will support it, because he sees what he describes as an important opportunity

for Israel in the wake of a Trump victory.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. And that could very well be the case, but we're also a few months away from a new Trump administration. We know that Ron Dermer, the

minister of strategic affairs, is in Washington meeting with Biden administration officials. And I would imagine this is not something that

they would take kindly to at all. And they still have power perhaps even to respond.

[12:30:12]

Jeremy Diamond reporting to us live. Appreciate it. Thank you.

Well, Ukraine is fighting 50,000 troops in Russia's Kursk Region. That's according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Kursk is the Southern

Russian region where Kyiv launched its surprise counteroffensive back in August. CNN is hearing that North Korean troops are involved in the Kursk

combat operations.

Russia is also unleashing waves of drone attacks on Ukrainian cities. Kyiv says Moscow is trying to overwhelm its air defenses.

So let's go to Washington and CNN's Alex Marquardt. Alex, we saw Ukraine also launched a number of drone attacks into Moscow over the weekend as

well, but as it relates to this 50,000 troop surge in the Kursk Region, there had been some concerns among Russians as to why they hadn't been

seeing that happen before, sooner, since that surprise incursion by the Ukrainians? Well, now there's an answer, and it involves the partnership

with North Koreans.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Bianna, it's been three months since that extraordinary incursion by the Ukrainians

across the border into Western Russia, taking a large part of the Kursk Region. And the Ukrainians have managed to hold it and keep the Russians at

bay.

What we're told now, I spoke with a senior U.S. official who confirmed that there is intelligence showing that Russia is massing a force of tens of

thousands, not just of Russian forces, but also these recently arrived North Korean forces to try to take back Kursk.

Now, this is -- this could be an operation that we see unfold in the coming days. We have seen already the Russians trying to push forward, probe, take

back some of that territory without much effect.

But we did hear from the top Ukrainian commander, General Syrskyi, who said that they are -- that their Ukrainian forces are keeping what he called

Russia's shock troops at bay, their best forces, he says. And there's an estimated 10,000 to 11,000 North Korean forces who are backing up those

Russian troops.

Now, some of them are specialized, according to the Ukrainians, artillerymen, snipers. But at the end of the day, Bianna, so much of this

war is impacted just by magnitude, the size of forces, bodies. And the Russians have long had more bodies than the Ukrainians, who are suffering

recruitment issues. And now they're being backed up by the -- by the North Koreans.

So they could provide a significant, you know, substantial defensive line behind those Russian forces as the Russians try to claw back that Kursk

Region, which could prove to be very important in peace discussions, settlement negotiations, which are, frankly, all the more likely when

President Trump comes into office, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. Russia and North Korea making official their mutual defense agreement this weekend as well.

Alex Marquardt in Washington, thank you so much.

And we'll be right back with more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:35:18]

GOLODRYGA: Welcome back to ONE WORLD. I'm Bianna Golodryga.

Well, from monster hurricanes, supercharged by unprecedented ocean heat to devastating floods, fires and drought fueled by extreme temperatures, 2024

is on track to be the hottest year on record.

But as delegates from nearly 200 countries meet in Azerbaijan for the U.N.'s COP29 climate conference, they're facing another massive challenge,

a second Donald Trump term.

Once Trump takes office in January, he is vowing to reverse U.S. environmental regulations, promote fossil fuels, and says he'll again

withdraw America from the 2015 Paris climate accord.

Today, President Biden's climate envoy acknowledged the setbacks that likely lay ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN PODESTA, U.S. CLIMATE ENVOY: For those of us dedicated to climate action, last week's outcome in the United States is obviously bitterly

disappointing. It is clear that the next administration will try to take a U-turn and reverse much of this progress.

And, of course, I'm keenly aware of the disappointment that the United States has at times caused the parties of the climate regime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: Time now for The Exchange, my conversation with Henna Hundal, she is the national coordinator for Climate Live USA, a youth led movement

for climate education, and she joins me now from Lafayette, California.

Henna, thank you so much for being here. Obviously, you aren't in Azerbaijan for the meeting, but I'm sure you can get a sense of the

consternation among some of those other world leaders now that there's been a huge shift in terms of tackling climate change as it relates to COP

summits and commitments made by a second Trump administration. He has vowed to pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord.

How do you expect foreign countries and members of the accord to react to this?

HENNA HUNDAL, NATIONAL COORDINATOR, CLIMATE LIVE USA: Yes. Thank you very much for having me, Bianna. And I'm going to be headed to Azerbaijan in a

few days. But in my conversations with colleagues who are already there, I've gleaned that the mood is quite chilled. That's primarily because the

United States, as a historical big emitter, has a huge role to play at these conferences. It really does set the tone.

And in my years at the conferences, you watch the United States, the European Union, China, India really work in lockstep on some of these big

issues. For example, at COP26 in Scotland, there was an agreement to phase down coal.

Last year in Dubai, there was an agreement to transition away from fossil fuels. You need all the big emitters on board for something like this.

So I think the prospect of President-elect Trump returning to office and reneging on these key agreements could create a permission structure for

the other big emitters to also soften their climate pledges

And this is the year when climate change has been front and center on many people's minds. We have had so many disasters around the world. This is the

year when we need all of those key leaders to come together at the table and initiate big climate action the most.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. And on the agenda this year where commitments made in 2015, and that includes climate finance to allow for poorer countries to invest

cleaner power in the need to help them adapt to facing climate change.

If, let's say, the United States does withdraw, what does that look like in terms of getting these poor countries the financing that they need?

HUNDAL: The situation is quite challenging because as we alluded to, this is billed as the finance cop. So there were several agenda items around

getting those funds flowing from the historical big emitters, from the developed countries into developing countries that are unfortunately

bearing the brunt of the climate crisis, though having contributed so little, so negligibly to it on their own.

And so we have efforts like the new collective quantified goal, which wants to create a more comprehensive financial framework to get those funds

flowing. You have the loss and damage fund, which is specifically targeting the extreme disasters that some of these developing countries face because

of climate change.

[12:40:11]

And so all these efforts really require the big emitters to come to the table. And I think, unfortunately, right now, the United States is in a

very tricky position. And we also know that a lot of foreign leaders aren't actually showing up this year. So we have French President Macron, German

Chancellor Scholz. And of course, President Biden. It'll be his second year not attending as well.

So I think that kind of gives an indication, unfortunately, of where climate change is fitting on the priority list of a lot of these leaders.

GOLODRYGA: During Trump's -- during Biden's tenure, we saw him pass historic climate-related legislation with the Inflation Reduction Act,

namely some $390 billion in wind, solar, and other clean energy manufacturing. We know that Trump has threatened to repeal the law.

But a lot of this funding has benefited some of the reddest of red Republican states here in terms of their investments in renewable energy.

Texas, I think, leads the path there.

Do you think that perhaps helps shield some of what President Trump has threatened, at least, to repeal?

HUNDAL: Yes. That's such a great point that you bring up. We know that the bulk of clean energy investments from President Biden's landmark, Inflation

Reduction Act, have actually gone to Republican districts.

And we need to talk more about that. We need to talk about climate change through the lens of economy and public health. We actually saw during the

presidential campaign, there was an ad campaign run in the swing states about the impacts of climate change on children's health.

I think making those intimate connections between how the climate crisis affects daily life could maybe make this issue more front and center on the

voters' minds. I think right now we're just trying to contend with this less than ideal situation where we're going to have, you know, a commander

in chief coming into office who doesn't consider it a priority.

GOLODRYGA: All right. Henna Hundal, thank you so much for the time. Keep us posted on your travels to Azerbaijan for the COP Summit. We appreciate it.

HUNDAL: Thank you very much.

GOLODRYGA: And still ahead, security will be extremely tight in Paris, ahead of a France-Israel football game, days after Israeli fans were

assaulted in Amsterdam. We'll have a live report from Paris, ahead.

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GOLODRYGA: A security will be extremely tight for Thursday's football match between France and Israel. Paris police say they will deploy 4,000 officers

and maintain order in and around the stadium and on public transportation, while the venue itself will have 1,600 stewards on duty.

[12:45:07]

The move comes days after Israeli football fans were assaulted by gangs of young people in Amsterdam. CNN's Melissa Bell joins us now live from Paris.

And, Melissa, this is something we spoke about last week. And what was really stunning in watching some of this video was the amount of time that

appeared to pass before really security was able to get a hold of the situation.

What has Paris learned from what happened in Amsterdam? And what difference presence can we expect to see come Thursday?

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Much, much different in scale. You're quite right, Bianna. Last week when the tensions had begun

to mount on the Wednesday as the Israeli fans arrived in Amsterdam. Some of them videoed chanting anti-Arab sentiments, tearing down Palestinian flags.

The Dutch police had decided to put extra people on the streets the next night, but nowhere near enough. And that's for a couple of reasons, really.

What we saw overnight on Thursday were very violent attacks, hit-and-run attacks, as they were described afterwards, on individuals, not in and

around the stadium. In fact, everyone sort of left in a peaceful manner. It was later, and in isolated parts of the city where Israelis were hunted

down, and that's something we've heard again from the mayor of Amsterdam who's been speaking about the investigation that's ongoing.

The fact that it now seems that there were WhatsApp groups, messaging groups, to help people find the Israelis and allow for these attacks.

That's something that she announced the other day.

So one of the questions now for the investigation will be, how long those coordinated attacks have been planned for, who was involved.

Of course, in Paris, to your question, Bianna, the situation is going to be much different. You're going to have those 4,000 security forces, but it's

going to be around the Stade de France, which is slightly outside of Paris.

One of the questions, I guess, will be how carefully they can keep the peace on the streets inside the city center itself as people head back to

their hotels, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. The security, no doubt, going to be extremely tight. Melissa Bell, thank you so much.

Well ahead on ONE WORLD, Donald Trump's newly-minted chief of staff isn't keen on the spotlight. We'll look at why the president-elect calls Susie

Wiles, quote, the ice maiden.

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GOLODRYGA: Well, the incoming Trump administration isn't wasting any time putting its White House team together. Among the appointments so far, Susie

Wiles. She goes from being Donald Trump's campaign manager to White House chief of staff.

[12:50:06]

CNN's Randi Kaye takes a closer look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: Come here, Chris. Susie likes to stay sort of in the back, let me tell you. The ice maiden. We call

it the ice maiden.

RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump's newly minted chief of staff, Susie Wiles, does not enjoy the spotlight like her

boss.

The 40-year veteran of Republican politics prefers to operate behind the scenes.

JOE GRUTERS, FLORIDA STATE REPUBLICAN SENATOR: She's a steady hand and she's a loyal foot soldier.

KAYE (voice-over): On her LinkedIn page under specialties, Wiles listed this, creating order from chaos, a skill that came in handy while running

Trump's presidential campaign.

SUSIE WILES, TRUMP PICK FOR CHIEF OF STAFF: Candidates matter. What they stand for matters.

KAYE: That was Wiles in 2020, speaking to CNN affiliate WPLG after she delivered a win for Trump in Florida as head of his campaign operation in

the state. She rarely gives interviews. Wiles first successfully ran Trump's Florida campaign in 2016, then again in 2020.

WILES: The traditional Republican voter coalition just simply can't -- I don't believe elect Republicans any longer. So beginning to bring into the

tent a larger number of Hispanic voters.

KAYE: After his presidency, Wiles served as Trump's de facto chief of staff, then led his 2024 campaign. One of her goals, keep a close eye on

who had access to the former president.

Wiles has a string of political campaign success stories. In 2010, she helped Rick Scott eke out a win to become governor of Florida. In 2018, she

was tapped to save Ron DeSantis' campaign for Florida governor. He won by 32,000 votes, the closest governor's election in state history.

After that, amid tensions, Wiles was ousted from DeSantis' inner circle. She went back to work on Trump's Florida reelection team, but was dismissed

at DeSantis' urging.

In 2020, Trump brought her back amid concerns about his campaign standing in Florida polls. He ended up winning Florida by more than three points

against Joe Biden.

GRUTERS: Susie Wiles is the political version of Muhammad Ali. She does not lose. She is a relentless fighter.

KAYE (voice-over): That fighting spirit was instilled early on. She grew up with two brothers and is the daughter of professional football player

turned television broadcaster Pat Summerall.

PAT SUMMERALL, FORMER AMERICAN FOOTBALL PLAYER: There was another way to live this life that I didn't have all the answers.

KAYE (voice-over): In his autobiography, Summerall shared that in 1992, during an intervention about his alcoholism, Wiles read a letter telling

him at times she was ashamed they shared the same last name. Summerall got treatment after that.

Before agreeing to her new role in the Trump White House, CNN has learned Wiles insisted on certain conditions. Top of the list, more control over

who has access to the Oval Office.

GRUTERS: She wants to make sure that the president's priorities are first and foremost followed through on and that they don't want distraction. She

is laser focused.

KAYE: Senator Joe Gruters also described Susie Wiles as calming. He says she's a real leader. He said that Donald Trump likes to play coach and

surround himself with winners and that's why he likes Susie Wiles so much. He said she certainly has earned her stripes as a winner given all of her

campaign victories that she stacked up here in the state of Florida and certainly the most recent presidential election.

But keep in mind, Donald Trump had four chiefs of staff when he was in the White House for his first term as president. But Susie Wiles' anti-chaos

which maybe exactly what this next Trump White House needs.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: All right. Thanks to Randi Kaye for that report.

Well, honoring the fallen and saluting those who served their country. French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer

stood shoulder to shoulder a short time ago, laying a wreath in Paris during Armistice Day ceremonies.

Mr. Starmer is the first British prime minister to attend the commemorations in Paris since Winston Churchill in 1944. The two world

leaders then joined the heart and soul of today's solemn remembrance events, the British and French veterans.

[12:55:29]

And that does it for this hour of ONE WORLD. Thanks so much for watching. I'm Bianna Golodryga. "AMANPOUR" is up next.

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[13:00:00]

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