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One World with Zain Asher

Israeli Security Cabinet To Meet Over Hezbollah Ceasefire; Blinken: Lebanon Ceasefire Agreement Is In Its Final Stages; Ukraine: Russia Launches Record 188 Drones In Attacks; Trump Promises Pushing Tariffs On Mexico, Canada, China; Special Counsel Works On Final Trump Investigation Reports; Thousands Gather To Demand Release of Imran Khan; Report: Airlines Make Billions From "Junk Fees"; Aired 12:00-1:00p ET

Aired November 26, 2024 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:26]

ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Coming to you live from New York, I'm Zain Asher.

Bianna is off today. You are watching ONE WORLD.

We are waiting for news out of Israel where the security cabinet is expected to vote on a potential ceasefire deal with Hezbollah.

Prime Minister Netanyahu will address the media in the next hour or so. The U.S.-backed proposal calls for a 60-day pause in the fighting to form the

basis of a lasting truce.

This as Israel keeps up its intense bombardment of Lebanon. Israel issued a rare evacuation order near American University in Beirut for the first time

in years.

Earlier, large plumes of smoke blanketed the capital after a rapid fire series of strikes. An Israeli military spokesperson says that 20 Hezbollah

targets were hit in 120 seconds. So in about two minutes or so.

The conflict that began a year ago has escalated dramatically over the past two months. Lebanon says that more than 3,700 people have been killed.

We have CNN teams covering the story for you from all angles. We've got CNN's Alex Marquardt who's in Washington for us. We've also got Nic

Robertson in Jerusalem.

Nic, let me start with you because we understand that the Israeli cabinet meeting is now underway. Netanyahu is going to be speaking in about an hour

or so. But that meeting had been delayed. It was actually supposed to start about 90 minutes ago. It was delayed as Netanyahu was negotiated to ensure

that he had the votes that he needed. What more can you tell us?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes. It was expected earlier in the afternoon. And I think it was no surprise to anyone that

this was always going to be a meeting that slipped a little bit and it slipped. And, of course, everyone in the region is watching this so, so, so

closely.

I don't think we can understate just how intensely they're watching every move here in Israel. And any delay in the cabinet session is really being

sort of super analyzed in Beirut, really carefully scrutinized there.

But so what was happening in the earlier part of the day, the prime minister was meeting with his coalition partners to try to get them on

board and online to vote positively, vote in favor of that ceasefire.

We know that at least two holdouts, Bezalel Smotrich, Finance Minister, the hard -- his sort of hardline fellow traveler, if you will, in the cabinet,

the Itamar Ben-Gvir, the National Securities Minister, indicating they didn't want to vote in favor of the deal.

But the prime minister, not only meeting with their parties, but also met with his own Likud Party, right-wing party, of course, right-wing

government.

They all decided to vote with the prime minister. That's what the prime minister's office believes. There are six of them. It's an 11-person vote.

It's a simple majority. So the numbers are there. The prime minister's got the vote. Other people were expected to vote with him.

So every expectation, anticipation is that this vote is going to go through, not done until it's done, as they say. The prime minister expected

to speak in about an hour. If that slides, let's not be surprised. But that's the anticipation.

And the expectation will be that he will have a language framing the reason to go for a ceasefire positively. But I have to say, there are residents

along the northern border who say, this is a sellout. It amounts to a surrender. We're not getting anything better than what we got in 2006. And

we'll be back in this same problem in a few years' time. Zain?

ASHER: And, Nic, just the fact that leading up to this vote, leading up to this meeting with the Israeli cabinet, we had been seeing the idea of

continuing to pound Lebanon, to continuing to pound Beirut, including issuing rare evacuation orders near American University in Beirut as well.

Does that really -- does that bode well for the potential for this deal to actually hold?

ROBERTSON: I think it's two things. Look, there's a signaling to Hezbollah that there's actually the capability and the intent to continue. I don't

think that they probably doubted that either.

And let's go back to what Hezbollah said a week ago. Their leader said that strikes in Beirut will be responded to by strikes in Tel Aviv. That cloud

at this moment before a ceasefire comes into effect. If that's what's going to happen, that still remains. There could be that response.

So massive escalation today, targeting and hitting in places in Beirut that have never been hit before, not in decades and decades and decades,

significant. Targeting those so many strikes, 20 in 120 seconds, two minutes, financial institutions targeted, which by the way, the human

rights watcher, an NGO on humanitarian issues says could constitute a war crime. These institutions that the IDF says Iran funnels money to

Hezbollah. And that's why they were targeting them.

[12:05:03]

So like a target list down to the wire, trying to complete a set of targets that tomorrow, in theory, the IDF, won't be able to go after. It's

signaling. It's not a typical of what happens as you get close to a ceasefire.

And, of course, it's going to leave a really bad taste and feeling for the people in Lebanon, and not least Beirut, where the casualties are already

into double figures from these strikes today.

ASHER: All right. Nic Robertson, live for us there.

Alex, let me bring you in. Just explain to us what's in this deal and how close it is to Resolution 1701 from 2006.

Alex Marquardt, cnn: Well, it's relatively close. And this deal has been in place or somewhat been in place for quite some time. This has been

negotiated largely by the United States with the different parties over the course of more than a year.

And we've been told for many, many months that it was very, very close, 90 percent done, if only the war in Gaza would end. And, of course, the war in

Gaza has not ended. So the war, the tit for tat that then grew into a war between Hezbollah and Israel, not only did not end, but it actually -- it

actually grew.

So, yes, this U.N. resolution known as 1701, it provides the framework for this, for the ceasefire that we are expecting. In that, only Lebanese

troops and United Nations troops will be allowed south of the Litani River.

So essentially, that all Hezbollah forces will have to pull back with their weapons miles and miles away from the border with Israel.

I think what is we're going to be looking at now, Zain, are the added stipulations and certainly the assurances that Israel wanted. And so what

we'll be looking for are permissions that Israel wants to carry out surveillance by its air force, by its drones, by its jets, the right that

it will reserve to carry out airstrikes if it sees that Hezbollah is moving south again or trying to move weapons into the country from Iran and from

Syria.

So the framework is largely that U.N. resolution, but there will be add-ons there. U.S. officials have been quite optimistic that this is going to

happen while also warning that nothing is done until it's done.

Zain, you'll remember that back at the end of September, the White House trumpeted that they had gotten a 21-day truce on the table that had been

agreed to by all parties that had been brokered with France as well. And then Israel very quickly came out saying, not so fast, we're not agreeing

to any kind of truce.

So until this is done, until you hear this from both Hezbollah and Israel, you're probably not going to hear any kind of confirmation from the United

States.

And then I could think, Zain, there's a big question of why now. Of course, Hezbollah, who's been hit so hard, you can see why they would want to

ceasefire. It does appear that Israel has accomplished what it's set out to do in terms of clearing out that Hezbollah infrastructure in southern

Lebanon and getting Hezbollah to pull back.

But on the U.S. political front, Zain, I think what is -- what is very interesting is Netanyahu appears to understand that this is not something

that Donald Trump wants to deal with. He wants this off of his plate so that when he comes into office, this is all said and done.

And so Netanyahu is not only agreeing to the pressure that we've seen from the Biden administration over the course of the past few months, but he's

also giving Donald Trump a gift, if you will, in the sense that this is one more issue that he will not have to deal with when he becomes president on

January 20th. Zain.

ASHER: And, Alex, one of the sort of key sticking points leading up to this deal was that Israel demanded freedom of action in case Hezbollah violated

the agreement. Just how much concern is there for the fragility of this deal going forward?

MARQUARDT: Enormously. I mean, someone, an expert, was making the point a short time ago that, you know, this is a 60-day deal. And if it does not

work, that suddenly you're going to see the possibility of this conflict starting back up again right after Donald Trump takes office.

There is a lot that needs to happen for this deal to be put in place in a very solid way. You have to have the Hezbollah pulling back from the

border. You have to have the beefing up of the Lebanese armed forces, both in terms of not only their presence in the South, but their training, their

equipping, UNIFIL, the United Nations force. They're going to have to really take charge in a way that Israel has thought that they have not been

over the past few years.

Hezbollah, if they decide to try to rearm because so much of the arsenal has been destroyed in the past few weeks, certainly the Israelis will be

watching that closely. And you could see Israeli strikes not just outside of Lebanese borders where the weapons are coming in from, but again, inside

Israeli borders.

[12:10:01]

So you speak with Lebanese citizens and they talk about the constant surveillance from Israeli drones, the constant buzzing in their airspace.

So they're going to be very strict terms on how Israel continues to carry out those over flights in a way that doesn't overly violate Lebanese

sovereignty, but also makes Israel feel comfortable that Hezbollah is not able to re-equip, rearm, and move back into the South.

The overarching goal for Israel and for Lebanese officials, it must be said, is to get their citizens back to their homes along that border. Tens

of thousands in each country have been displaced, but it does remain to be seen whether those civilians who have been caught up in this awful war will

feel comfortable enough to do so. Zain?

ASHER: Yes. That was Israel's stated goal when they -- when they invaded Lebanon, Southern Lebanon initially.

All right, Alex Marquardt, live for us there. Thank you so much.

And U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken just spoke at the G7 in Italy about the situation in the Middle East.

Let's listen to what he said moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Saving lives and livelihoods in Lebanon and in Israel. It will make a big difference in creating the

conditions that will allow people to return to their homes safely in Northern Israel and in southern Lebanon.

And I also believe that by de-escalating tensions in the region, it can also help us to end the conflict in Gaza. In particular, Hamas will know

that it can't count on other fronts opening up in the war. So we're tracking this very closely. And I hope and believe that we can get this

over the finish line.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: CNN's Jennifer Hansler joins us live now from the U.S. State Department.

So, Jennifer, Blinken, last time I checked, had visited the Middle East at least, at least 11 times since the start of the war. Obviously, U.S. envoy

Amos Hochstein has been in Beirut a number of times as well.

Just talk to us about how much of a win this would be. I mean, obviously, the Israeli cabinet is set to vote on it. We're about to hear from

Netanyahu. But how much of a win would this be for the Biden administration? And what has it taken us to get to this point?

JENNIFER HANSLER, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, Zain, it would certainly be touted as a huge diplomatic victory for the Biden

administration among the officials who have been working for months to secure this deal to get it across the finish line.

However, skeptics will say that it should not have taken this long. They will say that it was a failure of the U.S. and its partners to stop Israel

from invading Lebanon in the first place to stop this escalation from taking place.

Now, we should not discount the fact that this has been a major diplomatic undertaking. As you said, Blinken himself has been to the region scores of

times over the past year to try to push forward both Lebanon and Gaza ceasefire, the latter of which we have yet to see much progress on Amos

Hochstein has been leading efforts on behalf of the U.S. with the Lebanese officials as well as Israeli officials to try to get this ceasefire in

place.

And so we heard there from Blinken some cautious optimism that they are in the final stages to get this deal in place. But nothing is agreed until

everything is agreed is what we keep hearing from U.S. officials because they have been burned before. So they are being very cautious about the

optimism until they finally get a sign up from both of the parties from Israel, as well as Lebanese Hezbollah.

Now, of course, this was a big topic of conversations, Zain, at the G7 ministerial where Blinken is right now. They talked about the Middle East

in great detail. They talked about Lebanon that's reflected in a joint statement that was released just in the past hour from the G7 foreign

ministers.

They are endorsing a diplomatic resolution for the conflict between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah. They are also pushing for a Gaza ceasefire to be

put in place. And they also reiterated their support for Ukraine at this meeting. That was another key topic of conversation trying to ensure that

the support for Kyiv continues on despite what happens in the world, what happens with the next Trump administration, which of course has signaled

that they could see major changes in foreign policy here.

So a lot was covered in the past two days there in Italy. Blinken, of course, setting up for potential success here, but we'll wait and see what

actually comes out in the coming hours from the key parties on the ground, Zain.

ASHER: All right. Jennifer Hansler, live for us. Thank you.

The escalating conflict between Russia and Ukraine is also front and center at the G7 meeting as well. The Ukrainian Air Force says that Russia

launched its largest drone attack since the conflict began damaging critical infrastructure in Ternopil and buildings in Kyiv.

Russia, in meantime, claims that Ukraine recently carried out two more strikes targeting the Kursk Region using US-made longer missiles. The

Russian defense ministry says that one of the strikes caused casualties and damaged a radar system as well.

For more, let's bring in CNN's Fred Pleitgen in Moscow.

So, Fred, let's just talk a bit more about what the Russian Ministry of Defense is saying that Ukraine carried out two strikes on Russian

facilities in the Kursk Region using U.S.-made ATACMS.

[12:15:00]

And then you combine that with the fact that Russia has been now using hypersonic missiles. Just explain to us what that means for the escalating

war between both sides.

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it's quite dangerous. And I think the Russians are saying that's quite a

dangerous escalation that's been going on. They obviously fully blame the West and specifically the United States for what they call this escalation,

specifically sort of zeroing in on the Biden administration saying it's final days in the office that they are making the conflict worse and also

making it more difficult for the Trump administration once they take office to try and tone things down and possibly get to some sort of ceasefire.

So that's sort of the political framework that we're seeing. But I think one of the things that's really interesting about what the Russians have

put out now with these ATACMS strikes that have happened is that they are actually acknowledging for the first time that these strikes are effective.

If you go back to last week, the Russians, for the first time, said that the Ukrainians had used ATACMS missiles to try and hit what they call the

military facility in the Bryansk Region. The Ukrainians were saying that they had hit a weapons depot in that region. But the Russians essentially

said they shot all those missiles down.

This time, the Russians are saying that a radar for a surface-to-air missile system, a very advanced system called an S-400, which is very long

range, sort of a bit similar to the U.S. made Patriot system, that that radar was heavily damaged in an attack and strike and that the Ukrainians

also managed to hit an airfield in the Kursk Region as well.

So the Russians now acknowledging that that these strikes are effective. And then also for the first down -- for the first time putting out photos

of what they say are the fragments of these ATACMS missiles trying to prove that, yes, these are indeed U.S. supplied munitions that were used in these

strikes that took place.

All of this, of course, as the Russians are warning the United States, warning the U.S.'s allies as well, that all of this could lead to some

uncontrolled escalation in the future.

Of course, we know, Zain, that late last week the Russians for the first time used a very heavy new experimentary hypersonic ballistic missile to

attack the city of Dnipro in Ukraine, which of course put out several warheads that landed on that city.

And the Russians really -- you know, when you're here on the ground, they really have been putting that left, right and center in all of their

messaging that they're using saying, look, this missile is something that proves that Vladimir Putin is very serious about deterrence and very

serious about the consequences that the U.S. giving the Ukrainians the go- ahead to use those longer range missiles can have not just for the conflict in Ukraine, but of course also for a possible wider conflict and possible

military confrontation between the United States and Russia, Zain.

ASHER: Fred Pleitgen, thank you.

All right. Still to come here in ONE WORLD, Donald Trump's favorite word.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: If I was Mr. Tariff, I would say, please get me a PR agent.

It's one of the most beautiful words in the whole world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: After the break, we'll get reaction to the tariffs he's threatened to slap on America's neighbors.

And a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah now appears within reach, even as Israeli strikes on Lebanon continue. We'll have much more on this

conflict ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:20:50]

ASHER: All right. Donald Trump has made no secret of his love of tariffs. And on day one of his presidency, he's going to prove it.

The President-elect's announced that he'll impose a 25 percent tariff on all products coming from Mexico and Canada. He says the aim is to stop the

flow of drugs and undocumented immigrants into the country.

Then there's China. Trump plans to add a 10 percent tariff above any existing tariffs over the illegal drugs like fentanyl coming to America

from China. He plans to also make these changes with an executive order that he's going to be signing on January 20th.

Matt Egan joins us from New York.

So Matt, here's the thing. I mean, these are taxes on imports. So obviously they are going to make things that much more expensive. And the reason why

a lot of people voted for Donald Trump in this country, the reason why he won the election was because of the economy. And you had a lot of Americans

saying that things were simply too expensive for them under the Biden administration. Am I missing something?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: No. I think you summed it up pretty nicely there, Zain.

I mean, look, we are witnessing the opening salvo in the next Trump trade board. But to your point, there is a risk that it undermines another war,

right? The war on inflation, the frustration that a lot of voters had about high prices at the grocery store and elsewhere. And that, yes, helped to

elect Trump and bring him back to the White House.

But I mean, as you pointed out in your intro, the president-elect has made no secret that he views tariffs as this tool, this negotiating tool that

can be used against friends and foes alike to try to bring them to the table.

And we don't know exactly how this is going to play out. We don't know if he's going to actually impose these tariffs. We don't know how long they're

going to last. We don't know what the exact impact will be on prices.

And we also don't know whether or not he's going to be successful in getting new trade agreements with Canada and Mexico, getting them to

address issues around immigration and drugs and the same thing with China.

But we do know that there's at least the potential for this to cause real chaos for businesses, for it to invite retaliation. We've already heard

from the leader of Mexico's basically saying there could be retaliatory tariffs.

And, of course, this could impact prices as well. I mean, we're talking about U.S. and Mexico to the biggest trading partners. I mean, Mexico is

actually the source where the U.S. gets most of its imported goods, everything from transportation equipment, agriculture is huge.

Around 90 percent of U.S. imports of tomatoes and avocado all come from Mexico, auto parts as well. We've seen U.S. auto companies like GM and Ford

and Stellantis fall sharply today on this tariff news.

And U.S. also imports a lot from Canada as well. Oil is a big one. Minerals of cement, wood. You think about some of those building materials like

cement and wood. I mean, how is that going to impact the cost to build homes, which is another major concern for voters when you think about

affordability crisis for housing.

And we have seen a reaction in the market. Not so much the U.S. stock market, which is kind of mixed, but in the currency market.

If you look, you see the Mexican peso is down against the U.S. dollar, dollars up against the peso significantly. And this is a reflection of

concerns about what this is going to do to the Mexican economy, because they rely on shipping goods to the United States. They rely on U.S.

consumers buying those goods. And there are those concerns about what's going to happen in terms of retaliatory tariffs as well.

But, Zain, to your point, we shouldn't be shocked by this, right? I mean, the president-elect made clear during the campaign trail that he was going

to lob tariffs on our trading partners. And now the question is, what happens next? And what happens in terms of pricing? How consumers are going

to be impacted?

ASHER: I mean, I think it's also going to be interesting to see how much Scott Bessent, the Treasury secretary that Donald Trump name is going to

butt heads with him on this issue, because obviously a lot of people, investors, Wall Street, they breathe a sigh of relief when his name was

announced. But he has very different opinions on this from Donald Trump.

All right. Matt Egan, live for us there. Thank you so much.

EGAN: Thank you, Zain.

ASHER: All right. Special Counsel Jack Smith has dropped the criminal investigations into Donald Trump. CNN has learned that Smith still plans to

release his final reports before inauguration day in January.

[12:25:06]

The reports cover both the election subversion and classified documents cases against the president-elect. The reason to drop the investigations is

simple. You simply cannot, by law, prosecute a sitting president.

On cnn.com our Stephen Collinson takes a look at the repercussions of dropping the cases against Trump for future presidents. I encourage all of

you to read it. It was a really fascinating read. And Stephen joins us live now from Washington with a closer look.

So, Stephen, you know, this idea that we've talked about time and time again that nobody in America is above the law, is that really true?

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: It doesn't appear so. It seems that, at least from his own perspective, Donald Trump is above the

law. The irony of Special Counsel Jack Smith's attempt to make Trump accountable for what happened after the last election, his false crimes of

fraud, his attempt to overturn the election in the Capitol insurrection, is that it ended up making Trump more powerful.

We had a Supreme Court ruling that came out of this case that granted limited immunity to a president for acts in office. Donald Trump already

thinks that presidents are almost uncheckable. That's only going to make Trump even more sure during his second term that he can do exactly what he

wants.

And I think one of the things that future generations may puzzle over is how the U.S. justice system and the political system was unable to act and

to respond to a president who used his power to try to overturn the result of a democratic election. That is something that future presidents could

well look at and decide that they have the power to do so as well. So this is going to resonate for decades to come, I think.

ASHER: Yes. I'm going to -- I'm going to sort of read one line from your piece, a president who refused to accept the will of the voters, the

bedrock principle of democracy, after he lost an election and then told supporters to fight like hell before they invaded the U.S. Capitol will pay

no lasting legal price.

I mean, the fact that there could be no accountability here, I mean, a really beggar's belief. You know, when I was reading that, I just took a

minute to sort of sit with that. But my question to you is, could these cases be reinstated after his four-year term is over?

COLLINSON: In theory, Smith dismissed the cases without prejudice, which means that some other prosecutor could come back and address them.

I don't think it's very likely that Donald Trump will be what 82, 83 by the time he leaves office is going to be prosecuted for an election that was

eight years in the past, even if a democratic president wins the White House in 2028.

So, you know, in a way, this is all academic because voters decided that despite knowing what happened after the last election and all about Donald

Trump's acts, they reelected him. But I did sort of think it was important to at least remind people what happened after 2020, what there will be no

accountability for, and what I think historians in the future will find it difficult to believe because we're all living in Donald Trump's time.

His irrepressible personality. His bulldozing persona is partly what allowed him to avoid paying a price for what he did after the last

election. When that's not in front of everybody's eyes every day, I think it's going to be quite difficult for people to understand how exactly this

happened.

ASHER: Yes. In terms of how exactly it did happen, I mean, what went wrong here? If Attorney General Merrick Garland ended up appointing a special

counsel to investigate Trump sooner, right? A lot of people had criticized him for waiting so long. If he'd done that sooner, could things have shaken

out differently?

COLLINSON: Certainly, if it had happened soon after the last election, there would have been much more time for all the appeals to play out.

What the Trump's team -- legal team was very smart in doing was delay, delay, delay. Challenge everything. It all went up to the Supreme Court.

Trump was lucky that he was helped out by conservative justices and took a long time to address this.

But at the end of the day, there was one thing that Trump had to do to avoid accountability, and that was to win the election. And he achieved

that feat in many ways, the case and the other cases against him, the four criminal indictments, allowed him to corral the Republican Party around

himself, made it very difficult for his competitors in the Republican primary process.

And he was successful in getting enough Americans to believe that he was a victim of weaponized justice and that the Constitution and American

democracy was not the victim of his acts.

ASHER: Stephen Collinson, live for us there. Always good to see my friend. Thank you.

COLLINSON: Thanks.

ASHER: And enjoy your Thanksgiving.

COLLINSON: And to you.

ASHER: Thank you.

All right. Still to come, we have the latest on clashes in Pakistan between security forces and supporters of imprisoned former prime minister, Imran

Khan. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:30:15]

ASHER: All right. Welcome back to ONE WORLD. I'm Zain Asher.

An Israeli official says a security cabinet meeting to decide whether to sign off in a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah is underway. The meeting had

been delayed earlier. The proposal being considered includes a 60-day pause in the fighting.

It comes as Israel rain down strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs on Tuesday, at one point bombing the area at least 20 times within two

minutes. More than 3,000 people have been killed in Lebanon since Israel began its major offensive against Hezbollah in September.

A source tells CNN that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on board with the U.S.-backed ceasefire plan in principle. Mr Netanyahu is due

to speak to the media in around 30 minutes from now.

Time now for The Exchange. Joining me live now is Bilal Saab. He's the head of the U.S. Middle East Practice at TRENDS Research and Advisory. Thank you

so much, Bilal, for being with us.

When you think about the fact that the IDF has continued to strike Beirut's southern suburbs leading up to this deal, and obviously the Israeli cabinet

is meeting now. We're expecting to hear from Netanyahu very, very soon.

But the fact that these strikes are going on so close to the deadline. I mean, does that really bode well for the ceasefire holding? And how

concerned are you about the fragility of this deal?

BILAL SAAB, HEAD OF U.S. MIDDLE EAST PRACTICE, TRENDS RESEARCH AND ADVISORY: It's a pleasure to be with you, Zain.

It's a situation that really is not a typical of negotiations like that that are high stakes. Always at the very last moments of reaching a deal.

You see an intensification of bombing. You'd see an intensification of attacks by either side. And this is just sort of a last-minute attempt by

the Israelis to exact further pressure on Hezbollah to prevent any curve balls to make sure they don't change their mind.

And perhaps even politically speaking to appease some members of his cabinet, as you very well know, who are not very enthusiastic about the

deal.

[12:35:07]

ASHER: And just in terms of Iran, I mean, Iran has said that it's still vows -- it's still vowing to retaliate against Israel. The fact that now

you have this sort of temporary ceasefire, the 60-day ceasefire, about to be in place between Hezbollah, one of Iran's proxies, and Israel, what does

that mean for how Iran negotiates its next move?

SAAB: Well, I sure hope that this is just political posturing. I'm not sure why Iran will be in a position right now to be confident enough to

retaliate against Israel. There was not in fact against Israel, Iran proper, therefore, I don't see the major incentive on the part of the

Iranians to really pursue any military action against the Israelis.

They are in the fragile position themselves, so I think that they would lay low at this point.

ASHER: And speaking of fragile position, I mean, obviously Hezbollah is certainly in a fragile position. Its leadership team has essentially been

decimated by the Israelis.

Initially, Hezbollah had said that the only way that they would ever agree to any kind of ceasefire with Israel would be if the war in Gaza ended.

Obviously, that has changed. In fact, a lot has changed since Hezbollah had sort of had that stance.

Just explain to us how weakened Hezbollah is right now.

SAAB: Oh, drastically weakened from a military point of view, politically speaking inside Lebanon. I mean, you got to remember that almost the entire

leadership of the organization was decimated, starting with the iconic figure of the organization, Hassan Nasrallah.

So, look, it's hard not to reach the conclusion that Israel has achieved some kind of a strategic victory here because the whole point was to

disassociate the fight from Gaza and they were able to do that. And that is a major concession on the part of Israel.

ASHER: One of Israel's main goals when it launched this initial ground offensive in Southern Lebanon was to make sure that the tens of thousands

of people in Northern Israel who had been forced from their homes were able to go back to their homes at some point. And they believe that this sort of

ground invasion would speed that process up.

Now that we have a 60-day pause in fighting, I mean, do you anticipate that that goal is going to be achieved anytime soon? I mean, who's going to feel

safe necessarily going back to their homes in Northern Israel at this point in time?

SAAB: Yes, good question. Obviously, there's going to be a psychological element there. I don't think it will be that imminent. The return of

Israeli residents to the north. I have a feeling that it's going to be much more expedited on the Lebanese side because they're very eager to go back

and try to start the reconstruction process.

But on the Israeli side, I think there's a lot of procedures that have to be done by the Israeli government, not only to reassure psychologically,

but also to provide some assurances that this will not happen again.

This is precisely the point of the 60-day truce, right? And so to try to test intentions, try to monitor behavior on both sides. And this time

around, we seem to have a much more robust mechanism to monitor any violations and perhaps even to have, you know, something that is far more

solid than what we had before. It was 1701 after the conclusion of the fighting in 2006, if you recall.

ASHER: So, assuming the 60-day ceasefire deal starts today, I mean, it would end around the time that Donald Trump assumes office, how does that -

- how does that change things on the ground of the Middle East, the fact that you have a different administration with very different views on the

war coming in to power?

SAAB: Well, let's just go with the words of the president himself. I think he's quite sincere about those. He wants to end wars in the Middle East.

And I think that starts in Lebanon and Gaza, right? So it might be a little bit more complicated in Gaza, but at least now we have an opportunity to do

that in Lebanon.

And so there will be definitely an opportunity to honor that agreement on the part of the Israelis vis-a-vis President Trump.

And I just find that there would be some mutual agreement between the two sides to move forward on this. The goals of the Israelis mostly have been

achieved in Lebanon. There's very little, really appetite, frankly, both politically speaking, also from a societal point of view inside Israel to

continue with the fighting. I think the returns at this point are really marginal.

ASHER: And just final question. I mean, obviously, you know, the focus today on this ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah, but going

forward, does the fact that there has been a deal reached? Does that increase optimism and even appetite for eventually getting to a deal in

Gaza?

SAAB: Well, that's the hope, right, Zain. I -- I'm not sure that I would share that optimism. I think -- well, first of all, there's obviously a

sense of betrayal on the part of Hamas, given that Hezbollah has disassociated itself from the fighting there.

It doesn't preclude an agreement in Gaza, but I don't think it makes it any easier, frankly. I think that the goals there are a little bit more

complicated for the Israelis. There seem to be far more grandiose objectives there that would seek to completely disarm and defeat Hamas, as

opposed to what they just agreed to right now in Lebanon, which is far more pragmatic, obviously, which is to sort of degrade significant capabilities

as well. But keep it, obviously, as a force inside Lebanon, with still a good number of weapons, obviously.

[12:40:23]

The objectives in Gaza are a little bit more complicated and a little bit more ambitious, therefore, that might reduce the chances of something

similar to much as out there we'd love in all right now.

ASHER: Yes. Degrade and completely destroy Hamas. A lot of people are saying, or questioning, if that's ever even possible. But the idea of

degrading Hezbollah and weakening Hezbollah, they've obviously achieved that to some degree.

Bilal Saab, live for us there. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

All right. The prospect of a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, without a similar deal for Gaza, is leaving many Palestinians feeling

abandoned. One of them gave his response earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today, as people in Gaza, or me as a citizen in Gaza, amongst others, also hope for official negotiations to end the war in Gaza,

because today, our people are living in famine. Children today are in the streets begging for food because they can't find anything to eat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza says the death toll has climbed above 44,000 since the war began with the Hamas terror attacks on

Israel over a year ago. Almost all of Gaza's two million population has been displaced.

Adding to the misery, heavy rain has flooded makeshift tent encampments. The U.N. says that more than 450,000 displaced people are staying in flood-

prone areas. And winter, of course, is going to make the situation much, much worse on the ground.

All right. Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan is urging his supporters to fight to the end after thousands of protesters broke through

barricades around Islamabad. Pakistani police fired tear guests to disperse the crowds and blocked roads to try to prevent them from pushing through.

The protests are led by Khan's party, which he says is being held on politically motivated charges.

CNN's Mike Valerio has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For earlier today, protesters actually entered the city limits of Islamabad. And notably, our CNN team on the

ground, reported seeing soldiers guarding Pakistan's parliament as well as the country's Supreme Court building.

So how we got here, exactly, we have the former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who a couple of days ago issued a clarion call to his supporters from jail.

He's incarcerated right now. And he said, hey, I need you, supporters, to march on parliament and call for my release. And that is exactly what is

happening or what the protesters want to happen. That's their objective.

So the first demand that protesters, followers of Imran Khan, are asking for, they want the release of the former prime minister and the release of

people whom they deem, quote-unquote, political prisoners.

The second demand that these protesters have, they want the repeal of a constitutional amendment, Pakistan's 26th constitutional amendment, which

makes it a little easier for the government to pick superior court judges and pick those judges for cases that involve political matters.

The third demand that protesters have, who we're seeing in these images, they are calling for a return of their, quote, stolen mandate. There were

elections nationwide in February and protesters, the followers of the front former prime minister are saying, you know, essentially our party did

extremely well in these elections. And we won seats that have been denied.

So they are calling for seats that they think are rightfully theirs to be awarded to them.

So the government Prime Minister Sharif, he rejects those claims and he's calling for more talks with people who adhere to the party of the former

prime minister.

But what we have seen are swaths of Islamabad that are without cell phone service from time to time, without internet service as well, giant

blockades, giant barricades of major thoroughfares in and out of Islamabad that have been put up to try to prevent protesters from coming into the

city.

So the main question, how many protesters will amass inside the center of the city? Will they perhaps make it to parliament? And how long can this go

on with a city that has more than a million people?

Mike Valerio, CNN, Seoul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: All right. Holiday travel is in full swing across the U.S. Millions of Americans are expected to hit the sky or the road this Thanksgiving. The

warning travel experts have the travelers just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:45:18]

ASHER: Thanksgiving travel across the U.S. expected to be one for the record books. AAA estimates that nearly 80 million people hit the road or

the sky over the Thanksgiving holiday. Today is one of the busiest days for air traffic with 50,000 flights.

The FAA warning travelers, the ongoing air traffic controller shortage could actually impact their flights as well. And impacting your wallet is

actually the cost of those flights.

A new U.S. congressional report shows that airlines have pocketed billions of dollars by charging for so-called junk fees that include things like

extra legroom and carry-on luggage as well.

CNN's Pete Muntean joins us live now from Reagan National Airport just outside of D.C.

So, Pete, I mean, obviously, this is going to be a very, very busy one. Just walk us through what travelers can expect, especially given some of

the winter travel advisories. Just the cold air coming through, the snow storms that we're seeing coming through this week as well.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: We are off to an early start, Zain, but so far, it is a relatively easy one.

Here at Reagan National Airport, this is the Terminal 2 North Checkpoint. It's taking people about 10 to 13 minutes, according to the TSA, to get

through the main security line. You're a little bit less if you have TSA pre-check.

Just check FlightAware, the cancellations and delays remain relatively low for right now. But the FAA is warning that that could change as the day and

the week develops.

The big problem is the FAA staffing shortage that it is facing for air traffic controllers. One of the biggest pain points is in Newark, New

Jersey. That's a major hub for United Airlines. It's one of its biggest international hubs for flights going between the East Coast of the U.S. and

to Europe and beyond.

So far, the FAA says it has tried to move the responsibility of that airspace from Newark to Philadelphia, but there have still been some

issues.

The FAA says it has a pipeline of about 28 air traffic controllers to fill the void there. And FAA Chief Mike Whitaker is warning that there could be

ground stops and delays because of the staffing shortage at airports nationwide.

And I want you to listen to him now and this warning that he gave previewing this Thanksgiving travel rush.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL WHITAKER, FAA ADMINISTRATOR: These initiatives keep the system safe and people should know that safety is never at risk. If we are short on

staff, we will slow traffic as needed to keep the system safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: The FAA says ground stops and ground delay programs could be put into effect because of weather today in San Francisco, because of low cloud

ceilings, also because of high winds in Las Vegas, low cloud ceilings in Boston.

In fact, an initiative would just put into place there causing some flights to be delayed and there could be problems, of course, in Newark, in New

York, LaGuardia and New York's JFK.

[12:50:00]

So a big sprawling impact here and people are not out of the woods yet. 2.8 million people anticipated to be screened by TSA at airports nationwide

today, even bigger tomorrow, 2.9 million people.

Really fits in the theme, Zain, of so much interest and travel right now. The TSA says the top 10 busiest days for the TSA in history since it's been

around for the last 22 years have all occurred in 2024.

ASHER: And this is why I'm staying at home. I'm not going anywhere. I'm avoiding those long lines at the airport behind you.

Talk to us about this new Senate report basically calling out airlines for the billions in dollars that they're raking in in so-called junk fees. I

mean, obviously you want to choose a seat on an aircraft, there's a fee for that. You want extra leg room, there's a fee for that. You want to check in

a bag, there's a fee. Those fees are so annoying as any sort of frequent traveler will tell you. What more can you tell us about that, Pete?

MUNTEAN: This is something that the airlines really started to do in NASA about 10 years ago, they call it unbundling. So taking the things that you

would typically get with a ticket and making it something that you have to pay extra for.

And this new report from the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations says that airlines raked in about $12 billion over a five-

year period when it comes to charging you extra for seat selection.

In fact, some ultra-low-cost carriers like Frontier Airlines even go as far as incentivizing their employees, paying them extra, paying them bonuses to

try and get you to pay for carry-on bags.

If you're trying to skirt their rules for carry-on bags, the airline -- Frontier Airlines, in particular, will give some of their employees $10 to

nab a passenger. Really sort of a far and wide-reaching investigation here ahead of what is to be a Senate hearing on this sometime next week.

Of course, airlines love this because they get to pay -- get paid extra by employees, by passengers rather, and when their employees catch people,

they say it's effectively like catching them stealing.

ASHER: Gosh. OK. On that note, Pete Muntean live for us there. Thank you so much.

All right. Nearly everyone enjoys a leisurely walk now and then, but these folks are taking it to the extreme. Wait until you hear how high these

climbers are. This story, coming up after a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:55:01]

ASHER: All right. China's newest tourist attraction is certainly not for the faint of heart. Just take a look at the Sky Ladder in southwest China's

Hunan province. It's basically a ladder that stretches between two cliffs at the height of 5,000 feet or 1,500 meters. There are handrails and a

safety harness if you're actually brave enough to set foot on this.

And just as a side note, the top of the world's tallest building, Dubai's Burj Khalifa, is only about half as high as the Sky Ladder. There you have

it.

All right. I wanted to give you a quick update on our breaking news story out of the Middle East. We are still waiting for Prime Minister Benjamin

Netanyahu to speak on the proposed ceasefire deal with Hezbollah. He is expected to give a televised address soon.

The Israeli security cabinet is meeting right now. We're going to bring you the Prime Minister's comments as soon as he begins speaking live here on

CNN.

All right. That does it for this hour of ONE WORLD. I'm Zain Asher. Appreciate you watching. "AMANPOUR" is up next. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END