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Quest Means Business
US Secretary Of State Blinken Speaks In Tel Aviv; Egypt: Negotiators Pushing For Truce Extension; US Urging Israel To Protect Civilians In Southern Gaza; U.S. Secretary Of State Antony Blinken Speaks In Tel Aviv; U.S. House Debates Expulsion Of George Santos; How AI Can Combat Climate Change. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired November 30, 2023 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ANTONY BLINKEN, US SECRETARY OF STATE: The prime minister and members of the war cabinet agreed with the need for this approach. We discussed the
details of Israel's ongoing planning, and I underscore the imperative for United States that the massive loss of civilian life and displacement of
the scale that we saw in northern Gaza not be repeated in the south. As I told the prime minister, intent matters, but so does the result.
At the same time, Hamas has choices, too. Hamas could immediately release all of the hostages it holds. It could stop using civilians as human
shields and stop using civilian infrastructure to stage and launch terrorist attacks.
Hamas could lay down its arms, surrender the leaders who are responsible for the slaughter, the torture, the rapes of October 7th. Hamas could
renounce its stated goal of eliminating Israel, killing Jews, and repeating the atrocities of October 7th again and again and again.
Meanwhile, everyone around the world who cares about protecting innocent civilians, innocent lives, should be calling on Hamas -- indeed, demanding
of Hamas -- that it immediately stop its murderous acts of terror and deplorable use of innocent men, women, and children as human shields.
In our meetings with Israeli leaders here and in Jerusalem and Palestinian leaders in Ramallah, we discussed our continued focus on preventing the
conflict from spreading -- whether to the West Bank, to Israel's northern border, or to the broader region.
I raised our deep concerns about steps that could escalate tensions in the West Bank, including extremist settler violence and proposals from parts of
the Israeli coalition government to further expand settlements. I made clear our expectations about addressing these issues.
We also focused on what we can -- what we must do now to prepare for the day after the conflict, to create the conditions for a durable and lasting
peace, building on the principles that I set out a few weeks ago during the G7 meeting in Tokyo.
Breaking out of the cycle of violence, the cycle of conflict, ensuring Israel's enduring security demands improving the lives of Palestinians in
Gaza and the West Bank in immediate, tangible ways, and providing them with a credible path toward their legitimate aspiration for statehood.
In our ongoing conversations with Israeli, Palestinian, and Arab leaders, we'll discuss practical steps to make real a just and lasting peace and
what each of us is prepared to do to help achieve it.
We have no illusions this is going to be easy. We will surely have disagreements along the way.
But if we're going to move forward on practical steps toward lasting peace, lasting security, we have to be willing to work through those
disagreements, because the alternative -- more terrorist attacks, more violence, more innocent suffering -- is unacceptable.
That is why the United States is here and we're leading toward this goal.
With that, happy to take some questions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The first question goes to Humeyra Pamuk with Reuters.
HUMEYRA PAMUK, SENIOR FOREIGN POLICY REPORTER, REUTERS: Hello, Mr. Secretary.
BLINKEN: Good evening.
PAMUK: You've just said US is urging Israel to ensure the protection of civilians before starting its operations in southern Gaza. I'm wondering --
you've talked about what you made clear to Prime Minister Netanyahu and the war cabinet, but what concrete and specific assurances have you gotten from
them, if any? Based on what you heard from them today, are you confident Israel will follow the international laws of war in southern Gaza when it
resumes its military operations?
My second question is you and others in the administration have repeatedly said that United States wants to see a revitalized Palestinian Authority to
rule Gaza and the West Bank. So could you tell us what exactly the US vision is for a revitalized PA? And does it include a reshuffle in the
leadership? Thank you.
BLINKEN: Right. Thanks, Humeyra. So as I said, we made clear the imperative that before any operations go forward in southern Gaza that there be a
clear plan in place that puts a premium on protecting civilians, as well as sustaining and building on the humanitarian assistance that's getting into
Gaza. And the Israeli government agreed with that approach.
There are concrete steps that it's not appropriate for me to detail here tonight that we know and we heard can make -- ensure, to the best of
anyone's ability, that that happens. It's obviously challenging, given the particular conditions that Israel has to deal with in getting to Hamas and
making sure, again, that it can't represent the threat that it posed on October 7th.
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But again, Israel understands the imperative of protecting civilians, the imperative of the humanitarian assistance, and we'll continue to work to
ensure that that carries forward in practice.
And again, as I said to the prime minister, to the war cabinet, intent is obviously where you start and it's vitally important. And I'm very
confident in the intent, but results, of course, are fundamentally what matters.
With regard to the Palestinian Authority, we've said -- and indeed, I had an opportunity to discuss today with President Abbas -- the need for
reform, the need to revitalize, to revamp the Palestinian Authority so that it can most effectively meet the aspirations of the Palestinian people and
deliver for them. There are a number of things that go into that including, for example, reform so that it more effectively combats corruption, that it
engages and empowers civil society, that it supports free press and open media, and a number of other things.
Leadership choices -- these are, of course, up to the Palestinian people and Palestinians themselves. But there are a number of things that we think
would be critical to making sure that, again, the Palestinian Authority can be effective in helping to advance the aspirations and the needs of its
people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For the next question, Tal Shalev with Walla.
TAL SHALEV, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, WALLA!: Secretary Blinken, reportedly there are disagreements between you and the Israeli government
about the way forward regarding the timetable. Is there a time limit from the US point of view on the operation -- on the continuation of the
operation in Gaza?
And another question. There are about 140 hostages still left in Gaza. Many of them are reportedly severely injured, and yet the Red Cross hasn't yet
visited them. Can you clarify if this was indeed included in the agreement? And if it was, why isn't it being implemented, and why is Israel pressured
to continue to expand the humanitarian assistance to Gaza while the Hamas does not let humanitarian access to our hostages?
BLINKEN: Thank you. First part of the question -- we support, continue to support, will continue to support Israel's efforts to do everything
possible to ensure that Hamas cannot repeat the horrors of October 7th. And that means, among other things, that Hamas cannot remain responsible for
governance in Gaza and it cannot retain the capacity to repeat those attacks.
How Israel does it, those are decisions for Israel to make. But as I've said, we also believe it's very important that, in engaging in that effort,
the way it does matters, makes a big difference. And as we've just discussed, the imperative of putting a premium on protecting civilians and
ensuring humanitarian assistance flows into Gaza is something that is vital to us and something that the Israeli Government agrees with.
On the hostages, I'm not going to get into any of the negotiations or any agreements. But clearly, it would be very beneficial and important for the
Red Cross to have access to hostages, to be able to check on their well- being and condition.
Having said that, of course, none of that should be necessary because there shouldn't be any hostages in the first place. That horrific part of what
Hamas did on October 7th is something that we are dealing with now every single day.
The positive development is, as I said, we're now completing the seventh day where hostages have been returned to their families. And that's a very
positive and powerful thing. It's something that we want to see continue.
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And Hamas should release everyone right now. But in the absence of doing that, and as this process, I hope, continues, yes, it would be very good
for the Red Cross to have access and to see them.
The question of humanitarian assistance is something fully apart from Hamas or the hostages, because this is about innocent men, women, and children in
Gaza. They're not Hamas who desperately need the aid, who desperately need the help.
Conditions in Gaza are very, very, very difficult and severe. And the need for the most basic things -- for food, for water, for medicine, for fuel to
make sure that people can have clean water, that they can have sewage systems that work -- that's absolutely essential and imperative.
And as I said earlier, particularly as we head into winter, we're already seeing the potential for disease outbreaks because, for example, of a lack
of potable drinking water. So this is an imperative. It's an imperative because it's the right thing to do. It's an imperative because it's the
necessary thing to do.
And again, I come away convinced from my discussions with the Israeli government that they fully not only understand that, but believe that and
will act on it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Vivian Salama with The Wall Street Journal.
VIVIAN SALAMA, NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. I know it's been a long day, so apologies for the
bundle of questions.
Hamas is believed to have released the vast number of women and children that were in its captivity. So what assurances, if any, do you have that
Hamas might be open to releasing male hostages? And on the flip side of that, is Israel prepared to agree to the conditions set out by Hamas on
that?
Separately, President Biden has signaled that he -- that the U.S. is prepared to issue visa bans on what he described as extremist Israeli
settlers. What is the status of that?
And forgive me -- one last one on India. Federal prosecutors on Wednesday charged India -- an Indian national in a murder-for-hire scheme targeting a
Sikh separatist and activist in New York who's a US citizen. According to the indictment, the assassination plot was organized by an Indian
government official.
The US charges come shortly after Canada. Canada's prime minister said that an Indian government -- the Indian government participated in extrajudicial
killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil. Are you concerned that India is turning to tactics that violate international human rights law to
silence its critics around the world? Thank you.
BLINKEN: Thanks, Vivian. So three -- not bad. All right.
SALAMA: Shorter than usual.
BLINKEN: But yes, nice and concise. So on the release of more hostages, look, I can't speak to Hamas' views or its intentions. I can tell you that
for the United States, for Israel, for other countries who have their citizens being held captive by Hamas, clearly, we want to see this process
continue, move forward. We want an eighth day and beyond so that people can be returned to their families. And that applies to all hostages, whatever
category they may happen to be in.
But it's also up to Hamas. And again, I can't speak to their intentions. I can say that I think this process has clearly been beneficial, and the fact
that so many have now been reunited with their loved ones and families is something we, I think, take joy in. But a lot of unfinished business, and
we're determined to finish it when it comes to bringing the hostages home.
With regard to extremist violence, all I can tell you is this -- we're looking to the Israeli Government to take some additional steps to really
put a stop to this. And at the same time, we're considering our own steps.
Finally, with regard to India, first, this is an ongoing legal matter. So you'll understand I can't comment on it in detail. I can say that this is
something we take very seriously. A number of us have raised this directly with the Indian government in past weeks. The government announced today
that it was conducting an investigation, and that's good and appropriate, and we look forward to seeing the results.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the final question goes to Qassam Al-Khatib (ph) with Asharq.
QASSAM AL-KHATIB (ph), ASHARQ NEWS: Good evening, Mr. Secretary. This is Qassam Khatib (ph) from Asharq News. My questions -- lots of discussion are
going on with your call to revamp the Palestinian Authority leadership. Do you consider that via free, fair election in Gaza, Jerusalem, and West
Bank?
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BLINKEN: So first, as a matter of basic principle, we support free and fair elections around the world, including, of course, for Palestinians. They
should have a right to choose their own leaders, and the way to do it is through free and fair elections. But that has to be a process, and it's
something that we need to be talking about as we move from the conflict to, as we've been calling it, the day after -- looking at what needs to happen
in Gaza, as well as the West Bank, but starting in Gaza particularly with regard to things like governance, like security, like rebuilding. And part
of that discussion needs to be about elections.
But again, it's a process, and it's something that work needs to go into in the time ahead.
AL-KHATIB (ph): (OFF-MIC)
BLINKEN: I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you.
AL-KHATIB (ph): (OFF-MIC)
BLINKEN: So again, we're focused right now on Gaza and the -- what we need to see happen in Gaza to make sure that there is governance that is
different from what it has right now, which is Hamas, that is has security, that it has rebuilding. All of those things are what we're focused on and
need to be focused on.
And as part of that discussion, we'll obviously look at the question of elections and when and how Palestinians are able to choose their leaders.
Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
BLINKEN: Thanks, everyone. Have a good evening.
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN HOST: Good evening everyone. You've been listening to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken there speaking in Tel Aviv following
meetings with the leadership of both the Palestinian Authority and the Israelis as well. He said in broadest terms, the focus has been on getting
more hostages out and getting more aid to Gaza.
He serves the elation of those family members who have been reunited with loved ones and also shares the sadness of those that are still waiting. And
they will not stop in their efforts to get them back.
He said on the aid efforts into Gaza, those efforts have meant more than doubling of the trucks entering Gaza, but clearly, it's still not enough.
And that work will continue.
He was pretty adamant whereas Hamas' return -- regards. He said they cannot remain in control in Gaza. That point was underscored by the attack at a
bus stop in Jerusalem today that Hamas celebrated. It killed three and injured seven.
He said and they continue to say that they support Israel's right to defend itself, but this was the key part, I think. He said, "The way it defends
itself matters."
He said measures must be taken to protect civilians before the war resumes. And that includes allowing displaced Palestinians back to the north those
that have been pushed south and protecting infrastructure, like hospitals. He says it's difficult, but it can be done.
And he said the Israeli government agrees he was pushed on what measures, perhaps, the Israelis have agreed to. He wouldn't give further details on
that. He also said that Hamas has choices, too. They can release the hostages. They can stop using civilians as human shields. He also talked
about the future in the building conditions for sustainable peace, but clearly, lack detail on just what that looks like.
In the meantime, today, two more Israeli hostages have been released so far. This is the moment 21-year-old Mia Schem was reunited with her family.
The French-Israeli citizen was kidnapped from the Nova Music Festival on October 7th. And sources close to those hostage talks say a total of eight
Israeli captives were to be released on Thursday. So we are awaiting word on the others, of course.
Now Matthew Chance is in Jerusalem for us. We got Ivan Watson in Beirut and Jennifer Hansler at the State Department for us, too.
Jennifer, I want to come to you first on what we heard the US Secretary of State discussing there in the comprehensive detail. Very clear that that
support for Israel's right to defend itself remains, but again, before the war restarts, concrete measures on better protection for civilians, that he
says the Israelis agreed to, too. If so, that would be a success from these meetings.
JENNIFER HANSLER, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT REPORTER: Absolutely, Julia. But we really saw Secretary Blinken hammering down on this idea of these
protective zones for civilians in Gaza before Israel resumes its military operation.
He said the Israeli officials made clear that they do intend to resume the fighting in Gaza once Hamas stops returning the hostages. And, of course,
we are on the brink of seeing this current truce come to an end unless a deal can be worked out by midnight. So it is incredibly important that
Blinken was there today delivering this message about the need to protect the civilians there in Gaza.
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One point he made particularly clear is that there could not be the same level of displacement of civilians in the south that we saw in the north.
This is important because the UN has said that 80% of Gazan civilians have been displaced in the past month and a half of fighting there.
We also heard the secretary suggests that they had discussed these concrete steps to protect the civilians, but he would not go into detail. And we
have seen the Israeli government, after past visits, come out and sort of completely contradict what Blinken has said publicly. So we'll be waiting
to see what the Israeli government says about their meetings here today.
But Blinken did meet with Netanyahu, he met with the war cabinet, and he met with the prime -- president, rather, Herzog. And then he also met with
Mahmoud Abbas there in the West Bank. And this was something else that Blinken brought up in his conversations with Netanyahu -- the need to crack
down on the Israeli extremists who are perpetrating violence in the West Bank.
He said that they are calling on the Israeli government to take further action there. And the US is also considering taking its own action to hold
those who are perpetrating this violence accountable -- Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yes, it's such a vital point, Jennifer.
Matthew, if I can bring you in on this point, too. Is that sort of emphasis that the Secretary of State made there when he underscored the point that
Hamas cannot remain in control? And he pointed to the violence that we saw where you are in Jerusalem and those that lost their lives at that bus top
attack, and that the fact that Hamas celebrated it. It's a very tenuous truce that's holding at this moment and moments of violence like this where
it underscores that the challenges of coming together, no matter just on this, but something more broader are highlighted when you see violence like
this.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, look, I mean, the two sides are so far apart in virtually every way. The fact that there's a temporary
truce in place right now, you know, is really a sort of miracle, that it's been unable to happen and has been going on for seven consecutive days.
Like Secretary Blinken was saying there, the hope is digging on for an eighth, for a ninth, for a tenth day as well to get as many hostages out as
possible. But the truth is -- I mean, an Israeli legislator has spoken to me tonight saying that he believes that we're close to the end of this
phase of the deal -- the phase in which women and children in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and a flow of aid inside to the Gaza Strip. That
phase, well, that's coming to an end.
And the process is underway -- the diplomatic process to try and sort of transition to the next phase, which is, inevitably, going to involve, if
not military action, then the release of some of the adult male prisoners, including Israeli soldiers.
And what Hamas wants, according to this Israeli lawmaker, is to reevaluate the equation, to recalculate the equation. At the moment, they're getting
three Palestinians for every one Israeli hostage that's released. They want to change that. They want a better deal than that.
Now, Israel has indicated it may be open to that kind of negotiation. But at the same time, it's also reiterating that what it believes will bring
Hamas to the negotiating table and to get the Israeli hostages out -- the rest of them -- is a return to military action or at least the threat of
military action.
And so Israel is sort of about being pretty categorical about this that they will resume that military activity inside Gaza Strip -- the Gaza Strip
as soon as this, you know, kind of pipeline of hostages out of the strip actually stops, or gets blocked, through whatever reason.
Now, you know, listening to Secretary Blinken there, there was plenty for the Israelis to take part in. You know, he spoke about how Israel have the
right to defend itself, how Hamas can't be allowed to continue to control Gaza and must stop using civilians as a shield. But, you know, make no
mistake, this was also a very clear warning from the United States about what Israel's next step should be -- to provide civilian protection before
returning to military action, making sure infrastructure and humanitarian aid flows are in place.
And also, you know, to allow the people who have left the northern -- the northern Gaza Strip to go back, there must be no enduring internal
displacement, he says. So this is, you know, the United States, essentially, a close ally of Israel basically telling its ally, this is
what we need you to do.
CHATTERLEY: Certainly. And also talking about the prospect of the role that the Palestinian Authority will play in the future as well, the need for a
revitalized, revamped, reformed Palestinian Authority in order to best represent the interests of the Palestinians, which we know Netanyahu,
himself, is unpalatable in terms of a ruling role in Gaza going forward, which makes the challenge of talking about the political solution in the
future is that much more difficult.
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Even with the challenges that Matthew was describing there, Ivan, with the current backdrop, the future right now deeply, deeply, challenging and
uncertain.
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is because if we do see a resumption of hostilities, if the truce expires and Israel goes back
on the offensive in Gaza with the presumed loss of life -- of civilian life that may follow, we can also assume that other fronts in the conflict will
be reignited.
In particular, here I am in Beirut. I'm talking about Israel's northern border with Lebanon where the combat continued for much of the last month
and a half on the Lebanese side, at least around 100 people killed -- the vast majority of them, Hezbollah fighters and also at least 15 civilians,
several among them journalists.
What this means is it just underscores how volatile not only the situation around Gaza and the West Bank are, but also on Israel's other borders and
against enemies of Israel that have far larger supplies of weapons and capacity to fight.
So far, though there has been cross-border contact and deadly battles -- essentially, artillery duels between Hezbollah and the Israeli military --
we haven't seen full-fledged fighting the likes of which we saw in 2006. And that is a scenario that I think everybody is conscious of not only the
Lebanese front, but other allied militias with Iran that can also pose a threat to Israel if the fighting resumes.
CHATTERLEY: For now, we're going to leave it there. Jennifer Hansler, Matthew Chance, and Ivan Watson, thank you for your wisdom tonight.
Nimrod Novik was a former policy adviser to Shimon Peres, the late Israeli president and prime minister. He's now a senior fellow at the Israel Policy
Institute, and he joins us now.
Sir, good to have you with us this evening. We can talk about what Secretary Blinken had to say. But what we know, I think, over the last 12
hours in particular is the extension of this truce was incredibly challenging, went down to the wire and hard fought for. If you are advising
this Israeli government at this moment, what would you suggest? Should they continue to try and perhaps give ground to extend the truce and get further
hostages out or can you see a pretty swift resumption to fighting into war in Gaza?
NIMROD NOVIK, FORMER FOREIGN POLICY ADVISER TO ISRAELI PRESIDENT SHIMON PERES: It seems that there is no debate inside Israel on this issue. If the
current formula of 10 hostages for 30 Palestinian prisoners continue, I think the government will go for it. The public is with it.
But apparently, beyond the next perhaps 48 hours, that's not on the card. And as we move from the humanitarian release of women and children to the
issue of men, Hamas seems to have presented unacceptable terms for -- from the Israeli perspective and, therefore, fighting is likely to resume.
CHATTERLEY: What should be the discussion at this moment? Because the hope from negotiators was at least that this truce would, in some way, lead to
discussions that would push on towards some kind of ceasefire.
What we heard from Secretary Blinken in the last 10 minutes was that Hamas has no place in the future for Gaza, which will, of course, please the
Israelis. But he was also talking about the role of the Palestinian Authority. And we've heard Netanyahu -- Prime Minister Netanyahu flat out
say that he doesn't want to see the Palestinian Authority in control in Gaza. What does a political solution look like when you hear the players in
the last few days saying things that are a great conflict?
NOVIK: I think that what we heard from Secretary Blinken is a sea change from what was the situation, on day one, the morning after of the brutal
slaughter of Israelis in southern Israel by Hamas. At that moment, it seemed that there's no daylight between the Biden administration and the
Netanyahu government.
And here, we are 54, 55 days later, and the secretary basically exposes two clusters of very important differences between the two governments. The
tactical that you mentioned and that he enumerated and accentuated, which is how does Israel conduct a war, the issue of protecting civilian --
innocent civilian lives, the humanitarian supply for those displaced and so on as well as settler violence, Jewish terrorism along the West Bank, that
has to be reined in.
But there was another cluster, a strategic one, that is to say the entire administration's strategy, both in terms of pacifying Gaza the morning
after and pacifying and moving the Israeli-Palestinian context writ large on the road to a settlement and the U.S. efforts that were stopped on
October 7th.
United, obviously, which is to resume forging a regional coalition to block Iran's regional meddling, all of those are, at the moment, stuck in
Jerusalem when the Israeli government says no to the two prerequisites for all three.
Which is that the Palestinian Authority governing the future, the governing entity on the West Bank, as well as in Gaza, and that it's all done in the
context of a peace process.
Without these two, the administration has heard in the region that no country could contribute to the post Gaza strategies absent answers from
these two in Jerusalem.
If I may conclude, when the administration says there is a need for these two, I say that when it is translated into Hebrew and Arabic, it means a
new policy in Jerusalem and maybe a new government.
CHATTERLEY: Certainly. Nimrod Novik, great to get your insights, there. Thank you so much for now.
Just in to CNN, Hamas has released a disturbing hostage video of Yarden Bibas. On Wednesday it said that his wife in young children were victims of
an Israeli airstrike. CNN has not verified that claim.
In a video that was likely made under duress, Bibas blames the Israeli prime minister for the deaths of his wife, his 10-month-old son, Kfir, and
his 4-year-old son, Ariel. The IDF called the video cruel and said it has not confirmed those deaths.
The U.S. House of Representatives is on the cusp of a historic move. Lawmakers there are debating whether George Santos will become the first
House member to be expelled in decades. The details, up next.
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CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
The U.S. House of Representatives is debating whether or not to oust New York Republican, George Santos. It comes after an ethics report found
substantial evidence that he used campaign funds for personal use.
Santos has resisted calls to resign so far but he says he will not seek reelection next year. The House has tried and failed to expel him twice
already. They will take a third vote on Friday.
George Santos meanwhile says he's being bullied. Sunlen Serfaty is in Washington, D.C., for us and tracking these talks. You can see Matt Gaetz
there, speaking, emphasizing there with his hand.
George Santos says he's being bullied. One of his Republican colleagues said he is toast this week. He has not actually been convicted of a crime
yet, let's be clear.
But are the votes there to expel him?
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Possibly. There is some real momentum, especially since that scathing health ethics report was
released a few weeks ago, that said he sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit.
That was a very damning report. And that on Capitol Hill really changed the minds of many Republicans in the House, who were hesitant at the two
previous efforts to expel him and voted against it.
Now we expect those Republican numbers are growing. But it is still an open question whether they will reach that very high bar tomorrow when they vote
on his expulsion. Two-thirds of the members of the House need to come together to vote to expel George Santos.
Now he says he expects to be expelled. He is making peace with that. But certainly there will be a lot of drama to watch for on the House floor
tomorrow, Julia.
CHATTERLEY: And we shall be watching. Sunlen, for now, thank you for that.
Now the COP28 U.N. climate summit kicking off today. One of the main topics at COP28 will be how technology can help lower carbon emissions. And one
company believes the solution lies in extremely hot batteries.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Batteries, they come in all shapes and sizes, from the AAA you use in your remote control to the lithium ion in
cars. And now there is this.
JUSTIN BRIGGS, COFOUNDER AND COO, ANTORA ENERGY (voice-over): Our thermal battery technology is basically a product that allows us to convert
renewable energy, like electricity from wind and solar power, into reliable energy for industrial users.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Antora Energy is a company building these huge batteries.
BRIGGS (voice-over): So this is part of Antora's manufacturing facility.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): The units store energy with heat reaching temperatures of 1,500 degrees Celsius.
BRIGGS (voice-over): That's basically what is happening inside your toaster. You run electricity through a coil and it heats up. We are just
doing that at a larger scale and at higher temperatures.
And we are able to do that in such a way that you can actually by deliver that stored energy either as heat directly or as electricity to an
industrial customer on demand.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): As the company scales up, opening a new manufacturing facility, the hope is that their technology can help solve a
critical global problem: industrial air pollution.
BRIGGS (voice-over) There is a mismatch there between the intermittency of wind and solar, which go on and off with weather, and the needs of a
factory.
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BRIGGS (voice-over): Which is on demand 24/7. So our thermal battery technology absorbs that intermittent electricity from wind and solar and
delivers around the clock with zero emissions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): According to the International Energy Agency, the energy used in the industrial sector is responsible for about
25 percent of CO2 emissions. Technology and innovation that can help reduce greenhouse gases will take center stage at COP28 in the United Arab
Emirates.
JAMIL WAYNE, CO-FOUNDER, RIFFLE VENTURES (voice-over): COP was not created for the tech innovation community, right?
And so on one hand, I think the tech innovation crowd is a little bit of a newcomer to COP. Technology is going to have to play an enormous role,
alongside behavior change, policy, et cetera.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): And that is what Antora Energy hopes to bring to the table.
BRIGGS (voice-over): We will be at COP this year. And historically heavy industry has been thought of as hard to decarbonize. And we really want to
show the world there's a way we can do that with technologies and products that exist today that is cost-effective to beat fossil fuels.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): As a COP28 embraces cutting edge technology, the hope is to transform the gray and smoky industrial skies
into vibrant green horizons, paving the way for a cleaner and more sustainable future.
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CHATTERLEY: That is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, up next, "LIVING GOLF."
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