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Syria And Russia Step Up Strikes On Rebels; Israeli Minister: Israel Should Not Allow Lebanese To Rebuild Homes Near Border; Israeli Minister: We're Enforcing Ceasefire, Not Violating It; Syria's White Helmets: Civilian Under Fire Again; U.S. President Joe Biden Pardons Son Hunter Biden In Criminal Cases; Donald Trump Plans To Replace FBI Director With Loyalist Kash Patel; New Technology Aims To Turn Desert Sand Into Fertile Soil. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired December 02, 2024 - 10:00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:00:13]
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to what is the second hour of CONNECT THE WORLD. For a special edition of the show, coming
to you live from the COP16 summit in Riyadh, in Saudi Arabia.
At this conference, the talk is all about fighting desertification and land degradation. Fitting debate for the Arab lands of the Middle East affected
by the devastating impact of drought.
But it's not just relevant for this region, it is important for every country battling climate change, because land loss sits at the heart of the
climate and biodiversity crisis. All of this is linked. It is not merely a consequence of climate change, but rather, a driver of it, which explains
the title of this event, this year: Our Land, Our Future.
More on that coming up. I want to stay in this region and focus on a reignited conflict in Syria.
CNN is hearing that Syrian and Russian jets are stepping up joint strikes on opposition forces in the northern part of the country. Syria's volunteer
rescue group, the White Helmets, says air strikes on Sunday have killed dozens of people.
This comes in retaliation for the sudden offensive that has cost the Syrian regime control of the country's second largest city, Aleppo. Rebel forces
also say they are expanding their control across the country. They claim they've made significant gains in the northern countryside of Aleppo,
capturing several towns and villages there.
The rebels' lightning success, posing the biggest challenge to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in years.
Well, my next guest is a Syrian activist, very well versed on what's happening in the country. He wrote recently, "When the dust settles, one
question will remain above all: who will fill the vacuum left by the weakening of the Iranian axis and Russia's distraction with the war in
Ukraine? Can the U.S. or Turkey do much to influence events? The answer will shape not just Syria but the broader Middle East for years to come."
Well, Ibrahim al-Assil is a political scientist and Middle East scholar. He is also a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C.,
and it is from there that he joins me live tonight.
And I'd like to pose those questions to you, Ibrahim, but first, let's take a step back and set the scene. How did all of this what we are seeing today
and in the past few days unfold?
IBRAHIM AL-ASSIL, SENIOR FELLOW, MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE: Thank you for having me. It was really a major shock what happened inside Syria, because
while it's not the first time that rebel groups enter a city in their opposition fighting against Bashar al-Assad, but it's the first time that
we see the regime forces imploding inside Syria. It's the first time that Bashar al-Assad gets broken and defeated, not only in the eyes of the
opposition, but in the eyes of his loyalists and supporters.
The scenes of the -- of the Syrian rebels going into the city of Aleppo was a major shock for many Syrians and many observers. Aleppo is an incredibly
diverse city. It's a huge city that's rich with culture. And what happened wasn't only a battle, it was a game changer.
ANDERSON: What do you make of Turkey's role in all of this?
AL-ASSIL: Turkey has a major role in what's happening inside Syria. And if we talk in the geopolitical terms, Turkey looks at Syria and see that the
role of Iran is declining inside Syria, and there is a vacuum.
And from Ankara's perspective, this vacuum will be either filled by the other Iranian militias, probably coming from Iraq, the Kurds, the Syrian
democratic forces, backed by the United States, or probably other actors on the ground.
And that's why probably Turkey, at least, gave the green light for such an offensive to go and push against Bashar al-Assad.
Turkey, over the last few months, tried to reach out to Bashar al-Assad to start some negotiations, but Assad had the condition that all Turkish
forces need to leave Syria before such negotiations take place.
[10:05:05]
And probably that's why Turkey wanted to pressure Assad to go to the negotiation table.
ANDERSON: And what of Russia's role briefly, their aircraft reportedly being used in support of the government's attacks on Rebels on the ground.
AL-ASSIL: Of course, the Russians are overwhelmed with their own conflict in Ukraine, but they do need to support their ally, Assad. It's -- he is a
major asset for them.
However, this is not only about fighting on the ground. This is also about diplomacy, and we're going to see lots of talks between the Russians, the
Turks, the Iranians, and possibly the United States.
ANDERSON: You argue that the United States cannot remain silent on this. Explain your view, if you will.
AL-ASSIL: Absolutely. So, the United States intervened in Syria, mainly to fight the Islamic State ISIS in the northeast of Syria. And today, the
United States needs to assert its support for the Kurds in northeast Syria. It should not, I think, intervene in any intra Syria fighting between
different factions.
However, it needs to support their -- its Kurdish allies so they remain inability to actually fight ISIS. So, ISIS doesn't get an advantage of
what's going on and reemerge in the Syrian scene.
ANDERSON: Ibrahim, I'm here in Saudi Arabia, which, of course, backed the opposition at the outset of the conflict, only to join other Gulf and Arab
countries more recently, in bringing Assad and Syria back into the fold.
Now I just wonder how you assess the position and indeed role of the Gulf countries and other Arab countries in Syria's future, particularly given
the fact that we are seeing Islamists in support of the opposition on the ground.
Islamists, of course, no love lost between those groups, and indeed, Saudi Arabia, for example, the UAE.
The architecture of this region is moving very rapidly. As how do you assess the position and role of these other countries now and going
forward?
AL-ASSIL: Right. That's a great question, Becky. So, the answer is two- fold. First, on the regional level, I understand that many regional actors, they do want to see Syria a stable country. They do want Assad to stop the
smuggling of the Captagon outside of Syria to Jordan and then into Saudi Arabia.
They want to see refugees being able to go back to Syria, from Jordan, from Lebanon and from Turkey.
However, I also want to stress on the Syrian dimension itself and how all of this started around 14 or 15 years ago. Syrians do want to see a change
in their own country, and we do have an international base for this, the United Nations Security Council 2254. That calls for a transition and calls
for a credible non-sectarian government inside Syria.
And I do see an opportunity here. While Assad lost Aleppo, and now, there is a talk about what kind of battle we will see in Aleppo, there is a
solution for Aleppo to remain neutral.
I do believe that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the rebels, should be pushed out of Aleppo, but Aleppo should not be handed back to Assad and his Iranian
backers. Probably, Aleppo could be a start point to resolve the Syrian conflict by keeping the city neutral and allow Aleppans themselves to
govern the city on a daily basis without being part of any military side in this conflict.
ANDERSON: Your insight and analysis absolutely crucial, as we continue to monitor the very latest from Syria. Sir, thank you very much indeed for
your time.
Well, meantime, a far right, Israeli minister says that Israel should not allow residents of southern Lebanon to rebuild homes near Israel's border.
Speaking to CNN affiliate Khan on Monday, Israel's finance minister said many houses that were destroyed had been used for military purposes.
Well, right now, many Lebanese displaced by Israeli bombardment, and many remember were displaced into Syria, some of them returning to their homes
across Lebanon.
It's less than a week into a cease fire between Israel and Hezbollah, although, Israel has carried out several strikes in Lebanon since that
truce took effect.
[10:10:01]
CNN's Clarissa Ward is in Beirut, Jeremy Diamond is in Tel Aviv.
And Jeremy, I know that you've spend some considerable time in the north recently. I'll come to you momentarily. Let's start with you, Clarissa in
Beirut. What is the sense where you are over what has to be described as a very tense truce?
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, as you say, Lebanese leaders have been ringing the alarm bell regularly about what
they perceive to be almost daily cease fire violations on behalf of the Israelis.
And there is certainly a lot of anxiety, particularly, when you look at what's happening in Syria as well, that this is a fragile and fraught cease
fire at best. And yet, people here, for the vast majority, are so desperately hoping that it holds. As of now, thousands of the 1.2 million
who were displaced have returned to their homes, but there are many who are not able to.
The IDF has placed an order that about 60 villages really close to the Israeli border are still forbidden. No one is allowed to return to those
areas. They have issued regular warnings, telling people not to go to those areas, and warning them that they could be putting their lives in danger if
they do so. There has also been a curfew in a number of these areas from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.
Again, as you see the beginning of what I would call a sort of delicate dance, a highly choreographic -- choreographed transition that will need to
take place over the course of the next 54 days, whereby, Israeli forces would pull back from their positions in southern Lebanon, whereby
Hezbollah's forces would pull back from their positions to at least 25 miles from the border, north of the Litani River, and whereby, the Lebanese
army will start to take control and to ensure that Hezbollah does indeed pull back from those areas.
So, that's a lot of moving parts, a lot of things can go wrong. But as I said, the fervent desire of the vast majority of people here in Lebanon is
that the cease fire will continue to hold.
Obviously, it's been a tremendously difficult couple of months for people here, not just in terms of the cost, in terms of lives, nearly 4,000
people, but also in terms of the economic cost, Becky. Lebanon's economy already beleaguered, now battered, according to the World Bank. More than
$3 billion worth of physical damage to buildings and structures and more than $5 billion in economic losses that have been incurred during this
kinetic period of the last two months.
So, very much a desire for that cease fire to hold, but it is a fraught and a lot of tension as people wait to see how it will unfold. Becky.
ANDERSON: Clarissa, thank you.
Clarissa is in Beirut, where the time is just after 10 past five.
Jeremy, apologies, you are actually in Jerusalem. I introduce you as being in Tel Aviv today. But you're in Jerusalem.
Israel has been accused of 52 alleged cease fire violations so far. It, though, has maintained its position on Hezbollah retaining its right it
says, to act against the group despite the cease fire being in place.
Now, the U.S. and France, as I understand it, urging the Israeli government to stick by this truce. So, what's the strategy here? Can you explain?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the strategy is based on a few things. I mean, first of all, the Israeli government is trying to show
Hezbollah that this is not going to be like the 2006 cease fire, in the sense that this cease fire agreement is not going to be one that's going to
allow Hezbollah to re-infiltrate southern Lebanon and pose a threat once again to Northern Israel.
And as the second part of it is that it's a political message that they are sending to the residents of Northern Israel who, as you were noting, I
spoke with earlier last week, and who have been extremely skeptical of this agreement and of Israel's ability to enforce this deal.
And indeed, that is what the Israeli government is claiming. They are claiming that these violations, as they are being called by the Lebanese,
by the French and who are watching what is happening in the region, they are insisting that these are strikes designed to enforce this cease fire
agreement to go after Hezbollah violations in southern Lebanon.
But of course, you know, that is belied also by the fact that these strikes have not just taken place south of the Litani River, but also north of the
Litani River, where the Israeli military has conducted several air strikes as well.
[10:15:11]
I mean, just yesterday alone, the Israeli military acknowledged that it carried out several strikes on military vehicles near what they described
as a missile manufacturing site, and also taking out several other Hezbollah militants that they said were posing a threat to Israel from
positions in southern Lebanon.
And ultimately, I think this is also going to come down to whether or not these attacks by Israel are something that Hezbollah is going to be able to
let slide, because they have been so weakened by months of war in Lebanon, by those Israeli strikes that have taken out a significant portion of their
arsenal, or whether they are going to view these strikes as the other parties in this agreement seem to as violations of this agreement, and
decide to begin firing rockets once again, which would effectively crumble this truce altogether.
The Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said that Israel is not violating the cease fire, but enforcing it rather, and also disputing these recent
claims from France that these are amounts of violations of this agreement.
But certainly, a very fragile truce, and one where this, you know, U.S.- led, monitoring mechanism is really going to be tested. There is no question that the United States had an understanding that Israel was going
to carry out some strikes when it perceived immediate threats to its security. It's not clear to me whether the U.S. perceived or expected that
Israel will carry out the number of strikes that we have seen them take action on so far, and whether or not the United States is also going to
step in and tell Israel that this is simply too much. Becky.
ANDERSON: It's good to have you. Thank you very much indeed to both of you.
Well, Gaza's hopes for a cease fire, remain dead locked despite renewed U.S. efforts. Health officials say Israeli air strikes there killed at
least 200 Palestinians in the north, the weekend, with 14 members of one family killed in a single strike.
This, as U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees says that the humanitarian crisis has become, "unnecessarily impossible". It says it has halted aid
deliveries through the main crossing point between Gaza and Israel after more aid trucks was stolen.
Well, U.S. President Joe Biden has said that in the final weeks of his presidency he wants to lead another push to get a cease fire in Gaza and
bring the hostages' home.
On Friday, photographs from reporters traveling with the president showed Mr. Biden leaving a Nantucket bookstore with the title, "The Hundred Years'
War on Palestine" by U.S. historian, Rashid Khalidi.
The book's publisher says the book is a landmark history of 100 years of war waged against the Palestinians.
Well, still to come, policy makers NGOs and other key leaders from around the world have gathered here in Saudi Arabia. Their focus, restoring land
lost to degradation. A closer look at the issue that is impacting every continent on the planet.
Plus, the Saudi envoy for climate says the loss of fertile land is a problem that hits close to home for his country, and the Gulf Kingdom wants
to set an example when it comes to finding a solution.
More of my sit down with him is just ahead.
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[10:20:55]
ANDERSON: Welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson, live in Riyadh, where today the United Nations kicks off a nearly two-week long conference.
It's a triple cop year. Remember, we've already had the big climate COP in Baku. We've had a biodiversity COP in Cali, in Colombia, and this month,
the focus here in Riyadh is dealing with the loss of fertile land across the globe, a key issue in regions on every continent, including here in the
host country, Saudi Arabia, which is home to one of the largest deserts on the planet, the Rub' al-Khali,
And for the first time, the U.N. is putting a price tag on the cost of restoring the world's most degraded land, saying at least $2 trillion needs
to be invested by the end of this decade. That is a billion dollars a day.
Let's take a look at what got us to this point.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON (voice over): Desertification, a deadly, silent scourge affecting regions on every continent. Left unchecked, it risks undermining Earth's
capacity to sustain humanity. That's the view of the U.N., which says globally, about 40 percent of once fertile land around the world is already
degraded. The result of climate change, drought, and poor land management.
A further 100 million hectares is lost every year. That's equivalent to two times the size of Greenland.
Conflict, forced migration, social cohesion, and the simple ability to feed the world's growing population are what's at stake if the problem is not
addressed?
Saudi Arabia, post of COP16 has made restoring the world's degraded land and holding back its deserts, a focus of its vision 2030, economic plan.
The Kingdom has committed to grow 10 billion trees in the nation, and another 40 billion across the region through the Middle East green
initiative. That's the equivalent of restoring 200 million hectares of land, and it has urged the private sector to play a greater role.
The message from the hosts is that land restoration is not only an environmental necessity. It makes business sense too. The U.N. says, for
every $1 invested, up to $30 is generated in economic activity. And for the first time, the Riyadh conference features a green zone, a space for
business, finance institutions, NGOs, scientists, and impacted communities to come together to forge new alliances to tackle the problem.
U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said, "We depend on land for our survival, yet we treat it like dirt." The agreements made here at this
land cop will go a long way to show if that statement remains true today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON (on camera): Well, earlier, I spoke with the Saudi minister of state for foreign affairs and climate envoy about this growing problem, and
why he says it is so important to address it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ADEL AL-JUBEIR, MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, SAUDI ARABIA: We are seeing major degradation of land, almost 100 million hectares a year. That's the
equivalent the size of Egypt is being degraded every year.
When you have land degradation, you have the reduced ability to produce food.
[10:25:03]
Which means you have more migration as people move towards areas where they can grow food, which means conflict, which means extremism, terrorism,
violence, migration, which in turn, have an impact on the politics of other countries, domestic politics. So, it impacts every person on the globe.
The land degradation also has a negative impact on carbon storage. Earth is one of the major basins for storing carbon naturally, the more it's
degraded, the less ability we have to do so. The more we restore land, the more carbon we are able to remove from the atmosphere.
The issue of land degradation is also important, because the ability to finance it should be a no brainer. For every dollar that we spent restoring
land, we can generate up to $30 in profit.
ANDERSON: How significant is it to you that this is the first time the land COP has been held in the Middle East?
AL-JUBEIR: Very significant. Our region suffers from lack of water, our region suffers from lack of plants, our region is suffering from increasing
temperatures, and we want to reverse this trend. We want to set an example. We want to lead this effort. We want our region, as well as the world to
focus on the importance of dealing with this issue, and the fact that this issue is not limited to desert countries or countries in the Middle East or
in North Africa.
This is an issue that has an impact on everybody, just like climate does, just like water does.
ANDERSON: Why do you think it is that there hasn't been as big a focus on the issue of land loss? It could be that people focused on climate maybe
they were focused on political grandstanding, emotional discussions. But from our perspective, this is a life and death matter for everyone, whether
you live in Sweden, whether you live in South Africa, whether in Australia, whether in Saudi Arabia. This is something that is critically important to
us, and we need to be able to fix this.
ANDERSON: At COP28 in Dubai, a year ago, Saudi agrees, albeit at the 11th hour, alongside the rest of the world, to transition away from fossil
fuels. Last month, in Baku, the kingdom is accused of walking back that commitment by ensuring the words fossil fuels weren't included in the
texts.
As we sit here ahead of COP16, the land COP, what do you say to critics who accuse Saudi of turning its back on climate progress?
AL-JUBEIR: I say, look at our actions. We have more than 80 initiatives domestically that deal from waste to energy, water recycling, planting of
trees, redesigning our cities. And we have committed more than $180 billion in order to fund these invest -- these investments and these initiatives.
We have adopted a pragmatic, practical problem-solving approach, non- emotional, non-political. We are not about grandstanding, we are about tackling this challenge and dealing with this challenge.
So, you will not find hypocrisy in the Saudi position. You will find facts.
ANDERSON: What many are finding is confusion, though the Saudi representative, saying at the climate conference, and I quote Albara Tawfiq
here, the Arab Group will not accept any text that targets specific sectors, including fossil fuels.
AL-JUBEIR: Yes, I think the key specific sectors. We Have -- when you look at pollution, for example, you have energy, you have transportation, you
have agriculture. How often do people discuss or argue about agriculture or industry? No, they don't.
Other countries, in the West, in particular, half the population does not want oil and gas production. The other half wants more oil and gas
production, and none of them want higher gasoline prices.
To me, this is hypocrisy. Contradiction in Saudi Arabia, a barrel of oil generates a fraction of the carbon it does produced in Western countries.
We are one of the largest investors in the world in solar, in hydro, because we believe that the future demand for energy cannot be met by
producing more oil.
There's a limited -- there's a limit to how much you can produce, but there is no limit to how much energy the world needs, because you have more
countries developing that need energy for development, and you have in developed countries, the need for more energy because of artificial
intelligence and because of data centers. Where is this point to come from?
ANDERSON: So, this is not Saudi Arabia walking back on its commitment to transition away from fossil fuels, a commitment it made in Dubai in 2023.
[10:30:01]
AL-JUBEIR: I believe that our position has been very clear. Since the 1980s, we have said that the world needs to find alternative sources of
energy besides oil, because oil is a finite resource. There's only so much of it, but the demand for energy will continue to grow.
ANDERSON: So, what will success look like at the end of COP16 in Riyadh?
AL-JUBEIR: Our objective is to ensure that people are aware of the importance of dealing with land, reversing land degradation, restoring
land, the importance -- the fact that it's all interconnected with climate, with air, as well as with oceans, the fact that this issue has a direct
link to security and stability globally.
So, it's much easier to restore land and generate stability in a particular part of the world than to deal with the consequences of not doing so in the
beginning.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Adel al-Jubeir speaking to me earlier.
Well, conflict of times caused by land loss and desertification, of course, which creates food insecurity and can lead to conflict. It's still
dominating the headlines here in this region, the civilian toll mounting quickly from a sudden eruption in the Syrian civil war. More on that after
this.
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ANDERSON: Welcome back. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky Anderson. The time here in Saudi where we are today is 6:30 or at least it
is in Riyadh here.
New video emerging from Syria's Aleppo province after large parts of it were taken in a swift surprise rebel offensive. The video purports to show
armed men in possession of Syrian government tanks, which have been abandoned.
Well, the Assad regime caught on the back foot by the rebel advance, but it has stepped up air strikes on rebel positions, with the help of Russia's
military strikes on Idlib, reportedly killing more than a dozen civilians today.
My next guest has been dealing with the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Syria for years now since he started the country's long running Civil War
back in 2011. He is a member of the Syrian opposition humanitarian group, the White Helmets, and he wrote, "After eight years of forced displacement,
we've returned to Aleppo, 65 volunteers risking their lives to serve their people despite the Syrian regime's renewed attacks on civilian areas. Our
teams worked tirelessly to comfort and support those affected."
[10:35:13]
Well, Khaled Khatib is a filmmaker and media coordinator for the Syria Civil Defense group -- rescue group, also known as the White Helmets. And
he joins me now from Aleppo. How are you today?
KHALED KHATIB, MEDIA COORDINATOR, SYRIA CIVIL DEFENSE: Hello and thanks for having me. So, actually, I'm very well today, but like for the situation in
Aleppo and in Idlib is very terrific, because our team like documented many attack that target the civilian areas and also hospitals in Idlib. And like
by this targeting the city -- the humanitarian situation, like, started getting very difficult because the people who have been -- OK.
ANDERSON: Just describe what's been going on over the past, what, 72 hours or so, and what it is that your team has been dealing with?
KHATIB: OK like a -- OK, after the last escalation that happened in in Aleppo and Idlib, like we received many calls about emergencies, especially
in Aleppo city, and following the drawing of the Syrian regime there from the city. They start to target the civilian areas in Aleppo.
As they -- as the Syrian regime did many times in Democrats past, into '17, '13, '14, '15. So, they used to start bombing all the areas that they left.
And this is what -- this is what is going on right now in Aleppo, like our team has, like successfully intervened the city after two days, and we
secured 65 of our volunteers to operate there.
And like we responded to two big massacres that took place in Idlib and Aleppo, sorry. And the problem like that targeting -- the airstrike target
the Aleppo Hospital University, which was the only hospital that was trying to operate again. And that like mean there is no hospital or healthcare
functioning in Aleppo city.
So, that's why our team start to transfer the injured people and also the sick people from Aleppo to Idlib. And today the situation --
ANDERSON: Khaled, let me just stop you for a moment. Let me just stop you for a moment, Khaled. Just how surprised have you been by these latest
developments? After all, this is a more than decade long war that your group has been, you know, very much at the heart of for so many years,
despite many thinking it was over, it clearly is not at this point. Just how surprised were you about the events of the past few days?
KHATIB: Actually, it was like, of course, very surprising, because, like, we have like me and my colleagues at the White Helmets and many like
civilians from Aleppo and different cities, we felt -- we displaced from there forcibly. And we -- like it was a dream for us to get back to our
home, and especially for the displaced people who are living in camps for years, who are living in an adequate like places, who will -- who has,
like, a luck to reach the essential services.
So, it's surprising that they are -- like there is a hope for them to get back to their home again and but unfortunately, at the same time, we are
still afraid about what's going on, about the potential for more massacres that the Syria regime will committed as they did today. It's surprising how
they still like targeting the civilians' areas, and especially, let me talk about today what happened in Idlib.
Because, like, the targeting of the hospitals there made the situation in the whole area more worse. Because, like, can you imagine about the ability
of the injured people. How can they survive when there is no like more hospitals to transfer them to and --
[10:40:18]
ANDERSON: Yes, Khaled, (INAUDIBLE) describing what has been going on in the ground in Idlib and in Aleppo. Khalid, thank you. We'll have you back.
We've been looking, as you speak, at the images that you've sent us from the work that your group is doing on the ground.
As I say, you seem to be as surprised as anybody else about the events over the past couple of days, and we will continue to monitor those. Thank you,
and we will take a very short break, back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: With his term in office winding down, U.S. President Joe Biden has delivered a bombshell announcement doing something that he found he
would never do. He has issued a full and unconditional pardon for his son Hunter.
Sunday's pardon spares Mr. Biden's son from a potential prison sentence for his federal tax and gun convictions.
Now, in a statement, the president said in part, "No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter's case can reach any other conclusion that
Hunter was singled out only because he is my son." And that he said is wrong.
CNN's Arlette Saenz following President Biden on his trip to Luanda in Angola. The president is in Africa. There is no doubt, though, that his
presidential pardon somewhat overshadowing that trip.
President Biden said no reasonable person would not agree with him, and that's not necessarily the case, is it? And this is to a degree split the
Democratic Party, perhaps a more obvious response from Republicans, but certainly there is a divide as far as Democrats are concerned as to whether
this was the right thing to do, correct?
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there is, Becky. Republicans were very quick to criticize President Biden's decision to
pardon his son Hunter Biden. But what's more interesting is the split that we've seen among the Democratic Party. There are some who have criticized
the president for putting his family ahead of country.
But there are other Democrats who are siding with President Biden. One example is former Attorney General Eric Holder, who said that he also
agrees with the president that if Hunter were any other person than President Biden's son, that these charges that he had faced would not be
brought against him.
Now, for President Biden's part, the decision to issue a full and unconditional pardon for his son, Hunter, really marks a stunning reversal
as he had vowed repeatedly that he would not pardon his son, Hunter.
[10:45:05]
But ultimately, the president reaching that decision to go ahead and move forward with the pardon over the weekend as he huddled with his family in
Nantucket, Massachusetts for the Thanksgiving holiday. I'm told that the president decided to call a meeting with his senior staff once he returned
to the White House on Saturday night to inform them of their decision that the president personally wanted to relay this statement on Sunday and asked
his team to start preparing for that, which they did on Sunday morning.
But for President Biden, he has said that he is approaching this decision as a father and that he believes that the charges against his son were
politically motivated.
But this is certainly going to overshadow the president's trip here to Angola, at least the very first part of it as President Biden is preparing
to become the first U.S. president to visit Sub-Saharan Africa since 2015. There are lots of issues he wants to tout, including major investments in
infrastructure. But many questions will be following the president as he comes here to Angola about the pardon of his son, Hunter.
ANDERSON: Well, the time is 4:45 in the afternoon. Arlette, thank you.
Unsurprisingly, Donald Trump was quick to react to this news. He posted on Truth Social calling the pardon a, "Miscarriage of justice and asked if the
pardon would include his own supporters who attacked the U.S. Capitol on January the 6th."
Now, it is notable that Donald Trump himself hadn't actually ruled out pardoning Hunter Biden himself in a radio interview in October, he said
that that is not off the table.
And it wasn't a quiet weekend in Trump world. Despite it being Thanksgiving, the president-elect picked fire brand loyalist Kash Patel to
lead the FBI. Those close to Trump argued that Patel was the only choice to truly reform the bureau.
Also, this weekend, Trump saying he would require countries that are part of the BRICS group of emerging economies to not create a new currency, or
else face 100 percent tariffs during his administration. Let's get more details now.
Alayna Treene joining us live from West Palm Beach in Florida. And the missives are coming, and we are still two months out from this new
administration. January the 20th seems a long way away, but not in Trump world. We've got more threats and more picks. Alayna, what's the -- what's
the current atmosphere there in West Palm Beach, Florida?
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, I will say, Becky, that Donald Trump moved swiftly to fill out his cabinet and really top roles for his second
term, and now the focus is really shifting to how to get these people confirmed, but also some of the policy priorities that he's going to have.
You mentioned the BRICS statement and his threat of more tariffs. We also saw him issue a tariff threat to both Canada and Mexico just last week,
which actually prompted the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to fly to Florida on Friday, dine with Donald Trump and meet with him in person to
talk over some of that.
But look, there's a lot of conversation behind the scenes as well going on about this pardon in particular that Joe Biden has made particularly
because many people close to the former president, now president-elect, are arguing that this is an example of their claims that Joe Biden has
weaponized the justice system against Donald Trump and against their opponents.
And what I've been hearing in my conversations with those on the transition team is that essentially they view this as an opening now to really gain
more public support to carry out Donald Trump's agenda, including this idea of disrupting many government agencies and reforming places like the FBI,
and that's what he's hoping to do now with his new pick Kash Patel, who announced he wants to be the next director. Becky.
ANDERSON: Good to have you.
Still to come, we are looking -- and our world is tackling land degradation here, what is known as the land cop COP16 in Riyadh this week.
And buzz here, circulating around a new type of soil that is forever fertile with a surprising ingredient. More on that is after this.
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[10:51:09]
ANDERSON: Well, I'm here at COP16. It's known as the land cop in Riyadh, where the issue of land degradation is absolutely front and center -- and
center. And a core pillar of the conversation here this week is about soil. We know we need to act, and people here are trying to find solutions. Some
of them might come from surprising places.
Here with me now is Himanshu Mishra, who is an associate professor of environmental science and engineering at King Abdullah University of
Science and Technology, and co-founder of the Saudi startup Terraxy. Am I pronouncing that correctly?
HIMANSHU MISHRA, CO-FOUNDER, TERRAXY: Yes.
ANDERSON: We've been talking over the past couple of hours about a hundred million hectares of what was once fertile land being degraded annually.
That is the equivalent of the size of Egypt being degraded annually. We are talking about land that was once fertile becoming impossible to use and
impossible to live on. What are you doing at the university here to combat that?
MISHRA: Becky, thanks for having me. What my students and I have figured out is a way to convert sandy soils with a focus on Arab regions, hot and
dry regions.
ANDERSON: Like this.
MISHRA: Like this, like the Middle East, Northern Africa, into forever fertile soils. We have developed a technology called CarboSoil, which when
added to sand, turns and renders it fertile for hundreds of years.
ANDERSON: What's at the heart of this? Tell our viewers.
MISHRA: Before I tell you how this works, let me tell you what are the problems with sandy soils. They are really poor at holding on to nutrients
or water.
Now, when we add CarboSoil to this, sandy soils, CarboSoil acts as a sponge for the nutrients, and as a result, plants, they grow better, bigger, they
are more resilient.
Now, contrary to compost or peat moss, CarboSoil does not degrade, so it stays there for very, very, very long time.
Now, we make it. Currently, we are making it from chicken manure, which comes from local poultry farms, which is the pin point for waste generators
and waste handlers. We convert that into a very stable form of carbon that doesn't degrade. This is the total value proposition.
ANDERSON: I'm going to use the term, this is chicken shit, isn't it?
MISHRA: Yes.
ANDERSON: Which is providing a solution to some of the world's most important problems, because without this soil, the land is degraded, food
insecurity, leading to conflict, leading to migration, leading to problems all over the world. What happens here and the solutions that we find here
can have an impact all over the world.
MISHRA: You are absolutely right. Soil is paramount to our existence, and we can make CarboSoil, not just from chicken manure, but also from date
palm leaves, from green cuts, from crop residues, from cow manure, etcetera. All streams of organic waste that are relatively dry, the energy
to produce CarboSoil comes from the waste itself. Now, where did the energy come in the waste?
Well, all the organic waste originally comes from plants, and plants grow by capturing carbon dioxide.
[10:55:04]
ANDERSON: We are all about solutions here on CONNECT THE WORLD on CNN, we've talked about the solutions at the big COP climate summits. We've
talked about solutions at the biodiversity loss cops, and we're talking about solutions here, solution cost money.
The public sector knows it has got a pony up. The private sector not yet as involved as it might be. Do you believe that at a meeting like this, you
can generate the sort of private sector cash that can ensure that a billion dollars a day is used to try and find solutions? That's a lot of money.
MISHRA: Great question. As you know, when you go around in Riyadh, there's a lot of construction, massive, mega, giga scale greening, urban greening
projects are going on.
Saudi Arabia right now imports about point two million tons of peat moss every year just to amend the soils to grow plants for planting trees,
landscaping, parks. King Salman Park is going to be seven times Central Park of New York.
Now, with CarboSoil, we can turn the table. Instead of importing a very carbon emitting peat moss, I can use my chicken manure from landfill to
produce CarboSoil, lock the carbon and grow the plants beautifully, which is a premier market.
ANDERSON: That chicken, let's call it manure, makes business sense as far as you are concerned. It's one of the solutions being talked about here.
Thank you very much indeed for joining us. +
MISHRA: Thank you.
ANDERSON: We'll see you here, same time, same place tomorrow. Good night.
MISHRA: Thank you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
