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One World with Zain Asher

Syrian Army Withdraw From Strategic City of Hama; Lawmakers Weigh Impeachment Of President Yoon; New Image Of Suspected Gunman As Manhunt Continues; President Macron Set To Address Nation On Thursday Evening; Hegseth Vows To Fight Like Hell For Defense Secretary Job; Musk And Ramaswamy In Washington For Talks On Efficiency; Paris Flight Stowaway Back In U.S., Faces Federal Charge; Aired 12-1p ET

Aired December 05, 2024 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:32]

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: Syrian rebels capture a second major city as the conflict in the country intensifies. ONE WORLD starts right now.

Symbolic city of Hama. We'll hear from the White Helmets about the humanitarian situation in the middle of this conflict.

And authorities in New York continue to hunt the gunman who fatally shot a healthcare CEO. We'll bring you the latest details on the terrifying

attack.

Plus, the Department of Government Efficiency is now hitting the Hill. We'll discuss what plans Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have for Washington.

Hello, everyone, live from New York. I'm Bianna Golodryga. Zain is off today. You are watching ONE WORLD.

And we begin in Syria where the government is facing another major setback and a shift in power on the ground may be exposing cracks in the alliance

between the regime and its Russian and Iranian backers.

The Syrian army says it's withdrawing from Hama after insurgents broke through its defenses. Now Hama is a key city, one that's synonymous with

government brutality. It's also strategically important providing direct supply lines between Damascus and Aleppo.

Its capture marks the second major gain for Syrian rebels who launched a lightning offensive last week and seized Aleppo, shattering the stalemate

in a war that never formally ended.

CNN's Ben Wedeman joins me now live from Rome. And, Ben, just stunning developments happening, as I noted, lightning speed. Hama, the country's

fourth largest city, coming just days after rebels took over Aleppo.

Does it appear that the city of Homs is next in their sight?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It certainly does, Bianna. What we know is that it's just about 40 kilometers, a very short

drive from Hama, south on the M5 highway, to Homs.

And even though you mentioned that Hama is synonymous with the brutality of the regime in Damascus, of course, because of the 1982 massacre there by

the father of Bashar Assad, Homs o in terms of strategic importance is far greater than Hama.

Homs is basically where, if you're driving north from Damascus and you want to go to the coast, you go to Homs and you go take the highway west from

there. And, of course, the coast is where the Alawite minority, to which Bashar al-Assad belongs and which dominates the government in Damascus,

that is its homeland.

So if the rebels managed to take Homs, and Homs has a Sunni Muslim majority that obviously is not well disposed toward the regime in Damascus, that

could really spell the end for the regime of Bashar al-Assad, because it would effectively not only cut off Damascus from the coast, but essentially

it would mean that the sort of the axis of resistance, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Hezbollah, that link would be cut, that land bridge would be cut.

So, really, the fate of Homs will really determine where this current offensive is going. If the government manages to restore a sort of get its

forces back in order and actually maintain control of Homs, then perhaps the regime can survive.

But if it loses Homs, it's a very questionable how much longer it can continue to function. Bianna?

GOLODRYGA: The regime seems rather unstable as we speak right now, troops withdrawing from Hama, as we mentioned.

Ben Wedeman, thank you so much.

Let's turn now to Farouq Habib. He is the deputy general manager of the White Helmets, a volunteer rescue group in Syria. And he joins me now live

in Istanbul. Farouq, thank you so much for taking the time.

First, let me just get your reaction, given that this is a conflict and a region you know quite well, as to how surprised you are at the speed with

which the rebels have conducted this insurgency, now capturing two major Syrian cities.

[12:05:03]

FAROUQ HABIB, DEPUTY GENERAL MANAGER, WHITE HELMETS: Hi. Thank you for having me. Well, everybody was surprised with the speed, but nobody was

surprised that the opposition would do a military operation and the regime will not be able to stand against it without international backers.

The situation was already boiling. 5.1 million people in Northwest Syria were trapped for years and the world forgot about them. 3.5 million of them

were internally displaced people from the other governorates, from Homs, from Hama, from Eastern Ghouta, from Madaya, all these areas which the

regime, with support from Hezbollah and the Russians, few years ago besieged and then gassed with chemical weapons and forced those communities

to flee north.

They were just eager to return and with the devastating earthquake which had the area last year and the sharp humanitarian funding cuts this year,

it just made the life impossible for people.

People now look at opportunities. People are eager to return to their homes and that. And every day we see very inspiring stories of brothers who

haven't met each other for years, mothers who haven't met their children for a decade and now families are getting united.

But, of course, the people are still worried from the change on the ground, worried from because of the aerial bombardment of civilian areas, worried

because there are no guarantees about how the day after will look like and how the armed groups which captured these areas now will proceed with a

political settlement.

GOLODRYGA: As we know, this is a conflict that has lasted for over 13 years. The past four years has been somewhat of a frozen conflict. Now we

see the fighting once again ensue.

Over these last 13 years, we've seen hundreds of thousands killed, murdered, 13 million people displaced, and a lot of concern, not just as to

the nature of these rebels and their actions on the ground, but the Syrian government, the brutality of Bashar Assad's government and forces as well.

Are you surprised then, given that and given their history, that his forces have just left the city of Hama without putting up much of a fight?

HABIB: Well, back between 2015 until 2019, when the regime conquered these areas by force, it wasn't the regime alone. There were tens of thousands of

fighters from Hezbollah and from Iranian-backed militias, from Iraq and Afghanistan. And also, Russia was fully available to support the regime and

burn everything.

But currently, Because Hezbollah took big hits by the -- by the Israelis and Russia is busy in Ukraine, the regime does not have its backers on the

ground. And most of the soldiers, they are poor young men who were conscripted under the obligatory military service law.

So they are -- being soldiers in the Syrian army does not mean that they are loyal to the -- to the Assad regime. They are not prepared to fight and

die for this dictator. So they just -- most of them lay down their arms and run away or join the opposition.

But, of course, there is small percentage of the loyal base to the regime, especially those who were involved already in the war crimes over the past

decades. They tried to fight, but they couldn't.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. And as you note, I mean, since Russia's invasion in 2022 of Ukraine, Russia has withdrawn many, most of its forces there from Syria.

HABIB: Exactly.

GOLODRYGA: And thousands of Hezbollah fighters have been killed in the ongoing fight between Israel and Hezbollah, which is at its tentative

ceasefire right now.

It is notable that the current leader of Hezbollah says that they vowed to stand beside the Syrian forces there in the Syrian government amid this

rebel advance, but there's a big question as to whether this is just bluster and lip service, given that they don't actually have the fighters

that they can send in this time around.

Farouq, how many of your colleagues are there on the ground in Syria, in these major cities, that can report back to you what they're seeing in

terms of civilian casualties, in terms of any humanitarian crisis that has been developing? We know that hospitals have been bombed over the course of

the last week, and of course, the cold winter days are soon here.

[12:10:09]

HABIB: Of course. We have more than 3,000 members of the White Helmets volunteers who are already working in Northwest Syria in areas of Idlib and

Northern Aleppo. Most of them, they were actually displaced from the other parts of Syria.

So when they had access to Aleppo, immediately from the second day, our colleagues were originally from Aleppo, returned to Aleppo and started

serving their communities.

As of today, we have four teams operating in Aleppo City and all of them from members of the city who were displaced back in 2017. And same applies

now to Hama. We have prepared two teams from Hama. Sons and daughters will return in a couple of days to Hamas to resume the service delivery to the

people there.

This humanitarian situation is definitely dire, as I said earlier, because of the bombardment of a decade, the earthquake, the cut in humanitarian

assistance, so people already in miserable conditions, but we're trying to do everything possible.

First thing we're doing, opening the roads and removing the rubble of destruction. We are also burying the dead bodies. There are tens of dead

bodies on the ground. And so now we have buried more than 240 dead bodies, most of them from regime soldiers and some for civilians.

We have to bury them in dignity, document everything, and hopefully one day we will return their bodies to their families.

Also, we are working to clear the unexploded ordnance. Sadly speaking, some civilians who couldn't wait to return to their homes, died when they

arrived because of the landmines and the unexploded ordnance. So it's big responsibilities on all fronts.

At the same time, we have to maintain service delivery to the population in Aleppo and Hama. Huge work to be done. But we are hopeful that this is a

momentum for Syria and for the world. Because if we succeed and the international community help the Syrian people to stop the aerial

bombardment and push the political solution under Security Council Resolution 2254 to be implemented, this is -- this is the time for the IDPs

and the refugees to return to their hometowns.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. U.N. Secretary-General Guterres, just moments ago saying that tens of thousands of civilians are currently at risk in Syria.

Farouq Habib, thank you so much for your time. Thank you for keeping us informed as to the humanitarian crisis that is unfolding in Syria now. We

appreciate it.

HABIB: Thank you. Thank you.

GOLODRYGA: Well, at this hour, the president of South Korea's -- the president of South Korea's future is in doubt. Even though the parliament

blocked Yoon's -- President Yoon's martial law decree within hours, President Yoon faces treason charges and an impeachment vote as soon as

Saturday.

CNN has also learned that a third of the Democratic Party's lawmakers are staying in the parliament night and day, just in case martial law is

declared once again.

The leader of the party telling CNN, at first, he didn't believe the president would even make such a declaration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEE JAE-MYUNG, LEADER, DEMOCRATIC PARTY (through translator): My wife suddenly showed me a YouTube video and said, the president is declaring

martial law. I replied, that's a deepfake. It has to be a deepfake. There's no way that's real.

But when I watched the video, the president was indeed declaring martial law. Yet, I thought to myself, this is fabricated. It's fake.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: One politician, as you see, tried to enter the National Assembly, but the military actually blocked her. She told CNN she felt like

the last line of defense. So, what did she do? Well, she grabbed the soldier's gun and yelled, aren't you ashamed?

When night fell, the protest turned into a candlelight vigil to condemn the president's actions and demand that he step down.

Mike Valerio is following the story from Seoul. A dizzying 48 hours, Mike. You've been in the thick of it. Parliament preparing to vote on impeaching

President Yoon as soon as this weekend.

We know the opposition needs at least eight of the 101 legislators from President Yoon's own party to back the bill for it to pass with the

required supermajority --

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right.

GOLODRYGA: -- of two-thirds.

Does it appear that they have the votes right now?

VALERIO: The votes may not be there. And that is the drama that now inhabits the National Assembly. Are those votes going to be there? Are

members of the president's party going to cross over and say, you know what, what happened was totally unacceptable and we need to put country

before party? That's what we are hearing essentially from the opposition lawmakers who are hoping that is the scenario that plays out.

[12:15:21]

So we may have impeachment be blocked, Bianna. And if that happens, if those eight votes do not materialize, expect scenes Saturday, Sunday, into

Monday, coming out of this bureau, of protests that are stretching throughout Seoul, of thousands and thousands of people coming together to

say what we witnessed Monday night going into early Tuesday morning is not where South Korea is going to be in the 21st century and is not what they

want to hearken back to in terms of authoritarian rule and martial law, what we saw in the '60s, '70s and into the late 1980s.

So there's the impeachment bucket right there. Is he going to resign? Probably not. Bianna, we have new reporting from the president's office

when they came out with a new statement, seemingly justifying what the president did.

I'm just holding up the statement right here. They came out and they said that this declaration of martial law was, quote, a measure to regulate

political activity, which his critics would say, OK, you're going to declare martial law to regulate political activity?

That is what happens in a dictatorship. In a democracy, political activity is not regulated by calling in the military to run the government and to

control civilian life. The statement goes on to say, all of these measures were taken within legitimate framework, which the opposition also disagrees

with. So seems as though he's not going to resign because that justification was put out.

And then finally, Bianna, the third bucket of where we could go, what we want to talk about, police charges. We hear at CNN, we're able to confirm

today that the president is facing an investigation from Seoul's National Police, the division that deals with investigations on a national level,

into treason allegations.

So he still has several years left, about three years left of his term. Investigations like this usually take a long time, but conceivably, if he

does escape impeachment, if he doesn't resign, could he be facing prison?

That is certainly a possibility that could manifest itself, but there's a lot of moving parts that are in play here over the next couple days,

months, potentially years ahead, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: He'd be in long company if he did end up going to prison, as has been known for several of his predecessors. Interesting so far, the only

major member of his cabinet to resign at this point is the defense minister. And we'll continue to follow this developing story.

Mike Valerio, thank you so much.

Well, New York City police are still searching for the suspect in what officials call a brazen targeted attack against healthcare executive, Brian

Thompson.

Investigators are tracking down a number of leads right now, including these newly released photos of a person of interest unmasked inside a

hostel in New York City's Upper West Side.

Now, the motive behind the deadly shooting is unclear, but Thompson's wife told NBC News, there had been some threats against her husband.

CNN's Mark Morales joins us now live from New York. And, Mark, this morning we got more indication as to specific language found on the shell casing

from the gun, discharged from the gun and the shooting from the suspect.

But the fact that they have now released these very clear images of the suspect seemed to be the most revelatory of all of the details we're

learning thus far.

MARK MORALES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTER: Bianna, that's right. And what this really shows is two things. The first is that this investigation is

intensifying, and the second is that they are clearly closing in.

Now, it's 24 -- it's over 24 hours later, and you've got a massive group of detectives and officials at the NYPD that are combing through everything.

They're looking through all sorts of videos and any sort of images that they can find to not only backtrack to see where he came from, but to see

where he went after this shooting.

And through the course of all those investigations is how they came upon these images.

Now, just to put this in a little bit more perspective, investigators were able to trace him back to a hostel in Upper Manhattan and determine that he

had been staying there for a period of time before the shooting happened.

And it was there after they went and they searched and they started going through all the images and videos that they determined that he was there,

but wearing a mask for most of that time. Except for one instance, and that's where these images are coming from.

[12:20:03]

There's one instance where he wasn't wearing that mask, and that's where you see the smiling face that was just put up by the NYPD not too long ago.

And this is really significant, because now that there is -- now that his photo is out there, now that people can see his image, now that it's been

widely released, you get the opportunity for people that were on the street, maybe somebody at a store or anybody else that might have seen him,

to recognize him. And this creates even a larger flood of tips, which just decreases massively his ability to escape.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. Someone who may have seen him, someone who may know him actually coming forward and alerting authorities as well.

And so chilling to see that picture of him with that smile on his face, that smirk just moments before he shot someone in cold blood there outside

of a major New York City hotel.

Mark Morales, thank you so much.

And coming up for us, France plunged into political chaos with the police now walking a -- with the president now walking a fine line. Who will he

pick as the nation's next prime minister now that Michel Barnier has been ousted?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GOLODRYGA: Well, less than two hours from now, French president, Emmanuel Macron, is set to address a nation already in political and economic

turmoil, now dealing with the collapse of its government.

Prime Minister Michel Barnier handed in his resignation earlier today after arriving at the Elysee Palace.

According to the presidential office, he will stay on as a caretaker until a new government is appointed. The prime minister lost a vote of no-

confidence on Wednesday after far right and far left lawmakers joined forces to oust him.

CNN's Jim Bittermann joins me now live in Paris.

Jim, strange bedfellows coming together in what was the first successful no-confidence vote in France in over 60 years. We're expected to hear from

President Macron in just a couple of hours. Any word on the message he will be delivering?

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think for one thing, he may be very critical of those strange bedfellows, because

going into this, he consulted with all the political parties is where -- we heard rumors to the effect back in September when he picked Michel Barnier

that he went to Marine Le Pen of the far right and that she said, oh, yes, that would be OK. Michel Barnier would be okay.

But she was one of the leaders of the opposition yesterday that brought down this -- the Macron handpicked government.

[12:25:06]

So he's going to be critical, I think. And he's going to have perhaps a message to the French about what he thinks of the fact that his government

has fallen. He's going to be talking about the consequences, I think, for one thing, about what's going to happen next, what's going to happen on the

financial markets if a new prime minister is not named.

Now, he could also, and this is what a lot of people are speculating about today, he could also name Michel Barnier's successor.

There have been a number of names floated around today. A lot of people saying -- well, political commentators are all saying, he's going to name

somebody quickly in order to avoid more turmoil on the financial markets and that sort of thing.

It's not clear that he'll do that, but he will see in an hour and a half or so exactly what his tone is going to be one of criticism or one of creating

something for the future with a new prime minister name. Bianna?

GOLODRYGA: Yes. President Macron took an extremely large risk when he called for a snap election back in the summer and it clearly has backfired

now. We will be paying close attention to his comments once they begin.

Jim Bittermann, thank you so much.

Well, coming up for us, the billionaires who want to shave billions off the U.S. federal budget. A look at what Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk are

telling lawmakers today on Capitol Hill.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:30:06]

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

Well, as of now, Pete Hegseth is still Donald Trump's choice to be U.S. Defense Secretary, but no one seems to know how long that will last.

Hegseth has a series of meetings today with key Republican senators. And sources tell CNN that Trump thinks there is still a path for Hegseth to get

confirmed despite allegations from his past of excessive drinking and mistreatment of women.

Hegseth appeared confident and combative after Trump told him to keep fighting for the job of Pentagon Chief.

Let's bring in CNN's Stephen Collinson with more on this. Critical 24-48 hours here for Pete Hegseth as he's meeting with Republican senators. They

just need four, really, to say that they will not confirm him to blow this up.

What are you hearing, specifically from the likes of Joni Ernst, who herself served in combat and also was the victim of sexual violence?

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Well, Ernst is a very important figure in this because she's widely looked to by Republicans in

the Senate as an expert on military affairs. And she's also potentially a replacement nominee for the Defense Department if Hegseth doesn't make it.

She hasn't said what was the outcome of their meeting, but significantly, she didn't come out and say, yes, I'm going to support Hegseth. So people

are reading a lot into that.

I think it's pretty clear that there are enough senators who don't want to vote for Hegseth and don't really want to hear him in the New Year, which

could turn into a real circus, that his nomination is in trouble.

But right now, he retains the support of the president-elect, although we know from experience that loyalty often is a one-way street with Donald

Trump, so it wouldn't be a surprise if more revelations come out to see the president-elect cast him aside and look for someone else, I think.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. He took the worst right out of my mouth with Donald Trump. Loyalty really is a one-way street. We saw the backlash to his nomination

of Matt Gaetz. Matt Gaetz ultimately withdrew his name. We don't see Pete Hegseth doing that just yet, and instead telling reporters that he has the

backing of Donald Trump.

But this comes as we've heard numerous outlets reporting that the former president is already looking at other names, in particular the governor of

Florida, Ron DeSantis.

How serious is the possibility of Ron DeSantis actually supplanting Pete Hegseth here as his nominee?

And we're looking at live pictures here as you see.

COLLINSON: Well, it would -- it would certainly be a fascinating appointment, given the bad blood that flowed between DeSantis and Trump

during the primary campaign for the Republican nomination. And, of course, DeSantis is seen as a possible successor to Donald Trump in the 2028

Republican campaign.

You'll recall though, about eight years ago, about this time, President- elect Trump, as he then again was, was talking to Mitt Romney, who turned out to be one of his biggest opponents in the Senate about the possibility

of becoming Secretary of State.

So sometimes the president-elect does these things to send messages to other people, but it would be extraordinary to see, not just Ron DeSantis

in the Trump cabinet, Marco Rubio, another suspected 2028 Republican candidate, has ordered him picked for Secretary of State. He has a very

easy path to the nominate -- to confirmation, I think, next year.

And then we have J.D. Vance, the vice president-elect, who is also seen as an heir to Trump and his selection by Trump as his running mate really gave

him a leg up.

So can you imagine how fascinated it would be if those three characters are all in the Trump cabinet, potentially all lying the 2028 nomination and

trying not to get on the wrong side of the President who doesn't really like to share the spotlight?

GOLODRYGA: Yes. That would be a reality show of its own, just seeing three personalities like that potentially clashing in no time.

Stephen Collinson, thank you so much.

Well, also visiting with top Republicans on Capitol Hill today, the two billionaires that Donald Trump has tasked with finding cost savings in the

U.S. government. Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have been tapped by Trump to lead the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.

It is a stark example of how America's richest president is being influenced by fellow billionaires.

And it is not just ultra-rich Trump allies who are trying to get in the ear of the president-elect. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and owner of "The

Washington Post," says he hopes to spend time with Trump convincing him that the news media are not the enemy.

And people close to Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, say he wants to play an active role in working with the Trump administration on tech policies. Even

though Zuckerberg has long had a frosty relationship with both Trump and Elon Musk. Mark Zuckerberg reportedly visiting Mar-a-Lago just last week to

spend time with the president-elect.

[12:35:12]

Time now for "The Exchange." Joining me is Lynn Sweet, Washington bureau chief for the "Chicago Sun-Times."

Lynn, it is good to see you. So two well-established businessmen, two billionaires going on Capitol Hill now, meeting before Republicans in an

effort to cut at one point, they were saying, some two trillion dollars from the federal budget.

But when you break things down, I mean, you take aside Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, entitlement spending, which by the way, these programs are

very popular with the majority of Americans.

Add to that, the defense budget, which is also very difficult to crack, you're left with just rounding noise at that point, Lynn. What do you make

of their pledge here?

LYNN SWEET, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES: Well, it's they are going to -- right now, they present themselves right as taking a

sledgehammer to a financial process where a scalpel might actually get more done.

But we'll know a lot more even in the next hour or so when House Speaker Mike Johnson is going to talk to reporters prior to his meeting with Musk

and Ramaswamy, because they are not a real government thing.

It's a voluntary group in order for them to get anything a substance and done, even with this slice of a budget where there is -- where you could do

something, all really depends on Congress acting.

They're also coming into a political landscape where they are not the ones who invented this crusade against government waste fraud and abuse. And

this is where someone like Senator Joni Ernst really figures in, who you just talked about in the last segment about the defense secretary. One of

her crusades has been looking for government waste.

And she posted just a short time ago that she's excited about hosting the first meeting of DOGE because she has a lot of ideas and she's put stuff to

paper.

So, you know, there's a lot of moving parts here, much easier said than done. A lot of the cuts may be more symbolic than meaningful.

GOLODRYGA: And it's not altogether, as you noted, an established government department either. I mean, we should just note the subcommittee head is

Marjorie Taylor Greene. So, how seriously are members of Congress really taking these two men at their work that they actually can get this much

done and cut without impacting everyday life for millions of Americans?

SWEET: Well, that's going to be hard. But let me put it another way, especially in the House. You have members who might be real MAGA today, but

tomorrow, if there is, let's say, office buildings in their district or installations in their district where leases may be canceled or federal

program that impacts their district, they will have a very different story to tell because one thing that transcends where you are in the political

spectrum is the sense that you cannot only not to deliver the goods to your district, but you can't prevent something being taken away.

So, you talked a lot about Social Security and Medicare right now. I think those are also the toughest programs to cut by law and by their popularity.

So, if you just go after some of this low-hanging fruit, you put -- you put the projects that Musk and Ramaswamy might want to cut and you do an

overlay of the congressional districts, that will tell you what your political problems may be moving ahead.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. And good luck --

SWEET: But beyond -- yes. Good luck. Everybody, right? That is against waste, fraud and abuse. It's just it's hard to find. It's often easy to

find one or two symbolic pieces that in the end don't amount to much in the accounting sheet, but have a really big value symbolically.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. It may sell well on a campaign, but when it impacts your local congressional district, that's a completely different story. Hence,

the good luck to cutting $2 trillion from the federal budget.

Let me ask you about the other main story in Washington today, and that is Pete Hegseth, his nomination for defense secretary, really hanging on the

balance now. These appear to be critical hours ahead. The president publicly saying that he still has his support. But as more and more

information comes out about his behavior, about his mismanagement of two nonprofit veteran groups that he ran, I mean, you have to remember that the

Pentagon is the largest bureaucracy in the country, one of the largest in the world, employing some three million people.

[12:40:16]

What are you hearing about the likelihood that can -- he can actually be confirmed at this point?

SWEET: Very difficult, not even up to Trump necessarily, because you can only lose three senators. I would look here to the women's senators, two of

them, you know, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski are known for their independence streak.

But let me say again, Joni Ernst is probably the one -- she goes, so goes the Senate. If in a sense she gets her answers satisfied, didn't seem so. I

saw some of the remarks she's been making, very skeptical, and she's on Armed Services, and she is a vet. So these are issues near and dear to her.

She has a lot of credibility on this, and yes, she has mentioned there's a possible replacement, but I would say, do not discount, as Joanie Ernst

goes, so goes this nomination.

GOLODRYGA: In the meantime, your reaction to possible other names floated. You mentioned Joni Ernst being one of them, so that must have made for an

awkward conversation between the two of them.

But Ron DeSantis perhaps. And there are some other senators whose names have also been put out there. I saw Mike Waltz --

SWEET: Right.

GOLODRYGA: -- who was appointed as his national security pick, national security advisor pick. Also his name has been thrown in the mix.

SWEET: Well, and as far as DeSantis goes, this reminds me of this oft- repeated saying in politics, there are no permanent friends or permanent enemies.

I think that's what we could apply in this case, because with the Florida governor, who does have some military experience, and he's run a big state.

Running the Pentagon is an enormous proposition.

So much money, so many personnel, so many moving parts, but DeSantis would be confirmable. And it would also open up a Florida Senate seat that then -

- excuse me, a Florida governor's post that Trump may want to influence as a replacement.

We also know that there's going to already be a Florida Senate seat vacated if Marco Rubio gets confirmed in his spot.

So Trump may also have in his calculus, maybe putting his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, in one of those spots, or some other ally there.

So I would say this is a very convoluted and that Trump may have other agenda items connected to this if he gets a reset.

GOLODRYGA: And a lot of over-indexing on the state of Florida as well, it appears at this time around.

Lynn Sweet, fascinating conversation. Great to talk to you. Thank you so much.

SWEET: And thank you.

GOLODRYGA: Well, President-elect Donald Trump sets the Bitcoin market on fire after picking a crypto advocate to lead the Securities and Exchange

Commission.

The digital currency soared past $100,000 for the first time Wednesday. Trump, who was one skeptical of digital currency, now seems to be courting

the cryptocurrency industry.

Well, here's a look at the current price. Bitcoin is still up above $100,000 per coin. It's up about 140 percent this year alone.

And still to come for us, the African workforce that will be just that, a force to be reckoned with. After the break, what young people are doing to

stay ahead of the curve?

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[12:45:17]

GOLODRYGA: Well, this week on One World we're taking a look at some of the findings from the Africa Youth Survey.

Researchers conducted 14,000 face-to-face interviews across 25 African countries.

Here's why that's important. The IMF says by 2035, there will be more young Africans entering the workforce each year than in the rest of the world

combined.

With so much at stake, many young Africans are taking matters into their own hands.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Africa Youth Survey is a bi-annual barometer of the hopes and fears of thousands of young people interviewed across the

continent.

Since 2020, one consistently clear finding is that the young people of Africa want not only to create change, but also to start businesses and to

create jobs.

REUBEN ICHIKOWITZ, TRUSTEE, ICHIKOWITZ FOUNDATION: What gives us amazing hope is to see the ambition of youth wanting to be the positive change in

their communities and in their environment.

There is a very strong motivation amongst youth to go out and start businesses and to drive entrepreneurship.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The youth of Africa are creating their own paths to success as evidenced by the continent's impressive rate of

entrepreneurship, the highest in the world.

With small to medium enterprises generating 80 percent of jobs and encouraging venture capital investment, African youth are feeling empowered

to take control of their futures.

OLWETHU THOKOZILE RADEBE, 2024 AFRICA YOUTH SURVEY, INTERVIEWEE: My dream for the youth of Africa is that we all are able to actually achieve what we

want. Those who would like to start small businesses actually have the resources to those who would like to go to school and for their studies

have the resources too.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Survey contributor Nkosinathi Moshoana heads Step Up to a Start-Up, a program that uses edutainment, training, competitions and

mentorship to equip young South Africans with entrepreneurial skills.

NKOSINATHI MOSHOANA, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, PRIMESTARS: We've been running for 20 years, running programs that are aimed at training,

educating, empowering young people from under-resourced communities to be able to ignite their talent, put them on a trajectory and put an ecosystem

around them that will enable them to actually leave school and become economically active.

And I think my passion is helping people find the fire within themselves.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Primestar's partners with schools, government and the private sector to deliver this initiative and to help students develop

business ideas.

MOSHOANA: We typically work with about 100,000 young people per year. And over the last 10, we've worked with about 1.5 million young people.

Young people are not only waiting for solutions but are ready to be part of driving those solutions.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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[12:50:39]

GOLODRYGA: Well, happening today, the woman who stowed away on a Delta flight to Paris is expected to make her first court appearance in New York.

57-year-olds Svetlana Dali returned to the U.S. on Wednesday after boarding a flight to France without a ticket during last week's Thanksgiving rush.

Dali faces at least one federal charge and could face up to five years in prison. CNN's Polo Sandoval joins us now. With the latest.

Polo, when we spoke yesterday and you were at the airport, there was a question of whether she would be facing charges or not. We got our answer.

Now, where do things stand?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And would they let her on that plane? And, of course, we do have those answers unlike the rest of the passengers

aboard what turned out to be an uneventful peaceful flight.

Dali did not get to go home last night. She was detained by federal agents after she landed in New York's JFK airport.

Investigators have been interviewing her, is in custody and now is scheduled to face a judge in really just a little over an hour. This will

be her preliminary arraignment, Bianna, which where she will hear the charge of being a stowaway on an aircraft without consent, which carries a

maximum of five years in prison, if convicted.

And she'll likely also enter a plea. And perhaps we may even hear from her as well if she addresses the court. So we're listening and monitoring for

that.

But still, she is sharing the spotlight in the story with a trove of questions right now about what all the different stakeholders are doing to

keep this from happening again.

In the last hour or so, we heard from the former administrator of the Transportation Security Administration who says that this is clearly three

points of at -- two, possibly three points of failure, beginning with the JFK airport employee that did not notice her slip into a lane dedicated for

flight personnel.

After that, the TSA employee that was supposed to check her for boarding pass, now we should mention the TSA says, she was subsequently physically

screened as well as her baggage to make sure she didn't pose a threat.

And then the third layer, which would have been the Delta gate agents that did not ask -- that perhaps did not notice her, did not ask her for

boarding pass. And eventually they have allowed her onto that flight last Tuesday. So these are all the questions that are being asked right now.

As we try to learn a little bit more about this 57-year-old woman, to remind viewers, she holds a Russian passport, but is also a U.S. green card

holder, which explains why she was essentially deported back to the United States. We know that she resides in Philadelphia.

And then lately, according to several court filings, she filed several lawsuits alleging that she was the victim of what's described in her

complaint as military grade chemical weapons, as well as a kidnapping plot.

So some highly unusual allegations that are being made here. So it certainly will beg questions about what may have been her mental state when

she became a stowaway on that Paris bound flight, but at least she's now in the United States. Their authorities will be prosecuting her. And we expect

her in court in the coming hour or so.

GOLODRYGA: Such a bizarre story.

SANDOVAL: It is.

GOLODRYGA: Polo Sandoval, thank you so much.

SANDOVAL: Thank you.

GOLODRYGA: Well, tis the season for a Christmas tree lighting at Rockefeller Center. About 50,000 lights were illuminated in front of a

large and festive crowd in New York City, Wednesday night. This year's tree is 23 meters tall and hails from the city of Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

The annual Christmas tree lighting is one of New York's biggest events and dates back to 1933. And boy didn't disappoint last night. What a beauty.

Well, Japan's smooth rice wine, sake, has earned a spot on UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list. It is specifically honoring the ancient

techniques for brewing sake. Its makers are hoping the recognition will drum up new interest in this century's old beverage and keep it flowing for

many years to come.

[12:55:16]

Sake is made with rice, yeast, and a mold called koji. It can be served hot, cold, or at room temperature.

And finally, at the age of 74, most of us are well into retirement, but the world's oldest known bird is apparently ready to become a parent again.

Wisdom, you see there, a 74-year-old albatross who lives on a wildlife refuge in Hawaii, has taken a new partner and produced an egg. Biologists

at their refuge say that they are optimistic that the egg will hatch, and Wisdom will raise a new chick.

It is believed that Wisdom has produced something like 30 chicks in her lifetime. Most albatross only live about 40 years. And scientists are eager

to learn why Wisdom is still able to procreate at her very advanced age. Wow, taking on a baby at age 74. Wishing her well.

That does it for this hour of ONE WORLD. Thanks so much for watching. I'm Binna Golodryga. "Amanpour" is up next.

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