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One World with Zain Asher
House Expected to Vote Today on Ending Government Shutdown; 800+ More U.S. Flights Canceled as Shutdown Bill Advances; Columbia Stopping Intelligence Sharing with U.S. for Now; Top Diplomats to Tackle War in Ukraine, Gaza Ceasefire; Venezuela Announces "Massive Mobilization" of Military Forces; New Hongqi Bridge Partially Destroyed After Landslide. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired November 12, 2025 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ERICA HILL, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: House Democrats release private emails written by Jeffrey Epstein. "One World" starts right now. The newly
released emails mentioned Donald Trump by name multiple times. We have the details straight ahead. Plus, a vote is expected in the house in a matter
of hours.
That vote could end the longest shutdown in U.S. history. Congressional representatives reconvening now for the first time in seven weeks to vote
on the Senate's funding bill. And Venezuela launching what it calls a massive mobilization of military forces as America's largest warship is now
in the waters off Latin America.
Live from New York, I'm Erica Hill. Zain and Bianna are off today. This is "One World". And we do begin this hour with the "Breaking News". Convicted
sex offender Jeffrey Epstein mentioning Donald Trump by name multiple times in private emails. Those emails just released by Democrats and the House
U.S. -- the U.S. House Oversight Committee.
Trump's relationship with Epstein has been under intense scrutiny amid the fight to release more documents connected to Epstein and his accomplice,
the convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell. So, these emails were mostly written before Donald Trump became president.
And it's important to note, Trump has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing in connection with Epstein or Maxwell. Senior White House
Reporter Kevin Liptak joining us now. So, Kevin, what is in these messages? And specifically, how is the president mentioned?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, and these are three separate emails that span the course of around 15 years. I actually think
it's important to just put this in the political context from the get go. You know, this is certainly going to inflame this debate that has been
raging in Congress about whether to force the Trump Administration to release additional information about the Epstein saga.
Now, these emails were released by Democrats. You know, the Epstein estate was subpoenaed by Republicans and Democrats on the Oversight Committee.
They received an enormous tranche of information, and now they're releasing three emails that specifically mention Trump.
And the first one is from 2011 and the -- in it, Epstein is writing to Ghislaine Maxwell, who is his associate. She's now serving time, of course,
for sex trafficking in Texas. And she writes, and Jeffrey Epstein writes, I want you to realize that the dog that hasn't barked is Trump.
Victim, and the name is redacted here. Victim spent hours at my house with him. He has never once been mentioned police chief, et cetera. I'm 75
percent there. And then Maxwell replies, I have been thinking about that. Now the victim's name is redacted in this email, but since the Democrats
put these out.
House Republicans have actually identified that name as Virginia Giuffre, who's probably the most prominent of Epstein's victims. The reasons that
Republicans are identifying her here is that in her memoir, she actually specifically said that she never witnessed Trump committing any wrongdoing.
And so, I think they're trying to put that out to sort of emphasize that this email alone doesn't necessarily implicate the president in anything.
So, then we fast forward four years to 2015 this email is between Jeffrey Epstein and Michael Wolff, who's an author who has covered President Trump
and who has acknowledged that he has had this relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
And in it, Michael Wolff writes Jeffrey Epstein to say that CNN is actually planning to ask Trump about his relationship with you. This was on the day
of a presidential debate, either on air or in scrum afterwards. And then Epstein asks if we were able to craft an answer for him, what do you think
it would be?
And Wolff goes on to sort of explain how he thinks that should proceed. Now we should note that we went back and looked at the transcript of that
debate, and Epstein never came up in it. The final email is again four years later, and this is when President Trump was actually in office.
And he's writing Michael Wolff again, and he says, Mar-a-Lago. He references Mar-a-Lago. And he says, Trump said he asked me to resign. Never
a member, ever. Of course, he knew about the girls as he asked Ghislaine to stop.
[11:05:00]
Now that seems to be a reference to this dispute that President Trump himself has talked about between Epstein and Trump related to his club in
Mar-a-Lago, and the President's accusations that Epstein and Maxwell were recruiting people into this ring from Mar-a-Lago.
And we know that, for example, Virginia Giuffre has said that she worked at the spa at Mar-a-Lago and was recruited by Maxwell to work with Jeffrey
Epstein. And so taken altogether, these emails certainly indicate that Epstein was aware of Trump and of what Trump potentially knew.
But they're also missing a lot of contexts. You know, we don't know exactly what the mindset that Epstein was in as he was writing them. But I think
they do provide, certainly, a lot of indications that these two men were very well acquainted. Now, we did get a statement from Michael Wolff,
because obviously he is mentioned in these emails, and his own relationship with Epstein is illuminated by them.
And he said, I don't quite remember the context. But I was engaged then in an in-depth conversation with Epstein about his relationship with Trump,
and this seems to be part of that conversation. So that's the explanation from Michael Wolff. And then just back to kind of the politics of this.
You know, clearly, President Trump is now going to face an enormous amount of pressure to explain even more of what his relationship with Jeffrey
Epstein was. You know, he has said in the past that, yes, they were acquainted, but that he wasn't aware of any of the things that were going
on that Epstein would later be charged with.
The ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee said this in a statement. The more Donald Trump tries to cover up the Epstein files, the
more we uncover. These latest emails and correspondence raise glaring questions about what else the White House is hiding, and the nature of the
relationship between Epstein and the president.
The Department of Justice must fully release the Epstein files to the public immediately. The Oversight Committee will continue pushing for
answers and will not stop until we get justice for the victims, Erica.
HILL: Kevin, really appreciate it and appreciate it and appreciate putting all of that in context for us as well. Thank you. So, we may be just hours
away now from an end to the longest government shutdown in American history. It's important to note, though, this is not yet a done deal.
And that's because it's unclear whether House Republicans who have not been in Washington for nearly two months will be able to make it back in time to
vote this afternoon because of nationwide flight disruptions caused by the shutdown. The drama does not end there.
Tension is really flaring overnight when a House committee advanced the Senate passed funding bill, some Democrats criticizing Republicans for
leaving the room, while others accuse their conservative colleagues of taking an eight-week vacation. Republicans, for their part, they didn't
hold back either.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JIM MCGOVERN (D-MA): Long time no see, I hardly recognize you guys. Where the hell have you been? Republicans, quiet quit their jobs. They
disappeared. And they can argue all they want that the House did its job, and that's why they went home. It's just BS, the House didn't do its job.
If Republicans had done their job, we wouldn't be here right now voting on a different bill than the one that they passed. But instead of working with
us on trying to end the shutdown, they all just left.
REP. VIRGINIA FOXX (R-NC): Now we'll be voting on another iteration of the CR that does not contain any of the hostage demand that Democrats made. So,
all that bluster and show boarding for over 40 days on their part led to a big fat nothing burger, and they're walking away empty handed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: The Republican led Senate passed the spending bill Monday after eight members of the Democratic caucus broke ranks without getting their key
demand on health care met. CNN's Arlette Saenz is live on Capitol Hill at this hour. So, as we wait for lawmakers to arrive for that vote, what is
the sense of where things stand for potential passage of this, Arlette?
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erica, the House is returning to session for the first time in 54 days to begin voting to reopen the
government. Republican leaders are trying to corral their members to ensure they can get this bill, the government shutdown bill, across the finish
line. And this morning, House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters that he is very optimistic that they will have the votes to pass this.
Now there are a few complicating factors in this dynamic. One of those is attendance issues. These lawmakers have been racing to get back to
Washington over the last 36 hours to ensure they're here for a vote. And then there's the fact that House Republicans are operating with a razor
thin majority.
They can only afford to lose two Republican votes on this bill. So far, Congressman Thomas Massie, who had opposed this House passed bill back in
September. He is widely expected to vote no, so Republicans are hoping not to have any further Republican defections on this bill. On the Democratic
side, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has been whipping his members against this bill.
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They are upset that the version that was negotiated over in the Senate does not include any guarantees that those expiring Obamacare subsidies, which
run out at the end of the year, would be continued. So, they really want Democrats to hold firm to try to extract further health care demands.
Now there could be some defections on the Democratic side. Congressman Jared Golden from Maine. He is set to retire at the after the 2026, midterm
elections. He voted in favor of that House passed bill back in September, so he is one to watch going forward. And Republican sources believe they
could have other democratic defections as well.
Now this vote timing is expected to extend late into the evening. Tonight, the House will begin voting at 05:00 p.m. Eastern Time, and they believe
that a final passage vote could take place in the 07:00 p.m. hour. Once if this bill does pass the House, it still needs to go to President Trump's
desk for his signature to officially end this shutdown.
So, we will be watching in the coming hours as Republican leaders try to ensure that they're wrangling together enough votes to get this across the
finish line and end this government shutdown, which is now in its 43rd day.
HILL: All right. Arlette, appreciate it. Thank you. And stay tuned. We will continue to discuss, of course, throughout the next couple of hours, those
developments also be joined next hour by Democratic Congressman Greg Stanton of Arizona for more on where he stands as we await that vote in the
House.
Well, there may be a light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to the government shutdown, but it's frankly not fast enough for so many
passengers who continue to deal with major disruptions when it comes to air travel. And until a deal is signed to end the shutdown, airlines will have
to continue to follow the government's emergency order to reduce flight capacity this week.
So, the FAA has ordered a 6 percent reduction in flights today. Remember, it started at 4 percent last week. That number then, as you see there, is
set to jump to 8 percent on Thursday, and then 10 percent on Friday. Up to 10 percent of flights are expected to be cut on that day.
All of this, as the transportation secretary says, air traffic controllers will see 70 percent of their pay as soon as the government reopens, noting
that the rest of that back pay will take another week. CNN's Pete Muntean joining us live now from Reagan National Airport with the details.
So further reductions today, more to come, but some -- somewhat good news when it comes to that back pay.
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. A little bit of good news, maybe bittersweet, Erica, is the way to categorize it. You know, the end is
in sight for this government shutdown and 43 days of what has been a pretty chaotic run for air travel, but only if the House officially ends this
government shutdown with this vote tonight.
If not, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is warning that things could get worse if this shutdown does indeed drag on. Here is the good news. The
number of air traffic control staffing shortages we have seen at facilities nationwide, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, has really
trended down in a big way.
We saw 40 nationwide the day before yesterday, five yesterday, today there have been only two. It also means there's a positive trend when it comes to
flight cancelations. 2900 on Sunday, the worst we have seen since the start of this government shutdown. Today, that number about a quarter of what it
was.
And today's number mostly those preemptive cancelations that airlines are doing to comply with this Trump Administration mandate to siphon off some
stress on the air travel system and on the air traffic controllers. Want you to listen now to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
He says that these moves are working, but it is up to the House to finally make this vote so that they really stick, listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEAN DUFFY, U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: What we see with our air traffic controllers. Good day today, if the House doesn't pass this bill, I think
you're going to look at Saturday, Sunday and Monday as tiddlywinks. It was beautiful. It's going to get much worse than that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MUNTEAN: Duffy, obviously referring there to the really bad run for air travel we had over the last weekend. Of course, there was some weather in
the mix, so that really caused things to snowball. It is pretty concerning, though, because we're really close to the start of the Thanksgiving travel
rush, only about 10 days away from that.
One the House does finally pass this end to the government shutdown. Duffy says air traffic controllers, within about 48 hours will get 70 percent of
the back pay they are owed. But he does put a big asterisk on all this. He says he may take action against air traffic controllers who have not been
showing up to work consistently during this government shutdown.
Still a lot of attention paid on air travel with about 1000 to 2000 air traffic controllers, short so you may not totally be out of the woods even
in the short term after the end of the shutdown.
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HILL: And interesting comments, as we know the often the reasons that air traffic controllers call out range for a number of reasons, and coming
interestingly. On the -- of those comments from the president as well, Pete, appreciate it as always. Thank you. Still to come here on "One World"
military mobilization in Latin America.
Why Venezuela says it is worried about an attack by the United States? Plus, right now, top diplomats from the G7 countries meeting in Canada.
What will they tackle? That's just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HILL: There's been a flurry of dramatic events on both the diplomatic and military fronts, as tensions heat up between the U.S. and Venezuela.
Colombia has just suspended intelligence sharing with the Trump Administration until the U.S. stops attacking alleged drug votes in the
Caribbean.
The announcement coming after CNN exclusively reported the UK is no longer sharing intelligence about vessels in the region because it doesn't want to
be complicit in the strikes and believes the attacks are illegal. Now meantime, Venezuela says it is launching a massive mobilization of military
forces in response to the U.S. military buildup in the region.
The U.S. Navy announcing its largest warship, the USS Gerald Ford has now arrived in the area. Venezuela says it suspects that the U.S. wants to oust
its President Nicolas Maduro, and on Tuesday, President Maduro delivered this defiant message.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICOLAS MADURO, VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT: If we as a republic, as a people, must go to armed struggle to defend this sacred heritage of the liberators,
we must be ready to win, to triumph through the path of patriotism and courage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: CNN Contributor Stefano Pozzebon is live in Caracas for us at this hour. So, walk us through what we're seeing at this point.
STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, Erica, I think that we're seeing two different images at the same time coming out of Venezuela. We're seeing
that the government is really taking these threats from the United States very, very seriously. Just on Tuesday afternoon, the Venezuelan Defense
Minister announced the mobilization of over 200,000 between soldiers and members of the militia to prepare these -- to prepare the country for what
could happen.
And even the message from the defense minister when he announced that this mobilization was extremely serious. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VLADIMIR PADRINO LOPEZ, VENEZUELAN DEFENSE MINISTER: We love peace. We deeply love peace. We don't want war here, nor in any other place around
the world. But if they dare to touch Venezuela, they're going to find us in every street.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[11:20:00]
POZZEBON: And one more thing that I want to bring it to you, Erica, is that just the last night, the Venezuelan Parliament passed a law that is called
the Integral Law of Defense of the nation, which basically calls on every citizen to participate in the defense of Venezuela in case of an attack.
Really the government trying to paint a picture that Venezuela is united and ready to stand up to what they are saying is an imperialistic
aggression. That is the message from the presidential palace, from Miraflores, from Nicolas Maduro. The reality on the streets of Caracas
remains a bit different.
You can see behind me, people are still going on with their lives, and most of them are, for example, we are here at a bus station in downtown Caracas.
You can see people coming in and out, maybe going to work, maybe going for some business downtown in the city center.
It's not that Venezuelans are either don't care, are not aware of these geopolitical tensions. It is simply that after more than 10 years of strict
authoritarian rule under Maduro. Very few people here believe that we are really at the end of this chapter for the history of this country.
Many, few people here believe that there will be anything consequential stemming out of that threat from the White House. It's still on everyone's
mouth, if you speak with most Venezuelans, like we did in the last few hours, and even my cameraman that I'm working with today, Ronnie Zamora
(ph).
He told me that when he went to drop off his kids at school, well, he -- that was on everyone's mouth, that the chatter with other parents at the
school yard was about the Gerald Ford and when he would arrive. But it doesn't translate. It that does not translate into street activity, into
frenzy, into -- for example, political manifestation, rallies, or anything like that.
We're seeing that Venezuelans, they still go on with their lives. Most of them, for example, are struggling to make ends meet, and so they also have
that aspect of their everyday to look after. While the government is extremely worried about this possible attack from the United States, we
understand it's not imminent, but it's still power and a possibility from the White House.
HILL: Absolutely, so important to have that perspective as well. Stefano, appreciate it. Thank you. We do want to bring you some breaking news just
coming into us here at CNN, the White House is now responding to the new messages released by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, messages
from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in those emails, some of them more than a decade old, Epstein mentioned Donald Trump by name several
times.
Senior White House Reporter Kevin Liptak joining us now with more on the White House response. What is the reaction?
LIPTAK: Yeah, and it's no surprise, they're very much downplaying these emails and sort of lashing out at the Democrats for what they call
selective leaks. And I'll just read you a statement from the White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who says that the Democrats selectively
leaked emails to the liberal media to create a fake narrative to smear President Trump.
And then she goes on to say this, the quote, unnamed victim referenced in these emails is the late Virginia Giuffre, who repeatedly said President
Trump was not involved in any wrongdoing whatsoever, and quote couldn't have been friendlier end quote to her in their limited interactions.
The fact remains that President Trump kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his club decades ago for being a creep to his female employees, including
Giuffre. These stories are nothing more than bad faith efforts to distract from President Trump's historic accomplishments. And any American with
common sense sees right through this hoax and clear distraction from the government opening up back again.
And so quite a forceful response, expectedly from the White House there and trying to point to the fact that the victim who is identified in at least
one of these emails is Virginia Giuffre, who we were talking about earlier, who did write in her memoir that she had never witnessed any wrongdoing on
the part of the president.
But I don't think this is going to tamp down in any way on the fear that these emails are going to ignite. The press secretary does have a briefing
later today at one o'clock Eastern time, where this is certain to come up. And you know, there's another issue that's brewing on Capitol Hill, which
is this question of whether lawmakers will try and force the administration to release more information.
You know, the House Speaker Mike Johnson, has been adamantly against that. And up until now, they had not had the votes to get that across the finish
line, but with the addition of the Democrat, Adelita Grijalva, from Arizona, she's expected to be sworn in today. They will ostensibly have
those 218 votes to try and force this issue with the administration.
So, despite the White House's efforts, I think to try and tamp this down, it's very evident that this issue is not going anywhere.
HILL: Yeah, I think it is not. Kevin, appreciate it. Thank you. We want to turn our attention back now to Venezuela, the mobilization of military
forces there for a bit more analysis of the increasingly tense relationship between the United States and South American nations.
[11:25:00]
We're joined by Elizabeth Dickinson, who's a Senior Analyst for the International Crisis Group focusing on the Andes region. Elizabeth, it's
good to have you here. As we watch, as we start to watch all of this playing out. One of our CNN Military Analysts, Retired Colonel Cedric
Leighton, said just a short time ago that it really does look like at this point, both sides are preparing for war.
What are you watching on the part of not only this mass mobilization on the part of Venezuela, but also the movement, of course, of the USS Gerald
Ford, and what we're seeing the region.
ELIZABETH DICKINSON, SENIOR ANALYST FOR THE ANDES REGION AT INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: Well, I think we've definitely reached a moment of peak
tension, obviously bilaterally, between the United States and Venezuela, but also, as you said, in the wider region. I think one of the things that
really has folks on edge out here is that since it started its military deployment, the U.S. has ceased sharing intelligence with its allies about
what's happening.
So, you know that no one really understands what to expect normally in these situations, for example, European allies or close NATO partners would
get sort of a heads up about the plan. That hasn't been the case this time, and as a result, I think everyone is preparing for a sort of worst-case
scenario.
HILL: It's also important to note, in terms of that intelligence sharing that Colombia, of course, now think it's going to suspend intel sharing
with the United States. This was after CNN's exclusive reporting that we had yesterday that the United Kingdom is no longer sharing intelligence
related to vessels in the Caribbean with the U.S..
What does that do to the standing as well of the United States at this point for other nations in the region with which it would still want to
maintain important relationships?
DICKINSON: Well, I think it's really on two levels. The first is really a demonstration from the United Kingdom, and now by Colombia that they are
essentially opposed to these strikes. They don't see them as being justified. And in fact, I think there are real legal concerns on their part
in terms of the international law that would be brought into play here.
But I think the second is really reciprocity. You know, the United States has built over decades, trusting relationships with its allies to share
information about shared security threats throughout the region, and because the U.S. has stopped its own sharing of intelligence, I think this
is a reciprocity to show that you know, if you break these relationships, they're really quite difficult to reconstruct.
Colombia is very important in this sense, because up to 80, 85 percent of the actionable intelligence that the U.S. has used historically to seize
drugs in the region comes from Colombia. These are the eyes and ears on the ground, and so losing that channel would be very significant.
HILL: It's also important to know, not only are they losing that important intelligence when it comes to this war on drugs, if you will, but it
continues to raise questions about what the actual goal is for the United States, if they are going after these votes right. Number one, sort of
blowing up the evidence, right of potential witnesses by killing them.
But also, to your point, what we are seeing in terms of the drug traffic, the numbers and the facts about what and where it is coming from don't
necessarily bear out what we're hearing from the United States in terms of why they're going after some of these boats.
DICKINSON: That's absolutely right. And I think let's be clear, this is not a counter narcotic strategy. If we take the White House at its word that
these boats did carry drugs, and what they would accomplish is essentially extra judicially killing the lowest of the lowest on the criminal supply
chain.
What we know is that criminals are also watching the news. They adapt. They know where the U.S. Navy is parked. They will send drugs on other routes.
And I think the real impact on criminal networks will be extremely limited and possibly even counterproductive.
HILL: Elizabeth, great to have your insight. Thank you.
DICKINSON: Thanks to you.
HILL: Still ahead here, Canada is hosting foreign ministers from the G7 countries. Talks on Ukraine and Gaza are expected to dominate. We'll take a
closer look at what else we can expect to come out of that summit, just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:30:00]
HILL: Welcome back to "One World". I'm Erica Hill in New York. Here are some headlines we're watching today. The longest U.S. government shutdown
in history may be over in a matter of hours. House lawmakers who have been in recess for nearly two months, set to vote this afternoon on the
government funding bill that passed earlier this week in the Senate.
It is still unclear, however, if everyone will be there, because members are facing some issues making it back to Washington due to flight
disruptions caused by the shutdown. This video posted on social media showing the moment a Turkish military transport plane plummets to the
ground.
So, this happened on Tuesday after the C-130 cargo plane took off from Azerbaijan on its way back to Turkey, crashing in nearby Georgia. All 20
soldiers on board were killed. There's no word yet on what caused that crash. U.S. military strikes on alleged drug votes in the Caribbean,
sparking pushback now from Colombia and the United Kingdom.
Colombia's President ordering a suspension of intelligence sharing with American security agencies until the strikes stop. And sources tell CNN the
UK has stopped sharing its intel with Washington about suspected drug vessels in the Caribbean because it believes the U.S. strikes are illegal.
U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, wrapping up a two-day visit to Canada for the G7 foreign ministers meeting high on the agenda for the summit,
ending the Ukraine, Russia war at the second phase of that ceasefire plan in Gaza. The conference comes amid tense relations between the United
States and Canada over President Trump's tariffs. Stay with us. Fitting in a quick break here. The news continues on the other side.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:35:00]
HILL: I welcome back to "One World", as I noted, of course, foreign ministers meeting at the G7 in Canada. Secretary of State, U.S. Secretary
of State, Marco Rubio, is there. Joining me now National Security Analyst, David Sanger. David, always good to talk to you. It will be so interesting
to see right, what ultimately comes out of this.
But even just going into it, there is more of a sense of where the United States stands in this moment in relation to these other G7 nations.
DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: There sure is, Erica. Thanks for having me on. Secretary Rubio's got a tough assignment
here. First of all, I think many of the G7 members who are also U.S. military and intelligence allies are going to be asking for the legal basis
for this build up around Venezuela that you were just discussing a few minutes ago.
Many of the leaders say they have been left in the dark. They don't want to provide intelligence that would enable the United States to conduct
targeted attacks or to do a land attack on Venezuela unless they understood what the predicate for the conflict would be, and they don't want to get
sucked into it.
They're worried about President Trump's declaration 10 days ago that the United States would resume nuclear testing, while that's been walked back a
little bit by U.S. officials, they haven't walked it completely back. And of course, they're wondering what his next steps are in Gaza, they usually
were.
They were pretty complimentary of getting the hostages released, but they don't believe that the next moves to disarm Hamas are particularly imminent
or well thought out.
HILL: When we look at that, if we and let's start with Venezuela, if we could. Because, as you noted, there are a lot of questions about what is
happening. We have the CNN reporting about the UK no longer sharing intelligence on vessels in the Caribbean. Colombia also saying it's going
to suspend its intel.
You laid out recently in "The New York Times" what the options essentially are if it comes to military action in Venezuela. And that Secretary Rubio,
who, of course, we have to remember, is also the acting national security adviser, supports some of these more aggressive actions, in terms of the
question that he's going to be getting will be not only the justification right and the legality of some of these strikes.
But what is the ultimate end goal here? Is it clear that he has a clear answer, David?
SANGER: He doesn't appear to, you know, Erica, he went up on the hill last week and talked to Senate and some House leadership, and he basically said,
you know, this is a concoction of the press. We're not preparing to try to overthrow President Maduro and so forth.
And the members came back and said, well, why are you moving the Gerald R. Ford carrier group from the Middle East to the Caribbean? It's just about
there now it's in the territory of SOUTHCOM, not yet quite in the Caribbean, because you certainly don't need an aircraft carrier to go after
skiffs and motorboats full of drug runners.
It's a little bit of overkill. And he didn't really give them a satisfying answer, other than the president needs to have all of his options. So,
either you believe this is psychological warfare that we're mounting this huge force there which, when the fort arrives, will be 15,000 American
soldiers and sailors.
[11:40:00]
Or you believe that this is psychological warfare to just try to get Maduro to go on the run and maybe try to pick him up along the way, or there's
going to be a real land action, and it's going to be a few days before we know.
HILL: Yeah, it certainly is. I know we're a little bit tight on time, but I am just curious your take when we look at where things stand when it comes
to Ukraine, and what we are seeing from Russia in recent days. How much is riding on this meeting of these G7 ministers when it comes to future
support for Ukraine, and what that looks like?
SANGER: Well, the president has been pretty clear. The United States has not provided direct support. It has said it would sell to the G7 nations to
NATO nations arms that could then be transferred to Ukraine. But this increase in military action by the Russians against Ukrainian power
supplies has been pretty fierce, and it's going to be a much harder winter.
And the question is if, in fact, the Ukrainians lose ground, can't put out the troops they need, can't do the anti-aircraft and anti-incoming missile
defenses. Is the United States going to be, you know, partly to blame here for the lack of speed and urgency that this administration has shown?
HILL: Yeah, we'll certainly be watching that. David, always good to talk to you. Thank you. Donald Trump is asking the Israeli President to pardon
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his ongoing corruption trial. The U.S. President penning a letter saying Netanyahu has been a quote, formidable
wartime Prime Minister who is, in his words, now leading Israel into a time of peace.
Mr. Trump also raising the issue of a pardon, of course, during his address to Israel's Parliament last month. Now separately, dozens of Israeli
settlers launched an arson attack on an agricultural area in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday evening, the IDF says four Israelis were arrested
after what it calls extreme violence.
And it's important to note, there has been a surge of attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank during the olive harvest season. CNN's Jeremy
Diamond is at one of those sites that was attacked yesterday, and he just filed this report.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're on the ground in a Bedouin community. That was one of the sites that was attacked by these
Israeli settlers just yesterday, I'm told that more than 100 massed settlers, some of them armed with clubs, others prepared to carry out arson
attacks, which they did, indeed, descended on this Bedouin community as well as a Palestinian dairy factory that is right in front of me up this
hill.
But I want to show you some of the damage that was caused by these settlers. You can see right here. This is one of the sites that they set
fire to. This is actually where feed for livestock as well as some of the food that these Palestinians here stored for themselves. Used to be held it
is completely burned through.
When we were at the dairy factory, we saw at least four trucks that were completely torched, burned to their very core, and they certainly will not
be able to be used in the future by that company. The owner of that dairy factory told me that he believes that was the intention that these settlers
were trying to scare away Palestinians from this area, to scare them away from expanding their business operations, as that dairy company was indeed
doing in this area of the Northern West Bank.
Here as well you can see that the some of the scorch marks on this tank, this plastic tank here, this hay as well, was also set on fire. I'm told
that this was a much larger pile than it is today. Several sheep were also stolen from this Bedouin farm, and those settlers then went back up this
hill I'm told.
Some of the Palestinian men tried to go and follow them up there to get those sheep back. And that is when we are told that at least four
Palestinians were beaten by these settlers and went to hospital, with some of them having quite serious injuries. The Israeli military actually
detained four settlers yesterday, as part as these attacks were unfolding.
But we now understand that the Israeli police have already released three of those individuals who had been detained. But really, this is part of a
broader trend that we are witnessing across the West Bank, particularly over this all of harvest season, we have been witnessing a steep rise in
Israeli settler attacks.
The United Nations says that it has tracked 264 settler attacks in the month of October alone, that is the highest number since they began
tracking these settler attacks back in 2006. So, the question now is, what are Israeli officials going to do about all of this? We have been
witnessing some officials who typically are silent about this settler violence, beginning to speak out about this rising trend.
And Israeli military officials also beginning to express frustration that they don't have enough tools to actually confront this settler violence in
the West Bank.
[11:45:00]
There are certainly cases where the military is either idle or complicit in settler actions in the West Bank.
But in this case, they say that they wish they had these administrative detention tools to detain some of these settlers when they are preparing to
carry out attacks. Instead, those tools were stripped away from them, from the current Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz when he came into office
last year.
So, a rising problem here in the West Bank. And speaking with people here, they have no guarantees, no assurances that these settlers won't come back
again with no one to defend them.
HILL: Our thanks to Jeremy for that report. Well, Pakistan's President says he strongly condemns the suicide bombing that killed 12 people in Islamabad
on Tuesday. That explosion happening in the parking lot of cities judicial complex. The Pakistani Interior Minister says a man tried to enter a
courthouse before carrying out the attack.
A faction of the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the blast. It is the deadliest suicide attack in the capital in nearly 20 years. Take a
look at this dramatic video, this coming to us from China. You can see there, it is a bridge, part of a newly constructed bridge collapsing.
Local authorities say the Hongqi bridge, which is in the southwestern province of Sichuan, shattered on Tuesday after a landslide. Now, perhaps
miraculously, there were no deaths or injuries reported. The bridge itself, some 750 meters long, had been closed at the time because of cracks that
were spotted on nearby roads and slopes, according to the contractor, construction finished earlier this year.
The world's largest climate conference is underway. No senior figures from the U.S. government are present just ahead. What is the progress that can
be made by the rest of the world without American cooperation?
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HILL: In terms of the COP 30 climate conference, those there saying it is crucial that this COP 30 make some real progress, and that's why delegates
from more than 190 countries are in Brazil this week. They're debating, of course, without any senior figure from the U.S. government.
The Trump Administration's lack of interest, mirroring the president's decision in January to pull the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Agreement.
Mr. Trump rejecting fears expressed by nearly all climate experts that the planet is in fact, headed for more serious impacts from global warming.
Protesters at COP 30 clashing with security on Tuesday, demanding concrete climate action and also the protection of forests some of them waving flags
with slogans calling for land rights.
[11:50:00]
Others in the sign saying our land is not for sale. For a closer look at everything that is happening at COP 30. CNN's Chief Climate Correspondent,
Bill Weir joins us now. So, in terms of progress, Bill, where do things stand?
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's a half glass full way to look at this, and a half glass empty if you look back at Paris, 10
years ago, the promise was for the world to transition to get to net zero by 2050, we are not going to hit that goal.
Just this week, a couple of flurries of reports from the International Energy Agency, they said that that 1.5 goal of Paris has slipped out of
reach. The United Nations emission gap reports as humanity is more likely headed toward anywhere between 2.4 to maybe three degrees Celsius of
warming, which is not good.
It's very painful, but it's not as bad as it could have been without the efforts of Paris and the decades that have come since there, Erica. And
even a couple of years ago at Dubai in 2023 there was a global and unanimous decision to transition away from fossil fuels. But the reality of
this, this is a man-made issue.
This is a story about psychology and power and geopolitics. There are as many fossil fuel lobbyists at these cops now as there are earnest sort of
scientists trying to bend things so we don't know. There is no doubt that ambition has slowed, led by President Trump's second term, in which he's
actively pulled back.
I just saw numbers that since the Paris accord, you've got United States, Canada, Australia and Norway have all increased fossil fuel production
collectively by 40 percent. So, the actions don't match the rhetoric, but it could be so much worse. So, the alternative to not this whole conference
is not talking and entrenching, and so you can find optimist and pessimist depending on who you talk to by the hour.
HILL: That's for sure, which sort of leads me to my next question when it comes to the language that we use around this right? So, Bill Gates
certainly got a lot of attention and pushback when he was, you know, saying we need to change, essentially, we need to change the way that we're
talking about climate change, and maybe not put it at the forefront in the discussion.
He pushed back on some of the reaction to that. But, is there something in there, and is there a sense coming out of COP 30 that perhaps in changing
the way that we talk about things, there could be more of a buy in?
WEIR: Sure. And that, in which case we're talking about psychology, not the laws of physics.
HILL: Yeah.
WEIR: Unfortunately, this is a timed test. Things are happening. We've been moving closer to tipping points with every you know, ounce of fossil fuels
that are burned going forward. We don't know where that, that line is in particular, but yes, he may be right in that when it comes to getting
nations behind real change, that you can rally people more on the idea that you're going to lift up the poor, that you're going to help protect global
health.
The scientists I talk to say that climate changes the hole in every one of those buckets, it makes those problems harder to solve. But yes, there we
have reached a populist backlash, even in progressive Scandinavian countries, where people are like, OK, I'm exhausted by all the climate
change.
You know, when do we win? But unfortunately, reality is an endless battle, and we're seeing now the pendulum swinging one way, but when it comes to
industry, when it comes to states and cities and big forces that are still in on this, that is not an insignificant piece of this puzzle going
forward.
So, people like Gavin Newsom, one of the many governors from the United States who are trying to Brazil and say there is still a huge chunk of our
economy that is committed to these pledges, it's hard to do multi-lateral trade negotiations treaties without an official seat at the table.
And unfortunately, Donald Trump has not only pulled the seat away, but sort of burned it down. So, there's also fear that the Trump Administration may
be trying to sabotage from afar, threaten nations that if you get too close to a carbon tax, for example, there will be punishment from us when it
comes to tariffs or visas. We'll see. But those are the stakes that are playing out right now.
HILL: Yeah, Bill, appreciate it as always. Thank you. White House officials say they plan to open the California coast to offshore oil and gas drilling
for the first time in decades. That's according to a draft map, which is reviewed by the "Washington Post", that plan from the Trump Administration
proposes six offshore lease sales between 2027 and 2030 along the California coast.
In response, California's Governor Gavin Newsom, a vocal critic of President Trump, shut down the idea calling this dead-on arrival. CNN did
reach out to Newsom's office for more information was told quote, no, the Trump Administration tends to make policy by press release, not by
collaboration.
Take a look at some of these stunning images from the skies across the United States. An aurora borealis seen in Iowa and also in Virginia, this
powerful burst of energy from the sun sending solar wind crashing into the Earth's atmosphere.
[11:55:00]
Of course, the severe geomagnetic storm means the northern lights could be seen as far south as Florida. And finally, this hour, family and friends
saying goodbye to legendary conservationist Jane Goodall, a private funeral service for the British primatologist is underway in Washington, D.C.
Goodall, who turned her childhood love of primates into a lifelong quest for protecting the environment, died last month at the age of 91. Actor and
fellow environmental conservationist Leonardo DiCaprio had this to say about his friend, a short time ago at the service.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEONARDO DICAPRIO, ACTOR AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATIONIST: I was lucky enough to travel with her and witness how she moved through the world.
Always curious, always patient, always connecting with people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: Goodall is known as a pioneer in her field, who helped to pave the way for female scientists throughout her long career. Jane Goodall was 91.
Stay with CNN. Much more to come here on "One World" after this quick break.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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END
