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CNN International: Zelenskyy has been Pressing U.S. to Allow Use of Weapons to Gain Momentum in War; Israeli Source: Progress in Talks for Ceasefire in Lebanon; Trump has yet to Name Several Key Cabinet Positions; Biden Allows Ukraine to Use Long-Range U.S. Weapons in Russia; Trump's Plan to Get Controversial Cabinet Picks Confirmed; New Delhi Chokes Under Toxic Smog. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired November 18, 2024 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

AMARA WALKER, CNN HOST: Hi, everyone. Welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Amara Walker. This is CNN Newsroom. Just ahead, Russia says Joe Biden's decision to allow Kyiv to use long range American missiles is throwing oil on the fire of the conflict in Ukraine. And the U.S. President is meeting G20 Leaders in Brazil as he tries to -- proof his legacy. And the battle is on over Donald Trump's cabinet picks. Can he get his most controversial choice over the line?

After delaying for months, U.S. President Joe Biden is giving Ukraine permission to launch attacks inside Russia using American long-range missiles. It is a move the White House had previously resisted due to concerns that it could escalate the conflict even further. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly pushed Washington for the green light.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Today, there's a lot of talk in the media about us receiving permission for respective actions. But strikes are not carried out with words. Such things are not announced. Missiles will speak for themselves. They certainly will.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: The weapons are expected to be used primarily in Russia's Kursk region, where North Korean troops have joined the Russian offensive. On Monday, Mr. Zelenskyy visited the front-line town of Pokrovsk in Eastern Ukraine. The Kremlin responding to the White House's change of policy. It's a major change of policy, accusing the Biden Administration of wanting to, quote, throw oil on the fire.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh joining us now, live from London with the latest. Nick just first off, if we could talk about if this will actually make a meaningful impact -- you know for Ukraine's war efforts, given that Biden only has 60 some days left in office, and -- you know President-Elect Trump could reverse this policy.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. I mean, ultimately, I think the key figure is to work out exactly how many of these attack comes missile supplied by the U.S Ukraine will have at hand to carry out strikes inside Russia, rather than how long they'll have to potentially do that in its the inventory, which may be the restraint here.

And certainly, in the long wait over the months in which President Joe Biden said this move would simply be too escalatory to contemplate. Ukraine has launched its own longer range drone program hitting targets inside Russia, some might argue more cheaply, more efficiently, but I think the impact of this Biden permission is essentially more symbolic.

It says that an outgoing White House is willing to contemplate things that it shied away from for months because it says it sees the introduction of North Korean troops to the front line to fight for Russia as being a Russian escalation that needs to be matched by one from the Western alliance behind Ukraine.

Now, as I say, it isn't clear quite what will be hit, and President Zelenskyy was quite vague about specifying where these missiles may indeed be used, and there is a very limited window? But Amara this forms part of what everyone is seeing happen right now, which is a move by all parties to the war to escalate to some degree, to put themselves in the best position possible, ahead of what is likely to be an effort for some kind of negotiation when the President-Elect Donald Trump moves into the White House on January the 20th.

Now I should also point out too that what we seeing with Joe Biden and this permission is nothing new. We saw with the HIMARS missiles that were accurate and shorter range, with the Abrams Tanks, which the U.S. said for months weren't simply right for the job in Ukraine, but Ukraine kept asking for and the F-16 jets that Ukraine now has Biden say we can't do this. It's too escalatory. Wait, wait, wait, and then ultimately concede to what Ukraine wants.

It's late in the game now in his presidency, but the message is clear. Their gloves are increasingly off the United States, and I think too it's fair to say this move complicates matters for President Donald Trump, when he takes office again. The response from Russia today has been muted, suggesting this might indeed be putting oil on the fire. They haven't confirmed.

They know this is even happening. But previously, Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin Head, has said that if Ukraine launched U.S. made or supplied missiles into targets inside Russia, that would essentially be NATO in full, joining the war alongside Ukraine. Unclear if he will maintain that position, but that is the escalatory concern that Biden has pushed aside in granting this permission Amara.

WALKER: And Nick as you know, President-Elect Trump, he has said a lot about Ukraine and the war in Ukraine, that he would have prevented this war from happening if he were president, that he would end this war in one day. But we're still not clear on what Trump's policy would be towards Russia, especially pertaining to this war. What does this decision mean for the Trump Administration and also, if you can talk a little bit more about the reaction we're hearing from Russia?

[08:05:00]

WALSH: Yeah. I mean, look, it does potentially mean the Trump Administration takes power after months in which U.S. supplied weapons, this escalatory move has significantly worsened Washington, D.C. and Moscow relations that may complicate matters for Donald Trump. But also, too, it may be an opportunity in which he is able to improve the situation significantly by removing that one permission and carrying favor with the Russians.

The Russian reaction is limited so far, and as we have seen in the past, Vladimir Putin has been stridently saying, if you do this, I will do this, and shied away from it at the later moment. You have to remember that Russia is not still 100 feet tall. It's been suffering in this war to defeat a neighbor, which it dismissed as being fundamentally weaker and thought it could conquer in a matter of days, but has held it back with Western supplied munitions and equipment, quite significantly.

Now, thousand-day long war, something the Kremlin never imagined could possibly occur. Another thing happening on the side though Amara, which may end up being more significant than this Biden permission to use longer range missiles into Russia, is diplomacy.

Now Donald Trump has made it clear he thinks he could end this war in 24 hours. We've not heard a peep out of his team, really, in terms of details of how they would do that, since he won the election that may be designed to conceal his hand and make his negotiating role more successful.

But his allies, the European nations parts of NATO, there is consternation, concern since the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, a lame duck looking many analysts say, to curry favor with the East German Electorate, often who are pro-Russia in forthcoming elections, made a unilateral phone call on Friday to President Vladimir Putin, essentially breaking nearly two-years-worth of isolation between him and Western leaders.

The West very keen to say you're on your own until you stop this war, Vladimir, we won't even talk to you. And that move has caused, I think, some French and even UK officials to scratch their heads and wonder quite what the United Front can be in terms of diplomacy in the NATO alliance, if Germany is sort of freelancing this particular initiative for domestic political reasons.

So, a lot moving in the diplomacy space, I think that will be pleasing Vladimir Putin, even though he doesn't appear to have any desire for talks right now. And above all of this, Amara, Russia is winning across the eastern front on the battlefield, slowly but surely, that's the backdrop in which all this talk of peace and escalation occurs.

WALKER: Nick Paton Walsh, really appreciate you painting that big picture for us. Thank you very much Nick. Let's go now to the Pentagon and speak with CNN's Oren Liebermann. Oren, could you talk a little bit about the timing of this decision? Obviously, it's a bit late in the game, and also to this limited inventory of these attacks that Nick Paton Walsh was referring to, and how that might make an impact in the way that they are used.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: So, this has been under consideration for several months. It's been a big Ukrainian ask for perhaps even longer than that. In fact, when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was here back in September, he presented President Joe Biden with a list of targets they want to hit with the longer range ATACMS. Biden didn't reject it. He didn't dismiss it. It was still under consideration, and would be open for talks.

But now what seems to be here, the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back was the use of North Korean troops by Russia, 10,000 or more, already deployed to the Kursk region of Russia for what is expected to be a major effort by the Russians to retake that territory that Ukraine has seized.

That was a move that the U.S. saw as meriting some sort of response, and this, at least in part, is that response allowing Ukraine to use these long-range missiles. The expectation, according to U.S. officials, is that they're used in Kursk, where Russia has deployed some 50,000 troops to try to retake that region.

And that's where the U.S. expects they'll be used to hit command and control headquarters, logistics nodes, troop concentrations, essentially to make sure that Ukraine is able to hold that so if you get to negotiations, Ukraine has the strongest hand possible. If Ukraine loses all of that, it loses a lot of its leverage, and in potential negotiations, which President-Elect Donald Trump has made it quite clear, I think that he will push for.

Now, it's worth noting, as you point out, that for months, the U.S. and the Biden Administration rejected the change in policy here, and they gave us a number of reasons. One was the limited stock of ATACMS that the U.S. had, and that they were able to provide Ukraine. Another was that Ukraine had had longer range drones that it could use to effectively hit targets deeper inside Russia, and that was better U.S. officials said then ATACMS.

Moreover, the U.S. said Ukraine was using the supply of ATACMS it had to successfully hit Crimea. So, there was this list of reasons given by for why wouldn't make a difference if there was this change in policy. Now that, of course, means we have to keep on asking, has anything else changed? There is still some $7 billion left that the Biden Administration has pledged to give Ukraine in military equipment.

[08:10:00]

Will they supply more ATACMS as part of that so Ukraine can carry out its strategy more effectively? Or is Ukraine only able to use the change -- this change in policy, on the limited missiles it has left? That's something we need to see, and of course, to see the effect that these missiles are likely to have on the battlefield Amara.

WALKER: All right. Oren Liebermann, appreciate you. Thank you very much. Now at this hour, U.S. President Joe Biden is at the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is his final major international summit before he leaves office in January. On Sunday, he became the first sitting U.S. President to visit the Amazon forest. He described the fight against climate change, in his words, as a defining part of his presidency. Biden urged the future administration not to deprive the world of the benefits of clean energy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: It's no secret, that I'm leaving office in January. I will have my -- I will leave my successor and my country in a strong foundation to build on, if they choose to do so. It's true. Some may seek to deny or delay the clean energy revolution that's underway in America, but nobody, nobody can reverse it. Nobody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: CNN's Kayla Tausche is following the president in his trip to Latin America. She's joining me now live from Rio de Janeiro. Kayla, good morning to you. Tell us more about Joe Biden's -- President Joe Biden's focus today, as we heard in that speech, as well as Trump is clearly looming over this G20 Summit.

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Amara, he's trying to maintain the U.S.'s position of strength on the world stage. U.S. Officials said as of this morning that the president does believe that he is leaving the United States on stronger footing than when he took office four years ago.

But of course, the world is full of geopolitical volatility, many of those conflicts Biden discussing with President-Elect Donald Trump during their two-hour discussion last week. And of course, that incoming administration is what looms large over this summit here, with both allies that the U.S. has met with on a bilateral basis, as well as adversaries where the U.S. does not share much common ground.

Of course, the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, his country, is a member of the G20 but he is not here because he said that that would be a disturbance to the conversations taking place. And there was also the threat of a potential arrest by Brazilian authorities if he set foot on soil here in Brazil.

So certainly, the escalating conflict in Ukraine is going to be a big part of the discussions on the ground here, even as leaders are trying to focus on the themes of eradicating world hunger and alleviating poverty around the world, President Biden is set to call for an additional $36 billion in financing from the World Bank to deliver to some of those least developed and most impoverished countries that have found themselves burdened by expensive debt put forth by countries in many cases, like China.

So certainly, that is what the president wants to focus on, and that's the official agenda. But many of these world leaders, as we've reported, have been posturing to figure out how they will deal with the incoming Trump Administration.

Earlier today that Principal Deputy National Security Adviser for the United States, John Finer was asked about whether there's a worry by President Biden that some of these countries are trying to double deal or front run or run around what the administration is trying to do here. Finer said there's only one administration, one president serving at a time, although he does understand why many of these leaders have reached out to Trump directly, Amara.

WALKER: Kayla Tausche in Rio de Janeiro thank you, Kayla. An Israeli source says there is some progress in talks to achieve a ceasefire in Lebanon. This as Israel pounded the Lebanese capital Sunday for a sixth day in a row. Lebanese -- Lebanon's Health Ministry says one deadly strike on a densely populated area in Beirut left at least two people dead. Another one killed a Hezbollah Spokesperson, Mohamed Afif served as an adviser to late Hezbollah Chief Hassan Nasrallah for years.

Meanwhile, in Northern Gaza, at least 50 people were killed in Israeli strikes. This is according to Gaza's Health Ministry. A local journalist says dozens of displaced Palestinians were sheltering in the two buildings that were hit. The IDF says it was striking terrorist targets.

CNN's Paula Hancocks is tracking the story from Abu Dhabi. She is joining us now. Paula maybe some movement on ceasefire talks to Lebanon, but Israel continues to strike Beirut. What's the latest?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Amara, we're seeing this perceived progress in the negotiations at this point at the same time as we are seeing expanded military operations in Lebanon by the Israeli military.

[08:15:00]

So, we've heard from an Israeli source telling CNN that there is progress, that there is an accelerated diplomatic process ongoing at this point, but they are not yet -- that they are not there yet. So, there is progress, but at this point we don't know, for example, when the U.S. Envoy Amos Hochstein will be going to Lebanon that potentially could signal that the deal is close.

This is a U.S.-Israeli ceasefire proposal that was given to Hezbollah last week, a 60-day ceasefire, which officials hope would then form the basis of a permanent ceasefire. There was optimism from Lebanese officials that we spoke to saying that they believed they were hot -- they were optimistic about Hezbollah's response they were expecting a response early this week.

Of course, since then, on Sunday, we did see the assassination of the Hezbollah media spokesperson. Whether that would have any bearing on the way that Hezbollah would see this proposal, it's just not clear at this point. We know there were discussions back in late September about this ceasefire, and then the Head of Hezbollah, the Chief Hassan Nasrallah, was assassinated, and that did derail the talks at that point.

But from many officials U.S., Israeli and also Lebanese we've spoken to, there is some hope that this could bring a final ceasefire between the two sides. And it is, as I say, at the time when Israel is expanding its ground operation in Lebanon. This was announced by the defense minister just last week.

And we've also heard from the IDF over the weekend that artillery batteries are now based in Lebanon itself. Up until now, they had been situated on Israeli territory, and they were firing across the border into Lebanon, that military equipment is now stationed in Southern Lebanon itself.

So certainly, we are seeing this expansion of the ground operation, an operation that just last month Israel said would be limited, that was met with skepticism, and certainly we are seeing that expanding now.

There are some sticking points, though. We understand that one of the main sticking points is the fact that Israel wants a clause in this ceasefire proposal saying it reserves the right to carry out strikes against Lebanon if it sees that the proposal, the terms of this proposal, are being violated. It's understood that that is not something that Hezbollah wants to sign on to at this point, Amara.

WALKER: Right. So meanwhile, as we are potentially seeing progress in those talks between Israel and Lebanon what's happening in Northern Gaza, and you can tell us more about these Israeli strikes overnight there.

HANCOCKS: So, it's still a very desperate situation in Northern Gaza, according to those on the ground, local journalists and also humanitarian aid groups desperately trying to get aid into the area. There were two strikes that I can tell you about there was one where at least 50 were killed in Bet Lahiya.

We understand that the two buildings that were targeted in this strike, the IDF says that they were targeting terrorist infrastructure were housing the displaced from Jabalia. This is an area also in Northern Gaza, which the Israeli military had ordered to be evacuated, and where we have seen tens of thousands of Palestinians leaving, it's an area the Israeli military says that Hamas is trying to regroup and rebuild, which is why they are targeting specifically that area.

So, we understand that, according to a local journalist, they -- those two buildings were filled with those that had fled fighting elsewhere in the area. And also, in -- in Central Gaza 23 killed in strikes there, as well, Israel saying that they are targeting Hamas. We are hearing from hospital officials and those on the ground that, once again, civilians are bearing the brunt Amara.

WALKER: All right. Paula Hancocks in Abu Dhabi, thank you Paula. Donald Trump digs in. After the break we're going to look at his most controversial cabinet picks so far and his plans to push for their confirmations. Plus, Donald Trump's campaign promises could impact grocery prices. We're going to look at the role of undocumented immigrants in farming and food production in the U.S.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:20:00] WALKER: Who will he pick next, that is the question buzzing through the U.S. political world as we await word of more of Donald Trump's cabinet picks. Key positions like Education, Transportation and Treasury Secretary, excuse me, are as yet unfilled. After each pick is made, the question remains whether they can be confirmed.

Now, sources tell CNN, Trump is going to push extra hard to make sure Republicans approve Matt Gaetz for attorney general. There already has been plenty of pushback on the Gaetz pick. It is possible his fate will come down to Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin, who was highly critical of Gaetz when they served in the House together.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARKWAYNE MULLIN (R-OK): I got to set my personal situation with Matt to the side and look at the facts. If he's qualified, he's qualified. I'd be quite frank, I didn't even know he was an attorney until after he was appointed attorney general, and I had to do my research on him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: Let's go to Trump's Florida home at Mar-a-Lago that's where we find CNN's Steve Contorno. Steve, you had some reporting over the weekend on just how hard Trump will push for even his most controversial picks. How will he do that? What will his strategy be?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Yeah, that's right. Matt Gaetz, especially, his pick for attorney general has come -- created a lot of heartburn for Trump's allies on Capitol Hill, many of which have had a very difficult relationship with Gaetz over the years, and some of them have warned Trump that he will not have the support of 51 Senators for confirmation.

But Trump has been telling these Republicans on the Hill that he is not backing down from Gaetz. He views his attorney general pick as the most important of his cabinet, because there are so many -- it touches on so many areas and so many priorities that he wants to take advantage of when he gets into office, especially blowing up the Department of Justice.

Renaming the whoever is FBI Director, ending the so called political weaponization of the Department of Justice. And so, he believes that Gaetz is uniquely positioned because he is such a loyal and fierce defender of Donald Trump to execute his plans. When he has in the past, Donald Trump has run into resistance from his attorney generals for some of the things he has tried to do.

So, we are told that he is all in on Gaetz and he will not back down from that pick. And then also, over the weekend, there are new reports about what transpired in October 2017 with Pete Hegseth, his pick for Defense Secretary. Hegseth is accused by a woman of sexual assault in California.

Now he denies the charges, but a lawyer for him did acknowledge that he paid the woman a subtle minimum amount in a confidentiality agreement related to that incident. Donald Trump once again, though standing by that pick for now over the weekend, Carolyn Levitt, his incoming White House Press Secretary, posting on social media that defending Hegseth in the face of some of these criticisms that he is receiving about this nomination.

WALKER: Well, the common denominator that we continue to see with Trump's picks is that they are all staunch, unwavering loyalists of him. Steven Contorno, we will leave it there. Good to see you thank you. Cabinet picks are one way the president impacts the country. The other is through policy. And a growing number of economists and farming experts have concerns about how Trump's policies could impact food prices.

[08:25:00]

He is promising to deport millions of undocumented immigrants. A recent government study found that 40 percent of farm workers in the U.S. are undocumented. Economists say if Trump does what he's been saying, food prices are sure to jump. CNN's Matt Egan has been looking into this. Hi Matt, so talk us through the numbers and how steep of a price increase could we expect if Trump were to carry out his promise of mass deportations?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well Amara, no secret that Americans are fed up with high prices at the supermarket. And mass deportations, the kind that the president-elect is talking about, that could send prices even higher. The problem is that this is an industry that is heavily reliant on undocumented workers.

And the logic here is simple, right? Fewer workers means less food and, yes, higher prices. Let me just give you one example. U.S. crop farm workers, a plurality of workers in that part of the economy are unauthorized 41 percent according to the USDA. I spoke to a farmer in Michigan who told me that if there are mass deportations, it would be, quote, devastating to the AG economy, because there wouldn't be enough people to pick the crops.

But it's not just farm workers. This is an issue really, across the U.S. food supply chain, sector after sector relies on tens or even hundreds of thousands of undocumented workers, including in food production, where there's estimates of more than 200,000 unauthorized workers in grocery stores, of course, in restaurants. A total of 1.7 million undocumented workers are in this space.

And that is why economists and AG executives and farmers have told CNN that if there are mass deportations, grocery store prices will go higher, perhaps dramatically higher. Now it's true that mass deportations could lower demand for food a bit, but experts say that the impact on supply would really be the bigger impact here and cause prices to go higher.

I spoke to Chuck Connors, CEO of the National Council for Farmer Cooperatives, and he told me, look, when cows don't get milked, when apples don't get picked, when fruits and vegetables are not harvested, supply gets hurt and prices go higher, Amara. WALKER: Yeah. Simple economics, right? Can you remind us, then, Matt, how much progress has been made in getting food inflation back to normal?

EGAN: Yeah. You know, a surprising amount we all remember when prices at the supermarket were skyrocketing about 2, 2.5 years ago, we saw grocery store inflation exceed 13 percent as you can see on that chart. That was a nightmare for so many people.

And the good news is that the rate of inflation when it comes to the supermarket has gone down sharply. It's actually below the overall rate of inflation for the economy. Of course, prices are still higher, right? The level of prices has gone up.

But experts say that if there are mass deportations, you could see certain food items get a lot more expensive, especially anything that requires manual labor, things that are picked, like apples and tomatoes and blueberries, also anything involving meat production or dairy, all of them rely on a lot of different workers.

And talking to people in the AG industry, two things they said over and over, one American citizens, they don't want these jobs. These are tough jobs. They're often in the elements. They're dirty, and so when there are openings, they're not filled by U.S. citizens. The other thing they said is they need more foreign workers, not fewer.

They want more visas. They actually want the incoming Trump Administration to grant a legal status for the undocumented people who are here. They don't want them expelled. I reached out to the Trump transition. We have not heard back. Trump officials they have repeatedly argued that his campaign promises will not be inflationary.

But listen, Amara, I think at the end of the day, the devil here is in the details. How many people does Trump really try to deport? How many is it even logistically possible to deport? And how do legal challenges slow that process along the way? And I think the answers those questions are going to go a long way in deciding what happens next when it comes to grocery store prices.

WALKER: Yeah, and there's also huge price tag associated with these mass deportations per person, right?

EGAN: Absolutely.

WALKER: A lot to calculate there. Matt Egan in New York thank you very much. Still to come, President Biden allows Ukraine to use long range U.S. weapons to strike deep inside Russia. How Moscow is responding? Also, a tug of war on Capitol Hill U.S. House investigators under pressure to release an ethics report on the man Donald Trump wants for attorney general, but the House Speaker wants it kept under wraps.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:00]

WALKER: The Kremlin says President Biden is pouring oil on the fire in the war on Ukraine. U.S. sources say at the weekend, President Biden had decided to allow Ukraine to use American long-range weapons to strike targets deep inside Russia. The decision had been under consideration for months, with Ukraine repeatedly pressing Washington for a green light.

It comes as Russia's largest aerial attack in months targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure. At least five people were killed in the bombardment, which left several parts of the country without power. For more now on Biden allowing Ukraine to use us weapons deep in Russia, I'm joined by Juliette Kayyem. She is a CNN Senior National Security Analyst. Juliette, good morning. Good to see you.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Good to see you.

WALKER: Just we want to get your thoughts. First of all, I mean this is a major change in policy.

KAYYEM: Yeah.

WALKER: And it does follow this familiar pattern, right where you have Zelenskyy pressing the U.S. for offensive weapons. President Biden saying, no, no, no, and then, of course, eventually relenting.

KAYYEM: Right.

WALKER: But what we're seeing here is President Biden, in his remaining days in office, trying to bolster Ukraine before Trump takes power.

KAYYEM: Yeah.

WALKER: What's the strategy here?

KAYYEM: Right.

WALKER: Knowing that, you know this policy could be reversed?

KAYYEM: Right. So, the stated policy, because the Biden Administration wouldn't use the words Trump proof, the stated policy by the Biden Administration is essentially the entry of 10,000 North Korean troops to assist the Russians was sort of a game changer, and then to the extent that Ukraine wants to protect its winds in Kursk that these weapons will essentially protect what Ukraine has already done.

So that's at least what the White House is saying. It is, as you said, part of their incremental and sometimes hard to defend approach to how they support Ukraine. The unstated reason is no one has any idea where Trump stands on the specifics of what a cease fire would look like.

He has talked about it. Zelenskyy is not necessarily opposed to it. J. D. Vance, the Vice President-Elect has actually stated that Russia should be able to keep areas of Ukraine that it has already gained. So, I think part of this is also to give Ukraine bartering land, so to speak, in any negotiations that will occur under the new administration. WALKER: And by the way, we do want to mention these live pictures that we are showing of President Biden arriving at the G20.

[08:35:00]

I mean, he made this announcement before the G20 even began to authorize these long-range missiles for strikes inside Russia for Ukraine. So, you believe Juliette that this will give Ukraine more leverage if there are indeed negotiations for some kind of settlement.

KAYYEM: Yeah. That's exactly true, as I said, the Trump -- Trump says one thing, and what we're going to need to learn in the years ahead, as we assess this new administration is -- There sometimes is a difference between what is said and what they do. The cabinet picks, in particular, secretary designate Marco Rubio, if he gets confirmed, has been in the past, very supportive of Ukraine.

You also have new leadership in the Republican Senate, that is -- has been supportive of Ukraine. So, we don't know where this is going to land, but this entry of the long-range missiles is for attacks in Russia, just there's no other use of them. And so that is a significant change and it is likely meant to deter North Korea from sending more troops.

In other words, say to the North Koreans, your troops are going to get killed. This is not -- in these deployments. And secondly, to give Ukraine as much flexibility as possible, if indeed the White House, the new White House, pushes for a cease fire along the lines that we would suspect are more supportive of Russia and Putin given Trump and Russia's ties then, or support than Biden would have done.

WALKER: Yeah, but you're right to point out. I mean, it's so unclear what Mr. Trump's policy will be when it comes to Ukraine, and what kind of settlement he may or may not push for. But what does this major change in policy mean then for the incoming Trump Administration? Because in reality, then Trump is inheriting an escalated war in Ukraine.

KAYYEM: That's exactly right, and Russia is making that abundantly clear. Part of this is, let's see what Zelenskyy in Ukraine can do with them. I mean, if it benefits them, in terms of recapturing lands that then are used in negotiating deal. That is good if it stops the North Koreans from sending more troops to Russia.

That is also good for a long term negotiated settlement. And I think in some ways, Biden is, or the White House is realizing that it was likely too cautious from the beginning. I mean, it is, you know, it is, as you say, just incrementally gotten to where Zelenskyy wanted them to get. They probably as they there have been divisions in the administration.

The Pentagon has been concerned about the use of these missiles only because they are limited in supply. Those debates will play out in the Trump Administration, but with a much stronger, at least statement, in particular, as I said, Vice President-elect J. D. Vance, I think a much greater willingness to listen and to -- in some ways, support what Putin's ceasefire plan is over Zelenskyy's.

WALKER: Juliette Kayyem, we will leave it there. It's great to see you. Thank you so much.

KAYYEM: Great to see you.

WALKER: Thank you. Still to come the man Donald Trump has tapped to become America's top law enforcement officer, already under scrutiny before Congress. We're going to look at the changes Matt Gaetz will bring to the Attorney General job.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:40:00]

WALKER: President-elect Donald Trump is riling up Washington with his pick for the country's next top law enforcement officer. A source tells CNN, Trump is quote, all in, on getting Former Congressman Matt Gaetz confirmed as his attorney general. The former part is important because Gaetz stepped down last week, just days before a potentially damning House Ethics report was about to be made public.

It deals with allegations against Gaetz involving sexual misconduct with a minor. Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing, and now that the House no longer has jurisdiction over Gaetz since he has resigned. Speaker Mike Johnson says that report should never see the light of day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): My understanding is that the report is not finished. It's in a rough draft form. Was not yet ready to be released. And since Matt Gaetz left the Congress, I don't think it's appropriate to do so. There have been, I understand, I think, two exceptions to the rule over the whole history of Congress and the history of the ethics committee, but I don't -- I wasn't the speaker at that time. I'm the speaker now.

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WALKER: Our CNN Senior Crime and Justice Reporter Katelyn Polantz has the latest now from Washington. Let me ask you about this push to get at least by Democrats to get this ethics report released. Would it be unusual for the House Ethics Committee to release this report after the person under investigation has left Congress or resigned from Congress?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Yeah, Amara, it would be a little bit unusual for that to happen, because in the history of the House, as Johnson just said, it's only happened a few times in the whole history of Congress, is what he said. But there is this question of, does the Senate get access to this report?

Because the House has it. Can they get it from them? Maybe, maybe not, very unclear there. And also, the Trump transition isn't doing their traditional background checks that they had done in the past in other transitions. And so that sort of fodder, of what the FBI might find, that also wouldn't be going to the Senate and be in their hands. And of course, Gaetz was investigated by the FBI --

WALKER: It seems like the Trump transition is, you know, getting as surprised as the rest of the public is, as we get the, you know, drip, drip, of just the backgrounds of some of his picks. Katelyn a lawsuit in Florida. It's shedding new light on the allegations against Gaetz. What more can you tell us about that?

POLANTZ: Yeah, Amara, so some of what the House Ethics Committee has learned so far, it does come from this lawsuit in Florida, where there are witnesses, young women who are making statements under oath. That's secret, but these same women also participated in the criminal inquiry into -- intimate -- which that's also secret.

What they were saying, though, as far as we can tell from the lawsuit, is that they were at a party in 2017 where this alleged sexual encounter with an underage girl took place. They've never spoken publicly about what was happening with Gaetz, but in a deposition of the man who brought the lawsuit, this is a friend of Matt Gaetz.

Attorneys asked him in these transcripts in the lawsuit about what women had to say about a then underage girl who was having sex with Gaetz while his friend watched about an array of drugs at the party. The friend of Matt Gaetz, Christopher Dorworth, suggested in his testimony that the women made up their stories.

And of course, Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing. He was never charged with any crime. But one source familiar with the Congressional investigation told CNN recently that if the House Ethics Committee's work includes information that was in this litigation, presumably the part that's still secret, what the women were saying under oath, it would be, quote, highly damaging for Gaetz.

Of course, the House wasn't able to get access to records from the Justice Department's criminal investigation. So now pressure is mounting in Washington on the House Ethics Committee. What do they do? Their work ended whenever Gaetz was announced as Trump's nominee for the Justice Department last week.

And then he resigned, meaning this report's release is jeopardized, and Speaker Mike Johnson saying he's the speaker now he doesn't think he needs to get out.

WALKER: It doesn't look like we will see it. Katelyn Polantz, thank you. Well, we've been talking today about Donald Trump's most controversial cabinet picks and how hard it may be to get. All of them confirmed by the Senate, but the reality is that having a cabinet pick voted down is extremely rare, something that has not happened since the 1980s.

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And if it looks like the Senate is going to reject one of Trump's picks, there is actually a loophole that he can use to get them appointed anyway. CNN's Zachary Wolf, the author of CNN "What Matters" newsletter, joining me now from D.C. Hi, Zach, so could any of Trump's picks like Gaetz actually be blocked by the Senate? Do you anticipate that to happen?

ZACHARY WOLF, CNN POLITICS SENIOR WRITER: Well, every president has at least one failed cabinet nominee, but usually they withdraw. Trump, you know, apparently has expressed his support for Gaetz. It's only been since the 1980s that there was actually a vote to defeat a cabinet nominee for a cabinet level position.

They almost always pull back before they get to that point. We'll have to see what happens in this case. If Trump sticks with Gaetz, if Republican Senators start to turn on Gaetz. He can only afford to lose a couple of senators and still get confirmed, because their majority is only 53 votes, and they need 50.

And they can, you know, with a tie break. So, the margins are pretty slim. Now, as you said, there is this kind of loophole around. It's left over from the horse and buggy part of U.S. history when the Senate would take long recesses and the president needed to get people in to do the work of government while senators were out of town.

Now there's this idea that maybe they could manufacture a recess where the House and the Senate Republicans who control both houses, by the way, would essentially stop work for 10 days in order to allow President Trump to use this thing called a recess appointment, to put some of his nominees, his more controversial nominees in.

That seems like a little bit of a stretch, because it would be asking Republicans who control the Senate to give up their constitutional responsibility. They are supposed to give advice and consent to give up power to Trump. So that seems like the kind of thing that would be very difficult to convince him to do.

It would also bring everything in Washington screeching to a halt for 10 days because the Supreme Court back in 2014 said you had to have a 10-day recess. So, this all gets very complicated. I think the long story is that they will eventually get most of his nominees, but one or two of them could fall off.

WALKER: We'll be watching it closely with you Zach, thank you so much.

WOLF: Thanks --

WALKER: A major brief of security in the United Kingdom masked thieves entered one of the British Royal Family's residences. We're going to have the details on what they took.

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WALKER: It's no surprise that the UAE and arid land with vast deserts, imports around 90 percent of its food, but that may soon change as the country invests in Smart Agriculture from addressing water scarcity to optimizing crop yields. Veronica Miracle explores how AI and greenhouse innovations can revolutionize farming in dry climates.

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(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Among the rolling sand dunes in the Al Ain Desert, an unexpected green oasis. Just 90 minutes from Abu Dhabi, the Al Ain region is home to 50 percent of the UAE's farms.

SHAMAL MOHAMMED, AGRITECH DIRECTOR OF SILAL: In this farm, we are mostly blueberries.

MIRACLE (voice-over): And it's here that AgriTech company Silal is helping to turn the desert, green.

MIRACLE: This is not a place where, typically you would imagine growing loads of crops, and yet, here we are. Why did you decide to build shop here?

MOHAMMED: -- food production is very important for the UAE, and because of we have a very harsh environment, one of the options for many farmers and growers in the region is a controlled environment, and one of the controlled environment systems is the greenhouses.

MIRACLE (voice-over): Extreme high temperatures and minimal rainfall, means the UAE has to import more than 90 percent of its food. But that could soon change as the country boosts its investment in Smart Agriculture.

MOHAMMED: When we started at Silal, we identified there is actually a gap where we can bring the science and technology and translate it into a practical application for farmers. We currently working on using drones in greenhouses, for example, to monitor the crop. We have a hand filled system for measuring the ripeness and the firmness of the fresh produce.

We're trying to bring the innovation back into the UAE and becoming a hub for national and international partners.

MIRACLE (voice-over): One of those partners is Dutch company Hoogendoorn, which harnesses data analytics, satellite imagery and AI to grow crops with precision. The company has brought technology and know-how to farms like Armela farm, one of the most advanced greenhouses in the UAE.

MIRACLE: How are you taking all that you've learned in the Netherlands and applying it here in the UAE, where there's not a lot of land to farm on?

PETER HENDRIKS, CEO OF HOOGENDOORN: It was started by looking at how can we be as energy efficient as possible, because here we have challenges with water scarcity. In the Netherlands, for example, it's energy. It became a philosophy where you really can grow a crop in a sustainable way, but also in a very profitable way, because you use fewer natural resources, so less inputs, higher youth.

MIRACLE (voice-over): From seeding to harvesting, this greenhouse runs a fully automated operation. 100 percent of the water used in production is recycled, and an electric cooling system keeps temperatures comfortable even at the height of summer. MIRACLE: Did you ever think that you would see something like this in the UAE, in the middle of the desert.

HENDRIKS: I think when you asked me 10, 15 years ago, I would not have thought that we would standing here inside the greenhouse like this, because what we see here, this is really unique.

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WALKER: Schools in Delhi were ordered to switch to online classes on Monday after a thick blanket of toxic smog engulfed many parts of the city. City authorities say air pollution readings were the highest they have been this year. For most people, life has to go on as before, but they are not happy about the poisonous air.

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RANI CHANDRA, DENTAL ASSISTANT: Because of the pollution, my eyes are burning. It's like chilly in my eyes.

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WALKER: CNN's Hanako Montgomery has more.

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Since Sunday night. Delhi's air quality has worsened. It's now in the severe plus category, and the government has responded by banning trucks from entering the city unless they're delivering essential items. All in person, classes for students have also been suspended.

And airlines have even diverted some flights to different cities as they struggle with low flight visibility. These measures are in addition to the ones they've already put in place last week, like banning certain construction work. But despite these measures, it feels like there's no relief in sight for Delhi's 20 million residents. Here's what some had to say about what it feels like to be there right now.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Traveling has become tough. The metros, busses are all delayed, and because of the pollution, us, common people are having a lot of difficulty breathing, especially small children and elderly people. Small kids can't go to school. This is impacting our studies, our health.

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MONTGOMERY: But even though this toxic smog makes life pretty unbearable, it's not unprecedented. In fact, around this time every year, we see this toxic smog shroud Delhi for really three key reasons. First, farmers burn their crops, clearing their fields to prepare for next year's harvest.

And second, dust from construction sites, roads and importantly, vehicle emissions all pollute the air. And the third reason is that as winter settles in India, the cold air acts like a blanket trapping air pollutant. So, these factors are why we see this toxic smog in Delhi, year after year.

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Authorities have also responded by sprinkling roads with water and using dust suppressants to relieve Delhi of some of this toxic smog. But unfortunately, these are just quick fixes to a problem that is much larger and unfortunately chronic for India. Hanako Montgomery, CNN, Tokyo.

WALKER: And just an awful situation, Hanako, thank you. And finally, masked thieves have stolen vehicles from Windsor Castle while members of the British Royal Family were believed to be asleep nearby. In a statement to CNN Monday, police said the incident took place in October and that the perpetrators entered a farm building on royal land.

It is a major breach of security for one of the royal residences. Prince William and his wife, Catherine, and their three children were likely at home that night. That is scary. Well, that's my time. Thanks so much for being with me here on CNN "Newsroom". I'm Amara Walker. "Connect the World" with Becky Anderson is up next.

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