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US To Reduce Non-Essential Personnel At Embassy In Ukraine; Pig Kidneys Successfully Transplanted Into Human Patient; Bitcoin Prices Plummet Amid Crypto Market Crash; Georgia Teen Offered Half Million Dollars In Scholarship. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired January 23, 2022 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:41]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: I'm Pamela Brown in Washington, you are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Breaking news this hour, the U.S. State Department says it is reducing staffing levels at the U.S. embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine, citing reports Russia is planning significant military action against Ukraine. This, as Russia has amassed more than 100,000 troops at its border with Ukraine despite repeated conversations with Western leaders aimed at easing the crisis.

The State Department says the embassy departures are voluntary with diplomats' families and non-essential embassy staff being the first to go.

CNN White House correspondent Natasha Bertrand has been tracking these developments. She joins us now by phone.

So what more are you learning about this staff reduction and what exactly prompted it, Natasha?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (via phone): Yes, Pam. So the State Department releasing a statement earlier this evening saying that they have authorized the voluntary departure of U.S. employees, U.S. government employees at the embassy in Kyiv. Those are nonessential employees, nonemergency personnel there. And they have also ordered the departure of their family members so it's voluntary for nonessential personnel and it is an order departure for their family members. And that is due to the continued threats of Russian military action.

They also say that U.S. citizens in Ukraine should consider departing now using commercial or other privately available transportation option. Now of course all of this comes against the backdrop of a major Russian escalation along Ukraine's borders but it sparked fears of a renewed invasion.

The State Department actually said that in their statement, explaining that the move is coming because there are reports that Russia is planning significant military action against Ukraine and that security conditions, particularly along Ukraine's borders in Russia-occupied Crimea and in Russia-controlled eastern Ukraine are unpredictable and can deteriorate with little notice. They also say that demonstration which have turned violent at times regularly occur throughout Ukraine including in Kyiv.

Now CNN had reported on Friday that the embassy had requested that the State Department authorize this departure of nonessential staff and their families, and a source close to the Ukrainian government told CNN as well that the U.S. had actually already informed Ukraine last week that it is likely to start those evacuations as early as next week. And the source said that President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine had spoken to Secretary of State Antony Blinken about the matter and told Blinken that if the U.S. took such a dramatic step they believe it would be an overreaction.

But the State Department standing by their decision tonight, saying that the safety and security of embassy personnel, of Americans overseas, is their priority and they say that given the threats that Russia poses right now to Ukraine, they believe that this is the most prudent move at this point -- Pam.

BROWN: All right, Natasha Bertrand, thanks so much.

The announcement that the State Department will begin reducing embassy staff in Ukraine came hours after Secretary of State Anthony Blinken appeared on CNN and issued a stark warning to Russia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE: If a single additional Russian force goes into Ukraine in an aggressive way, as I said, that would trigger a swift, a severe and a united response from us and from Europe. And again, there are other things that Russia could do that fall short of actually sending additional forces into Ukraine, and again, across the board, we're prepared, with Europe, for a swift and calibrated and very united response.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: CNN's Arlette Saenz is at the White House.

So, Arlette, Blinken's warning there seems pretty close to a red line. Is the Biden administration ready to make good on its threat there?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pamela, the Biden administration is working through all scenarios possible in the event that Russia moves forward with an invasion of Ukraine and they are considering a host of options. We have seen the first delivery, the shipment of lethal aid to Ukraine arrive in the country earlier this weekend in order to ensure that the country has the means to defend itself in the event of an invasion.

But also, Ukraine's Defense minister tweeting tonight that a second plane with weapons has landed in Ukraine. He tweeted 80 tons of weapons from, quote, "our friends in the USA," and he importantly adds, "And this is not the end."

[19:05:03] Now the U.S. earlier in the week, approved the transfer of some weaponry systems from Baltic countries to Ukraine. These are American- made weapon systems, things like antiaircraft systems, antitank, Javelin-guided missile systems as well.

Now President Biden yesterday convened a meeting with his National Security Team from Camp David, where he talked about those diplomatic efforts but also these deterrence measures that they are trying to put in place to deter Russia from invading Ukraine. Now additionally the Pentagon has been drawing up options for the president for the possibility of increasing the U.S. military presence in eastern European, NATO allied countries.

Those countries are also feeling rattled amid this rising tension over Russia and Ukraine. Now Secretary of State Antony Blinken today really doubled down on that warning to Russia that any type of invasion would be met with swift and severe consequences. The U.S. has also warned that they are preparing economic sanctions should Russia move forward with that invasion. Right now, the president, of course, watching this all very closely as they are hoping that that diplomatic route will lead to de-escalation but also trying to be prepared for every scenario.

BROWN: Arlette Saenz, from the White House on this busy Sunday night. Thanks, Arlette.

Joining me now the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, William Taylor.

Hi, Mr. Ambassador, thanks for joining us tonight. Tell us what is likely happening at the U.S. embassy in Kyiv right now? How many family members are we talking about? What resources do they have to leave the city as they've been advised to do -- they've been told to do?

WILLIAM TAYLOR, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: Right, Pamela, this is a normal procedure where you're worried about some bad thing happening, about an invasion, so the nonessential personnel will leave, the families will leave. This is -- the embassy will continue to operate. This is a large embassy, Pamela, you asked. There are some 900 people, two-thirds are Ukrainians, one-third Americans.

It's a large number of folks that are there doing the work of the United States government in Ukraine, in Kyiv, so to pull down that number to a more essential, a smaller number that are essential people, the heads of sections and all will still be there so the operation will continue. But it will clearly be difficult for the embassy to do all it has been doing, so this is a prudent step, this still doesn't assume, I don't think we know yet if President Putin is actually going to pull the trigger and actually going to invade, or send a bombarding attack on the cities including Kyiv.

So we just don't know what President Putin has in mind, maybe he hasn't decided yet either. But prudent contingency planning would call for the steps that they've taken today.

BROWN: Prudent contingency planning, you have here in the advisory from the State Department saying there are reports Russia is planning significant military action against Ukraine. Just tell us, I mean, what would go into making a decision like this? I imagine the State Department would not take this lightly to be ordering the removal of family members, of diplomats, asking, telling the nonessential personnel that they should leave, essentially.

What goes into a decision like that? Do you think there is intelligence backing this up that something could be imminent?

TAYLOR: There's clearly intelligence that backs this up. We've known some time, the intelligence has been very clear that the Russian confederation under Mr. Putin is making very evident, very obvious moves to reinforce and to build up its forces on the borders of Ukraine. This is clear to us, we've been seeing this for weeks, for months now. And Putin still has the decision to make as to whether to pull that trigger.

I don't think the intelligence is able to say what's in Mr. Putin's mind. You have to make plans, you have to take precautions, you have to get people who might be at risk out of there in a way that will allow them to leave in some orderly way. So this is what the steps are being taken now.

BROWN: So I'm just being curious, though, just for perspective. They had been amassing troops there, Russia has been, for many months, it's been over 100,000 troops I believe since early December. What do you make of the timing of doing this now? Are you surprised they didn't do this earlier?

TAYLOR: I'm not surprised they didn't do this earlier because, as you indicated, Pamela, this is a serious decision. This is a serious decision that will require many people to get on our planes.

[19:10:01]

This will also be a signal that the Ukrainian government is not eager to see. The Ukrainian government is not pleased to have embassies draw down. They want to be sure that the embassies are there to support, and that's why I say, and the essential people will still be there. The essential people in the embassy will be there to support the Ukrainian government.

As you've indicated, there are weapons flowing in. These weapons, by the way, have been flowing in for eight years and they've accelerated over the past several months and they'll continue to accelerate. So the United States is continuing to support Ukraine in every way it can. Mr. Putin knows that these sanctions, these additional military equipment, the re-enforcements to NATO will all come if he decides to attack.

BROWN: And we've seen the U.S. send two big batches of aid to Ukraine just recently, so you've got this move coupled with that. Is that a sign to you that the diplomatic talks between the U.S. and Russia are breaking down at this point?

TAYLOR: Not yet, Pamela. Not yet. Again the decision is up to Mr. Putin. There was some indication that the two sides would get together again next week to have this conversation. I understand that Blinken has been working on some written document that lays out our position, in opposition to their position, the Russian position which they put down in draft treaties as we recall back in December.

So I'll just say that the diplomatic work continues. The diplomatic work assumes that this will continue and conversations will take place next week. This however does indicate that President Putin continues to try to bluff, try to bluster, try to intimidate. Try to intimidate President Zelensky, try to intimidate the Americans, try to get them to cave or to blink in response to or in the face of this large military build-up.

So far, President Zelensky has not blinked, President Biden has not blinked, Secretary Blinken has not blinked, and they are standing firm. That should continue in order to get to the negotiated settlement.

BROWN: Ambassador Bill Taylor, thank you for that really important perspective on this unfolding situation there between the U.S. pulling out staff and family members from the embassy there in Ukraine and everything going on, on that front. Thank you so much.

TAYLOR: Thank you, Pamela.

BROWN: As Russia's Vladimir Putin flexes his military might on Ukraine's border, Chinese officials put on a show of force today in Taiwan. China launched 39 war planes into Taiwan's air defense zone. Taiwan says it's deployed air defense missile systems in response. It is the largest Chinese incursion into Taiwanese air space this year and it comes amid growing tensions over Chinse -- China's territorial claims in Taiwan.

And still ahead this hour, a game changing scientific breakthrough. Surgeons successfully transplant a pig's kidney into a human body. The lead surgeon tells me what comes next.

But first, a former speaker of the House predicting jailtime for members of Congress investigating the Capitol attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH, FORMER REPUBLICAN HOUSE SPEAKER: When you have a Republican Congress, this is all going to come crashing down and the wolves are going to find out that they're now sheep and they're the one who in fact -- I think face a real risk of jail.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: What, honestly, is he even talking about?

Well, Congressman Elaine Luria is one of the people that he's referring to there. We're going to get her reaction, find out how she feels about those claim about being jailed for trying to safeguard democracy.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:17:58]

BROWN: The House Select Committee investigating last January 6th is still working to piece together what then President Trump did or was willing to do to overturn the election that he lost. According to Politico, someone inside the Trump White House wrote up a plan to seize voting machines and hunt for fraud via executive order. The order was drafted but never issued.

Committee chairman, Congressman Bennie Thompson was asked about that unissued order this morning and if he planned to speak with former Attorney General William Barr about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. BENNIE THOMPSON (D-MS): To be honest with you, we had former conversations with the former attorney general already. We've talked to Department of Defense individuals. We are concerned that our military was part of this big lie.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Bill Barr is just one of many names to watch. The committee is still hoping to hear from high profile Trump allies like his daughter, Ivanka Trump, FOX News host Sean Hannity, former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

And I want to bring in Congresswoman Elaine Luria. She is a member of the House Select Committee Investigating January 6th.

Congresswoman, thank you so much for coming on. I want to begin with Bill Barr. What has come out of these conversations the committee has had with the former attorney general? We just heard Bennie Thompson there talk about the fact that he has been speaking with the committee.

REP. ELAINE LURIA (D-VA): Well, I would say that he has had informal conversations with the committee and he's certainly someone who has information relative to this time frame between the election and January 6th. I think his time as attorney general ended around December 23rd, but things such as this document, this draft executive order that was, you know, planning an unheard-of use of the military to seize voting machines, I mean he is someone who was in that inner circle of the president, who understood what was happening, who was at the Justice Department into the month of December, and you know, really could shed some light for the committee on some of the background where these things came from.

[19:20:01]

I mean, you know, we have this draft executive order but there's a lot of questions that we still have about it. Where did it come from and how far did it go? BROWN: Right.

LURIA: What we know is that it was part of the archives, and these are official U.S. government documents from the White House. I mean they were within the circle of those surrounding the president and we just have a lot more questions that need to be answered about this so anyone who could shed light on that will be very valuable to providing information to the committee.

BROWN: I will tell you I spoke to a former Trump administration official who said it was not the White House Counsel's Office at that time that was working on that document. We know, though, that Trump was consulting with many people at that time even outside the White House trying to figure out ways to overturn the election results.

So you mentioned that Bill Barr was speaking to attorneys on the committee. Can we expect to see the former attorney general officially testify?

LURIA: We're still working through those specific details, but, you know, while you focus on this document, what I would say is that something that stood out to me and this was reported on yesterday is that there's a Presidential National Security memorandum referenced in that document that wasn't ever publicly reported before, so, you know, those who drafted this document or someone who assisted the people drafting this document had knowledge of classified information at the highest levels of the U.S. government.

And that's just incredibly concerning so there's so much questions we have to get answered and, you know, I obviously think that Attorney General Barr may be able to shed some light on this or at least lead us to other people who he could conceive of being involved in drafting this document.

BROWN: Has the committee had any similar conversations with White House counsel Pat Cipollone, Pat Philbin, any others who were in the White House Counsel's Office at the time in the Trump White House?

LURIA: You know, we're obviously reaching out to interviewing all of the people who were within the White House and the administration, those who are coming forward voluntarily and, you know, it really -- you know, it's been committee policy at this point that we're not talking about specific information from the specific witnesses but certainly what we're hearing is painting a very fulsome picture about just how close to the president and to the administration, you know, these types of things were happening.

BROWN: I know you don't want to go into any specifics here, but would you like to see the committee call in Donald Trump himself?

LURIA: You know, the committee is not going to stop until we get that information that we need. So, you know, as we've said from the beginning, as the chairman said from the beginning, we're not ruling out anyone who can provide information to the committee. You know, based off of his track record of obstructing and refusing to testify and provide information, you know, is it incredibly likely that he would show up voluntarily to speak to the committee? Of course not, but what I would say is that he obviously has the answers to the questions that we're trying to answer.

BROWN: But is it fair to say there are discussions on the committee about how to approach him?

LURIA: There's discussions on the committee about many people who share, who have useful information so, you know, of course we want to hear from the people at the highest levels of the administration. And, you know, as a note, those people who were, you know, working in the office of the former vice president have been cooperative with the committee, many of the staffers in the White House. I think there's about 400 people at this point, over 51,000 documents that we've received and people we heard from. So, you know, we are receiving a plethora of information and will continue to pursue them.

BROWN: And on that note, have you gleaned anything else from these documents, hundreds of documents from the National Archives that you got late last week? Anything new you can tell us from those?

LURIA: Well, you know, there are 700 pages that are incredibly interesting. They contain a lot of information that's very, very important to the investigation so we are diligently as a committee and committee staff working through those. And, you know, part of it is trying to understand the context. Specifically who generated some of these documents, so where did they come from and how high did they go? And placing that in the framework and understanding of what happened, you know, leading up to and on January 6th.

BROWN: Representative Elaine Luria, stay with me, much more to discuss. I want to get your reaction to what Newt Gingrich had to say about you and other committee members going to jail after the break. We also want to get your thoughts on the developing situation in Ukraine, and Taiwan and China as well. So stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:28:43]

BROWN: More now on the breaking news this hour. The State Department says it is reducing staffing levels at the U.S. embassy in Kyiv, citing reports Russia is planning significant military action against Ukraine. Russia has amassed more than 100,000 troops at its border with Ukraine despite repeated conversations with Western leaders aimed at easing the crisis.

The State Department says the embassy departures are voluntary with diplomats, families and non-essential embassy staff being the first to go. We should note, though, that these -- the family members of the staff there, they are being ordered to go.

CNN national security correspondent Kylie Atwood joins me now.

So, Kylie, what more can you tell us about what was behind this move?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (via phone): Yes, I think there are a lot of questions, Pam, about why the State Department did this now. And senior State Department officials just spoke on a call with reporters to explain that this decision came out of an abundance of caution. So it's basically, what they said, is the totality of the situation with Russia continuing its efforts to destabilize Ukraine, its military build-up along the borders.

Those are the factors that went into this decision for them to, as you said, authorize the departure of some U.S. government employees and to order the departure of the families of those U.S. government employees at the embassy in Kyiv.

[19:30:00]

So there's not necessarily a heightened risk that those US personnel are in today versus yesterday, but they do feel that the totality of the situation made it so that they should start allowing, and then, of course, telling some of those Americans to get out.

So that's, you know, the gist of this here but there is another aspect of it, which is American citizens who are in the country and the State Department is essentially encouraging them to leave, telling them to avail themselves of commercial options, excuse me. They won't say exactly how many Americans have registered with the State Department as being in Ukraine right now. They said that that's because they think that providing that information just wouldn't be helpful at this time, because Americans aren't required to share that information.

But it was really noteworthy that the department was very clear in saying that Biden, the President, is not going to be evacuating US citizens if Russia invades Ukraine. So they want to leave the country, those Americans who are there on their own accord, they should start looking for commercial options now.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN BROWN: OK. Kylie Atwood, thank you for that. I want to bring back Democratic Congresswoman Elaine Luria. So, what is your reaction to this decision? We just heard Kylie Atwood break down, what was behind the scene that they are doing this out of an abundance of caution? What do you make of it?

REP. ELAINE LURIA, (D-VA): Well, you know, I'd say that there are obviously rising tensions. We've been all in on negotiations to attend, to get Russia to back down with 100,000 troops on the border. And, you know, I think that we are seeking pressure on Russia to try to convince them and it's not in their benefit to invade Ukraine.

But, you know, those civilians who were MSE and US civilians within Ukraine, it's very important that the US government has a plan to help those people get to safety. And I actually wrote a letter this week with all my colleagues, to the immigration saying, you know, what is the plan. We've had briefings as Congress from the Department of Defense and, you know, I really want to make sure that there is a good solid plan to react and get those Americans out if, you know, Russia does decide to take this drastic measure.

BROWN: We keep hearing the US officials say that they are ready to impose severe consequences if Russia moves in. But we have seen an uptick in activity from the US in terms of giving aid to Ukraine. Now you have this move at the embassy there in Ukraine, do you think we could see a change in the US response to Russia now that they've scaled back personnel, their embassy in Ukraine?

LURIA: What I say is that we need to provide the maximum security assistance as quickly as possible. We did 60 million. We've authorized an additional 200 million. You can see that, you know, additional shipments of defensive weapons are being delivered to Ukraine as we speak, that happened today. And I'm also aware that there's reporting from the administration very recently, that the United States is reinforcing its number of groups, so within NATO, in the areas of Eastern Europe and near Ukraine. And really the stick, you know, if we're going to talk about a carrot and a stick, is, you know, we've been very clear that there'll be severe consequences from the US and US allies if Russia does decide to invade Ukraine.

And I think this could come in the form of very, very draconian sanctions. And, you know, I think that there's also the concern about the pipeline in Germany and the impacts that that could have on Russia as well.

BROWN: We're also learning that China sent 39 warplanes into Taiwan's Air Defense Zone on Sunday. Do you think the Biden administration has been doing enough with the escalating tension with China?

LURIA: Well, this is an issue I follow very closely. I spent 20 years in the Navy myself, had numerous opportunities to deploy to the Western Pacific. I actually visited with the US indo INDOPACOM commander earlier this year. And what I would say is that every single day is truly a gray zone conflict in the Pacific.

And, you know, from my opinion, I think that we're not doing enough. I think that we need to be building our Navy, we need to deploy our forces differently, we need to truly have a deterrent within the region. And I think that the current US policy, a strategic ambiguity is not enough. I think we need to make it very clear that the United States policy should change to be that we will react in order to maintain the status quo, and I think it is time for that.

BROWN: Quickly before we go, I got to get your reaction to what the former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said on Fox this morning. Let's listen.

I guess we don't have that sound --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH, FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: And we have a Republican Congress, this is all going to come crashing down. And the wolves are going to find out that they're now sheep, and they're the ones who are, in fact, going to I think face a real risk of jail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[19:35:00] BROWN: So, obviously, that is a ridiculous comment from the former speaker. Liz Cheney, the congresswoman and fellow January 6 Committee Member had this to say, a former Speaker of the House is threatening jail time for members of Congress who are investigating the violent January 6 attack at our Capitol and our Constitution. This is what it looks like when the rule of law unravels. So, what is your reaction to what he said there?

LURIA: It's kind of funny, I was kind of -- I was going to say the same thing. I was going to quote my colleague, Liz Cheney on the bipartisan committee that's currently carrying on this investigation into this attack on our Capitol and our democracy. And it's really unconscionable that, you know, I think that the politicization has sunk to this level, that a former Speaker of the House could be threatening current members of Congress who carrying out their duty. And, in fact, performing what is required under the law that, you know, there'd be some threat of jail. I mean, that's just not something that happens in the United States. And, you know, that is why the work we're doing is absolutely so important on the committee, is to make sure that we uphold the foundations of our democracy.

BROWN: Representative Elaine Luria, thank you so much for joining us tonight and for all of your time you gave us.

LURIA: Thank you.

BROWN: And be sure to join my colleague, Jim Acosta, this coming week as he hosts "Democracy in Peril," Monday through Friday night at 9:00 Eastern only on CNN.

We made headlines around the world, a pig's heart, saving the life of a man with heart failure. Now, there was a new medical marvel to tell you about. Hear from one of the doctors who transplanted kidneys from a pig into a human patient. The lead surgeon is my guest up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:41:15]

BROWN: Tonight, a vivid reminder of just how polarizing the COVID pandemic has become, even something as simple as wearing a mask. NBA Hall of Famer John Stockton tells the Washington State newspaper that his alma mater, Gonzaga University, where he was a star player, has suspended his season tickets. The reason, he refuses to wear a mask.

Two of Stockton's children also played basketball at Gonzaga. Stockton has a history of speaking out against vaccines and other measures such as lockdowns. CNN has reached out to Stockton for comment.

This is such an incredible story. It is a brave new world in the realm of organ transplants. Kidneys from a genetically-altered pig have been transplanted into a brain dead human patient at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. The cutting edge transplant comes just weeks after a genetically modified pig heart was transplanted into a Maryland man suffering from terminal heart failure. That man, David Bennett, is reportedly doing well. Dr. Jayme Locke joins me now. she was the lead surgeon on the kidney transplant team in Birmingham. Doctor, I have read that pigs are remarkably similar to humans when it comes to organ size and function. I didn't know that before all of this news has emerged and these transplants have happened. So how complicated was the surgery? How long did it take?

JAYME LOCKE, LEAD SURGEON, PIG KIDNEY TRANSPLANT: Thank you so much for having us, Good evening. The transplants themselves only took us about three hours to complete. It was preceded exactly like a human to human transplant. And it was just remarkable watching as blood flow was restored to the pig kidney, and watch it actually make urine inside a human. It was remarkable.

BROWN: So tell us about it. I mean, how nervous were you going into this? I know, obviously, you did a ton of research and everything. You're a professional. You've done many transplants. But what exactly was it like going into this and what was that moment like when you, as you put it, you see the blood flow happening, you see things starting to work the way they should?

LOCKE: Yes. I mean, I think the stakes are just extraordinarily high. When you think about kidney failure, and we know we have a cure, which is kidney transplantation. And with a kidney transplant, there's 95% survival, yet, we perform fewer than 25,000 kidney transplants each year. And there are almost 600,000 Americans on dialysis. So we don't have enough cure to go around.

So the stakes, the pressure of wanting this to work, wanting this to be successful for all of those patients, all of those people out there suffering, knowing that this could be the solution to the organ shortage crisis. And in the moments I think it was just remarkable, unbelievable, exciting, exhilarating. And most of all, I think we all felt this remarkable sense of hope for all of our patients.

BROWN: And the pig kidneys are working properly so far, right? No issues.

LOCKE: The pig kidney -- the study has ended but the pig kidneys work for the duration of the study.

BROWN: So let's talk about this because the human host in this case was a man who was an organ donor. He was left brain dead after a motorcycle accident. His family readily agreed to this transplant. So tell us a little bit more about the backstory here in the study.

LOCKE: Absolutely. So there are a couple of key elements that we really wanted to be able to test before we moved into living persons, and animal models just weren't sufficient. And so, we wanted to be able to develop a preclinical human model. And so we postulated leveraging brain death as such a model.

[19:45:06]

In this case, Mr. Parsons' family is truly remarkable. They honored his legacy and his wish to be an organ donor, both for the purposes of transplantation and research. He ended up being a kidney only donor, and so his kidneys were procured for the purpose of transplant. And then, we were able to transplant the pig kidneys into Mr. Parsons. And we sustained him for another three days to assess the kidney function and collect other really important endpoints that are going to be necessary for us to move this safely into humans that are living.

BROWN: Wow. Dr. Jayme Locke, thank you so much. This is just an incredible development that really could save so many lives.

LOCKE: Thank you so much for having us. We really appreciate it.

BROWN: Well, crypto crash has raised more than $1 trillion from the value of cryptocurrency since November. Is it part of a bigger bubble bursting? Up next, economist Justin Wolfers joins me live to explain what's going on here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Has the Bitcoin bubble finally burst? The popular crypto coin is undergoing a massive sell off, part of a crash that has cost investors more than a trillion dollars. The price drop comes amid a wave of celebrity endorsements, with many getting less than stellar reviews. Kim Kardashian and Floyd Mayweather are facing a lawsuit for allegedly misleading investors after a coin they promoted tanked. New York Mayor Eric Adams promised to get paid in crypto during its peak in November. And on Friday, he made good on that promise just as the market reached record lows.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC ADAMS, NEW YORK MAYOR: When you are a long term investor, you don't keep your eyes on your portfolio, you buy low and hopefully you get the recovery that you desire. The purpose of the Bitcoin is to send a message that New York City is open to technology. You're going to see a large amount of new technology in the city of New York and encourage our young people to be engaged in these new emerging markets.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So should young people or any people for that matter enter the crypto market? The recent crash may suggest not but it's also true that the crypto market has exploded in recent years. Take a look at the Bitcoin boons since it was created nearly a decade ago. It's tanking no but that's after years of growth. So, is what we're witnessing just a speed bump and another wise smooth road?

Our next guest isn't so sure. Justin Wolfers is an economics professor at the University of Michigan. He is a critic of cryptocurrency. Thank you so much for spending some time with us, Justin. So, what do you make of this major crash in the crypto market and do you expect it will recover?

JUSTIN WOLFERS, ECONOMIST: I think trying to predict whether this thing's going up or down is a bit of a fool's game. The truth is, it'll go up until it stops going up, and it'll go down until it stops going down. The deeper question is whether cryptocurrency ends up playing any kind of a productive role in our economy and that's where I'm something of a cynic.

BROWN: OK. So expand on that. Why are you a cynic? Why are you a critic of crypto?

WOLFERS: Sure. So this really sort of have to get into one of the deep metaphysical questions of economics, which is what is money, because Bitcoin is anything at thinks it's kind of money. But money, first of all, is a medium of exchange, which means you can go to the shops and buy stuff with it. But a whole lot of stores won't take any cryptocurrency. It's what's called a unit of account, which is you go to the store, and does the store, say your sandwich is $8, or does it say how many Bitcoin it'll cost. And it's a store of value, but it's a pretty rotten store of value.

When I get $10 out of the ATM, I'm pretty sure I'll still have $10. tomorrow. When I buy a Bitcoin, it might be worth $60,000 one day and $30,000 the next. And I just don't need that sort of risk in my life, frankly.

BROWN: So, that's fair, give us the other side, though, the other side of this argument in favor of these currencies.

WOLFERS: So the techno optimists think that basically, this is a technology that's better than good old US dollars. If they're right, we're going to stop carrying around those pieces of paper. Well, most of us don't really carry around US dollars anymore but we do carry around bits and bytes, being our bank balances or our Venmo balances or our paper balances. If they're right, we're going to be carrying around Bitcoin balances instead. Much of life will be very similar.

One thing that's quite different, though, is the US dollar is controlled by the Federal Reserve and therefore the US government. We have an active form of monetary policy we can use to guide the economy, whereas Bitcoin exists outside of governments. And in fact, it's not just a US currency, it's also potentially a global currency.

BROWN: All right. Professor Justin Wolfers, thank you. This is such a talker. I feel like so many people are talking about this with the big drop in the price, but it's also as a lot of people thinking about what does it mean for them, should they invest, should they not. So this is great perspective. Thank you.

WOLFERS: It's been a pleasure.

BROWN: A Georgia teenager has been accepted into more than 50 colleges and universities, and has been offered more than a half million dollars in scholarships. Kenyari Sawyer, a high school senior with a 4.0 grade point average applied to almost 100 schools and was blown away by the response. She's got dozens to choose from. I spoke to Kenyari already to find out what motivates her.

[19:55:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KENYARI SAWYER, ACCEPTER TO MORE THAN 50 CHALLENGES: I do want to go to school. My mother is my motivation. My mom is surprised. She wants to take me out to celebrate, I guess. She is the number -- so I gave myself a challenge and I completed the challenge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Well, she sure did complete that challenge. Kenyari's plans for now are to attend Howard University and study law. Kudos to you, congratulations. All that hard work paying off, Kenyari.

And thank you for joining me this evening, I'm Pamela Brown. We'll see you again next weekend. Up next, the CNN Original Series, "Reframed: Marilyn Monroe."