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City of Bakhmut Now Russia's Number One Target; EU, G7, Australia Cap Price on Russian Oil at $60 Per Barrel; William and Kate Return Home After U.S. Trip; 44.01 Focuses on Removing CO2 From Atmosphere. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired December 05, 2022 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:00]
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: FOSTER: This hour we are just one day away from Georgia's crucial runoff election for the final U.S. Senate seat. Voters will choose between Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock and his Republican challenger Herschel Walker. While the race won't determine control of the Senate, a Warnock victory would give Democrats an outright majority.
And Iran's Attorney General has reportedly announced that the government will review the country's hijab law. That's according to a pro-reform outlet. It comes after three months of protests following the death of Mahsa Amini in morality police custody.
BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR: Ukrainian authorities say at least one person has been killed and three wounded in the past few hours in central Ukraine after three missiles struck an industrial area. The new attack comes amid other officials claiming the eastern city of Bakhmut has become the number one target of Russian forces. As part of the Donetsk region, the area has been the focus of escalating attacks by Russian forces. CNN's Will Ripley has more on the latest fighting from Kyiv.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's been relatively quiet day here in Ukrainian capital of Kyiv but that is all for certainly not the situation in many other parts of this battle- scarred country.
On the eastern front in the Donetsk region which has been the site of fighting that goes back eight years to Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea that started this whole thing, the fighting has intensified with Russia aiming its sights at the town of Bakhmut. Which the Ukrainian military says is Russia's target number one as they try desperately to show some sort of success on the battlefield that has eluded them after a series of humiliating defeats by the Ukrainians. Who have just been more effective in pretty much every category with the exception, of course, of bombardment. Because Russia has a huge arsenal and there is growing concern here that Russia will use that arsenal of rockets and missiles to launch a major attack on the power grid in the coming days. Power has been restored back up to 75 percent in liberated Kherson in
southern Ukraine. But they also have been the targets on Sunday of bombardments, not necessarily missiles per se but artillery and rockets have been raining down. They have hit private apartment buildings, civilian homes and one civilian has been killed at least two others injured. And this is in addition to the huge mess that the Russians left behind there when you're talking about mines and trip wires and other dangerous objects.
More than 4,200 explosive devices have been collected by the Ukrainians and seized. They managed to destroy just over 1,200 of them so far. So clearly, a very difficult and precarious situation for people both in south of Ukraine and also in the east as Russia continues its unprovoked assault on Ukraine.
Will Ripley, CNN, Kyiv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NOBILO: An Ukrainian official says shelling in the Kherson region killed at least one person over the weekend. Police say the area is littered with mines, trip wires and other dangerous objects left by Russian troops. The Ukrainians say they found more than 4,000 explosive devices.
FOSTER: Utilities are coming back online in the city of Kherson where at least 85 percent of the area reportedly has electricity again. Blackouts have been become common in Ukraine with Russia targeting the country's power grid with attacks. Ukraine's president says the shelling is part of Russia's plan to use the winter months as a weapon against Ukraine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The enemy really hopes to use winter against us to make winter cold and hardship part of his terror. We have to do everything to endure this winter, no matter how hard it is and we will endure. To endure this winter is to defend everything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBILO: The European Union's ban on Russian oil imports shipped by sea has come into effect as countries move to deprive the Kremlin of revenue. Also taking effect, a price cap on Russian oil.
FOSTER: The EU, G-7 nations and Australia agreed Friday to impose a price cap of $60 a barrel on oil shipped to other countries that haven't adopted an embargo. Russia's deputy Prime Minister says the country will not export oil to countries that impose price caps. CNN's Clare Sebastian joins us here in London. Russia basically saying they won't sell to these countries. How does it work?
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: so, this is a ban on shipping and insurance to countries who don't comply with the price cap. That is how the EU and G7 are planning to enforce this. And taking a step back these two measures together, the EU embargo on oil and a price cap, they are really big in the grand scheme of the energy sanctions that we've seen so far over the course of this now war that is in its tenth month. This is the biggest so far.
I think the bigger question is whether they will actually achieve their goals, one of punishing Russia and two of stabilizing the oil market. So, taking Russia first, I mean, the $60 cap, that's only slightly below what we've seen Russia oil trading at so far. That's why it's controversial. They're trying incentivize Russia to keep producing, not to take oil off the global market while at the same time trying to hit their revenues. And it's unclear at the moment if they're really going to hurt Russia that much with this. So, that's a big question.
The bigger question of course is given Russia's threat to boycott customers who comply with the cap.
[04:35:00]
Will they do that? Will they shoot themselves in the foot and take oil off the market? Then of course, prices will go up. Prices this morning coming up just a little bit, not too much but they have been accelerating in the last hour.
NOBILO: And given that threat from Russia, another part of the motivation here, is obviously to try and stabilize oil prices. Is that going to work if Russia boycotts it?
SEBASTIAN: If Russia does follow through on its threat, then no. I think we will see the prices spike if oil comes off the market. But at the same time don't forget, that we're seeing, for example, in China COVID restrictions may be lifting in some areas. That will lead demand to spike at the same time the supply comes down if Russia does this. Best case scenario for this though is that it simply leads to a continuation of what we've seen which is a reshuffling of oil supply. So, if today China and India start buying more oil from Russia and Europe buys more from the Middle East and other areas and prices could in that scenario more or less stabilize. But it's far from clear at that point. At this point if that's in fact what's going to happen.
NOBILO: Clare Sebastian, thank you so much for joining us.
FOSTER: Thanks, Clare.
A top cop in Florida has been placed on administrative leave after a video emerged of her flashing her badge during a traffic stop. Tampa's police chief Mary O'Connor was traveling with her husband in a golf cart without a license plate.
NOBILO: And now, I spent a lot of time in Florida driving golf carts and I know that's certainly against the rules. The incident was captured by the body cam of the deputy who stopped her.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARY O'CONNOR, POLICE CHIEF, TAMPA, FLORIDA: Is your camera on? LARRY JACOBY, DEPUTY, PINELLAS COUNTY: It is.
M. O'CONNOR: I'm the police chief in Tampa.
JACOBY: Oh, how are you doing.
M. O'CONNOR: I'm doing good.
JACOBY: OK.
M. O'CONNOR: I'm hoping that you'll let us go tonight.
JACOBY: OK. Yeah. I'll say -- not to say -- you look familiar, so.
M. O'CONNOR: Yeah. I'm sure I did.
JACOBY: OK. All right, folks, have a good night. So, you don't hear any (inaudible)?
M. O'CONNOR: Yeah. We live in East Lake Woodlands.
JACOBY: OK. All right. Well, it's nice to meet you. I'm Deputy Jacoby.
M. O'CONNOR: Same here, my friend.
JACOBY: All right.
M. O'CONNOR: Take care of yourself. Sorry to bother you.
JACOBY: All right. Take care. All right. No worries. Like I say, we have a lot of problem with the golf carting around here, you know, everybody --
KEITH O'CONNOR, HUSBAND OF MARY O'CONNOR: We don't normally come out.
M. O'CONNOR: We never come out.
K. O'CONNOR: But the park was closed so we went to the Greek place to get some food.
JACOBY: Got you. OK. All right. All right then, well take care and it was nice meeting you.
K. O'CONNOR: All right.
JACOBY: Oh, all right.
M. O'CONNOR: If you ever need anything, call me.
JACOBY: OK.
M. O'CONNOR: Serious.
JACOBY: All right, appreciate that.
M. O'CONNOR: Thank you. JACOBY: Yes, ma'am, you're welcome.
M. O'CONNOR: Thank you for your service.
JACOBY: Thank you for yours.
M. O'CONNOR: Thank you.
JACOBY: Take care.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NOBILO: Wow, kind amount to, don't you know who I am?
FOSTER: What an insight as well into how people can use their power, apart from all of that.
NOBILO: Yes, I guess so. O'Connor is on leave pending the investigation. She's apologize for the incident saying it was poor judgment on her part.
FOSTER: Yes, I think we can agree there.
Coming up Prince William receiving praise for his initiative tackling environmental issues. Why one celebrity calls Earthshot prize inspiring. That's just ahead.
[04:40:00]
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FOSTER: Britain's Prince and Princess of Wales returned home over the weekend after wrapping up a U.S. trip. The start of the tour put the spot on the environment but the Royal visit was overshadowed by some Royal controversy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PRINCE WILLIAM OF WHALES: It's my hope the Earthshot legacy will continue to grow.
FOSTER (voice-over): And the beginning of another legacy for William and Catherine in their first overseas trip as the new Prince and Princess of Wales. Their three-day U.S. visit culminating in the second annual Earthshot prize.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome to Boston and the Earthshot prize. The biggest environmental awards on the planet.
FOSTER (voice-over): Prince William's passion project where every year over a decade five winners from around the globe are awarded a million pounds to fund their creative solutions to the climate crisis. Well, the trip was overshadowed by controversy erupting back home. A senior royal aide resigning after Ngozi Fulani, a black charity executive, shared her experience of being grilled about her heritage and abetting him palace event. NGOZI FULANI, DOMESTIC AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE ADVISOR, SISTAH SPACE: I'm
British and there's no debate about it. So, when she says, oh, I knew eventually I would get where you come from.
FOSTER (voice-over): Buckingham palace quickly called the remarks unacceptable. A spokesperson for Prince William also saying racism has no place in our society.
In Boston, it was a case of keeping calm and carrying on. William and Kate focusing on environmentalism and the inspiration behind the trip.
PRINCE WILLIAM: 60 years ago, President John F. Kennedy's moonshot speech laid down a challenge to American innovation and ingenuity. It was that moonshot speech that inspired me to launch the Earthshot prize and where better to hold this year's awards ceremony than in President Kennedy's hometown.
FOSTER (voice-over): William met with the late president's daughter and current U.S. Ambassador to Australia, Caroline at the Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. Later the Prince of Wales meeting with President Joe Biden. He was in the state for a fundraising event. The couple also filled their time with a Celtics game and visits with environmental tech entrepreneurs, also Boston harbor as well as a nonprofit supporting the disadvantaged youth.
But the highlight of William and Catherine's trip was Friday's star- studded Earthshot ceremony that included performances by Ellie Goulding and Annie Lennox. Oscar-winner and one of the nights presenters, Rami Malek, applauding the Prince's efforts to support those trying to find a solution to the climate crisis.
RAMI MALEK, ACTOR: It's extraordinarily inspiring. He's finding answers and the 1 million pounds that are given to these five people, these five organizations is, you know, something that keeps us from looking at the gloom and doom.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER (on camera): We're joined now as a representative of one of this year's winners of the Earthshot prize. Karan Khimji is the cofounder and chief commercial officer of 44.01 and joins us live from Oman. Many congratulations to you. And your solution is about capturing carbon, isn't it, but in a nontraditional way as many of us know it.
KARAN KHIMJI, COFOUNDER AND CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER, 44.01: Yes, absolutely. Thank you for having me on the program. Yes, so we eliminate carbon dioxide by turning it into a rock and trapping in this solid form forever.
FOSTER: And that is as opposed to carbon capture as we've known in the past where it's effectively stored and you have to monitor it. Is that the key difference here?
KHIMJI: Exactly, so carbon storage as we know it today is trapping gaseous CO2 in underground formations. This brings on long-term monitoring requirements, insurance requirements, that may fall onto governments to look after into the future as that trapped gas remains stored.
[04:45:00]
What we do is eliminate that CO2 from existence turning into this solid carbonate form which does not require that long-term monitoring and those insurance because it can never be physically re-released into the atmosphere again.
FOSTER: And this mineralization I think it's called is something that happens naturally. You speed up the process.
Exactly. So, mineralization -- I think it's called, isn't it -- is something that does happen naturally but you speed up the process.
KHIMJI: Exactly, so mineralization is a natural process. Here in Oman, we have a rock called peridotite that makes up the majority of our mountain ranges that naturally absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere when there is rainfall. So, at 44.01 what we're effectively doing is accelerating this natural process by mixing carbon dioxide and water into effectively a sparkling water solution and then injecting that deep underground to catalyze that mineralization process.
FOSTER: And you got this million pounds which is part of Prince William's idea not just to discover these solutions but to accelerate them. How do you use that? I mean, how do you scale this because it's just an Oman right now, isn't it.
KHIMJI: It is. There is peridotite deposits abundant all over the world. So, the million pounds that we've won from the Earthshot prize is going to be used to refine our technology and scale it and expand internationally to those other peridotite deposits.
FOSTER: But this is so you can also do it locally. It doesn't have to be sent away. You know, you don't have to sort of move the rocks around afterwards, is that the idea?
KHIMJI: Absolutely. We don't move the rocks around at all. The rock itself just exists in natural formations all around the world. So, we would source CO2 from local areas where those rocks exist and perform our process locally in those international locations. We can it both in Oman and outside as well.
FOSTER: And just how did it come about that you got involved in the awards?
KHIMJI: We were nominated by one of the official nominators of the Earthshot prize. We were approached by them to understand our solution and they thought that it was going to be very beneficial for the climate and they agreed to nominate us for the prize. And we are very thankful for their support as well as the support of all the other stakeholders that have been so instrumental in getting us to where we are today. FOSTER: And how much difference do you think it's going to make? This
is the second year of the Earthshot prizes. I know that Prince William, you know, he calls it his Super Bowl. He really wants to change things through this idea. I mean, do you think that's -- how many impact do you think it's really going to have?
KHIMJI: For 44.01 it's going to have a massive impact. A million pounds is a lot of resource that we can use to scale our solution. There is -- the solution that we're proposing here is very technical and capital intensive. So, to have that sort of capital come in that we can then use to deploy and refine our technology and scale that up so we can take it to other places in the world and scale it up quickly to fight the grand challenge that's facing us is incredibly pertinent.
FOSTER: OK, Karan Khimji, thank you and congratulations.
NOBILO: America's first couple celebrated with those in attendance at this year's Kennedy Centers Honors. The four members of the Irish rock band U2 were among those honored Sunday night star-studded event.
FOSTER: They were joined by singers Gladys Knight and Amy Grant along with actor George Clooney and composer Tanya Leon.
NOBILO: And some of our CNN colleagues.
FOSTER: Yes. U.S. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden hosted honorees for a reception at the White House and praised the group for their accomplishments and contributions to the arts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Tonight, we celebrate a truly exceptional -- and that's not an exaggeration -- a truly exceptional group of artists. Who embody the very spirit that we the people, at this year's Kennedy Center honoree, they are an incredible group of people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBILO: Biden's presence at this year's Kennedy Center honors marks the second year they continued the long-standing tradition of presidential attendance after it stopped during the Trump administration.
FOSTER: And now coming up, as times change and with it so do many of the sounds, we hear every day. We'll show you one man's effort to preserve those sounds before they're lost forever.
[04:50:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NOBILO: Los Angeles authorities are hoping to identify the coyote that attacked a 2-year-old girl. The whole thing was captured on a family's ring camera. We must warn you some may find the video disturbing. And you can see the coyote grabbing the child and attempting to drag
her away. Her father quickly saved her and ran the animal off. Her parents say she is recovering and has received multiple rabies shots. The investigators have DNA samples and hope to use them to identify the coyote if it's caught.
NOBILO: Gosh, that must be so terrifying to parent to suddenly see that.
A London tattoo removal studio has an offer for former fans of Kanye West. It will remove tattoos of West for free. The studio called NAAMA says that three clients have taken him up on that offer so far and 10 more have booked appointments for a consultation.
FOSTER: The studio announced the project on social media after West continued to openly promote antisemitism and praise Adolf Hitler. Tattoo removals can cost $2,500 or more to know your brand has gone downhill.
NOBILO: Absolutely, and what's so interesting is this parlor, I was reading, has this second chance initiative where they already often remove tattoos for free if they're gang tattoos or hate symbols or things that people regret having that are triggering for other people.
FOSTER: You need to think about these tattoos when you put them on.
NOBILO: You do, they are for life. You don't have any tattoos, do you?
FOSTER: Well --
NOBILO: I don't think you do.
FOSTER: Keep you guessing.
[04:55:00]
A British artist is on a mission to capture the sounds of the past and preserve them for future generations.
I mean, why would you want to preserve that sound? It is the worst sound ever. The noisy beeps and hiss of a dialup modem just one of the noises Stuart Fowkes is working to chronicle through his Obsolete Soups Project. He says the goal of the project is to record the sounds of everyday life, everything from a cell phone ringing to a camera shutter click before they change or disappear completely.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STUART FOWKES, CREATOR, OBSOLETE SOUNDS PROJECT: There were hundreds of years during which the sounds of horses' hooves and bells and blacksmiths in that kind of thing, were the defining sound of cities for a very long time. And then the Industrial Revolution came along that lasted a little bit longer. But now I think you're hearing sounds that come in and maybe they only last for three or four years before they start to sound archaic. If you think about the sounds of some social media notifications or ring tones or something like that or the sound of an electric car or that kind of thing, they're already starting to sound dated after only a few years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: They do disappear for a reason generally because --
NOBILO: But sometimes it's just advancement but you don't think about it. I think that's the interesting element. But that is going to be an incredible historical archive. Imagine if we could listen to the past in that way.
FOSTER: Yes, and also telling your kids that you had to dial up in that way that, you know, that's kind of good they know that. It was a struggle in the early days.
Yes, the project part of a larger website called Cities and Memories which allow users to submit recordings from around the world and add them to a map. What are your sounds you would like to preserve?
FOSTER: He said blacksmith but I think clashing swords.
FOSTER: Clashing swords. You can still get that.
NOBILO: Yes, you can but --
FOSTER: Just get us a couple swords we'll re-create that.
NOBILO: That's something I would preserve or you know, pleasant nature sounds, clip clop of hooves on cobbled streets.
FOSTER: Newspapers, it's not a bit. Thanks for joining us here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster.
NOBILO: And I'm Bianca Nobilo. Send us your sounds. "EARLY START" is up next here right on CNN.
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