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FTX Founder Released On $250M Bond in First Arraignment On U.S. Soil; CDC: U.S. Life Expectancy Drops To Lowest Level In 25 Years; Russia Says Patriot Missiles For Kyiv Won't Help Settle Conflict. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired December 22, 2022 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Of course, that funding bill will head over to the House, expected for a late-night vote, and then off to the President for his signature. We'll keep an eye on Capitol Hill as we move on here.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy makes an urgent plea to the American public for more support. The newest round of U. S. security assistance is already drawing Putin's ire. And disgraced FTX crypto founder Sam Bankman-Fried just left the New York court after being extradited from the Bahamas. New details about what happens next.

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[14:35:08]

BLACKWELL: The former CEO of the now defunct Crypto Exchange FTX has just been released on $250 million bond. This is video of Sam Bankman- Fried walking out of court just moments ago. A judge agreed to a bail package that requires him to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet.

CNN's Kara Scannell has been following these developments. Tell us more about this bail agreement.

KARA SCANNELL, CNN REPORTER: Yes, Victor. So the big number here is $250 million. That's what prosecutors say is an unprecedented amount in a financial fraud case. A fraud that they said was on the scale of epic proportions.

So in addition to the $250 million bond, which Bankman-Fried and his parents and two others have to sign, the judge also said that he was going to be subjected to home detention. He was -- he is now going to be required to stay in his parents' home in Palo Alto, California, and also subject to electronic monitoring.

He was fitted for an ankle bracelet before he walked out of the courthouse today, you know, the first time he's been on U.S. soil since his arrest last week. This is the first time that we have seen him in a courtroom in America. He was escorted in by a U.S. Marshal wearing a navy blazer and a white shirt. But you could hear the clinking of the shackles around his ankles as he was led to a seat at the defense table. He only spoke once during the hearing when the judge asked him if he understood what the consequences would be if he bail, jumped or if there was any issues with him abiding by the terms of this deal. And he said, yes, I do.

His parents were seated there with him, the third row behind him in the court room. They didn't say anything while they were in there. It was a relatively short hearing. The judge said that Bankman-Fried would return to court next month for an arraignment on these eight criminal counts of wire fraud and conspiracy. And as you saw when he was leaving there, it was quite a scrum of journalists, given it's the first time we've seen him, the former so-called crypto king in the U.S. to face these charges, Victor.

BLACKWELL: So Kara, what about his now former lieutenant? How will their cooperation play a role in this?

SCANNELL: I mean, that was a significant development overnight that the prosecutors at the U.S. Attorney's office here in the Southern district of New York, announced his number -- his co-founder, Gary Wang of FTX and also Caroline Ellison. She was the former CEO of Alameda Research. That was the hedge fund that is also intertwined in this alleged fraud.

Now, interestingly, today prosecutors also revealed a little bit more about the evidence that they had. They said in addition to those cooperating witnesses, they also have the testimony of dozens of former employees of FTX and Alameda, as well as encrypted messages, saying that the number -- the amount of evidence that they have in this case is strong. That's something that the magistrate judge also acknowledged in this matter.

So having a cooperation is really key for prosecutors, especially in a complicated financial fraud case. It's someone who can help walk both the prosecutors and potentially a jury through the evidence and explain what was happening. It also is potentially why they have those encrypted messages and are going to be able to explain what happened.

You know, as we've learned from the bankruptcy so far of FTX, they had little -- it was seemingly a disorganized place. They didn't have financial statements in some of these areas, in some of these business units. So having the help of insiders is really very significant to the prosecutors and it adds to the pressure that Bankman-Fried is facing. Victor?

BLACKWELL: Kara Scannell outside the courthouse there. Thank you, Kara.

Well, today marks the fourth day of a family's desperate search for a missing baby in Ohio. Twins Kason and Kyair Thomas were abducted outside of Pizzeria when their car -- the car rather, that they were in, was stolen on Monday. And Kyair was found early Tuesday, but Kason is still missing.

Their parents and others have been searching throughout the Columbus and Dayton areas. Police have filed kidnapping charges against the woman suspected of stealing that car.

Officials are asking people to be on the lookout for a black Honda Accord with a torn Ohio registration sticker on the rear bumper. That car was recently purchased and did not have a license plate.

The CDC says that life expectancy in the U.S. dropped for the second consecutive year and fell to its lowest level in 25 years. We'll tell you why next.

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[14:43:38]

BLACKWELL: Ukrainian President Zelenskyy says that he's heading home with good results after a whirlwind day in Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translation): I thank President Biden for assistance and for his international leadership and for his commitment to victory. I thank the U.S. Congress, to both Houses, to all parties that support Ukraine, to all those who wish us victory as much as we wish it. The victory will come.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: One of those good results, a $1.8 billion package from the White House, including that Patriot surface to air missile system. The Pentagon says it'll start training Ukrainian soldiers to use the system very soon. Now, the Kremlin is not pleased with that.

Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov wrote this, "The U.S. constantly expanding the range and raising the technical level of the weapons that they supply to Ukraine does not contribute to a speedy settlement of the situation. On the contrary, this leads to the fact that the suffering of the Ukrainian people will continue longer than it could have."

Let's discuss now with CNN Commentator and former Moscow Bureau Chief, Jill Doherty. Jill, good to see you. So the Russian response to the visit and the new missile system is both muscular, where they say we are going to invest in new weaponry, we're going to increase the military by 50 percent.

And then on the other side, there's this kind of whiney -- well, they didn't talk about what we want while they were there. Put into context this response we're seeing from Russia.

[14:45:08]

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, I think it's really important, Victor. And you're right. I mean, the day that Zelenskyy was here, Putin meeting with his defense minister, was talking about really major reinvestment in the military, reorganizing it, increasing the numbers, new hypersonic missiles. And, in fact, even President Putin himself said, you know, we need more drones, and we have to put them everywhere.

So, there was a big emphasis on that. And then also, I think, in that kind of muscular messaging that you're talking about, he was saying -- President Putin was saying, you know, this is a conflict with NATO. And we can answer NATO. We can fight anywhere. We can put as much money as is necessary into this.

And then he even added, you know, war is tough. People die. It's really too bad, but better now than later. And then the other whiney side was, I think, you know, if you were President Putin, I think you'd have to be kind of -- I don't know, hurt by the fact that there is President Zelenskyy on the world stage meeting with the President of the United States.

And the imagery coming from the Kremlin was President Putin in the Kremlin behind, you know, in a suit, behind a podium, a very kind of old image of a leader, whereas Zelenskyy is there, you know, in his fatigues, in that olive drab, looking very much like a wartime leader. Very different pictures.

BLACKWELL: Yes, very different pictures. Not as robust image of President Putin. Let me ask you about the Patriot missile system here. Every installment of military support from the west, from the U.S. comes with this threat from Russia. Sometimes it's nuclear, sometimes not. I wonder how they see the addition of this Patriot missile system. Of course, the Ukrainians think that this is step forward. How escalatory do the Russians believe it is?

DOUGHERTY: Well, I mean, let's look at what President Putin said today. He said, it's an old system and we can knock it down. So he's really, you know, dismissing it. He said that it's not as good as our S-300s. So I think, you know, that's his response, kind of dismissing it.

What militarily they think, I'm sure, is that it is a potent system. Granted, there's only one battery at this point, but I think symbolically and that's, you know, we're talking military, but also symbolism, it is a sign of the escalation of the aid coming from the United States militarily for Ukraine. So I would presume that Moscow would be worried about that, and hence that's why you have the Kremlin saying, well, this is just going to create more problems and more suffering.

I think all the message, Victor, coming from Moscow is this is going to go on for a very, very long time. And I would say that Putin has really upped the ante in this, definitely by what he said and what he did.

BLACKWELL: All right. Jill Dougherty, thank you.

This has been labeled a once in a generation event. Temperatures plunging, bringing life threatening conditions to millions of people across this country. CNN has reporters across the U.S. on this winter storm. We'll bring you a live update ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [14:53:08]

BLACKWELL: The CDC says life expectancy in the U.S. has dropped to its lowest level in 25 years. It's now nearly two and a half years shorter than it was at the start of the pandemic. Researchers say COVID and drug overdoses are the biggest drivers.

CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here with more on this second year in a row that the rate has decreased. What's happening here?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Victor, it's so sad. You know, prior to the pandemic, for the most part, these life expectancy rates were going up, up, up with medical advances and more better diagnostics and prevention. But, unfortunately, now we've seen it go down for the second year in a row.

So let's take a look at what the CDC found in this report. They found that life expectancy in 2021 was 76.4. That's a seven-month decrease from the year before. And this is really a gut punch. The biggest drop, the biggest drop in life expectancy was for people between the ages of 35 and 44. So very young people.

The two drivers, as you mentioned, were COVID and drug overdoses. So nearly one in eight U.S. deaths in 2021 was due to COVID -- were due to COVID-19, and nearly 107,000 deaths were from drug overdoses. Now, Victor, I hope that when we're sitting here a year from now and they do the 2022 report, that we will hopefully be able to say that life expectancy went back up again. But we will have to see. Victor?

BLACKWELL: Yes, I hope so. Elizabeth Cohen, thank you.

So first, there are questions about his education and then his employment, and now there are questions about his family tree. What a CNN investigation reveals about incoming New York Republican Congressman George Santos.

But first, Dionne Warwick, a music icon with 56 worldwide hits, six Grammys and one extraordinary legacy. She brings her exclusive story to CNN in the new film, "Don't Make Me Over." It's premiering New Year's Day at 09:00 p.m.

[14:55:07]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dionne Warwick, one of the great female singers of all time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dionne was the first African American woman to win a Grammy in the pop category.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The music I was singing was nothing like anything that any of them were singing.

DIONNE WARWICK, AMERICAN SINGER: The legacy of my family, music. Cures (ph) of all, music.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Dionne Warwick: Don't Make Me Over" premieres New Year's Day at 9:00 on CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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BLACKWELL: Brand new hour here on CNN. Good to have you in the Newsroom. I'm Victor Blackwell.