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Israeli Cabinet Secures a Deal to Release 50 Hostages; Sam Altman Reinstates as OpenAI CEO; Musk's SpaceX struck a deal with the U.S. Government despite Major Companies' ad pull out on X on Anti- Semetic Posts; Binance CEO Guilty on Money Laundering Violations. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired November 22, 2023 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNKNOWN (voice-over): This is CNN Breaking News.

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world as we continue our breaking news coverage of the Israel-Hamas war. I'm Rosemary Church.

The Israeli cabinet has approved a deal that will see the release of at least 50 hostages, all women and children, held by Hamas in Gaza for 46 days. The government overwhelmingly backed the deal after a six-hour long cabinet meeting that one official said grew tense and emotional at times. In exchange for the freeing of the hostages, Israel will pause its air and ground campaign against Hamas for four days. Hamas says 150 Palestinian prisoners, also women and children, will be released from Israeli jails as part of that deal.

Qatar delivered the proposal following weeks of continuous negotiations. and now says the humanitarian pause will be announced within the next 24 hours. Hamas says the deal involves the entry of hundreds of trucks carrying aid, medical supplies and fuel into Gaza.

And earlier the Israeli Prime Minister's office said the deal was set to include Red Cross visits to hostages that are still being held in Gaza. The Israeli government says a detailed statement will be sent to the families of hostages who are now anxiously waiting to find out if their loved ones will be among the dozens set to be released.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANAT MOSHE SHOSHANY, GRANDMOTHER TAKEN HOSTAGE: This gives me actually so much hope. I think and believe that every soul that we can save from there is essential for us because even if my grandmother won't be among those people and I obviously hope she will be, but even if she's not, I just can't wait to see the picture of the children, of the innocent people going out from there after so many days.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH: CNN's Scott McLean is following developments and joins us live from Istanbul. Good to see you Scott. So at last this deal to free about 50 hostages held by Hamas has been struck and approved by the Israeli cabinet. So what happens next as these families wait and hope that their loved ones will be released in this initial group?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, and we don't have the names of the 50 who will be released from Gaza, beyond the fact that we know that they all hold Israeli citizenship. Some are also dual nationals. But we do have some news when it comes to the Palestinians who will be released. We know that there will be 150 of them in the initial phase. And the Israeli government has published a list of 300 names of Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli jails who could be released as part of this.

Most of them. It seems from looking through the list, are teenage boys and their late teens accused of relatively minor crimes like throwing stones or damaging a security area, but there are also some, and there are also some women on the list as well, many in their 20s and 30s, who are accused of more serious crimes and serving longer prison sentences.

Now the reason that there's 300 names on that list is because this deal actually does provide a mechanism to get more than that initial group of 50 hostages out from Gaza and more than the 150 Palestinian prisoners in Israel. Israel says that they will pause the fighting for an additional day in exchange for 10 hostages. So potentially, in order to get all 300 of these Palestinians released, it would take 50 prisoners from Gaza and that would require an extra five days of a humanitarian pause.

Even if that were to be the case though, you would still be looking at 140 people who had been kidnapped from Israel who would still be held hostage in Gaza. So there are a lot of ifs at this point. In terms of the fighting, obviously the Israelis are concerned that this pause in fighting would simply allow Hamas to just regroup and resupply itself.

And that is something that the prime minister, the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke about when he addressed his country. But he said, look, Israel is going to do the same. He also made abundantly clear that this war is not over. Listen.

[03:05:06]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): And I would like to make it clear here again. The war continues. The war will continue until we achieve all of our goals, to eliminate Hamas, to return all our hostages, to ensure that the day after Hamas, Gaza will no longer be a threat to Israel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLEAN: Now we have a statement from the Qataris. They mediated this deal. They say that look, this pause in fighting should be an opportunity that the international community should seize upon to try to encourage a more diplomatic path for this war to actually end, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Scott McLean in Istanbul, many thanks.

Omri Shtivi, whose brother is being held hostage by Hamas, joins me now from Tel Aviv. Thank you so much for talking with us at this very stressful time for your family, of course, with your brother, Idan, believed to be one of the hostages being held by Hamas. What are your thoughts now that you know a hostage deal has been approved by the Israeli cabinet but only for women and children at this stage?

OMRI SHTIVI, BROTHER TAKEN HOSTAGE BY HAMAS: Right, so first of all we are of course we are very happy about the deal and for everyone we'll be back to their families. So this is the first thing we hope that will be, you know, some changes and in the future after it or through the deal because we know it's going to be four days and each day need to be people. I heard that Hamas needs to search about all the hostages, like if it's babies. So I understand they don't know where is all the babies yet.

And what I understand that after that it can be a few days like each day after these four days will be if Hamas will need still they can bring more people like 10 days for each day after the four days if they need more time so we hope and we believe that Idan is alive and is okay and we will see him and this is our feelings like for the next days. I'm sure it's going to be very intense and nervous. So.

CHURCH: And Omri, have you and your family received any official information from the Israeli government about this deal and what might come next, particularly, of course, for the men who are not included in this initial deal?

SHTIVI: Yes, we have our representative from the government, from the official organization of these hostages and all these situations. So of course he called me today and yesterday and told me about the deal and about the conditions. So this is the thing that I said before about the four days and this is something that I know like officially from him.

CHURCH: And Omri, tell us about your brother, Idan. What should the world know about him? What would you like to share about him with all of us?

SHTIVI: So first, Idan is a wonderful guy. He, no way can say that he's a student for sustainability and an environment. And the word is something that very important for him. He wanted to make an impact. He just registered for a volunteer with the children in Africa to build their houses and he just adopt a dog one week just one week before the October 7th and this is what he aim and he took responsibility tried to escape he took with him another two guys and there was they was murdered by Hamas terrorists and he done escape so just want the world to know that he needs our support, he needs your help. He's a survivor but he needs your help, he needs our help, all the world leaders help.

[03:10:02] CHURCH: And Omri, Israel is also making it very clear it plans to resume its military campaign once the hostage releases end. How concerned are you that this could endanger your brother if he's still there in Gaza at that time?

SHTIVI: I don't really know because I'm not a military professional or a strategist for wars or I don't know what is it. I just hope that all of them will be saved and will be okay. I trust my government to do their best and the military to do their best to bring them back. I heard from the government this is the top priority of these efforts to bring them back. So I hope they will save them.

CHURCH: Omri Shtivi, thank you so much for joining us from Tel Aviv and talking to us about your brother, Idan, who is a hostage with Hamas and we hope that he will be released soon at some later stage as we watch this deal play out. Many thanks for joining us.

SHTIVI: Thank you.

CHURCH: U.S. officials say three Americans could be released as part of this Israel-Hamas deal. Ten Americans are still unaccounted for in Gaza, including two women and a three-year-old girl. U.S. President Joe Biden issued a statement Tuesday night saying he welcomes the deal to secure the release of hostages, adding that it should bring more American hostages' home.

CNN's Arlette Saenz is traveling with President Biden and filed this report from Massachusetts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The White House is welcoming this deal between Israel and Hamas to release about 50 hostages after weeks of painstaking negotiations from top administration officials, including conversations President Biden himself held with leaders involved in these talks.

Now, the U.S. believes it's possible that three Americans could potentially fall into this category of the 50 women and children that could be released in the coming days. That could also potentially include three-year-old Abigail Adan. She is an American citizen whose parents were killed in that October 7th attack by Hamas. The U.S. says that they are working tirelessly to ensure the release of all American citizens who have been held hostage, and they are hopeful that after this initial release, that this can provide incentives for Hamas to release more hostages as well.

But this all comes as the administration, the White House, has been in constant contact with leaders in the region as they have been working through these negotiations. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that President Biden himself had gotten involved and that he believed the president had improved these negotiations. The president had spoken with the emir of Qatar twice last week. Qatar, of course, acted as a key mediator in these talks between Israel and Hamas. And now the U.S. will be closely watching to see how many Americans

will be included. in this initial release. Officials say it'll take about 24 hours to implement the deal before they can begin seeing these hostages released, but the White House certainly welcoming this news as they are hoping to get some of these hostages back home to their families.

Arlette Saenz, CNN, traveling with the President in Nantucket, Massachusetts.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Israel is holding more than 8,000 Palestinians in Israeli jails, including many who don't even know the charges against them. That is according to the non-governmental organization, the Palestinian Prisoners Club.

CNN's Alex Marquardt has details on their chances at freedom.

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ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SR. U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: As part of the deal struck to release hostages held by Hamas, Israel has also agreed to release Palestinian prisoners that they're holding. Specifically, three Palestinian prisoners for every hostage released by Hamas. So if the deal goes according to plan and a first phase of 50 hostages are released over a four-day period, 150 Palestinians would then be set free.

In both of these groups, it would only be women and children. There is no discussion right now of men. And so if more hostages are released beyond that initial 50 and the pause in the fighting continues, then more Palestinian prisoners could also be expected to be exchanged.

Now where those Palestinian prisoners would go, whether it's the West Bank or Gaza or elsewhere, is unclear. All told, Israel has around 8,300 Palestinian prisoners in their prisons. Around 3,000 of them are in what's known as administrative detention, meaning they're being held without trial and don't know the charges they're facing. They can be held for months or even years.

Now just over 460 of those Palestinian prisoners are women and teenagers under 18.

[03:15:05]

And it's from that group that we are expecting the women and children to be traded for the hostages.

Alex Marquardt, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Still to come, forever scarred by war, we will bring you the stories of children in Gaza who lived through Israeli airstrikes, but at great cost. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: New radar satellite data shows that up to half of the buildings in northern Gaza have been damaged since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7th. That roughly accounts for as many as 23,000 buildings. Researchers obtained satellite radar imagery using a method similar to echolocation to map out the region. Across all of Gaza, they say at least 20 percent of buildings have been damaged since the start of the war.

[03:20:10]

Well, the destruction has displaced nearly 1.7 million people in Gaza, according to the U.N.'s main relief agency there. About 930,000 of them are sheltering in overcrowded U.N. facilities, sharing one shower for every 700 people on average. Some are just children trying to escape the danger with their families. Their lives now forever changed by the war.

More now from CNN's Nada Bashir. And a warning, her report contains images that may be disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): Bandaged and sore, still healing from emergency surgery. For 11-year-old Asif Abu Hadi, this wound is a constant reminder of the trauma he and his friends have faced. They had been playing outside near his home in Gaza City when they say an airstrike hit.

I was walking with my friends and then suddenly the missile fell, Asif says. I found myself on the ground lying on my right side. I kept trying to stand up but there was rubble on top of my leg. When they removed the rubble, I saw that my foot had been ripped off.

A huge soccer fan, he played at the local academy and had dreams of becoming a professional soccer player.

I've been watching and playing soccer since I was a little boy. It's still my favorite sport, Asif tells us. Now the Israeli occupation has destroyed my dreams.

Down the hall is 12-year-old Malik Al-Kafarna. His family fled their home in Beit Hanoun after receiving a warning from the Israeli military. They moved from city to city, searching for safety, followed each time by yet more airstrikes.

I wanted to take photos, to become a photojournalist, Malik says. How can I hold a camera now with one arm? My whole life is ruined. All of my life I haven't had a chance to live happily.

While some here are now slowly coming to terms with their new reality, more wounded children arrive at Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital every day. It is now the main working hospital in Gaza. Others left in a state of complete collapse. Just Monday, more wounded were rushed to this hospital after a U.N.-

run school used to shelter displaced Palestinians at the Borez refugee camp was hit. The resulting death toll is still unknown.

It's unclear who was responsible for this specific attack. Hamas claims the Israeli military bombed the school, though CNN cannot independently verify this claim. The IDF yet to respond to CNN's request for comment. But as airstrikes and shelling intensify in the north, Gaza's children are, as is so often the case, paying the highest price, with thousands wounded or killed, and hopes for the future lost.

Nada Bashir, CNN in Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: The nation of Qatar was instrumental in mediating the hostage release deal and experts say that's because they have contacted many others don't. Just ahead, why Qatar has become a crucial mediator across the Middle East.

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[03:25:00]

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CHURCH: Our breaking news this hour. Israel's cabinet has approved a deal to secure the release of at least 50 hostages, women and children, being held by Hamas in Gaza. In exchange, Israel has agreed to a four-day truce in its air and ground campaign against Hamas. And Hamas says Israel will release 150 Palestinian prisoners, also women and children, held in Israeli jails.

In addition, Hamas says the deal calls for hundreds of trucks to deliver aid to all parts of Gaza. It's not clear when all this would start. The Israeli government says an extra day could be added to the truce for every 10 additional hostages released. But Israel also is making clear it plans to resume its military campaign once the hostage releases end.

Joining me now from Tel Aviv is Eylon Levy, a spokesperson for the Israeli government. Thank you so much for joining us.

EYLON LEVY, ISRAELI GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSON: Thank you for having me on the show.

CHURCH: So now that this deal has been approved by Israel's cabinet, what happens next and when will this happen?

LEVY: Well first of all, there is now a 24-hour window in which the victims of the terrorists who are supposed to be released as part of this deal, the families of those victims, are able to petition the Supreme Court against their release.

The people we are supposed to release as part of this deal are sitting in Israeli jails on various terrorism and security offenses. There are people there who have been charged and convicted of attempted murder.

There's a 17-year-old, for example. who left another teenager with serious injuries after stabbing him. So we're talking about very dangerous people and the families of those victims have a right to appeal.

But on the presumption that the Supreme Court does not reject the deal, we have a measure of judicial review on the assumption the Supreme Court does not reject that. Then hopefully we can move forward to begin to bring home those 50 hostages out of the 240 who have been living through absolute hell -- absolute hell for nearly 50 days without access to Red Cross.

[03:30:00]

We know nothing of their medical condition. They will be traumatized and scarred, especially the children.

I mean, there's a three year old orphan in there, an American citizen as well, whose father was murdered in front of her eyes, and we're keen to bring them home and bring them back to safety.

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: And what more can you tell us about those 50 women and children that are on that list, that initial release of hostages that are currently being held by Hamas in Gaza. Can you at least give us an idea of who would be on that list or who is on that list?

LEVY: Well we know that there are over 30 children who are being held hostage by Hamas, including one as young as only 10 months old abducted together with his brother and mother into the Gaza Strip. We know that they've been held for nearly 50 days by the men who burned, beheaded, tortured, mutilated and raped these people's families and neighbors in the massacre on October 7th.

We know they're being held by dangerous terrorists and we hope that we can bring all of them back as soon as possible to their families and support them on the very difficult path ahead of helping these people build healthy and normal lives after the unimaginable horror and trauma that they have been facing.

CHURCH: And Israel has published the names of 300 Palestinian prisoners for possible release in exchange for hostages in Gaza. Of course, we're just talking about 150 at this point. 150 would be released, women and children, from Israeli jails in exchange for the 50 hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza. But talk to us about why publish a list of 300? What does that indicate?

LEVY: But this is public. You can look through it yourself and see the charges that these people and their convictions, many on attempted stabbings, attempted murder, including those who are under 18, including the women. Now, the reason that we have published so many is that as part of this deal, we expect at least 50 hostages to be released over the course of four days.

The ball will then be in Hamas's court for every additional day that it wants of a temporary pause, it can release another 10 hostages. We want to bring all of those hostages home. So we've prepared a list so that the ball is in Hamas' court. Once more time, it can release more hostages.

Otherwise, we will continue, and we will continue at the end of this, with our campaign to destroy Hamas. That is the ultimate goal of this war. This war will end with the end of Hamas, because Hamas is telling us it wants to perpetrate another October 7th massacre. On October 7, it showed us what it is capable of. And we will not go back to a world in which Hamas can perpetrate such atrocities against our people. So we're working to bring back our hostages and to destroy the terror organization that has put them through that trauma.

CHURCH: And how confident are you that all the hostages currently being held by Hamas in Gaza will be released, including the men? And we're talking about nearly 240 people here, aren't we?

LEVY: We're of course extremely anxious for them we know that they're being held by violent terrorist who committed unspeakable atrocities against the Israeli people on October 7th, but we also know they haven't had access to the Red Cross so we don't know that medical condition we know that what people who are abducted into the Gaza Strip after having their lives blown off in that horrific massacre of October 7th we don't know what that health situation is like and we're going to do everything that we can in order to bring all of them home. That is the declared goal of this war. We want to bring them all home.

We want to bring them all safe and we will not rest until we bring all of them back. We're starting with the women and the children but the young men's lives are worth no less and we're doing everything we can to bring them home and to make sure that this can never ever happen again.

CHURCH: Eylon Levy, joining us live from Tel Aviv. Many thanks for joining us. I Appreciate it.

LEVY: Thank you.

CHURCH: Qatar's lead negotiator says the deal it helped negotiate should push the international community to increase diplomatic efforts to end the conflict. Qatar also says its priority now is to ensure the agreement is followed while it works to secure a long-term ceasefire and lasting peace.

CNN's Brian Todd has more on how Qatar became an essential mediator in prisoner deals.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A pivotal player in getting the hostages freed from Hamas captivity is a tiny emirate over a thousand miles away from Gaza, smaller than the state of Connecticut, with about a quarter of the population of New York City.

Qatar, an oil-rich nation on a peninsula in the Persian Gulf, ruled by a 43-year-old Sheikh named Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, who took over when his father abdicated 10 years ago. Analysts say Qatar has been indispensable in brokering this hostage deal.

[03:35:08]

DAVID SCHENKER, WASHINGTON INSTITUTE FOR NEAR EAST POLICY: Qatar is central, has relationships with broad range of terrorist groups throughout the region and on savory regimes.

TODD (voice-over): Qatar was instrumental in getting four hostages, two Israelis and two Americans, released about two weeks after the current war started. And that wasn't Qatar's first go-round with deals like that.

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Qatar has had a long role in these kinds of prison negotiations, most recently playing an important role in getting five American prisoners released from Iran, there was $6 billion of Iranian funds that were sent to Qatar.

TODD (voice-over): That deal took place in September. Analysts say mediation has long been one of Qatar's most marketable skills. Specifically, its ability to be an interlocutor between international players who are at odds with one another.

BERGEN: They are seen as a sort of a fair player by many of the different actors in the region. They do have some leverage over Hamas.

TODD (voice-over): For years, Qatar has given sanctuary to figures like Hamas's top political leader, Ismail Haniyeh. And Qatar's financial support for Hamas and Palestinian citizens in Gaza has been substantial.

SCHENKER: The state of Qatar funding Hamas for many years, underwriting the salaries of Hamas and Palestinian employees in Gaza.

TODD (voice-over): But Qatar has also been one of America's closest allies in the Middle East, not only supplying oil and gas but also allowing the U.S. to maintain the Al Udeid Air Base, headquarters of U.S. Central Command.

SCHENKER: We ran operations not only in Iraq, but in Afghanistan. Out of there, we continue to run operations.

TODD (voice-over): Qatar was crucial in facilitating America's 2021 evacuation from Afghanistan. It's maintained back-channel contacts with Israel, while at the same time having relationships with groups like the Taliban and al-Qaeda and sharing an enormous natural gas field with Iran, all of which allow Qatar to have dialogue with key players in the region like no one else can. And experts say Qatar is willing to do things in negotiations over hostages or captured militants that the U.S. and others won't.

SCHENKER: The United States typically in the past has not paid ransoms, but Qatar has no qualms about it.

TODD: Analysts say when tensions in the Middle East subside, Qatar will be under significant pressure, as it already has been from some members of the U.S. Congress, to sever its relationship with Hamas and kick Hamas leaders out of Qatar. But they say it's an open question right now whether Qatari leaders will actually take that step.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Coming up, Elon Musk and SpaceX land a billion-dollar contract from the U.S. government despite growing backlash over his endorsement of anti-Semitic social media posts.

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[03:40:00]

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CHURCH: We are following breaking news from the tech world where OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman is returning to the company as CEO, less than a week after being fired by the board of directors. The company behind ChatGPT posted on X that it has reached an agreement with Altman and will be adding new members to its board. Microsoft hired Altman to run a new artificial intelligence group on Monday. He says he's looking forward to returning to OpenAI and building on its partnership with Microsoft.

The National Football League is sticking with Elon Musk. The NFL condemned hate speech in a statement on Tuesday, but says it won't stop advertising on X, even after Musk agreed with a message that accused Jewish communities of hatred against whites. This comes as major companies like IBM, Apple, Disney, and Warner Brothers Discovery, which owns CNN, all pulled ads from X.

But as CNN's Kristin Fisher reports, one client that has not stopped working hand in hand with Elon Musk is the U.S. government.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Pentagon is getting in deeper with Elon Musk giving Musk's private space company SpaceX a contract for up to $1.2 billion to send secretive spy satellites into space.

But that's not all. The Pentagon is also investing up to $70 million in Starshield, a more secure version of SpaceX's massive constellation of Starlink satellites, which are vital to the Ukraine military's success against Russia on the battlefield.

BRIG. GEN. PAT RYDER, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: I can confirm that we do contract for Starlink for services in support of Ukraine with the ultimate objective to be ensuring that Ukraine has the satellite communication infrastructure that it needs.

FISHER (voice-over): And NASA couldn't send another astronaut to the moon without Elon Musk's company.

Musk Starship is the most powerful rocket ever built and it launched on its second test flight on Saturday. NASA will spend about $4 billion on it because it will be the lunar lander of the space agency's flagship Artemis program. It's likely America's only chance to beat China to the moon in this second space race.

NASA's also reliant on SpaceX to launch astronauts to the International Space Station. For now, no other launch provider other than the Russian government can do it.

[03:45:09]

DOUGLAS LOVERRO, PRESIDENT, LOVERRO CONSULTING LLC: SpaceX is on top because they have done the best.

FISHER (voice-over): Doug Loverro is one of the few people who's been a top official at the two government agencies most dependent on Elon Musk's companies. And he describes NASA as being much more reliant on SpaceX than the Pentagon.

LOVERRO: SpaceX is predominant right now, but they're by no means the monopoly that we all will depend upon.

FISHER (voice-over): While the U.S. does have other partners, SpaceX has been dependable in a dangerous business which could explain why they continue to work with Musk, who the White House has condemned for spreading anti-Semitic messages.

Last year, the United States conducted 78 successful launches, and SpaceX was responsible for 61 of them. That's the same number of launches as the Chinese government and nearly eight times the amount of SpaceX's closest U.S. competitor, the United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

This year, SpaceX has already surpassed that record with 85 orbital launches and counting.

For now, and for the near future, the U.S. government's access to space is overwhelmingly tied to SpaceX. And a White House spokesman said Monday that he's, quote, "not aware of any efforts to change that."

JOHN KIRBY, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: There's innovation out there in the private sector that we'd be foolish to walk away from. I'm not aware of any specific efforts to address our concerns over his rhetoric. But that doesn't mean that we accept or agree with or condone in any way that anti-Semitic rhetoric that he pushed.

FISHER: CNN has reached out to SpaceX. So far, no comment. As for NASA, it has had plans in place for years to try to reduce its dependency on one company. Boeing's long-delayed Starliner spacecraft is now expected to take astronauts to the International Space Station sometime next year. And Blue Origin is now developing an alternative lunar lander for the Artemis program. But the problem is neither of them are ready yet.

Kristin Fisher, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE) CHURCH: A big moment in the often lawless world of cryptocurrency, the world's largest crypto exchange, Binance, and its CEO pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal money laundering violations. As part of the settlement, the company will pay more than $4 billion in fines.

CEO Changpeng Zhao has agreed to step down as the leader of Binance. He is one of the most powerful figures in the industry. U.S. authorities say Binance gave people free range with their transactions, enabling everything from child sex abuse and narcotics to terrorism funding.

Still to come, viral video shows an airline passengers wheelchair crashing onto the tarmac. What American Airlines says they're going to do about it, back with that and more in just a moment.

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[03:50:00]

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CHURCH: Search and rescue teams have recovered the bodies of three people, including a young girl after a landslide in Alaska. The massive slide swept through three homes late Monday as it careened down on a highway near the southeastern town of Wrangel. One woman was found alive and is receiving medical treatment, but another adult and two children are still missing. The area received more than three inches of rain in the 24 hours just before the slide. And a meteorologist told CNN that winds up to 85 miles an hour may have been a factor as well.

Well, today is said to be one of the busiest travel days of the year in the United States, and it's off to a wet and windy start. A record number of people are expected to travel for Thanksgiving this year.

CNN's Chad Myers has the holiday forecast.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, a very messy morning here across parts of the northeastern part of the U.S. and also into New England with rain and snow. Many, many people trying to get away on holiday at this point. And by later on today, it gets better, but it will be a very slow start.

Yesterday, 4,000 flights, according to FlightAware, were delayed across the U.S. Not too many canceled. But all of those delays really started piling up on each other.

Things get a whole lot better throughout the afternoon. It'll still be a little bit windy and breezy, but the precip goes away, and the airport delays likely go away too.

There'll be some rain across parts of the Carolinas, but this is the story, the snow, in places where people would like it to snow, because there are ski resorts up here in New England. The clear skies here for this morning kind of move away by the later

on this afternoon. So yes, we will have some airport and travel delays early in the day. But by midday, the map is blank.

By tomorrow, there'll be some more delays across parts of the upper part of the Great Basin, where there'll be some snow in Montana and Idaho in Wyoming. But really, 46 in Chicago for today feels pretty good. And by tomorrow, things look even better in some spots with quite a bit of sunshine now. Back out to the west where the Rockies are, and again, more ski resorts, there's gonna be a lot more snow for those early season skiers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[03:55:00]

CHURCH: American Airlines is reviewing a video that went viral on TikTok, showing a passenger's wheelchair crashing onto the tarmac. And you can see it tumble down and bounce over a metal barrier. It's brought renewed attention to the hardships experienced by disabled travelers.

American Airlines released a statement saying in part, quote, "this visual is deeply concerning and we are gathering more details so that we can address them with our team. We will continue to work hard to improve our handling of assistive devices across our network." They also promised to install wheelchair movers and lifts at airports with high mobility device traffic, but did not provide a timeline for that.

Thank you so much for your company this hour. I'm Rosemary Church. "CNN Newsroom" continues next with Max Foster.

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