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Gunmen Stormed TV Station in Ecuador; U.S. Remain Consistent in Its Support to Palestinians; Donald Trump Attends D.C. Hearings; More Investigations to Boeing 737 MAX-9; Earth is Hotter in 2023. Global Warming Dangerously Close to Global Limit; Epstein's Unsealed Deposition Released; E.U. to Check Microsoft's Stake in OpenAI; Millions Turnout for the Black Nazarene in the Philippines. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired January 10, 2024 - 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)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world, and to everyone streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead on CNN Newsroom, Ecuador plunges into crisis as armed gunmen stormed a live television broadcast. The president declaring an internal armed conflict.

The U.S. secretary of state continuing his diplomatic push in the Middle East pressing Israel to protect civilians in Gaza.

And the world is dangerously close to a global warming limit as 2023 goes down as the hottest year on record.

UNKNOWN: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN Newsroom with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Good to have you with us. Ecuador's president has declared a state of internal armed conflict and authorize the military to neutralize drug gags behind a wave of violence which has left the nation in shock.

Two police officers were killed Tuesday in the city of Noble, and at least eight people were killed in Ecuador's largest city, Guayaquil. Around 1 p.m. local time, more than a dozen armed men stormed a state- owned TV station and interrupted a live broadcast. Gunfire could be heard as the armed men forced staff to the floor.

Police intervene arresting all 13 of the gunmen and said all hostages and staff of the network were alive. One of the TV anchors at the station described the attack as extremely violent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JORGE RENDON, ANCHOR, TC TELEVISION (through translator): We heard something. We thought it was a fight that was going on outside the studio. But that wasn't the case. The producer told us be careful. They are getting in. They are robbing us. The studio doors are very thick. They wanted to enter the studio, so that we could say what they wanted, I guess their message. Then we settled in a safe place. But when they entered, they asked for us to go live. They insulted us, but we managed to get in a safe place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The head of the joint command of the armed forces says the future of the country is at stake. Ecuador has been shaken by explosions, police kidnappings, and several prison disturbances since Monday. That's when the president declared a nationwide emergency after a high-profile gang leader escaped from prison.

The spiraling violence is the biggest test yet for the new young president who won last year's runoff vote with promises to tackle soaring crime.

Well, as a result of the violence in Ecuador, neighboring Peru announced on Tuesday night it will declare an emergency along its northern border region.

CNN's Patrick Oppmann has more on the unrest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As cameras broadcast live, armed gunmen take employees of a TV station in Guayaquil, Ecuador, hostage. The journalists are threatened and force to the floor at gunpoint while viewers swatch. The latest scenes of out-of- control gang violence plaguing the South American nation. Ecuadorians say they are in shock.

LUIS ARTURO BELTRAN, WAITER (through translator): all citizens are afraid. Today there were attacks in Quito, Cuenca, Kibera, everywhere.

OPPMANN: On Monday, Ecuador's president, Daniel Noboa, declared a state of emergency a day after the government said notorious gang leader, Adolfo Macias, known as Fito, escaped from prison in Guaquil before his transfer to a maximum security facility.

DANIEL NOBOA, ECUADORIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The time is over for when those convicted of drug trafficking and murder tell the government what to do.

OPPMANN: The government implemented a curfew and mobilize a manhunt of 3,000 police officers and members of the armed forces to search for the escaped gang leader. The gang struck back on Tuesday raiding the TV station, taking police and prison guards hostage, setting off bombs and attacking a university. Ecuador had long been spared the epidemic of violence carried out by drug cartels throughout much of the region.

But as a country has increasingly become a key trend shipment point for illegal drugs, heading to Europe and the U.S., local dings partnered with cartels have battled each other and the government for control.

[03:04:55]

In 2023 presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was assassinated after naming individuals he said were involved in the drug trade. And then the six alleged hitmen arrested for his killing were apparently murdered in prison as well. Villavicencio's running mate on Tuesday called on the country to unite to defeat the gangs.

ANDREA GONZALEZ, ECUADORIAN POLITICIAN (through translator): This is the moment that Ecuador stands and leaves behind political terrorism.

OPPMANN: The country's president, Noboa, on Tuesday, declared several of the gangs terrorist organizations in order the armed forces to, quote, "neutralize the violence." Police at the TV station said they had arrested 13 alleged gunmen and rescued the hostages. As the government declares war, though, there is no sign the gangs are backing down.

Patrick Oppmann CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Let's go live to London now and Christopher Sabatini, a senior research fellow for Latin America at Chatham House and a professor at Columbia University. I appreciate you joining us.

CHRISTOPHER SABATINI, SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW FOR LATIN AMERICA, CHATHAM HOUSE: Thank you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So, trouble in Ecuador with the country's president declaring a state of internal armed conflict after armed and hooded men took over a live television broadcast, one day after high-profile gang leader Adolfo Macias escaped from prison, triggering a wave of killings and kidnappings. What is going on in the country, and where is all this likely going?

SABATINI: Well, first of all, what's happened in Ecuador as the peace agreement in Columbia has meant the reconquest of territory that's previously controlled by narcotics groups. And as Mexican cartels have moved into Ecuador what we're seeing is what was previously a haven for peace, as your previous package had talked about, has now become really ground zero for drug trafficking. And all other sorts of illicit activities, including human trafficking.

A number of immigrants that come through during a gap up through Mexico actually land off in Ecuador. So, what we're seeing is really the rise of illicit activities tied off in international groups, including Molvanian organized crime, Colombian narcotic traffickers and Mexican narcotics traffickers. In a country that's not familiar or a custom that has a capacity to deal with this level of insecurity, Ecuador really hasn't had the level of Civil War that Colombia or Peru has had.

So, what we're really seeing is a weaker state that's now struggling to control this rise of illicit activity, and with it all the sorts of financing become with that. And, as you saw on the declaration by President Noboa, he named 22 criminal groups. This is a country that risk being overrun by criminal gangs. And

that's where now we're going to see whether Ecuadorian state can establish some state control over parts of the country, not just in rural areas, but also in urban areas. And that's not going to be easy, given his lack of experience in this field.

CHURCH: Yes. And of course, the head of the joint command of the armed forces says the future of the country is at stake. So, what needs to happen now to stop the country spiraling out of control?

SABATINI: Well, first is to establish some sort of control in the state some security capacity. And as the state of emergency and the decree by President Noboa declares that it's going to be up to the armed forces. The police simply aren't up to the task. That comes with the real risk.

Luckily the decree announces this will be done or any security measures will be done under international human rights law. That's important. But obviously, of course, the separation between civilian police authority and the armed forces has now been breached. And that makes it very difficult. The armed forces are not really equipped to carry out police forces. Not just in Ecuador but in anywhere else across the world.

So, first of all, is establishing some sort of security and beefing up over the long-term the capacity of the national police to be able to carry out this functions. But also, the country has to gain some control over its prisons.

You mentioned that there were prison riots. The previous package mentioned the deaths of the six people who were behind the assassination of the former presidential candidate Villavicencio. These prisons have been overrun by gangs. In fact, when they took over some of the prisons, they were cockfighting rings, and roosters, and pigs and other forms of sort of domestic living, including, you know, cell phone contacts for a lot of the gang leaders where they are running their operations in the prisons.

The government has to be able to clean up these prisons and establish some control. But last this is going to require international effort. As I mentioned, this is not just a domestic problem for Ecuador. These are Colombian gangs, Mexican gangs, Albanian gangs that are running this. It's going to require the work of the United States and other partner governments to helped tamp down this transnational terrorist organization that's taken root in Ecuador and it's threatening to overrun the state.

CHURCH: So, with all these going on, is Ecuador's new young president, Daniel Noboa, equipped to deal with this emergency situation in the country as it stands right now before any of this extra help might come his way?

[03:09:59]

SABATINI: Well, the first is institutional. As I mentioned, the Ecuadorian state has weakened its regard. So, he's going to have to beef up the institution capacity. The second is financing. This is going to take money.

This is going to take an effort by neighbors, and by, if you will, cocaine consuming countries. That's United States and in Europe, to be able to support his efforts to gain control over his country for fueling, for over the havoc that's been wrecked by cocaine consuming citizens in those countries.

The third is his own political mandate. He was elected after the former president, Guillermo Lasso, basically resigned a cold snap election. His term only goes until 2025. So, he really has very little time to do this. But he was elected on a plan for democratic security. It's different from another one of his other competitors who was arguing for more of an iron fist strategy.

So he has a mandate to do something. But he has a very limited amount of time. So we'll see what happens. But it's going to be a very difficult combination. Clearly, citizens are worried. They are scared. They should be. But we'll -- he'll have to take some very severe steps.

And the first step is capturing Macias or Fito, as you mentioned earlier, and establish and demonstrate that the government can control some areas of the country.

CHURCH: Yes, a major challenge of course. Christopher Sabatini, thank you so much for joining us. I appreciate it.

SABATINI: Thank you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set for more high- stakes talks today when he meets with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Now, this comes a day after he sat down with top Israeli government officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. During his meetings with Netanyahu and the Israeli war cabinet, Blinken stressed the importance of avoiding further harm to civilians in Gaza and protecting civilian infrastructure.

Blinken says Israel has now agreed on a plan to let the United Nations conduct an assessment mission in northern Gaza to determine what needs to be done to allow displaced Palestinians to move back home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Palestinian civilians must be able to return home as soon as conditions allow. They must not be pressed to leave Gaza. As I told the prime minister, the United States unequivocally rejects any proposals advocating for the resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza. And the prime minister reaffirmed to me today that this is not the policy of Israel's government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Blinken also made clear the Israeli government must move toward a two-state solution if it wants the help of Arab partners in the region to ensure lasting security.

In the hours ahead, Jordan's king is set to hold a summit with Egypt's president and the Palestinian Authority president to discuss developments in Gaza and efforts to push for an immediate ceasefire.

CNN's Paula Hancocks is following developments. She joins us now live from Abu Dhabi. Good to see you, Paula.

So, Secretary Blinken set to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas soon. What is expected to come out of those talks?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, the main topic of conversation with Mahmoud Abbas could well be the day after the war ends in Gaza. The U.S. has made it very clear that they would like the Palestinian Authority to play a significant role in governing Gaza after this ends, these hostilities end.

But what we've heard from Israel is that they would not accept such a situation. They have been very clear that they do not consider Mahmoud Abbas heading up the Palestinian Authority to be strong enough to be able to prevent Hamas from re-emerging or to keep the Israeli borders safe.

So, it will be potentially a difficult conversation for the U.S. secretary of state. There have been suggestions that Mahmoud Abbas may have to step aside in order to be able to put someone at the head of the Palestinian Authority that Israel would accept as being control Gaza after and govern Gaza after Israeli military pulls out.

But what we've also heard from many of his meetings with the Israeli side, he's also meeting with the Israeli opposition leader today, is that the two-state solution is really the only solution that the U.S. and that many Arab states would find acceptable for the day after.

Now it's something that simply hasn't even been discussed in any serious manner for years between the Israelis and the Palestinians, but it is very much front and center when it comes to what will happen after the war ends and who will be able to govern in Gaza.

[03:14:54]

Israel has suggested that it would appreciate a U.S. or an international presence as well, not wanting it to just simply be the Palestinian Authority. So that's likely to be one of the main topics that the secretary of state will be talking to Mahmoud Abbas about.

CHURCH: All right, our thanks to Paula Hancocks joining us live. I appreciate it.

Well, the World Health Organization is stressing it can't afford to lose the remaining operational hospitals in Gaza, and it's warning the enclaves health care sector is collapsing at a rapid pace. That word, as hospitals continue to report receiving dozens of casualties from heavy fighting and Israeli airstrikes.

Still to come, can a U.S. president get away with murder? It's just one of the questions raised at a federal appeals court hearing on Donald Trump's claim of absolute immunity.

Plus, the head of Boeing addresses the scare on an Alaska Airlines flight when the door plug flew off mid-flight, leaving a gaping hole in the fuselage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.

Attorneys for Donald Trump facing tough questions from a federal appeals court as they claim the former president can't be prosecuted for trying to overturn the 2020 election.

CNN's chief legal affairs correspondent Paula Reid has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Former President Trump traveled to Washington Tuesday to watch arguments in a federal appeals court hearing over whether he should be shielded from criminal prosecution.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I feel that as a president you have to have immunity, very simple.

REID: Trump was not required to be in attendance, but was in court to witness. The three-judge panel express skepticism of his legal team's claim that he cannot be prosecuted for his actions unless he is first impeached and convicted by Congress.

FLORENCE PAN, JUDGE, U.S. COURT OF APPEALS, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Could a president order SEAL Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? That's an official act, an order to SEAM team six.

JOHN SAUER, TRUMP ATTORNEY: He would have to be, and would speedily be, you know, impeached and convicted before the criminal prosecution.

PAN: But if you weren't, I asked you a yes or no question.

SAUER: There's a political process that would have to occur under our infrastructure, our Constitution, which require impeachment and conviction by the Senate and these exceptional cases.

REID: Trump's lawyers argued that when trying to overturn the 2020 election, Trump was acting in his official capacity.

SAUER: To authorize the prosecution of a president for his official acts, would open a Pandora's box from which this nation may never recover.

REID: Trump's lawyer also warned that if this mere absolute immunity was not recognized, there could be a possibility of vindictive prosecutions against political rivals.

SAUER: It would authorize, for example, the indictment of President Biden in the Western District of Texas after he leaves office for mismanaging the border, allegedly.

REID: The special counsel rejected these arguments, noting that charges were brought in this case because of what they describe as extraordinary conduct.

[03:20:05]

JAMES PEARCE, SPECIAL COUNSEL: Never before has there been allegations that a sitting president has with private individuals and using the levers of power sought to fundamentally subvert the democratic republic and the electoral system.

REID: And argued that impeachment and conviction through a political process should not be required before a criminal prosecution.

PEARCE: I think it would be awfully scary if there weren't some sort of mechanism by which to reach that criminally.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

REID: The court here has been operating on an expedited schedule, so we expect we will likely get a decision soon. Whoever loses can then ask the entire circuit to hear the case, but that requires the majority of judges in the circuit to agree to hear it. It's not clear that'll happen.

Then of course there is the next step, which is appealing to the Supreme Court. Then they're already weighing this question of ballot eligibility related to former President Trump. It's unclear they're going to weigh in, but of course the Trump strategy is as much about delay as it is about the merits of this case.

Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.

CHURCH: Doctors disclosed on Tuesday that U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had surgery to treat prostate cancer back in December. But they say the prognosis is good. Austin went back to the hospital last week later with a buildup of fluid impairing the function of his small intestines.

The White House says President Biden did not know about the prostate cancer diagnosis until Tuesday, but Mr. Biden still has complete confidence in Austin and plans to keep him as defense minister.

Boeing CEO told employees the aircraft manufacturer is acknowledging its mistake after a terrifying incident on an Alaska Airlines flight. Dave Calhoun says the company will approach the investigation into Friday's fuselage door plug blowout with complete transparency because, quote, "this stuff matters."

The Federal Aviation Administration says certain Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft will remain grounded while the door plugs are inspected. A former Boeing factory manager who became a whistleblower in recent years addressed the Alaska Airlines incident.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ED PIERSON, BOEING WHISTLEBLOWER: This is actually in many ways an awesome wake up call because it could have been so much more tragic. There's so many other issues that planes have that we've been monitoring for a while now. So yes, I wasn't surprised at all. And maybe that's the most shocking part is some of us who've been watching this have been, you know, reporting on many, many production quality defects.

They've had over 20 serious production quality defects just since the plane rolled out, you know, went back into service, I said. So this is a very concerning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Faulty bolts and door plugs are now the focus of the investigation involving Boeing, two airlines and federal aviation authorities.

CNN's Tom Foreman has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An astonishing question raised by federal investigators. Could it be that the plug which burst free of that Alaska Airlines plane, forcing an emergency landing, was not properly locked into place? After all, the National Transportation Safety Board has the plane, the plug, and lots of other evidence, but.

CLINT CROOKSHANKS, AEROSPACE ENGINEER, NTSB: We have not yet recovered the four bolts that restrain it from its vertical movement, and we have not yet determined if they existed there. That will be determined when we take that plug to our lab in Washington, D.C.

FOREMAN: While such plugs are not normal doors, each can be opened somewhat like a door for maintenance, according to this website by a former 737 pilot.

CHRIS BRADY, BOEING 737 TECHNICAL GUIDE: As it shows in this photo here, they hinge, they open outwards and hinge downwards.

FOREMAN: Two bolts at the top and two at the bottom are supposed to prevent that, but the holes that would have held those bolts, aviation experts note, show no signs of tearing or stress.

BRADY: There's no apparent damage to the inside frame.

FOREMAN: And both Alaska and United say their inspections of plugs after the incident revealed loose hardware on other Boeing 737 MAX-9s. Ed Pierson is a former Boeing employee turned sharp critic.

ED PIERSON, FORMER SENIOR MANAGER, BOEING 737 PROGRAM: It's completely unacceptable to leave. loose bolts or anything like that. So, if one person makes a mistake, they might make a mistake on another plane and another plane. This is really disturbing.

FOREMAN: Four times in the past two months pressurization warnings appeared on the jet involved. The last just a minute before the plug flew out causing explosive depressurization. At least it wasn't cruising at 30,000 feet, says the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board.

JENNIFER HOMENDY, CHAIR, U.S. NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD: Folks don't have seat belts on. They're going to restrooms. The flight attendants are providing service to passengers. We could have end with -- ended up with something so much more tragic and really fortunate that did not occur here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[03:25:05]

FOREMAN: Boeing has now held a company-wide safety meeting in which the CEO has pledged complete and transparent cooperation with investigators. And he said Boeing will admit its mistake. Although exactly what that mistake may be, we still don't know.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

CHURCH: Still to come, winter weather and storms tear through parts of the U.S. Details just ahead. Plus, climate experts say 2023 broke more heat records than we originally thought. What it means for the fight against climate change.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.

Conditions across much of the U.S. East Coast are improving after being battered by powerful winter weather and storms. More than 40 million Americans were under severe storm threats on Tuesday, with more than 300 storms reported in affected areas since Monday.

Parts of Wisconsin saw more than 30 centimeters of snow, with parts of Iowa and South Dakota receiving even more. Winter weather alerts remain in effect for northeastern states until later this afternoon. High winds and tornadoes were reported across southern states and up the eastern coast on Tuesday.

The National Weather Service says more than 75 million people are under high wind alerts going into Wednesday morning.

Well, coming off the hottest year on record, the world is now dangerously close to hitting a critical climate threshold set by nearly 200 countries in the 2015 Paris Agreement.

CNN's chief climate correspondent Bill Weir has details.

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: One point four eight degrees Celsius. That was the amount of global warming in 2023, two one-hundredths of a degree away from that pivotal number of 1.5 that the world agreed should be the upper limits of man-made global warming. But we're there, 2023, as a lot of people felt it around the world,

just was undeniable. Not only did it break previous records, the hottest year ever in 2016, shattered them, obliterated them. Most northern latitudes you can see on the map there up in Canada, there are good three or four degrees of warming, warming much faster than the rest of the world. So, it is not even.

If we look at the global surface temperatures going back 57 years, it goes back to 1967, my birth year, this is my life and temperature graphs here. And 2023, you can see how that bar on the right is so much higher than anywhere else.

[03:29:59]

Usually, these records are broken by just hundreds of a degree because you're talking about so much areas, so much mass, so much time. But '23 was deadly special in so many ways. And then as we look at the, through the years as the temperatures bounced around that 1.5 line there, we dipped above in March, came back down. But as you can see, the temperatures around the world hit that 1.5 threshold and stayed there for most of the back end of the year, even going above two degrees of global warming for a couple of days in November. That has never happened before.

For the first time ever, you can lay 2023's calendar over a calendar of 19 or 1850 to 1900, and every day was a full degree warmer than those before. And this doesn't even take into account the estimated millions of species of plants and animals that could go extinct by 2050. Bill Weir, CNN New York.

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN HOST: Adam Met is the founder of Planet Reimagined and a U.N. sustainability advocate. He joins me now from New York. Appreciate you being with us.

ADAM MET, FOUNDER, PLANET REIMAGINED: Thank you so much for having me.

CHURCH: So, planet Earth was at its hottest in recorded history in 2023. That's according to the latest Copernicus climate report. So, what might this signal for 2024 and beyond, do you think?

MET: So, in 2023, every single day was at least one degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels. And honestly, that's not going to sound like a lot to most people. But when you think of it in terms of the floods in Greece, the record-breaking temperatures across Italy and the wildfires in Australia and the U.S., then it actually starts to mean something.

And the report said that more than 50 percent of the days were above 1.5 degrees. That means only more disasters. Even two of the days were above two degrees. That's way above what the Paris Climate Agreement said we can actually stand as a planet, which means 2024, we're going to see a lot more climate related disasters if we stay business as usual.

CHURCH: And in 2023, we saw those extreme temperatures across the globe, as well as the extreme flooding, the forest fires that you just talked about. Were those extreme weather conditions all due to climate change and can we expect to see even more extreme weather conditions like that in the years ahead?

MET: Absolutely, we can expect to see so many more of these types of extreme weather events. And human-caused climate change only exacerbates them. And there are so many solutions to these problems, but we're not moving towards them fast enough. And global leaders have the solutions, we as individuals have the solutions, and business leaders have the solutions as well.

CHURCH: Let's talk about those solutions because as you point out, alarm bells don't appear to be going off for many world leaders. They seem to be carrying on as normal as if there's no issue at all for planet Earth. So, what should they be doing to avert catastrophic climate conditions and all of us in fact, because you refer that we all have a role to play in this?

MET: Absolutely. So, solving these problems is twofold. Yes, of course, we need to stop burning fossil fuels. We need to move to a renewable energy economy as soon as possible. But at the exact same time, we need to protect ourselves from these events, these events that are caused by the burning of fossil fuels that are almost inevitable.

Now, this is part of the new norm, and at the same time, we need to be focusing on resilience and mitigation. Resilience means protecting ourselves and mitigation means preventing new emissions from going out into the atmosphere. In 2023 and the previous few decades, the U.S. has spent over $2.6 trillion to clean up from these extreme weather events.

Now, if we had only invested in resilience beforehand, we would have saved a huge amount of money. But what's positive about this is that there is still time. If we invest in measures like better power lines, building codes that will protect us from flooding. Those kinds of measures that we can invest in right now and are far cheaper will allow us to prevent cleanup from after these events and also save us a tremendous amount of money in the long run.

Now, methane and carbon dioxide are two of the strongest greenhouse gases. We need to focus on both of those. But policy and politics seem to get in the way. Now, one of the strongest things that we can do is our voice in elections in the U.S. where I am and around the world. And when you think about elections, most people think about the presidential election or a prime minister or a federal leader. One of the best things we can do is vote locally. So many of these ideas of resilience protecting our communities happen at the local level.

[03:35:03]

So, my call to action would be find out when your next local election is. Find out when your nest local leaders are being put into office and figure out their views on whether it's power lines or building resilience against sea level rise or their policies around soils having to do with forest fires. Really taking that approach of the local level and voting in every election you possibly can is incredibly important.

CHURCH: Good advice there. Adam Met, thank you so much for talking with us. Appreciate it.

MET: Thank you.

CHURCH: More documents have been unsealed about sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his relationship with former U.S. President Bill Clinton. Details coming up after a short break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: A newly unsealed deposition of the late accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein shows he refused to answer dozens of questions about his relationship with former U.S. President Bill Clinton. The deposition was part of the fifth round of hundreds of documents from a lawsuit connected to Epstein that was released on Tuesday. CNN's Jean Casarez has more on Epstein's meteoric rise in the financial world and his spectacular fall from grace.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Much of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's life remains a mystery, from how he accumulated his multi-million-dollar fortune to how he developed ties to incredibly influential people.

UNKNOWN: Could you please give us your name?

JEFFREY EPSTEIN, CONVICTED SEX OFFENDER: Jeffrey Epstein.

CASAREZ (voice-over): From former presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, actor Kevin Spacey, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, magician David Copperfield, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, and even Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Epstein associated with an elite circle.

He owned lavish properties in Manhattan, Palm Beach, Florida, New Mexico, Paris, and a private island in the Caribbean, according to court filings. He also owned at least 15 vehicles and had access to two private jets. Born in Brooklyn to working class parents, he actually never received a college degree. But that didn't stop him from getting a job teaching mathematics at the prestigious Dalton School in New York City.

It was there he tutored the daughter of Bear Stearns chairman Alan Greenberg and wound up getting a job at the investment bank. There he met billionaire Leslie Wexner, who ran L Brands and Victoria's Secret. And Epstein not only became his money advisor, but was given power of attorney over finances. In the 80s, Epstein began operating his own money management firms. In the early 90s, Ghislaine Maxwell, a British socialite, would become Epstein's lifelong companion. For years, the pair would host billionaires, politicians, and celebrities.

[03:39:57]

But in 2005, Epstein was accused of paying a 14-year-old girl for sex and was criminally charged in 2006. Epstein was charged with Florida state prostitution crimes. He pleaded guilty in 2008, served 13 months in a jail work release program, and registered as a sex offender.

Despite his criminal conviction, Epstein and Maxwell continued to mingle with the rich and famous and continued to recruit young girls for massages, a code word for sexual services according to court documents. But 11 years later, Epstein's legal troubles caught up with him again. Wexner wrote that Epstein, quote, "misappropriated vast sums of money" from Wexner and his family more than a decade ago. Over $46 million, according to the "Wall Street Journal."

And in July 2019, a federal indictment charged Epstein with sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking.

GEOFFREY BERMAN, U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE SOUTH DISTRICT OF NEW YORK: Epstein is alleged to have abused dozens of victims by causing them to engage in sex acts with him at his mansion in New York and at his estate in Palm Beach, Florida.

CASAREZ (voice-over): While awaiting trial in New York, Epstein died by suicide, denying justice for his victims and leaving so many questions forever unanswered. Jean Casarez, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: The E.U. is looking into Microsoft's partnership with OpenAI and whether it may warrant a formal investigation. The scrutiny comes after Microsoft gained a non-voting seat on the board of OpenAI, one of the most influential companies in the artificial intelligence industry.

Microsoft also has a multi-billion-dollar investment in the company. The tech giant says gaining a seat on the board is not the same as a merger. While OpenAI, for its part, says the board seat does not give Microsoft control over the start-up's operations. The move from the E.U. follows a similar announcement from British antitrust officials and a report by Bloomberg that the U.S. was conducting a preliminary probe.

A church in Manila says more than 6 million people turned out to see a statue of Jesus believed to have healing powers. The parade of the Black Nazarene was back in full swing after being cancelled the past three years because of COVID. Many Filipinos believe the statue can heal incurable ailments and bring good fortune. It was carved in Mexico and brought to the Philippines in the 17th century. Some say it got its dark color from a fire. Others claim it's made of mesquite wood.

And thank you so much for spending part of your day with us. I'm Rosemary Church. Marketplace Middle East is next. Then "CNN Newsroom" continues with Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo.

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