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CNN International: Flow of Russian Gas Through Ukraine to Europe Ends; Puerto Rico Struggling with Massive Power Outage; Volodymyr Zelenskyy: America will Continue to Stand with us in 2025; Health Officials Raise Alarms Over Bird Flu Outbreak; Studying Harms of Ultra-Processed Foods. Aired 3-3:30a ET

Aired January 01, 2025 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

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MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to you on this 2025 first day. I'm Max Foster in London. Celebrations erupting across the Western U.S. right now as another part of the world enters the year. You're looking at live pictures there over the strip in Vegas, Nevada, where the clock has just struck midnight and the skies are lighting up.

We also want to show you live pictures of New Year celebrations at the Seattle Space Needle that's in Washington State, of course, glorious scenes from the top of that iconic structure. And in California here's the scene over San Francisco Bay.

Cities around the globe have been marking the New Year with parties for nearly an entire day now, the skies above Victoria Harbor in Hong Kong were lit up with fireworks launched from barges with an impressive laser light show there in the background. Meanwhile, the famous Kiss Cam came out in New York as Times Square attendees took part in this New Year's tradition.

London -- was center stage as fireworks illuminated the skies here in the UK, likewise, in Dubai, the Burj Khalifa was the main attraction there for a spectacular projection show with fireworks stepping up that wow factor.

But we also have some news today, coming into a decades old deal that brought Russian gas to Europe through Ukraine coming to an end. The contract expired today. Ukraine's government and Russia state run export a gas problem confirmed deliveries have indeed stopped.

European countries have turned instead to the U.S., Qatar and Norway for liquefied natural gas. It will be more expensive, and analysts predict the market impact on Europe will be pretty minimal overall. They don't expect a repeat of the 2022 EU gas rally. Russia stands to lose $5 billion in annual sales, and Ukraine will be out of pocket by about 800 million a year in transit fees.

Meanwhile, in Puerto Rico, a not so festive and bright lead up to the New Year, a critical failure in the island's power grid caused a massive black out at least well, at one point, nearly 90 percent of customers were without power on New Year's Day. Luma Energy, the Canadian American power company that took over management from the government in 2021 still investigating the exact cause of that outage. CNN Espanol spoke with residents who were left with no choice but to deal with the unreliable power system.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I understand that it is a difficult situation, a critical situation, a day like today, the end of the year. Well, we are going to be in a difficult situation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Complete frustration, frustration, disappointment with the government, with the institutions, with everything.

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FOSTER: There you go. Well, CNN's Carlos Suarez has the latest for you on the blackout.

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The sweeping blackout hit Tuesday morning. Luma Energy, which supplies power to Puerto Rico, said that crews would try to get the power grid back on in phases, and that could take anywhere between 24 to 48 hours. As of one o'clock on Tuesday, about 3 percent of customers out of the 1.3 million users impacted had their power restored.

The International Airport in San Juan and hospitals around the island are running on power generators. Now power outages have long been a running source of frustration on the island since the collapse of the power grid in 2017 after Hurricane Maria. Luma and a second private company have long come under criticism for failing to improve the electric system there.

Now, in a statement, Puerto Rico's Governor Pedro Pierluisi said, quote, we are demanding answers and solutions from both Luma and Genera, who must expedite the restart of the generating units outside the fault area and keep the people duly informed about the measures they are taking to restore service throughout the island. Luma said that an issue with a faulty underground line was to blame. Carlos Suarez, CNN, Miami.

FOSTER: Well, as Carlos mentioned, there the ill time black out. Nothing new for Puerto Ricans. It's the latest in a long string of failures from the island's fragile and poorly maintained power grid. And as one resident told CNN earlier, Puerto Ricans are facing increasingly hefty energy costs.

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CARLOS DE LEON, PUERTO RICO RESIDENT: We are very resilient people. 2017 was the Hurricane Maria 2020 it was the earthquake, and now with the electric company, they haven't been able to do what they were contracted to do and that's giving us a good power service.

[03:05:00] And to be today, I mean, it's kind of it's a bad joke, because recently, just this, at the beginning of this week, they were authorized to high the prices on the electricity beginning next month, that's tomorrow, and to have this big failure that began at down. You know, it was just crazy. But I mean, we are ready to celebrate the New Year, and here we are. How can we do?

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FOSTER: Well, in South Korea, authorities say they've identified all the 179 people killed in Sunday's plane crash, but they still don't know what caused the tragic accident. The news could provide closure for families of the victims camping out at the Muan Airport as they wait for new information.

Investigators have located both black boxes from the Jeju Air jet. They'll soon be able to hear the last moments recorded on the cockpit from the voice recorder there, but the flight data recorder is posing bigger issues. It was damaged in the crash and will be sent to the U.S. for analysis.

We're going to turn to the Middle East now, where the U.S. military says American forces carried out new attacks on Yemen's Houthi rebels. The U.S. Central Command says it launched multiple precision strikes over the past two days against Houthi targets that house missiles and drones used in recent attacks against the U.S. in the Red Sea.

Washington says the strikes were meant to deter Houthi threats to America's partners and the trade ships that passed through the region vital to the global economy. A Houthi spokesperson says Yemen will continue to defend itself against attacks.

Meanwhile, France has carried out its first air strikes on ISIS sites in Syria since the fall of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad's Regime. The French Defense Minister shared this video of the Air Force striking what was described as ISIS locations in Syria on Sunday. France has been part of the U.S. led coalition to defeat ISIS since 2015.

U.S. military says it struck numerous ISIS camps and -- in recent weeks to prevent the militant group from regaining a foothold. The Head of U.S. Central Command is warning that ISIS is planning to free more than 8000 of its fighters from prisons in Syria.

A new UN report is warning that Israeli attacks on Gaza hospitals have pushed its health care system to quote, the brink of total collapse. The UN Human Rights Agency documented more than 130 strikes on nearly 40 medical facilities between October 2023 and June 2024. The report says hundreds of health and medical professionals have been killed, as well as patients and civilians, and the situation has quote reached a catastrophic level.

Northern Gaza's last remain -- remaining major hospital is now out of service after Israeli forces raid it on Friday and arrested its director. Israel claims, Hamas uses hospitals as cover for military purposes, but the UN found these claims, quote, vague and broad and in some cases appear contradicted by publicly available information.

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JEREMY LAURENCE, SPOKESPERSON, OFFICE OF THE U.N. HIGH COMMISSION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS: The protection of hospitals during warfare is paramount and must be respected by all sides at all times. In essence, if the relentless bombing and the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza were not enough, the one sanctuary where Palestinians should have felt safe, in fact, became a death trap. Under circumstance, certain circumstances that deliberate destruction of health care facilities may amount to a form of collective punishment, which is also a war crime.

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FOSTER: Well, the Israel Envoy to the UN in Geneva claims the report is quote politically driven. The report comes as the UN's Agency for Palestinian Refugees says there's an urgent need for winter supplies in Gaza. UNRWA says severe cold has resulted in the death of several Palestinians, including at least five babies. And Gaza's Civil Defense says more than 1500 tents and shelters were flooded after heavy rain.

Well, we are following New Year celebrations around the world here on CNN. Just ahead, we'll show you how Angola rang in 2025 stay with us.

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FOSTER: Russia's President is promising the New Year will bring good things for the country, though he doesn't specify what those will be exactly. The Kremlin broadcast of Vladimir Putin's message at midnight, local time across all 11 time zones in the country. Putin praised Russians fighting in the Ukraine war, calling them, quote, true heroes, but he didn't outline the challenges that Russia is facing, including that nearly three-year long war and the country's economic troubles, are all weighing heavily, but he promises Russia will come out on top.

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VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT: We are sure that everything will be fine. We will go only forward. We know for sure that the absolute value for us was, is and will be the fate of Russia and the well-being of its citizens.

On this New Year's Eve, the thoughts, the hopes of relatives, of friends, millions of people all over Russia, together with our fighters and commanders, you are true heroes who have undertaken the great military labor to defend Russia, to provide our people with strong guarantees of peace and security. We are proud of your courage and bravery. We believe in you.

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FOSTER: The Ukrainian President, also presenting a message of hope for the New Year despite losses on the battlefield and uncertainty about Ukraine's relationship with the U.S. under the incoming Trump Administration. Volodymyr Zelenskyy praise Ukrainians fighting during excruciating circumstances, and he promised that, with the help of the country's most powerful ally, Ukraine, will be able to force Russia into a just peace.

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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Ukraine is not alone, because we have our friends with us. Since the first minutes of this war, America has stood with Ukraine. I believe that America will also stand with Ukraine in the first minutes of peace. I have no doubt that the new American President is willing and capable of achieving peace and ending Putin's aggression.

He understands that the first is impossible without the second. May 2025 be our year, the year of Ukraine. We know that peace will not be given to us as a gift, but we will do everything to stop Russia and end the war.

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FOSTER: Our CNN teams around the globe have been welcoming the New Year with the help of special guests, plenty of Pyro technics as well. Larry Madowo got a front row seat to the fireworks show in Angola's Capital.

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's about to be midnight in Angola, and it is Happy New Year from Luanda, Angola -- and the fireworks are up in the sky. It's all going down. The crowd goes crazy. They're hugging. They are celebrating the fireworks. OK, just behind us. There it is lighting up the sky here on the shores of the South Atlantic Ocean, all the light, all the phones are facing the sky.

[03:15:00]

There are more impressive fireworks in different parts of the city. I can see them rising up in the sky, just filling up this section of Luanda from the buildings around, from the harbor, from the promenade surrounding this section of the city, way more impressive in the distance than was closes to me. But no doubt, a lot of celebration, and we heard one of the traditions in Angola is for you to embrace your family at midnight.

They wear white, to celebrate newness, to celebrate purity, and they embrace family. And then after that, the kids go to party. Well, the younger people go to party, and that's what about to happen now. That is midnight in Angola. Oh, there it is.

The view up over the South Atlantic Ocean with the fireworks lighting up the sky. It's spectacular with the city lights in the back and the fireworks and so everybody around here, the crowd is surging closer to the water, so they have a good view of it.

All over Instagram, all over TikTok, all over Facebook and X I'm sure everybody's feed is just going to be flooded with this shot of the fireworks, even if it doesn't look that great on the phone, but everyone does it, whatever culture, everyone celebrated New Year. When you look on your phone right now, on your feed, you will see lots of fireworks pictures. Some are grainy, some are great.

They're really great, but it's still an amazing moment, because it's one of the most exciting things that you end a new year -- you end an old year and get to start a New Year. And if you're lucky, it's somewhere beautiful like this, with the fireworks lighting up the water and lighting up the sky and the celebration around just exceptional.

And that is a view from Angola. Let me try and get in the shot of the shot here, so you can see the fireworks behind me, and I can explain a little bit of where we are with the fireworks over the water here in Angola, and more coming up from different parts of the city. That is literally everywhere. But that is the view from Luanda here on the shore to the South Atlantic Ocean. Happy New Year.

FOSTER: The view from Angola now the number of bird flu cases is on the rise in North America, most of being mild, but health officials are pushing more action to control the outbreak right now.

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FOSTER: The number of people with bird flu is on the rise in North America, and so are concerns about how the virus is developing. Most of the 46 confirmed cases have been mild, but officials with the U.S. National Institutes of Health are calling for closer tracking of the virus to control the outbreak.

They're particularly concerned about a new variant that made one person in Louisiana and a 13-year-old in Vancouver, Canada severely ill. It's also been found in poultry workers in Washington State. The variant is showing changes that could mean it's adapting to humans, which increases the chances of it spreading amongst people.

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2024 was a year of remarkable advances in medicine and medical technology though our Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, looks back at some of the biggest stories on health and wellness in 2024.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: From another potential pandemic to health threats infiltrating our daily lives. 2024 provided us with some warning signs, but we also saw stories with hard earned moments of inspiration and innovation, reminding us of the relentless search for the next medical break-through.

With more than 100,000 people on the wait list for organ transplants in the United States, there is a clear need for a solution, and this could be the answer.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're fully edited. All these piglets can carry a total of 69 edits to their genome.

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DR. GUPTA: Genetically edited pigs designed by scientists to be compatible with the human body, reducing the possibility of rejection. Scientists have started to make progress testing this type of organ transplant. It's known as xenotransplantation. They're doing this into patients who have no other alternatives.

As temperatures around the world keep climbing, it's taking a clear toll on our health testing the limits even of human survivability. This year, people hiking, attending concerts, just being in their own homes, they have died from heat. In fact, heat is the deadliest type of extreme weather, and climate change is making those heat waves longer and more severe.

Heat also means warmer oceans, leading to these super charge hurricanes like the ones that we saw this year, and that comes with their own health consequences as well. Imagine using a computer by only using your mind. That's just the beginning of what brain computer interface, or BCI technology combined with artificial intelligence is now hoping to do companies like Synchrony and Elon Musk's Neuralink. They have begun implanting BCI devices into people's brains to help people who are losing motor function still be able to perform daily tasks.

Earlier this year, I met Mark. He's an ALS patient who has mostly lost the ability to use his arms, and we saw first-hand how Synchron Stentrode device helped send messages on his computer and even play a game like Pong. He hopes this technology can help him, can help other patients struggling as well with paralysis, maintain as much independence as possible.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was 43-years-old at the time when I was diagnosed.

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DR. GUPTA: A growing number of young adults like Timothy Mitchell are being diagnosed with cancer.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cancer, which usually would affect people over 65 has now become much more prevalent in patients under 55.

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DR. GUPTA: While the trends have been headed this way for more than decade experts still aren't sure why this is happening, but it has put a spotlight on the importance of recommended preventative screenings, paying attention to any unusual symptoms in your body, and a search for factors that could be behind this increase.

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RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: -- study shows an increase in levels of micro plastics in human brains.

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DR. GUPTA: Micro plastics, they are everywhere nowadays. They're in our food, they're in our clothing, they're in the air we breathe. And now we're starting to get a better understanding of their potential impact on our health. There was a study that found people with micro or nano plastics in their carotid arteries were twice as likely to have a heart attack or stroke or die from any other cause over the next three years, compared to people who had none. If you're a parent, I know you're going to understand this.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 48 percent nearly half of parents are saying on most days they are completely overwhelmed by their stress.

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DR. GUPTA: This summer, the U.S. Surgeon General, Dr Vivek Murthy issued an advisory calling parental stress a public health concern, saying that we need a cultural shift with both individual and government intervention. Parents are working more than ever, and child care demands have only increased, leaving many families feeling exhausted, burned out, perpetually behind. That's what Murphy said.

It's so, secret that diet plays a major role in our health. And while we know the benefits of healthy food, the harms of ultra processed food are now coming into clear focus. Ultra processed foods make up nearly 70 percent of our country's food supply.

Numerous studies have found that consuming higher amounts of these foods raises the risk of obesity, but also the development of chronic conditions like cancer, cardiovascular disease, type two diabetes, depression. It probably even shortens life span. Researchers are now trying to figure out if ultra process ingredients are all created equal.

An alarming spread of bird flu through our dairy herds across the United States has scientists on edge.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As we think about a virus that might move from animals into humans and potentially cause the next pandemic certainly has everyone's guard up.

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DR. GUPTA: While the CDC says the public health risk remains low, there have been cases of bird flu in humans. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The CDC is now confirming the first severe case of H5N1 bird flu in a human inside the United States.

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DR. GUPTA: Most human cases have been among people who have been exposed to sick animals. But that hasn't completely eased the fears of possibility of human-to-human transmission.

There may be more hope for Alzheimer's patients than ever. A new study led by Dr. Dean Ornish found that some patients who underwent lifestyle interventions alone, like eating a vegan diet, exercising daily, practicing stress reduction, they saw improved cognition, even signs of reversal of the disease. I got to see this first hand, meeting patients all over the country.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the best I can do to stay alive, and I want to live with my wife as long as I can.

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DR. GUPTA: We also did see promise in newly approved pharmaceutical interventions, including monoclonal antibody treatments -- for example, demonstrating the ability to slow the progression of the disease. You know, for decades, we only saw incremental progress in treating this disease. But now I have to say, these options are giving patients new hope.

This year, we traveled around the world investigating the impact of the GLP1 weight loss drugs. With no signs of slowing, in popularity now these drugs have given us new insight into obesity as a disease.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What it did help me was not have a whole lot of thoughts about food. My cravings went away.

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DR. GUPTA: We now consider obesity a disease of the brain, a revelation that I think has lifted a sense of guilt associated with this disease, helped us get to a better understanding of how to treat it as well.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's definitely true that there are people out there who said time and again, obesity is not really a disease. All you need to do is eat better and exercise more and you'll be OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP) DR. GUPTA: While these drugs may not be for everyone, we have seen how they can transform people's lives, physically, yes, but also emotionally. We've only at this point begun to unlock the possibilities. Studies have found that these drugs could be associated with cardiovascular benefits, lowering the risk of certain cancers, curbing cravings, as well beyond food like nicotine and alcohol, and I'm sure we're going to continue to learn a lot more about this in 2025 Happy New Year.

FOSTER: Happy New Year to Sanjay and to you too. Thanks for watching CNN Newsroom. I'm Max Foster. De-Coded is next. I'm back with more news at the top of the hour.

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