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Explosions in Multiple Ukrainian Cities; Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra Speaks from Kyiv Bomb Shelter; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Lays Out 10-Step Plan for Peace at G20; Balance of Power in U.S. House Still Undetermined; Israel Won't Cooperate with U.S. Probe into Death of Palestinian American Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh; Israel Swears In 25th Knesset; Russian Foreign Minister Blames West for Provoking Aggression in Ukraine; Going Green in Tokyo. Aired 10-10:45a ET
Aired November 15, 2022 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:00]
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LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Missiles hit multiple Ukrainian cities on the day Ukrainian President Zelenskyy
addressed the G20 meeting, laying out his plan to end the invasion by Russia.
Israel has no plans to cooperate with the U.S. investigation into the death of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. We will go live to Jerusalem with the
latest.
And zero COVID anger has brought thousands of fed up residents in China's Guangzhou region out and onto the streets. We will have a special report.
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KINKADE: Hello and welcome. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD.
We begin with major developments out of Ukraine. Officials saying that explosions are being reported across the country. The capital, Kyiv, has
been hit at least 2 blasts explosions also being reported in Lviv, Kharkiv and other cities.
And air raid alerts can be heard throughout Ukraine. Nic Robertson joining us now from Kherson.
Nic, these air sirens going on after multiple missile strikes.
What more can you tell us?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, it does appear as though Russia is triggering infrastructure again. The foreign minister
said, look, when Russia talks about peace, this is what happens. This is what Russia is doing.
They are going back to striking the infrastructure and killing innocent civilians. A Dutch member of parliament, a foreign minister who is in Kyiv,
taking shelter during the missiles said, look, you have to look at what Russia is doing, not what Russia is saying.
Russia had been going through a sort of pause in targeting Ukraine's electricity infrastructure. But we hear from regions in the north and other
areas in the very east of the country, strikes on infrastructure facilities -- two strikes in Kyiv as well as -- and Kryvyi Rih was targeted, air
defense systems firing off.
Lviv, in the very west of the country, so the sirens were quite literally going off all across the country. A large barrage, at least two waves of
missile firing, potentially more strikes, in the air as we speak.
The message for citizens is to stay in shelter. It is, of course, deeply concerning for the Ukrainian government. There are strikes that Russia has
targeted on the critical infrastructure, taking the power infrastructure has brought the network to a very crippled condition whereby there have
been a lot of power blackouts.
Now the situation from that will appear set to get worse. That is the concern.
And a real possibility that if Russia was pausing while its politicians, foreign minister was at the G20 in Bali, where its intelligence officials
were meeting with U.S. intelligence officials in Turkiye just recently, to perhaps see what might be available on the negotiating table after that
pullback from Kherson, it appears that Russia has now gone back to doubling down on targeting critical infrastructure, ahead of very cold temperatures
this winter.
KINKADE: Nic Robertson, we will check in with you very soon. Thanks so much for that update from Kherson, Ukraine.
We have a guest with us. The Dutch foreign minister is in a bomb shelter in Kyiv. He went there after explosions hit the city. He arrived in Ukraine
for meetings with officials. Wopke Hoekstra joining me now via phone.
Good to have you with us. Just give us a sense of what happened when those air sirens started blaring.
WOPKE HOEKSTRA, DUTCH FOREIGN MINISTER: Thank you very much for having me. My guess is your read on the situation might actually be a better one than
from us because we are in a shelter here with a number of people.
What we do know is there were a couple of strikes hitting Kyiv and, of course, hitting the country at large. And if anything, this should motivate
us even more to help Ukraine with weapons, with humanitarian aid and with pushing for justice.
[10:05:00]
HOEKSTRA: Otherwise, this will continue.
KINKADE: Could you describe for us what you are seeing now in that bomb shelter?
How many people are there, how crowded is it?
HOEKSTRA: Frankly speaking, it is not that crowded. I think we are with some 50 to 60 people over here. We're in the basement of a hotel. We
actually just came from a meeting with my counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, discussing how to help them.
We were about to drive to the next meeting, when we got the news we had to stop by the hotel, to move into the basement.
KINKADE: What are you being told right now about the situation in the capital, about the strikes there?
HOEKSTRA: Well, you know, I think it is fair to say, on the one hand, it is absolutely devastating to see how Russia is ruining lives, of course, at
the front lines but also here in Kyiv.
And yet at the same time, it's tremendously impressive how people cope with this and deal with this and are all convinced, everyone I talk to, just one
thing, that with our joint support, the support of the U.S. and the Europeans, they will see this through.
They will win the war. That is the sense we are getting, even while the airstrikes are hitting. But of course, at the same time, people are scared
about what is happening because it is indiscriminate. You never know where bombs might fall.
KINKADE: And what is the situation in terms of how people feel right now, where you are, in that bomb shelter?
Is there a sense of fear?
HOEKSTRA: Frankly speaking, not in here. People know that, in here, they are safe. And you know, in a way, many of the people who live here, to a
certain degree, have seen this many, many days before, unfortunately.
So people are not scared in here. But of course, when we first heard the alarm and people had to move to the basement, when the first block (ph)
essentially hit the city, of course that is an immediate sign of action. And it does scare people.
KINKADE: OK, Wopke Hoekstra, good to have you on the phone with us, the Dutch foreign minister, joining us from a bomb shelter in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Thank you so much and take care.
Those explosions come just hours after Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, laid out his 10-point peace plan. He presented that plan in a
taped address to the G20. It is going on this week in Bali, Indonesia.
It includes food, energy and nuclear safety and confirmation that the war is over. Mr. Zelenskyy also wants an all-for-all prisoner swap with Russia.
CNN's Ivan Watson is in Bali, covering the G20 for us. He joins us now.
Ivan, good to have you with us. Take us through what Zelenskyy said about the Russian invasion at the G20 -- or the G19, as he called it.
Is there any sense that this missile attack across Ukraine is in response to his comments?
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Sure. First and foremost, we are very, very far away from the trenches and the cruise
missile strikes of Ukraine in Eastern Europe here in the tropics in Southeast Asia.
But the host, the Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, he made it very clear that the rest of the world, the developing world, is being hit hard by
things like soaring food prices, energy prices. He called for an immediate end to the conflict in remarks earlier today.
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JOKO WIDODO, INDONESIAN PRESIDENT: If the war does not end, it will be difficult for the world to move forward. If the war does not end, it will
be difficult for us to take responsibility for the future of our generation for future generations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: The Russian president, Vladimir Putin was a no-show here in Bali. And that left Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, to take center
stage.
He spoke virtually, giving a long speech, blasting Russia, celebrating the liberation of the southern city of Kherson, where my colleague Nic
Robertson was reporting from in the dark, just moments ago, comparing the liberation of Kherson to the D-Day landing of Normandy during World War II.
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WATSON: As you mentioned, laying out what he described as a 10-point peace plan. However, not calls for things like establishing a special tribunal to
investigate allegations of Russian war crimes, for a complete exchange of all prisoners, for Russia to completely withdraw from all Ukrainian
territory.
It basically sounds very much like a nonstarter for Russia, which is what the Russian side has already said. A Kremlin spokesman has said it's very
clear Ukraine does not want to negotiate.
Meanwhile, the -- Vladimir Putin's stand-in in Bali, the foreign minister of Russia, Sergey Lavrov, he basically accused the West of starting what he
describes as a hybrid war in Ukraine and denounced Zelenskyy's speech at the G20, saying it was militaristic, aggressive and Russophobic.
So I think walking out of here, the U.S. President, Joe Biden, wants to assemble a bigger chorus of voices to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Even a senior U.S. administration official has conceded, that is probably unlikely to get all of the G20 members, which include Russia, to sign on to
such a unanimous statement.
Instead, a senior U.S. administration official conceding that a majority of the G20 member states are likely to sign on to some condemnation of Russia
here.
KINKADE: Ivan Watson for us in Bali, our thanks, we will check in with you --
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KINKADE: We have a new CNN exclusive report. Sources telling us there is U.S. intelligence that Russia might have delayed announcing its withdrawal
from the Ukrainian city of Kherson to avoid giving the Biden administration a political win ahead of the midterm elections.
President Biden appeared to hint at that last week. Take a listen.
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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Obviously (ph) they waited until after the election to make that judgment, which we knew for some time
that they were going to be doing. And it is evidence to the fact that they have some real problems, the Russian military.
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KINKADE: Joining us now, with exclusive details, CNN's White House reporter Natasha Bertrand.
Good to have you with us, Natasha. So we have these details, that Russian officials timed this to happen after the midterm elections.
What more can you tell us?
NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Lynda, U.S. officials are telling us that, according to intelligence the U.S. has obtained, Russian
officials did discuss the U.S. midterms as a factor in their decision as to when they were going to publicly and formally announce that withdrawal from
Kherson.
The idea behind that was they did not want to announce that withdrawal prior to the midterms, before Americans had voted, because they did not
want to give the Democrats and Joe Biden any potential boosts.
Of course, that kind of misunderstands what is on American voters' minds, right?
And what they are actually voting for. There is not a lot of evidence that they would have cared all that much or even noticed the Russian retreat
from this very important strategic southern city of Kherson.
However, it speaks to the Russians' continued desire to influence American politics and of course, their desire to see Republicans in Congress. They
still feel, according to our sources, that a GOP-controlled Congress and administration is ultimately better for their interests than a Democrat
controlled one.
KINKADE: So Natasha, any more information on whether, with these elections now over, whether there will be any more moves to release the U.S.
prisoners right now being held in Russia?
BERTRAND: Yes, interestingly, Bill Burns, the CIA director, he met with his Russian counterpart yesterday in Turkiye to discuss a range of issues,
including the question of U.S. citizens who have been detained in Russia.
Of course, among them, Brittney Griner, the U.S. basketball star, and Paul Whelan, a former American Marine. They have been detained for quite some
time. The U.S. has made an offer to have them be swapped for a prisoner that the U.S. has here. But right now, there has not been a lot of movement
on that.
The president hinted last week that some in the administration hope that, now the midterms are over for the same reason as they waited for that
Kherson announcement, that the Russians might be more willing to negotiate, because, of course, they did not want to give Biden and the administration
that victory before the midterms.
But as of right now, not seeing a ton of movement on that. There is still some hope that the Russians are willing to talk about this. But it remains
to be seen what kind of progress will actually be made.
KINKADE: All right, we will check in with you soon, Natasha Bertrand with that exclusive report, thank you very much.
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KINKADE: Returning now to the U.S. midterm elections, Republicans are inching closer to control of the House of Representatives.
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KINKADE: They now need to win just three out of the 16 undecided seats to get there. Democrats have already won control of the U.S. Senate.
Meanwhile, Republican Kari Lake, one of Donald Trump's most fervent allies in denying the results of the 2020 election, has lost her bid to become
governor of Arizona. CNN and other news agencies called the race Monday evening. There is no word yet on whether Lake will concede or continue to
fight those results.
We are still counting votes in the 2022 U.S. elections. It appears the 2024 presidential race will kick off this evening. Donald Trump is widely
expected to announce his third run for the White House tonight at a rally at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
This comes in the wake of many Trump backed candidates losing in the midterm elections and a growing number of Republicans who say the party
should look for a new leader, such as Florida governor, Ron DeSantis.
Meantime, Trump's former vice president, Mike Pence, is hinting at his own presidential run in 2024. He says Trump is not the best choice to lead the
country again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID MUIR, ABC NEWS ANCHOR: Do you believe that Donald Trump should ever be president again?
MIKE PENCE (R), FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: David, I think that is up to the American people. But I think we will have better
choices in the future.
MUIR: Better choices than Donald Trump?
PENCE: And for me and my family, we will be reflecting about what our role is in that.
MUIR: Will you run for president in 2024?
PENCE: We are giving it consideration in our house, prayerful consideration.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: You can hear more from Mike Pence when CNN hosts a town hall with the former vice president. He will take questions from Jake Tapper and a
live studio audience. And that will be Wednesday, 9 pm in New York. That is 10 am in Hong Kong.
Still ahead, an investigation into the death of a prominent Palestinian American journalist. Why Israel calls any U.S. probe a mistake.
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KINKADE: Welcome back.
We are getting reports about a stabbing attack in the West Bank. At least three Israelis have been killed, another three wounded in separate
incidents by the same attacker. That's according to Israeli emergency rescue services. The Israeli army says the Palestinian assailant was
killed.
And in a separate development, Israel says it will not cooperate with the U.S. investigation into the death of a Palestinian American journalist.
Shireen Abu Akleh was fatally shot in May while covering an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank city, Jenin.
The Al Jazeera correspondent reported on the Israel-Palestine conflict for more than two decades. Israel's defense minister called the U.S. probe a
serious mistake.
[10:20:00]
KINKADE: Hadas Gold joins us now from Jerusalem with the developments.
Good to have you with us, Hadas. So Israel says it will not cooperate in what appears to be an FBI investigation into her death.
What more can you tell us?
HADAS GOLD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, it is not unusual for the FBI to investigate an American when they are killed abroad. They do
this often and Shireen Abu Akleh, the iconic Palestinian American journalist, was an American citizen.
But it would be unusual, many experts say, for the FBI to investigate the activities of essentially what is an ally's military, which is essentially
what they would be doing if they looked into Shireen Abu Akleh's death.
And this comes after a major push by members of the U.S. Congress for the FBI to investigate her death. This is also something her family has long
been calling for.
Now what happened was, initially, the Israeli media reported that U.S. officials had informed Israeli officials, that they might be asking for
materials related to the Shireen Abu Akleh incident.
And then the defense minister, Benny Gantz essentially tweeted, confirming the reports, saying it will be a mistake for this American investigation
and, saying, I am quoting here, "We will not cooperate with an external investigation. I will not enable intervention into internal
investigations."
Now keep in mind, with this tweet from the Israeli defense minister, he is most likely the outgoing defense minister, because there have been
elections. Benjamin Netanyahu is likely the incumbent prime minister. And most likely, Benny Gantz will not be staying on as defense minister.
So the tone might change here. Now the Department of Justice in the United States has declined to comment on this. But if this is happening, it would
essentially be the second American investigation into the death of Shireen Abu Akleh.
The U.S. State Department investigation a few months ago, that included a ballistic examination of the bullet that killed Shireen Abu Akleh, it found
they could not conclude definitively, based off of the bullet, how she was killed.
They did come to the conclusion, the same one that media investigations, including CNN, has come to, that she most likely killed by the Israeli
military fire. Now the IDF, after initially suggesting she might have been killed by Palestinian militant gunfire, had also come to the same
conclusion after several months on the investigation.
While they could not be certain, they also admitted it most likely was an Israeli soldier who killed Shireen Abu Akleh.
The question is, if the second FBI investigation continues, what will come out of it if they come to the same conclusion?
Will they then suggest they want to bring charges against an Israeli military personnel of a U.S. ally?
Now as for the family of Shireen Abu Akleh, they say they have long been calling for this and they are encouraged by this news. Lynda.
KINKADE: Hadas, I want to ask also about the violence we see in the West Bank, this stabbing attack that left three dead, another three wounded.
This now brings that death toll to what we saw, at least for the Israeli side, back in 2015.
What can you tell us about that incident?
GOLD: Yes. This took place near the Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank, called Ariel. It started when the attacker tried to stab a
security guard at a security checkpoint.
Then he went to a gas station, where he stabbed and killed two people and stole a car and rammed the car, causing a car accident, where another
person was killed. He then got out of the car and tried to stab more people before he himself was shot and killed.
The IDF says he was shot and killed by an Israeli military personnel who was there. Now this brings the total of people killed in attacks targeting
Israelis to 28 this year. That matches the last record set in 2015.
This was already the deadliest year for both Israelis and Palestinians since 2015 and we are not even close to the end of the year. This just goes
to show you how tenuous (sic) the situation is right now, Lynda.
KINKADE: It certainly is. Hadas Gold, stay across those developments for us, good to have you with us, thank you.
Well, it is a new era in Israel. The swearing in ceremony for the country's 25th Knesset got underway last hour. This incoming parliament includes 23
freshman members. It comes two weeks after the right wing bloc, headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, won a decisive victory.
But a new government will not be sworn in alongside its lawmakers as Netanyahu continues talks with allies on forming a coalition. My next guest
says that Netanyahu's comeback means that Israelis are tired of instability and, after five elections in four years, Yohanan Plesner says, quote, "This
government might just stick."
Plesner served as a member of the Knesset from 2007 to 2013. He is currently president of the Israel Democracy Institute. He joins us now
live.
Good to have you with us. People want stability; they also want accountability.
Will they get this with the latest Netanyahu government?
YOHANAN PLESNER, PRESIDENT, ISRAEL DEMOCRACY INSTITUTE: Well, hello, Lynda, and thanks for having me. Yes, the Israelis opted for stability.
[10:25:00]
PLESNER: And Mr. Netanyahu offered the most critical path for stability, because it is him, alongside with his potential coalition partners, could
offer the prospect of forming a stable government.
Versus Mr. Lapid, the incumbent prime minister, who could at best offer a tie and perhaps rolling to a sixth election. So this led Israelis to the
poll. And, of course, the increase you just reported on in terror attacks, we had the highest number of Israelis being killed in terror attacks in the
last year.
And Israelis wanted Netanyahu, that has a reputation for a hardline security policy, to deal with this increase in terror and a rise in crime.
Many in Israel's periphery coming from organized crime from the Arab sector.
KINKADE: We see fewer women in this Knesset compared to the 24th Knesset, also less Arab representation.
Is that concerning?
PLESNER: Arab representation is actually on par. It has not changed. In the previous parliament, one of the Arab parties was in the coalition. Now
they are expected to be in the opposition.
But in terms of the number of members of parliament, it will not change. Indeed, we have a few less women but much fewer less women in the expected
coalition. This is because two central partners of Mr. Netanyahu, two ultra orthodox, very religious parties, are parties that are represented only by
men.
And this means the previous government had around nine ministers, women ministers; this entire coalition of 64 members of Knesset will have less
than 10 members of parliament. So, yes, this is an unfortunate change which does not reflect the will of the Israeli people.
KINKADE: We have seen another attack in the West Bank today. Three people stabbed to death, another three wounded, this bringing this year to its
deadliest, matching on par with 2015, in terms of the Israelis killed.
How might these tensions in the West Bank be impacted by a right wing government?
PLESNER: Well, a new right wing government has not been sworn in. And the rise in terror has been in place for the past year. So the increase in
terror is not a result of a new right wing government. It is actually the cause, that's brought it about.
One of the reasons why the Israelis went to the polls is they thought there was an increase in terror. And when there's an increase in terror, it's
equivalent in the U.S. when there's a bad economy, it's bad for the incumbent.
In Israel, when there's bad security, it is bad for the incumbent. So there was bad security. Therefore Israelis, not by large numbers -- largely,
Israel is divided right by the center, 2.3 million Israelis on either side. But there is a decisive outcome in the Knesset because of the way the
seats are allocated.
KINKADE: Yohanan Plesner, good to get your perspective on this. Thank you so much for your time.
PLESNER: Thank you, Lynda.
KINKADE: Still ahead, pushing back: after Ukraine's president lays out a plan for peace at the G20, Russia's foreign minister claims his country is
not the reason the war started.
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KINKADE: Welcome back.
Our top story: air raid sirens blaring through Ukraine after explosions were reported in at least seven cities, including the capital of Ukraine.
One regional official reports more missiles are coming, telling residents to stay in shelters.
This comes just hours after Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy laid out his 10-point plan for peace. The plan, televised in a taped address at
the G20 summit in Bali, includes food, energy and nuclear safety and a confirmation that the war is over.
Mr. Zelenskyy also wants an all-for-all prisoner swap with Russia. The Russian foreign minister meanwhile is pushing back, Sergey Lavrov is once
again blaming the West and its allies for provoking Moscow's actions in Ukraine. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): They more often, they talk about unprovoked aggression. The more everybody is
convinced that this aggression was provoked by them -- and it is not an aggression but an operation to defend the legitimate interests of Russian
security, because it is on -- because of threats on the Russian borders and to defend the Russian population of Donbas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Lavrov also claims NATO and the European Union have been participants in what he calls a hybrid war in Ukraine, by training troops,
helping with intelligence and targeting. CNN's Sam Kiley is Kryvyi Rih, one of the Ukrainian cities hit by Russian missiles.
Sam, give us a sense of the situation there, just moments after this missile attack.
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, here the local authorities say they have, so far, at least an hour ago, said they believe
they have seen off the missile attacks aimed at this area. And we have heard what sounded like impacts since then.
There have been, according to Ukrainian authorities, attacks throughout the country, as far north as Kyiv, up even further north in Sumy and all the
way southbound to Mykolaiv, west to Lviv.
And Kharkiv has also been seeing a number of attacks. There have been at least two residential buildings hit in the capital of Kyiv and a large
number of electrical supply areas and electrical infrastructure has been targeted by what the Ukrainian government says are about 100 cruise missile
or similar attacks across the country.
We have seen this before, back in October. It is almost on the same scale, a very large scale, widespread attempt to try to knock out the abilities of
the Ukrainians to give electricity to their population, to keep the population warm during winter and also because it depends on electricity to
pump water around the country.
So it is a very significant counter attack, after the loss of Kherson, the regional capital, that the Russians evacuated in the last couple of weeks,
the last week or so.
And that is, of course, because it's been a major strategic blow to the Russians, both in terms of the military structure, also in terms of the
political strategy. They have been weakened; there's been a great deal of criticism inside Russia for that Russian withdrawal, Lynda.
KINKADE: So, Sam, this wave of missile attacks comes just hours after Zelenskyy's taped address to the G20, criticizing Russia's invasion of
Ukraine.
Is there any sense in Ukraine that this attack was in response to Zelenskyy's address?
KILEY: I think there is, yes. There have been a number of statements from a number of government ministers, saying, look at what -- I am paraphrasing
here-- look at what the Russians have said.
[10:35:00]
KILEY: Lavrov has talked of the need for peace and this is the result that you get.
Also, they are a bit rattled by reports coming out of the United States, when the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Milley, suggested at a
meeting that perhaps it wasn't the time for the Ukrainians to start talking about peace.
The White House worked really hard to say that is absolutely not the administration's position and reinforced the Ukrainians' sense they are
going to continue to get a supply of this sophisticated weaponry, that have been so important in their prosecution of this war, to not back the Russian
invasion.
But the message coming from the Ukrainian president at the G20, what he calls the G19, and his government here in country, is there's no prospect
whatsoever of any negotiation until every Russian soldier has left the soil of the country and every exiled and abducted, in their words, Ukrainian, is
returned.
Many thousands of Ukrainians have disappeared into the landscape, into Russia, Lynda.
KINKADE: Our Sam Kiley in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine. Good to have you there on the ground for us, thanks very much.
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KINKADE: I want to get you up to speed on some of the other stories on our radar right now.
The Taliban has ordered judges in Afghanistan to fully implement sharia law. Their interpretation of the religious-based legal code includes public
executions, amputations and flogging.
When the Taliban returned to power last year, they initially tried to project a moderate image. They have now returned to strict religious roots.
In southeast Australia, heavy rainfall has triggered dangerous flash flooding, leading hundreds of people stranded. Some people had to be
rescued from tree branches and roof tops. Meteorologists say parts of the region have seen more than 100 millimeters of rain in the past 24 hours.
NASA is preparing to launch its Artemis moon rocket early Wednesday. This is the third launch attempt. It comes just days after the rocket received a
direct hit from a hurricane.
Still ahead, Novak Djokovic's competition calendar has become a little busier. We'll have details in our "WORLD SPORT" update, stay with us.
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KINKADE: Welcome back.
This week, we are introducing you to the new generation of ecowarriors, tackling some of the world's environmental challenges. In Tokyo, one
scientist is on a mission to not only capture carbon but also to repurpose it into fuel. Larry Madowo have more for "Going Green."
[10:40:00]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
KAZUMI MURAKI, INVENTOR AND ECOWARRIOR (voice-over): We Japanese are very conscious on climate and also environment. We have less than 10 years to
halt climate crisis, our deadline is very short.
(Speaking Japanese).
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kazumi's environmental activism stems from a childhood curiosity of living on Mars.
KAZUMI: Martian atmosphere is constituting of 95 percent or 96 percent of carbon dioxide. So if we want to live on Mars, we have to remove Martian
carbon dioxide.
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KAZUMI (voice-over): I started my research to collect CO2 from the air.
MADOWO (voice-over): In 2017, when Kazumi was 15 years old, he developed a carbon capture device called Hiyassy.
KAZUMI (voice-over): There are so many CO2 collecting machines in the world. But most of them are so huge.
MADOWO (voice-over): The small, carryon size device was created for at home or in office use so that everyone can help stop global warming.
KAZUMI (voice-over): By only pushing a button, you can remove carbon dioxide from the air easily.
MADOWO (voice-over): According to Kazumi, his device absorbs about the same amount of CO2 as 15 cedar trees and can capture about 5 kilograms per
year when used continuously. While most of his work happens in the lab, he is always eager to get out on the water, where he says he will soon be
testing the fuel he has created from captured carbon.
KAZUMI (voice-over): We are about to generate fuels for cars and ships and also trains and airplanes and rockets and so on. Our ship will use our new
fuel in six months or so.
MADOWO (voice-over): The island nation is targeting net zero greenhouse gas emissions in the maritime industry by 2050. And Kazumi is on board to
help make this happen.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: For more stories on climate change activism, you can visit cnn.com/goinggreen.
(WORLD SPORTS)
[10:45:00]
END
