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Russian Attacks Lead to Major Energy Crisis for Ukraine; Three Found Guilty of Downing Flight MH17; Xi Confronts Trudeau at G20; Pyongyang Fires Short-Range Ballistic Missile; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Address Future Plans; Britain Announces Billions of Tax Rises and Spending Cuts; Iranian Protesters Set Fire to Seminary; Going Green: Trees. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired November 17, 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): More Russian missile attacks targeting Ukraine's infrastructure. President Zelenskyy
vowing to establish every fact behind the deadly strike in Poland.
And more angry protests in Iran marking the anniversary of the deadly 2019 demonstrations. Details about the latest crackdown.
And --
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JEREMY HUNT, U.K. CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER: British families make sacrifices every day to live within their means and so, too, must their
government. But the United Kingdom will always pay its way.
KINKADE (voice-over): Britain's new finance minister tries to instill confidence in the country's finances after several blunders. We're live
from Westminster.
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KINKADE: Hello, I'm Lynda Kinkade. Welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD, good to have you with us.
Well, with temperatures near or below freezing in Ukraine and snow falling in the capital and other cities, Russia appears to be targeting people's
ability to stay warm. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Kremlin forces fired dozens of missiles today, aimed at power plants and other civilian
energy sites.
Officials in Dnipro, Kharkiv, and Odessa say infrastructure in their areas were hit. Another strike in Zaporizhzhya reportedly leaving four people
dead. United Nations officials say Ukraine is on the verge of a major energy crisis. One electric company says about 40 percent of consumers
don't have power.
President Zelenskyy once again asking allies to send in more air defenses. CNN has learned the U.S. is running low on some of those systems.
In the meantime, a Polish security official says all the evidence in Poland, NATO and the U.S. have collected suggests it was a Ukrainian air
defense missile that landed Tuesday in Poland, killing two people.
President Zelenskyy modified his position on where the missile came from, initially saying it was not Ukrainian but, in an address Wednesday night,
he stressed the importance of getting all the facts.
A Polish official says Ukraine is likely to get access to the site soon. More now from CNN senior international correspondent Matthew Chance.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A Russian made missile striking a NATO ally and setting the world on edge.
But it now seems the explosion that killed two Polish farmers here was a tragic accident, not as feared ordered by the Kremlin.
JENS STOLTENBERG, SECRETARY GENERAL, NATO: The incident was likely caused by the Ukrainian air defense missile fired to defend Ukrainian territory
against Russian cruise missile attacks. But let me be clear, this is not Ukraine's fault.
CHANCE: Not Ukraine's fault because its military was defending against the barrage of Russian missiles, targeting essential infrastructure and killing
civilians.
Among the victims on Tuesday, was this 69-year-old woman, she was visiting her husband's grave in Kyiv when a piece of shrapnel tore through her body
and killed her.
As winter sets in, Russia is making Ukraine civilians suffer with reckless abandon. But what happened here in Poland shows just how dangerous that is
for the whole world too.
This while Ukrainian officials are redoubling their request for more advanced air defense systems from the United States and Europe.
They've also committed to cooperating with an investigation into what happened here and admitted their air defenses were active in the area.
But officials are clear, Russian President Vladimir Putin is responsible, dragging millions of Ukrainians and now a sleepy one street Polish town
into his war of choice -- Matthew Chance, CNN, on the Polish-Ukrainian border.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Well, this just into CNN: a Dutch court has found three men guilty of downing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 and for the murders of the
298 people on board. The plane was shot down in Eastern Ukraine back in 2014.
The three now-convicted killers include two former Russian intelligence officers and a Ukrainian separatist leader. CNN international diplomatic
editor Nic Robertson joins us now from Kyiv.
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KINKADE: Good to have you with us, Nic. So prosecutors were seeking life sentences for the three (sic) Russians and Ukrainian citizen, the
separatist leader, charged with downing this flight and killing all on board. Take us through the verdict.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, this is a verdict that has long been waited for by all those families who were
affected. The 15 crew members, the 283 people on board, 80 of them children.
The families have been waiting for this verdict, this clarity of what had become very appear (ph) at very early stages, that a Russian Buk missile
system had been taken, driven from Russia over the border into Ukraine and then used by separatists to fire at this airliner.
The airliner was flying at 33,000 feet; because there was a conflict on the ground below, there was a 32,000-foot air cap in place in the country. So
the airliner was at 1,000 feet, supposedly, in the safe zone.
The separatist shot it down and this is now, if you will, the end of the story, because these three of those four charged, the one who was found not
guilty of murder and bringing down the aircraft, was acknowledged to have not known about the operation.
But to intelligence operators involved, it provided the paperwork and allowing the missile system to be driven across the border. This will not
put an end to the suffering of all those families.
But it's very clear from a Ukrainian perspective that this has very clearly shown Russia's malign engagement and involvement in that conflict in 2014,
which is being replicated writ large, again, at the moment, with deadly weapons systems and with deadly effect.
I think for many of the families involved, they had hoped that this does show the world that the world should have acted more strongly back in 2014,
that it should have seen Putin's malign actions in Ukraine and understood them for what they were back then.
And there is a sense that this war could have been averted by that. So this decision will strengthen opinions in that area as well.
KINKADE: Yes. Many of those family members of the 298 passengers were in court today. We will get their opinion and response throughout the day.
Nic, I want to turn now to the battle where you are. Also, the investigation into that missile strike in Poland, which killed two people.
What is Ukraine saying about that now?
Talk to us more about the pleas for more weaponry.
ROBERTSON: Well, President Zelenskyy in his overnight address Wednesday, which is when he sort of sums up his thinking and the current position,
didn't outrightly say that he is backing away from his statements that this was a Russian-made missile that struck in Poland.
But he did the sort of diplomatic equivalent, which was not raise the issue and say that actually, Ukraine is entirely transparent, all its data is
available and asked that Ukraine be part of the investigation, which does seem to be the direction events are headed in.
Ukraine, its air force has said that they were, as Matthew Chance reported in his package there, chasing Russian missiles.
Of course, questions will be raised about, was Russia firing missiles intentionally close to the border with the attempt to induce these
automated weapon systems that will fire at a target?
They go put almost (ph) too quickly for people to sort of track the missiles and direct the air defense systems. So an analysis will be made on
what was Russia targeting.
Was it intentionally flying close to the border to induce just this sort of accident that appears to have happened here?
On the weapons side, Ukraine desperately needs every weapon that it can get, because it feels that it has Russia on the run in the south and feels
that it has some momentum on its side.
Certainly, in military terms, if you can exploit momentum in your favor, i.e. Russian troops withdrawing and retreating in the south, then that is
your military advantage. But you need the munitions to do it.
KINKADE: You certainly do. Nic Robertson in Kyiv, Ukraine. Good to have you with us. Thank you.
Well, cameras caught China's leader confronting Canada's prime minister Wednesday in a moment of candor rarely seen in public. Xi Jinping
approached Justin Trudeau at the G20 summit in Bali and expressed frustration that details of an earlier private meeting had been given to
the media.
Mr. Trudeau's office says it wasn't a leak, just a standard briefing about what the leaders had discussed. The incident underscores how Xi Jinping is
flexing his muscles in talks with other world leaders. CNN's Will Ripley reports.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): The plane carrying Chinese president Xi Jinping is now arriving.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): China's most powerful leader since Mao, back on the global stage.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Now the two are stepping out of the plane.
RIPLEY (voice-over): President Xi Jinping emerging from almost three years of self imposed pandemic isolation, Chinese state media showing Xi's
carefully choreographed public appearances; Canadian broadcasters capturing this rare, candid moment.
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XI JINPING, PRESIDENT OF CHINA (from captions): And that's not the way the conversation was conducted. If there is sincerity on your part.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Xi confronting Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday, claiming closed door discussions were leaked to the papers
with a veiled warning about unpredictable consequences.
JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Listen, I think that people know that not all the conversations are going to be easy
--
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIPLEY (voice-over): Tensions between China and Canada and much of the West rising in recent years, amplified by Xi's authoritarian alliance, a
so-called no limits partnership with Russian president Vladimir Putin.
WEN-TI SUNG, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY: For Xi, he wants to find a way to accommodate the U.S., to find ways to make sure that it's no longer
seen as enabler of Russian aggression and that he will be accepted as a qualified member of international political society.
RIPLEY (voice-over): One month after securing an unprecedented third term as the ruling Communist Party leader, Xi appears to be making up for lost
time, attempting to reassert his global statesmanship and reset relations with the West.
A flurry of face-to-face in Bali and Thailand; on Monday, a marathon three- hour meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden. On Tuesday, the first formal sitdown in six years with Australia's prime minister.
Meetings with key U.S. allies -- France, the Netherlands, South Korea -- and, on Thursday, Japan. Experts say an attempt to tone down tensions over
Taiwan and other touchy issues, at least, temporarily.
RICHARD MCGREGOR, LOWY INSTITUTE: That doesn't mean that China's ambitions, Xi's objectives, Taiwan, South China Sea, competition with the
United States, have changed at all. But China just needs some room to manage things at home.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Xi's mask free encounters in sharp contrast with zero COVID China, 1.4 billion people under Xi's rule still living with
lockdowns, quarantines, mandatory testing, a police state, stuck in a pandemic time warp, with no end in sight -- Will Ripley, CNN, Bangkok.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Well, another missile and another warning, both launched from North Korea. Pyongyang is talking about what it calls a fiercer military
response over Washington's defense ties with South Korea and Japan.
This comes as North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile earlier, landing in the waters off the Korean Peninsula. That's according to South
Korea's military. By CNN's count, this marks the 33rd day this year that North Korea has carried out a missile test. CNN's Paula Hancocks joins us
from the South Korean capital of Seoul.
Good to have you with us, Paula. So North Korea is threatening what it caused a fiercer response in regards to the U.S. bolstering its commitment
to its allies, South Korea and Japan. This threat coming after yet another ballistic missile test.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this particular one was a short- range ballistic missile. It was fired into the waters off the east coast. It's one of the least concerning missiles, if I can put it that way, when
it comes to those in the regions because it was a short range.
But it's still breaking the U.N. Security Council rules and resolutions, the technology that it's using.
As you say, it just came hours after some harsh words from the foreign minister, Choe Son Hui. We hadn't heard from her for some time so it was
interesting to hear what she had to say, through state-run media, saying that the U.S. was being warned of a fiercer military counteraction.
Now it was quite specific that this was in response to a summit that happened on the sidelines of one of the recent meetings in Cambodia between
the leaders of the U.S., South Korea and Japan.
And it was when the U.S. President Joe Biden did, along with his counterparts, condemn strongly what we have seen from North Korea this
year, this increase in number of missiles but, also, reinforcing the fact that there will be extended deterrence to protect South Korea and Japan as
well.
So this was really first official response that we had seen from North Korea to that. Choe also said that she accused the United States of
gambling, which it will regret.
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HANCOCKS: So a missile coupled with strong words. And as you say, Lynda, the 33rd day we have seen a missile launch in North Korea this year. It is
unprecedented in North Korea's history and again breaking its own records.
KINKADE: Yes, it really is and I'm just wondering whether we are seeing much response from China.
Is Beijing turning a blind eye to this?
HANCOCKS: It's interesting because there has been such a diplomatic flurry in the region recently. We have heard what others are saying to China and
what they're saying in response.
When President Biden met with the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, he did push China to do something more to try to prevent this anticipated seventh
underground nuclear test, saying that Beijing has a responsibility to try to talk Pyongyang out of it.
But interestingly, President Biden also said afterwards that he wasn't certain if, quote, "he can control North Korea." So there wasn't certainty,
I should say, that he would even be able to sway Kim Jong-un one way or another if he wanted to.
Now Xi also met with the South Korean president, Yoon Suk Yeol, to do more to counter what was happening and try and again convince North Korea not to
do so. And Xi said he would be willing to support Yoon's plan for aid for denuclearization if North Korea agrees to it. But at this point, there's no
chance of that. Lynda.
KINKADE: All right, Paula Hancocks for us, staying there in Seoul. Thanks so much.
Well still ahead, as Republicans prepare to take control of U.S. House, former vice president Mike Pence talks about his future at a CNN town hall.
Will he run for office?
A dose of U.S. politics coming up. Also, we'll take you behind the numbers of Britain's brand-new budget. The country's finance chief admits the U.K.
is in recession.
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KINKADE: Welcome back.
It's not the red wave they expected but Republicans are poised to gain control of the U.S. House of Representatives after failing to retake the
Senate. CNN projects Republicans now have 218 seats needed to take power. When the new Congress convenes in January.
The Republican majority will be razor-thin, they will be able to call the shots in the House. They've already signaled that investigations into the
Biden administration will be a high priority.
She is a towering figure in American politics and now Washington is waiting to hear what lies ahead for Nancy Pelosi after she relinquishes her
position of House Speaker in January. The prominent Democrat set to make an announcement within the coming hours. She says the attack on her husband
last month will impact her decision.
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KINKADE: Pelosi is the first and only woman to be Speaker of the U.S. House.
Well the political future of former vice president Mike Pence is also uncertain. In a CNN town hall, he left open the possibility that he might
seek the Republican presidential nomination. He refused to commit to Donald Trump's 2024 bid to the White House.
He also revealed how he dealt with the events of January 6th, calling it, quote, "the most difficult day of my public life." For more, that I want to
bring in CNN's Sunlen Serfaty, who is here to join us but also someone the House opens this hour.
What are we expected to hear when Nancy Pelosi speaks?
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, certainly this is the question here in Washington.
The fact of what will Speaker Pelosi do in the future?
She entered the Capitol just a few minutes ago and did not answer reporters' questions. So we'll wait to see within the next few hours what
we'll learn about her future.
But Lynda, you certainly referenced that CNN town hall that we had with the former vice president Mike Pence. He was very forthcoming about his
experiences on Capitol Hill.
He talked about the anger and the sadness that he felt in that moment but he was less forthcoming about the question he is facing, will he run for
president?
Essentially to that he played coy and said, stay tuned.
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MIKE PENCE (R), FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think it's time for new leadership in this country that will bring us together around
our highest ideals.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Would that be you?
PENCE: I'll keep you posted.
SERFATY (voice-over): Former vice president Mike Pence looking ahead to 2024 but stopping short of announcing his own presidential bid after former
president Donald Trump declared a third run for the White House Tuesday.
PENCE: I think in the days ahead, whatever role I and my family play in the Republican Party, whether it's as a candidate or simply a part of the
cause, I think we'll have better choices --
(CROSSTALK)
PENCE: -- than my old running mate.
SERFATY (voice-over): Pence says it was a great honor to serve alongside Trump at a CNN town hall while promoting his new book, "So Help Me God."
PENCE: In four short years we rebuilt our military, we revived our economy, we unleashed American energy, we appointed conservatives to our
courts at every level. but in the end, our administration did not end well.
SERFATY (voice-over): Pence says those final days of the administration were the most difficulties he's had in public life. He supported the Trump
campaign's legal challenge after the 2020 election but says he urged the president to accept the results when those concluded.
PENCE: He was hearing different voices and, frankly, there were some legal experts that were allowed on the White House grounds that should have never
been let through the gate.
SERFATY (voice-over): Pence spoke of a tweet sent out by the president, urging him not to certify the presidential election on January 6th.
PENCE: When I read a tweet that president Trump issued, saying that I lacked courage in that moment, it angered me greatly. But to be honest with
you, I did not have time for it. The president had decided, in that moment, to be a part of the problem. I had decided and was determined to be part of
the solution.
Jake, it saddens me. But that day it angered me. I must tell you, when I saw the images of people smashing windows, ransacking offices and creating
the mayhem that ultimately cost lives, I was filled with a simmering indignation.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SERFATY: The former vice president said that he is disappointed in what he calls the partisan nature of the January 6 committee. He said he believes
that he should not be testifying because he says he believes it violates the Constitutional powers of separation of powers.
Interestingly enough, Lynda, the January 6 committee responded to his comments when he originally made them last night. They said it's
disappointing that he is misrepresenting the nature of our investigation.
And they say, while giving interviews to promote his book. Keep in mind, it was only a few months ago, just back in August, where Pence originally said
that he would potentially consider the idea of testifying in front of the committee. Lynda.
KINKADE: All right, Sunlen Serfaty, good to have you with us from D.C. Thank you.
Well, it is officially known as Britain's autumn statement, a big budget and a big deal as it aims to restore confidence in the U.K.'s ability to
manage its public finances. A short time ago, finance minister Jeremy Hunt unveiled a raft of tax rises and spending cuts.
[10:25:00]
KINKADE: And like the Bank of England, he also acknowledges that the U.K. is in recession. He said his fiscal Plan will help rebuild the British
economy after recent turmoil of the ill fated mini-budget, under the short- lived Truss government. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: We need fiscal and monetary policy to work together. That means the government and the bank working in lockstep. It means in particular giving
the world confidence in our ability to pay our debts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: I want to bring in CNN's Nina dos Santos.
Good to see you Nina. A new plan to tackle the record high inflation now at a 41 year, high and also address the recession. Take us through it.
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNNMONEY EUROPE EDITOR: Well, first of all, the immediate concern for Jeremy Hunt's government was to try and assuage financial
markets as well that the fiscal responsibility of this current government and to assuage the electorate that will be going to the polls in two years
time, that the Conservative Party hasn't lost its ability to claim that it is credible on matters of economics.
But many people here in Great Britain will wonder how, two months ago, the Conservative government that was previously in office at Number 10, said
that this country could grow and spend its way out of its current predicament, announcing about $40 billion to $50 billion worth of tax cuts
that were unfunded, whereas now there suddenly seems to be a black hole that needs to be filled with $65 billion in the equivalent in pounds of
spending cuts and also tax rises.
So let's go through what's been announced today. It's a combination of those cuts, many of them actually by stealth, that are going to be pushed
back to kicking into effect in 2025. More immediately a lot more people here will be paying higher taxes straightaway.
The threshold for the highest rate of tax is lowered, a lot more people are going to be dragged into what's been called the fiscal drag if you like.
Remember, this is a country that's contending with as you said, 40 odd year high rates of inflation that are set to be persistent for now.
So it's going to be a double pinter (sic) effect for people. There were some messages of relief and support in this budget. The national living
wages going up by a little bit. There's a bit more money in the future for the health service, so badly battered by the pandemic.
And a bit more money for education that obviously was affected by the pandemic, children having been out of school for so long. But a lot of
people saying and in particular the trade unions and the Labour Party claiming that this was a missed opportunity to make this country a fairer
place.
I spoke to Frances O'Grady and I think you can listen to it now.
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FRANCES O'GRADY, TRADES UNION CONGRESS: The government is making the wrong choices. We are a rich country but we appear not to have a real plan for
growth, certainly not for greener and fairer growth. And they are protecting the wealthy and big business, whilst yet again raiding the
pockets of working families.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOS SANTOS: And this was such a hotly awaited budget. As you can hear there's a lot of noise around Parliament, which is often what happens when
we have these keenly awaited political moments in the United Kingdom. You get a lot of protesters. That's part of the noise you're hearing off
camera.
But the question is whether or not any of these budget cuts will actually kick in immediately or further down the line after the next election, which
is set to coincide with when they're going to be coming into effect.
KINKADE: Certainly a lot of noise, there you've done well to get through that. Nina DeSantis outside British Parliament.
Still ahead, it happened years ago and it is happening again. Iranian security forces cracking down on protesters. We're looking at how things
have and haven't changed.
And my way or the highway, Elon Musk lays out his demands for Twitter employees.
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KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade at the CNN Center and you're watching CONNECT THE WORLD, good to have you with. Us
There's more consensus now that the missile that crashed down on a rural Polish village was likely fired by Ukraine, in defense against a Russian
assault. The head of Poland's national security says evidence collected so far by NATO, the U.S. and Poland points to that conclusion.
However Ukraine's president says that it's important to establish all the facts. Volodymyr Zelenskyy also says Ukrainian experts will join
international investigators at the site. Mr. Zelenskyy says dozens of missiles were fired earlier in cities across Ukraine, targeting civilian
infrastructure.
This driver in the city of Dnipro caught one strike on camera.
More demonstrations in Iran on what is the third anniversary of the protests that left hundreds of people dead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE (voice-over): Police warning this demonstration in a terrain (sic) Tehran subway station. The latest crackdown on Iranian security forces
started. The protesters broke out -- the protests broke over the death of Mahsa Amini back in September. She died in the custody of Iran's morality
police.
State media is reporting that protesters had set fire to a seminary in the town of Izeh on Wednesday. Five people were shot and killed there, around
the same time. There's also word of people firing back at police.
Jomana Karadsheh is following all the developments and join us now from Istanbul.
Good to have you with us, Jomana. So these demonstrations continuing, many calling on the world to honor those killed in the protests over the last
few years but coming as more protesters are being killed, including children.
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Lynda, we're now entering the third month of these protests. And there's absolutely no sign
of them stopping. No end in sight, really.
For these protests, just this week, we're seeing a new wave of demonstrations across the country. Some businesses shutting down. This is
coming after calls made last week, for nationwide protest strikes to mark the third anniversary of what's known as Bloody November, the November 2019
crackdown on protests, that were sparked by a rise in fuel prices.
Hundreds of people are believed to have been killed in a matter of days during that crackdown. We're seeing people now taking to the streets and
marking that anniversary and, at the same time, as we're seeing these large protests in so many different cities across the country, we're also getting
a lot of reports of violence as this crackdown is continuing, Lynda.
Some reports of protesters killed, especially coming from the Kurdish region in the western part of the country but we also hear on state media
what they described as a terrorist attack.
They say it is taking place in the town of Izeh in southwestern Iran. They say at least 7 people were killed in this shooting attack. They say two
terrorists on motorcycles opened fire on people.
[10:35:00]
KARADSHEH: The details are very murky, very difficult for us to gather information on what's going on. So we're just getting this information from
state media. What they do say, Lynda, is a 9-year-old boy whose name was Kian (ph), he was killed in this incident.
Activists are reporting it's the security forces that killed the 9-year-old boy. What we do know is that he is one more victim in this protest movement
that has been going on now for more than two months.
He is the latest in this list of over 40 children who have lost their lives, so far.
KINKADE: Jomana Karadsheh, good to have you with us on the story as always. We will talk with you again soon.
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KINKADE: Let's get you up to speed on some other stories on our radar right. Now numerous high-profile figures have been freed from Myanmar's
jails today as part of a mass prisoner pardon.
The release is in honor of the country's national day. Vicky Bowman, the U.K. former ambassador, were among the hundreds released.
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DR. TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: I'm pleased to announce that the WHO committee of Islamic (ph) experts have awaited 308
persons and agreed that all free shipping included in the planned trial in Uganda.
We explained that first news of vaccine to be shipped to Uganda next week.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Some welcome news there from the World Health Organization. Uganda has been suffering from an outbreak of Ebola since September. The
WHO says those first doses of trial vaccines were given to about 3,000 who had come into contact with Ebola patients.
More than 2,000 Starbucks workers in the U.S. are striking Thursday, in support of unions. Workers in 264 U.S. stores have already voted in favor
of unions but no contracts have been drawn.
Twitter employees have until the end of the day to commit to working to quote extremely hardcore levels or else leave the company. Those that don't
meet the demands of Twitter owner Elon Musk will receive three months severance.
Stay with us for the next hour, for a deep dive into Elon Musk's leadership styles and what it might tell us about the future of the social media
giant.
Also ahead, ready for a new talent down under. "WORLD SPORT" looks at the tennis player making an unexpected return to Melbourne.
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KINKADE: Today in our series, "Going Green," we will head to Germany where one young activist is trying to plant 1 trillion trees to stop global
warming. Larry Madowo reports.
[10:40:00]
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FELIX FINKBEINER, PLANT-FOR-THE-PLANET (voice-over): I very simply believe that the climate crisis is one of the biggest challenges to face to
humanity. We need to reduce our global CO2 emissions as rapidly as possible. But that alone is not enough.
We also have to absorb as much of the carbon that's already in the atmosphere as possible. And one of the best ways to do that is to regrow
forests which capture this. Carbon.
I'm Felix Finkbeiner and the planner (ph) of an organization called Plant- for-the-Planet. I grew up here in southern Germany.
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Felix's concern for the climate started when he was just 9 years old.
FINKBEINER (voice-over): When I was in fourth grade, I found out about a woman from Kenya. Her name is Wangari Maathai, who started a movement that
ended up planting 30 million trees across Kenya and other east African countries.
And that inspired me that we kids could also plant trees to tackle the climate crisis.
MADOWO (voice-over): In 2007, Felix and his classmates planted a tree on campus, which marked the start of Plant-for-the-Planet.
FINKBEINER (voice-over): What Plant-for-the-Planet does is try to help bring back the world's forests to (INAUDIBLE) the climate crisis.
Trees are incredibly important for a range of reasons. But one of them is that there are these wonderful climate change reversal machines that absorb
the CO2, our emissions from the atmosphere.
MADOWO (voice-over): From addressing the U.N. at 13 ...
FINKBEINER (voice-over): We have to take our future in our own hands.
MADOWO (voice-over): -- to making a statement from the North Pole at 16 ...
FINKBEINER (voice-over): Here at the North Pole, it is clear that our future is in danger.
MADOWO (voice-over): -- Felix's message is simple: stop talking, start planting.
FINKBEINER (voice-over): About 11,000 years ago, we had roughly 6 trillion trees on Earth. Of these 6 trillion, around 3 trillion are still remaining.
So we have lost a huge amount.
I hope in a couple of decades we will have stopped the climate crisis and by also stopping the loss of ecosystems we will ensure that we can maintain
this beautiful biodiversity that we have (INAUDIBLE).
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: For much more, you can visit cnn.com/goinggreen.
(SPORTS)
[11:00:00]
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