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"Harry and Meghan" Docuseries Final Episodes; Kherson Attacked Again, Two Deaths; British Nurses Launch Historic Strike; Dow Tumbles over 500 Points; Peru Declares State of Emergency; U.S. Senate Approves TikTok Ban on Government Devices. Aired 10-10:45a ET
Aired December 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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ELENI GIOKOS, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rivalries, planted stories, family confrontations. New episodes from "Harry and
Meghan" Netflix series raise eyebrows and many questions.
The death toll in Kherson rises after new Russian missile strikes. The city is now completely cut off from the power grid. We will have a special
report.
It has never happened before but it is happening now. British nurses are going on strike for the first time in over 100 years. We will tell you what
the demands are. That is coming up.
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GIOKOS: I am Eleni Giokos in Dubai. Welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD.
"Terrifying;" that is how Prince Harry described what it was like it to have his brother, Prince William, scream at him during his bitter split
from the royal family. That is just some of what is covered in those final episodes of the docuseries that has come through on Netflix.
And Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, goes on to discuss her fear of the death threats she received. CNN's royal correspondent Max Foster brings us
details. Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MEGHAN, DUCHESS OF SUSSEX: What she said to me was -- it's like this. The fish is like swimming perfectly, powerful, it's on the right current. And
then one day, this little organism comes in.
MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The second installment has landed. Harry and Meghan's Netflix docuseries' latest drop could prove to
be a lot more explosive than the last time around.
MEGHAN: And the entire thing goes (INAUDIBLE).
What is that?
What is it doing here?
It doesn't look like us. It doesn't move like us. We don't like it. Get it off of us.
FOSTER (voice-over): While the piece starts with fond recollections of their wedding, it goes on to accusations that the institution became
jealous of the couple during their triumphant tour of Australia in 2018.
HARRY, DUKE OF SUSSEX: The issue is when someone who's marrying in and who should be supporting -- a supporting act, is then stealing the limelight or
doing the job better than the person who was born to do this, that upsets people. It shifts the balance.
FOSTER (voice-over): For Meghan, her claims of jealousy, media intrusion, lack of protection from the palace, even leaking of negative stories was
too much. The stress of the coverage, she says, triggering a miscarriage and even suicidal thoughts.
MEGHAN: All of this will stop if I'm not here. And that was the scariest thing about it because it was such clear thinking.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I remember her telling me that, that she had wanted to take her own life. And that really broke my heart.
HARRY: I was devastated. I knew that she was struggling. We were both struggling. But I never thought that it would get to that stage. And the
fact that it got to that stage, I felt angry and ashamed.
FOSTER: In late 2019, Harry says conversations were leaked between him and his father about Meghan and Harry taking reduced roles and leaving the U.K.
In early 2020, they issued their own statements laying out their plans, which culminated in a family rile at the Queen's Sandringham estate between
Harry, William, Charles and the queen.
HARRY: It was terrifying to have my brother screaming shouting me and my father saying things that simply weren't true and my grandmother quietly
sit there and sort of take it all in.
FOSTER: A year later, ahead of their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey, a story leaked that Meghan had bullied her palace staff.
HARRY: To see this institutional gaslighting that happens is extraordinary. And that's why everything that's happened to us was always
going to happen to us because if you speak truth to power, that's how they respond.
FOSTER: Harry speaking out for his wife but also his mother. Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace say they won't be responding to the Netflix
series, instead senior royals will continue with their planned public engagements.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: That was Max Foster, reporting for us. CNN's royal historian Kate Williams joins us now from London.
[10:05:00]
GIOKOS: Always good to speak to you. I'm listening to some of the messaging: institutional gaslighting, talking about speaking truth to
power, the fear, the struggle that they experienced. We can't underplay these emotions.
It seems like they were lifting this veil of what was going on with it in the palace walls. It is illuminating to hear the perspective.
Do you think this is going to have a huge impact on the monarchy and the way that they are perceived?
KATE WILLIAMS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think it's going to have an impact on the monarchy. As you said, there is so much here. There's a lot of lifting
the curtain. Talking about institutional gaslighting. Harry is talking about other royals being jealous of him and Meghan and so engaging,
inevitably briefing against them.
These accusations, they are really the most serious accusations we have at the heart of the program, that the palace was not just trying to control
stories but also leaking them. And also briefing negative stories against Meghan and Harry. These are very serious allegations.
And simply they don't put the monarchy in a good light. They really suggest that this taxpayer funded institution, this institution which is to a
degree accountable to the British public, to the Commonwealth, it lets -- have a woman of color marrying in. And this is the way she is treated.
She is driven to very, very distressing thoughts, suicidal ideation. She can't get help from this. It does raise a lot of questions about Buckingham
Palace. They're not going to say anything. They said they're not going to speak. But I think at the, moment it is quite damaging.
GIOKOS: Yes, I have to say, the first three episodes, I think people were saying we haven't learned anything new. But it's interesting to see the
undercurrent of what they were referring to, talking about the empire, about what it stood for. And then leading us into these next three
episodes.
It sounds like Harry and Meghan want to have their voice heard. I'm curious, in terms of what the public perception is of them, and I think the
numbers speak for themselves. Netflix has never had such a successful debut before.
So the world I guess is watching on.
WILLIAMS: The world is watching, huge viewing figures. A lot of people are talking about it, all kinds of social media coverage. I think particularly,
it's very important Harry does want to speak out. And his book is coming soon as well.
GIOKOS: Kate, I have to ask you this. You know, in terms of how the palace is expected to respond, we have heard one comment, one statement, we are
going to continue with our duties and responsibilities. It doesn't sound like they want to directly talk about some of these accusations.
Do you think that they will need to address them at some point?
WILLIAMS: They are going to; there is a palace -- there is palace (ph) service tonight. To them, they are doing business as usual. But I do feel
that they are going to have to address these accusations at some point. These are very serious.
Harry is saying that he was briefed against Meghan, was briefed against; she couldn't get help. They couldn't get support.
As you say, the whole question of race and race in British society, that I think a lot of people, across the Commonwealth, young people in Britain, a
multicultural country are going to be looking at the monarchy and at the king and saying, why couldn't he do more?
What was going on here?
So the monarchy has weathered many crises. But they have to modernize in the 21st century. And what Harry and Meghan paint is a -- was not a picture
of a modern multicultural institution.
GIOKOS: Yes. And the many secrets that lie within the palace walls, I would suspect, Kate Williams, thank you so much, good to speak to you,
thank you for your analysis and insight.
Moving on now. We are going to be focusing on the Russian war in Ukraine. Now --
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GIOKOS: -- so both sides in Russia's war on Ukraine are claiming new attacks today. A spokesperson from the Ukraine presidential office
reporting two more people killed in Kherson in a strike near government buildings hit on Wednesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS (voice-over): You see the aftermath of that attack here. Kherson officials say shelling is ongoing after 86 separate strikes over the past
day. And the city is now completely, completely disconnected from the power grid.
Meantime, a Russian installed official in occupied Donetsk claims the city endured its worst attacks since 2014, with 40 rockets fired at civilian
targets. Now reports of these new attacks are coming as the White House is finalizing plans to send Patriot missile defense systems to Ukraine,
prompting a new set of warnings from Russia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Connecting you to all sides of the latest developments. We have Will Ripley in Kyiv for us. Nick Paton Walsh is standing by in London.
Will, I want to start with you. Kherson, as we just said, completely cut off from the power grid we. Have seen bombardment, the worst we've seen
since 2014 what.
[10:10:00]
GIOKOS: Can you tell us in terms of how the cities are dealing and responding to these latest attacks?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is an incredibly miserable situation. And a deadly situation for some who end up in the path
of these shelling attacks or rocket attacks on the front lines, both to the south in Kherson and the east in Donetsk.
The Russians are accusing Ukrainians of firing 40 rockets and hitting a cathedral, hitting residential buildings, commercial buildings, setting a
major intersection ablaze. They are accusing Ukrainians of targeting civilians.
Of course, it's exactly what the Russians are accused of doing -- not just accused; we see it for ourselves they are doing here in Ukraine. The city
that they once occupied, once they retreated, they turned from occupiers to attackers.
And Human Rights Watch earlier this week issued a report, accusing them of using cluster munition warheads that potentially put the lives of
civilians, had killed young people in that city, in Kherson, according to Human Rights Watch.
But it's not just the cluster munitions that is the major concern. There has been a deadly wave of shelling that has been going on. You had, of,
course that administrative building, a huge portion of that building destroyed.
The power situation is just dire. UNICEF says these Russian strikes in Ukraine -- critical infrastructure are essentially putting the physical and
mental health of every single young person inside this country at desperate risk.
Not only do they have to live with the fear of bombardment but they also have to live in conditions where they are spending hours or days in
darkness and in cold.
So even though CNN can't independently verify the reports of the Russian- backed authorities in Donetsk, the situation that they described there, the Ukrainian shelling, of course, Bakhmut, the town that the Russians have
been trying to retake, that has been reduced in many places just to piles of rubble.
It is extraordinarily difficult to convey just how dire the situation is for so many people on those front lines. But everybody here in Ukraine,
when they're dealing with regular power interruptions, when they're dealing with this constant fear, just here in central Kyiv, yesterday these Iranian
made Shahed drones, 13 of them were fired by Russia.
People, including some of our CNN staff, woke up to the sound of explosions very close to where I'm standing right now. Even though those drones did
not hit the power grid, didn't cause widespread blackouts, it did cause a huge hole in the side of the building.
It caused a fire. Again, it just stoked fear with some of those parts of those drones actually landing on a children's soccer pitch just hours
before a major tournament. That is the reality of life on the ground here in Ukraine.
GIOKOS: And Russia terrorizing so many cities and regions within Ukraine. This is why, Nick, the Patriot missile systems are going to be quite
important. The U.S. said it is almost in completion phase of sending those to Ukraine.
I am interested in the rhetoric that's come out of the Kremlin, how they will respond. Frankly, it's rhetoric that we have heard before.
I guess the question now becomes, how important are these Patriot missiles going to be in Ukraine's ability to defend itself?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: They essentially have the ability to significantly hamper Russia's -- when we refer to their
terror over major civilian infrastructure and cities themselves, are very effective.
They have a significantly enhanced ranges. Some call them the gold standard of air missile defense. But there are complex delivery tasks. Russia
limited its response to not necessarily suggesting that these are delivered they would mark a red line after which it will respond differently.
You have to remember that Moscow is really struggling, frankly, with conventional military to effect any real change on the battlefield. And it
is warned by erstwhile fair weather allies like China and India, well away from any kind of nuclear device.
The issue I think for Russia, is to convey a message to say that, if these are delivered to Ukraine, they will be on the battlefield and considered
legitimate targets, if, of course, Russia is able to find them and hit them.
The largest question over this, Eleni, remains exactly how can these be delivered and put into use on the battlefield?
They require potentially months of training. If you deliver one particular piece, a battalion of Patriot missiles, that could be nearly 100 people
required to maintain it, provide assistance for the radars it needs.
The actual crew running one particular truck that the air Patriots fire from can be as few as three people. But this will require large amounts of
training for Ukrainian soldiers to be ready to fire these complex devices in such a way that no error could potentially happen.
It's suggested already to our colleagues in Washington that potentially some of this training maybe already underway or about to begin at a base in
Germany of Ukrainian personnel.
But it's a significant task and there are suggestions perhaps that remotely American personnel could provide advice to the Patriot batteries in the
field. But this is the top end of what America can provide in terms of missile defense.
And Ukraine would have to run all this itself autonomously without the definite huge risk of escalation of American personnel somehow being
involved in this inside of Ukraine.
[10:15:00]
WALSH: So clearly here we have a big logistical task. We have something that Moscow is obviously upset about, has said it will try to destroy. But
above all we have a clear signal as these continued attacks on infrastructure happen, make life unbearable for so many Ukrainians in the
dead of winter and cause billions of dollars' worth of damage to Ukraine's infrastructure.
Washington is giving a very clear signal that it's not going to be cowed away from providing anything in its arsenal to help Ukraine defend itself.
I think that is the key thing we are hearing here.
All the issues about the complexity of supply, maintenance and training, they will be worked out. The key signal here, in the depth of winter here
and all the horrors that we are seeing, that the U.S. will do whatever it can to slow this down.
GIOKOS: Yes, and I guess the next question is what is the timeline that we are looking at, as you say, the bombardment continues. Nick Paton Walsh,
Will Ripley, thank you so much.
All right, next after a stunning run in the World Cup, the lions may sleep tonight. Morocco's blowout defeat against France.
Plus a sight that may stunned some Britons, U.K. nurses on the picket line. Why many say going on strike is the hardest decision they have ever made,
coming up next.
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[10:20:00]
GIOKOS: Now let's get you up to speed on some other stories that are on our radar right now.
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GIOKOS: The U.N. and Lebanese forces are investigating after an Irish soldier working with the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon was killed
Wednesday. It happened when two armored vehicles traveling in southern Lebanon came under fire. Another soldier was seriously injured.
Now here is something you never ever want to see in space. So that is coolant leaking out of this capsule attached to the International Space
Station. The Soyuz is supposed to take the astronauts on the ISS back to Earth in a few months. A planned space walk by Russian cosmonauts has been
canceled while the leak is investigated.
Held in high regard and working for a revered institution, nurses in Britain's National Health Service have launched a historic walkout across
much of the U.K. As many as 100,000 members of the Royal College of Nursing, Britain's biggest nursing union, are striking in England, Wales
and Northern Ireland.
It is the most unprecedented job action in a winter of walkouts sweeping U.K. railways, the postal service, schools and universities. And I want to
bring in Scott McLean, live from London for us.
Causing this, of course, is causing major disruptions to services in this first such action in history.
What are their demands?
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Eleni. So nurses say that it has been almost three years since we were all out on our balconies, banging pots and
pans, clapping during the pandemic for what front line workers were doing and the risks that they were subjecting themselves to.
And they say that it is high time that if the government and the public really appreciated what they do, then they ought to pay them for their
services. Now the tricky part here is that, if you have ever been to a hospital, obviously you know that nurses are kind of an essential part of
the equation here.
Obviously that is an understatement to say the least. So not all nurses are able to walk out. The law basically says that you can walk out, provided
that you don't put your patients in risk of losing their lives.
So broadly speaking, that means that, if you come in with a major bleed into the emergency room, obviously you are going to be looked at as per
usual. But if you have a more minor, more elective procedure, that might actually be affected.
And also remember that not all of the hospital regions are actually walking out. And in this country in particular, not all nurses are part of the
union. So to answer your question, Eleni, the nurses are looking for a 19 percent pay rise.
But before you think that is outrageous, I just want to put up a graph here that shows inflation rates in the United Kingdom. They are at 10.7 percent.
And so what the government is offering in response is what's much lower than that, that is 4.3 percent. That has been rejected already.
And both the union and the government acknowledge that the government is happy to talk about any kind of issues that the union would like. But they
are not willing to talk about pay, because they say that you have to factor in the economic realities and the budget constraints that the government is
under right now.
And it doesn't want to borrow and it doesn't want to raise taxes in order to pay for this. But the nurses also point out that the government ought to
be, at the very least, filling the record number of vacancies available right now, because the service is not in good shape.
I will bring up another graphic to illustrate the point. So broadly speaking, admissions into the emergency room or A&E as they call it here,
have largely stayed the same over the last four or so years. What has not stayed the same is the number of people who are waiting --
[10:25:00]
MCLEAN: -- 12+ hours to actually be seen in the emergency room. It has really spiked in recent years. They say that that is a sign that things are
not going well in the NHS. Obviously there are picket lines across England, Wales and Northern Ireland today.
And this is what the head of the nursing union, the Royal College of Nurses, said from one picket line, which ironically was right across the
river from the British Parliament earlier today, listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAT CULLEN, HEAD, ROYAL COLLEGE OF NURSING UNION: We are here because hiss government has turned its back on nursing. They have turned their back on
nursing, they've turned their back on patients. They have turned their back on the NHS.
WILL, STRIKING NHS NURSE: We have to acknowledge that we are only here because we have been pushed to this. We have been pushed to this occasion
right now of being on strike. And there will be further strikes. But we have to acknowledge that we aren't here by choice and we have not done this
on an easy win.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's inflation, the NHS is under threat from this Tory government. This is the right time to strike. We need coordinated
action across the many different sectors. And I completely support the nurses in this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCLEAN: So the strike action is taking place today. It is also taking place on Tuesday but this is not the only union. As you mentioned earlier,
Eleni, that is on the verge of strike if they are not already taking strike action.
Rail workers, highway and border staff, bus drivers, teachers, postal workers, baggage handlers at the airports, paramedics, the list goes on and
on. If you total up all of the days that some kind of a union is on strike this month, it is easily well over 20, probably a lot more than that.
So even if you are not paying attention, even if you haven't watched the news and you don't know if there's any kind of labor discontent, surely a
lot of people will be getting a rude wakeup call when these strikes start to affect them.
GIOKOS: Yes. And I will tell you, it is such a big gap in terms of what they are asking, over 19 percent, and what the government is offering,
around 4 percent. And I wonder where they are going to settle and how long that will take. Scott McLean, thank you so much.
Now questions are growing about what happened to a U.S. college student who has been missing in France for more than two weeks. Next, CNN visits a city
where Kenny DeLand Jr. was studying and talks to people who knew him.
Plus soldiers are patrolling the streets in Peru to help keep the peace. More on the growing political unrest a week after Peru's former president
was removed from office.
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GIOKOS: Welcome back, I'm Eleni Giokos. And I want to turn my attention to the markets in the U.S. and what they are doing right now.
[10:30:00]
GIOKOS: The Dow is under significant pressure. As you can see, it is down just under 2 percent, that is around 700 points at this stage. We are also
seeing red across the board, Nasdaq as well as the S&P 500 taking a big knock.
Now what is moving the markets lower today?
A worse than expected retail sales number that came through for November. And this is showing that the U.S. consumer is coming under pressure. This
is because inflation has been biting.
And remember, we had a better than expected inflation figure a couple of days ago and that boosted the markets. But what we're seeing right now, a
sign that the consumer might be coming under pressure. The Federal Reserve has also indicated it will continue rising rates.
Growth expectations are going to be muted for 2023 and you can see it reflected in how they are responding to these markets today, the Dow down
over 2 percent.
All right, now moving on now, the parents of an American university student, who has disappeared in France, are getting increasingly worried.
His father spoke earlier with CNN's Anderson Cooper.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KENNETH DELAND, KENNY'S FATHER: I talked to the FBI today and I asked the FBI agent, you know, is there -- do you feel like there's any progress?
What's the status?
And I don't get anywhere. It just feels like the wind has gone out of the sail as far as what's being done to find my son. You know, the more time
that goes by, the more worried we become.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Kenny DeLand Jr.'s father is disputing a French prosecutor, saying that DeLand probably left on his own. CNN's Melissa Bell spoke with the
woman who hosted DeLand in her home in southern France.
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MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Social media posts give little away, just images of a young American enjoying his exchange program in France. But
Kenny DeLand Jr. vanished 15 days ago without a trace after leaving the home of the host mother he was staying with.
She explains that she's only spoken once to Kenny's mother, never to his father but agrees to speak exclusively to CNN without the camera.
What the host mother told us was that of all the exchange students she'd had at her home, Kenny DeLand was the one that seemed to be having the most
trouble fitting in and settling down to life here in Grenoble.
She also said that, of course, since he's disappeared, she'd been inundating him with messages to which he hadn't responded.
And she added that she had been reassured by that sighting of him about an hour south of here in that sports shop because she said it confirmed the
possibility and her hope, that in fact, he'd gone and cut off communications voluntarily.
BELL (voice-over): It was taken on December 3rd. Kenny DeLand spent just over $8 before vanishing altogether, according to his family. Leaving
behind only Facebook pictures of his life in France from Paris to the University of Grenoble Alps.
BELL: The last time Kenny DeLand turned up for lessons here at the university he was studying at was November 28. By the 29th when he failed
to turn up, a missing person's report was filed and an emerged that he had left his host family that morning taking a packed lunch, a change of
clothes, his wallet and his phone.
Kenny DeLand hasn't been heard from since.
BELL (voice-over): We show Kenny's picture around the campus in the hope that someone may recognize him. When we find Kenny's friends, they prefer
not to speak on camera but tell us that Kenny had friends that were exchange students and some that were local. We care about him and we want
him to come back safely.
Statements that contradict what French authorities have said, that Kenny struggled to make friends.
DELAND: What I'm telling you is he makes friends and he's easy to talk to, like me. If you don't know my son, then it's tough for you to make some
statement, some bold statement.
BELL: One of the things Kenny's friends told us is that he may have been stressed about the upcoming exams.
Is that something that you recognize?
DELAND: He's in a foreign country. He's a pretty upbeat kid.
You know what I mean?
So it's possible, sure. He was anxious. He was -- he wanted to do good. He wanted to prove that he could get good grades even on the trip of a
lifetime.
BELL (voice-over): Kenny DeLand Jr. chronicled his journey to France in August. His father still hopes he'll be able to pick him up as planned on
Saturday -- Melissa Bell, CNN, Grenoble.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: A state of emergency is in effect across Peru. The government is hoping to end violent protests in which at least 7 people have been killed.
Peru plunged into crisis last week when the former president Pedro Castillo was impeached and arrested after he tried to dissolve congress.
[10:35:00]
GIOKOS: The supreme court is set to decide whether Castillo will remain behind bars. As the chaos spreads, Peru's congress is meeting this hour to
discuss moving up elections to next December. Rafael Romo has been covering the upheaval in Peru and joins us now live.
It has been an incredible week. You see Pedro Castillo trying to dissolve congress to avoid that impeachment vote. He has now been pushed out. He is
currently behind bars.
And I guess the question is will the new president be able to create calm on the ground?
Or are protesters' voices that loud that it is indicating just how the populace is feeling about the new president?
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SR. LATIN AFFAIRS EDITOR: Hi, Eleni. Yes, her name is Dina Boluarte and, yes, she is trying very hard to bring the situation
under control. And I can tell you that former president Pedro Castillo is being held in a cell at the national police special operations directorate
building in Lima, Peru's capital.
A judge is expected to rule any moment now, whether Castillo will remain behind bars for the next 18 months as the nation's attorney general has
requested. As you may remember, Castillo was impeached and arrested on December 7th as he announced plans to dissolve congress and install an
emergency government.
Apparently he was trying to get ahead of a congressional vote on his impeachment. Castillo is accused of conspiracy and rebellion. He denies
those allegations. The hearing to determine whether he remains in jail was scheduled for Wednesday but had to be postponed because he changed his
defense attorney.
Some of his supporters say he is a political prisoner. Peru is still a country in turmoil today. As you said, no more than a week after Castillo's
impeachment, the government declared Wednesday a state of emergency that will be in effect for more than 30 days.
Defense minister Alberto Otarola said the national police and armed forces are responding to acts of vandalism, violence and seizure of roads. Peru's
national police have confirmed that at least 14 highways across the country have been blocked by protesters, demanding the immediate return to power of
former president Pedro Castillo.
International flights are operating normally in and out of the international airport in Lima, Eleni, Peru's capital, even though multiple
regions are still in turmoil across the country. Some regional airports remain closed.
What this means is that many international tourists are stuck without a connecting flight to the capital and must stay in Peru for now. This
situation in Peru right now, Eleni, back to you.
GIOKOS: Rafael, thank you so much for that update.
Celebrity endorsements are nothing new. But some crypto investors are saying that big names touting big returns went a little too far. Coming up,
what they are doing about it.
And TikTok in the crosshairs of the U.S. Senate. But the app says it is all a misunderstanding. That is all coming up.
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GIOKOS: U.S. lawmakers are moving to crack down on TikTok. The Senate passed a bill Wednesday to keep the app off federally owned government
devices. The bill still has to be approved by the House.
And this comes after several similar state bans were passed. Now growing fears, TikTok could relay data to the Chinese government, as the app is
Chinese owned.
TikTok says those concerns are being driven by misinformation and offered to meet with policymakers about the company's practices.
The collapse of crypto giant FTX has put the spotlight on celebrities who endorsed cryptocurrencies. Big names like Tom Brady, Jimmy Fallon, Madonna
and David Ortiz are now facing lawsuits from investors. They claim the celebrities did not disclose their own involvement with these digital
exchanges. Christine Romans explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Disgraced FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is in jail, accused of carrying out what a
prosecutor called one of the biggest financial frauds in American history.
Bankman-Fried earned the backing of prominent figures across Hollywood, sports and politics.
TOM BRADY, QUARTERBACK, TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS: I'm getting into crypto.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With FTX -- you're in?
ROMANS: Now several celebrities who endorsed cryptocurrency are all under fresh legal scrutiny, including 7-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady,
supermodel Gisele Bundchen and 4-time NBA champion Steph Curry.
They're among some named in a class action lawsuit filing against Bankman- Fried last month after his company suffered a liquidity crisis, collapsed and filed for bankruptcy. At least a million people can't access their
funds. He is denying defrauding customers.
The lawsuit alleges they did not properly disclose the scope and amount of compensation they personally received in exchange for the promotion of FTX.
One of the plaintiffs in the proposed class action suit, Michael Livieratos, says, "As a New England Patriots fan my entire life, you can
imagine the influence that Tom Brady would have," claiming he moved nearly all his money from another crypto exchange to FTX.
Adam Moskowitz, the lawyer representing the plaintiffs, told "The Washington Post," "You have very rich people we all love telling us that
they checked this out and it was OK.
"Why shouldn't they be held responsible?"
This is just the tip of the iceberg for the crypto fallout. Another lawsuit was filed earlier this month by cryptocurrency investors against the NFT
series Bored Ape Yacht Club.
JIMMY FALLON, NBC HOST: We're part of the same -- we're part of the same community.
PARIS HILTON, MEDIA PERSONALITY: Yes.
FALLON: We're both apes.
HILTON: Yes. I love it.
ROMANS (voice-over): In the complaint, 37 defendants are named, including Paris Hilton, Jimmy Fallon, Justin Bieber, Madonna, Serena Williams and,
again, Steph Curry.
The lawsuit accuses the creators of enlisting A-listers to mislead their followers into buying bad investments at inflated prices. Actor Ben
McKenzie testified before the Senate Banking Committee
Wednesday, describing crypto as a bill of goods sold to tens of millions of Americans.
BEN MCKENZIE, ACTOR: They have been lied to in ways both big and small, by a once seemingly mighty crypto industry whose entire existence, in fact,
depends on misinformation, hype and yes, fraud.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: Well, that was Christine Romans reporting. None of the celebrities named in her report responded to CNN's request for comment.
"WORLD SPORT" with Alex Thomas is up next, I will be back in 15 minutes with another edition of CONNECT THE WORLD. Stay with us.
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