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Connect the World
CNN International: Biden Allows Ukraine to Use Long-Range U.S. Weapons in Russia; Carr Wrote the FCC Chapter in "Project 2025"; Biden Attending his Final G20 Summit in Rio De Janeiro; Concerns Arise that Trump's Plan Could Spike Food Prices; Economists say Trump's Deportation and Tariff Plans could Cause a Significant Jump in Inflation. Aired 9-9:45a ET
Aired November 18, 2024 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: Well, this is the scene in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, where world leaders have gathered for the G20
meeting. It is 11:00 a.m. there. It is 06:00 p.m. here in Abu Dhabi. I'm Becky Anderson. And you are watching "Connect the World".
Also coming up, U.S. President Joe Biden, who is there in Rio, taking a controversial step, authorizing long range U.S. weapons for Ukraine, in a
move that could escalate the war with Russia. And renewed ceasefire talks between Hezbollah and Israel amid Israeli air strikes on Beirut.
Meanwhile, U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump continues rolling out his cabinet nominees with some unconventional picks. And the stock market in
New York will open about 30 minutes from now. The picture, as far as futures are concerned, indicating a mixed open back there at 09:30 a.m.
local New York time.
We begin this hour with a provocative move from the United States on the war in Ukraine, after repeated requests from Kyiv. The U.S. now allowing
Ukraine to fire American long-range missiles into Russia. The Kremlin reacting tersely as you might expect, saying This shows the Biden
Administration wants to quote, throw oil on the fire on its way out of the White House. Listen to what Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had to
say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE: The plan to strengthen Ukraine is the victory plan I had presented to partners. Long range possibilities
for our army, is one of its major points. Today, there is a lot of talk in the media about us receiving a permit for respective actions. Hits are not
made with words. Such things don't need announcements.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, this development comes after Mr. Zelenskyy said over the weekend that he thinks the war with Russia will end faster with Donald
Trump as U.S. President. For more on the implications of all of this, we're joined by Oren Liebermann, who's at the Pentagon for you, and Nick Paton
Walsh with analysis from London.
Let's start with you, Oren. Give us a little bit more context, if you will. Here, what weapons are we talking about, and what could this permission
from the Biden Administration to use those weapons on Russia mean in this war?
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Becky, the key weapon here is the long range ATACMS missile, a U.S. missile that has a range of about 200
miles. For months now, Ukraine has requested permission from the U.S. to use these to hit targets deeper inside Russia.
They have done so with much shorter-range HIMARS missiles, but they have wanted to use these longer-range attacking missiles. In fact, when
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in the U.S. back in September, he presented President Joe Biden with a list of targets that he wanted to
hit.
Biden didn't refuse the request outright. Effectively, they agreed to keep discussing it. Finally, though, that decision was made to grant Ukraine
this long-standing request, to allow them to use these long-range missiles deeper inside Russia. At least part of the reason for the rather abrupt
policy change here is that the U.S. viewed the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia.
Thousands of them, in fact, as an escalation, one that merited some sort of response. So, this, at least in theory, is part of that response granting
Ukraine this request. Now for months, the Biden Administration has said, and defense officials here in the Pentagon have said a number of reasons,
essentially excuses why this wouldn't make a difference.
There aren't enough attack missiles. Russia has moved those targets out of the range of these long-range missiles. Ukraine has more effective longer-
range drones that they should use for these so it was quite surprising to see this change. It does follow a pattern we have seen in the past where
the Biden Administration says no, no, no, no, no, no, yes.
And this certainly feels very much like that. But what remains to be seen is, if the U.S. will provide more of these missiles, so Ukraine can use
them more effectively, or if it only applies to the limited number of these missiles, they have left. U.S. officials tell CNN that these are largely
supposed to be used in the Kursk region.
This is where Ukraine has seized some Russian territory, and Russia has amassed a force of some 50,000 troops to try to take that back. If Ukraine
can hold this territory, can hang on to the Kursk region. It strengthens Ukraine's position. It effectively gives them more leverage. Should the
world, should President-Elect Donald Trump suddenly push for negotiations? This is designed to leave them in as strong a position as possible, Becky.
[09:05:00]
ANDERSON: Thank you, Oren. Let me bring you in, Nick, before we talk about what might happen in a Trump era on this war, let's just get your analysis
on this permission, as Oren rightly pointed out. This is an abrupt U-turn by the United States, now giving permission for these U.S. made missiles to
be used in the -- of war, very specifically on Russia. What's your sense here of what's going on and why?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: I mean, the significance of this really, I think, amplified by how long the Biden
Administration has put this decision off, saying it will be too escalatory. Now it's not, apparently, and it's an escalation they seek to make, albeit
one that has potentially a clock ticking on it of about the two and a half months left of the Biden presidency.
Is it going to change the battlefield overnight? Well, as Oren was pointing out, there aren't that many of these around. Frankly, we don't know how
many Ukraine currently have or how many they can lay their hands on. And indeed, their drones have been doing probably a more efficient and cheap
job of hitting deep inside Russia in the past months.
But it is that essential symbolism of the Biden Administration saying at this point, we're frankly willing to take this move. We're willing to
chance whatever Russia may do in response, they say because of the implementation of Russian forces using North Korean troops potentially in
operation to retake that part of Russia, Kursk, that Ukraine moved into in August.
But I think you have to remember here too that we are dealing with the twilight days of the Biden Administration, this has been something they
have been pretty strident and concrete on for much of that term. And I think they are looking to possibly drag the United States into a deeper
place in this conflict.
Remember, Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, has said that if these missiles are fired by Ukraine, U.S. made U.S. supplied as they are. That is
essentially NATO joined the conflict when those missiles hit targets inside of Russia. We haven't heard from him today.
He may wheel back on that, as he has in the past, but that fear of escalation, it's one, it seems, that Biden is willing to take in the months
ahead, most likely because it's potentially short lived, and it will indeed complicate or give extra leverage to President-Elect Donald Trump when he
takes the office on January the 20th.
ANDERSON: And President Zelenskyy does seem to think that President-Elect Trump could bring about the end of the war. However, you write in your
latest analysis, quote, President-Elect Donald Trump may think he can talk about -- talk peace, but he will inherit a war where the stakes have just
gotten significantly high. Is there an obvious path that the new president could take that leads to peace despite Biden's latest decisions, Nick?
WALSH: No in the shortest possible terms, or I think it would have been taken already by the Biden Administration or Western allies of Ukraine.
This is not a simple fix. Despite Donald Trump suggesting he could fix it in 24 hours. There are some former advisers to him suggesting that if he
tries peace through strength, projecting strength, doubling down on aid to Ukraine.
He can convince Vladimir Putin. The war simply isn't worth fighting. That's kind of what Biden has been trying hasn't worked. And I think what we've
heard over the past 72 hours marks the beginning of a moment in which everyone tries to improve their positions ahead of the Trump presidency.
Now we've heard, I think, most importantly, from Germany, it's lame duck Chancellor Olaf Scholz making a unilateral phone call to Russian President
Vladimir Putin, in which he essentially ended nearly two years of the Kremlin head being isolated from major Western leaders.
He made that reach out, saying on Sunday, look, we've got to be talking to him at the Trump Administration and going to do that. But that's caused
some consternation amongst his Western allies. He's doing it really for domestic political reasons, trying to -- with a slightly pro-Russian part
of the German electorate in Eastern Germany.
But it's that small motive that appears to have made this huge change in a diplomatic position. It may lead nowhere. There are no indications, Putin
is looking for a deal at this point. He's winning on the battlefield, but if Donald Trump comes to him trying to suggest something, then we are
certainly dealing with a wily negotiator, a man quite willing to deceive at the table of talks.
And so, it is a dangerous moment for Ukraine. They're losing ground. They are seeing one of the staunchest supporters leaving office in two to three
months. Yes, they're getting a little bit of extra help in that short period of time, but ultimately, they're seeing disarray amongst their
European allies.
The German call was not something telegraphed to the allies. They weren't all on the same page when this happened. And I think that's everyone trying
to improve their position or define their position ahead of the Trump presidency. But really this is a war now heading to its 1,000th day.
[09:10:00]
So many lives lost in it. So much exhaustion on the Ukrainian side, too. I think there are some analysts who say, if it keeps going like this, if
Russia keeps making the small, incremental advances we've been seeing, it's -- that will be grateful for a freeze in the front lines. We're into a very
perilous moment, and we've just had a remarkably important 72 hours in this war, Becky.
ANDERSON: Yeah, understood. Nick, it's good to have you. Nick is our Chief International Security Editor. Well, progress -- and thank you, Oren.
Progress, but ways to go, that is how an Israeli source is describing talks to reach a ceasefire in Lebanon. The source tells CNN, one sticking point
is Hezbollah's opposition to a clause that would allow Israel to take direct action in Lebanon in response to any ceasefire violations.
Well, talks may get a boost when U.S. Middle East envoy Amos Hochstein returns to Beirut. It is unclear when that will happen, though Reuters
reports he is expected to arrive Tuesday, tomorrow. Well, meantime, the bombing goes on in Lebanon. Israel's military killed another high-ranking
Hezbollah official, the media spokesperson, in a strike in Beirut on Sunday.
And for the first time, the IDF is acknowledging, it's using artillery batteries inside Lebanese territory to attack targets. Paula Hancocks is
here with me. Look much talk about the potential for a ceasefire on this conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in the next couple of weeks or so.
But clearly, the Israelis feel at this point that ratcheting up the efforts on Hezbollah will put this ceasefire in a better place. That seems to be
the perspective from the Israelis. Otherwise, they wouldn't be doing what they are doing.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely! I mean, there's no doubt that they've escalated their ground operation. The defense minister said
last week that they were going to expand what they had originally called a limited ground operation. Of course, there was skepticism, even when they
said it at the beginning.
But what we're seeing now is with these artillery batteries, the fact that they have military equipment based inside southern Lebanon to help their
effort they say. These were these were based along the border on Israeli territory, and firing across the border, that is a significant move.
It shows that they are expanding what they are trying to do. And in the same breath, you're hearing about this potential ceasefire and optimism
from American, from Israeli and from Lebanese officials that this ceasefire could reap some rewards. The fact that we've heard from Lebanese official
diplomatic efforts are on fire now. They're optimistic that Hezbollah may agree to these the ceasefire proposal on the table.
It's a 60-day ceasefire. It's temporary. It's supposed to form the basis of the permanent ceasefire. But as you mentioned at the beginning there, one
of the major sticking points is Israel wants to be able to go back into Lebanon or to fire on Lebanese, and Hezbollah targets if they think that
ceasefire is being violated, that's unlikely to be something Hezbollah will agree to.
ANDERSON: It's good to have you. Thank you. You're watching "Connect the World" with me Becky Anderson. Donald Trump quickly picking his team for
his second term in the White House. Among the latest to be named is Brendan Carr. On the left is Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and
fracking company CEO Chris Wright as the next Department of Energy Secretary.
Billionaire Elon Musk pushing Trump to select Howard Lutnick as the next treasury secretary. Lutnick is currently the Chairman and CEO of the
investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald. Steve Contorno joining us now from West Palm Beach in Florida. Let's have a look at these picks.
Current FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr has said the U.S. government should ban TikTok, and in a post on X's slam, Facebook, Google, Apple, Microsoft
and others for unprecedented surge in censorship. If he's confirmed, what can we expect from the next FCC Chair and just how significant might this
pick be?
STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Yeah, he is someone who is closely aligned with Donald Trump. Trump of first to put him on the FCC when he was
president, and he has been a stalwart in Trump's sort of outside orbit of advisors and allies. In fact, he wrote a whole chapter in Project 2025
about what he views as the future of the FCC.
Obviously, Project 2025 was that much maligned project from the Heritage Foundation that led out plans for a Trump second term that he tried to
distance himself from.
[09:15:00]
Well, one of the people involved with it is now in charge of leading the FCC, and so he is someone who has said, quote, we must dismantle the
censorship cartel and restore free speech rights for everyday Americans. So, he is firmly aligned with Donald Trump on some of his goals, especially
as it relates to big tech and media corporations, and who should get licenses, to broadcast.
All those kinds of things could potentially come up for review under a Donald Trump Administration with Brendan Carr ahead of the FCC, I will say
Donald Trump's own views on these issues oscillate often. He is someone who first said we should ban TikTok, like Brendan Carr said.
And now more lately, has sounded receptive to keeping TikTok in the hands of Chinese control. He is someone who has talked about breaking up Google
and how much he dislikes Google and we should go after big tech, to saying that he thinks maybe the Biden Administration has gone too far with Google.
So, it's not necessarily clear what Donald Trump's motivations are with all these areas that fall under the FCC's purview going forward. However, what
is clear is he has someone very closely aligned with him in charge of that going forward.
ANDERSON: Very briefly, Howard Lutnick for Treasury. What's the thinking there? And how is that landing as an option? This is Musk's choice,
apparently, right?
CONTORNO: Well, yeah, he is also in charge of Donald Trump's transition team, so he's one of the co-chairs of it. So, he is also close to Trump in
many respects, and in some people in Trump's orbit believe that he is trying to lead the transition team while also getting himself a job within
the transition team, which is rubbing some people the wrong way.
Although Elon Musk believes that he speaks for some of the far right and fringe voices in Trump's orbit, some of the people outside of government
and outside of the Republican Party who have sort of joined the coalition more recently.
And he is someone who is pushing Lutnick over some of the other names that Trump is considering who have closer ties to Wall Street's, believing that
Lutnick would be someone who could potentially shake things up. Although it's not -- it's not clear yet whether Trump also shares that thinking and
whether he wants someone who will give Wall Street and the stock market confidence.
ANDERSON: Good to have you, Steve. Thank you very much indeed. And more on the Trump transition as we move through the show. Next, we're going to
learn more about is sweeping new proposals around immigration and how that could mean the return of what are, or certainly have been deeply
controversial policies.
Plus, what Senate lawmakers are saying about the chances of Former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz being confirmed to become U.S. Attorney General.
Well, our report on that is up next.
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[09:20:00]
ANDERSON: The U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump doubling down on his pick for Attorney General, Former House Republican Matt Gaetz. Now Trump's team
says he is determined he being the president-elect, determined to get Gaetz confirmed.
Sources say House Ethics investigators have been looking at a civil lawsuit in Florida that laid out details were allegations against Gaetz, including
drugs and sex with a minor, which he denies. But with his resignation from office last week, the ethics report on Gaetz could now be buried. CNN
Katelyn Polantz joining me. Katelyn, just lay the table for us here, if you are, what's going on?
KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, Becky, the House at this Ethics Committee, has learned a lot, and some of what they
learned it comes from a lawsuit in Florida where there are witnesses. Young women were making statements under oath.
The same women who were also participating in a criminal inquiry into Matt Gaetz. So, these women were at a party in 2017, where an alleged sexual
encounter with an underage girl took place. And they have never spoken publicly about what happened. In a deposition, though, of the man who
brought the lawsuit, a deposition we can see in court transcripts a friend of Gaetz.
He was speaking to attorneys, and the attorneys asked him what the women had to say about a then underage girl having sex with Gaetz while the
friend watched and about an array of drugs at the party. This friend of Gaetz, Christopher Dorworth, suggested in his testimony, that the women
made up their stories.
And of course, Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing. He was never charged with any crime. But one source familiar with the Congressional investigation,
Becky, told CNN that if the House Ethics Committee work includes information from this litigation, presumably the part that's still secret,
what the women were saying under oath, it would be, quote, highly damaging for Gaetz.
Of course, the House wasn't able to get access to records from the separate Justice Department Criminal Investigation into Matt Gaetz now closed. So
now there's pressure mounting in Washington on the House Ethics Committee. Their work ended whenever Gaetz was announced as Trump's nominee for the
Justice Department last week, and then very quickly resigned from Congress, meaning the release of that report.
What their findings were, what those women were saying, even in that lawsuit that the House Committee now has, that all is jeopardized. Here's
the position of House Speaker Mike Johnson assessing the situation over the weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): The Senate has a role, the advice and consent's role under the Constitution, and they perform it. They will have a rigorous
review and vetting process in the Senate, but they don't need to rely upon a report or a draft report, a rough draft report that was prepared by the
Ethics Committee for its very limited purposes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
POLANTZ: So, House Speaker says he's the Speaker now it doesn't really seem as if he is in favor of releasing that report, Becky.
ANDERSON: Thank you. Well, at this hour, world leaders gathering in Rio de Janeiro for the G20 Summit. This is U.S. President Joe Biden's final major
international event before he leaves office in January. On Sunday, he became the first sitting U.S. President to visit the Amazon forest.
He called the fight against climate change a defining part of his presidency during that stop, and he warned future White House
Administrations, undoing that work would risk depriving the world of its benefits. Well, CNN's Senior White House Correspondent Kayla Tausche joins
us now from Rio de Janeiro.
And it's been interesting to watch the video coming in from this year's summit. We've seen Joe Biden. We've seen Indian Leader Narendra Modi. We've
seen the -- a room full of leaders who have quite ideologically different positions on so many different issues.
I guess that's what G20 is all about, bringing everybody together to try and find some consensus. This though overshadowed by Donald Trump's recent
election victory and two major wars of course. What do we expect to hear from G20 its leaders? What's on the agenda and what should we watch for as
key takeouts?
KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, you rightly point out that these are not like-minded nations, and sometimes
consensus can be elusive. So, we expect them to try to tout agreements where possible, and we already been told that some of those areas of
agreement will be enhancing the lending capacity of the World Bank by tens of billions of dollars to help the development of some of the most
impoverished nations in the world.
That's something that President Biden specifically is going to be calling for. And he's going to call for some of the existing authorities at the
World Bank to be replenished as a result.
[09:25:00]
But the unspoken element here is Donald Trump looming large over the summit, even as these world leaders engage diplomatically with outgoing
President Joe Biden. They're also working the phones to call Trump and his team directly. Every single G20 leader that we know of, besides Russian
President Vladimir Putin.
Who we simply do not know whether he's reached out, has personally telephoned Donald Trump to congratulate him on his victory and to talk
about ways that their country can work more closely together with the United States and his administration as they fear retaliation, retribution
on economic issues like trade.
But also, potential unpredictability in major geopolitical conflicts like in Ukraine. President Biden and his team, we now know, through our own
sources, making a significant policy shift to allow Ukraine to use longer range weapons to strike up to 200 miles into Russia to destroy mounting
forces, both Russian forces and North Korean forces, as they fear an expansion of a long simmering conflict.
All of this to try to make the world more secure and more stable, which they believe has been the priority of Biden for the last four years, and
they want that to remain his legacy, Becky.
ANDERSON: I know the presence of the Chinese Leader. I also note that the image that we were looking at just earlier on, was one of Lavrov, the
Foreign Minister for Russia. Of course, Vladimir Putin, not there in Brazil, but the Chinese Leader is.
And there are, well, certainly there is a narrative during the round that this is China's attempt to expand its global influence as the world braces
for uncertainties when Donald Trump returns to the White House. And what's your sense of the opportunity for China in among these G20 leaders this
week?
TAUSCHE: Well, certainly Becky, that was an opportunity that also existed during Donald Trump's first term. There was a worry that between these two
economic and military superpowers, if the U.S. were going to take a back seat and leave what many foreign policy experts believed would be a
leadership vacuum on the world stage by retreating some of the commitments that prior U.S. Leaders had made that perhaps that was an opening for China
to step in.
Now the U.S. economy has been incredibly strong. President Biden reclaimed the mantle of leadership in many of these conflicts. But once again, that's
become the narrative, and that's become the conversation here. We've seen President Xi Jinping of China meeting with many other leaders here in Rio
de Janeiro to try to foment China's position in the world.
And we've also seen them touting their economic role here in Latin America, with a $1.3 billion port in Peru and many investments throughout this
continent. That's something that the U.S. has been trying to counter, although their effort is still much more nascent than the Chinese Belt and
Road Initiative that's now been more than a decade in the making.
So, this has been a position by the Chinese. It's been a fear by the West, and only time will tell how that plays out over the next term of Donald
Trump, Becky.
ANDERSON: Fascinating times. It's good to have you there in Rio de Janeiro, where the time is 11:27 in the morning. Thank you. It is 09:27 or 09:28 now
on the East Coast, 06:28, here in Abu Dhabi. Still ahead how Donald Trump's campaign promises could impact grocery prices. A look at the role of
undocumented immigrants in U.S. food production. That and more coming up.
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[09:30:00]
ANDERSON: Welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson. We're in Abu Dhabi here, and you are watching "Connect the World". Well, let's have a look at the
markets. For you, the bell has just sounded on Wall Street, so this is the beginning of the trading day. Of course, it was a mixed look as far as
futures were concerned, and that indication playing out here on the markets as they open.
They've only been open for a minute or so. So still settling down, but a mixture flat open, a growing number of economists and agriculture experts
are expressing concerns about how Donald Trump's policies could impact U.S. food prices. Now it mostly centers around Trump's pledge to deport millions
of undocumented immigrants.
Recent government study found that 40 percent of farm workers in the U.S. are undocumented. Economists say that if Trump follows through with his
deportation pledges, food prices are sure to jump. Well, CNN's Matt Egan has been looking into all of this, and he joins us now. Matt, talk us
through the numbers, if you will.
MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Yeah, Becky, listen, no secret that Americans are really frustrated by how high supermarket prices have gotten. The risk is
that they could go even higher if there are these mass deportations that the President-Elect has talked about.
The problem is that this is a sector that relies heavily on foreign labor, including undocumented workers. And the logic is simple, fewer workers
means less food and higher prices. Let's just look at one example, U.S. crop farm workers. The USDA has found that a plurality of workers in this
job, 41 percent are undocumented.
I talked to a farmer in Michigan who told me that if there were mass deportations, it would be devastating to the ag economy, because there just
would not be enough people to pick the crops. But it's not just about farmers, right? This is an issue across the food supply chain, tens or even
hundreds of thousands of workers in various parts of this industry are undocumented, including in food production, in grocery stores and of
course, restaurants, a total 1.7 million people are estimated to be undocumented workers.
And so yes, that is why economists and farmers and ag experts have told me that if there are mass deportations, it could send grocery prices higher,
perhaps significantly higher. It's true, there could be a loss in demand if there's millions of people who are no longer here, but economists say that,
that would be completely overshadowed by the loss of workers. Take a listen to what Chuck Connor, the CEO of the National Council of farmer
cooperatives, told me about this issue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHUCK CONNER, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF NATIONAL COUNCIL OF FARMER COOPERATIVES: You take away from those workers, you're not going to have production.
There are only one-way prices are going to go. They're going to go dramatically higher when cows don't get milked, when apples don't get
picked, when fruits and vegetables are not harvested, your supply is going to fall, probably fall dramatically, and that only drives prices up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
EGAN: So that would only drive prices up. And Becky, we know from this election that is the last thing consumers want to say.
ANDERSON: How much progress has there been in taming inflation at the grocery store?
EGAN: Yeah, you know, Becky, a surprising amount of progress. We saw prices at the supermarket skyrocketing by more than 13 percent at 1.2 years ago,
you can see that on that chart, just a startling rise.
I mean, that was just a nightmare for consumers around the country and really around the world. But look at that. There's been so much improvement
since then, the rate of inflation for grocery stores is actually below the overall rate of inflation. Of course, we know prices, the level of prices
is much higher than they were before COVID.
But some of the experts that I talked to, they said that you could see prices go much higher for certain items at the grocery store if there are
mass deportations, including obviously anything that involves human labor, right?
[09:35:00]
So. anything that has to be hand-picked, or often is hand-picked, like tomatoes or apples or blueberries, anything that involves humans
interacting with animals, like dairy and meat and again, that would not be something that people would want to see. Again, and again talking to people
in the industry, they said two things, right?
One, these are often jobs that American citizens don't want to do, right? They're often in the elements. They're dirty. It's hard work. They've also
said that they need more foreign labor. They want the incoming Trump Administration to have more visas. They want to have permanent legal status
for some of the unauthorized people who are already working here.
They don't want them expelled. That is the last thing they want to see. So, I did reach out to the Trump transition. They haven't got back to us, but
Trump officials have repeatedly stressed that they don't believe that Trump's campaign promises would cause prices to go higher.
They note that inflation wasn't really a problem during the first Trump Administration, which is true, of course, that was before COVID. But Becky,
I think at the end of the day, the devil here is in the details, right? How many people does Trump really try to deport? And how many people is it even
feasible to deport, practically speaking?
And then what happens with legal challenges? How do fights in court slow this process down? And I think the answers to all of those questions are
going to go a long way to deciding what happens next on the inflation front?
ANDERSON: Yeah, understood. Good to have you, Matt, thank you.
EGAN: Thank you.
ANDERSON: We are back after this quick break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well, this week, as part of our "Going Green" Series, we are going to be highlighting innovative solutions to help revive degraded
ecosystems around the world. And I want to start this week in Scotland, where a team of scientists are tapping into the power of fungi to help
accelerate forest restoration efforts. Julia Chatterley with this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOBY PARKES, CEO AND CO-FOUNDER OF RHIZOCORE: Fungal Kingdom is one of the largest groups of species. We think there's about 2.5 million species of
fungi on the planet, and that represents a huge opportunity for not only understanding biodiversity, but for understanding what those fungi can do
for us?
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN ANCHOR, FIRST MOVE (voice-over): Plant scientist Toby Parkes believes what lies underneath the Earth's surface can significantly
help restore what grows above it.
PARKES: There's a very specific group of fungi known as the mycorrhizal fungal breeding, that naturally fertilize trees and improve their growth
and survival. And in return, the trees provide synthesized sugars to the fungi.
CHATTERLEY (voice-over): Over the last 300 years, an estimated 1.5 billion hectares of woodlands have been wiped out globally, causing not just the
loss of trees but also their fungal networks.
[09:40:00]
JACK HOOPER, COO AT RHIZOCORE: As the world combats climate change, one of the key strategies we have is trees. Not only do we expect them to draw
down tons of carbon, but also to replace materials that are very carbon intensive, we're going to have to find new places to plant trees.
When you plant trees in an area like pasture land or ex agricultural area or that hasn't had trees on for a very long time. They often die in quite
large numbers in the first one to three years. Also, they're not growing as much as they could.
CHATTERLEY (voice-over): Research suggests that without fungi present, trees are less likely to obtain necessary nutrients and thus won't thrive.
Which can hinder reforestation efforts.
HOOPER: Is that we have to find a way of introducing these local fungal species to the sites where the trees are being planted.
CHATTERLEY (voice-over): To solve this problem, Rhizocore developed fungi pellets to help young saplings flourish when planted together. Rhizocore
has partnered with tree planting organizations across the U.K. and Australia, where Jack says they've seen improved growth and survival rates.
HOOPER: We've seen typical results of 20 to 25 percent improvement in growth and 20 percent improvement in survival rates in the first year.
Trees will also have faster growth in the first 5 to 10 years, and this is really important for establishing a forest.
CHATTERLEY (voice-over): But Rhizocore's long term goal is to build a fungi library to explore what else these organisms can do for our planet.
PARKES: There is going to be an explosion of innovation within this space as we discover more and more about what fungi can do and the benefits it
can provide.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: For more stories from this series, you can visit cnn.com/goinggreen. Beyonce is heading home for the holidays. The superstar
will headline the NFL halftime show as the Texans and the Ravens face off on Christmas day in a game that is streaming on Netflix.
Details on the performance being kept under wraps, but Netflix says it will likely include some special guests who are featured on Beyonce's recent
Cowboy Carter album. This will be the singer's third NFL halftime show she performed at Super Bowl games in 2013 and 2016. Netflix really getting into
the sporting arena. And "World Sport" is up next. I'll be back with more "Connect the World" in 15 minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:45:00]
(WORLD SPORT)
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