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Connect the World
CNN International: International Court Issues Arrest Warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant, Deif; Trump's Pick for Education Secretary Subject of Lawsuit; Protesters Threaten to Occupy Kenya's Parliament; Ukraine Shares Pictures of Missile Debris after Russian Strike; Pamela Hayden Leaves the Simpsons after 35 Years. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired November 21, 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: We are following two fast developing stories this hour. Ukraine's military says it is right now
trying to establish the type of missile that Russia has fired on Dnipro after having originally said it was an ICBM. Analyst saying that the
strike, whatever the missile, was intended as a message to the west.
And the International Criminal Court issues an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It is 03:00 p.m. at The Hague. It's
04:00 p.m. in Dnipro, and it's 06:00 p.m. here in Abu Dhabi. I'm Becky Anderson, you are watching "Connect the World".
And the stock market in New York will open about 30 minutes from now. The futures market certainly indicating a higher open. They'd be mindful of
tech earnings after an underwhelming result from Nvidia after the market closed yesterday and a slew of economic data out this week.
We begin with the Middle East and arrest warrants for top Israeli and Hamas officials, including Benjamin Netanyahu. The International Criminal Court
of the ICC, accusing the prime minister and his Former Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant of war crimes in Gaza.
The ICC also issuing a warrant for Hamas Leader, Mohammed Deif, although Israel has claimed he was killed earlier this year. Deif is accused of
crimes against humanity involving Israeli civilians. Well, CNN's Nic Robertson is in Jerusalem. And Nic this news breaking in the past couple of
hours.
Finally, we get these actual arrest warrants after this has been discussed now for some months. What are these specific charges in these warrants?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, war crimes and crimes against humanity, specifically that the ICC believes that they have
grounds to believe that the prime minister bears criminal responsibility for war crimes that are including the intentional use of starvation, crimes
against humanity, including murder, including other brutal acts as well.
So, this is the ICC now moving ahead with what they had proposed and first laid out in May. Israel had gone back to the ICC, rejected these
allegations, called them absurd, and that's exactly what's happening again. The ICC had today said that Israel's legal challenge to what the ICC was
doing was being turned down, and that they were moving ahead with these arrest warrants.
And specifically for the prime minister, this puts him in an invidious position, if you will, being the first Israeli leader to be accused of such
crimes, the first leader of a recognized democracy to be accused of such crimes. And it also implicitly means that he will be limited in his travel
because the 124 countries that are signatory to the Rome statutes are obliged if Netanyahu sets foot in their country to arrest him and turn him
over to the ICC for to go to court.
So, this potentially radically changes the legal landscape and the physical landscape for the Israeli Prime Minister, his office is very clearly
rejecting these allegations.
ANDERSON: Right. Yeah, what has been the reaction from his office and inside Israel?
ROBERTSON: Yeah, they've called it absurd.
[09:05:00]
They've called it unjust of these absurd and false allegations and accusations is how they're describing them. We've heard from the defense
minister, the now defense minister, not the former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, who's also charged, similar to Prime Minister Netanyahu.
Israel Katz, the new defense minister is saying that that some moral disgrace, that it's a shameful decision by the ICC. The New Foreign
Minister, Gideon Saar is saying that this is a dark moment for the ICC, that it has lost its legitimacy. But I think some of the accusations that
we are hearing coming from the prime minister's office are at a level that shows that this is going to become, potentially look something like a
mudslinging match.
They are putting forward and saying that there are allegations against the chief prosecutor at The Hague Karim Khan. They are saying that he has moved
to prosecute the Prime Minister of Israel, in essence, to escape this own cloud that's over his head. And they charge that he and the court and its
process is acting anti-Semitically.
ANDERSON: Nic Robertson is in Jerusalem. Nic, thank you. Next hour going to get into the mechanics of this arrest, then these arrest warrants and how
they could impact Benjamin Netanyahu and indeed, Yoav Gallant. Our Legal Analyst, Rosa Friedman, will join us to break that down.
Do stay with us for that. Well in Gaza itself a devastating 24 hours, local health authorities reporting Israeli strikes on northern and central Gaza
have killed at least 87 Palestinians in the past day. Medical staff say at least 65 were killed in Beit Lahia overnight, and that death toll is
expected to rise.
Gaza's Health Ministry now says the death toll in Gaza has surpassed 44,000. Well, turning to our other big story this hour, and Kyiv now says
it is assessing whether Russia fired an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile or an ICBM at the City of Dnipro in eastern Ukraine.
This video obtained by CNN shows the moment of impact from the Russian strike earlier today, and this next recording is said to convey the sound
of the impact. Ukrainian authorities have not confirmed the authenticity of that recording. They had earlier accused Russia of firing an ICBM.
The Kremlin isn't commenting. It comes in a week of creeping escalation in Moscow's war on Ukraine. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh writes that Moscow is
sending a message to the West that it has greater capabilities that it previously displayed. Nick, standing by for us in Ukraine's capital of
Kyiv.
Natasha Bertrand has the view from the Pentagon. Nick, let's start with you, and let's be very clear here, what do we know and what we don't we
know yet about this attack?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, we know what Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy,
have said about this 05:00 a.m. onslaught against one of the larger industrial cities of Dnipro. Zelenskyy has said the speed, the trajectory
suggests the altitude, suggests that this was an intercontinental ballistic missile.
And his Air Force had been more explicit, directly, suggesting that a Western official speaking on the sidelines of a summit in Southeast Asia
has hinted that this may not have been an intercontinental ballistic missile, just a ballistic missile. Semantics here, the capability, the
range, how long it actually ended up being fired.
Ultimately, though, I think what appears to have happened here is Russia has used a new type of missile in this particular attack. Their bid, as I
say, of showing that there's more in their arsenal than they've used yet. I should point out this obviously had a conventional payload upon it, but
much of the Arsenal it might be reaching towards are delivery devices that may also contain or may be designed to transport nuclear warheads.
No suggestion that's the case, but that sort of the subtext, potentially, of them reaching into ballistic missiles of this particular nature. And it
comes after days in which tensions have escalated here. Yesterday, the U.S. embassy and through other NATO embassies closed unexpectedly for the first
time for the Americans since they left and relocated at the start of the war, citing a specific air threat.
It may have been something to do with this, perhaps, maybe nuclear powers do tell each other when they're about to fire new fast paced missiles, but
we've seen the Americans too, providing on Sunday a startling change in policy.
[09:10:00]
Something they said would be too escalatory to do for months, allowing Ukraine to fire U.S.-made ATACMS into Russia. We potentially felt Russia
would respond. It may well be that, indeed, that this is that response, and I should just tell you the atmosphere in Kyiv, when an air raid siren went
off again for the first time since the ICBM launch, if indeed that was what happened.
Greater anxiety here, certainly in the bomb shelter. We went to people down there that you wouldn't normally see, and I think there's a concern we may
be seeing fast moving weapons with greater payload and less warning time in the days ahead, Becky.
ANDERSON: Nick, it's good to have you. Nick is in the capital. And Natasha, let me bring you in. I just want you and our viewers to hear this moment
from a news conference given by the Russian Foreign Ministry. The sound just into CNN. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARIA ZAKHAROVA, DIRECTOR OF THE INFORMATION AND PRESS DEPARTMENT OF THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION: Hello.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Masha?
ZAKHAROVA: Yes. I'm having a briefing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On Yuzhmash, the ballistic missile strike, which the Westerners started talking about, we are not commenting at all.
ZAKHAROVA: Yes, OK, thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Right, just into CNN. So, Russia, the spokeswoman, they're not helping to enlighten anyone on what has happened. What are you hearing from
your sources there in the U.S. at the Pentagon?
NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yeah, that was a pretty interesting moment in that briefing to say the least. We are not hearing
much from the U.S. at this point. We do have, as Nick mentioned, one Western official saying that this does not appear to have been an
intercontinental ballistic missile, but rather just a regular ballistic missile.
We don't know what the characteristics of it were exactly, but we do know that this appears to be the first time that they have used this specific
type of missile in this war. So, it does mark a significant moment, right? I mean, it does suggest, according to people that we are speaking to, that
the Russians are prepared to use these new capabilities, suggesting to the U.S. and its allies that they have more in their arsenal, more in their
stockpile, that they have withheld, that they are now capable of using.
Now, even if this was not an ICBM, it did have a pretty long range. It is capable, according to officials, of potentially carrying nuclear warheads.
It did not in this instance. But still, this is a very clear message, I think, to the U.S. after the U.S. gave us Ukraine permission to use those
long-range attack comes inside Russia itself.
The Russians, of course, have been trying to take back that territory of Kursk from the Ukrainians, which Ukraine occupied in August. And you know,
the U.S. allowing Ukraine to use these long-range missiles to defend that territory is a clear escalation on the U.S.'s part as well, in an attempt
to try to allow Ukraine to keep that Russian territory.
So, this is all part of this kind of back and forth that's going on right now in the waning days of the Biden Administration. What remains to be
seen, of course, is whether any of these policies are going to be changed in just two months' time, whether things are going to be ratcheted down a
bit from here.
But at this point, it does seem, you know, that we are kind of in this spiral. Hopefully, you know, it doesn't escalate beyond that. As we know,
Russia has threatened to use nuclear weapons. They've recently lowered the threshold for doing so. So, a lot of fears here in the U.S., of course,
about this escalating further and spiraling out of control, potentially, Becky.
ANDERSON: Right. Understood, it's good to have you both. Thank you. You're watching "Connect the World" with me Becky Anderson. Time here, 30 minutes
past 6. We are live from our Middle East Broadcasting headquarters here in Abu Dhabi. Ahead on the show, Donald Trump's cabinet picks under the legal
microscope.
His choice for education secretary is the subject of a civil lawsuit. We'll have the details on that coming up. Plus, graphic new details about the
sexual misconduct allegation facing Trump's pick for Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth. Stay tuned. More on that. After this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:15:00]
ANDERSON: U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump's choice for education secretary is the subject of a recent civil lawsuit. It alleges that Linda
McMahon is the Former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment or WWE, knowingly enabled sexual exploitation of children by a company employee.
The suit claims a now deceased ringside announcer lured children into helping him set up and take down the rings during wrestling events before
abusing them. McMahon denies the allegations. Our Katelyn Polantz connecting us from Washington. And Katelyn, we also have new details, of
course, emerging from a police report into an investigation into the defense secretary pick.
So, and some controversy around these picks. Linda McMahon, the benefit of our viewers who don't know her background, can you just explain who she is
and how she is actually tied to the Trump Administration?
KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Yeah, so Linda McMahon actually served in the First Trump Administration, but now is being
put up for the position, a cabinet level position as the Department of Education's Secretary. Linda McMahon's background is that she's the co-
founder with her husband, Vince McMahon, of the WWE, a professional wrestling company.
She was the CEO there until 2009 and so this company has existed for many decades. And what we're learning through a lawsuit that was filed in
Maryland very recently, it re-up some things that have always been discussed about the WWE and its practices of using young children, young
boys as young as 12 or 13 years old in the 1980s 1990s.
There was a ringside announcer, Mel Phillips, he's now deceased, who has been accused of being essentially a pedophile, somebody who wanted to keep
these young boys around him. And that at the time, in the 80s, in the 90s, when Linda McMahon and Vince McMahon were both atop that company that they
knew about, Mel Phillips and his interest in young boys and his sexual abuse of them.
They fired him at one point in the late 80s, and then rehired him. And so, this lawsuit is accusing both of these people, Linda McMahon, Vince
McMahon, as well as the companies that they previously were in charge of. It's accusing them of turning a blind eye to Mel Phillips and what was
happening there.
Now, Linda McMahon hasn't been with the company for some time, but this does raise questions about how she was approaching the use of children, the
protection of children, whenever she was running a company that she had become quite famous for, separately, a lot of this is about Vince McMahon
as well.
A person that she is now separated from in their marriage, according to her attorney, and a person who has faced additional accusations of sexual abuse
far later than after Linda McMahon left the WWE and is still under Vince McMahon, still under criminal investigation in New York, that's a different
thing than what Linda has been facing.
This is about things that happened many, many years ago. Re upping them in the public sphere. In court, a lawyer for Linda McMahon does provide a
statement to CNN in response to this lawsuit, saying that it's based upon 30 plus year old allegations filled with -- excuse me, scurrilous lies,
exaggerations and misrepresentations.
[09:20:00]
And that Ms. McMahon will vigorously defend against a baseless lawsuit and without doubt ultimately succeed. And so, we'll see where that goes, in
court, Becky.
ANDERSON: I'll let you go. You got through that and well done, you important reporting. Thank you. As I said, new details are emerging from a
police report into an allegation of sexual misconduct by Donald Trump's pick to lead the Pentagon, Pete -- Hegseth, sorry.
The report lays out conflicting accounts of what happened in a California hotel room seven years ago. Hegseth was never charged, and says the
encounter was consensual, while his attorney admits Hegseth reached an agreement with a woman who had accused him of sexual assault, paying her to
keep quiet.
Well, the new information came out on the day House Republicans blocked the release of an ethics panel report into Trump's choice for Attorney General
Matt Gaetz, also the subject of sexual misconduct claims. Well CNN Political Correspondent Sara Murray, connecting us from D.C. Anything more
that we learn from the report, Sara?
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. I mean, there are a lot of disturbing details in this police report. And it does highlight the
conflicting narratives about what went on in this night of in October 2017 in California at this Republican Women's Conference. You know, the woman
who's referred to as Jane Doe throughout this police report says that during this conference, Hegseth was giving off a creeper vibe.
She says she ended up in a strange hotel room, and when she was there, Hegseth took her phone from her, he used his body to physically block the
door, and she remembers saying no, a lot. Now there are conflicting accounts about whether she may have been inebriated.
She says something may have been slipped in her drink, but other eyewitnesses said she seemed sober. You know, there were also conflicting
accounts about interaction she had with Hegseth in a hotel bar before they ended up in a hotel room. There was one witness who said she came and sort
of intersected Hegseth when he was hitting on another woman who was not interested.
A different eyewitness said that Jane Doe and another woman seemed to be flirting with Hegseth. But a couple days after the incident occurred in the
hotel room, she sought medical attention, she had a rape kit conducted, and a nurse reported this alleged sexual assault to the authorities.
Now Pete Hegseth has a completely different account of what went on that night. He said the two of them engaged in consensual sex. He said there was
always conversation and always consensual conduct. He said he and Jane Doe, the woman, discussed that she was married, and she said that she would tell
her husband she'd fallen asleep on the couch in someone else's room.
And he said she showed early signs of regret after they allegedly had intercourse. Now an attorney for Pete Hegseth have told CNN that this
report confirms what I've said all along. The incident was fully investigated. Police found the allegations to be false, which is why no
charges were filed.
We should note the police report doesn't actually say the allegations were false, although it is accurate that no charges were filed. There's other
evidence in this case, a surveillance video, a memo from the district attorney that could help shed light on why there were no charges filed.
But that information is not being released to the public. And we should note that Jane Doe declined to comment when CNN tracked her down last week,
when folks on our team approached her, she broke down in tears.
ANDERSON: Hegseth is on the Hill today, as I understand it, with Vice President-Elect J. D. Vance. And yesterday, the vice President-Elect had
Matt Gaetz there amid his own controversy. Here's House Speaker Mike Johnson on the panel's decision not to release the report on Matt Gaetz.
Let's just have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): I don't want to open a Pandora's box. We're in a different era. If there was a breach of this in the past, so be it. But now
we live in the age of the 24-hour news cycle. Now we live in the age of social media, politics and the dynamics are very different.
And I would be concerned about opening the Pandora's boxes saying that the House Ethics Committee, with its vast resources and unlimited power
effectively, but could investigate private citizens and release reports about them. I don't think we want to go down that road. I think it's an
important principle for us to maintain.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Mike Johnson there. Well, let's get you up to speed on some of the other stories that are on our radar as we speak. And you're watching
"Connect the World", of course. And the National Weather Service in the U.S. is monitoring another low-pressure system in the northwestern part of
the country.
[09:25:00]
And historically strong bomb cyclone, as it's known, that hit Wednesday is moving away from the region. It brought extreme rain, winds and mountain
snowfall. Many forecasters believe the impacts of the new storm will be less severe. Protesters in Kenya threatened to occupy the parliament again
today, that is where President William Ruto delivered his State of the Nation speech just a short time ago.
Mr. Ruto is canceling deals with the Adani group to build power lines and plans to take over the main international airport, which were major issues
for protesters during the riots of June and July. Well, the head of the Adani group, Indian billionaire Gautam Adani has been indicted in New York,
along with other executives in a multi-million-dollar fraud scheme.
U.S. prosecutors allege, they promised more than $250 million in bribes to an Indian government official to secure solar energy contracts. The Adani
group calls the allegations baseless. I'm Becky Anderson. Time here in Abu Dhabi's 25 past 6. Ahead on the show, a lackluster revenue forecast for --
AI chip maker Nvidia ahead the ripple effects that earnings report is having through global markets. And why this isn't the only thing weighing
on investors' minds. More on that is coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. You're watching "Connect the World". It is just before half past 6 here, which means it is just before
half past 9 in New York. We are then moments away from the opening bell on Wall Street and the tech heavy NASDAQ is one to watch today.
That is as a result of Nvidia, whose shares fell about 4 percent in pre- market trading. Now, the U.S. based $3 trillion company these days, surpassed earnings forecasts late yesterday, but still fell short of
investor hopes. Combined with geopolitical tensions around the world, very specifically, what is going on between Ukraine and Russia.
This creeping escalation really having a ripple effect across one of these tech heavy markets in Asia. The NIKKEI, HANG SENG and SEOUL KOSPI all
closing lower so as we wait for the opening bell on Wall Street. Let's get to Anna Stewart, who has been looking at these Nvidia numbers and how they
are likely to play out.
[09:30:00]
Today, the problem with Nvidia is that, unless it completely exceeds analyst and investor expectations these days, it is a bad period for them,
because the numbers on the face of it look perfectly fine --
ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: Every quarter. I think we have the same story here.
ANDERSON: Yeah.
STEWART: What's so interesting, of course, is this is the world's most valuable listed company. So, any moves on Nvidia tends to move stock
markets around the world. And of course, it's a real barometer of the health and tech sector, because this is such an integral part of the AI
revolution.
It's in the DNA of AI. It's part of the infrastructure, so it's critical to that. Now let's look at the numbers for Nvidia's earnings. This is for the
third quarter revenue, Becky, was up 94 percent compared to last year, so it actually nearly doubled. But the thing is, if you compare that to the
third quarter of last year, well, revenue was up more than 200 percent year on year.
So here you can see why Wall Street has such lofty expectations of that not lofty. They're, frankly, stratospheric. Even the outlook from Nvidia was
pretty good. They are pinning all their hopes on the latest generation of chips. They're pulling them Blackwell. And there were concerns in the
Nvidia earlier this year that there were some production issues with that, that knocked the stock at one stage.
But on the earnings call, the CEO said they're selling more black hole products and expected this quarter, and they do expect demand as ever to
outstrip supply, and the forecast for revenue for the next quarter actually beat analysts' expectations. So, while we wait for that live price of
Nvidia, I would say while pre markets were down yesterday, they were up today. I think it will open in the green, but we'll see.
ANDERSON: Yeah, it's interesting, isn't it, because the Asian markets had a bit of a stumble overnight, and the expectations were that these markets
might take a lead from those as the oft times they do. But I mean, and with these Nvidia numbers, there were certainly some suggesting it would be a
weaker start to the opening on Wall Street.
But look, I mean, it's a pretty strong start. Again, futures were indicating as such, and it does feel as if there's some wind in this market
still, despite the fact I'm talking about the New York markets, of course, despite the fact that there are many and you'll be talking to them.
I'm sure your source is telling you that these stock markets are due a bit of a correction at this point. But given the enthusiasm that Donald Trump
has for Wall Street and those he is putting together as his cabinet around him, many of whom are straight out of Wall Street, it does feel as if this
market has got some distance to go. Your thoughts?
STEWART: A huge excitement on stock markets, at least ever since the election. So of course, we've seen that you would expect to see at some
stage, perhaps a little bit of a pullback. But with AI, particularly, Becky, there's been all these rumors that perhaps AI is going to hit a
wall.
And perhaps some of these, you know, highly valued AI companies in the tech sector will actually have some sort of correction. Is there a bit of a
bubble brewing? I actually suspect that isn't. But perhaps with Nvidia, that's the sort of company where they're not seeing the growth they've seen
in the year before.
There is maybe a limit to scaling, or a limit to revenue growth, but progression in the sector, in the technology and the applications it's
having is still very much there. And of course, the holy grail, or perhaps, you know, the end of humanity is artificial general intelligence, and
there's lots of work to be done there in the next few years.
ANDERSON: Yeah, absolutely good stuff. And let's just get that Nvidia number up for you, and you are right. You had suggested it would start in
the green, and there --
STEWART: There we go.
ANDERSON: It is. So, off some 4 percent and pre-market trade. But investors have got out of bed this morning and said, look, you know, this in this AI
sort of era is not over. It has only just begun. And those who talk about an AI winter, we are seeing some stratospheric valuations.
But this company, very specifically, is earning lots of money out of its AI chips, and therefore investors still absolutely backing this one. Thank
you. Good to have you. U.S. government has formally proposed a partial breakup of Google. On Wednesday, the Justice Department urged a federal
judge to force the sale of Google's Chrome web browser.
Now in its court filing this week, the Justice Department said spitting off chrome could help prevent a quote, illegal monopoly from occurring again.
The request could lead us to a significant change in how millions of Americans search for information, millions of people around the world,
quite frankly.
And more now on that reported Russian missile strike on Ukraine earlier today. I mean, it is what is going on in Ukraine, which has partly caused
investors to just step back from the stock markets over the past couple of sessions, investing golden and in government bonds, because people are
concerned.
[09:35:00]
CNN has obtained exclusive pictures now. That show missile debris from the overnight strike on Dnipro in the east of Ukraine. A source says the
fragments picture do not necessarily all belong to one missile, as we reported earlier. Ukraine is now assessing whether the weapon fired by
Russia, was an intercontinental ballistic missile, what's known as an ICBM after earlier claiming it was. The Kremlin itself, not commenting. I'll
leave you these pictures as we take a very short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well, this week, as part of our "Going Green" series, we've been highlighting efforts to revive what are degraded ecosystems around the
world. Well, in California, Sierra Nevada Mountains, ecologists are tapping into machine learning to uncover what are lost meadows and restore them
back to their natural geography. My colleague Julia Chatterley with this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAREN POPE, ECOLOGIST AT PACIFIC SOUTHWEST RESEARCH STATION: Let's think of the physical structure of what is a meadow. We think of these broad, green,
flat areas, and that's true, and there's so much more. We also have willow and beautiful aspen. We have lots of little channels blowing over all this
different complex habitat and soil types.
The productivity in these flood plain landscapes brings water downstream to the wildlife, the fish and the reservoirs and the people. It's all
connected.
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN ANCHOR, FIRST MOVE (voice-over): In California's Sierra Nevada Mountains, meadows have been disappearing over the last 150
years. To help bring back lost meadows, ecologists Karen Pope and Adam Cummings developed a machine learning model to identify where they once
existed.
ADAM CUMMINGS, ECOLOGIST AT PACIFIC SOUTHWEST RESEARCH STATION: We developed a suite of elevation variables that we think capture the nature
of meadows. So, we used this to look at the landscape 200 years ago and make educated guesses.
CHATTERLEY (voice-over): Their findings suggest that there used to be nearly three times as many meadows than what currently exist.
POPE: So, the lost meadow model is finding areas that have degraded so much that they've converted to forest.
CHATTERLEY (voice-over): But the model can only do so much once the lost meadow is discovered, they've got to get boots on the ground and come up
with a restoration plan.
CUMMINGS: This is our restoration work here. So, we're getting water spreading. This was built maybe six weeks ago, two months ago. The response
can be instantaneous. The animals respond very rapidly, and the plants start to show up really quickly too.
POPE: There are probably 30 trees used in this one structure to hold this in place.
[09:40:00]
We have two more feet to go before we're going to get full meadow vegetation out on that flood plain, 100 years of degradation, sometimes it
takes more than one year of restoration to get the results we're hoping for.
CHATTERLEY (voice-over): Once these natural structures are put in place, Adam says the meadows will start to self-regulate over time.
CUMMINGS: Once that vegetation starts to grow, the meadow has a lot more resiliency, and that water table is going to stay high, and we don't need
to come back year after year after year to keep doing restoration.
POPE: Meadows are now 2 percent of this year in Nevada, they probably were about 6 percent. So, if we do nothing, we will lose our meadows. What we
see here is occurring around the world. Our focus is to extend the modeling efforts to some other areas where this model can be really valuable. We're
moving in the right direction, and so fabulous to see.
CUMMINGS: What the lost meadow model does is it unlocks our vision of the potential for the future, which is really a hopeful thing for me.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, for more on this series, you can visit cnn.com/goinggreen. Well, she's given as many laughs as Bart's uncool best friend on the
Simpsons, but after 35 years, voice actor Pamela Hayden is hanging up her mic. Here she is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAMELA HAYDEN, LONGTIME VOICE ACTOR: I'm Pamela Hayden. Hi. Wow, cool. I do Jimbo Jones, one of the boys. Don't mess with me. I'm Rob, and sometimes
Todd, and my main guy is Milhouse. This is where I come to cry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Simpson created a match. Groening paid his respect to Hayden, saying she made Milhouse hilarious and real. She was first introduced in
1989 named after Former U.S. President Richard Millhouse Nixon. Groening said he chose the name as it was the most unfortunate name a kid could
have.
We'll stay with this. "World Sports" up after this short break. I'll be back with more news in 15 minutes for the second hour of "Connect the
World".
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:45:00]
(WORLD SPORT)
[10:00:00]
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