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CNN International: Zelenskyy: New Russian Missile is "Severe Escalation" of War; Trump Picks Pam Bondi as Attorney General after Gaetz Withdraws; Gunmen Kill at least 42 in Northwest Pakistan; Up 45 Percent Since Trump Won November 5th Election; Bitcoin Within Striking Distance of $100K. Aired 9-9:45a ET
Aired November 22, 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, the Ukrainian Defense Minister blaming Russia for escalating its war with the introduction of
North Korean troops and yesterday's new ballistic missile. It is 04:00 p.m. in Kyiv. It's 06:00 p.m. here in Abu Dhabi. I'm Becky Anderson. You are
watching "Connect the World" and wherever you are watching, you are more than welcome.
Also coming up in the next two hours, an Australian teenager is the sixth tourist to die after suspected methanol poisoning in Laos. Donald Trump's
incoming national security adviser warns of a strong response to the ICC after it issued an arrest warrant for the Israeli Prime Minister. And the
attention swings to Trump's other controversial picks after Matt Gaetz bows out of the running to be the next U.S. Attorney General.
Well, the stock market in New York will open about 30 minutes from now, and a quick look at the future shows a mixed bag. One interesting thing in the
world of finance, crypto, which is on the rise -- in part to the U.S. President-elect. We'll explain in half an hour's time, right after that
opening bell at 09:30 a.m. New York time.
Well, a week of escalating danger in Ukraine, punctuated by today's closure of the country's parliament. Lawmakers say they are fearful of Russian
missile strikes. The cancelation coming a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin said his military struck Ukraine's Dnipro region with a new
medium range ballistic missile.
The Kremlin today calling it a response, to quote, reckless decisions by Western countries supplying weapons to Ukraine. Well, President Volodymyr
Zelenskyy says use of the new missile by Russia amounts to a severe escalation in what is this nearly three-year-old war.
And it is coming while Ukraine struggles along the front lines and faces an influx of North Korean troops fighting alongside Russian forces. Ukraine's
Defense Minister addressed the increasingly difficult conditions in comments, earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSTEM UMEROV, UKRAINE'S DEFENSE MINISTER: It's already a second time they escalate more within this year. One they send the DPRK soldiers contingent
in the -- now they use the missiles. So, at this stage, we're working on increasing the capability, air defense capability, and we're working on
replying.
The situation in a front line of the unprovoked Russian war against is difficult. Russia is attempting to gain territories with a huge losses and
equipment in manpower. That's why they invite --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: All right, Nick Paton Walsh connecting this hour from Kyiv. Russians, sorry, Ukraine's Defense Minister there sent situation on the
front line is difficult. Is that an understatement? And what could actually turn the tables back in favor of Ukraine at this point? What's the
perspective there?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. I mean, look, we hear quite regularly bad news from the front line here in
multiple different directions. And I think that is essentially just the compound effect of Russian advances. And as you heard there, their
extraordinary tolerance for casualties over months.
And so yeah, in multiple directions now, Kupiansk to the south of Kharkiv, around Pokrovsk, particularly Kurakhove of the south of Pokrovsk. And even
suggestions too, that in Zaporizhzhia in the East there, that the Russians are advancing towards supply lines and possibly to the west near the
Zaporizhzhia city as well, might be preparing to pressure too.
So negative across the front line certainly echoed too by U.K. Defense Intelligence, part of the Ministry of Defense in London, saying on
Thursday, rare, frankly, that they offer anything other than a positive assessment of Ukraine, saying that the front line was more unstable than at
any time since the invasion.
That's stark language, frankly, to hear. And it is, I think, a reflection of the negative battlefield situation Kyiv is certainly in. The anti-
personnel mines rushed in by the Biden Administration through a late policy change. They're unlikely to get there really in time.
They might potentially slow any further rush in advance. I don't think we're talking about a collapse at this point, but I think we are certainly
talking about the consistent negative news becoming the dominant narrative.
[09:05:00]
That was something that Ukraine tried to reverse by its incursion into Russia to take parts of Kursk, but it still holds, hasn't, unfortunately,
it seems, lasted necessarily long enough, and indeed, too. We're also hearing that Russia is now persistently pushing on those Ukrainian forces
too.
So, a negative picture for Ukraine, but geopolitically, a staggering one to, Becky. We have just seen a week of remarkable change in this war.
Friday, last week, a week ago, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz rings Vladimir Putin, for the first time, really a Western leader reaching out to the
Kremlin head, breaking isolation.
He did it, it seems, for domestic political reasons with an election coming up. And then U.S. attack comes fired by Ukraine into Russia after a very
lengthy debated and delayed U.S. policy change and now this extraordinary use of a new experimental missile. I think all the different assessments of
it certainly agree that it's different.
It's new. It's not something that's been seen before. Many experts point to the images you've seen coming out of the sky. There multiple different
projectiles -- from one single missile that is normally reserved for a nuclear payload, but clearly Russia here trying to show that it's using
those on conventional weapons instead claiming hypersonic speeds.
That's backed up, I think, by assessments from Ukraine's Defense Intelligence saying today that they think this is a Kedr missile, a
different name for it. They believe Russia maybe only has two prototypes. That's what they think they saw in October, but they hope that's the case.
Maybe they produced more. So, it's fast. It is, according to Vladimir Putin able to get past any kind of Western air defense. And I think it's Russia's
response to a Biden White House who made it quite clear that they were being provocative when they finally decided to use the attack of missiles.
It was, you know, their response to what they saw was Russia's escalation with North Korean troops. I should point out to you, Becky, as well. We are
hearing from a Ukrainian defense source that more Ukrainian personnel, sorry, North Korean personnel have been spotted in Mariupol, a port city.
The defense source we spoke to saying that actually, in Russian uniform, it's not quite clear what they're there for, but a sign, perhaps, of North
Korean presence and other areas around the front lines, other than Kursk, where U.S. officials have suggested the majority of their numbers will be,
Becky.
ANDERSON: Yeah, and you noted the Deputy Chief of the British Defense Staff speaking to a U.K. Parliament Defense Committee earlier on, talking about,
you know, his sort of pessimistic sort of sense of where Ukraine is at, and also trying to reassure people that the military in the U.K. is ready.
But it's an extraordinary moment for a military official to be publicly hypothetically envisioning, you know, the very idea of a Russian attack.
Nick, it's good to have you. As you say, it has been a remarkable seven days, and in terms of the Ukrainians, a very worrying one. Thank you.
Well, let's connect you to a developing story from Iran. This hour, the country has advanced its act announced, its activating advanced new
centrifuges. These are devices that will be used to enrich uranium for Iran's nuclear program. Now, Tehran says it is taking the measures to,
quote, protect the country's interests as well as develop what it calls peaceful nuclear energy.
Well, the announcement comes just one day after the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency ordered Iran to cooperate with it more. Well, the news
coming, of course, at a time of extreme tension in the Middle East, that's where we've also been getting a reaction to arrest warrants issued by the
International Criminal Court for Israel's Prime Minister and former defense minister and a top Hamas commander.
With more, let's bring in Nic Robertson, who is in Jerusalem. Nic, Donald Trump's incoming National Security Adviser, tweeting that the ICC has no
credibility. And quote, you can expect a strong response to the antisemitic bias of the ICC and U.N. come January. Let's start there.
What do we understand that response might be from a new Trump Administration? And what has the response 24 hours on to the news that
these arrest warrants are being issued? What's been the response? Where you are?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, a full-throated response by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, supporting himself, drawing
the analogy that this is effectively against the country, undermines its ability to fight its enemies. That's a line picked up by the defense
minister echoed by the former defense minister as well the foreign minister.
[09:10:00]
There is strong support for the prime minister, for the former defense minister, and condemnation of what the ICC is doing here. I think in terms
of what we've heard from Mike Waltz, the expected to be the incoming National Security Adviser for President Trump.
It's interesting. Look, everyone knows that there will be a difference in the way, the Biden Administration and the Trump Administration portend
themselves. Put on display their innermost feelings. We got a sense of that yesterday, though, from President Biden, who said that the ICC decision was
outrageous.
I think what we're seeing the scenes set for here with the Trump Administration is to be more forthright and more open and more public down
the line. The United States, however, already under this Biden Administration defends and supports Israel at the U.N. defends Israel's
positions, is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, which supports the ICC and therefore does not support the ICC decision.
I think what Waltz is setting out there is something that's going to be the more full-throated response in future situations like this from the Trump
Administration, and possibly an effort to do more to cut funding for U.N. institutions and more to talk down bodies like the ICC.
ANDERSON: Thank you, Nic. Nic is in Jerusalem. Time there is 11 minutes past 4. It's 11 minutes past 6 here in the UAE, and just after 10 past 9 on
the East Coast, where Donald Trump has been wasting no time naming a new pick for U.S. Attorney General, after his first one dropped out on
Thursday.
The president-elect put forward Pam Bondi, the Former Florida Attorney General, sources say Trump's allies quickly got behind Bondi, who has close
ties with others on Trump's team and is well connected on Capitol Hill. Former Congressman Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration Thursday, saying
he was unfairly becoming a distraction.
Gaetz has denied an accusation that he paid a 17-year-old girl for sex. A source told CNN Trump called Gaetz early -- Thursday -- time he didn't have
the votes to win confirmation in the Senate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. KEVIN CRAMER (R-ND): It was made clear that there's not a path, and if there's not a path, you just spend a lot of political capital for losing
cause, and it wouldn't have been worth it. I know enough people that were a hell no in the conference to know the path would have been very, very
difficult if possible, and I doubt it was.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Alayna Treene joining me now. What do we know about what went on behind the scenes, and this move from Gaetz very rapidly, it now seems to
Pam Bondi, and why Bondi as a choice by Trump?
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: I'll start with the first part of your question, Becky, it was made clear, just as Senator Kevin Cramer said there
and that clip you played, that he was not going to be able to get the necessary votes he needed to be confirmed by the Senate.
That was something that I know many people close to Donald Trump and working on the transition team had acknowledged and were concerned about.
But really it became even clearer after he had met with a series of senators on Wednesday, alongside the incoming Vice President-elect J.D.
Vance.
And I was told that those concerns were communicated with Donald Trump, as you mentioned, we were told that the former president called Gaetz
yesterday morning to inform him, look, the writing is on the wall. It doesn't look like this is going to work for you. It doesn't look like
you're going to be able to get the necessary votes. But he did not tell him to withdraw.
We were told that Donald Trump told Gaetz, or really allowed Gaetz, to make that decision on his own. Later in the day, of course, we saw that
announcement. I was told that Gaetz had personally called up both Donald Trump and JD Vance separately to inform him that he was stepping aside.
But as you mentioned, Donald Trump wasted no time in finding a new pick. And part of that, I was told this kind of in real time yesterday, as this
was happening, that he very much wants someone in the Attorney General quickly, and he wants that person to be one of the first people in his
cabinet that is confirmed and up and running, and that's why he kind of pushed everything else that is on his plate.
There are other cabinet picks still to be made, like treasury secretary, labor secretary, but he wanted to put his full attention on who would be
his next attorney general. I'm told he chose Pam Bondi because one they have a long-standing relationship. She defended him during his first
impeachment trial.
She knows others like Susie Wiles, Donald Trump's incoming Chief of Staff, very well. He also loves the way that she defends him on TV. This is
something we've seen him kind of weigh heavily with his picks. I want you take a listen to something that she said recently on Fox News.
[09:15:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAM BONDI, TRUMP'S NEW PICK FOR U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: The prosecutors will be prosecuted the bad ones, the investigators will be investigated because
the deep state, last term for President Trump, they were hiding in the shadows, but now they have a spotlight on them, and they can all be
investigated and the House needs to be cleaned out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TREENE: So that's exactly the type of language and TV appearances that Donald Trump values greatly. And remember, with his whoever's attorney
general ends up being, obviously, now he has Pam Bondi as his pick. He wants them to be his legal attack dog, and he believes that Pam Bondi can
be that person for him.
ANDERSON: Good to have you. Thank you very much indeed, and more U.S. politics and insight into this transition team, coming up in the next hour
and a half. Meantime, an Australian teenager has been become the sixth tourist to die after suspected methanol poisoning in Laos.
Now all of the deaths happened in the popular destination of Vang Vieng, famous among backpackers traveling through Southeast Asia. CNN's Senior
International Correspondent Melissa Bell is following the latest. She is today in Paris. And what do we know at this point, what's going on?
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're getting a clearer and clearer image of the center of what we believe is this space of
methanol poisonings. And as you said, 19-year-old Holly Bowles, the latest victim. She spent six days fighting for life and life support in
neighboring Thailand.
Before passing she had been traveling through Asia with her best friend, both of them, 19 years old, from Melbourne, Australia. Their families
expressing their shock and sadness, but these two just the latest victims. In all, we know that six foreign tourists have died, Becky, and they
include the two Australians, two Danish citizens, an American citizen and a British woman as well.
All believed to have been drinking in Vang Vieng this popular backpacker destination in Laos. We don't know yet the exact origin of the suspected
tainted alcohol, but this is something that sadly comes up relatively often in different parts of the world. Methanol used in the place of ethanol in
the making of cheap moonshine, essentially.
And it's very difficult for anyone having a cocktail, for instance, in one of these hostels in this town in Laos, they wouldn't smell it. They
couldn't taste it. It would be several hours after drinking the alcohol that they'd start having breathing difficulties. And very quickly, their
system would -- their health would deteriorate, and essentially, their organs would then shut down.
Even now, what we understand is happening is that several western consulates are still in touch with some of their citizens that are believed
to have been impacted by the alcohol, but clearly all issuing warnings, once again, that if you're anywhere on the road and serve an alcoholic
beverage where it's a shot or a cocktail, to be very careful about what might be inside.
These fatal deaths, these fatal -- these tragic accidents, sorry, happening all around this one town. Although again, Becky, we don't know very much
about exactly where the alcohol came from, Becky.
ANDERSON: Yes, disturbing stuff, isn't it? Melissa, thank you. Well, still to come. Brazilian police have indicted the Former President Jair Bolsonaro
and 36 others. That is over a plot to keep him in power after losing the next or the last election. Will the Attorney General move forward with this
case? More on that is after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:20:00]
ANDERSON: Well, Brazil's federal police have indicted the country's Former President Jair Bolsonaro and dozens of his allies for their alleged roles
in a plot to stage a deadly coup after losing the 2022 election. These indictments come after a nearly two-year investigation. Police allege
Bolsonaro had full knowledge of a plot to kill his political opponent, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva after he won the presidential election.
Well, journalist Stefano Pozzebon joins us from Bogota in Colombia. You've been watching this as it develops, and I know that sources have been
speaking to CNN, Brazil about how this might go forward. So, there's two questions here, really, Bolsonaro, how is he responding? And, of course,
what does happen next?
STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: Yes. Becky, well, Bolsonaro responded yesterday by posting on X he posted quotes for an interview that he gave to
the local newspaper Metro Police in that, in those quotes, he first said that he's yet to see the full indictment papers.
We're talking of a final investigation report of more than 800 pages, and that he would wait to see the recommendations from his lawyers. But then
immediately he started spinning it and attacking Alexandre de Moraes. This is the supreme court justice. It's a divisive and central figure in
Brazilian politics these days.
And he's both one of the targets of these alleged plot to assassinate the current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, his Vice President Geraldine,
and indeed, the Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, but Moraes is also the main judge that is overseeing this investigation, which might
sound odd for international viewers around the world, that Brazilian judges do not need to recuse themselves from cases that involve them directly.
So, Bolsonaro immediately accusing de Moraes saying that there is a weaponization of justice, and that truth will come out. He has always
denied any charge. But I think it's also interesting to hear what the other main person, the main character, is saying, which is Lula.
This is what he said yesterday, just hours before these indictments were unveiled, and talking about a plot to kill him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LULA DA SILVA, BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT: I can tell you, I have much more to be thankful for, because of my life, the attempt to poison me and alchemy did
not work. We are still here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
POZZEBON: And this Becky. It's the context is key. Here we have the President of Brazil, one of the largest countries in the world, the largest
economy of South America, openly referring and perhaps even joking about a plot to assassinate him. And we learned yesterday that prosecutors are
positive that the former president was indeed aware of these plots, and they want to put him on to trial.
That decision in terms of what happens next will fall onto the hands of the Brazilian Attorney General, who will decide whether to toss the
investigation, which at this point is very unlikely, or indeed proceed with a trial. Our sources at CNN Brazil are telling us that it's likely that we
will have this trial in spring of next year, between May, April and March, April and May of 2025.
But you can tell that this scandal is already rocketing the Brazilian politics these days right now, because, together with Bolsonaro, 36 other
people have been indicted yesterday, and among these ones are former ministers, former retired generals, the president of the party that
Bolsonaro represents, his former chief of staff.
These are the people. This was the cabinet that ruled over Brazil between 2018 and 2022 and these are the people that are likely to take into the
stand, Becky.
ANDERSON: That's an extremely wide net. Stefano, thank you. Let's get you up to speed on some of the other stories that are on our radar right now.
And we start in Pakistan, at least 42 people are dead and 20 others are wounded after gunmen opened fire and busses and cars carrying Shia Muslims
in northwest Pakistan.
On Thursday, the attack took place in the district of Kurram where clashes between Sunnis and Shias have killed dozens in recent months, no one has
claimed responsibility so far.
[09:25:00]
The Illinois Supreme Court has overturned the conviction of Actor Jussie Smollett in connection with an alleged hoax attack in 2019. The court found
that a special prosecutor should not have been allowed to intervene after initial charges against Smollett were dropped.
Smollett has maintained his innocence. And an American kayaker accused of faking his own death and leaving his family is alive and somewhere in
Eastern Europe, but will he ever come home and face justice? Whitney Wild with the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RYAN BORGWART, WISCONSIN KAYAKER: Good evening. It's Ryan Borgwart. I'm in my apartment. I am safe, secure. No problem.
WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ryan Borgwart speaking barely above a whisper in this video, he says, was recorded
November 11th. These are his first comments since disappearing in August. Police now believe the husband and father of three is alive and living in
Eastern Europe with no plans to come back to the U.S.
Though Green Lake, Wisconsin Sheriff Mark Podoll says Borgwart talks to investigators regularly.
SHERIFF MARK PODOLL, GREEN LAKE COUNTY: Our biggest concern that we had was if he was safe and well, we asked him a number of questions that pertain to
him and his family, that he would only know. And then we asked him for a video of himself.
WILD (voice-over): The search for Borgwart began this summer after he failed to return home from a day of kayaking and fishing. Law enforcement
found his capsized kayaker and other belongings, but no trace of him.
PODOLL: While we might have stopped the search on Green Lake. That didn't stop our search continuing to look for life.
WILD (voice-over): The Green Lake County Sheriff now says he planned an elaborate escape. Borgwart told investigators he paddled his kayak and a
child-sized boat out into the lake, overturned the kayak and dumped his phone in the water, paddled the inflatable boat to shore, got on an E- bike
and rode through the night to Madison.
There he boarded a bus, went on to Detroit, and eventually crossed into Canada and hopped on a plane to Europe.
PODOLL: There are communications we are expressing the importance of his decision to return hold, clean up the mess that he has created.
WILD (voice-over): A digital forensic search of Borgwart's laptop revealed that he replaced the hard drive and cleared his browser history on the day
of the disappearance.
Podoll says investigators found that the 44-year-old moved funds to a foreign bank, changed his email, communicated with a woman in Uzbekistan,
purchased airline cards and took out a $375,000 life insurance policy in January. Now that Borgwart has been found alive, law enforcement is laying
out potential charges.
PODOLL: The information that the Green Lake County has at this point leads us to an obstructing charge.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WILD (on camera): Becky, he could be facing pretty significant restitution as well. This was a really expensive search. It took seven weeks used high
end equipment. It took a lot of overtime, and the reality is he could be on the hook now for between 35 and $40,000 in restitution, and that does not
even include the at least $7,000 incurred by the non-profit that assisted in that search.
So could be facing a long list of charges, criminal charges and obviously monetary charges as well, Becky.
ANDERSON: Still not clear why he did it, correct?
WILD: Correct. I think there's a lot to unpack on that, and it's funny, because the more that we get an answer on something, the more questions
arise. So no, we don't have a definitive answer on why he did it yet, but that is the major question. Hopefully we'll get more answers at some point,
Becky.
ANDERSON: Got it. Thank you. Ahead on the show, the price of Bitcoin is in overdrive. If you own some, you will know that. If you don't you are likely
to know that too. And the craze for crypto is all about Donald Trump's return to the White House. More on that after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:30:00]
ANDERSON: Welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. You're watching "Connect the World". Time here just after half past 6 in the evening, just
after half past 9 in the morning in New York. Let's take a live look at the markets right now. The mixed picture indicated by the stock futures, and
that is the state of play, very much a mixed bag today.
But many not necessarily, watching stocks today, although they may be watching the ETF see Electronically Traded Funds, because these days you
can get some crypto in there. And Bitcoin is within striking distance of reaching $100,000. Now, the crypto currency has more than doubled in value
this year.
It is up about 45 percent just since Donald Trump's election victory on November the fifth. Now, the president-elect has promised to make the USC
crypto capital of the planet, and that may include his social media platform, truth social moving into the crypto space.
Or for more, I'm joined by CNN Business and Politics Correspondent Vanessa Yurkevich, who is live for us from New York, the truth social story here.
So, let's deal with that first. What are the details around this potential crypto payment service that truth social is considering? What might that
look like?
VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is part of Donald Trump's proposals and policies around crypto, which he has
completely embraced in the last couple months. Initially, he said that crypto was based on thin air. But as you mentioned, just one of the things
that he and his team is talking about is trademarking Truthfi.
This would be the crypto payment service associated with his social media company Truth Social. That's just one of the many, many things that he's
proposing. You can see the Bitcoin right there on election day, it just took off. We're now flirting with $100,000 per coin. That would be a new
record, if we cross that mark.
Now, in addition to trademarking Truthfi for Truth Social, he also spoke at Bitcoin 2024 in July. He helped create a company with his family called
World Liberty Financial, a crypto company. He started accepting crypto donations for his campaign. He's also suggested creating a strategic
Bitcoin reserve.
And he has surrounded himself with advisers who are incredibly crypto friendly, such as Elon Musk and also his new Commerce Secretary, who he's
just nominated incredibly crypto friendly. And also, he's met with a couple people in the crypto industry, Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase.
He met with him earlier this week. So clearly propelling his policies and proposals into the crypto universe, and that is why you are seeing that
dramatic rise in the price of Bitcoin right now, specifically.
ANDERSON: Yeah, I mean the crypto sort of leaders, crypto chiefs, as it were, have been jockeying for position, haven't they around Trump during
the campaign? One of the leaders in that sort of field, of course, is Elon Musk himself with his own crypto coin, Doge.
YURKEVICH: Yeah.
ANDERSON: And I just want to step back from those around the campaign.
[09:35:00]
I just wonder how the kind of wider business and financial world is reacting to what is going on, and indeed, to the price of Bitcoin, which,
as we've said, I mean, is down a little bit today. There are many people who own the coin who are looking for this to go north of 100,000 at this
point. So, what's the sense in the kind of wider financial market?
YURKEVICH: Yeah, President Trump has said that he wants to bring crypto into the U.S., financial banking system. But a lot of people who run major
banks in the U.S. are not really interested in that. Particularly Jamie Dinan, who spoke to Congress and talked about how much he opposes Bitcoin,
just our crypto and Bitcoin because of how volatile it is.
And he doesn't think the federal government should get involved at all. Also, just everyday financial experts are advising everyday Americans that
you really need to understand what kind of market you're investing in before you start to pour money into crypto. For example, Becky, between
November of 2021, and November of 2022, Bitcoin dropped by 75 percent so from $65,000 about per coin to $16,000 per coin.
So, if you're looking for short term investments and return on investments, this may not be the market for you, but if you do understand it and you're
willing to wait it out, like many of those people who are waiting it out right now, wanting it to cross $100,000. Sure, maybe 3 percent, 5 percent
invested into crypto.
But if you're sitting on the sidelines and you're trying to get up to speed right now on what exactly this all is probably a little bit of a volatile
market, especially with regulation not quite in place yet. That is something that President-elect Trump, of course, wants to put in place for
this industry, Becky.
ANDERSON: Yeah, and we are seeing that all over the world. I think we're looking at the U.K. delivering a comprehensive crypto regulation framework
by early 2025, is an interesting story here. A lot of enthusiasm for Bitcoin, for the crypto, sort of market as a whole out here and blockchain.
So, look, I mean, depending on I'm here, of course, in the UAE. It really depends on where you are and through which lens, you are looking
interesting. We will keep an eye on that coin as I suggested. There will be many people watching this show who will be keeping a keen eye on the price.
Thank you. Always a pleasure. We will be right back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: All right. This week on our "Going Green" series. We are highlighting efforts to revive degraded ecosystems around the world. It's
been a fascinating watch this week today in Washington, in the state of Washington, Cascade Mountain, scientists have created a living laboratory
to test new restoration methods. My colleague Julia Chatterley with this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DARCY BATURA, DIRECTOR OF FOREST PARTNERSHIPS FOR THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: We're standing on the Cle Elum Ridge, which is in Central Washington, and
this is the headwaters of the Yakima Basin.
[09:40:00]
This landscape is critical because it is feeding our rivers and streams and keeping this region healthy. My name is Darcy Batura. I'm the Director of
Forest Partnerships for The Nature Conservancy in Washington. A decade ago, we found that there's 2.7 million acres of forest across Central Washington
in critical need of restoration.
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN ANCHOR, FIRST MOVE (voice-over): In 2014, The Nature Conservancy, or TNC, acquired 50,000 acres in the central cascades to
establish a quote, living lab where they're testing innovative restoration methods to reduce wildfire risk, improve watershed health and build climate
resilience.
BATURA: The forests up here had not been maintained for a very long time, and a few years ago, we had a massive wildfire come through and threaten
this area. Fire is a natural part of our ecology, but when the forests are over stocked and dense, it's a destructive force.
CHATTERLEY (voice-over): Thick forests are like a match stick for wildfires, which is why Darcy says it's so critical to thin overgrown
areas.
BATURA: All of this would have been small, medium and larger shrubbery, which we call ladder fuels. So, when a fire comes in here, it starts low in
those shrubs and climbs up in the canopy of the trees, then spreads quickly.
CHATTERLEY (voice-over): They're also fighting fire with fire through controlled prescribed burns.
MARK CHARLTON, PRESCRIBED FIRE SPECIALIST FOR THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: With prescribed fire, we are reducing the impacts of catastrophic wildfire. We
want to reduce the amount of density. It just makes for better, healthier forest by creating these gaps.
CHATTERLEY (voice-over): Tree canopy gaps also play an important role in regulating water throughout the region, not only for agriculture and
wildlife, but also for the communities that live here.
EMILY HOWE, AQUATIC ECOLOGIST FOR THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: 75 percent of the water supplies for the whole of the Yakima Basin come from snow pack over
time, this landscape has lost water. We started setting up snow pack plots in 2018 to really measure the difference in snow packs depth and also its
duration on the landscape as a result of the thinning prescriptions we've done for wildfires.
What we're finding in this area is that if you open up a gap plot, you can increase snow pack anywhere between 1.5 to 3 times more than if you're
under a really dense forest canopy. Managing for snow is part of a multi benefit project, really. We need to also manage for timber.
We need to manage for fire. We need to manage for wildlife and birds. And so, piece by piece, working as a collaborative we can start to understand
where the intersections are, and which priorities need to take place in particular locations.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: And for more stories from this series, you can visit cnn.com/goinggreen. "World Sport" is up next. I'll be back with more
"Connect the World" in 15 minutes. Stay with us.
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[09:45:00]
(WORLD SPORT)
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