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Cardinals Vote for New Pope on Day 2 of the Conclave; Putin: Talks with China's Xi Jinping "Warm and Substantive"; China Calls for Restraint Amid India-Pakistan Tensions; Trump Says he Won't Cut China Tariffs Before Talks. Aired 9-10a ET

Aired May 08, 2025 - 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, it's 03:00 p.m. at the Vatican, where it may not be long before we see the next smoke signal from

Roman Catholic Cardinals choosing the next Pope. 05:00 p.m. here in Abu Dhabi. I'm Becky Anderson from our Middle East Programming Headquarters.

This is "Connect the World".

Also coming up, India and Pakistan exchange missile and artillery fire with casualties on both sides as their furious disputes over Kashmir heats up.

Meanwhile, Russia's Putin and China's Xi vow to work together even more closely as the two presidents met in Moscow. Donald Trump says he's wrapped

up major trade deal with the UK. We are expecting to hear from him in an hour.

Stock Market in New York opens about 30 minutes from now, and stock futures higher on news of that imminent trade deal with Britain back for you on the

street at 09:30 Eastern Time for the bell. Well, this hour, we are on Conclave watch as 133 Cardinals prepare for another round of voting to

select a new Catholic Pope.

A few hours ago, we saw the black smoke billowing from the chimney at the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City, which signifies that the Cardinals failed

to elect a new Pope after two rounds of voting earlier today. CNN's Ben Wedeman is following this story for us from Rome and joining us now. It is,

of course, the white smoke that the world is waiting to see, and we'll know that the 133 Cardinals have settled on a new Pontiff. Is it any clearer who

might be emerging as the front runner Ben?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I know Becky, and it's kind of hard to cover a story where you depend primarily on smoke signals.

But what we know is that there are two more votes this afternoon that are scheduled to take place. If there is a positive vote in either of those

two, we will soon thereafter see that white smoke as soon -- as far as who are the top contenders?

Well, Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of the Vatican, who was a very close ally of Pope Francis, is considered the top runner. But in fact,

that's what we heard before the Conclave began yesterday. Since then, it's a complete lockdown, a shutdown. We have no sources in -- on the inside,

and nobody in the Sistine Chapel is in a position or even has the ability to communicate with the outside world.

So really, it's all just speculation, and we wait. Now we were here at about exactly noon, local time when that black smoke billowed from the

chimney installed in the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. There was sort of a grown a sigh of disappointment from the thousands of people gathered here.

But then again, most of them went off to lunch, and I think they're starting to come back again to see if something happens this afternoon. But

we need to keep in mind that this takes time. There are more Cardinals in this Conclave than ever before. 80 percent of them were appointed by

Francis, so they have no experience in the Conclave business. So, it's a learning process. So, you like us, like everybody else is going to just

have to be patient, Becky.

ANDERSON: Well, in the age, yes, we will. In the age of social media, you and I know we see leaks before any major, big news story breaks these days.

In 2025 it does seem remarkable that the Vatican is still able to keep the votes quiet until a decision is made Ben, don't you think?

WEDEMAN: Yes, they do go to incredible lengths to try to maintain the secrecy of what goes on inside the Sistine Chapel. In addition to

confiscating all communications devices from not only the Cardinals but the staff who are helping out with the Conclave.

The Cardinals have to take a vow of secrecy before the Conclave begins and anybody who breaks the rules will be excommunicated. The staff also had to

make a vow of secrecy as well. There are signal jammers around the Sistine Chapel and the other areas where the Cardinals are located to stop any sort

of electronic eavesdropping.

[09:05:00]

So certainly, the measures are there. Beyond that it would be very difficult to actually get information out of the Sistine Chapel. And

certainly, if you hear anybody saying, my sources on the inside say X, Y and Z. Well, take that all with a pinch of salt, Becky.

ANDERSON: It's good to have you. Ben, always a pleasure. Thank you very much indeed. Well, India's Prime Minister speaking out for the first time

since Indian forces attacked what they called terrorist targets in Pakistan and in Pakistan, controlled Kashmir.

Narendra Modi calling for and I quote him here, continued alertness and strong coordination. His comments come as more shelling is reported by both

sides across Kashmir's de facto border. And Pakistan is claiming it has shot down more than two dozen drones that were launched from India.

As we reported in detail yesterday, Pakistan is vowing to retaliate to these strikes. India says these strikes were carried out in response to the

deadly massacre of more than two dozen tourists last month in the Indian controlled part of Kashmir, which it blames on Pakistan. Pakistan denies

any involvement.

Well, Nic Robertson has been on top of this story for us all week. He is in the Pakistani Capital of Islamabad for you today. It's good to -- it's good

to have you, Nic. Let's just pick apart what we know here and drill down on the details. Tell us more about these drone attacks if you will?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, loitering munitions, these drones that come and loiter over a target and then zero in

on the target and explode. That's what Pakistani officials are saying India is sending over now. India has said that it sent these drones to target air

defense systems.

But I think when your kind of just look, take half a step back here and kind of look at the bigger picture, you get the sense that this is now a

rolling, continuing conflict. You know, the allegation of this, we did that. Allegation of this, we did. We did that. The picture that emerges, it

seems today, we went into last night thinking, having heard from senior Pakistani officials that they were vowing retaliation, and they would

retaliate for India's strikes killing those 31 people.

And we knew that there was an uptick in offensive across the line of control, the de facto border in India and Pakistan controlled Kashmir up

there. And actually, right now, the Pakistani information minister says the Pakistani side have killed 40 to 50 Indian soldiers across that line.

That's the sort of rolling nature of how this is sort of picking up.

But I think what even government officials here weren't expecting, as of very, very late in last night in the early hours of today, was to have this

rolling drone attack, these 25 drones, and this rolling drone attack that began about four or five o'clock in the morning and has gone on through the

day. One landed in Rawalpindi about 10 miles from here.

A lot of destruction around the main cricket stadium there. It's really rattling people here in Pakistan, and it's not really what the government,

I think, was expecting the drones of hitting Karachi in the south, in the deep south, somebody in the fields there was killed by a drone for military

personnel.

In Lahore, city of 13 million people, 13 miles from the border with India, four military personnel there injured when one of those drones got through.

So, you have strikes in the deep south, in the heartland, in the middle here in the north. It's that sense of unease now is creeping into the

population that this is not the normal form of tit-for-tat.

This is sort of beginning to be rolling conflict and I just -- you have to add to that, Pakistan still hasn't done what it said it would do, and have

those revenge attacks for the Wednesday -- the Wednesday attacks, Becky.

ANDERSON: Yeah, worrying times. It's good to have you there, Nic. Nic, is in Islamabad in Pakistan for you. I want to get you to Ukraine now with the

country's air force says Russia has quote already broken a ceasefire just hours after it began. Ukraine's military says Russia launched guided bombs

over Sumi in Northeastern Ukraine on Thursday.

Local officials there say a 55-year-old woman was killed. Vladimir Putin had unilaterally announced the three-day truce ahead of Russia's Victory

Day celebrations commemorating 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.

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Russia planning a huge military parade in Moscow on Friday. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh on the ground in Eastern Ukraine. Nick, what are you hearing

there?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I mean, obviously here in one of the largest cities we heard air raid sirens

earlier on today. And since midnight, we have been in contact with military units, often drone observation units, seeing what the impact of this

unilateral Russian declaration of a ceasefire has been on Russian military activity.

And I have to say, not a lot, ultimately, has been what we've seen as midnight struck military units that we were with showed us in the matter of

three minutes after midnight struck multiple artillery strikes that they could see on their systems. Clearly, no change. There possibly a slight

downtick because of the weather, but also many surveillance drones over the Ukrainian frontline positions sent by Russia too.

So, in the opening minutes, certainly signs of the guns not falling silent. And then as the night has progressed, we've had the attack on Sumi. We also

saw at another drone unit not far from where I'm standing, near the front lines, how they have picked up on their drones. They -- what they said were

more to strikes near their positions. Earlier on that day, we could hear the distant rumbling of artillery fire.

So, Ukraine has been clear that it is not part to this ceasefire. Its rationale is well, when we saw the Easter ceasefire of nearly 30 hours take

place. Ukraine contends that Russia used that to simply move its troops into more favorable positions for an assault that occurred at the end of

that ceasefire.

And so, they're wary about allowing that to happen this time around. And also, too, they say the evidence, what they've seen in the first hours of

this is that Russia simply is not altering its military maneuvers to some degree, the decision to say that this is not being respected is a political

one.

Ultimately, they can make the calculation, and we've seen a slight downtick in behavior here. And so, it's obvious here. I think we're seeing Kyiv

being clear that this type of ceasefire declaration is cynical, is a bid by the Kremlin to manipulate the talks and diplomatic process and enable them

to continue military news. They're basically saying on the surface that they've stopped.

But it was preceded by an extraordinary night of barrages, both by Ukraine against often Russian airports, leaving 60,000 civilian Russian air

passengers stranded, but also to horrific bombardment of multiple cities across Ukraine, leaving dead and injured.

So, no signs as we hear more and more talk about peace and ceasefire that it's actually altering the pace of the conflict. In fact, indeed, real

concerns amongst Ukrainians say that we're perhaps about to see an uptick in Russian assault across the front line, but may partially have already

begun in some areas, Becky.

ANDERSON: All right, good to have you there on the ground in Eastern Ukraine. Nick Paton Walsh for you folks. Let's move on, at this stage,

Russian President Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping have agreed to further deepen cooperation between those two countries.

These two men signed a joint statement following talks in Moscow earlier today. Mr. Xi described as in depth and fruitful. President Xi arrived in

Russia on Wednesday for a four-day state visit, and he will top a list of foreign dignitaries attending Mr. Putin's Victory Day parade, military

parade on Friday.

CNN's Senior International Correspondent Fred Pleitgen is live for you in Moscow. Both men describe the talks as productive. Putin referring to Xi

Jinping as his dear friend. Let's just do it a little on this relationship, if you will, between these two leaders and the two countries. What is --

what we've seen and heard today, tell us about this relationship at this point?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I would say this relationship for these two men is probably more important than it

ever was. And I think when Vladimir Putin addresses Xi Jinping as my dear friend, he sincerely means it, because they have been building this

relationship, really, over the last more than 10 years or so.

And I think one of the things that we see also right now is we're in all these political times with the Trump Administration and office posing

challenges for Russia, posing even bigger challenges for China, that they understand that administrations in the United States come and go, but the

relations between China and Russia, and specifically between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping have been there to stay, and certainly have grown stronger

over time.

And I think that's something that they wanted to express from this meeting today as well, where they signed several agreements. One on stability,

mutual stability, one on partnership between the two countries to deepen all of that even more. It was quite interesting to see from the readouts

that we got beforehand, that the Kremlin said that they would address the most important issues at hand.

[09:15:00]

And said that among those would be the war in Ukraine. So, the conflict in Ukraine, but then also, of course, relations with the United States. So

clearly that's something where both sides are seeing that shift that we've here heard from the Trump Administration, which really has changed the way

diplomacy is conducted since President Trump has taken office.

And I think one of the things that we see right now is that the Russians and the Chinese have a very different position than they had during the

Biden Administration. The Russians now seeing the Trump Administration making advances towards them, speaking about possible better relations,

speaking about sanctions relief, we're at the same time the Chinese, of course, are in that massive trade standoff right now with the United

States.

And I think because of that, right now, for each side, things have become even more important than they were before. Right now, the economic

relations between Russia and China are at an all-time high. The Chinese certainly very interested in a lot of the natural resources that Russia

has.

One of the things that the two men spoke about today was further gas deliveries by the Russians to China. And then, of course, Becky, the market

here in Russia has become a lot more important for the Chinese than it was before, with a lot of their products now difficult to sell in the United

States with those tariffs.

And certainly, if you go on the ground here in Moscow and other Russian cities, it is really very difficult to overstate just how many more Chinese

products you see on the shelves, how many more Chinese cars you see on the roads? So just from that vantage point, certainly the relations between

China and Russia have grown more important.

And when you saw today the interaction between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, these are clearly two men who have forged these ties for a very

long time and understand that all that will transcend the Trump Administration as well Becky.

ANDERSON: And these are two men who like a military parade. In fact, there are -- they're very fashionable these days. I think it is Donald Trump

who's organizing a military parade in Washington, of course, on June 15th this year. What is that Victory Day military parade in Moscow going to look

like tomorrow? What can we expect?

PLEITGEN: Yeah, well, the Russians say it's going to be bigger than and grander, as they put it, than any of the Victory Day parade that we've seen

in the past. Obviously, this is very important for the Russians, marking the end or marking the defeat of Nazi Germany 80 years ago. And just

because it is 80 years ago, obviously that alone makes it extremely important for the Russians.

We've already seen some of the trials that have been going on, some of the practice sessions that have been going on. So certainly, the Russians are

saying a lot of military hardware is going to be displayed, but there, once again, I think one of the things that's important for the Kremlin as well

as to show that other countries are also taking part in this apparently going to be an Egyptian contingent.

But the Russians also very keen to point out that the largest foreign contingent marching in this parade is going to be from China. Once again,

showing how important these relations are. Of course, Vladimir Putin also saying that Xi Jinping is very much his guest of honor, even though there

are 28 other heads of state who have come to Moscow to witness this parade.

But for the Russians, extremely important, not just, of course, because it is 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany, but of course, also because

of the situation that they continue to be in Ukraine, and also probably the pace at which we see these negotiations between the U.S. and Ukraine, like

U.S. and Russia, really right now, I wouldn't say stalling, but certainly not moving ahead as fast as possible, as certainly the Trump Administration

would like, Becky.

ANDERSON: Good to have you, sir, thank you. Well ahead on "Connect the World" we're going to return to that conflict between India and Pakistan

and ask can both nations find an off ramp that leads to de-escalation on that after this?

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ANDERSON: Let's do more on the India, Pakistan conflict. This is important, and fears that it could erupt into a full-scale war. Pakistan says it shot

down 25 drones fired from India today, and shelling is reported across what is the de facto border of disputed Kashmir.

Amid growing calls to de-escalate, analysts say both countries may be looking to find an off ramp enabling each of them to claim victory, even if

the rhetoric right now suggests otherwise. I want to bring in Sajjan Gohel. He's the International Security Director at the Asia Pacific Foundation.

It's good to have you. It's been some time, sir. Welcome back to the show. The fog of war can often make de-escalation incredibly difficult, of

course. Do you see an off ramp at the moment?

SAJJAN M. GOHEL, INTERNATIONAL SECURITY DIRECTOR, ASIA-PACIFIC FOUNDATION: Becky, I think it is possible for there to be that off ramp that you are

talking about, but it's going to require de-escalation with good faith, and that's going to necessitate, in many ways, one of the sides to basically

say that they have now reached their limit as to what they are willing to pursue.

And we've seen overnight and another escalation occur. And that raises the concern that we haven't reached the end of the skirmishes between India and

Pakistan.

ANDERSON: And it's interesting, isn't it, because you've said in the past, and I agree with you here, that controlling the narrative is actually

another conflict point. And we are seeing statements from both India and Pakistan with their perspectives. And I've spoken to both sides this week,

very specifically the Defense Minister yesterday.

And there was a real effort, once again, to obviously, sort of control the narrative with the rhetoric that we're hearing. What do the things that we

are hearing, that they are saying, tell us about where this conflict is headed at the moment?

GOHEL: So, it's very interesting. You have the actual conflict, the physical one, and then you have the war of words, the war of information.

And it's interesting how, for example, Pakistan's Defense Minister that you mentioned has been trying to frame the incident. He's spoken about the fact

that Pakistan was take -- was able to take down five Indian fighter planes.

There's no actual evidence to support that as yet. That doesn't mean that Indian planes didn't take some hits. It's very possible when India was

successful in conducting coordinated multiple strikes, they would have factored in a potential repercussion from Pakistan. But five planes,

there's not much evidence to support that.

You have to think about the fact Becky that a lot of this is being played out also for domestic audiences. Asim Munir, the Chief of Army Staff of

Pakistan, has had his reputation severely damaged by this incident, and now Pakistan's military has to be seen to be taking the lead.

ANDERSON: Let's just talk about where we are seeing international reaction to this. And I very specifically want to talk about Pakistan's relationship

with China, and then the U.S. response to what we are seeing. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute says that between 2020 and 2024, 60

percent of China arms exports went to Pakistan.

China was certainly at the outset and certainly after the massacre on April the 22nd has called for de-escalation. What reactional efforts on China's

part are we seeing to support that call.

GOHEL: It's a really interesting question, because, as you say, China has been increasingly become the major importer of their defense weapon

procurement systems, their hardware, their fighter planes, tanks, missiles. Pakistan has been moving away from a reliance on the U.S.

[09:25:00]

And in many ways, the U.S. has also put heavy restrictions on Pakistan as to what they can use. So, for example, Pakistan has access to F16s. They

are not allowed to use them in conflict with India. Whereas the JF17 that has been jointly manufactured between Pakistan and China. It can be used.

And I think China is also going to be monitoring what is transpiring, in many ways. One to see how their weapons actually fare in a conflict.

Because up till now, we've not seen Chinese weapons being used in hot conflicts. This is the very first occasion, and at the same time, China has

slowly been working and improving its relationship with India after the 2020 Galvan Valley conflict.

So, they do not want Pakistan to further escalate problems. And at the same time, they're going to be curious to see how their weapons fare in this

conflict.

ANDERSON: Yeah, it's good to have you Sajjan. Thank you very much indeed. The Trump Doctrine of Foreign Policies to teams stay out of conflict

generally, we've seen Secretary of State Marco Rubio speak to the security advisors of both Pakistan and of India, and we've also heard Donald Trump

call this escalation a shame.

It will be interesting to see where this goes and what Washington's view is on this, if indeed it does escalate. Well, coming up new reaction from the

U.S. President after the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady. And we're expecting an announcement today on a trade deal between the U.S. and

the UK, we head to Wall Street see our markets are reacting to all of this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. You're watching "Connect the World". Your headlines this hour, 133 Catholic Cardinals are

preparing for another round of voting in the coming hours. Earlier today, black smoke billowed from the Sistine Chapel chimney seen here, signaling

that a decision has not yet been reached on who will be elected that new Pope.

Well, Chinese President Xi Jinping has been in talks with his Russian counterpart in Moscow, the two men agreeing to further deepen their

partnership. Mr. Xi on a four-day state visit to Russia. Tensions remain high in India and Pakistan after India attacked targets in Pakistan and

Pakistan administered Kashmir. Islamabad today, saying it shot down 25 drones fired from India and both sides reporting shelling across the de

facto border of Kashmir.

[09:30:00]

Let's get you the opening bell today, Aspen Insurance ringing in the trading day. The stock market certainly on the futures were indicating a

better open today. Let those markets settle down a little bit and see whether those futures gave us a good indication. Little higher is the story

in there. We are seeing exactly that. DOW about a half of 1 percent the S&P and the NASDAQ also higher.

U.S. President Donald Trump on the offensive today calling Jerome Powell a fool after the Fed announced it will hold interest rates steady. Powell

said that while the U.S. economy is healthy right now, tariffs will materially impact its trajectory.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEROME POWELL, U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIR: If the large increases in tariffs that have been announced are sustained, they're likely to generate

a rise in inflation, a slowdown in economic growth and an increase in unemployment. My gut tells me that uncertainty about the path of the

economy is extremely elevated and that the downside risks have increased.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: It's kind of ECON 101, isn't it? Donald Trump, of course, wants those rates to come down. Meantime, President Trump touting a major trade

deal with the United Kingdom that he says will be announced next hour. The British Prime Minister confirming the deal a short time ago. Let's get you

Alayna Treene, who is at the White House. At this point what do we expect this deal to look like?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Becky, despite what we heard from President Donald Trump himself, this morning, he was posting up a

storm on social media. He argued it is going to be a full and comprehensive agreement.

However, we are learning more details of what this actually is going to look like. And from what we can tell, it's going to be very limited in

scope. It actually will be light on specifics. It's more so kind of giving the parameters of what a deal will look like, and then the deal itself is

actually expected to be expanded, have language hammered out some at -- some point in the future.

So, we're going to get some details today, but it's not going to be as comprehensive as the president has been describing it. Now as part of that,

we're learning that it's expected to be heavy on future commitments and leave the existing 10 percent universal tariffs in place.

We also know they're expected to have some sort of announcement on easing some of the tariffs for the automobile industry in the United Kingdom, and

in a return, the president is also expected to ease some of the steel and aluminum tariffs on the United Kingdom. As you know, they, like every other

country, is facing a 25 percent tariff on steel and aluminum imports into the United States.

Now, one thing as well that I think is important to keep in mind here is just how important this is for the White House. For weeks now, pressure has

been mounting on top Trump Administration officials to get any sort of progress done when it comes to these trade deals, and specifically trying

to ease some of the economic turmoil from the president's tariff policies.

I know behind closed doors, there has been some anxiety about wanting to make sure that they can deliver good news to the American public when it

comes to the economy, especially as the president continues to urge them to be patient.

Now the president also says that this is going to be the start of many deals that they are expected to announce. And one thing that was

interesting about this announcement, we learned last night that it was going to be, of course, between the United States and the UK, is that a lot

of people didn't expect this.

The first trade deal that this White House and this administration struck to be with a European ally they had been talking about really wanting to

start with some of the deals in the Indo-Pacific region, including India, Japan, South Korea. A part of that, of course, a strategy to try and

increase pressure on China.

But what we are hearing now from Trump Administration officials is they did want to highlight the quote, unquote, special relationship the United

States has with Great Britain. And we are going to see the president at 10:00 a.m. in the Oval Office will be joined by some UK officials.

We're told not the Prime Minister, though not Keir Starmer, he is not able to attend, but we're going to hear more from the president himself directly

at 10:00 a.m. and hopefully get a fuller picture of what actually this deal entails, Becky.

ANDERSON: Yes, good to have you. Thank you. And likely to hear from Keir Starmer in the UK about this. It's a big deal for Britain, of course, after

leaving the EU with Brexit back in 2017 the Britain, certainly the UK, has been looking for this deal for a very long time, and also talking about

having closed out a deal with India this week as well. So, it's been a big week for Britain. Thank you for that.

President Trump says he will not cut tariffs on China ahead of Saturday's trade talks. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative

Jamieson Greer will meet with China's top economic official in Switzerland over the weekend. CNN White House Correspondent Kristen Holmes has more the

tensions between the world's two biggest economies.

[09:35:00]

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Donald Trump doubling down on his rhetoric against China, saying that he would not

drop the 145 percent tariff on China to bring them to the negotiating table. This is incredibly important for a number of reasons.

One, of course, we have seen that trade between the two countries, the U.S. and China, has effectively come to a grinding halt after this tit-for-tat

escalation. It's also important because of what we learned yesterday that Secretary, Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, along with other top trade

officials in the U.S. will meet with their Chinese counterparts next week.

Scott Bessent really trying to downplay and temper expectations out of that meeting, saying they didn't believe it would be a deal, but it would be

something to possibly get to a page where they could de-escalate. One interesting part about what Donald Trump says, it really goes back on what

we heard him saying this weekend when he was asked during an interview if he would lower those tariffs.

He said that he believed they would eventually likely lower those tariffs, because he acknowledged that business so it was impossible to do, given the

current stance, given that current tariff number. So right now, ahead of those negotiations, ahead of those conversations, Donald Trump, going back

to that hard line of 145 percent tariffs on China, Kristen Holmes, CNN, the White House.

ANDERSON: Well, you're up to date on the news this hour. World Sport is coming up in just a few minutes. And I'll be back with the second hour of

"Connect the World" after that, just after this very short break, the special edition of CNN's Call to Earth series takes you to Hawaii

conservationists doing all they can to ensure the survival of one of the Ocean's oldest living animals.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Well, in Hawaiian culture, sea turtles are symbols of protection. Their own survival is in danger from threats like habitat loss, plastic

pollution and fishing. Today on "Call to Earth" we join a dedicated rescue team working tirelessly to protect them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAIN ASHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's mid-morning in Maui, Hawaii, and a small team from the Maui Ocean Center Marine Institute, MOCMI

is responding to a hotline call.

KATIE ORNEALS, SEA TURTLE REHABILITATION TECHNICIAN: We got a call this morning, around 09:30 about a turtle with some fishing line wrapped around

the neck. Let's get the fly nuts. We removed the fishing line and found that there was no broken skin or anything like that. So, the turtle was

cleared to be released.

ASHER (voice-over): After taking some measurements -- and placing tags, this green sea turtle is ready to go. Fortunately, its injury could be

treated on site, but not all of their patients are so lucky.

[09:40:00]

Dustin Paradis is the executive director at MOCMI overseeing the rescue and rehab of sea turtles in critical condition.

DUSTIN PARADIS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MAUI OCEAN CENTER MARINE INSTITUTE: The majority of the cases that we see are due to fishing line entanglement, the

flipper is severely compromised, so we use multi modal approach to try to preserve that flipper. So, we will amputate flippers in a worst-case

scenario.

So, this turtle had entanglement on both front flippers around the neck as well, and then the hind flippers were entangled. So, this turtle was a mess

when we got it. So, we treat these turtles every 72 hours when they first come in, so they're on antibiotics. So, we draw blood weekly to monitor the

healing process. So, we have another green sea turtle patient here. It was found on the beach with a broken humerus bone.

ASHER (voice-over): Kirby (ph) was flown in from Hawaii Island two weeks ago and required an amputation due to the severity of its condition.

PARADIS: So, there's no bone remaining in here in this flipper area, it's just soft tissue. And these patients heal up very quickly, so they take

about two weeks after surgery. So, we're just going to do some quick laser therapy, topical therapy, and do a blood drop, and we'll be on our way with

this patient. Our average stay for our rehab patients is about 45 days, which is a pretty quick turnaround.

ASHER (voice-over): Since 2020 Dustin says they've rescued over 1400 turtles and more than 85 percent of the injuries documented were caused by

fishing gear. Green sea turtles are considered a keystone species, critical in maintaining a healthy balance in marine ecosystems listed as threatened

under the Endangered Species Act in 1978 they are showing signs of recovery in Hawaii, but they are still at risk.

PARADIS: What I really enjoy is getting the community involved, because it amplifies our effect, and it also gives the community a little bit more

ownership to take a hands-on approach and empower them to make a change.

ASHER (voice-over): A few weeks on, and Kirby is ready to return home.

PARADIS: We're going to take a little bit of our last-minute data, and then we're also going to take it down to the beach and set it in the water and

set it free.

PAUL MCCURDY, VETERINARIAN: Before we get them back out in the wild, I want to make sure they're going to be comfortable and that they'll be able to

forage and get back to normal activities. Everything looked great. The remaining three limbs look very healthy. Passed the swim test, he looks

great.

DARBY RYON, CONSERVATION PROGRAMS TECHNICIAN: The best part of this entire rehabilitation process is being able to see the turtle go back into the

water.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, you guys ready? They're going to get about just a comfortable depth, knee deep, and then they'll deposit the turtle in

and let it swim free.

RYON: It's even better when you see them out there, months, years after we've actually rehabilitated them, to know that they're out there, to know

that we made a difference for that turtle and it's out there, surviving.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Well, let us know what you are doing to answer the call using the #calltoearth. I'll be back in 15 minutes.

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[09:45:00]

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