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Ukraine Updating Trump Peace Plan; Ban on Social Media for Children under 16 Takes Effect in Australia; Federal Reserve Expected to Announce Third Straight Interest Rate Cut; Syrian Army Driver Reveals Mass Graves from Assad Regime; Call to Earth: Reviving India's Waters; Abu Dhabi Grand Prix; UNESCO Could Designate Italian Food a Cultural Treasure. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired December 10, 2025 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is CONNECT THE WORLD.

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to the second hour of the show from our Middle East programming headquarters. I'm

Eleni Giokos, live in Abu Dhabi, where the time is just after 7 in the evening.

And our top story: as Ukraine prepares to hand a revised peace plan back to Washington, President Zelenskyy says elections could be held soon if

someone can make sure that it's safe.

In Australia, the world's first social media ban for children takes effect.

Meanwhile, in the United States, all eyes are on the Federal Reserve ahead of a possible interest rate cut.

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GIOKOS: Ukraine is expected to give U.S. negotiators its revised peace plan in the coming hours. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is holding the line

that Ukraine will not cede any of its occupied territory to Russia, though he admits it might not have the military strength to retake Crimea right

now.

Clare Sebastian spoke to me last hour about the type of changes Kyiv and its European allies might have made to the U.S. peace proposal

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Zelenskyy has given some broader details. What we know is that there's more than one document, the

main peace proposal, which we think has been whittled down to about 20 points.

There's a document containing concerning security guarantees and there's one on the reconstruction and restoring the economic potential of Ukraine.

So in the main document, he did say, if you get a few days ago, president Zelenskyy, that the anti-Ukrainian elements had been taken out. We assume

that that may refer to the idea that Russia wants to take territory that Ukraine still controls in the Donbas region.

In terms of security guarantees, Zelenskyy is realistic about NATO membership. He said he understands that this is not on the table for now

but he's looking for watertight Article V-style bilateral security guarantees with European countries.

And most importantly, I think with the United States as well. So that's what Ukraine is going to be pushing for. And on reconstruction, he did

mention the issue of Russia's frozen assets, many of which are held in Europe.

And he said the issue of frozen assets is partly a matter of our security. He strongly believes that Russia, having destroyed parts of Ukraine, should

foot the bill for their reconstruction and that the frozen assets are a way to do that.

So those are some of the broad brushstrokes we know. On the issue of elections, I think it's important to note that president Zelenskyy isn't

promising to hold elections at this point in a matter of 60 days.

I think this is a way of essentially flipping the narrative on that, saying, look, we could but what we would have to do would amount to

essentially a ceasefire of sorts with Russia and potentially the presence of international observers, which could look something like the security

guarantees they're pushing for on the path to peace.

So I think on the one hand, he wants to flip the narrative on this. On the other hand, I think he is still, given the position of president Trump

trying to offer up some of the demands that he is putting on the table to keep the U.S. on side. Eleni

GIOKOS: Yes. I want to talk about the Russian perspective on this peace proposal bringing an end to the war and what we've heard from the Russian

side, because we know that they want to take territory, they want to see new borders being drawn here and major concessions expected by the

Ukrainians.

SEBASTIAN: Yes. The Russian position, I think over the past nearly three weeks since that 28-point peace plan first emerged, which contained many of

Russia's maximalist demands, has only hardened.

I think Russia is now not only buoyed in its efforts to pursue what it calls the root causes of this conflict but also buoyed by the comments that

we hear from the U.S. about Europe, not only in the national security strategy but also president Trump's comments to "Politico," describing

Europe as a decaying group of nations.

This plays right into the narrative that the Kremlin has been fostering for the last year since president Trump took office. So we are now hearing more

of the open hostility from Russia toward Europe. Take a listen to the foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, today

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): As the president's emphasized, we do not intend to fight Europe. We don't have any

thought of this. But if there is any hostile step, including deploying European contingents in Ukraine or expropriating Russian assets, we will

respond.

And we are already ready for this response

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: So this, I think, is a is a threat disguised as not being a threat, which is fairly typical, I think, of the Russian rhetoric.

[10:05:02]

And I think it makes the path forward here pretty unclear. Russia signaling essentially that it wants to neuter European efforts to secure funding for

Ukraine and also to monitor any kind of ceasefire or peace deal that should arise. And it doesn't look at all clear at this point that we're going to

get that far.

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GIOKOS: Australia's new law banning children under 16 from accessing major social media platforms is drawing global attention. Other countries are

closely watching and are expected to create similar regulations for young people in the near future.

The ban on these popular social media platforms in Australia went into effect on Wednesday. Australia's prime minister says it will allow kids to

have greater peace of mind and let them, quote, "have their childhood." It's a move praised by child advocates and criticized by tech companies.

CNN's Anna Cooban is following the story for us.

Anna, great to have you with us. I mean, there's been reaction, I think, from both sides. Some agreeing with it, some saying that this is going to

hurt children's -- well, youths and teenagers' ability to connect on social media. Give me a breakdown of the reaction.

ANNA COOBAN, CNN BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, there's been a lot of praise. People saying this really couldn't have come soon

enough. We've had, you know, many years now of social media and the litany of problems that it causes, particularly for young people.

Many of the proponents of this are citing protecting children from cyber bullying, body image issues from depression, anxiety and simply allowing

them to have more of a childhood, to get outside more and not be scrolling on their phones.

But there are criticisms as well. And one of the major ones is around privacy. In order for these tech companies to be implementing this age

verification tools, they'll have to either implement or ramp up the use of AI, such as these video selfies, that can identify how old a person is.

There's lots of questions around the accuracy of that as well and whether or not adults will be asked to provide that information, too, if they get

incorrectly flagged as somebody who's under the age of 16. There's also a lot of queries around whether or not this will work.

Is this simply a case of whack-a-mole?

Are young people going to be going to other internet platforms that are perhaps less regulated to have communications with their friends?

There was one platform, It's a photo sharing platform. They've said recently that in the runup to this ban in Australia, they've added another

100,000 people. Now we don't know if that's exactly because of this ban. But that does give an indication that there might be this moving of people,

young people, to other parts of the internet

GIOKOS: I mean, the question is, are we going to see Australia not only setting a precedent but other countries following suit?

COOBAN: Yes, we do have some moves; Denmark, Malaysia, they're looking at introducing bans for teenagers on online, on social media as well.

And there's a patchwork across the U.S., different states; Nebraska signed a bill into law recently to mandate parental consent for young people to

have social media accounts. But nothing that's as blanket as we've seen in Australia today.

What's going to happen is there's going to be a wait-and-see for lots of countries and jurisdictions. Stanford University, in conjunction with the

esafety commissioner in Australia, will be monitoring, seeing how this pans out.

They're going to be looking at whether young people are socializing more, whether they're sleeping more, whether they're less depressed, less

anxious. And I think once we start to get the data rolling in from that, we'll get a sense of where other places are going to be moving.

GIOKOS: Anna, great to have you with us. Thank you so much.

I want to bring in now Matthew Sadlier in Dublin. He's a psychiatrist at a major hospital in Ireland and is a member of Health Professionals for Safer

Screens.

Michael, really good to -- Matthew, really good to have you with us. Thank you. You know, I was just listening to our reporter there, saying that

they're going to try and bring in data to see the effect of getting kids from screens.

And, you know, socializing more and to see, you know, how they perform, which is kind of crazy to me. I mean, I know you support this move.

How do you think this is going to play out?

MATTHEW SADLIER, PSYCHIATRIST: Well, look, we absolutely support this move and we'd love to see this rolled out on this side of the world as well.

And the dangers of social media, your reporter outlined the major problems, you know, access to pornography, eating disorders, self-image problems,

lower academic scores, cognitive development problems, all these have been documented very well in the scientific literature.

How will this play out is going to be very interesting because there will have to be a transition phase. And I think what people need to concentrate

is that there's two groups of children going to be affected by this.

There's one group of children who have already had a phone and already had an account that are going to have that taken off them. And that will be

difficult for them to adjust to a different world.

But that's a relatively short transition phase because there will be a generation of children behind them, who, because of this law, will never

have been exposed to this. So they won't have to transition away from social media.

So it will be more interesting to see how they develop compared to their older peers, as well as how their older peers develop.

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You know, when the technology is taken off them, will this work?

GIOKOS: Yes.

SADLIER: I'd say time will tell and it will depend what resources Australia puts in to enforce it.

And will people try and circumvent it?

Of course they will. People try and circumvent every single law that's ever been invented in human history. But that doesn't mean we legalize domestic

violence. We don't legalize other criminal activity because we know people do this.

So we would very much support this. We would love to see this come in on this side of the world as well. You know -- go on.

GIOKOS: Yes. I mean, for me, I keep saying and I've been saying this for years, that I was so glad that I was a teenager in the -- in the 1990s. And

most of my 20s I didn't have social media because it's very obvious how it impacts people and impacts kids.

I just wonder, I want you to break down the neurological impact here, because not only kids are addicted to doomscrolling and to social media but

adults are as well. So break that down for us

SADLIER: Well, you're 100 percent right. And you know, one of the good things this law will do will start to introduce a cultural shift that these

technologies are dangerous for us. There's very good scientific evidence that spending too much time on your phone.

What is too much?

Probably two hours a day. And over that causes problems with cognitive development, even in adults. It causes problems with memory, encoding of

information. It causes problems if you use a map application to find yourself, to direct yourself.

You don't internalize that journey in the same way that if you used a paper map or an offline map and thus, which is very sad for people who go on

holidays or go to places around the world that they're not internalizing experiences that they should be internalizing.

Because they're relying on this transactive memory that is being held in their hand rather than their selves. The big concern we would have,

obviously, is in regards to emotional development.

And what the problem is that a lot of teenagers and young children use phones and technology as a method of what we would call emotional

regulation, you know.

So they get a strong emotion and, instead of trying to work out their own ways of controlling their emotions, soothing their emotions and being able

to cope with life, they turn to a distraction on a phone to deal with emotional distress.

The problem is this is obvious to anybody watching this is that just leads to an ongoing escalations of emotional distress. And that's why we have

these problems.

GIOKOS: You're taking me -- you're taking me back to a bygone era of paper maps, by the way. But anyway, I want to give you a stat that the Australian

government referred to today, that 86 percent of Australians aged 8-15 use social media.

I mean, that's extraordinary. And you mentioned, you know, the circumvention of these laws.

Who's going to enforce it?

We were talking to parents.

Do parents have to intervene?

Is it social media platforms that have to make sure this happens?

I know that there is even a fine for social media networks that don't enforce this. So break that down for us

SADLIER: So the enforcement will be on the social media platforms. And they will have to develop technologies, whether that's, as your reporter

said, AI complicated mechanisms similar to banking apps and their ability to identify who you are.

And ideally, we would recommend that they use offline identification. So some identity paperwork or a government I.D. that will verify that the

person is over age to own an account.

I mean, we would love to see this brought forward where, you know, app stores, before they are allowed to sell an app, you know, have to verify

the user's age.

And also that before an app is allowed to be sold, that it goes through some safety checks and that it is safe by design and that it is safe at the

point of purchase and before people actually access it.

I mean, we have to try and move away a little bit from blaming parents because there hasn't really yet been a culture that using these

technologies is harmful, that using these technologies is unhelpful and people can only make informed choices when they are informed.

And as I said, the biggest benefit of this law is that it will spread the message that social media and excessive scrolling is not healthy. And as a

major point, I want to say that we are not against the internet. We're not against children being connected.

But it's being connected by these social media platforms that use recommender algorithm systems. Like young people will still be able to

connect with their friends by using SMS messages, by using email, by using other connected devices that doesn't expose them to recommender algorithm

systems.

Children should be learned to use, taught to use the internet in a responsible way before they enter into the world of social media.

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You know, through respectable applications like the BBC website or, you know, trusted journalistic websites, so that they learn how to absorb long-

form content, they learn how to think critically before they're exposed to the rapid, short-video recommender algorithm systems that we see in social

media.

GIOKOS: Yes, Matthew Sadlier, great to have you with us. Thank you. Thank you for breaking that down.

And still to come on CNN, to cut or not to cut. We're awaiting a critical decision by the U.S. Federal Reserve on interest rates. A look at what to

expect and why Wall Street is watching so closely. That story just ahead.

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GIOKOS: Right. We're awaiting a high-stakes decision by the U.S. Federal Reserve. In just a few hours from now, the central bank is expected to cut

interest rates today for the third time this year and would bring the Fed's key lending rate down to its lowest level since October '22.

But it also may signal that 2026 will see fewer rate cuts amid persistent inflation. CNN's Matt Egan has the latest from Washington for us.

I mean, the question of cutting rates has been so politically charged as it has been economically charged as well. We're expecting a quarter basis

point cut. Give me a sense of what outlook we're anticipating by Jerome Powell.

MATT EGAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR WRITER: Yes. Well, it does look like we're just hours away from that third straight interest rate cut from the Fed.

The market's pricing in about a 90 percent chance of a quarter point cut. Only a 10 percent chance that the Fed doesn't do anything at all.

Over on the prediction market, Kalshi, there's even more confidence, 98 percent chance of a cut there. So the Fed almost has to cut now because, if

it doesn't, it will really surprise investors. And that could rock financial markets, not something the Fed wants to do.

But to your point this has been politically charged. And what gets lost in the noise is the fact that, yes, you know what, Fed rates have come down

pretty significantly. This would be the third straight cut as I mentioned. But this would also be a three-year low.

This would leave the Fed rate about 2 full percentage points below the recent peak. If this does happen, this would, of course, be good news for

borrowers. People are trying to pay down debt. Small business owners are struggling to find affordable loans.

But this would also signal ongoing concern from Fed officials about the health of the job market. Right. It's not necessarily a cut being driven by

lower inflation, because inflation is kind of stuck at 3 percent. It's being driven by higher unemployment.

And the Fed is navigating through this significant fog driven by the government shutdown. Right. The economic numbers are stale. The jobs report

is 70 days old at this point. Not getting new jobs numbers until next week. The inflation reports have been delayed as well. A few things to watch for

in this meeting.

[10:20:00]

The expectation is that this will be a hawkish interest rate cut, meaning, yes, they'll lower interest rates but Fed officials may signal a higher bar

for future cuts.

Also, we're going to get new projections from Fed officials on how many interest rate cuts they're penciling in for next year and where they see

the unemployment rate going and inflation as well. So all of that's really going to be key in what investors and Fed watchers will be paying most

attention to.

And just one other point here, Eleni. This could be the last Fed meeting before Jerome Powell becomes effectively a lame duck. Right. His term is up

in May. The president has signaled he'll name a replacement in the coming weeks or months.

So that's another thing at play here is there's a lot of personnel changes that are coming to the Fed. And, of course, that's going to change what

they ultimately do next year when it comes to interest rates. Back to you.

GIOKOS: Matt Egan, great to have you with us. Thank you so much.

Now in the face of Americans' increasing gloom over the U.S. economy, U.S. president Trump is telling his supporters things have never been better. He

headed to a swing district in northeast Pennsylvania Tuesday, touting his economic initiatives and claiming Democrats' focus on an affordability

crisis that is a hoax.

He also veered off script, criticizing wind power, parodying a Scottish accent and slamming Somalis.

CNN Politics senior reporter Stephen Collinson has written an analysis piece on Donald Trump's Pennsylvania rally, titled, "Trump has 'fun' but

fails to feel Americans' pain on prices." He joins us now from Washington.

Really good to have you with us, Stephen. It's Fed day. It's an important day. I think we've -- we know what's been priced in. There's a lot of

questions on what happens next.

But I want to just give you a rundown on the data, because president Trump can try and talk down prices. He can try and talk down the consumer

experience. But the data speaks for itself.

Food prices surpassed a 20-year average. The Department of Agriculture says grocery prices will rise by 2.4 percent. Home prices are rising,

electricity is up, student debt loan is at record highs. Give me a sense of whether you believe he's in denial or whether he's completely out of touch

in terms of what we've heard.

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I think it's probably a combination of both. President Trump never really has ever had much of an

empathy gene when it comes to the problems of voters. He's been much more able to weaponize the anger of voters.

We saw that, especially in 2016 and 2024, in his populist economic campaigns. So I don't think it's necessarily surprising that he didn't

stand up there in Pennsylvania and say, you know, I know you've all got problems but I'm trying to help.

He doesn't really have that kind of vocabulary. And he also doesn't like any perceptions of his presidency or any assessments that aren't -- that

the country is on a spectacularly great course.

But Trump does live surrounded by a cabinet of millionaires and billionaires. Most of the people he comes into contact with are rich, down

at his Mar-a-Lago club.

You know, you probably could ask the question, when was the last time Trump ever had to worry about going to the grocery store or paying for his health

care?

So I do think in the present especially but also in other Washington politicians and even through the media, there's not a real appreciation of

the deep economic insecurity that many Americans feel.

Take health care in the United States, for example. Most people get their health care through their employers. They do pay quite substantially every

month out of their paycheck before taxes for that health care as well.

But if you lose your job, you lose your health care. And then you're looking at potentially bills of tens of thousands of dollars for a couple

of days in hospital. So there's deep insecurity. I don't think that the White House is communicating that it understands that.

GIOKOS: Yes. OK. So another thing that's playing out in the background here is Jerome Powell's term ends in May. Big talk about the replacement

and who's going to come in line. And, of course, that is an appointment that is made by the president.

There's a lot of word about Kevin Hassett, who's thought to be a frontrunner. We know the bond market pushed back on that candidacy.

And in an interview with "Politico," president Trump said that he -- that the new Fed chair will cut rates.

And I think at this point, people are asking whether the Federal Reserve's independence is going to be tested next year when a new Fed chair comes in,

because it's so politicized, Stephen, in terms of what we see on the interest rate front, even though inflation is above that 2 percent target.

[10:25:00]

COLLINSON: Yes, I definitely think that the independence of the Fed is coming into question. The president is leaving no doubt that it will. He

was asked as recently as this morning whether a new Fed chair would cut interest rates.

And he said, yes, that would be a litmus test for being appointed.

So I think we could see next year an erosion of the decades of independence of the Fed. And perhaps the consequence of that will tell us why it is best

to have an independent central bank that's not geared to boosting the fortunes of one politician.

The big worry, of course, is that, if interest rates are cut significantly, much more significantly than under Jerome Powell, that might boost the

housing market and trigger some growth.

But with prices already going up, that could just unleash a flood of cash into the economy, that could really get inflation back out of control. And

that points to one thing about president Trump's economic policies. They're often self-contradictory.

He wants to get prices down but could actually raise them through interest rates cuts.

The same effect, in fact, has happened with tariffs, because a lot of the price rises we've seen recently are because of tariffs and not, as the

president says, because the politics of the Biden administration, even though, of course, there was an inflation crisis under the previous

administration.

GIOKOS: Stephen Collinson, great to have you with us. I'm sure we'll be watching the Federal Reserve's announcement, 2 pm Eastern. That is when

we'll get the news. Good to have you on.

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GIOKOS (voice-over): All right. I want to get you up to speed on some other stories that are on our radar right now.

The U.S. is in discussions with Turkiye about its rejoining the F-35 fighter jet program. In 2019, equipment related to the jets was halted by

the United States due to Turkiye's decision to purchase a Russian-made missile defense system. Turkiye was one of the nine partners to develop the

F-35.

This year's Nobel Peace Prize winner, Maria Corina Machado, says she will be in Norway today but was unable to make the award ceremony in Oslo

earlier.

The Venezuelan opposition leader was forced into hiding after persecution from the government of Nicolas Maduro. Machado's daughter accepted the

honor on her behalf a short time ago.

Disgraced former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has released a book describing his 20 days in prison after he was let out last month pending an

appeal. He was convicted on charges related to illegally financing his 2007 presidential campaign with funds from Libya in exchange for diplomatic

favors. He has denied any involvement.

And coming up on the show, it's been one year since the fall of Bashar al- Assad in Syria. Next, CNN's Clarissa Ward visits a haunting site, where some of Assad's atrocities may lie buried.

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GIOKOS (voice-over): Welcome back to CONNECT THE WORLD with me. Eleni Giokos. Here are your headlines.

Australia's prime minister has banned the use of social media for children under the age of 16, saying it will change lives. The ban on major social

media platforms is now in effect. Anthony Albanese says it will allow kids to have greater peace of mind and let them, quote, "have their childhood."

Tech companies oppose the move.

Ukraine's president says he'll likely hand over revisions to the United States peace proposal today, after spending the last several days meeting

with European allies to rework the plan. Up for discussion is the 20-point plan, initially drawn up by the Americans, as well as security guarantees

and plans for postwar recovery.

It's decision day for the Federal Reserve. The U.S. central bank is widely expected to lower its key interest rate. It would be the third rate cut in

as many Fed meetings and would bring borrowing costs to their lowest level since October 2022.

Syrians took to the streets to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Bashar al-Assad's fall on Monday but the country is still struggling to heal after

more than half a century of brutality that became synonymous with the Assad dynasty. CNN's Clarissa Ward speaks to a man who describes the atrocities

of the Assad regime.

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CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This man says he transported the bodies of hundreds of Syrian prisoners every

week back in 2014. Now he's revealing where he says they were buried.

ABU ALI, FORMER SYRIAN ARMY DRIVER (through translator): I was a truck driver. It was a big fridge.

WARD: Like a freezer truck?

ALI (through translator): The bodies came without names. They only had the body number and the number of the security branch

WARD: His job was basically to drive the bodies from the military hospital and to bring them here to be buried in these mass graves.

WARD (voice-over): Abu Ali, as we're calling him, does not want to reveal his identity out of fear of retribution. Haunted by the shame of his past

role under the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

ALI (through translator): We used to come here every week.

WARD: Every week?

ALI (through translator): Every week.

WARD: So for the period of a year, he was bringing bodies here every week.

ALI (through translator): Sometimes 80, 100, 150, 200, 250, up to 300 bodies approximately.

WARD: 100, 200 every week?

ALI (through translator): Yes.

WARD: Monitoring groups and investigators believe that there are dozens of mass graves around the country with tens of thousands of bodies in them.

But the trouble they have right now is that there simply isn't the expertise, the equipment to do the excavation, the forensic investigation

that would be needed to try to identify these people and give their families the closure that they're so desperately seeking.

WARD (voice-over): U.S. based advocacy group, the Syrian Emergency Task Force discovered this site earlier this year. The hope is that Abu Ali's

account could help some Syrian families find their loved ones -- Clarissa Ward, CNN, Al-Tall, Syria.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: All right, we're going to a short break. We'll be back right after this. Stick with CNN.

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GIOKOS: All this week on "Call to Earth," we journey across India with environmentalist Arun Krishnamurthy, as we follow his tireless mission to

revive the country's declining water bodies.

As part of the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative, his organization aims to repair the scars caused by rapid growth as well as pollution and breathe

life back into India's lakes, rivers and wetlands.

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ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A nation on the rise, India is a dichotomy of sound and stillness, of deserts and jungles,

of old and new. As one of the most advanced ancient civilizations, India has emerged today as the world's most populous nation.

ARUN KRISHNAMURTHY, ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST (voice-over): With a big population, concentrated pockets, which comes with it the own challenges of

garbage, sewage, et cetera, and natural habitats of any particular developing region faces the brunt.

ASHER (voice-over): Arun Krishnamurthy and his organization, EFI, Environmentalist Foundation of India, are taking on the immense challenge

of reviving India's water bodies and the habitats that rely on them.

KRISHNAMURTHY (voice-over): Hundreds of years ago, there was no electricity. People were dependent on surface water bodies. They needed,

deep-down underground storage units, slowly but steadily pumping water from the ground below to raise up. So stepwells or temple tanks were created.

Many of the lakes, ponds that we restore, we try to just have exactly how our forefathers wanted.

ASHER (voice-over): Some 70 kilometers southwest of Delhi, an agrarian village faced a drying landscape before EFI stepped in 2023.

KRISHNAMURTHY (voice-over): We are in one of EFI's first-ever hydro arbor complexes. A hydro arbor complex simply translates to water and trees in

one given zone. It was an open land with access to almost everybody and anybody.

So dumping of debris, garbage, all of this was a persistent problem. So we've cleaned this place. We've defined these water bodies, so we've given

it a shape, structure, proper depth and then we've interconnected these water bodies with a channel system. Then now, stage by stage, we are doing

plantation within the zone.

ASHER (voice-over): This restoration sets off a chain of renewal. Rainwater collects, groundwater rises and the balance that once felt lost

starts to return.

KRISHNAMURTHY (voice-over): The fact that it's full of water after this year's monsoons is very satisfying. At the same time, reassuring that our

work to bring back water is being rewarded by nature. The water tapping gets compensated by the storage that we have here.

ASHER (voice-over): And as water finds its way back, so does life. Two years into its revival, the signs of recovery are everywhere.

KRISHNAMURTHY (voice-over): The immediate response is from nature. You'll see a blade of grass coming up after the first rains, which is beautiful.

Then a green carpet takes over. Saplings you've planted start to sprout. A butterfly, dragonfly, kingfisher, pond heron, all these birds start coming

back.

ASHER (voice-over): From mounds of trash to a blue-green oasis, Arun says it will take another 5-8 years before this landscape is completely

transformed.

KRISHNAMURTHY (voice-over): There is no shortcut to nature conservation because the kind of damages we have done as human race to the planet cannot

be fixed by the whiff of a wand or the press of a button.

It needs hardcore, physical field work and logical, science-based collaborative effort over a period of time.

It's very emotional for me to be here and this is why I started EFI, because nature work is truly, soulfully rewarding in more ways than one.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[10:40:00]

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GIOKOS: We'll have more from "Call to Earth" tomorrow and you can watch the full documentary, "Reviving India's Waters," this weekend, only on CNN.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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GIOKOS: Last weekend was a big one for Formula 1 fans here in Abu Dhabi, as the Grand Prix season roared to a close. Britain's Lando Norris

celebrated winning his first-ever Drivers World Championship and Team McLaren, finishing first in the constructors rankings.

But for the F1 president and CEO, planning for next season is already well underway. Our CNN's Becky Anderson has been having her annual catchup with

Stefano Domenicali and she asked him how new regulations and new names would shake things up in 2026.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEFANO DOMENICALI, CEO, F1 GROUP: The plan for growth is, first of all, to keep evolving partners that can, first of all, develop the B2B platform.

But, of course, the other thing that we are very, very focused in is to attract new fans, younger audience.

The deal we've done with Lego, with Disney is going in this direction. The movie that has been an incredible success this year is the way that we want

to show to the world that we want not only to focus to our core fans, which has to be respected and keep up to date with the right information very

specific.

But because now we have a wider audience, we need to keep understanding what the way that we need to talk with them.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST: Let's talk about next year and the change in regulations. There are new V6 engine rules, which will mandate an even

split between combustion and electrical power. As I understand it, sports is also going to use 100 percent sustainable fuel.

Is that the case?

And just talk us through this vision and what impact you think it's going to have on the sport.

DOMENICALI: The magic of one. Every time there is a reset of technical regulation, there is a new opportunity for the engineering mechanism and

world of one to showcase the ability to bring performance.

And the reason why I do believe Ford, Cadillac, Audi, Honda came back or came F1 is because they saw that, on the technical side, that was the right

thing to do. Hybrid engine, sustainable fuel is the right way to connect this automotive industry. Even if I have to say one thing is mobility, one

thing is motor sport. They are two different things.

ANDERSON: There will be people watching this who say, what do you mean when you talk about sustainable fuel, 100 percent sustainable fuel, what

does that mean?

DOMENICALI: It means that, you know, the emission will be go to zero in a way that we want to respect our target to be as a system carbon neutral

within 2030. And then, of course, it's a way to show that F1 is always the leading edge of technology.

We were the first in 2014 to have the hybrid engine. We were the first. We didn't do a good job in advertising that. Now we really want to push and

showing that it's not only sustainable fuel.

Because if you think about our footprint and sustainability, you know, only 2 percent is us here at the track, on the track itself. All the other is

logistics, the other is all the energy used by this big promotion.

And we have big deals in place in order to make sure that all renewable energy will be used to make sure that our sport could be really the front

face of this attention to the world.

ANDERSON: So how are these new regulations going to impact the sport?

DOMENICALI: That's something that is different because there will be not anymore the moveable rear wing in the straight.

[10:45:04]

When you have one second, there will be adjustable, automatic, different situation, aerodynamic balance. There will be the management of the energy

done by the driver, electric and normal internal combustion engine.

So there will be a new way of interpreting the race and there will be a new way that the driver will be even more central.

ANDERSON: You talked about your sustainability targets to 2030. Mohammed bin Salman, the president of the FIA, has proposed changing the regulations

in 2030, returning to V8 engines that year. He says the idea is to save costs.

Do you think that will last?

DOMENICALI: Yes. We totally agree with this new approach, because if we -- if you think pragmatically, sustainable fuel will solve a lot of problems

related to the -- to the emission. It's very simple.

We need to go back because that's what the people wants to have a higher sound. And we need to have lighter cars. Now this hybridization with the

big energy storage is bringing the weight of the car on the higher side.

So these ideas that the president is bringing home, I think, is the right direction to keep the centricity of our sport respecting, of course, the

objective of sustainability.

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ANDERSON: Talk to me about the Apple deal, Apple getting the rights to F1 in the U.S. Obviously they backed the movie. That was super successful,

some of which, of course, much of which was shot here, at least the last race. Talk to me about that deal.

DOMENICALI: Well, that deal is crucial for our development in the U.S. We know that. And you know, my style is very simple. First of all, we need to

thank ESPN for what they did up to now because it was important to start, you know, for us to be known in a market that, with so many, you sport

events, crucial stuff.

But then there is a time where with investment that Apple did with the movie, has been the best sport movie, the best Brad Pitt movie, that

position ourselves in a different dimension.

And Apple was the first to understand that the future will be together, you know, a big success. I'm pretty sure about this.

You know, the way to connect, as I told you before, with other people, you know, we -- they can use their own platform, their own Apple application to

give information, contents to our fans and use this platform also to, to make sure that F1 TV is available for our fans.

I think that, as I said, we are very proud that there is a long journey to do together.

ANDERSON: We've got Cadillac set to enter Formula 1 in 2026 as a new American-backed team, a big moment for the grid, big moment for the sport

and a big moment for that American market, I assume.

Correct?

DOMENICALI: Yes. For sure. I mean, America is definitely a market where we want to be bigger. And I always said that the only way that can be

important in U.S. is to be relevant in a context that has to be respected, in a context where we're going to be successful if we become socially

relevant.

I would love to, you know, to wake up one day and we will happen and it will happen. When, you know, our American fans will wake up and, on top of

the news, on top of the NFL, NBA, other sports, there will be -- maybe there will be a small TV on F1 but this will happen. And that's what we

want to do.

ANDERSON: Pepsi's back, of course, in the league, with a fresh partnership alongside Mercedes. Just talk us through that.

What does that collaboration actually look like, Stefano?

DOMENICALI: Well, collaboration of this kind are very important because we are moving to the mass market. We are moving to activate through the F1

platform.

You know, things that could be really very, very important to be into the numbers that we want to hit with people, you know, and F1 is giving a

unique opportunity to develop the brand and to develop experience that no other event or sport can offer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: From pasta to prosciutto, Italy has a new reason to celebrate and it's a very, very tasty one. Its national cuisine has become the first

gastronomic style to be recognized by UNESCO as culturally significant.

It's the end of a three-year campaign to have the country's traditional way of growing, harvesting, preparing and serving food honored. The status will

protect Italian food products from imitators. We've got CNN's Barbie Nadeau joining us now live from Rome.

I'm sure all other countries are watching this closely, saying, hey, our food should also be protected against fakes. I think there are fakes, like

pre-made carbonara sauce, I mean, that sounds absolutely wrong on every account.

[10:50:02]

So tell me if this is going to help the battle to try and secure the original way of making Italian food

BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, that really is the argument.

And that was the argument in the proposal for this, because the idea that we've been seeing these, you know, jars of carbonara and fake Italian-

sounding food and things like that has been a real problem for the Italian cuisine industry because it costs Italian producers a lot of money.

And so this UNESCO, the recognition is really just a tribute to people like this guy behind me, who's at this quintessential Christmas market here,

selling products from Sardinia.

Now you know, these are products that have been made for millennia. He's been here for 16 years in a row selling them. But the traditions have been

going on and passed on. It's the recipes. It's also sustainability. It's seasonal ability.

You know, most Italian recipes are no-waste recipes. And all of these things are very much part of the consideration to have this cuisine not

only recognized but also protected.

And, you know, Italian prime minister George Meloni today saying that she thinks this will be a boost to the economy.

And the ag minister saying that he really does think this will be a tool to finally start being able to protect Italian products and made in Italy

products so that they are not made in Canada or made in the United States and that prosciutto is prosciutto, even if it's spelled in a funny way.

So these are the sorts of things they're hoping that this does. But it's also much about the regionality and the importance of the tradition of

Italian cuisine to the Italian people and to all the people who come here.

And, you know, if you've eaten in an Italian restaurant anywhere in the world, it's very different than what you eat when you're here in Italy. And

part of that is because of the seasonality.

If you want to eat artichokes in the summer in Italy, you can. It's now seasonal. And those are the types of things they want to protect. They want

to protect that importance. And the sustainability and the biodiversity in all of it. And, you know, Italians are very pleased here that this

recognition has finally come, come to be, Eleni

GIOKOS: Yes. I mean, you're making me hungry, number one.

Number two, you know, you know, you've got to protect the small businesses and you hit the nail on the head. And it kind of reminds me of the

argument, you know, when the French were talking about champagne.

It can only be champagne if it's from a specific type of a part of France or the Greeks with feta. And you're saying now this is going to help ensure

that, if it's truly Italian, it's going to have the made in Italy stamp, because UNESCO -- that UNESCO status is going to be so vital, something

that other countries haven't been able to achieve.

NADEAU: That's right. But you know what we have seen in a lot of places, as you've seen parts of cuisines, you've seen some Mexican cuisine being

recognized and some French cuisine being recognized. The Mediterranean diet is recognized.

But we've got really here is just the focus on these particular products produced in this particular region. This is Sardinia, the island of

Sardinia. You've got one from Puglia over there. You've got something, you know, from other parts of the region.

And what you're really looking at is the protection of these. You can't produce these sorts of foods and this sort of thing in another country and

still call it made in Italy or still call it Italian cuisine. And that's what this really is about. And it really is important to the Italian

people.

GIOKOS: Yes, fantastic. Barbie, thank you so much. Good to see you as always.

Now Nonna Silvi is one person who knows quite well what a treasure Italian cooking is. Like many grandmothers, she loves to share her beloved recipes

and advice about life.

And she's not just handing down these gems to her family, she's sharing them with tens of millions of people on social media. CNN's Ivana Scatola

talked to this TikTok phenomenon. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SILVANA BINI, TIKTOK CREATOR "NONNA SILVI" (through translator): Let's cut the guanciale into cubes.

IVANA SCATOLA, CNN SUPERVISING PRODUCER (voice-over): She's an ordinary 84-year-old nonna from Italy, who happens to be the country's most popular

influencer. Silvana Bini, known as Nonna Silvi, was voted TikTok Italia's "Creator of The Year" with a majority of the 2.6 million public votes.

SCATOLA (voice-over): She has millions of followers across her social media.

BINI (through translator): I'm sorry for those who didn't win because they're all young people who maybe deserved to win more than I did.

SCATOLA (voice-over): She has millions of followers across her social media.

BINI (through translator): From Thailand, from Mexico, from Germany --

SCATOLA (voice-over): You follow her for her traditional Italian recipes and no nonsense life advice.

BINI (through translator): Above all, you've got to be eager to work, to make sacrifices.

SCATOLA (voice-over): Nonna Silvi began to cook when she was just 11 years old.

BINI (through translator): From a young age, I worked for a lady doing household tasks. I worked seven years for her, ironing and she taught me

how to make pomarola.

SCATOLA (voice-over): Pomarola is a simple Tuscan sauce made with tomatoes, olive oil, basil, garlic and onions. But her most popular video

to date is a recipe for pasta alla carbonara with over 90 million views across socials.

BINI (through translator): Here we go.

SCATOLA: Cream in carbonara sauce?

[10:55:00]

BINI (through translator): That doesn't go. I put cream on a meringue, that needs cream. Meringue and cream for me, in fact that's my favorite

dessert.

SCATOLA: What do you think of people that put dark chocolate in bolognese?

BINI (through translator): The worse possible people. These complications are not for me. I'm straight-forward.

SCATOLA (voice-over): And her favorite dish.

BINI (through translator): Personally, I prefer simple things. For example, tortellini with a cream sauce, spaghetti with clams, that for me

is a delicious dish.

SCATOLA (voice-over): But there's one ingredient she says she couldn't live without.

BINI (through translator): Good olive oil above all because it brings everything together.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: All right, that's no excuse. Now you put down that jar of carbonara. You follow Nonna Silvi. She's got all the recipes you need.

All right, well, that's it for CONNECT THE WORLD. Stay with CNN. "ONE WORLD" is up next.

END