Return to Transcripts main page
Quest Means Business
Gaetz Withdraws as Trump's Attorney General Pick; ICC Issues Arrest Warrant for Netanyahu, Gallant; UNICEF: Whole Generation of Children Lost Amid Ongoing War; Vladimir Putin Claims New Non-Nuclear Ballistic Missile Used on Ukraine; Australia Proposes Social Media Ban for Children Under 16; Protecting Mexico's Mountains; Bitcoin Surges Since U.S. Election. Aired 4- 5p ET
Aired November 21, 2024 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ZAIN ASHER, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: All right, the closing bell ringing on Wall Street on this Thursday afternoon. A healthy rise for the Dow. There
you see it up, about 450, or rather 60 points. It has been pretty much green all day apart from a momentary dip in the morning.
Those are the markets and these are the main events: Donald Trump's beleaguered pick for attorney general, Matt Gaetz, withdraws his name from
consideration.
And the International Criminal Court issues an arrest warrant for Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
And Bitcoin inches closer to $100,000.00.
Coming to you live from New York. It is Thursday, November 21st. I am Zain Asher, in for my colleague, Richard Quest and this is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
All right, good evening.
I want to begin with breaking news on Donald Trump's Cabinet picks. Former lawmaker, Matt Gaetz says he is withdrawing his bid to become the next US
Attorney General. Gaetz posting on X: "It is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump-Vance
transition."
Gaetz was the subject of a House Ethics investigation. They were looking into allegations he had sex with an underage teen, among other misconduct.
Some Republican senators expressed relief that he is not going to be seeking the top law enforcement job anymore, and sources say that Trump's
advisers had serious doubts that Gaetz would be confirmed.
Joining us live now is Katelyn Polantz from Washington, DC, so Katelyn, just take us through. I mean, in the end, it was clear that the math would
not have worked for him because there were a number of Republicans who certainly were not going to confirm him, that they would have rejected his
nomination. Take us through that.
KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, over the last eight days since Donald Trump announced he wanted Matt Gaetz to be the
attorney general, it has been hard for Washington to stomach this idea.
The legal community was pushing back. I was even hearing from conservative lawyers, very high ranking former Justice Department officials, saying
there is no way he gets confirmed and at the end of the day, the Senate just was not going to be on board.
And in addition to that, Matt Gaetz or at least the people around Matt Gaetz, we've learned through sources, were concerned that there would be
additional damaging information that wasn't previously known coming out about the congressman's behavior in the past, and that there were
additional witnesses that had spoken to a House Ethics Committee that has been investigating him for some time.
This is the man that was being nominated to be the head of law enforcement in the country and yet, he had been investigated himself. Criminally, he
was not charged, but he was looked at by the FBI, the Justice Department for possible sex trafficking because of sexual -- a relationship he had
with a girl who was underage at the time.
And then the House Ethics Committee, they were coming very close in recent days to finalizing the report that they have done on Gaetz about this, and
then just before this news broke, we did have reporting at CNN exclusive to CNN's reporters that there was a woman who at the time when she was 17, had
told the House Ethics Committee she had two sexual encounters with Matt Gaetz, not just one that had been previously known, that we had known.
She had spoken about -- that that was something that was going to be part of this report. And it was very likely, more things that the House knew
that the Senate also and then very well, the public may know as well about Gaetz eventually.
ASHER: All right, Katelyn Polantz live for us there. Thank you so much.
Let's get more now with CNN senior political analyst, Ron Brownstein.
Ron, thank you so much for being with us.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Thank you.
ASHER: So Katelyn Polantz, our reporter there was just touching on this. How likely is it that what would have come out from this House Ethics
Committee report potentially would have been so much worse than what the public already knew so far? Take us through your thoughts on that.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes, look, I think once we got that released, that leak last night of the document from the Ethics Committee investigation that they had
obtained from federal investigators, I assume, during the criminal investigation showing payments from Matt Gaetz to specific women who
testified that he paid them for sex.
I mean, once you have that, you're already drawing the net pretty tight. And I think that was both on its face, unacceptable for enough Republican
senators. But also, as you note, an indication that there were probably even more damaging things ready to come out.
So, you know, this sort of confirms, again, the late great Republican economist, Herb Stein had a famous Herb Stein rule: Any trend that can't be
sustained won't be, and you know, the idea of Matt Gaetz as attorney general was so out of the bounds from the outset, ultimately, it kind of
collapsed on its own weight.
The interesting question now is, how does it affect some of Trump's other controversial nominees, who are also outside of the bounds of what have
been typically considered, you know credible for the jobs they've been nominated for.
[16:05:15]
ASHER: Well, yes, so does this suggests that Senate Republicans are going to put up a bit of a fight when it comes to confirming nominees who have
somewhat of, you know, controversial background.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes, you know, I think it is important in this case that he was forced to withdraw rather than going to a vote, which is usually what
happens when the Senate is in the control of the president's party. I believe the last presidential nominee who was defeated, Cabinet nominee who
was defeated in a Senate vote when the president's party controlled the Senate, was 1925.
But not infrequently, people have to withdraw, and I think that matters here, Zain, because there is probably a ticker in the head of Republican
senators about how many times they are willing to vote publicly against Donald Trump, particularly in the immediate aftermath of his victory and
the fact that they didn't have to do that on Matt Gaetz, I would think raises a lot -- the person who has to be, I think, the most concerned about
this is Tulsi Gabbard, who would probably be the next on the list as potentially the least acceptable.
I mean, Nikki Haley yesterday publicly described her as a Russian-Iranian- Syrian-Chinese sympathizer and said, this is not the sort of person we should have at the head of National Intelligence, it might be easier for
other Republicans to vote against -- for Senate Republicans to vote against her, since they didn't actually have to cast a public ballot against Matt
Gaetz.
ASHER: And just in terms of attorney general, I mean, who does Donald Trump -- I mean clearly he is looking for disruptors and, let's be honest, yes
men, people who aren't going to, you know, stand up to him necessarily, people who are going to agree with and go along with what he says. Who does
he have waiting in the wings that could replace Matt Gaetz as a potential nominee?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, I again, am thinking back to the Nixon era, I remember famously, after one of Nixon's Supreme Court nominees was rejected by the
Senate, he famously turned to one of his aides and said, find me someone even more conservative, even someone more unacceptable.
I think, you're going to see something like that here, the name that you hear often is Ken Paxton, the attorney general from Texas who has been
certainly an ally of Trump and a fierce opponent of basically everything the Biden administration wanted to do. You know, filing multiple lawsuits
on regulatory and other immigration issues. He has faced his own investigations.
So, you know the question really is, does Trump want to go in the kind of Nixon mode of find me someone who is going to challenge them even more,
which I think would lead him to Paxton or does he try to find someone who is a little bit more, at least has one foot in kind of the conventional
conservative legal establishment in which case there are multiple choices.
Matt Whitaker, one who you might have thought he might have turned to. Instead, he appointed as ambassador to NATO, kind of continuing the pattern
of picking people who have very little experience or kind of experience is actively hostile to the jobs that they are being nominated for, whether its
Mehmet Oz or, you know Linda McMahon.
ASHER: You know, we talk about Matt Gaetz. Matt Gaetz and you also brought up Tulsi Gabbard as another sort of controversial pick with a bit of a
checkered background for DNI, but then also, Pete Hegseth as well for Defense Secretary.
I mean, obviously we are just getting a little bit more information from a police report with sort of really, sort of seething, really sort of
difficult to digest details about a potential sexual encounter with a woman that he had.
Just walk us through how difficult it is going to be to have him confirmed as well.
BROWNSTEIN: And RFK, Jr. also. You know, look in the before times, you know pre-Trump, even a Republican president with a Republican Senate, it is
inconceivable -- you know, I've covered Washington since the early 1980s. It is inconceivable to me that any of those four would have been nominated
because of the clear indications from Republican senators. They would not confirm them.
So, you know, the details in that criminal report from the police in Monterey, again in the before times, you cannot imagine how Pete Hegseth
could remain as the Republican nominee. But, you know there is kind of safety in numbers here, and I think Republican senators will see how far
they are willing to go in challenging these picks from Trump.
I think Gabbard is the one who is next most objectionable because of this strange confluence between her sympathy as Nikki Haley said, for all of
those foreign adversaries and the position she would be placed in as the head of National Intelligence whether foreign intelligence services would
still cooperate with us fully knowing that the information was going to be going through her. I think that is going to be a real red flag for
Republican senators.
And then the question is not so much the merits of Hegseth and RFK, Jr. but whether there are enough who have the stomach to fight Trump yet again on
nominations three and four, and I think that is very much an open question.
[16:10:10]
ASHER: I love, by the way, how you referred to it as the before times, as if to say we are really entering a brand new era.
Ron Brownstein, live for us there. Thank you so much.
BROWNSTEIN: Exactly right.
ASHER: Appreciate it.
BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.
ASHER: All right, we are following a major developing story out of the Middle East. The International Criminal Court issuing an arrest warrant for
Israel's prime minister and former Defense minister, too. We will have more on that after this short break. Don't go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav
Gallant. It accuses them of murder, persecution, and using starvation as a weapon of war during Israel's military campaign against Hamas in Gaza.
Mr. Netanyahu's office calls the warrants absurd and antisemitic. The White House says it fundamentally rejects the court's decision. Israel is not a
member of the ICC and is not obligated to turn in Mr. Netanyahu or Yoav Gallant, either.
Many European countries are members, however. The EU foreign policy chief says the charges are not political and that they should be respected. The
court issued a separate warrant for the arrest of Hamas official, Mohammed Deif. It says there is reasonable grounds to believe that Deif was
responsible for crimes against humanity.
Israel says that Deif was killed in an airstrike in September, although Hamas has still not confirmed his death.
Nic Robertson joins us live now from Jerusalem.
I mean it is interesting, Nic, just to sort of see Benjamin Netanyahu now in this sort of same category as Vladimir Putin in terms of the ICC issuing
an arrest warrant against him. Just talk us through how this affects Israel's global standing.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, it is very interesting. We've already heard from the foreign minister here saying he
has spoken with his Dutch counterpart, who was due to arrive here on Monday, next week. That meeting has now been called off and the Dutch have
been very clear that if Netanyahu were to land on their soil, then they would turn him over to the ICC, which is in the Netherlands, so that makes
sense.
But you know, how else will it impact? Well, we've already heard from the French and the Italians saying that they would also arrest Netanyahu, turn
him over to the court. Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said we stand for international law. We stand for these international institutions
and abide by them.
The Argentinians have rejected it. As you say, the US have rejected it.
[16:15:10]
The Austrians in Europe have rejected it. Although, the chancellor in Austria said Austria does respect and believe in the rights, authority of
international courts and the value of what they provide. He just said, that he thought that this decision by the International Criminal Court was the
wrong decision in this case. So there are some divisions there.
But I think when you look at it overall for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in effect, there are 124 countries right now that it would be
very unwise for him to travel to, and that means his ability to be an ambassador for his country, to be a leader for his country, to express and
convince other leaders of the importance of looking out for Israel, sticking up for Israel, all the things that a prime minister would normally
do as part of his international engagements.
There are a lot of places Prime Minister Netanyahu now won't be able to go, and that that for him undoubtedly is going to be problematic however, at
home, it doesn't seem to be damaging him at home yet at all.
ASHER: Yes, 124 countries where he could potentially be arrested. But, you know, as you touched on, he obviously still can travel to the US.
Nic Robertson live for us there. Thank you so much.
All right, as we covered, Prime Minister Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant are accused of using starvation as a method of warfare. The UN says that
virtually no aid has reached the besieged areas of Northern Gaza in 40 days.
The World Food Programme says that 90 percent of Gaza's population faces acute food insecurity.
Ricardo Pires is a spokesperson for the United Nations Children's Fund. He joins us live now from New York.
So obviously, the sort of breaking news that we got today is really about the ICC issuing that arrest warrant for Netanyahu, and obviously in part
because the ICC is accusing Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza.
I mean, obviously, you're much more focused on humanitarian aid. So I am not asking you to speak about what the Israelis have been accused of in
terms of their tactics specifically. However, just talk to us about the situation on the ground, particularly in Northern Gaza, where, you know,
hunger is obviously much more acute.
RICARDO PIRES, SPOKESPERSON, UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND: Indeed, hunger continues to be an ever growing shadow for hundreds of thousands of
children not only in the north of Gaza but across the strip, who have been suffering for now, nearly -- with no food, no water, not enough medicines
getting through because most of the humanitarian corridors remain closed since the Rafah incursion in May.
They've seen loved ones die. They've been injured. They are displaced and have been displaced multiple times since the war started. They're at rock
bottom, and the UN as well, we are so constrained from being able to support these children at the level that they need and their needs are
growing. They're outpacing the resources we have, and we are desperate to reach them, but yet we cannot.
So they are in a catastrophic situation right now, unprecedented emergency levels and the suffering continues.
ASHER: The US has said that Israel must allow in a minimum of 350 trucks each day carrying food and obviously other supplies as well. Just what are
you seeing in terms of how much aid is actually getting into the enclave and just how it is being distributed.
Look, this is an important question and a very good one for October 7th. So before those horrendous attacks took place in Israel and the response that
came after -- the unprecedented disproportional response that came after, the suffering of hundreds of thousands of children in Gaza, the killing of
at least 15,000 children, reportedly, since the war started, 500 trucks were getting through so that's before October 7th.
And since then, we are aiming for 350 trucks average per day, which we never got close to. Right now, we are at an average of 40 trucks, which is
again rock bottom. So just -- it is a very simple math for us to do. If 500 trucks were getting in before when there was no escalation, and now were
aiming for 350 and were not getting enough, it means children are dying, children are severely suffering the impact of this war, and yet 14 months -
- nearly 14 months on and we haven't seen much progress. They are still suffering.
Winter is coming, they won't be able to be protected from the weather. They won't be able to shelter. They will be suffering even more because of the
weather. And again, not enough is being done.
[16:20:00]
ASHER: And obviously, you know, this conversation we've largely focused on hunger, but also a big issue in Gaza, across Gaza entirely, but especially
Northern Gaza is access to health care. I mean, you know, almost the entire population in Gaza lacks access to safe and effective health care. I mean,
medical facilities, hospitals, barely operational at this point in time.
Just explain to us what is the greatest need among children in terms of medical supplies.
PIRES: Look, they are lacking almost everything at this point because the health system in Gaza is at the brink of collapse. Most hospitals have
become active war zones and have been besieged and medical workers have died. UN workers have died at record number, all trying to provide the
health care that children need.
For example, 2,500 children right now are unable to be medivac'ed because of unlogical reasons. We don't even get enough explanation from the
authorities as of why they can't leave the Gaza Strip to get the proper medical care they need, and they are waiting, 2,500 children severely
injured who have seen everything a child should never have to see, who have been injured, burned, survived buildings collapsing and the families they
love so much dying in front of their eyes. And yet, they are strained in Gaza without a logical explanation as to why they can't leave.
Four thousand newborn babies are unable to get the neonatal care they need again, because hospitals have been attacked and have been destroyed and the
infrastructure is just lacking.
So they need everything right now, but above anything else, they need a ceasefire and we need those hostages to get back so this horror can end.
ASHER: All right, Ricardo Pires, thank you. Thank you so, so much. Appreciate you coming on the program.
And the US government has asked a federal judge to force Google to sell its Chrome web browser. The Justice Department says that Google uses chrome to
maintain its dominance in search. It could lead to the CFIUS antitrust penalties against a tech company in a generation.
Google's president and chief legal officer calls the proposal extreme.
Clare Duffy is joining us live now.
So this idea of Google potentially selling Chrome, just explain to us how that will reshape competition on the internet especially because Google has
been accused of basically running a monopoly in terms of search.
CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Yes, I mean, look, Zain, a judge found that Google is indeed a monopoly because of its search business, and so
this is the Justice Department's proposal for how to fix that situation, and it really is huge.
I mean, this is what they tried to do with Microsoft a decade ago and didn't even -- weren't successful in going this far. And so this would be
really significant if it is approved by a judge especially this ask for Google to spin off, sell its Chrome business. That Chrome browser makes it
really easy for Google to track users around the web and target them with ads. It is really core to its ad business.
And the Justice Department says that making Google search the default on Chrome also reinforces Google's monopoly power and that is why they think
the company should be forced to sell it off.
They've also proposed a number of additional remedies here. They think that Google should either be forced to sell off its android operating system or
no longer make Google search the default on that browser, on that operating system.
They also want Google to make search data available to competitors and they want to force Google to stop performing these exclusive contracts with
device makers like Apple and Samsung to become the default web browser on those devices, which has been also been really core to its business.
And this would be just a huge change for Google, a huge change for the industry. And Google, of course, is pushing back really forcefully. They,
as you said, have called this extreme. They also said that it would be bad for Americans' privacy because it would be forced to share data. And what I
thought was really interesting in that blog post, they also say that it could harm Americas' global technology leadership, which potentially is an
effort to sort of appeal to the sensibilities of the incoming Trump administration in the event that this case isn't resolved before his
Justice Department potentially would take it over -- Zain.
ASHER: And just quickly -- just talk to us about how much this sort of sets the tone for other antitrust cases that have challenged the dominance of
tech giants particularly when it comes to Apple, Amazon Meta, and other companies?
DUFFY: Yes, it is really interesting time, because I think we are seeing just how far the current Justice Department is willing to go in terms of
forcing these Big Tech companies, trying to force them to break up. But we are in this moment where that sort of leadership is coming to an end.
We have a new incoming administration that is likely going to bring in new leadership for those departments and so, it is sort of hard to tell right
now whether well see a continuation of this really aggressive approach. There are some signs that the Trump administration is going to be -- want
to be a bit more business friendly, rather than this really sort of consumer focused leadership of the DOJ and the FTC that we've seen under
Biden.
[16:25:06]
And so it is sort of a wait and see moment. I think about how those other antitrust cases are going to play out in the months to come.
ASHER: All right, Clare Duffy, live for us there. Thank you so much.
All right still to come, Russia says it has fired a new type of weapon against Ukraine as both sides ratchet up strikes with greater force.
We are live for you in Kyiv with the very latest.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right, hello. I am Zain Asher. There is more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in a moment when Australia's Parliament introducing a bill to ban
kids under 16 from using social media and Bitcoin surging to new records as it approaches the $100,000.00 mark.
Before that, though, these are the headlines at this hour.
Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro has reportedly been indicted in connection to an alleged plot to kill his successor. CNN Brasil says that
federal police accuse Bolsonaro of having "full knowledge of the alleged plan." Bolsonaro and 36 others were apparently named in the indictment. He
has denied allegations of attempting a coup.
Actor, Jussie Smollett's 2019 conviction for reporting a false hate crime has been overturned in the US State of Illinois. He was accused of staging
a racist and homophobic attack against himself and then lying about it to police. This happened in Chicago.
He appealed, saying a special prosecutor had no right to intervene after the initial charges were dropped.
And a piece of conceptual art has sold at Sotheby's for $6.2 million. It consists of a banana duct taped to a wall. The artist, Maurizio Cattelan
calls his work comedian. The winning bid was placed by Justin Sun, the founder of a cryptocurrency platform.
Russia says it has fired a new type of weapon against Ukraine. This video appears to show the moment the strike hit the city of Dnipro on Thursday
morning. Russian President Vladimir Putin says it was carried out by an experimental non-nuclear ballistic missile, which has a medium range.
He says it is response to Kyiv's use of longer range weapons supplied by the West.
Nick Paton Walsh is in Kyiv for us, so Nick, what do we know for sure about the classification of this missile system because there was initially some
debate that it was an ICBM, an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile System, and then word that it perhaps was an intermediary range missile system.
Just walk us through what we know so far.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Yes. It's important to clarify, Vladimir Putin didn't call it experimental. That was
the classification given by a U.S. official.
Look, we've had a long day where essentially the lack of certainty about what was fired at Dnipro has essentially played into I think what the
Kremlin wanted, which is to cause anxiety and concern.
What we know from Pentagon officials speaking in a variety of different ways is that they think this was called a MERV, a multi-reentry vehicle,
which essentially allows multiple warheads to land from one missile on a particular target. That's what you can see in the video of the strike over
Dnipro.
Now, they're not quite sure what missile this is or what is based upon. It may indeed be something they haven't seen before, and so that makes
classifying its range complex because if it did take off from Astrakhan like some open source media suggests, it's only 1,000 kilometers to Dnipro.
Maybe it could have flown further. Maybe that's its whole distance.
Vladimir Putin called it the Oreshkin, the hazelnut, and said it was a new hypersonic missile with a non-nuclear warhead, suggesting that Russia has
something fresh in its toolkit that it deployed in response to recent American escalation. But here's what we know.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PATON WALSH (voice-over): A familiar horror, but a quite different sight on Ukraine's skyline. Multiple projectiles at 5:00 a.m. apparently from one
missile hitting an industrial site in the Dnipro City, suggesting, as Ukraine reported, Russia had launched a new type of ballistic missile,
perhaps intercontinental. A stark escalation.
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Today our crazy neighbor has once against shown who he really is and how he despises
dignity, freedom and human life in general, and how afraid he is. He is also so afraid that he is already using new missiles.
PATON WALSH: CNN obtained these exclusive images of the missile debris. Ukrainian experts poring over the pieces to determine what this new threat
is. Little dispute it was something new.
The Kremlin kept silent during the day. Bar this bizarre episode at a Foreign Ministry briefing that spoke volumes.
MARIA ZAKHAROVA, RUSSIAN MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS (through text translation): Hello.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Masha?
ZAKHAROVA (through text translation): Yes, I'm having a briefing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): On Yuzhmash, the ballistic missile strike, which the Westerners started talking about, we are not
commenting at all?
ZAKHAROVA (through text translation): Yes, OK. Thank you.
PATON WALSH: Perhaps a trailer to Russian President Vladimir Putin's big reveal. He said the missile was a new hypersonic non-nuclear device called
the "Hazelnut." There were no means to counter such weapons today, he said.
The missiles strike targets at speeds of 10 mach. That's 2.5 to three kilometers per second. The modern air defense system available worldwide
and the U.S. developed missile defense systems in Europe cannot intercept such missiles. This is impossible. He framed the strike as a response to
American and British supplied missiles ATACMS and Storm Shadows slamming into Russia proper over the last 72 hours.
We consider ourselves entitled to use our weapons against the military objects of those countries that allow their weapons to be used against our
objects, and in the event of an escalation of aggressive actions, we will respond just as decisively and in kind.
Kyiv was yet more on edge when the sirens sounded Thursday afternoon. A U.S. official insisted Russia had few of these new experimental missiles
and it had warned allies about the strike. It's unclear if that led to its embassy shutting suddenly a day earlier, citing fears of an aerial assault.
Russia sending a clear signal but now not with a test like this. In 48 hours, it's made a nuanced change to its nuclear doctrine and launched a
new missile. Total silence so far from Western leaders. But the blast was heard across Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PATON WALSH (on-camera): I think it's important to understand that the Russians are going to project the fact that this is some sort of
technological advance that they haven't used so far yet, and a thousand and two days' worth of war they want to make Ukrainians feel that the U.S.
supplied defenses they have around the capital cities like Kyiv are essentially useless in respect to it.
[16:35:14]
But at the same time Western officials may be caught between what they don't genuinely know about this new missile and what perhaps they do know
but don't want to reveal publicly. And that all plays essentially into the feeling of escalation here and the fact that Putin has today managed to
take the world stage, and well, I think many felt potentially his red lines around the use of U.S. supplied weapons by Ukraine to hit targets inside
Russia might be yet another red line that Putin would simply fold over.
He appears to want to cause significant panic here in Ukraine but possibly some element of anxiety amongst Western allies, too. We don't know if this
launch had anything to do with the closure of the U.S. embassy yesterday, but that did happen very quickly because of very specific information that
was to do with an aerial assault. And so a climate, I think, here of increased concern about possibly a new chapter in what Russia is willing to
fire at Ukraine.
You'd have to imagine they'd exhausted so many of their resources over such a grueling conflict over nearly three years now, and also, too, the
standoff between the West and Russia increasingly in the open right now -- Zain.
ASHER: Nick Paton Walsh for us in Kyiv, live for us there. Thank you so much.
Let's get more now from Fabrice Pothier. He is the former director of policy planning at NATO and now the CEO of Rasmussen Global, a political
consultancy firm. He joins us live now from Madrid.
Fabrice, thank you so much for being with us. So obviously there was some confusion earlier today that this could have been an ICBM. But Vladimir
Putin saying that it was a new non-nuclear ballistic missile. Just give us your reaction to this. I mean, obviously it's a clear escalation. Your take
on this.
FABRICE POTHIER, CEO, RASMUSSEN GLOBAL: I think we are seeing here a typical Putin signaling that he can go beyond the conventional threshold
into closer to the nuclear one by using a missile that can potentially be armed with a nuclear warhead even though from an operational point of view,
it is obviously extremely costly to deploy such a missile. And it actually doesn't serve a real purpose.
Contrary to other missiles that they have been using, the Russians have been using for the past few years. So this is pure signaling mostly
intended not so much for the Ukrainians, but for the Western audience.
ASHER: What do you make -- I mean, obviously this is a clear direct response to the use of ATACMS, U.S. supplied ATACMS by Ukraine and then
also the anti-personnel mines as well, that the U.S. is now supplying Ukraine. It is a very fast moving tit-for-tat. Just give us your take on
that and what that could mean over the next couple of months before we see a new administration here in the United States.
POTHIER: I would challenge a bit this notion of tit-for-tat. I think we are always many escalation decisions behind Vladimir Putin and the recent
decision by the U.S. administration to finally allow the Ukrainians to use the ATACMS for longer range deep strike is only a response to something
that has already happened on the Russian side of more than a year ago. So I don't think it's a tit-for-tat.
But where you're right is that Putin is obviously trying to escalate to a point of injecting fear in our minds. And I think it's also important to
see that economically he is in a quite -- he's in a more precarious situation. So I think the message here is we should double down rather than
walk back from this escalation to really build up the pressure on him, to show him that he can do whatever he wants, we will still support the
Ukrainians and we will get there somehow.
ASHER: It's interesting, you know, President Putin also said that given the fact that the Americans were supplying these long range missiles, that this
war had now acquired elements of a global nature.
Does that rhetoric in and of itself concern you that Vladimir Putin is essentially saying that this is not just about Ukraine anymore, that this
war is now -- has now acquired elements of a global nature? Give us your take on that.
POTHIER: Well, I think that's been the narrative all along. It's a way to position Russia as the one that is defying the West. It resonates quite a
lot with the global south, which Russia has managed to keep not only its side, but at least on the fence, but, I mean, who has globalized this war
if it's not Vladimir Putin? He's sought to support, the active support, massive support of China. He's receiving weapons from Iran.
[16:40:02]
And now he's even beyond receiving artillery munitions from North Korea, he actually has deployed 10,000 North Korean soldiers in his war. So I think
the globalization of this war has happened under Vladimir Putin's watch, and we have been far too timid in pushing back, especially in the fact that
North Korean troops are in the European theater right now. And what has been our response to that?
ASHER: All right. Fabrice Pothier, live for us there. Thank you so much. Appreciate you coming on the show.
All right. Australia is considering a ban on social media for children under the age of 16. The Online Safety Act was introduced Thursday in
parliament. It would require platforms like TikTok, Instagram and X to enforce that age limit. The bill is meant to protect young people from
social media's potential harm.
Hanako Montgomery has more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For all the positive connections, the joy social media can create, it can also
quickly strip it away, destroy it forever.
KELLY O'BRIEN, MOTHER OF CHARLOTTE O'BRIEN: I will miss your hugs, your kisses, your laugh, your beautiful, beautiful smile.
MONTGOMERY: In September, 12-year-old Australian girl, Charlotte O'Brien, took her own life after years being bullied on social media. Her parents
quickly joined a political fight to protect children from online harm.
The Australian government says the best way to do that is to ban anyone under 16 from using social media.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, AUSTRALIA PRIME MINISTER: Social media is doing social harm to our young Australians, and I am calling time on it. The safety and
mental health of our young people has to be a priority.
MONTGOMERY: Under new legislation introduced to Australia's parliament, there would be consequences for social media companies caught
systematically breaching the age restriction and other safety measures. Fines reaching tens of millions of dollars. But children or parents won't
be punished for breaking the new rules. Instead, the government says the ban will help moms and dads to say no to young people who want to stay
online.
BEN KIOKO, 14-YEAR-OLD SOCIAL MEDIA USER: Yes. So being autistic, I have a really, really hard time connecting with others and, you know, doing that
online makes it a lot easier.
MONTGOMERY: Some experts, too, say that a catch-all approach may not be helpful.
JUSTIN HUMPHREY, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY: Even though the age is really fundamentally important that we need to get right, what we're talking about
when we say we're going to introduce a ban by age is that it negates the fact that young people have very, very different levels of maturity.
MONTGOMERY: But advocates of the ban point to age limits on alcohol, gambling and smoking, arguing social media can be equally damaging for
those too young to use it.
Hanako Montgomery, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: All right. Bitcoin is booming. The cryptocurrency touched a new record high today. Investors are pushing it closer and closer to the
$100,000 mark. We'll have that story next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:45:48]
ASHER: Today on "Call to Earth," we heard to the mountains of Mexico where an innovative approach to conservation led to a remarkable turnaround of a
once degraded ecosystem.
As part of the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative, Martha Ruiz Corzo and the Sierra Gorda Ecological Group continue to build on their unique model of
sustainability with future generations top of mind.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the heart of Central Mexico sits the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, a vast wilderness with a
unique blend of thriving ecosystems. Known as the country's Green Jewel, everything from mountains, jungles, semiarid deserts, cloud forests, and
people are found here.
MARTHA "PATI" RUIZ CORZO, FOUNDER, SIERRA GORDA BIOSPHERE GROUP: Sierra Gorda is such a reservoir of natural life. It's a million acres, 638
communities, 100,000 inhabitants, and they own the 97 percent of the land.
NEWTON: But it wasn't always this way, not until Martha "Pati" Ruiz Corso arrived nearly 40 years ago. Formerly a music teacher living in the city of
Santiago de Queretaro, Pati moved her family to the region in search of a simpler life.
RUIZ CORZO: I decided we could live with little, and I didn't expect to find so much simplicity. It's a wealth of smells, of flavors, of colors.
Bluest skies.
NEWTON: But at the time, Sierra Gorda was under threat from logging, roads and landfills. Inspired by her new neighbors, the local citizens whom she
discovered were equally passionate about the beauty of their landscape, she decided to act, forming the Sierra Gorda Ecological Group.
RUIZ CORZO: In 1987, Grupo Ecologico started working with local members doing environmental education and reforestations.
NEWTON: Within a decade Sierra Gorda was declared a protected area by the federal government. Then, in 2001, UNESCO named it a biosphere reserve,
giving it further protections and creating a buffer zone for research, education and sustainable development.
Sierra Gorda Ecological Group's work is based on a model they call participatory conservation, where entrepreneurship and community
involvement are front and center. Many of the area's residents earn at least part of their income from different programs the organization has
developed.
There are rewilding projects, carbon capture initiatives, ecosystem conservation training, and more. All of which compensate the local
landowners for taking part.
RUIZ CORZO: We have to develop all these natural solutions. If I want to preserve the forest, I have to give economic value for them because that's
the only thing they have.
NEWTON: Community-based ecotourism plays a key role.
RUIZ CORZO: We have 27 small little restaurants and lodges and the artisan trail.
NEWTON: But the former teacher believes that the best tool for protecting nature and cultivating sustainable practices is education.
RUIZ CORZO: At the end of this year, we will have 800 teachers trained with a virtual diploma for climate action. If you teach the little ones to love
the planet, to connect them with nature, that's how we preserve the natural treasures.
NEWTON: While the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve is a remarkably better place than it was four decades ago, hurdles do remain.
RUIZ CORZO: The biggest challenge that we are going to face is the drought. The lack of water. The mission now is to train the local capacities to
adapt to climate effects.
NEWTON: From a grassroots movement to a globally recognized organization, Martha "Pati" Ruiz Corzo helped rewrite the book on achieving success in
conservation.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[16:50:11]
ASHER: And let us know what you're doing to answer the "Call to Earth" with the hashtag CalltoEarth.
We'll be right back after this short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right. Bitcoin soared today to a new record high as investors bet big on crypto. The value of Bitcoin surged past $98,000 the first time
it's been holding, right about there up about 4 percent in recent trading. Bitcoin has surpassed one milestone after the other since the U.S.
election. It's up more than 40 percent since American voters went with Donald Trump. Investors are betting big that his administration will ease
crypto regulations. This week's gains come as options trading begins in the largest bitcoin ETF.
Anna Stewart joining us live now from London.
So Bitcoin nearing the $100,000 mark. And it's also really the pace of the increase in value, 40 percent increase since Americans went to the polls
just about two weeks ago. Walk us through that.
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And more than doubled in value this year. This is an absolutely extraordinary rise. And we were wondering whether we
might see six figures today, $100,000. It is off shy of that. But clearly what we're seeing here is Bitcoin investors are looking ahead to
potentially a golden era for cryptocurrency, a golden era based on the fact that the new president come January is very supportive of cryptocurrency,
which is a complete about turn, I have to say, from the first administration, where Donald Trump was actually pretty anti-cryptocurrency.
But there we go.
What do investors hope he does? Well, firstly issue more friendly regulation. Secondly, make the U.S. the crypto capital of the world. And
thirdly potentially create a U.S. strategic Bitcoin reserve which would really support prices. Also worth noting that we've just heard news that
Donald Trump's media and technology group has filed a patent for a company called TruthFi, which looks like a digital wallet and payment processing
company based very much on crypto. Not the only crypto firm that Donald Trump and his family have launched actually this year. So you're seeing a
huge amount of support there.
And what's so interesting, Zain, is this isn't just meaning that retail investors like you and me are getting excited and thinking, oh, maybe we
should buy some Bitcoin. This is about institutional investors pouring huge amounts of money in because they can see a future here, and that is really
supporting prices, too.
[16:55:09]
I will name just one, MicroStrategy. This is an analytics software firm which four years ago decided to adopt Bitcoin as its primary treasury
reserve asset. It is making headlines right now because ever since the election it has bought $7 billion in Bitcoin additional to what we already
had in the reserve. It takes the total, I think, to $31 billion. The largest corporate owner of the token and yesterday this company's share
price was up 900 percent in one year. Not based on the analytics services that it sells but based in sort of Bitcoin -- Zain.
ASHER: And what's also interesting is that Gary Gensler, SEC chair, is going to be stepping down January 20th to make room for a Trump appointee.
He's a cryptocurrency skeptic. Take us through what we know on that front.
STEWART: Well, Gary Gensler, the SEC chair, definitely didn't have any fans in the crypto space. And really this wasn't a surprise given back in July
on the campaign trail, this is what Donald Trump actually said at a Bitcoin conference, which got a lot of applause. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT-ELECT: On day one, I will fire Gary Gensler and appoint a new SEC chairman.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: He doesn't need to fire him now. One of the things that Gensler has said in the past was that crypto was an industry rife with fraud and
hucksters and grifters. There have been a fair few high-profile examples of that. But on the flip side, people within the crypto community would say
that the lack of regulation, the lack of support from the likes of the SEC has actually allowed that sort of shady, dark world of Bitcoin to exist. So
perhaps we'll see it all changed. Certainly would expect to see an SEC that is much more friendly towards crypto next year -- Zain.
ASHER: All right. Anna Stewart live for us. Thank you so much.
All right, coming up, we'll have the final numbers from Wall Street right after this short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right. Wall Street certainly ended the day higher. The Dow gaining roughly around 460 points. The S&P 500 up half a percent, while the
Nasdaq barely closed in the green as investors rotate out of tech stocks.
One of Nvidia's largest customers helped lift the Nasdaq. Super Micro Computer rallied 15 percent on the heels of Nvidia's Q3 earnings report.
The chipmaker's results sending bullish signals to other AI stocks as well.
All right, that is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. I'm Zain Asher. "THE LEAD" --
END
