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Donald Trump Signs Funding Package To Reopen Federal Government; Jeffrey Epstein Survivors Planning News Conference; Kremlin Speaks About Sergey Lavrov's Absence, Rumors Of Vladimir Putin Rift; Palestinian Government Calling for International Action to Stop Israeli Settler Attacks in West Bank; People's Summit Underway Next to U.N. Climate Talks; Trump Administration Skips U.N. Climate Change Conference; Al Gore Optimistic on Path Forward to Fight Climate Change; Three Original Bob Ross Paintings Fetch $662,000 at Auction; Tennis Stars Shelton, Fritz Inspired by U.S. Women Success; U.S. Mints Last-ever Penny After More Than 230 Years of Production; Aurora Borealis Seen in Europe, Australia, New Zealand. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired November 13, 2025 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[02:00:38]
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.
Just ahead, the longest government shutdown in U.S. history is now over, but as critical services get back up and running, lawmakers could be facing this same dilemma again in just a few weeks.
Newly released e-mails from Jeffrey Epstein make numerous mentions about Donald Trump. What they reveal about their one-time friendship.
Also, CNN speaks exclusively with Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, about why Vladimir Putin's top diplomat has not been seen with the President in weeks.
Plus, new images of the beautiful light show dazzling much of the Northern Hemisphere.
ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.
CHURCH: Good to have you with us. Well, after more than six long weeks, the U.S. federal government is set to reopen, but there is no vacation for lawmakers just yet, as a new set of issues must be addressed before the end of January, or else the country may face another shutdown.
Just hours ago, U.S. President Donald Trump signed the bill to temporarily fund the government. He once again suggested ending the Senate filibuster, saying Democrats would not have been able to drag the shutdown on without it.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If we had the filibuster terminated, this would never happen again. And don't forget, we have another date coming up in the not too distant future. We can never let this happen again, and we should be able to pass great -- really great legislation.
So, I say terminate the filibuster, because, by the way, the Democrats will do it immediately if they ever assumed office, which hopefully they won't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Notably absent from the funding package are any provisions to extend health care subsidies. The major sticking point for Democratic lawmakers. The president appeared to be open to working with Democrats to find a solution while still blaming them for the shutdown.
CNN's Arlette Saenz has the details on what's part of the funding package.
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ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The bill to reopen the federal government now extends funding until January 30th, giving lawmakers a little over two months to avoid a similar shutdown situation from playing out next year.
This funding bill also included three full year appropriations bills dealing with military construction and Veterans Affairs, the legislative branch and the Department of Agriculture. One program that will be extended for a full year until the end of September of 2026 is the food stamp program, that was something that 42 million Americans had seen their benefits under threat as the shutdown dragged on, but now that provision will ensure that those food stamps programs can continue to function for the coming year.
This bill also would reverse those federal worker layoffs that occurred during the shutdown. The White House had used that as a tool to try to push Democrats to bring this shutdown to an end. Those federal workers will now be reinstated into their jobs. It also produces back pay for workers who worked throughout this shutdown, as well as furloughed workers.
Then there's some new addition of funding for to boost security measures for lawmakers up here on Capitol Hill. There's $203 million dedicated to enhancing security protocol and measures for both members of the House and the Senate. That is something that a lot of lawmakers pushed for after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, when many had been concerned about their own security, not just at the Capitol, but back home, at their districts.
And then, there is a very controversial measure that House Speaker Mike Johnson has taken some steps to try to appease some conservative House members on. The Senate bill included a provision that would allow senators to sue the Justice Department and the FBI if they subpoenaed their records or investigated senators without notifying the Senate.
This arose because some senators are very angry and frustrated with the fact that a special counsel during President Biden's administration, led by Jack Smith, had subpoenaed their phone records without notifying senators as he conducted his investigation on President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the election results.
[02:05:13]
So, this provision was included last minute in this bill, something that upset many conservative members who were surprised to see that in there and thought that it produced bad optics.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has now offered his -- some conservative members this agreement they can bring up a standalone vote to strip that measure in the future. They can't do that with the funding vote right now, because that would just delay the government shutdown and make it continue if it had to go back to the Senate to be rearranged there.
So, what House Speaker Mike Johnson has done is offered his conservative caucus a commitment that there will be a standalone vote on that measure, but it's still unclear whether the Senate would take it up and pass that once it makes its way to the other chamber.
Arlette Saenz, CNN, Washington.
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CHURCH: After waiting 50 days, Adelita Grijalva was finally sworn into Congress on Wednesday.
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REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): Congratulations, you're now members of United States Congress.
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CHURCH: The representative from Arizona received a standing ovation from her Democratic colleagues. House Speaker Mike Johnson had said her swearing in was delayed as the House was out of session, but Grijalva says he did it to stop her from signing a petition to force a vote on releasing the Jeffrey Epstein case files.
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REP. ADELITA GRIJALVA (D-AZ): This is an abuse of power. One individual should not be able to unilaterally obstruct the swearing in of a duly elected member of Congress for political reasons.
House Democrats released more e-mails showing that Trump knew more about Epstein's abuses than he previously acknowledged. That is why I will sign the discharge petition right now to release the Epstein files.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: The vote on that bill will come next week, and the house is expected to approve the measure.
Meanwhile, Democrats on the Oversight Committee have released multiple e-mails in which the late sex offender mentions President Trump. He appears to reference Trump being aware that his girlfriend and accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell was poaching girls from Mar-a-Lago to work for Epstein.
In another e-mail, amid years of investigation, Epstein refers to Trump as the dog that hasn't barked. Trump posted on Truth Social that the Epstein case is a hoax by Democrats to deflect from the government shutdown, here's White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
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KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: These e-mails prove absolutely nothing other than the fact that President Trump did nothing wrong.
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CHURCH: Donald Trump has always denied any wrongdoing and has never been charged with a crime. In relation to Epstein. Sources tell CNN, Epstein survivors are planning a press conference on Capitol Hill next week to pressure lawmakers to release the files. Even if the house approves the bill, it's unlikely to pass the Senate or be signed by President Trump.
More now on Trump's relationship with Epstein from CNN's Randi Kaye.
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TRUMP: Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein? This guy has been talked about for years. Are people still talking about this guy? This creep?
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That was President Donald Trump in July this year, offering a very different opinion of Jeffrey Epstein than he once shared publicly. In 2002, long before he became president, Trump told New York Magazine, he'd known Jeffrey Epstein for 15 years and called him a terrific guy. He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side, Trump told the magazine.
Over the years, the two have been spotted many times in public together. This NBC video shows Trump and Epstein socializing in 1992 at a party at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate. The video released in 2019 shows Trump appearing to say to Epstein, look at her back there, she's hot. While Epstein smiles and nods. Former swimsuit model, Stacey Williams, who dated Epstein in 1993, told CNN in an interview, Trump was Epstein's wing man.
STACEY WILLIAMS, FORMER MODEL WHO DATES JEFFREY EPSTEIN: They were best friends. They were very close and they were up to no good. KAYE: The two men flew together as well. These flight logs show Trump traveled on Epstein's jet four times in 1993, twice in 1994, and once in 1995, and in 1997. The logs were made public during Ghislaine Maxwell's 2021 trial where she was convicted of sex trafficking, among other things. Epstein also attended Trump's wedding to Marla Maples at New York's Plaza Hotel in 1993.
In 1997, Trump added this personal note to Epstein inside a copy of his book, "The Art of the Comeback." It reads, "To Jeff, you are the greatest," according to The New York Times. That same year, the two men were photographed together at Mar-a-Lago. This exclusive CNN video shows Epstein and Trump chatting in 1999 before a Victoria's Secret fashion show.
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Despite all of that, during a court deposition here in Palm Beach in 2010, Epstein refused to answer many questions about his association with Trump. And Trump has continued to try and distance himself from Epstein as recently as July. This was the story he told about kicking Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago.
TRUMP: He took people that work for me and I told him, don't do it anymore. And he did it, then I, said, stay the hell out of here.
KAYE (voice-over): More recently, Trump had to answer about a letter bearing his name found in a birthday book created by Ghislaine Maxwell for Epstein's 50th birthday. The letter, according to The Wall Street Journal, contained the outline of a naked woman and a message. "Happy birthday, and may every day be another wonderful secret." Trump denied authoring the letter and sued the journal for defamation.
TRUMP: That's not my signature and it's not the way I speak. And anybody that's covered me for a long time, know that's not my language.
Randi Kaye, CNN, Palm Beach County, Florida.
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CHURCH: Well, let's discuss all of this with Ron Brownstein, a CNN senior political analyst and opinion columnist for Bloomberg. Good to have you with us.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hi, Rosemary.
CHURCH: So, Ron, now that the longest government shutdown in U.S. history is over and the pain for many Americans may be coming to an end. What was actually achieved and how did each party come out of this?
BROWNSTEIN: Yes, you know, I think two things are true at once. I think Republicans -- and the shutdown ends with Republicans facing a policy and political problem around health care. There's no question that Democrats focus more attention on the impending expiration of the enhanced subsidies that were passed during the pandemic to make healthcare more affordable to more Americans under the Obamacare exchanges, and those subsidies will expire at the end of the year. Republicans did not seem inclined to extend them, and that, I think, is going to compound their vulnerability on healthcare, which, as we've talked about before, is one of the few issues on which the public still expresses more trust in Democrats than Republicans.
At the same time, I think the way the shutdown ended with Democrats essentially collapsing once Trump turned up the pressure by you know, his efforts to deny food stamps to millions of needy Americans does send a message as well.
I mean, it sends a message of weakness, both to their voters and to the White House. It's hard to believe that the president is really going to be cowering when Democrats make their next legislative threat against them after watching what happened here.
So, simultaneously, I think this shutdown compounded the Republicans policy and political problem around health care, and it compounded the Democrats' image of weakness.
CHURCH: And Ron, what will likely happen come January 31st when the funding runs out, especially if Republicans fail to extend health care subsidies or offer a viable health care alternative, are we going to be looking at another shutdown?
BROWNSTEIN: I find it hard to imagine, Rosemary, after the way this one ended. The Democrats would, you know, kind of go back into this. There's a saying in basketball, you know, that the player shouldn't go up in the air with the ball unless he knows what he's going to do with it before he comes down.
And clearly, Democrats weren't entirely sure what they were going to do once they shut down the government. There was, you know, division about what the cause should be. Should it be just the subsidies? Should it be the broader ways in which Trump is testing and challenging the constitutional system?
So, I just hard to imagine they come out of this with much of a stomach for doing this again.
CHURCH: We'll see, I guess. And Ron, of course, the other big issue to discuss is the vote in the House set for next week on releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files, coming after the House released e-mails referencing Donald Trump and after some Republicans came under pressure from the White House not to vote for the release of the Epstein files. Where do you see all of this going?
BROWNSTEIN: Yes, I mean, it's just a persistent headache for the president. I mean, we've seen over what nine years in public life now that there is a core of his base that simply does not care what norms or what behavior he is accused of, because essentially, they view him as, you know, RSOB (ph) that he's someone who violates the rules, but will do so on our behalf.
For the rest of the electorate, you know, this is just kind of a nagging issue, a cloud that will not go away, but it really isn't the central question on which his approval is rising or falling. I think if you there's been some very good analysis showing that the decline that we've seen in Trump's approval rating over the course of this second term, which is very real and had a big impact in the elections last week, is driven overwhelmingly by voters who are disappointed in their economic circumstances during his second term.
[02:15:04]
I mean, the principal reason he won reelection is that more voters believe that he than Harris could get their cost of living under control. Polls are very clear that outside of his core base voters don't see that happening, they simply don't see him making progress on the biggest problem they elected him to solve, which was their cost of living.
And in many ways, they think they see is making things worse with actions like the health care policies and also the tariffs and that, I think, more than the personal scandals going all the way back to the Access Hollywood tape, could you know is kind of the Achilles heel, is the weak link for Trump in the second term.
CHURCH: What do you think that might mean for the midterms, then, all of it?
BROWNSTEIN: I think -- I think, you know, the election gave us -- last week's election gave us one very clear signal for the midterm has, you know, in this century, without question, the dominant factor in midterms have been public attitudes about the performance of the incumbent president. And by that historical metric, Republicans were headed for a bad election on Tuesday, because, as we said, Trump's approval has been declining pretty much all year, especially among the groups where he made his biggest gains in 2024, young people, Latinos, and the broader category of working class, nonwhite voters.
But there was a counter narrative, Rosemary, all year. I mean, people wondered, well, OK, people are sour -- voters are souring on Trump, but they are really down in the polls on Democrats, and might that offset some of their disillusionment with Trump's performance.
Well, we had a real world test of that last week, and the answer was not much. The dominant factor by far in the vote was how people felt about Trump's performance. Might be Sherrill in New Jersey won 93 percent of voters who said they disapproved of Trump. Spanberger, in Virginia won 92 percent of voters who said they disapproved of Trump, the views about the Democratic party didn't matter very much, and that is a clear, I think, signal for the midterm that pretty much anywhere where Trump is under 50 percent in approval, Democrats have a shot, even if it's a place, a state, a district where historically, views of the Democratic Party have been kind of negative as well.
CHURCH: All right. Ron Brownstein, many thanks for joining us and sharing your analysis. Appreciate it.
BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me
CHURCH: Well, with the U.S. government open again. Trade Association Airlines for America says flights will likely return to normal before the busy Thanksgiving holiday. Airlines released statements saying the end of the shutdown will restore stability and predictability for travelers. The FAA cut back flights at the top 40 U.S. airports due to staffing shortages.
And it's unclear when the agency will increase the number of flights according to FlightAware, more than 370 U.S. flights are delayed already Thursday, and another 985 have already been canceled.
U.S. Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson is in a Chicago hospital. A statement from his Rainbow PUSH coalition says the 84-year-old is under observation for a condition called progressive supranuclear palsy. It was originally diagnosed -- or he was originally diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, but received the new diagnosis back in April. Jackson was a protege of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He spent more than 60 years advocating for racial equality and voter rights.
Russia's Foreign Minister, President Putin's right hand man has not been seen next to the Russian leader in weeks. CNN goes directly to the Kremlin to investigate why. Fred Pleitgen has our exclusive interview, that's next.
Plus, a conference is now underway, running parallel to the United Nations climate talks in Brazil, but this summit includes hundreds of votes and thousands of activists. We'll explain.
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CHURCH: Russia and Kazakhstan are boosting their partnership in the oil industry amid the fallout from U.S. sanctions on Russian oil companies. The presidents of both countries wrapped up two days of talks in Moscow. The leader of Kazakhstan says they also agreed to strengthen their ties around coal, electricity and transportation, and discussed options for gas cooperation too, including transporting supplies to third countries. The talks come as Russia faces limited prospects due to international sanctions for its war on Ukraine.
The Russian president's right hand man has not been seen with him publicly for weeks. Most recently, Sergey Lavrov was a no show at a key Kremlin meeting. For over two decades, Russia's Foreign Minister had been side by side with Vladimir Putin. CNN's Fred Pleitgen went directly to the Kremlin to investigate what's going on.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, side by side with Kazakhstan's president at the grand ceremony for the state visit in Moscow, both delegations lined up, but one figure notably missing Russia's Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov. The Kremlin trying to back down rumors of a Putin Lavrov rift in an exclusive interview with CNN.
PLEITGEN: Does the Russian Foreign Minister still have the trust of the Russian president? DMITRY PESKOV, KREMLIN SPOKESMAN: Definitely, 100 percent.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Sergey Lavrov is one of Vladimir Putin's closest officials, serving as Russian foreign minister for more than 21 years, but it's been weeks since the two have been publicly seen together. Lavrov a notable no show at Putin's most recent meeting with his National Security Council and the foreign minister will not be heading Russia's delegation at the upcoming G20 summit in South Africa.
[02:25:17]
This week, Moscow dealing with media reports that Lavrov hard line approach in a call with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio possibly contributed to derailing a planned Trump Putin summit in Budapest. Lavrov himself trying to set the record straight.
We had a polite conversation without any nervous episodes, Lavrov said at a press conference, by and large, reaffirming progress based on the agreements reached in Anchorage, and then went off the phone.
As the fighting in Ukraine continues, with the Russians claiming accelerating gains in the Donbas region. The Kremlin acknowledges the diplomatic process to end the conflict is stuck, and the cozy relations between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have become more muted.
The total reset of U.S.-Russia relations, Moscow has been striving for on hold and sanctions on Russia still in place.
PESKOV: We have the very, very brilliant horizons waiting ahead, and we're losing time, we're losing money, we're losing profits. This is what we do.
And of course, we sincerely hope that President Trump is still willing -- is still willing to contribute in political and diplomatic settlement of Ukraine problem.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): At the same time, Moscow rattled by President Trump's remarks saying the U.S. would begin renewed nuclear testing, the Kremlin demanding an explanation, warning of the possible consequences of nuclear proliferation.
PLEITGEN: How dangerous do you think this nuclear rhetoric can be?
PESKOV: Well, nuclear rhetoric is always dangerous. It's always dangerous. From One Hand, nuclear weapons is very good things for the peacekeeping in terms of mutual deterrence, but from the other hand, it's even dangerous to speak about that, and what, frankly speaking, would prefer not to make statements.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.
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CHURCH: When we come back, CNN takes you to the West Bank for a closer look at the scene of a violent attack this week by Israeli settlers.
Plus, the U.S. government is deliberately and noticeably absent from the U.N. climate change summit in Brazil. Why former Vice President Al Gore says he's disappointed, but not surprised.
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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWSROOM": The Palestinian government in Ramallah is urging the world to take action to stop a surge of violence in the West Bank.
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CHURCH (voice-over): Masked Israeli settlers set fire to property and vehicles in a rampage Tuesday. They also attacked Palestinians, leaving several badly injured. Our Jeremy Diamond visited the scene.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: This is the aftermath of an attack by Israeli settlers. We're here in the Occupied West Bank where dozens of Israeli settlers stormed this dairy distribution facility, setting several trucks on fire. You can see, this is one of those trucks that was set on fire by those Israeli settlers. It is completely burned down to its core here.
We are told that dozens of Israeli settlers descended on this facility in the northern part of the Occupied West Bank. They came through this gate right over here, and coming over the walls of several other parts of this facility. All of these settlers were masked. Some of them were carrying clubs. I spoke with the owner of this facility and he made very clear that he believes this was an effort to intimidate him and other Palestinians from expanding their businesses in the West Bank.
MONJED ALJUNEIDI, EXECUTIVE, AL JUNEIDI DAIRY & FOOD PRODUCTS COMPANY: I think it's just a message to scare us, to scare our employees to not start to -- to not come and to try to enforce their reality on the ground.
DIAMOND: What confidence do you have that this won't happen again?
ALJUNEIDI: There is no confidence. There is no confidence. And we hope that it doesn't happen again. We're taking more measures, but we don't know. There's no guarantees.
DIAMOND: Those settlers also descended on this Bedouin community right near that factory, and you can see that they also rampaged this area as well, setting fire to this place where the livestock feed was held and also terrorizing women and children who were in the home just up the hill. This is a part of a trend of a very violent month of October.
[02:35:00]
The United Nations has tracked more than 264 attacks by settlers against Palestinians just this month alone. And that is the highest number of attacks that they've tracked since they began following these numbers in 2006. Those settlers not only rampaged along this village, they actually beat several sheep here, killing four of them. And after that, we understand that several men went up this hill to try and get those sheep back to this village. And that is where those settlers then beat at least four Palestinians, who had to go to the hospital for medical treatment.
And this speaks to a growing problem of impunity for these settlers. It seems things are now reaching a point of saturation where even Israeli officials, who typically stay silent on matters of settler violence, are now also speaking out.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Beit Lid, the West Bank.
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CHURCH: Indigenous protesters are defending their decision to storm the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Brazil. They clashed with security guards on Tuesday demanding climate action and forest protections, specifically in the Amazon where their communities live. The protesters say they wanted to gain the attention of world leaders because they were excluded from the summit.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): They aren't concerned about our struggle. What they say is that we're against the government. On the contrary, we're not against the government. We need the government with us. But it must be honest with everyone.
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CHURCH: The indigenous communities joined the People's Summit on Wednesday. The 200-boat convoy in Belem, Brazil is running parallel to COP 30, thousands of activists and environmentalists are attending in an effort to express their commitment to climate and social justice.
Well, the Trump administration is deliberately absent from COP 30 by order of President Donald Trump. But former Vice President, Al Gore, is there urging countries to adapt to save the planet. The Nobel Peace Prize co-winner in 2007 and author of "An Inconvenient Truth," spoke with my colleague, Christiane Amanpour. They discussed how the momentum for change is still building.
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CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: What does it feel like to be the only vice president, the only member of an American administration, even if it's past, at the COP talks? Because this administration didn't send anybody, not the president, not the vice president, not even a technical team. What is it like being there without the full heft of the United States?
AL GORE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, it is disappointing, of course, that the present administration has turned its back on the climate crisis. During his campaign, Donald Trump famously gathered a whole room full of fossil fuel executives and said, basically, give me $1 billion and I'll do whatever you want. And he is following through on that and even doing some things that go far beyond what they want. It's really unfortunate.
And one of the most unfortunate actions of this current U.S. administration is shutting down access to so much data. That has vastly increased the degree of interest and the requests we're getting at this new Climate TRACE Coalition for the independent data that we're gathering on all of the point-source emission sites for the global warming pollution all over the world. And today, we presented action plans for how to turn that data into real reductions in emissions.
AMANPOUR: So can I ask you sort of the big picture, are you optimistic or neutral or pessimistic given that we've seen this current administration not only pull the U.S. out of its own climate regulations, but also use climate as a weapon with its allies and its adversaries alike. I mean, urging them to push back on their climate commitments as well. What does that mean at an international gathering like COP where you are? Is there a path forward that you can see?
GORE: Oh, yes, very definitely. There's a very promising path forward and I think we are going to win this struggle. The question is whether we'll win it in time. We're in danger of crossing some very dangerous negative tipping points. But let me give you some examples briefly. Some people are surprised when you ask the question, how much of all the new electricity generation installed everywhere in the world last year, how much of it was renewables, solar and wind? The answer is 93 percent and electric vehicles are fast following as a second big trend.
[02:40:00]
In September, 30 percent of all the new cars sold in the world were electric vehicles. And that is ramping up so quickly. And you know, 195 nations, all of them signed the Paris Agreement 10 years ago. Only one nation has withdrawn, under Donald Trump. He did it before, the last time he withdrew from the Paris Agreement. Following that, solar doubled in the U.S., electric vehicles doubled in the U.S., climate finance increased dramatically. And I hear from some other countries, an observation that explains how some people with a U.S. perspective tend to overemphasize what Donald Trump can do and is doing.
And they say, remember, 195 minus one does not equal zero. And we're seeing a lot of other countries stepping up. The momentum for change is still building very, very powerfully. It's like there's a big wheel turning in the right direction with some little wheels turning in the wrong direction inside it. But even they are being moved toward this sustainability revolution, which has the magnitude of the industrial revolution, coupled with the speed of the digital revolution.
So, it is inevitable that we're going to make this change, but we need to accelerate the pace in order to minimize the huge dangers that we're encountering as we continue to put 175 million tons of global warming pollution into the sky, using it as an open sewer. The accumulated amount there now traps as much extra heat as would be released by 75,000 first-generation Hiroshima-class atomic bombs exploding every 24 hours on the Earth. It's insane for us to allow that to continue. And the good news is we've got a lot of momentum to make the changes necessary to protect our future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: And you can see more of that interview with Al Gore on "Amanpour" at 4 a.m. Eastern, 9 a.m. in London.
Three original paintings by renowned TV artist, Bob Ross, have fetched a total of $662,000 at auction. Two of the pieces sold in Los Angeles on Tuesday were created on Ross' PBS show, "The Joy of Painting," which aired from 1983 to 1994. In all, 30 paintings by the late artists will be sold, organized by American Public Television or APT. The sale aims to support U.S. public TV stations amid recent federal funding cuts.
Still to come, a once feared bird now fiercely protected. We will go inside the race to save a rare African vulture. That's next.
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[02:47:39]
CHURCH: In the rugged mountains of Southern Africa, one of the continent's most powerful birds of prey is in peril. Today, on Call to Earth, we join the local guardians fighting to keep them in flight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHANNON HOFFMAN, MANAGER, BRED 4 THE WILD (voice-over):
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): These chunks of meat are not the next meal of a big cat, wolf, or any other kind of predator, but rather a baby bird.
SHANNON HOFFMAN, MANAGER, BRED 4 THE WILD: Can't be fuzzy, this is what we got.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): This is the bearded vulture. It's a flagship species of the Maluti Drakensberg Mountain Range in Lesotho and South Africa. In 2014, they were declared critically endangered in the region. Today, it's estimated that approximately a hundred breeding pairs remain. These powerful birds can weigh up to seven pounds and have a wingspan of almost three meters.
HOFFMAN: They're a big bird and there is quite a fear history around them. But doing -- when you understand how they work, how they function, they become a non-threatening thing. In fact, there have been fascinating species. They don't hunt, they scavenge. So they clean up after the world. And we come in here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): For the past 18 years, Shannon Hoffman, Manager of Bred 4 The Wild has been at the helm of conservation efforts in the region. HOFFMAN: We are putting together a founder (ph) population of birds that we can breed from, and it's their progeny that's going to be released back into the wild.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Bred 4 The Wild relies on puppets to rear the birds, to prevent them from imprinting on humans.
HOFFMAN: The responsibility is huge because if we lose any of these baby birds, or even as adults, you can't replace them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): While rebuilding the population through breeding programs is critical --
SONJA KRUGER, ECOLOGIST, BEARDED VULTURE RECOVERY PROGRAM: He's coming in very low.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): So too is mitigating the threats to the dwindling wild bearded vultures.
KRUGER: There's a lot of threats to the species, mainly poisoning. That is the primary threat. And they also do collide with power lines.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Sonja Kruger is a tireless champion of this imperiled species, having dedicated more than 20 years of her life to protecting them.
KRUGER: We're in the central Drakensberg at a feeding site, and this is on private land.
[02:50:00]
We really worried about poisoning in vultures. So these feeding sites are so important because we can provide safe food for the birds, and try and keep them in areas that we know are safe and that the food is safe.
So the bearded vulture is a transfrontier species, so it crosses both Lesotho and South Africa. So both countries need to work together to save the species, because we are sharing a breeding range.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Across the border in Lesotho, the traditions and customs of the Basotho people create a unique landscape for this work.
TELANG SEKHOTLO, MEMBER, BEARDED VULTURE RECOVERY PROGRAM: They are not yet out, but they are about to come out. Telescope --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): For Telang Sekhotlo, the past six years have been spent spreading the values of conservation in his community.
SEKHOTLO: When coming to conservation here in Lesotho, we don't have much protected area or (inaudible). Most of our land is communal land. The chief and the head boys are here to learn the process of monetary in the environment. People are not able to differentiate different types of birds. So we normally call them when we come here to monitor, so that as a young people should learn about the bird conservation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): It's an uphill battle for these activists, but they stay hopeful that their work today will help fill the skies with the bearded vulture once again.
KRUGER: It's very rewarding the few successes that we do have, but I think we have a long way to go to try and protect the species, and to try and stop the decline. It would be so sad if the future generations didn't have bearded vultures flying through the skies for them to observe.
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CHURCH: And let us know what you are doing to answer the call with the hashtag #calltoearth. "CNN Newsroom" continues after a short break.
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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. American tennis stars, Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz have been representing the U.S. in the season ending ATP Finals this week. Shelton lost his match yesterday, but Fritz is moving on in the tournament. Still, it's been almost two decades since two Americans qualified for the men's singles event. The duo sat down with CNN's Amanda Davies to talk about that.
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AMANDA DAVIES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: A really big year for U.S. men at the finals. How much pride do you take that -- in that as Americans?
TAYLOR FRITZ, 2024 U.S. OPEN FINALIST: It is cool. I think we're both obviously doing our thing and we both end up here. And it's -- yeah, it's great to share this with Ben.
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And honestly, I think there could have even been more of us.
BEN SHELTON, TWO-TIME GRAND SLAM SEMI-FINALIST: I think that's what we're striving for and looking for. We want to have multiple guys at the top of the game and we want to be dominant as a country in tennis. So, we've had our work cut out for us, to catch up to the women who have been dominating and have four girls in the finals, in rehab (ph). But, we're getting closer.
FRITZ: You know, it's not just this year that they've had the success. It's for, I mean, pretty much every year for a long time, the women have been carrying -- really carrying the U.S. tennis. So, it is time for the men to step up.
DAVIES: Is that how you see it? The women carrying the men?
FRITZ: I mean, as far as winning Grand Slams in the U.S., we're always having champions on the women's side, so I feel like it is our time at some point. DAVIES: Yeah. So when is that? I know, Ben, you've said it is coming, the next U.S. men's Grand Slam champion.
SHELTON: Yeah.
DAVIES: When? Have you set yourself a timeframe with that?
SHELTON: No, I don't have a timeframe. I've set (ph) a lot, that's for the media to speculate and there's too much talent out of our group right now for us not to break through at some point. And the media will write article after article about the drought or who's going to be the next, or when it is going to be the next. I just know that it's inevitable and I'm just excited to kind of be a part of that surge that we're making.
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CHURCH: The American penny is officially out of luck. The U.S. has minted the final pennies at its production facility in Philadelphia, but they won't be going into circulation. They'll be auctioned off instead. Now, this ends a years-long debate over why the U.S. kept making the $0.01 coins when it cost nearly $0.04 to produce each one. President Trump cited that cost when he ordered the end of the penny back in February. The U.S. has been making them for more than 230 years. And we should note, pennies will remain legal tender, so you can still use them to buy things.
Well, a stunning light show is on display above our planet. This is footage of the glow from the Southern Lights over Australia's state of Victoria, just dazzling. The rare aurora borealis painted the sky red over the Matterhorn Mountain on the Swiss-Italian border on Wednesday. Waves of color are lighting up the sky across the United States as well. The Northern Lights filled the skies in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin on Wednesday night. This was the scene in Iowa. It's happening because eruptions of energy from the sun have been interacting with the Earth's magnetic field. So if you can, it's worth stepping outside and taking a look.
Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. I will be back with more "CNN Newsroom" after a short break. Stick around.
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