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Connect the World
CNN International: Netanyahu: If you "Harm our Hostages we will Get You"; House Ethics Panel Considers Release of Gaetz Report; The Perks of Trump & Musk's Unexpected Friendship; "Bomb Cyclone" Slams Washington State, Parts of Canada; Robotic Seafloor Restoration. Aired 9-9:45a ET
Aired November 20, 2024 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: This is the scene in Washington, D.C., where the House Ethics Committee will decide whether to release its
final report on Donald Trump's controversial Attorney General pick Matt Gaetz. It is 09:00 a.m. in Washington. It is 06:00 p.m. here in Dubai. I'm
Eleni Giokos, and this is "Connect the World".
Also coming up, another major policy shift by the Biden Administration for Ukraine. The White House approving the use of anti-personnel mines by
Ukrainian defenses for the very first time. And as we await news of a possible ceasefire in Lebanon, Israel's Prime Minister is offering $5
million for every hostage returned from Gaza.
Meanwhile, the U.S. President-Elect announces more surprising and unconventional cabinet nominees. All right. The stock market in New York
will open in about 30 minutes from now. Let's check in to see how the futures are doing. And of course, green across the board, the big one for
today.
And this is happening after the closing bell, Nvidia is set to report its quarterly earnings, and of course, a lot of excitement about those numbers.
That's definitely going to be driving markets for today and, of course, tomorrow as well. But moving on now, new signs today that the intensity of
Russia's war with Ukraine and the urgency to end it are both on the rise.
The Biden Administration has approved sending anti-personnel mines to Ukraine for the first time. And that's meant to slow Russia's advances in
Eastern Ukraine, and it comes on the heels of U.S. approval for Ukraine to use longer range American missiles to strike inside Russia.
The United States is set to announce another boost for Ukraine's military in the form of a security package worth up to $275 million, but as that
surge of support comes in, so does a steady flow of Russian bombs targeting cities across Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv, where Ukrainian air
defenses fought off an attack overnight.
The U.S. and other Western countries have closed their embassies to the public today for safety. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh has the view from Kyiv with
the signs of a global escalation on mounting.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv closed for the first time, really since the invasion
of February 2022, diplomats not coming to work. Many warned to shelter in place because of the fear, they say of an air assault. Very untypical.
This kind of warning to Americans and their diplomats to essentially take cover and not something that Kyiv itself would find that abnormal. Look at
the streets around me here, there's no signs of life really changing at all despite the specific nature of this warning, indeed.
But it is a sign of the escalating tensions between Washington and Moscow since Ukraine has started using in the last 48 hours, U.S.-made and
supplied attack on longer range missiles to hit targets inside of Russia. Is it likely that there will be a direct attack on this building, or that
would be an extraordinary, escalatory move by Russia and just the closing months of the Biden Administration.
And I'm sure Vladimir Putin, frankly, would not want to take a move like that when he knows presidents elect Donald Trump may engage in more
favorable discussions with him, but other European embassies we're hearing or at least restricting their services, some closed to visitors.
And it may be, I think, a reflection of how there's increased anxiety in all of NATO's ranks about what may follow the stark move by President Joe
Biden to allow the attack and to be used. Overnight, we're hearing that Ukraine's Defense Intelligence says it's hit further targets inside of
Russia.
But still, it's Russia on the front foot across the eastern battle zone here, making incremental progress over the past months. But you do get a
real sense here in Kyiv of the heightened tensions between Washington and Moscow, because warnings like this are just so rare. Nick Paton Walsh, CNN,
Kyiv, Ukraine.
GIOKOS: The Israeli Prime Minister says anyone who frees a hostage from Gaza will be rewarded with millions of dollars. Benjamin Netanyahu made the
offer during a visit to central Gaza on Tuesday. As he issued this warning,
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: I want to say to those who are holding our hostages, whoever dares to harm our hostages, his blood is on
his head, we will pursue you, and we will get you. I also say to those who want to get out of this maze, whoever brings us a hostage, we will find a
safe way for them and their family to get out.
[09:05:00]
We will also give a reward of $5 million for each hostage returned. You choose. The choice is yours, but the result will be the same. We will bring
them all back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Well, separately, Israel's military issued arrest warrants for more than 1100 ultra-orthodox Jews who haven't responded to draft orders.
Israel's Supreme Court removed their exemption from military service in June. We've got CNN's Paula Hancocks live from Abu Dhabi for us to give us
analysis on both of these stories that are coming out of Israel today.
I want to talk about the hostages and this offer of $5 million for anyone that releases the hostages. Could you give me a sense of how hostage
families are reacting to this offer?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Eleni, the official response from the hostage and missing family's forum, which represents these families, is
that they are not commenting at this point, we know, though, that there are ongoing protests outside the prime minister's residence calling for a deal
to be done.
Now, of course, what we have heard from the Israeli Prime Minister is very different to talking about this cease fire hostage deal that we have been
discussing for months now. We have heard two individual families responding to his offer, and both have been highly critical.
CNN spoke to Ruby Chen, who is the father of Itay Chen, a U.S. citizen, who the Israeli military believes was killed on October 7th during that attack
by Hamas, and his body taken into Gaza. Let's listen first to his response.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUBY CHEN, FATHER OF ITAY CHEN, A U.S. CITIZEN HELD IN GAZA: It is unfortunate that after 411 days, the prime minister does not have a
strategy. That is a tactic, and it is not only to get all 101 hostages, it might claim a few.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANCOCKS: 101 hostages, is what the Israeli government believes still being held within Gaza itself, at least a -- of them believed to have been to be
deceased. We also spoke to the mother of one hostage, Matan Zangauker, and she said that, quote, the prime minister is trading the hostages' lives.
She said that she was concerned that this divide and rule, this attempt to divide and rule in Gaza with the captors, is actually going to put the
lives of many of these hostages at more risk. And she is concerned that this shows that the prime minister is willing to give money effectively, to
Hamas.
So individually, the families we have spoken to have been highly critical of the Israeli Prime Minister's offer, yesterday. We have reached out to
the prime minister's office as well to find more information. This is really a speech that a statement we heard from Netanyahu, and haven't heard
anything since.
So, we're asking about the logistics, the details of what this would exactly entail. We have yet to hear back, Eleni.
GIOKOS: Yeah. And Paula, the big story is that they are arrest warrants for more than 1000 ultra-orthodox Jews. Tell us more about these warrants and
how they're going to be enforced?
HANCOCKS: So, this was all back in June when the Supreme Court ruled that ultra-orthodox Haredi Jews should no longer be exempted from military
service. There have been 3000 of these draft orders sent out 1000, we're now hearing from the IDF when there has been no response.
That is now what they are looking at. They say they will give them a call to remind them of their duty that they have to sign up. They will then be
summoned, or they will be declared to be a draft dodger, and that could mean that they will be banned from foreign travel, or they could be
arrested if the police stop them.
So, there is anger among the ultra-orthodox community that this has happened, but what we're hearing from the IDF is they are about to put 7000
more draft orders out to members of this community. So, the IDF says they need 10,000 more within the IDF to be part of the reservists, to be part of
the mandatory service, because there has been more than a year of wars, not just in Gaza, also in southern Lebanon.
And the IDF says that they need to have these extra personnel, these extra soldiers, in order to help shoulder -- what is happening at this point.
We've also heard from the IDF brigadier general who was discussing this to the Israeli parliament.
[09:10:00]
That 10,000 is the number they are working on at this point that they need 10,000 more. That's not a stable number. He said it may go higher, as the
IDF is sustaining casualties at this point, Eleni.
GIOKOS: Paula Hancocks, thanks so much for that update. All right, so we're getting a clearer picture of what the incoming Trump Administration will
look like with the announcement of two new names. TV personality, Dr. Mehmet Oz is set to become the head of the Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services.
That's the agency that oversees health insurance for more than 150 million Americans, while Linda McMahon is Trump's pick as the next education
secretary. She's a transition co-chair best known as the former head of WWE wrestling. We've got Alayna Treene in Washington for more on these cabinet
picks.
I want to start off with Linda McMahon, a major Republican donor and current transition co-chair. What sort of policies could she implement when
she comes into education? What do you know?
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, I think what's going to be fascinating is what we know regarding what Donald Trump wants to do with the Department
of Education. He has said repeatedly throughout his time on the campaign trail that he wanted to dismantle the Department of Education.
And he reiterated in his statement, in announcing that he was choosing Linda McMahon to lead the department, that she would help bring the
education department and all of its services back to the state. So, there's going to be a lot of changes that go along with that, and she's really
going to be the one overseeing all of that.
Now, I'd argue as well that, like many of the other picks we've seen, Donald Trump selects for some of these top cabinet positions, and this is
the same honestly for Dr. Mehmet Oz as well. They don't necessarily have the credentials and the experience for some of these roles.
Now, Linda McMahon was Donald Trump's former head of the Small Business Administration. She's very close to the former president. She has ties to
WWE, which we know Donald Trump cares a lot about. He has his own ties to that as well. She had founded and been the CEO of WWE alongside her
husband, Vince McMahon, but she's also been very crucial in other ways.
We know that in her time since leaving Donald Trump's White House that she had sat on the board of the America First policy institute, something that
has really been described as creating a White House in waiting for Donald Trump and a second Trump term, and she also has given millions to the
effort.
And we also know, as you mentioned, Eleni, that she is currently one of the co-chairs of Donald Trump's transition. One thing that's interesting behind
the scenes, however, is that even though she was named to run the Department of Education. She had actually really been gunning for the
position of running the Department of Commerce that went to someone else, her actual co- chair, transition chair, Howard Lutnick, who had been
wanting the Treasury Department role.
So, she didn't end up getting that. And that is kind of why we're seeing her slated into this role to run the Education Department. I mentioned that
I know it's a lot of behind the scenes, kind of intrigue in Donald Trump's world. But I mention it because she wasn't necessarily always seen as
someone who would be the right person to run the Education Department.
But again, I think what you're going to see with what she does in this role is really going to be seeing a lot of it being dismantled, seeing a lot of
resources being dispersed away from the federal government and to the states.
GIOKOS: Yeah. Really good point. Alayna Treene, thank you so much. Well, in just a few hours, the U.S. House Ethics Committee is expected to meet over
a weather to release its final report on Matt Gaetz, Trump's controversial pick for attorney general. The panel has been investigating allegations
against the former congressman, including sexual misconduct.
A growing number of senators, including Republicans, who will vote on the Gaetz confirmation want to see this report. Gaetz himself will be on
Capitol Hill today with VP-Elect J.D. Vance to lobby some of those senators. CNN, Congressional Correspondent Lauren Fox joins us now live
from Capitol Hill.
Good to see you, Lauren. What are you hearing from lawmakers ahead of this expected House Ethics panel meeting?
LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, about 10 minutes ago, I was standing in the United States Senate when we saw the Vice President-
Elect J.D. Vance come in through the doors. In tow was Representative Matt Gaetz, who has now been nominated to be Trump's next attorney general, also
joining them, Senator Marco Rubio who has been nominated to be the next Secretary of State.
These men are going to undergo a series of critical meetings today on Capitol Hill, and obviously the stakes are extremely high for
Representative Gaetz. That is because across the capital today, we expect the House Ethics Committee is going to meet and discuss the future of the
ethics report that they have been working on against Matt Gaetz.
Now it is not clear whether they will actually have a vote in committee today. It is not clear if they will make any final decisions in that
meeting today. All we know is that they are going to have a discussion, that they are going to meet in a room together.
[09:15:00]
And we will have to wait and see whether or not they actually decide whether to release this report, whether to not release this report, that
all remains up in the air. There are a series of senators, both Republicans and Democrats, who have been very clear that they want to have access to
that material in order to make a call about whether or not they would vote to support Attorney General nominee Matt Gaetz to be the next AG.
So that is all swirling this morning on Capitol Hill, these meetings today that Gaetz is going to be having very critical because senators have a lot
of questions, not just about what potentially could be in this ethics report, but also, they have questions on generally, what is Gaetz's
philosophy when it comes to law enforcement.
He is not someone that senators may know well. In fact, all they know of him, perhaps, is the fact that he was one of the rabble rousers in the
House that led to the ousting of Kevin McCarthy. So Republican Senators are going to have a lot of questions for him in the hours ahead.
GIOKOS: Indeed, they will. All right, Lauren Fox, good to see you. Thank you. And ahead on the show, Hong Kong's crackdown on dissent, jailed
activist Jimmy Lai takes the stand in his own defense. More from the high sex trial coming up. Plus, a once in a decade bomb cyclone hits the U.S.
and Canada, the damage it's caused so far, that's coming up right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GIOKOS: We're hearing more from the trial of Hong Kong media tycoon and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai. Today, he took the stand in his own
defense, and you see the tight security there around his arrival, Tuesday. The 77-year-old had not been heard from since his arrest almost four years
ago, he's been awaiting trial on multiple charges linked to his support for Hong Kong's democracy protest movement through his media business.
He could face life in prison if convicted. For much more, I'm now joined by Senior International Correspondent Ivan Watson to give us more details on
what's playing out. Ivan, tells us what was said in court today and why Jimmy Lai spoke in his own defense?
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Sure. Well, I mean, this is the way the Hong Kong court system works, though. This is under a
national security court where Jimmy Lai is facing some very serious charges, three charges in all, two for colluding with foreign forces and
one count of sedition.
He has pleaded not guilty to those, so he was questioned by his own lawyer. And in one of the comments, he talked about the core values of what he
described of as his newspaper, Apple Daily, which was forced to close nearly four years ago. And of Hong Kong as well, saying that they are rule
of law, freedom pursuit of democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly.
Now, Lai was an outspoken critic of the national government in Beijing of the ruling Communist Party.
[09:20:00]
Even though, Hong Kong was part of China under the existing one country, two systems. He did have the freedom to speak out, to print things in the
newspaper, in his newspaper, he said he stopped short of calling for Hong Kong's independence. He said that would have been crazy.
He did say, he did admit to lobbying U.S. officials during President Trump's first administration, calling for them to speak out for Hong Kong,
at a time in 2019, when the city was roiled by street protests and riots, he said that he urged Vice President Mike Pence to speak out about Hong
Kong.
But he didn't call for any concrete actions, though his newspaper did call for sanctions against officials here in Hong Kong. The Trump Administration
at that time did, in fact, impose sanctions on senior Hong Kong officials and removed special trade status from Hong Kong, and those are some of the
measures that made him such a thorn in the side of the Chinese government and the Hong Kong authorities, Eleni.
GIOKOS: Look, we know, yeah, and we know this is part of a wider crackdown on descent, but I'm curious to know a little bit more detail about what
Beijing's Ministry of Foreign Affairs is saying on this particular trial?
WATSON: Sure. I mean, they're not mincing any words. Take a listen to what a spokesperson had to say this week.
GIOKOS: Yeah.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIN JIAN, SPOKESMAN AT CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY: Jimmy Lai is the main planner and participant of the anti-China and Hong Kong rebellion, as well
as an agent and front runner of the anti-Chinese forces.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: The foreign ministry has also gone in to say that any criticism of this trial by Western governments or human rights organizations amounts to
blasphemy. And some of the groups that have spoken out on his behalf include the British Prime Minister who Jimmy Lai is a British passport
holder.
He could have theoretically left Hong Kong and perhaps escaped being behind bars for these nearly past four years, but he said he never left. Keir
Starmer, the Prime Minister, actually raised Lai's case in front of cameras in a one-on-one meeting at the G20 on the sidelines of the G20 summit with
the Chinese Leader Xi Jinping.
And Donald Trump, has spoken out about Lai when asked about it, saying that he boasted that he could probably get him out of jail very quickly, though
it's not very clear how that could happen. And of course, we have heard about Lai's support for the Trump Administration back in 2019. He's on
record saying that he thought that Trump was the only hope that he had for saving democratic freedoms in Hong Kong.
And those have changed dramatically since Lai's arrest and as part of a broader crackdown, which has seen independent newspapers shut down almost
all opposition politicians, either in jail or who have fled into exile and part of what had been a fairly normal part of political culture here,
street demonstrations, protests, those have all but almost completely stopped over the course of the last four years.
The Hong Kong authorities, the Chinese government, Eleni, they argue this is all part of bringing stability back to the city.
GIOKOS: All right. Ivan Watson, thank you so much, good to see you. The close relationship between Donald Trump and Elon Musk was once again on
full display on Tuesday as the President's elect travel to Texas for the latest test flight by SpaceX, which Musk owns. But the coziness between the
two is already raising concerns about potential conflicts of interest when it comes to Musk's businesses. CNN's Ed Lavandera reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The President-Elect watched the world's most powerful rocket launch. It's the
sixth test flight for Elon Musk Starship. Trump and Musk have been inseparable in recent months.
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND CURRENT PRESIDENTIAL-ELECT: Elon Musk is incredible what he's done.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): It's also a relationship intertwined with political interests.
ELON MUSK, CEO OF TESLA MOTORS: I'm not just MAGA. I'm dark, gothic MAGA.
TRUMP: A star is born Elon.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): And both share a fascination with space travel.
MUSK: We must become a multi-planet species.
TRUMP: We'll get Elon. Get those rockets going.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): The U.S. government has increasingly turned to Musk's SpaceX rockets for many commercial launches. SpaceX has some $4
billion in federal government contracts supporting NASA's Artemis program, which plans to put astronauts on the moon in 2026. And Starship's ultimate
mission is to land on Mars.
[09:25:00]
Donald Trump's return to the White House has emboldened Musk, as the world's richest man engages in regulatory fights with the federal
government agencies overseeing the SpaceX rocket launches. Musk has called for the head of the Federal Aviation Administration to resign.
The FAA is the agency which grants SpaceX approvals to launch its rockets. And Musk stands to gain even more influence from his rosy relationship with
the President-Elect.
TRUMP: Who else could do this kind of stuff?
LAVANDERA (voice-over): But Musk's SpaceX has come under fire for environmental damage at the $3 billion launch site in Boca Chica, Texas. A
Texas environmental commission fines SpaceX for spilling wastewater that seeped into wetlands near the company's launch pad.
Musk responded on X to critics saying the launch destroyed nine bird's nest and their eggs, posting to make up for this heinous crime, I will refrain
from having an omelet for a week. The environmental and regulatory concerns come as SpaceX plans to dramatically ramp up launches.
GWYNNE SHOTWELL, COO OF SPACEX: I would not be surprised if we fly 400 Starship launches in the next four years.
JIM CHAPMAN, SAVE RGV: For Boca Chica, that would be a worst-case scenario.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Jim Chapman is an activist working with a local environmental group to raise concerns about the impact of SpaceX in South
Texas. He fears the incoming Trump Administration will allow Musk and SpaceX to steamroll through regulations.
CHAPMAN: SpaceX is always in a big hurry and complains bitterly if they can't do things on their own schedule, he may now not just complain about
it, but to weaken that oversight.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Musk's role in the future Trump Administration could have lasting effects on the space industry, his personal fortunes.
TRUMP: Takeover --
LAVANDERA (voice-over): And on the environment for decades to come.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA (on camera): Even though this latest test launch did not go exactly as SpaceX engineers had hoped, it's not considered a failure. This
test launch was designed to test the very limits of the heavy booster system, as well as the Starship spacecraft, and how it would land in the
Indian Ocean.
So, all of this was pushing the limits to just see how much this equipment could withstand. And engineers and SpaceX officials believe that there is a
lot to learn and a lot of information that they can glean from today's test launch. Ed Lavandera, CNN, South Padre Island, Texas.
GIOKOS: All right, and still to come on the show. The sale of Infowars to the Onion looked like a done deal, but conspiracy theorist Alex Jones
doesn't want to let him go. We'll give you the details right after the short break. Stay with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:30:00]
GIOKOS: All right. That is the sound of the opening bell in New York. New York Stock Exchange just opened up for trading, and green all-round.
Investors are waiting for the Nvidia results, which are set to be released after the closing bell. Those are the quarterly results that are going to
come out.
And of course, I think a lot of anticipation in terms of what is expected from Nvidia. We're seeing the DOW Jones actually down three tenths of a
percent. We actually had much higher futures a short while ago. Something clearly has changed. We're waiting for those numbers to recalibrate, but
it's going to be an interesting day to see how market participants wait for those big numbers expected later on.
All right, DOW Jones actually up 56 points. All right, there we have it. It's up not point one 3 percent at this point. Conspiracy theorist Alex
Jones has filed a lawsuit to stop the sale of his Infowars to the Onion. Infowars was recently auctioned to help pay the $1.5 billion Jones owes to
victims' families of the Sandy Hook school shooting for falsely claiming the massacre was a hoax.
A nutrition supplement company affiliated with Jones also bid on it. But the Onion, satirical news outlet supported by the Sandy Hook families made
the winning bid. CNN's Hadas Gold has more for us.
HADAS GOLD, CNN MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Eleni, Alex Jones is suing the Onion some of the families of the Sandy Hook massacre victims, as well as a court
appointed bankruptcy trustee, alleging all of them colluded together for what he says was an illegal bid for the Infowars conspiracy platform.
That platform, of course, was sold off last week to help pay off some of the nearly $1.5 billion that Alex Jones owes the families of the Sandy Hook
victims after he's found guilty of defamation. Alex Jones is arguing that the entire auction process was unfair. He says that it was changed from a
live auction to a written sealed and final best bids auction.
He called the entire bid flagrantly non-compliant and Frankenstein bid, and that's because the Onion's bid was a bit different. It's not just all cash
on the table. The Onion put up $1.7 million in cash. But what they also did was they got a blessing from some of the families of the Sandy Hook
victims, who agreed to forgo 100 percent of whatever they would have earned from that sale to help bolster that bid.
And the Onion says that makes that their bid worth $7 million. Meanwhile, a company called First United American companies, which helped sell some of
the Alex Jones branded supplements that he sells. They put up a $3.5 million cash bid. And that's why Alex Jones and this first United American
company arguing that their bid is actually the better bid.
Now, to be clear, the court appointed trustee, he had rather wide discretion to hold the auction as he suffered, and to pick the best bid,
which didn't necessarily need to be the highest cash bid on the table. But regardless, Alex Jones, as well as the First American United company, are
trying to challenge the bid and the winning auction in court.
Now, the CEO of the Onion, which bought Infowars. His name is Ben Collins. He said in a statement that they were expecting this essentially all along.
They say we won the auction, and you're not going to believe this. The previous Infowars folks are not taking this well.
They say they expected this. They say the site as they are going to change it into something else will be fun later on, but annoying right away. He
says the fun part is still to come. The bank appointed -- the court appointed trustee in this case, Christopher Murray.
He also issued a statement pushing backs against the allegations from Jones and his affiliated company, saying that he intends to respond in due course
fully and in detail to the barrage of baseless allegations. He says selective quoting and half-truths in their recent filings.
Now the judge in the case, Judge Christopher Lopez in Texas, did hold a hearing last week where he tried to understand how this all worked. And he
actually did seem a bit perturbed about how the process worked out up until the auction, but he said they will be holding an evidentiary hearing on
this next week to get to the bottom of what happened, Eleni.
GIOKOS: All right, that was Hadas Gold for us. At least one person has died, and hundreds of thousands of people are without power in the
Northwest U.S. and parts of Canada. It comes after, once in a decade, bomb cyclone swept through the West Coast area late Tuesday.
This was the scene in Washington state where hurricane force winds and snow wreaked havoc. CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam joins us now to discuss the
impacts and the strength and the intensity of this bomb cyclone. Derek, I was looking into what it actually means. I know that you meteorologists
like to call it a bombogenesis.
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah.
GIOKOS: but tell us the impact, how long it's going to last and how people are going to be impacted?
[09:35:00]
DAM: Yeah. A lot of these terms that you hear, bomb cyclone, polar vortex, that type of thing. They're made popular by social media, but they are
rooted in meteorology, and they've got a lot of science behind them, and I'll try to get to that in just one moment. But this quote, unquote, bomb
cyclone, a powerful low-pressure system, has caused all kinds of havoc over the Pacific Northwest.
This is the northwestern parts of the U.S. and into Western Canada. We're coming out of the state of Washington here, where trees and power lines
were toppled over like twigs. Unfortunately, trapping people and residents as they fell onto their homes, took over an hour for this firefighting crew
to remove two residents from that particular household.
Here's another image of a home almost sliced in half from a tree because of the damage brought on by the wind from this powerful bomb cyclone. So here
it is on the satellite loop, and you can clearly see just kind of wrapping into itself. Looks almost like a hurricane, in a way, right?
Well, what's happening here is we're getting some of this intense wind that's coming off of this part of the storm system here. So, the coldest,
densest air sinks rapidly to the surface of the earth and then spreads out in all directions. And as it does so, it dries out that air.
But the wind here, right along the Pacific Northwest, as it reaches the coastline, has been equivalent to a category one Atlantic hurricane. So,
these criteria to meet this bomb cyclone name. Well, it has to do with the strength of the low-pressure system, and it has to drop a certain amount of
pressure in a certain amount of time in order to reach those criteria.
That's 24 millibars in 24 hours. This storm, however, more than doubled those criteria, so far exceeding that mention here of that time frame and
the amount of pressure to drop in that period of time, and that equated to a very powerful wind storm that is still ongoing and will continue through
the next several days, as wind gusts across Mount Baker, for instance, in the state of Washington, exceeded category one strength.
So here it is. The storm system to the north is absolutely tapping into moisture that can be traced all the way back towards the tropics. We call
this the Pineapple Express, again, a term made famous by social media. But basically, what it's doing, it's drawing in moisture that's going to bring
just a torrent of rain and snow to the Western U.S., on top of the wind threat that you saw just a moment ago. So, several more days of this,
Eleni.
GIOKOS: Wow! Derek, really fascinating. I mean, seeing that atmospheric river, precious system that you've put into graphics for us just absolutely
scary to think what is going on above us. Derek Van Dam, thank you so much. Good to see you, my friend. I will be back with more news right after the
short break. Stay with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GIOKOS: This week, as part of our "Going Green" Series, we're highlighting efforts to revive degraded ecosystems around the world. Just off the coast
of North Carolina, a robot is helping repopulate seagrass meadows. Julia Chatterley reports.
[09:40:00]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN ANCHOR, FIRST MOVE (voice-over): Found on the sea beds from Alaska to Australia, seagrass meadows are one of the most
pervasive coastal habitats on Earth. While they cover less than 1 percent of the ocean floor, these marine plants play an important role in aquatic
ecosystems.
CHRIS OAKES, CEO OF REEFGEN: Sea grasses are amazing. They keep the water clean, and they also serve as a nursery ground for the fishes. Seagrass
meadows are essential for healthy coral reefs. They represent about 20 percent of the carbon sequestration that is taking place in the ocean. The
seagrasses actually attenuate wave action and reduce coastal erosion.
CHATTERLEY (voice-over): Five years ago, ReefGen first began its venture into ocean restoration with a coral planting robot, which served as a
foundation for grasshopper its seagrass equivalent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Operating in the ocean is really hard things. It's often a slow process and a manual process, so one diver could go out and do the
work. But what we're building for is scale. We can have multiple units that are planting at least as fast, if not faster, than humans can.
CHATTERLEY (voice-over): ReefGen recently partnered with the University of North Carolina to plant eelgrass seeds in the Atlantic Ocean.
OAKES: We'll be looking at how our grasshopper works compared to other ways to distribute the seeds.
JOEL FODRIE, DIRECTOR OF UNC INSTITUTE OF MARINE SCIENCES: Here in North Carolina, we're a seagrass rich state, but we're seeing sort of slow annual
declines, and we would like to stop that and even reverse that trend.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're at the southern end of what's called the Outer Banks, and we're in an area where we have multiple grass species.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The form factor here is quite small. It's compact. It's about 50 pounds.
CHATTERLEY (voice-over): Grasshopper can currently plant up to 60 seeds per minute.
OAKES: Right now, we're focused on the planting and the biology and the mechanical aspects. Once we're confident that that's all designed the right
way, we'll overlay more semi-autonomous features like navigation. It's important to think about restoration as an ongoing process.
It's not a one and done. We're partnering with sensor companies. We can bring their technology out into the field, and then we can start to look at
the change over time. We're creating more habitat for the baby fishes and for the clams and the oysters. It's cleaner water, it's more jobs. We want
to make it affordable and available.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: Well, for more stories from this series, you can visit cnn.com/climate/goinggreen. Well, that's it for this hour of "Connect the
World". Stay with CNN. "World Sport" is up next, and I'll be back at the top of the hour. Stay with CNN.
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[09:45:00]
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