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One World with Zain Asher
"Massive" Russian Assault Leaves More Than 1M Homes In Dark; Displaced Families Return To Their Homes In Lebanon; Fears Of Hezbollah Threat Persist In Northern Israel; Ethics Pledged Appears To Exclude Provisions For Trump; Trump Picks Covid Critic To Lead National Institutes Of Health; U.S. Food Banks Getting Busier Amid High Cost Of Living; Thousands Brave Bad Weather For Macy's 100th Parade; Protecting Mental Health & Avoiding Drama During The Holidays; Increased Use Of Nuclear Power As Alternative To Fossil Fuels; How To Be A Jolly Old Saint Nicholas. Aired 12-1p ET
Aired November 28, 2024 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:00:34]
PAULA NEWTON, CNN HOST: A severe response from Russia to U.S.-made missiles.
"One World" starts right now.
A massive attack on Ukraine's infrastructure leaves more than a million without power. We will discuss more with a Ukrainian parliament member.
Plus, major concerns over President-elect Trump's pick to lead the National Institutes of Health. What this will mean for the U.S. health care system.
And just because the balloons are down does not mean Thanksgiving celebrations are over. As Americans prepare for dinner, we will speak to an
expert on how to have that best holiday.
Like New York (ph), I'm Paula Newton. Zain and Bianna are off today, and this is "One World."
Ukraine's winter has set in, and Russia wants to leave its neighbors in the cold. Dozens of Russian drones and missiles were launched in attacks on
Ukraine's energy infrastructure overnight. It's left more than a million homes without power. In Kyiv, people took shelter in metro stations. Five
people were reported to have been injured. Ukraine's energy ministry says this year alone, Russia has hit energy facilities 11 times, leaving
millions in the dark.
Now, earlier at a summit in Kazakhstan, Russian President Vladimir Putin said his military hit 17 targets in response to Ukraine using U.S.-made
longer-range missiles.
Nick Paton Walsh has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, a million homes without power in Ukraine after this significant Russian bid
to cripple Ukraine's energy infrastructure, yet again constantly Moscow's target. And regions across the country reporting temporarily or for a
longer stint of time being without power. Kh-101 missiles fired by Russia past moving, able to get through a lot of Ukrainian air defenses.
And clearly, Russia pushing hard to do as much damage as it can as we get into the darker, colder, freezing months of winter. A bid to cripple
Ukrainian morale, already I think it's fair to say damaged by the relentless nature of drone strikes we've been seeing city after city hit by
waves of these Iranian-made Shahid drones. A hundred eighty-eight drones in total fired by Russia, a record, say Ukrainian officials in the previous
night. And that is, I think, just adding to a sense of how much.
The Kremlin is throwing at this conflict in these months ahead. We've been seeing on the front lines deep concern from troops. They simply don't have
the infantry, the manpower to slow Russian advances in the east, particularly around the town of Pokrovsk. Indeed, that's been reflected by
Biden officials in the White House hinting that Ukraine really needs to drop its recruitment age down from 25 to 18 to simply get more buddies on
the front line.
And indications as well too of the likelihood of some sort of peace deal being requested for Ukraine to sign up to by the incoming Trump
administration. His possible choice for a envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, hinting in previous writings that he'd like to see a freeze imposed upon
the conflict in the front lines. Many we spoke to though on the front lines concerned about what damage Russia could indeed do in simply the months
until January when Trump takes office.
So fast is their progress on the front lines. We were shown maps by some Ukrainian commanders that they said were already out of date because Russia
had pushed through what was indicated as the front lines in that particular area.
So deeply concerning time here, but very powerful missile strikes impacting the lives of ordinary Ukrainians as we begin to head into the freezing
months of winter.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Central Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Now last hour, I spoke with Poland's foreign minister about this new phase in the war that's going on right next door in Ukraine.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Earlier this week, I point out your country said it would step up its support for Ukraine, but how to convince other European allies to
follow because that has seemed like a harder sell in the last few months.
RADOSLAW SIKORSKI, POLISH FOREIGN MINISTER: Well, I convened here in Warsaw just last week, a meeting of the big five of the European Union, Germany,
France, Spain, Italy, plus the UK, plus the high representative of the EU for foreign and security policy.
[12:05:04]
And we agreed to continue to back Ukraine, whatever the United States does. And I don't believe the new U.S. president wants for Ukraine to become a
failure for him in the early part of the administration. I've met General Kellogg, Mr. Waltz is also an experienced, serious person, and they know
that this war will only end when Putin stops his invasion, when Putin stops fighting.
So, we need to help Ukraine to continue through next year. Putin's economy is beginning to collapse from underneath him, the ruble is in trouble. I
believe that in about a year's time, Putin will be forced to be more realistic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Now we want to get more perspective on these attacks on Ukraine's energy sector, and we're joined by Ukrainian Member of Parliament Oleksiy
Goncharenko -- Goncharenko.
Thank you so much for joining us. I appreciate it, especially on what must again be a very trying day there in Ukraine.
What do you make of the latest strikes from Russia given how far west they actually struck and the fact that Ukraine air defenses did not manage to
stop all of them?
OLEKSIY GONCHARENKO, UKRAINIAN MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT: I am, yes, that's one more difficult day, but it's nothing new. This is a Russian warfare style.
There's a Russian war playbook. They try to terrorize civilians. And when the winter is coming, they're trying to destroy the power grid in order to
cause as much suffering for ordinary people as possible. That is very barbaric. This is very brutal, but this is how Russians are always doing
it.
For us, nothing new. For the third year we're coming through it, but we hope very much that our allies will help us with more air defense, more
long-range capabilities to destroy Russian military objects and to prevent such attacks, and with more sanctions against Russia in order to stop money
coming to their war chests from which they're buying for billions and billions of dollars everything they need for these missiles.
NEWTON: You know, the help that Ukraine has gotten from allies has helped, but only to an extent. I mean, just this morning, Vladimir Putin at that
security conference in Kazakhstan seems ever more emboldened, even though these are trying times, obviously, for him and his regime as well.
I wonder what more you believe you need to see from allies in order to really make a break here, because many are assessing, and I'm sure they'll
agree, that things on the front lines right now are very tough for the Ukrainian army.
GONCHARENKO: The time is very tough, that's true. What we need? We need more air defense. Today, many, many dozens of Patriot systems are
throughout the world, but really, they are needed in Ukraine. They will save so many lives, and they will protect infrastructure, which we then are
rebuilding with the support of our allies and wasting on these huge money.
So, it's good from all points of view to give us much more air defense and to do it right now.
Secondly, with the permission to attack military targets inside Russia, we need to have with what to attack them, because it's not about dozens of
missiles. We need hundreds of them.
And the third thing, as I told you, we need finally to have a tough sanction, first of all, on Russian oil and gas industry, and especially
when President-elect Trump said that he will drill, drill, drill. We need - - that is a good thing, because it will drop the oil price, and we need to put more sanctions, including secondary sanctions, on Russian oil and gas
industry.
And that will have a devastating effect on Russia, much quicker than one year. They would not survive long time of such tough sanctions
NEWTON: Your assessments may be realistic, but they're also exceedingly optimistic, given, as you said, we're almost at year three.
You did mention President-elect Trump. What do you believe will change with his administration, especially given some of the comments they've made
about Ukraine? Because right now, some of his advisors seem to already be looking at a deal that perhaps isn't something that your parliament would
agree to as of now.
GONCHARENKO: I think one main person in Trump administration is Donald Trump. That's why I'm following his comments, and with all respect to all
his advisors, that's the main thing for us. We don't know what exactly he will do.
That's true. We're waiting for his decision. His choice of envoy in Ukraine, General Kellogg, I think is a good choice. And General Kellogg is
really experienced. He is really hawkish on Russia, China, Iran, all these acts of chaos. So, this is quite inspiring.
[12:09:59]
But the main thing, as I told you, Donald Trump said that he will drop the oil prices, not to stop Putin, but in general, because he thinks it's
right, and to increase oil production in the United States significantly. This will have a devastating effect on Russia. Don't forget that the Soviet
Union failed apart, not because it lost the war or something like this, or it was bombed, but because the oil price dropped, and that was the end of
the Soviet Union, which was the Russian Empire 2.0.
So now this Russian Empire 3.0, which is the Russian Federation, I'm sure also will not survive a low prices on oil.
NEWTON: But Mr. Goncharenko, even if what you say is true, I believe it would take many, many months for any of that to come to fruition.
I want to ask you about the specifics about what a Trump administration might do. Do you fear that this whole issue of freezing the conflict where
it is now, meaning that when you go to the table to negotiate with Russia, that they will continue to keep not just Crimea, but significant parts of
eastern Ukraine?
What do you think the reaction to that will be? Because President Trump has had advisors say that that is the only thing that is in the cards right now
in terms of a deal.
GONCHARENKO: Ukraine will never accept that our occupied territories are Russian. And that's impossible. And that's also for the world is the worst
possible thing, because that will mean that international law and international order does not exist, which will lead us to a huge massacre
throughout the planet.
But also, without American military support, we can't reclaim these territories. That's reality. So, in this case, we will need time and
probably will return our territories in other way than a military one.
But again, we will never accept that these territories are Russian. They are Ukrainian. They are where they are and they will be.
NEWTON: Oleksiy Goncharenko, from Ukraine's parliament, we will leave it there for now. I want to thank you for joining us. Appreciate it.
GONCHARENKO: Thank you.
NEWTON: Now, the Israeli military says it carried out an airstrike in southern Lebanon after seeing what it described as terrorist activity by
Hezbollah. This on day two of a fragile Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire. The Lebanese army says Israel has breached the truce several times.
Still in Lebanon, the mood is one of celebration.
A military convoy was welcomed in this town earlier as the Lebanese army ramps up its presence in southern Lebanon that is near the Israel border.
Meanwhile, thousands of people displaced from their homes are heading back and reconnecting with loved ones.
Many Lebanese families are checking on the homes they left behind, and, unfortunately, they are finding scenes of devastation, as you can see
there.
Now, the truce brings a break, for now, at least, from a war that has killed more than 3,000 people in Lebanon, a country wracked for years by
political and economic crises.
CNN's Tamara Qiblawi has more now from Beirut.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TAMARA QIBLAWI, CNN SENIOR DIGITAL MIDEAST PRODUCER: It's been a few days since the truce between Lebanon and Israel has gone into effect.
QIBLAWI (voice-over): The mood here is jubilant, but it is cautious. We heard bursts of celebratory gunfire, and we saw people bundling their
mattresses into cars and rushing to return to their cities and villages.
The relief here is palpable. For one thing, people here don't greet each other by saying hello anymore.
QIBLAWI: They say, alhamdulillah salame, which means, I'm glad you're safe. It's a poignant acknowledgment of what this community has gone through, a
pat on the back, for having survived yet another terrible episode in this country's crisis-ridden history.
But the truce here is tenuous. We remain at the very beginning of a 60-day period when both sides are expected to carry out their commitments.
QIBLAWI (voice-over): Lebanon, on the one hand, must ramp up the presence of its troops in the country's south to ensure that the area is free of
Hezbollah's arms.
QIBLAWI: On the other hand, Israel must completely withdraw their forces from Lebanese territory. But this will be phased, and in the meantime, it
will be dangerous.
QIBLAWI (voice-over): But so far, officials see no reason to worry. And they see no serious threat to the ceasefire, at least not yet. But it is a
bumpy road ahead.
QIBLAWI: And meanwhile, all people really want is a return to normal life.
Tamara Qiblawi, CNN, Beirut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Now, on the other side of the border, people are still worried.
Some of those who were forced to leave homes in the north still believe Hezbollah poses a significant threat. And they're not ready to go back home
yet.
CNN's Jeremy Diamond reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDEND: So, you're back in Shtula with all the dogs?
ORI ELIYAHU, SHTULA, ISRAEL RESIDENT: Yes. I'm at home. It's not really home at the moment, but.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Ori Eliyahu is one of just a handful of residents living in this Israeli community along the Lebanese border. But he's not
back because he thinks it's safe.
ELIYAHU: So basically, it's not just that this is Lebanon, Jabal Black. You see there the mountain?
[12:15:00]
DIAMOND: Yes.
ELIYAHU: Those houses are Hezbollah's houses. They are shooting missiles from there.
DIAMOND (voice-over): The new ceasefire agreement means Hezbollah must withdraw from this area, about 25 miles north of the Israeli border.
But like many others in northern Israel, Ori doesn't trust Hezbollah, nor the Israeli government's assurances that it will prevent Hezbollah from
regrouping.
On the first day of this new ceasefire, Shtula is just as much of a ghost town as when we visited over the summer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go quick.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Back then, the Israeli military gave us just three minutes to see homes struck by anti-tank missiles, fearing Hezbollah could
strike again.
DIAMOND: I remember when I came here with --
DIAMOND (voice-over): Today, overlooking that same view, standing along that same devastated home, that threat seems further away. But for how
long?
DIAMOND: Your fear is that this agreement won't prevent this from happening again.
ELIYAHU: You are saying it's a fear. It's not fear. It's a fact. Here in the Middle East, this is how you go. This is how things work. If a
terrorist can shoot you, he'll shoot you.
DIAMOND (voice-over): He says his neighbors, among the roughly 60,000 Israelis displaced from the north, don't feel safe enough to return.
ELIYAHU: They won't do it. We are speaking about it all the time, in the WhatsApp group and in the phone, everywhere. They are not stupid.
DIAMOND: Just down the road, Ora Hatan is enjoying her first peaceful day in more than a year.
ORA HATAN, SHTULA, ISRAEL RESIDENT: We wake up today, a quiet morning, after one year, it's unusual.
DIAMOND (voice-over): She too is skeptical that the ceasefire will lead to a lasting peace. But she doesn't see an alternative.
HATAN: I spoke with the soldiers. They're tired. They're exhausted.
Also, what other option do we have? To arrive to Beirut?
DIAMOND (voice-over): On the Lebanese side of the border, many civilians were quick to return to southern Lebanon.
Yes, thank God, I'm happy, of course. We're going back to our hometown, to our land.
The Lebanese military also headed south, expected to monitor Hezbollah activity as a fragile truce takes hold.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Shtula, Israel.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Still to come for us, Donald Trump's team lays out an ethics plan to guide its conduct, but provisions for one very important person are
missing from the document.
And it's a day of giving thanks in the U.S. in addition to the big meal. There's football, of course, and parades. We'll have the highlights later
in the show.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:20:19]
NEWTON: Donald Trump and U.S. President Joe Biden signed documents this week to get going on the formal transition process, but one of those
documents, the Transition Ethics Pledge, appears to exclude provisions for one important person, the president-elect.
CNN's Steve Contorno joins us from West Palm Beach, Florida, with more.
So, I'm asking, what's so notable about this? And I dare say we've kind of seen these patterns before from an incoming Trump administration, right?
They really do break from precedent.
STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER (on-camera): It certainly has been the case, at least the first go-around as well. And here's what it means. It means
that the president-elect, at least as of now and at least not in writing, is not making a pledge to consider the interests of the American people
above his personal and business interests.
The rest of his cabinet will be signing a pledge that says that they will quote avoid both actual and apparent conflicts of interest and will quote
hold only non-conflicting assets, such as assets exempt from conflict by regulation. Trump, remember, has a massive portfolio of businesses that he
oversees. He now -- most of his wealth is now tied up in a social media company that owns True Social.
What happens if businesses that are trying to curry favor with the U.S. government decide to massively advertise on Trump's social media website?
He also has been selling trinkets and watches. What if foreign companies or foreign nationals try to buy one of his $100,000 watches to curry favor
with him? He also has in recent months started a cryptocurrency venture with his families, and he is promising at the same time to push pro-crypto
policies if he is president. What is the guarantee that he will make those decisions on really some massive financial implications that will benefit
the American people at large and not just this company that he and his sons have started?
So those are the sort of questions that the Trump administration and Trump himself could potentially put to bed by signing an ethics pledge and
agreeing to potentially put his assets in some sort of blind trust like his predecessors have done.
But so far, he has made no such guarantees, Paula.
NEWTON: And no such guarantees. There is nothing legally, I suppose, that compels him to do so.
Steve Contorno, it looks pretty nice there in West Palm Beach for now. I want to wish you a happy Thanksgiving. Thanks for being with us.
Now Donald Trump's pick to lead the National Institutes of Health is raising concerns among some health experts. During the COVID-19 pandemic,
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya became a critic of strict lockdown policies and COVID mandates, a stance that, in fact, was at odds with public health officials.
CNN's Brian Todd has more now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President-elect Donald Trump says his choice to lead the National Institutes of Health will, quote,
restore the NIH to a gold standard of medical research. But many medical experts say Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a Stanford-trained physician and
economist, could cause significant upheaval.
JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: I think it's controversial, but also in keeping with almost all of the president-elect's health picks to date.
TODD (voice-over): The 56-year-old Bhattacharya became a lightning rod during the COVID pandemic for speaking out against mask and vaccine
mandates.
JAY BHATTACHARYA, MEDICAL PROFESSOR, STANFORD UNIVERSITY: You don't bully people. You tell people, go talk with your doctor, talk over the risks, and
then make your own decision. That's the right way to do public health.
TODD (voice-over): And he was a strong opponent of lockdowns during the height of the pandemic.
BHATTACHARYA: The lockdown is devastating for the under-70s. If you think about the lockdown harms, they're not just economic, they're medical,
they're psychological.
TODD: Did he not have a point about the harm to mental health from the lockdowns?
REINER: Yes, I think, you know, I think he has a point that there were harms from lockdowns, but the people running the pandemic response had to
play off the theoretical risks to social isolation from the then very known risk of mortality from this virus.
TODD (voice-over): One of Bhattacharya's most controversial moves came in October 2020, when he was one of the lead authors of an open letter called
the Great Barrington Declaration, stating that COVID prevention efforts should be targeted to older, more vulnerable people, and that the virus
should be allowed to spread among younger, healthier people who were at lesser risk of death to develop so-called herd immunity.
PAUL OFFIT, PEDIATRICIAN: That's not the kind of virus you could ever eliminate by just letting everybody be naturally infected.
REINER: Estimates now are if the virus had been allowed to run unimpeded through the population, there would have been another, you know, one to two
million deaths in this country.
[12:25:02]
TODD (voice-over): But Bhattacharya has credible supporters. Dr. Ashish Jha, former White House COVID response coordinator under President Biden,
says Bhattacharya is, quote, fundamentally a very smart, well-qualified person.
Still, others are worried about the man tapped to be Bhattacharya's boss heading the Department of Health and Human Services, RFK Jr.
OFFIT: Dr. Bhattacharya may well soon be working for a man, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is a virulent anti-vaccine activist, a science denialist,
someone who doesn't believe HIV causes AIDS, and a conspiracy theorist.
I think I would like to feel better about Dr. Bhattacharya, that he would stand up to that. And I'm not so sure that's true.
TODD: Dr. Jonathan Reiner calls the NIH one of the world's crown jewels of medical research. And he worries that with Dr. Bhattacharya and Robert
Kennedy Jr. overseeing the agency, some of the most talented doctors and scientists there will want to leave. Kennedy has already talked about
replacing about 600 officials at NIH with handpicked staff.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Now, on the campaign trail, one of Donald Trump's complaints against the Biden administration was that it didn't address high consumer
prices.
CNN's Natasha Chen went to Los Angeles and found that the number of people forced to turn to food banks is growing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have a happy Thanksgiving.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning.
NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is not video from the pandemic. This is a line this week of people waiting to receive
food at a church in time for Thanksgiving.
CHRIS MERREL, FOOD PANTRY CLIENT: I have to do it. And that's the way it goes.
CHEN (voice-over): Chris Merrel has been coming to this Pasadena, California church every week for several years.
MERREL: My wife won't even come because she'd be embarrassed.
CHEN (voice-over): He's a retired mechanic living on less than $700 Social Security per month. He never thought he'd need help from a food bank. And
he's not alone.
MERREL: Never seen a line that long before. This time it was all the way up and down the street.
ANA DURAN, FOOD INSECURE: Lines are getting crazier --
CHEN (voice-over): We first met Anna Duran two years ago when her home in Riverside, California, saw inflation at almost 10 percent, even though
inflation has cooled now to about 2 percent.
DURAN: Or I have to get up at least, you know, like I said before, six to be there by six.
CHEN (voice-over): Duran still goes to weekly food distributions. Two years ago, she told us she was turning in recycling and selling jewelry for extra
cash while working as a part time caregiver. She's continued to do that, selling what little jewelry she has left.
DURAN: I only have like two or three more pieces that I have for as a backup resource.
CHEN: The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank says they're tracking about 10 percent ahead in the amount of food distributed compared to last year.
They're serving 900,000 people a month right now near pandemic levels.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We can't turn nobody away.
CHEN (voice-over): In New York City.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some days you don't know where your next meal is coming from.
CHEN (voice-over): City Harvest says visits to city food pantries and soup kitchens are at the highest level on record, even higher than the
pandemic's peak. In Chicago, Common Pantry says they're serving 26 percent more households per month than last year. Across the country, 85 percent of
food banks in a Feeding America survey reported similar or higher demand for food assistance comparing this August with last August.
CHEN: Why do you think that is when inflation has actually cooled quite a bit?
MICHAEL FLOOD, CEO, LOS ANGELES REGIONAL FOOD BANK: I think what we're seeing here in Los Angeles is the cumulative impact of inflation. Food
prices are about 25 percent higher than they were pre pandemic.
Now the unemployment rate has come down. We would expect the demand for food assistance to decrease, but that's not what has happened.
CHEN (voice-over): This comes as donations to food banks are also dropping. Ana Duran says something has got to change, which is why she cast a ballot
for Trump, the first Republican she's ever voted for in her life.
DURAN: When it came down to, you know, voting, I changed who I was and I changed. I'm hoping for the better.
CHEN (voice-over): But Trump is exactly what Merrel is worried about.
MERREL: I am definitely worried it's going to get worse with the tariff Trump's putting on.
Say hi to everybody.
CHEN: Hi, buddy.
CHEN (voice-over): He thinks prices will jump and more people will find themselves going to food banks. But the fact that the food banks even exist
makes him feel grateful.
MERREL: This is a beautiful country that we live in. So happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas.
CHEN (voice-over): Natasha Chen, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:32:26]
NEWTON: And a warm welcome back to "One World." I'm Paula Newton. And unfortunately, it was cold. It was wet. But the housing still turned out on
the streets of Manhattan for the 100th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
OK, you can see the conditions not so ideal, but Snoopy, Snoopy Woodstock didn't seem to mind. Look, they look perfectly fine. There was no wind.
Remember, the wind is the thing with these floats. There's Minnie Mouse. And it only took a hundred years, but there she is, to finally be part of
the fun. Although, nose is a little wet. She's one of six new balloons this year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS (in unison): Santa! Santa! Santa!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: From the North Pole to try and get that Christmas season underway. Now, New York isn't the only city with a giant Thanksgiving parade.
Rosa Flores joins us from Houston, where, yes, the celebration was Texas sized. So is your enthusiasm, Rosa.
We know that you're good for this. You did have better, better weather, I want to say, but what was it like out there as everyone took in this
parade?
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on-camera): Well, Paula, everything was about the turkey dance here in Houston, so I'm hoping that you can get off
that chair and join me in the turkey dance because in America, it is about the turkey day. It's about Thanksgiving.
Here's how we do it. If you're at home around the world, here's how you do it in Texas. You put your arms around. So, you do this, you flap your wings
and then you go around and around to show and strut your feathers.
You ready? You ready? You ready, Paula? Come on, girl. You got to do this with me. Don't leave me alone here.
NEWTON: All right. You can't even see me, though. I'm not even coordinated enough to do it with my hands and my arms. There you go.
You look adorable, though, and you look coordinated. So, there you go. You know, I didn't know -- I didn't know this was such a big thing in Houston.
Like, clearly, you were up for it.
FLORES (on-camera): You know, this is the 75th annual parade in Houston. We got some video for you, Paula. I want to share with you these moments
because you see me right now in a turkey outfit. But I had multiple costume changes and we have some video of this.
Take a look. I was a princess for a while. Doesn't everybody want to be a princess at some point in their lives? A cowgirl, of course, because this
is Texas. You know, you can't beat that. I'm not sure if we have this other one. I was also Mrs. Claus, and I actually have a prop left over from Mrs.
Claus.
[12:35:06]
And I got to tell you a little secret here in Texas. You call an Uber, you might get a car, you might get a horse. You just never know. You have to
make sure that you're specific in your Uber and you're asking for a car and not a horse because you know, you just never know. You just never know.
Now, Paula, here's the other thing. You know why we do the turkey dance here in Texas? People in New York were not doing a turkey dance. You saw --
NEWTON: No, they were not.
FLORES (on-camera): -- you saw -- you saw that video. It was raining. It was pouring. We do the turkey dance here because unlike other parts of the
United States where everybody wants to eat the turkey, in Texas, nobody wants to eat the turkey. You're going to have brisket because this is
Texas. You're going to grill. You're going to have brisket. None of that turkey stuff.
That's why we can dance as turkeys in Texas because our survival rate is a lot higher here.
NEWTON: Are you calling people like (INAUDIBLE). Are you calling people like Harry Anton, you know, turkeys because they actually eat turkey on
Thanksgiving? Is that what you're doing at all Rosa Flores?
I'm going to tell John Berman, he's going to come after you there.
FLORES (on-camera): You know, John Berman. John Berman and I had a bit of a spat on air. I'm not sure if you watched, but he was he was wearing a hat -
- a cowboy hat in New York City, in New York City of all places. I'm sorry the cowboy hat belongs in Texas. It belongs in Texas. It's just like that
salsa commercial. Oh, made in New York City. That ain't real salsa. The real salsa is made in Texas, girl. You got to get it right. You got to get
it right.
NEWTON: You -- you own it. You own it well, Rosa Flores. I certainly hope there's either turkey or brisket or something in your future. If not,
someone there from CNN, get it to her quickly and enjoy your day. Happy Thanksgiving to you and all the crew there. Really appreciate it.
FLORES (on-camera): Happy Thanksgiving.
NEWTON: Now, from Thanksgiving parades to another holiday tradition. We were just talking about it, right? Thanksgiving dinner.
Now, if you're lucky enough to be a Thanksgiving guest this year, we do have a few rules you want to keep in mind, courtesy of a man who knows a
thing or two about meal times.
You know him, TV chef, Bobby Flay. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOBBY FLAY, CHEF: Hey everybody, it's Bobby Flay, and here are three things not to do as a guest on Thanksgiving. Number one, don't bring a dish that
needs to be prepared. Like, you know, a salad where you bring the greens and the dressing, or you have to put something in the oven. Whoever's
cooking that day has plenty to do.
Number two, don't bring something that you're the only person in the room that's going to like it. Right? So, think about everybody else that's
there. Think about something that everybody really likes to eat.
And number three, don't be late. Happy Thanksgiving.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Well, sounds like good advice.
Now, as fun as the holidays can be, you're certainly not alone if you struggle this time of year. Could be family issues, feeling isolated, or
even anxiety over politics following the U.S. election, or so many things going on around the world that are quite upsetting.
So, we want to take a closer look at how to avoid any drama at the dinner table, and protect your mental health over the holiday period, which
stretches from now to New Year's for so many people. It is time for the exchange.
Joining me now is psychiatrist Dr. Arash Javanbakht. He is director of -- he is director of the Stress, Trauma, and Anxiety Research Clinic at Wayne
State University School of Medicine. He's also the author of Afraid, Understanding The Purpose Of Fear And Harnessing The Power Of Anxiety. And
he joins us now from Detroit.
It is very good to see you and happy Thanksgiving to you. I certainly appreciate you spending some time with us.
You know, we've heard it from so many people, not just Thanksgiving, but other holidays here in the United States from other people around the world
as they enter this holiday time that it can be fractious. And there have been a lot of things to be upset about both in our personal lives and
externally.
So how do you propose that people take holidays upcoming as a moment of respite?
ARASH JAVANBAKHT, DIRECTOR STRESS, TRAUMA, AND ANXIETY RESEARCH CLINIC, WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Thanks for having me, Paula. I
think, especially when it comes to the politics, because this is something people will talk at these gatherings and meetings.
I love what Bobby said don't bring to the party what's only you like and others don't like. So, let's have an idea and things. There are things that
are exciting to me. Not necessarily everyone else has to like them. Right?
And I think what challenge we are having these days is that my opinions, whether political or other sensitive opinions have become my identity. So,
you and I can have different opinions on something and still like each other. Like, you're a good person. I believe this opinion that you have is.
But now our opinions have become our identity. So now when people have different specifically political opinions, they see each other as bad and
different. And we've got to the point that half of Americans believe the other half are stupid or they are evil, which is wrong. And I think we have
also become, we have been showered with fear. What I'm being excited about what is going on. We are more afraid of what the other side is going to do.
And that has separated us.
[12:40:06]
And one other thing that has separated us a lot is that we are in very different informational bubbles, especially thanks to social media, when
social media algorithms take me to my own digital tribe, and the other person is in their own digital tribe on Twitter and social other social
media spheres, we are being fed different information, which leads to very different worldviews.
So, all of that has led to us getting angry, getting afraid, getting on edge, and starting to hate the other people, and cutting people out of our
lives. We don't want that, because this will only get worse. What we want is to be a little bit more humble, first thing, and accept that I'm not the
only one who knows everything.
I go to the Thanksgiving dinner, don't think that I know everything, and my side is all the truth, and the other side is all the evil, and try to
educate and teach others. We need to have a --
NEWTON: And (INAUDIBLE).
JAVANBAKHT: Yes, go ahead.
NEWTON: You advocate what you're saying is a balanced approach to this to really try and see the other side of things. I wonder, though, if maybe
seeing no sides to this might be more appropriate, right?
As you said, to -- to really have that humility and appeal to the humanity of someone who's sitting next to you at the holiday table.
JAVANBAKHT: Absolutely. And that is part of the balanced approach, meaning that I and the person sitting next to me have a huge different aspects of
to our being, a tiny piece of it is our political opinion or other opinions. My -- myself and my neighbor who could come from different
political parties' opinions can talk about the coyote in the neighborhood, about our gardens, about the dogs, about art, about science, about sports.
There's so many things.
So, when the fear declines and we understand that OK, this is a tiny part. We don't have to fight over it. If you and I are from different football
teams, fans of different football teams, we don't have to necessarily talk about football. There are so many other things we can talk about.
So, we -- and part of it is also being humble. So that balance approach and understanding of myself and the other person, that's a tiny piece of their
opinion. It's not their identity. So now we can talk about a lot of things and enjoy a lot of things.
Well, bring your food that everybody can enjoy. That is -- that's going to be productive and when we are less scared of each other, less angry at each
other, we can even listen better to each other about other topics.
NEWTON: Yes. And I think that already sounds like a much better holiday already.
I do want to ask you, and I think so many people around the world feel this profoundly right now. There have been other scary times in different epochs
and different generations, and yet now with so much distress and trauma around the world, how to still preserve that sense of joy and celebration
when you know so many others do not have that luxury?
JAVANBAKHT: Yes. So first of all, we don't want people to be ignorant. We want people to know. But no, enough scrolling more and looking at that
video and that image that bothers me more and more or five more times, it's not going to help me. It's not going to help the other person have a
pragmatic approach.
I know a lot of people are suffering. A lot of people are suffering that I can even relate to for different reasons. And the question is, what am I
going to do with this feeling and emotions, which are stirred in me the anger, the frustration, the fear. Am I going to sit here and still wear
them and let them eat me up? And now there are two people suffering. Or am I going to do something about it?
So, number one is that one person enjoying is better than two people suffering. So that's the realistic part of it. But the other part is that
now that I have the resources, I can be joyful. I can give joy to those around me and my family and my kids. Then I do this, but that those stirred
up because as I turn them into action. Let's say I can see how I can help those people that I'm worried about. How can I help someone else?
Basically, what's the practical because these and the emotions have energy.
NEWTON: Right.
JAVANBAKHT: Energy if I left to itself would ruin me from inside or I can turn it into something productive. Then I'm happy, then I'm pleased that
I'm doing something for this world to make it better rather than just being grumpy.
NEWTON: Doctor, this has already been so helpful. I'm sure many people will take this advice to heart as the holiday season begins. I appreciate you.
Thanks so much.
JAVANBAKHT: Thanks for having me.
NEWTON: Now, there's a new push for more nuclear power in the United States, but it still presents old problems. What to do with all the waste?
We'll take a look after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:47:04]
NEWTON: So, the United States is starting to reintroduce nuclear power as an alternative to fossil fuels, but misconceptions about the dangers of
nuclear waste and potential meltdowns have stalled any type of progress in recent years.
CNN's Bill Weir has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With humanity thirsty for clean energy, nuclear is having a green renaissance.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Give the Palisades nuclear plant back up and running.
WEIR (voice-over): Even among Democrats. In Michigan, Governor Gretchen Whitmer is using a billion and a half and IRA funds to reopen the Palisades
nuclear plant, saying it's the only way to meet state climate goals.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chaos and confusion reigned as monitors tried to determine exactly how much radiation was released.
WEIR (voice-over): And 50 years after America's most notorious nuclear accident, Microsoft is planning to reopen Three Mile Island to power the
demand for AI computing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Radiation in containment.
WEIR (voice-over): There is no conclusive proof that accident made anyone sick. But films like The China Syndrome and Silkwood helped make a Cold War
culture even more wary of meltdowns that never came.
But spent nuclear fuel has been piling up at dozens of sites around the country, radioactive waste with no clear destination.
WEIR: What do you think are the biggest misconceptions about nuclear energy in the general public in the United States especially?
BRIAN VANGOR, DRY CAST SUPERVISOR, INDIAN POINT, HOLTEC INTERNATIONAL: That it can blow up. It can't blow up. When the plant was running, it couldn't
blow up.
WEIR (voice-over): Brian Vangor spent his career at Indian Point before New York Democrats like Andrew Cuomo and RFK Jr. helped shut it down. Safety,
he insists, was never an issue.
VANGOR: So, 25 miller is a typical maybe one or two chest x-rays. You have to stand at the plant fence, 24/7 for an entire year to receive that
radiation. Each one of these canisters weighs 360,000 pounds. They're designed for floods, earthquakes, fires, explosion, aircraft impact, you
name it, they can withstand it.
WEIR (voice-over): Data shows that when measuring deaths from accidents and pollution, coal, oil, and gas are the most dangerous power sources by far,
while nuclear ranks with wind and solar among the safest. But uranium mining can still have a steep environmental cost, and the waste remains
radioactive for centuries.
WEIR: One pellet of enriched uranium holds as much power as one ton of coal. So, these 127 canisters hold all the pellets that produce a 50 years
worth of electricity for a big chunk of New York City. Hell of a legacy. But now they got to figure out what to do with this.
WEIR (voice-over): In 2010, Harry Reid and Nevada Democrats killed a plan to bury the nation's nuclear waste under Yucca Mountain. And with no new
plan, it has been piling up at dozens of sites around the country ever since.
PAUL MURRAY, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY: If we made that at 3,000 tons a year, it is a lot of fuel to be moving. It would take us approximately 50
years to move to interim storage.
[12:50:04]
WEIR (voice-over): And that's just interim storage. A permanent site could take 250 years to fill and close. First, they have to build the world's
safest train car to move it, and then they have to find a community to take it, likely in exchange for a fortune in taxpayer dollars.
Nominations could start next year and could indicate whether the politics of nuclear energy is any less radioactive.
Bill Weir, CNN, West Chester County, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Still to come for us, we visit a school in London where students learn to become the perfect Santa Claus. I want to tell you, it's a holly
jolly good time.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NEWTON: Spreading Christmas cheer is a serious this time of year. It's very serious. CNN's Anna Stewart visited a Santa Claus school in London to find
out the tricks of the trade to becoming a perfect Saint Nick.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One, two, three.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS (in unison): Ho, ho, ho!
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Some people prepare for the holidays with Christmas lights and decorations but these Santas have a more
detailed preparation ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome to the 2024 Fiji Mermaid (ph) Santa Train.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS (in unison): Ho, ho, ho.
STEWART (voice-over): As you can imagine, being Father Christmas is a big feat. But at Santa School in London, they start their training months in
advance. These jolly fellows are given the tools needed to be the most authentic Santa Claus.
JAMES LOVELL, CHIEF TRAINER OF SANTAS: This year, there are a lot of not very nice things going on in the world, and I think people are looking for
Father Christmas to bring them a little bit of joy.
People just need more jollity this year. They need more magic in their lives. That's what Santa brings.
STEWART (voice-over): James Lovell has been a chief Santa trainer for over 25 years and says his bookings this year are up a merry 20 percent. From
learning all the reindeer's names.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS (in unison): Donner, Dasher, Cupid, Vixen, Dancer, Prancer, Comet, Blitzen and Rudolph.
STEWART (voice-over): To the history of Christmas and even how to interact with your elves. These Santa students are taking notes, making sure kids
and adults have the best Christmas experience.
Lovell even has a surprising rule. Don't ask kids what they want for Christmas.
LOVELL: You shouldn't actually ask them what they want for Christmas, because most children have written you a letter. And if you're asking them
what they want for Christmas, you're basically saying you haven't read their letter, which is rude. You read the letter and you know.
[12:55:10]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho!
STEWART (voice-over): And you can't be an authentic Santa without the perfect ho, ho, ho.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give him a ho, ho, ho!
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS (in unison): Ho, ho, ho!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give him a bigger ho, ho, ho!
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS (in unison): Ho, ho, ho!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some people can go ho, ho, ho, and some people can go ho, ho, ho. But it's when you go, ho, ho, ho, then you find that it sounds
a bit more authentic because that's what people hear on Christmas Eve when they're looking up at the sky.
STEWART (voice-over): Anna Stewart, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Perfection, jollity, I had not heard that word before.
OK, that does it for this hour of "One World." I'm Paula Newton, I want to thank you for watching.
"AMANPOUR" is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
