but i'm an african american studies major. i'm actually the son of someone who's a director after an african american studies at south carolina, and who happened to be shot in the civil rights movement. i think it's a shame what ron desantis is doing, but nobody will stop him. >> there was a lot of talk about critical race theory. that was a focus in awe lot of states by republicans. this is african american studies, which is different. a democratic state florida senator tweeted that florida has japanese language and culture, italian language and culture, as well as spanish language and culture, adding, quote, it's crazy how ap african american studies made the chopping block in florida. to that, what do you say? >> so, anderson and to bakari as well, i did believe it or not read that 82-page syllabus today, which i could send to

you. and the letter that was sent to the ap board says, listen, we dismiss this as presented. in the future, if the college board would like to work with us on something that would meet our criteria, we'd be happy to consider it again. from what i was told anderson and bakari, this was declined because it sought to teach critical race theory which are violative of the april 2022 law governor san tis signed, this antiwoke act. the syllabus is pretty dense, and i'm telling you what the reason was. the state of florida, governor desantis said they believe in education, not indoctrination. >> bakari, what do you make of that? it's ridiculous. i have a great deal of respect for david urban. we just got done celebrating

martin luther king's birthday and you have individuals who say these famous quotes by king but they don't even know who he was because we don't teach the history correctly. people whitewash his legacy. they don't talk about the fact he was a revolutionary, that he was talking about wages, improving the plight of black folk day in and day out. i think we refuse to talk about april 4, 1968, where dr. king was assassinated, february 8, '68, the massacre, june of that year where rfk was shot or the fact that you have all of these black soldiers coming home from a war in vietnam being treated like second class citizens. thats not something that is a fairy tale. that is a history of who we are. and ron desantis and this administration in florida are completely ignorant to that fact. everything we talk about about our history and who we are is not critical race theory. my being is not critical race theory. it's american history. wrap your heads around that.

if you're ashamed of it, that's on you. but let's at least educate the youth the correct way about what our history is. >> bakari, i'm not arguing with you. i'm just giving you the reasonings put forth by the governor's office. it says in the letter, as presented, we find this ap course doesn't pass our muster. please come back with another course. or if you would like to work with us, we're willing to do that. i'm not sure they're dismissing it out of hand. >> david, politically, does this work for governor desantis? is this a popular thing, you think, for governor desantis among republican voters in florida? >> yeah, look, i think that the governor, right, has taken up this anti-woke -- woke comes to die in florida, right? and he's taken it up pretty aggressively. i'm not quite sure that this may have been rolled out in the best way. i think a lot of explanations -- a little bit more explaining should be done on this. i don't think it's dismissing the ap course out of hand.

i think it's dismissing this particular ap course. >> in general, ap courses are actually the most prestigious in the public education system. ap courses are -- those are the most prestigious courses. it's actually -- a lot of attention is actually put into them and thought is put into them. they're kind of advanced placement. it's often the students who have excelled the most who are able to even qualify for those courses. it's interesting that this is probably the -- i mean, i don't know how many ap courses the desantis administration has taken issue with, but i'm probably guessing not any others. >> i would -- i would guess that you're correct, anderson. and again, i think that -- you know, could use better articulation. i don't think the desantis administration -- i'm not speaking for them. >> i know. >> i'm just taking this letter and interpreting what it says. they say, as presented, this course didn't pass the muster in the law we just passed. come back again, and we're willing to sit down and talk. >> david urban, bakari sellers,

we'll see what happens if anything. the end of a busy day that saw the country hit its debt ceiling, the limit congress sets on how much the federal government can borrow and loans we've taken out in the former treasury notes. the last bit is key. it's like being unable to make the car payments you agreed to make when you bought the car. now that default draws closer, house republicans want to use the threat of default to leverage future spending cuts out of the biden administration. jessica dean joins us now from the capitol. the treasury secretary, janet yellen, sent a message to congress, and the debt limit has been reached. she's begun, quote, extraordinary measures. where do democrats and republicans stand tonight? >> reporter: pretty far at this point in time. what we're hurdling toward right now is the potential for economic calamity worldwide. we've never defaulted on our debt, and we've heard from several leaders, including senate minority leader mitch mcconnell today that that will

not happen. here's the state of play as it is right now. house republicans have been adamant, led by house speaker kevin mccarthy that they are not going to sign off on what's known as just a clean debt ceiling. it would just be clearing the debt ceiling. they want to attach to that spending cuts and a fiscal agreement before they do any of that. they want to negotiate before they sign off on raising the debt limit. the white house has been equally adamant that they don't want to negotiate at all. so, that's really where we are at this point. mitch mcconnell also saying today that he believes negotiations will take place. senate majority leader chuck schumer really pinning this on what he calls maga republicans and saying nothing about negotiations. and of course the house and senate come back next week. this is what they're going to be squarely focused on. we do know that some bipartisan talks in the house have begun to percolate, but those are in very, very early stages. the bottom line is it's a very uncertain time up here. >> where do moderate republicans stand on this issue? >> right.

they're going to be key, especially in the house. remember, house speaker kevin mccarthy had this very slim margin, right? he can only afford to lose four. democrats are going to need these moderate republicans to join them if they're going to be able to clear even a negotiated bill or a clean debt ceiling limit. and what we are hearing from these moderates in either districts that president biden won or swing districts, that they really don't have an appetite to just do the debt ceiling. they also want to see some negotiating happening. that is something that democrats think they will kind of cave on. republicans think that democrats are going to cave on this. so, here we are at this stalemate right now. we can anticipate to see this kind of evolve and change as we get ever-closer to that final day when they're going to have to make this decision. i think at this point all the lights are blinking, and they have got to find a way forward. >> are there any discussions of changing the way the debt limit is set. this has happened before?

>> right. this has happened before. it will probably happen again. it continues to be an issue. i think the fact that we are having this conversation, that it's this difficult to raise the debt limit, means that them finding the way forward to overhaul how they do this seems like a pipe dream at this point. at this point, they've got to focus on how they're going to do this. will there be negotiations? what are democrats, if anything, willing to concede? again, the white house continuing to maintain that they're giving up nothing. and republicans saying that they're just simply not going to sign off on this without any negotiations. so, they're going to have to find some way forward. and it's not just all american people and the economy here that's depending on that. it is the global economy. >> jessica dean, appreciate it. thank you. perspective from abby phillips and senior political commentator david axelrod. david, the white house remembers the fiscal battles of the obama administration with republicans. do you think they're taking the right position to say, no

negotiation, we want a clean debt ceiling increase? >> i think, anderson, we're at the -- we're in the first part of the first act of a play here, and i think it's early for them to take any other position. first of all, i think they saw what happened in 2011, where we went right up to the brink. there were significant -- there were significant givebacks made, and they were painful and disruptive. and i don't think they want to say, we're going to reward this behavior because they think it invites it again and again. that said, sometime between now and june, this is going to have to be resolved, and it's likely going to be resolved between some of the more moderate members of the caucus on the republican side and the senate as well. so, you know, i think we're going to see several more

chapters here before this thing is done. >> abby, some of the house republicans who are advocating for negotiations on the debt ceiling are from swing districts. what does that tell you about the unity of house republicans on the issue? >> yeah, i mean, i think that for now, it's not exactly a radical idea among republicans to want to have some kind of -- you know, some kind of negotiation around spending when it comes to raising debt ceiling. the question is how far will that go? how long will they hold that line? and i think the moderates, frankly, are going to ask for what they can get. at some point, it's going to be very politically painful for them to basically hold the country hostage to this debate. you know, right now, i think that you have all of these republicans in these democratic districts who are saying, let's just come to the table. but at the end of the day, this kind of politics actually is not that popular. i think the american people

generally in the past have understood that this is just a normal part of the business of running the country. and i think that it is the most popular to do this kind of debt limit crisis among the people who are running in ruby red districts, whose voters are on the far right of their party. and they don't really have to worry about the messy middle on this. for those biden district republicans, it's a completely different story. >> and david, when democrats controlled the house during the trump administration, we didn't see the somehowdowns on the debt ceilings. why are republicans willing to use this for leverage if democrats aren't? >> first of all, i think the republicans who are leading the charge here are not sort of governing republicans. and they are willing to take the country to the brink. we saw that in 2011 when the tea party republicans came in. but, you know, it's interesting that you raise this point because one of the people who's now urging republicans to hang tough and use it as leverage to reverse everything democrats did in the last two years is donald

trump, who added $8 trillion to the deficit -- to the debt -- and who raised the debt ceiling -- signed three different debt ceiling increases. >> there wasn't a lot of talk by republicans during the trump years about the debt. it went from the tea party, where there was tons of talk about it, to heart of silence. >> they were hibernating debt hogs. they became debt doves during the period of the trump presidency. so, there's a lot -- you know, there's a lot of posturing and hypocrisy here. there's to had doubt -- you know, look, part of governing is there's going to be give and take on issues about spending, particularly in a divided congress. but the question is whether you should use the debt ceiling and the threat of blowing up the global economy in a way that will hurt families and communities across the country as a bargaining chip. it's like a murder/suicide pact. and, you know, i think this is what the biden administration is

resisting right now. >> abby, how close do you think the u.s. will have to get to a debt default before we see a real attempt to get an agreement? it's one of these things that's like a kabuki theaters. everybody knows the roles that have been played, and it's been seen before, and you know it's going to get close. you kind of wish they would just cut to the chase, but i guess these are the movements everyone has to go through. >> yeah, i don't want to make any predictions about how this is going to go. but i do think that we need to learn from what we just experienced in the speaker vote, which is that they forced that into a historic 15-vote round to elect mccarthy as speaker. i think that mccarthy is deal being a group of, you know, maybe as few as five and as many as 20 people who are willing to take things to the brink. so, under those circumstances, yeah, it's probably a pretty good bet that we are going to get as close to the brink as we

can possibly get. i don't think that we can even rule out that that line will be crossed because already some of these hard liners have said they don't mind crossing the line. they don't mind basically breaching the debt ceiling, which would actually have catastrophic impacts on the united states' economy. >> abby phillips, david axelrod -- >> before you let us go, let me say there were 242 republicans in 2011. that gave them a lot more power to work their will. there are 222 now, which means moderates also have some power if it comes down to it. so, i think there are a lot of pages to be turned. >> david axelrod, abby phillip, thank you so much. much more on the number, how often we've been here, what americans think about it, what could happen next. joining us, harry enten. we've seen a lot of these standoffs before. how often do these showdowns actually occur? >> i think a pretty easy comparison for a baseline of how often things occur is whether or

not they occur more often than the summer olympics. if you look, since 2011, we have had four debt ceiling crises, 2011, 2013, 2021, now 2023. there have only been three summer olympics during that time, 2020, 2016, and 2012. this is occurring much more frequently than it used to. really the only one before them was 1995. before then was no real such thing as the debt ceiling crisis. >> what do the numbers say about how much americans focus on the federal deficit? >> kwoun, the whole idea is republicans bring up the thought, oh, the federal deficit's too high, the federal deficit's too high. we just asked this question, a pollster just asked this question, which is what is the top priority for the congress and president biden coming up in 2023? do you know what the federal deficit ranked? ranked at 4%. 4%. economy, inflation was much higher, abortion was higher, immigration was higher. the fact is that the federal deficit is just not something

that voters really care about. the only people that care about it are the people on the far right in congress and maybe some moderate republicans as well. for most americans, the federal deficit is just not that big a deal to them. they talk much more about, if you're talking about economic issues, inflation and the money going into their pocket. >> what do americans want when things are on the precipice from their leaders? are there numbers on that? >> as we start off saying, right, this has happened a few times recently, much more so than we used to. so, we can look at numbers from 2011 and 2013, when we were right on the brink, right, especially in 2011. do you want sort of -- cbs news asked this question. do you want an imperfect agreement that essentially ends this whole thing? or would you rather the u.s. -- >> prefer a debt deal you don't want -- >> right, you sort of want that doesn't give you everything, right, but keeps the u.s. from defaulting? or do you want the u.s. to default? the vast majority said, we want

that agreement. less than 20% said they wanted the default. look, this is the first part of the opening scene, you know, as i think david put it. but the fact of the matter is, when it gets to the end, no one really wants a default except for maybe very few americans. >> what else -- what other numbers from 2011 tell us? >> i think there are a few things that numbers from 2011 tell us. number one is, you know, when we had that going on, what happened? the stock market went absolutely insane and basically went off a cliff. two, the u.s. government's credit was downgraded. what did that mean? it was harder for the u.s. government to borrow and it was harder for americans to borrow. it's this abstracting the debt ceiling limit. who cares about it? if it gets close like we did in 2011, i'll tell you this much, there are going to be a lot of americans caring about it and they are not going to like what's going on. i would not be surprised if president biden's approval ratings go down and the

republicans in congress approval ratings go down. that is what happened in 2011. this is a new era, new year, but sometimes i like to think that history can tell us a little something. >> that's why you study history. >> that's why i study history. i study stats. i study history. and i study what aim going to get -- >> you probably did take ap courses. >> i did take ap courses as a matter of fact. i'm sure that wasn't much of a surprise to you. >> not a surprise at all. coming up, another claim by george santos revealed as untrue, and what some in his district make of all the lies. why new zealand's prime minister will not seek re-election. shingrix is a vaccine used to prevent shingles in adults 50 years and older.. shingrix does not protect everyone and is not f for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingreredients or to a previous dose. an increased risk of guillain-barré syndrome was observed after getting shingrix. fainting can also happen. the most common side effects are pain, redness and swelling at the injection site, muscle pain, tiredness, headache, shivering, fever, and upset stomach.

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earlier in the program, 9/11 first responder told me with every lie, george santos is leaving a trail of pain behind him. contradicting santos' claim his mom was at the world trade center during the 9/11 attacks, suffered illness that resulted in her death because of that. the records indicate she was in br brazil. this of course one of only umpteen lies he's told. it got us thinking what a group of teens might think of all this. harry tuckman went to find out.

>> reporter: port washington no, no, new york, long island's nassau county, is in the heart of george santos' congressional district. >> i think he's an embarrassment and a pathological liar. >> reporter: they are 16 and 17, which means they will all be old enough to vote in 2024. >> how many of you would register as an independent if you registered today? how many of you would register as a democrat? how many of you would register as a republican? >> their history teacher estimates republican leaning students are outnumbered by democratic leaning students by an almost 2 to 1 margin at this school. but -- >> i haven't found one kid choz sympathetic to george santos. they know the importance of the numbers had the house of representatives. and although santos represents them for issues that they agree on, they don't have sympathy for the man. >> this 16-year-old is one of

the future democrats. >> i think it's a very scary situation for us. having someone who's so clearly lied and so clearly fabricated his entire résumé representing all of us. >> 16-year-old nathan jackman is one of the future republicans. >> i like how the nassau gop came out against him, but obviously kevin mccarthy should come out against him. and they should have a vote on the house floor in order to expel him from congress. >> reporter: we asked the teacher if we could watch a class discussion about santos. >> it definitely places some mistrust on your political party. >> these are junior ap students. >> reporter: first of all, what is your initial reaction to knowing your representative's integrity has been called into question. >> it's kind of shocking? how can you trust them? if you can lie about your entire life and everything you've done, how can you trust them to do the right thing? >> how are his lies perhaps different than others, or is it fair game to lie in politics?

>> i think one of the worst things that he lied about, in my opinion, is lying about the origin of his family, being that they were from -- they were survivors of the holocaust. >> well, i think that it's an obvious choice, given that we live in a community where there's lots of jewish people. we live in new york. that's where 9/11 happened. he's using things directly correlated to our lives to make himself sound better because we have emotional attachment to these events. >> especially in politics, your reputation's always going to stick with you. everyone's going to remember him as, oh, he's the guy that lied about everything and still got into congress. >> reporter: has it got ton a point in politics where we don't really care about integrity? >> when you think about it, we'll be applying to colleges, if a college found out that we lied about everything on our application, they would immediately kick us out. but he lied about everything and he's -- we're being held to a

higher level than politicians in this country. >> if you could say one thing to congressman santos, what would you say to him? >> i just want to know why he felt the need to do all this. >> what would you say to him? >> if you really want to represent our district and you care about the voters and the people, you should resign. >> what would you say? >> resign to keep democracy working properly. >> you? >> apologize and resign now. it's enough. >> you? >> for the good of the constituents of new york's third, resign. >> you? >> for your district and for your party, resign. >> you? >> step down. >> jerry joins us now. ap -- it's another ap class. wicked smart kids there. >> very smart kids. a lot of disillusioned kids. but that doesn't mean they're apathetic. what they tell us is this inspires them. it's a lesson that when it comes time to vote the first time in 2024, when they vote for congress and president, they

need to investigate thoroughly, research thoroughly. they have the advantage of having smartphones, which you and i did not have when we first voted, and implore their parents to investigate and research as much as possible. >> thanks very much. thanks to them for talking. leader of new zealand surprises the country and the world with her sudden resignation. why jacinda ardern is stepping down and what brought her international fameme ahead. data from billions of emails to offer suggestions for how to improve engagement and revenueue. guess less and sell more with intuit mailchimp.

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in a sea of male world leaders, jacinda ardern joined a club of female world leaders five years ago. she led her country through ways that generated criticism and praise. she stepping down unexpectedly, saying she doesn't think she has the energy to run again. >> jacinda ardern was elected prime minister, youngest ever. she attracted young people and huge crowds at rallies. a wave of support dubbed jacinda-mania. ardern became known for her kindness, empathy, and humanity. all that was on display just a year and a half after her election, when her country experienced the worst terrorist attack in its history.

on march 15, 2019, a lone white supremacist shot and killed 51 people at two christchurch mosques. soon after the attack, ardern visited those impacted, wearing a hijab to show respect. she moved swiftly to ban military style semiautomatic weapons just six days after the attack. >> to others, imimplore you, speak the names of those who were lost, rather than the name of the man who took them. >> reporter: a few months after that attack, new zealand's white island volcano erupted, killing 22 people. again, ardern consoled new zealanders. >> to those who have lost or are missing family and friends, we share in your unfathomable grief at this moment in time and in your sorrow. >> reporter: when the pandemic hit in 2020, ardern quickly closed her country's borders to protect the 5 million or so new zealanders. >> our claim is simple, we can

stop the spread by staying at home and reducing contact. >> reporter: protesters made their voices heard for weeks outside parliament and threatened violence. still, ardern stood strong. her popularity brought an onslaught of media attention. she was featured on the cover of british "vogue." she made "time" magazine's list of the world's most 100 influential people, and appeared numerous times on "the late show with stephen colbert." >> i do find it offensive everyone thinks we all were in lord of the rings or the hobt. >> reporter: there were questions, about her style, her pregnancy, and her -- >> why do you dye your hair for? is it going gray or something?

>> never, never -- that's not a polite question to ask. >> reporter: she handled it all with grace. ardern is only the second elected world leader to give birth while in office. and when she took her three month old daughter to new york city for the u.n. general assembly, together they made history. >> reporter: despite her popularity during her six years in office, recent polling for her shows support is waning. and at the lowest level since she took office in 2017. st still, she says that is not the reason she's stepping down. >> so, today i'm afouns hadding i will not be seeking re-election. >> randi kaye, cnn. >> christian amanpour was the first to interview ardern internationally when she took office in 2017. so, we turn to our chief international anchor. christiane, it's great to have you on the program. were you surprised to hear the

prime minister say she no longer has enough in her tank to do the job justice. i've never heard a world leader being candid in that way. >> she really was candid. that was the hallmark of her entire leadership. she's clearly been through a lot. her country's been through a lot. she's been six years in office, and she had crisis after crisis after crisis. there was the massacre in christchurch. there was obviously covid and the lockdown. there was then, having got rid of covid, then there was covid with a vengeance, and a whole group of people who really did not want to deal the lockdown anymore. of course the economy suffered. so, there was a lot of crises she had to deal with, including the climate and other such things. >> you've interviewed the prime minister three times. she's the head of the government of a comparatively small country. yet she's had a lot of cultural and political influence worldwide. what do you think accounts for that? >> well, i think you're absolutely right. at one point they called it jacinda-mania.

she was 37 years old when she became the youngest female leader. she had a baby while on the campaign trail. she had another one while in office. she made that a hallmark, that humanness, a hallmark of her premiership. and i was always quite touched by the fact that she would answer your questions. there was no spin or stuff like that. and she really wanted to be a new kind of leader. i remember when i interviewed her in new york at the u.n., first time out, she brought the baby with her to the u.n., to the interviews and things like that. and she basically said, look, most leaders deal in economic or security markers. we can do that as well as doing well and doing good in terms of social well being, in terms of the well being index. and i think that was the hallmark of her leadership and her style. >> do you get a sense in the wake of the massacre in christchurch of the exasperation and disappointment that the prime minister felt with other countries, particularly the united states, over gun safety? >> i did.

i have to say that that massacre by a white supremacist of some 51 muslims was the worst in memory in new zealand. and she stood out by going there immediately, by wearing the hijab, the head scarf, by putting on a black, modest jacket, and then hugging people. and that was something that was really central to her. you know what i mean? she had written, they are us, on her first -- when she first heard about it. and that was what she did. she treated everybody as if they were one, not foreigners and this and that, not, you know, all religions are the same for her. i did ask her about it several weeks or months later when we met in paris. and this is what she told me. >> we will continue to be a nation that deals with animal welfare and so on and has a practical purpose and use for

guns. but you can draw a line and say that that does not mean you need access to military-style semiautomatic weapons and assault weapons. you do not. and new zealand has by and large absolutely agreed with that position. australia experienced the massacre and changed its laws. to be honest with you, i do not understand the united states. >> you know, i've never heard a world leader say it like that. and she just said it. and in 26 days, with a coalition government, bipartisan support, and popular support, she said that they, you know, had reform of their gun laws while staying, as she said, a hunting country, a food-producing country, which obviously involves guns. but in the reform and control, she did it after that massacre. >> it's interesting to see what her legacy is going to be in that country and on the global stage and also what she does next. >> yes. what she does next, we don't know yet. but certainly her legacy. remember, anderson, she was

elected shortly after trump became president. and then she was considered the global sort of anti-trump. where he was isolationist, she was for, you know, interaction with neighbors and with the world. and globalization was a thing. where he was sort of demonizing the foreigners, she was much more inclusive to refugees. and even if my first interview with her, she talked about offering new zealand as much as she could as a refuge for climate refugees in the pacific region. >> christiane amanpour, appreciate it. thank you. coming up, the standoff between germany and ukraine over tanks. and the fierce brutal fighting on the ground in yain and the rorole of the mercenaries knowns the wagner g group. banking debit card... the drdrummer's making savings simple with a a tap... ...round of applause. and this dreamer, well, she's still learning how to budget, so mom keeps her alerts on full volume. hey!

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as russia's former president raises the specter of nuclear war if his country loses in ukraine, a mayor impasse has developed with ukrainian allies. a hold up with a german manufacturer whose approval is needed, but they haven't given it yet. lloyd austin arrived today to aid in the negotiations. $2.5 billion. the package does not include u.s. made m-1 abrams tanks,

which is germany's demand if it is to send tanks at all. bill burns was in ukraine last week discussing battlefield planning with president zelenskyy. ukraine's leader today called the issue of tanks pressing and very sensitive -- those were his words -- and said, quote, the courage of our words and motivation of ukrainian people is not enough against thousands of tanks of the russian federation. ben wedeman has this report on the bloody, brutal battle. >> reporter: they've been through the valley of the shadow of death. most, but not all, made it out of the valley alive. but not unscathed. on this stretch of road overlooking the ballots for bakhmut and soledad, it's just safe enough to deliver the wounded to medics. strewn along the road, a blood

stained stretcher and discarded bloody flak jacket. these troops are just back from the front at soledar. they took wounded. they were facing wagner fighters. they say those fighters were attacking in waves. now they're going back to safer ground. the combat they saw was intense. there were regular troops, says this soldier, and in front of them, just meet convicts and packs on drugs without armor, without helmets. for them, life has no value. down in the killing field, the shelling goes on without let-up. for medics, there is no rest. sometimes the mortars don't give us any greeting space, he tells

me. we have many casualties from shrapnel. when the snipers come, there are many dead and wounded. troops transfer a fallen comrade from their armored car to a van. here, the shadow of death hangs heavy. >> ben wedeman joins us now from ukraine. where does this situation stand in soledar as you know? >> reporter: anderson, it's a bit confusing because the ukrainians have yet to actually acknowledge that their forces are out of that town. but, you know, you get closer to the front line. you get closer to soledar. and the situation becomes much clearer. we have been speaking with soldiers in that area. they say, yes, basically we pulled out. and at the moment, we understand that some of the villages that we were in around soledar have

been coming under pretty intense russian bombardment. so, for instance, in that report, we did see a soldier who was coming from the area around soledar. but inside the city itself, it does appear that the russians are in control at the moment. now, the worry now is that they've taken soledar, that they're going to start trying to encircle the adjacent city of bakhmut, which is about nine miles to the south of there. what we've seen on the ground from inside bakhmut is that the fighting is really beginning to get quite intense, anderson. >> ben wedeman, appreciate it. you and your team stay safe. thank you. why one community is tired of crypto and calls it a racket, literally a noisy neighboror diststurbing their blue ridge mountains.

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for captions. >> >> the only smart bed in the world that actively cools, warms, and effortlessly responds to both of you. our smart sleepers get 28 minutes more restful sleep per night. proven quality sleep. only from sleep number. if you've heard anything about the crypto currency market lately, it usually involves words like fraud charges, bankruptcy, or losses, measuring the trillions of dollars. even those who didn't invest in crypto are experiencing steep losses in peace and quiet. >> reporter: this is the sound of green, mountain fog.

certificated by a quiet parks international, it's one of the most peaceful spots in north carolina. thanks to their rare, local enforcement of laws against noise pollution. meanwhile, about 90 minutes away, beautiful cherokee county sounds like this. it is stack upon stack of computer servers and the fansl them. this is what's known as a crypto mine. and it makes the sound of people in san francisco trying to make virtual money. >> how do you describe that noise? >> we're probably sitting at 65 d decibles. >> 16 months after the mine fired up without warning, mike put up his house for sale. >> there'll be turkeys and deer by the hundreds, and you don't

have that anymore. >> while tom lash misses the wildlife. >> you don't sleep at night. >> phyllis feels trapped. >> you can hear it hum through the walls. >> have you thought about moving? >> we're 73 years-old, where are we going to go? >> imagine a game where the dies have a billion sides and the first person to roll a 10 wins and that's essentially crypto mining and to play that game, you need computer, thousands of computers running 24/7, 365, and after china outlawed crypto currency and crypto mining, more and more mines like this began popping up in aplaces where the power is cheap and the regulations are nonexistent or unenforced. but

in this deep red republican pocket. >> noises do nothing to help these people. >> reporter: the mine has upended local politics. >> i like to be behind the scenes and, i like to stir the pot. and i knew that we, we needed to win an election. >> forget the noise. >> outrage over the mine helped flip the battles of power in november's county election. >> call upon a u.s. senator to come tell us. >> reporter: what the new board of commissioners now asking for federal help in ending american crypto mining. >> introduce a champion legislation through the u.s. congress to ban and or regulate crypto mining operations in the united states of america. >> motion passes. >> reporter: when asked over linkedin for reaction, chandler song, one of the mine's

co-owners said "oh, boy, they wanted us a year ago". as for the ban it's unconstitutional to say the list. he made the 30 under 30 and recently claimed quarterly revenues of $20 million. when asked questions, he went silent. his mine has not, so far. but, the county attorney's looking for a legal way to shut it down. a cautionary reminder that the next time you hear a place as peaceful as green mountain farm... >> chances are someone got loud, and fought for it. >> anchor: bill wear joins us now. so, there are more mines popping up throughout like this, what is the attitude toward crypto mining in the state? >> it's interesting, a neighboring county forced them out, they wouldn't allow them in, others have tried to move them to industrial sites or sound proof them, but, what's interesting is that the huge

christmas winter storm that gripped the south, some of the first rolling black outs in tennessee valley history, it hit the town of murphy and when they plunged into the dark on christmas eve, they went to the mine and it was still running. so, there's a public outrage, just the image right now is in a tough spot. it would be one thing if some of that money was staying in murphy, but, he's may be paying property taxes on a couple of acres of farm land. so, there's a lot to be figuring out. >> thank you so much. i appreciate. the news continues, cnn tonight with lauren cotes is up next after the break. avenue avenue ap

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- [announcer] do you have an invention idea but don't know what to do next? call invent help today. they can help you get started with your idea. call now 800-710-0020. good evening, everyone, i'm laura coates and this is "cnn tonight," and we have stunning news tonight, alec baldwin facing criminal charges in the