CNN10 2025-02-10
CNN 10
Baltic States Cut Chord with Russian Power Grid; Why this Super Bowl Snack Might Be Inflation-Proof. Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired February 10, 2025 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COY WIRE, CNN 10 ANCHOR: What's up, sunshine? Welcome to CNN 10, the best 10 minutes in news because of you. I'm Coy Wire, still in New Orleans for that Super Bowl coverage.
Congrats to the champs, the Philadelphia Eagles, getting redemption for their loss to these Chiefs in the Super Bowl two seasons ago. Fly, Eagles, fly. All right, let's get this show on the road.
We start today in Eastern Europe, where Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia disconnected from their Russian-operated electricity grid before successfully synchronizing their electricity systems to a grid operated within the European Union. Why did they do this? Energy independence.
Until this weekend, Russia was still in total control of the functioning of the grid and its electricity services to the Baltic countries. The three countries have been preparing to cut the cord with Russia since they joined the European Union in 2004, which invested over a billion dollars in grants for the project. But Russia's invasion of Baltic ally Ukraine in 2022 made it crucially important for these three countries to finally put an end to its energy dependence on Russia.
The three states renovated existing infrastructure and also built new power lines, several undersea cables, and a crucial link to the mainland European grid. Six months ago, the Baltic countries officially notified Russia that they would desynchronize from the Soviet electric grid, and Lithuania's grid operator, Litgrid, started the work of cutting old Soviet cables. The agreement that governs the old shared grid expired, and by Saturday, all three countries have been disconnected, briefly functioning as a power island with only the electricity they produced before synchronizing their newly independent grid with the continental Europe's synchronous area on Sunday.
But the threat from Russian interference hasn't disappeared with this newfound energy independence. CNN's Clare Sebastian explains the security concerns, top of mind for officials across the region.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cutting one of the last ties to Moscow. This is an old Soviet electrical cable that until recently linked Lithuania to a Russian-run power grid. Dismantling it is one of the final stages in a years-long project by the three Baltic states to take back control.
VOOTELE PAI, ADVISER TO ESTONIA'S INTERIOR MINISTRY: Here in this region, we understand fairly well that the cheap Russian energy, in whatever form it comes, it always comes at a price that no democratic European country should be able to afford.
SEBASTIAN (voce-over): More than 30 years after Soviet troops rumbled back over the border and two decades after joining NATO and the E.U., Estonia,
Latvia and Lithuania are once again looking nervously to the east.
The war in Ukraine revealing just how willing Moscow is to both weaponize electricity and, as NATO warned again this week, disrupt daily life in Europe through suspected acts of sabotage ranging from cyber-attacks to arson.
(On camera): Now the Baltics have been preparing for this moment for many years, building three new undersea cables to the Nordic countries and a critical link to Poland. And that meant that they were actually able to stop buying electricity from Russia more than two years ago. But Moscow still controlled the shared grid and managed the frequency. And so they were vulnerable.
(Voice-over): Ahead of the switch, security has been stepped up around energy infrastructure.
DOVILE SAKALIENE, LITHUANIAN DEFENSE MINISTER: We are increasing our surveillance efforts, we are increasing our additional security measures.
We are going to watch this with an eye of a hawk.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): And NATO now has a new mission to protect undersea cables in the Baltic after a string of incidents, including one right here, the Estlink-2 power cable badly damaged on Christmas Day.
This ship, which was en route from Russia, suspected by Finnish police, of dragging its anchor almost 100 kilometers along the seabed. Russia has denied any involvement, Moscow calling it anti-Russian hysteria.
SAKALIENE: To imagine that this series of incidents are happening just before we disconnect from the Russian network, again one more coincidence really.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): The Baltic power switch is a blow for Moscow, experts say. Its westernmost outpost of Kaliningrad, home of its Baltic fleet, now even more isolated. Its power lines, relics of a superpower past, redrawn.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE: Pop quiz hot shot.
Pizza originated in which Italian city? Venice, Rome, Naples or Florence?
If you said Naples, you are correct. That's where modern pizza evolved from flatbreads in the 18th century. It is no shocker, probably to most of us, that Super Bowl Sunday is one of the busiest days for pizza delivery.
In the U.S. along with Halloween and New Year's Eve, the convenient crowd pleaser of a meal gets major points for being affordable at a time when food costs have skyrocketed, right? But those pizza pie prices curiously haven't seemed to change that much for decades. Our Vanessa Yurkevich looks into what's behind the affordability of a pie to find out, is it inflation- proof? (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS & POLITICS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A scene from Home Alone has cooked up an interesting and debatable economic question.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, that's $122.50.
YURKEVICH (voice-over): Is pizza inflation-proof? Social media has pointed out that the McAllister family's order of 10 pizzas in 1990 is still comparable in price 35 years later.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, the pizza boy needs $122.50 plus tip.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For pizza?
HAMILTON: 10 pizzas times 12 bucks.
YURKEVICH (on camera): How is a large pizza still $12? Wow.
BILLY ROBERTS, SENIOR FOOD & BEVERAGE ECONOMIST, COBANK: 10 or 12 dollars per pizza per pie hasn't changed dramatically over the course of years, especially if you're using coupons or deals or if you're a member of whichever chain's app. But if you're -- if you're ordering a specialty pizza, it's not going to be that $12.
YURKEVICH (voice-over): Yes, artisanal or specialty pizzas are in a different ballpark. Even the iconic $1 slice of pizza in New York is a thing of the past. But many pizza chains have been able to keep their prices somewhat steady, while most fast-food restaurants have raised their prices.
(On camera): Is pizza inflation-proof?
ROBERTS: It's not necessarily inflation-proof, but it's inflation- resistant. Pizza restaurant chains have taken steps to kind of mitigate some of the price increases that they faced in terms of ingredient costs, labor costs, back of house equipment costs. A lot of the overhead is reduced for pizza restaurants.
YURKEVICH (voice-over): Deals can help keep prices low. Prices may vary by region and don't include delivery, but right now, at Domino's and Papa Johns, you can get a large carryout pizza for around $12. And at Pizza Hut, you can get two large pizzas for around $14 each.
Keen eyes have pointed out that the name Little Nero's and mascot in Home Alone looks like a play on Little Caesars. Little Caesars pizza in 1990 was $4. And then in 2003, $5. And now it's about $7.
(On camera): If you look at that over the span of decades, that's not that dramatic of an increase, probably for most consumers. So how the heck have you been able to keep prices so low?
GREG HAMILTON, LITTLE CAESAR'S CMO: Value is just a part of who we are. And it has been for decades and decades, even going back to kind of the 90s, as you mentioned. We always are considering both food costs as well as labor costs and all of the other associated costs, you know, for running the business.
YURKEVICH: Deals, coupons, does that actually help attract more customers and then, in turn, help keep those prices so low for consumers?
HAMILTON: Back then, it was a buy one, get one deal when that was not a common kind of, you know, offering in the marketplace at all. And so it was really innovative, helped propel our brand forward. And that is one component of, you know, our value strategy overall.
YURKEVICH (voice-over): While it may not be inflation-proof, pizza can still serve up a good deal, depending on how you slice it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE: Today, we're giving a big old 10 out of 10 to the fluffy and feathered furry friends who set out to predict the outcome of Super Bowl 59. Lions, Tigers, and Bears, oh my, and my favorite, Bald Eagles as well. They all weighed in on the Chiefs-Eagles showdown.
Misha the Tiger walked off with a Choice Chiefs box, while two Montana Bear Cubs gave us a tie as they each chowed down on a cake for each team. And a shocker, Sitka the Eagle wasn't repping the Philadelphia Eagles. She went for Kansas City. It was only Vulcan the Lion who smashed in his vote for the Eagles in a 4-1 Animal Kingdom upset.
All right, now it is time to show some love to the best of chance, you. Our shout-out today goes to the Tigers and Mr. Thorson's class at Groton Area High School in Groton, South Dakota. Thank you for making this part of your day. Have an awesome one, everyone.
Shine bright and rise up. I'll see you right back here tomorrow on CNN 10.
END
CNN 10
Baltic States Cut Chord with Russian Power Grid; Why this Super Bowl Snack Might Be Inflation-Proof. Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired February 10, 2025 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COY WIRE, CNN 10 ANCHOR: What's up, sunshine? Welcome to CNN 10, the best 10 minutes in news because of you. I'm Coy Wire, still in New Orleans for that Super Bowl coverage.
Congrats to the champs, the Philadelphia Eagles, getting redemption for their loss to these Chiefs in the Super Bowl two seasons ago. Fly, Eagles, fly. All right, let's get this show on the road.
We start today in Eastern Europe, where Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia disconnected from their Russian-operated electricity grid before successfully synchronizing their electricity systems to a grid operated within the European Union. Why did they do this? Energy independence.
Until this weekend, Russia was still in total control of the functioning of the grid and its electricity services to the Baltic countries. The three countries have been preparing to cut the cord with Russia since they joined the European Union in 2004, which invested over a billion dollars in grants for the project. But Russia's invasion of Baltic ally Ukraine in 2022 made it crucially important for these three countries to finally put an end to its energy dependence on Russia.
The three states renovated existing infrastructure and also built new power lines, several undersea cables, and a crucial link to the mainland European grid. Six months ago, the Baltic countries officially notified Russia that they would desynchronize from the Soviet electric grid, and Lithuania's grid operator, Litgrid, started the work of cutting old Soviet cables. The agreement that governs the old shared grid expired, and by Saturday, all three countries have been disconnected, briefly functioning as a power island with only the electricity they produced before synchronizing their newly independent grid with the continental Europe's synchronous area on Sunday.
But the threat from Russian interference hasn't disappeared with this newfound energy independence. CNN's Clare Sebastian explains the security concerns, top of mind for officials across the region.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cutting one of the last ties to Moscow. This is an old Soviet electrical cable that until recently linked Lithuania to a Russian-run power grid. Dismantling it is one of the final stages in a years-long project by the three Baltic states to take back control.
VOOTELE PAI, ADVISER TO ESTONIA'S INTERIOR MINISTRY: Here in this region, we understand fairly well that the cheap Russian energy, in whatever form it comes, it always comes at a price that no democratic European country should be able to afford.
SEBASTIAN (voce-over): More than 30 years after Soviet troops rumbled back over the border and two decades after joining NATO and the E.U., Estonia,
Latvia and Lithuania are once again looking nervously to the east.
The war in Ukraine revealing just how willing Moscow is to both weaponize electricity and, as NATO warned again this week, disrupt daily life in Europe through suspected acts of sabotage ranging from cyber-attacks to arson.
(On camera): Now the Baltics have been preparing for this moment for many years, building three new undersea cables to the Nordic countries and a critical link to Poland. And that meant that they were actually able to stop buying electricity from Russia more than two years ago. But Moscow still controlled the shared grid and managed the frequency. And so they were vulnerable.
(Voice-over): Ahead of the switch, security has been stepped up around energy infrastructure.
DOVILE SAKALIENE, LITHUANIAN DEFENSE MINISTER: We are increasing our surveillance efforts, we are increasing our additional security measures.
We are going to watch this with an eye of a hawk.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): And NATO now has a new mission to protect undersea cables in the Baltic after a string of incidents, including one right here, the Estlink-2 power cable badly damaged on Christmas Day.
This ship, which was en route from Russia, suspected by Finnish police, of dragging its anchor almost 100 kilometers along the seabed. Russia has denied any involvement, Moscow calling it anti-Russian hysteria.
SAKALIENE: To imagine that this series of incidents are happening just before we disconnect from the Russian network, again one more coincidence really.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): The Baltic power switch is a blow for Moscow, experts say. Its westernmost outpost of Kaliningrad, home of its Baltic fleet, now even more isolated. Its power lines, relics of a superpower past, redrawn.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE: Pop quiz hot shot.
Pizza originated in which Italian city? Venice, Rome, Naples or Florence?
If you said Naples, you are correct. That's where modern pizza evolved from flatbreads in the 18th century. It is no shocker, probably to most of us, that Super Bowl Sunday is one of the busiest days for pizza delivery.
In the U.S. along with Halloween and New Year's Eve, the convenient crowd pleaser of a meal gets major points for being affordable at a time when food costs have skyrocketed, right? But those pizza pie prices curiously haven't seemed to change that much for decades. Our Vanessa Yurkevich looks into what's behind the affordability of a pie to find out, is it inflation- proof? (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS & POLITICS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A scene from Home Alone has cooked up an interesting and debatable economic question.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, that's $122.50.
YURKEVICH (voice-over): Is pizza inflation-proof? Social media has pointed out that the McAllister family's order of 10 pizzas in 1990 is still comparable in price 35 years later.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, the pizza boy needs $122.50 plus tip.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For pizza?
HAMILTON: 10 pizzas times 12 bucks.
YURKEVICH (on camera): How is a large pizza still $12? Wow.
BILLY ROBERTS, SENIOR FOOD & BEVERAGE ECONOMIST, COBANK: 10 or 12 dollars per pizza per pie hasn't changed dramatically over the course of years, especially if you're using coupons or deals or if you're a member of whichever chain's app. But if you're -- if you're ordering a specialty pizza, it's not going to be that $12.
YURKEVICH (voice-over): Yes, artisanal or specialty pizzas are in a different ballpark. Even the iconic $1 slice of pizza in New York is a thing of the past. But many pizza chains have been able to keep their prices somewhat steady, while most fast-food restaurants have raised their prices.
(On camera): Is pizza inflation-proof?
ROBERTS: It's not necessarily inflation-proof, but it's inflation- resistant. Pizza restaurant chains have taken steps to kind of mitigate some of the price increases that they faced in terms of ingredient costs, labor costs, back of house equipment costs. A lot of the overhead is reduced for pizza restaurants.
YURKEVICH (voice-over): Deals can help keep prices low. Prices may vary by region and don't include delivery, but right now, at Domino's and Papa Johns, you can get a large carryout pizza for around $12. And at Pizza Hut, you can get two large pizzas for around $14 each.
Keen eyes have pointed out that the name Little Nero's and mascot in Home Alone looks like a play on Little Caesars. Little Caesars pizza in 1990 was $4. And then in 2003, $5. And now it's about $7.
(On camera): If you look at that over the span of decades, that's not that dramatic of an increase, probably for most consumers. So how the heck have you been able to keep prices so low?
GREG HAMILTON, LITTLE CAESAR'S CMO: Value is just a part of who we are. And it has been for decades and decades, even going back to kind of the 90s, as you mentioned. We always are considering both food costs as well as labor costs and all of the other associated costs, you know, for running the business.
YURKEVICH: Deals, coupons, does that actually help attract more customers and then, in turn, help keep those prices so low for consumers?
HAMILTON: Back then, it was a buy one, get one deal when that was not a common kind of, you know, offering in the marketplace at all. And so it was really innovative, helped propel our brand forward. And that is one component of, you know, our value strategy overall.
YURKEVICH (voice-over): While it may not be inflation-proof, pizza can still serve up a good deal, depending on how you slice it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE: Today, we're giving a big old 10 out of 10 to the fluffy and feathered furry friends who set out to predict the outcome of Super Bowl 59. Lions, Tigers, and Bears, oh my, and my favorite, Bald Eagles as well. They all weighed in on the Chiefs-Eagles showdown.
Misha the Tiger walked off with a Choice Chiefs box, while two Montana Bear Cubs gave us a tie as they each chowed down on a cake for each team. And a shocker, Sitka the Eagle wasn't repping the Philadelphia Eagles. She went for Kansas City. It was only Vulcan the Lion who smashed in his vote for the Eagles in a 4-1 Animal Kingdom upset.
All right, now it is time to show some love to the best of chance, you. Our shout-out today goes to the Tigers and Mr. Thorson's class at Groton Area High School in Groton, South Dakota. Thank you for making this part of your day. Have an awesome one, everyone.
Shine bright and rise up. I'll see you right back here tomorrow on CNN 10.
END