12 PM ET: Sam Bankman-Fried sentence, four presidents in NY, YouTube's splurge & more - CNN 5 Things - Podcast on CNN Audio

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We bring you 5 stories that will get you up to speed and on with your day. Updates at 6am, 9am, 12pm, 3pm and 6pm Eastern, every weekday.

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12 PM ET: Sam Bankman-Fried sentence, four presidents in NY, YouTube's splurge & more
CNN 5 Things
Mar 28, 2024

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has been sentenced for defrauding cryptocurrency customers and investors. Work is underway to try to get an important shipping channel back open after the bridge collapse in Baltimore. Four US presidents will be in New York today – we'll tell you why. A new CNN investigation reveals the disturbing terror tactics used by the Myanmar junta. Plus, YouTube is trying to compete with TikTok and Instagram by investing big in creators.

Episode Transcript
Krista Bo (host)
00:00:01
Hey there! From CNN, I'm Krista Bo with the five things you need to know for Thursday, March 28th.
00:00:07
'Former crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried has been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for defrauding FTX customers. That's less than the 40 to 50 years prosecutors had asked for. But a lot more than the roughly six years Bankman-Fried attorneys wanted. Back in November, the 32-year-old founder of cryptocurrency exchange company FTX was convicted of stealing more than $8 billion from customers and orchestrating a yearslong cover up in what prosecutors described as one of the largest financial frauds in history. The now-collapsed FTX had billed itself as a safe and easy way to trade cryptocurrencies. But another company owned by Bankman-Fried had been secretly siphoning deposits and using some of the money to fund executives luxury lifestyles. In court today, Bankman-Fried apologized for letting people down and said the collapse of FTX, quote, haunts him every day.
00:01:01
Conditions at the site of the Baltimore Bridge collapse are bad. So authorities are moving from a recovery mode to a salvage operation. The bodies of two of the six construction workers who died after a container ship hit a pillar of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, have been recovered. Now, more than 1000 personnel from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have been activated to help clear the critical shipping channel that's impacting trade. A big question that remains is how did the ship lose power? The NTSB says its probe into the collision could take up to two years to complete.
00:01:33
Three presidents are coming together with one mission: beat the 45th one. President Joe Biden and former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama are joining forces to fundraise at Radio City Music Hall in New York City today to try to prevent former President Donald Trump's White House return. Biden's campaign announced today they've already raised over $25 million so far from this evening's event, building on an already impressive war chest ahead of the general election rematch. Trump is expected to be in New York today, too, actually, marking a rare moment for presidents will be in the same area other than Washington, D.C.. Trump's campaign communications director said the former president will pay his respects at a wake for a slain NYPD officer while, quote, "The Three Stooges... will be at a glitzy fundraiser.".
00:02:18
'I want to warn you this next story is disturbing. A new CNN investigation reveals the terror tactics used by the Myanmar junta against armed resistance groups in the country, like burnings, beheadings, mutilations and more. CNN tracked and checked multiple documents showing the public execution by a pro-government militia of two resistance fighters burned alive while strung up to a tree. Here's what a witness told CNN.
Witness
00:02:45
When I got there. They hang them on the tree and poured gasoline and diesel on their bodies. The rebels were moving and screaming and said they apologized, but the militia replied, apologize in your next life.
Krista Bo (host)
00:03:00
The junta ruling the country has been trying to control and divide the population through what witnesses and analysts say is a long established pattern of fear and brutality. Myanmar's military hasn't responded to a request for comment on the killings and civilian attacks, though the junta routinely blames violence on the resistance. You can read more on that investigation on CNN.com.
00:03:23
Up next, how YouTube shorts are helping creators bring in some serious cash.
00:03:31
YouTube is shelling out tens of thousands of dollars to creators who post short form videos as it goes after competitors like TikTok and Instagram. I asked CNN's Clare Duffy to explain.
Clare Duffy (writer)
00:03:41
Well, Krista, YouTube has long been the leading player in online video, but the popularity of TikTok has threatened that dominance. That's important because short form video is becoming a big business, and platforms need creators to make videos they can sell ads on. So one year ago, YouTube started paying creators to post on its TikTok competitor YouTube shorts. Now, YouTube says hundreds of thousands of creators are earning money from shorts, but it hasn't come cheap. One creator told me that she makes around $20,000 each month on shorts alone.
Krista Bo (host)
00:04:12
All right, that's all for now. I'm Krista Bo and if you want a lighter look at the world, join us on Saturday for the next edition of Five Good Things. Till next time.