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One World with Zain Asher
President Biden Says He's Never Going To Leave Israel; CNN's Freedom Project Shines A Light On Child Labor; Controversial Photo Of The Princess Of Wales Pulled Out By Several Agencies; Parents Succeed In Creating Jobs For Their Children In The Autism Spectrum. Aired 12-1p ET
Aired March 11, 2024 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:00:27]
ZAIN ASHER, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Marking Ramadan in the midst of a brutal war.
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: "One World" starts right now. All eyes on Rafah. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that he
will push ahead with the ground offensive there, though officials say it's not imminent. Why Joe Biden says the operation could cross a red line.
ASHER: Also ahead, Donald Trump's about face. The Republican front runner has changed his mind about regulating social media. We'll tell you why it's
got Congress paying attention.
GOLODRYGA: And later, it's the story everyone is talking about. Where is Kate Middleton and why did she edit a photo of her with her children? We'll
discuss.
ASHER: All right, coming to you live from New York, I'm Zain Asher.
GOLODRYGA: And I'm Bianna Goldryga. You are watching "One World". Well, Palestinians are marking the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan with
no let up in the five months of fighting in Gaza.
ASHER: Yeah, negotiations had hoped to reach a deal for a temporary ceasefire and the release of hostages before Ramadan, which began on
Monday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Palestinians are trying to observe, even amid the ongoing conflict. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to push ahead with a
ground incursion into Rafah, regardless of any kind of deal. But Israeli officials tell CNN that a ground offensive is not imminent.
GOLODRYGA: Now, a reminder, one and a half million displaced Palestinians are sheltering in Rafah in southern Gaza. This is a ship carrying 200 tons
of aid remains docked in Cyprus. The government source there says it will set sail sometime on Monday.
ASHER: Meantime, tensions between the U.S. and Israeli leaders spilled out into the open over the weekend. U.S. President Joe Biden warned an Israeli
invasion of Rafah would be a red line and said that Netanyahu is hurting Israel.
Netanyahu is hurting Israel more than helping it. Those words from the U.S. President. Israeli Prime Minister, though, defended his approach. I want
you to listen to what he had to say.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: This is a red line but I'm never going to leave Israel. The defense of Israel is still critical. So, there's no red line
I'm going to cut off all weapons so they don't have the Iron Dome to protect them. They don't have. But there's red lines that if he crosses and
they cannot have 30,000 more Palestinians dead.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Well, I don't know exactly what the President meant, but if he meant by that, then I'm pursuing private
policies against the majority, the wish of the majority of Israelis, and that this is hurting the interests of Israel. And he's wrong on both
counts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: CNN's Jeremy Diamond joins us now live. And, Jeremy, it's interesting because previously, up until the start of Ramadan, we had heard
Israeli government officials say that they would go into Rafah if Hamas had not released the hostages. That deadline has come and gone. It is the start
of Ramadan. And yet, Israeli sources are telling you and CNN that they are in no rush to go into Rafah. Tell us more about what you're learning.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's right. It was Israeli Minister Benny Gantz, a member of the war cabinet, a former member of the
opposition who had very publicly said that if the hostages were not returned by Ramadan, then Israel would move in with an offensive in Rafah.
Other Israeli officials had made similar threats over the course of the last several weeks. But as Ramadan arrived and no deal was secured, it
became clear that an offensive in Rafah was not imminent. And I've spoken to multiple Israeli officials who've told me two things.
First of all, the forces that are necessary to go into Rafah are not yet built up inside of Gaza. And secondly, that civilian evacuation of the city
has yet to begin. In fact, the plans for that evacuation have yet to be finalized and approved by Israel's war cabinet.
Now, while the force build-up could happen in pretty short order, the evacuation of civilians from Rafah, I'm told, is likely to take at least
two weeks, which indicates that we are not -- that Israel is not poised for an imminent invasion, an imminent ground offensive into Rafah. And so the
question poses itself, is this giving more room to the negotiations perhaps?
And also, are there perhaps sensitivities about this month of Ramadan and the fact that Yahya Sinwar, Hamas' leader in Gaza, is hoping that this
month of Ramadan can ignite some kind of a second wave of attacks against Israel, giving him kind of a last dash of hope, even as he faces Israeli
forces entering what Prime Minister Netanyahu has described as Hamas' last bastion in Rafah.
[12:05:00]
ASHER: And Jeremy, I just want to sort of drill down on the differences and the divisions that are emerging between Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S.
President Joe Biden. The fact that you've got the U.S. President essentially rebuking the Israeli Prime Minister because of the number of
civilian lives being lost right now in Gaza, also saying that Netanyahu is essentially hurting Israel more than helping it.
Just walk us through what sort of consequences there will be, just in terms of how the sort of divisions between the U.S. President and the Israeli
Prime Minister, how does that affect the trajectory of this war in the short term, do you think, Jeremy?
DIAMOND: Well, it's hard to see exactly how it affects the war itself. I mean, we have watched the rhetoric be ratcheted up from the American side,
in particular from President Biden. I mean, there's no question that these are the most cutting remarks that President Biden has made to date since
this war began about the Israeli Prime Minister.
But so far, he is refusing to tie that rhetoric to any kind of firm consequences for Israel in terms of the enormous financial and weapons
support that the U.S. provides Israel. In fact, President Biden, in the same interview where he indicated that Rafah would be some kind of a red
line.
He also made clear that he would, quote, "never leave Israel and never cut off its supply of weapons," particularly things like the Iron Dome missile
defense system, which protects Israeli civilians here from Hamas rockets being fired in Gaza.
And so, the question is, you know, beyond the rhetoric, beyond the kind of public feuding, is there more that the U.S. is willing to actually do to
put its money where its mouth is in terms of trying to change the trajectory of this war in Gaza?
Now, there's no question that the pressure is being felt here in Israel. There's a reason why the Israeli Prime Minister feels like he has to kind
of push back as publicly as he has, making his case directly, in effect, to the American public, to other politicians in the United States, when he
says that his red line is ensuring that October 7th cannot happen again and reaffirming the fact, which is quite true, that many of his positions in
terms of prosecuting the war in Gaza are indeed shared by a majority of Israeli citizens here.
So, certainly a lot of rhetoric, certainly a lot of public feuding coming to the surface. The extent to which it actually impacts the war itself
remains very much an open question. Zain, Bianna.
ASHER: All right, Jeremy Diamond, live for us there. Thank you so much.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: All right, it's not just manpower on the battlefield, but Russia is also winning the production war away from the Ukrainian front lines, as
well. It's according to senior Western officials.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, winning by a significant margin. CNN has exclusively learned that Moscow is making nearly three times more artillery shells than
the U.S. and Europe combined are for Kyiv. The shortfall comes at a particularly perilous moment as Republican opposition in the U.S. Congress
has effectively halted any further American aid to Ukraine.
ASHER: Back on the front lines of Russia's war, the fighting is certainly fierce. The death toll is continuing to rise. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh rides
along with Ukraine's medics as they use the cover of night to treat the wounded. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY (voice-over): Light is also their enemy here. Daylight brings the threat of attack drones, so it's hard
to collect casualties from the front line. Dark is when they bring most wounded out. To medics hiding in the tree line.
The other light flashes from enormous bombs hitting the village of Olivka and around. A tiny place of outsized consequence. It's Ukraine's defensive
line, but Russia is raging hard for a breakthrough. The flash is constant. A seven-mile slog from there to here for the wounded.
ARTEM, COMBAT MEDIC, 59TH INFANTRY BRIGADE (non-English)
PATON WALSH (voice-over): They wait underground for the radio. To say who, when, where. It feels almost mundane. Often hours of silence. A thump of
shelling hidden by T.V. series.
[12:10:00]
MAKSIM, COMBAT MEDIC, 59TH INFANTRY BRIGADE (non-English)
PATON WALSH (voice-over): Then it is time. They never really know what they'll find until they get there. And they, too, are targets. But along
this eastern front, these slick routines carry on. Minus one key thing -- hope.
PATON WALSH: Because of the intensity of the fighting here, this happens all night, every night. The desperate race to use dark, the cover of night,
to get the wounded to hospital as fast as possible. Here comes some more. From one Humvee to another, the wounded of a war they're losing because the
U.S. is dropping out.
The force of a blast appears to have broken his upper arm. It's going to be a painful drive until the drugs kick in. He says he only had stitches out
four days ago from another injury, a Russian attack drone ripping into their armoured vehicle two weeks ago. One of the five men hit inside then
is still in hospital. Tonight, it was also drones.
UNKNOWN (speaking in non-English)
PATON WALSH: When they get to the hospital, all is blacked out and we cannot even film doors. Russia is scouring the front lines for any part of
the medical chain to hit, to make help harder and further away, just like American money. Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, near Olivka, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GOLODRYGA: Further and farther away, just like American money. That hurts to hear. Thanks to Nick Paton Walsh for that. Well, if Donald Trump wins in
November, the Ukrainian war effort could face one of its biggest challenges yet, a U.S. administration much less friendly to Kyiv.
ASHER: Right. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban says that Trump would, quote, "End the fighting in Ukraine by not giving a penny." The autocrat
made his comments last night, just days after meeting Trump at his residence in Mar-a-Lago.
Meantime, we are learning that the former U.S. President, who has, by the way, frequently shown his admiration for authoritarian rulers, is praising
despots both in private and on the campaign trail, as well.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, former President Donald Trump is speaking out about calls in the U.S. for TikTok to be banned, meantime.
ASHER: Now, the U.S. House is considering the move unless TikTok is separated from its China-based parent company, ByteDance. Back in 2020,
Donald Trump also said that he wanted to ban it. But a day earlier on CNBC, he said banning TikTok would just help one of its competitors.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people, along with a lot of the
media. I think Facebook has been very -- I think Facebook has been very bad for our country, especially when it comes to elections.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: CNN's Alayna Treene joins us live now from Washington with this story. I mean, it's interesting because Donald Trump, when he was
President, he sort of spearheaded these initial efforts to ban TikTok.
Now, there's been this dramatic sort of about face talking about the fact that banning TikTok would only help its competitor, Facebook. Just give us
your sense of why the dramatic change here from Donald Trump's perspective.
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, it is interesting, as you pointed out, because he had been so forcefully against
TikTok while President, wanting it to be banned or to be sold. And now, he's singing a different tune, as you said.
So, I did catch up with a Trump advisor this morning and I was asking the same question, Zain, which is where is this coming from? And there's a few
things. One, they pointed out that a lot of this has to do with Facebook.
[12:15:00]
And we did see Donald Trump in that clip you just aired rail against Facebook as an enemy of the people. The concern is that something were to
happen to TikTok, if it were sold and were banned in the country, that its users would migrate to Facebook. And that's where they said a lot of this
is stemming from.
And part of that is because Donald Trump has been very critical of Facebook for years now. He blames them in large part for what he argues is having
interfered in the 2020 election. Of course, there's evidence that is opposed to that. But he also has never really liked Mark Zuckerberg. We've
heard him rail against the Meta CEO repeatedly in the past.
So, that's part of it. I think the other part, as well, is this is political. I mean, there are so many voters in the country and young
voters, I should say, who love TikTok, who are a big fan of the app. And Donald Trump knows that if it were to be banned, that would be something
that would be placed or the blame would be placed on President Joe Biden.
And it's a key demographic as well that his campaign is trying to go after ahead of a general election rematch in November. So, I think that's a big
part of it, as well. But I can tell you, look, Donald Trump and his comments this morning, as well as he's been Truth socialing about it or
posting on his website, Truth Social, is definitely causing headaches for people on Capitol Hill, who for many years now have been trying to figure
out what to do with this app, especially because they believe it presents a national security risk.
And when I did speak with some of Donald Trump's advisers today about this, they said that unlike with other bills in the past, we saw him do this with
the border bill, where he really tanked it by repeatedly criticizing it and speaking out against it. They say he doesn't feel exactly the same way
about this particular TikTok ban, that if Congress decides that they want to pass it, that he will, you know, be happy with whatever they choose to
do.
But we'll see if he continues to keep in that line, because of course, his rhetoric and his comments on these things have such weight on Capitol Hill
with Republicans that it could really jeopardize whether this bill is passed or not.
ASHER: Yeah, but as you point out, it may not be so much about his perspective in terms of TikTok's effect on national security, but much more
about not giving Facebook --
TREENE: Right.
ASHER: -- the upper hand here. Alayna Treene, live for us there. Thank you so much.
GOLODRYGA: All right, coming up for us, they say a picture is worth a thousand words.
ASHER: Especially when it's doctored.
GOLODRYGA: Well, we'll get there. It's probably a lot more than a thousand when it comes to the royal family. Who owned up to manipulating this
picture of Catherine, Princess of Wales? We'll tell you, up next.
ASHER: And later, we will relive some of the biggest moments from last night, Hollywood's biggest night, of course, the Oscars. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:20:23]
ASHER: All right, CNN's Freedom Project is shining a light on illegal child labor. And it might surprise you to know that it's a global problem, not
just one that is impacting a lot of developing nations around the world.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, statistics show that child labor has surged 88 percent in the United States over the past five years. Our David Culver shows us
what's happening and what's being done to fight it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID CULVER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: For many migrants, coming to the United States is less about searching for a dream than it is
escaping a nightmare.
UNKNOWN: I came fleeing the violence in Mexico. Coming here, my eyes were shut, and I came blindly to try and build a new life for my family.
CULVER (voice-over): Often they wind up working in places like this, a now shuttered chicken processing plant just outside Los Angeles, California. In
September, the Department of Labor raided two poultry plants owned by Exclusive Poultry, finding the company had employed children as young as 14
years old to debone chickens, wield sharp knives, and operate power-driven forklifts.
ELANDRA: The knives, yeah, one time I actually poked it myself. Just my finger went through the metal glove.
CULVER (voice-over): Eighteen-year-old Elandra was one of them. She started working the graveyard shift at Exclusive Poultry when she was just 16.
Sitting beside her mother, Elandra asked us to protect her identity. She fears retribution from their former boss, whom she called scary.
ODILIA ROMERO, CO-FOUNDER, CIELO: There's this narrative that we come for the American dream, but we come here to survive. We risk our lives to have
a possibility to live.
CULVER (voice-over): Odilia Romero is co-founder of Cielo, a non-profit organization based in Los Angeles that provides interpretation services and
works with indigenous migrants who've been abused or exploited by their employers. She says increasingly, that work involves children.
ROMERO: If we go to the agricultural area of California, there's hundreds of children working there, or in the restaurant, in the garment industry.
We have to change that mindset that it only happens outside the U.S. No, there's labor exploitation on children here in the United States, and it
happens every day, everywhere.
CULVER (voice-over): The Department of Labor says it has seen an 88 percent spike in children being illegally employed across all industries since
2019. In 2023 alone, the Department of Labor discovered nearly 6000 kids were working illegally across the U.S.
RUBEN ROSALES, LEADS WESTERN REGION'S WAGE AND HOUR DIVISION INSIDE THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR: They're taking advantage of workers that adults
probably don't want to do these jobs, in some cases.
CULVER, (voice-over): Ruben Rosales leads the Western Region's Wage and Hour Division inside the Department of Labor.
ROSALES: We confirmed with a minimum of about 13 minors were vetting more, so there could be more that come out of the case. But they were doing
deboning of chicken, working with forklifts and lifts, hoists that lift up big pieces, putting them into machinery. So, a lot of different dangerous
jobs that they were working on.
CULVER (voice-over): CNN reached out to the owner of Exclusive Poultry, which agreed to pay nearly $3.8 million in fines and back wages. They did
not respond to our request for comment. For Elandra and her mother Carmen, while the experience is something they'd like to put behind them, it's also
showed them the causes for hope in their adoptive country.
UNKNOWN (through translator): I felt bad because it was dangerous work for a minor. But necessity makes us do these things. I stayed silent for a long
time. I didn't know there were opportunities and people who could help. They opened our eyes to the idea there are people who will support us in
this country.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:27:54]
GOLODRYGA: All right, welcome back to "One World". I'm Bianna Goldryga.
ASHER: And I'm Zain Asher. Britain's King Charles III is urging people of Commonwealth nations to work together to break down inequalities and find
solutions to improve the world.
GOLODRYGA: The King delivered a pre-recorded message to mark Commonwealth Day today. The King will not attend the annual celebration, as he's been
forced to step away from public duties after being diagnosed with an unspecific form of cancer. During his address, the King also thanked those
who wished him well during his recovery.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KING CHARLES III, KING OF UNITED KINGDOM: In recent weeks, I have been most deeply touched by your wonderfully kind and thoughtful good wishes for my
health, and in return, can only continue to serve you to the best of my ability throughout the Commonwealth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: CNN has received new information from a royal source on the controversy involving the first official photo of Catherine, Princess of
Wales, since she underwent surgery.
ASHER: Now, the source says the goal of the photo release was to share an informal family snapshot for Mother's Day, which was Sunday in the U.K. But
of course, that's when a lot of people started talking about the fact that the photo had been manipulated. And then you had several news agencies
pulling the photo from their files.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, five news agencies pulled the photo. Kenai fans noticed Princess Charlotte's hand in a zipper didn't look quite right. And earlier
today, the Princess of Wales released a statement on X taking responsibility. She apologized, saying that she had done a little
experimenting with photo editing herself.
ASHER: Of course, the British press is having a field day with all this. I mean, literally everybody is talking about this photo. Let's get some
perspective on this with Bidisha Mamata. She's a broadcaster and a royal watcher.
Bidisha, my friend, so good to see you. This was a major own goal for the royal family. Bidisha, can you hear me? Bidisha, can you hear me? Okay, it
looks as though we don't have Bidisha's audio.
I was going to start talking to her about the fact that this was a major own goal for the royal family. The fact that this photo -- this photo had
clearly been edited.
[12:30:00]
It had been Photoshopped, clearly fueling just so much suspicion.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah.
ASHER: And that much more lack of trust as people are very concerned about what sort of condition Kate is in and the state of her health right now.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, she hadn't been seen for months now and had taken some time off. She said, according to the palace, that she had some abdominal
surgery. They didn't go into detail as to what the complications were other than it was non-cancerous. So this is one of the reasons this photo gaffe
has sparked so much interest. Hopefully we can get Bidisha back in.
In the meantime, I believe we are going to go to break. What should we be doing, Imani?
ASHER: Yeah.
GOLODRYGA: Okay, well, it's official. Sweden is now a member of NATO.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Sweden's national anthem and the NATO hymn were played today as the nation was welcomed. Sweden's Prime Minister and NATO Secretary General
attended this morning's flag raising ceremony.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, it's a moment that has been nearly two years in the making and one that was prompted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. NATO Chief Jens
Stoltenberg says the membership makes NATO stronger, Sweden safer and all of us more secure.
All right, coming up for us, the families of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza get set to meet at the UN for a discussion in the Security Council. We'll
speak to the sister of one of those hostages when we return.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right, about two and a half hours from now, relatives of hostages held in Gaza are set to join a meeting of the U.N. Security
Council. The delegation led by Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz is there to discuss the U.N. report alleging sexual crimes were committed by
Hamas during the October 7th terror attacks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Meanwhile, there was a strong show of support for the hostages in London over the weekend. Members of the Jewish community braved the rain
and blew shofar horns and whistles for one minute and 55 seconds to demand the release of the hostages and mark 155 days in captivity.
Time now for the exchange and we want to talk more about not just the suffering of the hostages, but also of the families desperate to get their
loved ones home.
[12:35:00]
GOLODRYGA: Joining us now is Yarden Gonen, the sister of hostage Romi Gonen. And Yarden, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for being
here in the U.S., continuing your fight for the release of your sister and all the other hostages that remain captive in Gaza. I want to ask you
specifically about this report issued by Pramila Patten, the U.N. special envoy of sexual violence in conflict.
And part of her report, the most alarming part, I would say, all of it, really just a gut punch, but the most alarming part said, they come just
days after saying the mission team found clear and convincing information that some have been subjected to various forms of conflict. These are
hostages related to sexual violence, including rape and sexualized, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. And it also has reasonable grounds to
believe that such violence may be ongoing.
There are 19 women that are currently held in captivity. Your sister is one of them. I do know that these horrible thoughts have crossed your mind long
before this report was issued, but what was your reaction once you finally read it?
YARDEN GONEN, SISTER OF HOSTAGE RONI GONEN: So, first of all, thank you so much for inviting me and letting me raise my sister's voice and all the
other hostages in this stage. Actually, I've heard everything you said at the past minute, and my heart is pounding so fast because all of you said
and everything we can see at the U.N. report, these are stuff that we already knew that happened on October 7th before this report was published.
We knew that these crimes against those women, crimes that based on sexual violence, crimes against humanity happened from the released hostages. So,
I can say finally, the world can see it through this report that performed by Pramila Patten with cooperation with the Family Hostages Forum and the
Foreign Ministry.
I can't even think about these possibilities to happen to my sister. And I truly don't think that we needed this report to know and to realize the
danger that they're in only from the, you know, the ongoing stress and trauma that causes them since October 7th because they were kidnapped by
those terrorists. Those terrorists had enough time to do whatever they wanted to the ones that they harmed on October 7th, knowing that our forces
can come any minute.
But to my sister and all the other 19 women, including the men that are still there, they could experience that every day, every minute without no
one's coming for their help. No one they can scream or call to, to cry for help.
And this is why I won't stop until everyone knows what is going on there and why it is so important to release them as soon as possible because it's
not the fight to release those hostages. It's a fight of the free world against terror. So, it won't happen again anywhere else. The first move to
prevent it is to release them.
ASHER: Yarden, I am so sorry -- so deeply sorry for everything you've experienced. I cannot even imagine the level of trauma, of distress, of
anguish. You've been going through this for more than 150 days now.
You know, and as you were talking just then, I was looking at photos of your sister that was playing on screen. She was -- she's so beautiful, so
vibrant. I mean, I love her smile and I'm sure she's so proud of you for fighting for her the way you have done over these past several months.
GONEN: Thank you.
ASHER: You know, the one sort of, the one sort of glimmer of hope that has always sort of lingered on the horizon has been the possibility -- the
possibility of a potential ceasefire. And now we know that those hopes are sort of faded right now, given that -- given the scenario and, you know,
just to be realistic in terms of, you know, the lack of progress when it comes to negotiations and a potential ceasefire. At this point in time,
where do you draw your strength from? Where do you draw any sort of hope from going forward?
GONEN: First of all, for my sister, from thinking about her, from knowing what she deserves.
[12:40:00]
What all the hostages deserve, is to be free, to free from the uncertainty, to be free from this horror movie, to free to choose for themselves. They
don't have a self-identify anymore. They're just subjected to whatever those terrorists want to do. So, every time that I'm feeling slow or angry
or tired or, I don't know, just so sad, I'm thinking about her.
I'm thinking about how she is fighting for herself to survive, to be strong, so we can accomplish this, such an important mission to release her
and all the others, of course.
And also from my family, my friends, her friends all the Israeli population. And everyone we meet all around the world, you can see how
everyone is so supportive, because we all understand that everyone should live in peace and in quiet and with their own possibility to choose what
they want to do.
And I think if everyone will think about it just for a minute, how it feels like to be locked up somewhere without the willing to choose what to do,
where to go, what to eat, when you can go to the restroom, just close inside a small dark room, they would understand how much it is important to
fight for them and to fight for our humanity, for the world, so we can all live in peace and quiet and to eliminate terror from this world, once and
for all, I wish.
You talked about the ceasefire, and for me, I always think that this replicates most how much Hamas, that we should all actually call ISIS,
don't care about their own civilians. If they did care about them, they would agree to this ceasefire for their own population's sake and for our
hostages' sake.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah. It's inhumane, it's torture, as you describe what these hostages, the unimaginable, what they've experienced. And it's not only the
threat, the ongoing threat of sexual violence. I know that Romi has a serious injury to her hand, a gunshot wound to the hand.
It's been over 100 days since you had proof of life and you were told that she was okay, but that her hand was seriously infected and needing medical
treatment. A lot of time has passed since then, so every day is of the urgency to bring these hostages home.
You have said that you've always protected your sister since you were little kids, and I know that you will continue to fight to protect her and
all of those others who they are together in Gaza. You're fighting for all of them to be released. Yarden Gonan, thank you so much.
GONEN: Thank you. Thank you for giving us something to trust on in this world and something to believe in, because I truly feel that together we
can change everything bad that is going on. So, thank you again for raising our voice and my sister's voice. It is not taken for granted, and hopefully
next time it will be with her.
GOLODRYGA: Hopefully. We'll continue to cover her stories and all of the other hostages as well. They're not forgotten.
GONEN: Thank you.
GOLODRYGA: Yarden, thank you.
GONEN: Thank you.
GOLODRYGA: We'll be right back --
ASHER: -- with more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:46:30]
GOLODRYGA: We're returning now to the controversy over the photograph of the Princess of Wales and her family released by Kensington Palace. As we
reported earlier, it was pulled by several agencies over concerns that it had been manipulated. Earlier today, Catherine acknowledged that she had
used Photoshop on the image.
ASHER: All right, let's get some perspective on the story now from Bidisha Mamata. Take two.
GOLODRYGA: You're there, right?
ASHER: I was like talking to you and you couldn't hear me just a moment ago. No, but listen, I mean, why do this? Just in terms of Kate making this
mistake, obviously it is an own goal for the royal family. You know that there's going to be so much scrutiny over any photo that you release.
You know that everybody wants to know about your health condition, especially since you haven't been seen in public. So why go to the length
of manipulating it, knowing that there is a good potential that you could be caught and face severe backlash?
BIDISHA MAMATA, BROADCASTER AND ROYAL WATCHER: Look, you invited me on to provide perspective, so I'm going to put this into perspective.
ASHER: Please.
MAMATA: This idea that she somehow deviously manipulated her photographs, I think is overblown. I think we all have a post Oscars hangover and we're
looking for something to talk about today, which is the vision of the ultimate good girl, which is Kate Middleton, somehow laughing to herself as
she thought, I know I'm going to release these images and trick the world into thinking that my hand was two millimeters away from what it really
was.
I think that what she did was what anyone does when they're looking through their holiday photographs and their school photographs and trying to get
all their kids to look in the same direction and look normal and happy to be there and smile properly.
She just tweaked a little bit, as we all do, and I'm astonished that anyone is acting as if she's some sort of war reporter who's reporting on war
crimes and has altered -- factually altered images, which is very serious. And in fact, I think the due diligence of the photo agencies is absolutely
correct. I think the idea that she's a kind of evil, lying, manipulative mastermind is what I'm finding a little bit hard to swallow.
GOLODRYGA: Okay, but, well, Bidisha, that is not where we're going, that we don't view her as an evil mastermind, but this isn't happening in a vacuum.
You're right. Given the technology today, we all like to look a little bit better and tweak our photos.
But we're not all royalty and members of the royal family, as well, specifically at a time when there's a lot of debate, controversy,
conspiracy theories swirling about what exactly is ailing someone who is very young and has been out of the public eye.
The only public statement that's been released is that there was a non- cancerous abdominal procedure. So, I guess you can't blame people in this world, especially from speculating about what is going on here. And the
fact that she put out a photo that no one was really demanding at the time only adds to that questioning and scrutiny, no?
MAMATA: Yes, I think that your fundamental point is exactly right, which is that clearly she underwent abdominal surgery, and that's very worrying and
very serious. They are a very private family unit, in fact, so I can well understand that even being advised to release a photograph to let the
general populace know, okay, I'm okay, I'm smiling, I'm happy, I'm surrounded by my kids, that is absolutely the right motivation.
[12:50:00]
I think that from Kate Middleton's point of view, this situation has got away from her quite quickly in ways that she didn't expect at all. I'm
surprised that people are surprised, because even in royal portraiture, we know that Photoshop's a very big world, but we know that, for example, each
image is color-graded.
The contrast and the tone are shifted slightly, and anyone who's worked in fashion and advertising knows that sometimes you use the model's body from
one shot, and you use the model's head from another shot, and you splice them together, and that is normal.
So, I do think it's a little bit fuss about nothing. I do think it would have been very deceptive if, for example, she Photoshopped in someone who
hadn't been there, they hadn't been posing, they were in a different room, and she sort of cut them out and stuck them back in.
I don't think this is that. I think this is a very keen photographer. We know that she has a talent for photography and an interest in it, in fact,
and particularly in family photographs, trying to provide the best possible --
ASHER: You know how much I love you, and I could talk to you literally all day long, but unfortunately we are up against the clock.
GOLODRYGA: Oh, but we will have you back.
ASHER: Yes.
GOLODRYGA: We will have you back.
MAMATA: Okay, fine.
ASHER: And we can dissect this even more -- even more to your annoyance, right?
GOLODRYGA: No photo gate in Bidisha's view.
ASHER: All right, Bidisha, thank you so much.
MAMATA: Thank you.
ASHER: Well, you can't talk about the movies without thinking, of course, about popcorn. Our next story is about a company that makes popcorn with a
twist.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, the company was co-founded by a man with autism, and his goal is to employ as many people with developmental disabilities as he can.
As we hear from CNN's Danny Freeman, what started with a kernel, get that, of an idea is turning into a popcorn empire.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the story of a kernel of an idea that just popped.
FREEMAN: Did you ever expect that you'd be making a whole business making popcorn?
SAM BIER, CO-FOUNDER, POPCORN OF THE PEOPLE: Oh no, definitely not. I never thought this dream could come that true.
FREEMAN (voice-over): Thirty-three-year-old Sam Bier is on the autism spectrum, and for years, according to his dad, Dr. Stephen Bier, Sam had
trouble finding a job that fit.
STEVEN BIER: Sam was working a job pushing shopping carts during the summer at a supermarket, and he wasn't very happy. It wasn't very fulfilling. So
the Beer family thought, why not create our own business? It's not seasonal, it's not a fad, it's not dangerous to make, no knives. Sam, how'd
you like to make popcorn?
FREEMAN (voice-over): Soon after, Popcorn for the People was born. A non- profit selling the tasty snack handmade by people with autism and developmental disabilities.
SAM BIER: I think this place can help people get the tools they need to send to another business, help give the confidence, the optimism, the
endurance. I think that's what it means.
FREEMAN (voice-over): There's very little data when it comes to employment in the neurodiverse community, but a 2015 report from Drexel University's
Autism Institute found that four out of every 10 young adults on the autism spectrum have never had a paying job. That's a much lower rate than young
adults with other disabilities. But Popcorn for the People has 39 neurodiverse employees here in their modest New Jersey workplace.
STEVEN BIER: A million people who work here never had a job before.
FREEMAN (voice-over): Pop by Pop, the business grew, selling popcorn at college football games, on the Jersey Turnpike, and then word spread south.
JEFFREY LURIE, OWNER OF THE PHILADELPHIA EAGLES: Our collective effort --
FREEMAN (voice-over): Jeffrey Lurie, the owner of the Philadelphia Eagles, has a brother on the autism spectrum. For years, the Eagles have made
autism research and care a core priority. Last season, they even set up a Popcorn for the People stand.
RYAN HAMMOND, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, EAGLES AUTISM FOUNDATION: I mean, who loves popcorn?
FREEMAN (voice-over): Everyone, right? But Eagles Autism Foundation's Ryan Hammond knows good paying jobs are crucial for this community.
HAMMOND: I think people think it's hard, right? Or it's going to cost them money or cost them time or cost them uncomfortable conversations. I think
the reality is, is that the neurodiverse community has so much to offer.
FREEMAN (voice-over): So, when she learned Philly-area convenience store Wawa had an empty shop they didn't know what to do with --
HAMMOND: Without hesitation, I was like, I would open a popcorn factory.
FREEMAN: When did you realize, oh man, this is a great idea?
DAVE SIMONETTI, SENIOR DIRECTOR OF STORE OPERATIONS, WAWA: The second we heard it.
FREEMAN (voice-over): Dave Simonetti is the senior director of store operations for Wawa. His stores already employ more than 500 neurodiverse
people. Simonetti's daughter has Down syndrome.
DAVE SIMONETTI, SENIOR DIRECTOR OF STORE OPERATIONS, WAWA: Well, my daughter's only 12, but I like the idea that she's going to have choices
when she gets out of school. And she will have things available to her that maybe didn't exist 10 or 20 years ago because of the work that folks like
popcorn are doing.
[12:55:00]
FREEMAN (voice-over): Less than a year after the Eagles and Wawa came together to hatch this plan, a new Popcorn for the People factory was born.
This one on Philadelphia's famous South Street plans to make and sell tens of thousands more bags of popcorn and hire 25 more neurodiverse employees
like 23-year-old Jared.
FREEMAN: Have you tasted the popcorn? Yes, I ate the caramel. It tastes really good. Kylie Kelce, known as the First Lady of Philadelphia and is
married to retiring Eagles star center Jason Kelsey, is a passionate advocate for the autism community.
KYLIE KELCE, AUTISM COMMUNITY ADVOCATE: To see something like Popcorn for the People who's encouraging those employment opportunities and allowing
the autism community to find that independence, to find sort of that pride in their own work and earn their own paycheck, it's such a joy to see.
FREEMAN: The hope now is others will take this kernel of an idea and create more Popportunities.
STEVEN BIER: It's literally a non-profit version of the American dream. We wanted to create one job for my son, did that, and then another job and
another job and another job. It's amazing. Danny Freeman, CNN, Philadelphia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GOLODRYGA: I love that story and I hope it gives other entrepreneurs some ideas as well. Well, that does it for this hour of "One World". I'm Bianna
Golodryga.
ASHER: And I'm Zain Asher. Appreciate you watching. Amanpour is up next. You're watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
