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One World with Zain Asher
Harris And Walz Sit Down For First Interview As Democratic Ticket; Harris Campaign To Launch Reproductive Rights Bus Tour; NHL Star Johnny Gaudreau Struck, Killed While Riding Bike; Fadi Aldeeb Honored To Be The Only Palestinian Paralympian; Americans Swarming Airports And Roads For Holiday Weekend; Inflation And Hot Weather Threaten Ice Cream Business; Aired 12:00-1:00p ET
Aired August 30, 2024 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:00:37]
ZAIN ASHER, CNN HOST: Coming to you live from New York, I'm Zain Asher. Bianna is off today. You are watching ONE WORLD.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris says that Americans are looking for a new way forward and that she's ready to lead the way.
Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, sat down with CNN's Dana Bash for the first interview of their campaign and covered a wide range of topics.
The Vice President defended the Biden administration's policies while at the same time she presented herself as a candidate for change.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I am so proud to have served as Vice President to Joe Biden. And,
two, I am so proud to be running with Tim Walz for President of the United States and to bring America what I believe the American people deserve,
which is a new way forward and turn the page on the last decade of what I believe has been contrary to where the spirit of our country really lies.
DANA BASH, CNN HOST: But the last decade, of course, the last three and a half years has been part of your administration.
HARRIS: I'm talking about an era that started about a decade ago where there is some suggestion warped, I believe it to be, that the measure of
the strength of a leader is based on who you beat down, instead of where I believe most Americans are, which is to believe that the true measure of
the strength of a leader is based on who you lift up.
That's what said steak as much as any other --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: And when asked about fracking, something she opposed just a few years ago, but now supports. Here's how she responded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Generally speaking, how should voters look at some of the changes that you've made, that you've explained some of here in your policy?
Is it because you have more experience now and you've learned more about the information? Is it because you were running for president in a
democratic primary and should they feel comfortable and confident that what you're saying now is going to be your policy moving forward?
HARRIS: Dana, I think the most important and most significant aspect of my policy perspective and decisions is my values have not changed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Harris also dismissed Donald Trump's racial attacks against her and made it clear she wants to put the former president and his insults in the
rearview mirror.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: What I want to ask you about is what he said last month. He suggested that you happened to turn black recently for political purposes,
questioning a core part of your identity.
HARRIS: And the same old tired playbook. Next question, please.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: There's so much to cover here.
Let's bring in CNN's Eva McKend, joining us live now from Washington.
So about an hour ago, I spoke to political journalists, and I asked them, did Kamala Harris do fine? Or did she knock it out of the park? And they
both essentially said, you know what? She did fine. She passed the test.
Just explain to us what the reaction has been so far.
EVA MCKEND, CNN U.S. NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: I think the campaign would likely agree and that's all that she really needed to do. She had to
thread the needle here on some key policy issues and explain her evolution on them, on immigration, on climate.
And she was able to do that in a way, but still at the same time, talk about how her values have not changed.
And so she was speaking to, I think, different parts of the electorate with that response.
And then also in this issue of the border. She really, I think, landed in a spot where Democrats are really comfortable, essentially arguing that it is
the former president's fault that more gains haven't been made when it comes to the border, that there was a bipartisan border enforcement bill
that even some Democrats did not like, that Democrats could have advanced had not the former president stood in the way and that if elected
president, she would advance that bill.
And then, Zain, what you have, coming out of this interview, is them shifting to another message talking about reproductive rights.
They are going to go on a bus tour or key surrogates for the campaign, going to go on a bus tour. And they're so confident in this argument that
they're starting in Florida, which is not a battleground state, which I think I could comfortably argue, may could comfortably argue is a red state
to make their case on reproductive freedom.
[12:05:16]
So, overall, I think the campaign landed where they wanted to be. She's out there. It has robbed a talking point from conservatives that she's afraid
of the press and she's not sitting for these interviews.
And now all eyes really are on next month's debate, the first and maybe the only time that we will see that match up.
ASHER: All right. Eva McKend live for us there. Thank you so much.
The women's reproductive rights issue remains front and center in the campaign, as Eva was just talking about there.
Last night, Donald Trump danced around a question on Florida's amendment vote that would put abortion rights in the state's constitution. He
wouldn't say whether he'd vote for it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONADL TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Well, I think the sixth week is too short. It has to be more time.
And so that's -- and I've told them that I want more weeks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So you'll vote in favor of the amendment?
TRUMP: I'm voting that I am going to be voting that we need more than six weeks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: His running mate, J.D. Vance, was on CNN earlier and was asked about Trump's stance. Vance says Trump was just stating his personal opinion on
the six-week ban. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), REPUBLICAN VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Well, I think what he's saying is that he doesn't like doing it in just six weeks.
Obviously, he's going to make his own judgment on how he ultimately votes on the amendment.
I think he's probably making an argument about how he feels about the issue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: All right. Let's get some perspective now. We're joined live now by Jeremy Thompson. He was Kamala Harris's social media director for a 2020
campaign.
So let's talk about the interview last night. You know, a lot of people are sort of saying that she did fine. You know, she did a nice job. Was it the
best interview they'd ever seen? No. But it didn't have to be. She had to just do OK. She had to pass the test and she did that.
Is there anything you think she could have done better in the interview last night in terms of how she came across?
JEREMY THOMPSON, former KAMALA HARRIS 2020 SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR: Yes, candidly. First of all, thanks for having me here.
I think these interviews are one of those stepping stones that we have to do when it comes to just our political system and how it works.
One of the questions people asked Vice President Harris when she went into the interview was, will she be able to answer questions unprompted, in an
uncontrolled setting for a wide amount of time? And the answer is yes, she could do that.
Do we think a lot of Americans are going to be, you know, blown away by the interview? Absolutely not, but that's not what the interview was done for.
I think one of the things that, you know, when we look back at the interview that we think we could have done a little bit more of was really
speak more about those reproductive rights that we know are on the ballot this fall, when it comes to our general election cycle.
We know that's an issue that is really, really important to many Democrats, independents, and Americans across the United States.
And we know that Kamala Harris and Governor Walz are going to be campaigning across the coast in swing states to really make sure that case
is made.
So I would have loved more focus there, but I think Americans got an idea of her economic policy, border policy. We learned who she was as a person
and we took the first step that it takes to walk into a general election.
ASHER: As a person of color yourself, I'm sure you'll agree that having a black woman at the top of a major party ticket is really inspirational.
Obviously, you've only seen it once before. This could end up being the second time we see a black president in this country.
And by the way, a black female president would, of course, be monumental for a lot of people.
When she was asked a question by Dana Bash essentially saying, you know, Donald Trump just said that you just became black, that you're not really
black, you'd only just became black because it was politically advantageous to you.
Did she miss an opportunity to sort of lean into how historic her candidacy really is? She sort of just dismissed the question.
THOMPSON: Candidly, I think Americans and those around the world understand the historic nature of what a Kamala Harris presidency would look like.
Kamala Harris, during my time with her, when she was running for president, always spoke about her mother, Shyamala, and how you can be the first, but
don't be the last.
So I think we get the significance of this. I don't think she missed an opportunity, candidly, because I will tell you that when speaking to other
candidates who've run for office, who've been those first or been those trailblazers who have hit those milestones, frankly, they're tired of their
authenticity and credibility being challenged by people across the book.
I think Vice President Harris was right. We saw this playbook in 2008 when it came to birtherism with Barack Obama, who I did volunteer for back when
I was a young kid back when I was 18.
And we're seeing it again now. I think Vice President Harris and Governor Walz understand that right now Americans want to focus on how they're going
to make sure that the economy works for them, how we're going to make sure that we're safe at night, and finally, how we're going to get a commander
in chief that can restore the dignity that's needed in the office of the president.
ASHER: You know, obviously, you were her social media director, and as someone in charge of social media, you know how important it is for a
candidate to have those viral --
THOMPSON: Yes.
ASHER: -- re-tweetable moments. I mean, that is huge for a candidate. And we saw so many of those moments back in 2007 with Barack Obama and his many
great speeches where he was extremely inspirational.
[12:10:07]
If Kamala Harris -- you know, obviously everyone has their strengths, right? And if her strength isn't necessarily those viral sound bites that's
going to get everybody on social media talking, how does she really galvanize the base? And how does she really show how much of an inspiring
candidate she actually is?
THOMPSON: Candidly, I would argue that one thing I learned when traveling with the vice president back when she made her first run for President of
the United States, one of her strengths that she's able to connect with people across the road line where, you know, someone would come and ask
questions to her if she would give answers. She is generally excited to meet Americans where they are in their neighborhoods and their communities.
And so I always argue as a social media director, it's not our job to make, say, a candidate go viral or a pod go viral. It's our job to be authentic.
Because I will tell you, the arbiters of public opinion, Gen Z, will see right through any manufactured viral moment.
But instead, what we do know when it comes to Vice President Harris is that the moments that really resonate on social media with her are where she's
being who she is and what it's about.
And I'll give you one example. We, I believe, were in South Carolina during the 2020 election cycle. And there were these two young girls who were
standing at the end of the rope line and they both were looking up at Senator Harris at the time. And one of them said, if you don't win, I'll
win for you.
And, you know, it was a moment where Kamala Harris reached out and said, no, I'm going to win so we can pave the road for you to come.
And I will tell you, that's the moment you can't make up. And I think that's one reason why young people are excited about Vice President Harris.
I think that's why when we come off the tails of those viral moments on social media, it's important that we always work to pivot towards those
core issues that matter most to Americans. And I think the campaign is doing just that this week.
ASHER: You bring up the importance of being who you are and authenticity. So when it comes to authenticity, the fact that she has essentially flip
flop, which by the way, a lot of presidential candidates do, right?
But the fact that she has flip flopped when it comes to immigration and fracking, are Americans forgiving of that, given that authenticity is so
important?
THOMPSON: I think, you know, politics is one of those weird games where the Barack Obama of 2008 probably couldn't get elected today with the current
policy landscapes.
I would say that I would hope that our candidates who are running for president and elected office across the country would evolve over time.
I think one of the things Americans are looking at is when you were vice president, when you were working with President Joe Biden to implement the
agenda, the American people voted for.
You know, what did you learn on the job? What was your experience? How are you going to apply that to today's everyday life?
And the campaign, it seems to be walking that fine balance, right? I think, you know, we talked about fracking earlier. That's an example of that. But
I would hope that we would evolve over time.
So our Americans forgiving, I think we're forgiving people. I do think there is an understanding of politics though, during the primaries, that
you start on the sides and you move towards the middle. I think we're seeing that shift on both sides.
I really would hope that both candidates, both former President Trump and Vice President Harris, would want to tell the American people that they've
evolved over time because it's critically important and then stick to those issues as we move into the fall.
It is important that as voters, we know what our party stands for. If we know what our candidates want because after inauguration day, that's when
the agenda gets started.
ASHER: All right. Jeremy Thompson live for us there. Thank you so much for being with us.
THOMPSON: Thank you.
ASHER: All right. The World Health Organization says more than 2,000 health workers have been recruited in Gaza for an ambitious campaign to vaccinate
the enclave's children against polio.
Israel and Hamas have agreed to a series of temporary pauses in fighting to allow the campaign to go ahead.
The aim is to vaccinate 640,000 children. The WHO says that vaccinations will start on Sunday and take place in three phases, each lasting three
days.
Last month, Gaza logged its first confirmed case of polio in 25 years.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE RYAN, DEPUTY DIRECTOR GENERAL, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: The current outbreak in Gaza is a stark reminder of how quickly infectious diseases can
reemerge where health systems are compromised.
Many other diseases are spreading while our collective capacities to prevent, detect, and respond to them continue to be hindered.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: In the meantime, Israel told residents of some parts of Gaza they could return to their neighborhoods, but amid the run -- ruins rather, left
behind by Israeli forces. It was anything but a happy homecoming.
One man says he found nothing but destruction as people's dreams and memories all destroyed.
In the meantime, the occupied West Bank, as the Israeli military offensive enters a third day, the IDF says it killed a top Hamas commander in Jenin
and two other Hamas militants.
Nineteen Palestinians have been killed so far in the Israeli raid.
CNN's Jeremy Diamond joins us live now from Tel Aviv, Israel.
Jeremy, of course, over the past 10 months, we've seen this quite significant escalation in violence and obviously Israeli raids in the West
Bank, what more can you tell us about what's happening there now?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. Well, the Israeli forces have now begun to withdraw from the city of Tulkarm in the
Northern West Bank. That is where we have seen some of the most intense fighting over the course of the last two days.
[12:15:01]
But the fighting is still very much ongoing in the city of Jenin, where the Israeli military operation there is now stretching into its third day.
Today, the Israeli military says that it killed a top Hamas commander in that city alongside two other Hamas fighters. We visited that city of Jenin
yesterday. This is what we found.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DIAMOND (voice-over): For the second day in a row, bursts of gunfire cut through the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank.
Israeli soldiers and border police are raiding the Northern West Bank in one of the largest operations in years, triggering clashes with Palestinian
militants who are deeply embedded here.
Israeli forces have killed at least 16 people in 48 hours, according to health officials. Israel says 16 were militants. Palestinian militant
groups had just eight of their fighters had been killed.
In Jenin, Israeli forces have surrounded several hospitals. Ambulances must stop and be inspected before taking patients in for treatment. Markets and
bustling downtown streets have been turned into a ghost town.
One where streets, water and electrical lines will need to be repaired.
DIAMOND: This is the aftermath of an Israeli military operation in the city of Jenin. Streets torn up by those D9 bulldozers. And we've seen scenes
like this across this city. Those bulldozers, as well as armored Israeli military vehicles, came rolling down this street, clusters with gunmen,
we're told, ensued.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Susanne Jalad (ph) and her grandchildren were woken by the sound of bulldozers and gunfire at 7:00 in the morning.
It was loud, very loud. Everybody was terrified. She says this Israeli operation is different from the regular raids the city has grown used to.
They want to take revenge, she says, from who? I ask. From the resistance. We stand with the resistance and hopefully we will stay standing and
steadfast.
Israel says it is targeting militant groups who have mounted dozens of attacks against its soldiers and civilians.
In the Palestinian city of Tulkarm, Israel killed one man it says was behind some of those attacks. Muhammad Jaber, an Islamic Jihad commander.
But at Al Razi Hospital in Jenin, the victims of Israel's raids are also children, like 15-year-old Osama (ph), who tried to leave his home to buy
bread.
I took two steps and they started firing at me, Osama says. Two rounds of gunfire, one bullet came here and one bullet came here.
DIAMOND: And did you see any soldiers before you got shot?
No, he says. He now faces a long recovery and the life trapped in this seemingly endless cycle of violence.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DIAMOND: And in a statement, the Israeli military confirmed that they actually shot Osama, but they said that he posed a serious threat to
security forces. They also said that they coordinated his evacuation to a hospital with a Palestinian ambulance service despite that serious
allegation they're making about the threat he posed to security forces. He has yet to be arrested.
We should also note that, so far, the death toll in -- of these operations, over the course of the last three days, has now risen to at least 19
Palestinians killed, a majority of whom are militants, according to acknowledgments by those various militant groups.
It's not clear how much longer this operation is going to continue. Zain.
ASHER: All right. Jeremy Diamond live for us there. Thank you so much.
Ukraine is taking its case straight to Washington, trying to convince the U.S. to drop restrictions on the use of American weapons to strike deep
inside of Russia.
Two top Ukrainian officials, including the defense minister, met with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon earlier.
It comes after Russian strikes killed at least five people across Ukraine. Authorities say one of the victims was a girl killed in a playground in the
city of Kharkiv.
Friday also saw the funeral for the Ukrainian pilot killed earlier this week, when his U.S. made F-16 jet crashed.
CNN's Fred Pleitgen has more on that high stakes meeting in Washington today.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy says it's all part of a plan he wants to present to the U.S. President Joe Biden at the U.N. next month.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTENTIONAL CORRESPONDENT: For these top- level Ukrainian officials who have traveled to the U.S., the meetings that they're having are absolutely key, especially the one with Ukraine's
defense minister, Rustem Umerov, and the U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
The Ukrainians are saying, essentially, they want to present the U.S. with a list of targets inside Russia that they want permission from the U.S. to
be able to hit with some of the weapons that the United States has given to the Ukrainians.
Now, of course, the U.S. has given the Ukrainians some weapons that can travel a considerable distance, but so far, the Ukrainians are only allowed
to use those weapons to strike Ukrainian territory that's occupied by the Russians and some territories very close to the border between Ukraine and
Russia.
[12:20:01]
The Ukrainians clearly want to open that up. They believe that that is key to their effort to try and stop Russia's advances in certain places, but
also for their own troops to be able to advance further into Russian territory.
Right now, we have a situation here in Ukraine where the Ukrainian military is still advancing further into Russian territory in the Kursk Region.
There have been some gains that the Ukrainians say that they have made overnight. On the one hand, it's also still remarkable that the Ukrainians
are able to advance even more than three weeks into the beginning of that incursion into Russian territory.
On the other hand, the Ukrainians are having serious problems in the east of Ukraine, the eastern front, as they call it, especially in the region
around the key town of Pokrovsk.
The Russians in that area are not making huge gains, but they're definitely making steady gains. And the Ukrainians say the biggest problem that they
have down in that area is that their forces are simply outmanned.
The Ukrainian general command has said that they want to beef up their forces in that area to try and at least stop the Russians and maybe even
push them back.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Kyiv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: All right. Still to come on CNN, it's being called an unimaginable tragedy. NHL star Johnny Gaudreau, known as Johnny Hockey, is killed while
cycling. We'll have details for you.
Plus, he's from Gaza and putting it all on the line at the Paralympics in Paris. We'll meet the shot putter with the weight of the hopes and dreams
of the Palestinian people on his shoulders.
Plus, how inflation and competition are threatening a treat Americans have enjoyed for generations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NATHANIEL MEYERSOHN CNN CONSUMER REPORTER: We have to look at it as a small business that is very, very much could go extinct at some point.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN HOST: No, we don't.
MEYERSOHN: No?
QUEST: We have to look at this. Bloody good ice cream on a hot sunny day. Cheers.
MEYERSOHN: Cheers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right. We are following a shocking tragedy from the world of sport.
Police say NHL hockey star, Johnny Gaudreau, and his brother Matthew, were killed after being hit by an SUV on Thursday while cycling in New Jersey.
The Gaudreau brothers had been due to serve as groomsmen today at their sister's wedding in Philadelphia, according to reports.
Johnny Gaudreau's NHL team, the Columbus Blue Jackets has called the death an unimaginable tragedy.
CNN World Sport's Patrick Snell joins us live now from Atlanta.
Patrick, this is -- this is beyond heartbreaking. I don't think I've heard of a story in recent days. This is shocking. Just walk us through what
happened here.
[12:25:02]
PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yes, Zain, unspeakable grief for the family. No question about that. It's very difficult to report on these
stories. It really is. It's just heartbreaking.
This coming from the National Hockey League, a really high-profile player over here in North America, the Columbus Blue Jackets forward, Johnny
Gaudreau, passing away on Thursday night, along with his brother, Matthew, as well after the pair struck by a vehicle while riding their bicycles in
New Jersey.
Now the siblings were in the area. They were preparing for their sister's wedding, which was scheduled for today. State police suspect the driver who
hit them are being under the influence of alcohol.
Nicknamed Johnny Hockey, Gaudreau played 11 professional seasons and was going into his third with the Blue Jackets. He spent his first nine seasons
with the Flames, where he became one of the league's top players and an absolute fan favorite as well.
In a statement, the National Hockey League said it was shocked and saddened by the tragic passing of Gaudreau and brother Matthew.
Adding, "While Johnny's infectious spirit for the game and show-stopping skills on the ice earned him the nickname Johnny Hockey, he was more than
just a dazzling hockey player. He was a doting father and beloved husband, a son, brother and teammate who adored himself to every person fortunate
enough to have crossed his path."
Just an unthinkable tragedy, Zain. His current team, Columbus Blue Jackets, adding in a statement that Gaudreau played the game with, what it called
great joy. But now, of course, the emotion we feel is sadness for a player that made such an impact off the ice as well.
But also on it, a seven-time NHL All-Star with 243 goals in 11 seasons. It's no wonder they called him Johnny Hockey.
And just a short while ago, on this Friday, basketball great LeBron James taking to social media, I instantly got so down and sad after reading the
story. My thoughts and prayers going out to the Gaudreau family. May Johnny and Matthew fly high, guide and guard, and bless their families as well
from the heavens above.
Zain, it really is a desperately sad day goes about saying, of course, that we here at CNN extending our prayers towards the entire Gaudreau family.
Our deepest condolences.
Zain, back to you.
ASHER: Yes. I mean this is one of the stories that will stay with you for a long time.
Patrick Snell live for us. Thank you.
All right. Only weeks after the Olympics wrapped up, the sports world is again looking to Paris.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CROWD CHEERING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The flag bearers are in the white.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: The Paralympic Games got underway this week with a gala ceremony watched by millions across the globe.
The games are now well underway with more than 4,400 athletes competing in almost 550 different medal events. The competition will last for 11 days.
Medals are coming in thick and fast. So far, Great Britain and China are locked in a tight battle for the early gold medal lead. Australia is third
with three golds, so far.
So many Paralympians have overcome a lot of obstacles to get to Paris. Fadi Aldeeb is certainly one of them. He's the only athlete competing under the
Palestinian flag at the Paralympic Games.
He'll compete next hour in the shot put competition as war rages in his homeland. Aldeeb shares his story with our Don Riddell.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORTS (voice-over): More than 4,000 athletes will compete in the Paris Paralympics, but only one of them is from Gaza.
Fadi Aldeeb says that answering the call to represent his people and his homeland was highly emotional.
FADI ALDEEB, PALESTINIAN SHOT PUTTER: When the country calling me for it this, we cannot take any player from Gaza or West Bank and you are the only
one who will be in the Paralympic to raising the flag of Palestine.
So it's like too much responsibility. It's like too much, but I hope I can send their message for the world.
RIDDELL: How did it feel when you got that call and you were told that you were going to be the early guy?
ALDEEB: First, confused, can you reply to this coach? Because really, I don't understand what you want. Are you going to think he's saying no? You
will be taking the message for the world and you're raising the flag in the Paralympic and you are the only player.
OK. OK. It's like -- and after I close the phone, I was crying because, yes, it's time for responsibility.
RIDDELL: Fadi works throughout Europe as a wheelchair basketball player and coach, but he's also a throwing athlete competing in shot put, discus, and
javelin, winning a handful of international medals.
He began as a volleyball player until one fateful day during the second into fodder of 2001 when he says he was shot by Israeli forces.
ALDEEB: So the time is to start moving and too much shooting like crazy, so I get shot in my back. And I get my injured because I have a fracture and
the 11 and C12, so I get my disability.
[12:30:09]
RIDDELL: It must have been just devastating. So, how did you come back from that?
ALDEEB: One thing that's like first about who you are and what you want to be. So sometimes you think that nothing can stop you because this is why
you give me the motivation.
No, I don't need to be like this, so I want to complete my life.
RIDDELL: Fadi doesn't seem to be bitter about his injury. Instead, he wants to inspire his people, especially right now, a time of great suffering.
Following Hamas' terror attack on Israel last October, the Gaza Health Ministry says that Israel's retaliation has claimed the lives of more than
40,000 Palestinians, including Fadi says, members of his own family.
ALDEEB: In this war, I lost my brother the 7th of December 2023. He called (INAUDIBLE) and two of my nephew.
And from all of my family, I lost like more than 18 persons, so it's like - - so difficult to imagine that you are doing your sport and to be ready for the Paralympic Games.
And at the same time, you are also human. So you think about your family, about many things. It's like a complicated feeling together. Yes.
RIDDELL: I hope, at some point, this war will be over. What are your hopes for the future?
ALDEEB: The same hopes of the people in Palestine and also especially in Gaza Strip. That's people that give them the same human rights. There's
many people, they have dreams, they have goal, they have love, they have hearts, they have homes.
That people in Gaza, in Palestine, they are waiting your help. Really, they are waiting your help. Please think about them. They are human and give
them the same human rights.
Don Riddell, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:35:33]
ASHER: All right. Welcome back to ONE WORLD. I'm Zain Asher.
NASA is bringing the troubled Boeing Starliner spaceship home, but not with anyone on board. Starliner is now scheduled to undock from the
International Space Station and return to Earth next Friday.
The two astronauts who came to the space station on Starliner will remain behind because NASA is worried that spacecraft -- that the spacecraft is
not safe. The astronauts will not be able to come home until next year when a SpaceX capsule is able to pick them up.
The United States is getting ready to celebrate Labor Day on Monday and that means a lot of Americans are on the move.
Millions of people are flooding airports and highways as they travel for the holiday. A record 17 million travelers are expected to swarm the
nation's airports over the long weekend and folks are traveling by car.
The good news though is that gas prices are at their lowest levels since 2021.
My colleague, Rafael Romo, is at the Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta, which is by the way the busiest airport in the world. I know, because I
used to live in Atlanta.
I'm not going anywhere this Labor Day holiday, but just walk us through what people's plans are overall. Just in terms of the number of people
we're seeing flying versus driving. Should I avoid the highways completely, Raphael?
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Probably for the next week, Zain, would be a good idea to do so.
And you were using the word swarm. That's a very good word to describe what's been happening here.
The good news is that TSA has been able, so far, anyway, as far as we've seen, to screen those people very fast.
There was a point earlier today that this area where I'm standing at the world's busiest airport was full of people, but a way would come in and
they would screen them and so on and so forth.
Now you were mentioning people who are going to drive for this holiday weekend. There's a big incentive this year because I was looking at some
numbers and gas prices, the average for today, a price per gallon nationwide is 3.35 percent.
And compared that, Zain, to just a week ago when it was 3.37 and 3.50 last month by comparison, last year was 3.81. So big difference here in a big
incentive for people to drive.
Also not only gas prices, but also airfares, a little cheaper this year. So a lot of people are motivated to go out and visit a family or go places
this time around.
ASHER: And in terms of the number, I mean, obviously 17 million, that's that significant. Put that number into perspective for us.
ROMO: Yes. I was thinking about a way to help our international viewers understand how massive that number is. If you added the population of the
Chicago metro area with the population in the Dallas metro area, put them together, that's about 17 million people.
So that gives you an idea about how many people are traveling by air this holiday weekend -- holiday weekend.
Today, alone, today is going to be the peak air travel day. 2.86 million people traveling across airports throughout the country. And that's about a
nine percent more than last year. It seems like, especially when you compare it with the pandemic, it's just an incredible number.
And I had an opportunity to talk earlier with a couple of passengers who told us about what their experience was like coming to the airport. Let's
take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's a lot of holiday travel happening. People want to make the most of the holiday break. So just be patient with people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, you know, we did get a hiccup, but that's OK. Delta's done an amazing job. And we're going to still get to our
destination in time.
ROMO: Can you share what the hiccup was?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, our flight got canceled due to weather. So we just had to -- we're rerouting. So -- but we're not upset or anything. We're
still going to get there for my grandma's 95th birthday.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: All right. Rafael Romo live for us there. Thank you so much.
Ice cream is a symbol of summertime around the world. And for decades, Mister Softee ice cream trucks have brought joy to neighborhoods across the
U.S., but inflation, competition and even hot weather could be threatening its business.
[12:40:05]
Nathaniel Meyersohn has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(MUSIC)
MEYERSOHN (voice-over): The Mister Softee ice cream truck. It's the sound of summer. Bringing back memories of childhood and a simpler time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Run down the stairs, ice cream man is coming.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's look at all the wonderful tasty treats Mister Softee brings to your door.
MEYERSOHN (voice-over): Since the 1950s, Mister Softee has been part of the fabric of summer. It's no wonder people travel from all over.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good. Good. Have one.
MEYERSOHN: The taste may be sweet, but selling it is harder than ever. Inflation and competition now threaten franchise owners.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now easy, easy, slow.
MEYERSOHN: When Carlos Vazquez (ph) started 10 years ago, a vanilla cone cost a dollar. Now it's up to five bucks well beyond the rate of inflation.
It's part of the world. Gas go up. Mix go up. All the parts of the mix go up.
MEYERSOHN (voice-over): The price isn't the only thing that's going up. The temperature has been rising.
You'd think people want ice cream when it's hot, but surprisingly they're staying home.
It melts. You get dirty and you ask for the extra napkin. If the weather's really hot, it's not really good for business. It's weird.
MEYERSOHN (voice-over): Ice cream is best shared with a friend. Whichever toppings you like.
QUEST: I want the famous standard vanilla cone.
MEYERSOHN (voice-over): To talk economics and ice cream, I invited along my friend, Richard Quest.
QUEST: You're not a sprinkle man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm traditional.
QUEST: No, that's not traditional, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, for me then.
MEYERSOHN: Oh, that looks good.
QUEST: Yes. Why did you want to tell me about this?
MEYERSOHN: It's a symbol of New York, but it's also changing. And the future, I think, is very much up in the air.
We have to look at it as a small business that is very much could go extinct at some point.
QUEST: No, it don't.
MEYERSOHN: No?
QUEST: You have to look at it, that's bloody good ice cream on a hot sunny day. Cheers.
MEYERSOHN: Cheers.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: Ice cream really is best shared with a friend. That does it for this hour of One World. I'm Zain Asher. Appreciate you watching. Marketplace
Africa is up next.
You're watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:45:33]
ASHER: Hello and welcome to Marketplace Africa. We cover the biggest economic trend impacting the continent. I'm Zain Asher.
While the Birimian Greenstone Belt in West Africa has long been known as a source of gold, its potential has yet to be fully unearthed.
In recent years, mining activity in the Ivory Coast has skyrocketed in search of its precious metal.
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER (voice-over): In the south-central part of the Ivory Coast lies the Yaoure Mine, a literal gold mine.
JEFF QUARTERMAINE, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, PERSEUS MINING LIMITED: At the present time, it produces a little over 50 percent of their gold.
ASHER: The mine is one of two operated by Australian company, Perseus Mining, opened in 2018. This location poured its first gold in 2020.
QUARTERMAINE: All of our mines are open and put operations. Once they've been discovered, we need to delineate the economic pit limits and then
conduct the mining process.
ASHER: Since then, production has risen sharply every year.
QUARTERMAINE: There's about 530,000 ounces in round numbers. So our target is to produce in excess of 500,000 ounces of gold per year. And that's
something that we believe is very much achievable.
ASHER: While mines often take years before they produce anything, output across the country is coming at an opportune time.
ZAKARY BAMBA, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL UNION OF SMALL MINES AND BUYERS OF IVORY COAST (through translator): When you look at the cost of gold in the 2010s,
we were practically around 6,000 to 7,000 CFA of $10 to $12 a gram.
Today, we are around 42,000 CFA or $70 a gram.
QUARTERMAINE: We took a very deliberate decision to develop mines at a time when the gold price was low, in the expectation that due to cycles, the
gold price would rise and we wanted to be selling gold into the rising market rather than building properties while the market was rising.
The important thing is that we've been able to keep our cost constant, which means that the margin has been increasing over time, and we've been
selling more gold into that increasing margin. So we have been quite successful in our -- in our efforts to date.
ASHER: The rush to find this precious metal in the Ivory Coast has been growing for more than a decade.
QUARTERMAINE: So in the space of 10 years or so, there's tripling of the number of operations in the country.
Not only that, I believe that it's fair to say that Cote d'Ivoire has become the go-to destination for companies looking for exploration
properties and exploration opportunities on the African continent.
ASHER: Just this year, Canadian group, Montage Gold, announced that it had discovered the country's largest gold deposit with a production capacity of
more than 155 metric tons of gold.
PATRICE EBAH, CONSULTANT, MINING AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT (through translator): Geologically speaking, Ivory Coast is home to almost 35
percent of Birimian stone, an important rock in West Africa.
It is one of the most important belts in terms of mineralization, containing gold and potentially other minerals.
ASHER: But the big players are the only ones striking it rich. In total, the country's gold production has risen from 13.2 metric tons in 2012 to 48
tons in 2022. Officials say production in 2024 will reach around 55 tons.
EBAH (through translator): From 2017 to 2023, we've gone from less than $99 million in tax revenues to more than $640 million in tax revenues for the
states. That's really significant.
ASHER: In 2014, a new mining code that included tax advantages and exemptions was established to attract foreign investors.
In return, the mining companies are required to contribute a fraction of their growth sales to creating jobs and the development of the neighboring
communities.
EBAH (through translator): Every time there is a gold mine, a (INAUDIBLE) market develops.
ASHER: The industry faces challenges as well.
BAMBA (through translator): Last year, an estimated 35 tons of production in the states' balance sheets were lost due to fraud.
[12:50:05]
ASHER: For many locals, mining also brings a raft of environmental and public health concerns.
BAMBA (through translator): The problem is that the use of chemical products, mercury, cyanide and others enables them to achieve much higher
yields.
In Cote d'Ivoire, all these products are banned. So we are in the process of studying all these aspects so that we can eventually have a wealthy
operation without these attacks on the environment.
ASHER: For now, the country is digging deep as it seeks to balance opportunity and economic growth with a sustainable future for its people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: All right. Time for a quick break here in Marketplace Africa.
When we come back, we'll take a look at how one company believes AI can help power the energy transition. Don't go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: Welcome back. As the future of mining lie behind an algorithm, that's what KoBold Metals is betting on.
I've sat down with the company CEO, Kurt House, to talk about the role technology may play in finding deposits and the impact that might have on
mining across Africa.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: So, Kurt, just talk to us a bit about the company, how it came about, its background.
KURT HOUSE, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, KOBOLD METALS: KoBold is a fully full stack exploration development and mining company. Started in Silicon
Valley.
Mining itself is all about where and how to excavate and explore most efficiently. So we're built from the ground up to be a mining company
that's foundationally built on scientific computing.
ASHER: So you've got 60 projects you're working on right now. Nano (ph) producing, you're still in the --
HOUSE: Correct.
ASHER: -- exploration phase, but just give us a sense of the 60 plus projects you're working on.
HOUSE: Yes. So we're operating in about 14 countries on four continents. So we have some super early things, we have kind of middle stage things.
And then we have -- we have one project where we know it's going to be a mine. It's in Northern Zambia. We've done a tremendous amount of work in
the last 18 months to fully characterize this copper and cobalt deposit.
ASHER: AI, emerging tech, these are buzzwords that get thrown around. Just explain to us how the technology works as it --
HOUSE: Sure.
ASHER: -- attains to your company.
HOUSE: One really interesting example, the Earth's magnetic field, right? It varies from place to place in part because of the magnetic properties of
the rocks in the near surface.
And we've used AI to take that magnetic -- that magnetic signal that you measure and tell you, consistent with a set of geologic hypotheses, all of
the possible subsurfaces, all the possible ways to organize the magnetic properties of the rocks that would give you that signal, as well as all of
those that don't give you that signal.
If you do that at every stage, then you're narrowing the search space the most for every dollar of exploration expenditure that you make.
ASHER: We talk about mining and extracting Africa's resources. It's not a topic that makes people feel good because it's not necessarily good for the
Earth.
And there is a reputation that some of these companies have, just in terms of exploiting not just Africa's resources, but also the local population as
well.
How are you different?
HOUSE: We're actually the largest American investor in Zambia by many fold, at this point. We've invested about $200 million over the last year and a
half.
And now we're going to invest about $2.5 billion over the next half a decade to put this deposit into production of a mine. But we're doing that
by building a Zambian mining company. That's the way we're doing it.
The CEO of KoBold Africa is a woman named, Mfikeyi Makayi, and she's Zambian. She's amazing. She's way smarter than me, which is why we put her
in that role, and she's building a Zambian mining company.
[12:55:06]
We have one of our lead drillers is Zambian. Our lead metallurgist is Zambian. Chief mine engineer is Zambian. Our chief geologist, at the
project site, is Zambian.
ASHER: Truly Zambian, just in terms of those key figures that you mentioned, having genuine autonomy in terms of decision making. How does
that work?
HOUSE: Well, we're partners, of course, but they're in charge of the project because their skill sets are so extraordinary. And they're now
training the next batch, the next batch, you know, of Zambians.
So we are -- we are immensely committed to skills transfer and building the human capital of every place that we work.
ASHER: Aside from, you know, making it a local company, there's also the fact that the natural resources that you are extracting are crucial to the
world's green energy transition.
HOUSE: Absolutely.
ASHER: Just talk to us about that.
HOUSE: The full energy transition, so basically to get off fossil fuels entirely. We need to discover new deposits of lithium, copper, nickel, and
cobalt worth somewhere between 10 and $20 trillion.
Right now, the industry, as a whole, isn't investing enough money in exploration to find -- to find enough of these materials to fully
electrify, you know, the auto sector and to build all the renewable energy that's needed to complete the energy transition.
That's the opportunity that we're stepping into.
ASHER: AI, obviously a key aspect of your company, but it's rapidly evolving. It's constantly changing. So, what does that mean for you guys
over the next 5, 10, 20 years?
HOUSE: A lot of the things we're doing, right now, we could not -- we would not have been able to do 10 years ago, maybe even five years ago. We will -
- because we need not only the algorithms, but we need the distributed computing, the cloud computing platforms to be able to run hugely, you
know, computationally intensive, you know, intensive calculations on.
One of the benefits of the -- of the AI revolution is that there's huge amounts of investment going into data centers to provide all this
computation.
And that's actually, we think in the medium term, going to make -- going to make computing much, much cheaper. So we'll be able to do more and more of
these intensive computations. And the algorithms themselves are getting more efficient all the time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: All right. That does it for us here on Marketplace Africa. Remember, you can keep up with us on social media and online as well.
I'm Zain Asher. I'll see you next time in the marketplace.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
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