Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

American Explorer Trapped 3,000+ Feet Deep In Turkish Cave; 10th Inmate Dies At Co. Jail This Year; President Biden To Tackle Global Issues At G20 Summit In India. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired September 07, 2023 - 11:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[11:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Trying to reach -- now trying to reach out to get him stabilized and get him out. CNN's Eleni Giokos joins me now with more on this. Eleni, what does this rescue operation -- what's it going to look like here?

ELENI GIOKIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's complex. It's difficult. I want you to picture this cave, it is narrowed, has narrow passages, very difficult to get through to various areas. Remember there are various base camp's underground. You mentioned around 3,400 feet. Picture this, this is almost three times the height of the Empire State Building.

That is how deep is under grind right now. 150 rescuers on the ground trying to assist including Americans. So, Mark Dickey fell sick on Saturday, that is six days ago. So, we're talking about something that has been going on for quite some time. He has received already six units of blood, he's stable, he's able to walk.

But if you know anything about caving, you need to be crawling and climbing, you need to be in a certain state of physical and mental strength to be able to get out. We're anticipating that this could take a matter of days to be able to get him out with the assistance that they're talking about. They're talking about a stretcher.

Now, imagine a stretcher being taken underground, to try and get through those narrow spaces, that perhaps might not be the best option. At this point in time, from what we understand from rescue operations. They're trying to stabilize him to get him into a better physical state. This is a very experienced caver. He's had over three decades of caving around the world.

So, that is going to help pull him through. But then the question becomes, will he be physically fit enough to be able to be removed? What we do know is that there are many teams on the ground to try and figure out a way firstly, to get as quickly as possible into that base camp to get him more medical assistance and then way to get him out on a good day, Kate. It takes around 15 hours with a very experienced caver to be able to get to the very top.

BOLDUAN: Wow. GIOKIS: So, it becomes -- it gives you a sense of just the complexity and how tough it is to be able to remove Mark Dickey at the state.

BOLDUAN: You have 15 hours when you're, you know, in perfect physical condition is what it will take. This is going to take a very long time and just tedious work to try to keep him well enough to get out. We're going to stay close to this, Eleni, thank you. John?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. New this morning, Atlanta Police are investigating how an inmate died at the Fulton County Jail. The 10th to die at the facility this year in the sixth to die after July 31st. Now, this is the same jail where Donald Trump was processed just a few weeks ago. CNN's Ryan Young live for us in Georgia. Ryan, just the numbers here are staggering.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, the numbers are staggering. community activists are calling for a change. They want to change right now. In fact, the DOJ are already investigating this jail. The sheriff for his part has said that he needs a new facility. It seems like everyone agrees that this jail is falling apart. Will you tell that to the family of Shawndre Delmore. You can understand for a 24-year-old who was being held on a bond of just $2,500 for a minor offence.

They don't understand how all of a sudden, this could lead to cardiac arrest. Just last week, there was a multiple stabbings there, and one person died. It seems like every week some other families coming forward to talk about their horror story with this jail. In fact, take a listen to one of your attorneys in a news conference that just ended in the last 25 minutes or so. Saying something needs to be done and now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAWULI DAVIS, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: And there's no way they could be taking it as seriously as they should because the jail is still opening and functioning the way that it is. I mean, this is a death trap, that's where we are right now. And, you know, what happened over the last several months and what has been disclosed. This is supposed to be America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: It's tough to hear, talking about 25 people dying in the last two years. The sheriff for his Patrick Labat said he needs more than a billion dollars to build a new facility. There have been times that commission meetings where they brought in real barrels of the parts of the jail that had been falling apart and people talk about doors not even be able to be locked.

So, for the people who were being housed there, let's not also forget the air conditioning failed this summer, making it very hot. People want to see some action. They want to see some change. This family is adding to the growing list of people who say too much is happening at that jail. John?

BERMAN: To much to say the least, Ryan Young, thank you for that report. Keep us posted. Sara?

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Just had in a matter of hours. President Biden heads to India for the G20 Summit. We'll take a look at his top priorities for those key meetings.

[11:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: A few hours from now, President Biden leads for the G20 Summit in India. The war on Ukraine promises to be a major issue that as a new CNN poll finds that more than half of Americans do not want increased aid to Ukraine. With us now, Bloomberg Columnist and Editorial Board Member, Bobby Ghosh and CNN Global Affairs Analyst, Kim Dozier.

Bobby, look, the situation in Ukraine has been top of President Biden's foreign policy agenda now for well over a year and a half. Everywhere he goes has been about shoring up support for that war effort. This is an interesting trip, he's going to India, who has been lukewarm at best about efforts to aid Ukraine. And there are other countries in the world where perhaps aid to Ukraine and interest in it may be waning.

[11:40:13]

BOBBY GHOSH, COLUMNIST & EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBER, BLOOMBERG: That's exactly right. And I don't think he's going to change too many hearts and minds in India on this. India is enjoying being on the fence here because it has economic benefit directly from it. And it's certainly not faced any kind of punishment for taking cheap oil from Russia.

What Biden can hope to achieve is to reach out to other members of the already existing coalition of the willing his European partners, Japan and talk to them shore up their support. We're seeing over a period now that the Europeans are finally stepping up and shouldering more and more of the burden of supporting Ukraine.

I think, earlier this month, or late last month, there was a tipping point in which aid for Ukraine, more than 50 percent of it now comes from Europe rather than from the United States. That's a welcome situation that something Biden will want to build on, he'll wanted to press the Europeans to do more. And he'll want to point out that look, guys, support for this in the U.S. is not as high as it used to be. I've got an election cycle coming up. It's time for you to pick up more and more of the slack.

BERMAN: Kim, I want to talk about China, President Xi of China, distinctly not going perhaps intentionally avoiding what would be a face to face with President Biden there. What does President Biden want to get from the other leading countries of the world vis a vis China, as China expands militarily, but recedes economically, that country's having real economic problems?

KIM DOZIER, SENIOR MANAGING EDITOR, THE MILITARY TIMES: Well, the Biden administration wants to build on its Indo Pacific economic plan and shore that up. Encourage countries face to face that they can stand up together against Chinese economic expansionism. And it's also, though, a way for Xi to avoid snubbing Biden directly in person. If he came to the Summit and then didn't meet.

What that might do is undo all of the progress that there have been three months of high-level U.S. official visits to China. It's as if Beijing thinks it's getting what it wants, but not quite enough to earn Xi visits to the G20. There is going to be another chance for Biden and Xi to meet this year. However, as Xi is invited to the Asian Economic Summit in San Francisco in November, that Biden's also attending.

BERMAN: Probably, there's an issue that feels central to India, but may have implications beyond the borders, which there is this dinner. An invitation went out to a State dinner from the President of India except that's not what the invitation said. It basically said the President of Bharat invites you to this State dinner using a name seen as important to Hindu nationalists there. Can you explain what's going on and where this could lead?

GHOSH: Well, that's domestic politics. This is, which is frankly, Modi's whole effort around the G20 Summit, is to use it for domestic political purposes. Bharat and India are both official names of the country. They're both in the constitution of India. But historically, unconventionally, India is the name that has been used, India as the name everybody recognize, everybody not recognized as most Indians refer to themselves as such as Indians.

Bharat as you point out is something that is especially favored by Hindu nationalists, although not exclusively by them, but certainly by the Hindu nationalist. There is an echo in Bharat and the name of Modi's party, which is the Bharatiya Janata Party, the BJP.

So, it's a little bit of political signaling, political propaganda. It shouldn't really take attention away from the main agenda up G20. This is the domestic consumption. The international audience is not really intended for this messaging. And frankly, I don't think anybody outside of India will change the way they refer to that country. Not anytime soon.

BERMAN: All right. Thank you for explaining that so well. Bobby Ghosh, Kimberly Dozier, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us. The new CNN polling out this morning showing a rough road for President Biden, white age. And the economy are showing very clearly the work ahead for his campaign for re- election.

[11:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: For years, he's been known for his music, but rapper Jeezy says his life has been so much more than just about the music and success that he enjoys now. He's now speaking out about his life before all of that. His own mental health, something you do not hear very often from the hip hop community and a lot more is in his brand- new book. Here's what he told me when I sat down with him.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: Your first line is, I can't even front. I started out.

JAY JENKINS, MULTI-PLATINUM GRAMMY NOMINATED ARTIST: I was -- as a thief.

SIDNER: As a thief?

JENKINS: Yes.

SIDNER: Now, my grandmother would say, why are you telling everybody your business?

JENKINS: Why.

SIDNER: But why was it so important for you to be this real in this role with people --

JENKINS: Right.

SIDNER: -- who picked up your book?

[11:50:00]

JENKINS: Well, I -- because I felt in the beginning that I was dishonest. And I learned as I went on that life is about honesty and integrity. And I was very ambitious back then. So, I thought that taking some was actually a success, but it was not. And my grandma was the one who told me she said, I can deal with anything except the liar and a thief. And I changed my mind about the whole.

SIDNER: A lot of our grandmothers had some of the similar sayings.

JENKINS: Yes. That's true.

SIDNER: Were that just wasn't something they were willing to --

JENKINS: Yes.

SIDNER: -- have somebody do in their life. When people see you, they think successful, like, this guy is out front. He's out there, he's doing his thing, he's wearing a nice, gold watch, rose gold at that.

JENKINS: (INAUDIBLE) some.

SIDNER: They see these things. And they think, well, if he can do it, why can't all other black folks do it?

JENKINS: Right.

SIDNER: Why can't they rise? What do you say to them?

JENKINS: Well, that's why I wrote the book. Because I think when people see me, they see the finished product. And this has been 40 years of me going through everything I went through. And even a lot in the book is about how -- and the reason why I named the book Adversity for Sale, rather than let me see you, my success.

Because I want you to know how many times I've lost and continue to lose, and still keep the same enthusiasm. And I feel like that everyone, black, white, brown, whatever needs to hear that. Even when you thought that I was on top of the world, the world was on top of me. So, even when I was at my highest, I was at my lowest.

And I wanted people to understand that, you know, it doesn't -- life is not perfect, it's not fair. It's hard but it's not fair. What I'm saying it's hard but it's fair, right? And you got to continue to believe and keep pushing, because that's what my story is about. I don't want to tell people about the finished product. I want to tell them about how I got here.

SIDNER: You talk about paranoia in your book, I got that far.

JENKINS: OK.

SIDNER: You talk about paranoia in your book and the fact that you yourself really paranoid for several years.

JENKINS: Yes.

SIDNER: Now, it's a really uncomfortable feeling. Do you think though, that that fueled you or that that started to break you down?

JENKINS: Well, it was a little bit of paranoia, a whole lot of post- traumatic stress, whole lot of trauma, depression, anxiety, all those things. Well, I will say this, the thing that got me on my journey to healing is that I started to learn and understand what I was going through. Because before that, I actually stopped. I thought something was wrong with me.

Like, when you come from poverty, this is how you're supposed to feel. But I started to understand that it was terms and there were things that you can do to help with these things. That's why I put a lot of it in the book because as a black man, where you come from -- where we come from, it's almost weak to have people help you, you know, work through things, right?

And for me, I had to learn that the hard way that everybody needs some help. And I didn't know I had trauma. I didn't know I was depressed. I didn't know I had anxiety. I didn't know I had post-traumatic stress. I thought these are all the things that we go through it's because --

SIDNER: You thought it was normal.

JENKINS: Yes.

SIDNER: Because in where you grew up --

JENKINS: Right.

SIDNER: -- in the life you lead. JENKINS: Right.

SIDNER: It was a normal life.

JENKINS: It was a normalized, for sure.

SIDNER: Yes.

JENKINS: For sure, it was normalized. And, you know, when you lose your friends in a young age, and even in your adulthood, and, you know, people that are around, they're going away doing 20 30 years in prison, and coming back, like it's a normal thing, like you don't understand how desensitized you are. And as you get older into your adult life, you wonder where things are coming from, but it's actually coming from your young adulthood.

And I had to go deal with that. And like, they say, if you ain't never, you know, seeing the devil face to face. I mean, you guys are walking in the same direction. So, I had to go take care of myself. And because I'm a leader, and I'm leading men, and I'm leading, no women and children, it's just like, I have to have clarity, and be in my right mind for the decisions I make, right?

And I wasn't that way in the beginning, because I had so much trauma. But I'm not all the way heal yet, I'm still working as work in progress. But I do feel that I'm in a better state than I've ever been.

SIDNER: Do you worry about the words in rap, the words in hip hop, I mean, look, you'd have Tupac and then you have --

JENKINS: Right.

SIDNER: -- you know, Lil Jon, and you have, you know, you can go down a number of voices in hip hop. And some of them are really deep, that's poetic. It tells a story about what they've been through trying to help other people who've been through the same thing. But then you also have misogyny, violence, drug selling. Do you worry about the words in hip hop that are -- that are going out to the masses and making it same glamorous?

JENKINS: I think it's just the message is, you know, because I can't be the one to talk because I spoke when everything that I went through, but it was my truth. You know, and I feel like the reality is not on us, it's on America. I mean, it's not -- we can't control our environments, like we put in these projects and these buildings, and these neighborhoods and we don't have the right tools and the right resources, so we have to survive.

So, all these stories you're hearing are people that are coming out of these situations in these environments telling their story hoping that they can connect with other people, right? Because it's therapeutic for them as well. But as you say, like Tupac said, (INAUDIBLE) that some changed my life. He was my therapist, he know it.

SIDNER: Lot of people say it. JENKINS: Yes. And the reason why I had rules, and I had a moral compass and values is because I listened Tupac, I didn't just listen to the music, I listened to what he said. So, as I began to get into the streets, I was -- I had a moral compass already. And I was hoping that's what my music was doing, giving them a moral compass.

[11:55:09]

Because even my music was negative in the beginning, there was always a message in it. You got to believe, the motivation, the inspiration, the recession, you know, there's always something in there. There has something to do with evolving or either growing or staying motivated.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: I got to tell you, sitting down with him, there's a reason why his book is a best seller in New York Times Bestseller. His first line in the book says, I was a thief. And he goes on from there. And he is so raw and real, and you no most never hear somebody from the community of the hip hop, talking about mental illness, mental health the problems he had. He's an incredible person, not just a famous rapper.

BERMAN: It's important that he's doing that.

SIDNER: Yes.

BOLDUAN: He's really interesting guy. Thank you so much for joining us, everyone. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "INSIDE POLITICS" up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)