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Connect the World
Trump's Case on Collision Course with GOP Primaries; Video Shows Ukrainian Drone Approach Russian Warship; Three Years Since Devastating Beirut Port Explosion; Ashley Judd Describes Conditions in Quake-Hit Turkey; Viral Video Sheds Light on Dangers Faced by Sun Bear. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired August 04, 2023 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: Welcome back, you're with us for the second hour of "Connect the World" 4 p.m. in London, I'm Becky
Anderson tonight. Donald Trump will appear back in court on August the 28th for the next hearing in his election interference case.
The former U.S. president and Republican front runner in the 2024 presidential race pleaded not guilty on Thursday to four felony charges. He
is acquitted, sorry accused of plotting to overturn the 2020 election. Well, source says Ukraine was behind a successful sea drone attack on a
Russian Navy ship.
Video appears to show that warship listing heavily in the Black Sea. Tensions are escalating in the West African country of Nigeria in the wake
of a military coup there. Junta warning any foreign military intervention will be met with an immediate response. Niger's junta also announced it has
dismissed the country's ambassadors to France, the U.S. Nigeria and Togo.
And coming up this hour, six months on since a devastating earthquake is struck near the Turkish Syrian border. I speak to actress Ashley Judd about
her work as a UN Goodwill Ambassador. Former U.S. President Donald Trump is facing most serious charges against him yet. In court, he denied that he
broke the law to try to stay in office after the 2020 election.
We're told Trump was feeling sour and dejected after Thursday's arraignment. On camera, he was typically defined.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, 45TH U.S. PRESIDENT: This is a persecution of a political opponent. This was never supposed to happen in America. This is the
persecution of the person that's leading by very, very substantial numbers in the Republican primary and leading Biden by a lot. So if you can't beat
him, you persecute him or you prosecute him. We can't let this happen in America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: So tonight, we ask what's next for American democracy. Let's take a deeper dive into that question. I'm joined by Doug Heye, who's a
Republican Strategist and former Communications Director for the Republican National Committee.
We've just heard from Donald Trump there his detractors charged that his actions on January the sixth in the lead up to that 2021 were the biggest
assault on democracy in modern U.S. history. What did you make of what we saw yesterday?
DOUG HEYE, FORMER RNC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Well, what we saw yesterday was entirely consistent with what we've heard from Donald Trump, not just
for the past year and a half, but really the past five or six years.
And ultimately, it's why Becky, all of these indictments in this event, what I'm going to say is very bizarre. All of these indictments in a short
term help Donald Trump politically, typically, if a candidate is indicted, or is in any real legal trouble, their opponents attack them on it, and
their campaigns may end.
For Donald Trump bizarrely, it reinforces his core argument that the system is rigged. It's rigged against you, it's rigged against me. And it sets
Donald Trump up in the short term, not necessarily long term, to be that martyr for the Republican base that that he holds so closely. It also tells
us exactly what the conversation is going to be politically for the coming months, none of which is positive.
ANDERSON: And certainly polls is suggesting the most recent CNN poll suggesting that he has never been, it seems more popular with Republicans
and Republican leaning voters. What's the story behind the scenes with the RNC?
HEYE: Well, the RNC is concerned in several directions about what Trump's candidacy means for taking back the White House. He's seen as the weakest
general election opponent. But also what effect this would have on state on senate races, congressional races, state house, state senate, local races,
in part. Because what Donald Trump is going to say throughout this trial or trials is that the system is rigged, that you can't trust the elections and
things like that, as he said consistently.
And what we've seen Becky, in states like Georgia, is that as to depress the Republican base, if you tell people that your vote doesn't count, some
of them will believe you. And that's what Trump is going to say. Over the coming year it may impact his campaign, but the RNC and the state parties
privately they can't say this publicly, are concerned about the impact that will have on elections in their own state.
ANDERSON: But that's, I guess the point here and our viewers internationally who are watching this. And I'm wondering what is going on
behind the scenes at the RNC. You say they can say that privately, but why not publicly? Why not state how they feel in private? How the party feels
in private?
[11:05:00]
HEYE: Well, because if you do, then Donald Trump's wrath gets directed on you, which is what they want to avoid. Now, as you know, every book, movie
TV show that deals with this subject tells us the same lesson. When you make a deal with the devil, it comes with a very real cost.
And this is what Republicans are finding time and time again, is that you're always essentially either having to backup Donald Trump or hopefully
pretend that you don't get asked about him or that he doesn't exist for a couple of days or two.
But you may get asked it in the next week or two, because there's always something else coming. And Donald Trump doesn't give points; he only takes
them away, one at a time.
ANDERSON: Is there any strategy, then behind the scenes to effort, support for other candidates, if there are any to date, who might pose a threat to
the front runner at this point?
HEYE: Well, the Republican National Committee has to remain objective, they cannot get involved in any contested primary, whether it's congressional,
senate or presidential. So officially, they're neutral. It's part of why they're not saying anything right now. But the reality is they also know
that most of the candidates who are running against Donald Trump are sort of running against Trump in theory, not in practice.
Why? Because when your opponent is indicted, you use that against them. But what we've seen is time and time again, Donald Trump's Republican primary
opponents are backing up his rhetoric by saying it's a two tiered system of justice, and things like that.
Star Wars taught us that you have that Luke Skywalker had to confront Darth Vader; he didn't sit back and hopes that the force or Han Solo would take
care of him. Right now, we see so many Republican candidates campaigning on hope, which is never a strategy politically.
ANDERSON: That is not the case as far as Chris Christie is concerned. What chance does he stand at this point in, in providing some sort of
counterweight to president to the former president?
HEYE: Well, it's a very steep road for Christie, in part because of what his polling numbers are, in part because of his fundraising. But also, he's
telling what I would say is an important and necessary message, but a message that most of the party not only doesn't want to accept, but they
don't want to hear. He's going to continue to do that.
And he's going to continue to make a lot of news and a lot of noise. Obviously, he's in Ukraine right now highlighting another issue that
divides Republicans. But what his long term electoral chances are, are very difficult, because he's staking out an unpopular opinion within the party.
It's where most of the country is, it's just not where most of the Republican primary voters are.
ANDERSON: So what's next for American democracy briefly?
HEYE: Well, I think it depends on what happens in this election. And whether those doubts that are sown in this election, carry forward if
Donald Trump is the nominee, and then ultimately, if he wins or loses, we still have more questions than answers. But the questions are really bad as
well.
ANDERSON: Thank you, sir. Good to have you.
HEYE: Every time, thank you.
ANDERSON: Should Americans have a front row seat to the Donald Trump trial. Some Democratic lawmakers want it to be televised; cameras typically aren't
allowed in federal courtrooms. CNN talked with Presidential Historian, Doris Kearns Goodwin about just how significant this trial will be, have a
listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: This really is a test now of democracy. I know that all sounds so abstract. But as I say, democracy is
so simple; you have to accept that the people who lose accept the loss. And that's what allows us to distinguish ourselves from other people around the
country, around the world.
And I think this trial shows that that was not accepted and acts were taken to change the results of it as a result of it. And that's wrong and against
democracy, then it will be the most important trial in the country, bar none.
This is a moment as important in our history, as 1860 was, and it took a civil war to solve that problem when democracy was under attack. And let us
hope that we can do it through our own understanding education, through its, television is going to be very important. The internet is going to be
very important.
How this is all discussed in these next days and weeks and months ahead, is going to be an educational process for the country. And it better come out
with an understanding of what's happened, so we can really make a judgment. What do we as a people want? What is the character of the person on trial?
What is the trial about?
All of these things are essential. It's essential for President Trump as well. You would want, we'd hope that he would hope that if he thinks he can
make the change and in the public's opinion that people do not think he's done the right thing. It absolutely is central happened before the
election.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, Donald Trump's legal exposure only threatens to get worse in the coming weeks with yet another criminal indictment possible in
Georgia. But as these many cases work through the various courts, it's inevitable that some will collide with next year's Republican primaries.
CNN's Brian Todd explains what we can expect.
[11:10:00]
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All these criminal cases involving former President Trump can be dizzying. So we want to update you on the cases and
what lies ahead. There are a total of four criminal cases that the former president has been investigated in, three of them where he has been
formally charged and pleaded not guilty.
The January 6 case that he was just arraigned in on Thursday, where he's charged with four counts, including obstructing federal proceedings and
conspiracy to defraud the government. Then there's the Mar-a-Lago documents case where he faces 40 counts related to the allegedly illegal retention of
documents at his Florida State.
There is the New York hush money case brought by the Manhattan DA, where he faces 34 counts of falsifying business records related to hush money
payments to Stormy Daniels and to Karen McDougal. Those are the cases where Donald Trump has already been indicted. Then there's the Georgia case where
an indictment could come soon.
That case focuses on Trump's alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in that state of Georgia. Now, let's look at what happens next on
the calendar. In just about a week, August 10, he'll be arraigned on three additional charges brought in the Mar-a-Lago case, although he's not
expected to attend that hearing.
Also likely in August could be a decision on an indictment in the Georgia case. Now as far as when the actual trials in these cases will begin and
how they square with the election calendar for next year. While two of the cases he's been indicted in are scheduled to start in the middle of the
primary season.
Super Tuesday is on March 5, 2024. And there are several other primaries during that month of March. And the first case to begin the first criminal
case to begin the Manhattan DA's hush money trial is scheduled to start about three weeks after Super Tuesday on March 25.
In the Mar-a-Lago documents case, a pretrial hearing is scheduled for May 14. The trial itself could begin as early as May 20. On the election
calendar, there are several primaries in the month of May. And the Republican Party's nomination deadline is 11 days after the Mar-a-Lago
trial is slated to begin, that deadline for the nomination is on May 31.
But that Mar-a-Lago trial we need to point out could easily slide until later in the year. And as for the case, he has just been indicted in the
January 6 case; the start date could be set during the next hearing in that case, which is on August 28. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
ANDERSON: Still to come. Contradictory reports from Russia and Ukraine about new night drone attack on a Russian Navy ship, going to take a look
at footage that CNN was able to obtain and what that footage tells us. Plus tensions are escalating in the wake of last week's coup in Niger ahead in a
live report. Why Niger's political crisis is threatening to turn into military conflict that is after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:15:00]
ANDERSON: Well, the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny now staring at another lengthy prison term after being convicted of extremism, I use that
term in quotes just a short time ago. The longtime Putin critic was sentenced to 19 years in prison for his alleged crimes. Judge says it will
be served in a special regime colony.
Well CNN's International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson joining us now. Look and the quintile were never on the books. 19 years, though, is a stiff
sentence. Just explain the details of this case, what is meant by extremism in this case, and where indeed he is likely to spend the next two decades?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, this the punishment that is getting is going to be about the worst that the Russians
can hand out. This type of penal colony special regime one is where they put the lifers is where they put the people who they call recidivists. They
are people who will get limited freedoms of movement.
So he's already experienced in the jails that he's been in, being in a tiny cell being deprived of sleep, having the lights left on being exposed to
high levels of noise, having his food interfered with. He's loss weight; he hasn't had access to pens, papers, reading material, that sort of thing.
This is going to be worse.
This is President Putin and his cords doing what it appears the government under Putin had wanted to do when they tried to poison him with Novichok
three years ago, which was silence him. This will remove him from his lawyers from his family and from his supporters. But that's what he hinted
at in his tweet this morning.
ANDERSON: You said that is, you know, he's lost weight. We know he's been ill at times. And that's getting over the Novichok poisoning, of course,
how did you look in court today?
ROBERTSON: He looked, actually I thought, quite relaxed. But remember, these are the briefest periods in his life when he can put on a good show
for his supporters. This is a test of wills, his locked in now where Putin is gambling that Putin won't be around forever, certainly won't be around
to see out to see him and make him take those for what is it almost 30 years of jail terms, it just got stacked up against him right now.
So he looked at moments resigned, his arms were folded, there was relaxed. He was joking at one point with one of his lawyers standing next to him. So
this is his opportunity to send a visual message to support us. I am taking this; I'm taking it on the chin and doing the time.
Because I believe in something better, which is what he actually said before he was, you know, earlier on during these court proceedings in the
last month. He said if you want a better, more economically viable country, if you want a better, richer country, then you've got to do things to
support it. And essentially, that's what I'm willing to do.
ANDERSON: He's already doing 11 years as I understand, I think he's done two already. So he's got nine years, and we're not sure yet whether this
will run concurrently. This will not be one assumes the last we hear from Navalny.
ROBERTSON: No, I think we can expect there to be other charges. You know what was amazing about that courtroom just tried to try and put the viewers
in the atmosphere on it. So the international camera crews are not in there in the courtroom. They can't hear the judge. We never see the judge. We
only see Navalny and his legal team.
The audio that was being fed out was so bad and distorted, one of the Co- defendants a member of his media team, who ran Navalny's YouTube channel, even the legal team inside the courtroom could not understand what the
judge said what precisely his sentence was. What exactly he was convicted about. I mean what a mockery that makes every judicial process. If standing
in the courtroom, you cannot hear and understand what the judge is saying.
ANDERSON: That is Navalny on your screens, folks now. That is, as I understand it, his colleague from his media team, also in court today, as
you rightly point out. Nic, thank you, Nic Robertson is on the story for you. Right now there are conflicting reports out of Russia and Ukraine is
Moscow claims that it repelled a Russian drone attack on one of its key naval bases overnight.
But a Ukrainian source tells CNN that one of Ukraine's sea drones or maritime drones successfully attacked a Russian Navy ship. And these social
media images shared on Friday do appear to show a damaged Russian warship listing heavily in the Black Sea.
Look carefully at this nighttime video which CNN was able to obtain. It appears to actually show an approaching unmanned drone. CNN's Nick Paton
Walsh is on the ground in Ukraine.
[11:20:00]
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTETNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It's yet another sign of the vulnerability of parts of Russia's military
establishment that must have considered themselves frankly impregnable.
Novorossiysk Sea Port where images show a Ukrainian it seems overwater drone approaching the Olenegorsky Gornyak boats where Ukraine says
potentially 100 Russian personnel were at the time of an explosion caused by just short of half a metric ton of TNT, just a massive force of a blast.
Now, clearly a military targets hit there, a sign by Ukraine that they can hit parts of Russia that were far out of their reach. This possibly
hundreds of miles traveled by a Ukrainian drone and also to indications that perhaps an oil storage facility at -- kind of on the other side of
that gulf may have been hit as well.
Ukrainian officials simply suggesting that that target was indeed inevitable, at some point. But exactly what I think Vladimir Putin does not
want to see right now after a similar underwater drone attack on the Kerch Bridge. Recently, the key infrastructure is connecting Russia's mainland to
the Crimean peninsula that they annexed in 2014 after attacks on Moscow.
The drone attacks on the Kremlin is exactly a sign of Russia's increasing vulnerability inside its motherland during this war, dragging on the
counter offensive in the south, raging, certainly but these attacks showing that the war is going far from to plan for Russia, back to you.
ANDERSON: The world is watching this Niger's political crisis threatens to turn into a military conflict of tensions continue to escalate. The junta
warned on state television, any military intervention from the West African regional bloc, which is known as ECOWAS will be met with an immediate
response.
Well, ECOWAS had threatened to use force if Mohamed Bazoum is not reinstated as Niger's President by this weekend. Well, the military junta
also announced that has dismissed the country's ambassadors to France, the U.S., Nigeria and Togo. Let's get you back to CNN's David McKenzie, who's
in Johannesburg.
That warning from ECOWAS is now almost a week ago, they gave the military junta until Sunday to reinstate Bazoum. Is that likely at this point? Are
we seeing any evidence that that is likely?
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're not seeing any evidence that there's a major movement on the coup leaders Becky,
giving up power again and handing it back to a democratically elected president. And now we are not, but what we are seeing is very feverish,
diplomatic moves, ECOWAS has sent its special envoys to Niger.
They're having discussions. It's unclear whether they even managed to meet the crew leader, but that is going on. And you know analysts I speak to in
the region say that you do need to take this threat from ECOWAS of sending in troops seriously. They appear to be frustrated.
And as one foreign minister of Senegal said, you know, this is the last straw. They've seen coups in the region of the last few years, Mali,
Burkina Faso, Guinea and they've had enough in her words. So yes, there is this impending threat, a deadline Sunday into Monday that ECOWAS gave to
those coup leaders in Niger. But listen to the coup spokesperson; he hardly was indicating they will back down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMADOU ABDRAMANEADOU ABDRAMANE, NIGER MILITARY SPOKESMAN: ECOWAS was being impersonal, any aggression or attempted aggression against the state of
Niger will be met with an immediate and unannounced response by Niger's defense and security forces on one of its members, with the exception of
the suspended friendly countries.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCKENZIE: Now, those, those suspended countries are of course, those that have had coups, and they've threatened to join the fray on the side of
Niger. So it is a very dangerous situation. Becky. Diplomat, I speak to, and analyst believes there still is a window to negotiate out of this
situation, but it might be rapidly closing. Becky?
ANDERSON: Meantime, perhaps, surprise, Op-ed penned on behalf of -- Mohamed Bazoum himself in the Washington Post. What do you make of that?
MCKENZIE: Well, this coup hasn't really followed the playbook of recent coups in the Sahel region that we've noticed and reported on of course, as
for the last few years. Because in those cases in general, it seemed like the military leaders took control pretty forcefully and in a relatively
short amount of time.
But you have this extraordinary moment that President Bazoum managed to get his message out into the Washington Post in an op-ed where he's appealing
directly to the international community to help.
[11:25:00]
He starts that piece with -- I write this as a hostage, saying that he's been under attack by the military and the democratic dispensation has been
overthrown. And he goes on to say that Niger stands is the last bastion of respect for human rights, and saying that the success of this coup would
have devastating consequences far beyond our borders.
So it's really speaking to the French, the Americans, or the international actors and the regional bloc to say, time is running out from his
perspective, they need to end this coup. And you just see small signs and signals of the last few days, Becky.
For those of us who have covered these sorts of things before that it's unclear whether the coup leaders have a full support from either the
military or from the population despite the signs of protests that we saw yesterday in supporting the coup. It's not clear to me they do have that
power solidified yet.
And their more powerful southern neighbor Nigeria is pushing very, very hard, I think to end this and they are threatening troops on the ground if
they can't, Becky.
ANDERSON: David's keeping a good eye on what is going on in Niger. Thank you, David, your insight and analysis extremely important at this point.
Well, two U.S. sailors have been arrested accused of sharing secrets with China.
Still ahead, we'll have a live report on the full charges that the two face and how the people of Lebanon live with memories of the horrific Beirut
blast three years on. We'll bring you a story out of Beirut by an alumna of our CNN Academy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Welcome back. You're watching "Connect the World". It is half past four in London. That's where we are this week. I'm Becky Anderson, the
day after pleading not guilty to perhaps the gravest charges yet. Former U.S. President Donald Trump is heading back on the campaign trail.
He's scheduled to appear before Alabama Republicans tonight. Well, he still leads the parties pack for the 2024 presidential nomination, despite facing
four felony counts over his alleged attempt to overturn the 2020 election results; it is the third criminal case against him.
[11:30:00]
A trial date could be set later this month. Two U.S. Navy sailors have been arrested. They are accused of sharing military secrets with Chinese
intelligence officers. Federal authorities say the sailors were paid thousands of dollars in return, one man facing espionage charges.
The other accused of accepting bribes for the information he handed over. A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in the U.S. says they are not aware of
the details of the case. Let's bring in Oren Liebermann at the Pentagon. Oren, what do we know about the details of this case?
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Becky, we're looking at two separate cases here. But crucially, these cases have two things in common.
First, it's two U.S. Navy sailors according to prosecutors in the Southern District of California, at the center of leaking and giving out this
sensitive information.
And second, that information in both cases prosecutors say was passed to Chinese intelligence officers. This of course, is coming at a very tense
time between the U.S. and China between Beijing and Washington. So let's look at both of these cases.
In the first one of these cases unveiled just yesterday, U.S. Navy sailor Jinchao Wei was arrested at Naval Base San Diego. According to prosecutors,
he was a naval engineer who passed on schematics, information manuals and plans not only about U.S. vessels, vessels such as the U.S.'s Essex and
amphibious assault ship, but also other U.S. Navy ships.
That sort of sensitive information, something Beijing would very much like to look at. Prosecutors say that he received thousands of dollars in return
for that information. And the second one of these cases against when Jinchao was arrested at Naval Base Ventura County.
Prosecutors say that he had information and past, for example, operational plans for an exercise onto once again, a Chinese intelligence officer
giving away sensitive information, again, to what the U.S. has identified as the pacing threat or the pacing challenge for which the U.S. is very
much looking at when it comes to future military plans and a future challenge.
Not the first time of course, this year that the U.S. had, the U.S. military specifically has had sensitive information leaked. This all comes
after Massachusetts Air National Guardsmen who was accused of leaking a trove of classified information online.
And it's certainly Becky raises questions about whether there are enough steps to stop this sort of thing and these sorts of leaks. The Pentagon
yesterday said they're looking at those steps, but they believe right now they have the measures and policies in place.
ANDERSON: Fascinating. Oren, the U.S. is saying that it could put troops on commercial vessels in the Persian Gulf to prevent Iran from seizing ships
there. This is interesting. What more do we know about these plans?
LIEBERMANN: So we have seen the U.S. build up its force presence and its rotations in the region, as we've seen more of these attempted Iranian
seizures of commercial vessels. And that includes, for example, F-35 and F- 16 fighter jets monitoring the Strait of Hormuz, as well as several Navy ships headed towards that region.
Now, according to a navy official familiar with the plans, the U.S. is considering putting small teams of sailors or Marines about 20 each on
commercial vessels as again deterrence to Iran to keep Iran from attempting to seize the vessels. Now, this hasn't happened yet because this isn't
purely a U.S. Navy decision.
You have to have the agreement, of course, of the commercial vessel, perhaps also of the country where it's flagged, and also the shipping
company itself. But the official familiar with these plans says the shipping industry has expressed interest in measures like this, at least
since May, where we saw Iran season oil tanker.
Now Becky, it wouldn't be every ship that could get this security detail from the U.S. military on board, it would have to be what are considered
high risks ships. So the military would look at, for example, oil tankers, and then it would consider the origin and destination of the vessel where
it's flagged what it's carrying all of that into whether a ship would be eligible.
And then of course, Becky, the ship and the owner would have to agree to this. But this is something we're very much watching to see if this
happens. The official said it could theoretically happen within days if a ship requests it.
ANDERSON: Yes, it's a fascinating ratcheting up of fair effort on the part of the U.S.
LIEBERMANN: Very much.
ANDERSON: If indeed, this is the case. Thank you, sir, Oren Liebermann in the house for you. Who can forget these scenes? It has been three years
since a tragic explosion in Beirut left these apocalyptic images all over the Lebanese Capitol. Up ending thousands of lives it was a blast radius of
12 kilometers and was so powerful. It could be felt in Cypress. All of this is caused by a huge amount of improperly stored ammonium nitrate.
[11:35:00]
And still, the scars of the explosion persist. This is the view from Beirut today, people taking to the streets to mourn the victims of the blast and
demand accountability from those responsible despite a lack of justice. Daily life for the people of Lebanon of course has gone on. And many have
had to make do with what they've got.
To see what that looks like, an alumna of our storytelling program, CNN Academy visited a family owned business in Beirut that was repurposing
shattered glass from that blast and blowing new life into it. Have a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NISREEN KHALIFEH, SALES MANAGER: The Phoenicians started the craft of glassblowing after realizing the following days. That the sand placed
underneath their campfires had turned to glass due to heat pressure. Our family's business is the only workshop in Lebanon that deals with
Glassblowing.
And we inherited his craft over generations in the -- Sarafand, south of Lebanon. This is a very difficult craft because it is all hand-made with
equipment such as tweezers, blowpipes and scissors. Our furnace operates on diesel oxygen and gasoline. And when the furnace is turned on, it needs to
be running for a minimum of 24 hours non-stop.
The furnace needs three days to heat up, the brick needs two days and an additional day for the glass to melt. Only then can we start working on the
craft, when -- glass melts into sticky glue-like texture. There are people who prefer purchasing products from stores that are machine-made. And there
are people who appreciate the beauty of hand-made products that are filled with hard work and soul. That is their difference.
Not many know we recycle glass. And the largest amount we received was after the Beirut explosion. We are still using the glass to this day, more
than two years after the incident. We also had many clients who exported the crafted glass abroad.
And many purchased the products. The support and demand were high after they knew it was from the explosion. This is our past, present and future.
If God wills, we will continue this path for our future generations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Let's get you up to speed on some of the other stories that are on our regional radar right now. And some new numbers underscore what the
UN calls unimaginable suffering in Sudan amid violent clashes that have displaced so many people there. It's Food and Agriculture Organization says
42 percent of the population there faces high levels of acute food insecurity and that translates to more than 20 million people.
Saudi Arabia is extending its voluntary oil output cut of 1 million barrels a day. The state news agency there says that cut will now continue into
September and maybe even beyond. Saudi energy official quoted as saying its part of the effort by OPEC plus to stabilize and balance oil markets.
Well, the Barbie movie is finally getting a release in the UAE. The national newspaper says that the film has been cleared by the Emirati Media
Council. Barbie was set to release in the Emirates last month in cinemas. But cinema websites change the date to the end of August without saying
why.
Turkey and Syria is marking six months since a massive earthquake. Coming up, I'll speak to the UN Goodwill Ambassador Ashley Judd about her recent
visit to the areas hit hard.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:40:00]
ANDERSON It's been six months since a massive earthquake struck near the Turkish Syrian border. That quake and its powerful aftershocks killed tens
of thousands of people and it left cities in ruins. Well, now survivors are looking to rebuild their homes and their livelihoods. CNN's Jomana
Karadsheh reports on one group trying to resurrect what is a traditional family business.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (VOICE OVER): This is Antakya, Turkey just a few months ago, an ancient city largely reduced to rubble by a
deadly earthquake that took over 50,000 lives. Entire neighborhoods had been flattened, and survivors describe the scene as a war zone even
apocalyptic, but now some who survived are rebuilding their lives. Like this family business restarting silk production at their cooperative
workshop in the city.
FIKRET DUMAN, SILK PRODUCER: When you listen carefully, they produce an orchestral symphony, the most beautiful music in the world.
KARADSHEH (voice over): The Dumans produce and weave silk using traditional cruelty free practices and ancient trade in Turkey. When the earthquake hit
their building became a shelter for about 100 people. And the family focused on helping their community.
EMEL DUMAN, SILK PRODUCER: After the earthquake for two months, we couldn't think about ourselves at all. All we could think about was how to help
others that we were alive and that it was our duty.
KARADSHEH (voice over): Finally the Dumans are starting their business back up. Before the earthquake they had 70 employees mainly women, but only a
handful has come back. Now the Dumans are employing Syrian refugees to kick start production.
DUMAN: We're struggling to get the woman back into production to get the weavers back. It's hard to get back into production but we're doing
everything we can to get there. And we're trying to motivate ourselves to keep going.
KARADSHEH (voice over): The families name their product, the peace silk of Hatay province, while industrial silk production boils the cocoon to kill
the worm. The family's workshop allows them to live into adulthood and become moths. They breed their own worms instead of importing them in order
to preserve the biodiversity of Turkey's native species.
DUMAN: Our elders who wasted nothing and respected nature used these cocoon remains to make clothes and sheets. So I said to myself that I should also
produce in this way without harming the silkworms by letting them become butterflies.
KARADSHEH (voice over): After a painful tragedy, the family is weaving new bonds of peace with their craft and within their community. Jomana
Karadsheh, CNN London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well actor Ashley Judd is a goodwill ambassador for the UN's Population Fund. She recently visited quake hit parts of Turkey. And she
spoke with me about conditions there especially on what needs to be done to protect women and girls impacted by this and other disasters, have a
listen.
ASHLEY JUDD, GOODWILL AMBASSADOR FOR U.N. POPULATION FUND: First of all, they're experiencing so many traumas from the impact of a catastrophic
natural disaster and then they're experiencing grief, because 70 percent of those who survived and had injuries are now living with disabilities. The
situation within these informal settlements is very difficult.
It's hard to access safe drinking water and even the water that they use to wash their clothes is so dirty that when they put their clean clothes back
on their skin itches. You know and so many women of reproductive age, they're having their periods they're still pregnant, they're giving birth.
They need diapers that you know they don't have refrigeration. So they're living on pasta and other foods that they can cook without, you know a
cooling mechanism for their foods. Its life is very, very difficult.
ANDERSON: Just talk about the impact of that trauma and grief, particularly on women and young girls and its long term impact.
JUDD: There was already a good deal of male sexual violence in the community before the earthquake and it spikes in natural disasters. You
know these harmful practices make resurgence like child early and forced marriage, because the schools are closed and girls aren't in schools and
there's a need for childcare.
[11:45:00]
And men are afraid of what's going to happen to their daughters. So they you know revert to these old practices and marry their daughters off at a
young age and then their bodies aren't prepared for pregnancy and then they get obstetric. I mean, it just goes on and on. So it's so important that
UNFPA is there caring to the reproductive and sexual health needs of girls and women which can be so interwoven with preventing further grief and
trauma.
ANDERSON: You've long been a very vocal and public advocate for women's rights on the world stage bravely bearing your own personal experience of
sexual harassment and violence. Do you feel a shared experience with some of these women that you've met not just in Turkey because you've been in
refugee camps, of course, around the world?
JUDD: You know, it's presumptuous to say our, the details of our stories are identical. And yet we do have our feelings in common and a shared
reaction to male sexual violence. And that sense, there this male entitlement to our bodies that is so grotesque and undeserved.
And we can all heal together by de-shaming that which was never our shame and by understanding that it belongs to the perpetrator. And we as victims
can help empower each other through empathy, and put the shame back where it belongs, which is on patriarchy, which is not just boys and men, it's a
system in which we all participate.
And then lighten our load by understanding that we can find our voices and heal together and give each other this mutual support. And so, it's the
great honor of my life to sit with girls and women and to find this fellowship and sisterhood together.
ANDERSON: When we transition from an immediate to a long term crisis response. Oftentimes, that's where we start dealing perhaps with these
problems as we do with, for example, mental health. You're a strong advocate for mental health as well. How are you and the UN addressing those
needs?
JUDD: So we integrate mental health at the beginning. So for example, there was a Turkish family with whom I visited at great length. And they, they
moved me so deeply; they had been benefactors in their community. And they had shared their resources and they had been, you know, blessed with
abundance and plenty.
And so for them to go to living in a provisional tent and recipients of aid just distorted their whole worldview and way of being and they had been
buried alive in the rubble. And four of their children died. They were immediately given upon entering into their tent settlement psychological
and social support by UNFPA staff that came and visited with them frequently, because they are so packed with trauma that they're paralyzed.
So we integrated into our response immediately and then also offered that long term support.
ANDERSON: This is the latest of 12 missions that you've been on since you became a goodwill ambassador. Actually, what drives you to go to these
places and, and what do you report back that we as a global community need to do for women and children in times of crisis?
JUDD: It's connecting, it's connecting. And I do feel a profound sense of belonging because of the way that people welcomed me in like, in South
Sudan, I was sitting with an older woman, she was a granny and she had a dignity kit from UNFPA that included a torch so that she could go to the
toilet in the night.
And then had other you know, very valuable things like underpants, but she wanted some flip flops and, and there were no flip flops to be had. And I
just began to weep. And she wrapped her arms around me, she was blind, and she could tell I was crying. And she just wiped my tears and started to
call me granddaughter, granddaughter.
You know, these connections that are made are just invaluable and all hearts -- the same under the skin and we speak the common language of
humanity and love. You know, people just want to be loved and understood and witnessed.
ANDERSON: Do you miss the world of acting? I mean, at the moment, there's an actor's strike on I wonder what your perspective is on that. And, and
when you consider the work you're doing now, you know, where are you at?
JUDD: So I had the pleasure of making the film in March with a wonderful director named Alec Tibaldi. And it was a great experience. It was a little
indie. It was a fabulous script, and we were an ensemble cast. And it had kind of the magic of Ruby and Paradise. So I just metabolized the direction
and let it all hang out so it was a glorious experience. And I look forward to when audiences can enjoy that again when we get our fair do from the
producers and our strike is resolved.
[11:50:00]
And so, I love acting when I do it, you know, and when I first was going to Hollywood, a family friend, when he asked me what I was going to do so long
to go to Planned Parenthood, I'm going to, you know, a score people will cross picket lines when people are trying to access their reproductive
justice care.
And -- actor save the world, you know, I realize life is both end. Life is both the end. And then you know, Madeleine Albright taught me we can do
everything, just not at once. So sometimes I'm in Ukraine, sometimes I'm in the east of DRC, looking at sexual violence caused by militia and conflict
mineral mining.
And sometimes I'm on set and sometimes I'm writing my second book and it's all beautiful and I live a life full of grace and abundance and I'm so
grateful.
ANDERSON: Ashley Judd talking to me mostly about her work with those who've been most impacted by the Turkish quake six months on, we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well, you've probably seen that viral video this week that had a lot of us asking, is that really a bear? It put a Chinese Sue on the
defensive, but it has been raising awareness about one of Asia's most endangered and intriguing animals. That is the Sun Bear. CNN's Ivan Watson
reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This video put a zoo in China in abide. When Chinese social media exploded with
claims this animal was a human in a costume. The zoo decided to grin and bear it issuing a statement in the voice of the animal saying, I'm a sun
bear, a message echoed by another zoo in the UK.
WATSON (on camera): Have you seen that video?
SIEW TE WONG, FOUNDER, BORNEAN SUN BEAR CONSERVATION CENTER: Yes, I've seen that video and I am very, very convinced, hundred percent sure that it is a
Sunday.
WATSON (voice over): Siew Te Wong is a biologist and founder of the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Center.
WONG: This is a meal. We got Joe over here.
WATSON (on camera): And I think we can confidently say that that's a bear not a human and a costume.
WONG: Yes, that is a bear.
WATSON (voice over): This forest enclosure in Malaysian Borneo shelters 44 rescued sun bears.
WONG: They are the smaller bear in the world. They look very similar to people when they stand up.
WATSON (voice over): Sun bears are also an endangered species. Their tropical forest habitat across Southeast Asia is shrinking.
WATSON (on camera): What does the future look like for the Sun Bear as a species in the wild right now?
WONG: Eve. The forest is not big enough. Eve hunting and poaching still continue. The future is very bleak for the Sun Bear, because they need
large forests in order to survive.
WATSON (voice over): One says there's an illegal market for Sun Bear claws, teeth and organs used for traditional Asian medicine. Now the Chinese viral
video is giving the world's smallest bear a moment in the sun. In recent days attendance surged 30 percent at the zoo in Hangzhou, it doesn't look
humid at all when you see it in person, this man says.
[11:55:00]
Something to bear in mind, the next time you're sent a viral video. Ivan Watson CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well before we go tonight, just as the Barbie movie is conquering the box office, the real life Ken is climbing the music charts. Take a
listen.
Actor Ryan Gosling is on the hot 101st time as lists with, I'm just Ken. Gosling is no stranger to music of course, the Mickey Mouse Club album
showed off his chops in the 2016 film, "La La Land," his new hit. And just Ken is cruising into the hot 100 this week at number 87. Well, the Barbie
soundtrack sitting pretty at number two on the Billboard 200.
By the way, Warner Brothers Pictures and CNN both part of Warner Brothers Discovery. That's it from us, have a very good weekend. If it's the weekend
that you are enjoying, coming up we'll see you same place same time next week. From the team working with me here in London and those around the
world, it is a very good evening.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
