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Connect the World
Ukraine's President: Counteroffensive has been "Difficult"; 41 Deaths Reported in Shipwreck Off Italy; Israeli Finance Minister Freezes Funds for Arab Programs; Tokyo Train Station Launches Live Translation Program; Biden on Tour to Promote Climate Agenda; London's Largest Exhibition of Modern Arab Art on Display. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired August 09, 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]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: President Zelenskyy admits trouble with his counteroffensive as support wanes in the United States.
This hour our Senior International Correspondent walks us through the implications for Ukraine. First up though dozens of migrants who have died
in a shipwreck off the Coast of Italy.
Nearly 100,000 migrants have arrived in the country this year alone. Israel's far right Finance Minister has frozen millions of dollars in
funding for Arab citizens in East Jerusalem. He claims without evidence that the money is falling into the wrong hands. In Sudan, hospitals and
malls have reached a breaking point. I'll speak to an aid worker on the ground in the country.
Welcome back. This is the second hour of "Connect the World". I'm Becky Anderson. Today Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is working with his
top military brass on ramping up the grinding counteroffensive.
He's admitting that the operation so far has been "Difficult". His understatement considering what CNN is seeing firsthand. Our team is on the
ground as the bodies and the weapons pile up. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): And another part of the trenches with a fighter has clearly been ferocious.
They pass Western supplied armor that has been torn apart.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, Nick Paton Walsh's full report in just a few minutes. First up though, senior diplomats now are telling CNN about the sobering updates
that they are receiving on Ukraine's progress to take back its territory.
And in the United States there are signs that the public's willingness to keep funding multibillion dollar aid packages with American taxpayer money
may be faltering. So tonight we ask has Ukraine war reached a stalemate.
Well, Senior International Correspondent, Sam Kiley has been reporting from Ukraine even before the start of Russia's invasion. Today he is here with
me in the studio, I'm happy to say. So Sam, I'm going to put that question to you very simply. Is this a stalemate at this point and if so, why?
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think the answer to that is yes and no. So if we take a look Becky, at how things kind of stood
before this offensive got underway, these big plain red areas are the areas some of the areas captured by the Russians with beginning of the war last
year, starting last February.
Of course, that extended much further. There were the area around here that has already been liberated, large amount of this area in the Kharkiv
Province, also liberated but these yellow areas are where and they read almost invisible here is where this counteroffensive has really been
getting underway.
Now if we take a closer look, you can see Becky, that we're seeing a larger set of territory that looks not so bad. From the outside perspective, it
doesn't look like a kind of onslaught or some massive victory of the rapidity that we saw up in Kharkiv and elsewhere.
But it does look like there has been some progress. Now, of course, we've got reporting from my colleague, Jim Sciutto in the United States that his
sources are telling him and I've heard similar things from some NATO senior officers that this isn't the sort of pace that they wanted to see.
Well, kind of no kidding. That's not what the Ukrainians would have wanted to see either. But Ukrainians will respond that this is a long and grinding
war. And it's not all going to necessarily be focused just in terms of the ground operations.
So if we take a closer look at what's been going on this southern front, this has been very much the concentration of the most recent offensive. And
of course, the big target is the Crimean Peninsula.
Essentially, the Ukrainians want to cut through this territory, separate Crimea from being able to support or get support from these other Russian
held areas and force their way through and liberate Crimea ultimately.
And of course, you've got the very important Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, itself, a kind of problematic location. There is a concentration
of Russian troops, but also needs to be liberated, highly dangerous area to go into combat, six nuclear reactors there biggest in Europe.
So it's a highly problematic landscape. In the first instance, he's got OK, it's going nowhere. These are very small incremental gains. But the point
is these breakthroughs could be very sudden. If there is a collapse of the Russia in front, then you can see it collapse of command and control among
the Russians and that ultimately is what NATO advisors and indeed the Ukrainian military are looking for.
[11:05:00]
And how might this is achieved? Well, you've got to go after the logistics capabilities of the Russian operation, not just what they've got Becky, in
country in Ukraine itself but in places like this. This is the location of the latest long range attack against the logistics node supplying the
Crimean Peninsula supplying all of those Russian troops.
And of course, in the past, we've seen these attacks elsewhere in Russia deep strikes, trying to undermine the capability of the Russians sustain
their warfare. Ukrainians can do that, Becky, they could win it.
ANDERSON: This counteroffensive effectively waited for the arrival of the training on equipment, military equipment, which was provided both from
Europeans, the allies, and indeed from the U.S. U.S. has provided some $44 billion in security assistance to date, is that something that they are
able willing to sustain at this point?
KILEY: Well, that is the big question. It's going to be I think the foreign policy question of the we're soon going to be going into the whole election
round in the United States. The key issue, we know Trump's position, if he were to get nominated for the Republicans.
He's not in favor of this, we've pulled troops out, he would definitely cut back on funding that is existential, as far as the Ukrainians concerned,
they acknowledge that the burden is heavy, not just on the U.S. taxpayer. But on all of the European taxpayers, these figures are pretty
astronomical.
But their real problem is here in the polling. That was the support, there is the support rather, that they believe that they've done enough. That is
the figure, Americans are saying we've just about given up just over half of Americans think that they've done enough. That was the level of support
a year ago when the Russians invaded. So there's been a collapse there.
Now that is potentially a political opportunity for somebody, I would argue pretty cynical in terms of international affairs, where you wouldn't worry
-- you might want to make hay with that against the Biden Administration.
But I think it's very important to hear from John Kirby, the Spokesman for the National Security Council, because he is the word of caution here. He
is pushing the Republican sorry the government's positioning the administration's position. And it's a very important one that the
Ukrainians desperately need to hear more and more often take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KIRBY, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL SPOKESPERSON: I think every ally, every partner, every nation, and there's more than 50 of them,
including, of course, the United States, that are involved in supporting Ukraine, feels responsible for helping Ukraine be successful on the
battlefield. Nobody wants to see them struggle.
And like I said, even they admit that they're struggling and they're not doing as well as they they'd like. So we're all going to be dedicated to
continuing to help them get what they need. And if that means more training, than more training, it'll be if that means more capabilities than
more capabilities, it will be. We're all in this together. We all want to see them succeed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KILEY: Want to see them succeed, but they weren't given the tools to do so at the beginning of this war, the American support the international
support has been incremental. The Ukrainian say we need more we need it now.
That's been them their statement from day one of this war very important to hear from a military man himself, the admiral himself explaining that just
because we're in a 24 hour news cycle, and people get bored of the Ukrainian story, this is a war. It takes time. It's a complex strategic
event, Becky.
ANDERSON: Sam, it's good to have you here. Sam Kiley on the ground! In the house with the very latest on the Ukraine conflict, so intense fighting
with little movement and an ever growing number of wars dead, lest we forget.
CNN is getting a rare look inside the trenches in southern Ukraine where some troops face the grim job of recovering bodies. Nick Paton Walsh shares
the story and I have to warn you, his report contains some very graphic images.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WALSH (voice over): Even saving the dead can be lethal work. It is dawn in freshly overrun Russian positions on the southern front where the assault
is on trench networks spread out in the open. This is rare footage letting us see the point of view of a Ukrainian soldier and body collector.
His unit tasked with bringing back the fallen their own, but also Russian dead too this Ukrainian body seeming to have almost melted into the ground,
the heat speeding up decays another factor in this grim grueling work. Where they are often guided to their targets by the smell from which the
masks aren't protection enough.
[11:10:00]
Russian drone see them and they watch them back. Anti-drone rifles a modern twist in trench warfare from the last century. It is exhausting work while
troops here focus on survival and taking cover -- and his team must carry these heavy but vital burdens all the way back to the road where they can
then bring closure to the grieving the chance of burial and a goodbye.
A week earlier in another part of the trenches with a fight has clearly been ferocious. They pass Western supplied armor that has been torn apart.
Ukrainian remains found but the shelling is constant.
The search however, in these captured Russian positions is cautious probing each spot for mines. For the men holding the position day and night, body
collectors a welcome relief taking away the reminders of how close the death is.
The Russians still looking for targets here among the men rescuing Russian corpses, this is the work nobody ever wanted to do, out exposed in the open
as Ukraine prays for a breakthrough. Now we finally see -- face in the moment when they know they've survived not dead. The relief they feel here,
nothing compared to the families who may feel some less agony and closure from the cargo they return home. Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Zaporizhzhia
Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, reports at least 41 people are dead after a ship carrying migrants wrecked of the Italian Island of Lampedusa. This according to the
Red Cross after it spoke to four people who were on board that boat. Four survivors describe a harrowing ordeal after setting off from Tunisia.
They say they had life jackets and they crawled onto the remains of a different wreck to stay alive and they are not alone. Authorities and NGOs
report saving people from several wrecks over the past few days. Dozens of others are said to be missing or dead. Well, many of these survivors have
been moved to Lampedusa for the latest CNN's Ben Wedeman is live in Rome, Ben, what do we know at this point?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What we know is this boat set out from Fox in Tunisia last Thursday, we believe but within
hours, it was hit by a large wave and capsized.
Now according to these four survivors there were originally 45 people on this boat including a three year old child and pregnant -- a pregnant woman
as well. Now these four survivors were able to make it because they actually found an abandoned boat in the high seas.
And according to them, they were out there for six days before a merchant vessel came along and picked them up and they were eventually transferred
to the Italian coast guard and ended up in Lampedusa which is where which is sort of a gathering point for migrants and refugees who are picked up at
sea.
Keep in mind of course, Lampedusa, an Italian Island is closer to Tunisia than it is to the Italian Mainland. And what we've seen so far this year is
a dramatic increase in the number of people trying to cross the Mediterranean and reach for instance, Italy.
So far this year, as of today, the 9th of August, nearly 94,000 people migrants and refugees have arrived on the Italian shores. That's double the
number that arrived last year at this time and three times that from the year before.
[11:15:00]
So the numbers are increasing. The Italians and the Europeans have been provided -- they've signed a memorandum of agreement with of understanding
with Tunisia providing more than hundred million euro to try to help the Tunisian authorities prevent migrants from taking to the sea and heading
toward Europe.
That's a bit like building a wall around a house on fire rather than trying to put out the fire itself. What the reason why these people are coming is
not because life is easy in Europe or the trip is easy. It's because they are leaving countries that are at war, where the economies have collapsed,
where there's really no hope for future prosperity.
And there's nothing really been done by the European community or anybody else to try to address those problems. So they're just trying to stop the
problem from reaching the shores of Europe.
ANDERSON: Yes, absolutely. I mean, you're right to point that the efforts need to be ratcheted up in Europe in order to start really thinking about
how to tackle what is a growing crisis. Those numbers are, are absolutely remarkable, Ben, thank you.
You're watching "Connect the World" with me Becky Anderson. Coming up, this man Israel's far right Finance Minister wants to freeze millions of dollars
allocated to Palestinians and Arab communities in Israel. We'll look what impact that will have and why this move is so controversial.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDESON: Well, Israel's far right Finance Minister is being criticized once again this time for freezing funds earmarked for Arab municipalities in
Israel and Palestinians in East Jerusalem. Bezalel Smotrich announced online then he will suspend about $53 million previously allocated for Arab
municipalities mostly populated by Palestinian citizens of Israel and educational programs in East Jerusalem.
He says the money could end up in the hands of criminal organizations. Smotrich is the Head of the Pro-Settler Religious Zionism Party who has
made controversial comments about Palestinians in the past.
Earlier this year, he drew international condemnation when he called for the Palestinian town of Huwara to be wiped out. I mean to defense his
decision on the frozen funds in a Facebook post writing "The priorities of our national government and mine as Minister of Finance are different from
those of the previous left wing government. And I'm not apologizing or I'm not going to apologize for that" he said.
Well, Journalist Elliot Gotkine joins us now from Jerusalem to discuss the significance of this move and clearly his policies are very different from
that of other governments not necessarily just left wing governments let's be quite clear.
[11:20:00]
What evidence does he have that this money could or is getting into the wrong hands as justification for freezing it?
ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Becky, I mean, we even heard from fellow lawmakers in the coalition from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud
party saying look, if there is evidence, then come up with it, because these decisions to for example, allocate funds. There's a program it's a
five year program in East Jerusalem aimed at East Jerusalemites.
And a part of that is designed to enable East Jerusalemites to learn to improve their Hebrew to the extent that they'd be able to study at Hebrew
University. These decisions were not made unilaterally by governments of the day. They were held in discussions with, for example, the security
establishment.
And it was decided that this was the best way both to help those people of East Jerusalem and also the country as a whole. I should also point out, of
course, that although Smotrich refers to the previous government as a left wing government, it was a rainbow coalition involving both parties from the
left from the center and from the right as well.
The course the big difference was that it was the first ever government to include a party that was an Islamist party. And indeed, one of the reasons
that Smotrich sites for freezing both the funds for those East Jerusalemites to learn Hebrew and also for the Arab municipalities, it's
designed to kind of level up poor municipalities in the country bring them closer to the kind of socio economic level of richer municipalities.
The previous government had Mansour Abbas from the Islamist run party and one of the reasons that Smotrich says he is going to be freezing these
funds is because the money was set aside for these Arab municipalities simply to placate Mansour Abbas and his party and, of course, his voters.
The other reason, of course, that Smotrich is citing and you mentioned the possibility that the money might, he says the money might end up with
criminal or terrorist organizations, as he says it's not fair that the money would go to the Arab municipalities and not to poor Jewish
municipalities.
Of course, Becky, the other unstated reason is that this probably isn't going to play too badly with his base.
ANDERSON: Elliot, it's good to have you. Thank you. I want to know what impact this decision then will have, especially on the education system for
Palestinians in East Jerusalem. And we've got just the right guest for you on that. I'm joined by the Rector of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem,
Professor Tamir Sheafer joining me live via Skype from Jerusalem.
And it's good to have you. So walk us through the impact here, how would these funding cuts? Will the freezing of this funding impact your
university programs that you have, and Palestinians who wish to enroll?
TAMIR SHEAFER, RECTOR, THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM: Thank you for having me. Let me say first, that this program is all about integration
about hope. It's all about lowering crime and violence. It's all about increasing understanding, well-being and deployment of people from East
Jerusalem.
And by cutting the funding to this extremely important academic program, we will simply won't be able to run it. We will run it in the coming year
because the students have already enrolled in that program. But if it will not be continue next week, we want to be able to continue with that
program.
ANDERSON: Well, you know, you're spending the money. Israel's finance minister says the reason behind this move or the stated reason behind this
move, let's be quite clear about this is worrying that that money could end up in the hands of criminal organizations. What do you make of that?
SHEAFER: Well, it's simply untrue, extremely untrue. This program, well, let me we have to be clear what we're talking about. There are two
different programs. There are program to the municipalities, Arab municipalities where the Minister of Finance argue that it will go to
criminals.
And there is the academic program, which is relevant to our discussion here, in which the Minister of Finance said that it will increase violence
and it will go to extremist students, Arab students that will bring violence into the area diversity, et cetera. And this is simply, simply
untrue.
This program runs for over seven years now. And these students are extremely good and there is nothing related to violence, like nothing
related to extremism. These students are coming to the Hebrew University.
ANDERSON: Right.
[11:25:00]
SHEAFER: To learn in the best university in Israel and to better the life and the future and the integration that happened is wonderful, because what
we've seen and our scholars conducted several studies among these people from East Jerusalem students from East Jerusalem.
And what we see is that there is an extremely important impact on them by learning to accept more Israelis and Jews is, in particular, to it's a
mutual understanding among both groups. This is extremely important to -- in Jerusalem.
ANDERSON: And so we've seen reports that the numbers while small in comparison to the total student body and are increasing and have been over
the last decade, is that right? How many Palestinians or Israeli Arabs are actually currently attending Hebrew University?
SHEAFER: Well, Palestinian for East Jerusalem, we have several hundreds, about several hundreds, hundreds right now. We have been in the pre
academic program, which is a specific program we're talking about; it's a year and a half program. We have now about four 450 students every year.
And a big portion of them are accepted after that to -- studies at the Hebrew University or in three other academic institutions in Jerusalem. So
it's a lot.
ANDERSON: Israel's opposition leader Yair Lapid spoke out against this move. He's tweeted "Smotrich simply wants his base to see that he remains
as racist as they like, and he abuses Arab citizens, simply because they are Arab. I am ashamed of this government. I am ashamed that racism has
become an official policy of the State of Israel".
I wonder whether you agree with him whether this is a racist and discriminatory move. And how will it impact Israel's relationship? Do you
think with a wider sort of international community well, frankly, growing fed up of this right wing government?
SHEAFER: Well, I don't want to relate to Smotrich personality or hidden or more direct incentives. I like to talk about the problem, the specific fact
that the claims that are raised in support for cancelling the program are untrue.
And the results is a very direct discrimination of Arab kids, Palestinian kids living in East Jerusalem in area controlled by Israel, who simply want
to better their life, and to have a brighter future. And this is something that all of us want. It's something that we know reduces violence and
increases understanding mutual understanding, this is fantastic.
ANDERSON: And you agree with Yair Lapid, this is a racist move.
SHEAFER: Again, I don't like to, to get into this, these wordings. What I would like to say about the fact, the fact that it's not true, it's
unsupported by nothing but by evidence, and it's the result is a discrimination of Palestinian. That's as simple as that.
ANDERSON: Sir, it's good to have you on. Important insight and context for one of our headline stories today, thank you, taking a short break, back
after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:30:00]
ANDERSON: Welcome back, you're watching "Connect the World", I'm Becky Anderson for you. Time here in London is half past four in the afternoon,
your headlines this hour. 41 people are dead after a migrant boat sank near the Italian island of Lampedusa. This is according to the Red Cross after
its vote with four survivors.
They say their boat set off from Tunisia and they crawled on to the remains of another shipwreck. To survive multiple records have been reported in the
region over the past few days. Authorities now say they found the remains of all 11 people missing after a fire in eastern France.
The deadly blaze swept through a vacation house where a group of adults with learning disabilities was on holiday. It still isn't clear how the
fire started. Well, in Niger, a minister in the ousted president's government who is a former rebel leader has formed an anti-junta resistance
Council. Rhissa Ag Boula is calling on Niger's military to put an end to the coup and to arrest the junta leader without delay.
It appears to be the first sign of an internal resistance to that military rule. Well, even when the world's leaders, the people with the real power
to influence change, even when they agree that we need to act now to limit the devastating impact of climate change. They ended up divided.
Well, it's the final day of the Amazon Summit. But on Tuesday, eight South American countries failed to agree on a common goal to save the critically
vulnerable Amazon from deforestation and a point of no return. However, they did create an alliance promoting regional cooperation. New video just
in the wildfires in the U.S. state of Hawaii, you're looking at Maui right now, but there are also fires and evacuation orders on the Big Island.
Smoke billowing and flames very close to a lot of homes. High winds from Hurricane Dora in the Pacific are fueling these wildfires on these islands.
And officials say flames have destroyed multiple structures in Maui. One of the fires has burned about thousand acres which is more than 400 hectares.
Well as AI becomes a bigger part of our lives, researchers are developing new tools for it. A train station in Tokyo is testing a program that helps
passengers and ticket agents who speak different languages understand one another in real time. CNN's Marc Stewart shows us how it works.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): At Tokyo's busy Seibu- Shinjuku Station, it's a steady surge of trains, travelers, and at times the need for translation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was actually really nervous coming side; I had people who don't speak English.
STEWART (voice over): Now a potential solution in this nondescript window using voice translation technology.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, I want to go to Matsumoto station.
STEWART (voice over): Users simply ask a question in their native language. It appears on the screen and then immediately translated into Japanese for
the staff to read.
[11:35:00]
The response is then translated back to the user's original language. The system is now on a test run. We asked travelers including Fatima Horcher
(ph) to try it out.
STEWART (on camera): And you thought the translation was pretty spot on.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Spot on. It's exactly what I said was on the screen.
STEWART (on camera): How many languages can this system translate?
STEWART (voice over): It supports 12 languages.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're told the number of foreign visitors to Japan is growing. The screen was introduced so staff and customers can communicate
smoothly, face to face.
STEWART (on camera): There are certainly apps for your phone, which could translate but this system is simultaneous. And it's face to face.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The fact that it was at the same time, the fact that it really understood what I was saying.
STEWART (voice over): While the system isn't always perfect, this technology is quickly improving.
HITOMI YANAKA, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO: Research in the field of natural language processing and artificial intelligence is
progressing very rapidly. So these systems are getting better and better. And I hope that they will be used not only in stations, but also in other
places in the future.
STEWART (voice over): The manufacturer of the board hopes that could include airports, sporting events and hospitals. Part of an effort to make
sure everyone is understood, no matter what language they speak. Marc Stewart, CNN, Tokyo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well you're watching "Connect the World" live today from London. Still ahead, the U.S. president and climate change, why critics say Joe
Biden's words don't always match his actions.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Four months into Sudan's Civil War, Save the Children says thousands; thousands of decomposing bodies are piling up outside Khartoum.
A group says morgues are at as they describe it breaking point. Plus few hospitals are fully functioning, raising fears about what happens if
there's an outbreak of cholera or another disease.
Fighting between rival factions has killed nearly 4000 people since April. New battles were reported today north of the Capitol, so misery piling upon
misery in Sudan. Dr. Arif Noor is the Sudan Director for Save the Children. And he joins us now via Skype.
And so, you are in Sudan, I think it's so important because so little reporting is done out of there. It's very difficult to get in for the
press. Just walk us through what's going on, on the ground. What you've been seeing?
DR. ARIF NOOR, SUDAN DIRECTOR, SAVE THE CHILDREN: Thank you very much. So you had right time in, currently based in Port Sudan. But I've traveled
extensively within Sudan including the areas which have received internally displaced people who have been displaced out of their homes.
[11:40:00]
As you know, we are in the fourth month of the conflict. And more than 4 million people have been displaced. In the conflict affected areas,
especially in Khartoum, and in the Darfur region, and to an extent in the Kordofan region as well. Almost all the hospitals are more than 80 percent
of the hospitals are not functional anymore.
There are prolonged outages of electricity, water is scarcely available, and especially clean drinking water is hardly available. People are
struggling to find even basic food items. And on top of that, there is it because of the intense fighting which is taking place in the urban areas.
The most of the people who are losing their lives or are getting injured civilians, especially women and young children, boys and girls and people
have been killed indiscriminately across the areas where there's conflict.
ANDERSON: We've seen broken ceasefire after broken ceasefire, two warring parties not prepared to think of the people of Sudan and fight it out to
the death, the death of so many people and so, many hundreds of thousands if not millions, who've been displaced both in and outside of the country.
And you will be well aware that the impact on Chad and various other places is absolutely awful as we stick to what is going on, on the ground as you
understand it. You're talking about morgues that have reached capacity hospitals that are just ill equipped at this point, our hospitals still
functioning at all.
DR. NOOR: So the health system is at the verge of collapse, if not already collapsed. Like I said more than 80 percent of the health facilities in the
conflict affected areas are not functional. People do not have access to basic medication, people are dying of disease, I mean common diseases such
as malaria.
One of our own team members, Save the Children's own team members unfortunately lost their life because they couldn't access insulin. I have
seen young boys and girls in the camps where they are being hosted right now suffering from really the ill effects of the war, not only physical
trauma, but also emotional and mental trauma. It's just absolutely --
ANDERSON: It's heartbreaking. And it shouldn't be happening. Let's be quite clear about this. I mean, this is outrageous. Cholera, dysentery, as you
say, physical, physical illnesses, mental illnesses, that mean the trauma and the grief will impact people affected for years to come. So here's the
opportunity to tell us what needs to be done next. What are you calling for at this point? And what can be done to help, do you see a way through this?
DR. NOOR: Yes, the international community needs really to step up its efforts not in, not only in terms of working with the warring parties, and
trying to find a peaceful solution to this problem. But at the same time, giving more resources for the people of Sudan, we have seen conflicts in
other parts of the world.
The recent example is being the Ukraine response, where the world community just did so much for the people who were in need of that. I think we need
similar commitment from the international community, to provide more resources and make sure that we are able to take those resources to the
people here in Sudan.
And at the same time, there needs to be a little bit of flexibility on how we are providing humanitarian assistance to the people who need them the
most, especially women and children in the country.
ANDERSON: Yes. It's good to have you, sir, so important to get your perspective as you are there on the ground today in Port Sudan. But as you
say, you've traveled around the country. And you are describing some very, very, very distressing situations. Thank you. We are back after this short
break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:45:00]
ANDERSON: U.S. President Joe Biden is touring Western States this week to bolster his climate agenda. He faces strong political headwinds. Mr. Biden
made fighting climate change, one of his key planks of his 2020 presidential campaign, but some of his actions as president while they
frankly tell a different story.
He's green lit new drilling and pipeline projects prompting criticism from climate activists. Let's get you to White House Correspondent Jeremy
Diamond. Jeremy, just explain what's going on there.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, listen, President Biden is in the middle of a western swing of the country. He's visiting
three different states. And a big part of this is trying to sell his climate policies to the country. And to remind people of what he's actually
already done.
A big focus of that, of course, is the Inflation Reduction Act and the nearly $370 billion of investments in fighting climate change, the largest
ever in the history of the country. But in doing the sales pitch, the president in an interview that aired this morning on The Weather Channel,
he got a little bit ahead of his skis, claiming that he has declared a national emergency on climate change, which he has not, listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you prepared to declare a national emergency with respect to climate change?
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We've already done that. Nationally we've conserved more land; we've moved into, we've
rejoining the Paris Climate Accord. We've passed a $360 billion climate controlled facility. We're moving, is the existential threat to humanity.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So you've already declared that national emergency?
BIDEN: Practically speaking, yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DIAMOND: And now, a national emergency would be a formal step that climate activists have called on the president to take, but which he has not taken
yet. The White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre earlier today on CNN claimed that the president was referring to his actions under the
Defense Production Act to spur clean energy manufacturing.
But these are two completely different issues. The National Emergency if the president were to declare that it would give him sweeping new
authorities to restrict oil exports from the United States. It would also allow him to ban drilling on federal lands, including offshore drilling,
for example.
And that has been a key sticking point of climate activist because thousands of oil permits have been issued under the Biden Administration,
many of them related to preexisting leases on federal land that predate the president. The president was asked about that, and he said that the courts
have overruled him.
That is true in some cases, but in other cases, like with the willow project in Alaska, the president acted preemptively. He says it was because
his lawyers told him that the administration would lose in court anyways, and so he just went ahead and approves that. But we do know that many
climate activists are upset about that decision. That being said the president has been endorsed by several significant climate change advocacy
groups already for his 2024 reelection bid.
[11:50:00]
But the president knows that this issue of climate change is a motivating issue for young voters who of course will be key to his winning coalition
in 2024, if indeed he wants that he can win reelection.
ANDERSON: Yes, absolutely. It is also, of course, very, very divisive still. Jeremy, it's good to have you. Thank you, sir. We got some parting
shots for you tonight in a major exhibition of Contemporary Arab art. Remember, this show normally broadcasts out of our Middle East programming
hub in the UAE.
Well, this is being presented by Christie's auction house in London in partnership with the Barjeel Art Foundation and the UAE Ministry of Culture
and Youth. More than 150 works have been brought together for Christie's says is the largest display of Arab art ever in London.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RIDHA MOUMNI, DEPUTY CHAIRMAN, CHRISTIE'S MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA: The goal of -- is really reflecting on the arts of the Arab world, our goal is
building a bridge and showing the intense creativity of the Arab world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, that was the curator of the exhibition Dr. Ridha Moumni. Well, I told the exhibition with the Founder of Barjeel Art Foundation,
Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi. And I asked him about the works on display, have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SULTAN SOOUD AL QASSEMI, FOUNDER, BARJEEL ART FOUNDATION: I feel like this collection is owned by the public, I look at myself as the guardian of the
collection. And so, it's important for me to continue to share this collection with the public. I am very proud that in this room, you see some
of the most important themes of 20th century art, male and female that was active in the region and beyond.
ANDERSON: You were very intentional about ensuring this was a gender balance exhibition. Just explain why.
QASSEMI: Well for me, it's important to show that women were also active in the mid-20th century and they were active in many different forms of -- and
materials of art such as the use of batik, the use of brass, the use of ceramic glassware tapestry, and here you see sculpture.
I feel like the gender imbalance in Western Museum is definitely something that we should not be emulating in other parts of the world. And I thought
I have the opportunity to take a radical step and say no more from now on, we will only be showing a gender balance displays across our exhibitions.
ANDERSON: This collection here certainly has a social and political narrative. Just explain.
QASSEMI: So there are several kinds of political art. There are artworks created by artists who were political artists, such as -- Heideggerian, who
is shown behind you in this shot, who was an abstract Egyptian artist active since the 1930s. And Becky, she hosted in her home gatherings of the
art and liberty group in Egypt, which was the radical leftist group that stood up for artists in Europe at the height of the Mad Z suppression of
artists before World War Two.
On the other hand, you have artists who created political depictions in their work such as -- of Syria, many others Mona Hatoum, for example of
Palestine and so many other women across the course of the second half of the 20th century, depicting political events that took place in the region
through their material and their creations.
ANDERSON: Sales of Middle Eastern Art waned during the pandemic, but interest remains high among collectors. What's the market like for interest
in Middle East at present?
QASSEMI: Well, the market is quite fascinating, because you do have world records that are being set by modern artists, you have works in the range
of one to $2 million, it's still not at the tens of millions of dollars that you have with some western and even some Asian artists over the past
decade or so.
However, with the Middle East, I'm very happy to see contemporary artists, setting records. And so, this, I think is a reflection of the global
interest in Middle Eastern Art. And also, I think, a signal to young artists, Becky, that they can make a live and a livelihood out of creating
art.
ANDERSON: You talk about using an exhibition like this to knock back the misperceptions or misconceptions about the regions are. What do you mean by
that? What are the misunderstandings and what are you doing through this exhibition to address those?
QASSEMI: Well, there are a lot of misconceptions about, for example, the rights of minorities in the region historically, which is why we emphasize
for example, on religious minorities in all our exhibitions. We show works by the Christian minority in the Arab world, the Bahai minority in the Arab
world. The Jewish minority, we have artworks by both male and female Jewish artists in this exhibition.
[11:55:00]
Sexual minorities, ethnic minorities, it's very important that this is an inclusive view of the region. Because when I look back at the history of
the Arab world, I see that we did a lot of good things in the 20th century, but we made a lot of mistakes as well.
So going forward, how can we reflect the cosmopolitan nature of the Arab world in the mid-20th century that included all these diverse minorities
and diverse groups while rectifying and correcting the mistakes that the majority had maybe done towards these minorities?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, let's the largest display of modern and contemporary art of the Arab World still on Christie's until the 23rd of August, fascinating.
That's it from us. "One World" with Zain Asher is up next.
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