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Connect the World

Israel Warns Hezbollah of Possible "All-Out-War"; Dangerous Heat Affecting Major Global Events and Tourism; Putin: Russia will Discuss Peace if Ukraine Officially Gives Up its Aspiration to Join NATO; U.S. Federal Holiday Marks the End of Slavery; Ronaldo Leads Portugal to Comeback Win in Euro Opener. Aired 9-10a ET

Aired June 19, 2024 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNNI HOST: Brand new pictures from the Korean Peninsula where the leaders of Russia and North Korea have signed a new pact and been

for a drive in this Russian made Limo. It's 10 pm in Pyongyang. It is 5 pm here in Abu Dhabi. I'm Becky Anderson.

And you are watching "Connect the World". Also happening over the next two hours, Israel warns of all-out war with Lebanon after Hezbollah releases an

alarming video and later, the sounds of celebration after a thrilling encounter at the Euros between Turkey and Georgia.

Well, top Israeli official is warning that Hezbollah would be quote, destroyed if all-out war breaks out along Israel's northern border with

Lebanon. Foreign Minister Israel Katz's posts on the X platform coming after Hezbollah released a video purportedly shot from a drone flying over

several Israeli cities including Haifa.

The nine minute video showed Israeli military and civilian locations, its appearance follows months of cross border attacks and targeted killings of

several Hezbollah commanders by Israeli forces. Ben Wedeman connecting has set this out from Beirut. Let's start with that video. What's the point?

What's the message here?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think the message here, Becky, is very much that Hezbollah is capable of penetrating

Israeli airspace getting beyond its border defenses, which Hezbollah has actually targeted on a regular basis since last October, flying over highly

sensitive sites in and around Haifa, collecting that information, flying a drone back and publishing it.

It's a real sort of finger in the eye of the Israelis, underscoring just what Hezbollah is capable of doing. Also, let's keep in mind this is the

video they're showing us. Hezbollah is making public, we don't know what else they've managed to collect as well. It really underscores sort of the

shifting balance of power between Israel and Hezbollah in particular, but across this conflict in general.

I mean, keep in mind, for instance, back during the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, within hours, the Israelis were able to essentially knock

out Beirut International Airport. But Hezbollah could not do the same to Israel, it couldn't hit as far south as Haifa but not much beyond that.

That's changed by all accounts according to almost every analyst you speak to Hezbollah now has the capability also to knock out Tel Aviv, Ben Gurion

International Airport and reach targets beyond. So there's kind of now a balance of terror, so to speak, mutually assured destruction, if you will,

perhaps not have the nuclear type.

But both sides are now able to inflict considerable pain on the other. And I think this video nine minutes really underscores that Hezbollah since

2006, has made a huge leap in its capabilities, Becky.

ANDERSON: As you say, the Israelis of course have no idea, what else Hezbollah have at this point? They only released as you rightly point out

nine minutes of this video which took a close look at the port of Haifa, Ben a hub that sees some 29 and a half million tons of cargo a year.

That's 50 percent of the sea freight that comes into Israel. Again, the message Hezbollah's sending about the impact, Ben that this could have on

the economy already much damaged by this eight month conflict of course.

WEDEMAN: Yeah, keep in mind that for instance, the Gaza conflict even though Hamas has fired rockets in the direction of Tel Aviv, most of them

have been taken down by the iron dome, the most damage done by Hamas to Israel proper Israeli in what's known as the Gaza envelope, the area

immediately around it.

[09:05:00]

Hezbollah even going back to 2006 was able to essentially paralyze all of Northern Israel, including the Haifa port. And that was what they could do

back then, what they can do now is probably significantly more and I think Israeli officials are probably well aware of that.

I mean, we have heard for months and months now, saber rattling from the Israelis that they are prepared to go to war with Hezbollah, the Foreign

Minister yesterday saying they're ready to destroy Hezbollah. They tried that in 2006. It didn't work. Hezbollah is stronger. They said they were

going to destroy Hamas in Gaza.

8.5 months later, Hamas is still firing rockets out of Gaza. The Israelis, I think, have perhaps gone about as far as they can go in terms of what

they can do. And I think Hezbollah is very aware of that, Becky.

ANDERSON: Well, Israel, of course warning Hezbollah of possible all-out war in the wake of the release of that video. Ben, thank you. CNN Analyst Barak

Ravid is reporting on Axios that the White House has canceled a high level meeting with the Netanyahu government now.

This is the latest source of tension between the Prime Minister and the Biden administration and is as a result of this video that we first told

you about yesterday on this show. In it, Mr. Netanyahu claimed that the U.S. is withholding military aid. The Axios report says President Biden's

envoy in Israel told the Prime Minister his comments were quote, inaccurate and out of line.

And we're going to have a lot more on this story and how it could impact Mr. Netanyahu's scheduled trip to Washington next month. We'll do that next

hour for you. Meantime, Russian President Vladimir Putin says ties with North Korea will reach a new level. Mr. Putin and the North Korean Leader

Kim Jong-Un signed a new strategic partnership deal in Pyongyang today.

He said the treaty includes a mutual defense provision in case one of the countries is attacked. Mr. Putin is expected to leave shortly for Vietnam.

Mike Valerio is following Mr. Putin's visit for us from Seoul and joins us now, Russia, North Korea then signing a new pact. What do we make of this?

What does it look like?

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we would like to know that Becky, the text has not been released. So we are all just hoping to get our hands

on the tax in the next couple of hours.

But really, Becky the headline here, we are all wondering, did Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-Un just create a new authoritarian version of NATO's

Article Five, which of course, provides the response that if one NATO country is attacked, the rest of NATO would respond in the country under

attacks defense.

So what we have here, we have a statement by Vladimir Putin. At the end of this meeting, which was very bizarre for most of the day, we have an iconic

indelible image of both of these authoritarian leaders in an open air limo, a profusion of balloons scattered throughout Kim Il Sung Square in Central

Pyongyang.

We're thinking OK, maybe small ball economic tourism provisions will be agreed to, the Kremlin was very careful with its language yesterday sort of

qualifying what would be agreed to and then Vladimir Putin comes out. And he says, quote, this agreement includes the provision of mutual assistance

in the event of aggression.

So we're now we're wondering, well, what kind of assistance does that mean, military assistance? Is there sort of a qualifying statement? Is there a

conditional statement in the mix there, but again, we don't have the written text. And we are all wondering, Becky, we were talking earlier in

the week about that 1961 Treaty between Khrushchev and Kim Il Sung where the language was very strong, saying that the USSR back in the 60s shall

immediately come to the military defense of North Korea, if it were attacked, and vice versa.

We don't know if that is the case. But Kim for his part is calling this an alliance that is certainly new. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIM JONG-UN, NORTH KOREAN LEADER: The great Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Russia Alliance, which will become a watershed moment in the

development of this bilateral relation, finally raised its anchor in history and announced his solemn departure here today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALERIO: OK, so also rounding out what was covered, you know, Vladimir Putin is still here on the Korean peninsula. He's going through a dinner

right now. There are some images that are coming out that's a kind of conveying that he wants to you know, perhaps move along.

[09:10:00]

It's been a long day he's making his way to Vietnam in the next couple of hours Putin no for his part also said that their leaves open the

possibility of Russia allowing perhaps military development military grade cooperation in the next few years. So bottom line that we go from strategic

partnership being established between North Korea and Russia in September of last year.

And now we go to perhaps mutual defense and an alliance. That means that these countries are so much closer together than they were in September of

last year. This tie, this bond is not going anywhere. So we are waiting to see what are the ramifications for that in terms of an American security

presence here on the peninsula China's reaction to this? The dust is still settling and we are still following the lines that are coming out of this

meeting just north of the DMZ, Becky.

ANDERSON: Stick at it for us. This is important stuff. Thank you. Well, in the U.S., millions of people are struggling with weather related dangers of

different kinds, including extreme heat and wildfires. Fire crews are making some headway in battling the wildfires in California, a major fire

burning north of Los Angeles is now just over 30 percent contained.

But large parts of New Mexico are in a state of emergency with one fast moving wildfire there completely uncontained. Officials say one person has

died as thousands flee the fires. CNN's, Ed Lavandera joining us from a village in New Mexico, where two fires have converged.

This, of course has been an area of the U.S. which has had extreme drought for nearly a year. These fires already explosive and it's early on in the

summer. How are people coping? And what does this mean for available resources in battling these fires, Ed?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a massive fire that has erupted very quickly and spread very quickly. It's

become very difficult to containers started Monday morning here in the City of Ruidoso, New Mexico, beautiful little mountain community here in New

Mexico, and more than 8000 people have evacuated in less than 48 hours from this area.

These are some of the roadblocks that are in the area. And you can just see the thickness of the smoke at the scene here as this is a road that takes

you out to the northern edge of town where so many people were scrambling to evacuate. And the city is a ghost town. You know, just there are so many

people who've evacuated, the visibility is very difficult.

The majority of what we see on the roads here are first responders, police and firefighters here and kind of navigating the area. And many of these

people have scattered, the residents here have evacuated to some distance away about an hour or so drive. And you know, many of them just anxiously

waiting to see if their homes have survived these wildfires.

As you mentioned, it's essentially two wildfires consuming about 20,000 acres of mountainous of forest land here. And the Ruidoso, New Mexico area,

1400 structures that have been consumed by all of this, we spoke with one resident Michael Scott, who evacuated here Monday night, and he talked

about what he saw with us on the way out of here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL SCOTT, RUIDOSO RESIDENT: We reached a point where it was just a solid blackout. I've never seen anything like it. But the thing that kind

of startled me more than anything. My truck was being hit with chunks of cash. I could feel him hitting the hood. And the gray it was almost like

big gray rain hitting my truck.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: You know, but there is a sliver of good news possibly on the horizon here later this afternoon. Weather forecasts show that it could

start raining this afternoon and into tomorrow as well. So that would provide much needed relief for the firefighting crews on the ground here

trying to get control of this fire, which is about 20,000 acres or so and very, almost none of it has been contained at this point.

So it remains a very volatile situation, when we were here yesterday afternoon. The winds were ripping around and changing directions very

quickly. So I imagine for those firefighters on the ground and in this canyon is mountainous kind of terrain makes fighting these fires even more

difficult, Becky.

ANDERSON: Absolutely. Ed, stay safe, listening to Michael Scott there, its remarkable stuff. Thank you. Well, it's not just the U.S. dealing with the

effects of extreme heat, soaring temperatures are creating some very dangerous situations in spots right across the globe. More than 500 people

are reported to have died in the sweltering conditions in Saudi Arabia during the annual harsh pilgrimage

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Also this week environmental groups warning Olympic athletes that the heat could pose serious health risks during the summer games in France, and in

Greece, there have been several cases of tourists die while going missing while walking in the heat in recent weeks, authorities in Southern Europe

issuing warnings and taking urgent steps, to keep people safe. Our Barbie Nadeau has more on this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN REPORTER (on camera): It's only June and Southern Europe is already baking under a deadly heatwave. In Greece, several

tourists died after hiking in extreme temperatures. One deputy mayor had a dire warning.

SPYROS ARGYROS, DEPUTY MAYOR OF MATHRAKI IN GREECE: We have a lot of footpaths here and we often see people come here to go walking. Often

couples will come in and groups but we also see people alone on the footpaths. Unfortunately during some days in the summer, we have heat waves

and we see them walking on the footpaths without supplies, without water, without a tower.

NADEAU (on camera): In Italy and in the Balkans, temperatures are expected to be between 5 and 10 degrees higher than average. In Rome, authorities

have put up trees at bus stops in order to provide much needed shaved for those waiting in the hot sun. Authorities across the region warn the

elderly in the frail to try to stay indoors during the hottest time of the day.

They're also urging people to exercise caution in areas that are prone to wildfires. If last summer was the hottest summer on record so far this

summer doesn't look like it's going to be any better. Barbie Latza Nadeau CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Well still to come on this show why Ukraine's desire to join NATO remains a central point of tension in conversations amongst alliance

members, more on that after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: While Russian President Vladimir Putin cozies up to the North Korean Leader. He is facing real setbacks on the battlefield in Ukraine.

Kyiv says that U.S. support is now coming through and that they are gaining the upper hand in key battles. CNN's Fred Pleitgen has this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ukrainian troops storming a Russian trench in the Kharkiv region, firing

and throwing grenades at those unwilling to surrender. Elsewhere in the same region, a Russian soldier does give up after the Ukrainians decimated

his unit.

We ran to him and I saw his uniform up close and realized he's a Russian serviceman, he says then I shouted at him hands up. He put up his hands in

the air and then did everything I told him to do.

[09:20:00]

Moscow's military launched a surprise offense if targeting the Northeast of Ukraine earlier this year, destroying a key town and gaining a foothold not

far from Ukraine's second largest city Kharkiv. But now the Ukrainians say they've killed scores of Russians here and are back on the offensive.

A major reason resumed military aid from the U.S. and its allies, Ukraine's President says. We see the world's determination opening up new

perspectives for restoring our security, he says, among other things, this concerns the security of Kharkiv. The destruction of Russian terrorist

positions and launchers near the border by our forces and soldiers really matters as Ukraine's land and air forces are pounding his troops.

Russian Leader Vladimir Putin was at a children's musical school in Russia's Far East and route to meet a key ally North Korean strong man Kim

Jong-Un. With the going tough on the battlefield, Putin has already threatened the West for supporting Ukraine but also claims he wants peace

talks.

So far the West has been ignoring our interests, he says. While they forbid key if to negotiate they hypocritically call on us to start some sort of

negotiations. It just looks idiotic. But Ukrainian troops facing the Russians on the Eastern Front say they have no trust in the Russian

Leader's words and want to fight on.

Russia understands force only, the soldier says. All the agreements and signings are just games with the beast. Sooner or later it will regain its

strengths, lick its wounds and will be conquering even more because it has already tasted blood. And so Ukraine's forces continue the battle against

an enemy with more troops and a lot more firepower. Fred Pleitgen CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Well, while Russia's war against Ukraine rages on Kyiv's desire to join NATO will be a major topic when the alliance meets in the U.S. next

month for its 75th anniversary summit. Diplomatic source, telling CNN that most Central European countries are disappointed by Washington's hesitancy,

when it comes to outlining a path to Ukraine becoming a member of NATO.

CNN's Natasha Bertrand is following the story from Washington. And you've got some new reporting on this. So when we say most European countries,

there are some who aren't as enthusiastic by any stretch of the imagination about Ukraine, joining NATO as others, but ultimately, what is holding the

U.S. and some of its allies back in pushing for NATO membership for Ukraine at this point, what's the holdup here?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now, it's really a debate over semantics, according to officials that we spoke

to next month, there's going to be this very historic summit here in Washington. And they're going to produce a joint communique that is going

to basically lay out Ukraine's path to NATO membership.

Some NATO countries are pushing for, as you said, stronger language saying that Ukraine should have a quote, irreversible path to NATO membership,

because that would send a very strong signal to Vladimir Putin that Ukraine is going to be in the alliance, really no matter what, and now that they've

started down that path of applying for NATO membership that cannot be put on the table.

For example, in any kind of peace negotiations, or any kind of negotiations that goes on to end the war. Of course, Vladimir Putin is deeply opposed to

Ukraine, joining NATO. But on the other hand, you have the U.S. and the U.N. and the Germans, who are a little bit wary of that irreversible

language.

They want to instead to say that Ukraine has a bridge to NATO membership in terms of its application, in terms of the 10 year security pact that the

U.S. has negotiated with the Ukrainians because they say Ukraine still has not fulfilled a lot of the commitments that it needs to fulfill for NATO

membership, including some of those really important democratic and anti- corruption reforms that the U.S. is still working with Ukrainians on actually completing.

ANDERSON: Right.

BERTRAND: And so right now, they're still kind of hashing out this language, but all seem to agree in the end, that Ukraine's place in NATO,

it's just a matter of how and when they get there, Becky?

ANDERSON: Yeah, and there's a point here about timing, isn't it? Because let's face it, you know, there's enough people who are experts in this who

say that Washington is slow walking this and the reason for that could be that President Putin has said he won't hold peace talks if Ukraine joins

NATO.

Now, we know that the peace summit in Switzerland this week, he wasn't invited and many, many countries at that peace summit, which was very

disappointing and its outcomes to many. Many there said unless Putin is involved, unless Russia is involved in any peace summit or peace talks,

they're going nowhere. So this is a really tricky one, isn't it for Washington?

[09:25:00]

BERTRAND: It is, especially because Putin said quite explicitly last week that he will not come to the table if Ukraine does not drop its NATO

aspirations. Now, of course, the legitimacy of that is fiercely debated whether or not he even would agree to engage in ceasefire talks with

Ukraine, regardless of their NATO membership path.

But still, you know, U.S. officials push back on this notion that the term irreversible had anything to do with keeping that NATO membership option on

the table for such negotiations. But of course, it's in the back of everyone's minds because if you say irreversible, then that really does

indicate that this is happening no matter what something of course that Putin would not abide by really, Becky.

ANDERSON: Fascinating, similar language that which we are hearing of course around Palestinian statehood at this point and pushed by the Saudis in an

effort to get normalization sorted out. Thank you for that. Let's get you up to speed on some of the other stories that are on our radar right now

and a hall of fame baseball player Willie Mays has died.

He was among the first generation of African-American players in Major League Baseball known as the say, Hey kid, for his enthusiastic greetings,

Mays have finished his career with 660 career home runs at the time, the second most behind Babe Ruth. Willie Mays was 93.

On an update on a story that we broke for you here on this show yesterday, I've been charged with driving while intoxicated. Singer Justin Timberlake

has been released and faces a court date set for next month. The officer said Timberlake's eyes were bloodshot and glassy, and that there was a

strong odor of alcohol on his breath.

Timberlake told police he had had one drink. We're bigger than Apple, bigger than Microsoft, bigger than the GDP of France. Up next, we'll look

at Nvidia's rise to the top. And congratulate any of you investors out there who hung on to the stock from what were its early days.

And happy Juneteenth, Celebration of freedom commemorating the end of slavery in the United States, but how should the country address the legacy

of slavery beyond declaring a public holiday? That we will discuss, up next.

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[09:30:00]

ANDERSON: Welcome back, I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi whether time is half past five in the evening. You are watching "Connect the World". It's

9:30 am on the East Coast. The markets closed today for the Juneteenth holiday but the world's most valuable company and will be basking in its

glory on this holiday.

It is now NVIDIA. And that is after it took the crown from Microsoft by the time Nvidia shares closed Tuesday with a more than 3 percent gain. The

computer chip manufacturer's market capitalization hit roughly $3.34 trillion Nvidia's chips are essential in producing processes.

The power artificial intelligence systems and other chipmaker posted a blockbuster first quarter noting a 262 percent increase in revenue and a

462 percent increase in profits year over year. Well CNN's Matt Egan is in New York for us, still with us. So I assume that means you didn't buy stock

in Nvidia some time ago when it was just a real company back in the mid- 1990s.

What is Nvidia's new title as most valuable company in the world mean, do you think for the future of AI and AI focused companies? This is I mean,

you know, this is ultimately a really symbolic sort of number for them as far as being the biggest company out there. But you know, I think there's

more to this.

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Yeah, Becky. Well, you're right that I did not buy this stock 10, 15 years ago, although I certainly wish I did. Because

you're right, I probably would not be sitting here. But listen, we're living in the middle of a modern day gold rush right now, except now it's

not gold. It's artificial intelligence.

And Nvidia is on fire. Because it's computer chips, power ChatGPT and other AI models. It's essentially making the picks and the shovels in this gold

rush. It's had a meteoric rise, the share prices up something like 300 times over the last 10 years alone. It's absolutely fascinating.

This rise really happened when they decided to make this bet on instead of just powering those graphics for video games, they made a pivot to try to

power artificial intelligence. I mean, look at that share price going straight up that to do that 10 for one stock split. And as you mentioned,

they've now surpassed Microsoft and Apple is the most valuable company on the planet, pretty amazing, considering a lot of people have never heard of

NVIDIA.

It's actually worth roughly twice as much the next closest foreign competitor, and that's oil giant Saudi Aramco, which is around $1.7

trillion. And when you look at NVIDIA, and how it stacks up, globally, we're talking about a company that is now worth more than several major

economies, including the GDP of France and Russia, Canada, Brazil, one company worth more than those entire economies.

It's amazing when you think about it, as far as what this means for other companies. Listen, I think the door is wide open to other companies that

are in artificial intelligence. Investors are so hungry right now, to get a piece of this AI boom. Remember, NVIDIA doesn't even make AI. It's just

doing the infrastructure that enables AI.

I do think they'll Becky, that all this does raise some questions about whether or not NVIDIA is almost getting too big at this point, right? I

mean, because the whole entire stock market is so exposed to what's happening in AI.

ANDERSON: Yeah.

EGAN: And who knows what if sentiments, shifts here, and suddenly investors kind of sour on AI?

ANDERSON: Yeah.

EGAN: What if they are concerned about the profitability there? What does that do to not just NVIDIA but to the whole entire stock market? So this

does raise some questions here because right now, we're just so exposed to technology, generally, but to AI in particular, but it's just a fascinating

story, Becky.

ANDERSON: Yeah you know, and you're making a really good point. I've heard people say is NVIDIA a one trick pony. Let's see. But you know that the

concerns are out there. But at the moment, I mean, you know, as I say, those who own the stock will be basking in its price. Thank you, Matt.

EGAN: Thanks --

ANDERSON: Well today, June the 19th is the day America celebrates the end of slavery in the country. Juneteenth says it's become known, became a

federal holiday in 2021.

[09:35:00]

But its roots go way back, the 1860s, when black communities in Texas were gathered to recognize the anniversary of the day, they were set free. My

next guest has described this newest American holiday like this quote, it recognizes liberation, and it recognizes freedom. Some people will refer to

it as Black Independence Day. It's a day to celebrate the ending of an era of 246 years of enslavement that African Americans experienced in this

country.

Well Dr. Daina Ramey Berry is History Professor and Dean of Humanities and Fine Arts at the University of California in Santa Barbara, and she joins

us live today from Houston. And it is lovely to see you, happy Juneteenth to you and everyone out there who is celebrating one of the or at least

marking the damn celebrations necessarily what.

What are the origins of June the 19th? And how does it differ in significance from the day of emancipation proclamation?

DAINA RAMEY BERRY, PROFESSOR AT UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA: That's a great question. So first of all, June 19th origins come because the Civil War

ended in 1865. But it wasn't until May that the last battles were fought in Texas. And it wasn't until June 2 that the Confederate army in Texas

actually surrendered.

So by the time the order was read, General order number three was read by General Granger. It was June 19. And that's the date that enslaved people

in Texas learned about the official ending of the war and the ending of slavery. But it wasn't until 13th amendment was ratified on December 6 that

slavery was abolished in the United States.

ANDERSON: So Juneteenth as a federal holiday, of course, was a big focus of the BLM movement. How did this day that was Texas specific become a federal

holiday?

BERRY: I would argue that this became a federal holiday after the civil rights movements that we saw in the 2020s. With the protest movement, black

lives matter, as you mentioned, but after the death of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery a number of others.

This was the largest movement that we had in our history for African- American civil rights, passed the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. And as a result of that people they had been pushing for this to be a federal

holiday. Really, that took traction -- after 2020. And as a result, the pressure that was put forward really sort of the government finally decided

to go ahead and sign into law.

And I think President Biden said yes, and signed it Opal Lee was there. She's a major advocate for fighting Juneteenth in Texas. And we know that

it was celebrated as a holiday in Texas as early as 1980. But African- Americans have been celebrating this holiday in Texas since 1866.

ANDERSON: Yeah, and you're right. This is a celebration. I wanted to make sure that, yeah, we were getting the wording right here. This is a

celebration, Juneteenth. You've written extensively about reparations, and you've said, Juneteenth has opened up the conversation about reparations,

something that activists and scholars are working on.

What do you mean by that? And what do you hope can be achieved at this point? Let's talk about some impact here.

BERRY: First, I think there's a knowledge gap to our large understanding of the institution of slavery and the impact of slavery on not only the world

economy, but on the U.S. economy. So I think first, it's a matter of celebrating the holiday, but also becoming educated about what slavery was

in this country?

And how much money was made and profited off the bodies of black people during slavery? And what does that mean for when we talk about

conversations of reparations? We have generations of a wealth gap that has to be addressed. And I think that's why it's opened up the conversations

about reparations. How do we celebrate, how do we acknowledge, how do we restore, and how do we address this stain on our nation's history?

ANDERSON: It's good to have you. I hope you having a good day. And we'll talk again Dr. Daina Ramey Berry. Thank you. Still to come, Portugal's

Cristiano Ronaldo breaks another record at Euro 2024, more on that after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:40:00]

ANDERSON: All right, Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo got his record breaking sick European Championship campaign off to a winning start. The 39

year old helped his side rally from a goal down to beat the Czech Republic 2-1. Carolyn Manno has that in "World Sport" which is up after this break.

I will be back at the top of the hour for you. Stay with us.

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(WORLD SPORT)

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