Return to Transcripts main page
Connect the World
WikiLeaks Founder Assange Strikes Plea Deal with U.S.; The Shattering Impact of Gaza's Food Emergency; Biden and Trump Gearing up for High-Stakes CNN Debate; Let's Face Criticism for not Supporting Factory Workers in Turkey; CNN Affiliate: Kenyan Lawmakers Escape Parliament Through Underground Channel; Insults and Interruptions: A Look at Trump's Past Debates. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired June 25, 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, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: In the streets, crowds in the Kenyan capital facing police tear gas and a short time ago, they went
inside the Kenyan Parliament about controversial new finance bill. We're live in Nairobi, where the time is 4 pm. It is 5 pm here in Abu Dhabi. I'm
Becky Anderson. You're watching "Connect the World".
Also ahead this hour, Julian Assange is out of prison after a plea deal with U.S. authorities he has flown out of Britain where is he now? Plus two
days and counting until the first presidential debate of 2024 and the stakes couldn't be higher, with recent polling showing no clear leader in
the rematch between Donald Trump and President Biden.
And the stock market in New York will open about 30 minutes from now let's have a quick look at the numbers for you and the futures indicating a mixed
open. On Monday they continue to look for direction. NVIDIA has provided the biggest upset its shares tumbling by more than 6 percent Monday its
losses over the last couple of days of trading total some $500 billion.
We start this hour in Nairobi where protests against proposed tax hikes have reached boiling point. Protesters are now inside the parliament
building which is partly on fire. Just a short time ago, our CNN team reported seeing at least two bodies lying on the ground after police fired
live rounds at protesters. More on that as we get it.
Well, more than decade's long legal odyssey of WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange appears to be winding down. Assange is heading from a London prison
to the North Mariana Islands in the Pacific. Under a deal with U.S. he will plead guilty on Wednesday to a single conspiracy charge for releasing
secret U.S. military records.
Assange is expected to get credit for time served meaning he could go straight to his home country of Australia CNN's Clare Sebastian following
this story for us from London. Just get us bang up to date. What do we know at this point about where he is and what happens next?
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, he is en-route Becky to Saipan which as you say is on the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific. That's
a U.S. outpost not far from Guam and there at 9 am local time on Wednesday morning he is set to have his plea his guilty plea heard by a U.S. federal
district judge based on those islands.
If that plea is granted he could as you say, then walk free. And Australia has made it very clear that they will welcome him home. We believe that his
wife Stella Assange, she was fronted every single attempt to release him over the past few years that she is already there in Sydney.
She tweeted out a picture of him FaceTiming from Stansted Airport just outside of London last night. So we believe that she is there waiting for
him. But obviously, look, this has been a very long run legal proceeding that now this week could be over.
There also seems to be a backdrop here that the political climate changed in the few months leading up to this. The White House says this was nothing
to do with them. This was a decision by the Justice Department. But we did hear comments from President Biden back in April, that he was considering a
request from Australia to drop the case against Assange. So that is the backdrop. Take a look at this long and winding story so far.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): For Julian Assange this is the final sprint in a more than decade long legal marathon, agreeing to plead guilty to one U.S.
felony charge in return for normal prison time.
STELLA ASSANGE, WIFE OF JULIAN ASSANGE: Throughout the years of Julian's imprisonment, and persecution an incredible movement has been formed. A
movement of people from all walks of life from around the world who support not just Julian, and not just us and our family but what Julian stands for
truth and justice?
JULIAN ASSANGE, FOUNDER, WIKILEAKS: The case has dragged on for too long.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Assange is now expected to return home to his native Australia, where he began his career as a computer programmer and
hacker before founding WikiLeaks, where he first grabbed headlines in 2010 by releasing highly classified information.
First a U.S. military video showing an Apache helicopter mistakenly gunning down two journalists and several Iraqi civilians in 2007. Next was the
release of tens of thousands of classified military documents related to the war in Afghanistan revealing more previously unreported civilian
deaths?
[09:05:00]
Documents on the Iraq War followed, suggesting widespread abuse and torture by Iraqi security forces. Then the leak of cables from U.S. Embassies and
diplomatic missions around the world as far as claimed his mission was to shine a light on evidence of war crimes and abuses of power.
J. ASSANGE: And that's how people can really understand what is actually going on and whether they choose to support it or not.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): As the world watched for WikiLeaks, his next move in November 2010, Sweden opened an investigation into allegations of sexual
assault against Assange and issued an international arrest warrant for his extradition.
Assange denied the allegations claiming it was retribution for his political work and orchestrated to pave the way for his extradition to the
U.S. because of the leaks. He turned himself in to London police and was later released on strict bail conditions. Then, in an unexpected twist, he
entered the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in 2012 and was granted political asylum at the start of a seven year diplomatic route.
J. ASSANGE: Courageous Latin American nation took a stand for justice.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Still, Assange was able to reveal details that rocked the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign.
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: WikiLeaks I love WikiLeaks.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): WikiLeaks published hacked emails from DNC staffers and Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton's campaign. Over time his
relationship with his host soured. Ecuador revoked his asylum in 2019 and London police arrested him on an extradition warrant from the U.S. Justice
Department to face a conspiracy charge.
17 new counts under the Espionage Act followed accusing Assange of publishing information that risks the lives of confidential U.S. sources
and endanger national security. The Swedish charges were dropped later that year, but Assange was sentenced to prison for violating his bail conditions
and spent five years fighting his extradition to the U.S. mostly isolated at Belmarsh high security prison.
Two years ago, he married his lawyer and mother of his two children, Stella Morris inside jail. His plea deal with the U.S. on a remote Pacific Island
a final twist in this tale, recognition that he has paid his dues.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Clare Sebastien reporting there. All right, I want to get you to some breaking news now on the ground in Nairobi. CNN's Larry Madowo joining
us Larry, anger on the streets crowds in the Kenyan capital, facing police and tear gas we understand some are now inside the parliament building.
What can you tell us at this point?
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Becky, we're outside Kenya's Parliament and protesters did breach one of the walls of Parliament and made it all
the way inside. There's some reinforcement now we see a lot of police in there in drive gear, standing guard just to make sure this doesn't happen
again.
We have police choppers flying overhead, also patrolling here, but if you look into sight into the wall of Parliament, you see some broken windows.
This is part of the war that we've seen there between these protesters and police. Their mission today was to try and occupy parliament.
And the police tried everything to make sure that didn't happen. The police did not succeed because a few dozen of them made it all the way inside
parliament to the speaker's seat. And we saw some of them carry away the mace from Kenya's National Assembly. And they made it all the way out.
The anger here over this finance bill that went through a procedural motion today. Many people feel that it'll make their life extremely difficult. And
that's what this anger is here. They've been calling for a full rejection of the bill, not just amendments, as the government has done.
One of the casualties here is this police vehicle which was burned by the protesters. And part of the reason why there's been fire here is because
police have been using a lot of tear gas, a lot of teargas canisters all day, and they keep throwing it back to them. So that's one of the after
effects of what's happened here.
But back here on the road that leads to Parliament. This is called Parliament Avenue. There's a standoff between the police and the
protesters. This has been all day sometimes because the protesters come in the hundreds they push back the police. And then the police try and push
them back using what a guy's -- using water cannons and tear gas.
But that alone has not been able to stop them. So they've managed to keep them out here. All these police in riot gear are have to be extra vigilant
because these protesters are keen to come back into the National Assembly to have their voices heard to tell the President William Ruto that life has
become too expensive for us for them, that the cost of living has become too expensive for them that he needs to do something.
This is an extraordinary scene. I have covered many protests in Kenya since 2007. I've never seen this warlike scene outside Kenya's Parliament often
they are not allowed to get this far. But this is street signs lying on the floor. They've just been some act of vandalism as police -- as the
protesters tried to protect themselves because they were largely unarmed.
[09:10:00]
They didn't have any weapons. But the police response to this has been heavily militarized. It has made Nairobi feel like a warzone because of the
sound of tear gas canisters constantly ringing in the air for the last few hours because of these running battles between police and protesters.
And we saw if you look on the tarmac here we see some lad, because we've seen at least two bodies that were lying here on the floor after we saw
police using live rounds to beat back from the protesters, many of whom, Becky, who are unarmed.
ANDERSON: I want to let you go. We'll get back to you as and when we can. I know that you spoke earlier to the Former President Barack Obama's half-
sister who was protesting. She was tear-gassed while speaking to CNN amid those protests in Kenya. Let's just have a look at what happened a little
earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARUMA OBAMA, ACTIVIST & BARACK OBAMA'S SISTER: I'm here because look at what's happening. Young Kenyans are demonstrating for their rights they're
demonstrating with flags and banners. I can't even see anymore.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Stay with "Connect the World" we'll get more from Nairobi as we move through the next couple of hours. Well, hospital officials in Gaza
tell CNN an Israeli airstrike killed 11 people in a refugee camp outside Gaza City among the dead, the sister and several other family members of
the Hamas Political Leader Ishmael Hania.
In April three of Hania's (ph) sons and four of his grandchildren were killed in another Israeli air strike, according to Hamas. Hania said at the
time that killing the sons of Hamas leaders would only make the group more steadfast in its principles.
Well, the entire population of Gaza is bracing for severe levels of food insecurity through the summer that is a sobering forecast in a just
released report by ISP the Integrated Food Security Phase classification, it says a high risk of famine persist across all of Gaza and can only be
reduced through a stop in fighting and sustained access for humanitarian groups. Paula Hancocks shows us the shattering impact of this food
emergency in Gaza in a report that does contain disturbing images.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Amal (ph) meaning hope was born two months premature. She died after just four days of family says a
baby born into war in Northern Gaza. It is a result of her early birth the head of pediatrics says which is a result of malnutrition and starvation of
her mother. This is the fourth child that's died in this department this week.
Amal's father says they were displaced with no shelter, food or water. A real starvation he says my girl died because of this. Hospitals across Gaza
are full of malnutrition cases doctors say needing special care that simply does not exist.
Yunis (ph) is nine years old his mother takes off his T-shirt to show the painful evidence of malnutrition and extreme dehydration. She says he was
healthy until they were displaced multiple times from Northern Gaza to Rafah to a beach area where she says they don't even have a tent.
The food was no longer available his mother says. There were bad living conditions and polluted water. I'm losing my son in front of my eyes. More
than 50,000 children require treatment for acute malnutrition according to the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees UNWRA.
Eight months of war have decimated the health system, water sanitation and food distribution. Clean water has become a luxury many struggle to access.
The IDF says there is enough aid in Gaza the distribution is the problem.
JAMES ELDER, UNICEF: It's not just about getting it in and there's far too little coming in. That's why we have an unprecedented nutrition crisis for
the youngest children in Gaza. It's not a safe place that enabling way to deliver that aid.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): Aid groups say lawlessness on the ground is making their job of delivering aid to those who need it increasingly dangerous.
Dr. Sharif Matar (ph) says he seen around 120 children on this one day at the Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. He estimates up to 20 percent of them was
suffering from malnutrition, diarrhea, inflammation and infections are prevalent he says caused by lack of sanitation or clean water.
This boy is one and a half he says. He weighs less than six kilograms. There's no subcutaneous fat his body is effectively eating itself.
[09:15:00]
The United Nations has already warned 1 million Palestinians will be at risk of starvation and death by mid-July. That is just weeks away. As with
everything in this war, it is the young who bear the brunt.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Paula, joining me now from Jerusalem. And Paula, very sobering images in your reporting and disturbing new numbers about the massive
impact of food insecurity in Gaza as this war continues, and it does continue a few minutes ago, we reported on the sister of the Hamas
political leader getting killed in an airstrike. What more do we know at this point?
HANCOCKS (on-camera): Well, Becky, this report is very much data driven. It's the IPC is effectively the U.N.'s hunger monitoring system. It uses
the global scientific norms to assess the food insecurity, and it is used widely across the board by humanitarian aid groups. So the fact that it has
come out with such a sobering report is being noted by many groups.
The World Food Programme, for example, has said that it proves what they have been seeing on the ground. Other aid groups say that this matches
their testimony of the dire situation on the ground. Now, they also talk about the southern part of Gaza, saying that food was able to get in in
March and April and they could notice a marked improvement.
But then as soon as Israel's military operations started in Rafah, the Rafah crossing was closed since early May. Then the situation deteriorated
significantly. Similarly that the World Food Programme said that in the northern part of Gaza, they had seen some slight improvements clearly as
another land crossing was opened by the Israelis allowing food and water to be able to get to those specific areas. So we can see a very direct
correlation between the access to get into Gaza and improvements on the ground, Becky.
ANDERSON: Paula Hancocks is in Jerusalem. Paula, thank you. You're watching "Connect the World" with me Becky Anderson, 17 minutes past five here in
the UAE. Still to come, the final stretch six candidates with just three days left to make their case to voters after the death of Iran's President,
triggers and early election a live report from Tehran is just ahead.
Plus what to expect when U.S. President Joe Biden and Donald Trump go face to face for their first presidential debate of 2024. That is here on CNN,
more on that after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:20:00]
ANDERSON: Presidential candidates in Iran are in the final days of campaigning ahead of Friday's vote. Now that election, of course comes
after a helicopter crash last month that killed hardline President Ebrahim Raisi. Iran's Supreme Leader is calling for maximum turnout to quote,
overcome the enemy.
His comments follow a parliamentary election earlier this year that saw record low participation. CNN's Senior International Correspondent Fred
Pleitgen joins us live from Tehran. These candidates must, of course, first be OK by Iran's Hardline Guardian Council. So who has been approved to run
and what does the Supreme Leader mean by those comments?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, Becky, the supreme leader came out today. And he once again said that
he wanted that very high participation in the election. One of the things that he said is that every time there's low participation, and in the
Iranian election, he feels that the enemies of Iran are emboldened and criticize the Islamic Republic of Iran.
So obviously, the folks here in power to the system they believe, a high participation is extremely important as far as the candidates are concerned
so pretty interesting field. There are, as you mentioned, six candidates who are still in the running. There are three who I think many people would
consider being the front runners.
One of them is actually a moderate. And that's a little bit different than the last presidential election were Ebrahim Raisi, of course, was elected.
His name is Massoud Pezeshkian (ph). And there are some who believe that he might have a dark horse chance to actually win. He also has the form of
foreign brief in his corner as well, Becky.
But I think the other thing that you mentioned is so important as well. And that is the fact that of course, all this comes only a little more than a
month after that helicopter crash that killed Iran's President, Ebrahim Raisi and all that, of course, still really looms over this election.
I'm actually here at festivities that are going on for a very important religious holiday today here, but of course, the election very important in
that as well. And I want you to take a look at that election poster over that. That's for one of the conservative candidates. That's Mohammad Bagher
Ghalibaf who is the speaker of parliament.
But as you can see on there, he is there holding hands with the deceased president with Ebrahim Raisi, showing how important a figure Ebrahim Raisi
is, especially to the conservatives who are still in this race. And obviously one of the things that Mohammad Ghalibaf says is that he wants to
continue the work of Ebrahim Raisi, who of course was killed in that helicopter crash.
So that chopper crash, really looming over the preparations for this election. I think one of the things that were very important for the
Supreme Leader of Iran is he came out and he said, look he guarantees that the functioning of the Iranian government will continue.
And I think holding these elections only a little bit over a month after that chopper crash took place after the head of the government obviously
was killed in that chopper crash is very important for the Islamic Republic and very important also for the supreme leader to show that voting this
country will continue and the functioning of the government and its institutions will continue as well, Becky.
ANDERSON: That is Tehran this week. Fred, thank you. Meantime, the countdown is on. There are just two days left until the first U.S.
presidential debate of 2024 right here on CNN. The Biden and Trump campaigns fine tuning their strategies for Thursday nights face off and the
states of course are extremely high.
Recent polling shows no clear leader in the rematch between President Joe Biden and Donald Trump's. CNN's Arlette Saenz is focusing on Biden's
campaign and debate prep while Alayna Treene is covering Trump's campaign for us. So Arlette, let's start with you.
Several top Democrats have issued pretty stark warnings to President Joe Biden's camp, urging them to spend more time going after the former
president directly and less time if any, pointing to the President's policy record. Why the focus on this sort of strategy at this point?
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, President Biden's advisors have signaled that the economy is one of those issues. They
believe they can really draw a stark contrast with Donald Trump on the debate stage on Thursday. But CNN has learned that some outside advisors
are offering the Biden team.
Some advice about how exactly to relay that economic message and conversations playing out behind the scenes were told that there have been
advisors telling the Biden team that President Biden should focus less on taking a victory lap about his own accomplishments when it pertains to the
economy.
And focus more on going on offense and attacking Trump's vision for the economy. These people have counseled the Biden team to really try to tie
Trump to corporations and also highlight the inflationary nature of some of his economic plans. It all comes as the economy and inflation remains a top
concern for voters heading into November's election.
[09:25:00]
And polling has shown that voters continue to harbor deep reservations about President Biden's approach to the economy, with polls showing that
more ifs tend to favor Trump on economic issues than Biden. Now, the Biden campaign is really leaning in to making their economic arguments in the
days leading into the debate.
Today, they unveiled a new television ad which will run in battleground states really trying to paint the former president as someone who is only
looking out for himself and not the middle class in America. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump loves to attack Joe Biden.
TRUMP: Joe Biden. Joe Biden.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because he's focused on revenge and he has no plan to help the middle class. He'd just give more tax cuts to the wealthy. Here's
the difference. Donald Trump is only out for himself. Joe Biden is fighting for your family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAENZ: Now, Biden's advisers have signaled it's not just the economy where they believe they have strong arguments to make against Trump. They have
also said that the President's expected to really drill in on drawing that contrast when it pertains to abortion rights, and also the need to protect
democracy.
You know, Biden remains at Camp David with his top advisors preparing for this debate. We're told that those debate preparations extended late into
the evening last night, as the Biden team was trying to use every last possible minute to prepare for this face off against Donald Trump on
Thursday.
ANDERSON: Arlette, thank you. Alayna, how is Donald Trump preparing for this debate then? And is it clear what his strategy is likely to be at this
point?
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, to answer the second part of that question, first, I think the strategy is that Donald Trump's team wants to
keep him on message and talking about specific policy issues that they think he posts better on than Joe Biden. They think similarly to what our,
legislate out.
They actually think Trump can do a better job talking about the economy on stage than Joe Biden. So the economy is definitely something behind the
scenes. I know that Donald Trump and his team as well as a group of policy experts, advisors, and potential VP contenders, all of them are meeting
with Donald Trump to sharpen their rhetoric.
So the economy is one, he also wants to focus on immigration and the border, again, things that they think he pulls better on compared to the
president, however, for as how he's preparing, it's a little bit different from what the Biden campaign is doing. Donald Trump is not holed up
somewhere for a week like Joe Biden is at Camp David.
Instead, he's actually been pretty aggressively working on the campaign trail over the weekend. He had a rally in Philadelphia, as well as a stop
in Washington D.C. at a Christian Conservative Conference. He had a fundraiser last night. He is spending the next two days at Mar-a-Lago for
more of those policy discussions that I just laid out.
And then he has a rally again later this week. And so all of this is really the Trump campaign trying to show that they believe Donald Trump needs less
preparation than Joe Biden. But of course, behind the scenes, he is doing his homework. Now, Donald Trump did address this question himself in a
podcast interview yesterday. Take a listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: How are you preparing? I'm preparing by taking questions from you and others, if you think about it. But I'm preparing by dealing with you.
You're tougher than all of them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TREENE: So this is very similar, Becky, to what Donald Trump has been saying in the past. And his team has really been trying to argue that look,
when he goes to these rallies when he speaks with voters that is his version of preparing, of course, I have to point out that it's a friendly
audience.
Normally, when he is meeting with his own supporters like he did this weekend in Philadelphia, when he's doing these interviews, often they are
friendly interviewers that he is meeting with now. I can also tell you that the Trump campaign doesn't exactly know which version of Donald Trump is
going to show up on that debate stage on Thursday.
We've seen Donald Trump at times be able to be more presidential talk about his own policies focus on the issues, but also, he's very much quick to be
aggressive. He likes to meander, we saw in 2020 in the first debate between him and Joe Biden, Donald Trump was very aggressive.
He barely let Joe Biden get a word in and then actually negatively impacted him in the polls in the days after that. And so Trump's team has been
working also behind the scenes to try and rein in some of that more vitriolic language. But again, no one really knows which version of Donald
Trump we're going to see on Thursday.
ANDERSON: Well, the countdown is on. To both of you, thank you very much indeed. Tune in to see the second presidential debate. First one right here
on CNN, coming up on June 27, 9 pm. Eastern time or 12 hours later at 7 pm London or 10 pm in Abu Dhabi, if that is where you're watching.
So there's still to come, clothing company, Levi Strauss is the target of a new report that accuses the company of failing to protect hundreds of
factory workers rights in Turkey, or the jeans giant is saying, that is after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:30:00]
ANDERSON: Welcome back, I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi, you're watching "Connect the World". Time here is just after half past five in the
afternoon. Half past four in the afternoon in Nairobi and let's just get you back there. It's one of our top stories this hour. We are now learning
that lawmakers have been forced to escape the Kenyan Parliament building through an underground channel after protesters got inside that building
according to CNN affiliate NTV.
Kenya ongoing protests against proposed tax hikes have ignited in the capital in recent hours. Our CNN team on the scene reported seeing at least
two bodies lying on the ground after police fired live rounds at protesters. We'll get back to our team on the ground as and when we can.
Well, works and these are live pictures coming from the Kenyan capital for you just to give you a sense of what is going on there. That there is we
can. Overworked and overtired factory workers in Turkey making Levi's jeans are speaking out after hundreds of employees were fired last year for going
on strike. A new report accuses the jeans giant failing to do more to protect the employees. Scott McLean filed this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We will not be slaves to the boss they chant these workers at a factory in Southern Turkey
produced jeans for the fashion giant Levi's. They joined the new union and went on strike last year claiming they had extremely long hours and low pay
in miserable conditions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are Ozak textile workers who work 20 hours some days and go back to work without sleep. For all the hard work and sweat we
put in we want to be treated as human beings.
MCLEAN (voice-over): Turkish police moved in to clear the protest. Ozak textile, the Levi's supplier in Turkey fired all of them for not coming to
work. Roughly 400 workers made up almost half of its entire factory staff.
[09:35:00]
Funda Bakis was a union rep she says she's been out of work now for the last six months.
FUNDA BAKIS, UNION REPRESENTATIVE: I couldn't even afford to buy the pants we were producing.
MCLEAN: Did you expect Levi's as a company to support you?
BAKIS: We expected more from Levi's from Ozak, because it's an international company and a brand that talks a lot about your main working
conditions.
MCLEAN (voice-over): Levi's says the company prides itself on doing what's right. Its own supplier Code of Conduct says factories shall respect the
right of free association and the right to organize and bargain collectively without unlawful interference.
SCOTT NOVA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF WORKER RIGHTS CONSORTIUM: This is one of the most brazen outrageous violations of the right of workers to join
unions to strike that we've seen anywhere in the global apparel supply chain in years.
MCLEAN (voice-over): Scott Nova, the Executive Director of the independent labor monitoring group, the Worker Rights Consortium helped write a new
report that criticizes Levi's for failing to do more.
NOVA: This is a group of hundreds of low wage workers in Turkey, who risked everything to try to improve conditions if they're abusive factories
believing that Levi's would protect them because Levi's purports to protect the rights of workers. And instead Levi's abandon the workers in violation
of its own standards.
MCLEAN (voice-over): Nova's group shared emails with CNN. The termination of workers Levi's wrote to the union is a zero tolerance violation of our
supplier code of conduct. We've called on Ozak to reinstate the workers. If they do not agree to comply, we will be forced to take the appropriate next
steps to uphold worker's rights.
MCLEAN: But Ozak textile did not do what Levis was asking, it did not reinstate all of those workers. The company, whose office is here in
Istanbul behind me, said that it did offer most of them the chance to return but not to stay on strike. Very few ultimately took them up on that
offer. Now Turkish law does enshrine the right to strike but Ozak points out that under that same law, the union didn't technically have enough
members to legally walk off the job.
MCLEAN (voice-over): A court later agreed the strike was illegal. Ozak denies it broke Levi's Code of Conduct but Levi's disagreed. Ozak did not
live up to expectations, the company wrote to the monitoring group. But we are less clear that exiting Ozak and potentially putting an additional 400
people out of work and the process is how we should proceed.
NOVA: The message Levi's is sending to all of its suppliers globally, of which there are many hundreds is that Levi's labor standards are
meaningless.
MCLEAN (voice-over): Levi's told CNN, it took issue with some parts of the report but didn't say which. It said it ultimately decided to continue
working with Ozak on a conditional basis that depends on management's fulfillment of a detailed remediation plan that addresses freedom of
association, working hours, and health and safety.
Seher Gulel was the first worker to join the union and the first to be fired. The factory said for quality control errors. She says that Ozak
updated her publicly available employment record with false information, effectively blacklisting her from any work. Ozak says its actions were
justified.
SEHER GULEL, UNION WORKER: We were looking for justice. But we fell into the middle of injustice. We were dismissed for disgraceful crimes. That's
why we can't find a job anywhere.
MCLEAN (voice-over): Funda Bakis is in the same boat. She's now living in a crowded house with more than 10 other family members. Seasonal farm work
may now be her only job option.
MCLEAN: How does this whole situation make you feel?
BAKIS: After all these rights violations, they took away our bread, they took away our jobs. They didn't leave anything on done to us, just because
we were demanding our rights. But justice never prevailed. Hope it does from now on.
MCLEAN (voice-over): Scott McLean, CNN, Istanbul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: We're going to take a very short break, back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:40:00]
ANDERSON: Right, let's do some football for you in the match between Italy and Croatia in Leipzig was thrilling in the end though the fans in
checkered red and white shirts went home disappointed. The Azzurri got a goal in the final minute of stoppage time to earn a one all draw and book a
place in the Euros last 16.
And it may be the last time that we will see Croatia's Luka Modric scoring or possibly even attending or being or playing at this tournament. I'm
pretty sure it will be Coy Wire joins me now. It was an excellent match. I mean, right up to that Wire, and Luka Modric, what a player he is? What a
legend he is? And it is likely the last time we'll see him, certainly in this tournament playing for Croatia.
COY WIRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, 38 years old, right, Becky. And if this were to be his last international match, he reminded everyone why he is a
legend. He missed a penalty. And then 30 seconds later he buries a goal puts his team up and it's looking like they're going to advance until that
absolute heartbreak, the last kick of the game Italy leveling it up.
And now Croatia very slim to none chance really of advancing at this point. But it pandemonium in that arena right in Modric said afterwards. Look, we
love football, but we also hate it. It gives us so much happiness. But it also brings us so much sadness.
ANDERSON: Yeah.
WIRE: And we as fans can relate to that, even if we're not even playing the game. We're going to have that.
ANDERSON: Yeah.
WIRE: And much more of the storylines coming out of Euros 2024 including the big matches today coming up including your England, Becky.
ANDERSON: That's right. Thank you for that and we are going to that, after this short break. Before I do Coy, I just want to get our viewers. One last
take on what is going on in Nairobi. It's an important one. It's one of our top stories.
So we are now learning that lawmakers in the Kenyan parliament have been forced to escape through an underground channel after protesters got inside
Kenya's parliament building. CNN's Larry Madowo is on the ground for us. Just describe what you are seeing and hearing there, Larry?
MADOWO: Becky, you were watching police push back protesters further away from Kenya's Parliament after the breach that, they were able to break down
one wall and make it all the way inside the floor of Kenya's National Assembly on the speaker's chair and take away the mace from the floor of
the house.
We're walking past City Hall, which is just a few 100 meters away from the Kenyan Parliament and the Office of the Governor is on fire. There are bits
of the building that are now on fire. We're working right inside it that the door has been broken in and processes appear to have made their way
inside this building.
And said parts of this building on fire, leads us to pushing them back further away from the center of government buildings where the parliament
and City Halls, the Office of the Governor of Nairobi and other buildings operates in an extraordinary state. They are tried to get into the National
Assembly and occupy Parliament as they declared these seven days in raids in major protests against over taxation in Kenya, Becky.
ANDERSON: Yeah, and just describe what sort of impacts these protesters are having at this point, aside from the obvious which we are seeing on these
images that we are watching now, how much success are they having in knocking back what they are so angry about?
[09:45:00]
MADOWO: I think they ferocity of today's process has been surprising to most people not least a week of which the government of President William
Ruto. He did say over the weekend that he understood the concerns of the young. They have raised concerns about the cost of living and that he would
engage them.
But these young people have continued to be on the streets. And they have been determined to get to Parliament to have their voices hard. And I think
the government of President William Ruto now has to really go back to the drawing table and figure out how to respond to this in a way that does not
inflame tensions even more.
ANDERSON: Larry, what a protest has been telling you.
MADOWO: They have been telling me life has become too expensive for them. The cost of living is already so high that they cannot afford any more of
the proposals contained in this controversial finance bill. The government did do a bit of -- and removed some of those proposals.
But they were not satisfied with them to protest to say they want to sign this bill completely rejected not just amended in certain sections. That's
one of the things. The other is that they feel the President William Ruto. He came to power in 2022, as somebody who wanted to apply to the common man
has forgotten that turned their back on them.
And has introduced a raft of new taxes, to raise revenue and to avoid relying on that, it's become so difficult for the common man to afford to
live in a in a country and a big need tax proposals, Becky.
ANDERSON: There have been reports of abductions. What are you know, at this point?
MADOWO: We heard from Amnesty International, Kenya earlier in the day, who told us that as well, prominent social media users have been abducted in
the middle of the night. According to Amnesty International, and their whereabouts were unknown. They blame these on security services. They
believe that police have these people.
And they're asking the government to make sure that they are either presented in court or released. These are some of the people who are most
active in the movement in trying to encourage people to come out and who've been the most vocal in these anti-government protests. And so it's
extraordinary that all of these people abducted according to Amnesty International over the last 24, 48 hours.
ANDERSON: Larry Madowo on the phone from Kenya. Larry, thank you. Stay safe. We will continue to get back to you to report on what you are seeing
and hearing on the streets of Nairobi as we speak. Thank you. I want to take a very short break, back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:50:00]
ANDERSON: Let's get you back to our breaking news this hour. Protesters in Nairobi have now inside Kenya's parliament building, amid protests against
proposed tax hikes or just a short time ago. Our CNN team reported seeing at least two bodies lying on the ground. CNN's Larry Madowo is there, these
are live pictures you're seeing now and this report is sir, Larry's report from justice some moments ago.
MADOWO: You have seen protesters brace and actually get inside Kenya's National Assembly. We saw protesters make out of the assembly with a mace
which is the symbol of Kenya's parliament. A few of them not all the protesters, lot of them have been held just outside of Kenya's National
Assembly by the police.
There's been a dramatic scene all afternoon with police trying to push them back with water cannon and with tear gas and they throw back with tear gas
and push back the police. At one point they made it right outside Kenya's National Assembly. So the scene you have here is still a strong police
presence.
All of these trucks here, we see the protesters just on the periphery of Kenya's National Assembly here. We have seen at least two bodies on the
ground. We saw police use live rounds while the protesters breached the fence of the National Assembly. And that's how some of them were able to
get inside the Kenyan parliament.
And as the protesters were getting closer, overwhelming the police some of these security officers, some of the men inside Kenya's parliament. We saw
them, using live rounds. And after that we saw at least two bodies lying here on this street. This is called Parliament Avenue because right in
front of Kenya's Parliament.
And this is the building that houses both the National Assembly and the Senate. There's still a standoff here between the protesters and that
roundabout over at the end of that road and the police trying to hold them back there. But part of the wall has been breached. And protesters made it
all the way from the -- into the cafeteria and inside the floor of the National Assembly and made out of the mace.
They were trying to get it through the fence and they kind of broke it into two and they got out with the arm of the mace but the rest of it remained
inside parliament. So the most dramatic scene I've seen covering protests here in Kenya for a long, long time. But also the two bodies we've seen.
Those are the ones we personally saw a CNN. The protesters tell us they've seen other bodies and other parts of the city. They were largely peaceful
protesters and they are angry that police appear to be using live rounds to beat back and to disrupt peaceful protesters.
ANDERSON: Larry Madowo on the ground in Nairobi for you. More on that as we get it. Well Joe Biden and Donald Trump get ready to face off at the CNN
debate on Thursday. Biden's team says he is getting ready to encounter what could be a much disciplined Donald Trump this time around.
It'll be a far cry from Trump's performance in their first debate four years ago. CNN's Brian Todd looks back at Trump's history on that debate
stage.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Our first hint of Donald Trump's penchant for being an unconstrained debater came in 2015 when then
Fox News Anchor Megyn Kelly challenged him over his treatment of women who had drawn his disdain.
MEGYN KELLY, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: You've called women you don't like fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals. Your Twitter account --
TRUMP: Only Rosie O'Donnell.
KELLY: No, it wasn't.
TRUMP: What I say is what I say. And honestly, Megyn, if you don't like it, I'm sorry. I've been very nice to you. Although I could probably maybe not
be based on the way you have treated me. But I wouldn't do that.
MATT VISER, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER AT THE WASHINGTON POST: It was the first indication that this is an unpredictable force in American politics that we
had never seen before.
TODD (voice-over): The former president has pulled visual stunts to knock his opponent off their game like the time in 2016 when his campaign had
three women who had accused Former President Bill Clinton of inappropriate sexual behavior, sit front and center at his debate against Hillary
Clinton.
At that same debate, Trump stood very close behind Hillary Clinton as she spoke. Clinton later joked about it on "The Ellen DeGeneres" show.
HILLARY CLINTON, THEN-DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I would just feel this presence. I thought, wow, this is really weird.
TODD (voice-over): In the first 2020 debate, Trump repeatedly unashamedly interrupted Joe Biden to the point where the then Democratic nominee just
couldn't take it anymore.
(CROSSTALK)
TODD (voice-over): Trump has often scored points off these moments by feeding off the audience.
[09:55:00]
In the 2016 primaries, Trump definitely parlayed audience reactions and the use of insults to confound his GOP opponents. There was a repeated salvo
towards Senator Marco Rubio. Rubio responded by making fun of the size of Trump's hands. But Trump had a comeback for that too.
TRUMP: He referred to my hands if this fall, something else must be small. I guarantee you there's no problem I guarantee.
TODD (voice-over): Trump also struck a nerve by often lambasted Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush's energy levels.
TODD: Did that change perceptions of Jeb Bush?
VISER: It did and Jeb Bush frankly never recovered from some of that created this narrative around the Bush campaign and around events that Jeb
Bush was participating in that did start to seem low energy.
TODD: Analyst Matt Viser points out the format for this Thursday's debate will give Donald Trump far fewer opportunities to score with those
unscripted, colorful moments with no live audience for him to feed off of and the candidates microphones muted unless it's their turn to speak.
Donald Trump will have to find possibly more traditional ways to try to knock his opponent off his game. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well "Connect the World" with me Becky Anderson continues after this short break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
