Return to Transcripts main page
Connect the World
Benjamin Netanyahu Speaks at the United Nations General Assembly; Donald Trump Meets Ukraine's Zelenskyy in New York; Helene Made Landfall as Category 4 Hurricane in Southeastern U.S.; Philanthropist Urges Leaders at the U.N. to Protect Education in War Zones. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired September 27, 2024 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:04]
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Israel must also defeat Hezbollah in Lebanon. Hezbollah is the quintessential terror organization
in the world today. It has tentacles that span in all continents. It has murdered more Americans and more Frenchmen than any group except bin Laden.
It's murdered the citizens of many countries represented in this room. And it has attacked Israel viciously over the last 20 years.
In the last year, completely unprovoked, a day after Hamas massacre on October 7th, Hezbollah began attacks against Israel, which forced more than
60,000 Israelis on our northern border to leave their homes, becoming refugees in their own land. Hezbollah turned vibrant towns in the north of
Israel into ghost towns.
So I want you to think about this in equivalent American terms. Just imagine if terrorists turned El Paso and San Diego into ghost towns. Then
ask yourself, how long would the American government tolerate that? A day? A week? A month? I doubt they'd tolerated it even for a single day. Yet
Israel has been tolerating this intolerable situation for nearly a year.
Well, I've come here today to say enough is enough.
(APPLAUSE)
NETANYAHU: We won't rest until our citizens can return safely to their homes. We will not accept a terror army perched on our northern border able
to perpetrate another October 7th style massacre. For 18 years Hezbollah brazenly refused to implement U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which
requires it to move its forces away from our borders. Instead, Hezbollah moved right up to our border.
They secretly dug terror tunnels to infiltrate our communities and indiscriminately fired thousands of rockets into our towns and villages.
They fired these rockets and missiles not from military sites, not from that -- they do that, too. But they fired those rockets and missiles after
they placed them in schools, in hospitals, in apartment buildings, and in the private homes of the citizens of Lebanon.
They endanger their own people. They put a missile in every kitchen, a rocket in every garage. I said to the people of Lebanon this week, get out
of the deathtrap that Hezbollah has put you in. Don't let Nasrallah drag Lebanon into the abyss. We're not at war with you. We're at war with
Hezbollah, which has hijacked your country and threatens to destroy ours.
As long as Hezbollah chooses the path of war, Israel has no choice and Israel has every right to remove this threat and return our citizens to
their homes safely. And that's exactly what we're doing.
(APPLAUSE)
NETANYAHU: Just this week the IDF destroyed large percentages of Hezbollah's rockets, which had built with Iran's funding for three decades.
We took out senior military commanders, who not only shed Israeli blood, but American and French blood as well, and then we took out the
replacements and then the replacements of their replacements, and we'll continue degrading Hezbollah until all our objectives are met.
(APPLAUSE)
NETANYAHU: Ladies and Gentlemen, we're committed to removing the curse of terrorism that threatens all civilized societies. But to truly realize the
blessing of a new Middle East, we must continue the path we paved with the Abraham Accords four years ago. Above all, this means achieving a historic
peace agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
And having seen the blessings that we've already brought with the Abraham Accords, the millions of Israelis who've already flown back and forth
across the Arabian Peninsula, over the skies of Saudi Arabia to the Gulf countries, the trade, the tourism, the joint ventures, the peace, the
peace.
[10:05:05]
I'd say to you, what lessons such a peace with Saudi Arabia would bring? It would be a boon to the security and economy of our two countries. It would
boost trade and tourism across the region. It would help transform the Middle East into a global juggernaut.
Our two countries could cooperate on energy, water, agriculture, artificial intelligence, and many, many other fields. Such a peace I'm sure would be a
true pivot of history. It would usher in a historic reconciliation between the Arab world and Israel, between Islam and Judaism, between Mecca and
Jerusalem. While Israel is committed to achieving such a peace, Iran and its terror proxies are committed to scuttling it.
That's why one of the best ways to foil Iran's nefarious designs is to achieve the peace. Such a peace would be the foundation for an even broader
Abrahamic alliance. And that alliance would include the United States, Israel's current Arab peace partner, Saudi Arabia, and others who choose
the blessing of peace.
It'll advance security and prosperity across the Middle East and bring enormous benefits to the rest of the world. With American support and
leadership, I believe this vision can materialize and much sooner than people think.
And as the prime minister of Israel, I will do everything in my power to make it happen. This is an opportunity that we and the world should not let
go by.
(APPLAUSE)
NETANYAHU: Ladies and gentlemen, Israel has made its choice. We seek to move forward to a bright age of prosperity and peace. Iran and its proxies
have also made their choice. They want to move back to a dark age of terror and war.
And now I have a question. And I posed that question to you. What choice will you make? Will your nation stand with Israel? Will you stand with
democracy and peace? Or will you stand with Iran, a brutal dictatorship that subjugates its own people, exports terrorism across the globe?
In this battle between good and evil, there must be no equivocation. When you stand with Israel, you stand for your own values and your own
interests. Yes, we're defending ourselves, but we're also defending you against a common enemy that through violence and terror seeks to destroy
our way of life. So there should be no confusion about this.
But unfortunately, there is. A lot of it. In many countries, and in this very hall as I've just heard, good is portrayed as evil and evil is
portrayed as good. We see this moral confusion when Israel is falsely accused of genocide when we defend ourselves against enemies who tried to
commit genocide against us.
We see this, too, when Israel is absurdly accused by the ICC prosecutor of deliberately starving Palestinians in Gaza. What an absurdity. We helped
bring in 700,000 tons of food into Gaza. That's more than 3,000 calories a day for every man, woman, and child in Gaza.
We see this moral confusion when Israel is falsely accused of deliberately targeting civilians. We don't want to see a single person, a single
innocent person, die. That's always a tragedy. And that's why we do so much to minimize civilian casualties. Even as our enemies use civilians as human
shields. And no army has done what Israel is doing to minimize civilian casualties. We dropped flyers, we send text messages, we make phone calls
by the millions to ensure that Palestinian civilians get out of harm's way. We spare no effort in this noble pursuit.
We see yet another profound moral confusion when self-described progressives march against the democracy of Israel. Don't they realize they
support the Iranian-backed goons in Tehran and in Gaza. The goons who gun down protesters, murder women for not covering their hair and hang gays in
public squares. Some progressives.
According to the U.S. director of National Intelligence, Iran's funds and fuels many of the protesters against Israel. Who knows, maybe some of the
protesters, or even many of the protesters outside this building now.
[18:10:05]
Ladies and gentlemen, King Solomon, who reigned in our eternal capital of Jerusalem 3,000 years ago, proclaimed, he proclaimed something that is
familiar to all of you. He said there is nothing new under the sun. Well, in an age of space travel, quantum physics, and artificial intelligence,
some would argue that's a debatable statement, but one thing is undeniable. There is definitely nothing new at the United Nations.
(APPLAUSE)
NETANYAHU: Take it from me, I first spoke from this podium as Israel's ambassador to the U.N. in 1984. That's exactly 40 years ago. And in my
maiden speech here, I think it's the same podium, by the way. In my maiden speech here I spoke against the proposal to expel Israel from this body.
Four decades later I find myself defending Israel against that same preposterous proposal.
And who's leading the charge this time? Not Hamas, but Abbas. The Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas. This is the man who claims
he wants peace with Israel. Yet he still refuses to condemn the horrific massacre of October 7th. He is still paying hundreds of millions to
terrorists who murder Israelis and Americans. It's called pay for slay. The more you murder, the more you get paid.
And he still wages unremitting diplomatic warfare against Israel's right to exist and against Israel's right to defend itself. And by the way, they
amount to the same thing. Because if you can't defend yourself, you can't exist. Not in our neighborhoods, certainly. And maybe not in yours.
Standing in this podium 40 years ago, I told the sponsors of that outrageous resolution to expel Israel, gentlemen, check your fanaticism at
the door. Today I tell President Abbas and all of you who would shamefully support that resolution, check your fanaticism at the door. The singling
out of the one and only Jewish state continues to be a moral stain on the United Nations. It has made this once respected institution contemptible in
the eyes of decent people everywhere.
But for the Palestinians, this U.N. house of darkness is home court. They know that in this swamp of antisemitic bile, there's an automatic majority
willing to demonize the Jewish state and anything in this anti-Israel flat- earth society. Any false charge, any outlandish allegation can muster a majority.
In the last decade there has been more resolutions passed against Israel in this hall at the U.N. General Assembly than against the entire world
combined. Actually, more than twice as many. Since 2014 this body condemned Israel 174 times. It condemned all the other countries in the world 73
times, That's more than 100 extra condemnations for the Jewish state.
What hypocrisy, what a double standard, what a joke. So the U.N.'s hostility --
(APPLAUSE)
NETANYAHU: So all the speeches you heard today, all the hostility directed at Israel this year, it's not about Gaza. It's about Israel. It's always
been about Israel, about Israel's very existence. And I say to you, until Israel, until the Jewish state is treated like other nations, until this
antisemitic swamp is drained, the U.N. will be viewed by fair-minded people everywhere as nothing more than a contemptuous farce.
Now given the antisemitism at the U.N. it should surprise no one that the prosecutor at the ICC, one of the U.N.'s affiliated organs, is considering
issuing arrest warrants against me and Israel's defense minister. The democratically elected leader -- leaders of the democratic state of Israel.
[10:15:02]
The ICC prosecutor's rush to judgment, his refusal to treat Israel with its independent courts the way other democracies are treated is hard to explain
by anything other than pure antisemitism.
Ladies and gentlemen, the real war criminals are not in Israel. They're in Iran. They're in Gaza, in Syria, in Lebanon, in Yemen. Those of you who
stand with these war criminals, those of you who stand with evil against good, with a curse against the blessing, those of you do so should be
ashamed of yourselves.
(APPLAUSE)
NETANYAHU: But I have a message for you. Israel will win this battle. We'll win this battle because we don't have a choice. After generation --
(APPLAUSE)
NETANYAHU: After generations in which our people were slaughtered, remorselessly butchered, and no one raised a finger in our defense, we now
have a state, we now have a brave army, an army of incomparable courage and we are defending ourselves. As the Book of Samuel says in the bible,
(speaking in foreign language). The eternity of Israel will not falter.
(APPLAUSE)
NETANYAHU: In the Jewish people's epic journey from antiquity, in our odyssey through the tempus and upheavals of modern times, that ancient
promise has always been kept and it will hold true for all time.
To borrow a great poet's phrase, Israel will not go gently into that good night. We will never -- we will never need to rage against the dying of the
light because the torch of Israel will forever shine bright.
(APPLAUSE)
NETANYAHU: To the people of Israel and to the soldiers of Israel, I say, be strong and of good courage, (speaking in foreign language). The people of
Israel live now, tomorrow, forever.
Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: More than 20 minutes of Benjamin Netanyahu speaking today for considerably more than that. He referred to
the United Nations as a swamp of antisemitic bile as an anti-Israeli flat- earthed society. He was applauded on the way in by his supporters. I have to say that was a very empty chamber but his supporters were there and he
was cheered at various points throughout his speech.
And we're going to pick parts somewhat what he said. To do that and to provide some insight and analysis for you, let's bring in our panel. CNN's
Nic Robertson, Gideon Levy of "Haaretz," back with us both in Tel Aviv today. Ben Wedeman is in Southern Lebanon and former hostage negotiator,
Gershon Baskin, also with us live.
I want to start with my colleague Nic.
You just heard what nearly I think around 40 minutes from Benjamin Netanyahu. He said he wasn't going to -- he didn't think he would come this
year to the U.N. He said, my country is at war fighting for its life. But after the lies and slanders leveled at Israel I decided to come and set the
record straight.
What stood out in what was a pretty comprehensive speech from the Israeli prime minister to you?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, clearly the defiance stood out and clearly singling out Iran and painting this picture
of either blessings or something far worse, a curse, and holding up those maps. In many ways, this was sort of vintage Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu. This is where he actually feels comfortable, where he is speaking to an audience, where he feels that he is a master orator and he
was delivering clearly his version and his belief.
[10:20:10]
But it's not the first time we've heard him single out Iran. I think any of us that were looking to try to see if there was a nuance in there about
this potential ceasefire with -- between Israel and Hezbollah on the northern border, I think his continued references to America and France
about how Hezbollah and Iran as well had been responsible for killing your citizens, was kind of getting specific on this was your initiative, but
examine this, why don't you?
I mean, look, the big takeaway here has to be this is a prime minister who's not climbing down from anything he's said, who doubled down on
everything that is said so far. The demand for the hostages back his position, his view, and the takeaway has to be at the moment in this moment
of escalating tensions across the northern border is there was nothing in there that told us those escalating tensions are going to be tamped down in
any way in the short term -- Becky.
ANDERSON: And let me bring in Ben Wedeman, who is in Lebanon. On Hezbollah, Benjamin Netanyahu said, and I quote, "Enough is enough. We won't rest
until our citizens can return safely to their homes," echoing what we've heard from the defense minister earlier today in a stated aim of the
Israeli government or certainly the prime minister at this point.
What did you make of what you heard?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Becky, if you take into account what you just said and the fact that I don't think I heard the
word ceasefire once in that speech, that clearly Israel is set on its current air campaign and perhaps a ground incursion to try to push
Hezbollah back.
Now, for instance, he did say that Hezbollah has a missile in every kitchen and a rocket in every garage, that sort of sends a rather alarming message
to people here because the fact of the matter is in South Lebanon, there is not a missile in every kitchen and a rocket in every garage. But this seems
to indicate that Israel considers every house, every kitchen, every garage to be a legitimate target.
But broadly speaking this was classic Netanyahu in which he divides the world into black and white, good and evil. He talks about the curse and of
course we're in Lebanon, which is part of that curse. I think people would scratch their heads a bit because the fact of the matter is the Middle East
is an area of grays. There's no black and white. Certainly take into consideration that Israel has occupied the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the
Golan Heights and essentially occupied Gaza despite the fact that settlers pulled out in 2005.
That is an open wound in the region that Israel has not really done much to treat. There was a peace process at one point, but that didn't go anywhere
and certainly the rhetoric that comes out of Israel from some of the extremists sends a very dark message to the region that this is not
necessarily a question of good and evil, that there are extremists on both sides of the conflict. And those extremists on both sides are really the
ones who are driving this conflict forward.
And what we're seeing increasingly is the United States under the current administration in this election season in the United States has really just
put the Middle East on a back burner, throwing lots of rhetoric and encouraging words about diplomacy and peace in the Middle East and whatnot.
But the fact of the matter is very little is actually being done about it. The U.S. and France put forward what they called was a ceasefire proposal.
But it doesn't seem to be going anywhere. And every day in Gaza, in Lebanon, more people are dying, more people are being killed -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Gershon, let me bring you in here before I also ask for some analysis from Gideon. On the issue of Gaza very specifically he said there
is no substitute for total victory in Gaza. He said we do not seek to resettle Gaza. We seek to de-radicalize it. We're focused on mapping up the
remaining elements of Hamas and let them go, he said of the hostages. Those who are alive must be returned alive and the remains of those who are dead
must be returned.
[10:25:05]
There is no substitute, and I repeat this for total victory in Gaza. So we're just sort of describing some of the reliving as it were, some of what
a very defiant Benjamin Netanyahu just said at the U.N. in New York.
On the issue of Gaza, what do you take out of what you've just heard?
GERSHON BASKIN, FORMER HOSTAGE NEGOTIATOR: Listen, Netanyahu is living in a world of delusion. There is no total victory in Gaza, and there is a deal
on the table. And this is what the world needs to understand. This is what the Americans need to know. They know it. They've seen the deal. Hamas has
agreed to a three-week deal during which time the war would end, Israel would evacuate Gaza. There would be an agreed upon release of Palestinian
prisoners, and Hamas will return all of the hostages.
This is not only a deal on the ceasefire, but Hamas has also agreed that they are supporting the establishment of a civilian technocratic
professional government in Gaza of which they will not have a part of. They are willing for this government to be empowered because they know that if
they rule Gaza, there won't be a single dollar of international aid going in to rebuild Gaza and Gaza is destroyed.
There is nothing left in Gaza. Two million homeless people, disease, devastation, no sanitation, no fresh water, no schools, no universities,
nothing. Gaza needs to be rebuilt and it needs a responsible Palestinian government to do it.
Now, we asked Hamas if they're talking about turning over internal security and their weapons to the new civilian professional technocratic government,
and they said yes. But what I say to the Americans, to the Israelis, to everyone is don't listen to me. This is on the table. I have it in writing.
I have voice messages from Hamas saying it. The officials need to check it. And President Biden needs to understand in his final months in office that
his legacy is either going to be the war in Gaza or ending the war in Gaza.
And we all know that the day that the war in Gaza ends, the war in Lebanon ends, and we need to get into the diplomatic path. There is no solution to
this conflict without the freedom of Palestine, the establishment of an independent Palestinian state next to Israel, the realization of the two-
state solution. This is the way forward, and this is the way to defeat extremists, not through weapons, not through wars, not through killing.
ANDERSON: Gideon, your thoughts.
GIDEON LEVY, COLUMNIST, HAARETZ: It was so embarrassing, Becky, embarrassing and pathetic because Netanyahu is a good speaker, no doubt
about this, a very impressive one. But today I think he reached one of the lowest point of Israeli propaganda.
To speak about blessing in the Middle East after killing over 40,000 people in Gaza and destructing Gaza and to bring Gaza to a stage in which it's
nothing but a humanitarian catastrophe, and to speak about blessing, by the time that you stand on this stage of the podium of the U.N. your army is
continuing to kill both in Lebanon and in Gaza. And you speak about blessing?
You know, he spoke about they're radicalizing Gaza and they're militarizing Gaza. What about their radicalization of Israel? Netanyahu is, today,
hostage of the most radical fascist partners in his coalition. What about their radicalizing Israel who in the last year speaks only in one language,
the language of force, the language of brutality, many times the language of barbarism. Where is the ceasefire? You don't speak about a ceasefire or
you don't mention it? What? How are you going to finish those two very cruel wars without even mentioning their ceasefire? One more sentence, and
then --
ANDERSON: I was really interested. Yes. Go on. Go on, Gideon.
LEVY: And then the decoration of the hostages, really the decoration. He could have released those hostages one year ago, 10 months ago, eight
months ago, most of them. He wasn't ready for this. Now to stand in the U.N. and to use them as a slogan, as a decoration for his speech, ask the
families what they think about him, ask experts who know that we missed so many opportunities to release them.
So really, I -- for many years, for many months or years, I was accused as a biggest, as a supporter of Netanyahu, which is not exactly the case, but
that's not important now. But today, I really felt embarrassed. This holds the lowest propaganda, the cheapest propaganda which doesn't serve Israel I
would think.
[10:30:10]
ANDERSON: Let me just get for our viewers who may not have heard the some 40 minutes speech what Benjamin Netanyahu said about Iran. I don't think it
would surprise anybody watching this or listening to this that Iran was directly in the crosshairs as it were for Benjamin Netanyahu and his speech
at the U.N. But let's just have a listen to some of what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NETANYAHU: I have a message for the tyrants of Tehran. If you strike us, we will strike you. There is no place --
(APPLAUSE)
NETANYAHU: There is no place in Iran that the long arm of Israel cannot reach and that's true of the entire Middle East.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: At the beginning of his speech, and I just want to bring in Nic Robertson for a final word here, because I'm going to need to take a break
after that. But at the beginning of his speech, he very much inferred that before October 7th, Israel had been sitting on the verge as it were of an
historic peace agreement with Saudi Arabia, an extension of the Abraham Accords, which are already signed, of course, by four countries with Arab
countries, with Israel.
He went on then to squarely put Iran in the crosshairs. But I thought it was really interesting because he came back to the idea of a Middle East
which is as far as he was concerned, the blessing and came back to the idea of this peace agreement with Saudi Arabia that he is on the cusp of that
peace agreement.
Look, Saudi Arabia have said that they are willing to cut a deal of some sort with Israel. But Israel has to provide a viable path to a Palestinian
state. I think it's noteworthy to point out that Benjamin Netanyahu never talked about a Palestinian state, never mentioned a Palestinian horizon in
his speech today.
And when the cameras opened up, Nic, to the floor of the hall, there was no right representative for Saudi Arabia in the room. There were very few
people in the room, but very specifically, there was no representative for Saudi Arabia, a country that has signed up to this ceasefire proposal that
the U.S. and France have suggested or proposed.
Nic, just your final thoughts on where he started his speech and where he ended his speech as it were.
ROBERTSON: Yes. Look, this idea of the deal with Saudi Arabia is something that was really gaining currency last summer. And I was reminded, listening
to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking there sort of holding this up again, as you say at the end there as this is the way forward. This would
be the blessing. This could be, you know, what we're trying to achieve.
I'm so struck by, he used almost similar language in January last year when Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in town or maybe it was a few months
before that, because he's used this language before. I think he called it as a golden circle. It's the Netanyahu style to say, don't look at all this
stuff that we're accused of, that we reject and all of that. Look at this. I'm offering this great sales pitch here. We could just, let's aim for
this. Let's go for that.
And he is using those same tactics again here. And by the way, the cost of a deal with Saudi Arabia for him has gone up massively, actually beyond the
price that he would pay because Saudi Arabia now says the cost of that is going to be a commitment, an irreversible commitment to recognizing a
Palestinian state. And that's something the prime minister has shown no willingness to go down that road whatsoever.
So no surprise a diplomatic message inside the UNGA there, if the Saudis were not there, then rest assured that was a diplomatic message.
ANDERSON: Look, thank you so much, all of you, for standing by, for listening in to that speech with us and for providing what is incredibly
important analysis and insight today. Thank you.
Our thanks to our panel, Nic Robertson, Gideon Levy, Gershon Baskin, and Ben Wedeman. We very much appreciate your input as ever.
We are going to take a very short break. Back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:37:26]
ANDERSON: You've just been watching Benjamin Netanyahu at the United Nations General Assembly, where ahead of his speech there was a huge
walkout by member states. And we've been discussing what he said and what he didn't say, very specifically he didn't talk about a ceasefire either on
the Lebanon border or for Gaza. Meantime, as we were listening to that speech, President Donald Trump is meeting the Ukrainian president,
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, at Trump Tower in New York. Now that comes a day after Mr. Zelenskyy met Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington.
Now the Ukrainian leader may be hoping to overcome Trump's publicly stated reluctance to continue U.S. military assistance to Kyiv in its fight with
Russia. Let's just have a listen into what was said here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And we're going to have a discussion that I worked very much with both parties to try and get this
settled and get it worked out. It has to end at some point. It has to end. He's going through hell and his country has gone through hell like few
countries have ever, like it's happened anywhere. Nobody has ever seen anything like it is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, that is Donald Trump with Zelenskyy. They are together as we speak.
Fred Pleitgen joining us now from Ukraine's capital of Kyiv. And Trump of course has claimed a number of times now that he can, quote, "settle
Ukraine's war with Russia," or Russia's war on Ukraine, upon taking office, and he has suggested he will end us U.S. assistance for Kyiv.
What's at stake in this meeting?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think potentially a lot. I think one of the things that the Ukrainians certainly
don't want then Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of you Ukraine, certainly doesn't want this for Ukraine to become a big ticket political
issue in the U.S. presidential campaign. And that's why I think the meeting today with former president Trump is very difficult for Volodymyr
Zelenskyy.
Just like yesterday, the meeting with Kamala Harris was also very difficult for Volodymyr Zelenskyy as well because the Ukrainians don't want to be
seen as though they're taking one or the other side in this political campaign is unfolding in the United States. But at the same time, of
course, they want to maintain that bipartisan support and also make sure that that bipartisan support continues into the next administration whoever
leads that administration and well into the future.
So it's very important for Volodymyr Zelenskyy to get the support of Vice President Harris, to get the support of former president Trump as both are
running for office, but at the same time, not to be seen as taking either side.
[10:40:09]
And I think that these meetings have been extremely difficult for Volodymyr Zelenskyy. We just heard some of what former president Trump had to say
there. Apparently, he also praised Volodymyr Zelenskyy for allegedly taking his side during the last impeachment proceedings when Donald Trump was
still president.
Not sure whether or not all of that is exactly 100 percent true, but it clearly puts Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a very difficult position, standing
next to the former president and just being in the same room at the same time.
Yesterday, of course, we know that at the press conference with Kamala Harris, who is also of course running for president, there was also a bit
of a difficult situation for Volodymyr Zelenskyy there when Kamala Harris said if there are some in the United States who are on Russia's side, who
are on Vladimir Putin's side, and that is not the position of the Democrats and not the position of Kamala Harris.
So these meetings for Volodymyr Zelenskyy, very difficult, but for him it's also imperative to try and get in the ear of former president Trump in case
he becomes president, of course, to also maintain that support among Kamala Harris and anybody who could be in a new Harris administration after
President Biden leaves office. So very high stakes these meetings that are going on after of course we had Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet President Biden
yesterday to try and drum up support, shore up support, get additional weapons for Ukraine, and get the permission which he didn't do in the end,
get the permission to use some of the U.S. supplied weapons to strike deep into Russian territory.
Again, the Ukrainians are saying that that is something that is absolutely important. But right now, what we're seeing the Ukrainian president do here
is try to set the stage for support for Ukraine from the United States for the next four years. And of course, especially with former president Trump,
that is something that's very difficult. Former president Trump, of course, saying that he does have very good relations with Russia -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Yes. He's also seeking the security assurances if he could get Joe Biden to say Ukraine needs to join NATO and needs to join NATO now,
that would help, I'm skeptical as to whether he will get that before he leaves the U.S.
Thank you very much, indeed. Fred Pleitgen is in Kyiv. We are going to take a very short break. Back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well, a reminder of one of our top stories here on CNN this hour. And severe flooding, downed power lines and widespread destruction. This is
just some of the immense damage brought on by the Storm Helene in the U.S. southeast. At least seven people have been killed, though there are
warnings that that number could rise.
Well. in the past hour, Florida's governor said that broader search and rescue efforts are now underway, Carlos Suarez is in Florida's Tampa Bay
area.
[10:45:01]
Just bring us up to speed. Where are you and what are you witnessing at this point?
CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Becky, so we are in Pinellas County. We're in the city of Gulfport where the National Guard has been called out
to essentially take over this part of Pinellas County. We're told that they're the ones that are going to be in charge in terms of the law
enforcement side of things. They're also the ones that are going to decide exactly how all of the debris that you're taking a look at is eventually
going to be moved.
Just on the other side of where this Humvee is at you'll see just one of several boats that came ashore during yesterday's storm. Keep in mind this
hurricane did not make landfall here. It stayed well to the west, but because of its size and just how strong it was, it was able to push all of
these sailboats. We're talking about a storm surge anywhere between four to six feet here.
George, if you can pan a little bit to your left I'll show you exactly just how high the water got here. The 5500, that's the address of this building
here. The top part of that number is how high the water got last night. And then if you follow the debris all the way through you'll see here to the
left where what used to be the entrance to this theater, the window there has been blown out and then if you keep going to the other side, you'll see
what's left of the seawall as well as kind of this walking promenade and then you'll see that large piece, just a massive chunk of a floating dock
that clearly was pushed in during yesterday's storms.
And then right behind that, Becky, you'll see there is another sailboat. And of course, the National Guard is also on that side. As for the
remainder -- remaining part of Hillsborough County over in the Tampa Bay area, that place has also seen some pretty significant flooding. Officials
over there say that dozens and dozens of water rescues played out overnight. Here in Gulfport, more than two dozen folks had to be rescued
from their homes last night.
In terms of the number of people dead, at least in this part of Florida, there was one man who was killed yesterday in the Tampa Bay area. We're
told he was driving in the middle of all this and that a sign fell on his car and that person died -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Thank you. It's good to have you and you are -- viewers' up to date on the debris as it were, the impact of that storm as it continues to
head north. Stay with CNN as we continue to report on its northward direction.
Well, ahead on CONNECT THE WORLD, I spoke with one of the Middle East's biggest educational philanthropists early on this week on how to protect
education in war zones. Stay with us for this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well, we heard earlier this hour from the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the United Nations in New York as Israeli forces
fight on two fronts. Well, one UAE businessman is urging world leaders at the UNGA and inside meetings in New York this week to safeguard education
from the devastation of war.
This man is Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair. I spoke with him earlier about his foundation's role in helping kids in conflict zones. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON (voice-over): Here's a term that you might not have across.
[10:50:03]
Scholasticide. It means the systemic destruction of education systems and infrastructure in conflict zones. A new word to add to the bleak lexicon we
use to describe the horror of war and its impact on the defenseless and the innocent. We are watching scholasticide happen in real time, in Ukraine, in
Gaza, and now in Lebanon.
Amongst those attending the United Nations General Assembly this week is one of the Middle East's biggest educational philanthropists. UAE
businessman Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair is in New York to urge world leaders to protect education in war zones or face long-term social and economic
consequences.
H. E. ABDUL AZIZ AL GHURAIR, CHAIRMAN, ABDUL AZIZ AL GHURAIR FOUNDATION: Whatever happened, schools and education system, university should be
always protected because they are the future for our kids. And we need to ensure they stay out of the conflict. If these kids don't get proper
schooling and we don't ensure that they have somebody to look after them, then they are a burden on the society. When be it in Ukraine or be it in
Gaza, be it wherever in the conflict area, please leave the school out of your target.
During this period of rebuilding this school, two years, three years, kids will be off track and they're no longer interested to go back to school.
And it becomes a huge burden on the society, for the economy, for the government, and it's a huge challenge.
ANDERSON: Do you share your colleague, the CEO of the foundation's concerns that global society is slowly accepting the unacceptable that we are now
somehow normalizing scholasticide?
AL GHURAIR: It is very concerning. I'm here at the United Nations General Assembly and really raising my voice and meeting with people who have
influence to ensure we must keep the education system out of the target zone.
ANDERSON: Are they listening, sir?
AL GHURAIR: It's a long shot, but I think somebody has to start. I find people understand and they are mobilizing their resources and efforts and
lobbying around, you know, here at the United Nations to ensure this, you know, action, to ensure there is a support for refugees.
ANDERSON (voice-over): When it comes to education, Al Ghurair speaks of what he knows. His father, Abdullah, was one of the first supporters of
these school sector here in the UAE and he's pledged a third of his personal wealth to provide educational opportunities across the Arab region
through the foundation that bears his father's name.
You support thousands of refugees in Jordan and Lebanon with a multi- million dollar fund and you've recently launched an education relief fund to support hundreds of Palestinians across Gaza and the West Bank. Just
explain, if you will, the idea, the strategy behind these initiatives.
AL GHURAIR: Well, the first one is when my father Abdullah Al Ghurair launched this foundation, we felt that it's critical to give back to our
society and give back to a society where they're needed. So we have, you know, supported students around the region who have outstanding academic
records, and we'll send them to top university in the U.S. and Canada and around the region.
We want to have systematic impact on the education system in the Arab world. So now we have 15 different university across the Arab world where
we are supporting them to deliver, you know, high-quality education but online. Then we have extended our program so not only at the university,
but also at schools. We realized our governments in region are doing a good job. But after school, there are certain programs we need to give them
like, you know, things that are not in the curriculum of the schools.
So we have supported over, you know, 120,000 students since 2015. Then I followed my father's path in 2018, I looked also there is a segment of
population who have been left out and that's the refugee in the region. So we start also providing them programs, full classroom education at their
camps, at the refugee camps.
[10:55:02]
ANDERSON (voice-over): Philanthropic work like this can and does make a real difference to children living in conflict zones. But the message here
is clear. Scholasticide is a living nightmare that no child should have to endure.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: And before we go this evening I'm afraid I got some sad news just coming into CNN. Oscar-winning actress Maggie Smith has died. She was 89
years old. A great Shakespearean actress who worked on stage with Laurence Olivier. Smith was perhaps better known more recently as a star of "Downton
Abbey" and the "Harry Potter" films. She was beloved across the world and is a national treasure in what is a native Britain. Rest in peace.
That's it for CONNECT THE WORLD. Stay with CNN. NEWSROOM is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
