Return to Transcripts main page
One World with Zain Asher
Latest Strike On Lviv Kills At Least Five People; Nitrate Gas Leaked From A Cylinder At A Squatter Camp On The Outskirts Of Johannesburg Kills 17 People; AI For Good Global Summit Explores The Benefits Of Artificial Intelligence; Bidenomics On Biden's Agenda For South Carolina Trip; Car Crashes Into Primary School Near Wimbledon, Kills One Child; Meta Introduces Threads; First Alzheimer's Drug To Slow Disease Progression, Expected To Get Full Approval From USFDA. Aired 12-1p ET
Aired July 06, 2023 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[12:00:00]
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Julia Chatterley in New York and this is ONE WORLD. And we begin with a dramatic twist in the
aftermath of last month's failed mutiny in Russia. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko says Wagner Chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is currently in
Russia and not Belarus. Prigozhin was reportedly exiled to Belarus last month after his army of mercenaries captured one Russian town, then marched
towards Moscow.
Meanwhile, Russia may be trying to discredit the Wagner boss. State media aired footage of what it claims was a Russian police raid of Prigozhin's
home and office in St Petersburg where gold, guns, cash and wigs were allegedly found. CNN's Matthew Chance spoke with the President of Belarus
earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Belarusian leader, Alexander Lukashenko, invited us here to the Palace of
Independence, this marble-clad edifice in the center of Minsk. It's one of his presidential offices. For a press conference and what he said was a
conversation about all the dramatic events that have been unfolding over the past couple of weeks, of course, the main interest was the whereabouts
of Wagner, the Russian mercenary group, and its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin. So, I got a chance to ask Alexander Lukashenko what update he could give us
about that mercenary group that, of course, staged a military uprising in Russia just last month.
UNKNOWN: I wonder if you could provide us all with a bit of an update on the whereabouts of the Wagner leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, is he in Belarus
or not?
ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO, BELARUSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): In terms of Yevgeny Prigozhin, he is in St. Petersburg. Or maybe this morning he
would travel to Moscow or elsewhere. But he is not on the territory of Belarus now.
CHANCE: Also, stunning news there from Alexander Lukashenko. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner leader, meant to be here. He's not here. His fighters
are not here either. He said the deal is still on the table, is what he insisted, but it has not been finally agreed yet.
Meanwhile, in Russia, on state television, we've been seeing these extraordinary images of what they say is Yevgeny Prigozhin's house, one of
his houses in St. Petersburg, where police have raided and they have seized gold bars, cash, passports, some with false names with Yevgeny Prigozhin's
photographs, and wigs, strangely, which could be obviously used as disguised weapons, as well.
And, you know, it all implies that Russia is sort of moving to discredit the Wagner leader, possibly ahead of arrest, although that's not been
confirmed yet. I spoke to the Kremlin earlier today and they said at the moment they're not commenting on it. But clearly, the deal for Wagner and
its leader to be exiled in Belarus is at the least being renegotiated and that could end very badly indeed for Yevgeny Prigozhin. Matthew Chance CNN
in Minsk, Belarus.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: Meanwhile, a Ukrainian city far from the frontlines of the war has become the latest target of a deadly missile attack. The western city
of Lviv has announced two days of mourning in memory of its victims. Officials say at least five people were killed Thursday after Russian
missiles struck an apartment building and other houses. City authorities call it the most devastating attack on civilians in the region since the
war began.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who heads to Istanbul, Friday, to meet Turkey's president is promising a, quote, tangible response. Ben
Wedeman joins us live now from eastern Ukraine. Ben, I saw that some of these missiles at least struck in the early hours of the morning maximizing
the tragedy because many people would have been at home asleep in bed. What more do we know about the attempts today in recovery and rescue efforts?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Julia, this strike took place at about 2:30 in the morning when everybody was asleep in
bed. Lviv is a city that has been spared some of the harshest bombardment, missile strikes and whatnot, since the beginning of the war. This
definitely is the worst strike hitting civilians since the war began.
Now, they were using -- the Russians were using a caliber missile. That is a hypersonic missile that carries a payload of between 500 and 600 kilos of
high explosives. So, that really explains the extent of the damage, which really is massive. Now, at this point, the death toll stands at five with
almost explosives.
[12:05:00]
So, that really explains the extent of the damage, which really is massive. Now, at this point, the death toll stands at five with almost 40 people
wounded. Among the dead was a 21-year-old journalist, a woman, as well as a woman 95 years old who had survived the Second World War. Now, one thing
that has emerged in the aftermath of this strike is that 10 bomb shelters in Lviv had been locked shut, perhaps because people assumed that the city
would not come under that sort of attack. And now the local prosecutors launched an investigation to find out who it was who decided that they
should lock those bomb shelters at a moment when they needed the most. Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yeah, tragedy upon tragedy. Ben, heartbreak for more families there, but also some relief for others, and that is the families of troops
who have been prisoners of war in Russia. I believe 45 of them, confirmed by the president's officers having been swapped and coming home.
WEDEMAN: That's right. This is the 47th such exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine. We don't know the details of the negotiations, but we
have, in fact, just spoken with Russian POWs who would like perhaps to be exchanged, and what they described to us were very grim conditions on the
frontlines.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WEDEMAN (voice-over): No longer on the frontlines, Anton recounts how he ended up a prisoner of war. Back in Russia, he was behind bars for the
third time for drugs. When they put me in prison, I heard they were recruiting. Serve six months, and they pardon you, he tells me. So, he
signed up with Storm Z, a unit made up of convicts attached to the Russian Defense Ministry.
After only two weeks of basic training, he was shipped off to the frontlines near Bakhmut. After days of intense shelling, no food and only
rainwater to drink, he heard Ukrainian troops outside his foxhole. He assumed they would execute him. I thought that was the end, he recalls. I
switched my rifle to single-shot mode and thought, I will shoot myself but I couldn't.
This video, shot by soldiers of Ukraine's 3rd Assault Brigade, shows the tense moments when Anton and his comrade Slava surrendered. The Ukrainian
troops told them, unlike Russians, we don't kill prisoners. We spoke to Anton, Slava and another soldier in a makeshift jail in Eastern Ukraine,
concealing their faces and not using their real names. The 3rd Assault Brigade granted us access to the POWs and two of their soldiers were in the
room for the interviews. The POWs will soon be transferred to Ukrainian intelligence. They didn't appear to be under duress and agreed to share
their stories.
Slava, also serving time for drugs, said conditions in the trenches were grim. Food was scarce. We didn't have medical kits, he says. His commanders
took all the painkillers to get high, he recalled, and as a result issued nonsensical orders. Morale was terrible.
Sergei was wounded by a grenade before surrendering to Ukrainian troops. He was a contract soldier, not a convict. He completed his six-month contract
in Kherson and went home. But when he hesitated to sign another contract, a military prosecutor gave him a choice, prison or back to the front. He
ended up outside Bakhmut. Under constant Ukrainian fire, discipline collapsed. The officers fled. All illusions were shattered.
It was very different from what I saw on TV, a parallel reality, says Sergei. I felt fear, pain and disappointment in my commanders. A law passed
last year in Russia imposed sentences of three to 10 years for soldiers who surrender voluntarily. If he returns home in a prisoner exchange, Anton may
end up, again, back in a Russian prison.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WEDEMAN (on-camera): But often in these prisoner exchanges, the Russians don't want these convicts turned soldiers. They're looking for officers,
for professional soldiers, for pilots, not these men who received the most basic of training and who are considered, even by the Russian commanders
themselves, to be essentially meat for the meat grinder that is the battle for Bakhmut. Julia.
[12:10:00]
CHATTERLEY: Yeah, fascinating access, Ben. Thank you for that. Ben Wedeman there. Now, the United States is accusing the Russian military of quote
unsafe and unprofessional behavior after Russian fighter jets interfered with three U.S. drones flying over Syria. The Pentagon released dramatic
video of the incident showing the Russian jets flying around and sometimes in front of the drones which were monitoring ISIS targets at the time. At
one point the Russians released parachute flares in front of the drones forcing the drone operator to conduct evasive maneuvers.
And the Israeli army says it conducted strikes on southern Lebanon in response to rockets fired from there earlier. A Lebanese security source
says the shelling has stopped after Israel fired at least 15 projectiles into Lebanon. Video shows plumes of white smoke rising from one village in
the hilly south. It comes just days after Israel conducted a massive incursion into the occupied West Bank town of Jenin.
One official who visited the site of a poisonous gas leak, meanwhile, in South Africa describes the scene as quote, heart breaking. Authorities say
17 people have died after nitrate gas leaked from a cylinder at a squatter camp on the outskirts of Johannesburg. Forensic workers in hazmat suits
combed the area in the city of Boksburg.
Officials say initial investigations indicate the leak could be linked to illegal mining. CNN's David McKenzie joins us now live from Johannesburg.
David, what more do we know about those that perhaps were injured in addition to those that lost their lives? What more can you tell us?
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Julia, certainly there are several people who are very badly sick, I wouldn't say
injured, in hospital, in critical condition, according to authorities, because of this poisonous gas leak. Now, if you look at the video emerging
from this horrible scene of these gas cylinders stacked up very tightly in an informal settlement east of where I'm sitting right now, that was the
scene that the authorities came on late in the evening on Wednesday, and very tragically, several people, men, women and children, at least 17, are
killed by that poisonous gas.
Now, this is also part of a bigger problem here in Johannesburg and South Africa in particular of illegal miners. Now, the accusation is that this
was linked to illegal miners that operate with impunity in many of the disused gold mines that surround Johannesburg. That nitrate is used in the
processing of the soil and of the gold that they bring out illegally. This was the emotional comments from the premier of the province who was on the
scene pretty quickly after this happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PANYAZA LESUFI, GAUTENG PROVINCE PREMIERE: The scene was heartbreaking. It was heartbreaking. I regretted why we have to go through that. It was
heartbreaking. So, it's something that we might need assistance personally because the bodies were scattered literally everywhere. As of now, no one
has been arrested, but these gangs that operate, particularly in this province of South Africa, generally operate with impunity and are heavily
armed and often spend weeks, even months, under the ground for this multi- million-dollar illegal business. Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Yeah, that's why I was going to ask you the scale of this, because it's clearly a very profitable business. I'm assuming that that
means challenges in trying to get information from people that might know something in this area, but perhaps are afraid to comment.
MCKENZIE: That's very true and there have been recent pretty horrific attacks attributed to these zama-zamas as they're called. Several months
ago, there was an attack on a tavern in the southern part of Joburg where many people were killed. And part of the issue is that community members
are just too afraid to point fingers at these gang members. Johannesburg, of course, is famous for its gold exploration and exports. There have been
many mines closed over the years because of rising costs and other issues.
Those mines, and I've covered this story before for CNN, there will be people who will dig into those old mine shafts. Many kilometers or miles
deep even under the ground with limited gear, extracting gold and then filtering it into the legal market. It's a major issue for this country,
for revenues of the government, and also a major risk for those who come across these zama-zamas who are often armed as I said with automatic
weapons and aren't afraid to fight against the police or anyone else.
[12:15:00]
No arrests yet, but if you look at the gear that was found in this informal settlement, it's certainly in keeping with these illegal miners. Julia.
CHATTERLEY: David, great to have you on. Thank you for that report. David McKenzie there. Okay, coming up, amid tech industry cries of impending AI-
driven Armageddon, the United Nations is holding a summit to showcase the ways AIs already helping humanity. When we come back, we'll speak to the
tech executive who delivered the keynote address.
Plus, they picked up and left their homes in droves, hoping to escape Sudan's violent clashes. But instead, hundreds of thousands of refugees are
now facing a new crisis. Dire conditions in camps at home and abroad.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to ONE WORLD. We've been inundated lately with scary stories about how artificial intelligence could pose a future threat
to mankind. Well, a new U.N. summit starting today in Geneva aims to prove the opposite. The AI for Good Global Summit brings together more than 3000
leading tech executives, academics, and international organizations to explore the benefits of artificial intelligence. The major themes of this
year's summit include ways of using AI to enhance healthcare to fight climate change and to bridge the digital divide between rich and poorer
communities. The attendees will also discuss governance of AI and ensuring it's used responsibly.
Joining us now is the man who gave the opening keynote address to the AI for Good summit earlier today and he's Werner Vogels. He's the Chief Tech
Officer for Amazon.com. Great to have you on the show, Sir. Let's start with cutting through some of the fear and the noise. And I think at the
heart of what was discussed today was, as we said, that there are practical benefits and we're already seeing them in the real world.
WERNER VOGELS, CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER FOR AMAZON.COM: Yeah, you have to imagine that Artificial Intelligence, as we call it, is a field of computer
science that has existed for probably 50 years already. You know, things like natural language processing, text to speech, speech to text,
translation, summarization, all these kinds of things. You know, video and then analytics, image analytics, forecasting, all these kinds of areas of
artificial intelligence are quite mature. Now, the recent launch of some of the newer AI casting all these kinds of areas of artificial intelligence
are quite mature.
[12:20:00]
Now, the recent launch of some of the newer AI technologies like generative AI is things that we don't know exactly what role that is going to play in
the future, but we'll definitely play a role in that. But where I talk mostly about today is what all, a large number of companies in and around
the world have already been doing in using the current state of AI for good and whether that is helping, for example, with thinking about sort of how
do we make sure we can feed a growing population across the world where protein is lacking and where it's hard to actually grow rice for so many
people. And AI, natural language processing, computer vision, things like that, play a crucial role in that for those companies.
CHATTERLEY: Yeah, I had on my show earlier today the head of innovation at the World Food Programme and they're doing an astonishing amount of things
to improve access, nutrition, all sorts of things which I think we don't talk about enough when we talk about artificial intelligence, at least for
now.
You also discussed the importance of access to data and actually without smart, accurate, efficiently labelled, for example, data, the tools that we
have for artificial intelligence in many ways are worthless. This is a key, fundamental part of the future uses of artificial intelligence. It's also
key to democratize access, I think, to that data to ensure that everybody benefits from this, not just a few.
VOGELS: Absolutely, and definitely when we're talking about using technology for good, you know, not just AI, but technology for good, data
plays a crucial role in that. I mean, all the AI tools that we have developed over the past, let's say in reality 25 years, are useless if we
do not have the data to operate them. And now if you look in the past, data what was called was structured. That means on the forehand we already knew
what kind of questions we wanted to ask and then we started to collect that kind of data.
Cloud computing, for example, has helped to make storage costs drive down tremendously and such organizations can basically store all the data that
they want at fairly low cost. Now, much of this data is unstructured and we know that there are plots of gold or what you would call a needle in a
haystack to actually -- are in that data. And the best way, in my eyes, to find a needle in a haystack is to use a magnet. And machine learning and AI
is actually the magnet to find these unique capabilities in these haystacks.
And especially when it comes to, for example, you just mentioned food programs, there's for example, a young company called Acrobyte that is
looking at sort of how to grow a sufficient number of fish in a sustainable manner so that they can actually feed the growing population of this world.
You know, 20 percent of the world is of our protein intake at the moment comes from fish. But fishing is an extremely damaging industry. You know,
what we have, the great Pacific garbage patch is all about three times the size of France, which is all full of fishing nets and things like that.
So, we need to find more sustainable ways in actually growing protein if you want to feed the world. And this company is making use of computer
vision and IOT sensing and things like that to make sure that these big pens which hold hundreds of thousands of salmon actually remain healthy and
grow the way that they want to. You have to remember that one kilo of fish feed goes one kilo of fish. For cattle, it means you need to feed them
seven kilos of feed before you get one kilo of protein. And as such, you know, fish-farming, aquaculture, is really the future of growing proteins
for us.
CHATTERLEY: I think part of the beauty of this, as well, is that at its core, it's about labor-saving devices. So, it's speeding up the time upon
which we can do the analytics to be able to understand how we improve the efficiency, for example, and ensure we get the best kind of salmon in the
shortest amount of available time.
I think someone described it recently to me as the ability to make all our digital experiences more human in a way, too. And that sort of plays into,
I think, the Amazon hand that you hold here. Do we also have to acknowledge though that when you're creating labor efficiencies like this and saving
devices that there will be some cost to jobs?
We're already hearing CEOs of companies say that today, that actually they're not making hiring decisions because they know that they can do some
of these jobs and automate some of these jobs. Do we also have to balance that with the idea that new jobs will be formed doing other things perhaps,
too? It's -- where's the balance?
VOGELS: Yeah, I think it's good at looking at history. Yeah, I think we have introduced disruptive technologies over the years.
[12:25:00]
And let me take a simple example, you know, in the early 60s, spreadsheets were developed. It took about 20 years to actually make these spreadsheets
coming into the market. If you look in the 60s -- if you look at most of the banks, they had massive holes with people on calculators. They're
basically human spreadsheets. But when spreadsheets came, let's say, available for companies to use, they actually started replacing these
workers on, but these workers didn't disappear. What we see is something that's called Jefferson's paradox, which means that it looks like if you
are introducing efficiencies into the market, that these jobs will disappear. It actually turns out that you start to do more of it.
A great example is also Cloud Computing. AWS introduced Cloud Computing now more than 15 years ago. People were thinking that data centers would
disappear, workers would disappear, you know, IT would lose all of their workers. It turns out that companies started to do more because of these
efficiencies. And whenever you introduce efficiencies into the market, you see a change of jobs happening.
Now, in the early 1900s, when refrigerators were introduced, it killed the ice business. However, it created a completely different business that was
around fresh food, being able to keep milk longer. There were so many other things that actually were where people that were formerly in the ice
business then went into a different business. What we see is actually an increased use of technologies and increased use because of these
efficiencies that are being created.
CHATTERLEY: Okay, I have to I could ask you lots of different questions now, but I'm going to end on one because I often hear people talk in the
industry certainly about the darker elements of artificial intelligence and I sort of have a sense of how you're going to handle this question but when
people are throwing around words like AI Armageddon and the fear if this isn't regulated properly or it gets out of control, what's your view as the
CTO of Amazon of what the biggest threat around AI is? What is the biggest risk we face if we get this wrong?
VOGELS: I think with all technologies, it's making sure that everybody, first of all, you know, regulators and us creators of this technology are
on the same side. Now, we all want to protect customers and citizens.
CHATTERLEY: Yeah.
VOGELS: But what we need to make sure is that everybody's educated well about what the capabilities of the technologies are and where the risks
are. Now, we really want to take a risk-based management approach to AI, where are the potential risks? And then start looking at how can we
actually regulate that? Now, for areas where there are no risks, you mentioned, you talk about, think about how we can support healthcare, how
we can support inequalities, where we make sure that we can double down and accelerate at the same time.
So, I believe there is no Armageddon in the future, that's in the first place. But also we need to make sure that everybody is educated about what
really the capabilities are and that we're not talking about Skynet and Arnold Schwarzenegger here, but we really talking about simple technology
developed by computer scientists that have -- where we need to educate everyone on what the capabilities are, but at the same time, what are the
potential risks and then work together with regulators and governments around the world to make sure that we put up the right guardrails.
CHATTERLEY: Yeah. Accurate assessment of both the good and the bad and calibrate appropriately when you're regulating and responding. Sir, great
to have you on the show. Thank you so much. I hope we'll speak again soon. The Chief Technology Officer of Amazon there. Thank you, Sir. Coming up --
VOGELS: Thank you very much, Julia.
CHATTERLEY: -- the threat of disease, growing violence against women and a lack of basic necessities. Sudan's conflict creating devastating new
hardships for those caught in the crossfire. We'll discuss.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:30:00}
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: Hello and welcome back to ONE WORLD with a look at some more of today's headlines. Donald Trump's right-hand man pleads not guilty in a
Miami federal court in the classified documents case. Trump's valet, Walt Norton, was charged on the same indictment as Trump. The Justice Department
says it has surveillance video of him moving boxes of the documents around the property.
U.S. President Joe Biden is on his way to South Carolina. He left joint base Andrews around an hour ago. On his agenda, pushing for the newly-
dubbed Bidenomics and how his administration feels it is reshaping the nation. President Biden will also highlight a $60 million investment from a
solar energy manufacturer.
And in London, a child has died after a car crashed into a primary school near Wimbledon Thursday morning. Police say eight other people were
injured, including six children. They say the driver of the vehicle, a woman in her 40s, has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by
dangerous driving.
Now, since violence broke out in Sudan nearly three months ago, more than half a million people have fled the country. And at least two million
others are internally displaced. But many of those trying to escape the fighting are now facing a fresh crisis, dire and even dangerous conditions
in refugee camps, both at home and on the other side of the border. And United Nations officials report a shocking spike in gender-based violence
against Sudanese girls and women.
It's time now for The Exchange. Joining us is Toby Harward, Principal Situation Coordinator in Darfur for the U.N.'s Refugee Agency. Toby, good
to have you on the show with us. The vast majority of these displaced people and refugees are women and children. Can you just give us a sense of
what you're hearing they've experienced?
TOBY HARWARD, PRINCIPAL SITUATION COORDINATOR IN DARFUR, UNHCR: Yeah, thank you, Julia, for this opportunity to talk to you. I mean, I mean, just
before we get into that, I mean, I just want to set out the scale of this catastrophic humanitarian situation that is ongoing in Sudan. In 11 weeks
of fighting, we have now seen more than two million six hundred thousand displaced persons. That's more than 2.1 million displaced internally in
Sudan and more than 600 thousand who have fled across borders into neighboring countries, Egypt, Chad, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Central African
Republic. Many of whom have their own very difficult humanitarian situations. But in very large numbers, as you rightly say, of these
displaced persons are women and children.
[12:35:00]
Some reports from Chad have up to 80 percent of numbers of refugees being women and children who have been forced out of their homes as a result of
the fighting between the two warring parties. UNHCR and our partners, U.N. agencies and other NGOs are doing whatever we can to scale up protection
activities, but it is astonishingly difficult due to the lack of access, lack of telecommunications, lack of fuel. And indeed, our own national
staff and partners have had to flee in many cases for their own safety.
But for women and girls in particular, you will have seen the press statement put out by senior U.N. officials, that we are extremely concerned
about the huge rise -- spike in sexual violence against women and girls. It is an absolutely abhorrent terror tactic used by the warring parties
against civilians. And certainly, there is a very strong call from the different senior U.N. officials on this to stop, on prevention mechanisms
to be put into place, and for accountability to be held against those fighters, criminals and bandits who are responsible for this huge rise in
sexual violence.
CHATTERLEY: How much worse might this get, Toby? Do you have a sense of scale of how many more refugees we might see, whether it's internally
displaced or fleeing to other nations? Because these numbers are staggering. But if the violence continues, one has to assume this is only
going to get worse, much worse.
HARWARD: I'm afraid to say, Julia, I think you're exactly right. UNHCR is having to scale up our refugee response figures significantly. And it
certainly looks as if now, despite the various intermittent ceasefires, most of which do not hold, that the fighting is escalating into areas not
just for them, Khartoum and Darfur, where the primary fighting has been, but also into areas to the north and to the south of Khartoum. And this
will have, if this continues in this way, if the parties do not look towards ceasing this conflict, it will again lead to many, many more
thousands, hundreds of thousands, possibly more refugees and IDPs. It's an untenable situation that needs urgent international attention.
CHATTERLEY: Can you give us a sense of what conditions are like in some of these refugee camps, too? I mean, I was just looking at some of the details
of what's happening in the state of White Nile and the concerns about a measles outbreak there. Do you have any information that you can give us on
that?
HARWARD: Yes, well, the Doctors Without Borders has already reported 13 child deaths in one of the camps in White Nile State. We have had outbreaks
of measles in other areas, including in Alighton (ph), a major refugee encampment in North Darfur. And we are also extremely concerned about now,
with the arrival of the rainy season, the onset of waterborne diseases, including cholera and, obviously, malaria, to say nothing of the increasing
malnutrition that many refugees are facing.
In some areas, our colleagues and partners from WFP have not been able to go into refugee camps for them to receive critical food assistance. So, we
do expect rising levels of malnutrition. So, it's all together, we are extremely concerned that, again, the threats within refugee camps, within
ITP camps of diseases will only get worse if we are unable to have the humanitarian access to get medication, wash items, nutrition and food into
the more vulnerable areas.
CHATTERLEY: Toby, what I hear time and time again in humanitarian crises like this is a challenge in raising money and support to try and help. And
I've seen just in recent days that there's just a fraction of the requests for support that's so far been raised. What can people do that are watching
this? What can they provide? How can they help if they want to?
HARWARD: Well, I mean, as of now, UNHCR's Refugee -- Regional Refugee Response Program is only 13 percent funded. I mean, there are obviously
donation pages on UNHCR's website, as there are, I should say, on other key U.N. agencies and other partners' websites. But I mean, there are critical,
critical IMGOs carrying out phenomenal work under enormous risk to their staff, who are getting into some of these places.
[12:40:00]
But again, it's astonishingly difficult to do that. But funding for both the Sudan crisis, I would also point out the huge numbers of refugees that
have crossed the border into Chad in recent weeks. I am the Principal Situation Coordinator for Darfur, UNHCR in Darfur. So, the vast majority of
refugees from West Darfur, where there have been some horrific fighting and displacement going on, have gone into Chad. And Chad authorities have been
doing a phenomenal job in working to support refugees who have arrived en masse in the eastern part of Chad.
And UNHCR and WFP and other U.N agencies are responding, as far as we possibly can there. But more support is vital for both the Sudan operation,
for the regional response program and the chat operation. South Sudan, I should say too, as well. We all need support as we battle to respond to the
best of our capacities.
CHATTERLEY: Toby, great to have you on and to help us understand what's taking place there and thank you to you and your team for the vitally
important work you're doing. Toby Harward there. Thank you, Sir.
HARWARD: Thank you, Julia.
CHATTERLEY: We'll be right back with more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to ONE WORLD. It's no secret, Twitter has faced some challenges since being bought by Elon Musk. And well, that's helped
prompt rival tech giant Meta to introduce Threads, which they hope replaces Twitter on your devices. Threads looks an awful lot like Twitter, in fact,
and with mostly text-based posts and real-time conversations. Meta says 10 million people downloaded it in just the first seven hours.
Let's get some perspective on this social media showdown. Clare Duffy joins us now. Clare, Mark Zuckerberg said he sees this as being a one billion
person plus kind of platform. Small start, but a swift start. What do you make of the platform?
CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Yeah, I mean, I think if I'm Elon Musk, I am nervous today. This platform really does look like a real copycat of
Twitter. And you can log in through your Instagram. You can port over your Instagram following list to Threads. And so, this is really natural. It's
really intuitive for people to use.
[12:45:00]
And it sort of feels like the first day of school over there. You have tons of celebrities, journalists, brands trying it out, making their first
thread, comparing it to Twitter, and it seems really good. You know, I think the thing that Meta is going to have to think about, and you have
already heard some executives acknowledge this, is that it's really easy to get people to sign up for a platform.
It's harder to get them to stay on the platform and keep engaging, and so Meta is going to have to continue to build out the functionality of this
app. It's still missing a lot of the things that people like about Twitter, like direct messages, trending topics, that sort of thing. And so, there's
still work to do, but this is a really strong start. Zuckerberg just said a few minutes ago that there are now 30 million people who have signed up for
this platform since its launch last night.
CHATTERLEY: Wow, it's now 30 million, is it?
DUFFY: Thirty million, yes.
CHATTERLEY: Wow, so it's pretty impressive in one day. It's interesting because Elon Musk did tweet about this and he said, it's infinitely
preferable to be attacked by strangers on Twitter than indulge in false happiness or hide the pain, Instagram, which I do think he's trying to draw
some kind of distinction despite the similarities that we've discussed. Part of the challenge that Elon Musk has faced with Twitter is that he's
tried to monetize it. He's trying to make it become a viable business. Does Zuckerberg do the same with this? Can he do the same with this and does it
matter? Yeah.
DUFFY: I think Zuckerberg may wait a little while. He even said this in a post today. He said he wants to get this app growing. He wants to get
people on the app before he thinks about monetizing it. But of course, in a lot of ways, this could feed directly into Meta's business models. Bottom
line, its business is selling ads on platforms and this is the same sort of thing it can do on Threads.
It also sells user data to third party -- third party companies that track that user data. And so, this is something that certainly can feed into
Meta's business although there are no ads on Threads just yet. I think they're probably going to wait a little while, get people using it, get
people used to it before they go that direction.
CHATTERLEY: Okay. The terminology though is giving me great pain because I keep using the term tweeted on Threads.
DUFFY: Threading doesn't roll off the tongue quite the same way.
CHATTERLEY: No, I'm having a chocker with it. So, but what is the word that you use? If you tweet something, you tweet something. What do you do on
threads? You threaded something?
DUFFY: I suppose you thread something. It's interesting because on Twitter you write a Twitter thread. And so yeah, I mean, we'll have to see. You
post on Threads, you thread on Threads. We'll see what happens.
CHATTERLEY: Threaded with that. Glad to see you. Thank you. Okay, let's move on. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen arrived in Beijing today. Her
three-day trip is aimed at mending frayed ties between the world's top economies. A Treasury Department official says Yellen and her Chinese
counterpart will have a chance to make quote, serious connections when they meet. She'll also meet with China's premier.
Yellen is expected to bring up issues like climate change and preparing for a future pandemic. The official says no significant breakthroughs are
expected. And Yellen's visit comes as part of China endures devastating flooding. You can see the impact here in these startling pictures from
southwestern China. The floods have killed at least 15 people. Tens of thousands have been forced from their homes and there are fears the
flooding could cause potentially devastating crop damage, as Anna Coren reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was the last thing this couple was expecting on their engagement day. While driving to the
ceremony, a flash flood in China's central Henan province washed away the car. Their only salvation, scrambling to the roof of the vehicle. Rescuers
used a drone to drop a rope and life jackets to the pair before they were dragged to the riverbank by a crane.
The extreme flooding comes as several parts of China have been hit with torrential rain over the past month, killing at least 15 people in the
southwestern city of Chongqing, according to local authorities and state media, and prompting four counties in the city to issue the highest red
alert warnings.
UNKNOWN: We woke up this morning and saw so much rainwater. The floods submerged roads and crops.
COREN: Neighboring Sichuan province has also been hard hit, where more than 85,000 residents have been displaced, prompting Chinese leader Xi Jinping
to order authorities to quote give top priority to keeping residents safe and minimizing losses. Continuous heavy rain just before the harvest
threatens to ruin crops this year. This farmer in China's Central Henan province says heavy rain has drenched his wheat fields.
UNKNOWN (through translator): After a few days of rain, the ground is very wet and now the harvester cannot enter the fields. We probably need to wait
another four or five days to start harvesting. This is a real disaster.
COREN: To help Henan province deal with harvest losses, China's finance ministry announced it will allocate nearly $28 million to help the farmers.
[12:50:00]
To help Henan province deal with harvest losses, China's finance ministry announced it will allocate nearly $28 million to help the farmers. But
severe damage to the crops could potentially push China to buy more wheat from the global market, where it's already expected to see less supply, as
the ongoing war in Ukraine continues to curtail its grain exports.
DARIN FRIEDRICHS, CO-FOUNDER, SITONIA CONSULTING: If there is damage to the crop and we're still figuring out how much it is, then it's likely that
China will need to increase its imports next year, so that would obviously have an impact on global prices and an impact on global markets.
COREN: With the seasonal rain slowly shifting north, central China is now bracing for heavy rainfalls. Anna Coren, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: We'll be right back after this. Stay with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to ONE WORLD. The first Alzheimer's drug to slow disease progression is expected to get full approval from the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration on Thursday. For many suffering from the disease, the drug has not yet been made available to them. CNN Medical Correspondent Meg
Tirrell spoke to a patient who says he's hoping he'll be a candidate for the treatment.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Six years ago, Joe Montminy saw a neurologist for what he thought were a few minor problems with his memory.
JOE MONTMINY, DIAGNOSED WITH ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE: Yes, she came back and said, you know what, Joe? You actually have Alzheimer's disease. You're
likely going to start to experience declines in the next five years, and you may not recognize your family in five to seven years.
Now 59, Montminy is one of millions of Americans living with Alzheimer's disease. But this year, new hope emerged. A drug aiming to slow down the
disease's progression got accelerated FDA approval in January, based on the fact that it clears amyloid plaque buildups in the brain associated with
Alzheimer's.
But Medicare declined to cover it until the FDA granted a fuller traditional approval based on a bigger clinical trial proving the drug has
benefits for thinking clearly and being able to function in daily life. Without insurance, the medicine called Lecanemab and sold under the brand
Leqembi costs $26,500 a year.
MONTMINY: You had this treatment at your fingertips? And suddenly you had Medicare saying, yeah, but you can't quite get access to that at this point
in time.
[12:55:00]
COREN: A larger trial funded by the drug's makers Eisai-Biogen did find that Leqembi can slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease by about 27
percent. It's the first time a drug has proven to alter the disease's course.
LAWRENCE HONIG, PROFESSOR OF NEUROLOGY, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IRVING MEDICAL CENTER: It was a very dismaying experience getting a diagnosis of
Alzheimer's disease and to be told that we don't have anything that will slow down or stop the disease in its tracks.
COREN: Columbia University's Dr. Lawrence Honig says this is the beginning of a new treatment era, but he warns that Leqembi is not a cure and not
everyone will be eligible for the drug.
TIRRELL: How difficult do you anticipate the conversations being with people who are more advanced and maybe are too advanced to benefit from the
drug?
HONIG: We're already having these conversations that sometimes aren't so easy. It's not that we know it's not good for people with moderate or
severe disease, it's just that we don't know.
COREN: Side effects could be worse for people with more advanced diseases as well, he says. Already, there's something to be aware of. About 13
percent of patients receiving the drug in its trial had brain swelling, 17 percent had brain bleeding, compared with nine percent in the placebo
group.
Leqembi can be administered through IV infusion once every two weeks. Infusion centers like Vivo Infusion are gearing up for an expected surge in
new patients.
UNKNOWN: In certain areas, I anticipate we will receive probably at least 15 to 20 percent more patient referrals for this drug.
COREN: Joe Montminy is hoping he'll be able to get it for a chance for more time with his wife and two grown sons.
MONTMINY: Like any parent, I would love to see them actually get married and have a family. I just want to experience many of the activities that
most people take for granted. Meg Tirrell, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHATTERLEY: Fingers crossed. That's it for ONE WORLD but stay with CNN. "AMANPOUR" is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
