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One World with Zain Asher
London Jury Acquits Actor Kevin Spacey of All Sexual Assault Charges; Niger President Mohamed Bazoum Seized By Guards, State TV Captured By Military; Israel Supreme Court Says It Will Not Temporarily Block A New Law That Limits Its Own Power; Kyiv's Forces Advancing In The East But Encountering Fierce Resistance Near Bakhmut; Italy Battles Two Weather Extremes; Lawmakers Press Three Witnesses On Their Encounters With Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena; Hunter Biden Expected To Plead Guilty To Two Misdemeanors Over Late Tax Payments; Haitians Say They Are Terrorized By A Brutal Network Of Gangs. Aired 12-1p ET
Aired July 26, 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]
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ZAIN ASHER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: I'm Zain Asher from New York and this is One World. Not Guilty. A jury in London has acquitted actor Kevin Spacey
of all sexual assault charges against him. Four different men made accusations against Spacey dating back to incidents between the years 2004
and 2013. But at the end of a nearly month-long trial, jurors cleared him of all nine charges. Spacey thanked the jury upon exiting the courtroom.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN SPACEY, ACTOR: I'm enormously grateful to the jury for having taken the time to examine all of the evidence and all of the facts carefully
before they reached their decision. And I am humbled by the outcome today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: CNN's Salma Abdelaziz joins us live now from London. Salma, Kevin Spacey has been very outspoken, at times teary-eyed in the past, talking
about what the last six years has meant for his career, how he's gone without work. What does this mean for his career going forward? Also worth-
noting that some of the complainants, I believe, are still pursuing Spacey in the civil court, so this is not exactly over for him just yet.
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, but for Kevin Spacey in his mind today and for his lawyers, they absolutely see this as a victory.
Spacey has said since the outset over and over again that he really looked forward to the opportunity to be in a courtroom in London to, as he says,
prove his innocence to a jury. And in his mind, that is exactly what he was able to do, found not guilty on all nine sexual offense charges.
As that was read out, the not guilty one by one by one. Kevin Spacey was brought to tears. He later stepped out to the reporters, including
ourselves, that were standing outside the courtroom, gave about a one- minute statement in which he said he was humbled by the decision, thanked the courtroom staff, thanked the jury, but also said that he has a lot to
process. And as you mentioned, there is, of course, the possibility still of civil cases against him.
Look, these were very serious allegations, very serious accusations against this award-winning actor. Again, nine offenses, including seven counts of
sexual assault, and one the most serious of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent. That, on its own, could have
carried decades in prison. Again, he's been found not guilty of all of these offenses. Kevin Spacey will see this as an opportunity to revive his
career, but what played out in court was truly riveting, Zain.
And as you can only imagine, will have an impact of course, on Kevin Spacey's reputation. The prosecutor who brought forward the incidences, the
accusations of these four men, described Kevin Spacey in this period between the early 2000s and 2010s, a time when he was the artistic director
of the old Vic Theater, he described, or she described rather --the prosecutor -- as -- Kevin Spacey as a sexual bully, as, and I quote, "at
one point, telling the courtroom he delights in making others feel powerless and uncomfortable".
Kevin Spacey, of course, hit back at this in court saying, yes, I am a big flirt, telling the jurors that he is sexually promiscuous, but of course
going on to say that doesn't make him a bad person, that he was throughout many of these incidences describing them as romantic and, of course,
describing them as consensual. It's important to note that these all surfaced, these accusations surface in the wake of the "Me Too" movement,
so this is potentially a blow to that movement. But for today, for Kevin Spacey, he'll see this as a victory and as you said, as a chance to reclaim
that award-winning acting career.
ASHER: All right, Salma Abdelaziz, live for us there. Thank you so much. All right, we are keeping an eye on a potential political situation
unfolding in Niger right now, in terms of what appears to be a possible coup attempt.
So, witnesses tell CNN the presidential palace in Niamey is surrounded by military vehicles. And reports say the President has been seized by his
guards. Right now, the streets of the capital are calm.
[12:05:00]
And a statement on the presidency's social media channels claims that Mohamed Bazoum is, quote, doing well. CNN cannot verify the statement.
Let's turn now to CNN's Larry Madowo who joins us live now from Nairobi. I mean, this is, of course, a country, Niger, that has had coups and
attempted coups in the past. Just walk us through what we know about how President Bazoum is doing, just in terms of his fate. And also, we're
hearing reports that the military has captured state TV. What more do we know?
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Zain, I need to preface this by saying there's a lot we do not know, but here's what we know, that President
Mohamed Bazoum is being held at the presidential palace, according to multiple sources. We also learned a short while ago, CNN, according to a
source close to the president, that the presidential guard and the government are involved in discussions. This source is not telling us what
these discussions are about, but we also know that the roads around the presidential palace are blocked.
Some government ministries have been closed for most of today. The city appeared calm. But something suddenly has been afoot, a heavy military
presence around the presidential palace, and now we understand that the military appears to have taken control of state television. It's still
broadcasting, at least according to feed on their website, but the military is understood to be in control of state television in Niger.
This is a situation that has earned condemnation from the regional body, the economic community of West African states, ECOWAS, the African Union,
and the European Union. In fact, the ECOWAS, that regional body, West Africa, warning anybody involved in this that the ECOWAS and international
community will hold them responsible for the safety and security of President Bazoum, of his family, and of senior government officials,
anybody, citizens involved in this situation.
He was elected in 2021. Niger is a relatively more stable part of an unstable neighborhood. There's a big jihadist crisis in the Sahel,
especially in Mali and Burkina Faso. And with French troops leaving Mali, Niger has become the linchpin of France's strategy in the region, so a key
ally for both France and the United States there. The United States Embassy said that it had received reports of political instability in the country
and said that even though the situation appeared to be calm, it advised people to limit unnecessary movements and especially avoid all travel along
Avenue Rue de la Republique until further notice.
We have seen a statement from the presidency's official accounts on Facebook and on Twitter, though that statement disappeared from these
official accounts, except this one section that I want to read for you that remains on the Twitter account of the presidency of Niger. "The President
of the Republic and his family are doing well. The army and the national guard are ready to attack the elements of the presidential guard involved
in this fit of anger if they do not return to their better senses."
So, this statement initially said that there were members of the presidential guard who were involved in anti-Republican status in vain and
that they were being dealt with. So, the disappearance of that is something that is odd. There's a lot still we don't know there in here, but suddenly
a worrying situation in Niger.
ASHER: Yeah, definitely keep us posted in terms of what happens in Niamey. As we just saw in the video there, thestreets.com, but people are being
warned to stay away from Avenue de la Republique, as you point out. Larry Madowo, live for us there. Thank you so much.
Right now, to Israel, where the Supreme Court says it will not temporarily block a new law that limits its own power, at least for now, but it will
hear challenges from seven petitioners trying to get the so-called reasonableness -- reasonableness law thrown out. In a ruling, the High
Court said it will hold a debate in September.
One group petitioning against the law celebrated the court's decision, vowing to quote, demonstrate and fight everywhere and on every platform
until the threat is removed. The law passed by Israel's Knesset on Monday blocks the High Court's ability to declare government decisions
unreasonable. The Knesset said Wednesday, the law has officially been published in records and entered into force.
Turning now to Russia's war on Ukraine, where Kyiv says its forces are advancing in the east but encountering fierce resistance near Bakhmut. This
video appears to show Ukrainian forces taking over Russian positions south of the besieged city. CNN is unable to independently confirm the details.
Meantime, Russian-installed officials and military bloggers claim Ukrainian troops have launched a major offensive in the southern region building on
modest gains in the past couple of days.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is preparing to host a high-stakes meeting with African leaders this week at St. Petersburg. Some of those leaders
have arrived at the main summit that starts on Thursday. They're set to discuss everything from war in Ukraine to food security and trade.
A number of African countries are feeling the impact. On Thursday, they're set to discuss everything from war in Ukraine to food security and trade. A
number of African countries are feeling the impact of Russia having withdrawn from the Black Sea grain deal with Ukraine. A lot of African
countries, especially in the eastern part of Africa, are experiencing food insecurity as a result of Russia pulling out of that deal.
Let me bring in David McKenzie, joining us live now from Johannesburg. Here's the thing. When Russia had an Africa summit back in 2019, you had
pretty much about 43 African leaders attend that summit. This time, the number is much smaller. It's closer to roughly around 20. What should we
make of the lower turnout, David?
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Zain, the latest numbers, in fact, from the Kremlin is around 17. So, it is a
significant drop in the number of heads of state going to the second Russia-Africa summit. And you can't help but think this is in part due to
the war in Ukraine and the vilification on the world stage of President Vladimir Putin and, of course, several months ago, those international
criminal court charges placed against him for alleged war crimes.
But the Russians have hit back saying that it is a crucially important summit. They have blamed the West for smearing them, but have said on a
diplomatic front that it's the scheduling of some African leaders, but still a very significant summit, and it will be the first major conference
of its kind since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. Zain.
ASHER: There are a key number of African leaders who are not attending. President Tinubu of Nigeria not going. President Ruto of Kenya, also not
going. In fact, President Ruto basically said, look, I don't see the point of having 54 leaders from Africa going to visit one man. It doesn't make
sense to us. Just walk us through the optics of this summit.
MCKENZIE: Well, President Ruto in Kenya, of course, is leader of a nation that has been staunchly supporting the U.S. stance on the war in Ukraine,
very different here in South Africa, where the president, the foreign minister, the minister in the presidency are all going to that summit. Now,
the optics will be still powerful for President Putin, because the Western powers have tried to show through sanctions over these many months and
through isolating Putin and further, the International Criminal Court indictment, which could see Putin arrested if he sets foot in a country
that is part of that treaty.
This will be a moment where Vladimir Putin is standing on the stage with multiple, powerful African leaders for a summit, in which shows in a very
visual sense that he's not completely isolated from world affairs, and Russia is taking an even more active role in African affairs even since the
war began, Zain.
ASHER: And of course, the major topic, the major concern for a lot of African countries, especially the East African countries, is going to be
Russia pulling out of the grain deal and of course what that has meant for several African nations in terms of food inflation, rising prices, food
insecurity, as well. David McKenzie, we do have to leave it there. Thank you so much.
All right, turning now to Italy, which is battling two weather extremes. You've got severe storms in the north and wildfires in the south.
Firefighters are battling at least 10 fires which have claimed at least four lives. You can actually see here in this video, one driver actually
found himself in the middle of the flames.
Crews in Northern Italy are cleaning up after storms. They're knocked down trees and damaged buildings with golf ball-sized hail. One teenager was
killed when a tree fell on her tent while she was camping. CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam takes a look at weather. There's some relief in
sight for Europe.
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST DEREK: Yeah, that's right, saying we are battling two different weather extremes across Italy to the north, severe
weather to the south, extreme heat and wildfires. Let's begin with the severe storms across northern Italy. This is incredible. You saw some of
the footage of the storms that brought down trees and power lines in Milan, 110 kilometer per hour wind gusts with this line of storms that move
through. That's equivalent to near Category 1 Atlantic Hurricane strength.
Of course, it wasn't a hurricane that brought down the trees in Milan, but a severe line of storms with wind gusts there exceeding 110 kilometers per
hour. The other big story was the hailstones that fell from the sky, 10 centimeters with this particular report. But there was one uncooperative
report that said a 19-centimeter hailstone fell from the sky in northern Italy that rivals some of the largest hailstones that fall across the plain
states here within the United States.
This is some of the imagery of the hail that fell across northern Italy, and it really started to accumulate quickly across the streets there. We've
got cool weather to the north and the record heat to the south. That's the battleground we start to see take place between those two different air
masses, and that's why we get the severe to accumulate quickly across the streets there.
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We've got cool weather to the north and the record heat to the south. That's the battleground we start to see take place between those two
different air masses, and that's why we get the severe storms. Now, we talk about fires because we've got Corfu, the island just off the coast of
Greece. Here's Sicily. Look at all the wildfire hot spots. And then, there's the island of Rhodes in Greece that is continuing to see the
wildfires burn out of control.
This is the Copernicus wildfire imagery that you can see. Some of the wildfires just streaming towards the coastline and the island of Corfu in
Greece. And this is all under the backdrop of record-setting temperatures throughout the Mediterranean. We do have a bit of a reprieve in the daytime
highs for Athens, for instance, 37 on Thursday, but 32 degrees on Friday, so a bit more normal in terms of temperatures, but still hot and still dry
across that region.
We mentioned the potential for more severe storms today. That's because of the battleground of air masses, cooler weather to the north, warmer to the
south, and this is setting up our chance of severe wind, large hail, excessive precipitation. Can't even rule out an isolated tornado today for
portions of the Balkan states, and that extends into southern Russia, as well. So, very active weather pattern to say the least across Europe as it
stands. Zain, back to you.
ASHER: All right, Derek Van Dam there. Thank you. In the world of Washington, lawmakers are pressing three witnesses on their encounters with
what are known as UAPs, Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena. A slight upgrade from the UFO acronym of old. In the last few years, genuine questions have
emerged about what exactly is out there, such that even Congress is taking them seriously. CNN's Tom Foreman has been following what has been
certainly a very interesting day on the Hill. Tom, what more can you tell us?
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, if you are a conspiracy theorist or you believe there's something out there, this has been an absolute fountain
of new material that you'll be delighted with. Throughout the day, these three witnesses, former military people, have testified that not only are
there many, many more sightings than we know of that go unreported, but that the government is keeping it all under wraps and keeping it all
secretive and not letting us know about these vessels that they say are appearing in airspace around the world and doing absolutely astonishing
things. Listen to this one exchange.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: Do you believe UAPs pose a potential threat to our national security?
DAVID FRAVOR, RETIRED U.S. NAVY COMMANDER: Yes, and here's why. The technology that we faced was far superior than anything that we had, and
you could put that anywhere. If you had one, you captured one, you reverse engineered it, you got it to work, you're talking something that can go
into space, go someplace, drop down in a matter of seconds, do whatever it wants, and leave, and there's nothing we can do about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOREMAN: So, that retired commander, he's one of the people who saw one of these things, which has been recorded, and says, look, what I saw defied
the laws of physics, it defied the laws of material science. This is a very, very big deal out there. Now, on the other hand, if you're one of the
skeptics, some of the information we're hearing today is secondhand, thirdhand.
One of the witnesses saying, oh, yeah, they recovered essentially bodies of some kind of pilots that were not human. But then when somebody said, have
you seen them, he's like, well, no, I haven't seen them. I've just heard about them, and I believe we're keeping them, and I believe we're keeping
spacecraft. But then they say, well, you want to be more open? Tell us about them. And he's like, well, I can't tell you in open meetings like
this. It's all very intriguing if you're a believer and very much raising the skepticism if you're not a believer, making you want to say, yeah,
maybe advanced weapons systems, maybe all sorts of things, but not what you think it is.
ASHER: Okay. Right. Certainly, an eyebrow-raising day.
FORMAN: Wow.
ASHER: Regardless of what side of the fence you're on, Tom Foreman, live for us there. Thank you so much. Let's turn now to a true expert on the
night sky above. David Kipping is an Assistant Professor of Astronomy at Columbia University. He joins us live now from New York. You know, David,
there have been so many conspiracy theories when it comes to UFOs or UAPs as they're now known.
And a lot of people hearing this will say, look, the idea of UFOs sounds absurd. I mean, it sounds very much out there, very much in the sort of
fantasy realm. Certainly unbelievable. That's what a lot of people would say. What are the right questions we should be asking as we listen to this
testimony on Capitol Hill today?
DAVID KIPPING, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ASTRONOMY, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: I think as a scientist, someone who looks up at the sky and tries to look for
life out there, the thing I really want is something that's a bit more credible than just personal testimony. We want some hard, physical
evidence.
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There are claimed to be these spacecrafts, which are in U.S. possession, right? So, the government has these. So, I would love personally, as a
scientist to actually see proof of that technology or even proof of biological sample, if there are bodies. But so far, all we have are
personal testimonies and some grainy videos, and it's just ambiguous. I think the problem for me is what is the error rate of these pilots? Yes,
they are seeing something, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's aliens. There could be some mundane or natural phenomenon that they're simply
misidentifying.
ASHER: You know what I find interesting? I find two things quite interesting. One is the fact that, you know, we've got sort of Navy pilots
testifying. These are sort of senior level people, people who at face value seem credible, at least on paper, just in terms of their title. But I also
think that, you know, the fact that Congress is even entertaining this, the fact that Congress is willing to have a hearing and have these people
testify publicly and that it's a bipartisan effort. Do you find that aspect of it somewhat interesting? Does that sort of change the conversation in
any way?
KIPPING: It's kind of interesting. It moves what we call the Overton window. So, it means that UFOs, which were once considered this kind of
very fringe topic, is now being considered kind of almost mainstream at this point. And, you know, in my line of work, we are also looking for life
on exoplanets out there in the universe. And that, too, was considered kind of fringe. And so, if UFOs are now mainstream, it means that what we do is
completely mainstream at this point.
So, in a sense, it's kind of nice that needle has moved so far over that no one's really pointing things at us anymore. At the same time, I think
there's the alien issue and there's just the UFO issue. I think we should almost keep those separate. It totally makes sense to me that the U.S.
government would care about objects which are in their airspace, which pilots are seeing and cannot identify. So, that doesn't mean it's aliens.
It means there's perhaps something going on. And of course, it makes total sense to me that the U.S. government would have a high priority in trying
to figure out what that is.
ASHER: So, just in terms of for the ordinary person who's sitting at home in their living room listening to part of this testimony, I mean, some
people are fascinated by this. Some people are obviously very skeptical. You know, what do we do with this information?
KIPPING: You know, it's like Jerry Maguire says, show me the money, that's what I really want to see here. I want to see some real hard evidence. Like
I said, the U.S. pilots, they are flying so often, you actually count up how many hours U.S. military pilots fly, it's something like five to six
million hours per year. So, even if their error rate of misidentifying things was one in 10,000, let's say one of every 10,000 hours flown, you
would still expect 500 or more spurious reports of things they just couldn't identify. But that doesn't mean it's alien just because they're
seeing something strange.
So, it's that kind of thing. I really want to get to the bottom of what is the error rate of these pilots? That's an entire new experiment. I don't
think anyone's actually attempted that experiment. And is there something more? Could we actually have some serious physical evidence that would
probably convince us all. But right, now it's all ambiguous. It's personal testimony. It's -- it's not enough skeptics or even I'd say I'm kind of in
the middle of those two worlds to be moved significantly by this.
ASHER: Absolutely. I mean, it's fascinating nonetheless, but as you point out, I mean, at times first-hand accounts, sure, but, you know, we're also
hearing second, third-hand accounts, as well. So, that certainly does raise eyebrows. David, we have to leave it there. Thank you so much.
KIPPING: Thank you.
ASHER: David Kipping of Columbia University. We appreciate you joining us. All right. A dramatic scene here in New York City earlier today. A crane
caught fire and collapsed in Midtown Manhattan. And it happened --there it goes. You see it sort of crashing into the side of an adjacent building
there. The crane's arm basically became detached and crashed down into the street. The fire department says that six people had minor injuries, but it
was certainly a close call for a lot of people who are on the street. I mean, this is a very, very busy part of Manhattan, and this happened in the
middle of the day, in the morning.
All right, still to come here, a nation in chaos. That's, quote, "dangling over an abyss". Ahead, we'll look at Haiti's gang violence crisis and why
it matters. And later, there's a lot going wrong with climate change, but there's also actually a lot going right. Is it possible to be a climate
optimist? We'll take a look.
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ASHER: A widely-reported plea deal for Hunter Biden, U.S. President Joe Biden's son, has fallen apart at a federal court in Delaware today. You can
actually see him entering the courthouse. There he is, highlighted there. That's in Wilmington. He was expected to plead guilty to two misdemeanors
over late tax payments as part of a deal with prosecutors to resolve a separate felony gun charge. Now, that deal is apparently in jeopardy,
casting new questions over Biden's legal troubles.
Evan Perez is joining us live now from Washington with more. So, Evan, this plea agreement appears to be in jeopardy, but I'm also hearing that there's
a lot of movement, things are changing. What more do we know?
EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR U.S. JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Things are changing. High drama at this courthouse in Wilmington, Delaware. Here's where we are
at this moment. The judge is asking questions of Hunter Biden, what he's willing to agree to. She had raised some concerns as to whether the
agreement that had been published, the one that had been made public whereby Hunter Biden agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts for
not paying his taxes on time in 2017 and 2018, and in a separate gun charge, whether all of this was connected, whether it meant that Hunter
Biden was protected from prosecution on anything else. And that's where things sort of fell apart.
And at this hour, right now, it appears that the two sides, the Hunter Biden's lawyers and the prosecution have come to terms that there is a much
more limited scope, that Biden is protected under this deal, that he cannot be prosecuted for any of his taxes from 2014 to 2019, as well as his
possession of a gun at a time when he was addicted to drugs, which is a federal violation, a big, a major violation here in the United States. And
so, he can't be prosecuted for those things. But there is an ongoing investigation and there are other things that he could face some legal
jeopardy over.
So, it appears for now that the agreement is back on. It's much more limited in scope than certainly we thought earlier in the day, but it does
come at the end of a lot of drama within this courtroom where the judge had to recess the proceedings to let the two sides try to figure out whether
they actually understood what Hunter Biden was agreeing to. Zain.
ASHER: I mean, Hunter Biden has faced scrutiny for many years. Just walk us through what this means for the president and just what this means
politically as the president faces reelection.
PEREZ: Well, this means that this is far from over. Certainly from a political standpoint, this investigation has been going on for five years.
It's an unusual amount of time for an investigation of this nature. Of course, as you pointed out, you know, it's not every day. Certainly, it's
not -- it's never happened before the son or the child of a sitting president has been brought into court and is pleading guilty to criminal
charges. That doesn't happen in U.S. history. So, the sitting president has been brought into court and is pleading guilty to criminal charges.
[12:30:00]
That doesn't happen in U.S. history. So, on that end, we know that Republicans in Congress say that they have a lot of questions. They want to
hold hearings. They are even raising the prospect of doing an impeachment inquiry to look into whether Joe Biden benefited from any of his son's
overseas business dealings. And so that, we can anticipate, will continue.
Of course, so far, Republicans have not really provided any proof that Joe Biden did benefit in any way from Hunter Biden's business dealings. But,
you know, sometimes that's not the point. It is politics. We are entering into an election year. And so, you can bet we will be hearing a lot more
about this in the months to come. Zain.
ASHER: Oh, yes, we will. That is for sure. Evan Perez, live for us there. Thank you so much.
PEREZ: Thanks.
ASHER: All right. Let's turn now to Haiti, which is, of course, a deeply impoverished nation paralyzed by rampant gang violence and corruption. And
what the U.N. warns is, "quote, dangling over an abyss". A series of natural disasters, of course, the COVID-19 pandemic and then the
assassination a couple of years ago of President Jovenel Moise have plunged the country into chaos. And with each passing month, political and security
situation continues to deteriorate.
On Tuesday, crowds were dispersed from around the U.S. embassy, driven out by what appears to be tear gas. Inside the compound, staff were instructed
to stay put because of gunfire and gang activity. Ordinary Haitians, many of them afraid to leave their homes, say they are terrorized by a brutal
network of gangs that control pretty much nearly every aspect of life there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN (through translator): I don't know the reason for gang violence. Gangs just shoot and they ask for control of the area. They took our house
and we are in the street. We want help to go back home. To the Haitian government, we send this message because we want to come back home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: For more, let's turn to CNN's Rafael Romo, who joins us live now from Atlanta. I mean, let's talk about what's happening in and around the
U.S. embassy there in Haiti. I mean, obviously, the U.S. has known about the situation in Haiti for quite some time. Just walk us through what
efforts have been made to keep embassy staff safe leading up to this point.
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It seems like very few efforts, so far, Zain, and it all seems to have started with gang activity. Specifically,
gangs are laying siege to the Tabarre neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital. Tabarre is also the neighborhood where the U.S. embassy is
located and that is an area that has been struck by violence in recent weeks.
Just to give you an idea about how bad the situation has been Zain, in early July, the medical humanitarian charity Doctors Without Borders, also
known as Medecins Sans Frontieres, had stop their work at one of their hospitals in Tabarre precisely there, that same neighborhood. And they said
because around 20 armed men forcibly enter the hospital to remove a patient being treated for gunshot wounds from the operating room. Imagine that.
The U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince called Tuesday for embassy personnel to remain inside the compound after three days of gang activity and gunfire
near the building. Haitian security forces are struggling to contain the gangs, especially after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise a
little over two years ago. Those criminal groups have assumed control of vast swaths of the country.
And U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres appealed for the world to pay attention to the crisis in Haiti as he visited the country earlier in July
saying the following quote, the Haitian people are trapped in a living nightmare. Humanitarian conditions are beyond appalling. Brutal gangs have
a stranglehold on the people of Haiti. That's what Gutierrez said.
He also made a plea, Zain, for what he called a robust security force deployed by member states to work together with Haitian police to defeat
and dismantle the gang. So far, no movement at the U.N. from member countries. So, it remains to be seen what the international community is
going to do about this. Zain, back to you.
ASHER: All right. Rafael Romo, live for us there. Thank you so much. Kenya's opposition leader Raila Odinga suspended anti-government protests
on Wednesday because of what he's calling unprecedented police brutality. Instead, regional leaders held nationwide vigils to honor those who have
been killed in recent demonstrations against tax hikes and the rising cost of living. The government meanwhile is refuting claims of excessive use of
force calling them malicious and false. We'll be right back with more.
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ASHER: Hello and welcome back to One World. Let's catch up on the headlines. Former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed is expected to make a full
recovery after he was wounded while serving alongside the Ukrainian forces fighting Russia. As sources tell CNN, Reed was injured by shrapnel about
two weeks ago after his unit was able to push back Russians and recapture two kilometers of land near Bakhmut. Reed is currently getting medical care
in Germany.
At least one person was killed and two others injured when a powerful typhoon hit the Philippines earlier Wednesday. The storm caused flooding
and at least 16 landslides were reported throughout the country. The typhoon is expected to weaken as it heads towards South China. Algeria says
it has managed to contain all of the wildfires raging in its forests, state TV reported Monday. The death toll from the fires had risen to 34,
including soldiers. A fire comes as North Africa and the Mediterranean experience temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius amid a heat wave.
All right. There are two words that you rarely see together. Climate and optimism. But there's a growing movement that says, yes, of course, things
are bad, but we can fix it. Part of the problem is that the messaging around climate change needs to be more solution-oriented. Repeated images
of the new normal, including heat waves and wildfires, have an emotional effect. A 2021 Lancet study found climate change needs to be more solution-
oriented.
[12:40:00]
Repeated images of the new normal, including heat waves and wildfires, have an emotional effect. A 2021 Lancet study found nearly 60 percent of young
people, they surveyed, were very or extremely worried about climate change. Climate optimists say that action, or rather that anxiety, can lead to
inaction.
In a "Vox" article, our World and Data Researcher, Hannah Ritchie, noted some positives in the climate fight, including the prices of solar and wind
power and low-carbon batteries have all plunged, and that global deforestation is slowly declining. She says coal is falling out of favor in
many countries, but she stresses optimism alone is not enough. She says that things will only improve if we fight for change.
Time now for The Exchange. Our next guest says we can win this battle and in fact, we are making progress. Marcy Franck is the Author of the
newsletter called "The Climate Optimist" in addition to being the Senior Communication Strategist at Harvard's at Chan School of Public Health.
Marcy, thank you so much for being with us. I'm so keen to talk to you about this because I have been terrified by some of the things we're seeing
of course in Western Europe, for example, when it comes to the wildfires in North Africa, as well. Vermont -- parts of Vermont have been underwater, as
you well know.
You know, I just read an article where Al Gore described some of the extreme weather events we're going to be seeing in the future as something
out of the book of revelations. When you think about Iran having temperatures of 150 degrees Fahrenheit, tell me why we should be optimistic
at this point.
MARCY FRANCK, "THE CLIMATE OPTIMIST": Oh, well, first of all, thank you so much for having me, Zain. I love talking about climate optimism exactly for
the reasons that you're talking about, which is we're inundated with bad news stories, mostly about climate disasters that are unfolding around the
world. As we should, we should stay informed about these things. They're impacting lives on an incalculable scale. But the reason we can stay
optimistic is because we know how to prevent things from getting worse. We already have the solutions and technologies we need to be successful.
One of the things that I find the most calming and that a lot of people are surprised to know is that actions we've already taken have already averted
some of the worst case scenarios that we thought were possible even just a few years ago. And within the last couple years alone, we've seen massive
progress rolling out climate solutions around the world. We are transitioning entire economies off of fossil fuels and changing the way we
produce energy, transport people and things, grow food and build buildings.
And these are all the things that scientists say that we're supposed to be doing in order to prevent things from getting worse and creating a thriving
future, which is within our grasp. And one of the things that I think is really exciting is that we have evidence now that the efforts that we're
taking are actually working. For example, in 2022, emissions from the power sector rose less than one percent which was way less than we originally
feared. And that's because the efforts that we're doing are actually working.
ASHER: So, Marcy, here's the thing though. So, the efforts, I mean, listen, there are so many global initiatives. I mean, California, for example, is
banning the sale of new gas-powered cars from 2035 onwards. I have no doubt that that's gonna make an impact. I think my question to you and I think my
real concern is that the pace of the effects of climate change are really troubling.
So, if you look at some of the weather events we're seeing this summer, compared to last summer, compared to the previous summer, it seems to be
getting way worse, far quicker than I anticipated. And so, even though, you know, a lot of these global initiatives are working and we're reducing
carbon emissions, are we doing it quickly enough, Marcy?
FRANCK: Well, we can always go faster. We actually do need to go faster. And one of the things I think a climate optimist needs to do is use all of
these impacts that we see that are very scary and use them as motivation to get involved, to be part of the fight, and to seek out actions that are
happening around us where we can get involved and make a difference.
ASHER: You know, and I love that point, that we can all do something. I think that I'm just gonna be completely transparent.
[12:45:00]
One of the things that I struggle with is, personally, I sort of think to myself, well, you know, if we're gonna reverse what's happening to the
climate, that is really any change, any positive change is going to be led by governments. It's going to be led by corporations. It's going to be
about the U.S. and China, the two largest polluters working together. I worry about whether or not I, as one person, one individual, can really
make a difference. Is me recycling, you know, my Evian bottle really actually going to have an impact?
So, what do you say to people who are, you know, like me, who think that, you know, it's really about corporations and nations and it's, you know,
we're past the point where individuals can really make a difference. What do you say to people who think that way?
FRANCK: I don't think we're past that point at all. In fact, there are everyday people like you and me getting involved in larger efforts already
underway that are making huge differences in their local area. So, this is an instance where we should look local and look around to see what's
available for opportunities to get involved. So, some of the most impactful work that you can do is advocate for policies in your local area that will
make it easy to bring green energy and energy efficiency initiatives to your area.
So, things like easing the way for wind and solar farms to get built in your town or making it easier for people to install rooftop solar or build
community solar programs or installing more EV cheap, EV chargers around your neighborhood. Oftentimes, these initiatives require champions on the
ground pushing for policies that are going to make these things successful and that's where we come in, that's where we can make the most impact.
ASHER: Thank you for making me feel so much better. You know, I actually interviewed a climate author just last week whose book was titled, "The
Heat Will Kill You First". So, I haven't actually been able to sleep for the last few days. But Marcy, I'm really happy that we spoke and you know,
I'm glad that you're offering some reassurance in this conversation, but it is up to all of us to actually chip in and do more, as you point out.
Marcy, thank you so much. Thank you so much for joining us.
FRANCK: Thank you for having me.
ASHER: All right, coming up. The late Hip Hop Artist, Tupac Shakur, has had gold records. Now, another one of his gold possessions is setting records,
as well. Details after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: The CEO of one of the UK's biggest banks has resigned after admitting to leaking financial details of Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage to
BBC News. Alison Rose, boss of NatWest, apologized to Farage Tuesday and called it a serious error of judgement. Last month, Farage, who is now a TV
host, said that he had been dropped as a customer by a prestigious private British bank that's owned by NatWest.
[12:50:00]
Farage said he believed the decision to close his account was actually due to his political views. That appeared to be later confirmed by a copy of
the bank's records. The growing field of fintech is truly a global sector and it has a significant footprint in Africa where companies across the
continent are innovating on how to do business. On this edition of Africa Insider, we head to Zimbabwe to visit one such firm, Cashlinq.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TENDAI ELVIS MUGOVI, CEO AND CO-FOUNDER OF CASHLINQ: FinTech is very important for the future of the continent because in a continent where
majority of the people are living under poverty. FinTech offers one easy way to transform the lives of people in the shortest period of time. My
name is Tendai Elvis Mugovi. I am the CEO and Co-Founder of Cashlinq.
Cashlinq platform is used to power a variety of fintech services such as digital only banks, TOKO wallets and fintechs in various spaces such as
peer-to-peer payments, savings, lendings and remittances. Cashlinq is different from other companies and the market because it's a system that
was developed from the ground up with African realities in mind.
The African market is different to the rest of the banking sectors across the world in two main areas. One, the majority of our population have low
disposable income. So, the banking products that they should be given is very different to the rest of the world. Second, it's a very volatile
market, both regulatory and in terms of consumer market. KEVIN KALUWA, IT MANAGER, TELECASH, CASHLINQ CLIENT: We had reservations using Cashlinq, speaking to a young team who are just starting off, it
really takes a bit of courage from us to sort of entrust them with such a big task. There are certain distinct advantages of having a vendor who is
very close to the market that you're operating in because obviously they understand the market and they understand the changes that you would
require.
UNKNOWN: How can we bank those people who are struggling to get $2 --$3? So, you can't do these traditional same thing where you charge them $5 a
month to just open a code. So, I think Cashlinq enables people to really think not in a conventional way. In living in a continent where majority of
the people live under serious poverty, I'm motivated to do what I do.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:55:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: The late Rapper Tupac Shakur set a lot of records in his career.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: And now the California love artist has set one more. This gold ruby and diamond crown ring is the most valuable hip hop artifact ever sold at
auction. That's according to Sotheby's, which auctioned off the ring for $1 million. Tuba commissioned the ring in 1996, which is the year he died. He
wore it at his final public appearance at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards. All right. Thank you so much for watching One World. I'm Zain Asher.
Amanpour is up next. You're watching CNN.
END
