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One World with Zain Asher
Kenyan President Ruto Says He Will Not Sign The Controversial Tax Bill; Assange Walks Free From A Saipan Court; Biden Prepares For Upcoming Presidential Debate; SCOTUS Issues One Major Ruling; Humanitarian Aid Resumes Flow Through Temporary U.S. Military Pier Off The Gaza Coast But No One To Pick Up. Aired 12-1p ET
Aired June 26, 2024 - 12:00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:00:24]
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: A shocking concession. Kenya's President makes an about-face. "ONE WORLD" starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA (voice-over): William Ruto has spoken. He will not sign the controversial tax bill after a day of deadly protests. Also ahead, after 14
years in confinement, love him or hate him, today Julian Assange is officially a free man.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA (voice-over): And I don't know if you've heard yet, but there is a huge presidential debate on CNN tomorrow. Details on one of the biggest
nights of the election.
GOLODRYGA: All right, everyone, live from Washington, I'm Bianna Golodryga. Good to see you. Zain is off today. You are watching "ONE
WORLD". And we begin with news out of Nairobi, where Kenya's President has just said that he will not sign the controversial finance bill. That was
the cause of Tuesday's deadly protests in the capital. William Ruto addressed the nation just a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM RUTO, KENYAN PRESIDENT: Having reflected on the continuing conversation around the content of the finance bill 2024, and listening
keenly to the people of Kenya, who have said loudly that they want nothing to do with this finance bill 2024, I concede and therefore I will not sign.
GOLODRYGA (voice-over): As you see, there are huge demonstrations erupted on Tuesday in opposition to the finance bill. At least six people were
killed and scores injured when police tried to repel the protesters. The Kenyan parliament was broken into and partially set on fire. Mr. Ruto's
climb down comes less than 24 hours after he denounced the protesters as, quote, "treasonous".
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: CNN's Larry Madowo reported from the middle of those protests on Tuesday, and he joins us now live from Nairobi. Larry, I know we had
issues with your satellite. I'm glad that you're able to join us now. Talk about whiplash and a complete change in attitude and how the President has
handled and responded to these deadly protests yesterday, calling them treasonous. Less than 24 hours later, backing down. Walk us through what
caused this change.
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on-camera): The simple answer is I don't know. Nobody knows, because around this time last night, President Ruto had
a strongly worded national address where he called these young people treasonous protesters and promised the full force of security services to
make sure that yesterday's violence does not happen again.
And then less than 24 hours later, he says the people have spoken and he has listened, that he leads the government but also is a leader of the
people. And he is conceding that, yes, they were right and life would become too expensive for them.
This finance bill was supposed to raise an extra $2.6 billion for the government revenue. After public outcry, they climbed down a little bit and
targeted $1.5 billion. There were advisers to President Ruto on social media calling these young people, protesting, rubbishing them, essentially
just ridiculing what they were doing.
And now President Ruto himself having to say that you were right after all. I want to remind everybody why the young people were protesting. I met
these two young people outside Kenya's parliament yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNKNOWN: And I have two children as you can see me now. I don't have work. I don't have anything to do. So who can help me? We thought that Ruto can
help us, but he can't. He can't help us. Why? Why is he killing us, by the way?
UNKNOWN: Why kill someone over glass that can be bought again? Why? Why?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MADOWO (on-camera): He said they can't kill all of us. And the glass he's referring to is the glass in parliament which was broken as police were
confronting the protesters who breached the wall of parliament, the "occupation of parliament" as they called it. And that is the anger that
people feel on the streets.
The people that were sitting behind President William Ruto as he made this address this afternoon are the members of his party. President Ruto has a
majority in parliament. And so, they were able to pass this finance bill while Kenyans were actively protesting outside parliament.
[12:05:01]
While we were outside parliament, we saw police use live ammunition and we saw people killed in that moment. That's why I'm not using the word
allegedly because I was there. I saw it. And these people sitting behind President Ruto were there passing the finance bill while Kenyans outside
were telling them, this is too expensive for us, don't do it. Bianna.
GOLODRYGA: And Larry, I mean, you were there. Yes, you were. You were covering hours on end, the protests, many of which turned violent. And we
saw a lot of heavy handedness from the police in response there, as well. President Ruto clearly did not like these images to be portrayed through
the country and for the world to see, as well.
His country had been one that was seen as more of a stable country in the region. Does this change that now once he has terminated this bill and done
away with it? Do things go back to normal or is that too soon to tell?
MADOWO: Things are not likely to go back to normal, at least not immediately, because there's already calls on social media for a one
million march tomorrow --
GOLODRYGAL: Wow.
MADOWO: -- against other perceived injustices that President Ruto has done against the people. So just because he's removed the finance bill and
that's dead, does not mean that the people are now satisfied. So, that's one thing. The other is that, yes, President Ruto said six people were
killed after the protests turned violent yesterday.
But Kenya's National Human Rights Commission, that's a government human rights body, says 22 people were killed. A police reforms working group
said 23 people died in protests yesterday, calling out the police for being overly violent. This militaristic response to largely peaceful protesters,
that's not going to go away because the finance bill is dead, Bianna.
GOLODRYGA: Yes, somebody who called himself a hustler in chief, who was one of the people there, clearly, an own goal on his part, not taking a
test of the temperature here and a sense of the struggles and the frustration among particularly the youth in his country. Larry Madowo,
thank you so much for your incredible reporting as always. Well, Julian Assange is a free man back in his home country of Australia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA (voice-over): This is the moment when he stepped off the plane earlier in the Australian capital of Canberra. The wife of the
controversial WikiLeaks founder has been speaking about his release. Here's what she said.
STELLA ASSANGE, WIFE OF JULIAN ASSANGE: Julian wanted me to sincerely thank everyone. He wanted to be here. But you have to understand what he's
been through. He needs time. He needs to recuperate. And this is a process.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Earlier in the day, Assange walked free from a court in a U.S. territory in the Pacific. He pleaded guilty to a single espionage-related
charge for publishing leaked U.S. official documents. CNN's Nic Robertson shows us what happened next.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Julian Assange, a free man, for time served, 62 months of it, leaving court. His
lawyer pleased with the outcome.
BARRY POLLACK, JULIAN ASSANGE'S U.S. LAWYER: The court today determined that no harm was caused by Mr. Assange's publications. We know that they
were newsworthy. We know that they were quoted by every major media outlet on the planet. And we know that they revealed important information. That
is called journalism.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): The WikiLeaks founder on his way to Australia, his wife and family.
ASSANGE: It will be the first time that I get to see him as a fully free man. All this is so alien to the way we've -- it's been until now for the
past 14 years.
GABRIEL SHIPTORI, HALF BROTHER OF JULIAN ASSANGE: The work that WikiLeaks and the work that Julian did, you know, it's historical now. We can see
that some of the cables that WikiLeaks leaked actually led to the end of the Iraq war.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Assange's surprise deal with the U.S. Department of Justice, which included him admitting guilt and telling the judge he
believed the First Amendment and the Espionage Act are in contradiction with each other, now as much part of history as the historic security
breaches he admitted to, specifically conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified information relating to national defense of the
United States.
He has been on the run from the day his WikiLeaks first published U.S. secrets in 2010, initially about the war in Iraq, including this video of a
U.S. Apache gunship killing Iraqi civilians and two journalists. His next release, thousands of secret documents about the Afghan war.
[12:10:03]
Then a massive data dump of sensitive global U.S. diplomatic communications. Tens of thousands of secrets in the wind, lives of spies
potentially compromised.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT (R) AND CURRENT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (R): WikiLeaks, I love WikiLeaks.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Perhaps most consequentially, while on the lam in London in 2016, publishing leaked e-mails from the Democratic National
Committee and Hillary Clinton's campaign manager during her presidential election campaign against Donald Trump.
For 14 years, Assange was a fugitive, first fleeing Sweden, following a 2010 arrest warrant linked to rape allegations, which he denied, landing in
the U.K., soon facing extradition back to Sweden, eventually jumping U.K. bail in 2012, taking asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.
JULIAN ASSANGE, FOUNDER, WIKILEAKS: And a courageous Latin American nation took a stand for justice.
ROBERTSON: Ultimately wearing out his welcome, expelled seven years later, promptly arrested, taken to the U.K.'s maximum security Belmarsh prison,
facing and fighting extradition to the United States. Assange's freedom, it seems, due in part to diplomacy.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: Regardless of the views that people have about Mr. Assange's activities, the case has dragged on for too
long. There's nothing to be gained by his continued incarceration, and we want him brought home to Australia.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): In recent weeks, Australia's prime minister increasingly advocating for Assange's return, the White House denying it
had any involvement in the plea agreement. Ironically, Assange's get-out- of-jail deal was a better-kept secret than his historic leaks. Once in Australia, though, expect to hear a lot more from the man whose audacious
challenge to power rewrote history.
ROBERTSON: And as we were hearing from his wife a little earlier there, that speech, if you will, the comments everyone is expecting from Assange,
and that is really expected, it's not going to happen for a little while. She says he needs a time to rest and recover, but indicating that he will
speak at a time of his choosing. And I think there are a couple of other important things Stella Assange said, as well.
She spoke about the possibility that he might try to get a pardon from the United States. That would be something to absolutely exonerate and totally
clear his name, which, you know, his lawyers had said he did not do anything to harm anyone. So, I think that's an important point for them.
But undimmed through all of this is how his wife characterized it, that despite all of the difficulties he's been through, he's not afraid, she
said, to keep speaking out for human rights and speaking up for the little guy.
GOLODRYGA: So, safe to say this is not the last that we've heard from Julian Assange. Nic Robertson, thank you so much. Well, now to Russia,
where the trial of a U.S. reporter facing espionage charges began earlier today.
Evan Gershkovich was arrested in March of last year and accused of spying for the CIA. Gershkovich, the U.S. government, and his paper, "The Wall
Street Journal" vehemently deny the charges against him. If convicted, Gershkovich faces up to 20 years in prison.
CNN's Matthew Chance has been following the story for us. So, Matthew, as we know, these are charges that his employer, the State Department, all of
them deny. Russia, up until now, over the past 15 months, has yet to produce any shred of evidence. These are very serious charges. What do we
now expect to see from prosecutors, especially given that no one is allowed inside the courtroom?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: I don't think we're going to see a whole lot. I mean, this case of espionage being held
in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg is being held behind closed doors. It's a matter, as far as the Russians are concerned, of national security.
All we really know is what the court documents told us from prosecutors when the trial was begun, when his pretrial detention ended, which is that,
essentially, prosecutors in Russia believe that Evan Gershkovich, this 32- year-old reporter from "The Wall Street Journal", was working on the instruction of the CIA to gain information, secret information, about a
tank factory near the city of Yekaterinburg, the tank factory called Uralvagonzavod.
And it builds tanks and it repairs other kinds of military equipment. As you said, Evan Gershkovich, "The Wall Street Journal", the U.S. government
have categorically denied those allegations.
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And his employer and U.S. diplomats today have again called on the Russian authorities to set him free. The big concern, Bianna, is that the Russians
are not listening because they're in the process of kind of collecting Americans -- American citizens, who they can potentially swap at a later
date -- a later date, in some kind of prisoner swap deal. It's happened before. The suspicion is that the Russians are sort of preparing for
something like that to happen again.
GOLODRYGA: This is why the State Department has issued time and time again warnings for Americans not to travel to Russia at this point. Evan's case
is a bit different. He was an accredited journalist. That seems to have lost any significance at this point.
And what's so striking, aside from the chill you get down your spine just seeing him in that cage in the courtroom, is his demeanor, which aside from
physically it appears he's shaved his head, he appears to be calm, cool. He's smiled. We know from what his friends have reported that he is in
relatively good spirits, sending letters, even joking and doing a lot of reading while he's in prison. That is quite remarkable.
CHANCE: Yeah, it is. And by all accounts, I mean, of course, there have been, you know, members of the U.S. diplomatic community, et cetera, that
have had contact with him. He is holding up very well under the circumstances. But those circumstances are, as you can imagine, incredibly
dire.
And we were looking at looking at him in that that aquarium, as they call it in Russia, in that courthouse in Yekaterinburg. He's head shaven. I've
not seen it like that before. Obviously, it may be because it's summer. It may be because that's the haircut they give you when you're transferred to
a prison like that in Yekaterinburg.
But, yeah, he looked calm. He looked, I think, quite, quite, you know, like he was -- I don't want to say gaunt, but he looked like he was, you know,
he was he was worried. He had a lot of anxiety on his shoulders, understandably.
Because if he's convicted or rather when he's convicted, because the Russians tend to convict people in cases like this, he faces a maximum
sentence of 20 years. And unless there's a prisoner swap, Evan Gershkovich faces a very long time indeed behind bars.
GOLODRYGA: I remind you that journalism is not a crime. And this is a man who had grown quite fond of Russia, obviously, his parents being Soviet
immigrants to the United States. And to see their son now behind bars there must be quite painful. Fifteen months later. Matthew Chance, thank you.
Well, the countdown is on just one more day left before the first debate of the 2024 presidential election. The stage is set and ready for President
Joe Biden and Donald Trump to battle it out over hot button issues. This is a first look at the debate stage here at CNN's Atlanta headquarters.
Thursday's debate will be the first time in U.S. history that a sitting president debates a former president. And the stakes, well, they're high
for Donald Trump and Joe Biden with little time left to prepare for the most important day of the 2024 presidential election, so far.
President Biden and his team are busy preparing at Camp David. A source tells CNN they're holding mock debates. And as for Trump, his allies want
him to focus on three key issues -- inflation, immigration and crime.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), U.S. SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: We expect that he'll do what he did at the State of the Union. He had a lot of energy that
night. So, that's the Joe Biden I expect to see. The question is, can he stay for 90 minutes on that stage and go toe to toe with -- with President
Trump, who, as you know, goes to rallies and talks for two hours on end without any break and any notes?
TRUMP: I think I've been preparing for it for my whole life, if you want to know the truth. And I'm not sure you can lock yourself into a room for
two weeks or one week or two days and really learn what you have to know. And I've been through it. I've been, you know, a popular President. I think
we'll do very well. We've -- we've done well in the past and I think we'll do very well. I know the subject matter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: CNN's Arlette Saenz joins us live from the White House with more on tomorrow's debate. It's not hyperbole to say that the stakes are at
an all-time high here, Arlette. It's been a while since either men have been in a venue like this with each other.
And the background is going to be a bit different. There's not going to be a crowd there. Obviously, there's going to be the mute button and the rule
in force there from our moderators, Dana and Jake. What more can we expect to see tomorrow?
ARLETE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bianna, President Biden has been huddling for days now at Camp David with his advisors to prepare,
running through these 90 minute mock debates to really prepare for all possible scenarios, not just on the substance and the policy, but also what
Trump's demeanor could be like on stage and what the stagecraft of this moment could look at. We were told that Biden has been rehearsing for these
mock debates, standing at a podium.
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He has also watched a video that a staffer had taken from a walkthrough. So, he has an idea of what he's looking at in the room, where the
moderators will be seated, where the cameras are located. Back in 2020, he had often turned directly to the cameras to relay some of his messages.
That is something that his advisors believe really resonated with voters back home. But Biden has also been trying to drill in on what his messaging
will be heading into this debate. Biden's advisors have really previewed that they see three key domestic issues as being contrast points with
Trump. That includes the economy, democracy, as well as abortion rights.
But Biden's advisors also acknowledge that foreign policy is something that could arise at this debate. That is something that has dominated a lot of
Biden's four years in office. When you think about the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the war between Russia and Ukraine, and more immediately, the
conflict between Israel and Hamas.
The Biden team believes that foreign policy gives them a real opening to draw a starker contrast with Trump, with one official saying that it is
another example of how he would be too dangerous and chaotic to sit in the office -- Oval Office as President. So, these are all things that Biden
could lean into in this upcoming debate.
Today, the campaign is really trying to make this push relating to the need to protect democracy. That has been a key focal point of Biden's 2024 run,
as well as 2020 run. And in just a short while, the campaign will be holding a press conference down in Atlanta featuring two Republicans who
are now endorsing Biden. That's former Congressman Adam Kinzinger, as well as former Georgia Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan. Both men have been
quite vocal about Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
This also comes as the Biden campaign is trying to make a direct appeal to those Republicans who might be turned off by Trump's four years in office,
especially when it pertains to the January 6th riots at the U.S. Capitol. So, with the President appearing on the debate stage tomorrow, it will
really give him another opportunity to just not lay out his platform, but also draw those contrasts with Trump trying to appeal to swing voters, as
well as Republicans, and hold on to his own Democratic base.
GOLODRYGA: All right, Arlette Saenz, thank you so much. We'll be watching, of course. Tune in to CNN presidential debate right here on CNN coming up
on June 27th, that's tomorrow at 9 P.M. Eastern. And we'll replay the debate in its entirety a few different times. You can watch it at 7 A.M.
London time, that is 2 P.M. in Hong Kong, or 12 hours later at 7 P.M. in London or 10 P.M. in Abu Dhabi.
Well, still to come for us, social media and free speech. How much is the government allowed to do to fight disinformation? The Supreme Court has
weighed in. We'll bring you that verdict, just ahead.
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GOLODRYGA: With only days left until the justices take their summer break, the U.S. Supreme Court has issued one major ruling today. The court will
allow the U.S. government to continue to press social media companies to deal with disinformation spread on their platforms. Conservative
politicians had argued that government pressure on social media infringed on their right to free speech, but the court ruled that they did not have
standing to bring the lawsuit.
So, let's bring in CNN Justice Correspondent Jessica Schneider and our technology correspondent Brian Fung for some of the analysis here. Brian,
let's just talk about the nuts and bolts of this case in particular. It's a win for the administration, but, again, an issue, a ruling on standing. So,
I guess the question of whether or not states or anybody else can actively seek to roll back some of these powers is still out there.
BRIAN FUNG, CNN TECHNOLOGY REPORTER: Bianna, you know, to be clear, the big takeaway from today's case is how the government will still be able to
communicate with social media companies about myths and disinformation that it is seeing on social media.
And that's big because the 2024 election is just around the corner, and we know that foreign disinformation agents are extremely interested in sowing
discord among the U.S. electorate. And so, that means that the U.S. government will have, you know, an important role to play in flagging some
of this myths and disinformation to social media companies, not necessarily saying that, you know, you must take this down, although that may be the
message that the U.S. government is saying.
But, you know, it's the ultimate takeaway being, hey, this information, misinformation, likely violates your own platform policies, and you may
want to consider removing it, making a decision on your own to, you know, take this information that we're giving you so that you can make the right
call as to whether or not it serves your user's interest. And that, ultimately, is the, you know, communications that the Supreme Court allowed
to proceed here.
GOLODRYGA: Justice Alito wrote the dissenting opinion there. Let's bring Jessica in for what we're still waiting to hear, and that is the decision
on 10 other cases, most notably presidential immunity and also the January 6th rioter obstruction charges brought on by prosecutors, as well. What is
the significance, if any? How much should we read into the fact that we haven't heard decisions on those two?
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: And what's interesting, Bianna, is, you know, the Supreme Court usually finishes up the last week
of June. And here we are the last week of June. We have two opinion days left this week, Thursday and Friday. But with about 10 opinions left,
including three really big ones, everyone's sort of reading the tea leaves and thinking it is very likely that the Supreme Court will actually spill
over into next week, which would be the first week of July.
The last time they did that was during COVID, and that was extenuating circumstances because the Supreme Court term had really been paused at the
beginning of COVID. They were delayed. So, this would be a pretty big deal if they go into the first week of July.
We do have three big ones. You mentioned two of them. The immunity case, where the Supreme Court will decide whether or not former presidents,
namely Donald Trump, have immunity from criminal prosecution. It's such a big deal because they've never decided that issue when it comes to criminal
prosecution.
It's also a big deal because it will determine the fate of Donald Trump's criminal trial here in Washington, D.C. Will it move forward before the
election, or will a Supreme Court decision really push this past the election? And if Donald Trump were to win, he could just get his Justice
Department to dismiss the charges. So, there's that one.
There's also a case involving January 6th rioters, whether a particular obstruction statute can actually apply to them. If it didn't apply to them,
it could probably erase the sentences of about 15 --or, sorry, 50 rioters and implicate maybe hundreds more.
And then there's the big abortion case, Bianna. It involves an Idaho law. There are a half-dozen other laws like it around the country. It's
basically a near-total abortion ban. And the Biden administration had said that parts of that law conflicted with a federal law that mandated that
emergency room doctors give all the care necessary to women, even when their life isn't at stake.
If they do come up against potential severe injury, they also need to be helped, even if that includes an abortion. So, we have a lot of big cases
left, you know, about 10 total, three really big ones. We'll see what happens tomorrow and Friday. And it's quite possible the Supreme Court goes
into next week.
GOLODRYGA: And we shouldn't downplay the decision today, too, especially in an era of social media concerns over misinformation and disinformation.
The fact that as we're approaching another presidential election, where we know this was an issue over the past several elections, both midterm and
presidential.
[12:30:14]
F or the federal government to at least have the right to press social media companies to deal with this is pretty significant.
SCHNEIDER: It's going to be crucial that the, you know, it's a win for the government now that they, in the next few months leading up to the
election, the agencies that are crucial, whether it's the FBI, Director of National Intelligence, they can go to these social media platforms and say,
we're seeing the disinformation, whether put forward by foreign actors or others, we advise you take it down. That's going to be key to trying to
safeguard our elections come November.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, no doubt. All right, Jessica Schneider, Brian Fung, thank you. Still to come for us, Kenyan police are on the ground in Haiti to try
and rid the capital of the gangs that seemingly run the city now. We'll have details ahead. We'll have details ahead.
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GOLODRYGA: Welcome back to "ONE WORLD". I'm Bianna Golodryga. Well, help has just arrived in Haiti's gang-ridden capital. Kenyan police are on the
ground in Haiti as part of a multinational peacekeeping force. The Caribbean country has been ravaged by gang violence and armed groups
controlling most of the capital, Port-au-Prince. Haiti's prime minister vowed to retake control of the country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GARY CONILLE, INTERIM PRIME MINISTER OF HAITI (through translator): I want no one to doubt the purpose of the mission. The state will regain power and
reaffirm the authority so all Haitians can live peacefully in this country.
We ask all of you to be prepared to make sacrifices. We must take our responsibilities before history and must send another image of Haiti. Haiti
was not like this, and Haiti cannot stay like this.
GOLODRYGA: At least 200 Kenyan police have arrived as part of the first contingent of troops. Aid groups expressed concern on Tuesday that armed
groups in Haiti might respond forcefully to the mission. Stacey Plaskett is a House Representative for the U.S. Virgin Islands and joins me now live
from Washington, D.C.
Representative Plaskett, thank you so much for joining us. We spoke a few months back about this specific mission. Now, we have, as we noted, about
200 Kenyan forces there on the ground in Haiti. This is the first of what's expected to be about 2500 forces and police officers from a variety of
other countries largely coordinated by the United States.
First, let me ask you, given what headlines we're seeing specifically in Kenya itself, in Nairobi, the violent protests over that finance bill, do
you think that at all will be a distraction here and demoralizing, for lack of a better word, for what this mission is supposed to ensure and bring?
REP. STACEY PLASKETT, (D-U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS): Sure. I don't think so. But of course, I'm not on the ground in Kenya to be fully apprised of that. But
I do think that the President of Kenya has done a yeoman's job in terms of showing leadership of Kenya in this area, as well as several others.
As you recall, he was in the United States several weeks ago and discussing not just this issue but trade and others that are plaguing many of our
African leaders in terms of finances, as well in terms of economic downturns that are occurring. Kenya is, of course, leading the charge on
this multi-state mission to Haiti, but they're not the only one.
You know, as you stated, this is a multinational security support mission. It's expected that 2500 members will be there. Of course, the largest
contingent will be Kenyan police officers, but we have commitment from other countries, as well.
Other neighboring Caribbean countries, as well as some African countries and other countries. And of course, the United States has financed the
training for the Kenyan police officers that are spearheading this, and we're working and supporting logistics as well as others.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, the United States has provided many of the mission supplies, rushing armored vehicles and other equipment to list the other
countries involved here. That is the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Chad, Jamaica, and Kenya, obviously Kenya being the first on the
ground there.
Kenyan officials estimate that this will cost roughly $600 million. The U.N. has agreed to fund this with $21 million, the U.S. agreeing to pledge
300. There's still a deficit there. Are you concerned that this commitment will not get the money that is required to really be as effective as
possible?
PLASKETT: Sure. There's always a concern, particularly when it comes to African, Caribbean nations, to the other nations who in turn benefited from
these nations many years ago are not doing their fair share to bring them up to equity and to support them in ways that can advance their
democracies. After, in many cases, European countries, as well as the United States, having depleted the resources of the countries that are now
asking for help.
But I think that President Biden has made a tremendous move by circumventing House Republicans, as well as Senate Republicans who are
trying not to allow the President to draw this money down. He found other routes to be able to do that, and that speaks so highly of his commitment.
And I think that commitment on the part of the United States is going to add pressure, and we will continue to put pressure on our European
partners, on others, on Canada to support this initiative because a healthy, vibrant, safe Haiti is in the national security interest of us
all.
GOLODRYGA: Do we see the imperative from Haitians themselves to really, at some point, grab the reins here and bring order and democracy back to the
country? Even the U.S. ambassador to Haiti said that the Kenyans and others will offer support to the Haitian police, but the goal is to not replace
them.
PLASKETT: Sure. I think you heard it yourself from the clip that you had just earlier where it was a Haitian's leadership not talking about what the
United States or Kenya or others are doing, but a call to other Haitians.
[12:40:01]
I think that Haiti has done a tremendous job of creating a transitional government in a place of no government, of engaging civil society and other
groups. They're a diaspora to come to the table and to really think selflessly about how we bring this country forward.
The individuals who are doing other groups, they're a diaspora to come to the table and to really think selflessly about how we bring this country
forward. The individuals who are doing this transitional government have made commitments themselves that they would not be part of an electoral
government when it comes into place, when an election comes up, but are really there just to guide the country.
And I think that Haiti has always wanted to be its full self, to be its full independent self, the first one of the first nations in the region to
throw off, shadow slavery and be free, but they've been hampered for many years, one by the debt that they've had to pay to France over centuries for
that freedom. Imagine paying for your freedom, as well as other impediments and natural disasters that have come at them.
And so, I think that us using this time, you know, you think about shock doctrine in some of the worst times is when we can rebuild. And I think
Haiti will need a Marshall Plan in the same way that Europe did after World War II, that then galvanized it to be what it is today. And I think that
can be done not only in Haiti, but throughout the Caribbean region.
GOLODRYGA: Even the most optimistic of people watching this do not expect for things to turn around within the next six months or so, or even perhaps
a year. And I'm asking specifically regarding the politics here in the United States, given that we have an election coming up between most likely
former President Trump and President Biden.
We know given his past comments, how former President Trump feels specifically about Haiti. Is there any way for a Trump administration to
walk back this verbal and financial agreement that President Biden put in place?
PLASKETT: As I said, we saw that in the past -- there was funding that was allocated to the State Department for this. However, it needed
authorization from the four corners of Congress in terms of the Foreign Affairs Committee, as well as others, Homeland Security, et cetera. And
those were being held up by the Republicans.
It was President Biden who did the work around himself using his executive power to be able to get that money to Haiti. And I think that given what
President Trump has said in the past, his reticence and isolationism of the United States, not just in Haiti, but in Europe and other places as well,
and individuals who are afraid to go against him, that should he become President, this will be a very difficult task.
Things do not change on a dime. Ships don't change on a dime. And definitely the devastation that has occurred in Haiti is not going to
happen, as you said, so rightly, not in six months or even a year. And we've got to be steady and be with them as they work through this to bring
the country to where it can be.
And I think that that's in the benefit of the United States. I think President Biden, as well as the Vice President, who has embarked on a real
slew of initiatives in the Caribbean, whether it was to stop drug and gun trafficking in the region, as well as to support energy issues and stop
climate change, and even supporting financial sectors and remittances that are of Americans that are of Caribbean descent going into the region, to
support that with the banks that are there.
And I think this wrap-around support that we're given, whether it's in trade preferences to the Haitian people, ensuring that their manufacturing
that they have been doing can continue, as well as the support that we're giving for stabilization of security. Initially, these forces are going in
there to make sure that aid can get to the people of Haiti, but then ensuring that ports as well as airports and important infrastructure is
stable.
GOLODRYGA: All right, Representative Plaskett in Washington, D.C., thank you so much for your time and for joining us.
PLASKETT: Thank you.
GOLODRYGA: Well, after a series of mishaps, humanitarian aid is once again flowing through a temporary U.S. military pier off the Gaza coast. The
problem is no one is there to pick it up. Thousands of pallets are just sitting on shore after the World Food Programme suspended its aid
collections due to security concerns. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNKNOWN: We do that, you'll see, with a lot of different bridging systems here --
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From ship to pier, aid trucks are rolling into Gaza. Interlocking steel platforms roar
with each passing wave.
[12:45:00]
But after weeks of mishaps, the U.S. military's $230 million pier off the coast of Gaza is finally operational. But this aid isn't actually feeding
anyone in Gaza -- at least not yet.
DIAMOND: We're currently aboard the U.S. military floating pier off the Gaza coastline. Yesterday, the military says, they were able to get about
800 pallets of aid off of this pier and into Gaza. But the problem now is the World Food Programme, which is supposed to be picking up that aid, they
say the security conditions just aren't there for them to be able to pick up that aid and distribute it to the people of Gaza.
DIAMOND (voice-over): These are some of the now more than 6000 pallets of humanitarian aid the U.S. military says are sitting in an open-air
warehouse across from the pier. The World Food Program paused its operations at the pier more than two weeks ago, citing safety concerns.
Across Gaza, humanitarian aid groups say Israeli military operations and a rise in lawlessness and looting are bringing their aid operations to a
crawl. And it couldn't come at a worse time, as experts say people in Gaza are once again at high risk of famine.
The U.S. military invited CNN to the pier for the first time to show how it is ramping up the flow of aid to Gaza. And how it is getting this
beleaguered project back on track after rough weather damaged and took the pier out of service for weeks.
JOEL STEWART, U.S. NAVY CAPTAIN: The sea is a difficult taskmistress. Unpredictable. Each wave is different than the last. So, dealing with that
is a challenge, but we've adapted to that, and I think we're in a better position now than we were initially.
DIAMON (voice-over): About 40 truckloads are now arriving at the pier each day, still well short of the military's initial estimates of 90 to 150. A
complex effort aid officials say would have been best spent pressuring Israel to get more aid in by land.
STEWART: This was never meant to be a long-term solution to the problem. This was meant to be one more way until we could find ways to open those
gates up, to get that pressure to open the gates.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Access to the U.S. pier also provided a rare vantage of the destruction to Gaza's coast.
DIAMOND: It really is remarkable to see the Gaza coastline up close like this after nearly nine months of war. All we can see along this shoreline
are buildings that are either completely flattened, completely destroyed, or those that are simply shells of themselves.
DIAMOND (voice-over): It is also the daily backdrop for U.S. soldiers like Sergeant Ibrahim Barry, a practicing Muslim who started working on the pier
operation in March during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.
IBRAHIM BARRY, U.S. ARMY SERGEANT: Knowing that they're going through these harsh conditions and still holding on to their faith and getting the
little bit that they can, that's what -- it was another motivation right there.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Jeremy Diamond, CNN, off the U.S. military's pier off the Gaza coast.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:50:36]
GOLODRYGA: About 70 percent of Uganda's workforce is employed in agriculture and have limited access to financial services. For instance,
getting a loan is a slow and complex process. But now the Ugandan fintech company Emata is empowering farmers by simplifying the loan process for
them. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LILLIAN NASSANGA MUSOKE, CHIEF PRODUCT OFFICER: Agriculture loan in Africa is a $240 billion opportunity. Emata is a financial technology company that
provides affordable financing for farmers. We are at over 50 partners that we work with. Within those, we've been able to digitize more than 30,000
farmers.
The challenges we face in this space is that we are a very high-tech company that is working in a very low-tech environment. But we have found
ways to work with our partners to bridge some of these gaps by creating platforms that work offline fast or lead little to no connectivity.
We base our analysis of how much a farmer can borrow on the farmer's performance and production of their particular crop or vanditching. So, for
dairy, how much they deliver in milk is what we use to create the credit limit for that farmer.
Additionally, what we make easy is that the farmer does not have to worry about how complex it is to repay the loan. The corporate will check off the
amount that they need to pay to us before they pay the farmer.
SSAKA, DANIEL, ACCOUNTANT KINYOGOGA COOPERATIVE: So, the farmer can easily access loans from Emata, whereas when you go to a financial institution
like a bank, you have to take credit flows like an entitle. Yet here, you can easily access a loan.
NASSANGA MUSOKE: Emata is looking into becoming a full-fledged financial service provider, more than just the loan. So, we will indeed look into
increasing our product offering across insurance, across savings, across products that are aligned with our farmers' needs, also increasing our
product offering to help finance our partners themselves and not just their farmers. We will also be expanding into other markets, other countries in
the different pilot chains.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:55:43]
GOLODRYGA: Well, here's proof you're never too old to chase your dreams. A 71-year-old woman made history as the oldest contestant ever in the Miss
Texas U.S.A. pageant. Marisa Teo didn't win, but she said she was thrilled to represent older women and inspire others to take charge of their fitness
and healthy living. Good for her. Well -- and she does look great.
That does it for this hour of "ONE WORLD". I'm Bianna Golodryga. Thanks so much for watching. "AMANPOUR" is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
