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One World with Zain Asher
Wars In Gaza And Ukraine Escalating Despite Trump's Promises; Trump On World Stage Amid Wars In Ukraine And Gaza; Joe Rogan: Trump "Trying To Gaslight" Supporters On Epstein; Police Search For Motive In Deadly NYC Skyscraper Shooting; Food Prices Surge In Gaza; Aid Group Confirms "Baby Zeinab" Died Of Malnutrition; U.S. To Sit Out Of COP30 Summit In Brazil In November; Aired 12-1p ET
Aired July 29, 2025 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[12:00:39]
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump says he's stopped about five wars, but some experts say key conflicts are escalating. The second hour of
"One World" starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Trump has talked about two weeks. He talked about 50 days. Now, he's talking about 10 days, maybe 12 days. That's not the kind
of language that worries Russia.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If there's one person who has the power to force Netanyahu, this is Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Donald Trump takes credit for stopping wars, but why some say the true test is Ukraine and Gaza?
Plus, a shocking shooting in the heart of Midtown Manhattan. The source says the suspect was angry with the NFL.
And later.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's your secret?
EVANGELINE PAREDES, CELEBRATING 109TH BIRTHDAY: I wish I knew.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: We all wish we knew. One hundred and nine years young. How military veterans are the key to her long and fruitful life.
Hello, everyone. Live from New York, I'm Bianna Golodryga. Zain is off today. You are watching the second hour of "One World."
We begin with breaking news. Britain now saying that it will recognize the state of Palestine in September unless the Israeli government reaches a
ceasefire in Gaza. This amid a spiraling hunger crisis there as the death toll reaches a grim milestone.
The Gaza health ministry says more than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed in the enclave since Israel's war on Hamas began nearly two years
ago. The global monitor says a worst case scenario of famine is unfolding there. The U.N. backed IPC says mounting evidence shows widespread
starvation, malnutrition and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths.
You can get a glimpse of the devastation in this video showing children trying to scrape flour off of the floor of a vehicle parked in Gaza. Listen
to this one Palestinian.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OMAR ABU ATTIYA, PALESTINIAN IN GAZA (through translator): We've been dead for five months. Alive but dead. No one cares about us. After we died,
there's an announcement about us. Where have you been all the past period not caring about us? Where are the human rights? Where is the European
Union? Where are the people with consciousness? When people are already dead that's when you start saying people are dying?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: The warning comes as more food begins to arrive in Gaza after a global outcry. Israel says that it will continue to pause military
operations in Gaza to allow more aid in.
As aid agencies warn, the supply remains far short of what's needed. Israel's ambassador to the United States says some of the pictures out of
Gaza are Hamas propaganda and doctored and blamed Hamas.
Here's what he said to CNN earlier this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YECHIEL LEITER, ISRAELI AMBSADDOR TO THE U.S.: There is no large-scale starvation. There's a starvation. There certainly isn't a policy of
starvation. I think there's a lot of confusion on that issue.
Right now as we speak, there's 636 trucks, semi-trailers, waiting to enter Gaza and the U.N. agencies are not picking them up because of their
argument with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Meantime, on the ground in Ukraine, the country is still being hit with overnight Russian airstrikes. Officials tell us the latest attack
hit a prison in Zaporizhzhia early Tuesday, killing 17 inmates.
Kyiv is facing major challenges from Russia's summer offensive with a Ukrainian commander telling CNN that he hasn't received new personnel in
his unit for eight months now.
And Russia responding to the latest U.S. president's latest move to try to bring about a ceasefire in Ukraine. Moscow says it has, quote, taken note
of Donald Trump's decision to slash his initial 50-day deadline to no more than 12 days. If Russia doesn't come up with a truce in that time, Trump
has threatened harsher economic penalties from the U.S.
His Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff, is keen to see peace in Ukraine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where are your hopes to happen over the next three and a half years? What would be a great way to end your tenure as special
envoy?
STEVE WITKOFF, U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY: That we solve Russia-Ukraine, and we get that peace deal because it should happen. It's the war that the president
is right, that should have never happened. I think we get that solved. Hopefully that'll be a big moment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[12:05:07]
GOLODRYGA: That's U.S. President Donald Trump meantime wrapping up his presidential trip to Scotland after five days of business and diplomacy
mixed in with rounds of golf. He will soon be headed back to Washington.
And earlier, he cut the ribbon at an official inauguration of his new golf course. He also announced a trade deal with the European Union, met the
British Prime Minister, and touted his progress in ending conflicts around the world.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We'll play it very quickly and then I go back to D.C. and we put out fires all over the world. We did
one yesterday's, you know, we stopped the war, but we stopped about five wars. So, that's much more important than playing golf. As much as I like
it, it's much more important.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Our senior politics reporter Stephen Collinson has been writing about just that and he joins us from Washington, D.C.
Listen, President Trump, Stephen, isn't the first president to play some golf. That is accepted by the U.S. public. But the fact that he continues
to tout his accomplishments internationally in terms of making some peace deals. And when he can't, continuing to blame his predecessor for these
wars, that he says he did not start, it's clear there's some frustration there.
It's also clear that even the most powerful man in the world can't snap his fingers and end some of the world's most challenging conflicts.
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Yes. Effectively in the first six months, Bianna, he did try to snap his fingers, notably to end
the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. And that really didn't have a great deal of effect.
It's one thing to intervene in these smaller conflicts like between Thailand and Cambodia, for instance, as he has in the last few days, or
that one between India and Pakistan over Kashmir a few weeks ago.
But these conflicts are intractable. And the question I think now is, as Trump says that he will move to bring aid to Gaza to alleviate the growing
starvation there, and as he says he will up pressure on present Putin over Ukraine.
Is he going to use U.S. leverage to follow through? Can his team come up with some much more creative ways to try and unlock the intractable
elements of these two conflicts than they have already?
Trump's means of peacemaking seems to be largely rhetoric, but the -- the hard graft of diplomacy that takes many weeks, months, and even years
typically doesn't seem to be something that his administration is interested in.
GOLODRYGA: And, Stephen, now the United Kingdom joining France in saying that they will recognize the state of Palestine this September here at the
U.N. General Assembly in New York. If the situation there isn't addressed immediately, I will read to you the statement from the Prime Minister.
I can confirm the U.K. will recognize the state of Palestine by the United Nations General Assembly in September, unless the Israeli government takes
substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, agree to a ceasefire, and commit to a long-term, sustainable peace, reviving the
prospect of a two-state solution.
Prime Minister Netanyahu also speaking out today saying that despite Hamas's insistence on not agreeing to a ceasefire, Israel will move forward
in resuming talks for one in the return of the hostages.
It's one thing if it's France who, you know, the relationship between Macron and France and President Trump have been mixed at best, but here,
you saw a really chummy, Keir Starmer with Donald Trump to hear one day later the Prime Minister there acknowledging and agreeing essentially with
the French Prime Minister perhaps one step removed still giving an ultimatum.
What kind of response do you think that's going to solicit from President Trump?
COLLINSON: Well, the timing is very interesting because it suggests that Starmer probably told the President that he's planning to do this and the
President didn't weigh in in any way to stop him. So, I think that's going to be looked at quite closely.
I think what you're seeing here is the building of pressure on multiple fronts, both internationally on Israel. And it's now clear that this latest
twist in the Gaza conflict, this -- this horrible scenes of -- of malnutrition and people trying to get food, is further damaging and
alienating Israel from a lot of the countries that were very supportive after the October 7th attacks and have been largely historically of Israel.
So that's quite interesting, but it's also a symptom of massive pressure domestically that's building on leaders like Keir Starmer and Emmanuel
Macron to do something more, to pressure Israel to try to bring this situation to an end.
Whether it really changes anything internationally, I think, is very debatable. It's almost a sign of the impotency of some of these states that
they have to say they're in favor now and recognizing a Palestinian state.
[12:10:03]
It doesn't mean that state is suddenly going to exist or the problems even inside the Palestinian political arena that have contributed to, you know,
the fact that there isn't a Palestinian state over the years, the gap -- the -- the clash between Hamas and Fatah for example in the West Bank. None
of those things are going to be solved, but it's symbolic and a sign of rising pressure.
But I think, you know, there's probably only one influence that can really change Prime Minister Netanyahu's views and stance, if any, given his
rather palace political situation and reliance on the right wing coalition. And that's President Trump.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. And no comment yet from Israel about this new statement from the United Kingdom, but following that of France, Israel slamming that
statement saying that it's in a sense rewarding Hamas for the attacks of October 7th by recognizing a Palestinian state. We will stay on top of this
story.
Stephen Collinson, thank you so much.
COLLINSON: Thanks.
GOLODRYGA: Susan Glasser is a staff writer at "The New Yorker" and the co- author of the "Divider: Trump in the White House 2017-2021." She's also spent several years living in Moscow and joins us today live from
Washington D.C.
So, Susan, it's clear that no Democrat or Republican, especially Republican president, is going to shift policy based on what comes out of the United
Nations and that's expected to be announced by both France and now even the U.K. if things don't change in Gaza at the U.N. General Assembly in
September.
But to have as Stephen Collinson noted such a close ally like the United Kingdom, most likely giving the president a heads-up that this announcement
would be made yesterday and at least not dissuaded from doing so, suggest what to you?
SUSAN GLASSER, STAFF WRITER, THE NEW YORKER: Well, look, I mean Trump is really at an impasse in several of the major foreign policy issues that he
came into office declaring that he was going to solve overnight, clicked his heels and, you know, all would be well 24 hours he promised to end the
war in Ukraine.
He made similar noises about what he was going to do to stop the war in Gaza. And you can -- in particular this horror of the -- the spike in
famine, the -- the lack of food aid and humanitarian assistance being received by residents in Gaza. You could draw a straight line to that
outcome from Trump's policy rather than ending the war in Gaza. You could say that, you know, he has failed to rein in Netanyahu up until this point.
And so the question is really almost the reverse, Trump is so good at getting people even his critics to adopt his framework that he is winning
all the time that it's a brilliant way in some ways of obscuring the fact that he has failed so far to deliver peace in two of the most intractable
conflicts that we're seeing right now in the world.
And, you know, these gestures to recognize the Palestinian state are largely meaningless. We have to say that right now. I mean, the bottom line
is that look -- you look at both the West Bank and in particular Gaza and they are not moving in the direction of being independent viable entities
right now.
In fact, the danger, I would say, has never been higher of Israel re- annexing Gaza given the lack of meaningful outside commitments to come in and stabilize that country after a war.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. And it did seem like President Trump even alluded to as much yesterday when he was sitting with Keir Starmer by blaming the prime
minister at the time. We didn't name him, but Ariel Sharon who ultimately decided to lead Gaza saying that, you know, that -- that clearly didn't
bear much fruit for the region.
But I am wondering, Susan, listen, you have Israeli officials now, former officials, defense officials. They were saying a deal was on the table. All
of their military operations and -- and all of their military goals were achieved late last year if not sooner.
But at the same time, what do you make about those who will claim that with these declarations from France and now from the United Kingdom that Hamas
really does have no incentive to see a ceasefire happen right now or the return of the hostages?
GLASSER: Yes. I mean, I -- I haven't seen any indication whatsoever that Hamas has wavered from its maximalist demands and that's the tragedy of
this situation, of course, as they unleash this war on October 7th not having, you know, sort of carefully calibrated negotiations in mind.
And at the same time, I think it's important to note that Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu began their response to October 7th with essentially
outlying an almost open-ended vision of conflict in Gaza and that is the hellscape that we've seen unfold unfortunately, right?
[12:15:04]
The -- the goals of the Israeli conflict were to eliminate Hamas. They have not done that. Even eliminating its leadership has simply produced another
leadership that has the same maximalist view of the conflict with Israel.
And so, the cycle of tragedy continues. What's different is look at the chart. There's a chart this morning that I -- I think it's in "The Wall
Street Journal" that really bears looking at. It's the dramatic drop off in humanitarian aid and food aid to Gaza in the last few months after that
ceasefire ended and the conflict resumed.
It is shocking when you consider that there was already insufficient amounts of food reaching Gaza. And I think that's the crisis that European
leaders are responding to right now.
GOLODRYGA: And a self-inflicted one by Israel, given that it was in March that we started to see that sharp drop off. And Israel really cutting off
aid going in from U.N. and other humanitarian organizations saying that they are going to take control of the aid going in through the Gaza
Humanitarian Foundation, and thus, owning this crisis.
And, you know, one could argue giving Hamas leverage because now we're seeing the -- the -- the reaction and the -- the response from so many
Gazans who are on the verge, if not already facing famine because of this.
Susan Glasser, staff writer at "The New Yorker." Thank you so much.
GLASSER: Thank you.
GOLODRYGA: And now an update on the saga that followed Donald Trump all the way to Scotland. That is Jeffrey Epstein. One of the top Democrats in the
U.S. Senate says he wants to know what Epstein's associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, told the Department of Justice.
Maxwell continues to make headlines as her lawyer attempts to overturn her conviction. Even many of President Trump's allies say the administration
needs to release more information related to the Epstein case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): I don't know how the Justice Department is going to satisfy that understandable curiosity by the American people, maybe
through grand jury releases, maybe through Maxwell's. I don't know. That's -- that's above my pay grade. I just know they're going to have to answer
the question.
And this is not going to go away. And currently, you know, Senator (INAUDIBLE) is going to come out anywhere. Get all with this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Well, frustration about the Epstein case may be causing one of Donald Trump's most influential supporters to turn on him. Joe Rogan,
perhaps the biggest name in the podcast world, spoke about Epstein more than 40 times on his most recent episode. He called the Epstein case,
quote, a line in the sand. And he bashed Trump administration officials who promised to release information when they were campaigning, but are now
refusing to do just that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE ROGAN, PODCAST HOST: We thought Trump was going to come in and a lot of things are going to be resolved.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
ROGAN: They're going to drain the swamp. They're going to figure everything out. And when you have this one hardcore line in the sand that everybody
had been talking about forever, and then they're trying to gaslight you on that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Let's bring in CNN's chief media analyst Brian Stelter for more on this. And Brian, for someone as prominent with so many listeners and
followers as Joe Rogan to accuse President Trump and this administration of gaslighting their supporters, he himself endorsed President Trump in 2024,
how significant of a shift is this?
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: And Rogan symbolizes and stands for the kinds of American voters that lifted Trump over the top in 2024. The
kinds of people who are not engaged in politics every day, who are not news junkies necessarily, who are not following the ins and outs of the
headlines, but are soaking up information on social media, are dissatisfied by the so-called elites who want to see change.
Rogan identifies that way, he talks that way, you know, in the past more left leaning and promoting Bernie Sanders. He turned toward Trump and
endorsed Trump right on the eve of the election and was a really important voice in that way.
But, you know, in the past few months, he has continued to criticize the Trump administration. And this is in some ways the most pointed way yet,
because he had FBI director Kash Patel on his popular podcast last month. He wasn't satisfied with the Epstein information then. And he's certainly
not satisfied now.
What Rogan is doing is warning his friends in the Trump administration that this is not going away, that this is something that's going to continue to
metastasize. And you heard that from Senator Kennedy as well, Kennedy, you just played a sound bite from. He also remarked to reporters, quote,
Epstein, that's all anybody seems to want to talk about.
So, you know, some recent examples, Bianna, of how this does really have some staying power.
GOLODRYGA: Indeed, it does. And perhaps even a recess for Congress won't get this off the headline pages as President Trump is hoping that it will.
CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter, thank you.
Well, the Trump administration fires the last of the U.S. climate negotiators and withdraws from consequential climate talks as the planet
moves towards catastrophic levels of warming. That story, just ahead.
[12:20:08]
Plus, horrifying moments inside a New York City skyscraper when a gunman opens fire. What eyewitnesses are saying about Monday's deadly shooting?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GOLODRYGA: The deadliest shooting in New York City in 25 years is raising all kinds of alarms. Police say the shooter walked into a Park Avenue
office building on Monday and killed four people before turning the gun on himself.
Some people inside the building at the time of the attack spoke about the terrifying experience.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JESSICA CHEN, SHOOTING WITNESS: We ran into the conference room and then eventually barricaded the tables across the doors and just stayed still. I
think it was very, very apparent through all this that a lot of us were young. A lot of us went through training in elementary school of what to do
in an active shooter situation. We were all unfortunately prepared.
KYLE MARSHALL, SHOOTING WITNESS: I was in my office. Actually, my mom was the first person to text me about the active shooter. She was asking was I
OK? There's an active shooter like on park and then she texted me the address. And I was like, my God, that's like right next door to my
building.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: The National Football League has offices in the building where the gunman opened fire. And the league's commissioner says an NFL employee
was seriously injured in the attack. Police say the motive for the shooting remains under investigation.
Let's bring in CNN World Sport anchor Coy Wire. And such a tragedy to see these images, to see these horrified workers streaming out of the building
with their hands up and obviously to know of the casualties now and hearing their gut-wrenching stories.
Coy, talk about to the suspect and his time playing football in high school and how that may be a motive here.
COY WIRE, WORLD SPORT: Yes. You think about this, Bianna, these people probably showing up thinking it's just going to be another ordinary day at
work until they got that news that one of their, you know, family members or friends is potentially part of this. And that's exactly what happened
with the NFL.
Employees got a memo from Commissioner Roger Goodell last night stating that one of their own, an employee, has been seriously injured, as you
mentioned, in this attack. He said in part, quote, "As has been widely reported, a gunman committed an unspeakable act of violence in our building
at 345 Park Avenue. One of our employees was seriously injured in this attack. He is currently in the hospital and in stable condition. The NFL
staff are at the hospital and we are supporting his family. We believe that all of our employees are otherwise safe and accounted for."
[12:25:07]
Like many others, Bianna, the league officials will be awaiting answers the how, the why. Commissioner Roger Goodell went on to tell NFL employees who
are based in New York to work remotely today and to take the day off if they need it.
Bianna, I have been in those NFL offices for meetings on several occasions. It's a massive building, as you've been mentioning. One of the most highly
secured I've ever been in, just to get to the multiple sets of elevator corridors. There is a lengthy check-in process with turn style gates that
remain locked until you're cleared to go to the elevators.
It'd be difficult for anyone to get to any floor other than the one they've been given access to. I have several friends that work in that building,
Bianna, several NFL employees that I know. I reached out to them yesterday to make sure they were OK. They were scared, they were shocked. And this
was before, Bianna, they had learned that someone they knew had been shot.
Commissioner Goodell added in the memo that they are deeply grateful to the law enforcement officers who responded to this threat quickly and
decisively and to Officer Islam, who gave his life to protect others.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. Officer Islam, the father of two little boys. I believe his wife was expecting their third child as well. We're thinking about all of
them now.
Coy Wire, thank you so much.
WIRE: You got it.
GOLODRYGA: Well, police in Arkansas have released a sketch of a person of interest in the killing of a mother and father at a state park there.
Clinton and Cristen Brink were hiking with their two young daughters, just seven and nine years old when they were killed on Saturday.
Their daughters were not hurt and are now safe with the family. Here is the sketch. Investigators want the public's assistance to identify this man who
they say was in the area on Saturday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Washington County received a call from the visitor center, two children are there. They advise that their parents were
assaulted, one was possibly stabbed. The parents are missing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I heard at Devil's Den. Units still in route. Victims are still missing. You're going to look out for a white male suspect
wearing black gloves, sunglasses, dark colored pants, dark colored tank top, attacked the male and a female on Devil's Den hiking trail and then
took off on a small black sports car with tape over the plate. Great.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Copy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Police are also asking Saturday's visitors to Devil's Den state park to review their photos and videos for images that might help
investigators.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:30:06]
GOLODRYGA: All right. Back to our top story this hour, a big announcement from the British Prime Minister. The United Kingdom will recognize the
state of Palestine ahead of the United Nations General Assembly in September. Starmer says there are conditions though to his action.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: So today as part of this process towards peace, I can confirm the U.K. will recognize the state of Palestine
by the United Nations General Assembly in September unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza,
agree to a ceasefire and commit to a long-term, sustainable peace, reviving the prospect of a two-state solution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Well, for the first time, two leading Israeli human rights groups are accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza. The Israel vehemently
rejected that claim, adding, quote, we have allowed aid into Gaza.
Now, this comes as the food crisis in the enclave reaches unprecedented levels. According to "Haaretz," the economist who wrote for "Haaretz," the
cost of basic items like tomatoes, onions and sugar have skyrocketed since the war began nearly two years ago.
The most important food staple, flour, is sold in 25 kilo sacks. Now before the war, a sack generally costs the equivalent of $14 U.S.
Well, two months into the war, that price jumped to roughly $100 a sack. And most recently, the cost of just one sack of flour, barely enough to
feed an average household for 10 days has soared above $1,000. However, in the last few days, as Israel has allowed more aid in, prices have come
down.
Time now for "The Exchange." Our next guest writes, quote, "If mass starvation is not Israeli policy and Israel does not want to deal with the
consequences of such famine, the time to change course was yesterday."
Joining me now is Yannay Spitzer, an economist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Yannay, welcome to the program. I think we're seeing the
consequence that you just warned of with the announcement of England now following France and saying that they would recognize the state of
Palestine in the coming weeks.
You argue that tracking food truck deliveries is really a poor proxy for measuring malnutrition and instead that prices, as you've noted, are a
better metric. And you say that prices of flour since March, since that Israeli blockade, have spiked 80 percent.
What does that tell us about the situation in Gaza?
YANNAY SPITZER, ECONOMIST, HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM: So thanks for having me on. Let me just say that I -- I don't think that the quantity
prices is necessarily useless. But right now, it contradicts the data on prices.
And the hike in prices was not 80 percent, but up to 80 fold, 8,000 percent.
GOLODRYGA: Wow.
SPITZER: That was the situation last week. And today, we realize that there were some relief as new -- new supply has come in or rumors of new supply
has -- has arrived. So, the -- the -- the prices react very, very rapidly and closely to new provision or the news of new provision.
But I argue that the information of prices is highly useful in assessing the situation on the ground, sometimes more so than the information on
quantities.
Now since the information on -- since the information on quantities was not as alarming, I think it's important to notice that information of prices is
really off the charts and is perfectly consistent with the information we're getting from -- from the ground in Gaza.
Now, the Israeli authorities, the army, the decision makers, also the -- the -- the media, the public opinions, were desensitized to such news
because for 22 months they have been subjected to a -- a story about starvation and famine that never really took place in -- in Gaza up until
now.
[12:35:04]
And in these op-eds, I try to make the -- the point to drive the point that even though famine has not occurred in Gaza up until now, this time, it is
different.
GOLODRYGA: Yes.
And that the price data are really absolutely alarming. And that if they persist for long, even for more than a few days, this will start a process
of actual starvation.
GOLODRYGA: And you talk about, you mentioned that a number of Israelis have been desensitized to these headlines because you say that they've been
made, these allegations have been made for over a year now.
And in reporting why there isn't more outrage among the Israeli public, we've seen journalists like Matti Friedman and Amit Segal report that there
have been these accusations against Israel in the past.
But in the past, when we've seen similar accusations, have we seen a similar spike in prices? Because it appears that from your data, that
hasn't been the case until now.
SPITZER: Yes. So that's exactly right. We have seen very high spikes in the past, but not nearly to the extent that we see them now.
I have to say that in historical perspective, and I'm an economic historian who have read some studies about historical famines, this is absolutely
unprecedented.
For comparison, in the great potatoes famine of Ireland, prices have increased by in between three to five-fold, although they persisted for a
long time. That caused a starvation of one million Irish men out of a population of about eight million.
In the great famine of Bengal in 1943, prices went up in some places up to tenfold -- tenfold and the number of casualties was anywhere between two
and three million.
Now, we're talking about a price hike in some places at certain times, at least over the last week, of between 50 to 100-fold relative to pre-October
7 prices.
This is simply not sustainable. And I want to point this trend out to the Israeli decision-makers, to the Israeli public, to the media, to make it
clear that this time it is different. And famine is an actual danger right now.
GOLODRYGA: And we heard from the Israeli ambassador to the United States just a few hours ago telling Wolf Blitzer that there is no large-scale
starvation in Gaza. And as you've noted, the prices have started to go down.
Can you talk about and respond to the Israeli government's claim that there is no widespread starvation? And he also said there are 636 trucks lined up
to go in.
Why do those figures not necessarily reflect the reality on the ground in your view?
SPITZER: So, it's hard for me to relate to any particular claims by the ambassador or any other Israeli official. The data is out there.
And to be honest, the data on the quantities is not particularly alarming, because we know that back when there was a ceasefire in January and
February, Gaza was virtually flooded with supply by Israel.
And according to U.N. data, this supply should have sufficed for up to half a year. And there has been most supply coming in since, not at the same
level as the -- that -- that would have been needed to sustain the population as a flow, but -- but there were stocks. And those stocks have
been dwindling, and now they're -- they've gone largely empty.
Now, I can understand why Israeli policymakers were slow to -- to wake up to the crisis, because their data, looking at quantities and knowing how
much data, how much food did come to Gaza in the winter, famine should not have occurred.
But the reports from the grounds report show that --
GOLODRYGA: Yes.
SPITZER: -- it's starting to happen now. And the prices are consistent with it.
GOLODRYGA: And you're not --
SPITZER: So there is some contradiction between the --
GOLODRYGA: Yes. I was going to say --
SPITZER: There's some contradiction between prices on the data, between prices and quantity. And I think we need to lean towards the quanti --
towards the prices and the reports from the ground.
GOLODRYGA: And in your piece, you write, blaming Hamas will not convince anyone that our hands did not spill this blood when it was within our power
to prevent it.
So given that, what is the most effective and immediate way that Israel can ameliorate the situation right now, this crisis in the days to come?
SPITZER: So, the conundrum is serious. Israel, I think, for justified reasons, wants to provide Gaza. But without -- while making sure that Hamas
doesn't get its share out of the provision. Because this supply is the main source of Hamas' governability. And without dismantling the governing
capabilities of Hamas, there will never be peace and the prosperity in Gaza.
I think the -- the motivation is justified. But I understand that there have been a lack of coordination between the army or COGAT, and U.N. aid
organizations. And a lot of it is about logistics and the terms.
And I think that Israel, we need to concede some of it. Concede the possibility that some supply will leak to where Hamas will help its -- some
will build up its capacity. But we just cannot allow ourselves to reach a situation in which the restoration in Gaza. It's not -- not for interest,
both morally and in terms of our trying to achieve the -- the goals of the war.
[12:40:23]
GOLODRYGA: Yannay Spitzer, thank you so much. Really eye-opening research. Appreciate your time sharing it with us.
SPITZER: Thank you again.
GOLODRYGA: Well, now, we want to focus on one family in their desperate fight to save a five-month old baby. Baby Zeinab spent the past five months
in and out of hospital and was prevented from leaving Gaza for treatment. Sadly, she had passed away.
A warning that our report from Nic Robertson is disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Baby Zeinab cradled in her father's loving arms, fought for life as long as she
could. Her tiny emaciated body a now silent witness to Gaza's new horror, malnutrition.
Once a happy, healthy baby, dead at five months old. She passed away as her mother carried her to the hospital for a checkup.
This is her photo before she got sick, she says, and this is the medical referral. My daughter suffered greatly from her illness, malnutrition, and
a lack of milk due to the closure of the crossings.
A little over a week ago, CNN saw Zeinab in hospital alive.
DR. NICK MAYNARD, PEDIATRICIAN: How old is she?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's now five months. Five months old.
MAYNARD: And how -- what is her weight?
ROBERTSON (voice-over): British doctor, Nick Maynard, was helping treat Zeinab. He was on one of his many life-saving missions to Gaza, and was
recording a video diary for CNN.
MAYNARD: There've been four newborn babies in the last couple of weeks who died as a direct result of malnutrition. Their mothers were too
malnourished to produce milk. There are inadequate amounts of formula feed.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Zeinab's wizened skin and boned body was clinging to life, and there was hope.
After CNN's report, Zeinab was offered a medical evacuation abroad. Her father clutching her dead body, tells us her referral was ready and we were
waiting for the crossing to open. But she found peace and rose to the heavens. We did everything we could.
According to her doctors, she had no underlying medical conditions, cases like hers, increasingly common, he says.
DR. AHMAD AL-FARRA, ZEINAB'S PHYSICIAN: They came to the hospital as a body because of severe, severe starvation and unavailability of the special
formula for milk that it is suitable for her. This is one of the examples for not allowing and for closing borders against milk and against a special
formula of milk for children.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): More than 120 dead in Gaza from malnutrition, he says. Two-thirds of them are children because they're more vulnerable.
Israeli officials say they abide by international law, allow aid into Gaza and blame Hamas for the shortages.
Baby Zeinab never knew any of that or about a ceasefire or negotiations over meters of land or numbers of hostages and prisoners to be exchanged.
She came into the world innocent and left it the same way. Her parents' lives heavier carrying the loss than what might have been.
Nic Robertson, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:45:38]
GOLODRYGA: Turning now to Northern China, where state media reports at least 30 people have been killed after torrential rains, devastating floods
and landslides across cities and farmlands.
Days of rain turned streets into rivers in densely populated areas, while a climate crisis makes extreme weather events more intense and frequent.
Rescue teams are searching desperately for residents as floodwaters wash away vehicles and homes from at least 100 rural villages. Chinese state
television says more than 80,000 people have been relocated.
Well, the U.S. is expected to sit out of the most consequential climate summit in a decade, COP30 in Brazil.
Trump administration has fired the last of the climate negotiators, helping cement America's withdrawal from international climate talks and possibly
handing a massive win to China.
Joining us now from New York, CNN's chief climate correspondent, Bill Weir. Bill, another first for the United States, a first perhaps, or I think
objectively in the wrong direction here, that has far-reaching consequences, both short-term and long-term.
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, absolutely. This is unprecedented. It's one of the key COPs. This is the Conference of Party
meetings of the world, you know. But where you got to try to get 190 countries to agree on this or thereabouts.
This one coming up in Brazil was so key to set the targets for the next decade. But for the first time, the -- the country with the most historical
planet-cooking emissions, the United States won't send anyone.
The Office of Global Change into State Department has been shut down and that affects even maybe Democrats who want to attend are having a hard time
getting credited down in Brazil for this sort of thing.
And so there's just a practical real politic of being in the room with the world and deciding these new energy streams, these new rules.
China now pretty much owns that room. They own the renewable energy industry, as we know it these days, as the Trump administration tries to
chainsaw anything with a whiff of that on this side of the Pacific.
China is wrapping up solar production and wind production and better production at a breathtaking rate, but they also use a lot of coal, Bianna.
And that U.S. push that tug of war with the U.S. was sort of bringing that down. They were pushing each other as rivals to bring carbon emissions down
and set targets.
The China-U.S. relation under Joe Biden was one of the rare bright spots when it came to, you know, bilateral relations there. So this is
unprecedented. And we don't know how really it's going to look in November.
GOLODRYGA: Do we know any of the response thus far from U.S. allies, perhaps how is China even responding to this news?
WEIR: Yes. China actually -- while the U.S. wouldn't respond to our request for a statement on this, China, you know, put out a -- a statement that
this is everybody's problem. You can't escape climate change globally.
That country is known historically for under promising on their climate pledges and then over delivering. They said they might hit their peak oil
by 2030. A lot of people think they already have.
So, it's -- it's part of the psychology of negotiating with the place like China. We don't really know where that's going to happen.
But it's devastating to renewables manufacturers here in the United States, groups that were trying to build more sustainable, resilient communities.
[12:50:59]
The wind industry is under just brutal attack from -- from President Trump right now. But there's still so much momentum built into these energy
streams that are cheaper and faster and a lot of times better than their fossil fuel alternatives. So, there's that strange tug-of-war here in the
United States.
But really the big picture, the moral responsibility of this problem really less in large part with the United States. Historically, the leader of the
industrial revolution to walk away from that will affect U.S. standing in lots of ways that are so much harder to measure.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. No doubt in telling that the U.S. would not respond with a statement, yet, the Chinese were more than happy to.
Bill Weir, thank you so much.
And still to come. CNN's at the birthday party of Evangeline Paredes as she turns 109 years young.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAREDES: I'm overwhelmed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're doing great.
PAREDES: But you know what?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What?
PAREDES: I think I deserve.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GOLODRYGA: A woman who just celebrated her 109th birthday credits community service for her longevity.
CNN's Jake Tapper headed along to the party to speak to the guest of honor about her incredible life.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's your secret?
PAREDES: I wish I knew.
TAPPER (voice-over): Evangeline "Vangie" Paredes celebrating 109 years of life.
Surrounded by family, friends and members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary, Vangie was born in New York in 1916, during World War One.
Her family moved to Washington, D.C. when she was only five. Her father, a member of the U.S. Navy.
PAREDES: The veterans of -- have always been in my system because my dad was in the navy and the veterans have been good to my family.
TAPPER (voice-over): After 30 years of working in the Pentagon, Vangie retired with the highest civilian award given to federal employees. But her
service did not stop there. After retirement, she volunteered with the AARP. And Vangie is still an active member of the VFW auxiliary.
Volunteerism, she says, that is what has kept her alive so long.
PAREDES: Do what you can for others and the -- the reflection will be onto you.
[12:55:01]
LERA RICKLING, VFW AUXILIARY PRESIDENT: She is the oldest member in this entire national VFW Auxiliary nation. We're so proud of it. And I'm going
to cry because she should be a role model for everybody.
TAPPER (voice-over): The highlight of her birthday celebration Saturday, when her little sister, 102 years old, flew in from Vegas to surprise her.
PAREDES: Oh, I didn't know -- I didn't -- I didn't know this was happening.
(SINGING)
TAPPER: How do you want to be remembered?
PAREDES: For my volunteerism, for the law -- of the people in need. I -- I -- I don't want to see, you know, poor people suffering. This is a great
day for me. I thank you all for coming. I'm just -- I'm overwhelmed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're doing great.
PAREDES: But you know what?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What?
PAREDES: I think I deserve.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GOLODRYGA: Oh, boy. Does she deserve it? Wow. Happy birthday, Evangeline. That reunion with her sister was just priceless. Thanks to Jake Tapper for
bringing us that much needed good news report.
Well, that does it for this hour of "One World." I'm Bianna Golodryga. Thanks so much for watching. Don't go anywhere. I'll be right back with
"Amanpour."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
