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Israel Launches Intense Strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon; Netanyahu Says Aim is to Cut Hezbollah From the War With Hamas; Iranian President Says Can't Allow Lebanon to Become Another Gaza; Afghan Activists Call for Global Pressure on Taliban; Telegram to Disclose Some User Data With Authorities; Eight New Emojis Coming to Smartphones. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired September 24, 2024 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world, and to everyone streaming on CNN Max. I'm Anna Coren in Hong Kong. Just ahead.
Lebanon's deadliest day in a generation. How Hezbollah is responding to the Israeli attack that killed nearly 500 people.
Kamala Harris and her campaign consider a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border on Friday as immigration weighs heavily on voters' minds. And --
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MERYL STREEP, AMERICAN ACTRESS: A bird may sing in Kabul, but a girl may not.
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COREN: Meryl Streep speaks up for women's rights in Afghanistan at the U.N.
ANNOUNCER: Live from Hong Kong. This is CNN NEWSROOM with Anna Coren.
COREN: Well first this hour, the escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon is raising fears of a regional war. One day after Israel launched the most intense wave of strikes in nearly 20 years.
The Lebanese health ministry says nearly 500 people, including dozens of women and children, were killed in Monday's attacks, marking the deadliest day of Israeli strikes in Lebanon since the 2006 war. The Israel Defense Forces says it hit 1600 Hezbollah targets. The video from social media shows smoke rising in the aftermath of one strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut. For other images showing shattered glass and rubble. The top Israeli military chief says forces are now, "preparing for the next phases." Displaced civilians are expressing fear and despair as they flee their homes in southern Lebanon and seek safety. Some finding it at schools turned into shelters. Israel's Prime Minister says the Lebanese people are not their target.
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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL: I have a message for the people of Lebanon. Israel's war is not with you. It's with Hezbollah. For too long, Hezbollah has been using you as human shields. It placed rockets in your living rooms and missiles in your garage. Those rockets and missiles are aimed directly at our cities, directly at our citizens. To defend our people against Hezbollah strikes, we must take out those weapons.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: The Iran-backed militant group says it has fired multiple rocket barrages into northern Israel overnight following Israel's air strikes on Monday.
Well, CNN Senior International Correspondent Ben Wedeman is following developments from Beirut.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTENATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As dawn broke, Israel launched the first of a series of punishing air strikes, starting in South Lebanon, pummeling what it claimed were Hezbollah targets, hitting, hitting and hitting again. While Hezbollah battered over the past week, it struck back, as it did early Sunday. Its missiles reaching deep into Israel, to Haifa and beyond. Many others intercepted through text messages and by breaking into local radio broadcasts.
Israel warned people to leave and stay away from buildings where Hezbollah might be operating. But the bombing was enough to send thousands fleeing north, the roads packed. Strikes, war planes, destruction says Ahmed, no one is left there. Everyone has fled. We took our belongings and left. Yet even those fleeing vowed they will return. We will be back, God willing, shouts this man, we will be back.
Tell Netanyahu we will return, when and how and to what? Unknown. The death toll for one day reached into the hundreds. The wounded, well over a thousand. Coming after a week of pager and walkie-talkie blasts and a deadly strike on Southern Beirut that killed a senior Hezbollah commander, but also many civilians. All classes in schools and universities across Lebanon have been suspended with some schools being turned into shelters for the displaced.
70-year-old Jana Ayesh (ph) fled her village at 5:00 a.m. taking shelter in a training institute in Beirut. I buried my son a week ago under bombardment, she says.
[02:05:03] My other son stayed behind. He didn't want to leave our home. With Israel's air offensive intensifying, it may be some time before Jena sees her other son again, if at all.
Ben Wedeman, CNN, Beirut.
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COREN: Well, CNN's Paula Hancock joins us now with the latest. Paula, what are you learning?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anna, what we've been hearing from the Israeli side is really a justification of what has happened, pointing out from the military that some 1600 targets were hit on Monday alone. We know there have been further targets overnight, and also barrages of rockets from Hezbollah into northern Israel as well.
But Israel's argument is that they are targeting Hezbollah and Hezbollah has been using, they say, the Lebanese civilians, as human shields. Now there was an extended briefing from the IDF, the spokesperson, Daniel Hagari, spoke on Monday. Let's listen to part of that.
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DANIEL HAGARI, ISRAEL MILITARY SPOKESPERSON: Let me be clear, Hezbollah is responsible for this situation. This is Hezbollah's plan to turn southern Lebanon into a battlefield for its attacks on Israel. We cannot accept terrorist groups storing weapons inside people's homes, using them to fire and other civilian communities.
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HANCOCKS: They also issued photos of what they said were arms and rockets that had been stored in civilian homes. So, the Israelis have been calling publicly on Lebanese, in southern Lebanon and also in other areas anywhere near where Hezbollah operates to move away. Also saying if they have stored weapons within a civilian home, move away as well. Of course, it is easier said than done, and the death toll of civilians shows that there simply wasn't enough time for some to be able to move away from those areas of the almost 500 killed.
We know from the health ministry, at least 35 children, at least 58 women and about 1600 have been injured. So, we are seeing a significant Exodus trying to get out of areas that Lebanese believe may be hit by Israel as the Israeli military has said that they are planning for the next phase. We did hear, though, from Lebanese Member of Parliament speaking at the U.N. General Assembly just how difficult that is.
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BAHIA EL-HARIRI, PRIME MINISTER OF LEBANON (through translator): We are seeing a wave of Exodus and the targeting of residential areas. The people of Lebanon are in serious danger after the destruction of large areas of agricultural land and the targeting of residential buildings. This has damaged the economy of our country and threatened our social order.
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HANCOCKS: The Biden administration is concerned clearly about what is happening. They have been trying for months to prevent this escalation in the conflict in this region. We heard from one official saying that they are skeptical of Israel's argument that they have to escalate to de-escalate. Israel says this is the way that they can return tens of thousands of Israeli residents to Northern Israel that had to evacuate many months ago. Anna?
COREN: Paula Hancocks in Abu Dhabi, we appreciate the update. Thank you. Well, joining me now with his perspective is Naji Bhakti. Writer and author of between Beirut and the Moon. Naji, thank you for joining us. Firstly, your reaction to what is happening in your country.
NAJI BHAKTI, WRITER AND AUTHOR, BETWEEN BEIRUT AND THE MOON: Well, it's hard to find the words, Anna. It's a -- it is a -- it is a dark day, indeed. But -- and it's very difficult in this moment to really grasp the scale of what is going on in the South of Lebanon, but to my mind, it is very much an extension of the -- or an expansion of the ongoing genocide in Gaza. The international community failed to respond to the genocide in Gaza and as a consequence, what we are seeing now is an expansion into Lebanon and the death of many innocent civilians in the South of Lebanon including, of course, children.
COREN: Naji, you were in Beirut last week when thousands of pages belonging to members of Hezbollah exploded. It caused mashed casualties and afflicted obviously psychological damage within the population.
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Explain to us, I guess, the sense of terror that you and your family felt.
BHAKTI: Once again. Anna, I mean, it's -- it was, it was hard to reconcile, to be honest with you. The Western media's coverage of what had taken place, what I would describe as very much a terrorist attack which inflicted terror upon the -- upon my fellow citizens and myself and my family and my friends with -- to reconcile that those images, that experience of being genuinely terrified or rather to put it, simply, terrorized by those attacks with the cover -- the Western coverage which described the attacks as audacious, innovative.
The height of ingenuity. And to be frank with you, that certainly was not the experience on the ground. And it baffles me, quite frankly, how coverage of what can only be described as terrorist attacks would have been described as terrorist attacks by the CIA director -- the former CIA Director Leon Panetta, by the U.N. High Commissioner Volker Turk and others. This, to me, sums up, really, the double standards that we've seen.
I do not think that a terrorist attack like that would be described in any other terms if it had happened in a Western country, as opposed to, say, in Lebanon. COREN: Can I ask you how do you feel towards Hezbollah which is very much ingrained in certain parts of Lebanese society?
BHAKTI: Yes. I mean, listen, Anna, there are more than misgivings. There are entrenched, deep political disagreements with Hezbollah. And I am certainly no fan of theirs. Let me be very clear about that, but I think that what has transpired over the last few days is very clearly a Coordinated attack on the Lebanese people, including what can charitably be described as indiscriminate but quite frankly, targets innocent civilians, knowingly targets innocent civilians.
As was made very clear by analysts, by political analysts, the -- there was no way of knowing where and in whose company those booby- trapped pagers would go off, and the death of innocent children in those attacks and others proves that.
COREN: Naji, Israel says Its attacks are designed to break the resolve of Hezbollah, but it would appear the opposite has happened. Do you fear, as many experts do, that this could lead to regional war?
BHAKTI: I think we're already there, Anna. I think the images that we are seeing now, I think the escalation that we are seeing the -- as I mentioned, the expansion, or extension of the -- of the ongoing genocide into Lebanon and into the South of Lebanon in particular has already happened. And frankly, it has been taking place over the last 11 months. Although, yes, basically what we are saying now is a new phase.
COREN: Naji Bhakti, we appreciate you speaking to us and sharing your experiences. Thank you very much.
BHAKTI: Thank you.
COREN: World leaders will kick off the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly in the coming hours. And with multiple conflicts around the world, there will be plenty on the agenda. Speaking at the U.N. summit of the future on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken made it clear, no member state has the power to go against the core tenants of the U.N. Charter, especially those centered around independence and sovereignty.
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ANTONY BLINKEN, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE: We will continue to affirm that no member state has the right to redraw borders by force or repress their own people. We'll continue to oppose the idea that nations can assert spheres of influence or dictate who other countries ally or partner with. We will push back fiercely against attempts to undermine the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and related international human rights treaties.
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[02:15:05] COREN: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was also in attendance as he prepares to address the U.N. Security Council later today. He vowed to do all in his power to stand against nations who undermine global unity.
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VOLODYMR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE: The world needs a peaceful future and sustainable development and I say this as the president of Ukraine, a country resisting Russia's brutal colonial aggression. Putin has stolen much already, but he will never steal the world's future.
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COREN: CNN Alex Marquardt has more on Zelenskyy's planned appeal to diplomats and world leaders this week.
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: This is a critical week for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who has a very busy schedule as he tries to generate continued and increased support for Ukraine in this war, particularly from the Biden administration. Now the big question is, what does this plan for victory from President Zelenskyy include when he proposes it to President Biden and others this week?
What are the ideas that could lead to a diplomatic solution in Ukraine? On social media, Zelenskyy posted that "this fall will determine the future of this war." And he says that much of the onus is on the United States. In a new interview with The New Yorker, he talks about the plan saying, "This plan is designed first and foremost, with Biden support in mind. If he doesn't want to support it, I cannot force him. If he refuses, that's unfortunate. It would mean that Biden doesn't want to end the war in any way that denies Russia a victory and we would end up with a very long war."
Now, a key part of this plan for victory, according to Zelenskyy, are those long-range missiles made by the United States and the United Kingdom which he wants to fire inside of Russia. It's no mistake that Zelenskyy started his U.S. tour this week at an ammunitions plant in Pennsylvania, highlighting that us support for Ukraine over the past 2-1/2 years. Zelenskyy is expected to speak at the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday before heading down to Washington to meet with President Biden.
He's also going to present his plan to Vice President Kamala Harris, who, of course, could be the next president, as well as Congress and possibly former and potentially future President Donald Trump.
COREN: New details on the latest assassination attempt against Donald Trump. Prosecutors reveal what's known about the suspect's plans and just how close he came to the former U.S. president.
Plus, word that Kamala Harris might soon visit the southern U.S. border. Why that move could be risky.
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COREN: Hurricane John made landfall earlier off the southern coast of Mexico as a category three storm. The National Hurricane Center says life-threatening storm surge is expected to produce significant coastal flooding.
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The storm will also bring heavy rainfall, flash flood. The National Hurricane Center says life threatening storm surge is expected to produce significant coastal flooding. The storm will also bring heavy rainfall, flash floods and mudslides to the region.
Well, the man suspected of trying to assassinate Donald Trump earlier this month had written a letter declaring his intentions and laying out his plans. Well, that's according to a new filing by federal prosecutors who say they will now charge Ryan Routh with attempting to assassinate the former U.S. president.
CNN's Randi Kaye has details from Monday's hearing.
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In court we learned more about a letter that was provided from a witness who said Ryan Routh dropped a box at his home a while ago, and that box was passed on to federal investigators. In it was a handwritten letter, according to investigators that they believe Ryan Routh wrote, and that letter says, in part, this was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, but I failed you. I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster. It is up to you now to finish the job.
And then he went on to offer $150,000 to whomever could complete the job. We also learned from the agents in court that the defendant, Ryan Routh, they believe, was in a position that provided a clear line of fire to the sixth hole putting green. Now, remember, Donald Trump was on the fifth hole putting green. At the time this all occurred, that would have put him about 12 to 15 minutes away from the sixth hole putting green.
Also, if he had gotten to the sixth hole putting green, he would have been about 100 feet. Investigators say from who they believe is Ryan Routh in that -- in that position in the bushes. Also new information regarding the scope that was attached to the weapon that was discovered at the scene that we're told was attached to the weapon by electrical tape. And investigators in court said that they -- there was a fingerprint that they believe belongs to Ryan Routh on that electrical tape.
That is a preliminary finding. They are still looking into that. We also know there was a letter now addressed to the New York Times that was found at the scene. They did test that letter for fingerprints and DNA. They have not found Ryan Routh's fingerprints or DNA on it just yet, but they did find a fingerprint belonging to someone else. The FBI agent who was testifying did not say who that person is, who that fingerprint belongs to, or what was in the letter.
Also, they did search Routh's car. They found a Hawaii driver's license and a passport in his name, along with 12 pairs of gloves and six cell phones. One of the cell phones prosecutors say included a search, a Google search from how to get from Palm Beach County where this all happened to Mexico. Also, they found cell phone data that would have placed Ryan Routh in this area for about a month before this incident occurred.
They said that he arrived here as of August 14th. That's according to cell phone data pinging off the cell phone towers in the area. And finally, there was a handwritten list of dates and venues prosecutors say that was found in his car. Those include those -- include dates where Donald Trump was expected to appear before election day. They believe that that handwritten list was written by Ryan Routh.
Randi Kaye, CNN, Palm Beach, County, Florida.
COREN: Meanwhile, Trump is doubling down on plans to push through his tariff proposals if elected, saying he will do it with or without the support of Congress. Trump has proposed tariffs on $3 trillion worth of imports into the U.S., including a 60 percent tax on products from China and a 10 percent across the board levy on imports from all other countries. Trump says the tariffs will protect working class jobs and punish what he calls unfair trading practices. But economist warn his proposals would lead to higher prices for Americans.
We're hearing Kamala Harris and her campaign are considering a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border later this week, while the Vice President is in Arizona. Well, polls show Trump with a lead in the key swing state.
CNN's Priscilla Alvarez has the details.
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Harris campaign officials are weighing a potential visit by the Vice President to the U.S.- Mexico border on Friday, when she is set to visit the battleground state of Arizona. The reason, sources tell me, is that they are trying to narrow the gap in polling. Of course, former President Donald Trump has held a lead in polls when it comes to the issue of immigration.
But while some campaign officials remain concerned about that lead, they also see an opportunity to close the gap. Now, one source telling me that no final decision has been made, and of course, the Vice President has visited the U.S.-Mexico border as Vice President, as well as California senator and as attorney general in that state.
But a visit to Arizona would also come at a time where former President Donald Trump is leading in the polls and as border crossings remain low. The lowest they've been since 2020. But Republicans have tried to cast the Vice President falsely So, as the borders czar, so only putting her responsible for border security.
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Well, that hasn't been the case. Instead, she has been focused on the root causes of migration in Central America, border visit would offer the opportunity campaign officials say for her to deliver her message on this issue. One where she has been talking about her work as attorney general, tackling transnational gangs, but also saying that the former president is unserious about the border for taking that bipartisan border bill.
All the same, the Vice President is slated to visit Arizona later this week, that will later be followed by Nevada, two important states that she is trying to gain a lead on former President Donald Trump ahead of November.
Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, Washington.
COREN: Well, polls also show Trump with the lead over Harris on the issue of immigration. I asked political analyst Michael Genovese about how her potential visit to the border could be perceived, since she is tied to President Biden's border policies.
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MICHAEL GENOVESE, POLITICAL ANALYST: This is a very risky strategy for Harris. On the one hand, she would go there and try to boost her support and her credentials on the border. But I don't know that she can do that. The narrative that most voters now buy into is that she is weak on the border. Democrats are weak on the border. Biden was weak on the border. Trump is Trump on the -- Trump strong on the border.
And so how do you turn that around? One visit doesn't do it. So, I think it's probably more risky than she even imagines right now.
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COREN: You can hear our full conversation next hour on CNN NEWSROOM.
French President Emmanuel Macron has unveiled his new coalition government. The newly appointed ministers met with Mr. Macron and Prime Minister Michel Barnier at the Elysee Palace on Monday. The meeting comes almost three weeks after a July snap election delivered a hung parliament. The country's new cabinet marks a turn to the right, even though a left-wing alliance won the most parliamentary seats.
The cabinet includes ministers from the Conservative Party and centrists from the President's coalition. Israel sets up its attacks on Hezbollah with its deadliest day of strikes against the terrorist group in nearly two decades. How Israel is explaining the deaths of dozens of women and children. Next on CNN.
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COREN: An Israeli official tells CNN Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the security cabinet Monday that the country's aim in Lebanon is to cut Hezbollah from the war with Hamas.
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The official says the security cabinet has agreed to continue to raise the level of military operations every day. Well, the IDF says -- [02:30:00]
COREN: -- with Hamas. The official says the security cabinet has agreed to continue to raise the level of military operations every day. The IDF says it struck 1,600 targets in Lebanon on Monday, the deadliest day of Israeli strikes against Hezbollah since the 2006 war. The Lebanese health ministry estimates nearly 500 people have been killed so far, including dozens of women and children. A medical relief agency working in Lebanon says the country's health care system is under immense pressure as thousands of people flee their homes amidst the strikes.
Well, CNN's Ivan Watson is following developments. Ivan, tell us about these latest comments from the Israeli prime minister.
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, so this is the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking to his security cabinet and saying that the goal of this dramatic escalation of Israel's military operations in Lebanon is to -- as that -- an Israeli official tells CNN, is to cut Hezbollah off from the nearly year-long war that Israel has been prosecuting against Hamas militants in Gaza, a conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people in Gaza in nearly a year of fighting there.
So what we really saw was that after the October 7th Hamas terror attacks on Israel, nearly a year ago, Hezbollah stepped into the fray and began launching rockets into northern Israel across the border. And there has been a year year-long border conflict there as both sides have carried out rocket attacks and airstrikes back and forth across the border. Over the last week, Israel announced that it was entering a new era of this war and it dramatic increased its attacks. And Monday is evidence of, basically, an air war, an aerial campaign against Lebanon.
Take a look at this heat map created by NASA over a 24-hour period and it will show you places that are burning red over the course of an -- or aerial bombardment that Israel says hit more than 1,600, as it puts it, Hezbollah targets. So, it gives you a sense of just how the fires were raging across southern and eastern Lebanon. But then when we look at the death toll in a single day, the Lebanese ministry of health saying nearly 500 people were killed, Anna, including 35 children and 58 women. So that's nearly 100 women and children in a total death toll of nearly 500 people killed in a single day.
To add context to this, Lebanon is not a stranger to conflict. In 2006, Hezbollah militants fought a month-long war against the Israeli military. And in that conflict, which I covered, Anna, around 1,100 people were killed on the Lebanese side of the border. In a single day yesterday, Israeli war planes killed nearly half the number of people who were killed in a month of all-out fighting and the Israeli government is pledging to further ramp up its operations, its military attacks into Lebanon in the days ahead.
COREN: Ivan Watson, we appreciate the update. Thank you.
Iran's president says Tehran doesn't want to be the reason for creating instability in the region, but still plans to seek revenge for the assassination of Hamas' political leader Ismail Haniyeh back in July Tehran. On Monday, CNN's Fareed Zakaria sat down for an exclusive interview with Masoud Pezeshkian to get his take on the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
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FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Will you council Hezbollah to restrain itself? We know that Iran has a lot of influence over Hezbollah.
MASOUD PEZESHKIAN, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Hezbollah by herself cannot stand against a country that is armed to the teeth and has access to weapon systems that are far superior to anything else. Now, if there is a need, Islamic countries must convene a meeting in order to formulate a reaction to what is occurring. Now, if we are speaking of Hezbollah alone, what can Hezbollah do alone? The regional countries, Islamic countries must sit together and prior to anything more severe taking place, I do believe that international organizations -- today, we did have a meeting with the -- at the United Nations with Mr. Guterres; and tomorrow, we will see such discussions and topics taking place, and we must not allow for Lebanon to become another Gaza at the hands of Israel.
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Hezbollah cannot do that alone. Hezbollah cannot stand alone against a country that is being defended and supported and supplied by Western countries, European countries, and the United States of America.
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COREN: Watch the full interview on Fareed Zakaria GPS this Sunday at 10:00 a.m. Eastern. That's 3 p.m. London, only on CNN.
Activists in Afghanistan are calling on the global community to support their efforts to protect women's rights. The inclusion of women in the future events was held during the UN general Assembly in New York on Monday. Activists want the international community to pressure the Taliban over, what they call, ignorant policies. It comes after Taliban leaders instituted harsh new morality laws that restrict women's dress and conduct in public even further than before.
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FAWZIA KOOFI, AFGHAN WOMEN'S RIGHTS ACTIVIST: When the peace process started, the Taliban already felt that they are victorious. There was a Taliban that were different from the time we met with them in dialog to the time that we met with them in the peace process, after they signed the agreement. They did not even keep their own promise. They publicly said that they have changed, that they will respect women and human rights. And some of their supporters, including some diplomats from the Washington, echoed them. They say Taliban 2.0 and we tend to believe them.
We were all trapped into this narrative that was created for us and that's why, I think it's time for the world to let us have our own narrative.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: Well, actor Meryl Streep also spoke at the United Nations on Monday. She added her voice to the core for world leaders to address the treatment of women under Taliban rule. Streep says women must be included in the future of Afghanistan.
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MERYL STREEP, ACTOR: The way that this culture, the society has been upended is a cautionary tale for the rest of the world. In the '70s, most of the civil servants were women, over half the teachers, doctors -- a bird may sing in Kabul but a girl may not, and a woman may not in public. This is extraordinary. This is a suppression of the natural law. This is odd. I feel that the Taliban, since they've issued over 100 edicts in Afghanistan, stripping women and girls of their education and employment, their freedom of expression and movement, they have effectively incarcerated half their population.
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COREN: A popular messaging app now says, law enforcement will have access to some of its user data. Coming up, what information could end up in the hands of authorities and why.
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COREN: Welcome back. The messaging platform, Telegram has updated its terms of service and privacy policy after Founder and CEO, Pavel Durov's arrest. Durov at posted Monday that Telegram will now disclose to authorities with valid legal requests the IP addresses and phone numbers of users who violate its rules. It has also removed problematic content from its public search feature. The move is meant to reduce criminal activity on the platform. Durov was arrested in France last month and interviewed about suspected criminal activity on Telegram.
Well, if you rely on emojis to get your message across, it's a big day. Eight new ones are coming your way on smartphones next year. The most anticipated is an exhausted face with bags under its eyes. (Inaudible) include a fingerprint, a splat, a root vegetable, a hop, and a shovel. The leafless tree is meant to raise awareness about climate change. New emojis don't happen every day. It's a formal process led by the Unicode Consortium, non-profit which oversees global emoji standards. Now we know.
Well, CNN spoke with the Chair of the Emoji Standard & Research Working Group, and we asked her, what makes for a good emoji and how the approval process works.
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JENNIFER DANIEL, UTC, EMOJI STANDARD & RESEARCH WORKING GROUP: Well, there's -- obviously, there is criteria that we were looking for. So anyone could submit an emoji proposal, all it has to do is include a number of factors. So these are things like, can someone tell what it is, right, the image distinctiveness, how many times have you squinted at your keyboard and you are like, I can't even tell what this is. So, it's really important that you can actually tell what it is.
Another is that it has multiple uses, meaning can it be used symbolically? Can it be used metaphorically? Can it be used outside of just literally representing itself? Something that's (inaudible), like something that's has a 15-minute life span that isn't going to be relevant a year from now, 500 years from now, probably not going to make for a good emoji. But something that has global relevancy, something that everyone feels, like being tired, is going to make for a good emoji.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: That certainly will make a good emoji. Well, thank you so much for joining us. I'm Anna Coren. "World Sport" is next. Then, I'll be back in 15 minutes time with more of "CNN Newsroom." See you then.
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