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Rebels in Syria Makes Gains; Day Three of Fragile Ceasefire in Lebanon; New Accusations of Violations by Israel and Hezbollah; Russia Launches More Than 130 New Drone Attacks; Biden Running Out of Time to Spend Ukraine Money; Macron Tours Notre Dame Ahead of Official Reopening; U.S. President Biden Criticizes Trump's Planned Tariffs; U.S. Food Banks Getting Busier Amid High Cost of Living; Notre Dame Restoration Complete; Ghana's Gold Production Booms Amid Fears of Illegal Mining. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired November 29, 2024 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:30]
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is CONNECT THE WORLD.
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Welcome to our second hour of CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Eleni Giokos in Abu Dhabi.
Well, rebels in Syria say they're making gains today after launching a sudden offensive against the Assad government. In Lebanon it's day three of
a fragile ceasefire with both sides accusing the other of violations. And some good news from Paris. After five years of restoration work, the Notre
Dame Cathedral is ready to reopen. We'll get an inside look.
Well, we start in Syria, where opposition forces say they have entered Aleppo for the first time since government forces recaptured the city in
2016. The surprise offensive is reigniting a conflict that had been largely static for years. A statement by a newly formed rebel Umbrella Coalition
says clashes with Syrian forces intensified overnight into Friday morning. Analysts say the rebels are exploiting a vacuum left by a weakened
Hezbollah to advance in Syria.
CNN's senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman has spent a considerable time on the ground in Syria, covering the civil war, and he's
following these fresh developments for us now.
And a lot of moving parts, Ben, at the moment, as the rebel forces are now starting to gain ground around Aleppo. What do we know about the coalition,
the timing of this offensive and perhaps the vacuum that has been created by the weakened Hezbollah?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this coalition now is going under the name of the military operations command. The senior
partner is Hayet Tahrir al-Sham. That's a Syrian rebel group that had its origins in al Qaeda. It pretends or it claims to have moderated its
positions. It is now in an alliance with Turkish-backed factions of the Free Syrian Army. They are now working together.
They've launched this offensive Wednesday, and already they claim to have taken at least 63 villages in the western part of Aleppo province, and they
put out a statement earlier today saying that the forces have entered the city of Aleppo from the western edge. They are claiming to now be in
control of what's known as the New Aleppo neighborhood, as well as the Hamdaniyah neighborhood in the western part of the city.
Earlier, they had taken control of the military research center, which is also one of the landmarks on the western edge of the city of Aleppo, which
is Syria's second largest city, and its main industrial center as well.
Now, certainly what we're seeing is that this is really a lightning offensive that has taken the Syrian regime on by surprise. Going back to
March 2020, Russia and Turkey, Russia of course supporting the regime in Damascus and Turkey supporting the rebel factions based in Idlib province,
which is to the west of Aleppo province, they reached a ceasefire agreement for the northern part of the country.
And it's been really just a stalemate in that area ever since even though Hayet Tahrir al-Sham and the Turkish backed factions have actually fought
among one another quite frequently in that time. But now they appear to have joined forces perhaps taking advantage of the fact that the Syrian
regime is exposed. It is weakened because Hezbollah, which, going back to the years of the Syrian civil war, had entered Syria and it really helped
rescue the regime, along with Iran and Russia in September of 2015.
Hezbollah withdrew its forces from Syria starting in October of last year when it focused its fire on Israel. In addition to that of course Iran has
been taking blows from Israel in Syria and of course the Iranian media is reporting that a brigadier general for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Corps was killed in Aleppo since Wednesday as well.
[10:05:07]
And, of course, finally Russia, which really came to the regime's rescue in September 2015, is, of course distracted by its war in Ukraine -- Eleni.
GIOKOS: Yes. Everyone seems to be distracted. I mean, I want to talk about the dynamics that we're seeing from a regional perspective. Assad has been
remarkably quiet during the current war between Israel and Hezbollah, and last year he was welcomed back into the Arab League. So, you know, is there
anticipation that we'll see someone coming to his aid?
WEDEMAN: Well, at the moment, of course, the three sort of, well, basically Hezbollah, Iran and Russia have been bolstering his regime. But as I said
they're all distracted. They're looking the other way. They have other preoccupations at the moment, and it's unlikely that any Arab regime is
going to come to the rescue of Bashar al-Assad, even though he has slowly reentered the sort of diplomatic theater of the Arab world.
The regimes of the Arab world don't really have the political or military or financial capital, or perhaps desire even to come to his aid. Obviously,
there will be serious concerns if these rebel groups really make a major resurgence and threaten the regime itself. It may not come to that at this
point, but certainly what we're going to see if this rebel offensive continues is a weakened regime of Bashar al-Assad -- Eleni.
GIOKOS: Ben Wedeman, always great to get your perspective. Thank you so much.
Well, there are multiple warnings today from Israel's military on day three of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire. The uneasy truce appears to be holding
despite both sides accusing the other of violations. A senior Israeli official saying Israel's military will take unilateral action against
Hezbollah if it perceives immediate threats from the group in southern Lebanon. And while many displaced Lebanese civilians return home, the IDF
is warning residents in 70 southern villages not to go back right now due to what a spokesperson calls safety concerns.
CNN senior digital Middle East producer Tamara Qiblawi is watching developments unfold from Beirut as she tells us in this report there are a
range of emotions with relief and hope tempered by lingering concern that something could happen to upend the ceasefire.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TAMARA QIBLAWI, CNN SENIOR DIGITAL MIDDLE EAST PRODUCER: It's been a few days since the truce between Lebanon and Israel has gone into effect. The
mood here is jubilant, but it is cautious. We heard bursts of celebratory gunfire, and we saw people bundling their mattresses into cars and rushing
to return to their cities and villages.
The relief here is palpable. For one thing, people here don't greet each other by saying hello anymore. They say alhamdulillah salaam, which means
I'm glad you're safe. It's a poignant acknowledgment of what this community has gone through. A pat on the back, if you will, for having survived yet
another terrible episode in this country's crisis ridden history.
But the truce here is tenuous. We remain at the very beginning of a 60-day period when both sides are expected to carry out their commitments.
Lebanon, on the one hand, must ramp up the presence of its troops in the country's south to ensure that the area is free of Hezbollah's arms. On the
other hand, Israel must completely withdraw their forces from Lebanese territory, but this will be phased and in the meantime it will be
dangerous.
But so far, officials see no reason to worry, and they see no serious threat to the ceasefire, at least not yet. But it is a bumpy road ahead.
And meanwhile, all people really want is a return to normal life.
Tamara Qiblawi, CNN, Beirut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: All right. Jeremy Diamond is back with us this hour from Tel Aviv.
And, Jeremy, you were telling us in the previous hour just, you know, how things can change with regards to the violations that we've already seen.
60 days is hoping -- is the hope that this truce and the ceasefire will hold. But importantly, the IDF saying that residents of 70 villages in
southern Lebanon should not return, citing safety concerns.
Do we know what those concerns might be?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, the concerns are effectively that the Israeli military doesn't want civilians or militants
anywhere close to their military positions in southern Lebanon. And so while on the first day of the ceasefire, we started to see many of these
displaced civilians, remember, there are more than a million displaced people across Lebanon as a result of this conflict between Israel and
Hezbollah.
[10:10:01]
And so as many of them began to return south on the first day of the ceasefire, there were multiple incidents involving the Israeli military
firing at or near some of those individuals, and ultimately warnings not only from the Israeli military but also from the Lebanese armed forces,
telling civilians not to go to these areas.
And this is part of what's going to be so tricky over the next 60 days is that this is going to be a gradual withdrawal by the Israeli military, and
so far we haven't actually seen any signs of that withdrawal beginning. And so for this early period of the ceasefire, certainly there will be and
remain a significant presence of Israeli troops in that area.
And of course, in addition to the civilians who are returning the Israeli military has now claimed several incidents in which they say that they saw
Hezbollah militants operating in ways that are contrary to the ceasefire, carrying out -- the Israeli military, as a result, carrying out two
airstrikes yesterday in southern Lebanon.
The Lebanese Army, though, describing some of those incidents as ceasefire violations by Israel and so this is part of what is so complicated about
this and what could potentially -- where some of the risk lies in this ceasefire and the risk that it could spiral back into war, is the fact that
Israel is maintaining its ability and its, you know, willingness to unilaterally carry out strikes fire at weapons in any way that it sees fit
when it believes that Hezbollah on the other side is violating that ceasefire, effectively carrying out the role of a party to the ceasefire,
but also one of the enforcers of it.
And that, of course, is part of the risk inherent in the way that this is all set up.
GIOKOS: Yes, indeed. Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much for that update.
Turning now to Ukraine. Officials there have reported another wave of intense attacks. The air force says Russia launched more than 130 drones
overnight across the country. Several people have been reported injured. This comes just after Russia again targets a critical Ukrainian energy
sites. Thursday's attack knocked out power to more than one million homes and triggered rolling blackouts.
CNN's Fred Pleitgen joins us now from Moscow.
Fred, good to have you with us. Russian efforts to build more of these powerful strike drones and, of course, the big messaging is that they have
major destructive capabilities.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think in general, the Russians are saying they have major destructive capabilities.
But you're absolutely right, the mass use of these drones is certainly something that we can really see spiking and really see a big uptick of
generally Russia's aerial campaign of course very much ramping up. The Russians saying on Thursday that that huge strikes that they conducted then
using 90 missiles and about 100 of these strike drones, they said that was in direct response to the U.S. allowing the Ukrainians to use U.S. supplied
surface-to-surface missiles to strike deep into Russia.
However, just a day later, the Russians once again attacking apparently with 130 of these strike drones, and that does seem to indicate that they
do seem to have some sort of mass production capability of these strike drones, that they are able to consistently use them in large scale strikes.
Now, for the Ukrainians, it was quite interesting to see that they did say that they managed to take almost all of these drones down. They said more
than 80, I think it was 88 of these drones taken down by their surface-to- air crews but then also some of them taken down with jamming methods as well, the Ukrainians say. Nevertheless, they do acknowledge that there was
damage that was caused by these strike drones in Odessa.
Several people wounded there and in Kyiv one person wounded as well. So certainly these drones are having an effect, as in general, I think a lot
of people in Ukraine, Eleni, right now very concerned about the aerial campaign and the degradation really of the energy infrastructure in Ukraine
as the Russians continue that onslaught there.
GIOKOS: Absolutely. You know, another sort of more strategic question for Vladimir Putin and of course it pertains to whether he, he and his
administration is waiting out Biden's administration until Donald Trump comes in and perhaps waiting or hoping for a more favorable deal.
PLEITGEN: Yes, I think that that really is a big strategic question right now and certainly something that is a huge point, a talking point, if you
will, here in Russia. In fact, I spoke to several Russian officials just yesterday, and one of them did say, look, we have about one and a half
months to go. They keep laying into the Biden administration obviously criticizing this approval by the Biden administration to use these surface-
to-surface missiles, saying that that is something that escalates the conflict and really brings things into a very dangerous terrain.
But at the same time, you do also hear the Kremlin, for instance, last week saying that they keep hearing offers of peace coming from cabinet nominees
from the President elect Donald Trump. So there certainly is not necessarily the expectation, but the hope on the part of the Russians that
they could get a favorable deal once the Trump administration comes into office, once the Trump administration really is formed, and then they do
hope that negotiations could take place.
[10:15:10]
Right now, of course, the Russians very much from a place of strength they could negotiate with the gains that they've been making on the ground. But
I think one thing is also very important to point out is that the Russians are telegraphing. And you're absolutely right about that. The firepower
that they have, the big talk here in Moscow over this past week was that big intermediate range ballistic missile that the Russians have now, and
that they say they are going to continue to use -- Eleni.
GIOKOS: All right. Fred Pleitgen, good to have you with us. Thank you.
Well, earlier this year, the Biden administration struggled to get Congress to approve more money for Ukraine. Now there is money to be spent, but the
White House is running out of time to use it.
Oren Lieberman explains.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. still has nearly $7 billion in authority to send weapons to Ukraine directly out of U.S.
inventories and stockpiles. The DOD, the Defense Department, has done this pretty much since the start of the war in what's known as presidential
drawdown authority, allowing the U.S. to take 155 millimeter artillery rounds, HIMARS rounds, and all kinds of other equipment directly out of
U.S. stocks and send them as quickly as possible to Ukraine.
The challenge now is with that $6.8 billion or so left in the authority to send weapons to Ukraine, the administration isn't likely to be able to use
that according to a number of U.S. and Defense officials with whom CNN has spoken. Over the course of the past several months, according to officials,
the U.S. has tried to get to about $750 million of supplies a month. Now that number may go up to about a billion a month, with just under two
months to go until January 20th and the incoming Trump administration.
But even so, that will leave billions unused in this authority. This ability to send weapons directly to Ukraine. The challenge is, and has been
for some time now, that the U.S. can't simply send everything it has, it has to keep a baseline of weapons and munitions in its own inventories, and
only be able to send the excess. That has very much limited the ability of the U.S. to send weapons to Ukraine. And that's effectively what we're
seeing here.
The question, what will happen to that billions or so in unused authority to arm Ukraine? Well, that is up to the incoming Trump administration. Do
they choose to effectively cut off the supply of weapons? Do they choose not to announce any new military aid packages and let go what's already in
the pipeline to get to Ukraine? That will be up to President-elect Donald Trump and his team figuring out how to handle Ukraine.
Now, officials we've spoken with said there is still a lot in the pipeline to Ukraine that will get there before January 20th. But as we're seeing
from the battlefield and the gains Russia is able to make, slow grinding, brutal gains, Ukraine still very much needs U.S. help.
Oren Liebermann, CNN, in Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: Five years after a catastrophic fire ripped through Notre Dame, the iconic cathedral in Paris reopened its doors to President Emmanuel Macron
earlier today so he could view the $738 million restoration project. He invited the world to join him on a televised tour as France celebrates the
landmark's historic revitalization ahead of the official reopening on December 7th. Listen as he praised the construction crew for their hard
work.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): You have been the alchemists of this work site and you have transformed the blackness into
art. The flame was a national wound and you've been the remedy through determination, commitment and work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Well, in 2019, the world watched in horror as the cathedral lit up in flames. The cause of the fire has not been determined, but the Paris
prosecutor said at the time it could have been an accident.
CNN's Melissa Bell joins us now from Paris.
We're still looking at those images from 2019. It's bringing back so many memories of that spire collapsing. A very different picture what we're
seeing today, and I'm sure everyone on the ground and in the streets around you must be very elated by the big reveal.
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. You'll remember of course five years ago, when that fire was still raging almost
immediately that night, Eleni, the questions had begun how the fire could have started, and how it could have spread so quickly. That was the subject
of an investigation that lasted several years. That's now been closed. And the fact is they still don't know exactly whether it was an electrical
fault or a cigarette left by a workman that was to blame for that blaze that engulfed the cathedral as quickly as it did on April 15th, 2019.
Thousands had gathered in the streets around to watch as it went up in flames, aghast and concerned that some of the structure itself and
specifically the towers at the front of the facade might collapse under the weight of that inferno.
[10:20:09]
In the end, the structure stood. It took two years for it to be entirely secured before the restoration work, Eleni, could get underway. You heard
there Emmanuel Macron speaking to some of the 2,000 men and women who were there over the course of those last few years of restoration to very
carefully and using very specific crafts, add the gold, the painting, to define the woodwork, the stonemasonry as well.
All of that intricate detail that had to be attended to that the cathedral could be restored to its former glory. One of their first questions whether
they were going to rebuild it as it was, or try and create something new. In the end, the choice was made to restore it to what it was. And having
had the opportunity to go inside a little while ago, I can report back, Eleni, that it is not just restored to the splendor of more than five years
ago, but really to the splendor of centuries past. So stunning is the paint. So luminous is the interior of this now not just restored, but
cleaned cathedral.
GIOKOS: Amazing. Melissa, December 7th is when it's open to the public. I'm sure everyone is watching on and hoping to book a trip to Paris.
Melissa Bell for us.
Well, still to come, economists have warned how Donald Trump's new tariffs would raise prices and negatively impact Americans. Now, President Joe
Biden has a warning.
We'll see you right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GIOKOS: After hours of emotional debate, British lawmakers just voted to legalize assisted dying for terminally ill adults.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Order.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Order.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The ayes to the right, 330. The no's to the left 275.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Well, some lawmakers in the House of Commons passionately argued in favor of passage contending it was long overdue. Others say that the U.K.
is not equipped for assisted dying, calling it a slippery slope for the government to sanction death. The bill applies to people living in Wales or
England who expect to die within six months.
U.S. president Joe Biden has issued a warning about one of Donald Trump's main economic policies. Mr. Biden says that Trump's threat to impose steep
tariffs on America's neighbors would be a mistake.
CNN's Arlette Saenz has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Joe Biden weighed in on President-elect Trump's tariff threats for the first time, saying he
hopes he will rethink some of the tariffs he wants to impose on Canada and Mexico, warning that it could jeopardize U.S. relations with some of the
country's closest allies.
[10:25:08]
President Biden was speaking to reporters as he visited a firehouse here in Nantucket, Massachusetts, really offering his first criticism of President-
elect Donald Trump and his policy proposals since the November 5th election. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I hope he rethinks it. I think it's a counterproductive thing to do. You know, look, one of
the things you've heard me say before is that we have a usual situation in America. We are surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, and
two allies, Mexico and Canada. And the last thing we need to do is screw up those relationships.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAENZ: These comments from President Biden are significant and really serve as a reminder that he has very different views from President-elect Donald
Trump about how to approach issues like the economy, trade and also relations with U.S. allies. The president and Democrats during the campaign
had warned that some of Trump's tariff threats would have inflationary impacts back at home, could potentially raise prices on goods across the
board for Americans.
But President Biden made these comments as he's spending the Thanksgiving holiday here in Nantucket, Massachusetts. This is a bit of a family
tradition for the Biden clan, as they have been traveling to this island for decades now to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. But it is a poignant
one, as President Biden is preparing to leave office in January. He placed a round of calls to troops who were serving overseas this Thanksgiving
holiday away from their families, calling into bases across the world, including in Guam, Bahrain, and also Saudi Arabia, trying to thank those
U.S. service members for their time.
President Biden told reporters that he is most thankful this holiday season for a peaceful transfer of power, for diplomatic efforts, and also a hope
that they could try to achieve more progress when it comes to the conflicts in the Middle East, as Biden is trying to work towards a hostage and
ceasefire deal in Gaza.
Arlette Saenz, CNN, traveling with the president in Nantucket, Massachusetts.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: As many Americans shopped for their Thanksgiving feast this week, others hit by the high cost of living were forced to queue for handouts.
Natasha Chen traveled to a busy food bank in Los Angeles, where the lines of hungry people are getting longer.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have a Happy Thanksgiving.
NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This is not video from the pandemic. This is a line this week of people waiting to receive
food at a church in time for Thanksgiving.
CHRIS MERREL, FOOD PANTRY CLIENT: I have to do it. And that's the way it goes.
CHEN: Chris Merrel has been coming to this Pasadena, California, church every week for several years.
MERREL: Well, my wife won't even come because she'd be embarrassed.
CHEN: He's a retired mechanic living on less than $700 Social Security per month. He never thought he'd need help from a food bank. And he's not
alone.
MERREL: Never seen the line that long before. This time it was all the way up and down the street.
ANA DURAN, FOOD INSECURE: Lines are getting crazier.
CHEN: We first met Ana Duran two years ago when her home in Riverside, California, saw inflation at almost 10 percent. Even though inflation has
cooled now to about 2 percent.
DURAN: Where I have to get up at least, you know, like I said before, 6:00 to be there by 6:00.
CHEN: Duran still goes to weekly food distributions. Two years ago, she told us she was turning in recycling and selling jewelry for extra cash
while working as a part-time caregiver. She's continued to do that, selling what little jewelry she has left.
DURAN: I only have like two or three more pieces that I have for -- as a backup resource.
CHEN: The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank says they're tracking about 10 percent ahead in the amount of food distributed compared to last year.
They're serving 900,000 people a month right now, near pandemic levels.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We can't turn nobody away.
CHEN (voice-over): In New York City.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some days you don't know where your next meal is coming from.
CHEN: City Harvest says visits to city food pantries and soup kitchens are at the highest level on record. Even higher than the pandemic's peak. In
Chicago, Common Pantry says they're serving 26 percent more households per month than last year. Across the country, 85 percent of food banks in a
Feeding America survey reported similar or higher demand for food assistance comparing this August with last August.
Why do you think that is when inflation has actually cooled quite a bit?
MICHAEL FLOOD, CEO, LOS ANGELES REGIONAL FOOD BANK: I think what we're seeing here in Los Angeles is the cumulative impact of inflation. Food
prices are about 25 percent higher than they were pre-pandemic. Now the unemployment rate has come down. We would expect the demand for food
assistance to decrease. But that's not what has happened.
CHEN (voice over): This comes as donations to food banks are also dropping. Ana Duran says something has got to change, which is why she cast a ballot
for Trump, the first Republican she's ever voted for in her life.
DURAN: When it came down to, you know, voting, I changed who I was, and I changed -- I'm hoping for the better.
CHEN: But Trump is exactly what Merril is worried about.
MERREL: I am definitely worried it's going to get worse with the tariffs that Trump is putting on.
[10:30:04]
CHEN: He thinks prices will jump and more people will find themselves going to food banks. But the fact that the food banks even exist makes him feel
grateful.
MERREL: This is a beautiful country that we live in. It's a Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas.
CHEN: Natasha Chen, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: All right. And still to come, meet a carpenter who helped rebuild the Notre Dame Cathedral from ashes into incredible artwork. We'll see you
soon.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GIOKOS: Welcome back to CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Eleni Giokos.
Now it's an exciting time in Paris. We're getting a sneak peek inside the restored Notre Dame Cathedral more than five years after a devastating fire
destroyed major portions of it. President Emmanuel Macron invited the world to join him on a televised tour earlier today, as France celebrates the
cathedral's multi-million dollar revitalization.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MACRON (through translator): Notre Dame is the soul of our country, which belongs to Christian and to all French people and to the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: He also praised the construction crew's work on Notre Dame and told them they transformed ashes into art.
CNN's Melissa Bell joins us now from Paris.
It's truly magnificent. You know, we've been speaking to you over the past two hours, you were saying how luminous it is inside, which is sort of a
very different feeling to what it was like before. Take us through what we can expect for the official public opening on December 7th.
BELL: So what will happen next week is that there will be ceremonies next Saturday to announce, to open the cathedral officially. On Sunday there
will be the first mass that's been held in five years. We had just a couple of days the bells of Notre Dame ring out for the first time across Paris.
So lots of important milestones in the reopening of this cathedral that is so important, Eleni, not just to Parisians, of course, to the country but
of course to the whole world. It is at many millions of tourists who go through its doors most years and now, from next weekend, they'll be able to
do so again.
Going in today with Emmanuel Macron, you're quite right. It was about and I think this is what will strike people when they get a chance to go back in.
It is so bright, so light you have such a sense of space. You have such a sense of the structure around you that it is even more inspiring than it
was before the fire.
[10:35:01]
And I think that touches on something that Emmanuel Macron told those workers that he was thanking today, that they've been the alchemists of
this construction site, the greatest construction site, he described it, of the century. And one for their work that France and the world were grateful
for.
But it has been a very delicate reconstruction. It has been painstaking. It was uncertain whether the structure would even stand and in fact, when you
walk inside, it isn't simply that it's withstood the ravages of the fire, it isn't simply that it's remained intact and that none of its substantial
parts apart from the 19th century spire which collapsed on that night so dramatically have in fact collapsed. All of them have stood firm.
What's remarkable within the structure, as it still stands, is what they've managed to achieve. When you consider some of the artwork, some of the
sculptures, some of the paintings that were faded by centuries of worship, of time, of candles burning, of crowds visiting you have a sense now of it
being restored to its former splendor. You can see its art work, you can see the colors and the gold work.
And it is infinitely more inspiring or inspiring than it was even before. And when you take your mind back five years ago, remember those first few
images we've had as you walked into the cathedral. The cameras went in to find that statue, the Virgin of Paris still standing, but all around it
that vaulted roof. So much of it collapsed. The hole in the roof left by the fallen spire. It is extraordinary to imagine that in just five years
they've managed to achieve that -- Eleni.
GIOKOS: Yes. Well, Melissa Bell, thank you so much for that brilliant explanation. I think we've got a sense of what it must feel like. Now we
just need to go and see it.
Melissa Bell for us in Paris.
I'm very excited now to bring in Michael Burrey in Paris. He's a carpenter and owner operator of a business that was invited to help rebuild the Notre
Dame Cathedral and also known as a preservation carpenter. So he knows all about how to do this incredibly difficult, meticulous work.
It's so good to have you with us, sir. I'm sure it must be such an honor to have been part of this team. And I was really taken by the fact that you
worked on the spire, which perhaps was one of the most complex parts of the cathedral. Tell me about how you took the original designs by the original
architects of that spire, and how difficult it must have been to replicate this and actually do the work on it.
MICHAEL BURREY, NOTRE DAME PROJECT REPRESENTATIVE, HANDSHOUSE STUDIO: Well, there was work that was done before I arrived to France by the, you know,
fantastic architects who, you know, took over the project after the fire. So we're doing is taking the drawings that they created from Viollet-le-
Duc's drawings and any evidence that was left. And then transferred that to, you know, modern -- a little bit more modern technology. And we
executed, you know, producing all the parts for the decorative elements of the spire.
GIOKOS: Was it difficult to replicate something I guess that was so revered and was so intricate? And I think people looked up to this and, you know, I
always ask myself when I see such incredible architecture if those skills still exist today.
BURREY: Definitely the skills still exist today. You know, Handshouse Studio in Norwell that I'm a part of, the Notre Dame Project, has been
working on, you know, reproducing French cranes from the 18th century and the turtle that was a revolutionary war submarine in the American
revolution, and various things. So there's a pool of talent all across the world, including many French carpenters that still have these talents of
hewing and riving and splitting and cutting out all the timber frame joinery that was originally part of this fire.
GIOKOS: You know, I was doing some research on your background and obviously I'm sure there must have been some kind of language barrier I
assume. But what was fascinating about your past is that your parents were talking about their honeymoon in Paris, and they were saying -- they were
telling you about the visit to Notre Dame. And interestingly, that your grandmother worked on the French front line in World War I as well.
So does it feel full circle for you having worked on this cathedral?
BURREY: Yes. My grandmother was honored by the French government for her service during World War I as right behind the front lines.
GIOKOS: Yes.
BURREY: And it was fantastic to be able to be a part of this and to live in France for three months in a fantastic Medieval city and be able to work on
Notre dame and, you know, it's definitely a complete circle. I'd love to get back there as soon as we can to see the finished project.
[10:40:00]
GIOKOS: In terms of, you know, how difficult it was for everyone else on site, and it's taken five years. I mean, a lot of people thought that it
wasn't going to be completed by now. It's going to be opening up to the public on December 7th. Just what feat is this after that devastating fire
that the world watched on and saw how it was actually just absolutely horrific watching the cathedral on fire? Could you give us a sense of how
you're feeling and how important this moment is?
BURREY: Well, it's an incredibly important moment. I remember I teach preservation carpentry at North Bennet Street School in Boston, and I was
with my students on the day that the cathedral burned, and there was literally tears in the classroom, the bench room, during that day and we
all were asking what we could do to be a part of the restoration of the cathedral. And it is incredible, you know, through Handshouse Studio that
we're able to, you know, have a part in that restoration.
GIOKOS: Michael Burrey, great to have you with us, sir. Thank you so much for your hard work. Thank you, I appreciate it.
BURREY: You're welcome.
GIOKOS: And I think your name is going to be written inside the spire as well. Is that correct?
BURREY: It is in a couple of places, but yes. Thank you very much for your --
GIOKOS: It is? Forever remembered, Michael Burrey. Thank you, sir. Great to see you.
We'll be back right after this short break. Stay with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GIOKOS: Across the globe more and more schools are including lesson plans that help their students engage with the natural world around them. Today,
on "Call to Earth," we visit a school in Hawaii with a hands-on, nature- first approach that aims to inspire the next generation of environmentally conscious leaders.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JUAN GOMEZ, SSH TARO FARMS: More very slowly, very gently. Remember walk carefully because there's snail shells in here.
ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: This group of schoolchildren on the island of Kauai are helping a local farmer rid his fields of an invasive and highly
destructive pest.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm trying to find apple snails and get them out of the taro.
ASHER: Taro is a root vegetable that's considered a sacred plant in Hawaiian culture and is also a staple in the island's cuisine.
GOMEZ: Tell us what you're doing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Collecting these.
GOMEZ: What are those?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Snail eggs.
ASHER: By helping remove the eggs from the taro, these kids are not only helping protect their own food source, but they're also learning valuable
life lessons.
GOMEZ: I think it's important for the kids because it does teach them about the Hawaiian culture, where it all came from. That's why we say it's our
responsibility to take care of the taro, and it helps them with just the basic understanding of biodiversity.
ASHER: Nature-based activities like this are at the core of a curriculum that is the brainchild of educator Christina Zimmerman.
CHRISTINA ZIMMERMAN, FOUNDER, EARTH SCHOOL, HAWAII: At Earth School, Hawaii, our mission is to create children who will be game changers in our
world through environmental education, through small group education.
[10:45:10]
You know, we live at a really unique place, being on a small island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. So we really try to cater to the individual
child here and the individual needs of our island.
ASHER: Based on the north shore of Kauai, Earth School, Hawaii has programs for kindergarten through eighth grade.
ZIMMERMAN: So our goal is taking our entire school day and focusing in on environmental education and teaching the language arts and the maths and
the science and all the common cause through environmental concepts.
ASHER: By partnering with local organizations, the school is able to provide a true hands-on approach to learning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're doing crab traps. That's the chicken.
ZIMMERMAN: We work with a lot of other nonprofits on the island who are also doing amazing things here and we try to get the kids involved and out
and doing as much as possible.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've never done this, so.
J. KAPULE TORIO, EDUCATOR AND STEWARD, HAWAII LAND TRUST: OK. If you let some of your rope out like this and you just grab your trap like this and
you can kind of toss it gently like that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.
TORIO: The crab traps is a way to give them some tools with tying knots and understanding the life and biology of decomposers inside of the stream.
Male or female?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Male.
TORIO: Male. So can we take these ones or no? Are these the ones we can eat?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
TORIO: Yes. Then the lesson shifts to resource management and the species of crab that you're catching and size limits and then, you know, which ones
are legal to take.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So is that one big enough?
TORIO: I think it's a little shy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A little bit shy.
ASHER: One of the biggest issues in Kauai is the water quality with high bacteria levels a cause for concern, according to the Surfrider
Foundation's Blue Water Task Force.
ZIMMERMAN: We do a lot of work with Surfrider Kauai and our goal behind that is beach cleanups, but also the water studies, which is huge. We don't
have great results a lot in our rivers around here, so it's really important for the kids to learn what causes that to be off. What can we do
to help remedy that. And so they chart it, they do all their math studies through it, but also talk about solutions to that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you. You think this is cool, huh?
ZIMMERMAN: They are so far ahead of where we were 20, 30, 40 years ago. And they're 5 and 6 and 7. They're just starting. And so in my mind it's like
what is it going to be like in 10 years or 20 years with these kids leading us? And that's the focus. We have to take these kids, get them educated at
a very, very young age. And I can only imagine what that looks like for our island or our world. But I feel like this has to be the focus. It has to.
This is our future.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: For more from "Call to Earth," you can go to CNN.com/CalltoEarth.
You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD and there's more news right after this. Stay with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GIOKOS: Gold prices have broken records after record this year, rising more than 20 percent in 2024. The West African nation of Ghana is the largest
gold producer on the continent. But alongside its legitimate mining industry illegal small-scale mining is booming. Locals fear it's poisoning
their water supplies and devastating forests.
Reporting for CNN's "As Equals" series Larry Madowo explores the potentially devastating impacts of Ghana's gold rush.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The sound of the gold rush in Ghana, where a multi-billion-dollar industry gets around 40 percent of its
gold production from small-scale mining, but people here are raising the alarm of a potentially devastating consequences.
This is a reality of the environmental catastrophe that is Galamsey, illegal gold mining. So much of the land is dug up and destroyed, hoping to
strike gold. And this water makes its way right back into communities that have no alternative.
(Voice-over): Locals, including female miners, here in Western Ghana fear the brown murky water that now flows in these rivers is contaminated by the
mining process. They believe it is poisoning them and their unborn children.
Do you drink that water?
DIANA AGYEIWAA, SAMREBOI, GHANA RESIDENT: No, seriously, no, because I fear for my life. I fear that if I give that water to her, she may die.
MADOWO (voice-over): Diana Agyeiwaa says other mothers and babies in the community have been affected.
AGYEIWAA: I met one woman, when she delivered a baby, the nose was somehow half. I've seen a lot of deformities on babies.
MADOWO: Scientists in Ghana have begun studying the potential impact of illegal small-scale mining on maternal health. No definitive links have
been found. But across the world, the impact of heavy metals such as mercury used in mining on maternal health have been documented by
scientists.
When you measured the concentration of heavy metals within these fetuses, what did you find?
DR. LAWRENCE AGYEMANG, MEDICAL OFFICER, KOMFO ANOKYE TEACHING HOSPITAL: We found enormous numbers of these heavy metals including mercury, lead,
arsenic, cadmium.
MADOWO: And what was the effect of the heavy metals on the actual fetuses?
AGYEMANG: Bad. We saw very bad presentations with babies with gross abnormalities, like a shrunken head.
MADOWO (voice-over): The World Health Organization says exposure to mercury, even small amounts, may cause serious health problems and is a
threat to development of the child. But in Ghana, miners like Sarah Akosua, who wears plastic in an attempt to protect herself, say there's no other
option to earn a living.
I know very well that the chemicals can be very harmful, but we don't have a choice, she says. We have to force and keep up with what we're doing.
When you get sick, you go to the hospital, get medication, and then you come back and continue with the work. Because when you stop, there's
nothing for you to do.
And thanks to an increase in the price of gold, the economic benefits are clear.
How much was this gold you just bought?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 3,300.
MADOWO (voice-over): That's about $200.
And it's very tiny. Where did you get it from?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, I get it from the Galamsey.
MADOWO (voice-over): Protests over the illegal mining have called out the harmful impact on the water supply millions depend on. The government says
it is working on solutions, including teaching safer mining practices, providing mercury-free processing machines, and alternative livelihoods.
MARTIN AYISI, CEO, MINERALS COMMISSION OF GHANA: These are things that will not be, you know, achieved overnight.
MADOWO: The CEO of Ghana's Minerals Commission agrees there's a problem.
AYISI: A lot of work has been done by our scientists. They've taken samples from some of these water bodies, and there's that report that, yes, heavy
metals are all over the place.
MADOWO: Ghana's military was deployed recently to shut down illegal mines, but the task is immense. Mining used to legally take place in about five
regions. It's now in about 13, he says.
AYISI: So it's part of our DNA. It's like coffee or tea in Kenya. We've been mining all these years.
MADOWO: But the scientist leading the research into the impact on women and children told CNN Ghana faces an existential threat if illegal mining at
this scale continues.
(On-camera): The extent of illegal gold mining in Ghana or Galamsey as it's called, is so great that security services can't stop it. They are digging
up almost everywhere, hoping to strike gold. The environmental devastation speaks for itself. It's chilling, but the impact on maternal health, on
women that is only starting to be studied now. But the early results are concerning to researchers, to scientists, and they say something has to be
done urgently.
Larry Madowo, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[10:55:03]
GIOKOS: And for our "Parting Shots," a brand new Starbucks has something none of the American coffee chains thousands of other locations can offer,
a view into North Korea. This Starbucks just opened in South Korea inside an observation tower that's near the Demilitarized Zone. From the deck on a
clear day like this you can see some low rise buildings and farms across the Joe River on the north side of Korea.
Well, that is it for CONNECT THE WORLD. Stay with CNN. NEWSROOM is up next. From me, Eleni Giokos, have a fantastic weekend.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
