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Connect the World
Trump Amps Up Pressure on TV Networks Over Negative Coverage; Former Epstein Prosecutor Testifies in U.S. House; New Elections Scheduled for Israel in October, 2026; Trump Expected to Discuss TikTok Sale with Chinese Leader; Bob Dylan to Play Festival with Other Originals Plus Newer Acts. Aired 9-9:45a ET
Aired September 19, 2025 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: We always start this hour with live pictures happening right now. Today, new land is being created as
Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupts. It is 03:00 a.m. on the Big Island. It is 05:00 p.m. here in Abu Dhabi. I'm Eleni Giokos. This is "Connect the
World".
The headlines this hour. President Trump threatens the broadcast licenses of media organizations that feature too much negative coverage of him.
Ukraine's military is warning that Russian troops are closing in on a town as the U.S. President says it doesn't feel like it's time for Russia-
Ukraine ceasefire.
And next hour on Capitol Hill, the Former U.S. Attorney in Southern Florida who gave Jeffrey Epstein an infamous so-called sweetheart deal back in 2008
will face tough questions. But what could we learn from a closed-door deposition? Right, stock markets in New York open in around 30 minutes from
now.
And of course, a big push for markets overall, since the fed cut interest rates by quarter of a percent on Wednesday, hitting record highs yesterday.
Today, his futures pointing to a positive start across the board. We'll check in on those numbers in about 30 minutes from now.
In the meantime, we begin with news, just in to CNN. U.S. President Donald Trump is holding a phone call with Chinese Leader Xi Jinping. The two men
are expected to finalize a deal that would see most of TikTok's U.S. assets sold. Senior White House Reporter Betsy Klein joining us now with more from
the White House.
Betsy, what do we know about this phone call? We were alerted to it earlier this week. What is going on?
BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right, Eleni, a White House official, tells me that this call between President Donald Trump and
China's President Xi Jinping got underway at 08:00 a.m. Eastern Time just about an hour ago. We are asking the White House for additional guidance on
when that call wraps up and whether there might be a readout.
We are also very closely monitoring the president's social media channels for any reaction to his call. But according to officials, the two leaders
were expected to discuss trade and then to finalize a framework to sell much control of the app TikTok to the U.S. Now you'll recall that back in
January, before President Trump took office, Congress passed a bipartisan law that would ban the app unless 80 percent of the app is ceded to the
United States.
That was amid widespread concerns about Chinese influence on Americans on the social media app. And there have been repeated efforts by President
Trump to sort of give this app some time to figure out how to proceed. Give negotiators time. There was a key meeting in Madrid earlier this week
between top U.S. and Chinese officials, including the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, where they agreed to the framework of a deal.
And under that deal, as far as we know, there are investors that are expected to own roughly 80 percent stake in TikTok that includes Oracle,
Andreessen Horowitz as well as Silver Lake. It also specifies that a majority U.S. board will exist with a member appointed by the Trump
Administration.
Now, notably, President Trump and President Xi are also expected to discuss the possibility of an in person meeting in the coming weeks. President
Trump expected to travel to Asia late October. And this TikTok deal could mean that the two leaders meet face to face for the first time, Eleni.
GIOKOS: Yeah, I wonder if we're going to get more than just a framework and perhaps something a little bit more tangible after this meeting, of course,
we're keeping a close watch on what is going on there. In the meantime. Betsy, stand by for me. I want to update everyone on the story we're going
to discuss before the news broke out about that phone call.
U.S. President Donald Trump has made it abundantly clear that he will go after anyone who crosses him. And now it appears network broadcasters are
fully in his sights.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Well, I read someplace that the networks were 97 percent against me. I got 97 percent
negative, and yet I won, and easily won all seven spring states popular, I won everything.
[09:05:00]
I mean they're getting a license. I would think maybe their license should be taken away. It will be up to Brendan Carr.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: President Trump suggesting that TV networks should lose their broadcast licenses to operate if their viewpoint on him appears to be
overwhelmingly negative. Betsy, What's the White House's next move? I mean, the message from President Trump was pretty clear.
KLEIN: That's certainly right, and we saw really an abrupt shift early in the president's second term, he signed an executive order cracking down on
government censorship as well as restoring free speech. But in the aftermath of the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk just
over a week ago, the White House has been escalating its efforts to tamp down criticism of President Trump.
We have seen this as President Trump issued an executive order that he says will designate certain groups as domestic terrorist organizations. The
Department of Defense as well seeking to crack down on service members' social media. We are also seeing threats to revoke the tax-exempt status of
some left leaning organizations.
Now, the White House says that this is an effort to ban coordinated left wing efforts to incite violence, while critics say that this is an effort
to silence dissent. And then earlier this week, FCC Chair Brendan Carr putting so much pressure on ABC ultimately leading to the suspension of the
late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel.
President Trump continuing to lash out at Kimmel yesterday, and then taking it a step further. He says that regulators should consider taking away the
broadcast licenses of networks that are critical of him if they don't air additional conservative messaging. Now. Carr, for his part, says that the
FCC is not done yet, and he is already previewing some of these next steps.
He talked about something called the bona fide news classification. That is something where, generally speaking on news organizations, they are
expected to provide political candidate's equal time. And late-night shows, as well as many talk shows get an exemption through this bona fide
classification car previewing that the daytime talk show the view could be targeted for its bona fide classification next.
GIOKOS: All right, Betsy, thank you so much for that update. And as Betsy was talking about ABC's decision to shelve Jimmy Kimmel's show has unease
rippling through the industry. Fellow late night comedians used their broadcast time to show solidarity with Kimmel and used humour to express
some deep concerns about the potential threats to free speech.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW": Now, some naysayers may argue that this administration's speech concerns are merely a cynical ploy, a thin
gruel of a ruse, a smokescreen to obscure an unprecedented consolidation of power and unitary intimidation, principle less and coldly antithetical to
any experiment in a constitutional republic governance. Some people would say that. Not me, though I think it's great.
SETH MEYERS, HOST, "LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS": I just want to say, before we get started here, that I've always admired and respected Mr.
Trump. I've always believed he was no, no, no, a visionary innovator, a great president and even better golfer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Well, Stephen Colbert, whose show on CBS was cancelled earlier this year, also showed his support for Kimmel, but he was a bit more direct,
telling his audience, quote, this is blatant censorship. Ukraine is warning that Russian troops are closing in on the key city of Kupiansk.
Officials say the situation has become critical with Russian forces less than a kilometre from the outskirts. The city sits on a key crossroad, and
its capture would allow for further Russian advances in northeastern Ukraine. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump is sending mixed signals
about the future of his efforts to reach peace,
After wrapping up a visit to the UK Thursday, Mr. Trump told reporters it doesn't feel like the right time for a ceasefire between Russia and
Ukraine, and that's after he struck a more optimistic tone earlier in the day, saying he hoped to have quote, good news on the Russia situation.
Let's get the latest now from Katie Bo Lillis in Washington. And Katie, there are still discussions about whether Russia deliberately flew drones
into NATO territory. What are we learning on that front?
KATIE BO LILLIS, CNN REPORTER: Yeah, we're just over a week since roughly 19 Russian drones flew into Polish airspace, necessitating NATO jets to
scramble to try to shoot some of them down. And U.S. and Western intelligence officials are still really unable to reach a consensus
judgment on whether or not that really unprecedented incursion was intentional.
[09:10:00]
Perhaps an effort by Russia to try to test or probe Western air defences, or whether it was an accidental deviation caused by Ukrainian electronic
warfare defences, sort of rerouting these drones. I talked to one senior U.S. military official who said, put to me, put the odds at 50, 50, either
way.
So why is this so hard to reach a consensus judgment on. Part of it is that it's very difficult for Western intelligence agencies to collect
information from inside of Russia. So, they're really relying on what they can learn from the technical specifications of the drones that they were
able to shoot down and recover, as well as what they can learn from the flight pattern that these drones took while they were in Polish airspace.
The problem is that the information that they're learning from those methods really could be interpreted either way. We have heard from, for
example, some Ukrainian officials who say that, look, it's not unusual to see onesies or twosies of Russian drones go off course when they are
disrupted by Ukrainian jamming.
But we've never seen a deviation of this size 19 drones. Now look, we also talked to some Western intelligence officials, who said, well, these drones
are actually programmed in mass, right? And so, in an attack of this size, where you had hundreds of drones in the air at a time.
It's not illogical that if 20 of them ran into the same Ukrainian electronic warfare defences, that 20 of them might be diverted into Polish
airspace. And indeed, one Senior Western Intelligence Official who we spoke to said that these drones in Polish airspace the way they were flying, it
looked like they were trying to reacquire a GPS signal.
But still, lots of spirited debate over this. The Polish Prime Minister saying there's no way this was a mistake. U.S. President Donald Trump,
saying it looks like it looks like it might have been a mistake. So, officials really divided on this point, but what we do hear from both U.S.
and Western officials is whether or not this was an intentional incursion or whether or not it was accidental.
It still suggests a worrying increased appetite for risk on the Kremlin's part, right? Even if this incursion was accidental. It suggests that
Russia, either through shoddy targeting or something else, is more willing to take the risk that some of its actions might be misinterpreted by the
West and might potentially lead to direct conflict between Russia and NATO.
GIOKOS: Yeah, a really good point there. Big question, and as you say, remains and a lot of division on whether it was a mistake or deliberate.
Thank you, Katie Bo Lillis. You're watching "Connect the World" from our Middle East Broadcasting headquarters in Abu Dhabi.
And still to come the dire warning to Israel's government from Hamas about the fate of the hostages remaining in Gaza. And potentially crucial
testimony today in the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, House Committee will hear from the Former U.S. Attorney who oversaw Epstein's controversial 2008
plea deal. We'll be back right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:15:00]
GIOKOS: Starting next hour on Capitol Hill, a crucial closed-door hearing into the Jeffrey Epstein case, testifying today, Alex Acosta, who served as
labour secretary in Donald Trump's first term. The House Oversight Committee will be asking about Epstein's 2008 plea deal that Acosta oversaw
as a U.S. Attorney in Florida, which, at time, shielded Epstein from federal prosecution.
We've got Arlette Saenz joining us now from Capitol Hill. Arlette, what are we expecting today?
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the House Oversight Committee is expecting quite a long hearing, as they are set to hear from
Former Labour Secretary Alex Acosta, relating to Jeffrey Epstein. This is just part of the House Oversight Committee's investigation as they are
trying to learn more information about exactly what people knew and what happened around Epstein sex trafficking right now.
Just to recap, Alex Acosta served as a Former U.S. Attorney for Southern Florida, and he was the person who negotiated that controversial plea deal
for Jeffrey Epstein. At the time, back in 2008 Epstein avoided trial and served just 13 months in prison on state prostitution charges for his
engagements with younger girls.
Then in 2019, that is when those federal charges were filed relating to the sex trafficking ring. At the time, Acosta was serving as labour secretary
in the Trump Administration, and he actually resigned after those charges were announced, saying that he didn't want to be a distraction in this
investigation.
So, he is someone who lawmakers have been wanting to hear from for quite some time. He is appearing voluntarily before the House Oversight Committee
for this transcribed interview. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said that he expects this interview to be a big deal and that Acosta
will face many challenging questions relating to Epstein.
It's possible that this could stretch into six hours or longer of testimony. It all comes as various lawmakers on Capitol Hill are pushing
for more information to be released relating to Epstein's files. There is still that effort underway to try to force a vote on the House floor for
the full release of those Epstein files.
Right now, they are just one vote short of making that actually come to a reality. So, it comes at a time that there are so many questions swirling
about what exactly people knew relating to Epstein, and there are still calls for demands for more to be released.
GIOKOS: All right. And Arlette very quickly, I mean, this is a deposition that's behind closed doors. Are we likely to hear anything given you know
that it's not going to be broadcast in any way?
SAENZ: It's unlikely at this point, you know, reporters will try to question Acosta as he is coming in and out of the committee hearing.
Ultimately, it will be up to the committee what they decide to release. So perhaps down the road, they might release, you know, the transcript of this
interview, but there's no expectation, at least at this time, that they will be releasing any audio of those sorts.
GIOKOS: All right, Arlette Saenz great to have you on the story for us. Thank you so much. Now, abuse survivors have voiced anger and frustration
over the Trump Administration's handling of the case. One of them Haley Robson appeared on CNN last night. Laura Coates asked Robson about the
widely criticized 2008 plea deal, and who else, besides Alex Acosta might have been involved. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HALEY ROBSON, EPSTEIN ABUSE SURVIVOR: Well, one of the questions that has been on my mind since the very beginning, in 2008 when it was originally
arranged between Alex Acosta and this plea deal, is, who told you to offer that deal? Who authorized that? Who oversaw you doing all this?
Who, I mean, surely not one man himself came up with this idea of, let's give him this specific sweetheart deal, and let's make a move, and let's do
things this way. Clearly, there was other people that were involved in giving Jeffrey Epstein this sweetheart plea deal.
And I would like to know the names of those people. I would really like to know who's responsible for offering that, especially to do it in such a way
where it's harmful to the survivors, and basically, they did it behind our backs. We didn't even know.
LAURA COATES, CNN CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: Unbelievable to think about that and what that must have felt like, Haley, learning about it the way, frankly,
the rest of the world was learning about it as well.
ROBSON: Exactly.
COATES: I mean, the House Judiciary Committee, they rejected a request from Democrats to vote on whether to subpoena four major banks to investigate
their relationship with Epstein and some kinds of suspicious transactions.
[09:20:00]
Are you concerned that this could be a dead end for the investigation, people are wrongly saying, follow the money?
ROBSON: Well, I'm going to say, if you follow the money, you're probably going to have a lot more answers. One thing is, for certain, there is a
trust with money in it after Jeffrey Epstein passed away, and I think it's time that we go back into that trust and find out who's on the receiving
end to it.
And I'm sure we can scramble some more answers that way. But I do think the safest and probably the best, most accurate way, 100 percent follow the
money. Follow the money, find out who was pulling money, who was involved in the transactions.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: Now to the Israel-Hamas war and the direst warning yet from Hamas about the fate of the remaining hostages in Gaza. The Hamas military wing
says Israel's ground incursion into Gaza City ends any chance of getting the hostages back dead or alive.
That message coming amid continued outrage and weekly protests in Israel over the government's handling of the war. Yaakov Katz is a Senior
Columnist for the "Jerusalem Post" and co-author of the new book "While Israel Slept". Becky Anderson spoke to him earlier this week about Israel's
announced ground incursion into Gaza City and how it's being perceived in Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
YAAKOV KATZ, SENIOR COLUMNIST FOR THE "JERUSALEM POST": The intentions, Becky, are basically to ramp up the pressure on Hamas and try and get Hamas
to understand that this is a make-or-break moment, and that the pressure is there militarily, but also politically, with the backing of the United
States.
And therefore, it is in their interest to make that deal that can finally end the war, get the hostages home, the 48 who are still being held.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: You have been speaking with Senior Israeli Officials who are communicating Israel's position with Washington. Does
Israel have Donald Trump's full support for this incursion into Gaza City and possibly beyond?
KATZ: I think that it's a bit of a mixed bag, Becky. On the one hand, Donald Trump is communicating publicly that there is no daylight between
Washington and Jerusalem, and that Prime Minister Netanyahu and the government in Jerusalem have the full backing of the Trump Administration.
We saw that this week with the visit of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and how he publicly, was not even willing to go even too far in
criticism of Israel for attacking in Doha. With that said, privately, there is definitely a sense within the Trump Administration that is being
communicated back to Israel that they want to see this war wrapped up.
It's time for this to end, and they do expect the prime minister to make a deal, even if it's not going to be the full, comprehensive deal that he
talks about. It will be a phase deal, but they do want to see him making a deal that will end the war and bring in a ceasefire.
I think that the prime minister has succeeded in convincing Donald Trump that this operation in Gaza City has the ability to potentially break the
back of Hamas, and has convinced him to give him those few weeks. But I don't anticipate that rope is going to be much longer for Israel to keep
this going beyond, let's say, the end of this year.
ANDERSON: There is a growing narrative that I hear now, which is becoming pretty noisy around this region, that says that Israel is the greatest
threat to this region at present, under the stewardship of Benjamin Netanyahu. What's his future?
KATZ: Well, I would push back on that. I don't think that Israel is the one that is causing this right? There's a simple way for this war to end. Give
back the 48 hostages and these ends. It could end today, but I do think that Israel is more isolated than ever before. We just heard the prime
minister say this week that he sees Israel turning into a super-Sparta economy, that we will have to look only internally.
Our ties with the world are becoming strained, and we cannot rely on trade ties, on defence ties with anyone else. That's not the Israel that the
Israeli people want. That's not the Israel; I think that was envisioned by our founding fathers back when the inception of the states in 1948.
And when we look at Netanyahu, it's really going to come down to, I think. What will be the story he will be able to tell the people once that new
election comes, whether it's when it's supposed to be in October of next year, or it's going to be earlier, which I would predict it would be?
And can he declare a victory the re-engineering of the Middle East, which is to his credit, Iran on the defensive, Lebanon, where Hezbollah has been
beaten back, the Assad regime toppled not directly by Israel, but a consequence in Syria.
[09:25:00]
There are great new opportunities on the horizon in the Middle East, and he will try to depict and portray those as the other side of October 7th, the
successful side of the war that Israel was forced into.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: Right a high stakes phone call between Donald Trump and China's Xi Jinping and the future of TikTok could hang in the balance. What's at stake
in those talks that's coming up next. Stick with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GIOKOS: Welcome back. I'm Eleni Giokos in Abu Dhabi, and you're watching "Connect the World". These are your headlines. President Donald Trump
suggesting to reporters yesterday that networks airing mostly negative opinions about him should lose their broadcast licenses.
His comments come days after Jimmy Kimmel's show was sidelined from pressure, under pressure rather from the FCC Chairman. The Hamas military
wing says Israel's ground incursion into Gaza City ends any hope of the remaining hostages getting out of Gaza dead or alive.
It's warning coming just days after Israel's military announced the start of the Gaza City offensive, which it says is to root out and defeat Hamas
militants remaining there. Ukraine warns the situation in the Northeastern City of Kupiansk is critical, with advancing Russian soldiers.
Now less than a kilometre from the outskirts, following months of fierce fighting in the area. Kupiansk was captured by Russian forces in the early
days of the war, but was later be taken by Ukraine as part of a major counter offensive. And next hour, Former Trump Labour Secretary Alex Acosta
will testify before a U.S. House Committee on the Jeffrey Epstein case.
Acosta was a U.S. attorney when he oversaw Epstein's 2008 plea deal in Florida that, at the time, shielded Epstein from federal prosecution.
Donald Trump is speaking to Chinese President Xi Jinping, among other topics. The two men are talking about TikTok.
On Thursday, the U.S. President said the app represented tremendous value, and the U.S. and China said earlier this week. They've reached an agreement
for American investors to buy a controlling stake in TikTok's U.S. business. Shehzad Qazi is the Managing Director of China Beige Book, and
joins me now live from New York.
We're waiting with bated breath to hear any news about this meeting and this phone call Shehzad, so what is your sense on this framework, this
potential deal that we're anticipating? What will it look like? And how important do you think it's going to be between China and the United
States, given the current trade war and tensions that are playing out simultaneously?
[09:30:00]
SHEHZAD QAZI, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF CHINA BEIGE BOOK: Yeah. Well, look, I think the first point is that, you know, some of the details have already
been made public between the framework and the final touches are being put on. The real question is that will TikTok look like the biggest U.S.-China
deal that we get in all of 2025.
Is this about as good as it gets for both sides, or do we see any type of meaningful progress towards a bigger deal that addresses the trade concerns
that the United States has and addresses a lot of the imbalances that the U.S. economy, of course, is undergoing, given the massive amount of trade
surplus that we're running with Beijing?
GIOKOS: So, U.S. markets just opening the trading day, that was the cheering that you were hearing, and the DOW Jones obviously in positive
territory. And in fact, markets are doing pretty well. Specifically, after we saw the Federal Reserve cutting rates by a quarter of a percent on
Wednesday, they seem to be quite a nice boost.
But if there's a deal of this kind in the works, and big companies are going to be benefiting from it. I'm wondering what it's going to mean for
tech stocks overall, and having TikTok U.S. assets owned by American companies. I mean, this is going to be really interesting to see who's
going to jump in and the sort of cohorts of investors that are going to be involved?
QAZI: Yeah, I think again, a lot of the names have already been made public. The critical thing from the U.S. standpoint, of course, remains
that ByteDance, which is the Chinese owner of TikTok, will continue to retain just under 20 percent ownership given the changes in U.S. law.
That, of course, whereas we may not get too much vocal opposition right now to the deal. I think will continue to mean that TikTok will remain in the
crosshairs of policymakers for, I think, potentially years down the road. Another aspect, of course, is off of all this is the larger U.S.-China --
tech deal, if you will.
If there's anything possible, certainly lots of positive and bullish news out, which was suggested Nvidia is not only increasingly going to be able
to sell its chips that are approved for China, but more importantly, be able to now sell even more advanced chips into China. That news is very
bullish for chip stocks in general, not just even specifically Nvidia.
GIOKOS: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, and obviously for TikTok. And I remember when President Trump, in his first term, was trying to get TikTok banned because
he viewed it as a national security threat. Where's the data sitting? Is it sitting in China? Is it sitting in the U.S.?
You know, those conversations are still going to come up, even if ByteDance still owns 20 percent of that. You mentioned chips and it's really
interesting when I see what's happening with Nvidia and how China is targeting Nvidia. Nvidia in the meantime, it's buying a little bit of Intel
stock as well, after the U.S. government did the same.
What is going on there? Because again, the issue of national security. And who owns the chip space is going to be the clear winners?
QAZI: Yeah, absolutely. Well, what you've seen is a rather surprising turn from the U.S. Administration. There has been a rolling back of export
controls, as we know famously now that there in the aftermath of Beijing, you know, cutting off American and really global access to rare earths
magnets, there was this chip for magnets, deal that ultimately took place.
And so rather than Nvidia facing more licensing constraints and being the victim, so to speak, of more export controls, things have actually gone in
the opposite direction, which has been, by and large, something that Jensen Huang, the Nvidia CEO, is responsible for. And as I've said before, easy,
sort of winning the day in Washington, D.C. right now.
GIOKOS: I want to talk about China as well. And obviously you run China's Beige Book. Really interesting to look at some of the data. I'm wondering
how the health of China's economy is looking right now, on the manufacturing side, on the consumer side of things, and whether there's a
need for major stimulus by government. What's your prognosis there?
QAZI: Yeah, look our proprietary data out of China actually paint a pretty counter consensus picture right now, the mainstream narrative is that we've
just seen China summer of slowdown based largely on, of course, official data. And whereas we agree that there was a bit of a slowdown, we saw a
turning point come in August.
We saw consumer spending actually looking fairly decent. We're seeing that manufacturing on the older side suggests that the picture might actually
turn there. And property is not necessarily all bad news, although, of course, property remains in a lot of trouble. Beijing has rolled out
stimulus in the earlier part of the year, and they're going to be much more careful about just how much stimulus they need to roll out in the second
half of the year.
I think any resolution or even continuation, I should say, of the truce on the trade war front only brings the pressure down on Xi and -- in China to
rule out continued stimulus.
[09:35:00]
GIOKOS: Shehzad Qazi, great to have you with us. Thank you for sharing your insights. We're going to very short break. We'll be back with more right
after this. Stick with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GIOKOS: Welcome back. Legendary musician Bob Dylan is back in the lineup for Farm Aid, the festival that raises money for family farmers in the
United States. He's a late addition to the 40th anniversary concert. This is Bob Dylan in 1985 performing. And I have to show you this.
This was about 2009 we're very excited to see him back on stage for Farm Aid. He'll be joined by others like Willie Nelson, Neil Young as well as
John Mellencamp. CNN Chief Climate Correspondent Bill Weir explains how it's so fitting for Dylan to perform there again, since he inspired the
original Farm Aid in 1985.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was 1985 and compassion was cool. Images of African famine were enough to inspire Band
Aid. And USA for Africa. And a bi continental mega concert. When Bob Dylan took the Philadelphia stage around 1030 flanked by a couple of Rolling
Stones, he would spark yet another charity benefit.
With a simple shout out for the folks who grow the food that ends famine. Watching on his tour bus that night was a former cotton and corn picker
named Willie Nelson, who said it hit him like a ton of bricks, because at 85 crop prices were crashing and the heartland was setting new records for
farm foreclosures and suicides.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because a simple man, we end up banning all those bills and thrills that kill us here in America.
WEIR (voice-over): So, Willie deputized fellow voices of blue-collar conscious John Cougar Mellencamp and Neil Young. He got the Governor of
Illinois to help secure the football stadium in Champaign.
[09:40:00]
And just 10 weeks after Dylan's offhand comment at Live Aid, a parade of Hall of Famers showed up to spread some love for rural America. And
together, they raised the modern equivalent of over $20 million that day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe the small family farmer to be the backbone of our country. They need our help.
WEIR (voice-over): The following decades would bring millions more and country music by the bushel. But Farm Aid was always inclusive enough for
both patriots and protest -- A tent big enough for everyone from George Jones to Rick James.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take your left hand is that old, wrinkled face -- around Reagan. Now take your right hand and smack the --
WEIR: The politics of agriculture even more contentious today with immigration raids and trade wars and an overheating climate when it seems
like the rains either never come or they bring too much water at once.
WEIR (voice-over): Dave Matthews, a climate activist, leader in eco- conscious touring, joined the Farm Aid board in 2001. Margo price brings the POV of a woman reared on a foreclosed farm.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't know what a factory farm is. Let me give you a picture. 50,000 hogs stuck in buildings on a 35-acre farm.
WEIR (voice-over): But over 40 years later, Farm Aid's founding fathers remain focused on the families trying to build healthy, sustainable food
chains, and the massive forces they're up against.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't put all of that in one place without destroying nature and the natural forces that keep us here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As long as there's one family farmer out there who wants to stay on the land, we'll be here.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: Right. That looks like a concert I should be attending. And what better reason to throw such a big party than for fathers? Well, that's it
for this hour of "Connect the World". "World Sport" is up next. I'll be back with more news in 15 minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:45:00]
(WORLD SPORT)
END
