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First Move with Julia Chatterley
Exclusive Interview With Central Witness In Trump Classified Documents Case; Israel PM Vows To Push Ahead With A Military Offensive In Gaza; Chilean Airline Suffers A So-Called Technical Problem, Injuring Dozens Of Passengers; Princess Kate Apologizes For Edited Mother's Day Picture; Trump Gets Anti-Social About Social Media; Donald Trump Lashing Out At Facebook; Floods And Mudslides In Indonesia Kills At Least 26; China's National People's Congress Ends; Sweden's Flag Raised At NATO Headquarters In Brussels; Tailoring A Swift Boom To The Economy; Economic Impact Of Swift's Tour. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired March 11, 2024 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[18:00:00]
JAKE TAPPER, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: You can look for more info and a link to order the shirt, I pinned to the top of my X page, formerly known as
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LYNDA KINKADE, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: It's 6:00 a.m. in Shanghai, 9:00 a.m. in Sydney, 6:00 p.m. here in Atlanta. I'm Lynda Kinkade in for Julia
Chatterley. Good to have you with us. Wherever you are in the world, this is your "First Move."
A warm welcome to "First Move." Here is your need to know. An exclusive interview with a central witness in the Donald Trump classified documents
case. He tells CNN that he handled boxes of the documents without realizing it.
Israel's prime minister vows to push ahead with a military offensive in Gaza, as President Biden warns it could cross a red line.
Dozens are injured and passengers are said to have flown through the cabin after a flight from Australia to New Zealand suffered a so-called technical
problem.
And the Princess of Wales apologizes after admitting that she edited a photograph of her and her children. All that coming up.
But we begin with a CNN exclusive. A longtime employee at Donald Trump's Florida resort is speaking publicly about the classified documents case for
the first time. Known in court documents as Employee 5. Brian Butler worked at Mar-a-Lago for 20 years. He told CNN that he handled boxes of classified
documents without realizing it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN BUTLER, "TRUMP EMPLOYEE 5" AND FORMER MAR-A-LAGO EMPLOYEE: And then, what happened is Walt left before me and he never goes directly to the
plane. He's either in the motorcade when he goes there with the boss, which the former president. And I remember telling him he left the club with -- I
didn't know what he had in his vehicle, but he waited for me at a nearby business and I told him I would tell him when I was leaving Mar-a-Lago.
So, I left Mar-a-Lago. I texted him, hey, I'm on my way. He followed me. He pulled out and got behind me. We got to the airport. I ended up loading all
the luggage I had and he had a bunch of boxes.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN HOST: You noticed that he had boxes?
BUTLER: Oh, yes. They were the boxes that were in the indictment. The white bankers' boxes, that's what I remember loading.
COLLINS: And did you have any time -- any idea at the time that there was potentially U.S. national security secrets in those boxes?
BUTLER: No clue. No, I had no clue. I mean, we were just taking them out of the escalade, piling them up. I remember they were all stacked on top of
each other and then we're lifting them up to the pilots.
COLLINS: How many boxes was it?
BUTLER: You know, they asked me in the interview and I believe it was 10 to 15 is what I remember. I know it was --
COLLINS: They, being the investigators?
BUTLER: Correst.
COLLINS: And when you look back on that now, what do you --
BUTLER: Well, I had no clue until probably the end of June. There's a few different things that happened that kind of opened my eyes to, you know,
something's going on here.
COLLINS: So, you get that unusual request. Did you ever think to yourself, why were there so many boxes at Mar-a-Lago?
BUTLER: You know, I -- for me, I'm just thinking, the former president, he has a lot of stuff he likes to lug around with him. I never would have
thought it was anything like what we see now.
COLLINS: Classified documents?
BUTLER: Yes. I mean --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: CNN Legal Analyst Joey Jackson joins me now live. Good to have you with us, Joey. So, this witness handled the car service at Trump's Florida
resort and claims he unknowingly handled these classified documents. Unlike many people in Trump's inner circle, he refused a lawyer paid for by Trump.
He's gone out standing on his own. How important is he as a witness and why would he go public with this now?
JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes. Lynda, great to be with you. I think the issue, number one, in terms of his importance is very. And why? Is
because he's worked there for so long. You noted it. It's 20 years.
What's the significance of that? The significance is he's got a lot of relationships. He certainly knows the interplay. He knows who Trump is
associating with. He knows the key players that are involved. And as a result of that, he has a lot of intel, right? And he would be a person
which butchers is his credibility who would ultimately have a sense of what was happening here, have critical and close knowledge as to the occurrences
here. So, I think there's no question in terms of his importance is significant.
[18:05:00]
As to why now, I believe what he's doing, Lynda, he being Mr. Butler, the person at issue who we're talking about, 41 years old, he ultimately is
saying that he wants the people to have a sense of truth prior to the election, that this is not a witch hunt, that ultimately, it's predicated
upon facts that have value, that there were things that were done that were improper, untoward, inappropriate, and potentially illegal. And as a result
of that, he wants to get on the record to give the indication of exactly what happened, exactly what he witnessed, and exactly what his basis and
source of knowledge is in this case.
KINKADE: And, Joey, we know that the judge in these classified documents case will hear Trump's motion to dismiss the case this Thursday. What is he
weighing? Take us through the arguments for and against.
JACKSON: Yes. So, there's a couple. I think the first thing is that we've all heard a lot about, Lynda, and that's this issue of immunity,
presidential immunity. What does it mean? It means that Trump people are arguing that the president is absolutely immune from prosecution. And what
that would mean is that if any act that the president was involved in while he was president, right, that would certainly immunize him, shield him,
prevent any prosecution against him.
And so, that's something we know that the Supreme Court of the United States is considering. The Supreme Court, the highest law in the land, nine
justices, it would take five to shield the president, right? It could be, you know, buy it -- all you need is five. So, you can have a five, four
vote.
I think the conventional wisdom though is that the immunity argument is a bridge too far. And so, that means that while the president may have some
immunity or limited immunity, it is allowed to say that president could essentially do whatever he wants, whenever he wants and get away with it
with impunity. So, the Supreme Court will rule, but that'll be a critical argument here.
The next argument very briefly involves the Presidential Records Act. But it's important to note in making that argument what you're essentially
records that are stored while you president, remember, even though you get to store records as president, they are those records that is property of
the government. And so, you cannot take them on your own. So, I just don't know how much weight or merit that argument will have, but I think those
will be the two upon which the president's team predicates any motion to dismiss this case.
KINKADE: All right. Well, at this stage, this trial is meant to go ahead May 20th. So, we'll see what decision the judge makes Thursday. Joey
Jackson, good to have you with us from New York. Thank you.
JACKSON: Thanks, Lynda.
KINKADE: Well in Gaza, the first day of Ramadan has ended, as the war there shows no end in sight. The Israeli prime minister is vowing to push ahead
with a military offensive in Rafah, where 1.5 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering. However, multiple Israeli officials say that
the offensive is not imminent.
In the past few hours, the U S. State Department has said that Israel has not shown the U.S. a humanitarian or a military plan for Rafah. It comes
after Joe Biden said an Israeli invasion of Rafah would cross a red line. This as the head of the U.N. makes an urgent new appeal to honor the spirit
of Ramadan. He's calling for a ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and the lifting of any obstacles standing in the way of humanitarian aid.
Our Jeremy Diamond has more on the crisis in Gaza and how it is widening a gulf between the U.S. president and Israeli prime minister.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: He has a right to defend Israel, a right to continue to pursue Hamas. But he must, he must, he must pay more attention
to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Biden's mounting frustrations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu now bursting
into full view.
BIDEN: He's hurting my view. He's hurting Israel more than helping Israel.
DIAMOND (voice-over): And the Israeli prime minister firing back.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Well, I don't know exactly what the president meant. But if he meant by that, then I'm pursuing private
policies against the majority, the wish of the majority of Israelis and that this is hurting the interests of Israel, then he is wrong in both
counts.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Vowing a Rafah offensive, which Biden has cautioned against, will come.
NETANYAHU: We will go there. We're not going to leave them. You know, I have a red line. You know what the redline is? That October 7th doesn't
happen again.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Israeli officials tell CNN that offensive is not imminent. More forces must still pour into Gaza, and a plan to evacuate
civilians has yet to be finalized. And the holy month of Ramadan is now a key part of that backdrop.
As Ramadan begins, tensions in Jerusalem's old city are already flaring, wielding batons, Israeli police forcefully pushing back Palestinians at a
gate to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. It's not clear how this scene began.
But on the first night of Ramadan, CNN witnessed Israeli Police refusing allow at least two dozen mostly young Palestinian men to enter the mosque,
sometimes before even checking their I.D.s.
[18:10:00]
Disturbing public security is the official reason given over and over again, without explanation.
How am I disturbing public security? What did I do wrong? This man asked the officer. I'm not going back. I want to pray. But the answer is the
same.
AHMAD, DENIED ENTRY TO AL-AQSA (through translator): This is the fifth or sixth gate I try to enter from. And they didn't say anything but
disturbance of public security, and they simply sent us back. My soul is connected to Al-Aqsa, depriving me from al-Aqsa as if they deprive me of
water. It's very difficult for me to a level I can't even describe. I will go home. May God give you health.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Israeli police said in a statement increased inspections were carried out and that they are acting to allow freedom of
worship while balancing security and safety needs. Israeli government said last week it wouldn't impose new restrictions on entry to the mosque during
at least the first week of Ramadan, allowing access to a similar number of worshippers as last year.
But these first denials raise questions about how Israeli officials will handle the tens of thousands of worshippers expected for Friday prayers,
especially amid tensions over the war in Gaza.
LAMIA SALEM, JERUSALEM RESIDENT (through translator): When you decide who to enter and who not to, you are creating problems. Everyone should be free
to pray inside, youth, elderly, women, and children, everyone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Well, questions today about the technical event that injured dozens of people on a Chilean airline. LATAM flight, LA800, took off from
Australia en route to New Zealand. Sometime during that flight, passengers reported a sudden movement that threw passengers across the cabin. One
passenger described it as a mid-air drop. Several emergency medical teams met the plane upon landing. About 50 people were treated for injuries. 12
were sent to hospital for additional aid.
Well, joining us now for more on this as CNN's Tom Foreman. Tom, this certainly sounded like a frightening experience. The airline, of course,
claiming it is a technical issue, but according to at least one passenger, they describe this violent drop. What would cause that, especially given
that the flight left the flight radar trucker for about an hour?
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's a great mystery as to what would have caused it. Losing tracking may not be that strange out over
water. That sort of thing happens now and then. Those may not be related. But safety analysts who are looking at this saying there's just no
information here, to say it was a technical issue doesn't really tell them anything at all.
It could be a weather issue. It could be an icing issue. It could be some sort of personnel issue. There are all sorts of things that could be
involved, but this gives no clue. What we do know from the passengers is that it was a very dramatic event, as they describe it, with no warning.
They were cruising altitude around 40,000, 41,000 feet. And for a few seconds, they said this plane just nosed over like it was a roller coaster
and started plunging downward.
People flew upward. Some of the witnesses said there was blood on the ceiling from people smashing into the ceiling, a really very, very dramatic
event that happened all at once, no warning before, and nothing strange afterwards. So, tremendous questions about not only what happened, but the
information we're getting about it, or rather, I should say, the information we're not getting about it, Lynda
KINKADE: Yes. Hopefully, we'll get some more information from the airline soon. Tom Foreman, good to have you with us. Thank you.
FOREMAN: Good to be here.
KINKADE: Well, Catherine, the Princess of Wales is apologizing for the confusion caused by a photo distributed by Kensington Palace. Several major
news agencies withdrew this image over signs of manipulation. Princess Kate says she was experimenting with photo editing, as our Richard Quest
reports.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST (voice-over): It was the picture that was meant to put to rest what is about Kate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This photo of the Princess of Wales and her children has now been pulled from circulation.
QUEST (voice-over): Only hours after the photo was released on Mother's Day in the U.K., the Associated Press news agency was the first to withdraw it,
using what they call a kill notification. The A.P. said, at closer inspection, it appears that the source has manipulated the image. By
source, they mean the princess. The problem is Princess Charlotte's sleeve isn't where it should be.
ERIC BARADAT, DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY, AFP: We have experts, Photoshop experts, like the guys sitting behind me, that it doesn't take a second for
them to see that the image was altered and manipulated.
QUEST (voice-over): And her hair ends abruptly. The zipper on Kate's sweater is misaligned. The other big agencies, Reuters and AFP, were quick
to issue their own kill notices, telling news outlets not to use the image.
[18:15:00]
Then more than 24 hours after she posted it, the Princess of Wales apologized, saying, like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally
experiment with editing.
At one level, this is nothing more than an amateur photographer getting it wrong. But the underlying issue is the fact that the Princess of Wales has
not been seen since having unspecified abdominal surgery back in January.
This grainy photograph taken on Monday as Kate travelled to a private appointment with William is one of the few images that surfaced since then.
We don't know what editing she did, and the palace haven't released the unedited version.
So, is this just an amateur photographer's learning experience or is there something more to the picture that's fueled a thousand words of
speculation?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Our thanks to Richard Quest. Well, straight ahead, being less than sociable about this social media rival, why Donald Trump is lashing out at
Facebook.
And the haters are going to hate, but the spenders are going to spend. We're going to look at the economic powerhouse, that is Taylor Swift.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KINKADE: Welcome back to "First Move." I'm Lynda Kinkade. And a very good morning to you if you are waking up with us.
In today's "Money Move," the Dow finished slightly higher following President Biden's $7.3 trillion budget proposal for 2025. Apple was a
strong performer, closing up 1.2 percent. It's begun testing an A.I. tool that automatically decides where to place app store ads. Boeing is at the
bottom of the Dow 30 after one of its planes experienced a technical event that injured 50 people.
Also in Wall Street, a plunge for matters stock after Donald Trump called Facebook the enemy of the people. The former president was discussing
efforts to ban TikTok during an interview with CNBC. Take a listen.
[18:20:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: The thing I don't like is that without TikTok you can make Facebook bigger. And I consider Facebook to be an enemy
of the people along with a lot of the media.
If you ban TikTok, Facebook and others, but mostly Facebook, will be a big beneficiary. And I think Facebook has been very bad for our country,
especially when it comes to elections.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Clare Duffy is in New York with more on why these comments are so significant. Good to see you, Clare.
So, Trump calls Facebook the enemy of the people. Meta stock sank. But he began his attacks on Thursday evening. What sparked this?
CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Right. So, this latest attack from Trump on Meta began last week, as you said. And as Trump started to push back on
this bill that's making its way through the House, this proposed bill that would ban TikTok in the United States if it were not spun off from its
Chinese parent company ByteDance.
Trump is now saying he's worried that if TikTok is banned in the U.S. that its users would make their way to platforms owned by Meta, which as you can
hear from that statement, those comments from him, he clearly does not like.
Trump has for a long time had a contentious relationship with Meta. He was banned from Facebook after the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, although
he's back on the platform now. He's also accused Facebook of censoring conservative voices, although there's now really evidence that that
happens.
But, you know, I think Trump is really signaling here that he is back on the TikTok perhaps as a way of trying to hurt Meta. And I think what you're
seeing from investors there in that stock price reaction is concern that Meta could once again become a political punching bag. This company has
been dragged into politics before and it was not pretty, Lynda.
KINKADE: Yes, it certainly wasn't. And it's interesting that Trump claimed that banning TikTok would further empower Meta. He said it could double in
size. Is there any evidence of that?
DUFFY: Yes, I have to laugh when I saw that comment. Look, Facebook has more than 2 billion users worldwide. TikTok in the U.S. has about 170
million users, and I imagine many of those people already have a Facebook account or an Instagram account.
So, I think this is much more political maneuvering on Trump's part rather than him picking up on a real trend that might happen if TikTok is banned
in the U.S., which I have to say still feels very much like an if at this point.
KINKADE: Yes, it certainly does. We are following that story closely. Clare Duffy, good to have you with us from New York. Thank you.
Well, at least 26 people have been killed by a series of floods and mudslides in Indonesia, which began last week in the country's West Sumatra
province. Six people are still missing and more than 78,000 people are displaced. That's according to the National Disaster Agency.
Well, Chad Myers joins us from the CNN Weather Center. These were just disastrous floods, bridges, schools, homes wiped out, how's it looking now?
What's the forecast?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, it's hard to see Indonesia at all. Like where are the islands? They're just covered with clouds. At least for
now, West Sumatra, the area that picked up the most rain, 390 millimeters of rainfall, at least that has some clear skies today.
But this is what it did to the roadways. Some of the roadways don't even exist anymore. They're just big mud holes. And some of these avalanches and
mudslides actually did bring down some buildings and people are still missing in some of these smaller villages. So yes, there was a lot of rain
all the way through the weekend.
Now, there is going to still going to be rain here. But obviously, if we have that many clouds, there will be showers around, but it's not focused
in the same location. So, spreading it around a little bit. Yes, there'll be 100 millimeters, 150 millimeters in some spots, but really not in the
worst hit places. That's the good news. Temperatures are in the lower 30. Relative humidity are always high there.
Some relative humidity coming back here for the southern part of Australia for you, Lynda. Still some showers around NT and also up toward Darwin. But
the cooler air is on the way. It'll be cool and a little bit damp. But hey, take it better than the 37. 37 in Melbourne for Friday and for Saturday.
And now, look where we're going with this, 25 for later on this afternoon and 20 by Thursday. Take that.
Everyone was asking for cooler weather. Watch what you ask for because we'll give it to you. And there you go. We'll take 20 any day of the week
after that weekend.
KINKADE: 20 sounds good. But 25 sounds just right. But it looks like it's going to get hot again, back up to 30.
MYERS: Yes, you know, it's just one of the cold fronts. It's hard to think about when we say cool air coming in from the south. Southern hemisphere,
they don't get cold fronts that come from the north, from the Arctic. You get cold fronts that come from the Antarctic. So, when that gets pushed
back down, and it will on Saturday and Sunday again, but we're not going to be back up about 37 to 38, finally getting into some cooler air here.
KINKADE: Well, all my family have been sending me pictures of them at the beach in Sydney and Melbourne.
MYERS: Oh, yes.
KINKADE: It looks pretty good to me. Chad Myers, good to see you. Thanks so much.
MYERS: Good to see you.
[18:25:00]
KINKADE: Well, the annual National People's Congress in China has come to an end. Still ahead, we'll look at the decisions made for the country's
budget and the cancellation of the traditional post even conference.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KINKADE: Welcome back to "First Move." I'm Lynda Kinkade. And a look at more of the international headlines this hour. The trial for the father of
Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley resumed today. James Crumbley is accused of involuntary manslaughter. The school counselor testified that
the elder Crumbley told his son he had people he can talk to during a meeting with school officials hours before the attack.
The United Nations says it is keeping its staff in Haiti despite escalating gang violence. It comes after the E.U. temporarily closed its office in the
country. The U.S. Secretary of State is in Jamaica to attend an emergency meeting on the crisis. The State Department says it's not aware of any
plans for Haiti's prime minister to take part in the talks.
Severe flooding has brought a state of emergency to the La Paz, Bolivia area. That opens up the doors for relief and critical resources from the
federal government. A red alert from last week still remains as historic rains and floods continue to pose a high threat level to the population.
China's annual National People's Congress has ended with plans to give even more support to leader Xi Jinping. The State Council added a new article
which says it will support the community party and a centralized leadership. This is the first time since 1982 that there has been an
amendment to the State Council organic law. It continues the trend of transferring more power from the state into the party's hands.
[18:30:00]
Well, officials also made decisions on China's budget spending and national priorities. CNN's Marc Stewart has the latest from the National People's
Congress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARC STEWARD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This gathering of 3,000 delegates that make up China's rubber stamp legislature has come to an end among some of
the headlines from the past week. One, China has set an economic growth target for 2024 of around 5 percent seen as lofty by some accomplishments.
Also expect to see a big focus in China on science and technology as it sees that way as a vehicle for its economic future with emphasis on things
such as artificial intelligence and its electric vehicle industry.
In addition, China once again has increased its military spending for the 2024 budget. Normally at the end the premier gives a news conference, but
not this year, and many analysts feel it's a way for Chinese President Xi Jinping to exert his power further.
Finally, it's important to acknowledge the fact that we are coming to you from Tiananmen Square. It's a very once in a while, a very rare
opportunity. Normally, this is off limits to international journalists, a reflection of the politics of the security of the surveillance that we have
seen in China. But this political gathering is seen as that important an exception has been made.
Marc Stewart, CNN on Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Well, a historic event as Sweden's flag is raised at NATO headquarters in Brussels. It's been a long road for Stockholm, but it has
now become the 32nd member of NATO, the largest military alliance in the world. It's a direct response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but isn't
enough. According to NATO, Russia is producing about three times as many artillery shells as the U.S. and Europe.
And in another blow to the alliance and its support of Ukraine, Hungarian president, Viktor Orban, says Kyiv will not get a penny from the U.S. if
Donald Trump wins a second term.
Well, all of this is a matter of life and death for desperate Ukrainians. Our Nick Paton Walsh saw this close up as he joined a medivac operation on
the battlefield.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICK PATON WALSH, CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (VOICE- OVER): Light is also their enemy here. Daylight brings the threat of attack
drones, so it's hard to collect casualties from the front line. Dark is when they bring most wounded out, to medics hiding in the tree line.
The other light flashes from enormous bombs hitting the village of Orlivka and around. A tiny place of outsized consequence. It's Ukraine's defensive
line, but Russia is raging hard for a breakthrough. The flash is constant, a seven-mile slog from there to here for the wounded.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): There was a lot this morning. Six or four.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): But they were heavily injured.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It depends on the day. Right now, it's relatively few. The Russians have more vehicles, more weapons, more
men. And that's the biggest problem.
WALSH (voice-over): They wait underground for the radio, to say who, when, where. It feels almost mundane, often hours of silence. The thump of
shelling hidden by TV series.
ARTEM, COMBAT MEDIC, 59TH INFANTRY BRIGADE (through translator): Drones are a huge problem. We rarely evacuate during daylight. Mostly at night. We try
to extract the heavily injured during the day too.
WALSH (voice-over): Then it is time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): One wounded to pick up.
ARTEM (through translator): What's the condition? When and who delivers?
WALSH (voice-over): They never really know what they'll find until they get there. And they, too, are targets. But along this eastern front, these
slick routines carry on, minus one key thing, hope.
WALSH: Because of the intensity of the fighting here, this happens all night, every night. The desperate race to use dark, the cover of night to
get the wounded to hospital as fast as possible. Here comes some more.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Put the camera away. Put it away.
[18:35:00]
WALSH (voice-over): From one Humvee to another, the wounded have a war they're losing because the US is dropping out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I don't see blood. Roll the sleeve, brother.
WALSH (voice-over): The force of a blast appears to have broken his upper arm.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It's my bone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Yes, I can see it.
WALSH (voice-over): It's going to be a painful drive until the drugs kick in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Bodya. Drive slowly, no potholes, please.
WALSH (voice-over): He says he only had stitches out four days ago from another injury, a Russian attack drone ripping into their armored vehicle
two weeks ago. One of the five men hit inside then is still in hospital. Tonight, it was also drones.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We were running for kilometers. Under the drones, under everything. They were waiting for us as soon as we
arrived. Our two groups were pinned down by drones. The medivac was coming, but we can't see it. It's also being shelled with everything they have. I
just heard a bang right on my side.
I feel down inside the Humvee, couldn't feel my hand. Couldn't move the fingers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): So, the arm is still there, in its place.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Can they fix it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Yes, there is nothing serious.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): You are very lucky the artery isn't damaged.
WALSH (voice-over): When they get to hospital all is blacked out and we cannot even film the doors. Russia is scouring the front lines for any part
of a medical chain to hit, to make help harder and further away, just like American money.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, near Orlivko, Ukraine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Our thanks to Nick for that report. I'm going to have much more news after a short break. Stay with us. You're watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KINKADE: Well, for generations, thousands of low-cost families in Nepal have been trapped in a form of bondage, where families are forced to borrow
money from landlords at illegal ultra-high rates, trapping them in a cycle of debt.
[18:40:00]
In a piece for the CNN Freedom Project, Matthew Chance has this report on the efforts to liberate these people and provide their children with a
better life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A heavy fog hangs over Southeastern Nepal. Phuletiya Saday is here early
every morning, tilling the fields and tending livestock that's not his own. Saday will see none of the fruits born from his sweat. His work is going to
pay off a debt first taken generations ago.
PHULETIYA SADAY, BONDED LABORER (through translator): The practice started during the time of our forefathers. My grandfather and my father continued
it, and I have also been continuing it. I was told I had to work because my father and forefathers had not paid back what they had taken from the
landlord.
CHANCE (voice-over): Saday is a member of the Dalit community and a specific group of people known as the Harawacharawa. The words translate
roughly into English as tiller and cattle herder.
The ILO estimates there are more than 100,000 Harawa Charawa across Nepal, and it's not just men working to pay off the loans.
CHANCE: Well, we've come to this village in Southeastern Nepal where basically everyone is Harawacharawa. You can see that the buildings are
made out of bamboo covered in mud and people's handprints they've put on the wall as decoration. But it's also, of course, incredibly poor and
everyone here is essentially in debt to a local landowner. And they have to work night and day, seven days a week, just to pay off that loan and to
survive.
KOSHILA SADAY, BONDED LABORER (through translator): We are bonded to work for our landlord. The whole family is working for the landlord. We work for
him, and our children also work for him. We also want for our children to get proper education and for them to be able to earn and take care of
themselves.
CHANCE (voice-over): A London-based NGO called the Freedom Fund has been working with the Harawa Charawa for more than a decade. They have helped
the community organize and advocate for their rights.
In 2022, the Harawa Charawa received a major victory, Nepal's prime minister announcing the liberation of the Harawa Charawa people. It marks
the first time the government formally acknowledged the issue of bonded labor affecting them. Still, despite the declarations, progress has been
slow.
LEGENDRA SADAY, GENERAL SECRETARY, NATIONAL HARAWA CHARAWA RIGHTS FORUM (through translator): From the day the government announced our freedom, we
have been facing more serious problems. People like us now have nowhere to go to look for work, and we are compelled to go back to the landlord to ask
for work. When we go there asking for work, the landlord now chases away with sticks.
CHANCE: Well, we've just come down the road from the village to the house of the landowner, and we're going to try and have a word with him about
this Harawa Charawa bonded labor practice.
Hello, sir, namaste. Are you the owner? What do you say to those who accuse you and people like you, landowners in this area, of basically being slave
owners, of using and exploiting these people for your benefit?
You don't agree?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, no.
CHANCE: Why? That's what we're doing.
KRISHNA DEV YADAV, LANDOWNER (through translator): I tell them to go back home and stay there. I encourage them to go home, and the children will
provide their medicine, and that they will take good care of you, but they don't go. They say they'll die if they go home. So, what can I do?
They are staying here on their own will. They have no pressure whatsoever to continue to stay with me and work for me.
CHANCE (voice-over): But for Fulfu Latiyah (ph) and Koshila (ph), it's a dilemma. Their concern, like that of so many parents around the world, has
less to do with their own future than their children's. Their hope is that with education and organization, the debt that should have been worked off
generations ago won't be shouldered by the next.
Matthew Chance, CNN, Nepal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Well, be sure to join us this coming Thursday for "My Freedom Day," a day-long student-driven event to raise awareness of modern-day
slavery.
Well, still to come, Taylor Swift's Eras Tour has ended, but Asia's economies may still be basking in the afterglow. We'll have more on that
after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:47:15]
KINKADE: Welcome back. Ryan Gosling's performance as Ken from the "Barbie" movie at the Oscars has become a standout performance in this year's award
show, and it's hard to miss on social media.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: And he wasn't the only memorable male. This year's show provider glitz, glamour and actor John Cena's near naked streak before presenting
the best costumer award.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST AND COMEDIAN: What's going on? You're supposed to run across the stage.
JOHN CENA, WESTLER AND ACTOR: I changed my mind. I don't want to do the streaker bit anymore.
KIMMEL: What do you mean you don't want to streaker bit anymore? We're doing it.
CENA: Costumes, they are so important. Maybe the most important thing there is. I can't open the --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: His appearance reminded the audience of an incident that happened nearly 50 years ago when a real streaker dashed across the Oscars stage.
Well, Japan came out of the Oscars as one of the big winners from Tokyo. Hanako Montgomery reports.
But staying with the Oscars, it was partly about the after party. It is reported that Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce made a star appearance at
Madonna's post-awards party. As the Eras Tour sweeps the world, we are getting a better understanding of how cities hosting Taylor Swift benefited
economically.
In particular, fans spending big on hotels, food, and beverages. The MasterCard Economic Institute has calculated that restaurant spending rose
by 68 percent within a two-and-a-half-mile radius of the venue. Spending on accommodation jumped 47 percent. In Kansas, the institute estimates that
nearly two weeks' worth of spending happened within just two days at the local restaurants near the stadium.
Well, David Mann is the Chief Economist for the Asia Pacific region at MasterCard and joins us now live. Good to have you with us.
DAVID MANN, CHIEF ECONOMIST, ASIA PACIFIC MASTERCARD: Thanks for having me today. It's great to be on.
KINKADE: So, everywhere Taylor Swift goes, she ignites the economy. It's a love story, but according to your institute, the MasterCard Economics
Institute, it is the Swift lift. You've been crunching the numbers. Just explain what you found.
[18:50:00]
MANN: So, what we've been looking at the MasterCard Economics Institute was a way to be able to find from the more granular data exactly what the
impact was by location, the time of day, and to give a sense of how much more spending than you would have normally seen around the surrounding
areas actually would be. And that's where the numbers that you quoted actually come from.
In particular, I think it's interesting that you saw, that major uplift in spending, of course, at restaurants, accommodation, even within the 10-mile
radius, ended up being over 30-plus percent stronger when we looked at the data, for example, from across cities in the U.S., and that was on average.
Many of them were actually significantly above that number, while some were below.
What we're thinking, of when you think about what it means for this particular region in Asia-Pacific, how we can translate some of the results
over to what we see, say, in Singapore, is that we're likely to see something around that level, maybe even higher in terms of the overall
uplift on spending on accommodation, on restaurants, but also even on things like retail spending for those looking for the merchandise, looking
the bracelets or the outfits to be buying. And then while they're out there in the stores, to potentially be buying even more.
And on top of that, not just being, say, folks that are living in places where the concerts are taking place, like, say Singapore, but also people
traveling in to buy the tickets for the concert, but also to come in spending on the accommodation too. That should mean a lot more of the
cross-border travel story is really what we should be watching for. And we should thinking about the extra uplift to spending that otherwise would not
have happened. And that's where I think the key focus on stronger economies that can come from having more of these experience-led events is exactly
what we've been seeing around the world, and it has been repeated in the Asia-Pacific region too.
KINKADE: Yes, it certainly has. And so, there's certainly no bad blood in Singapore, more like a gold rush. But talk to us about how this looks
likely to benefit Singapore for example, long-term.
MANN: Well, the way to think about this is in post-COVID environment, there have been many things that been quite disorientating over exactly where we
are and what consumer preferences are longer-term, given we had effectively a bungee jump in the global economy where we jumped off the bridge in 2020,
2021 we started to make that comeback.
But just like in a bungee jump, we lost orientation over exactly where we stand on many factors, including things like consumer preferences towards
experiences versus things. Now, initially, we would expect that the experiences end would be doing much better because those were the very
things you could not do during the relatively more restricted periods during COVID times. But actually, long-term, it seems to be sticking too.
That's the message we're getting from the data we look at, for example, in the United States.
And when we think about this from the perspective of the Economics Institute for what's going to happen in Asia-Pacific, that persistence of
experiences demand, even over and above things spending. And we know last year, for example, exports growth around the world in goods was relatively
weak, that focus on the long-term of providing more of those really special mega events is a big deal.
We're seeing that even, for example, being commented on and something that say cities like Hong Kong want to be replicating to help support their
economy as well. And it looks like with the excess savings that had been building up over the years during COVID that the extra money that is
sitting there for enough consumers enables them to go ahead with these experiences related spending, and I think that preference looks like it is
here to stay even in the longer-term.
KINKADE: But surely, you'd see this afterglow effect with most big events that come to a city. How does the Taylor Swift concert compare to the F1
event for example?
MANN: Well, one thing I would point out with that one is just like the F1, the similarity is that you do get a very different make-up of the actual
share of cross-border inbound tourism spending. You get, for example, slightly higher spending ratios coming in, in the case of the F1 from, say,
Australia or indeed from the U.K., even Hong Kong, we believe.
But actually, when we think about the main differences, one of the big ones, of course, yes, is on the exact demographics of who's coming in. But
also, with the F1, you do end up also having to have some compromise with a disruption, for example, to traffic around the areas right in the center of
town that end up being disrupted because of needing the F1 track literally to be there.
When it comes to concerts, especially mega concerts that really do have these sellout trends, and Taylor Swift was not the only one this year that
has been doing so well, that is something that does not disrupt as much, adds to the inflow of people, and the key question then becomes, with both
actually, is to what degree will the folks coming in also be doing other things, like going to see other tourist attractions, maybe the night
safari, for example, in the case of Singapore, or could it be also adding to the foot traffic around the retail outlets as well?
[18:55:00]
In general, it is, I would say, positive from both. Certainly, there is extra retail spending on things like merchandise, but do you get that extra
staying a few days longer? That really does also come down to the fundamentals that are there for the consumers traveling in, in particular,
will they make the most of a trip, not just for the actual concert, but adding a bit more retail therapy alongside it, and having other
experiences? It looks like most of the time we are seeing a bit more of that coming through, and that's good news, we would argue, for the longer-
term.
KINKADE: And interestingly, the NFL also got a Swift lift as well, once the mega superstar started dating Travis Kelce. We'll leave it there for now.
David Mann from MasterCard, good to have you with us. Thank you.
MANN: Thank you.
KINKADE: Well, finally, on "First Move," proof that people are willing to pay anything for a viral trend. Take a look, this mini tote bag sold by
U.S. grocery chain, Trader Joe's. They sell for about $3 a piece, but after videos about the bags gained more than 11 million views on TikTok, they're
now a hot commodity.
A set of all four colors you see here sold for more than $500, including shipping on eBay last week. Some stores are placing limits on the trendy
totes with one employee telling CNN they might not be replenished until September.
Well, that wraps up our show. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Thanks so much for joining us. Julia is back tomorrow.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
