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One World with Zain Asher

Melissa Bell Reports On Ukraine's Counteroffensive Measures On War With Russia; International Condemnation Of The Coup In Gabon Grows As Military Junta Moves Forward With Plans To Formally Install A New Leader; Spanish Men's National Team Manager Apologizes For Applauding Luis Rubiales; Paris Metro System Gradually Making Improvements; Agnetha Faltskog Releases New Single "Where Do We Go From Here?"; Nouri Signed On With Warner Music Germany; Typhoon Saola Hits China. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired September 01, 2023 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[12:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: As the Ukrainian counter-offensive creeps south, new drone attacks hit inside Russia. Here is what's coming up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This family were congratulating their daughter on her birthday as the drone strikes thud close by.

ASHER: Look at how those attacks have shaken ordinary Russians. Plus --

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I can feel the wind picking up right now. This city takes these storms very, very seriously.

ASHER: Typhoon Saola lashes Hong Kong, and it's not the only powerful storm in the region. And later, after that deadly building fire in

Johannesburg, we'll dig deeper into the housing crisis with the city council speaker. Hello, everyone, I'm Zain Asher in New York, and this is

ONE WORLD.

Ukraine isn't claiming responsibility for a drone attack deep inside of Russian territory on Tuesday, but a senior defense official is providing

one very specific detail and he appears to suggest that a long-range weapon was not used. Ukraine's military intelligence chief claims a strike on the

airbase in northwestern Russia was launched from Russian soil. The Kremlin though is not commenting. It comes as drone attacks against Russia are

increasing in both size and scale, as well. Regional officials are reporting strikes for the fourth day in a row.

Meantime, across the border on the battlefield, Kyiv's U.S. forces have broken through the first line of Russian strongholds in the Zaporizhzhia

region. You're actually looking at videos shared exclusively with CNN of some of those fortified trenches along the southern front.

And despite advances on the ground, Ukraine's gruelling counteroffensive is yielding only small, very incremental gains, and that is causing some

Western allies to complain about the slow pace of progress. Earlier, Ukraine's foreign minister spoke to CNN's Christiane Amanpour about how

damaging that criticism can be, especially for soldiers who are really putting their lives on the line every single day for every square kilometer

of land. I want you to listen to what Dmytro Kuleba had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DMYTRO KULEBA, UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: If Ukraine was failing, I would probably be the first one to speak the truth. But we are not failing, we

are moving forward. We liberated thousands of square kilometers of our land through minefields with no air coverage. How does it feel when you come

back from your mission and you take back your phone, you open it, and you start reading all these smart people saying how slow you are and that you

are not doing well enough?

You just lost two of your buddies, you were almost killed. You crawled one kilometer on your belly, demining the field. You sacrificed yourself. You

took the damn Russian trench in a fierce fight. And then you read someone saying, oh guys, you are too slow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Dmytro Kuleba speaking to Christiane Amanpour there. And a quick programming note for you, Christiane is actually going to be anchoring her

show from Ukraine this week. So, tune in at the top of the hour for her special coverage.

In the meantime, I want to bring in CNN's Melissa Bell, joining me live now from Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. You heard that really important soundbite there

from Ukraine's foreign minister essentially saying, look, this kind of criticism is really unfair when you think about what these soldiers are

going through every day.

The fact that they're laying their lives on the line and all other people can sort of say armchair critics can say is, look, you're not moving fast

enough, you're moving too slow. But just give us a sense though, Melissa, of the situation on the ground in terms of how rapidly this

counteroffensive is progressing. Give us a lay of the land.

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it had been three months with very little progress. We're just under three months, Zain, with very little

progress until Robotyne. And I think the Ukrainians quite rightly claim that whilst this isn't a huge surface in terms of area or land retaken, it

is significant because it does suggest that after these many weeks of fighting, progress is being made and beyond Robotyne itself.

[12:05:00]

They say they are finding themselves able to consolidate their positions to widen the bridgeheads that they're creating and they and they believe that

-- to the south, specifically, they're able to start making further gains and that is significant when you consider as you just heard Dmytro Kuleba

say, not just that they've had to go through those extraordinarily for fortified initial defenses in parts of minefields, trenches.

These fortifications that have been put in place, remember, almost since this line stabilized just south here of Zaporizhzhia in the March of 2022.

So, these Russian defenses have been being put in place now and consolidated and further fortified for nearly a year and a half. We managed

to get some of this exclusive footage you mentioned a moment ago that was shot yesterday by Ukraine's secret services, and what it shows is beyond

those initial lines of minefields, the fortifications beyond them, the dragon's teeth, the trenches that lie beyond them, and the extraordinary

nature of these fortifications and the fact that even once they managed to get as they have beyond Robotyne, they still have so much further to go.

And I think that speaks a little bit to the frustration that you just heard in his voice, that it is extremely hard going and that the advances were

such that the Russian counterattacks were so vicious as a consequence that there was a great deal of chaos in these areas that you're talking about.

And when you look at those images, once again, shot by that drone, you see how difficult this particular terrain just south of Zaporizhzhia here is.

There's very little cover. It's open fields. This is, remember, Zain, a war of artillery and drones.

So, each side is constantly watching what the other is doing. And no soldier can really move ahead without being watched day and night. And of

course, the losses, as we understand it, are tremendous on both sides. Still, there's a good deal of confidence and positivity coming from the

Ukrainian side.

They say that thanks to some of that NATO weaponry, they're now at parity in terms of artillery on those battlefields and that is important they say

because they've been able to push back the initial lines of Russian artillery further back into the field and they believe that this might help

them be able to move forward. But it is slow, slow-going and extremely painful for the Ukrainian side. Still it is some progress after many weeks

of no progress at all. Zain.

ASHER: All right, that point, Melissa Bell, live for us there. Thank you so much. As we've been discussing this new wave of drone strikes against

Russia marks a new phase in this war and as Matthew Chance reports, it's one the Russian government would rather its people not see.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Barely at night, pass is now. When Russians somewhere aren't shaken by powerful drone

attacks. This recent barrage hitting an airport in the city of Pskov some 400 miles from the Ukrainian border. Russian air defenses spread thinly,

unleashes firepower but faced with a major upsurge in drone attacks. There were just too many targets to defend. Russian officials say at least four

military cargo planes used to transport troops and equipment to the war zone were damaged. Footage of the burning aircraft suggests, destroy. A

significant blow to Russian logistics.

On Russian state TV, controlled by the Kremlin, the drone strikes are barely mentioned. Instead, the focus is on Russia hitting Ukraine and

targets being struck across the frontlines by Russian forces. But the Kremlin can't hide what's happening. Russian civilians like these in the

Bryansk region are sharing videos online. This family were congratulating their daughter on her birthday as the drone strikes thud close by. Stop the

music, she tells her mom. That's the fourth explosion, she says.

On security footage in Bryansk near the Ukraine border, you can hear one of the drones before it hits. Russian officials vowed a punishing response.

But Moscow's revenge attacks are no match for carefully planned strikes on targets picked to cause maximum disruption. And to force Russians to see

their Ukraine war coming home. Matthew Chance, CNN London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[12:10:00]

ASHER: Hong Kong is at its highest level of storm alert T10 as typhoon Saola lashes the city. It is now past midnight there and it will be

actually a very rough night as the storm should now be closer than ever. There are already reports of flooding and some injuries with three people

hospitalized. Residents are being told to stay inside and away from exposed windows and doors. The storm also threatens tens of millions of people on

the Chinese mainland, as well. CNN's Ivan Watson was outside in the storm just a short time ago and he filed out this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON: This is super typhoon Saola. It's currently pounding Hong Kong. It has been classified as a T10 storm. That's only the fourth time since the

year 2000 that Hong Kong has seen a storm of this strength come through. The authorities have issued a warning for people to take cover, stay away

from windows. And now as it skirts past this port city, we can see down tree branches. We've seen some street signs come down.

And right here where we are right now, this is called Causeway Bay. So, it's one of the busiest, normally shopping districts in the city. And as

you can see on a Friday night, there are a handful of people walking around, but it's almost completely deserted. Schools were closed. Hundreds

of flights cancelled. And this storm is also impacting the broader Pearl Delta, very densely populated area, not far from here, the city of Shenzhen

with a population more than 13 million people. The airport was closed there on Friday. And the authorities are predicting a storm surge, several meters

above the usual high tide mark, which is approaching in the coming hour.

So, a very, very serious storm in a city that is no stranger to very powerful typhoons. Ivan Watson, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: All right, right, let's bring in CNN Meteorologist Alison Chinchar with the very latest. So, Allison, I think the scary thing here is that

this is not the only typhoon in the region. It's not just about typhoon Saola, it's also about typhoon Haikui, as well. Just talk to us about the

different paths for each of these two typhoons.

Right, they're really not that far apart, but they're going to be impacting some very close proximity areas. Again, you've got not one but two separate

systems here that we are focusing on. The first one, Saola right here, sustained winds of 215 kilometers per hour moving to the west at just about

17 kilometers per hour already from the Hong Kong Observatory on the radar, you can see some of those really heavy bands continuing to cross farther

inland and again bringing some torrential downpours at times and also the very gusty winds.

Now, as this system continues to make its way to the west it will gradually begin to weaken with that said we still anticipate gusty winds and very

heavy rainfall even for the next 72 hours as it continues to make its way off towards the West, and then it will start to dive down towards the

southwest in about 48 to 72 hours. You're still going to have incredibly heavy rain, continue to be the focus as we go through the rest of the

weekend with that particular storm.

Now, right on the heels of that, we have our secondary storm, as well. This one has sustained winds of 140 kilometers per hour, moving due west at 13

kilometers per hour. We anticipate that this storm will cross over Taiwan in the next 36 to 48 hours. With that said, in the next 24 hours, you will

already start to feel the impacts from this system. Winds will begin to tick back up. Those rain bands are going to increase not only in intensity,

but also frequency.

So, you're going to have to deal with some very heavy rainfall before that storm continues back towards mainland China as we finish out the rest of

the weekend. Heavy rain is going to be a concern with both of these systems. With Saola, you're looking at widespread rainfall totals of 50 to

100 millimeters, but some spots could pick up at least 200 millimeters at their high point, especially along the coastal regions.

The secondary storm, when we talk about Taiwan, now you're talking about widespread rainfall totals minimum of 200 millimeters, but there will be

some spots that pick up 250 if not even as much as 300. So again, rain going to be a concern with both of these, especially across Taiwan, where

the other potential also is going to be some mudslides, as well. Zain.

ASHER: Allison Chinchar, live for us there, thank you so much. Despite growing international condemnation of the coup in Gabon, the military junta

is moving forward with plans to formally install a new leader. General Brice Oligui Nguema is set to be sworn in as the country's transitional

president before the Constitutional Court on Monday. Meantime, the African Union has announced the suspension of Gabon from all the group's activities

one day after President Ali Bongo was ousted from power.

[12:15:00]

It comes as ECOWAS is voicing concern about the threat of regional copycats unless coup leaders are stopped. CNN's Jim Bitterman is joining us live now

just outside of Paris. So, Jim, here's the thing. We know that France is watching this closely. Of course, Gabon is a former French colony. But just

in terms of the recent history of coups in several sort of French-speaking African nations. How is France interpreting that? There's clearly a

movement that seems to suggest that France's hold on Africa, just in terms of its influence, is beginning to wane.

JIM BITTERMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Zain. I think there's a great deal of dismay here. And also, I think they're

struggling to find a policy going forward, because this is now the seventh coup d etat in three years. And most of the countries that have been

subject to these military leaderships are, in fact, in French speaking in French colonial Africa, former French colonial Africa.

So, the French are really taking this very seriously. They've got a lot of economic ties. President Macron was just in Gavon back in March, and he was

glad-ending with Ali Bongo. And yet this was a regime. The Bongo regime has been in power for 55 years. That's longer than President Macron has been on

this earth. And as a consequence, I think there's going to be a lot of rethinking going on about what the French policy should be.

They have 1500 troops in nearby Niger. They think this base in Niger is critical, but there's been the coup d etat in Niger, and that has a much

more anti-French tone to it than what we're seeing in Gabon. Though there's no doubt that the Gabonese will find a way to blame the French for what

they're seeing because of the support for Ali Bongo for the Bongo dynasty.

So, I think it's a real struggle that's going on probably now in the foreign policy hallways of France. They've got to figure out what to do.

They've got their ambassador in Niger, who has been told to remain there in place, but has been given 48 hours to get out of the country. His

credentials have been revoked and the police are that have been told to move in once the 48 hours are up and to expel the ambassador physically.

So, there's a standoff going on in Niger and a big problem going on in Gabon. Zain.

ASHER: And we'll see what it means for other countries. I mean, just yesterday I was reading that Paul Biya, the president of Cameroon, actually

fired his military leaders, seeing what was happening in Gabon, and realizing that, listen, if a coup can happen there, if a coup can happen in

a country like Gabon, whose dynasty has been in power for over five decades, then of course it could happen anywhere. So, a lot of people, a

lot of African leaders watching the situation in Gabon very closely, especially in French West Africa, as you point out. All right. Jim

Bitterman, we have to leave it there.

BITTERMAN: Yeah.

ASHER: Thank you so much.

Reports say Moroccan investigators are looking into the shooting deaths of two tourists allegedly by the Algerian security forces. The group of four

men was reportedly vacationing in Morocco and got lost while jet skiing and ended up in Algerian waters. Moroccan news outlet says a third member of

the group was arrested. Tensions between the two countries have been simmering for years.

The fallout from Spanish football President Luis Rubiales' unwanted kiss continues, with the manager of Spain's men's national team now trying to

distance himself from Rubiales. Last Friday, Rubiales made a defiant speech saying that he would not resign despite the furor over the World Cup kiss.

The manager of the men's team, Luis de la Fuente, was there and actually applauded the speech. He was there clapping. Now, he's apologizing after

calls for his resignation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUIS DE LA FUENTE, MANAGER, SPANISH MEN'S NATIONAL TEAM (through translator): I don't have to resign. I have to ask for forgiveness. I made

a mistake, a human mistake. I've said it, it was inexcusable. But right now, if I could go back, I wouldn't do that. I'm sure of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: Atika Shubert has been following this saga, joins us live now with the details. I mean, the fact that there is now pressure on Luis de la

Fuente for just applauding Luis Rubiales just tells us the kind of momentum calls for Luis Rubiales, his resignation is having even though he's not

stepping down. How does he continue in a managerial role in this kind of environment and where does this go from here?

ATIKA SCHUBERT, JOURNALIST: Well, effectively he can't continue. I mean, FIFA has already suspended him for the next 90 days from any activity with

football at a national or international level.

[12:20:00]

So, the question is really what is Spain going to do about it? And the Spanish government has already filed several complaints through its sports

council for a tribunal. Now, the tribunal is what we're waiting for. The first actual complaint was filed the night of the World Cup. Since then,

there have been 15 new complaints, everything ranging from alleged sexual assault to abuse of power.

So, we're waiting for the tribunal to say, yes, there's enough here, enough evidence to warrant an investigation and he'll be suspended. Or they say,

no, it's a lesser infraction and he doesn't get suspended. So far, it's taking them now more than a week to decide and there still isn't any clear

decision on it.

So, the pressure is continuing, especially from women footballers who say, this is systemic, this has been an issue all along. It just so happens that

Rubiales got caught on international television with this sort of behavior. Take a listen to what La Liga F President Beatriz Alvarez had to say to me.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

Beatriz Alvarez, President, La Liga F (through translator): I believe it's divine justice that it is women's football that put this man outside the

federation, as he has ignored it all his life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCHUBERT: I mean, for her, the problem is more than Rubiales. It's systemic, and it really needs to start with the Federation taking a long

look at itself and seeing what it can do to change, especially now that women footballers are coming in, demanding equal pay, equal rights, and

better management. So, if there's one silver lining out of this, Zain, it's that maybe this will become a catalyst for change.

ASHER: Yeah, and that's what a lot of people are hoping for, Atika Schubert, live for us there. Thank you. All right, still to come, for the

first time ever, a pope is visiting the largely Buddhist country of Mongolia. We'll look at the importance of this particular trip just ahead.

And later, one of the deadliest building fires in the world. Well, let's spur Johannesburg to find a solution to the city's dangerous housing

crisis. That's next?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ASHER: Mongolia is welcoming a pope for the first time in history. Pope Francis arrived in the largely Buddhist country on Friday that is also home

to a small community of Catholics. While the pope was on the nearly 10-hour flight, he sent wired greetings to each country that he flew over,

including China, where he sent blessings for unity and peace to President Xi Jinping.

[12:25:00]

CNN's Senior Vatican Analyst John Allen joins us live now from Rome. What I find really interesting here is that we talk about there being a small

community of Catholics in Mongolia. We're really talking about 1500 people. It is a tiny community and that's in a country with a population of over

three million. But the fact that the Pope has actually chosen to visit Mongolia really speaks to the sort of theme of inclusivity and sort of

bringing into the fold Catholics that seem to be on the periphery. That is really what his papal see is about. Walk us through it, John.

JOHN ALLEN, CNN'S SENIOR VATICAN: Hi, you're absolutely right. The passion for the peripheries has been one of the defining notes of this papacy from

the very beginning. And this is this trip is the apotheosis of that. And as you mentioned, the conventional estimate is that there are about one

thousand four hundred and fifty Catholics in all of Mongolia. I mean, this is saying may well be the first papal trip in history, where by the time

it's over, the pope has actually met every last Catholic in the country.

ASHER: That's funny.

ALLEN: But clearly, as you say, the point here is to lift up this community that generally does not get its moment in the sun on the global

stage and sort of tell its story. I think we should also add, Zain, that there is a geopolitical dimension to this because Mongolia, yeah, it's one

of the most sparsely populated countries on earth, but it has massive land borders with both China and Russia, which means this is also a platform for

Pope Francis to address those two superpowers. Zain.

ASHER: Right, and that is part of what he was planning to do by visiting Mongolia on this trip. And as I mentioned in my introduction, he actually

sent messages of peace and unity and love to China as he flew over the country, and obviously President Xi Jinping. John Allen, we have to leave

it there. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. All right, coming up, a city with too many people and not enough safe places for them to live. We'll

look at what can be done to solve Johannesburg's housing crisis in the wake of Thursday's deadly building fire.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ASHER: Welcome back to ONE WORLD in just a moment. I'll be speaking with the speaker of the Johannesburg City Council about the deadly building fire

in that city that took place yesterday. But first, let's catch up on the news. Florida is picking up the pieces after Tropical Storm Idalia. Moody's

analytics estimates the hurricane caused between $12 billion and $20 billion worth of damage. President Biden has approved a major disaster

declaration for the hardest hit areas and he plans to tour the damage on Saturday.

The United Nations is calling for an independent investigation into protests that killed at least 43 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo

on Wednesday. The anti-U.N. protesters took to the streets of Goma in the eastern DRC where they reportedly clashed with police. A spokesperson for

the U.N. says that people have a right to express themselves freely and to assemble peacefully.

Countries around the globe continue to shatter heat records. India and Japan have dealt with a sweltering summer, both breaking records that go

back more than 100 years for the month of August, and Australia's weather bureau says the country had the warmest winter on record as well. It also

expects spring to be one of the warmest and driest in recent years. Search dogs are looking for bodies today in the burned out remains of that

Johannesburg building where more than 70 people died in Thursday's fire. Residents are picking up the pieces and trying to figure out where they go

next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WAMBALI KAUNDA, FIRE SURVIVOR (through translator): A lot of people have died and one of the deceased is my young brother. Some of us survived

because we lived on the first floor and the fire didn't reach our apartment, but the apartment next door was burned. South African President

Cyril Ramaphosa said the tragedy should serve as a wake-up call for the government regarding the city's housing crisis but the reality is that

there are no easy fixes. There are simply not enough places for people to live in Johannesburg, especially for the poor.

The city center has a number of abandoned buildings, just like the one that went up in flames, buildings that have been hijacked, to use a local term,

by criminal gangs who illegally charge rent to the migrants who live in them. Even if local officials know about the buildings, there is little

they can do because if they shut them down, there is nowhere to move the residents. Fires are common in these hijacked buildings. Many don't have

electricity, so people use candles and stoves.

Time now for The Exchange, and my next guest says this is not something that Johannesburg can solve on its own. It needs outside help. She is

Colleen Makhubele, speaker of the Johannesburg City Council. Colleen, thank you so much for being with us.

COLLEEN MAKHUBELE, SPEAKER OF COUNCIL, CITY OF JOHANNESBURG: Thank you, Zain.

ASHER: Cyril Ramaphosa said, look, this is a wake-up call. You know, this is a wake-up call. We have to really focus on the fact that something needs

to be done about these derelict, these abandoned buildings. There are about 600 of these sort of similar types of buildings across the city. Where do

we go from here? How do we ensure that we don't ever talk about something like this again?

MAKHUBELE: Thank you, Zain, and thank you to the viewers. Look, first we send our condolences to the families and we also continue to pray for

strength for the survivors. We've got a lot of them that are now in the shelters and we're trying to assist them. Where do we go from here? There

are several factors that are at play with these abandoned buildings.

First, there is a weakness within the city system in how we manage buildings that are left vacant, how we manage our contracts with tenants

that sometimes, because we don't renew their leases in time, because of the procurement processes that are long, they end up occupying those buildings

and just collecting rent for themselves. Some of the buildings that we have left abandoned because they're non-compliant, they should be demolished, et

cetera. They remain vacant and people just move in there and start to create their own homes and livelihoods and have other people come in and

rent.

[12:35:00]

So, as a city, we need to look into that. But there's a bigger problem that must also be looked into the illegal influx of immigrants in the city of

Johannesburg. The city of Johannesburg -- it is the economic hub of Africa, the center of gravity for everything. Everybody wants to come to Jobbik by

any means. And we have a housing crisis, you know, and illegal immigrants, they hide out in these vacant buildings and abandoned buildings.

And second to that, when we try to sort it out, we are, you know, hitting snakes when it comes to our justice system and the law, because our

constitution and the law makes provision to say if somebody lives in a building or in a particular place for over 48 hours, to evict them, you

must find them alternative accommodation, and you must find this alternative accommodation within 10 kilometers of where they stay.

So, the city then ends up with this burden of people then moving illegally into buildings, knowing how to exploit this provision in the law. We've

taken this particular building. In 2019, it was identified as the hijacked building. The matter was reported to the police. And because of all of

these court processes that we must go through, we were not able to evict the people. You know, it would be illegal. And they continue to --

ASHER: But you know, Colleen, Colleen, the people that you're speaking about, people who have come to Johannesburg illegally to look for

opportunities, people who have hidden out in some of these derelict buildings, those people experienced probably the worst day of their lives

yesterday. I mean, they went through something completely unthinkable, unimaginable. And so, we don't want to sit here and blame the victims for

what they have experienced.

Obviously, the city of Johannesburg has a huge responsibility in terms of making sure that these buildings have at least fire escapes, at least fire

extinguishers, that they're not just sort of left and abandoned and they're not sort of left to fall into disrepair in that way. That is what we should

be focusing, not so much on blaming people who are simply coming to Johannesburg to look for opportunities, which by the way happens

everywhere.

MAKHUBELE: I'd certainly say, I started with that to say, as a city we have a weakness in how we're managing buildings that are non-compliant,

ensuring that they are not illegally occupied. And because people see a vacant building, they watch for a month, two months, there's nothing

happening in the building, they move in. And as a city, we are not able to pick that up in time. And we are looking into that weakness in our system.

We have to deal with it.

And I'm saying, even when we do deal with it, we've got other arms of government that also fail in the process, whether it's our home affairs or

internal affairs, as you call it, immigration laws, the justice system itself. The example of that particular hijacked building, the hijacker was

caught and reported because the city then hands over to South African police. We only do to a certain extent. And the man was let loose, lack of

evidence, et cetera, and the justice system just let him go.

So, there are various issues and NGOs as well that fight for the rights of these criminals, you know, to say they've been there for more than 48

hours. You can't do this. You have to get a court order. And by the time you get all of it --

ASHER: Yeah, the thing is, the NGOs -- one of the things the NGOs are focusing on is making sure that if people are removed, are forcibly removed

from some of these buildings, that they do have a place to go, which is a huge problem in Johannesburg, because there simply aren't enough houses to

go around. There is obviously a housing shortage and a housing crisis.

So that puts the city in a very difficult position. In terms of what happens now, in terms of what happens now to some of the other derelict

buildings, what is the city doing with some of the other derelict buildings that the city is aware of where this sort of problem continues to exist.

Where does the city go from here with those buildings?

MAKHUBELE: So, we've identified now, well, we've not identified now, but we've been given a report, of course, that we're going to be doing strict

oversight on this. About 26 buildings in the inner city itself have been hijacked, and we need to now go and see the state of those buildings. Some

of them, it's even worse than the one that caught fire. And we have to now start to look at alternative accommodation for the residents of the city.

What we're also doing is talking to the different embassies.

Today, I have met with the High Commission of Tanzania and Malawi and they've agreed to come on board and assist us to say there are foreign

nationals that are here. Well, there are some that have lost their documentations in the fire, for instance, so they are going to assist them

to regain that. Those that are not documented, they'll also start the process of assisting them to get documented and then sent home in dignity

if needs be.

[12:40:00]

MAKHUBELE: And then other ones that we're going to identify. And this is an important message, Zain, that I would like to send to our business. We

are not going to at this stage take a punitive view because we don't want people to go into hiding and then they can't receive assistance. We are

going to take an approach of a corrective measure where we are saying, if you are here illegally for whatever reason, this is the opportunity to come

out.

Let us identify you, let us see with your high commissioners, your embassies, how we can correct the situation and then send you home or you

get the right documentation, et cetera, and get alternative accommodation. Because the embassies around here, you know, they're willing to assist

their foreign nationals as well to get proper housing. Because it cannot be a city's problem alone.

ASHER: Yeah.

MAKHUBELE: We don't have the budget to have everybody and give them houses within 10 -- you know, If you understand Johannesburg, 10 kilometer radars

of what we are talking about of the inner city is all of these suburbs. You know, that it's highly possible to go and get even hotels for these people

to stay in or proper housing. We have to send them sometimes to far off areas that are much more affordable and the law does not allow that.

So, those are the things that we need to correct in our legislation so that we don't end up with a situation where we are paying hotels for people that

have exploited the loophole in the law and we need to now accommodate them and pay this. This is taxpayer's money that should be used for proper

citizens and you know, an upkeep of the city, rather than having to have people do criminality, knowing that they're gonna get free housing, you

know, from the city out of it.

ASHER: Well, listen, Colleen, I know that Johannesburg is going through so much. I mean, I've spent quite a bit of time in South Africa, and I was

devastated just to wake up to the news and seeing what happened to that building in the central business district. I hope that everybody is okay. I

mean, I, you know, I'm sending a lot of love the city of Johannesburg. I know that you guys are going through a lot right now and there is so much

work to be done just in terms of helping people who need housing now. Coleen --

MAKHUBELE: We are 150 people in the shelter now and about 10 or so of them are kids, some of them are still breastfeeding, some of the people that are

in the shelters are still mourning loved ones and I must commend our corporate citizens and a lot of NGOs that have come out to give us food,

clothes, whatever -- linen, bedsheets and we encourage them to do so.

There are many more that are running away that are desolate and they need help whether psychological or health because they are afraid they will be

arrested. We are not going to arrest anybody. We want to help you. This is all our problem. I said it's a shared blame. At this stage we are just

going to help one another and correct the situation.

ASHER: Thank you for that important last point. Colleen Makhubele, live for us. Thank you so much. And we'll be right back with more.

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[12:45:00]

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ASHER: Five years ago, Paris introduced rental e-scooters on its streets, but now the French capital has officially said goodbye. It's one of the

first major European capitals to ban the battery-powered devices from its streets. In April, Parisians voted in a referendum organized by the mayor's

office after a number of e-scooter-related accidents in France. However, privately owned e-scooters are not affected.

South Africa has the most industrialized economy in the region. It attracts millions of foreign nationals, including migrant workers. Most of them come

from other parts of Africa and need a reliable way to send money home to their families. In this month's Africa Insider, we meet one of the

country's leaders in the money transfer market, Mama Money.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAYOWA KUYORO, PARTNER, MCKINSLEY NIGERIA: The technology to connect a lot of our financial systems is still maturing. There are few companies that

are helping to solve this issue of transfers on the continent. There's Mukuru in Southern Africa, Nala, Mama Money.

MATHIEU COQUILLAN, CO-FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR OF MAMA MONEY: I see FinTech as a bridge to enable the people of South Africa and the continent at large to

be able to become financially included. My name is Mathieu Coquillan, co- founder and director of Mama Money, an international money transfer operator based in Cape Town, South Africa.

The motivation to start this business was to help migrant workers who send small amounts of money home on a monthly basis, who pay ridiculous amounts

of fees to be able to do that, to be able to do it using their cell phone, very simply at a low cost, less friction and so that the money arrives home

with their loved ones reliably and efficiently.

When we initially started, we went out and interviewed thousands of potential customers and we asked them questions. How do you send money?

What does it cost? What is the money used for? And then, you know, who do you send the money to? And nine out of ten would smile and say they send

the money to their moms back home. So, in honor of the mama, we named our company Mama Money.

We started with money transfers from South Africa to Zimbabwe and now we are sending money to over 60 countries in Africa. Asia and Europe. Since we

launched in 2015, we have registered over 700,000 customers. We've completed 10 million successful transactions. We have over 3000 field

agents across the country. And we have 120 full-time staff at our head offices in Cape Town.

Our biggest achievement so far definitely has to be how we've had an influence on reducing the cost for remittances. When we started, the

average cost for someone to send $100 or $200 out of South Africa was around 15 percent. Today, it's very close to the global average of seven

percent. That's literally millions and millions of dollars extra that arrives in the mama's pockets of the people that need it most every single

year.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VOICE-OVER: Africa Insider in association with Zenith Bank.

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[12:50:00]

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ASHER: All right, we are less than a year out from the Paralympic Games in Paris, but how accessible is the French capital? CNN's Jim Bitterman did a

tour of the city to find out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BITTERMAN (voice-over): With less than a year to go before Paris hosts the next Paralympics, officials have been showing off how much work has been

done, with President Emmanuel Macron having promised 1.5 billion euros to assure the accessibility of the competition to athletes, visitors and

tourists. But accessible is a word scoffed at by some disabled like Franck Maille. Go for a tour with May, a Paralympic medal winner himself, on

Paris' most accessible public transport systems and you see the problems which face the 350,000 disabled visitors expected to attend next year's

games.

When Mike comes into the city, for instance, he uses a renovated train line equipped with elevators, making it accessible, but he points out not

accessible without help. And while there are elevators, they're sometimes hard to find or not functioning, as a disabled British visitor found out.

UNKNOWN: All of the lifts were broken, every single one.

BITTERMAN: And if the most modern subway line has problems, the 13 other older lines of the famous Paris Metro are simply impossible for disabled

users. While the metro system is no doubt the most efficient way to get around Paris, it was built more than a hundred years ago and most of the

stations are like this one, not accessible to anyone who can't get go up and down stairs.

The metro system is gradually making improvements. Officials don't believe that more than 14 percent of it will be wheelchair accessible by 2024 in

the Olympic Games. Just by comparison, Tokyo's system was 90 percent accessible for the last Olympic Games. Even the mayor of Paris admits there

are problems.

ANNE HIDALGO, MAYOR OF PARIS (through translator): The metro, which is very ancient, cannot be made totally accessible.

BITTERMAN: But the mayor quickly pivots to the brand new tramways built at ground level which shouldn't be a problem for those in wheelchairs. And she

points out the buses which are being renovated and equipped with ramps. But the disabled, who actually use the buses, say it's not that simple.

FRANCK MAILLE, APF FRANCE HANDICAP (through translator): Because, for example, sometimes the extendable ramp doesn't work, or the drivers don't

know how to use them.

BITTERMAN: While the mobility issue remains a priority, there are others. Housing, for instance. Of the tens of thousands of hotel rooms and short-

term apartment rentals in the city's historic buildings, only a tiny fraction are fully usable by people in wheelchairs. And there is the

further question of access to the bars, the bathrooms, and small businesses that are part of the Paris scene. Despite the challenges, Maille is still a

big supporter of next year's games.

MAILLE (through translator): What I say to people is come, come to see Paris, that's clear, no? But don't be surprised that Paris is not more

accessible, that it's not the best of the best because there's still so much work to be done.

BITTERMAN: Mai and other disability rights activists were hoping the games could transform not just infrastructure, but also attitudes toward the

disabled. Yet, with less than a year to go before the games, they say, that looks increasingly doubtful. Jim Bitterman, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: One of the members of the super group ABBA is 73, but that's not stopping her from relaunching her solo career.

[12:55:00]

("WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE" BY AGNETHA FALTSKOG PLAYING)

ASHER: That's Agnetha Faltskog with her new single, "Where Do We Go From Here?". She soared to fame with ABBA in the 1970s but was a successful

singer in Sweden before that. ABBA has rebounded from retirement with its own new album, "Voyage", and a virtual concert show, as well. Agnetha's new

song is included in a reimagining of her 2013 album called "A". She says it was made with a good feeling and that she's thankful she still has her

voice.

You may have never heard about her, but Nune (ph) Nouri signed on with Warner Music Germany, and it is a big deal because she's a virtual avatar,

and the first digital figure to release a single and get a record deal. Her debut is called Domino's.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: According to Warner Music, Nouri hopes her debut song can build a bridge between the digital and the analog worlds. Watch out, Taylor Swift

and other pop stars. A famous song says, video kill the radio star. So, the question is, will A.I. kill music stars?

All right. Thank you so much for watching ONE WORLD. I'm Zain Asher. "AMANPOUR" live from Ukraine is up next. So, please stay tuned for that.

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END