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One World with Zain Asher
Trump Declares Himself "The Father Of IVF"; U.K. Considers Sanctions Against Far-Right Israeli Ministers; U.S. Demands Israel Improve Gaza Humanitarian Situation; Time Is Running Out To Save Innocent Trapped In Conflict; New Push To Re-Examine Menendez Brothers' Case; Fox News Features Town Hall With Trump, Female Voters; Conspiracy Theories Target Wisconsin Ballot Drop Boxes; South African Cities Lead The way On Tech Startup Scene; Nigerian Town Seeks UNESCO Status For World Twins Festival; Aired 12:00- 1:00p ET
Aired October 16, 2024 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[12:00:27]
ZAIN ASHER, CNN HOST: All right. We are officially three weeks away and the clock is ticking.
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST: We're counting down the days. ONE WORLD starts right now.
In the last hour, we saw Donald Trump take questions from an audience filled with only female voters. Former president calling himself the father
of IVF.
ASHER: Also ahead, the latest from the Middle East. The U.K. says it's considering sanctioning Israel's Minister of Security.
GOLODRYGA: And later, new evidence in one of the most notorious cases of the 20th century. Could Lyle and Erik Menendez actually be freed?
Hello, everyone. Live from New York, I'm Bianna Golodryga.
ASHER: And I'm Zain Asher. You are watching ONE WORLD.
All right. With no clear leader in the U.S. presidential race, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are trying to expand their support and reach key
undecided voters in the remaining days of the campaigns.
Last hour, the former president appeared on Fox News in a town hall event aimed at courting women voters. That's a block that he is desperate to try
to win over. He addressed a number of issues, including the economy, crime, safety, and abortion.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: This issue has torn this country apart for 52 years. So we got it back in the states. We have a vote
of the people. And it's working its way through the system. And ultimately, it's going to be the right thing. And IVF, you had mentioned before IVF.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right. Let's get this question.
TRUMP: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because I believe that's what this is about.
TRUMP: Oh, I want to talk about IVF. I'm the father --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't hear that everyday.
TRUMP: I'm the father -- I'm the father of IVF. So I want to hear this question.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Kamala Harris, meantime, will be joined by more than 100 Republicans who back her candidacy at a campaign rally later today in
Pennsylvania. It is being described as a bipartisan call to put country above party.
She will also appear in her first interview this election season with Fox News later today.
ASHER: CNN's Steve Contorno joins us live now. So, you had Donald Trump doing this town hall on Fox News addressing women voters. It was a friendly
audience, but he's chosen this strategy over doing another debate with Kamala Harris.
Is that the right strategy, especially if he's trying to win over independents?
STEVE CONTORNO, REPORTER: Well, he's certainly trying to address one of the central concerns of his campaign heading into this final stretch, and that
is the gender gap that has persisted on the Republican side, really going back to the fall of Roe v. Wade in the United States.
You have seen Donald Trump and Republicans trailing Democrats with women voters ever since that Supreme Court ruling. And that has been only
intensified when the Democratic Party switched their candidate Biden to Kamala Harris.
And so that is why he was attempting to reach out to female voters yesterday and suggesting that he was, quote, the father of IFV (ph), as he
said in that clip you just played.
Obviously, that's a striking declaration, given that he is the person who put the Supreme Court justices in place that could potentially lead to
states banning in vitro fertilization.
In fact, Vice President Harris' campaign, on Twitter, quickly pointed that out saying, quote, his abortion bans have already jeopardized access to IVF
in states across the country.
And at this town hall, Trump was also asked about his recent remarks that he would go after, quote, the enemy from within if he is elected. Take a
listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They're very, very different. And it is the enemy from within, and they're very dangerous.
They're dangerous for our country. We have China, we have Russia. We have all these countries. If you have a smart president, they can all be
handled.
The more difficult are, you know, the Pelosis, these people, they're so sick, and they're so evil.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CONTORNO: Harris' campaign has not only pushed back against those remarks, but they took that original clip of him saying that and played it at the
rally just to give their voters and her supporters a sense of the stakes of this election.
ASHER: All right, Steve Contorno, live for us there. Thank you.
GOLODRYGA: Well, a stark accusation from the Lebanese prime minister today. He says Israel intentionally targeted a municipal building in Southern
Lebanon while officials were holding a meeting on emergency relief.
[12:05:04]
ASHER: Yes. The city's mayor was among six people killed in the airstrike. The IDF says it was targeting a Hezbollah weapon stockpile in an
underground storage facility.
GOLODRYGA: And the southern town of Qana, rescuers were looking through the ruins, searching for the victims of an Israeli airstrike Tuesday. Israel
also pounded the southern suburbs of Beirut after a short reprieve amid U.S. concerns about the rising civilian toll in Lebanon.
ASHER: The U.S. is also urging Israel to address the catastrophic humanitarian positions in Gaza. The Biden administration sent a letter to
the Israeli government demanding that it act within the next 30 days.
Meantime --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SIREN)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Hezbollah launched a barrage of rockets into Northern Israel overnight once again. The IDF did not report any injuries.
Now, this comes as Britain is considering sanctions against two Israeli far-right ministers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ED DAVEY, BRITISH LIBERAL DEMOCRAT MP: After my visit to Israel and Palestine last February, having witnessed the damage that these extremist
ministers in the Netanyahu government are doing, I called on the last government to sanction them.
The last government refused, but we now learn that the former Foreign Secretary was considering this.
So will the prime minister now sanction Ministers Ben-Gvir and Smotrich?
KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We are looking at that because there are obviously abhorrent comments, as he rightly says, along with other
really concerning activity in the West Bank, but also across the region.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: All right. CNN's Jeremy Diamond joins us now from Jerusalem.
And, Jeremy, if I can just go back to that letter, that rare public rebuke from the United States, from Secretary of State Blinken and Secretary of
Defense Austin to their counterparts in Israel, saying that Israel has 30 days to provide evidence that they are indeed providing food and resources
to Gazans at the risk of withholding military assistance.
Today, we also hold -- heard from Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. Secretary of State. ambassador to the U.S., speaking before the Security
Council where she said, the government of Israel has said that this is not their policy, that food and other essential supplies will not be cut off.
And we will be watching to see that Israel's actions on the ground match this statement.
What more are we hearing from the Israeli government in response to this letter?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, we have seen a lot of efforts by COGAT, which is the Israeli agency charged with allowing that
humanitarian aid into Gaza, coordinating it with humanitarian relief agencies.
They have been posting images of the aid that has been getting in, and clearly there appears to be an uptick in recent days in the amount of aid
getting in. It's still not enough, according to the United Nations and other nonprofit organizations involved in this relief effort, but it does
show that the Israelis are taking the American pressure seriously.
Whether or not they take it as seriously as the United States is demanding is an entirely different question, because we saw in this letter, the
United States is calling for some very, very specific and actionable steps to be taken by the Israeli government including 350 trucks per day going
into Gaza through all four crossings opening a fifth crossing.
There's just a slew of demands here. And what's different about this demand by the United States which certainly isn't the first one that we have seen
from then regarding humanitarian aid is that it is also tying a potential consequence. And that consequence is being laid out quite clearly in terms
of potentially withholding future military aid to Israel, not supplying certain weapons to Israel as a result of Israel not doing enough on the
humanitarian aid front.
So, you know, the Israelis are clearly taking this seriously. Whether they will actually comply with all of those steps remains to be seen.
GOLODRYGA: All right. Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much.
ASHER: A lot of issues to talk about with CNN's global affairs analyst Mark Esper. He was the former defense secretary under Donald Trump.
Mark, thank you so much for being with us. I just want to start with your thoughts really just about the U.S. essentially demanding that Israel
drastically improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza. Otherwise, arms to Israel by the U.S. will indeed be limited. Your thoughts on that.
MARK ESPER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, it's not a new message, per se. We've heard President Biden and others in his administration say this
many times before in the previous months. In fact, going probably all the way back to late last year.
What is interesting, of course, is that the stipulation put on it that they would have to cut off arms if certain metrics weren't met after 30 days.
Now, conveniently, and I think this is part of the politics that's driving this, that deadline doesn't happen until a week or so after the US
election. So it allows President Biden to do a couple things.
[12:10:01]
One is to shore up what appears to be some flattening support in the state of Michigan for Vice President Kamala Harris. Of course, Michigan has a
very high concentration of Arab-Americans who are dissatisfied with U.S. policy toward Israel with regard to the Palestinians and Gaza.
But at the same time, again, it puts it on the backside of that election. So if he -- if he, President Biden, does want to do something, which I find
it unlikely that he's going to cut off arms supplies while Israel is not just facing off against Hamas, but Hezbollah and potentially Iran by then
as well, it does put something on it on the back end as well.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. And this comes at the time that the U.S. has announced that it is sending the THAAD, missile defense battery program, to Israel, the
strongest of its kind in the world. And this is where anticipating Israel's response to Iran's unprecedented barrage of some 200 ballistic missiles.
Two weeks ago, CNN is reporting per Israeli sources that Israel has come up with its plan, that it has a plan in place as to what their action will be.
Now, we know, Mark, that it won't be an attack on their nuclear facilities or their oil facilities, at least as of yet, instead perhaps military
targets.
Can you give us a sense of what their options could be?
ESPER: Sure. Well, look, first of all, I don't know why they would ever take options or target lists off the table. I don't know why they did that,
but there was clearly some politics involved between Israel and the United States at the highest level with regard to that.
So I think it depends on what they're trying to achieve. Since they've taken the nuclear target off and the oil targets. I think that means
they're not going after a strategic -- after a strategic outcome or an economic outcome, so it's military.
I would assume that they would go after ballistic missile launcher sites, launchers, production facilities, things like that, which represent
probably the greatest threat that Israel -- I'm sorry, that Iran presents to Israel, which is long-range ballistic missiles.
That also explains, of course, why the United States is delivering a THAAD anti-ballistic missile launch system to Israel, to help with the -- what
would presumably be a counterattack by the Iranians using really the only means they have left conventionally to attack the Israelis.
ASHER: And, Mark, just pivoting slightly to U.S. politics, Donald Trump saying recently that the U.S. military should handle the enemy from within,
referencing folks like Adam Schiff, for example, as a potential enemy.
I mean, obviously, Donald Trump doesn't really have the authority to sort of use the National Guard and the U.S. military against U.S. citizens per
se, but just as a defense secretary, your reaction to those comments by a former U.S. president.
ESPER: Well, you're correct on the first point. I'm not a lawyer, but my understanding is, of course, he's prescribed from using the active duty
military in a law enforcement role within the borders of the United States.
Now, there are a few exceptions there. You've seen it in terms of United States military providing surveillance, for example, on the southern
border. But otherwise, there's a prescription on doing that.
But, look, I'm really troubled by it for a number of reasons. First of all, the fact the impact would have on those Americans that were targeted would
be number one. Number two would my concern that would -- it would break the bonds and the trust between the United States military, which is less than
one recent of the population and the other 330 some million Americans. It would break that bond between the military and the civilians they serve and
protect.
And then third, I'd be very concerned about the institution of the military. It's remaining apolitical and it's not getting involved in
domestic matters such as this.
And then, of course, the individuals within the military, the uniform, how it would impact them, their ethics, their duties and responsibilities. So
I'm concerned about this on multiple levels.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. You say you take it seriously. And you said that to Kaitlan Collins this week, just speaking from experience, what you saw when you
were serving as defense secretary under the Trump administration.
Mark Esper, thank you so much.
ASHER: Thank you.
GOLODRYGA: Well, more than a year into the conflict in Gaza, civilians have suffered the most on all sides.
Jomana Karadsheh examines the human cost of this conflict. And a warning that her report contains disturbing video.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Trapped in the nightmare that is Gaza are the innocent who did not choose this war, and time is
running out to save their lives.
Oded Lifschitz turned 84 in Hamas captivity. The great grandfather was shot and injured on October 7th by militants who stormed his home in Kibbutz
near Oz, the site of one of the worst massacres of that day.
He was separated from his wife of more than 60 years. 86-year-old Yocheved was also abducted, thrown onto the back of a motorbike in her nightgown
before being released days later by Hamas.
For more than a year, Sharone hasn't stopped fighting for the release of her father and the other hostages.
[12:15:03]
SHARONE LIFSCHITZ, DAUGHTER OF HOSTAGE: We are so exhausted and so heartbroken again and again. We don't have the luxury of giving up.
KARADSHEH (voice-over): Their hopes for a ceasefire deal that would secure the release of the hostages shattered over and over again by failed
negotiations. And now with Israel's new war in Lebanon, the world's attention appears to be shifting. It is, for all involved, a race against
time.
LIFSCHITZ: We are losing this race. Anybody who's interested in history see people that are caught in the tide of time, in political, military,
fanatical regimes that are putting their own survival or their own agenda above human lives. And I feel that we now know what it feels.
KARADSHEH (voice-over): Human lives turned into political pawns with no escape in this hell on earth, where life has become a slow death for those
who survived the devastating bombardment.
An Israeli strike left 14-year-old Mohammed (ph) with severe burns all over his body. An Israel siege left doctors with very little to save lives, with
not enough supplies to sterilize wounds.
When we filmed with him, his wounds were infested with maggots that fell to the floor every time his dressings were changed. A week after filming,
Mohammed died.
It was too late for him, but thousands of others in urgent need of medical evacuation could be saved, yet only a fraction of them have been allowed
out by Israeli authorities in recent months.
Baby Jihad (ph) can barely breathe and feed. A growing tumor is compressing his tiny heart. His mother Tamara struggles to hold it together, as she
tries to comfort her boy.
Today, he's going into surgery to try and save his life because he can't be evacuated, she says. I just want my son to get better. There are no
specialists available in Gaza, and they don't have the medical equipment they need. The doctors say they have no choice but to operate to try and
keep him alive.
These are children. They're not carrying weapons, Tamara says. Why can't he be evacuated?
Against all odds, the four-month-old made it through the surgery, but now lives on borrowed time. More than a month later, he's still suffering from
weight loss, diarrhea, vomiting and fever. His mother is pleading the international community for treatment abroad. Palestinian and Israeli lives
that could be saved with a deal, if only there were the political will.
More than 100 hostages are still being held in Gaza. The Israeli military's admitted mistakenly killing three of them. It's also said it is most likely
responsible for the death of at least three others.
And in recent weeks, Hamas executed six hostages as Israeli forces closed in.
LIFSCHITZ: These were young people that had every chance of survival and have survived almost a year. It's heartbreaking. It's a failure.
We have been in the burning house since the 7th of October. And we have been screaming that the flames are rising and that they're going to consume
more and more people.
We have been saying that a military pressure is killing the hostages. Oded Lifschitz is a man who's long believed in peace that now seems like a more
distant dream than ever.
LIFSCHITZ: My father used to drive Palestinians regularly from the border in Gaza to hospitals in Israel and the West Bank. And I think that there is
a lesson in it. And the lesson is in, how do we share in humanity?
KARADSHEH: If your father could hear you now, what would you say to him?
LIFSCHITZ: Forgive us. Forgive us. We have tried so hard. We hear your voice in our hearts. And that we try what we can. We try the way he tried
all his life. He tried for many years to avert this disaster, and it's befalling us.
I hear him now saying, work for peace, work for the possibility of humans in this region to live together.
KARADSHEH (voice-over): Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:20:51]
GOLODRYGA: In Nigeria, a deadly accident underscores the country's devastating economic crisis and skyrocketing fuel prices.
ASHER: The police say the driver of a fuel tanker, look at these images, lost control, overturned and landed in a drainage ditch late on Tuesday.
They say that at least 105 people were killed and dozens more injured when the tanker exploded as local villagers tried to gather up the spilled fuel.
GOLODRYGA: Turning to the U.S., the family of Lyle and Erik Menendez is pushing to have the brothers released from prison. Several family members
have traveled to Los Angeles for a news briefing in the coming hours, as prosecutors review what's being called bombshell new evidence.
ASHER: Yes. The Menendez brothers were convicted of killing their parents at their Beverly Hills home more than 30 years ago. Now, the Los Angeles
District attorney confirms a letter by Erik Menendez detailing alleged sexual abuse that he endured at the hands of his father.
GOLODRYGA: We want to bring in CNN's Jean Casarez with more on the new evidence. And this is a case that dominated the headlines for years at the
time, Jean Casarez. Walk us through what this new evidence is.
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this new evidence, and technically to the lay person, to you and me, it is new evidence. We've never heard of
this evidence. But to the court, it's potential new evidence, because this is a letter that was found after the trial.
I looked in the court documents. Where did this letter come from? It was found by the aunt of Erik Menendez. He had sent it to his cousin. And the
letter itself talks about many things. It's three pages long, but it talks about in one part about what he says is the abuse that his father is giving
to him to substantiate that defense, right? And it was not around during the trial.
And part of it says, you know, I never know when it's going to happen, it's driving me crazy, every night I stay up thinking he might come in. I need
to put it out of my mind. I know what you said before, but I'm afraid you just don't know dad like I do.
Now, a court is going to have to look at this because there's no date on this letter at all. Where does it come from really? So it is potentially
new evidence being referred to by everybody as new evidence, but a judge has to deem it to be new evidence.
[12:25:08]
But what the defense said last year in a legal petition that they wrote to the court was that this is new evidence. And this shows that everything
they're saying was true. And because this could have influenced the jury way back when, when this trial was going on in 1996, they should be
resentenced, allotted a new trial or have the conviction vacated completely.
Now, let's put together that with the Netflix reenactment that everybody is watching right now. Kim Kardashian went to the prison with one of the
actors in that to talk to the Menendezes themselves.
Rosie O'Donnell is going to be out with the family that was going to have a press conference today saying that they want them out by Thanksgiving.
And then you've got George Gascon, who is the district attorney of Los Angeles, who is running for reelection. It's a very contested race right
now, according to "Los Angeles Times." And he is coming out saying that he wants to look at the case, but you can tell he's basically advocating for
their release.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You could see when they were younger that there was these two lively, fun children, young boys, who just became sadder and
sadder through the years.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Menudo star --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- said that Jose molested him in his home, in that home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not surprising.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: Now, this is something else, and this potentially could be, in my opinion, even stronger than the letter, because the letter can be
interpreted different ways.
One of the members of Menudo is saying that when he was a young teen that he was sexually molested and assaulted by Jose Menendez, the father of the
boys.
Remember, he was in the record business. They were very wealthy. They lived in Beverly Hills. And that wasn't available during the trial. So that right
there could be very, very strong.
But we cannot forget what the jury convicted on. This was a premeditated murder, according to what the jurors said. The brothers talked for a long
time that they wanted to kill their parents, figuring out how they were going to do it. They went to go get a gun in Beverly Hills. They couldn't
get it. They went to Orange County, California. There was a waiting period. That didn't work.
So they drove to San Diego County, which is about three hours away from Beverly Hills. They bought the shotguns. They had them in their car. They
planned it out. The parents were watching TV one night on the sofa in the living room. They came in and they literally blew their heads off. And
when the mother they thought was still alive, they just plummeted her with even more bullets.
And that brings up one point before we end. I've got to tell you this. There's two life sentences here, right? One life sentence is for the
father. The other one is for the mother. Now, they said they killed their mother because she knew about it.
In reading this letter, there's a point where he talks about his mother and he says, you know, I'd really like to talk to my mother about this, but she
tells my dad everything and I just don't think I can trust that we could keep it in confidence. Did the mother actually know what was happening?
So there's two sentences the judge is going to have to look at here. And you can't necessarily put them together, although the defense will push for
that.
GOLODRYGA: It's fascinating to see how once again a new docuseries or documentary, very high-profile trials from decades ago, is now not only
bringing renewed interest in these cases.
ASHER: Right. Just like serials, right?
GOLODRYGA: But perhaps new evidence as well.
Jean Casarez, thank you so much.
ASHER: It's dominated. I mean, I'm not even -- I wasn't even born or raised in the U.S.
GOLODRYGA: You knew exactly every detail almost.
ASHER: And everybody of my generation knows about the Menendez brothers and how that one of them confessed to their therapist. And that was what ended
up leading them to be charged with the killing of their parents.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. Still to come for us, absentee ballot drop boxes played a big part in the 2020 election, but some voters remain skeptical over how
secure they are creating controversy this time around.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOUG DINY, MAYOR OF WAUSAU, WISCONSIN: This is a hot button item. The agenda was changed way last night.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not proper. Point of order.
DINY: What is your point of order?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My point of order is you're out of order.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:30:45]
ASHER: All right. Welcome back to ONE WORLD. I'm Zain Asher.
GOLODRYGA: And I'm Bianna Golodryga.
With just 20 days to go until the U.S. presidential election, Republican nominee Donald Trump is spending some of his remaining days on the campaign
trail trying to court female voters.
Last hour, the former president was part of a town hall event on Fox News addressing issues important to women, including the economy, crime, safety,
and abortion.
He also declared himself the father of IVF, a fertility treatment that has come under threat following the Supreme Court's 2022 decision to overturn
Roe vs. Wade.
ASHER: Yes. Kamala Harris, meantime, will be joined later today by more than 100 Republicans who back her candidacy at a campaign rally in the key
swing state of Pennsylvania. It's been described as a bipartisan call to put country above party.
The event is also part of Harris' effort to draw a contrast between herself and Donald Trump, a point she continues to make on the campaign trail.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's two very different visions for our nation. One
mind that is about taking us forward and progress and investing the American people, investing in their ambitions, dealing with their
challenges.
And the other, Donald Trump, is about taking us backward.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD, AMERICAN RADIO HOST: The other is about fascism. Why can't we just say it?
HARRIS: Yes, we can say that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Maura Gillespie joins us now. She's the founder and principal of Bluestack Strategies, a political consulting and public relations firm.
Maura, thank you so much for joining us.
It's interesting that we heard the former president speak before town hall of female voters in Georgia. What did you make about his claim that he is
the father of IVF? The weird wording aside, just the fact that he still can't find a specific narrative to take when it comes to the issue of
reproductive rights and freedoms?
MAURA GILLESPIE, FOUNDER, BLUESTACK STRATEGIES: To me, it comes across very tone-deaf because I don't believe that former President Trump really knows,
one, how to message or speak to women. He uses terms like that because it's ego-fluffing for him.
He talked about being the father of IVF, that everyone wanted him to do what he did with Roe v. Wade. Everyone wanted it. They just didn't do it.
He talks about the most bestest, the most beautiful, the best. He just talks in these terms that isn't actually telling us how and what he would
do.
[12:35:13]
And, unfortunately, it's not serving us as the voting population, helping us figure out which way to go with our votes coming up here and that are
happening now and in the next few weeks. But I don't think that it was as great as he thinks it may have gone for him.
ASHER: And sometimes, just speaking of tone-deaf, sometimes his appeals to women are straight up awkward. So back on September 23rd in Indiana, he
essentially said to women, you will be protected. I will be your protector. Women will be healthy, happy, confident and free. You will no longer be
thinking about abortion.
So it just really speaks to his inability to message effectively on this issue and other issues as well.
GILLESPIE: And is that really what we need is a man to come in and tell us is going to save the day for us? No.
Women make up more than half the population now. We have long been fighting for equality and to have a equal, you know, a seat at the table. We don't
just want a seat. We want to be considered and run the table, quite frankly.
But he continued to talk in terms of I'll help you. I'll make things better for you. Not saying how, because I don't think he truly understands the
issues that are impacting women. And again, by talking in terms of not being direct about how he would handle women's health isn't helping us and
only talking in big terms does not get women the confidence.
And to be honest, his background and his past comments about women and how he treats women doesn't really bode well for women wanting to go out and
vote for him. I'm not going to go out and vote for against myself, essentially. And that would, for me, what a vote for Donald Trump would be
a vote against myself.
And I think that for Republicans, I'm a Republican, and I really want to just say this very quickly. You don't have to vote for Donald Trump. You
can vote Republican down ballot, but you do not have to vote for Donald Trump. You don't have to vote for Kamala Harris. You can write in. But you
don't have to vote for Donald Trump to stay a Republican. And I wish more Republicans would go out there and say that.
GOLODRYGA: It's interesting, Maura, because Sarah Longwell, the executive director of Republican Voters Against Trump, called 2024 the most gendered
election she has seen yet, especially among younger voters.
I'm curious what you make of that, why that's the case, and who you think stands to benefit more. Because we've also been focusing on Kamala Harris
struggling to gain more support among men, particularly black men or men that don't have a college education.
GILLESPIE: There is still a deep-seated idea that -- and I think that unfortunately we've come a long way, but I don't think that we're there
yet, but there are just people in this country who will not vote for a woman for president, no matter how qualified or credentialed she may be.
That just isn't the -- I think in some ways, the country isn't prepared to do that yet. I wish they would be.
I think, you know, as a little girl, I always thought, I'll be the first female president, or, you know, so-and-so will be the first female
president. It's important that we have these dreams, and I want young girls to see this, you know, finally happen.
At some point in my lifetime, I would really like for this to happen. But I do think to your point, this gender divide and what Sarah Longwell has
said, she's not wrong. Obviously, she does these focus groups probably better than anyone.
And the unfortunate reality is that there are just some people in this country who will not vote to elect a woman to the -- to the highest office
of the land.
ASHER: And what do you think about --
GILLESPIE: Despite the fact that women are better at handling multiple things, you know, which are multitasked pretty well. I think that women are
very qualified.
ASHER: You know, while we do talk about women being particularly motivated by issues like abortion, reproductive rights, IVF, et cetera, it is
important to remember that women are not this close sort of monolithic, you know, one issue voting bloc. And they are affected by the same issues that
affect male voters, be it inflation, the economy, the border crisis, immigration, that sort of thing.
When it comes to the economy, because obviously in this town hall with Harris Faulkner, a lot of the questions were actually about the economy,
let's be honest.
When it comes to the economy, how much of an advantage does Donald Trump have with white, you know, suburban, working class women?
GILLESPIE: Quite a bit. You know, Republicans are largely viewed as better on the economy. And so going into it with that, you already have sort of an
advantage.
And again, you know, I think that people have mistrust with both sides, with Kamala Harris. They don't know exactly if they can trust because she
is part of the current administration. She's currently vice president. And they're not feeling as though they're able to get ahead, you know, not only
with the inflation and grocery prices and things of that nature, but also housing.
You know, to buy a home is really hard. And both candidates have talked about it. More to Kamala Harris has come out her versions of plans. Donald
Trump talking about tariffs. I think it's being misrepresented in a lot of ways because both plans, by all accounts, would be pretty costly.
So, you know, I think that there's a level of trust. Some may have more trust in Republicans just generally.
[12:40:00]
But with Donald Trump specifically, he doesn't know what it feels like not to be able to afford groceries. He doesn't know what it feels like not to
be able to afford a home. So I don't know that we can, as a society, and as a country, relate as much, nor can he relate to us.
So when he talks just in, I'll fix everything, I'll make it better, day one, we've got to really caution ourselves not to just want to believe that
because it sounds nice, but really look into how would that happen.
GOLODRYGA: All right. Maura Gillespie, thank you so much. As we noted, Kamala Harris will be giving an interview to Fox News --
ASHER: Yes.
GOLODRYGA: -- later today and --
ASHER: We'll be watching that.
GOLODRYGA: -- we'll be bringing you the latest in covering that for you tomorrow as well.
GILLESPIE: Absolutely.
ASHER: All right. Voting worries and conspiracy theories are simmering across the U.S. in the final weeks before the November election.
GOLODRYGA: And the battleground state of Wisconsin, the debate over whether ballot drop boxes are secure has led to some tense moments.
CNN's Sara Murray has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are fed up with politicians using conspiracy theories. No matter which party you support. Drop boxes are safe. They are
reliable and secure.
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: We're waiting for this city council meeting just started. On one side, we've got people who are in
favor of the drop box and the other side we've got people who are skeptical about the drop box. They want it to go away.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our politics. Like I can't even --
MURRAY: The cops are here to keep the two sides separate.
MURRAY (voice-over): The battle over whether ballot drop boxes are safe is playing out across the country.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no one monitoring at Fox.
MURRAY: Here in Wausau, Wisconsin, tension is building after Mayor Doug Diny put on a hard hat and wheeled away the city's drop box.
DINY: This is a hot button item. The agenda was changed late last night.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not proper. Point of order.
DINY: What is your point of order?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My point of order is you're out of order.
MURRAY: After Diny wheeled the drop box away, the city clerk who administers elections reported it to local authorities.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The State Justice Department is now investigating the city's mayor.
Ballot Dropbox security is an issue on which he campaigned.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am very embarrassed for our city.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is just one more example of a deep state right at work in Little Wausau.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Arguing about a box is dumb, and it's decadent.
MURRAY: Wisconsin has been battling over where you can return your ballot for years.
In 2020, they had drop boxes. In 2022, they weren't allowed. In 2024, the makeup of the state Supreme Court changed. It's more liberal. And now drop
boxes are back.
TRUMP: We want to get rid of fake drop boxes. They're a fake.
MURRAY: I'm Sara Murray with CNN. Can we just --
DINY: Hi. Mind if I come around?
I brought it inside because it was -- it was unsecured.
For all I know, somebody could have grabbed it, thrown it in the river. Now we would have a real crime on our hands.
MURRAY: Some of those people are saying you might have done something illegal in moving the box.
DINY: No, absolutely not.
MURRAY: Do you think that?
DINY: Nope.
MURRAY: Have you heard anything about all of these, you know, investigations that --
DINY: No.
MURRAY: -- may be related to this?
DINY: No.
MURRAY: No, you haven't heard anything. Do you regret moving it?
DINY: You know, there's a saying that dogs don't bark at parked cars. I've had to get attention here from time to time to upset the status quo.
MURRAY (voice-over): Now that the Dropbox is in use, it's secured to the ground, locked and emptied by officials daily.
TRUMP: These drop boxes are fraudulent. Therefore, they get -- they disappear and then all of a sudden they show up. It's fraudulent.
MURRAY (voice-over): Drop boxes have become a magnet for misinformation. The issue came up again during Trump's rally in Juneau, Wisconsin.
So, how did you end up on stage at the Trump rally?
DALE SCHMIDT, SHERIFF OF DODGE COUNTY, WISCONSIN: Really was just a call up from the president.
I have something very important I think you're going to want to hear. In Dodge County, in this 2024 election, there are zero drop boxes for the
election.
(CROWD CHEERING)
MURRAY (voice-over): Sheriff Dale Schmidt successfully discouraged some municipal clerks from using drop boxes.
But a handful remain in Dodge County, despite his warnings.
SCHMIDT: If we have an area of the law which is constantly being subverted, we're going to find ways to put roadblocks in the way of individuals that
are going to break the law.
MURRAY: You're suggesting that, you know, the ballot boxes are constantly being subverted and there's just -- there is not proof to back that up.
SCHMIDT: There is the appearance that it is occurring and we are making sure that it's not going to happen.
MURRAY: But you are not an election official, so why should your doubts about the election set the tone for how this whole county should vote?
SCHMIDT: Because I have to investigate the crimes that happen if they happen and my efforts --
MURRAY: If they happen, but they haven't been reported yet.
SCHMIDT: Well, we have election law violation that happens just about every time around.
So when election law is violated, I have to investigate that.
MURRAY (voice-over): In a county Trump won by 30 points in 2020, Schmidt says the local community is with him.
[12:45:00]
SCHMIDT: But I'm very well supported by our constituency here. Do I answer to the rest of the country? No, I don't. I answer to my voters here in
Dodge County.
MURRAY (voice-over): Sara Murray, CNN, Juneau, Wisconsin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: We'll be right back with more after the short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: South African cities are leading the way as the tech startup scene in Africa kicks into high gear.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. 22 on Sloane is Johannesburg -- in Johannesburg is the largest hub for entrepreneurship on the continent.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Necessity is the mother of invention. We're going to have to rely on entrepreneurs and we're going to have to rely on our
startups.
But we can't have startups that build for Silicon Valley. It must be something that is usable on our continent.
KIZITO OKECHUKWU, EXECUTIVE HEAD, 22 ON SLOANE STARTUP CAMPUS IN JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA: Ten years ago, a lot of people on the continent
didn't even know the concept of startups.
Today, the numbers are staggering. Just last year, startups raised $3.2 billion. The year before 2022, they raised $5 billion.
Now, as a young person, you have a great idea, there is an opportunity for you.
My name is Kizito Okechukwu, the executive head at 22 on Sloane Startup Campus in Johannesburg, South Africa.
22 on Sloane is a startup campus that supports startups and SMEs with access to markets, access to capital through our partner funds.
We support them with capacity building program that will help them to look at their business cases, business model, to be able to launch or scale
their businesses and to create much needed jobs in Africa's economy.
We've had many wins, but also we've had many failures, right? As a startup campus, you see a lot -- a lot of young people with ideas coming into the
campus. They believe that their idea can change the world.
And what we do with that is that we also need to believe that with them. A lot of them don't succeed, but they learn from that. But also we've had
good few successes.
One of the great successes is like, one of the SMEs that received grants from us, and now they're employing over 40 people. We've supported over a
thousand entrepreneurs, and these thousand entrepreneurs have gone on to generate revenue of over a billion rands, which is around $80 million.
[12:50:03]
The National Development Plan intends that SMEs in South Africa will contribute 80 percent to the GDP by 2030 and create 90 percent of all jobs
in South Africa. So that means we have to create over 100,000 SMEs every single year over the next seven years. So that is our big target now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: The World Twins Festival in Nigeria might have you doing a double take. The town of Igbo-Ora in the southwestern part of the country comes
alive with music and merriment when the festival comes to town.
But behind the celebrating, it's actually a serious goal to gain UNESCO status for a unique annual event.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: No, you are not seeing double. This is the annual Twins Festival in Nigeria. Twins of all ages gather in matching clothes, parade around the
festival to eat, dance, and celebrate their likeness.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I had a special interest for twins when we were young. I'm the only one that's not a twin among my mother's children. My mother
had twins five times. I used to be happy when I saw them. So I hoped that when I also have twins, I will endow them with the same clothes and same
shoes.
ASHER: The festival takes place in the town of Igbo-Ora. Twins are very common in the Yoruba ethnic group in southwestern Nigeria.
Traditionally, Yoruba twins are named Kehinde or Taiwo, depending on who is born first. But the town of Igbo-Ora is even more exceptional. It seems
there's at least one set of twins in every family.
OBA JIMOH OLAJIDE TITILOYE, KING OF IGBO-ORA: All the household here, or each house, each compound, has twins in their midst. And this is a --
something unique that if you look at it you see so many kind, they're looking at your direction.
ASHER: Researchers suggest that genetic factors are likely responsible for the high rate of twin births.
But locals have a tastier explanation. Many link the twin births to okra leaf and amala, a local dish made from yam and cassava flour.
MOJISOLA ADEDIGBA, HERBALIST (through translator): After eating it, power will come and the stomach will be strengthened.
ASHER: According to the festival founder, about 2,000 set of twins have attended the festival in the past years. They aim to set a Guinness World
Record for the largest twin gathering and be recognized as a UNESCO Cultural Heritage event.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[12:55:07]
ASHER: And speaking of twins, you may be wondering why Bianna and I are twins, both wearing pink today. My colleagues and I at CNN are actually
wearing pink in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month every October and for all those fighting breast cancer around the world.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. So get your checks, everyone watching. Encourage your friends and family members to be aware of the risks and how to protect
yourself from breast cancer.
ASHER: Yes. Those checks are really important.
And that does it for us this hour of ONE WORLD. I'm Zain Asher.
GOLODRYGA: And I'm Bianna Golodryga. Thanks for watching. Don't go anywhere. I'll be right back after the break with "AMANPOUR."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
