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One World with Zain Asher
Rebel Leader Urges Syrians Not To Fire Shots In Celebration; Slain Syrian Activist Mazen Al-Hamada laid To Rest; How Trump Will Change U.S. Policy Toward Ukraine; Injured Nancy Pelosi Admitted To Luxembourg Hospital; Congressman Wants More Info About Mystery Drones; Mangione Faces Second-Degree Murder Charge In New York; CNN Talks To The Siblings Of Two Hostages Being Held In Gaza; Human Cell Research In Space May Reveal Secrets Of Aging;Aired 12-1p ET
Aired December 13, 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 ANCHOR: Friday prayers ring out across Syria after the fall of the Assad regime.
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: ONE WORLD starts right now.
Scenes of jubilation across the country as Syria's neighbors discuss a new approach following the fall of the Assad regime.
ASHER: And Ukraine in the dark after Russia strikes major energy infrastructure as President-elect Trump criticizes Ukraine's strikes deep
inside Russia.
GOLODRYGA: Plus, new urgency in the push towards a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza. We'll speak to the families of two hostages desperate to reunite
with their loved ones after more than 400 days apart.
Hello, everyone. Live from New York, I'm Bianna Golodryga.
ASHER: And I'm Zain Asher. You are watching ONE WORLD.
I want to begin with people across Syria celebrating the fall of the Assad regime.
GOLODRYGA: The euphoria comes on this, the first Friday since Bashar al- Assad fled the country. Friday is a holy day for Muslims, and today's massive celebrations erupted afternoon prayer.
A short time ago, the rebel leader made this urgent appeal to fellow Syrians.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHAMMAD AL-JOLANI, SYRIAN GENERAL COMMANDER (through translator): I would like to congratulate the great Syrian people on the victory of the blessed
revolution. I call upon them to take to the squares and express their joy over this achievement, but without firing bullets or causing fear among the
people.
Afterwards, let us turn our efforts towards rebuilding this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: His message comes after hundreds of people took to the streets of Raqqa on Thursday who was celebrating when a man lost control of his
machine gun and opened fire on bystanders. It was to say that at least one person was killed and 15 wounded.
GOLODRYGA: Elsewhere in the Middle East, a diplomatic push is gaining momentum to ease Syria's transition of power. America's sub diplomat has
just made an unannounced trip to Iraq. State Department officials say Antony Blinken is trying to make sure that the terror, the threat of the
terror group ISIS doesn't return to the region.
ASHER: CNN's Clarissa Ward is in the Syrian capital and she filed this report from the celebrations just a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: People are flooding into the central Umayyad Square from around Damascus. They're flooding into
squares across the entire country.
This is the first Friday since Bashar al-Assad left the country. And you can see, understandably, so many people here are celebrating what they see
as the greatest victory of a lifetime, after 53 years of totalitarian rule under Bashar al-Assad, after hundreds of thousands of dead and disappeared
into Syrian prisons.
Finally, Syria, for these people, is free.
This is why you hear over and over, (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUE) Syria is free. And the crowds are getting bigger and bigger here as people really
just absorbed the magnitude of this moment.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So thank God. We're so grateful that we finally can speak freely. We can criticize. We can help. We can feel like this country
is our country, you know.
WARD: What does this moment feel like, Kindar (ph)?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's like a dream. It's like a dream. At the end, I felt like I'm going to lose the hope that he's going to leave. And now, we
got back the hope. Honestly, it's like a dream come true.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now it's a great feeling. We are in Umayyad Square. We are in the middle of Damascus, saving freedom. Saying, we are still want
the same demands of democracy, of participation, of justice.
WARD: And everyone understands that there are a lot of question marks still about what comes next and what the new Syria will look like. And yet, you
see people from every
(CHANTING)
They throw a lot of chants that you heard at the very beginning of the uprising. 2011, people would risk their lives to take to the streets and
engage in these kind of chants.
(CHANTING)
[12:05:05]
This is the crowd of the Syrian revolution. Most of these people, they never imagined that they would be able to chant these chants and wave that
flag right here in Umayyad Square.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GOLODRYGA: Just the euphoria surrounding Clarissa. You can forgive the fact that it was difficult to hear her as she was just surrounded by people
celebrating.
And while there is an overriding sense of relief and joy across Syria, there is also the lingering trauma of death and torture experienced by
Syrians who were deemed enemies of the Assad regime.
ASHER: Yes. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz reports on the story of one notable activist victimized by the regime's brutality and his fateful decision to
return home.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is activist Mazen Al- Hamada recounting all the ways in which he was tortured inside a regime prison.
They broke my ribs, he says. He would jump up and come down on me. I could feel my ribs snapping.
He is then asked in this documentary how he feels about his tormentors. I will not rest until I take them to court and get justice," he says. This
image, tears flowing from his haunted eyes, made Al-Hamada the face of Syria's torture victims. And inspired drawings by U.S.-based artist and
friend, Marc Nelson.
MARC NELSON, U.S.-BASED ARTIST: That just bore into my soul, his face, his expression.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): When an uprising against the Assad dynasty erupted in 2011, Al-Hamada was among the first to join demonstrations.
It made him a target of the regime. In 2012, he was detained by security forces after smuggling baby formula into a besieged suburb of Damascus. For
nearly two years, he endured medieval torture techniques, rape, beatings and psychological abuse.
After his release, he fled to Europe and vowed to tell the world his story. He spoke to journalists, met White House officials, appealed to U.S.
lawmakers, but nothing changed.
Mazen felt defeated and homesick. His friend and a fellow prison survivor told us.
OMAR ALSHOGRE, FRIEND AND SYRIAN PRISON SURVIVOR: When he got out and lived in this world, he's seen that the world doesn't care. And that's the only
hope he had to live for, that the world cared enough to go and save the cellmates that he left behind.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): He flew back to the U.S. to Damascus in February of 2020 and was almost immediately forcibly disappeared.
Again, Nelson began to draw.
NELSON: This is the only way I can think of as an art person to keep his memory is that every week, every other day, every month, draw him.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): His fate unknown until rebels took control of Damascus and burst open Syria's prisons. Images of Al-Hamada's body
surfaced online, too gruesome for us to show. He was killed inside the notorious Sednaya prison and his body dumped at a nearby hospital, his
family says.
Just one week before his dream of a free Syria was realized. But his testimony against tyranny is everlasting.
ALSHOGRE: His story will always be used as an evidence and a testimony against this regime that needs to be prosecuted.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): One of the first to stand up to Assad was one of the last of his victims. Now Syria's new rulers say justice for him and
countless others is their mission.
Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GOLODRYGA: We turn to Ukraine now where parts of that country are in the dark and on high alert after what one official called a massive Russian
attack on its energy sector.
Ukraine's energy minister urged people to remain in shelters in case of further attacks and warned of widespread power outages.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says Russia launched more than 990 missiles and some 200 drones at targets across the country overnight. He
said most of the missiles were shot down, but the damage is still being assessed.
ASHER: I want to talk -- I want to talk more about Ukraine with CNN's senior political commentator Adam Kinzinger. He's a former U.S.
congressman. Adam, so good to see you. Thank you so much for being with us.
So, obviously, Donald Trump arrives in office in less than a month from now. And you know, just in terms of what he's said in the past, he's
criticized the fact that the U.S. is supplying these ATACMS to Ukraine. We know that he has spoke with President Zelensky. So, some might say that is
a good sign. But he has also said that he intends for this war to end right away, as soon as he gets into office.
Just talk to us a bit more about your perspective on what the dangers are for the rest of Europe, specifically former Soviet republics, if Ukraine is
allowed to fail here
[12:10:07]
ADAM KINZINGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. I mean, look, it's, you know, Donald Trump, obviously, is -- he wants to be at the center of
whatever's happening.
And, you know, every war has to end the negotiation. The question is, will this negotiation be from a position of strength for Ukraine or a position
of weakness? And what this means for the rest of Eastern Europe, and frankly, the rest of Europe, is if Vladimir Putin is allowed to get away
with a land grab in Ukraine for no reason other than a land grab and rebuilding the parts of the old Soviet Union. He is going to perceive
weakness.
One of the things you always see with Vladimir Putin is that strength he respects. That's why he has this interesting relationship with Turkey,
because Erdogan kind of pushes back on him. He respects that strength. If he perceives and smells weakness, he's going to try further.
And it's not going to be some massive land invasion of like the Baltics, for instance. It may be a gray area attack, fomenting of partisan violence,
for instance, in Estonia, and then having to bring Russian peacekeepers in, which is kind of his -- what he always does to cover.
And anytime he senses weakness, it actually makes the next war far more likely. And again, not to mention what this means for the millions of
people that live in Ukraine that want freedom. And in many cases, the refugee crisis in Europe. So this has a lot of serious impact that I don't
think Donald Trump either cares about or is thinking through fully.
GOLODRYGA: Well, Adam, it does appear that reality has said in somewhat about the difference between actually governing as opposed to campaigning.
Looks like for Donald Trump, just judging by what he said in "Time Magazine." He has said in terms of the U.S. economy that he doesn't know if
he'll be able to bring down the price of food and inflation related costs, something that he campaigned on addressing head on.
And also when it comes to Ukraine, remember he campaigned on bringing this war to an end on day one. It is interesting to see that he acknowledged, in
his view, that he thinks the Middle East is actually a much easier problem to solve than the war in Ukraine.
And the only specific he gave was that he does not support the United States providing ATACMS, long-range missiles to Ukraine to use deep inside
Russia.
Putting all that together, what does that tell you about what these negotiations in the next few months may look like?
KINZINGER: Well, first of all, it shows a fundamental lack of understanding about warfare from Donald Trump. This isn't a surprise to anybody.
But, look, if you're an attack -- a country that's being attacked, here's how you win, because everybody's like, well, what does victory look like?
Here's what it looks like. The defending country continues to defend, until the offensive country, the attacking country, runs out of material men or
willpower to keep attacking.
And honestly, Russia is very close to that point, 700-some thousand casualties, an economy that's on the brink. What Vladimir Putin is saying
is, he's going to buy time to see what Donald Trump does.
And if Donald Trump could come in and say, look, I'm going to continue to allow deep strikes into Russia against legitimate military targets, that
would send a strong message to Vladimir Putin to go to the table and to negotiate. I think this shows a fundamental lack of understanding.
One of the things that can work in kind of Ukraine's favor when they deal with Donald Trump is the reality that if Ukraine does fall under Trump's
watch, this is going to make, you know, Afghanistan under Biden appear like child's play. The American people will turn against Donald Trump when they
see Ukraine fall.
Obviously, Europe will turn against Donald Trump. And I think using that to say, look, you don't want this to happen on your watch may be a way of
success.
But, look, honestly, there's a lack of fundamental understanding of how warfare works with Donald Trump. But I saw that in my time sitting in the
Oval Office talking to him about Syria first.
ASHER: Just in terms of events closer to home, obviously, Donald Trump has intimated that former January 6 committee members should be imprisoned. You
were one of two Republicans on the committee. Just give us your take on that. And how concerned are you that this sort of second Donald Trump term
will be largely about retribution.
I mean, what does that mean for yourself? What does that mean for others?
KINZINGER: So I'm concerned, in fact, from the fact of what it means for democracy, right? Like, obviously, the president coming in, focused on
retribution. It's bad for the United States of America and it's bad for democracy.
In terms of concern for myself, look, and I mean this honestly, there is nobody in the United States of America that intimidates me less than Donald
Trump, because, honestly, he's scared. He's mad because we embarrassed him with truth on the January 6th Committee. And he knows he can't come and
arrest January 6th Committee members.
First off, it's a difference between legislative and executive branch. Secondly, we obviously didn't break the law. And so you'd have to trump up
charges and they're not going to do that.
So I'm not concerned for myself. I am concerned for what this does to the bumpers and the guardrails of democracy.
And, you know, we've seen this in failing and failed countries around the world. So that's why we have to keep fighting and not lick our wounds and
retreat. We cannot retreat in this.
[12:15:06]
GOLODRYGA: Yes. You said as much on X posting that you're not intimidated by Donald Trump. And you said that last night with our colleague Kaitlan
Collins as well.
Donald Trump, in that "Time" interview, also said that he would consider pardoning the January 6 rioters in the first nine minutes. I don't know why
he picked nine, but nine minutes of his administration.
Can I just go back to something that you just mentioned, though, that caught my attention? Did you say that you got from Donald Trump that he
didn't understand the dynamics in play as it relates to Syria, specifically --
KINZINGER: Oh, yes.
GOLODRYGA: -- when you spent time with him?
So given what's happening now in Syria, can you just lay out more specifics on what exactly he didn't understand?
KINZINGER: Yes. It's a specific meeting. It was myself, Liz Cheney, Dan Crenshaw, and a few others that -- John Bolton had actually brought us in
to talk with Trump about Syria. This is when Trump was looking at basically throwing the Kurds under the bus.
And I remember specifically saying to Donald Trump, I said, look, Mr. President, if you want a seat at the table for negotiations, because all
wars, like I said, end in negotiations. If you want a seat at the table, you have to leave American troops there to have that seat. And he just
looked at me and goes, Adam, why the F-word? Do I care about what happens in Syria? It's basically just a bunch of sand.
You've seen him -- you've seen that sentiment in other people's books as well. I personally witnessed it. And what that shows me is he doesn't
understand the dynamics of Syria. He doesn't understand the dynamics of the Middle East, and doesn't understand how dictatorships in the Middle East
actually create terrorism.
There are so many terrorists that exist as a way to oppose Assad because of his brutality. It's in freedom and democracy that actually is the greatest
disinfectant to terrorist groups, quite honestly.
GOLODRYGA: Yes.
ASHER: Yes. I mean, he came out right away after the Assad regime fell and it simply said, listen, this is not the U.S.'s fight. The U.S. should
simply stay out of it. And a lot of people have said, well, there's so much at stake.
You know, if you end up having a civil war breaking out in Syria, obviously, there's so much at stake. I mean, you see how Israel has
responded to the fall of the Assad regime. There's a lot at stake for Syria's neighbors.
Adam Kinzinger, live for us there. Thank you so much.
KINZINGER: You bet.
GOLODRYGA: Thanks, Adam.
Well, former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is in a Luxembourg hospital at this hour. Her spokesperson says that she's, quote, sustained an injury
during an official trip with a U.S. congressional delegation.
ASHER: Yes. It was marking the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Bulge. No details yet on her injury. Her spokesperson says she'll continue to work
while in hospital, but will not attend the rest of the official engagements during this trip. CNN's Lauren Fox brings us more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There are a lot of questions. She is someone who is really important to the Democratic Party. Also
someone who often leads and is part of these bipartisan CODELs when it comes to sort of marking these important anniversaries.
It's unclear how many lawmakers were traveling with her. It's also unclear exactly what happened.
As I said, this statement is a little bit vague still, so we're still talking to sources about exactly what took place. Obviously, everyone
wishing her a fast and speedy recovery.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GOLODRYGA: We'll continue to cover this story.
Meantime, coming up for us, what is flying over New Jersey and apparently now New York State as well?
ASHER: Don't ask me. I just live there.
GOLODRYGA: The congressman says the public deserves answers about a wave of mysterious drone sightings.
ASHER: And France's embattled president, Emmanuel Macron, has announced a new prime minister. A look at who Francois Bayrou is after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:20:09]
ASHER: All right. A New Jersey congressman is demanding the government tell the public what is going on in the skies over his seat.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. There is a growing outcry about mysterious drones seen flying over New Jersey in recent weeks. Congressman Josh Gottheimer says
that he has been briefed on the matter and there is no reason for the public to be worried. But he says the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
and the FBI need to provide answers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP JOSH GOTTHEIMER (D-NJ): And we expect additional classified briefings early next week. I want folks to understand, and I want to know for
certain, where are these drones coming from? Because right now, there appears to be a huge question about where they're coming from of these
unauthorized, seem to be unauthorized drones.
I want you to know that based on the information the briefings that I've received to date, I'm not concerned about any imminent threats to public
safety or national security regarding these drones.
But, and I've made this very clear to the FBI, the Homeland Security and the FAA, the agencies chiefly responsible for monitoring drone activity.
They must immediately disclose more information to the public. It's totally and completely unacceptable that you have all this drone activity going on,
that people are seeing with their own eyes, and even if it's not all drone activity and some of it is manned aircraft, there appears to be plenty of
drone activity that people are seeing with their own eyes.
The fact that the federal agencies responsible for briefing the public have not come forward in a clear way is unacceptable. There has to be some
explanation to the public for all this increased activity and they must do so now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: A White House spokesperson says some of the objects may actually be manned aircraft operating lawfully. And a prominent astrophysicist thinks
the whole thing is actually rather amusing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON, AMERICAN ASTROPHYSICIST: I can't claim to know the motives of aliens, but just being an Earthling. But of all the places to
show up on Earth, they pick New Jersey. That would be odd for me to wonder what the aliens are looking for. No offense to New Jersey. I'm just saying,
there's the whole earth they could have visited.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Wow.
ASHER: No offense to New Jersey. I've taken offense.
GOLODRYGA: See some ice in that (INAUDIBLE) yes.
ASHER: I live in New Jersey. OK. Neil, I'm personally offended by those comments.
CNN's Polo Sandoval is tracking the mysterious drones for us. So a lot of people in New Jersey, where I live, were concerned this week. But now
people in New York are concerned as well. What more are we learning, Polo?
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Zain, you and other New Jersey residents -- what we know is that folks in neighboring New York have also
reported some of these drone sightings in nearby Rockland County.
We do understand, if we can get our mic here.
GOLODRYGA: You might have lost your mic. Yes.
ASHER: He doesn't have his mic.
SANDOVAL: I tell you, you've been talking about drones --
GOLODRYGA: Blame the aliens for that too.
SANDOVAL: Drones for days now. And you forget to put on a microphone.
So I can tell you this much is that now we do know that folks in neighboring New York have also reported some of these drone sightings on at
least four occasions in nearby Rockland County, Zain. So you're not alone. There's so many other folks also north of you that have seen this kind of
situation.
But to remind viewers that at this point, what -- a lot of the information we received is from the New Jersey -- New Jersey representative who we just
heard from a short while ago.
And what he is essentially saying is, look, I have been briefed by federal officials, told what it is not, which is a threat to public security. But
his argument is that the government is not sharing with New Jersey residents what these drones are.
According to officials, they have been, at least confirmed visually to be some of them to be drones, though there is also this theory that many of
them are also airplanes as well.
And so what we also got word today about is that the New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has actually written a letter to President Biden. And I'll go
over four takeaways from that letter. He's expressing growing concern about these drones.
[12:25:02]
He also is insisting that more resources need to be provided to New Jersey and also more information for his residents that they deserve to know more
about what's behind this, even though they've been repeatedly told that this is not any sort of safety concern.
And finally, that this void of information, this lack of information, has really sort of outspread some conspiracy theories.
You remember it was just days ago when there was a politician, specifically it was Representative Jeff -- I believe one of the members of the House of
Representatives, that said that he believed, without any evidence, that this was an Iranian mothership off the eastern coast that was sending these
drones in.
Now, the Pentagon was quick to deny that claim, saying that that is not true. But it really does speak to this story in general, that it's the lack
of information that really has led to some pretty wild theories out there.
And when you hear from the people in some of these New Jersey towns, mainly just about minutes west of New York City, they are demanding that the
government, not just assure them that this is not a threat, that the government actually explain who or what is behind these drones.
And here we are three weeks into this, nearly a month into this, and that is a question that remains unanswered.
ASHER: Because the internet loves a good mystery. And so if there's a dust --
SANDOVAL: Of course.
ASHER: -- of information, it just takes over the speculation.
GOLODRYGA: Well, also, I'm not sure Josh Gottheimer put this to rest when he said there's nothing to worry about, but we still need answers and did
not give more details as to what he was briefed on. So that's where conspiracy theorists, you know, run amok --
SANDOVAL: Correct.
GOLODRYGA: -- when they don't have specific information.
SANDOVAL: And he was specifically asked earlier today, was this -- in your briefings, did you get an indication that this was part of some approved
activity? Our colleague actually asked him that and he did not answer that particular question.
So that's something that we're actually taking forward to see if this was perhaps that the government was notified of any sort of drone activity
before all of these reports started coming in mid-November.
ASHER: And I'm still not over the Neil deGrasse Tyson comments.
GOLODRYGA: Well, he lives in New York.
ASHER: That is going to get under my skin. It's going to sit with me all weekend.
GOLODRYGA: By the way, he lives in New York, I believe. And that, you know, we've also had some spotted here, too. So it's not just --
SANDOVAL: That's right.
GOLODRYGA: -- New Jersey, my friend.
SANDOVAL: That's right, Zain. And --
GOLODRYGA: Polo --
SANDOVAL: -- I hope you heard me earlier without the mic. So now we know.
ASHER: That was funny, by the way.
SANDOVAL: You guys are not the only ones in New Jersey.
ASHER: It was like, he sounds underwater. OK.
GOLODRYGA: Thanks, Polo.
ASHER: Thank you, Polo.
SANDOVAL: Thanks, guys.
ASHER: All right. France has a new prime minister, Francois Bayrou named by French President Emmanuel Macron earlier today. Bayrou is the founder of
the Centrist Democratic Movement political party and mayor of the southwestern town of Pau.
GOLODRYGA: Now, this appointment comes after Michel Barnier was ousted in a vote of no-confidence, as CNN's Melissa Bell reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A centrist French politician. He now becomes the fourth prime minister this year to take over
at a particularly difficult time. But he is considered a politician who can federate as many of those disparate French political forces as possible.
It's unclear whether it will actually work in the long term and his government can hold longer than Michel Barnier did which had a historic
low, historic record rather for brevity. It was just three months long.
Whether Francois Bayrou can stay longer much depends, of course, now on what happens in parliament. He's going to have to name a new government
that the three very different blocks in parliament can agree upon or at least that none can vote down.
But he is considered a centrist. He's well respected in French politics. He's been further to the right at times under certain presidents, closer to
the left at others, forming his own middle party, MoDem, many years ago.
And so he is considered both to have the stature and the center position that might allow, if anyone can do it, prime minister to take time -- take
-- to take control at this very divided time in French politics.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GOLODRYGA: Our thanks to Melissa Bell for that report.
Meantime back in the U.S., Luigi Mangione faces a second-degree murder charge in the suspected killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO.
But New York prosecutors may increase it to first-degree murder, depending on the evidence.
ASHER: Yes. Mangione is still being held in Pennsylvania, fighting a move to extradite him to New York, where he faces five charges.
As CNN's Jason Carroll reports, the alleged killer is not interacting with other inmates.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Luigi Mangione is fighting extradition to New York.
While that happens, this is the prison where he is being held. It's the State Correctional Institution at Huntington, the oldest operating state
prison in Pennsylvania. Mangione's cell looks much like the one you see here, according to a law enforcement source.
His actual cell is 15 by 6 feet. A Department of Corrections spokesperson says, he's in a single cell and not in solitary confinement. He is not
interacting with other inmates at this time. He has a bed, sink, toilet and a desk with a seat.
[12:30:11]
STEVE BOHNEL, PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE: It's always interesting to see, you know, a prison in your backyard that, you know, frankly, most people
wouldn't be able to pick out of a map or wouldn't know the name of. And now everyone's interested in the type of food he's eating, you know, the cell
block that he's in.
CARROLL (voice-over): Meals at the facility are served three times a day, 6:15, 10:40 and supper at 5:15. On the menu, Mangione has a choice between
chicken parmesan and a dish called pizza beans.
The Department of Correction says Mangione has taken his meals in his cell and is not interacting with other inmates, adding all inmates are afforded
time outside their cells, even if they are a higher custody level.
Mangione's case has received a great deal of national attention, so perhaps no surprise, he's already known to some inmates. That type of notoriety is
also an added security concern at a correctional facility.
JUSTIN PAPERNY, PRISON CONSULTANT: Any prison, state or federal, is a predatory environment. And there could be prisoners who are there for a
long time, perhaps looking to get in the media, get some attention. So he's got to learn to enjoy his own company in a little cell with a desk, with a
toilet, with a little -- with a pen to be able to write with a sink, because he will not be around prisoners, as I see it, for quite some time.
The prison just can't risk it.
CARROLL (voice-over): Huntington's inmates have made headlines before Mangione.
Cosmo Dinardo, who was convicted of murdering four men and burying them on his parent's property, served part of his life sentence there.
Nick Yarris also served time there. Yarris was wrongly convicted and sentenced to death in 1982 on rape and murder charges. His sentence
overturned in 2003 due to DNA evidence. He says his time at Huntington are years he will never forget.
NICK YARRIS, WRONGLY CONVICTED PRISONER AND SPENT 22 YEARS IN PRISON: He decided to send me to Huntington Prison, the hardest prison in America at
that time.
JOE ROGAN, PODCASTER: And what was he going to do before that?
YARRIS: I don't know. But he made sure I went to the place that they broke you.
CARROLL (voice-over): Mangione's time there could be measured in weeks as prosecutors push to have him brought back to New York.
CARROLL: The Department of Corrections also says that Mangione is allowed to have visitors there at the facility, but so far, the only person to
visit him has been his attorney, and that was Thursday afternoon.
Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: All right. We'll be right back with more after the short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:35:16]
ASHER: All right. Welcome back to ONE WORLD. I'm Zain Asher.
GOLODRYGA: And I'm Bianna Golodryga.
Now to Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza. Palestinian officials say at least 40 people have been killed in the last 24 hours in deadly Israeli
strikes on Central Gaza.
ASHER: Images from the scene show people with flashlights searching the rubble of a destroyed building. The Israeli military says a senior
terrorist who led the attacks against civilians and troops was the target of a strike on a densely populated refugee camp.
GOLODRYGA: Palestinian officials say nearly 45,000 people have been killed in the besieged enclave since the October 7th attack on Israel, most of
them women and children.
And after more than a year of dashed hopes and stalled talks to reach a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal, there's a sudden urgency to get a
deal in place in the waning days of the Biden administration.
ASHER: Yes. Top American diplomats are sounding cautiously optimistic earlier at a stop in Turkey today. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken
said he's seeing really encouraging signs that a deal is possible.
GOLODRYGA: And on Thursday, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan also voiced optimism after meeting Israel's prime minister.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAKE SULLIVAN, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: I got the sense today from the prime minister he's ready to do a deal. And when I go to Doha and
Cairo, my goal will be to put us in a position to be able to close this deal this month, not later.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: For the families of hostages, it's been an agonizing wait. Hamas and other groups are believing to be holding some 100 hostages in Gaza, all but
four of whom were captured on October 7th last year.
GOLODRYGA: Well, time now for The Exchange, and we want to focus on those hostages. We want to bring in Sasha Ariev and Amit Levy, the sister and
brother of two women, still being held hostage after Hamas overran their IDF base on October 7th, where they just began their mandatory service as
observers at the Gaza border. Sasha's sister, Karina, called her family from a bomb shelter that day, saying that she could hear terrorists going
through the base.
Amit's sister, Naama Levy's 20th birthday was marked by thousands of people in Tel Aviv in June. Her violent capture on October 7th was caught on
camera by her attackers. And her story has become very familiar to our viewers. Sasha Ariev and Amit Levy join us now. Both welcome to the
program.
Amit, I have gotten to know your mother, Ayelet, very well. And through your mother and through our numerous interviews, I feel like I have really
gotten to know a lot about your sister, Naama. I visited your home. I've been to her room. I know so much about what she loves to do, her love of
sports, her real focus and dedication to Israelis and Palestinians living together peacefully.
The both of you are part of a delegation of family members of hostages who are in the United States. You met with officials both from the incoming
Trump administration and the Biden administration in Washington.
And it was interesting to hear Ruby Chen, who is the father of Itay Chen, an American hostage currently held in Gaza, say that he walked away from
those meetings with hope. Is that what you walked away with as well, Amit?
AMIT LEVY, BROTHER OF HOSTAGE NAAMA LEVY: Yes, definitely. I mean, we obviously need to stay hopeful all the time throughout these 434 days of
hell. We need to keep being optimistic and hopeful because my little sister is there surviving and hopeful and we have no other choice.
And beyond that, now we understand that we are at a really crucial moment and we have reasons to be optimistic. From what we hear in Israel and here
in the United States, we were never this close. Hamas were never as eager to get to a deal as they are now.
[12:40:09]
And we are here in America to make sure that we are doing everything we can to seize this opportunity to save my little sister's life, Karina's life,
and the 98 others, because we know that this might be their last chance, and we can't let this miss.
ASHER: Thank you, Amit.
Sasha, let me bring you in. Amit just talked about optimism. And I really admire the hope and the strength and the optimism, because while it does
seem likely that we could see some kind of deal, we have been here before.
I mean, there's been a number of times over the past year or so that we've seen various news reports of the fact that Hamas and the Israelis could be
reaching a deal only to have those hopes dashed last minute.
And even around this time last year, when a number of hostages were indeed released, I'm sure it must have been torture for your families to wake up
every single day and see that your loved ones, your sisters, were not on the list.
So my question to you is given all of that, I mean given just how difficult and painful this past year has been, where does your hope come from?
SASHA ARIEV, SISTER OF HOSTAGE KARINA ARIEV: Well, the hope comes, as Amit said, that we have that hope that each day we wake up, it will be the day
that our sisters will come home and will get the peace in the region.
But now currently, in those weeks, we are in so critical moments right now that As Amit said, we met with the government officials here in the U.S.
and in Israel, and everyone says that this is now the time to seal the agreement and take all the hostages back home to calm the region.
So when the Speaker of the House is telling that the Biden administration and also the incoming one are all saying that these are the 10 to 12
crucial days.
We have our hopes like high up in the sky and this is the moment, you know, to less talking, more doing, more, you know, doing the thing that
everything is coming aligned together. And these are hope that this time it will really happen for everyone.
GOLODRYGA: And time really is of the essence here as you are wearing those stickers. Four hundred and thirty-four days now that you have not seen your
sisters.
And, Amit, I keep thinking about what your mom said every single day for these families, for every Israeli really, is October 7th repeated over and
over again.
And I want to read for our viewers a report that Professor Hagai Levine, a public health physician and an epidemiologist issued in just the last few
weeks, highlighting the urgency of the hostages coming home right now.
He said the hostages suffer from extreme malnutrition, lack of oxygen, exposure to light, inhumane living conditions, physical, psychological and
sexual abuse, and unmanaged chronic health issues, a situation represents a violation of their fundamental rights and international humanitarian law.
The families of these hostages face profound uncertainty, deprived of the essential right to know their fate. Urgent action is needed now.
Do you think that that urgency is being felt and highlighted around the world as you travel on behalf of your sisters in their release?
LEVY: That's really what we are here to do. And we feel that's our job. We feel that our sisters are now screaming and no one can hear them. And it's
our job to make their voice be heard.
I feel that many people are supportive and feel the sense of urgency that we're talking about. And we also -- they also meet people who survived
captivity and are speaking of the awful conditions, the inhuman conditions that they were in.
And I think that also emphasizes the urgency. I mean, from that to doing what it takes and taking the brave decisions to sign the deal and bring our
people back, there is a long way.
But again, I know we've been in this place in the past a few times, but we really are hopeful that this is the closest we've been and people
understand the urgency and understand that these beloved hostages that were kidnapped in their pajamas might not survive another winter in these
conditions and that's why it's so important to do it now.
ASHER: I mean, you're right.
ARIEV: Yes. I want to --
ASHER: Oh, go ahead, Sasha. I'm sorry.
ARIEV: I want to add if I have -- yes. So that our sisters, their, you know, pure innocent souls. They're girls that were kidnapped, as Amit said,
in their pajamas. There is not a reason in this whole world to keep women, you know, children, elderly and men captive without any basic rights.
[12:45:07]
And you ask, Bianna, if we feel that this urgency is all around the world. And I can say that, yes, but I really feel that not enough. And I want to
emphasize and underline that this upcoming winter, the hostages, they do not have the vitamin or the immune system capacity to deal with all the
winter stuff that are going, with the cold, with the flu and whatever.
And we have as women the real urgency, because we know of sexual violence that was held on October 7th and since then. So it's so important to
underline this, because people really need to understand that these girls, they could be pregnant and they could already give birth to another child.
OK. So maybe we have more than 100 hostages.
And I'm saying, and it's ache me in all of my body that this is our primarily fear. OK, so.
ASHER: I mean, you know, you're right. I mean, time is of the essence, right? There has to be a sense of urgency.
I mean, as you pointed out, it does feel different this time. And obviously we have been here before, but this time, it does feel different. It does
feel there is much more reason to be hopeful.
I do want to ask you guys one quick question. There are unconfirmed reports that Hamas has submitted names of hostages to the Israelis that are going
to be released this time around if the deal does work out, and that obviously the list, you know, as we've seen before, will largely consist of
women and older hostages as well.
Have either of you heard anything from the Israeli government about whether or not your siblings are on that list? Sasha, let me start with you, and
then we can go to Amit.
ARIEV: OK. So we have heard this news also, but we didn't -- we didn't receive some information specific for our sisters or any other women
families. We do know that very, you know, tight conversations are being held right now. And the list of names is indeed something that is being
talked about. So we are really waiting for to know, to know more details.
GOLODRYGA: Well, Sasha Ariev, Amit Levy. Sasha, I keep thinking back to an interview you gave where you say -- you're five years older than your
sister Karina -- and you say you remember every detail of her life since she was born. And we hope for nothing more than you to be both reunited
with your sisters, the hostages to come home, this war to come to an end and we will continue to keep covering this story because it is indeed very,
very important
Thank you for your time.
ASHER: Thank you both so much.
GOLODRYGA: Thank you.
ASHER: We'll be right back with more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:50:29]
ASHER: All right. Get this. Samples of human tissue are currently in orbit on the International Space Station.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. The experiment is to see why the process of aging speeds up in space and whether age-related diseases can be slowed.
CNN's Nick Valencia has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And a spirit of exploration.
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Outer space may hold the answer to some of humanity's greatest questions, what causes aging? And can
the process be altered?
Human tissue samples, called organoids, are now in orbit at the International Space Station, and identical samples are back on earth at
Oxford University Space Innovation Lab.
This experiment will allow researchers to compare and analyze data from both samples to study the aging process and the impact of microgravity on
it.
GHADA ALSALEH, SPACE INNOVATION LAB: So, this is in a very new project, where we work between actually the frontier between the space and biology.
VALENCIA (voice-over): Inside the International Space Station, a box containing human tissue samples serves as a controlled environment.
ALSALEH: The box have a small computer and all the detection material that we need to get the measurements we wanted. And we can actually control that
and see all the data coming all the time.
VALENCIA (voice-over): Researchers don't require assistance from the astronauts aboard the space station, as they can automatically gather the
information from their laboratory on Earth.
ALSALEH: It could be able to measure a few things without interacting anyone.
VALENCIA (voice-over): Over the years, astronauts have suffered from muscle loss, joint and bone issues, and problems with their immune system.
Researchers found that this is similar to an age-related disease.
ALSALEH: And this lead us to ask the question, if the space might provide us with an accelerating aging model. And if it is the case, that means we
can actually be able to study aging very faster, because this has happened in very short time. While aging in Earth, we needed different years.
VALENCIA (voice-over): With future missions, planned to send humans to Mars and beyond, the impact of space travel on aging will become a key issue.
Nick Valencia, CNN.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good luck. We estimate you've completed your marathon right now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: All right. Still to come, aiming for gold at five years old. We'll tell you all about this lightning fast silver.
GOLODRYGA: Look at her go.
ASHER: She's amazing.
GOLODRYGA: I love it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:55:39]
ASHER: All right. The biggest wave at the pool at the World Short Course Championship in Budapest is being made by a 5-year-old. She's better than
me.
GOLODRYGA: I love her. She's 5 years old. Look at her, Vanya Maisuenpon from Bangkok, began swimming at 6 months old. Now she's faster than grease
lightning in water. She was invited to the event where she was given the chance to swim between races.
Her feet don't even touch the bottom of the pool. She is adorable and she's super fast.
ASHER: Our producer, Camille, pointed out that that video is not sped up because it looks like it. Literally looks like it's on fast forward.
GOLODRYGA: She's like, what's next I'm ready for more.
ASHER: I literally learned how to swim like last week.
GOLODRYGA: Stay tuned for her at the Olympics in a few years. Showing her backstrokes. She's just showing off now.
All right. I'm Bianna Golodryga. I'll be right back with "AMANPOUR." Zain.
ASHER: I'm Zain Asher. Thank you so much for watching. It's been a great week.
GOLODRYGA: A busy week.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
