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One World with Zain Asher
Trump: Better If Putin And Zelenskyy Meet Without Me; Israel Call Up 60,000 Reservists For Gaza City Takeover; HHS Staffers To RFK, Jr.: "Stop Spreading Inaccurate Health Info": Trump's Travel Ban Leaves Former Allies Stranded; North Carolina Evacuates Ahead Of Hurricane Erin; Released Israeli Hostage Eliya Cohen Speaks To CNN; Russia Gives Motorcycle To Alaska Man. Aired 12-1p ET
Aired August 20, 2025 - 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: All right. Clumsy and unethical. The White House wants Putin to meet with Zelenskyy, but so far, the Russians are not
impressed.
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: The second hour of "One World" starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president has spoken to both leaders about this, and both leaders have expressed a willingness to
sit down with each other.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Where, when and how? The world wants to know the details, but the Kremlin has yet to commit to a meeting.
ASHER: Also ahead, he thought he would never see her again, a former hostage of Hamas reflects on being reunited with the woman who could soon
be his wife.
And later.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's so absolutely astronomically random that it was hard for me to understand why this happens. Matter of fact, I still don't
know why.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: From Russia with love, the Kremlin gave this man a $22,000 motorbike and he has no idea why. What they made for Hollywood details
later this hour.
ASHER: All right. Coming to you live from New York, I'm Zain Asher.
GOLODRYGA: And I'm Bianna Golodryga. You're watching the second hour of "One World."
The Kremlin is slamming European diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine, and warns there won't be any progress if Moscow isn't involved.
ASHER: Yes. Earlier, as NATO defense chiefs held talks about security guarantees for Kyiv, Russia's foreigners to says, their discussions were a
path to nowhere.
Sergey Lavrov also downplayed the likelihood of direct talks between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, even as the White House claims
preparations for a summit are taking place.
And as the U.S. president suggested, don't you better that the two leaders, but to me without him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEAVITT: Ultimately, the president has always said that there are areas of disagreement in this war that will have to be discussed and decided upon by
these two countries. And so he wants these two countries to engage in direct diplomacy.
He's said that from the very beginning, which is why he's agreeable to the idea of having President Zelenskyy and President Putin get together. And I
understand accommodations for that meeting are underway.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Now, despite all that, Ukrainian authorities say five more civilians were killed today in Russian attacks. And officials say the White
House is considering several locations for an upcoming summit, including Hungary and Switzerland.
CNN's Betsy Klein joins us now live.
Betsy, it does seem as if President Trump is the most anxious and excited about getting a meeting between these two leaders on the table and
scheduled highly unorthodox, given that there's no ceasefire in place. What is the rationale the White House is giving?
BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, certainly, if you look at some of the urgency and momentum heading into those talks in Alaska on
Friday and the subsequent meetings here at the White House this past Monday, it is clear that the rhetoric coming from the Kremlin suggests that
that has stalled.
And President Trump had said, heading into that meeting on Monday, that it was critical that the outcome of that meeting was a trilateral summit
between him, President Zelenskyy and President Putin, abruptly shifting course following that meeting, then telling reporters that he felt it was
important that the leaders meet without him, that it would go better that way.
But to that end, we have learned that the White House says that the U.S. is involved in preparations for that potential bilateral meeting that they say
will take place in the coming weeks. The Kremlin, of course, very non- committal on that.
And to that end, we have learned that there are a number of potential sites that are under consideration, including Budapest, Hungary, including
Switzerland. White House officials caution that no final decision has been made, yet, of course, still so much uncertainty coming from both sides as
to whether and how these leaders can get to a point that they will say yes for this to take place.
The Kremlin, making clear that while there is some openness toward a meeting like this, it is not imminent. We heard from Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov earlier who said that any meeting, quote, must be prepared with the utmost care. Really, that means that this isn't happening any time
soon at the leader level.
But the more time this takes, the better it is for Russia. It gives them time to cement some of those gains as well as to continue to make more
gains on the battlefield.
And we are seeing that as Russia continues to launch aggressive airstrikes overnight. President Zelenskyy reacting to that overnight saying that it
really is an opportunity for the world, the U.S.-European leaders to apply more pressure on Russia to get to the negotiating table.
[12:05:14]
The question now is how long President Trump is willing to wait and what potential pressure he can put on Putin and Russia. The president had
already imposed those secondary sanctions on India. We will see if he moves forward with other potential secondary sanctions on other countries, but we
do not expect to see the president today. He has no public events on a -- on a schedule today.
Of course, there are so many questions for this White House about how they can rebuild that momentum and move forward here.
GOLODRYGA: Betsy Klein at the White House for us. Thank you.
ASHER: And we are still waiting for an official response from Israel to a new Gaza ceasefire proposal put forward by Arab mediators, as calls for a
deal mount insight Israel, the prime minister's hostage coordinator says, negotiation efforts are taking place around the clock.
GOLODRYGA: Hamas says it has accepted the proposal, something the White House says was driven by President Trump himself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEAVITT: I don't think it's a coincidence that Hamas accepted this proposal after the president of the United States posted a very strong statement
about this conflict on Truth Social yesterday.
I would refer you back to that statement as for this proposal that Hamas has now accepted. The United States continues to discuss it and I'll let
the president weigh in on it definitively.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Now, it comes as Israel is said to call it more than 60,000 reserves as -- reservists as preparation for a takeover and occupation of
Gaza City is underway.
Our next guest has had a frontline view when it comes to military policy. Colonel Peter Mansoor is a former aide to U.S. Army General David Petraeus
and is a senior fellow at the Mershon Center for International Security Studies. He joins us from Columbus, Ohio. Colonel, it is good to see you.
So, we also know that the Israeli military has started operations in both Jabalia and Zaytoun. These are two districts that are outside of Gaza City.
The IDF Chief of Staff has already presented this plan that's been approved by the defense minister. Now, it's going to go before the security cabinet.
And then the prime minister is expected, perhaps even as soon as tomorrow, to green light this operation.
From your perspective, when you're calling up already 60,000 reservists for an operation that may balloon to 120,000 in what is already Israel's
longest war, what are some of the challenges militarily that both Israel and obviously the Gaza and civilians there will face when Israel, if in
fact if they follow through on this plan, takes over the entirety of Gaza City?
PETER MANSOOR, SENIOR FELLOW, MERSHON CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL SECURITY STUDIES: Well, this is a -- a continuing challenge for the Israeli Defense
Forces to operate in these highly dense urban areas and limit civilian casualties while trying to destroy Hamas, which is the stated goal of their
military operations.
It was a tall order two years ago and it continues to be a tall order, one that probably is not achievable unless Hamas decides to just give up, which
doesn't seem to be in the cards. These reservists who have most recently been at their jobs and keeping the economy of Israel humming are now going
to be putting on uniforms, going into these very dangerous situations with all the underground tunnels and other dangers of urban operations before
them.
And they're going to have to complete their mission while trying to prevent civilian casualties, which hasn't really been the case so far. We're up to
about, I don't know, 60,000 Palestinian dead, many of them military Hamas operatives, but many not. And -- and this is -- it's just a continuation of
this conflict without end that has seen so much death and destruction to this point.
ASHER: And to your point, Colonel, what does success look like? I mean, obviously, Gaza City, as the Israeli military has talked about Gaza City
being a stronghold for Hamas, both militarily and politically, there's the vast network of underground tunnels that the military is going to be
targeting there. These are not serviced are going to be targeting.
But at the end of the day, this stated goal of trying to completely destroy Hamas is an elusive one. I mean, it's -- it's a very difficult one to
achieve if it is possible at all.
So based on your assessment, what does success actually look like?
MANSOOR: So the Israeli Defense Forces are going to have to put enough pressure on Hamas to come to terms, certainly that the minimum they must
agree to is a release of the hostages dead and living.
But then beyond that, they're going to have to agree to some sort of political entity taking over Gaza that governs it in lieu of Hamas
governments. And that's been a tall order. Hamas doesn't want to give up control. This is why they continue to fight, why they use the Palestinian
deaths as evidence that -- that the war should end with them still in -- in operation and potentially in charge of the strip.
[12:10:29]
And for Is -- for Israel's -- on Israel's side, you know, they've got to continue to conduct military operations to kill Hamas operatives and put
enough pressure on its leadership to come to an agreement that's acceptable to all sides. And so far, that agreement has simply not been in the cards.
GOLODRYGA: And it is notable that we continue to see both public and I believe from everything that we've read private behind the scenes support
from this White House, from President Trump on the operations or any planning that Prime Minister Netanyahu has for the Gaza war and says even
in an interview yesterday that he fully supports whatever Prime Minister Netanyahu ultimately chooses to do.
Let me turn to the other hot war. Obviously that is in Ukraine, something President Trump also trying to mediate very quickly with a meeting between
President Zelenskyy and Putin.
You say that in terms of an acceptable peace treaty for Ukraine right now and one they would have to give up territory for any sort of pause in the
fighting and ultimate end to the fighting with Russia would require rock solid defense guarantees, not only from the Europeans, but obviously from
the United States. President Trump says he is open and willing to offer security guarantees to Ukraine.
There is some skepticism however that there are not specifics and nothing definitive as far as what the U.S. is willing to provide.
What do you make of that? And what more do you need to hear from this administration to make it quote rock solid?
MANSOOR: Well, the devil here is in the details. If you're going to ask President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainians to give up 20 percent of their
country to the Russians, they've got to get something in return and it can't just be a piece of paper that Putin can rip up five years in the
future.
Russia's already ripped up the Budapest Accord from 1994. They've ripped up the Minsk Accords from 2015, and they could rip up any sort of peace treaty
going forward unless there are boots on the ground and defense guarantees that prevent and deter Russia from attacking again.
Only the United States has that capability. Russia's a major nuclear power. The United States is the only nation between the various NATO nations that
has the number and types of nuclear weapons to deter Russia in that regard.
And in terms of -- of conventional forces, the United States has the capabilities, especially with its air force but its ground forces as well
to prevent a Russian takeover.
And the key there really is U.S. boots on the ground. You know, if we say, well, it will be our air force that provides the defense guarantees. You
know, air units are -- are mobile. They could fly out of the country pretty quickly if the president decides he doesn't want to get involved in a
conflict.
And so this is something I think that would require certainly European boots on the ground but some sort of tangible U.S. commitment that it
abides by and that Ukraine would be certain that the United States would be there by its side should Russia attack again.
GOLODRYGA: All right. Colonel, Peter Mansoor. Thank you so much for your time.
ASHER: Thank you so much.
All right. More than 750 current and former staffers at the U.S. Health and Human Services have sent a letter to Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. They are pleading with him to, quote, stop spreading inaccurate information, health information specifically.
CNN medical correspondent Meg Tirrell has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this letter is signed by hundreds of current and former HHS Department of Health and Human Services
employees, mainly from the CDC, but also from other agencies like the NIH.
And they make a few requests of Secretary Kennedy. First is to, quote, stop spreading inaccurate health information. And the second is to affirm CDC's
scientific integrity. And the third is to guarantee the safety of the entire Department of Health and Human Services workforce.
Now, of course, this comes after the August 8th shooting at the CDC, where a gunman unleashed hundreds of rounds on CDC buildings at the headquarters
there in Atlanta, killing a police officer.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said that the shooter expressed discontent with the COVID vaccine and wanted to make his distrust unknown.
[12:15:05]
Now, these staffers in this letter call out what they call misinformation that they say Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has contributed to spreading that has
put them in danger. They cited previous comments he's made like calling the CDC a, quote, cesspool of corruption. False or misleading claims they say
he's made about vaccines from mRNA to measles.
His dismissal of an entire panel of outside vaccine advisors to the CDC and replacement of all of those advisors.
RFK Jr. responded after the shooting on August 9th saying, quote, we are actively supporting CDC staff on the ground and across the agency. Public
health workers show up every day with purpose, even in moments of grief and uncertainty.
And he did visit the agency two days later. However, his response has been criticized by a lot of folks across the public health world, including from
a former surgeon general who served in President Trump's first administration, Dr. Jerome Adams, who called RFK Jr.'s response quote,
delayed and tepid.
The workers who've sent this letter have asked for a response in these pledges by RFK Jr. by September 2nd.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: All right. Thanks to Meg Tirrell for that.
Meantime, people applying to live and work in the U.S. will now be screened for, quote, anti-Americanism under new immigration rules. Immigration
officers will be able to look at whether applicants have had involvement in what they consider anti-American or terrorist organizations or if there's
evidence of anti-Semitic activity.
ASHER: Yes. The change expands social media vetting already introduced by the Trump administration in June. The policy update does not give a
specific definition of anti-Americanism.
GOLODRYGA: Meantime, the effects of President Trump's immigration policies are being felt on a global scale. This new travel bans prevent people from
a dozen countries from entering the United States. One of those countries is Afghanistan.
ASHER: Yes. Since U.S. troops withdrew four years ago, thousands of Afghans who worked as Americans' allies have been left stranded.
Our Isobel Yeung has been there and spoke to some of the people who have been affected.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ISOBEL YEUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Here in Afghanistan, the remnants of war are everywhere.
YEUNG: These guys are trying to clear this whole field of landmines that have been left by decades of war. Just got to watch where we're stepping
because anywhere beyond these red flags, there's still potentially contaminated and could have unexploded ordnance.
YEUNG (voice-over): Deminers work around the clock.
KHALID SAMIN, DANISH REFUGEE COUNCIL: There were three accidents, civilian accidents in this area happened in the past.
YEUNG: Oh, wow. And how often are civilian accidents happening in Afghanistan?
SAMIN: In monthly basis, we have witnessed more than 110 people, most of them is children involved --
YEUNG: Wow.
SAMIN: -- in the accidents. Unfortunately.
YEUNG: So over 100 civilian accidents every month?
SAMIN: Monthly -- monthly basis, yes.
YEUNG (voice-over): Wow. It must be dangerous work.
SAMIN: Yes. This is the reality of Afghanistan.
YEUNG: This guy's here has just found some sign of metal. So they're digging a little further to try and find out whether that's a mine or not.
Very hot, dangerous work up here.
YEUNG (voice-over): Every week, the deminers collect unexploded ordnance and explode them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one.
(EXPLOSION)
YEUNG (voice-over): But invading countries have left more than just bombs in their wake here.
Hundreds of thousands of Afghans worked with the U.S. government during their 20-year war here, as translators, drivers, civil society workers and
doctors.
Following America's chaotic withdrawal under the Biden administration in 2021, the U.S. set off a refugee program that would provide a path for
Afghan to move to the U.S., a lightning rod for many Republicans.
STEPHEN MILLER, NOW-WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF: The United States of America never, ever made a promise, written or unwritten, to the people of
Afghanistan, that if after 20 years, they were unable to secure their own country that we would take them to ours.
YEUNG (voice-over): When Trump returned to power this year, he cancelled refugee programs, dismantled the office dedicated to helping Afghans
relocate and barred them from entering the U.S. altogether.
YEUNG: We've been speaking to a lot of those individuals across the country, but sadly because of security concerns, most of them were having
to speak to on the phone.
YEUNG (voice-over): On paper, the U.S. says they are still processing cases for people who worked with the U.S. military directly. But many, like this
man, are stuck in Afghanistan, living in fear. We've disguised his voice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know that the Taliban is searching for me. I'm hiding. I can't go outside freely. If they find me, I'm confident that they will
imprison me. They will torture me. They will kill me.
Donald trump became U.S. president, he signed executive order and all our cases stopped. We stood with the U.S. forces side by side for a long time,
but now they banned us. Why? Where is the justice?
[12:20:12]
YEUNG: So, we've been in touch with one woman who has agreed to meet with us. She says that it's very risky that she risks running into the Taliban.
She risks travelling by herself and she's very scared. But she says it's worth it because she really needs to share her story.
YEUNG (voice-over): As a doctor, this woman worked for American charities. With recent U.S. aid cuts, she lost her job. She now feels that her
relationship with U.S. organizations has put her and her family's life in danger.
YEUNG: You're clearly terrified. You came here, you were shaking.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. During the way, I saw many Taliban and I'm a very afraid from them.
YEUNG: What is it like as a woman living in Afghanistan right now?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The situation is very bad for the Afghan woman and we don't -- I don't have any job. I'm going to the bazaar, not going to the
shopping. We can't. Everything. Just we are in the home and we are afraid from every second of the life we are -- spend is very dangerous.
YEUNG (voice-over): Her communication with the State Department has stopped. The last e-mail she got was in January, just days before Trump
returned to the White House.
YEUNG: How did you feel when you saw the news that Trump was cancelling these programs?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All the night we are crying. It was very difficult to accept like this.
YEUNG: You felt like this was your lifeline?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, yes. It broke our heart.
YEUNG: President Trump has said that he needs to protect the borders, that he needs this America first policy to ensure that it's not dangerous and no
one dangerous enters the U.S.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I'm not agree with this. They broke her -- his promise to Afghan woman and Afghan girls.
YEUNG: What does it feel like?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're feeling bad because we trust on it and we're working with them as 20 years and they promise us too we -- we must be
moved from here to America.
YEUNG: What is your message to President Trump?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please, please, please, please start the cases again. And also, please support the Afghan girls or women because now it was very
difficult for us. It was very dangerous. And I'm not feeling safe in here.
YEUNG (voice-over): The U.S. State Department told us they're unable to comment on individual cases or internal operations of refugee processing
and that the president is, quote, committed to helping those who helped us, but that their first priority is always the safety and security of the
American people.
Isobel Yeung, CNN, Afghanistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: All right. Still to come here on "One World."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. PHIL MURPHY (D-NJ): I don't want to be the Amityville mayor in "Jaws." I would just say to you flat out, don't go in the water.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Warnings from officials as Hurricane Erin inches closer to the American coast. When it's going to hit and how storm -- how strong, rather,
the storm will be.
GOLODRYGA: Plus, what led to this North Carolina explosion that sent debris skyrocketing? More of the shocking video just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:25:00]
GOLODRYGA: Hurricane Erin is barreling towards the U.S. East Coast with winds up to 110 miles or 175 kilometers per hour. That is just shy of
category three. Now, the hurricane is not expected to make landfall.
ASHER: But some places may see waves up to six meters high. The storm triggered a state of emergency in North Carolina and beach closes across
multiple states.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. JOSH STEIN (D-NC): The storm remains dangerous and is already impacting lots of people here in North Carolina. Folks on the coast need to
take care.
Based on the current forecast, we are anticipating coastal flooding from massive waves, tropical storm force winds, and tidal and storm surge for
much of the state shoreline, especially the outer bank -- Outer Banks from this evening through Thursday.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: CNN's Dianne Gallagher joins us live now from North Carolina's Outer Banks. Portions of those barrier islands are under evacuation orders.
I mean, one of the biggest fears with all of this is this idea of rip currents. And you have officials really warning people to stay out of the
water, especially because it doesn't even matter if you are a strong swimmer or not. Rip currents are extremely dangerous.
Just walk us through what you're seeing in terms of whether or not people are actually heeding these warnings, Dianne.
DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, when it comes to the rip currents, on Monday, we saw the highest number of rescues by far, more than 90 of
them just in one portion of this Southern North Carolina coast.
We've seen those steadily decreases. People have stayed out of the water. And, look, I'm going to get Nick to sort of pan over here. You can see the
seas are rough. This is low tide.
Now we're in Rodanthe, North Carolina. There is not a mandatory evacuation order here. There are two islands down further, a little south in the Outer
Banks that do have it, but we are seeing preparations.
All of this sand, as I kind of walk back here, has been pushed up just in the past few minutes by bulldozers. They try and fortify in front of these
homes and roads here.
Now, this area in particular is particularly vulnerable. We're going to swing around. And I'm going to show you what we've been seeing. There's
imminent concern about these houses here.
Now, look, they were not built in the water or even beachfront like this. These have been here for a long time because of climate change, rising sea,
beach erosion. These are some of the houses they are watching that may just simply get swallowed up by the sea.
We've even watched them kind of lean a little bit since we got here yesterday, looking at them. They are worried about these. And the reason
why is that here in Rodanthe, they have some experience with this just since 2020, according to the National Park Service. About a dozen of homes
like these in Rodanthe have been swallowed up by the Atlantic Ocean. They have collapsed into the ocean. Six of them alone just last year.
It is dangerous because of the debris. It is messy. And they have to shut down the beaches to clean them up for weeks in some portions.
Now, as far as the hurricane, we're going to see what happens when high tide comes, if in fact they do fall. That just complicates it further.
They're worried about that significant storm surge that we could be experiencing in the Outer Banks as well as very high, large waves.
Now, you can see there are people out here on the beach kind of looking at it. We've seen quite a bit of that, given us a wave there. Quite a bit of
that. Visitors starting to leave a little bit, but they were still out with their families. It's beautiful right now.
The good news is we're not seeing anyone out in the ocean at this point. We're expecting within the next six, seven hours to begin feeling the real
brunt of those outer bands as it passes by the Outer Banks.
And again, the concerns there being the storm surge, the flooding, and the waves. There is one highway that connects all of the Outer Banks islands
together, North Carolina Highway 12. We watched bulldozers sort of fortifying dunes along there to try and prevent these islands from getting
cut off from each other because they can't perform rescues. They cannot reach those people if they have not evacuated at that point.
That's the biggest concern outside of people getting in the ocean they have right now in preparation.
[12:30:05]
ASHER: All right. Dianne Gallagher, live for us there. Thank you so much.
GOLODRYGA: Incredible video out of North Carolina with the car crashing into gas lines, feeding into a building under construction, rupturing them
and causing the sky high explosion as you see. Fire crews were evacuating people from the building when the explosion happened.
ASHER: Yes. Police say the driver fled the scene but was later detained and showed signs of impairment. Three firefighters were injured.
All right. Still to come, it wasn't the expected outcome from the Putin- Trump summit last week, but an Alaska man was happy to ride off with a surprise gift courtesy of Russia. We'll unwrap the details, next.
GOLODRYGA: Plus, a CNN exclusive just ahead, our Clarissa Ward speaks to an Israeli hostage released after over 500 days in captivity. You will hear
his tragic tale. That's ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELIYA COHEN, FREED HOSTAGE BY HAMAS: When I eat, I feel guilty. When I get shower, I feel guilty. When I go to the hospital to check something, I feel
guilty because I know what they -- what they go through right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GOLODRYGA: All right. Welcome back to "One World." I'm Bianna Golodryga.
ASHER: And I'm Zain Asher.
High school graduation usually a time of joy and celebration. But in Gaza, there were mixed emotions in an orphanage village in Khan Yunis where
children wave diplomas and flags and they watch dancers perform while so many others broke down in tears.
[12:35:09]
According to Palestinian statistics, the number of orphaned children in the strip has increased to nearly 40,000 since October 7th, 2023.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. About 17,000 children have lost both parents and most of the children in the region live in desperate conditions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. WAFA ABU JALALAH, DIRECTOR, ORPHAN'S VILLAGE (voice-over): Our orphans lost education, lost the sense of safety. They reached difficult levels of
psychological stress during this war after they lost their mothers, their fathers and their homes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: The U.N. reports more than 95 percent of all school buildings in Gaza have been damaged and nearly 88 percent need reconstruction before
they can be used.
Now to a CNN exclusive with a former Israeli hostage who spent 505 days in captivity after being shot and abducted from the Nova Festival on October
7th.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. As CNN's Clarissa Ward spoke to Eliya Cohen in his first international interview since he was freed back in February. We want to
warn you that her report contains disturbing images.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COHEN: I feel guilty. I feel guilty by myself. When I eat, I feel guilty. When I get shower, I feel guilty. When I go to the hospital to check
something, I feel guilty because I know what they go through right now.
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Eliya Cohen has been free for six months, but he's still imprisoned by the
knowledge that his fellow hostages are not.
Eliya and his girlfriend, Ziv Abud were at the Nova Music Festival on October 7th, 2023. When rockets started raining down, they ran to a shelter
only to come under attack by Hamas militants.
COHEN: And they throw the first grenade inside. And the grenade explode and killed the most people in -- at the entrance.
At that moment, I jump on -- on -- on Ziv and I told her, Ziv, I love you. I took dead bodies and I cover me and Ziv to survive. They came inside and
they start to shoot. And then I got shoot in my leg.
WARD: What's going through your mind in this moment?
COHEN: I really start to pray to God, to tell him, God, I love you, please keep me alive. And they came inside. And when I opened my -- when I opened
my eyes, I saw them film us with big smile.
And when I came out of the shelter, so I saw so many people with RPG, with grenade, with Kalashnikov, with a lot of tools to kill people.
They were so high for me. I saw them. They laugh, they sing like -- like a crazy people.
WARD (voice-over): Eliya was bundled onto the back of a truck and taken to Gaza. Also, on that truck, Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin. His hand
blown off trying to throw a grenade out of the shelter. The pair would later be held together for a short time.
COHEN: We took a -- we took a lot for three days. After three days, they told him that, Hersh, wake up. You go to your mother, it's happy day. You
go to your mother. Be happy. And he gave me his book. He got -- he got some book in English. I didn't know to speak English before.
WARD: You didn't know how to speak English before?
COHEN: Yes. I didn't know -- not speak in English before. He told me, take it from me because I go home. Keep it -- keep it for you.
So, it really gave me power to continue because I say to myself that Hersh came back home, maybe he will come to my mother and to my father to tell
them that I'm alive and I will be OK.
WARD (voice-over): But Hersh never came back home. He was executed by Hamas along with five other hostages.
COHEN: So for me, it was difficult because I really love him. We were for three days, but it felt like we were friends for 10 years.
WARD: I'd love to get a sense from you of the -- the bond between hostages.
COHEN: The experience there and the connection of us, you know, the situation made us really connected. We really love each other.
WARD (voice-over): Most of Eliya's captivity was spent deep in tunnels alongside fellow hostages Or Levy, Alon Ohel and Eli Sharabi. He says he
went an entire year without brushing his teeth. At one point, surviving on a single can of beans shared between them each day.
COHEN: I can tell you about a lot of situation that they came and really tried to do any torture, to laugh on us like --
WARD: Mind games?
COHEN: Yes, like mind games. You can call it mind games. After something like eight months without mattress, without nothing, we slept on the floor,
they came with big smile. And they tell us, we have big good news for you. We gave you -- we -- we gave you mattress. But we have bad news, we gave
you just three. So, check -- check who slept on the floor and -- who will - - who will sleep on the floor and who will sleep on -- on the -- on the mattress.
[12:40:30]
And we look to each other, you know, no -- nobody want to -- to continue to sleep on the floor after so many days. We're tired.
One of the hostages, his name is Alon Ohel, and that's still there. He came and told to -- to the terrorist, give the mattress for them, I will sleep
on the floor.
WARD: After 505 days, Eliya was finally released, reunited with his parents and his girlfriend, Ziv, who he had assumed was killed in the shelter.
COHEN: And then I met Ziv, and it was like -- it was like dream. For -- for a week, it felt like dream. I look at her and I told her, Ziv, I can't -- I
can't believe you 're -- you're here because she survived.
WARD: And now, you guys are getting married, is that right?
COHEN: I can't tell you this in the -- in the news.
WARD: Since his release, Ziv is always by his side.
COHEN: She want to join us.
WARD: She wants to join us? OK.
COHEN: Yes.
WARD: Let's put a microphone on you.
I mean, Ziv, did you ever let yourself imagine that moment while you were waiting for Eliya?
ZIV ABUD, ELIYA'S GIRLFRIEND: No, not really because I was scared. I never let myself to imagine this moment because I don't want -- I didn't want to
fall, you know?
I told to myself, I believe just when I see that Eliya crossed the border to Israel with -- you know, with soldier. And this is the moment that I
look and told myself, OK, now you can breathe.
WARD: In an interview with Israeli media during the ceasefire, Eliya said that he worried that if the fighting continued, it would be, quote, "a
death sentence for the hostages."
In our conversation, he was very careful not to criticize Prime Minister Netanyahu or his plan to occupy the whole of Gaza. But other hostage
families have been more outspoken about their fears.
Clarissa Ward, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:45:18]
GOLODRYGA: It's a whole new canvas for global branding, innovation, and it's happening in the United Arab Emirates.
ASHER: Yes. The UAE is not only innovating, it is setting a global precedent in branding culture with Dubai as its launch pad. Contributor Kim
Kelaita reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KIM KELAITA, CNN CONTRIBUTOR (voice-over): Kris Fade is a Dubai celebrity.
KRIS FADE, AUSTRALIAN-LEBANESE RADIO PRESENTER: Hi. How are you? You're good? Nice to meet you. Bye.
KELAITA (voice-over): In the mornings he is live on Virgin Radio Dubai hosting one of the biggest breakfast shows in the Middle East.
FADE: Hello mom, hello dad. It's a Friday morning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
KELAITA (voice-over): In 2018, Fade's own fitness journey led him to start Fade Fit.
FADE: Let's go to the meeting room, guys.
KELAITA (voice-over): A family-owned and operated brand which offers healthy snacks and more.
FADE: It went 33 percent up which is fantastic. That's huge growth. The year on that, we had a 41 percent growth. So, we're growing dramatically
which is what we wanted to see.
KELAITA (voice-over): Backed by international funding and regional ambition Dubai-born brands are not just emerging, they're going global.
FADE: We've become one of the fastest growing snack brands in -- in all of the country. And now, we've expanded across the GCC. We're in more than 800
outlets in KSA. And now we've expanded globally. We're selling in Romania. We've just signed a deal in South Africa and we'll be in Australia in the
next four months as well.
PHILIP BAHOSHY, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, MAGNITT: That diversification away from the oil economy has really been at the steadfast of what people have
been trying to drive here.
And over time, you see a lot of them are expatriates as well as locals that are setting grassroots companies here in the UAE to operate, not only at a
regional level but at a global level.
KELAITA (voice-over): Dubai-based wellness brand, Humantra, which produces hydration products just secured a major investment from JamJar. The VC fund
set up by the founders of Innocent Smoothies.
CHARLIE WRIGHT, FOUNDER, HUMANTRA: It's the first time a tier one U.K. VC is invested in a consumer brand in the region which gives us the validation
and the mandate to obviously scale up outside of the region.
KELAITA (voice-over): The investment said to be in the eight figures has helped Humantra launch this past May into 1,200 boots stores across the
United Kingdom. And Wright says he has Dubai to thank for that success.
WRIGHT: I wouldn't be here had I not launched the brand in Dubai. The country is incredibly optimistic in general. The ability to network and
meet people. And I think this general optimism fuels growth.
BAHOSHY: Last year, we saw close to $700 million of investment in tech companies that were based in the UAE specifically.
KELAITA (voice-over): Bahoshy says 77 percent of this was foreign investment and the rest locally from the UAE.
BAHOSHY: I think the UAE is a great hub in general for people to attract talent. One of the biggest challenges for companies is talent acquisition.
And given the lifestyle and the opportunities that exist and many people already being established here. That's less of a challenge for the UAE.
KELAITA (voice-over): Attracting millions in global investment proving that local innovation can reach worldwide success.
Kim Kelaita, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:50:16]
ASHER: A retired auto worker in Michigan has experienced a reunion that he never expected with a wallet he lost more than a decade ago. Richard
Guilford was repairing a car on a Ford factory line when his wallet fell out of his pocket. He said that he and his co-workers searched dozens of
cars, hoping to find it with no luck.
GOLODRYGA: The wallet was a Christmas gift from his sons, and it contained $15 in cash, his work ID, driver's license, lottery tickets, and gift cards
worth $275. Guilford says he never expected to see it again.
But just a few days ago, he received a Facebook message from Chad Volk in Minnesota, asking Guilford if he'd lost his wallet. Volk had found it in
the engine bay of the car he was repairing, safe and sound. Volk mailed it back to Guilford, who says the act of kindness, quote, restores your faith
in humanity.
All of those stories, they always do, right? When we hear about two people.
ASHER: Ten years. Yes.
GOLODRYGA: That's incredible.
ASHER: All right. One Alaska Man might have been the biggest winner following last week's summit between U.S. President Trump and Russian
President Vladimir Putin.
Mark Warren, a retired fire inspector, was gifted a new motorcycle from Putin's delegation. Georgina Fernandez of KTUU reports on the unusual gift.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK WARREN, MAN GIVEN A MOTORCYCLE BY PUTIN'S DELEGATION: I thought it was a hoax.
GEORGINA FERNANDEZ, KTUU JOURNALIST: It's been a question of why.
WARREN: Because they don't know me. I don't know them.
FERNANDEZ (voice-over): For days now, after Bird Creek resident, Mark Warren, was given this new Ural Motorcycle from Russian President Vladimir
Putin following the summit last week.
This letter here, from the Embassy of the Russian Federation in the U.S., calling it an act of giving with no explanation as to why.
WARREN: It's so absolutely astronomically random that it was hard for me to understand why this happens. Matter of fact, I still don't know why.
FERNANDEZ (voice-over): The story though with Warren and the bike starts more than a week before the summit. After he says Russian state journalist
initially make contact with him while he was writing his own Ural motorcycle through Downtown Anchorage.
WARREN: And that they were interested in why I had the bike and what I was doing. It was purely just information about the bike, why I bought it and
about what I did to fix it up.
FERNANDEZ (voice-over): Days later, he says the journalist called him saying their story went viral. Then more days pass and another call came.
WARREN: They wanted -- we want to give you a bike, a new motorcycle, a new Ural. And that it was on base.
And I said, call me when it's off base because at this point, I just felt this is so random and so strange that I felt apprehensive about this being
actually really going to happen.
FERNANDEZ (voice-over): Warren and his wife later are meeting up with Russian embassy consulates and members of the media to receive the bike.
FERNANDEZ: Did you ever have any second guesses of maybe I should not accept this gift?
WARREN: No.
FERNANDEZ: Why so?
WARREN: I don't think if -- if -- if I was accepting this gift for some nefarious purpose or for some favor or something else that I had to do to
interact with them, I would definitely not do it.
FERNANDEZ (voice-over): The reason though why he was chosen --
WARREN: But this was just a purely random act.
(MOTORCYCLE HONKS)
FERNANDEZ (voice-over): -- is still unclear.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[12:55:01]
ASHER: All right. Finally, Walmart says it's recalling some of its frozen shrimp after federal officials warned it could be contaminated with, of all
things, radioactive material.
The suspect item. What do you say to that?
GOLODRYGA: Minor. Minor details.
ASHER: The suspect items are two pound bags of shrimp with the best buy date of March 15th, 2027. They were on sale in 13 U.S. states. So, if you
have one of those batches, do not eat. It's safe to say.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. The Food and Drug Administration says it's concerned about shipments from a supplier in Indonesia.
Walmart says it took the shrimp off the shelves as soon as it found out. But anyone who may have already bought a bag is advised to throw it away or
take it back to the store. Guys, better be safe. Check those bags of shrimp.
ASHER: March 15th, 2027 is the best -- is the best buy sell by date.
GOLODRYGA: All right. Well, I wish we had a more uplifting story to end the show on, but that does it for "One World" today. I'm Bianna Golodryga.
ASHER: I just lost my appetite completely. No -- no lunch for me.
GOLODRYGA: Time to go vegetarian.
ASHER: I'm Zain Asher. She's going to be back with "Amanpour" after this short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:00:00]
END
