HEY, EVERYBODY, WELCOME BACK.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, MY NEXT GUEST IS THE PULITZER PRIZE
WINNING AUTHOR WHO SPENT FOUR YEARS AS U.N. AMBASSADOR AND IS
CURRENTLY THE ADMINISTRATOR OF U.S.A. ID.
PLEASE WELCOME BACK TO THE LATE SHOW SAMANTHA POWER.
HEY. NICE TO SEE YOU AGAIN.
>> NICE DIGS. >> Stephen: YEAH, ST NICE
SUMMER OVER ZOOM YOU AND I DIGSK SUSPECT TMENT LAST DISCUSSED
PRESIDENT BIDEN'S PLEDGE TO SEND COVID VACCINES AROUND THE WORLD
AND U.S.A. ID OF COURSE IS PART OF THE ADMINISTRATION AND
DISTRIBUTION OF THAT. WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF PRESIDENT
BIDEN SAYING THAT THE PAFNED IS OVER?
PANDEMIC IS OVER, DO YOU THINK DO YOU THINK-- THAT THE HE GOT
THAT RIGHT BECAUSE THERE HAS BEEN SOME BACK PEDALING AT 1600
PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, GO AHEAD, THROW YOUR BOSS UNDER THE BUS
LIGHT NOW. >> LET'S THINK BACK TO WHEN
OFFICE. DEATHS SINCE THEN ARE PRESIDENT BIDEN ENTERED DOWN 90%.
THE PANDEMIC WE ALL KNOW, LOOK, WE'RE HERE.
SCHOOLS ARE OPEN. I'M NOT THE PATHETIC HOME
SCHOOLER THAT I ONCE WAS DURING THE PAFNED.
>> Stephen: WILL YOUR CHILDREN EVER RECOVER FROM TEACHING THEM
MATH. >> NO, NEVER, THE SETBACK IS
PERMANENT. BUT I THINK WHAT HE WAS SAYING
WAS THAT COVID NEEDLESS TO SAY IS NOT THE DISRUPTIVE THREAT
THAT IT WAS. AND IT, BECAUSE WE HAVE THE
TOOLS AVAILABLE, EVERYBODY SHOULD GO AND GET THEIR VARIANT
BOOSTER AND THEIR FLU SHOT AT THE SAME TIME.
WE ARE IN A POSITION TO MANAGE THIS, OUR ECONOMY HAS REOPENED.
WE ARE TRYING TO BE SURE THE SAME STHING HAPPENS IN EVEN THE
WORLD. AND WE HAVE MADE GREAT POOREST COUNTRIES IN THE HEADWAY.
>> Stephen: LET'S TALK ABOUT THE CHALLENGE WE FACE IN THE
WORLD RIGHT NOW. WE'LL TALK ABOUT ONE OF THE
CHALLENGES, MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT ONE THE GREATEST CHALLENGES
THAT U.S.A. ID IS HOPING TO HELP MITIGATE IS THAT, IS THE FOOD
SHORTAGE AROUND THE WORLD AND THAT CROP YIELDS ARE DOWN
PARTIALLY BECAUSE OF GLOBAL WARMING BUT ALSO THE WAR IN
UKRAINE WHICH PROVIDES 25% OF THE WORLD'S WHEAT.
IS THIS PUTIN'S FAULT, THIS FOOD SHORTAGE?
BECAUSE HE'S BLAMING THE WEST. HE'S BLAMING US.
>> YEAH. >> Stephen: AND HOW HARD
IS-- IS THE U.N. A PLACE WHERE YOU CAN FIGHT THAT
>> I TRAVELED THIS SUMMER TO MISINFORMATION? TWO
COUNTRIES IN THE FOOD CRIES I OF THE WORST EFFECTED KENYA AND
SOMALIA, WHERE BASICALLY WE'RE ON THE BRINK OF FAMINEE IN PARTS
OF BOTH OF THOSE COUNTRIES. AND I BROUGHT SUPPORT FOR
FERTILIZER ON BEHALF OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, I BROUGHT
ADDITIONAL SUPPORT FOR SOME OF THE SEEDS SO FARMERS CAN PLANT
IN THE CEASESONS AHEAD AND BROUGHT EMERGENCY ASSISTANT,
MR. LAVROV CAME A FEW DAYS AFTER I DID FROM THE SAME COUNTRIES
AND HE BROUGHT MISINFORMATION AND LIES WHICH DON'T FEED
AND SO THE ONE THING I WOULD ANYBODY. SAY
IS THERE IS A LOT OF NOISE OUT THERE AND THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
S YOU KNOW, TRYING TO TURN THAT NOISE UP ON VERY HIGH DES INEL.
MY EXPERIENCE IN TRAVELING TO THESE COUNTRIES THAT ARE VERY
VULNERABLE RIGHT NOW IS THEY KNOW THE DIFFERENCE.
THEY KNOW THAT PRESIDENT PUTIN FOR A VERY LONG TIME BLOCKED THE
UKRAINE THAT WAS IN UKRAINIAN PORTS READY TO REACH COUNTRIES
LIKE LEB TON-- LEBANON, SYRIA, LIKE SOMALIA, KENYA, PLACES JUST
BLOCKED T FINALLY THERE WAS A BREAKTHROUGH AND SOME OF THOSE
GRAINS ARE MOVING BUT PRICES ALREADY SPIKED BECAUSE OF THE
FOOD SHORTAGE THAT THAT CONTRIBUTED TO.
I WILL SAY THE UNDERLYING CONDITIONS ARE CHRONIC
CONDITIONS. CLIMATED CLANG IS A CHRONIC
CONDITION. THE HORN OF AFRICA IS
EXPERIENCING ITS FOURTH STRAIGHT FAILED RAINY SEASON.
THAT HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE IN RECORDED HISTORY.
I WAS JUST IN PAKISTAN A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO.
STEPHN, I FELT LIKE I WAS IN THE APOCALYPSE.
I WAS FLYING INLAND ABOUT 200 MILES FROM THE NEAREST OCEAN AND
I WAS LOOKING DOWN. I WAS LIKE WAIT, THAT IS OCEAN.
AND THEN NO, ACTUALLY A THIRD OF THE COUNTRY IS UNDERWATER
BECAUSE OF MELTING GLACIERS COMBINED WITH MONDAY SOON RAINS
THAT ARE FIVE TIMES AS INTENSE AS THEY EVER HAVE BEFORE.
AND WHAT YOU SEE, YOU CAN SEE LIKE LITTLE SORT OF ROOFTOPS
SOMETIMES POKING OUT OR 12 METER HIGH TREES THAT WERE YOU SEE
JUST THE RIM OF THE TREE, THAT IS HOW MUCH WATER THERE IS ON
THE GROUND. BUT YOU ALSO SEE THE CROP LAND
THAT HAVE JUST BEEN RAVAGERRED BY THESE FLOODS.
SO WE EITHER HAVE TOO MUCH WATER OR TOO LITTLE WATER EVERYWHERE
YOU LOOK. AND PART OF WHAT WE WANT TO DO
AS U.S.A. ID ON BEHALF OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, AND THERE IS
BIPARTISAN SUPPORT WHICH IS WONDERFUL.
IS NOT ONLY FEED PEOPLE WHO JUST LOST THEIR CROP LAND BECAUSE OF
DROUGHT, BUT ACTUALLY GIVE FLOODING OR BECAUSE OF THEM THE
RESILIENCE TO NOT BE IN A POSITION WHERE THEY ARE
HEADACHING HUMANITARIAN ACTIONS. NOBODY WANTS EMERGENCY
HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE. THEY WANT TO BE ABLE TO PLANT
THEIR SEEDS, TAKE THEIR HAR VESES AND DEAL, AND RELOCATE IN
SOME CASES, SO AS TO BE IN PLACES THAT ARE MORE HOSPITALITY
GIVEN THE CHANGING CLIMATE. >> Stephen: WHAT IS THIS JOB
LIKE? ALL THESE DIFFERENT PLACES YOU
ARE NAMING, DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU ARE WHEN YOU WAKE UP IN THE
MORNING? >> THE TRIPS ARE GREAT BECAUSE
YOU GET CLOSE AND YOU FEEL THE HUMAN CONSEQUENCES OF THE
CHALLENGES THAT WE ARE ALL READING ABOUT, BACK HERE AND
THAT AMERICANS ARE EXPERIENCING IN DIFFERENT WAYS.
YOU SEE THE RESILL YENSZ, THAT HUNGER PEOPLE HAVE TO GET BACK
TO WORK AND NOT BE RECEIVING ASSISTANCE.
THEY ALL WANT TRADE, NOT AID. HONESTLY STEPHEN, THE WAY I FEW
THIS JOB IS I WAS IN THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION SO FORTUNATE, FOR
EIGHT YEARS, MY FIRST TIME IN PUBLIC SERVICE, THEN I HAD TO
LIVE THE NEXT FOUR YEARS OUT OF GOVERNMENT.
THOO YOU KNOW, POWERFUL AS TWEETS ARE, IT DIDN'T HAVE QUITE
THE SAME, YOU KNOW, IMPACT POTENTIALLY.
I MEAN THE UNITED STATES IS IN IT FOR THE LONG HAUL AND IS IN
IT IN A WAY THAT AGAIN IF YOU PUT YOURSELF IN THEIR SHOES,
WHAT WOULD YOU WISH THE UNITED STATES RESPONSE TO BE.
I JUST FEEL REALLY LUCKY TO BE A PART OF TRYING TO FIGURE OUT
WHAT THAT IS. THERE BUT FOR THE GRACE OF GOD
THERE GO I. WE ARE FORTUNATE TO BE IN THIS
POSITION RATHER THAN TO BE-- . >> Stephen: I KNOW WE HAVE TO
GO HERE, GOT TO GO HERE, IN JUST ONE SECOND.
, GETTING THE HIGH SIGN OVER HERE.
BUT SPEAKING OF THE AIDE YEARS YOU SPENT IN THE OBAMA
ADMINISTRATION, WHAT ONE THE OTHER PEOPLE IN THAT
ADMINISTRATION WAS AT THE TIME VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN, NOW
HE'S YOUR BOSS. WHAT WAS HE LIKE AS A BIT OF A
STRONG WORD BUT WHAT WAS HE LIKE AS A COWORKER, LET'S SAY.
>> I WILL MENTION TO HIM THAT THAT WAS-- MY COWORKER AS THE
VICE PRESIDENT. HE WAS, JOE BIDEN IS EXACTLY
BEHIND THE SCENES WHAT JOE BIDEN IS, YOU KNOW, OUT IN GRAND
DISPLAY. AND SO WE WOULD BE IN MEEGHTS
SOMETHING, MAYBE THAT MIGHT BE AND I WOULD BE SAYING LANDING LIKE
A LEAD BALLOON IN THE CENTER OF THE MEETING, WITH THE THEN
PRESIDENT, PRESIDENT OBAMA. SPARRING A LITTLE BIT.
COUNTER TO WHAT OTHERS MIGHT MAYBE A LITTLE, AGAINS, WANT TO BE
DOING AT THE TIME AND I JUST KIND OF BE DEFLATED AND FEEL
SOMEBODY WOULD PASS ME A NOTE UNJOINED AND NEXT THING FROM MANY
SEATS DOWN, BECAUSE THE VICE PRESIDENT WAS RIGHT NEXT TO THE
PRESIDENT AND IT WOULD BE A NOTE FROM JOE BIDEN SAYING THAT IS
EXACTLY WHY YOU ARE HERE. YOU KNOW, NEVER BE QUIET.
ANOTHER NOTE, GO IRISH. YOU KNOW.
SO THAT'S-- . >> Stephen: THAT'S JOE.
SAM AN, THAT LOVELY TO SEE YOU. >> GREAT TO SEE YOU.
>> Stephen: THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE.
>> THANK YOU. >> Stephen: U.S.A. ID
ADMINISTRATOR SAMANTHA POWER, EVERYBODY.
WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK.