[clock ticking]
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CARL AZUZ: Thanks for taking 10 for "CNN 10."
I'm your host, Carl Azuz.
It's good to see you this Thursday.
Somewhere just East of the capital
of Haiti, 17 American missionaries
are being held hostage.
The Christian aid workers were kidnapped six days ago
by a Haitian gang, and it's demanded $1 million
in ransom for each of them-- a total of $17 million--
for their release.
The Americans range in age from eight months to 48 years old.
They were working with a charity organization called
Christian Aid Ministries.
It says their efforts included helping schoolchildren,
distributing Bibles, providing medicine to clinics,
giving food to the hungry, and teaching Haitian pastors.
The missionaries were also helping in a rebuilding project
for people who lost their homes in an earthquake
that struck Haiti in August.
Conditions there were deteriorating before that.
The nation's president was assassinated in July.
Throughout the summer, gang violence and crime
spread across the capital of Port Au Prince.
Prices of goods have increased tremendously.
The electricity often goes out.
There are shortages of food and gasoline.
And corruption is widespread throughout Haiti,
the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.
Kidnappings have been on the rise.
Hundreds of abductions have been reported since the beginning
of this year, including that of five priests and two nuns,
who were taken in the same area six months ago.
They were later freed on ransom.
Experts say strengthening gangs an understaffed,
an overwhelmed security force, and corruption involving
police and politicians are all factors
in Haiti's rising crime.
Christian Aid Ministries is asking people
to pray for the missionaries' safety and release,
as well as for the Haitian and American authorities
helping in the process.
Paying ransoms has brought a number of abducted people home,
but some officials say it also has negative consequences
for Haiti.
JOE JOHNS: As the State Department and the FBI
worked behind the scenes to free the American missionaries
and five children who were snatched in Haiti,
a new warning about paying the $17 million
ransom the gang behind the kidnapping is demanding.
LAURENT LAMOTHE: It would be very unfortunate for the $17
million to be paid, because that would only reinforce the gang,
and that would only finance further kidnappings.
And so the solution is to, short-term,
send security experts to help the police
in this particular situation.
JOE JOHNS: The missionaries were believed
to be staying at a compound in the village of Titanyen
outside Port Au Prince.
On Saturday, they were kidnapped by a group of armed men
while driving back from visiting a nearby orphanage
in Crois des Bouquets.
Haitian officials say the gang 400 Mawozo is responsible.
We took a ride in a helicopter today to get
a better view of the area.
I've been on many of these roads outside of Port Au Prince
10 years ago, but it's very different now simply
because of the kidnappings.
It's not safe for a foreigner to drive on the roads.
That's why we're in the helicopter.
400 Mawozo is Creole for "Out in the Country," outside the city.
And that's where this group comes from.
An armed gang that has grown larger and larger
and more powerful, particularly over the last several months
since the assassination of the president of Haiti.
They control the roads, in many ways.
The police need help.
There's a real reluctance from government authorities,
as well as many people who are part of the electorate,
to have another peacekeeping force
on the ground to restore order.
But if they don't want that to happen,
the question is, how can Haiti succeed without getting control
of the situation on the ground?
CARL AZUZ: 10-second trivia.
The term "pod" can be used to describe
all of these animal groups except sharks,
walruses, pelicans, or whales.
[clock ticking]
A group of sharks may be called a school, frenzy, or shiver,
but not typically a pod.
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SIMON MILLAR: On Thursday, we had a mass or a mega pod--
100-plus whales in the vicinity, really tight-knit vicinity
that was feeding on bay fish--
you know, we did smell fish everywhere,
whales busting up through it.
This is something that was first witnessed last year.
We've been witnessing whales being on the South Coast
for maybe, like, 19 years--
since I've been doing 19 years.
But we've never witnessed them feeding in
such huge aggregations before.
[music playing]
CARL AZUZ: One of the 14 nations that shares a border with China
is Laos.
It's home to about 7.5 million people.
Like China, Laos is a communist country.
But unlike China, Laos has a youthful population.
More than half the people who live there are under age 25.
There's a new railway that connects the two nations.
It runs from Kunming, a large city in Southern China,
to the Laotian capital of Vientiane.
The track currently stretches just over 620 miles.
But this is part of China's first international railway
network, and that nation plans to eventually
connect several Asian and African
countries through the railway.
When the China-Loas train is fully operational,
and that's expected to happen by the end of this year,
its top speed will be just under 100 miles per hour.
And it could bring more Chinese tourists into Laos.
China is the world's most populous country,
and before COVID hit in 2019, a Laotian official
says 760,000 Chinese tourists visited his nation,
and that was an increase of 26% from the year before.
[music playing]
You took the part that once was my heart.
You took the best, so why not take the rest?
Those are some of the lyrics to a classic American jazz
song named "All of Me," popularly
performed by Billie Holiday.
It's not to be confused with the song
that John Legend released in 2013.
Imagine singing that one live on the street when the legend
himself showed up.
JEANNE MOOS: A street performer in Boston.
[singing]
RADHA RAO: You give me all--
JEANNE MOOS: Was crooning "All of Me,"
when suddenly, she got all of him, John Legend.
- Loves all of you.
JEANNE MOOS: The man whose song she was singing
was standing right before her eyes, though at first--
RADHA RAO: I saw a man with a trench coat
and a mask stepped forward.
I thought to myself, that looks quite like John Legend,
but that couldn't be him.
JEANNE MOOS: But then he took his mask off.
RADHA RAO: I was absolutely stunned.
JEANNE MOOS: In town for a concert,
legend was outside Faneuil Hall with his wife, Chrissy,
and his kids watching.
[singing]
RADHA RAO: You give me all--
JEANNE MOOS: Part-time singer Radha
Rao performed Legend's song, never dreaming he'd be there.
RADHA RAO: It's definitely a fan favorite,
and it's a song I feel so emotional about.
JEANNE MOOS: She said her mind went blank, she was nervous,
but she kept singing as he nodded encouragement.
Anyone who watches "The Voice"--
[button press]
Might expect him to wheel around any moment.
But when Radha finished--
RADHA RAO: Give it up for Mr Legend--
John Legend.
That's a surprise.
JEANNE MOOS: Legend reached in his pocket for his wallet,
walked over to Radha, and gave her a tip and a hug,
telling her the song was beautiful.
[singing]
- Give my all to you.
JEANNE MOOS: But how much of his all did he give?
Did she tell us how big a tip?
RADHA RAO: I would love to, but I actually don't know.
JEANNE MOOS: She just put it in her tip box
and continued her set.
But the one thing she does know--
RADHA RAO: I did give it my all.
[singing in unison]
- I give you all--
JEANNE MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
CARL AZUZ: Easy to see how that could leave her head spinning.
I mean, who knows what was going on in that beautiful mind?
If she felt like the world was beating her down,
John Legend really was around.
The two of them in rhythm and blues just can't stop singing.
I'm Carl Azuz, and I'd like to thank all of you for watching.
Shout out to our viewers at Foxborough High School
in Foxborough Massachusetts for subscribing and commenting
on our YouTube channel.
We'll see you all tomorrow.
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