It’s Tuesday: Mo News talked with U.S. Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield on world crises and the need for UN reform; And San Francisco’s homeless population has increased despite encampments largely vanishing.

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Good morning,

We know food can bring people together, but what about countries? Mo News spoke with US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield at her residence on Monday. Her signature form of working with the others: “Gumbo diplomacy.”

• The Washington Post even posted the Louisiana native’s recipe.

• Having worked in the Foreign Service for nearly four decades, Thomas-Greenfield says the dish is one of her “superpowers” for bringing world leaders to the table.

  • “When I'm making gumbo, usually, I need help. I have people in the kitchen watching and you start talking and you forget that you have issues with each other. You talk through problems and you develop a relationship that becomes a friendship. Friendships help you to move agendas forward. I have been able to do that with friends and foes.”

More on the interview below. Have a good one!

Mosheh, Jill, & Lauren

PS: Don’t forget to refer friends & family to subscribe to the Mo Newsletter… you could get free Mo News merch — DETAILS at the bottom of this newsletter!

📌 Mo News One-One-One With UN Ambassador On International Conflicts & The Future Of Diplomacy

As the UN’s 193-member states gather in New York this week to begin the 79th General Assembly session, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield tells us about her priorities— as the war in Ukraine passes the two year mark, the war in the Middle East is nearing the one-year mark, there’s a humanitarian crisis in Sudan, unrest in Haiti and elsewhere.

Mo News’s Jill Wagner sat down with Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield on Monday, ahead of the 79th session’s start today.

[Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for time and clarity. The full conversation is available on the Mo News Interview Podcast.]

—

JW: Thank you for taking the time, especially this week. Give us a sense of what happens during the UN General Assembly?

LTG: They call this a Super Bowl of diplomacy, and it truly is because we have leaders from all over the world who gather here in New York this week to talk about issues of peace and security, climate change, poverty, and how we address sustainable development goals. This is the time when we work on problems that impact the globe.

JW: We are two years into the war in Ukraine, it’s been nearly a year of war after Hamas’s Oct. 7. attack, instability in Haiti, Sudan has a huge humanitarian crisis. What is your top priority for this week?

LTG: You named them. When I was ambassador to Liberia, President Sirleaf talked about the priorities of the priorities. This is what we're going to be dealing with, the priorities of the priorities.

First and foremost, it is about peace and security. It's about finding solutions to bringing peace to the tens of millions of people who are being impacted by war.

Second, we're looking broadly at how to rebuild the humanitarian system. The humanitarian system around the world has been stretched beyond its limits as organizations try to deal with issues that are a consequence of war and climate change. We will be working on how to ensure that humanitarian workers have access to get into areas and provide security without their lives being threatened.

Thirdly, I spoke at the Council on Foreign Relations a couple of weeks ago about UN reform. We will be talking about how we reform a system that is now more than 70 years old. How we make that system more inclusive, including ensuring that Africa has a voice in the Security Council.

And I have a fourth priority that I've added: Engaging with young people. I want to amplify their voices. They're going to be the future. It's not going to be us, it's going to be them.

JW: You mentioned UN reform. But Iran, for example, sits on the Human Rights Council. Russia has veto power and just invaded a sovereign country. UN Women took months to even acknowledge that there was sexual violence and rape on Oct. 7 committed by Hamas. How do you convince Americans that the UN is still a credible and valuable and important organization?

LTG: First and foremost, the UN is a valuable organization. Whenever I'm asked this question, I remember what Secretary Albright said: If we didn't have the UN today, we would create it. The UN does have impact: It provides a platform for the world to call out people who are committing human rights violations. Iran may be sitting on the Human Rights Council, but they're not sitting there in comfort. Russia sitting in the Security Council, they are being called out every single day for what they are doing. I am proud that we were able to get countries to condemn Russia, to condemn their actions in Ukraine.

Dealing with the situation in Gaza has been probably the most difficult issue that I have ever dealt with as a diplomat. We were able to get the Security Council to support President Biden's peace ceasefire deal and give time for us to try to push forward that deal. We're continuing to work on that every single day.

JW: There is some reporting that even some top US officials do not feel like a ceasefire-hostage agreement will happen within the Biden administration. Do you think that's an accurate assessment?

LTG: I think they can't predict the future. I’ve heard directly from the President that he has not given up— he is continuing with the entire team to push for this ceasefire deal. What that means for me is that I have to keep pushing forward, engaging with my colleagues on the Security Council, engaging with the Arab group and Israel to do the work that the President started, and that is pushing forward a ceasefire deal so that we can get hostages out, so that we can help Palestinians who are suffering mightily in Gaza.

I am really dreading October 7, because it's going to bring back all of the horror and sadness that we felt when we woke up on the morning of October 8— that Israel has suffered such a horrific attack. So that means we have to keep working on it. We can never give up.

—

Check out more of the conversation with Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield— from the war in Sudan to behind-the-scenes relationships with diplomats of foreign countries— on the Mo News Instagram and The Interview podcast.

Up next: President Biden will speak today to the General Assembly. The Ambassador says he will lay out three priorities: Working toward peace worldwide, raising concerns about humanitarian aid, and making the Security Council more inclusive by adding two additional permanent seats for Africa.

• Among dozens of other world leaders, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are slated to speak later this week to the group.

📌 HOMELESS ENCAMPMENTS APPEAR SMALLER IN SAN FRANCISCO

A city known for its homeless encampments reports making progress this past year in clearing them. San Francisco’s population sleeping outdoors dropped to the lowest number recorded in a decade, but the same federal count actually showed that the total homelessness population in the city grew by 7%.

What’s going on: The problem is still there, it’s just more out of the public eye.

THE NUMBERS
San Francisco, along with other California cities, have reported a drop in visible homelessness. The state has more than a quarter of the nation’s homeless population.

• San Francisco recorded 3,000 people sleeping outside earlier this year, out of the approximately 8,300 people experiencing homelessness in the city.

• Santa Cruz reported a 49% decline in people sleeping unsheltered this year, while Los Angeles recorded a 10% drop.

• Improved outreach to the population and more temporary housing is part of the decline. The other: Officials are ramping up enforcement of anti-camping laws.

  • Over the last six years, shelter beds and permanent supportive housing units have jumped by more than 50% in San Francisco.

  • City officials have also been cracking down on encampments. Last year, San Francisco had nearly 500 sweeps and this year is expected to surpass that.

  • To get the homeless population out of the city, San Francisco Mayor London Breed— who’s in a tough reelection campaign— has given police more power to combat encampments. She’s also encouraged officials to offer homeless bus tickets out of town.

Since the Supreme Court’s decision this summer to give cities more power to criminalize homelessness, Breed and California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom have advocated for clearing encampments.

📲 MO NEWS COMMUNITY
Over on the Mo News Instagram account, San Francisco residents reported that the homeless crisis has moved from some concentrated areas in the city to more wide-spread areas. Another person visiting the city for the third consecutive year noticed a temporary decrease of the homeless population this summer.

⏳ SPEED READ

🚨NATION

📌 Man suspected in second Trump assassination attempt left a letter detailing his plans, prosecutors say (NPR)

📌 Melania Trump was paid for a rare appearance at a political event. It’s not clear who cut the unusual six-figure check (CNN)

📌 California governor signs law banning all plastic shopping bags at grocery stores (AP)

📌 Category 3 Hurricane Helene expected to hit Florida's Gulf Coast later this week (USA TODAY)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

📌 Israel hits 1,300 targets in expanded Lebanon strike campaign against Hezbollah, hundreds killed (ABC NEWS)

📌 Japan scrambles fighter jets that shoot flares to warn Russian spy plane to leave airspace (CBS NEWS)

📌 German voters fend off far-right in latest state vote, early results suggest (NBC NEWS)

📌 Marxist Anura Kumara Dissanayake sworn in as Sri Lanka’s president (AP)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

📌 California sues ExxonMobil for alleged decades of deception around plastic recycling, in first-of-its-kind lawsuit (CNN)

📌 Boeing sweetens offer to union as strike enters second week (NBC NEWS)

📌 New York reports death from rare mosquito-borne illness Eastern Equine Encephalitis after 1st case diagnosed in nearly a decade (ABC NEWS)

📌 Nasal spray flu vaccine gets FDA approval for home use (FOX NEWS)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

📌 Levi’s teases Beyoncé collaboration as denim trend takes hold (CNBC)

📌 John Mulaney and Olivia Munn have a second child, a daughter named Méi (AP)

📌 Eric Stonestreet says ‘it felt a little hurtful’ when a Mitch and Cam ‘Modern Family’ spinoff was rejected (CNN)

📌 Diddy’s music streams jump after arrest and indictment (ABC NEWS)

Mo News Podcast: A daily conversation about the news that matters.

🗓 ON THIS DAY: SEPTEMBER 24

• 1906: Devils Tower in northeastern Wyoming was named the first national monument in the US.

• 1957: President Dwight Eisenhower ordered federal troops to escort nine Black students into the all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas; they became known as the Little Rock Nine.

• 1968: CBS aired the first episode of ‘60 Minutes,’ now the longest-running primetime show in American television history.

• 1979: CompuServe launched the world's first consumer ‘dial-up online information service,’ featuring the first public email service.