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Military Blocks Aid from Entering Venezuela; Israel to Launch Mission to the Moon; Manchester City Wins English League Cup. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired February 25, 2019 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): A night of surprises at this year's Oscars. We'll go live to Los Angeles in a moment with the evening's winners and the upsets.
CYRIL VANIER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Ahead of their summit, the U.S. president sees eye to eye with the North Korean leader. As long as Pyongyang is not testing nuclear weapons, he's happy.
ALLEN (voice-over): Also, more Venezuelan soldiers defect after a violent weekend. But humanitarian aid is still blocked at the border. What's next for the opposition.
Thank you for joining us. We are coming to you live from Atlanta. I'm Natalie Allen.
VANIER (voice-over): I'm Cyril Vanier. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
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ALLEN: Awards season is over. The Oscars just wrapped up the big show, finished less than an hour ago. Considering there was no host, it all went remarkably well, we think. There was laughter, tears, music, jokes and some extreme fashion.
VANIER: Basically everything that sums up Hollywood all in one night. After years of criticism like #OscarsSoWhite, the 2019 Academy Awards was a celebration of diverse filmmakers and actors. Of course, there were some surprises along the way.
ALLEN: Stephanie Elam is at the post-show Governor's Ball in the middle of the action.
The winners and losers, I'm looking Glenn Close behind you or whoever did not win, Stephanie. Hello to you.
What's the reaction there?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There is a lot of shockers and surprises out of tonight, that's for sure. No doubt about it. When you take a look at the best picture winner, "Green Book," there was speculation that movie might pull out a win.
The producers chose that as their best picture and they have the best winning streak, the winner for the Oscars. So that movie not too much of a surprise that they won. But the big surprise, one of the big surprises is Olivia Colman winning for best actress for her role in "The Favourite."
Everyone thought it would be Lady Gaga or Glenn Close. No one thought Olivia Colman was going to win, despite that she won at the BAFTAs. But take a listen to her speech. It was a lot of fun.
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OLIVIA COLMAN, ACTOR: My kids are at home watching, look. Well, if you are not, then, well, kind of well done. But I hope you are because --
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COLMAN: This is not going to happen again.
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ELAM: OK. And just for the record, why people thought Glenn Close was going to win and people were upset on Twitter nearby, I was looking, Glenn Close's performance in "The Wife" is stunning. It's stellar, fantastic. It was a fan favorite. She has been nominated before but she's never won. So there was some disappointment on that.
But then Olivia Colman's speech was lovely. So she shouted out Glenn Close and everyone was excited about that. Another one that people were watching was Rami Malek. Throughout the entire awards season, we have watched as everyone thought it was going to be Christian Bale. And the trajectory turned and it was all about Rami Malek. He had a really great speech. Take a listen to what he said.
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RAMI MALEK, ACTOR: Thank you, Queen. Thank you, guys for being -- for allowing me to be the tiniest part of your phenomenal, extraordinary legacy. I am forever in your debt.
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ELAM: And this one, people thought it might be Christian Bale who basically turned into Dick Cheney. Everyone thought it was going to be about him and the way he was breathe to the side of his mouth as he became Dick Cheney. A lot of people were interested to see that.
One other person we have been keeping our eyes on was Alfonso Cuaron for "Roma." There was a big campaign behind that movie from Netflix, they've been pushing and hoping it would take that award. And that's just not what happened here tonight. But Alfonso did walk away with a couple of Oscars.
It is noteworthy, you are talking about a film in Spanish, in black and white.
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ELAM: And a very personal story as well. And in the climate here in the United States, the fact that this movie got as much traction as it did was noteworthy as well.
And the big win was the Spike Lee award. And people were waiting for Spike Lee to get his Oscar. That happened tonight. And he had a speech to remember. Take a listen.
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SPIKE LEE, FILM DIRECTOR: The 2020 presidential election is around the corner.
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LEE: Let's all mobilize. Let's all be on the right side of history. Make the moral choice between love versus hate. Let's do the right thing! You know I had to get that in there.
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ELAM: So much excitement from Spike Lee there and all over the place, inside the room, on Twitter, people very happy. Another person was Lady Gaga, she got an Oscar for the song, "Shallow." After she won, she was an emotional puddle. The fact that she actually won the Oscar, it was a beautiful moment.
And one great moment, I don't know if you saw it, when Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga sang, it was a very intimate, awesome performance.
ALLEN: Absolute swooning across the world at those two when they sing that song together. It did not disappoint. Stephanie, thank you for the highlights. We know you get to speak with all the stars now and we'll look for you again as we push on.
Personally, I love that Spike Lee --
VANIER: Natalie loves that song.
ALLEN: -- I love that Spike Lee had like three pages of 8x10 yellow pages, when usually they have a 3x5.
VANIER: Sandro, what have you got there, an Oscar?
SANDRO MONETTI, ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST: Yes, of course. Everyone else is getting one. Spreading the love tonight. What a great night this was for diversity. There were 15 female winners, the most in history. Last year only six women took away Oscars.
There were seven black winners, that's the most in history. There's been a lot of criticism at the Academy in recent years, calls for diversity. Tonight they finally got it right. There is a sea change going on Tinseltown and about time.
ALLEN: What did you think about "Green Book" taking best picture?
MONETTI: Fantastic. I was so worried that "Roma" was going to win. Far too dull a film to win best picture. And also it seems like "Roma" had it in the bag because they spent, Netflix, $30 million on the award campaign, three times as much as the movie cost.
I was worried that Oscar campaigns would go like political campaigns whereby the one that spends the most money gets the most wins. It didn't happen and "Green Book," a real crowd pleaser in this award season, where no one could agree on a winner, finally "Bohemian Rhapsody" was good for a while. But the one singing "We Are the Champions" was the team from "Green Book."
VANIER: When "Green Book" won, I heard gasps across the newsroom here. I was a little surprised.
I said, "What's going on?"
"Well, I heard it's been panned by the critics."
So you are telling us it's well worth an Oscar.
MONETTI: But if you look, all the movies nominated for best picture, all eight, had divided people, they all had positives and negatives. The Oscar voting system is really strange, different from the other awards shows. You don't just vote for your favorite, you have to rank them in order.
So everyone's second place film will come to the surface. So maybe not everybody loved "Green Book" but it had enough second and third place wins to come through and win under this unusual voting system.
ALLEN: What do you think Glenn Close is feeling?
MONETTI: Oh, if you've ever wanted something and not got it, you could really feel for Glenn Close tonight. she's been nominated seven times, never won it. And she now holds an unenviable record, the living failure with most Oscar failures. As they say in sports, there's always next year.
VANIER: She gets my Oscar. I haven't seen the film. But comparing trailer to trailer, she looked absolutely awesome. Because the year, the story this year in the Oscars is diversity, you go down the list, best actor, best screenplay, all of these --
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VANIER: -- tell a story, in one way or another rewarded diversity.
But our colleague, George Howell, was pointing out to me that the reaction on Twitter to "Green Book" has been a very -- split down the middle, saying this is not representative of diversity.
What do you think of that? MONETTI: Exactly. The knock-on is it's one particular scene, where you see a white man teaching a black man how to eat fried chicken. And that scene really was a big no-no with large parts of the audience. It seemed like it would count out the film.
Yet here again is another heroic white man showing the black man how to be. But Peter Farrelly addressed this. Says no, no, this film is about love. And I think those who have seen the film -- and I have to say I have seen it four times -- it's just a joyous, it's got so many life lessons in it.
It is about a transformation, about somebody who starts out ignorant and learns and says we are all one on this planet. I think in the end it has a uniting message, not a dividing one. I hope that's what most people take away.
ALLEN: I ran into a friend who saw it, they said two thumbs up, it is a feel good movie. It's on the list.
And the show without a host, it went on just fine.
What do you think?
MONETTI: Terrible mistake. You couldn't connect with it. No opportunities for humor. I'm available for next year.
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ALLEN: Sandro, thank you. You are in. Thank you. Thank you so much.
Now we got to get on and do the real news now. The trade war between the U.S. and China could be winding down, President Trump is delaying a tariff hike set for March 1st and praised the recently extended trade talks at the meeting of U.S. governors in Washington.
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TRUMP: If all goes well, we'll have big wins over the next week or two. And it's really been terrific. I tell you, that whole relationship has been outstanding. Ourselves into a position of strength for the first time in 35 years or probably more than that. China has been terrific. We want to make a deal that's great for both countries and that's what we are going to be doing.
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VANIER: Mr. Trump hopes to finalize a deal with the Chinese president if talks keep moving forward. And Chinese state media reports substantial progress in negotiations.
CNN's Steven Jiang is in Beijing. Steven, it's quite mysterious.
What do you know?
STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER, BEIJING BUREAU: Not much more than what Mr. Trump has tweeted earlier. You heard an upbeat and optimistic President Trump. This latest development does remove that layer of uncertainty and also giving breathing room to negotiators as well as investors, especially in the U.S.
That has been a major concern of Mr. Trump; that is, the volatility in the U.S. stock market caused by this trade war. He did tick off all the right boxes. He talked about the long running disputes between the two countries and what the negotiators addressed, including structural issues in the Chinese economy that the U.S. has demanded to see changes but resisted by the Chinese side.
We are talking about property theft, state subsidies in key industries as well as forced transfer of technologies. So some of these issues are difficult to resolve. They touch on how this leadership views this economy should be run. It's going to be very challenging for both sides to bridge this wide gap.
Another thing to watch for is the verification mechanism. A lot of the things the Chinese pledged before but failed to follow through. Mr. Trump will realize that, as he has been a critic of the past trade deals between the two countries, so he and his team both realize, for this one to work, they have to make sure the Chinese are following promising empty promises.
VANIER: You always need verification mechanisms. We have heard this before, there's been progress and it's never been details. So maybe it'll end up being true but we have seen it then collapse and go into another round of negotiations and another round of threats over tariffs. So we'll see how that pans out.
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VANIER: Steven Jiang, thank you very much.
ALLEN: In the next few hours the U.S. president will depart Washington for Vietnam where he will hold his second summit with Kim Jong-un.
VANIER: His top diplomat Mike Pompeo said North Korea remains a nuclear threat to the U.S. President Trump says he sees eye to eye with Kim and will not rush anything in his talks.
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TRUMP: We see eye to eye but you will see it more over the next couple of days. What's going to happen, I can't tell you. I think eventually it would. I don't want testing. As long as there is no testing, we are happy.
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ALLEN: Meanwhile Kim Jong-un is making his way to Hanoi by train. Kim will also meet with Vietnamese Communist Party officials.
VANIER: Let's talk about this more with Julian Zelizer.
Julian, officially the U.S. wants and has wanted for months total denuclearization.
Did Donald Trump just lower that bar?
JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, it's before Donald Trump. This has always been the objective. Ironically, even though he had the summit, in some ways his comment eases up on what the demands are.
There are conservatives in his own administration who are worried that he's asking less of North Korea than his own administration wanted a few months earlier and U.S. policy has revolved around for some time.
VANIER: Mr. Trump famously declared North Korea was no longer a nuclear threat after his first meeting with Kim Jong-un. His secretary of state now is pouring cold water on that.
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JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Do you think North Korea remains a nuclear threat?
MIKE POMPEO, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE: Yes.
TAPPER: But the president said he doesn't.
POMPEO: That's not what he said. I mean, I know precisely --
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TAPPER: He tweeted there is no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea.
POMPEO: What he said is what -- what he said was that the efforts that had been made in Singapore, this commitment that Chairman Kim made, had substantially taken down the risk to the American people. It's the mission of secretary of state and the President of the United States to keep the American people secure. We're aiming to achieve that.
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VANIER: So look, it's plain for anybody who is listening to hear that there are different signals coming out of Washington, whether it's the Oval Office or the Department of State. We hear it, the North Koreans must hear it. It's hard to take the president seriously after that.
ZELIZER: This is either really clever or really sloppy, meaning clever would be sending different messages and ultimately using that for negotiations. Really sloppy is no one knows what is the president is thinking, he's contradicting his own advisers. When you go into meetings overseas like this, this undercuts your standing.
So many people think that's probably the case rather than some grand strategy to get to an agreement.
VANIER: Donald Trump big promise to North Korea is to make them rich, that they will become a rich country if they would just abandon their nuclear weapons.
How does this compare to what past presidents have done?
ZELIZER: It's not so much just making them rich, it's giving them international standing and that's what North Korea wants. They've achieved that in some ways. He's given them what they want before the real negotiations already begin.
But the promise of U.S. foreign policy is often, if you have deals with us, as was the deal with the Soviet Union when it was in place, ultimately your economy will be better. That always doesn't work out. But this isn't totally novel to President Trump. What's novel is he's giving them something very big before they've made any real concessions.
VANIER: CNN has spoken with diplomats who've worked with past administrations and been involved in negotiations with the North Koreans who've said to us, we did the same thing. We brought North Koreans is, we organized tours of factories, showed them what modern day capitalism is like, it didn't work.
The timing of the meeting is going to be pretty bad for the president. This is just nobody's fault. At about the same time he has his meeting, his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, will have testified publicly before Congress.
ZELIZER: You are going to have a split screen. Michael Cohen is someone in the inner circle of the Trump administration. He has lied so he will be discredited by Trump's supporters and even some of his own.
But he knows a lot about the president. I suspect he's going to talk about what kind of person he's like and he knows a lot about the Trump business, which has become a big issue in the investigation. He won't speak about certain issues like collusion; Congress has promised to leave those issues aside for the special --
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ZELIZER: -- counsel. But this could be a very damaging day. More people will be interested in watching this than what President Trump is doing overseas. So it's going to be an embarrassing split screen for the administration.
VANIER: The questions about the Mueller probe will be left for the congressional testimonies that he will have behind closed doors the day before and the day after. But not that one that will be on live TV. Cohen's lawyer Lanny Davis recently told ABC News that Cohen would give, quote, "personal frontline experiences" of incidents and conduct by Mr. Trump that even hardened listeners would find chilling.
What do you make of this teasing?
ZELIZER: We don't know if he'll actually deliver. This is part of the buildup for the hearings from the counsel working with the person testifying. But it could very well be what he delivers that's most damaging. The details of what happened in the election are being worked out by the investigators.
Congress is looking into other matters including the business relations to Russia. But what these persons often do is give a feel for what kind of person is the president. And during the Watergate hearings, the president came off very ugly.
And in some ways that may be what the president is most fearful of, just how he interacts and what he's willing to do and what kind of shop he ran in the Oval Office during the campaign.
VANIER: Julian Zelizer, as always, thank you for joining us on the show.
ZELIZER: Thanks for having me.
ALLEN: We turn next to what's going on the border of Venezuela after violent clashes there, all eyes now on neighboring Colombia. The country has welcomed dozens of Venezuelan military defectors and it will now host a major summit on the crisis. That story is next.
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ALLEN: Welcome back. Out of the historic Catholic summit on clergy abuse, papal condemnation and a revelation from a top cardinal that --
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ALLEN: -- some sex abuse records have been destroyed and others not even created. Pope Francis acknowledged the crisis with some frank words about priests and others who harm children.
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POPE FRANCIS, PONTIFF, ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH (through translator): Consecrated persons chosen by God to guide souls to salvation let themselves be dominated by their human frailty or sickness and thus become tools of Satan. In abuse, we see that the hand of evil does not spare even the innocence of children.
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VANIER: But no concrete plan to stop abuse in the church has been announced. Rosa Flores has been speaking to abuse survivors.
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ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Some survivors feel disappointed, let down. They were hoping that history would be made during this unprecedented meeting on clergy sexual abuse.
Instead, they feel that history is repeating itself, that this is yet again the church not being able to hold itself accountable. During his final remarks, Pope Francis did call for an all-out battle
on abuse but then he didn't deliver on concrete measures as to how to win that battle. It wasn't until after those remarks were delivered that the moderator of the event listed the first steps that will be taken.
That includes drafting of a new law to protect children, a handbook on bishop's duties and the creation of a task force. But without specific measures on holding bishops accountable, this list just didn't sit well with survivors.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's where this problem and this evil lives. It's bishops and cardinals that cover up these crimes. If they are covering them up or they're allowed to cover them up, there is no way to find out if they're is covering them up, it doesn't matter what law you make.
FLORES: Some survivors say their faith is with civil authorities and the investigations they are conducting in the United States and other countries around the world -- Rosa Flores, CNN, Rome.
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VANIER: Progress or posturing, we'll preview the summit between the U.S. and North Korean leaders what might come out of it. Stay with us.
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ALLEN: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Natalie Allen.
VANIER: I'm Cyril Vanier. Let's look at your headlines this hour.
The U.S. will delay increased tariffs on China that were meant to take effect March 1. President Donald Trump praised recent talks with the Chinese at an event in Washington on Sunday. He says if there's more progress, he will hold another president with Chinese President Xi Jinping to finalize a new trade deal.
ALLEN: President Trump says he sees eye to eye with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. His comments came at the Sunday's Governor Ball at the White House. However, Mr. Trump indicated getting the North to denuclearize will take time. The two leaders are set to meet this week in Hanoi, Vietnam, for their second summit.
VANIER: The British prime minister is delaying another Parliament voter on her Brexit deal. Theresa May told reporters on Sunday it will happen by March 12. Now, that is just 17 days before the U.K. is set to leave the European Union. Mrs. May's been in Egypt for a summit of E.U. and Arab leaders but says that she's headed back to Brussels on Tuesday.
ALLEN: The 91st Academy Awards are all given out, and "Green Book" took the top prize for Best Picture. Alfonso Cuaron scored the Best Director Award for "Roma." Rami Malek was named Best Actor. He played Freddie Mercury in "Bohemian Rhapsody." And Olivia Coleman took Best Actress for her role in "The Favourite." Actor Glenn Close was expected, perhaps, to win. Didn't happen.
VANIER: Maybe you just wanted her to win.
ALLEN: Maybe so.
VANIER: A meeting is expected in just a few hours between U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Venezuela opposition leader Juan Guaido.
ALLEN: Pence is expected to reinforce U.S. support for Guaido during a Lima Group summit in Colombia. That's of regional leaders.
Meanwhile, Colombian officials say more than 100 Venezuelan troops defected over the weekend.
VANIER: It comes after violent clashes along Venezuela's border, where troops blocked the opposition from delivering aid. At least two aid trucks were set on fire at a border crossing. Guaido slammed security forces for blocking the aid.
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JUAN GUAIDO, OPPOSITION LEADER (through translator): We saw an unprecedented crime with the burning of humanitarian aid that generously arrived at the Colombian collection point and which was then handed over to Venezuela volunteers who are, again, insisting that it's necessary to save lives.
Venezuela today is again in crisis. And it could have been alleviated.
Thank you to Colombia for helping our people, a people who are resilient, who are insisting on democracy and freedom.
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ALLEN: Joining me to talk about this is Brett Bruen, president of the Global Situation Room and a former U.S. diplomat with experience in Latin America.
Brett, we appreciate you joining us. Thank you.
BRETT BRUEN, PRESIDENT, GLOBAL SITUATION ROOM: Great to be with you.
ALLEN: Well, Juan Guaido has arrived in Bogota for a meeting with the U.S. vice president, Mike Pence. What will the support from the United States mean for the opposition and his campaign against Maduro?
BRUEN: Well, this is Oscar evening, so perhaps if -- if I could make an Oscar reference, I think the United States needs to not play a leading role in this, but perhaps an Oscar-worthy supporting role. And what we have to be careful of now is that the U.S. gets out in front of this issue and doesn't allow both Guaido and other Latin American leaders to take the initiative to decide what are the next steps. And at this point, there aren't good options.
ALLEN: Well, this weekend has seen violence at the border, some defections by Venezuelan military, but minimal incursion into Venezuela by people wanting to bring in international aid.
So you have said already Guaido needs to show leadership here and needs to show he has support. Is he having an impact, though?
BRUEN: I think there is a discernible impact, but it is not yet changing the factors on the ground when it comes to military support, by and large, for Maduro. This will take some time.
[00:35:06] I think it was a bold attempt to try to break the blockade that Maduro has set up along the border. There clearly were some members in the military, upwards of 150 according to the Colombian immigration authorities. But that is not enough yet to really have an impact on the political support that Maduro continues to enjoy.
ALLEN: So who is hanging onto Maduro? Why does he still have the majority of support at this point?
BRUEN: There are a group of generals that are profiting from the spoils of this regime. Not just the corruption that comes through government operations, but let's bear in mind there is a massive drug- trafficking network that runs through Caracas. And this is one of the more profitable enterprises, not just for Maduro and those in the government, but especially for the military.
ALLEN: At what point can the United States make another step, another inroad to put the squeeze on Maduro and the support that he has? What cards do they have yet to play?
BRUEN: Well, there certainly is a military option. But I think we are a couple of steps away from pursuing that at this point.
Let's allow some of the economic embargoes and sanctions to take hold. Let's try to build up the political support that we need in order to take those steps. I would caution against rushing into any military operations at this stage.
ALLEN: Are you impressed with Guaido's leadership, even though he hasn't seen the incursions into Venezuela? What is he bringing to the table that you like?
BRUEN: He's bringing hope. I think he's inspired a number of Venezuelans who, for years, have been downtrodden.
Let's bear in mind, there have not been a whole lot of members of the opposition who have attracted widespread support. And Guaido is certainly the first, and that is not a not inconsequential accomplishment. And I think, one, if he can direct that star power, that energy that he's attracted into a sustained campaign at the Maduro regime, it is certainly a powerful weapon.
ALLEN: Well, despite the violence that we've seen at the border this weekend, do you think that the citizens will continue to stand behind him and heed his call for action?
BRUEN: They don't have much of a choice. They're facing, on the one hand, starvation; deprivation from medicine and access to some of the basic supplies they need. So what you saw yesterday playing out in the Colombian, Venezuela border, as well, on the border with Brazile, was an act of desperation. And I think, unfortunately, those steps will only get more violent. It will only get more confrontational.
ALLEN: Brett Bruen, thank you for your insights. We'll talk with you again as this continues to play out. Thanks.
Next here, Israel looks to make history, sending a tiny, privately- funded spacecraft on a mission to the moon.
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VANIER: Israel is set to score a major coup in space exploration.
ALLEN: It has launched what would be the first private venture to the moon with the smallest lunar spacecraft ever and the cheapest mission today. Our Oren Liebermann has the story for us.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go for launch.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ten, nine, eight --
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The feeling of excitement once felt in the Soviet Union, the United States and China --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Three, two, one, zero, ignition.
LIEBERMANN: -- has now come to Israel.
The control room near Tel Aviv exploded in applause as the Falcon 9 rocket reached for the heavens. Inside, a tiny spacecraft weighing less than a ton, from Israeli company SpaceIL, aiming for the moon.
"Mazel tov," says Israel's president, Reuven Rivlin, "You have a craft on the way to the moon."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everything looking good with Stage One trajectory.
LIEBERMANN: The spacecraft hitched a ride on board a satellite heading for orbit. After liftoff, the craft separated and began its long trajectory to the moon. It would be the first privately-funded spacecraft ever to land on the lunar surface.
The craft will travel some four million miles on its journey to our nearest celestial neighbor, slinging around the Earth, gaining speed in its orbits, faster and faster, wider and wider until the moon's gravity grabs the craft, but then slows and prepares for touchdown scheduled for April 11, seven weeks away.
The spacecraft is called Beresheet, the opening words of the Bible. It means "in the beginning." Perhaps it should have been called chutzpah. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I am ready. Let's get to the moon.
LIEBERMANN: Morris Kahn donated $40 million of his own money to the $100 million project.
MORRIS KAHN, DONATED TO PROJECT: This mission that we were talking about was really a mission impossible. The only thing is I didn't realize it was impossible, and the three engineers who started this project didn't realize it was impossible. And the way we in Israel think, nothing is impossible. And we dare to dream. And we did dream, and we're making this dream come true.
LIEBERMANN: The program began eight years ago, a competitor in the International Google Lunar Space Race. The race was canceled when the teams couldn't meet a launch deadline, but some teams pressed on, including SpaceIL.
NEIL ARMSTRONG, FIRST MAN ON THE MOON: That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.
LIEBERMANN: For decades, the moon has been the domain of super powers. Only three countries have ever soft-landed a spacecraft on the moon: the U.S., the former Soviet Union and China. If this mission succeeds, it will be one more major milestone in exploring the final frontier.
Oren Liebermann, CNN, Jerusalem.
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ALLEN: And we'll leave you on that one. Thanks for watching. I'm Natalie Allen.
VANIER: I'm Cyril Vanier. Up next, you have WORLD SPORT. We're back after that at the top of the hour. Stay with us.
ALLEN: See you soon.
KATE RILEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hi there, and welcome along to WORLD SPORT. I'm Kate Riley at CNN Center.
We're going to start with the story that everyone seems to be talking about in football right now. The 2019 English League Cup winners are, of course, Pep Guardiola's Manchester City; and it was all after a dramatic penalty shootout on Sunday at Wembley stadium. Excuse me.
However, it's a highly controversial chain of events, which led up to it which is grabbing all the headlines.
It all started with Chelsea's young Spanish keeper called Kepa, apparently suffering from cramp near the end of extra time after he'd goaled his first 90 minutes. And the reserve keeper here, Willy Cabellero, preparing to come on.
Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri tried to make a substitutions to replace the 24-year-old, who vigorously resists, to get him off the pitch. Well, the Italian head coach has had enough. He lost his cool at his goalie's antics. That's him steaming here, at one point walking away from the pitch and into the stadium before thinking better of it and then returning. And you can make of that what you will.
Now if going to make that sort of start, well, you'd better deliver in the shootout. Well, Kepa talked a good game, trying to put off City's Sergio Aguero. But he couldn't keep out the Argentine's weak effort when he really should have done better.
Then it all came down to Raheem Sterling to win it for City. And cool as you like, it goes past Kepa, who's powerless to stop it. The Citizens retain the league cup they won last year. The first piece of silverware, maybe of four, for them in the season.
Well, Sarri and Kepa have addressed the situation. It sounds like both are trying to downplay this incident. After the match, Sarri said, quote, "It was a big misunderstanding. I understood he had cramp. Kepa was right, even if the way he conducted himself was wrong."
Meanwhile, the goalkeeper took to his Twitter to give his explanation, writing in part, "At no time has it been my intention to disobey the coach or any of his decisions. I think everything has been misunderstood in the heat of the final part of a match for a title. The coach thought I was not in a position to play on. And my intention was to express that I was in good condition to continue. I feel the image that has been portrayed was not my intention. I have full respect for the coach and his authority."
CNN's Patrick Snell spoke with our football journalist, Mark Bolton, and he started by asking him if he'd ever actually seen anything like this played out in London earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARK BOLTON, FOOTBALL JOURNALIST: I've never seen anything like it either. I looked around at esteemed colleagues who I've worked with for years, some of the biggest names in football journalism here. They've been around the world watching World Cups, European championships, Premier League, Champions League. They were looking at each other, shaking their heads in disbelief, in absolute bewilderment.
And that's why now it's been already named nudity (ph) at Wembley. Kepa against Sarri. His authority already being questioned by many around the club. Has he lost the dressing room, is what's been asked. Perhaps this might be an insight to it.
We tried to work out what had been going on from the heart of the incident. The man that spoke to him and talked to him and tried to make him see sense on the pitch, Brazilian star David Luiz. Here's what he made of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DAVID LUIZ, CHELSEA PLAYER: I think he -- he just didn't understood
that the coach really wanted to take him off because of his state or because he was two times on the floor. So sometimes you cannot understand this kind of stuff. And I figure that's it. And he was just -- kept on showing he wants to be in the page (ph), like every man, real man wants to be in that kind of situation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLTON: Ninety-five million U.S. dollars he cost, of course. Huge asset, Kepa. So if it's between Sarri, whose job looks like it's on a knife edge ahead of this game, having now been defeated, we know who will win that one.
But what do the fans make to it here? Chelsea pushed Manchester City all the way today, didn't come away with the result. What did they think to the mood today?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What it means to Sarri's future is that, quite clearly, the fans have disrespected him. The members of the club disrespect him. The players have disrespected him. And now, when you get moments where you're undermined by your keeper, who refuses to come off, it's just a final nail in the coffin.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I feel, if I decide to keep Kepa or not. I don't at all. I think that's a disgrace to undermine your manager like that, and even if it could have been for a tactical decision for bringing on Willy Caballeros for the penalty, and just refusing to come off, it's just a complete disgrace.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Regardless of whether it was a misunderstanding, I really think Kepa should have come off the pitch. When your manager is shouting at you from the side of the pitch, telling to come off, you've just got to listen, whether you're injured or not.
Sarri's future, well, I actually think he should be given a chance to carry on, because even though we lost the game, it was a fantastic performance tactically. The players really rose up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[00:50:14] BOLTON: The referee didn't intervene, because essentially, he can't intervene. It's down to the club to sort out what's going on. So the player decides to stay on the pitch, their understanding is he has to stay on the pitch, Pat.
It was just calamitous from the close point of view. We left the stadium. I talked to a close contact at the stadium, someone who knows what's going on there. He said this was just typical of the club at the moment. He said it's directionless, rudderless. There are no leaders from top to bottom. He meant ownership right through to the players on the pitch today. Drastic action required at Chelsea, in fact. PATRICK SNELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Mark, it remains to see whether Sarri can, in fact, recover from this to any degree, if at all. But what has the Italian himself been saying about the incident?
BOLTON: Well, he's been very chatty after the game. And he reiterated what we heard from David Luiz ourselves when we spoke to him. He said it's a misunderstanding. Kepa had got an injury. He felt he wanted to come off. Caballeros was well-equipped, fit, fresh and good at penalties, and so he was happy to throw him on. And he put it down to a miscommunication.
Whether it is or isn't, Patrick, and it very likely is. I mean, of course, some of the media were mischief make with this and talk about the mutiny. It did appear on the first witnessing, that we were looking at it, from you know, just a few yards away, that it was just the fact that it was an injury and Kepa was trying to impress the fact upon the bench that he wasn't injured and could continue. It looks, actually, as simple as that.
But of course, beneath that, sometimes your boss at work or someone at home, or wherever, gives you an instruction you don't necessarily want to have to take. And you have to submit to that, though. You have to show that you are subservient to the boss. He didn't do that.
So whether it was a miscommunication or not, perhaps it does just show and highlight, probably all too much now for Chelsea, in a really big public event, that Sarri has lost the confidence of his players.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RILEY: Many thanks to Mark Bolton in London for us.
Elsewhere, the champagne is flowing for Pep Guardiola and Manchester City. And there was even more good news for them on Sunday, as well. And it all concerns the premier League title race. It would seem as though they had a helping hand from the least likeliest of sources.
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RILEY: Welcome back to WORLD SPORT. We are back with the even tightening race for the title in England's top-flight Premier League.
In late December, Liverpool's lead over Manchester City was 10 points, albeit, they've actually played a game more than the Citizens. Fast forward to late February, and it's altogether a very different picture, after Jurgen Kopp's team were held by injury-ravaged and fierce rivals Manchester United on Sunday.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's United amazingly lost three midfielders in a little more than 20 minutes due to injury in a quite extraordinary first half here.
Spanish midfielder Ander Herrera the first to go. Four minutes later, Juan Mata also pulled up lame. He was replaced by Jesse Lingard, who himself is just returning from a hamstring injury. He lasted just 80 minutes, though, exacerbating his injury while almost putting United ahead, only to be denied by the Liverpool keeper, Alisson.
Well, Lingard replaced even before halftime by Alexis Sanchez. Nil- nil, this one ends.
Well, the visitors also had one of their men go off injured. Roberto Firmino sandwiched in all of that. That is four substitutions in the first half alone.
That point takes Liverpool back to the top of the table. They're now crucially level on games played with City. United doing City a favor. So who'd have thought that? But the Red Devils are out of the top four, as Arsenal beat South Hampton.
Over in Italy now, the the top of the table is also being spoken about. On Sunday, leaders Juventus had to rely on a substitute to get all 3 points. Earlier unbeaten serial leaders Juve needed a goal from the substitute Paulo Dybala to beat Bologna. Dybala converting from close range there.
Well, the Turin site, who have won the past seven titles, are 13 points above second place Napoli after beating Parma 4-0 earlier.
Well, these are good times for fans of Spain's Atletico Madrid. Last weekend, Diego Simeone's team went to Vallecarno in La Liga and came away with all 3 points.
They followed that up with a superb Champions League last 16, first- leg win over the Italian champions Juve. Of course, we've just spoken about them.
And then on Sunday, the chance for three wins in eight days as they face Villarreal. And just past the half hour mark and a first Atletico goal for Alvaro Morata, the striker who's on loan from Chelsea. And one short off midweek against Juve after a VAR intervention. And one against Real Madrid, too.
But this crisp finish was allowed to stand. That probably explains his celebration on the day. All three points to seal just two minutes from time, running onto Diego Costa's pass and making no mistake from there, another 3 points for Atletico.
And that does it for us. Many thanks for watching. The news is up next.
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VANIER: U.S. President Donald Trump says talks with China are going great.
