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Benjamin Netanyahu's Fate Hanging by a Thread; V.P. Harris Warns Illegal Migrants Not To Come to the U.S.; Australian Police Crackdown on Organize Crime; Law Enforcement Recovered Ransom; Hate Crime Killed Four Muslims in Ontario; Peruvians Await for Election Results; Tokyo Organizers Impose Strict Olympic Rules; Vaccine Still The Best Defense; Uganda Impose New Restrictions; Biden/Putin To Meet In Person Next Week; Preparing For NATO Summit; Global Companies and G-7 Leaders Face Pressure To Address Climate Change; FDA Approves Experimental Treatment; Struggling To Survive In Tigray; Burkina Faso Massacre, Deadliest Attack In Years; El Salvador Looks To Adopt Bitcoin As Legal Tender; Billionaire Space Race; Arctic Rescue Of A Dog. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired June 08, 2021 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Hi. Welcome to all of our viewers joining us from all around the world. You are watching CNN. I'm Robyn Curnow.
Just ahead, Benjamin Netanyahu refusing to make a quick exit. How the outgoing prime minister and his allies are dragging out Israel's transition of power.
And global law enforcement agencies seize nearly four tons of drugs, tens of billions of dollars and hundreds of suspects. Details on the sophisticated sting operation.
Plus, Kamala Harris on her first foreign trip as vice president, has a clear message for migrants heading north, hoping to reach the United States.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Do not come. Do not come.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW (on camera): Thanks for joining me this hour.
So Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may get a few extra days for his pressure campaign to hold on to power. The Knesset speaker made the formal announcement of a coalition government on Monday but he broke with tradition and didn't set a date for confidence votes yet. By law, it must be held within a week. Now, the coalition by centrist Yair Lapid and right wing leader
Naftali Bennett expands the political spectrum and it's meeting with increasingly extreme rhetoric.
Oren Liebermann reports now from Jerusalem.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Dueling protest trying to change the balance of power in Israel. One, pressuring a member of Knesset to scuttle the coalition set to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Another, urging him to support the government and unity.
Monday evening, the speaker of the Knesset, a Netanyahu ally announced the new coalition but refuse to set a date for its swearing in.
YOHANAN PLESNER, PRESIDENT, ISRAEL DEMOCRACY INSTITUTE: This is something that is in contradiction to Israeli tradition that once the government is ready to be sworn in, it is done as soon as possible. And I hope that we will return to those democratic traditions.
LIEBERMANN: On Sunday, Naftali Bennett, the man set to be Israel's next leader, called for an orderly transition of power, asking Netanyahu not to leave scorched earth behind him.
NAFTALI BENNETT, LEADER, YAMINA PARTY (through translator): This is not a catastrophe, this is not a disaster. It is a change of government. An ordinary unusual event in any democratic country. The system in the state of Israel is not a monarchy. No one has a monopoly on power. But Netanyahu is not going quietly, promising to topple this government quickly in language that echoes former President Donald Trump.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We are witnessing the biggest election fraud in the country. That is why people feel cheated, and rightly so. The
LIEBERMANN: The head of the country's internal security agency warned over the weekend of incitement that could lead to violence. Just one day later, a member of Netanyahu's Likud Party comparing the mission of Bennett and one of his partners to suicide bombers.
MAY GOLAN, MEMBER, ISRAELI KNESSET: There is a world of difference, but they are like terrorists who no longer believe in anything who go out on their suicide mission, and even if they know that it's a death sentence, it doesn't matter to them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW (on camera): Well, Oren Liebermann joins me now from Jerusalem with more on all of that. Certainly, a fiery rhetoric. What do you expect? What are Israelis expect from Mr. Netanyahu then over the next few days?
LIEBERMANN: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in all likelihood has until Monday to try to find the fissures, the cracks in the rifts in this new coalition that is set to replace him. And see if he or his allies are able to pull it apart. Part of that is simply the language we're hearing, the interviews we're seeing given not only by Netanyahu but also by his allies but also sort of internal political moves.
Reports here that Netanyahu's party will keep open spots for anybody who wants to defect, scuttle the new government, and prop up his government or at least send the country to new elections where Netanyahu can remain the interim prime minister.
But it goes beyond politics here. For example, there was a provocative flag march parade that goes through the old city and the Muslim corner of the old city that police denied permission for. Now the security cabinet has met about that decision to see if maybe they'll overturn or change the police decision. A decision like that, it could set off tensions not only in Jerusalem but across the country perhaps even with Gaza. And that of course has effect on the political way this all plays out.
[03:04:58]
All of that could happen, some of that could happen. It is a very sort of, nervous environment here over the course of the next few days as Netanyahu looks to see what room he has to maneuver and Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid try to hold their coalition together.
CURNOW: Oren Liebermann there in Jerusalem, good to have you on the ground. Thanks so much.
So Kamala Harris is facing her first big diplomatic test as U.S. vice president traveling to Latin America to tackle the root causes of migration to the U.S. Harris spent Monday meeting with Guatemala's president and vowing to fight corruption there. It's an attempt to address these ongoing issues of poverty and violence that are driving record numbers of Central American migrants to the U.S. Harris also delivered a blunt message to would be migrants.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: I want to be clear to folks in this region who are thinking about making that dangerous track to the United States-Mexico border. Do not come. Do not come. The United States will continue to enforce our laws and secure our border. And I believe, if you come to our border, you will be turned back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW (on camera): U.S. vice president there making those remarks just hours before arriving in Mexico. Harris will meet with President Lopez Obrador later today. She says she plans to emphasize the long- standing partnership between the two countries.
Matt Rivers has more from Mexico City. Matt?
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the first leg of her foreign trip is now over. And Vice President Kamala Harris is now here in Mexico for the second leg. She will spend today talking to top Mexican officials including Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
She spent the day on Monday in Guatemala talking to that country's president and others about the state of reason for this trip, which according to the vice president's office it's a fact-finding mission to try and figure out how best to fundamentally addresses the root causes of migration. Why so many migrants have been headed to the U.S. southern border as of late.
And of course, we know what some of those issues are. It's violence, it's poverty. And it's also the systemic corruption that plagues governments across this region. With Vice President Harris announcing that a new task force will be created to try and ease some of those corruption issues that have led, in many cases, directly to so many migrants headed north.
Those are going to be the similar topics of conversation that she has here in Mexico because it's not just migrants from El Salvador and Guatemala and Honduras going to the U.S. There are also a large number of Mexicans that have been migrating to the U.S. as of late.
We heard from the Mexican president on Monday morning at a press conference, without giving many details he says he does expect to sign some deals with Vice President Harris including deals about development and migration. He didn't say much more than that. But we're certainly going to be paying very close attention to see how these meetings today here in Mexico play out.
Matt Rivers, CNN, Mexico City.
CURNOW (on camera): Thanks, Matt.
So Australian media are calling it the sting of the century. Nearly four tons of drugs and almost 45 million in cash seized by Australian police and a massive crackdown on organize crime. Now global law enforcement team including the FBI has been working on the operation, it's called Ironside for three years.
They developed an encrypted app used by alleged criminals to communicate. But it also gave authorities an all access pass to their dealings. Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the sting g is a major blow to global crime. But first, here's Australia's federal police commissioner detailing what they accomplished. Take a listen.
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REECE KERSHAW, COMMISSIONER, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE: As of today, we have charged 224 alleged offenders including 525 charges laid. Shut down six clandestine laboratories, acted upon 21 threats to kill including citing a family of five, and seized 104 firearms weapons and almost 45 million in cash. And these figures are likely to increase over the coming days.
SCOTT MORRISON, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: Today, the Australian government is part of a global operation has struck a heavy blow against organized crime. Not just in this country but one that will echo around organized crime around the world. This is a watershed moment in Australian law enforcement history.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW (on camera): Here is Gabriella Power from Sky News Australia with more on that.
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GABRIELLA POWER, REPORTER, SKY NEWS AUSTRALIA: Criminals in underworld figures were using this encrypted app ANOM to communicate with one another. They plotted murders, they were trafficking billions of dollars ' worth of drugs, as well as engaging in other large-scale criminal activity.
Now little did they know that this app ANOM was actually designed by police and it was designed to catch them. And during this three year, police operation the Australian federal police was collaborating with the FBI and they read 25 million messages in real-time.
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They discovered there were 21 murder plots. The Australian federal police and FBI have been working with Interpol, and Australian authorities say that they will be arresting those who were Australian residents who have been involved and using this app overseas.
So, just again, what they have learned from this operation as they been reading 25 million messages in real-time, they've also seized 3,500 kilograms of drugs, $45 million in cash, confiscated weapons, and 1,650 people have these devices, these encrypted apps.
So, this arrest, this seize of police operation is one of the most significant in Australia's history. As you say, this is a global operation. There have been arrest now in 18 countries. And Australian authorities do intend to expedite and charge those who are overseas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW (on camera): And in another major victory for law enforcement, authorities have recovered millions in cryptocurrency paid as ransom to the hackers who shut down a key pipeline last month. Now it turns out the fuel company Colonial Pipeline was working with the FBI all along. And investigators were able to track the payment to a digital wallet used by a criminal hacking group known as the Darkside believed to be working from Russia.
The U.S. Justice Department says more than $2 million in bitcoin was seized. The deputy attorney general warned of the threat posed by Ransomware attacks and urge companies to toughen up their defenses.
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LISA MONACO, U.S. DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: The threat of severe Ransomware attacks posed a clear and present danger to your organization. To your company, to your customers, to your shareholders, and to your long-term success. So, pay attention now. Invest resources now. Failure to do so could be the difference between being secure now or a victim later.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW (on camera): Now the recovery of cryptocurrencies rarely seen. This is the first ransom seizure made by the Justice Department recently created digital extortion task force.
And coming up, just over six weeks to go until the Olympic Games. And there's yet another troubling COVID situation in Japan. We're live from Tokyo, that's just ahead.
Also, they stayed safe during the pandemic by enforcing lockdowns and strict measures but now as the world begins to reopen the so-called zero COVID countries face a new dilemma. We'll explain.
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CURNOW (on camera): Welcome back. So, a 20-year-old Canadian man faces murder charges after he drove his truck into members of a Muslim family, killing four of them. A 9-year-old boy also injured.
[03:15:01]
The family was waiting at an intersection in Ontario when it happened. The driver ran over the curb and then struck the victims. Police say the attack was motivated by hate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE WILLIAMS, CHIEF, LONDON POLICE SERVICE, ONTARIO: We believe that this was an intentional act. And that the victims of this horrific incident were targeted. We believe the victims were targeted because of their Islamic faith.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW (on camera): Mourners have been leaving flowers at the site. And Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued a statement, saying he was horrified by the attack.
And voters in Mexico have delivered a blow to President Lopez Obrador in midterm elections. Preliminary results show his party losing at least 50 seats in the lower House. The ruling coalition also fell short of maintaining its supermajority. That would prevent the president from passing major reforms or approving changes to the Constitution without help from opposition parties. Final results are expected next week.
And we're also awaiting the outcome of a critical election in Peru. Just over 96 percent of the votes have been counted so far, and a razor-thin margin still separates the two candidates on extreme ends of the political spectrum.
Stefano Pozzebon has the latest from Bogota in Colombia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: On Monday, the left-wing candidate
Pedro Castillo who is running for the first time and never held public office before overtook his rival, the right-wing candidate, Keiko Fujimori. But with votes from some of the rural regions of Peru, and most of the polling stations abroad yet to be counted, everything could still happen in a very tightly contested second round of the presidential elections.
And having such a small margin of victory does not foresee an easy mandate for whoever comes first, and this is especially true in a country like Peru that was already in deep needs of stability. Last year, Peru had three different men holding the office of the presidency after a series of political scandals that affected the entire establishment of the country.
So, this means that whoever comes first, either Castillo or Fujimori will fight a daunting task in bringing the country together to overcome the pandemic, and at the same time overcome one of the deepest economic crises in recent history. But it could still take days for the Peruvian election authority to proclaim who the winner will eventually be.
For CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Bogota.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW (on camera): So, the media will be closely monitored at the Tokyo Olympics and be track by GPS to ensure they remain in preregistered areas. That's from -- the latest from the Olympic organizers meeting in Tokyo right now.
Blake Essig joins us with more on that. Blake, hi. Good to see you. What more can you tell us?
BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Robyn, look, the Olympic Games are set to be in 45 days, and while the playbook outlining COVID-19 countermeasures it is still being finalized, and we expect the third iteration of this playbook later this month. We do have a little more guidance on how the media will be allowed to operate.
Now just about an hour ago, during the opening remarks for the final Tokyo 2020 executive board meeting, President Hashimoto said that the media will be tracked using GPS, will not be allowed to enter any businesses unless the visit was pre-determined, and a number of hotels for the media from which they can stand will also be limited.
And finally, the media will be tested regularly and ask to submit to three tests in subsequent fashion every day after they enter the country. Now, Japan is still struggling with the fourth wave of infection although the COVID-19 case count across the country has been going down for a few weeks. The number of patients in critical condition remains high, specifically in Okinawa.
Now just yesterday, Okinawa officials reported that the ICU hospital bed occupancy rate was at 135 percent. Now Japan's southern island only has 65 ICU beds, meaning nearly two dozen are being treated without the necessary lifesaving medical equipment that's needed.
Now to help with the medical system already stretched thin, Okinawa officials say that they have secured 100 doctors and nurses from the mainland. Those medical workers will begin arriving immediately.
Now on the vaccine front, still only about three and a half percent of Japan's population has been fully vaccinated, roughly 10 percent of received one dose, but Japanese athletes competing in the Olympics did start receiving their vaccinations last week. And Olympic officials say that they expect that 95 percent of those athletes will be vaccinated by the time that the game starts.
Now as for the general public here, only medical workers and people over the age of 65 are eligible to be vaccinated. And despite the painfully slow rollout to this point Japan is now doubling down on its effort to speed up inoculations in an effort to reduce the burden on local governments and just speed up the process in general.
[03:20:08]
And that will happen later this month. Vaccinations will start being offered at select work places and universities. Now the private sector is also getting involved, big companies like Toyota, SoftBank and Rakuten which is the Amazon here in Japan, are working with local governments, and in some cases, offering venues to help achieve effective and mass vaccinations in a short time.
But again, Robyn, Tokyo, and Okinawa and other prefectures remain under a state of emergency until June 20th. And the case count in general despite the fact that we have been under a state of emergency since the end of April is moving in -- moving in the right direction but very slowly.
CURNOW: Blake, thanks you very much for that live in Tokyo.
So, Hong Kong, Australia, and several other places have kept COVID numbers low, with very tight restrictions. But as Kristie Lu Stout now reports vaccinations are the really the only to keep the virus and its variants out of control. Here's her report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: White picket fences in a zero COVID haven. Welcome to the Lawn Club, a socially distance garden party in the heart of Hong Kong central district, a getaway for those who can't get away.
UNKNOWN: This is definitely refreshing with, you know, COVID and that we can't travel.
LU STOUT: Hong Kong is one of many economies across the region that has managed to keep COVID-19 largely at bay. The city along with Singapore, Australia and New Zealand and others has suffered lower death rates during the pandemic but taking strict measures to eliminate the virus. Lockdowns, mask mandates, tightened borders and strict quarantine
policies that require rivals to spend weeks in total bring in total confinement.
Gabriel Leung is one of the region's top disease experts.
GABRIEL LEUNG, DEAN OF MEDICINE, UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG: I don't think it's viable if you still rely on a lot of public health and social measures including border restrictions, including lockdowns. Those are fine but you cannot do it on a permanent basis.
LU STOUT (on camera): The zero COVID strategy has kept death rates and infection rates low but Asia's pandemic success stories are facing a new challenge rejoining the rest of the world.
Australia has announced borders will remain closed until the middle of 2022.
MORRISON: The reality is we're living this year in a pandemic that's worse than last year.
LU STOUT: A zero COVID and keeping the borders sealed a sustainable strategy for Australia?
CATHERINE BENNETT, EPIDEMIOLOGIST, DEAKIN UNIVERSITY: Well, it's not. So not only is it not a full seal because we still have to have flight, we still have people returning home. We're also quite slow in getting to vaccinations. So, it's actually potentially making us more vulnerable.
LU STOUT: Experts say the only viable long-term strategy is vaccination. But pandemic success has contributed to hesitancy in the region. A zero COVID haven can only keep the virus away for so long especially with new variants. Case in point, Taiwan where the viruses slipped into the airport and sparked a surge in local cases.
LEUNG: We could be facing a worse pandemic in this part of the world that has never been really exposed to the virus on a large-scale yet. The northern hemisphere summer is a critical, critical period to get everybody vaccinated in order to prepare us for the autumn, winter months, which we know is going to give a seasonal kick to the virus.
All of these newer variants which are now predominating where they are spreading and they will come in to our part of the world sooner or later.
LU STOUT: To pick up the vaccination pace in Hong Kong the private sector has stepped in with property tycoons holding a lottery offering a brand-new $1.4 million apartment for the inoculated with the winning tickets.
Asia's walled gardens have managed to avoid mass deaths from COVID-19 but without high vaccination coverage you can't keep the virus out even if you stay sealed in forever,
Kristie Lu Stout, CNN, Hong Kong. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: I want to take you now to Uganda where COVID-19 restrictions are being reimpose. The east African nation is trying to stop a new wave of infections that is happening as the country struggles with vaccine shortages.
Larry Madowo has more from Kampala.
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The fear in Uganda is that if the rate of infections goes unchecked it will overwhelm the bed capacity available and the oxygen supply in the country. That is why President Yoweri Museveni said he had to put in place urgent public health measures to prevent the spread.
In a single week, there were 131 percent increase in new cases according to the World Health Organization and President Museveni is saying the most affected age groups at 30 to 39 and 20 to 29th. So, it's affecting much younger people and these are new variants that is the deadlier variant first discovered in India. The variant first discovered in South Africa.
[03:25:01]
And the concern is that there has been a laxity in obeying social distancing measures, wearing masks, and this could be leading to this uptick in the cases of COVID in the country.
This is what President Museveni says.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YOWERI MUSEVENI, PRESIDENT OF UGANDA: The answer is prevent -- prevention. In this wave the intense of severe and critically ill COVID-19 patients and deaths is higher than what we experience in the first wave of the pandemic. In the previous wave it took us three to four months to get to the current state of critical and severe patients. While in the second wave it has taken us less than two weeks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADOWO (on camera): Closing all public schools, immediately restricting most public gatherings and banning travels within regions in the country. These are all temporary measures. The big problem for Uganda is vaccine shortages. It's just one of the 14 African countries where cases are rising. Uganda got only just under one million shots of AstraZeneca from COVAX, that is global vaccine alliance, but it needs so much more because these are almost used up.
So President Museveni says he's expecting 300,000 shot of Sinovac. That is Chinese vaccine but he's also going to be buying from Johnson & Johnson, from the Russians, from the Indians because like many of the African countries he needs as many shots in the arms of people so that he can safeguard the population and reopen the country. In the absence of that, there will have to be maybe a third lockdown or a fourth lockdown because the African union target is to vaccinate the entire adult population of Africa only until the end of next year. So that is still a long way of compare to the rest of the world especially in the west where vaccines are available for children where most adults are already vaccinated, and where life is beginning to come back to normal.
Larry Madowo, CNN, Kampala.
CURNOW: Thanks, Larry, for that. So, you are watching CNN. Still to come, world leaders are urged to come together on climate change when the G7 summit kicks off in just a matter of days. We've got much more on that.
Also, U.S. regulators approved a controversial new drug to treat Alzheimer's disease. Why the FDA says its benefits outweigh the risks, when we return.
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CURNOW (on camera): It's 29 minutes past the hour. I'm Robyn Curnow, live here in Atlanta. Thanks for joining me.
So, the U.S. president is preparing for his first trip abroad since taking office which will include face-to-face talks next week with his Russian counterpart. The summit with Vladimir Putin will have domestic and international significance given the allegations of Russian meddling in American politics.
[03:30:03]
The White House is defending the meeting, saying it is necessary to reduce tension and make progress on arms control and nuclear issues.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAKE SULLIVAN, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: We do not regard a meeting with the Russian president as a reward. We've regarded as a vital part of defending America's interests in America values. Joe Biden is not meeting with Vladimir Putin despite our country's differences. He's meeting with him because of our country's differences. There is simply a lot we have to work through.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW (on camera): And also on Monday, President Biden spoke with Ukrainian presidents and invited him to the White House in July. Volodymyr Zelensky have push to meet before the Biden-Putin summit, but his office released a statement saying Mr. Biden had reaffirmed his support for Ukraine's sovereignty and push for NATO membership in the face of Russian aggression.
And President Biden has vowed to strengthen ties and key allies and NATO that were damaged under the Trump administration people attend the G-7 summit this weekend and meet with Queen Elizabeth and then after that he'll head to the NATO summit in Brussels. NATO Secretary- General held talks with Mr. Biden at the White House on Monday, they discussed terrorism, cyber threats and the shifting global balance of power.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENS STOLTENBERG, SECRETARY GENERAL OF NATO: -- in the likes of China, also some opportunities for our economies for trade down, we need to talk to China on this (inaudible) and engage with China on eastern side climate change on arms control. At the same time, China will soon have the biggest economy in the world, they already have the second largest (inaudible).
The biggest navy, they are investing heavily on advancement on technologies and they don' share other values. We see that in a way they crack down on democratic protest in Hong Kong. On how they deal with minorities and how they cohorts neighbors and how they threaten Taiwan. So we need to stand off for the rules based in national border.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW (on camera): Environmental activists will be keeping a close eye on what comes out of the G-7 meeting that includes my next guest, Mindy Lubber is the CEO and president of CERES a nonprofit organization that works to impact sustainability challenges like climate change.
Mindy, it's great to have you on the show thank you very much for joining us. What would you like to see come out of these G-7 discussions? I mean, is there one key area where you can see some real movement perhaps when it comes to climate issues?
MINDY LUBBER, CEO/PRESIDENT, CERES (on camera): One problem that would be addressed, I think their solutions to be considered is just that is climate change. We learned from the pandemic everything seem to be related. That systemic risk shocks our system in every way. And you know that climate change as promised, no longer something in the future, it's happening now. What happens in Boston, (inaudible) in Rio de Janeiro, and what happens in Beijing, in (inaudible) Mumbai.
This is a global problem that wave got to solve together. So what we would like to see come out of the G-7 is an extremely strong commitment to the Paris agreement. The Paris agreement that says regular limit greenhouse gas emission and were going to make sure that we combat the climate problem rather than what we're seeing is what you get worse and worse over the years.
CURNOW: And we also know the G-7 leaders will be talking and all of this will be in the context of a post COVID world and the reflections on that. How is it then the carbon dioxide levels have hit record highs even though I many felt the climate have to be given a response because of all these many though the globe -- perhaps be given a (inaudible) because of all these lockdowns.
LUBBER: Well, we can -- a little bit of movement down from less travel as airplanes, where shipping was (inaudible). Fewer machinery go again full-time. But that was just modest and we are back to full- fledged emission. They are continuing to rise and we need to make substantial changes. We need those world leaders of G-7 to commit to capping greenhouse gas emissions to get us to what's considered 1.5 degree.
We need coal plants to literally be shut. And that means shutting them and the need to import coal. And to use less coal. We need to look at oil and gas, which some fuel is slightly milder kind of fossil fuel. The reality is we have an existential threat in climate change and we need the world leaders when they gather at the G-7. The largest leaders who could make or break whether or not the climate problem continues to grow into the existential threat that it is. Or whether we really can get it under control which is possible but it will take a clear commitment now about five years from now and not 10 years from now.
CURNOW: This conversations all be held at the highest levels of government what kind of pressure and change needs to be done with culprits particularly here in the United States?
[03:35:02]
LUBBER: You know, we are envisioning or living a slightly -- a small revolution. We are not quite there to call it a revolution, but what I will tell you is that in the 15 or 18 years I've been working with the world's largest companies were we trained their (inaudible) work with their CEOs to integrate climate (inaudible) and to figure out how to work how to work them through the company.
I'll say the following, large public traded companies number one and hearing from their own employees say we want you to be of value driven company not only a profit driven company. And that doesn't mean, if they don't want the company to make money they do, but you can do both. And consumers are calling on the company's basically saying I'm going to shop at a company with good values on climate and I'm going to pass on you if you don't have good values.
And perhaps most importantly, I think investors that we work with 198 North American investors who we work with in 550 globally who have sent to the companies and their portfolios that they believe those companies will be weaker, will have less profits if they don't address climate change.
CURNOW: And my final question is on the Biden administration. How optimistic are you that real, real change can be made, particularly when it comes to regulations that during this administration?
LUBBER: I'm frankly very optimistic. Look I was a former regulator sometimes you win, sometimes you lose but this administration is pushing harder than any administration ever in the United States to address climate change with every regulatory agency within the administration as well as call for change in policy. When we started the discussion mentioning methane is one of the largest parts of global warming. There are strong regulations being considered now and I think we look at the finish line to regulate methane emissions, so we limit them.
We cannot have the kind of unbridled emissions that were still seeing in this day in age in 2021. Even what we know, those emissions have to be regulated and I think this administration is committed to make things happen.
CURNOW: There's so much to be done but certainly very important conversations and hopefully as you say, some strong words coming out of the G-7 ahead all of the next CAP conference. Mindy Lubber, the president and CEO of Ceres, I really appreciate you taking the time to speak to us here in CNN.
LUBBER: Great and I hope to talk to you again, thank you.
CURNOW (on camera): U.S. regulators have approved an experimental new drug used to treat the early stages of Alzheimer. It is a reversible brain disease as you know, affecting at least 30 million people worldwide but the drug's approval is not without controversy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It kills more Americans a year by far than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined. Now, a new drug to treat the early stages of Alzheimer's disease is being touted as a great hope by some experts and is met with skepticism by others. It's called Aducanumab, it will also go by brand name Aduhelm. It's the first new medication approve for Alzheimer in almost two decades.
RICHARD ISAACSON, ALZHEIMER PREVENTION CLINIC, WEILL CORNELL: The drug is an infusion, it's not a (inaudible). The drug has to be infuse (inaudible). They go in once a month and take the treatment and the goal of the drug is to slowdown disease progression. Does it help with memory function? Maybe. But as a cure to disease, no. The goal of this drug is to slow progression towards dementia.
TODD: Alzheimer's expert Dr. Richard Isaacson stresses that for people who already have moderate or severe Alzheimer's or dementia, this new drug may not work. The FDA approved Aducanumab under its accelerated approval program which allows some drugs for serious life- threatening illnesses to be used even if more research is needed.
The approval was controversial because some in the medical community believed there wasn't enough evidence that Aducanmab really works. As for the side effects --
ISAACSON: The biggest risk of this drug is problems with swelling in the brain or even some small bleeding in the brain. What we reassuring us is that when used carefully and when use with surveillance MRIs brain scans, make sure that the side effects aren't happening, most people that do develop the side effects actually end up being OK.
TODD: While this new drug will be available to patients soon, it's not a done deal that it will be available on a long-term basis. The FDA approved this on the grounds that the manufacturer Biogen, conduct a new trial. If that new trial fails to show that the drug is effective, the FDA could pull it off the market.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
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CURNOW (on camera): You're watching CNN. Still to come, the extreme suffering of the Ethiopian people in Tigray, a National Geographic photographer tells their stories with her powerful images.
[03:40:00]
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CURNOW (on camera): Burkina Faso's Prime Minister has visited the scene of one of the deadliest militant attack in years. The gunman killed more than 130 people in the village near the Nigerian border, late Friday into Saturday. Now, the Prime Minister spoke with residents and visited the wounded in hospital. He says it will take a united effort to stop terrorists from recruiting young people.
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CHRISTOPHE JOSEPH MARIE DABIRE, BURKINA FASO PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Security is the government's responsibility, and it's the responsibility of security and defense forces, but also the responsibility of the entire population. People need to commit to work with us, to recruitment of our young people by extremist groups, stop. Our youth need to stay in the country, towards economic and social development, so we can share the fruits of this developments. It's not like these young people are allowed to leave. They are recruited by the terrorist group and returned to the villages to bring terror and sadness to their own families.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW (on camera): There's been no claim of responsibility but militants have linked to al-Qaeda and ISIS, have stepped up attack in recent years.
And the U.N. warns more than 90 percent of people in Ethiopia's Tigray region need emergency aid. Food security has been worsened by the conflict that has ravaged the area for past seven months. A recent CNN investigation found Eritrean troops were blocking the supply of vital aid by occupying key routes. The European government, with the help of Eritrean groups from the north, have been battling Tigray rebels since November.
Civilians though are bearing the brunt of this fighting. Thousands are believed to have been killed, or displaced, and horrific accounts of rape and other humanitarian abuses are ongoing. A new national geographic report details, some of the misery of the people of Tigray.
National geographic photographer, Lynsey Addario has just returned from Tigray and she joins me now. Lynsey, hi. What a trip, and I do want you to take us through some of these extremely powerful images that you shot. But in the lead to your Nat Geo piece, it says, I never saw hell before, but now I have. What was it like? Just paint a picture for us.
LYNSEY ADDARIO, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PHOTOGRAPHER (on camera): I mean, it was interesting because the capital of Tigray, Mekelle, so deceptively calm. And there, it serves life goes on there and there are cafes open, and hotels open. But, the minute you get out of the capital, the roads are pretty barren. There are checkpoints everywhere, some are manned by Ethiopian troops, some are manned by Eritrean troops.
It is very hard to get anywhere, a lot of the roads are closed. So for example, I try to go north and I could not make it past the third checkpoint. The road south was also close because there was fighting towards the south. So I was able to go west. So, it's really just a matter of trial and error, and trying to get access to as many different places as you can as a journalist.
[03:45:08]
CURNOW: And let's just talk to some of these images. The first one is almost like a (inaudible). A father is holding his 15-year-old daughter, who was shot in the face. Just take us through that image and also some of the others which all seem to focus as much of you work does on women, and girls.
ADDARIO: I mean, it is just so devastating because you have, as is always the case with war, it's the civilians who pay the price, right. And so, I think, in this situation, I went to the pediatric ward and I saw this young woman who was shot in the face. She had been fleeing the fighting, and the real tragedy is that it took her days to get to a hospital. Because you know, once someone is injured, it's not like they could jump in the ambulance and go to the hospital. Often they're not let through checkpoints, the roads are closed, there is no ambulance, they have to try to pay for a mini bus. Many people don't have any money.
And so, it took days for her father to get her to a hospital. She is now completely blind. She was given one surgery, and that is when I saw her, right after the surgery. So, she will survive, but she's blind, and she was in horrible pain, and her father looked exhausted and devastated, and has literally been sleeping in bed with here and on the floor next to her for weeks.
CURNOW: There's another image that's very powerful, where a woman who was raped is covered in a shroud, as if she wasn't alive. And that disconnect between being alive, and dead, and having to live with a rape, is very powerful as well. Take us through that image.
ADDARIO: Well, one thing that I saw, and witnessed, you know, with many of the women that I spoke to is the fact that rape is pretty rampant. And there are, you know, hundreds of women who are being rape as a weapon of war, and this particular woman Shareed, her children were made to watch, she was gang raped repeatedly, she's HIV positive, she said to the soldiers, please, I'm sick, I'm HIV positive. She actually showed them her medication.
And you know, at least used protection and they did not, they just ignored her. And you know, I think this is something that is going on. The shame of course that comes with being raped is something that these women have to carry. You know, I'm always very protective of people that I photograph and so are the people around them, and the councilors that accompanied them to these interviews.
And you know, we have to try to find a way to tell their stories in a way that is effective, but conceal their identities so there's no retaliation, either from family members, or from other villagers.
CURNOW: And one other way you've managed to do that, another woman, who was raped again, a terrible story of her being tied to a tree, losing her son, so she said this would have double victimization of grief, and rape. And you just have this extreme close up in profile, and again, just the edges, the landscape of her face is just so powerful.
ADDARIO: I mean, this stories, there is so unbelievably heartbreaking, and I've been doing this over 20 years, and I can never get my head around how evil people can be. And this is a woman who came in, they are so brave for coming in and telling their stories. I can never get over it. For sharing their stories with the world. She was tied to a tree for 10 days, raped at will of any of the shoulders who are in that military camp, her 12 year old son was kept at her feet, and made to watch.
She was in and out of consciousness from the trauma, from the pain, the exhaustion, and finally, one day, she woke up in her son's throat was slit at her feet, and he was dead. And she basically lost her mind, and in the middle of the interview she just uncontrollably started weeping, screaming, crying, there was -- I mean me and my translator and the counselor, we were weeping alongside her. I mean, I tried to do a video, and literally half of the video is me sobbing behind the camera.
CURNOW: Thank you very much for bringing us their stories. We really appreciate you taking us along with you. Lynsey Addario, I appreciate it. Thank you for joining us.
ADDARIO: Thank you.
CURNOW: You are watching CNN, I will be right back.
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CURNOW (on camera): Welcome back. If El Salvador's president has his way, the country will be a cryptocurrency pioneer. He wants to adopt bitcoin as a legal tender, but the proposal still needs to be approved by Congress.
Patrick Oppmann has the details. Patrick?
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PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): El Salvador President Nayib Bukele said that his country may soon become the first country to adopt bitcoin as a legal currency. El Salvador, currently using the U.S. dollar as its currency, by accepting bitcoin as legal tender, it appears to be the first country to do so. It would be a revolutionary move not only for the Central American nation, but also for the digital currency that has been facing some pushback from other countries recently.
At a bitcoin conference in Miami over the weekend, Nayib Bukele appeared in a video where he made the announcement if El Salvador, is going to accept bitcoin, it still needs to be approve by the Salvadoran in Congress, but as Bukele's new ideas Party controls Congress in El Salvador, passage of the measures seems all but certain.
This is just the latest move from El Salvador's 39 year old disruptive president, who is already up and in politics. He's earned the reputation of something as a strongman, someone who does not respond well to criticism or challenges to his authority. But he's also someone who seemed to have idea how to gain headlines and generate international attention. They made this pitch on Twitter, where ha said that El Salvador had great weather, world class surfing and beach properties for sale. Inviting essentially bitcoin entrepreneurs to his country.
He continues to say that it is one of the few countries in the world with no property tax, and no real capital gains for bitcoin in as well. The immediate permanent residency be granted to crypto entrepreneurs. It's still an open question how Salvadorian's might use bitcoin, but 70 percent of the country is not tied any form of the banking system. Salvadoran's receive billions from abroad, from relatives, who live in the United States.
So, bitcoin certainly could facilitate that. Cut down on some of the fees, perhaps, that they pay, but again, this is a country that is very poor, that has had a gang problem over the years, so it's not clear if it's going to become a destination for bitcoin entrepreneurs. But lots of people, online now who are part of the bitcoin community, looking at moving. They say, to El Salvador. And certainly, this is opening the door for other countries to also adopt bitcoin as their currency.
Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana.
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CURNOW (on camera): Jeff Bezos is already the richest man on earth. And now, he's set to be the first billionaire in space. The Amazon founder announced on Monday he will be aboard his own spacecraft when it blasts off next month.
Rachel Crane, has the details. Rachel?
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RACHEL CRANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Jeff Bezos has long said that he has dreamed of going to space since he was five years old. Which is one of the reasons he founded his aerospace company, blue origin, more than 20 years ago. The company has been working on their space tourism vehicle, the new shepherd, which is named after Allen Shepard, the first American to fly in space back in 1961.
They had been working on this vehicle for more than six years. Now, this flight is a sub orbital flight. Meaning the Bezos brothers won't reach a speed velocity or orbit the earth like SpaceX crew dragon launches we've recently seen. But rather these new shepherd flights go just about the boundary of space, the flight take off vertically from blue origins facility in west Texas, in fully autonomous spacecraft, meaning there will be no pilots on board, passengers will be blasted up to three times the speed of sound, before the booster detaches and lands at a nearby concrete landing pad.
[03:55:08]
While the passengers go on to reach an (inaudible) of just over 60 miles above the earth. Earning them their astronaut wings. Now, after experiencing a few incredible minutes of weightlessness, the dome shaped spacecraft will bring passengers back to earth in a parachute landing. And the whole journey, only last about 11 minutes. And the company has had 15 consecutive space slouches.
However, none of them had been manned. So, Bezos, putting his (inaudible) in that spacecraft before any other human have. I mean, it is the ultimate sign of confidence in his team, and the system that they have built. The launch is scheduled for July 20th, which happens to be the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, as well as just two weeks after Jeff Bezos steps down from his post as Amazon's CEO.
Now, currently, blue origin has no ticket sales that are open to the public, nor have they released information regarding pricing, but they have done something really interesting here. They've launched an online auction. So, that means, that a mystery passenger will be on board with both Marc Bezos and Jeff Bezos, on this historic first spaceflight. The proceeds of that auction will be going towards blue origins foundation club for the future. Back to you.
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CURNOW (on camera): Thanks, Rachel. And finally, at this hour, an arctic rescue for a dog that wondered way, way too far from home. Russian sailors, on an icebreaking ships, spotted a dog on top of the ice. They coax her on board and alerted local authorities. Luckily, they were actually able to find her owner, who said that her dog had been missing for more than a week.
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SVETLANA CHERESHNEVA, DOG OWNER (through translator): When they showed me the video, I didn't recognize her at first, because she looked so unhappy. All covered with ice, didn't walk well, because she hurt her paws, the ice was so sharp. Now, she can walk, more or less.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CURNOW (on camera): Bless her. The one-year-old pup is back home safe
and sound, and hopefully, that's the end of her ice-capades. Thanks for joining me, I'm Robyn Curnow, I'll be back with another hour with Newsroom in just a moment.
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