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Afghan Translators In Jeopardy As U.S. Troops Withdraw; Israel- Hamas Ceasefire; Volcanic Eruptions Subside, Goma Activates Evacuation Plan; Cash Incentives Offered To Americans To Get Vaccinated; Extreme Weather Kills 21 Ultra-Marathon Runners In China; Former BBC Journalist Won't Admit He Harmed Diana; Phil Mickelson Seeking Place As Oldest Major Champ. Aired 5-6a ET

Aired May 23, 2021 - 05:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hi, welcome to all of our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. Thank you so much for joining me this hour. I'm Robyn Curnow.

Just ahead on CNN, the Israel-Hamas cease-fire is still holding and now the attention turns to rebuilding, as many Palestinians return to devastated homes.

Also ahead, a volcanic eruption in the Democratic Republic of Congo sends thousands of people rushing from the danger. We'll bring you the very latest on this.

And getting creative to get shots in arms, what one Hollywood theater is offering to get people vaccinated at its pop-up clinic.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Robyn Curnow.

CURNOW: A key member of the Israeli cabinet says the Israeli military will personally target the Hamas leader in Gaza if any more rockets are fired towards Israel. The finance minister, who sits on the security cabinet, said, if their fire Israel takes out Hamas leaders.

This is day three of a delicate cease-fire now in place in Gaza City. Hamas militants paraded through the streets to show they are still in control.

Israel's foreign ministry is calling on the international community to, quote, "condemn and disarm them."

Much of Gaza's basic infrastructure was crippled by the conflict. The U.N., citing figures from the Hamas government, says more than 250 buildings were destroyed, more than 760 shops and homes are unusable. Nearly half of Gaza's 2 million people are without ready access to water. Elliott Gotkine joins me from Jerusalem with the latest on this cease-

fire, which is still holding after three days.

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is still holding and I guess we've gone from having a war of rockets and airstrikes to just having a war of words, which is clearly a better state of affairs for the people of Gaza and the people of Israel. It is holding; there is an expectation that it will hold.

You've got Egyptian delegations in town right now, overseeing it. You've also got U.S. secretary of state, Antony Blinken, due in Israel in the coming days as well and also to meet with partners in Egypt and Jordan, we understand.

So I don't think that -- there are, of course, concerns it is a fragile cease-fire but you know, after those 11 days of fighting and given the stance of the international community, I think it's certainly unlikely, in the coming days, it's going to unravel.

Of course, there are always things that can spark a return to fighting and, at some point, there is an expectation, I think on both sides, a resignation, if you like, they will -- there will be a resumption of fighting at some point. For now it is holding and the hope is it will continue to hold as long as possible.

CURNOW: And what's the political fallout from this in Israel?

GOTKINE: Well, the Israeli -- the Israeli leadership was -- and the government was at a very delicate stage during, as we went into this round of fighting, the mandate, to try to form a government had already been given up by prime minister Netanyahu because he was unable to cobble together a coalition.

It has gone to Yair Lapid, to the leader of the opposition and he was seemingly getting closer to getting one of the right-wing parties that would ordinarily be alongside Netanyahu to come over to the anti- Netanyahu bloc.

But as a result of the fighting, Naftali Bennett's Yamina party stopped those negotiations with the bloc opposing prime minister Netanyahu. He, Netanyahu, will perhaps feel more emboldened now that opposition probably cannot form a coalition, that fresh elections are planned and, that given his stance during these last 11 days or so of fighting, that he could well have actually bolstered his popularity going into these elections.

The other thing going on in the background is Netanyahu's trial for corruption continues. He's very keen to remain as prime minister and will be hoping that the last of this round of fighting, even though there is a cease-fire and some people, even to the right of him are saying that Israel should have gone further, should have carried on fighting to do more damage to Hamas, Netanyahu will be feeling in a much better position now than he was going into the latest round of fighting.

CURNOW: Elliott Gotkine in Jerusalem, thanks so much, Elliott. The people of Gaza are now burdened with trying to recover from 11

days of shelling and airstrikes. Ben Wedeman is in Gaza City. Ben.

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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Depending on where you are in Gaza, life seems to be getting back to normal. Here in Gaza City's main square, children play in the evening pool. But just one block away, the extent of the damage from the hostilities becomes clear.

Hundreds of housing units have been destroyed, and Israeli air strikes have pushed the already creaking infrastructure to the brink. The U.N. says that around 800,000 people now lack access to running water, and that's out of a population of around 2 million people.

The U.N. also says more than 50 schools were damaged, impacting the education of around 600,000 children. On top of that, 17 hospitals have been damaged including Gaza's only COVID testing center.

And then there's unemployment running at almost 50 percent. Life here after the cease-fire is getting back to normal, but there's nothing normal about life here.

I'm Ben Wedeman, CNN, reporting from Gaza City.

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CURNOW: Thanks, Ben for that.

Now the conflict and its aftermath have sparked an outpouring of sympathy for the Palestinians. Large rallies took place on Saturday in cities around the world, including London, Paris and New York. More than 90 pro-Palestinian events have been planned in the U.S. this weekend as well.

Now we're watching the latest on a volcano eruption in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It happened on Saturday near the city of Goma and sent panicked residents fleeing, many towards Rwanda.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): It's something we've never seen before. We study it, people say volcano, volcano. But really, we've never seen it. Never. We're all shaking.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It seems that the volcano is erupting and the people of Goma are very worried because it's an unusual situation. Everyone is agitated and mobilized. They're all outside to see what is going on.

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CURNOW: The hot lava destroyed a number of homes and other structures in its path. Thankfully, those eruptions subsided later on in the evening and the lava flow stopped. Larry Madowo joins me from Kenya.

Real concerns about what happens next.

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Aid agencies and the government, Robyn, saying they're assessing the damage. But the hourly indications are that there will be people who need some humanitarian assistance, possibly thousands, many who escaped to Rwanda last night local time, when this volcano erupted and the lava started flowing to the city.

They feared that it might come into Goma city, which is highly populated. This region, there's about 2 million people that live there. The government telling us the lava stopped just outside of the city limits and did not hit the Goma airport, either.

One neighborhood seems to be the worst hit. More homes there have been destroyed and there's quite a few people who did not have a place to be sleeping tonight. Many of those who fled to Rwanda across the border are making their way back.

Rwanda's emergency ministry say they received about 3,500 people. The Congolese government said about between 3,000 and 5,000 people crossed the border into Rwanda. They're heading back into this neighborhood, even though officially the Congolese government has not told them it is safe to go back.

It is still assessing the damage, held another emergency meeting this morning, shared by the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo. This mountain has erupted before. In 2002 it killed about 250 people. In 1977, the worst eruption killed more than 600 people.

And volcano experts who watch what's happening here have been saying they've been seeing activity that resembled what happened those previous two times. The likelihood is there might be a much bigger disaster a few years away.

The other complication, Robyn, is that the Goma Volcanic Observatory is out of funds, after the World Bank pulled out most of its finances after a corruption scandal. They're not able to do much regular monitoring and warn people.

So today a lot of people trying to figure out what happens with their lives, what can they salvage and what happens next.

CURNOW: Thanks for that report there on the ground, Larry Madowo, thank you.

The lava flow might have stopped but the danger isn't over yet.

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CURNOW: Coming up, many Americans are having second thoughts about getting a COVID vaccine. But now they're being offered all sorts of incentives just to roll up their sleeves. That's next. And also ahead, the COVID crisis in India is so dire that officials in

one region are extending a lockdown there for the fifth time. We'll have a live report from the region. That is just ahead.

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CURNOW: Young Americans who recently became eligible for vaccinations are turning out in high, high numbers to get their jabs. The CDC says adolescents between the ages of 12 and 15 accounted for nearly a quarter of all the first doses given last week. And they only make up 5 percent of the population.

But health authorities, like the nation's top infectious disease expert, also saying that booster shots may be required in the future.

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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF COVID-19 MEDICAL ADVISER: We are planning for the eventuality that we might need to boost people. We don't know whether we will have to do it and when we will have to do it.

There's estimates while it may be a year; it may be a little bit longer. There's no set rule now that says, in six months or in a year, we're going to get -- we're going to require a boost.

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CURNOW: Despite the high number of young people getting their shot, the U.S. vaccination rate is still down by almost half since its peak in April. Well, now businesses and state governments are offering Americans incentives to roll up their sleeves.

A theater in Los Angeles is actually jumping on the train and hoping people don't throw away their shot at a chance to win "Hamilton" tickets, as Paul Vercammen now reports.

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PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Los Angeles County's strategy now has moved from the large vaccine sites to small public sites such as this one, the Pantages theater, it's Broadway West. What they offered up here was a chance to win "Hamilton" tickets, 3 separate pairs.

So they came in here, they can get the Johnson & Johnson or the Pfizer vaccine and then enter that lottery. One father who already had the vaccine, brought his son in to be vaccinated and he was ecstatic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've waited so long just to have the theater opening, you know, that's a big -- that's definitely the driver in this. I want to get him vaccinated, everybody in the house is vaccinated. To win "Hamilton" tickets would be amazing, amazing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I love theater and I've seen a few shows here like "Cats" and so I would love to win the tickets to "Hamilton," because if you get the vaccine today, you are entered in a drawing to win the tickets. I hadn't got my vaccine yet so I decided to come today and get the Johnson and Johnson because it is one and done.

VERCAMMEN: And the Pantages was not the only vaccine site in L.A. offering up free ticket. Across the city, there was a chance to win Lakers season seats by getting vaccinated.

We are seeing this trend throughout the country, many places offering up incentives for people to get a shot in the arm and achieve that herd immunity -- reporting from the Pantages theater in Hollywood, I'm Paul Vercammen.

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CURNOW: As life in the U.S. returns to some semblance of normality, earlier, CNN spoke with psychiatrist Kali Cyrus about how to confront a few of those anxieties. Take a listen to a bit of her advice.

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DR. KALI CYRUS, PSYCHIATRIST: I think that right now people are still trying to understand what it's like to get back to real life. I think, first of all, just naming it and knowing that it's acceptable that a lot of people might feel this way is the first thing to do.

Secondly, what are you most afraid of or what are you most nervous about?

Be able to ask those questions and then follow up and get the answers and try to acknowledge what you can control versus what you can't.

Are there things like flying on a weekday where the airport is less congested?

Or being prepared to minimize the stress for the rest of your family by having your headphones, iPad, all of the snacks you need ready so you don't have to worry about eating at the airport. The first thing is just having that open conversation with each member of your family, especially the children, and finding out what their anxieties are.

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CURNOW: Well, U.K. officials have been taking a look at how well some vaccines work against the variant first identified in India. A new study examined results from Pfizer BioNTech and Oxford AstraZeneca. It found that two doses of either vaccine are, quote, "highly effective" against the India strain.

And British authorities are investigating another COVID variant, the AV.1 strain, dubbed the Yorkshire variant, has infected 49 people in northwest England.

We're also getting new details on just how desperate the coronavirus situation is in India. The country has topped more than 26 million cases and officials in Delhi are now extending the region's lockdown for the fifth time until the end of May. For more on all of this, let's go straight to Will Ripley.

You're in the region, you're in Taipei.

What more can you tell us?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Robyn, the situation across the Indo- Pacific is a cautionary tale for countries with low vaccination rates. Here in Taiwan, in India, in Thailand, in Singapore, all countries that, for months, thought that they had this thing under control, they're now dealing with some of their worst outbreaks ever.

That's certainly the case here, where the virus snuck in through airports. In Thailand, it's the overcrowded prisons, where scores of inmates are getting sick and they're struggling to get enough vaccines in.

In India, as we shift focus to these rural hospitals, some of them are struggling with a huge influx of patients, who are facing really difficult conditions right now.

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RIPLEY (voice-over): Pigs root in filth and water outside this hospital in Bihar state in India. It looks like no place for healing with its broken walls, abandoned ambulances. But patients are still being treated here, many for coronavirus. The sick as well as the staff must trudge through dismal conditions to get inside.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The hospital will be 100 years old in 4 years. It was the only big hospital here several years ago. Due to the low-lying area, there is an issue of waterlogging at the hospital. There is filth all over.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Cases across India decreasing, down from more than 400,000 new cases reported in a day in early May to nearly 260,000. Still, the country's health care system is overwhelmed in places. And there is a shortage of vaccines. Delhi becoming the latest state to halted vaccinations in adults under the age of 45.

Some help is slowly coming in from Russia, with shipments of its Sputnik V vaccine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: By the end of May, about 3 million votes will be supplied in bulk (ph).

RIPLEY (voice-over): The plan then is for India to begin producing the Russian vaccine with a goal of making more than 815 million doses. The Sputnik V is a two-dose regimen.

The coronavirus is also taking its toll in other parts of Asia. Some streets in Taiwan look like a ghost town. It, too, is suffering from a surge of coronavirus cases and a lack of vaccines. Taiwan's health minister, asking the U.S. for help and getting the critical supplies.

Cases are soaring in Thailand, too, where clusters of COVID-19 infections have emerged in the country's overcrowded prisons. Bangkok began a vaccination drive, doling out shots of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine and, AstraZeneca to inmates.

The shortage and, at times, dismal conditions across parts of Asia making this wave of the coronavirus that much more difficult to contain.

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RIPLEY: Countries are struggling to get the vaccines that they need. Here in Taiwan, they've ordered tens of millions of doses. Only 700,000 have arrived. And they're refusing China's offer to provide China-made vaccines, citing a law that those vaccines can't be used on humans.

Of course, there's also the situation of just not enough people getting those shots in arms and a lack of herd immunity and the problems that that causes. With the exception of Singapore, nearly every country in the Indo-Pacific region has vaccination rates in the low single digits.

Robyn, when you have variants like the U.K. variant, the India variant spreading so quickly here, it also means that many of the cases could be far more severe.

CURNOW: OK, thanks so much for that report there, Will Ripley in Taipei.

A prominent member of the Hong Kong trail racing community is among the 21 people killed in a marathon tragedy in northwest China.

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CURNOW: Liang Jing is being remembered as one of the best ultra- endurance athletes in the world by the Hong Kong 100 ultra-marathon group. Chinese state media report extremely cold weather killed the 21 runners. At least eight others were sent to hospital.

And you can see some of the search and rescue efforts going through the night into early Sunday here. The 100-kilometer race began Saturday under seemingly normal conditions.

But as the weather turned bad, icy rain and gale force winds lashed the many underdressed racers. Some of those in higher altitudes reported hypothermia while others went missing. The race was called off. By Sunday morning, more than 150 people were confirmed safe.

And a volcano erupts, sending people running from their homes. When we return, we talk to somebody who witnessed this terrifying moment and shows us the destruction it left behind. And later, a live report on the BBC's infamous interview with Diana,

Princess of Wales; the journalist at the heart of it is speaking up for the first time.

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CURNOW: Welcome back to all of our viewers here in the United States and all around the world, it's 29 minutes past the hour. I'm Robyn Curnow. You're watching CNN.

So this is day three of a cease-fire that has restored calm for the people of Israel and Gaza. And an Israeli official is now warning, if there are any more rockets, Israel will, quote, "eliminate the Hamas leader in Gaza."

Eleven days of Israeli shelling and airstrikes left much of Gaza in shambles. The U.N., citing figures from Hamas, say more than 250 buildings were destroyed.

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CURNOW: And more than 760 shops and homes are unusable. Nearly half of Gaza's 2 million people are without ready access to water. More than 50 schools were damaged and are now closed.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., a 23-year-old is facing charges in a suspected hate crime attack on a Jewish man in New York. Just a warning, the video are about to see is disturbing.

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CURNOW (voice-over): Investigators say the suspect is among the people you see here, assaulting Joseph Morgan Thursday. He's charged with assault in the second degree as a hate crime, along with other charges.

If convicted, he can face up to 3.5 years in prison.

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CURNOW: Meanwhile, another suspect has been arrested in another alleged anti-Jewish hate crime in Los Angeles. Officials say Xavier Pabon was arrested on Friday and was charged with assault with a deadly weapon. Investigators say the victim was attacked outside a restaurant last week.

And tens of thousands of Haitians living in the U.S. can again apply for humanitarian protection, thanks to the Biden administration. Arlette Saenz has the details from the White House. Arlette.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Biden administration is granting humanitarian protections to Haitians currently in the United States, opening the door for more than 100,000 Haitians to apply to lawfully remain in the country.

This will be done through the Temporary Protected Status Program, which is essentially a type of relief offered to people from countries where is it's deemed to be unsafe to return.

This had been under consideration for quite some time and the Homeland Security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, said a number of factors played into the decisions, including serious security concerns, social unrest and also a rise in human rights abuses back in Haiti.

This will be just an 18-month program and it only applies to Haitians who are in the United States as of May 21st. This follows a path that was taken by the Obama administration back in 2010, when they extended temporary protected status to Haitians after that devastating earthquake in the country.

But the Trump administration tried to undo that, saying that they would not continue offering that status to Haitians. And the Biden administration had been under pressure from immigrant advocacy groups and activists to make this another extension going forward.

Ultimately, these immigrant rights groups are happy with this decision, as the Biden administration is now extending it for another 18 months -- Arlette Saenz, CNN, the White House.

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CURNOW: Thanks, Arlette, for that.

Now the U.S. military keeps announcing progress toward its goal of withdrawing all troops from Afghanistan by September 11th. It says the progress is up to 20 percent complete.

But not everyone who puts their lives at risk gets to leave the danger. Many Afghan translators will be left behind, stuck in a visa process that could take years. It's something Iraqi translators know all too well. Some still have not received permission to come to the U.S. about a decade after the end of the Iraq War.

Michael Holmes has more on the perils they face and the message they'd like to send the U.S. President.

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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When we last reported on the plight of Iraqi and Afghan translators left behind by the U.S. government, "Yassin," for his own safety, not his real name, reached out to me, in hiding and afraid for his life.

"YASSIN," AFGHAN INTERPRETER: I'm hiding always, OK, yes, me and my family, worried and afraid, afraid for everything, OK? HOLMES (voice-over): "Yassin" was a translator for the U.S. Army in Iraq from 2009-2011. Married with one child, he has spent years trying to get the U.S. special immigrant visa that he was promised for his service, for putting his life on the line.

"YASSIN": Six years and no one called me, no one called from the heartland, to make a first interview.

HOLMES (voice-over): His most recent of several death threats from insurgents was four months ago.

In 2006, I spoke to a teenaged girl we called "Sara" to highlight the job those translators did for U.S. troops.

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HOLMES (voice-over): The diminutive "Sara" might be short on height but she is long on courage, says her U.S. friends, who asked us to hide her face, even if she won't.

"SARA," U.S. LIAISON: I serve my country, I serve in the U.S. Army. It's fun but dangerous at the same time but I like it.

HOLMES: It is a crucial job because these people are not just dealing in words, they are dealing in people's lives, American and Iraqi.

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HOLMES (voice-over): Sara was lucky, one of those who got that precious visa. She now lives in the U.S.

"Ali" -- not his real name, either -- is married with four kids, is one of thousands of unlucky ones. After working for six years for U.S. troops, he still waits and hears nothing.

"ALI": Workers, we are like living in hell, dying every day but not dying.

HOLMES (voice-over): "Ali," like "Yassin," has been threatened and even shot at more than once on the way home, viewed as a traitor by the terrorists U.S. troops fought.

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"ALI": Certain messages say, "We already know that you have worked for the United States Army, so you are a traitor and traitors always get what they deserve."

HOLMES (voice-over): As for the value of the job those people did, listen to those from "Sara's" unit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I admire her courage. It's kind of hard to say you're scared of something when you have a 19-year-old girl sitting there beside you, who's half your size, who's unafraid of anything that's going on.

HOLMES (voice-over): Back in Baghdad, Ali has a message for the U.S. President.

"ALI": President Biden, I want you to save our lives. For we saved your sons' lives, the people in the military. We can't wait. Our killers, our assassins, they will go just like, boom, and we are out. There will be no more tomorrow for us.

HOLMES (voice-over): Michael Holmes, CNN.

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CURNOW: Thanks, Michael for that story.

You're watching CNN. Just ahead, the journalist who obtained that BBC interview with Diana, Princess of Wales, back in 1995, is speaking out. What he has to say about her and her sons.

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CURNOW: I want to get you the latest on that volcanic eruption in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It happened on Saturday near the city of Goma. It sent hundreds of panicked residents fleeing. Thankfully, the lava flow has stopped.

Many of those who fled are now returning to their homes. One witness took this photo of some of the damage the lava left behind. You can see the charred remains of the structure here.

That witness actually joins us now, Alastair Lawson-Tancred is the communications officer for UNICEF in Goma.

Hi, Alastair, tell us what you saw.

ALASTAIR LAWSON-TANCRED, COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER, UNICEF: It's been amazing scenes over the last 24 hours here in Goma.

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LAWSON-TANCRED: Last night everything seemed fairly normal. Then suddenly we were warned that it was time to vacate the premises.

CURNOW: And then what happened?

LAWSON-TANCRED: We were warned it was time to vacate the premises and everyone headed for the border with Rwanda.

I hope you can hear me.

CURNOW: Yes, I can. Keep on going.

LAWSON-TANCRED: And went -- and as you can imagine, it was fairly chaotic scenes at the border with Rwanda, thousands of people trying to get through; 5,000 people did manage to get through, an awful lot didn't.

And you can imagine that, through the streets of Goma, through much of last night, people were wandering around, carrying mattresses, desperately trying to find an escape route.

And all through the night, you could see the volcano flaring above the town. There were minor earthquakes. So it was fairly frightening for the people of this town. Now we have a sense of calm and the hope is that the volcano has finished erupting and we won't have a repeat of what happened in 2002, when several hundred people were killed.

CURNOW: And these images that we're seeing of this lava flow, just give us some sense of where this was filmed because obviously there is a relief that this flow didn't make it all the way to Goma.

But what have people been telling you about this lava flow, that looks absolutely terrifying?

LAWSON-TANCRED: I think the feeling is that Goma's had a lucky escape so far. And to give you some idea, if you imagine a wide river, instead of having a wide river, you have lava flows coming out of this volcano.

And what was especially frightening for the people of the town is they had no prior warning because this volcano is one of the most unpredictable in the world. And people just weren't informed that an eruption was forthcoming.

So it was rather like seeing a huge orange light, if you like, hovering above the town last night and no one knowing for certain where the lava was going to go. And people in this country know all too well just how dangerous volcano eruptions can be.

In 1997, for example, 600 people were killed in a volcano eruption here. So people know the dangers. But it was the uncertainty, I think, surrounding the eruption that was so frightening.

CURNOW: And you just didn't know if this lava was going to bear down on Goma. Give us some sense of what it smells like. Obviously we know there's a lot of sulfur that comes from volcanic eruptions.

I know that Derek Van Dam, our meteorologist, has warned that there's a chance potentially of acid rain.

Is there any preparations for that?

LAWSON-TANCRED: No, but, as far as the relief operation is concerned, UNICEF and other aid agencies are conducting a sort of quick assessment and various things have rapid response units on hand to help people who have lost their homes. It's estimated that around 500 households are being destroyed.

And to give you some idea, we went there this morning. We saw the destroyed houses, it looked almost like -- I hope I'm not being too graphic -- you have this very black environment with smoke coming out of the ground and distraught people, trying to find what's left of their possessions, amid this very, very sulfurous smell, as you described.

My colleague suffers from asthma and couldn't stay there for too long because it is a very, very powerful smell.

CURNOW: And obviously you work for UNICEF. This is terrifying and traumatic for adults but, for children, who would have had to deal with this in the middle of the night and potentially have to evacuate, as you said, try and rush across the border to Rwanda, how are some of these kids doing with what they experienced overnight?

LAWSON-TANCRED: The one thing you can say about the Congolese is they are amazingly resilient. The children are very resilient, too. But even by Congolese standards, this was very frightening. Families were carrying mattresses on their heads desperately trying to get into Rwanda, not able to do so, children in tow.

This morning we have the distressing spectacle of children helping their parents gather what household remains are left after the lava destroyed their homes. So you're absolutely right. This has been very traumatic.

CURNOW: Alastair Lawson-Tancred, thank you very much for bringing us the perspective there on the ground. I'm so glad, like you said, that Goma has had a lucky break. Thank you.

LAWSON-TANCRED: Thank you.

[05:45:00]

CURNOW: So the former BBC journalist who sat down with Diana, Princess of Wales, for a major interview back in 1995 has a message for her sons, William and Harry. He says he's deeply sorry. Martin Bashir tells the "Sunday Times" he never wanted to harm Diana and doesn't think he does.

An inquiry came out, saying Bashir had used deceitful methods to secure that interview. Prince William claimed this worsened his mother's paranoia. Isa Soares joins me more with the fallout on this.

What can you tell us?

Hi.

ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A very good morning to you, Robyn. The fallout continues since the Lord Dyson report came out last week.

This is the first time we are hearing from reporter Martin Bashir since that interview 25 years ago and the first time we're actually hearing from him since that Lord Dyson report came out last week, that showed that Martin Bashir used really deceitful behavior to try to secure that interview with Princess Diana.

It also revealed that the BBC not only knew that he used that deceitful behavior but the BBC covered it up.

This is what it says, "Broken man who can't quite admit he wronged Diana."

And what it says, I'll read you a little excerpt of what it says for our viewers to get a sense. He says he's deeply sorry to Prince William and to Prince Harry but he says I never wanted to harm Diana in any way and I don't believe we did.

"Everything we did in terms of the interview was when she wanted, from when she wanted to alert the palace to when it was broadcast, to its contents. My family and I loved her."

And really, as further evidence he puts as proof really how closely he was with Princess Diana. He actually shows a photo here of his wife, in hospital, having had their third child, with Princess Diana, as proof of how close they were and really how much he cared deeply for her.

Now he did say he was sorry. He did apologize for using those fake documents but he can't really quite bring himself to admit that he duped her throughout this interview. He duped Princess Diana.

Now there was regret also in this interview but he believes that what he did had no bearing on Princess Diana's interview, no bearing on her decision to do that interview for him.

He also rejects the charge by Prince William earlier this week, really scathing by Prince William and Prince Harry. He rejects a charge by Prince William that the way the interview was obtained, Robyn, fueled really her isolation and Princess Diana's paranoia.

There is without a doubt in this interview a sense of defiance from Martin Bashir. Some may go as far as to say a sense of arrogance from the former BBC reporter. It's clear that, 25 years on, you're still seeing the impact of this interview.

In the last 24 hours, Tony Hall, Lord Hall, who was the head of the BBC at the time, who actually led one of the investigations into this interview, he has stepped down from his role as chairman of National Gallery, perhaps because really the Prince of Wales is patron of that charity. He has apologized again for what happened 25 years ago.

Before I leave you, I wanted to let you know, in the last few minutes, home secretary Priti Patel, has come out, talking about the BBC. She said the public trust and confidence in the BBC has been compromised and the BBC needs to reflect, it says, on what happened on that report and rebuild and regain trust of its people -- Robyn.

CURNOW: Isa Soares, thank you for that update.

You're watching CNN. We'll be right back.

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[05:50:00]

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CURNOW: I do want to update you on the situation in Jerusalem. Israeli police have now reopened the holy site known as the Noble Sanctuary to non-Muslims for the first time in about three weeks. Jews refer to the area as the Temple Mount.

It's normal for non-Muslims to visit during designated hours, while Muslims are permitted there anytime. But only Muslims are allowed to pray there.

In about eight hours, Phil Mickelson will tee up his ball for the final round of the PGA championship, hoping to become golf's oldest major winner. But as 50, Lefty faces a challenge from Brooks Koepka, who's 19 years younger and nipping at his heels.

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CURNOW: One of the most watched videos in YouTube's history will soon be auctioned off and taken down.

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HARRY, CHARLIE'S BROTHER: Ow.

Ooh, ouch, ouch, ouch, Charlie. Ow. Charlie, that really hurts.

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CURNOW: Oh, Charlie. You may remember these two British brothers from this clip way back from 2007. "Charlie Bit My Finger" is not even a minute long but became an early viral video, racking up nearly 883 million views along the way. The clip is now up for auction as an NFT or non-fungible token.

NFTs allow people to buy and sell unique digital files, creating authenticity and scarcity. Let's see what the auction's gone up to at the moment. Take a look at this, once the bidding is over around 9:00 am Eastern time, the adorable video of little Charlie and his brother, Harry, will be deleted from YouTube.

I'm Robyn Curnow, thanks so much for your company. You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram. For our viewers in the United States and Canada, I'm going to hand you over to the folks at "NEW DAY," enjoy. For everybody else "LIVING GOLF" is next.