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U.S. Admits Kabul Drone Strike Killed Only Civilians; Taliban Call on Boys over Grade Six to Return to School; France Recalls Ambassadors as AUKUS Dispute Escalates; Overhaul for England's International COVID-19 Travel Rules; U.S. Authorizes Sanctions after Reports of Atrocities in Tigray; U.N.: Planet on "Catastrophic" Global Warming Path; Christo's "Arc de Triomphe: Wrapped" Unveiled. Aired 2- 2:45a ET

Aired September 18, 2021 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello and welcome to CNN NEWSROOM everyone, I'm Michael Holmes, appreciate your company.

Coming up here on the program, a deadly mistake: The Pentagon admits it targeted the wrong vehicle, in a drone strike and Afghanistan, killing civilians, including seven children.

Plus, for the first time ever, France is recalling its ambassador to the U.S. and also to Australia. We are live in Paris on the dramatic decision.

And my guest says climate change risks, quote, "human civilization as we know it." More on her dire warning and the U.N. climate report.

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HOLMES: Hello, everyone.

The Pentagon says a deadly drone strike, carried out during the final stages of the evacuation from Kabul, was a tragic mistake. The U.S. now admits that the strike killed 10 civilians, including seven children, a reversal, from weeks of maintaining it hit ISIS-K fighters, threatening another attack on the Kabul airport.

A top U.S. general, apologizing, for getting things so wrong.

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GEN. KENNETH MCKENZIE, COMMANDER, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: I am here today to set the record straight and acknowledge our mistakes. I will end my remarks with the same note of sincere and profound condolences for the family and friends of those who died in this tragic strike. We are exploring the possibility of ex gratia payments.

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HOLMES: The man the U.S. thought was an ISIS-K member, actually, was an aid worker. Anna Coren has more with the admission and what we've learned about the victims. A warning, some footage you are about to, see is graphic.

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ANNA COREN, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. military has admitted that wrong intelligence led to the killing of 10 innocent Afghan civilians, including seven children following a drone strike in Kabul, almost three weeks ago, on what they thought at the time was an ISIS-K target.

Instead, they killed a 43-year-old aid worker and father of seven, Zamarai Ahmadi, who they now admit had no affiliation whatsoever to any terror network.

CNN carried out an investigation, speaking to more than 2 dozen people, including family members, colleagues and bomb experts, reviewing CCTV footage and retracing Zamarai's steps that day, raising serious doubts about the U.S. military's version of the events.

CENTCOM commander General Kenneth McKenzie called it a, quote, "tragic mistake," saying he takes full responsibility, offering his sincere and profound condolences to the family.

He said they had received 60 different intelligence reports of an imminent attack on Hamid Karzai International Airport. A U.S. official earlier told us they had been monitoring intelligence from an ISIS safe house.

The drone strike came just days after an attack on the airport, when an ISIS-K suicide bomber killed 13 U.S. service members and more than 170 Afghans.

Based on what McKenzie said was a good lead, they followed Zamarai's car as went by his daily routine, believing he was loading explosives into the car when he, in fact, was lifting containers of water into his vehicle.

When he pulled into his family compound, a U.S. official with knowledge of the operation told CNN the drone operators watched the car for 4-5 minutes before taking the shot. Then they realized there were three children in the compound.

We have now learned that, with further analysis, the U.S. admits there were even more children in the vicinity of the drone strike. A total of seven children were killed; three were toddlers.

General McKenzie said there will be a review of policies and procedures that led to the strike, that took the lives of 10 innocent civilians, and that they are looking at compensation for the family -- Anna Coren, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Now to new actions taken by the Taliban since taking control of Afghanistan. Arwa Damon, joining, me from Van (ph) in Turkey. We are seeing evidence of the Taliban saying one thing and doing

another. For starters, telling boys to go back to school but not girls.

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is fear, compounding fear, tragedy, compounding tragedy. What's the Taliban have said is that schoolboys from grades 6, to 12, can return back to school, should return back to school along with male teachers.

There is no mention, at all, of what is going to happen with female students.

[02:05:00]

DAMON: You can, just barely, begin to imagine the impact this has on young girls and women across the country. CNN spoke to a 16-year-old young girl, who is in Kabul. And she was talking about how, when she heard the news, she just felt as if her dreams had evaporated in front of her.

She was on the phone, with her other female classmates, they were crying. They don't know what to do. They actually don't, necessarily, even know how to fully process this information, Michael, because they haven't lived under the Taliban. They don't know what it is like to be denied an education simply because they are female.

HOLMES: Yes, a really good point. There is another affront for women, too. The ministry of women's affairs is now the ministry for vice and virtue, a harken back to the bad old days.

DAMON: And this was a ministry that was, many would say, the most feared 20 years ago, the last time the Taliban was in control of Afghanistan. This ministry is, basically, the moral police. They were the ones who were responsible for policing the streets, looking out for any violations, that included things like women not properly covering their wrists to people daring to listen to music to other things, that the Taliban administration back then had considered to be crimes.

They were the ones who were responsible for floggings, for, back, then public executions. This is yet another strike, what the Taliban is saying they're going to do and what many fear is how they are going to govern.

Right now, if you are a young woman, if you are a girl in Afghanistan, especially following these two developments, Michael, you are absolutely terrified. Life, as you knew it, no longer even remotely exists.

HOLMES: As you point out, life as you only knew it, if you are under 20. Arwa Damon, appreciate, it thank you so much.

France is so angry over the new AUKUS security deal, as it's being called, it has taken the extraordinary step of recalling its ambassadors to the U.S. and Australia, two of its closest allies. AUKUS aims to provide Australia with nuclear powered submarines,

effectively killing a whopping $65 billion defense contract with France, to build diesel subs. Jim Bittermann, joining me from Paris, with more on the French reaction.

Jim, this is extraordinary, recalling ambassadors is something countries do with adversaries, not allies.

How unprecedented is it and what is the message being sent?

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT: It's extraordinary and we're going over the history books to find out if it's ever happened before. An expert at the North Atlantic Council, saying overnight, that in fact, he didn't believe it ever happened before, that France and America had withdrawn their ambassadors.

For consultation, say the French, but nonetheless it is a clear sign of the rift that has taken over this contract. This break in contract that the French are experiencing, it is costing them billions of dollars of course, but also it is playing into French president Macron's agenda, which is that he has been preaching to his European allies that there should be more strategic autonomy and less dependence on the United States, that came up clearly after what happened in Kabul.

So now, he has more evidence of that with this abrupt change in policy of the United States. He is going to use, that no doubt to establish the reasoning behind establishing stronger military efforts in Europe.

But still, it has caught them totally unaware. There was, apparently, a great deal of effort to keep this deal, the new deal, between Australia and the United States a secret. Of course, really, I think that was one of the reasons why their high dudgeon has been so severe on it, Michael.

HOLMES: Basically, found out on social media. It is interesting, the British ambassador hasn't been recalled.

Why might that be?

What's next for these relationships?

BITTERMANN: I think the British ambassador, could be that it has something to do with the French need to keep up ties with Europe. That is one of the things that they've been cautious to do. That tie, perhaps, is more important than the Australian and U.S. ties. Nonetheless, it is a tenuous relationship, I think, at best.

[02:10:00]

BITTERMANN: And as far as the future, one of the best analysts that we know, Sir Peter Ricketts, who was a longtime British ambassador to France, a keen observer of French affairs, he tweeted overnight, that this, will no, doubt accentuate the split with Europe and he said, ominously, expect more French measures, including native (ph).

So there could be more down the line.

HOLMES: Exactly. Just the beginning. Jim Bittermann in Paris, thank you very much for that.

BITTERMANN: Thank you.

HOLMES: Beijing has been extremely vocal in condemning the new AUKUS agreement and the threat of Australia operating nuclear powered subs, at its doorstep. The Chinese president didn't mention it by name but his remarks to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization show he is focused on potential interference from, quote, "external forces."

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XI JINPING, PRESIDENT OF CHINA (through translator): We must never allow any external interference in the domestic affairs of countries in our region under whatever pretext. In short, we should keep the future of our country's development and progress firmly in our own hands.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Algeria's state-run media is reporting that longtime former president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, has died. No cause of death given but Bouteflika has rarely been seen in public since having a stroke in 2013. He ruled the North African nation for 20 years but resigned in 2019 after mass protests dissuaded him from seeking a fifth term.

Bouteflika is generally credited with restoring stability to Algeria after the bloody civil war of the 1990s. Abdelaziz Bouteflika was 84.

Just ahead on the program, international travelers will, soon, find their arrival in the United Kingdom, a little less complicated but only if they're fully vaccinated. We explain, coming up.

Also, the U.S. applies diplomatic pressure to end the conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region. The message is, to warring sides, change your ways or there will be a price to pay.

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HOLMES: Vaccine advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, recommending a Pfizer COVID-19 booster shot, to people 65 years and older and, anyone at high risk of severe COVID.

The decision came after the same committee would not recommend the booster shot for all Americans 16 years and older, citing a lack of data. The FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still must give its approval. The CDC advisory committee set to meet next week.

Some good news for the fully vaccinated arriving in England. [02:15:00]

HOLMES: From October the 4th, the U.K. government is scrapping its complicated traffic light system, swapping the green, amber and red ranking for a simple red list of no-go destinations. This is still for England only, not Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. Nina dos Santos, with the, details from London.

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NINA DOS SANTOS, CNNMONEY EUROPE EDITOR: Just after the coronavirus containment plan for later on in the year, they also promised to update travelers on the restrictions to enter the U.K.

Things are going to be simplified as of October the 4th and good news for countries coming off the red list in the U.K. This is a list of nations, deemed risky, in terms of prevalence of COVID-19. As, such people who entered the shores from these nations, have to go to an immediate, mandatory quarantine period, in a hotel.

But no longer, will that be a case of a return to the U.K. from Turkey, Pakistan, the, Maldives, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Oman, Bangladesh and Kenya.

And, there is good news for travelers who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. If they have had both of their shots, they will no longer have to take a test before departing upon their journey. They will still have to test upon their return, but the government is trying to make that simpler and also, more cost-effective too.

There are plans to remove the current requirement for a polymerase chain reaction or PCR test on day 2, a more sophisticated and expensive but also more accurate COVID-19 test. They will be replacing that with a much cheaper lateral flow test, instead.

But this has been greeted by the airline and the hospitality sector with glee. They have been pummeled over the course of the pandemic by these restrictions being imposed upon travelers, to the U.K.

They said it was the shot in the arm the industry needed and, it could make a real impact, straightaway. These rules are changing just before a crucial travel period, which is the half term holiday for school children, across England.

And, also, it reflects the fact that there is a larger amount of immunity against COVID-19 and the country with 8 in 10 adults, having been vaccinated, in some form, against the virus. And, with plans to roll out the vaccination program, to the next target group, which is 12- to 15-year-olds who, as of this week, they were eligible to get one shot of a Pfizer vaccination -- Nina dos Santos, CNN, in London.

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HOLMES: In the United States, President Joe Biden has signed an executive order, authorizing sanctions against the warring parties in Ethiopia's Tigray region. This follows reporting from CNN's own Nima Elbagir, exposing mass

detentions, sexual violence and killings, bearing the hallmarks of genocide. We have more now from Nima on how the U.S. is reacting.

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NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The White House has issued an executive order, broadening the sanctions available to it and bringing to an end or working to bring to an end the crisis in Ethiopia's Tigray region.

Now, this may sound like more of the same telegraphing of concern that has been much criticized by human rights activists, and Tigrayan advocates when it comes to the U.S.' handling of the crisis in Tigray.

But actually, what this does for the first time is place a timeframe around the resolution of the crisis in Tigray. U.S. officials and lawmakers tell us that this is a matter of weeks, that if resolution is not seen, or at least not -- at least the process of resolution begun, then they are looking to implement targeted sanctions against specific individuals across all the parties to the conflict.

So that's the Ethiopian government, the Amhara regional forces, the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front, and members of the Tigrayan fighters on the ground and the Eritrean forces.

This comes, we're told by congressional contacts, after our recent reporting. Congressional contacts tell us that our recent investigation triggered urgency in Congress among lawmakers, and that, in turn, caused them to ratchet the pressure on the administration about our investigation.

And I must warn viewers that this is difficult to watch. But it's so important. These graphic images we're showing you evidence of torture, execution, and detention on a mass scale in the town of Humera.

It was evidence that pointed to we found a methodical campaign which bore all the hallmarks of genocide.

We were also able to cross-reference witness testimony and the analysis of satellite imagery to pinpoint at least seven locations here within Humera.

[02:20:00]

ELBAGIR: That's where the site of mass detention, and two outside of Humera.

We are now hearing from the Ethiopian government their response to this ruling, to this executive order on the part of the Biden administration and they are rejecting it.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's office issued this open letter, saying, "We have seen the consequences and aftermaths of hurried and rash decisions made by various U.S. administrations." They go on to say, "It is essential to point out that Ethiopia will

not succumb to the consequences of pressure engineered by disgruntled individuals."

What does that actually mean on the ground?

Well, given that the Tigray region has run out of humanitarian resources, humanitarian aid in situ for humanitarian agencies to use currently, the humanitarian actors on the ground are reliant on aid, trucked into Tigray.

The U.N. have told us that, within the last six weeks, less than five days worth of aid, trucks carrying less than five days' worth of aid has been allowed into the region. And given the hundreds of thousands of people within Tigray are currently in famine-like conditions, as the U.N. describes it.

Any delay, any refusal or rebuttal on the part of Ethiopian -- of the Ethiopian government and its allies who control the access of aid into the Tigray region will have dire consequences for the people on the ground in the region.

The hope is that the Ethiopian government finds a way to cooperate with the international community and with the United States, at the very least on this humanitarian access aspect of the executive order. That's what we're hearing from so many humanitarian agencies and actors on the ground -- Nima Elbagir, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Still to come on the program, the speaker of the House of Commons talks to CNN about why he sees the democracy under threat, on both sides of the Atlantic. That interview, coming up.

Also, Washington, D.C., on high alert. Hours before a far right-wing rally, in the nation's capital. The police say, they are ready, should any violence break out.

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HOLMES: U.S. Capitol Police, reassuring the public, they have everything under control ahead of Saturday far right-wing rally, in Washington, D.C., Temporary fencing, put up on the Capitol, that happened earlier this week. D.C. Police will be fully activated with the D.C. National Guard on standby, in case they are needed.

The so-called Justice for J6 rally, being held to support January 6 insurrectionists, arrested, after the riot. Organizers said that around 700 people are expected to attend.

Democracy, under attack, is a big theme this weekend. Britain hosts the G7 speaker summit in the north of England. The House of Commons speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, will be welcoming his U.S. counterpart, Nancy Pelosi, in the coming hours.

[02:25:00]

HOLMES: CNN's Bianca Nobilo, sat down with Hoyle in London and they talked about the state of democracy, especially in light of the U.S. Capitol riot, and the deadly 2017 terror attack near the Houses of Parliament. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LINDSAY HOYLE, SPEAKER, BRITISH HOUSE OF COMMONS: The fact is that worries me, is the threat. It is the threat to people that puts people off. We saw the attack on Parliament and I never want to live through that again.

It was so terrible to be tapped on the shoulder, there are policemen dying on the cobbles of Parliament. It is something I never want to go through again. We have seen that in different forms around the world.

But that puts people off. Social media puts people off. Social media is wonderful, but it is also very dangerous. Women MPs get the worst of it. The worst brunt of that goes to female ethnic MPs as well. The fact that they feel real threats, real threats of violence against them, that's unacceptable.

When an MP says to me, Lindsay, I don't think I'm going to stand again, I don't feel safe, my family must come first, I know we have got to do more. You can't protect against everybody certainly. But we're hoping that we can do everything, physically possible.

We see the attack in Canada, we see the attack on Capitol Hill. So rather than being a lone terrorist, that was about mob rule, trying take over and trying to smash democracy. These people don't believe in our values. They don't believe in democracy.

The fact is, if we have no democracy, what do we have?

Dictatorship?

It's never the answer. The ballot box needs to be the answer to the future. It is so vital that we do protect it, that freedom of speech matters, that freedom is going forward.

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Do you think there is also a systemic problem?

Because when you were elected speaker, you were talking about polishing the tarnish off the house and wanting to restore the reputation, in some ways. I think, we both know, everybody knows, that there is a distrust of politicians. Everyone laments that their time is the worst.

But it does seem particularly bad, right now.

HOYLE: You are right, to call it mistrust, isn't it?

It's about rebuilding that trust.

How do we take away the nastiness and anger that was in the chamber in Brexit?

It was bad. It really was hot. So of course, we could have debate. Of course, we are going to have division of use. That is where politics is about. But it's just how you express them. It's not just about tolerance, it's about respecting other people's views and values.

I don't want the world to agree with each other, it would be boring for me as well. We need to have excitement but it's about controlling the excitement, as well.

NOBILO: One of the other issues the house has had is accusations of lying in the chamber. Now in Parliament, you're not allowed to do that. But there has been a petition, launched last month, with 130,000 signatures, to make lying in the chamber a criminal offense.

I think this speaks to some of the distrust the public have in politicians,

When have so many people accused the prime minister of lying, as well, what do you do?

Because tone is set from the top.

HOYLE: The problem is, I haven't caught the power. They want me to be an impartial speaker, so, it is a political judgment that says it's a lie. That's a fact. But the Speaker gets drawn into making a political decision, which the house doesn't want me to do.

NOBILO: Is it a political decision if it's a matter of fact?

HOYLE: Who says it is a matter of fact?

Afterwards, they go through it. We see it on both sides, where, what we might say, inadvertently, we have said we made a mistake in the comments.

I think that's the real problem. If they want a political speaker, say so. Make me a political speaker. In a sense, al the speakers around the world, are based on our politics. Speaker Pelosi is very political, but I don't have the same power.

That is for the house to decide but not me to survive. I'm not saying I'm refusing it, in fact, it's be very tempting. But what I promised to be was impartial. It was to be fair to both sides and it is my impartiality that I have to protect.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Bianca Nobilo will also be sitting down, exclusively, with the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, at the G7 speaker summit. For that interview, this Sunday.

A quick break on the program, when we come back, a startling new report from the U.N., on the climate crisis, warning of catastrophic warming. Up, next I speak to an atmospheric scientist on what we can do to change that.

Plus, a historic landmark in Paris, is the subject of a big cover-up and a dream come true, for the late artist Christo.

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HOLMES: A stunning warning after the new United Nations report on global warming. The planet is on a catastrophic path, leading to massive loss of lives and livelihood. Those words came from the U.S. secretary general Antonio Guterres who said the time to act is quickly running out.

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ANTONIO GUTERRES, UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL: It is time to ring the alarm bell. If you take the commitments made until now by member states, we will still get to the end of the century with an increase of temperature to 2.7 to 2.9. So we are on the verge of the abyss.

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HOLMES: Scientists say, global temperatures should not rise more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. But the report says that the Earth is warming at a rate far above that.

And, it comes after a summer filled, of course, with extreme weather events around the world, fueled by climate change, with wildfires, drought, flooding and hurricanes.

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HOLMES: Professor Katharine Hayhoe is an atmospheric scientist, joining me from Lubbock, Texas. She's also the chief scientist for The Nature Conservancy and has a book out next week, called, "Saving Us: A Climate Scientist's Case For Hope and Healing in a Divided World."

Great to have you won, Professor. If this report is right, we are potentially heading for an increase in global temperatures of 2.7 degrees, above pre-industrial levels, if that happens, what will be the real world impact?

What would happen with the planet?

KATHARINE HAYHOE, CLIMATE SCIENCE CENTER, TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY: As the IPCC says, every action matters, every bit of warming matters. So the more carbon that we produce, the greater the impacts.

Stronger, more intense heat waves, bigger, stronger hurricanes, longer, stronger droughts, wildfire burning a greater area and for every increment we go up, the impacts do, too.

HOLMES: And magnified. Despite the concerns, the report says that, while carbon emissions need to be slashed by 45 percent by 2030 to be carbon neutral by midcentury, in fact, there will be a 16 percent increase in emissions in 2030, compared to 2010.

Why are we failing?

What is not being done here?

HAYHOE: First of all, we are already taking steps in the right direction. Without the commitments that the countries have already made, we would be looking at least 3.5 degrees, by the end of the century, if not more. So we have started to come down. But we are not near where we need to be at.

[02:35:00]

HAYHOE: So basically, in a nutshell, we need more.

HOLMES: The thing is, people like you and me that have been banging on about this for decades, the warnings are so stark, so direct, an intergovernmental panel on climate change said, it is code red for humanity and so on.

Yet, now there is a warning of a 2 degree, 2.7-degree warning. The report makes it clear that the gap between what scientists like you have been urging and what world leaders have been prepared to do. The pledges just aren't enough.

HAYHOE: They aren't. The biggest problem that we have, even where I, live in Texas, is not the number of people who questioned the science. It is the number of people who are concerned, worried and even panicked about this but they don't think it affects them personally. And they don't know what to do about it.

Those are the two biggest problems that we have.

HOLMES: Speak to those people.

What is going to happen if your child is born today, ,what happens when they are 50 or 60 years old?

What will their world look like?

HAYHOE: We already live in a world today, different from the one we were born into. Our children, much more, so. What is at risk here, is not the planet. The planet will orbit the sun long after we are gone. What is at risk here is human civilization, as we know it.

Do we want our children to live in a world that is stable, in a world that has ample electricity, that water comes out the tap, where they can have a good job?

Or, do we want our children to live in a world, where all of the things we take for granted are no longer possible. That is what is at stake today.

HOLMES: At a climate forum on Friday, Joe Biden made a specific push for global methane emission reduction, saying, we have reached an inflection point for climate action.

How important is that specific issue, methane?

HAYHOE: I have studied that gas for quite some time. Carbon dioxide is responsible for around 65 percent of the heat-trapping gases building in the atmosphere, causing our planet to warm.

Methane, as we call, it is responsible for around 16 percent to 17 percent. So that's a big chunk. The good news, it's much shorter-lived than carbon emissions. So if we get rid of it, we should get an impact on reduced warming within a decade or so, rather than multiple decades, as with carbon.

HOLMES: It would be great to turn the ship around.

And as we continue to get these warnings, these dire predictions, does it make you think or fear, the catastrophic effects of climate change are, now, unavoidable?

That, in a sense it's too late to avoid massive impacts despite these warnings?

We might be able to mitigate it but there's going to be catastrophic impacts.

HAYHOE: We, are already, seeing impacts today. It's already too late to avoid some impacts. Some will still be here tomorrow because of the carbon in the atmosphere. But my research, personally speaking, as well as the research of the IPCC and hundreds of other scientists shows, we still have a window of opportunity to avoid the worst catastrophes if we act now.

But what we have to do, is we have to connect this issue to what people already care about. So rather than it being a global issue, that it affects the whole world and the polar bears in Antarctica, which, of course, it does, we need to correct it directly to the fact that it affects my children and the place where I live and the safety of my home and my job.

Because, the bottom line is, to care about climate change, we only have to be one thing. That one thing, is literally, a human living on planet Earth and, we are all that.

HOLMES: So well put, as always. Professor Katharine Hayhoe, thank you so much.

HAYHOE: Thank you for having me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Parisians and visitors to the City of Light, finally, getting a close look at a project that the late Bulgarian artist, Christo, dreamed up 60 years ago. "The Arc de Triomphe: Wrapped," is opening to the public, in just a few hours. Like Christo's other spectacular works, it is shrouded in wonder. CNN's Saskya Vandoorne reports.

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SASKYA VANDOORNE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It took 90 climbers and 25,000 square meters of silvery blue fabric to transform Paris' most famous war memorial into a new work of art.

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CHRISTO, BULGARIAN ARTIST: That cross of the four arches is incredible. You have a nonstop wind and you cannot believe it how the fabric above you will be like a moving, like a living person because all that will be also wrapped.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VANDOORNE: That was the vision of the late Bulgarian artist Christo, as he spoke to CNN in 2020, one of his last interviews.

Conceived 60 years ago when he was a young man in Paris, the project's success is rooted even further in the past. Paris' archives were the key to its construction.

[02:40:00]

VANDOORNE (voice-over): Engineers pored over drawings of the 50 meter high monument, studying where they could drill into the 19th century structure.

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ANNE BURGHARTZ, ENGINEER, SCHLAICH BERGERMANN: Some of the statues, they have wings, they have swords, they have trumpets, so we built these cages around the statues to protect them from the fabric, from the climbers, from the construction side work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VANDOORNE: Using textiles to transform historic monuments and landmarks is what made Christo and his late wife, Jeanne-Claude, famous. Small islands of Miami covered in tutus of flamingo pink, the 16th century Pont Neuf draped in golden sandstone. And Berlin's Reichstag covered in silvery gray.

The bill for wrapping the art, more than $16 million funded through the sale of Christo's art. The installation will open Saturday but many visitors and Parisians have already formed an opinion.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is engineering, there is art. There is poetics even and this kind of connects to everybody.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not really the kind of art that I like but it's only for three weeks, so I'm OK with it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What I didn't expect is that it is at the same time so monumental and so sensual.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VANDOORNE: The recyclable fabric is designed to evolve with the weather, the red rope, a poetic interpretation of the French flag. Years of planning and 12 weeks around the clock work have gone into making a sketch come to life.

Wolfgang Volz, who worked with the couple for 50 years, is part of a team overseeing the project, the first time he has done so without them.

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WOLFGANG VOLZ, PHOTOGRAPHER: I miss them now. But I will miss them tremendously in that fantastic moment. When you see it, it's done. You look at it and you say it's not bad.

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VANDOORNE: Like all of Christo's artworks, it will be short-lived, just 16 days.

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CHRISTO: You cannot own it, you cannot buy it. It will be gone. I will never see it again. And that is also the magnetic force of our projects.

They're not something staying.

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VANDOORNE: The ephemeral nature of Christo's work, all the more poignant for being brought to life after his death -- Saskya Vandoorne, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And some news from near orbit now. The all-civilian SpaceX crew, zipping around the Earth every 19 minutes. They are having weightless fun but also doing science and medical research and that includes eating cold pizza, apparently.

The crew splashes down near Florida, later, on Saturday.

Thank you for spending part of your day with me, I am Michael Holmes, you can follow me on Twitter and Instagram @HolmesCNN. "MARKETPLACE AFRICA," starting, after a short break.