Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

U.S. and France Ironed Out Their Rift; Prime Minister Boris Johnson Not Mincing Words; U.S. Pledge to Donate 500 Million Vaccines; DHS Secretary Grilled Over Volume of Migrants Coming; Pandemic Shows Who's Got the Wealth; WHO Release New Air Quality Guidelines. Aired 3- 4a ET

Aired September 23, 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)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead on CNN Newsroom, France and the U.S. try to heal a diplomatic rift after a call between the presidents, another high- level meeting has just been announced.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: It's time for humanity to grow up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH (on camera): Tough talk from Boris Johnson who makes an urgent appeal to the U.N. General Assembly to fight climate change before it's too late.

And a major COVID vaccine pledge from the United States that should help ease access around the world, but experts warn it may not be enough.

Thanks for joining us.

Well, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian are expected to meet in New York today. It is the latest sign the serious diplomatic rift between the two countries is improving.

Earlier, France announced its ambassador to the United States would return to Washington after Presidents Biden and Macron spoke by phone. The White House says President Biden did not exactly apologize to Mr. Macron but he conceded the French should have been consulted more about the new AUKUS security deal. Listen to this exchange from Wednesday's press briefing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president is hopeful this is a step in returning to normal in a long important abiding relationship that the United States has with France. It was about 30 minutes long. As we noted in the readout, and as you said, it was extensive, but part of the -- during the conversation the president reaffirmed the strategic importance of France. French and European engagement, I should say, in the Indo-Pacific region. Something that we look forward to continuing to work with them on.

UNKNOWN: Did President Biden apologized to Emmanuel Macron?

PSAKI: He acknowledged that there could have been greater consultation. And the call, again, as stated earlier, was a friendly call. And there was agreement that we wanted to move forward on our relationship.

JEFF ZELENY, CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: The French translation said that open consultation, quote, "would have made it possible to avoid the situation." The English translation said the situation would have benefited from open consultation. So, similar, but not entirely the same. So, did the president apologize to his French friend?

PSAKI: He acknowledged there could have been greater consultation, but, again, this call was really focused on the path forward. And returning back to normal and the important work we have to do with the French ahead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH (on camera): And CNN's Cyril Vanier has more on the reaction in Paris, he joins us now live. Good to see you, Cyril.

So, what is expected to come out of today's meeting between the U.S. secretary of state and his French counterpart? And what all does this signal?

CYRIL VANIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, this meeting is about mending fences. The heads of state, Macron and Biden spoke yesterday in a phone call that was described as friendly and they signal that the worst part of this crisis was over. Now the day-to-day work of diplomacy must resume between the two countries. And that means that France and the U.S.'s top diplomats have to reignite a working relationship.

So, Secretary of State Blinken, foreign minister, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian will be meeting today. The most titillating, titillating part of this, Rosemary, is that Le Drian is the one who had the strongest language against the U.S. over the past week. He is the one who accused the U.S. of lying, of betraying France, of stabbing them in the back.

Another line that was less reported on but it might view just as significant, Saturday night speaking on French primetime TV. Le Drian referred to the U.S. as a, quote, unquote, "former partner." Well, now they are very much partners again. No former. And they have

to get back to working together. So, you know, I think -- I think this meeting is that it's high time that the country's top diplomat spoke again especially as the two leaders, Macron and Biden are scheduled to meet next month. So, there's going to be quite a bit of diplomatic leg work involved in preparing that meeting.

CHURCH: And Cyril, how are the French people likely to react to this seeing that their president appears to have accepted not even an apology here from the U.S. but is moving on.

[03:04:57]

VANIER: Well, I think the French people to a quite large degree are starting to move on from the story as well. Now the French opposition has slammed Macron for allowing French diplomatic efforts and French industrial and military efforts to be sidelined by the U.S. They have slammed Macron for being unable to protect French sovereignty.

Be that as it may, Macron did extract from the most powerful men in the world what sounds very much like an apology. So, I think the French president is going to walk away feeling that he got, perhaps not a win, but certainly not a defeat. Either in diplomatic terms or even as far as his domestic audience is concerned. Rosemary?

CHURCH: All right. Our Cyril Vanier joining us live from Paris. Many thanks, as always.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had blunt words at the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday. He urged the world to, quote, "grow up" when it comes to climate change. And stop being infantile. The issue is key to Mr. Johnson's agenda since he will host the COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow in November.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNSON: My friends, the adolescents of humanity is coming to an end. And must come to an end. We are approaching that critical turning point in less than two months and just over 40 days. When we must show that we are capable of learning and maturing, and finally taking responsibility for the destruction we are inflicting not just upon our planet but upon ourselves. It's time for humanity to grow up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH (on camera): And Nina dos Santos joins us now live from London with more on this. Good to see you, Nina.

So, it is a pretty aggressive approach to try and bring global leaders on board when it comes to climate change. What's behind his strategy? And will it likely work?

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, good morning to you. What he essentially is trying to do is avoid failure at these upcoming COP26 talks that are taking place in six weeks' time on his own soil. And there been multiple reports over the last six months or so that the diplomatic effort behind that has fallen woefully behind. Suggesting that it might be difficult to get all of these countries together to rubberstamp something significant that can make a difference to curbing those emissions and climate change.

That is why he's used his world stage to as you said, issue this rallying call. Which in typical Johnsonian style had some interesting metaphors and references to classical characters and also some that were in more popular culture as you can hear here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNSON: And when Kermit the Frog, Kermit the Frog sang it's not easy being green, do you remember that one? I want you to know that he was wrong. He was wrong. It is easy. It's not only easy, it's lucrative and it's right to be green. He was also unnecessarily rude to Ms. Piggy, I thought.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOS SANTOS (on camera): Eccentric? Yes. It's Boris Johnson. But behind all of that humor there is a really serious message that he was delivering. Namely, that the world should listen to the scientific community. Take for instance, the COVID-19 pandemic which he was hospitalized with. He says that, if anything, has taught the world that it needs to grow up and listen to the scientists.

Now to deliver on these pledges, what he's recommending world leaders do is to take this type of actions. He wants to allow only zero emission vehicles to be on sail around the world by the year 2040, he wants every country around the world to curb their carbon emissions by almost 70 percent by 2030.

And crucially, he wants to tackle the use of coal. Particularly, in big markets like China and India which, in particular, China uses a lot of coal and is one of the biggest emitters in the world. He said we can do it. The U.K. used to use 25 percent of course, 25 percent of its power supply from coal, very recently its managed to reduce that down to 2 percent.

Now just to answer the second part of your question, Rosemary, will this work or who knows? It is certainly a sobering message here from the British prime minister what's burnished his leadership credentials after Brexit on a world stage and on a global issue. But as we all know, the United States and big countries like that will continue to have to commit.

We saw a few years ago how Donald Trump tore up the Paris climate change accords. And that will be in the minds of people when they go to Glasgow in six weeks' time for that COP26 summit. Rosemary?

CHURCH: All right. Nina dos Santos joining us live from London. Many thanks.

Well, the U.S. is taking the lead in COVID vaccine donations worldwide. President Joe Biden has announced an additional 500 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine will be delivered to lower income countries next year.

[03:10:09]

During a virtual COVID summit on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, President Biden urged other world leaders to work toward a global vaccination rate of 70 percent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: This is another half billion doses that will all be shipped by this time next year. And it brings our total commitment to have donated vaccines to over 1.1 billion vaccines to be donated. To put another way, for every one shot we've administered to date in America, we have now committed to do three shots to the rest of the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH (on camera): Krishna Udayakumar is the founding director of the Global Health Innovation Center at Duke University, and joins me now. Thank you so much for joining us.

KRISHNA UDAYAKUMAR, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF GLOBAL HEALTH & MEDICINE, DUKE UNIVERSITY: Good to be with you.

CHURCH: So, on Wednesday, President Biden set out his ambitious goal to vaccinate 70 percent of the world's population against COVID by mid-2022. Calling on all world leaders, drug companies, and others at the virtual COVID summit to help in this effort to end the pandemic. How difficult will it be to achieve this goal do you think?

UDAYAKUMAR: It is an ambitious goal but one that I think is a necessary and one that we really have to rally around. It's a little disappointing that we're 18 months into this global pandemic and we're still just thinking about what our goal should be, much less how we are going to close the gaps.

But we know that even though we have developed a very safe and effective vaccines in record time and manufacture then by the billions, our global equity has really taken a hit. So, we've actually seen a world of vaccine haves and have-nots. And hopefully, what we saw at the global COVID summit with leadership from President Biden is a change in the trajectory of the global response going forward.

CHURCH: So, it has to be said that not only did Duke University play a critical role in making this global COVID summit happen, but your research at the university tracks vaccine rollout to ensure vaccine equity across the globe. So, what did you find in terms of global COVID vaccine inequities?

UDAYAKUMAR: We started doing this work over a year ago when we started to notice some really concerning early trends even before vaccines were available. Where there were purchases mostly by high income countries going into the front of the line and cornering the market before the vaccines even became available. And what our research has shown and tracked over time was really this

trend where we've seen inequitable access to vaccines. Just as a marker of where we are now. If you look at North America over 46 percent of the entire population is fully vaccinated. And that figure is 4 percent for the entire continent of Africa.

So, what we were really concerned about and raised a red flag over really has played out unfortunately, where the people that were able to invest in vaccines were able to put money down to buy vaccines early have really gotten doses. And even though six billion doses of vaccine had been administered so far, they have been incredibly concentrated. And folks that are missing out are those living in low income countries and lower, middle-income countries that are still waiting for the first doses of vaccine while many high-income countries have started to roll out boosters.

CHURCH: And of course, while all of this is happening, pressure is building on big pharmaceutical companies to share their vaccine technologies with poorer nations. Is money the biggest obstacle here or are there many other factors, perhaps like quality control?

UDAYAKUMAR: Money is a piece of it, but luckily, we've been able to raise money not as much as needed but in the billions of dollars and tens of billions so far. What we have seen in terms of supply is that, yes, vaccines are complex to manufacture, but more so, they take 6, 12, 18 months to really ramp up from scratch.

We are seeing a significant increase in overall global supply where starting in the next month or two we expect at least a billion doses a month of high quality safe and effective vaccines to become available. Then the question becomes, how do we allocate those more equitably to the people who need them the most, especially in a global context?

[03:14:48]

And in the longer term, it's absolutely true that we have to be able to share intellectual property, as well as technology, as well as know-how and ramp up our ability to build capacity in low and middle income countries to end up with a more globally distributed manufacturing model both for the coming years of the COVID pandemic, as well as for better preparation for future pandemics.

CHURCH: And of course, the process of donating vaccine doses to other nations it is a very complicated and legal ramifications as well involved there. But advocacy groups say the pace of ensuring poorer nations get access to these vaccines is not fast or efficient enough. So how do you speed this up?

UDAYAKUMAR: Yes, it's absolutely right. We need more doses more quickly. Some of the ways to speed that up are to ensure that we have platforms like COVAX which has brought together more than 190 countries and is playing a really important role in ensuring that the low income and lower middle income countries of the world can get earlier access and equitable access to vaccines.

To work through those multilateral platforms like COVAX, the U.S. can make sure in the pledges that it's made of over 1.1 billion doses that it will eventually donate to make sure that they have all of the legal agreements done, that they have all of the logistics figured out. So, some of these doses like the Pfizer/BioNTech ones they are going to require significant cold chain, supply chain types of logistics support as well.

The U.S. has been working furiously over the past few months to get that in place to 100 countries. And now that a lot of infrastructure has been set the pace of sharing can really increase pretty significantly.

CHURCH: Krishna Udayakumar, thank you so much for talking with us. We do appreciate it.

UDAYAKUMAR: Thank you.

CHURCH: Just ahead on CNN Newsroom, Haitian migrants continue to arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border daily despite hundreds being turned away by authorities.

Plus, the World Health Organization introduces tough new air quality guidelines. Why it says millions of deaths could have been prevented if the new standards were already in place?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH (on camera): The Biden administration is under growing pressure to contain the border crisis as more migrants, mostly from Haiti, are arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border daily. Some are being released into southern Texas, while the majority are being sent back home.

Now an immigration facility is being opened in Laredo, Texas. That's expected to process more than 1,000 migrants a day. About 5,000 Haitian migrants remain under the Del Rio International Bridge seeking asylum. But even with so many being turned away it appears thousands more could be headed to the border soon.

[03:20:05]

Now CNN's Rosa Flores reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): As thousands of migrants wait in a makeshift camp under the Del Rio International Bridge to get processed by U.S. immigration authorities, a miles' long steel barrier of Texas state trooper vehicles has gone up.

To deter the up to 30,000 Haitians, CNN has been told could be heading towards the border.

GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): If you are targeting Texas to come to, we are going to show up in force and shut down the border.

FLORES: Tonight, the camp beginning to dwindle in size. The fate of the migrants still there, uncertain. Some are returned to their home countries, others like Ralph Luiz (Ph) from Haiti are allowed to stay.

So, he feels well that he is able to stay.

One by one, migrants under the bridge, many of whom officials say are Haitian, are loaded onto buses and transported to U.S. immigration processing facilities.

ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: We do enforce our immigration laws. Those are not only the laws of humanitarian relief, but the laws of accountability. For those who seek to enter illegally and do not have a claim for relief under law.

FLORES: Some are expelled to Haiti and other countries under a pandemic health rule. And nearly 1,000 have been dropped off by border patrol at this nonprofit refuge, pending their immigration cases in the past three days, according to the group's director.

UNKNOWN: This is a tremendous amount like nothing we've ever seen.

FLORES: That's where we met Luis, a Haitian who says he and his wife waited under the bridge for about a week.

What did immigration tell you?

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

FLORES: He says that immigration told him that if he didn't appear in court that he could get deported.

His destination is New York.

Did anybody tell you why some Haitians can stay and some Haitians have to be deported back to Haiti?

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

FLORES: He says that his understanding is that because he had an address a family member that he could contact in the United States that he was allowed to stay.

CNN has not been able to confirm Luis's (Ph) experience applies to everyone. The next stop for many of these migrants a nearby gas station where vans and buses take them to cities across the nation.

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

FLORES: He is going to Miami.

That's where we met Peter Simeran (Ph) who is from Haiti, too.

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

FLORES: Go ahead, Peter. Thank you.

As he says he's afraid of being deported to Haiti, he has to run. His van has arrived. It's what life has been like for these migrants recently. A hurry up and wait into an uncertain future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES (on camera): The Biden administration ramping up the deportation flights to seven a day. Now the destinations would not just include Haiti but also countries like Brazil and Chile. According to the administration these are some of the transition countries where Haitian nationals have been living for the past few years. At last check, the Del Rio mayor says that there are more than 5,000 migrants still waiting to be processed by U.S. immigration authorities.

Rosa Flores, CNN, Del Rio, Texas.

CHURCH: Meantime, the head of U.S. Homeland Security was grilled by House lawmakers over efforts to contain the migrant crisis. Here's one fiery exchange from that hearing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYORKAS: Congressman, let me share something with you bright clearly, I work 18 hours a day. OK? So, when I returned from yesterday's hearing I actually focused on mission. We will get that data both to the senator who posted yesterday and to you, Congressman, today.

REP. CARLOS GIMENEZ (R-FL): So, you don't have any estimation at all of the numbers that I'm asking for? At all? You don't know how many of them returned, you don't know how many have been released into the United States? You don't have any -- any estimation at all of what those numbers are?

MAYORKAS: Congressman, I want to be precise in my communication of data to the United States Congress and to you, specifically, having posed the question. And I will be precise in the provision of my data to you. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH (on camera): At a Senate panel hearing on Tuesday, Alejandro Mayorkas said the administration hopes to clear out the Del Rio migrant camp within the next 10 days.

Well, for the first time in more than 15 years, the World Health Organization is revising its air quality guidelines. It says air pollution is one of the biggest environmental threats to our health leading to about seven million premature deaths every year.

[03:24:55]

The recommendations are aimed at producing maximum exposure levels for six pollutants. The WHO says millions of lives could be saved if these guidelines are followed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, DIRECTOR-GENERAL, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: Since the last update in 2005, a substantial new body of evidence has accumulated further demonstrating the degree to which air pollution affects all parts of the body from the brain to a growing baby in a mother's womb, at even lower concentrations than previously observed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Meteorologist Derek van Dam joins us now. Good to see you, Derek. So, what more can you tell us about the WHO calls for these lower air pollution limits?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Rosemary. This new guidelines from the WHO are designed to help governments craft air quality regulations especially for some of the more vulnerable populations out there. India, China, for example.

But they're honing in on cutting fine particulate matter in half. They literally want to take the quantity of these fine particulates, they're less than two and a half microns, that is extremely small, and they want to cut that level in half.

So, we're talking about the old guidelines of 10 micrograms per cubic meter to 5 micrograms per cubic meter. Now I'll tell you why that's important. What in the world is a particulate matter? This is important. It is a product of burning fossil fuels or wildfires or some of our agriculture practices.

But they're important because they're so small. They have the ability to log themselves deep within our lung cavities. They've also been linked to health concerns like asthma, upper respiratory illnesses, as well as heart disease. It is because they are less than two and a half migrants.

That is significantly less than a piece of dust, even the diameter of an average human hair. As you can imagine that small particulate can make its way deeper in the lung cavity and cause all kinds of concerns. Now, they have some hard evidence to back up this new guidance, of these new regulations they want to propose.

Back in 2016, if the current proposed 2021 guidance were enacted, we would have potentially saved over three million people from death, from the air pollution that impacted people. Look at this. We know that air pollution is a significant contributor to mortality across the planet with 9 out of 10 people worldwide breathing the air that is exceeding the WHO current guidelines.

And of course, this is all taking place against the backdrop of our COVID-19 pandemic. So, as we emit more pollutants, these fine particulate matters into the atmosphere with, let's say, for instance, the record number of wildfires in 2020, we've got concurrent crises that's taking place and the need to take action is so, so very important. Rosemary?

CHURCH: Yes, it certainly is. Derek van Dam, thanks for taking us through that way. We appreciate it, and you. And just ahead here on CNN Newsroom, a desperate search for safety is

sending Afghan refugees on nighttime journeys across eastern Turkey's rough terrain. What they face after leaving everything behind?

[03:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH Welcome back, everyone. Well, the U.N. is releasing emergency funds to help prevent Afghanistan's health care system from collapsing. $45 million will going to the U.N.'s health and children agencies. The U.N. aide chief says, medicine, medical supplies and fuel are running out. The head of the World Health Organization has been visiting Kabul and warns of an imminent catastrophe without urgent action.

Afghanistan's COVID vaccination rates have dropped in recent weeks and nearly 2 million doses are sitting unused. Many Afghans feel they have no choice but to leave the country in search of a better life. Some make it as far as eastern Turkey climbing through steep hills in the night. But those who were caught land in deportation facility with some families separated in their search for safety.

Arwa Damon reports now from Turkey.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Up in the darkness on the side of a steep hill, dozens of mostly Afghan refugees are picking their way through the thorny rocky slopes. They just crossed the Iranian border into eastern Turkey. The handful of Turkish security forces we are with our scattered below, being guided by others manning a thermal camera.

They're telling them to go left and then to the front.

Turkey doesn't want the refugees here. And their final destination Europe doesn't want them there. The shots are blanks intended to scare.

For the small group of Afghans, it's over. And yet despite the ruling journey the sudden evaporation of his dreams, one of the young man realizes I am struggling with a slippery descent and insists on helping.

He is an athletic student a sprinter. Another in the group a pro mixed martial arts fighter. They don't want to appear on camera. They say it would break their parent's hearts to see them captured. It was dark, so dark, Zenith Paulina (ph) a few days earlier in a deportation center remembers.

It was their son, Anit (ph), just 10 years old who kept them going.

What were you thinking when, you know, you were going through all of this? And you are pulling your dad and carrying the bags?

I was just thinking that we have to reach a country that is safe, he responds.

You are very brave.

It was for my future his sister Sada (ph) says. I can't study in Afghanistan. Zenith does not want her daughter to be robbed of her right to learn. Not the way she was 20 plus years ago.

So you went to a secret school? One of the secret underground schools?

It was under a house, she says. The door would stay shut, so no one would know girls were there.

She's broken in more ways than she can put into words. They all are. She doesn't know how long they will be here. Turkey halted deportations to Afghanistan after Kabul fell. Some of those who evade capture hide out in small ravines, waiting for their payment to the smugglers to come through so they can move on to the next light.

So you were in the military?

UNKNOWN: Yes, in Afghanistan.

DAMON: He was part of a local anti-Taliban unit. He sent his wife and three children into hiding after receiving threatening phone calls. He left them behind so they could be reunited in a better place, one day, someday.

Suffering through the humiliation of waiting out here. Many of those we spoke to said it took them numerous attempts just to get across the border into Turkey.

Turkey has been beefing up its border security. Doubling the number of guard towers, infrared cameras, motion sensors with Europe's support. Turkey is pushing refugees back, at times forcefully and violently.

[03:35:00]

The day after crossing the border, they captured refugees we met had already been forced back into Iran. They say they are now hiding from thieves. But nothing will stop those that have nothing left but broken promises.

UNKNOWN: We don't have home. We do not have a country.

DAMON: A question that should echoed throughout America's halls of power whose policies failed the Afghan people and led to this.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Van, Turkey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And still to come, police say a top aide of Ukraine's president was the target of an assassination attempt. Who's behind the attack? The latest on the investigation. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHURCH: More evacuations had been ordered on Spain's La Palma Island

where a volcano has been erupting since Sunday. Lava flows and burned homes, schools, businesses and banana plantations which produced the island's biggest export.

But no injuries or deaths have been reported. Experts say the lava has slowed enough where it might not reach the ocean which could lead to chemical reactions causing explosions and releasing toxic gas.

Well, Ukraine's president is vowing a strong response following an attack on one of his top aides. At least 10 shots were fired at Serhiy Shefir's car outside of Kyiv on Wednesday morning. In what police are calling, an assassination attempt.

The driver was hospitalized with three gunshot wounds while Shefir was uninjured and this Shefir after the attack at a briefing with officials. Ukraine's interior minister says the purpose of the shooting wasn't to scare but to kill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DENYS MONASTYRSKY, UKRANIAN INTERIOR MINISTER (through translator): The purpose of this crime was not to intimidate. Particular the first aide to the president of Ukraine. I also emphasize that the president's team cannot be intimidated. The reforms that have initiated including the reform in the fight against organized crime, they will be continued.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And police still don't know who was behind that attack. CNN's Matthew Chance has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Serhiy Shefir is really a close associate of the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky. He's officially an assistant to the president of Ukraine. And it is quite a shocking attempt on his life.

If you listen to the details of what actually happened. He was driving a car at near a village outside of the capital of Kyiv, when according to Ukrainian officials that I've spoken to, at least 18 shots were fired from automatic weapon from the trees along the side of the road. At least 12 of those bullets hit the car.

And what's saved the lives of the occupants inside the car, the driver and Mr. Shefir is that the driver instead of stopping in the road apparently put his foot in the accelerator and sped away. He was hit with three bullets and is currently recovering in hospital.

[03:40:11]

Serhiy Shefir wasn't injured at all and has spoken about how this was an attempt to sort of destabilize the inner circle of the President Zelensky. There's been some suggestion inside Ukraine that Russia maybe link with this, but not just the Russians are ruled by that and denied it.

But also, Ukrainian officials that I've spoken to say that that's not something that they are really considering seriously. Mr. Shefir was somebody who was associated very closely with the attempts inside Ukraine to erode the power of the oligarchs, a small circle of business people that wield considerable power and influence in the country.

He was also involved in judicial reform and the attempts by Volodymyr Zelensky to get rid of some of the judges that are corrupt and that in the pockets of some of those oligarchs.

And so what Ukrainian officials are saying tonight is that, you know, this is rather an attempt by a foreign state to destabilize Ukraine. This is an illustration of just how much is at stake for some of these oligarchs inside the country and to what lengths they will go to, to hang on to what they've got.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Ukraine's president says he doesn't know who's behind the shooting but called it weakness to target his friend. President Zelensky was in New York for the U.N. General Assembly when he heard of the attack on his aide.

Advisers say the shooting could be a result of the president's campaign against Ukraine's oligarchs. But Mr. Zelensky said he would be doubling down on his planned reforms not backing down.

Well, the U.N. secretary general and several Arab countries are condemning the coup attempt in Sudan just two days ago. Sudan's Prime Minister blames those loyal to ousted President Omar al-Bashir and says they are looking to disrupt the country's transition and progress.

Abdalla Hamdock spoke about that with CNN's Larry Madowo.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABDALLA HAMDOCK, SUDANESE PRIME MINISTER: This is now the transition is over 2 years. And I think the more we are achieving some successes the old forces will be -- still be nervous. They always having the dream of coming back. You know, we have so many successes over the last two years. We open the country for the international -- we linked back to the international community.

The whole country when we came it was crippled with these sanctions and this state of sponsor terrorism list, and many others. Our integration back in the development community and taking very tough decisions on the Islamic front which is -- started paying dues, the achievement in the peace front. So all these issues I think created the environment for the plotters to think that they would want to stop this progress. LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): And these plotters you

say are affiliated to the former leader, Omar al-Bashir? Is that correct?

HAMDOCK: Certainly they follow the former leader.

MADOWO: How many people are currently in custody? How many people had been arrested? And what will happen to them?

HAMDOCK: Up to the briefing we got yesterday, there were about 40 arrested. We are very clear and open about this. That they should be clear, klaro on the apparent investigation. And they should face their day in court in a very transparent legal process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Sudan's Prime Minister speaking with CNN.

Well, shares of Chinese real estate giant Evergrande are rebounding after the company announced the settlement of a $36 million debt. Evergrande faces another deadline today on an $83 million interest payment. Although they could negotiate an extension on that. The developer owes more than 300 billion in debt spread out across vast sectors of the Chinese economy and among foreign investors.

So, let's get a look at where the financial markets stand right now and you can see there, Hong Kong's Hang Seng up more than 1 percent. A similar story in Australia and the Shanghai Composite added nearly 0.4 percent. Japan's Nikkei exchange is closed for a national holiday.

[03:45:02]

Well, Tom Rafferty, is the Asia regional director for the Economist Intelligence Unit and he joins me now live from Beijing. Good to have you with us.

TOM RAFFERTY, ASIA REGIONAL DIRECTOR, ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT (on camera): Good to be here. Hi.

CHURCH: So where do things stand right now for Evergrande as it struggles under this mountain of debt, calming market nerves with one settlement deal but still many more debt payments looming?

RAFFERTY: Yeah, I think more defaults (inaudible) at some stage. Evergrande's been a problematic company for a long -- for many years and some investors in China know that. And this is kind of a -- this is its period of reckoning.

Interesting about this safer is that the Chinese authorities suddenly steps in in a decisive bailout for the company. We've been (inaudible) very clear signals to the market. They don't want to conduct such operations going forward.

And so still -- I think we're still facing a difficult few weeks for the company, and perhaps in the coming weeks. But we will see emerges in some form of soft bailout for the company the restructuring of its debts. But still, investors in the company and surprise to the company are going to be impact by this. I'm going to have to take heck on some of their losses.

CHURCH: So your sense is that China won't step in here? Wouldn't it have some sort of obligation, and how was this allowed to happen? How are they allowed to get to the point to where they had a debt of $300 dollars?

RAFFERTY: I think, Evergrande it's still the biggest story of China's debt given graph model in the past decade or more. And so it amazes a phase to void for that incredible expansion. In recent years, the government has been trying to vain in the debt across the economy. And now finally, it's going to the property sector where a lot of the problems are concentrated.

So by not bailing out, Evergrande, it's really showing a -- this determination to try and tackle some systemic risk in the sector, even if that brings with it some short term pain and volatility. So I would say, it's quite a deliberate policy action by the government.

It could, you know, a bit scary because of the contagion of the financial system, tension, packs from the (inaudible) as well. But I think they want to send a clear signal as it happened into a number of big companies in a bit past six, twelve months for the current direction of policy and hierarchies for the leadership.

CHURCH: It's a bit of a gamble, though isn't it? I mean, what are the national and international ramifications if Evergrande defaults and fails as a company. Who goes down with them?

RAFFERTY: (Inaudible) outbreak of bankruptcy, then it's going to pull down a lot of the property sector. So, it's going to be the property developers in China to (inaudible) in the private sector are going to about be impacted (inaudible) in terms of the housing markets, property sales and genuine (inaudible) which is important to china's economy and also a (inaudible) of global economic activities as well.

And probably the stresses in the financial markets will see increasing on yields for private corporate sector debt in Asia. I actually begin to see that already. So that means, companies financing their operations can become more costly and difficult. And given that very even economic recovery we are seeing in the week and in the moment, that is also going to be problematic.

So, it's clear, spillover contagion tension here, but our best case -- our best case is that the impact will be limited and will see some form of soft bailout that restructuring for Evergrande help limits on that contagion.

CHURCH: You sound pretty optimistic. The markets were certainly not that a couple of days ago, were they? They really freaked out. And -- but it does seem to be calming down now. But why are you so optimistic and yet those investors were really very worried?

RAFFERTY: I think it depends, I mean, I think a lot of investors and (inaudible) Evergrande caught them by surprise. And they thought that bailout would come much earlier than it has (inaudible).

But I think if you're reading as a policy direction in Beijing at the moment, the direction, the politics at the moment are pushing in the same direction and it's not probably in a positive direction for some of these big indebted private sector companies.

So, there is more -- there is pain and coming down and over, ultimately we think that the government -- there will be forms of government stepping in. Exactly the timing of that remains to be seen. But we'll probably going to see something in the coming couple weeks, we expect.

CHURCH: All right, we'll be watching very closely. Tom Rafferty, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.

RAFFERTY: Thank you.

CHURCH: Well, she became Germany's first female chancellor, now nearly 16 years later, she prepares to leave office. A look at the mark made by Angela Merkel. That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:50:00]

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, in just a matter of days, Germany heads to the polls in an election that will determine who will succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel and leave the largest economy in Europe. The Socio Democratic Party and the Conservatives are the top contenders in a tightening race.

Though the Green Party has also emerged as a serious contender, voters will pick one on Sunday as they decide what a post Merkel Germany will look like.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN (through translator): It's quite a decision to make after 16 years of Merkel about whether things should just carry on us before, I am from north (inaudible) myself. So arm and latchet is no stranger to me. Do we want a one-on-one continuation or someone who is a former vice chancellor and was a participant in many of the decisions with Merkel? I think it's an important decision, and at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, we will see. Either way, it's exciting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Miss Merkel will be leaving office after serving four terms as chancellor. Over those 16 years, she stood as a symbol of stability in Europe, and outlasted dozens of other world leaders. Italy and Japan, have each seen eight prime ministers during that same period.

CNN's Frederick Pleitgen takes a look at the legacy she'll leave behind.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice

over): Back to the roots for one of Germany's longest serving chancellor, Angela Merkel planting a linden tree in Templin, the East German town she grew up in.

ANGELA MERKEL, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translator): It will always be this way. I come from. Here my roots are here. And they will always be here.

PLEITGEN: Angela Merkel still calls this place her home. It was from here in Templin that she set out decades ago and eventually became one of the most powerful women in the world.

It was no easy journey off of belittled in the male dominated world of German conservative politics. Many rivals fail to take her seriously enough and later regretted it says Merkel's biographer.

RALPH BOLLMANN, AUTHOR ANGELA MERKEL, DIE KANZLERIN IND IHRE ZEIT: When they realized that a woman from the east was able to play this game of power, it was too late, of course, for them.

PLEITGEN: When Angela Merkel became Germany's first female chancellor in 2005, her style was completely different from than previous chancellors. Calm, quiet, and reserved. But what Merkel lacked and fiery rhetoric, she made up for as a crisis manager. Both during the Lehman collapse in 2008, and the Greek debt crisis in 2012. She took bold action to prop up the German economy and an ailing E.U. member state possibly saving the single currency, the euro.

MERKEL: Europe will fail, if the euro fails. And Europe will win, if the euro wins.

PLEITGEN: Arguably, Angela Merkel's biggest hour came in 2015. As hundreds of thousands of refugees, mostly displaced by the Syrian's civil war were literally on the E.U.'s doorstep seeking shelter.

Angela Merkel led into the E.U. as it open its gates, taking in well over a million people.

MERKEL: We have the chief to match, we'll manage this and wherever something gets in the way, we will overcome it.

PLEITGEN: But integration of the refugees proved more difficult, giving arise to nationalist forces in Germany. A slap in the face for Angela Merkel says the editor-in-chief of Germany's largest daily "Bild," Julian Reichelt.

JULIAN REICHELT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, BILD: Praising Angela Merkel for open borders that is much easier when you don't live in a poor neighborhood in Germany, where you live with the direct effect of open borders.

[03:55:12]

PLEITGEN: While Angela Merkel did manage to win a fourth term in 2017, her popularity was waning and she announced, she would not seek a fifth one.

Still, the challenges kept coming. With the election of Donald Trump as U.S. President in 2016, and Trump's alienation of many of the U.S.'s allies, Merkel, a quantum chemist often appeared stunned by some of the U.S. president's remarks.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I have German in my blood. I'll be there.

PLEITGEN: Angela Merkel, led Germany through the coronavirus pandemic but shortly before she steps down, her party support has been collapsing. Some say, because she failed to address many important topics.

REICHELT: Zero progress when it comes to huge issues, like digitization, for example. Germany, after 16 years of Merkel, basically hasn't moved at all.

PLEITGEN: Merkel, herself says she wants some time off after leaving office. The first female chancellor in the history of the federal republic of Germany now waiting to see how her legacy will be remembered.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And tune in for CNN's special live coverage of the German federal elections. Find out who will be next to lead the country. Join Hala Gorani, Fred Pleitgen and Salma Abdelaziz as they bring us the very latest. That's Sunday, 12:00 p.m. Eastern, 5:00 p.m. in London. Right here on CNN.

Well, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and his U.N. delegation are back in Brazil where they will remain in isolation and be retested for COVID this weekend.

Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga is under quarantine in New York after he tested positive for the virus on Tuesday. Queiroga was wearing a mask when he shook hands with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday. And he was in the audience when U.S. President Joe Biden spoke to the General Assembly.

I'm Rosemary Church. I'll be back with more "CNN Newsroom" in just a moment. Don't go anywhere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)