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Violence in Beirut Fears a New Civil War; Lone Wolf Terrorist to Appear in Court; Moderna's Booster Shot Approved by FDA; Italy Impalements Green Pass for Workers; China Working to Build Their Space Station; Taiwan Remains Firm on China; Slamming Space Tourism; Beirut On Edge After Deadly Clashes; Israel And The Iran Nuclear Deal; Israeli Pavilion Celebrates New Ties With Arab World; The Future Of Women's Sport In Afghanistan; Banksy Artwork Sold For $25 Million; Running The Real-Life Downton Castle. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired October 15, 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]
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PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): A warm welcome to our viewers right around the world. I'm Paula Newton. And this is CNN Newsroom.
Violence like this in Beirut has led to fears that Lebanon could see a new civil war.
Plus, remembering the victims of the deadly bow and arrow attack in Norway. The suspect due in court today.
And the infection that has former U.S. President Bill Clinton in hospital.
So, for the people of Lebanon who lived through the last civil war Thursday's bloody clash on the streets of Beirut where an ominous reminder, of course of just how fragile the country is. Heavily armed troops are now patrolling the streets of the capital one day after six people died in street gun battles.
It was Beirut's deadliest outbreak of violence in more than a decade. More than 30 people were hurt, and while there is a very tenuous relative calm right now, there is also a growing fear that the country is again inching towards civil war.
CNN's Ben Wedeman joins us now from Beirut, Lebanon's capital. Ben, do you have a sense of relative calm on the streets? Is there a sense that this will hold today?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Today has been a national day of mourning for the 6 people killed, and more than 30 wounded yesterday. And so, it is relatively quiet today, it's also quiet for the fact that many people cannot afford the fuel to drive their cars.
As far as fears of a civil war, those are never far from the surface here, even in the best of times. But certainly, after yesterday's violence which was the worst this lead the Lebanese capital has seen in many years. This really was, I can tell you how many people yesterday told me they were having flashbacks to the Civil War, having to children having to hide under their desks in their classrooms. People hiding in the hallways, so that they'll be safe from the bullets outside.
People going down to the basement, as they did for many years during the 1975, 1990 Civil War. It was a vivid and ugly reminder, yesterday of just how bad the situation can get. Now, the army was able to restore calm in those areas where the violence took place. But the rhetoric this morning, for instance, in some of the local newspapers would indicate that some of the parties here are not stepping back.
One newspaper, for instance, put a picture of Samir Geagea, who's the head of the Lebanese forces who has Hezbollah and Amal are accused of being behind the attack on the protesters yesterday. They showed the picture of Samir Geagea looking like Adolf Hitler. So, the passion is still there, there's a lot of anger, the question is, will slowly abate or could this be the beginning of another further dramatic deterioration in situation here. Paula?
NEWTON: Yes. And a reminder that even if it wasn't an all-out civil war certainly the violence on the streets was enough to unnerve so many that are already going through such a deep financial crisis.
Ben Wedeman continues to follow the story for us in Beirut. Thanks so much.
Now police in Norway say Wednesday's deadly bow and arrow rampage now appears to be an act of terrorism. Now the suspect 37-year-old Espen Andersen Braathen, is expected to appear in court in the coming hours. Authorities say he is a recent convert to Islam. And police had previously contacted him over concerns he had been radicalized.
CNN's Melissa Bell is live for us from the scene in Konigsberg. She joins us now.
You know, Melissa, you've pointed out already that there this is issue of a psychiatric evaluation. And while police have indicated that this is certainly related to terror. It may be more nuanced.
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think that's exactly right, and really the police chief that we heard from yesterday was a pain to say, look, yes it there is a history of radicalization, and this is a terror attack.
[03:05:07]
But in terms of his motive, what he was trying to do, it may be more nuanced, it may be more complicated than that. And we mustn't draw hasty conclusions, and so await the investigation. Even now, the police are being very cautious about what details they reveal and what details they don't.
We have been learning more though about the man's mental state. Certainly, the arraignment hearing is just getting underway in the nearby town of Drammen, Paula. He, himself, the suspect is not there because last night after further questioning, he was handed over to hospital, to psychiatric services. So that gives you an idea of his mental state, or what authorities at least believe his mental state is that.
So, a court hearing without him, should be something of a formality. The suspect has not denied anything that happens. And so, that's not likely to prove terribly complicated. What we expect is a press conference a little bit later this morning where the police will give us more details about exactly what happened, the sequence of events, and how those five people came to be killed by this man who is wielding a bow and arrow, and how that unfolded over the course of those of this tragic -- that tragic half hour here on Wednesday night. Paula.
NEWTON: Yes. And given the details of that tragic half hour. I mean, I was reading the accounts of people just said they could hear here still the death screams as they describe them. The shock is profound, you're there in front of a memorial. What are residents telling you?
BELL: You know, this was set up in the hours afterwards, and we've been coming here over the course of the last evening and morning. And it's remarkable you keep having people come and pay their respects, we're here till midnight yesterday, people very solemnly standing around these candles, trying to make sense of what you just can't make sense of.
And I think it's important to explain to our viewers just how quiet this particular of Norway is. Small suburban town of some 28,000 people to the southwest of Oslo. It is extremely quiet, and that quiet as you say, really very suddenly and very violently torn apart on Wednesday night.
This is very much not just a town, but a country in shock. Since its king, King Harold pointed out, Norway is a small country, and everyone feels profoundly impacted by the events that took place here on Wednesday night. And this country of course waiting to hear more about how it could've been allowed to happen, but also trying to come to terms with those very violent deaths. Paula?
NEWTON: Yes. Something that would be very incredibly difficult to really comprehend at this hour.
Melissa Bell continue to stay on the story for us, I appreciate it.
Now in the wake of the attack, Norwegian police as we just heard on high alert and say they're still considering the possibility of other attacks by extremists.
For more on this, security and terrorism expert Glenn Schoen joins me now from The Hague. You know, it was a course a shocking event, and I'm sure that many in Norway want to believe right that it was rare, it's an isolated incident. And yet, the details were so unsettling, especially the fact that he was known to police. I know how closely you follow this, what does this tell you? GLENN SCHOEN, SECURITY & TERRORISM EXPERT: Well it falls into a
pattern we've seen so many times over in the past five, six years, when we look at the surge, particularly by ISIS-inspired attacks over the five or six years in Europe. When we look at France, we look at Germany, we look at the United Kingdom and other places in Europe. Of course, particularly loan suspects who are sort of surged in standing, and suddenly attaching themselves to a larger cause.
Someone acting out on it very quickly, some of them looking for connectivity and building a group and building a plot. So, it's a pattern that we've seen more often, where it's a big challenge for law enforcement, even if you have somebody on the radar. What's the point where you say, OK, I know this person isn't just radical, it has pretty extreme views, but it's actually willing to go and commit violence?
Unless you have good evidence from police operations that follow somebody very narrowly, which is, you know, a big effort, cause a lot of time, cause a lot of money, cause a lot of personnel, then you simply don't have the evidence of, this person is going to strike in the next 24 hours. In all these situations it becomes very difficult, what's the point where you detain and hold somebody.
NEWTON: Yes, and that's been a tough line to draw for so many law enforcement agencies all over the world. I was just saying to Melissa Bell, that look, you know, the residents there describe those blood curdling screams of terror. And it is never -- it can't be far from anyone's mind in Norway, that this is a decade after the mass killing of 77 people. Many were just teenagers, by a right-wing extremist.
Is there the fear that the extremism, the radicalism amplified also by social media, in some cases in some uncryptic platforms that is just become far too much to get a handle on?
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SCHOEN: Well, I think what's extreme here is just sort of the shock. You look at a wonderful a quiet peaceful country like Norway and something like this happen a decade ago in Reykjavik. It's not so much, I think that the fear is there that this is going to happen to me, it is I think more the literally the shock of how this upsets our lives.
I think, in a lot of places in Europe, you know, we sort of stressed how much more terrorism a a fear element has come to the fore, where we all need to be concerned, we all need to be ready, we all need to be alert. And of course, the reality is it doesn't happen every day, it doesn't happen everywhere.
But when it does, and particularly when it's this impactful, let me recall here there wasn't the use of the firearm, but the sort of bizarre weapon, if you will, for terrorism, bow and arrow plus a knife. And we still have five fatalities. So, I think it's that shock effect which also gives that added news effect, it gives that added human interest effect which makes these things stand out. So ultimately, the terrorist do sort of succeed even the loners in
making the agenda in making the news and getting their message out. But it doesn't necessarily, I think, rest on a real fear on an ongoing basis. It's more the shock factor of why did this happen here, and why now?
NEWTON: And in terms of what the authorities do next, I mean, there is this complication, obviously in terms of understanding where his mindset was that at the time of the crime. I mean, many people have pointed out, right, that they weren't -- the law enforcement officials there usually don't carry even firearms, and yet this was committed with a bow and arrow. Where do you even begin if you are the Norwegian authorities at this point in time?
SCHOEN: Well, I think obviously, the -- as you know when we look at these kinds of investigations, looking at the personal life of this individual. One of the questions of course is, is this person connected to others who are about to commit something. It appears to be not the case, he's a loner.
The next question becomes, was there a particular line of communication this fear person held. Are we going to see something in terms of propaganda? Was this somebody who is sharing things with having a discussion with being (Inaudible). The third element is, is there some kind of trigger that prompted this?
And that's I think where law enforcement not just in Europe but also the United States and other continents is going to be really looking at was there a particular thing to trigger this. We know that ISIS and a number of other organizations in recent weeks, particularly because of what's been happening in Afghanistan, but other developments as well, are looking at trying to trigger people to attack.
And we're seeing that an online messaging, we're seeing it on web sites, we're seeing it on online magazines by extremist groups, and that's one of the reasons why this thing is so big on the radar. Hey, something actually really happens, and Norway will be looking on behalf of the rest of the world, you know, is this been prompted by something that may also herald a threat elsewhere?
NEWTON: Yes. You make a good point. Authorities wanted to figure out what is the tipping point in an attack like this.
Glenn Schoen, thanks so much for your insights. I appreciate it.
SCHOEN: Thank you.
NEWTON: Now vaccine advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have endorsed the Moderna's COVID booster shots. Now they're recommending they be authorized for emergency use for adults over the age of 65, and those at higher risk of severe disease and exposure.
The advisers will vote on Johnson & Johnson booster shot in the coming hours. Meantime, the U.S. president announced more than 17 million doses of the J&J vaccine are headed to the African union in the coming weeks. That's an addition to the 50 million doses the U.S. has already sent.
And according to our world in data, less than half - half of the global population has received one or more doses of COVID vaccine. But in low income countries that figure actually falls to less than 3 percent.
And we'll cross now to Barbie Nadeau, she is in Rome for us where the world's strictest vaccine mandates are now in effect. Barbie Nadeau, you have been following this for us there in Rome, in Italy. There has been a lot of protest to this. Are they expecting more disruptions?
BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: You know, Paula, as you said, this is the strictest mandate, and there are protests going on in Rome today. We're expecting people to gather in the Circus Maximus in the center of Rome to protest this green pass. As of today, everyone who pulls a paycheck in this country has to prove that they've been vaccinated or has to have a recent negative COVID test.
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So that, for a lot of people is a difficulty if they have to pay for the test themselves, you know, in order to go to work to pull their paycheck.
There has been a lot of compliance in the vaccination program. They already started the booster program in this country. But a lot of people just feel the government shouldn't have be involved so much in whether or not they choose to have a vaccine for against COVID-19, and that's where these protests come from.
A lot of these protests come from the far right, we saw violent protest in the last week against the green pass and against this government mandate. But as of today, everyone who pose a paycheck has to provide this sort of green pass. Paula?
NEWTON: And as you said, there has been a lot of compliance and yet some protest as well going forward there in Italy. I know you will continue to keep an eye on this for us, Barbie Nadeau in Rome, thanks so much.
Now a doctor say former President Bill Clinton is on the mend after being admitted to a hospital in California Tuesday. He is being treated for a blood infection after a urinary tract infection spread to his bloodstream. Now it is a common problem for older people.
Here is CNN's chief medical correspondent, Sanjay Gupta.
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SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: What we know is that on Tuesday, the president who's in southern California for a foundation event, he was not feeling well. The former president said he was just sort of fatigues, not feeling well, but it was concerning enough to him and to his staff that they took to the hospital, University of California Irvine where he was admitted to the hospital and subsequently diagnosed with a blood infection. As they investigated further, they found that this was something known
as urosepsis, that means a urinary tract infection that then spread to his bloodstream.
A couple of important things, the president, the former president has a history of heart disease, he had a heart operation in 2004, he had stints place in 2010. But talking to the chief of medicine out there, Dr. Alpesh Amin, and his primary care doctor, Dr. Lisa Bardack, they said this is not related to his heart, they were definitive about.
Also, everyone tested for COVID nowadays, especially if you're coming in for some sort of infection and they say this is not COVID. The president has received his vaccine and has received his booster. They say this was definitively an isolated blood infection related to his urinary tract.
He was then started on antibiotics in an IV form and they say he is responding well to those. He started feeling better, his white blood cell count started to trend downwards. And they also found that his fever started to go down as well. So, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, now Friday. He is receiving a few days of these IV antibiotics and maybe able to get discharge either later on today, tomorrow, at that point in time oral antibiotics. That's what the doctors are telling me. So, it's obviously a good sign.
Now I will point out that, you know, when someone is transition from IV antibiotics to oral antibiotics it's typically because they IV antibiotics has sort of done most of the work and now the oral antibiotics can finish off the rest of the treatment course. As we get more of the details about what's going on with the former president, we'll certainly bring them to you.
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NEWTON (on camera): Our thanks to Sanjay Gupta there. Now Clinton's spokesperson said in a statement he is on the mend, in good spirits, and is incredibly thankful to the doctors, nurses, and staff providing him with excellent care.
Still ahead for us, China has been ramping up the pressure on Taiwan, leading to widespread concerns of a potential conflicts.
Coming up, the last people on the island how they feel about the escalating tensions. It might surprise you.
Plus, China has an important space mission coming up, and experts say it's giving the U.S. Space Program a healthy dose of competition.
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NEWTON (on camera): Investigators looking into a deadly building fire in southern Taiwan are focusing on a couple who was often seen on the first floor. Now Taiwan's official news agency says firefighters found a used incense burner following Thursday's fire. Officials suspect the woman lit the incense which led to the blaze.
Now the massive fire gutted the 13- story residential structure killing at least 46 people and injuring dozens more.
Now, China has ramped up its intimidation campaign on Taiwan sparking widespread fears of a potential conflict between the two sides, but on the streets of Taipei those -- these escalating tensions don't seem to be causing much concern.
Will Ripley joins us now with more. I mean, Will, I wouldn't say that I'm surprised necessarily but there has been an escalation recently in the rhetoric even that doesn't disturb them?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It has a vibe very similar to Seoul at the height of North Korea tensions when the rest of the world is, you know, fearful of war and on the streets of Seoul people who were shopping and going out for dinner and enjoying their lives. It's exactly the same feeling here.
Obviously, different context, but you have, you know, people who have grown-up with mainland China claiming Taiwan, this island that has its own government and its own military claiming it as part of the mainland, and saying eventually it will be re-absorbed back into the mainland. So, they're pretty desensitized even to this new propaganda.
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RIPLEY: Chinese soldiers trained for the invasion of Taiwan. A new propaganda video shows an amphibious assault. Beijing says this training exercise targets Taiwan independence and interference by external forces like the U.S.
A warning for President Joe Biden and other U.S. allies to continue to voice support for Taiwan. U.S. arms sales to the island are at record highs. Taiwan's defense minister says China could launch a full-scale war by 2025. He says military tensions are the worst in more than 40 years. The mainland's massive army poses a growing threat to the world's only Chinese speaking democracy.
Can I ask you a really quick question --
RIPLEY: On the streets of Taiwan we get a sense of the mood on the ground, it's not what you might think.
LOUIS YANG, RESTAURANT OWNER: China is for a long time, they want to take over Taiwan, but they just -- maybe just saying, we don't know that.
RIPLEY: You're still here.
YANG: Yes, we are still here.
RIPLEY: Louis Young owns a small burger restaurant, he believes Taiwan is a country, his country, not part of China. Tea shop owner Lisu Su thinks the U.S. military would intervene. LISU SU, HERBAL TEA SHOP OWNER (through translator): I think the
United States has to help because of Taiwan strategic position. As long as Taiwan does not give up on itself, and has a strong defense ability I think the United States will definitely help.
RIPLEY: This month, China flew a record number of warplanes near Taiwan, including fighter jets and nuclear capable bombers. Beijing has never ruled out taking Taiwan by force, insisting the island is part of mainland China, even though it has its own government and military, more than 70 years after China's civil war.
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RIPLEY (on camera): And even though every Chinese leader since Mao has vowed to bring Taiwan back into the mainland and hasn't done it, analyst say that President Xi Jinping maybe the first to command a military possibly mighty enough to actually do it.
I want to read you a portion of a commentary in the Global Times, it's a state-run tabloid in China talking about the issue of Taiwan, blasting the United States, making light and making, you know, really just, you know, trying to take all credibility away from the United States statement that there is this rock-solid commitment to Taiwan, they say they're going to smash the rock with a hammer in this very, very fiery article.
But this last line is key. It says, China will not give up efforts for a peaceful solution to the Taiwan question, but reunification must be the end of such a peaceful solution. So, imagine if you are Taiwan, or anybody going into a negotiation with a much larger more powerful entity that says, OK, I'm willing to work out something with you, but this is how it has to end. This is how the deal has to close.
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You have to come back to the mainland. Taiwan's government says they're not going to accept that. They say China has to wake up and accept that this is its own governing military operating island. You know, people are afraid to call a country, even though you're here because of raft from mainland China.
And Taiwan is hoping that with the alliance with democracies like the United States, Japan, Australia, that these countries will band together and actually strengthen Taiwan's position, even if it does in the short term anger the leadership in Beijing. Paula.
NEWTON: Yes. And of course, as you noted before this is not your grandfather's Chinese military, and so that definitely raises the stakes on this.
RIPLEY: Yes.
NEWTON: Will Ripley for us live from Taipei. I appreciate it.
Now, China is launching three astronauts into space on Saturday. Beijing Apace Agency says the crew will spend six months at the nation's space station which is still being built.
CNN's David Culver tells us it's yet more evidence of the increasingly vigorous space race between China and the United States.
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DAVID CULVER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Ninety-year-old "Star Trek" actor William Shatner blasted into space, becoming the oldest man to reach such heights amid great fanfare in the U.S.
WILLIAM SHATNER, ACTOR: Wow.
CULVER: Thousands of miles away here in the Kobe Desert, China's latest space mission won't set any records, but it is a major step forward in this country's fast growing and increasingly ambitious space program.
CNN gaining rare access to the Jiuquan satellite launch center in northwestern China, Shenzhou-13 carrying three Chinese astronauts to the country's soon to be completed space station, called Tiangong or heavenly palace. China has touted their space station as next generation, an alternative to the International Space Station.
But the 15-country ISS has already been occupied for more than 20 years, the U.S. passed a law barring China from participating. Leading some experts to question --
DAVID BURBACH, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, U.S. NAVAL WAR COLLEGE: If we had brought China in to work with us on ISS, would China have felt as compelled to develop their own fully independent program as rapidly as they have.
CULVER: It's Hollywood's portrayal coming to reality, Sandra Bullock's character in "Gravity" saved by a Chinese Space Station on our way back to Earth. Wang Yaping told us in 2015, it is her favorite film. She is one of three Chinese astronauts on this mission. The crew also includes a new comer to space travel. Forty-one-year-old Ye Guangfu who took part in cave training with astronauts from five countries in 2016.
YE GUANGFU, CHINESE ASTRONAUT (through translator): I hope one day I can fly with other international astronauts in space and welcome them to visit China's Space Station.
CULVER: But western astronauts will need to study up first. These operations interfaces are in Chinese, and China's state media reports that European astronauts are already taking language courses so they can visit the Chinese Space Station.
Despite a late start in the space race, China is rapidly catching up. It has returned samples from the moon. And like the U.S. put a rover on Mars, all within the last year. It's also got big plans for commercial ventures and for deep space exploration, including to build a base on the moon with Russia, and send humans to Mars in the 2030s.
From launching billionaires to cosmic explorations, the U.S. is still leading with plenty of headline grabbing launches and a long history of success, putting 12 men on the moon. But the more pressing challenge, prioritizing the multibillion in funding needed for the U.S. to hold on to that lead. Some experts believe the added competition from China might fuel more innovation.
BURBACH: If you are somebody who wants to see humans land on Mars and more scientific probes throughout the Solar System, geopolitical competition is probably not the worst thing in the world.
CULVER: While Captain Kirk is helping capture U.S. imaginations to propel the U.S. forward in this tightening space race. China's three astronauts now embarking on a six-month mission, the country's longest yet to secure their footing out of this world.
David Culver, CNN, Jiuquan satellite launch center, China.
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NEWTON (on camera): Now, a day after actor William Shatner took a rocket powered ride to the edge of space, becoming the oldest person to reach the final frontier and generating of course all sorts of new interest in space travel. Britain's Prince William has on message for all the billionaires making such forage possible. Focus on saving Earth, instead.
[03:29:54]
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PRINCE WILLIAM, DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE: A rise in a climate anxiety, you know, people, young people now are growing up where their futures are basically threatened the whole time. It's very unnerving, and its very anxiety making.
We need some of the world's greatest brains and minds to fix and to repair this planet, not trying to find the next place to go and live.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Now a few hours ago, William Shatner told CNN that space is cold and ominous and that going there filled him with empathy for the earth and concerned about climate change. And what he saw he says moved him to tears.
Lebanon's military is out in force after the capital was rock by its deadliest clashes in years, and with an economy already in tatters many fear the country is drifting closer to civil war. More on that just ahead.
Plus, Iran Nuclear Deal, why Israel's new leader seemed to think the U.S. is pulling out of the agreement was now a mistake.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) NEWTON: Welcome back. I'm Paula Newton and this is "CNN Newsroom."
Heavily armed troops are now patrolling the streets of Lebanon's capital, one day after six people died in street gun battles there. It was Beirut's deadliest outbreak of violence in more than a decade. More than 30 people were also hurt. And while the situation now is relatively calm, many fear the country is again inching towards civil war.
Now there's (inaudible) a lot to be unhappy about in Lebanon right now. The economy has been on the ropes for years, half the population now lives in poverty. Basic infrastructure is in poor shape, and runaway inflation has made the currency nearly worthless.
Luna Safwan is a freelance journalist and joins us now from Istanbul. You know, you have been very vocal for months about the descent into chaos and frankly despair for Lebanon and its people. Do you think what happened today is evidence that something worse can be on the horizon that civil war is again a risk?
LUNA SAFWAN, FREELANCE JOURNALIST (on camera): You know, we always talk about civil war in Lebanon and I was just reading this morning this tweet by a psychologist, by a Lebanese psychologist and psychotherapist about the subject of civil war. We always discuss civil war in Lebanon as if it's something that someone could control, and he was saying this from a psychological point of view.
There's a lot of anger in Lebanon building up. People are tired, but also people have different political views, have different political affiliations. Now, of course, not being able to sit on the same table and to have this hard conversation after the Beirut blast is leading to these events.
[03:35:02]
The events that happened yesterday were based on a decision and were based also on divisions of mentality where some entities don't want an investigation by a certain judge in Lebanon while other entities in Lebanon, some of them who might be affiliated to certain political parties and some of them who actually not do want an investigation after everything that has happened in the country.
So, I am certainly not optimistic when I observe that Lebanese are so unable to sit on the same table and to have these hard conversations. Especially after the blast, especially after all of these crisis that has been happening. So, it's not something that you could predict, it's something that is happening every day even if they're not shooting at one another.
NEWTON: Yeah. It is such a good point about the polarization in that country. And perhaps it's gotten even worse obviously during the financial crisis over the last few years. Many people, you know, have suffered through that and wondered about the political leadership, and if it was even possible to really unite the country anymore.
But you make a good point. What people were living through yesterday in Beirut was, you know, semantics really, is it a civil war isn't it? It certainly felt like it for those people. You know, you retweeted this from a mother in Beirut. She writes, "We ran like crazy to pick the kids up from school, sounds of gunfire persist. We are staying in the corridor, the safest spot in our home and away from windows. Beirut now is similar to the Beirut of my childhood."
I mean, it is a sad, sad photo and yet what do you think it says about Lebanon's future.
SAFWAN: When you observe such clashes happening in this specific area between (Inaudible) which was an area of violence back in the civil war. It was basically a crossroad that you could -- you could not cross easily, you could be a sniper, you could be shot, you could be kidnapped and so these people, these mothers are we living what they have lived years ago.
This is trauma all over again for them. These tweets and these stories are a call for help because they don't want their children to live through the same. And I think it says a lot about the wounds that already exist in Lebanon and that not many manage to deal with or managed to heal even for these political entities that are fighting. We still have a lot of questions about yesterday that what happened was very similar to a war zone.
We spoke to witnesses on the ground, we even spoke to our families and to people who have been through the civil war. Everyone was sitting and they felt like they were on hold waiting to see what would happen next and how could this possibly be controlled? Now, as always and as you may have noticed, things got back to normal in Lebanon. Even if it's between brackets and suddenly the clashes stopped.
And no one really understood what exactly happened. And this is the problem with these kind of clashes, they could escalate and become uncontrollable or they can simply just, you know, de-escalate and things could come down suddenly.
NEWTON: Yeah. You certainly see how the whole situation spiral there. Luna Safwan, we will continue to watch with you. I appreciate your insights.
Israel it's softening its opposition to restarting the Iran Nuclear Deal Tehran revved up its nuclear capability after Donald Trump pulled out of the agreement. President Biden though wants the deal back. And he may be getting support from Israel's new leadership.
CNN's Hadas Gold reports.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
UNKNOWN: Before we run complete the second stage of nuclear --
HADAS GOLD, CNN POLITICS, MEDIA AND BUSINESS REPORTER (voice over): Former Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, credits himself with convincing Former President Donald Trump to pull out of the Iranian Nuclear Deal.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Frankly, perhaps most importantly getting out of the terrible Iran Nuclear Deal.
GOLD: But now the new Israeli leadership is changing the tone, as the Biden administration hopes to return to a deal. Even if the Americans believe it may be a long slog. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, warning that in the three years since the U.S. pulled out, Iran is closer than ever to a nuclear bomb.
NAFTALI BENNETT, ISRAELI EDUCATION MINISTER (through translator): Unfortunately in the past three years, the Iranians have made a huge jump foot in the uranium enrichment abilities. The Iranian nuclear program is at its most advance stage ever.
GOLD: Iran now enriching uranium up to 60 percent, its stockpile of enriched uranium going up month by month. What's been seen as a tacit public criticism of what sources in the Prime Minister's office say out loud? It was a mistake for Netanyahu to press Trump to get out of the deal without a well cut-out plan for how Israel follows up. Bennet's tone, a significant departure from what he sounded like in 2015.
[03:40:06]
BENNETT: The deal as we said is the worse than the worst-case scenario that we had anticipated.
GOLD: Compared to this week.
BENNETT: The world is sitting and waiting for a decision from Tehran whether to return or not to return to the discussion table in Vienna.
GOLD: Israel's Defense Minister, Benny Gantz, even more explicit, telling "Foreign Policy" magazine, Israel would be willing to accept a return to a U.S. negotiated deal. Although they would want to see a U.S. plan b, in case talks fail. And would always reserve the right for military action. A message repeated by Foreign Minister Yair Lapid in Washington this week.
YAIR LAPID, ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER: Other options are going to be on the table if diplomacy fails.
GOLD: Get past the saber rattling though and the shift in tone from Israel's government on the Iranian nuclear deal seems clear. They feel Trump and Netanyahu got it wrong.
Hadas Gold, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Tensions meantime between Israel and the Palestinians had threatened a peaceful coexistence at Expo 2020, now underway in Dubai. But the Palestinians decided not to boycott and are now bringing their own unique perspective to that conference.
CNN's Scott McLean reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Of all the strange
sites at Expo 2020, this is one of the strangest. In the middle of the Arabian Desert, the Israeli pavilion is meant to look like an open tent. Welcoming visitors in a place that was once politically hostile territory.
As recently as 2010 relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates were so bad that the Dubai police chief called for the arrest of the Israeli Prime Minister, after the assassination of a Hamas leader. Responsibility for which Israel has denied. For decades Israelis were barred from even entering the UAE, but last year Israel normalized relations with the Emiratis and a handful of other Arab nations.
NOAM KATZ, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTRY: We see the future, and we see a bright future for both of our societies and for the region, the volume of trade in one year is exceeding the volume of trade that we had with all Arab countries I think combined.
MCLEAN: But that reset in relations prompted the Palestinians to boycott Expo 2020.
SAMIR HULILEH, SECRETARY OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS, PALTRADE: It was for pure political reasons, they felt betrayed by the Emirates and they felt that they need to react.
MCLEAN: The Palestinians were finally persuaded to participate just last month. In the real world the two were separated in places by high concrete walls. At Expo just a strip of grass.
Do you think that having these positive relationships with all of these Middle Eastern countries helps your relationship with the Palestinians?
KATZ: I think so, eventually yes.
MCLEAN: Not quite yet though?
KATZ: It's a process, you don't expect the things will happen tomorrow.
MCLEAN: But not even the extreme heat can thaw the icy relations. "Palestinians Pavilion" reads yesterday, it was called Palestine. Today, it's called Palestine? Inside it's a shrine to the old city of Jerusalem now controlled by Israel.
HULILEH: Always, whatever we do is basically sending a political message, but basically in a beautiful way and a nice way.
MCLEAN: It's meant to send a message to Israel though as well.
HULILEH: For sure, because from our perspective, Israel do not see, they don't listen.
ABDULKHALEQ ABDULLA, POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES UNIVERSITY: Arab countries tried to defeat Israel, five times, military, didn't work. They tried to boycott Israel for the past seven years, it didn't work. So there is something called maybe political necessity, political imperatives. Israel is here to stay and we need to deal with Israel.
MCLEAN: If we can't beat them join them.
ABDULLA: Something like that, maybe yes.
MCLEAN: But there are also serious headwinds in the Israeli relations with the Arab world. A blocked that is largely united in its support for a Palestinians state.
BENNETT: Experience tells us as a Palestinian state would highly likely mean a terrorist state, seven minutes away from my own home, and from just about any place in Israel.
MCLEAN: That was the Israeli Prime Minister just last week. Even the Germans chancellor said the two-state solution seems almost hopeless despite remaining the best way to end the conflict.
But Professor Abdullah says it's unlikely to damage Emiratis-Israeli relations.
What is the incentive for Israel to make peace with Palestine though if so many Arab countries are normalizing relations?
ABDULLA: This issue is here to stay it's not going to go away. OK? The Palestinians are on the just side of things, OK? And they deserve a state of their own. Everybody knows that. So until that is settled, then Middle East will never be a stable place.
MCLEAN: Scott McLean, CNN, Dubai.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Coming up on "CNN Newsroom," after the Taliban takeover many Afghan female athletes believe they have no future in sport in their country. We speak to some of them.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:45:00]
NEWTON: When the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan, thousands of desperate people tried to leave the country. Among them female athletes who believe there is no future there for them. CNN sports anchor, Don Riddell caught up with some of those who made it out safely but fear for teammates still left behind.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DON RIDDELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): All over the world, women and girls play sports. And professional leagues in tournaments are starting to attract serious investment. Recently cricket lawmakers even change its terminology from batman to batter to make it more inclusive. But following the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan things are going backwards there fast.
KHALIDA POPAL, FOUNDED AFGHAN WOMEN'S NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM IN 2007: We have really fought so hard to earn the name on the jersey, now we are afraid of having that uniform at home. I've been calling them and telling them to burn down your uniform. Try to remove anything that you have from the national team so they don't identify if they come to your house.
RIDDELL: Over the past 20 years, girls and women in Afghanistan have played in countless sports and since 2004, the country has seen a steady rise in female Olympians.
FRIBA REZAYEE, AFGHAN SUMMER OLYMPICS: My participation in the Olympics inspired hundreds of other girls to join other sports and play other sports, not only martial arts. But you name it they started joining because this was a pathway to freedom and liberty for women's rights.
RIDDELL: But everything changed in August when the U.S. and its allies withdrew their forces after a 20-year war. The Taliban rapidly took control and there are desperate scenes as thousands of vulnerable citizens scramble to evacuate. Those that remained are now fearing the worst.
POPAL: We thought that we have people who have are back. But now our players are totally helpless and we stood up in the media outlets and said the Taliban they are killing people they are our enemy.
SHABNAM MOBAREZ, FORMER CAPTAIN, AFGHAN WOMEN'S NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM: It's heartbreaking for me because my teammates, I know them as very brave women. But this is something that they support on everybody, we are suffering as a team and suffering on behalf of all my sisters and they are not able to use their words right now and use their voice. So I try to be their voice as much as I can.
RIDDELL: How long might this period last do you think? Any idea?
MOBAREZ: I have no idea but I really hope that this is a bad dream and it's a nightmare and then we all wake up and everything is good. That's what I hope for but I know that this is an era that is going to last a long time.
SHABNAM RUHIN, DEBUTED FOR AFGHAN WOMEN'S NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM IN 2012: It's horrible because the women in Afghanistan hoped all the energy to have a better life and it makes me so sad because they destroyed everything.
MOBAREZ: We have big, big, big dreams for this team and we really wanted to just be united and represent Afghan women to the outside world. And show them that Afghan women can also play football and Afghan women could also have an education.
[03:50:11]
RIDDELL: The hope was that sports would bring new freedoms to the women of Afghanistan but is looking more and more likely that the next generation of young girls will never get to see those dreams realized.
RUHIN: It was not just for playing football, it was more, it was to make a symbol for freedom for the girls, the next generation to support them to have a better than us.
MOBAREZ: That girl that started playing football five years ago was dreaming big about making it somewhere in the football world. She's not allowed to do that anymore.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Our thanks to Don Riddell there and we will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NEWTON: OK, so this half-shredded painting by the elusive street artist, Banksy has sold for $25 million. The girl with balloon was originally sold in 2018, you might remember this, well it was being auctioned back then a hidden mechanism actually destroyed the original image. This was all a plan. Since then the tattered remnant has gained of course notoriety. Renamed as love is in the bin. Early estimates put the sale price at just $8 million but the 25 million dollar winning bid on Thursday tops a previous work Banksy sold last year for $23 million.
OK, the smash TV series Downton Abbey is known around the world as, of course, a quintessential English historical drama even its real estate has become famous, but it's also a family home.
CNN's Richard Quest asked the owners of Highclere Castle, how they keep the famous and expensive palace going.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR (voice over): How else are you going to arrive at Highclere Castle? Come on.
Highclere Castle has stood for more than 300 years. Yet the world knows this magnificent place better as Downton Abbey, home to the lord and lady (Inaudible).
It's exactly the same as it is on the teli.
(LAUGHTER)
The real (Inaudible) if you will, are actually the (inaudible) Carnarvon.
So that is my husband in the queen's arms here because she is his godmother. Highclere has been the family seed since the 17th century. Through two world wars and now COVID. In the early pandemic we spoke to Lady Carnarvon from Highclere when she was one of our voices of the crisis.
FIONA CARNARVON, COUNTESS OF CARNARVON: Like many other businesses this is incredibly tough times and we've all fallen over a cliff.
QUEST: What did you promise me?
CARNARVON: I promised you afternoon tea.
QUEST: And as good as your word, ooh, tea at Downton. I must remember not to call the butler Carson. But to be honest he's used to it.
UNKNOWN: I am the butler of Downton, my name is Carson.
UNKNOWN: How do you do Mr. Carson?
QUEST: When we spoke last year, you were in the process of working out ways to get the thing moving again. How bad to did it get?
[03:55:06]
CARNARVON: I think it got -- really got to zero income which many businesses is definitely really bad because obviously the bills continued come to come and the calls continue to be there. So, like other businesses, it is working out what we could. The art of the possible.
QUEST: Did you ever get worried?
UNKNOWN: It was very, very difficult. People were on furlough and coming again, and going away again.
CARNARVON: I think we're all frightened for our health, for those we love, frightened for our business. Frightened for what we built up, and frightened for the future.
QUEST: Keeping Highclere in good shape is a constant struggle.
CARNARVON: It's an extraordinary building and I don't know if we have the craftsman today to make it.
QUEST: The 8th earl of Carnarvon inherited the castle from his father 20 years ago. Good lord, I mean, it's very beautiful. Look at it.
CARNARVON: We did used to wake up in the middle of the night and go and get a cup of tea thinking of like, what do we do.
QUEST: The (inaudible) in England are used to this tug of war between keeping the heritage and managing to pay the bills.
UNKNOWN: Will the stars stay, will the farms pay? What are we going to do about the roof?
QUEST: Lady Mary would be proud of the way the real countess used a business.
CARNARVON: There is no secret pot of gold. What we do here every month and firstly pays the salaries because that's going to pay those mortgages.
QUEST: Yes. It's beautiful and romantic to look at, because someone is continuingly paying up --
CARNARVON: Working and bring in some money in. I also remember that sales of vanity profits (inaudible) and I don't want to be a busy fool.
QUEST: Forgive me, I'm a huge Downton fan and I can't resist looking everywhere.
CARNARVON: I think you're going to recognize this room.
QUEST: Lord (Inaudible) desk.
UNKNOWN: That's the sphinx darling in Egypt.
QUEST: You find it a bit surreal that your home is a fictitious place?
CARNARVON: It is surreal but how wonderful.
QUEST: To walk through these rooms, to hear the history, to meet the Carnarvons, it's like well Downton.
Richard Quest, CNN, Highclere Castle, or Downton Abbey, or Highclere Castle.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: I'm 100 percent sure that the producers had to drag Richard out of the place. Thank you for that and that wraps it up for me and "CNN Newsroom." I'm Paula Newton, the news continues right here. I leave you in the capable hands of Isa Soares from London. Stay with us.
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