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Poland-Belarus Standoff; Tough Measures Considered to Battle European COVID-19 Surge; New COP26 Draft Agreement Expected Soon; Rebuilding Mosul; Judge Ends Britney Spears' Conservatorship. Aired 2- 2:45a ET

Aired November 13, 2021 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello, I'm Michael Holmes, appreciate your company.

Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, crisis at the border of Belarus and Poland, thousands of migrants trapped in catastrophic conditions as things are only getting worse.

COP26 in overtime, after not reaching a deal on a variety of fronts. Delegates, working through the night, on a final agreement.

And, also, Freed Britney, the pop music icon wins her long battle for her financial freedom.

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HOLMES: Welcome everyone, it is a new day on the border between Poland and Belarus. But for thousands of migrants trapped there in a growing political and military crisis, there is nothing bright about this morning.

Belarusian officials say, right now, there are about 2,000 people waiting to cross the, border into Poland and on to other areas of the E.U. They warned that number could double, in the next week, if this refugee crisis isn't resolved.

Meanwhile Belarus and its main ally, Russia, are driving up tensions with military posturing. The two held paratrooper drills near the Polish border on Friday, performing a number of combat maneuvers.

And, on the ground, Polish authorities accused Belarus of targeting some 15,000 Polish soldiers, defending the border, using green lasers to attempt to blind those on patrol, a claim Belarus denies.

We will take a quick break and we will be right back with CNN NEWSROOM.

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HOLMES: -- border.

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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are the desperate, trapped on the front line of Europe's latest refugee crisis. We've gained exclusive access to the burgeoning camp at the Polish border in Belarus.

"Help, help," this little boy shouts.

But there's barely enough here to keep everyone alive.

Already, people have died in the cold as Polish forces stand guard on the other side.

You can see how close we are, just across this razor wire fence are Polish security forces on polish territory keeping a close eye on the situation, trying to prevent refugees, migrants from this camp here in Belarusian territory from crossing over that line. You see there are thousands of people here.

Two thousand now say Belarusian officials but with migrants still flooding in from the Middle East and Asia, it could be 5,000, they told CNN, in just another week. For Europe, that's a threat.

Sit down.

You're warming your children's gloves here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

CHANCE: Most have already paid big money to traffickers or Belarusian travel agents just to get this far.

You're telling me you've paid $2,000, which is a lot of money, right, to come from Iraqi Kurdistan to here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

CHANCE: Do you think you're going to get through?

Do you think you will go to Germany?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

CHANCE: You do?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are. We are. Our people want to go to the Germany.

CHANCE: Yes but do you think it will happen? You'll try?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

[02:10:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll try. We don't want to stay in Poland.

CHANCE: The more migrants arrive, the more desperate their plight. We witness these refugees frantically scrambling for firewood, essential supplies as temperatures here drop. With Belarusian aid workers arriving with food and water, the scenes are even more --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm hungry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know, I know. I hope you get some food.

CHANCE: You can see these are pretty extraordinary scenes. You've got Belarusian military forces essentially trying to push back the crowd of migrants that's gathered around this distribution of aid.

They're just giving out bottles of -- plastic bottles of water but the people here are so desperate for any kind of nutrition, any kind of food, water, shelter.

Look, they're being asked to kneel down in front of the Belarusian security forces. And when they kneel down, look, some of them are being allowed to go through. Who's this?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His name is Aji (ph).

CHANCE: Hello, Aji (ph). Are you good?

You speak English, too?

Shohan (ph) and her 4-year-old son traveled to Belarus from Iraqi Kurdistan to help her child.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We came here for my son. He need an operation.

CHANCE: He needs a operation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, big operation in the back.

CHANCE: Oh, no.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, he can't walk without this --

CHANCE: Oh, I see, he's got this splint on his leg.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, he can't walk without his shoes.

CHANCE: Why didn't you do this operation in Kurdistan?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because not very good. Maybe he fail, the operation fail and we need to go to Germany. Everyone -- the doctor told me that the operation in Germany very good.

CHANCE: But now, Germany looks a long way off. With Belarus and the West blaming each other for this crisis, it's these people stuck in the middle who are paying the price -- Matthew Chance, CNN, at the border between Poland and Belarus.

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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Poland, certainly, said it will not be backing down in this matter, despite some of the criticism it's been getting from international organizations.

Now essentially, what Poland has done, is beefed up the presence, at the border, with around 15,000 soldiers and border officials, as well. Then, of course, building that massive, barbed wire fence and said, it wants to build a wall as well.

Now one of the things that has led to a lot of criticism is, apparently, what has been going on, is that some of the people who are trying to get across, here into the E.U., have actually made it across the border. They, apparently, have been pushed back by Polish border guards and some, cases by the Polish military, as well.

Now of course, internationally, that is a big problem with the universal declaration of human, rights and the United Nations Article 14, of which, stipulates, people who enter a territory of the nation, have to claim asylum there.

Poles deny this is going on. Essentially what they've done is they've made a, law, making legal to push people back. And there has been big criticism, of, that also, internationally, for instance with Human Rights Watch.

But actually today the spokes person for the Polish foreign ministry, coming out to say, Poland, he believes, has the right to defend its border and also has a right to say who gets in and doesn't get into the country.

So the criticism is there however if you look within the European Union, right now the other countries, they are doing more to support Poland, rather than utter that criticism.

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HOLMES: Our thanks to Fred Pleitgen and Matthew Chance for those updates.

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HOLMES: Joining me now from Washington, is Elisabeth Braw. She's a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where she focuses on foreign and defense policy. It's great to have you here. The European Union and others, say that

Mr. Lukashenko is basically importing migrants, in order to send them to the borders of Europe. Explain what the strategy behind that might be.

ELISABETH BRAW, SENIOR FELLOW, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: Well, it is to weaken Europe.

So if you are pressing Lukashenko and Belarus, a country that doesn't have very many people, around 10 million, you have armed forces that are, vastly, inferior to NATO's armed forces and you don't have very much money.

So what do you do if you want to harm Europe?

You try something completely different that nobody else would want to do or dare to do, and that is to use migrants as weapons, because it is something that Europe is completely unprepared for. And as we have seen, it is also hugely successful.

HOLMES: It is interesting; Polish officials have called it a form of terrorism really.

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HOLMES: Germany's chancellor, calling it a form of human trafficking. As you say, some say he has weaponized migration.

What are the risks of, that, though, a miscalculation that could escalate matters?

BRAW: The first thing that can go wrong is that the countries on Belarus' border. So Latvia, Lithuania and Poland don't let the migrants in. They're going to be in Belarus, which is what is happening at the moment, with the humanitarian crisis unfolding, because migrants can't get across the borders.

The second thing, though, which I think is potentially even more dangerous and explosive, is that the forces that are now amassed on both sides of the border, especially in Poland and Belarus on the other side, is that the tension between those 2 sides escalates. Somebody miscalculates; let's say, the Belarusian forces shoot another blank round in the direction of the Poles and the Poles don't realize it is a blank round. They think it is live ammunition, which is possible, because they are going to have all kinds of crazy ideas yet. Then, that situation, could escalate dramatically.

HOLMES: Yes, one could only imagine. I am curious where you see as Russia's role, if any.

Would Lukashenko be able to behave like this, without, at least, a nod and a wink from Russia and Putin?

BRAW: He wouldn't. He has one friend in the world -- or his country does -- and that is Russia and Putin. Now I think Putin thinks that Lukashenko is a little bit crazy, which is true, we all think he's a little bit crazy.

But what you are going to do?

If you're Putin, you don't have many friends, either. So you tolerate the man, because you can't afford to lose another -- you can't afford to lose an ally in the region. And so we have seen that Lukashenko is now pulling Russia into this standoff, which is really dangerous.

It has been an exercise, involving Russia's soldiers; Russian strategic bombers have flown in Belarus and in the Polish airspace. And so we're seeing Russia being drawn in, which makes the standoff even more dangerous than it already was.

HOLMES: Right.

What should Europe do, in this situation?

And, does this whole issue further expose the E.U.'s own asylum policies and treatment of migrants by some member states?

I mean, you think of Greece, Italy and Croatia, who have had their issues in treatment of migrants.

What is the state of Europe's migration policies?

BRAW: So what Belarus and Lukashenko specifically wanted to do was to sow division within the European Union, to essentially make Poland, Latvia and Lithuania look bad because they were not receiving these migrants.

But the point is not that it's a migration crisis as such. It's an artificial migration crisis. It's -- actually, the real crisis is that another country is trying to violate the external border of the European Union.

But nevertheless, it has called into question the way the E.U. treats migrants. And it boils to the surface every now and then. When conflict, when problems, flare up in that world, people come to the European Union.

The question is, where should they go, who should receive them?

Should it be Italy and Greece or should every country take a proportionate number?

HOLMES: Real quick, before we go, where do you see this headed at this current impasse?

BRAW: I think it will escalate. It can only escalate because Lukashenko is not going to stand down. He is angry with the European Union and he wants to retaliate against the European Union and he will keep going in a very dangerous direction.

HOLMES: Very, very worrying. Appreciate the analysis. Elizabeth Braw, thanks so much.

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HOLMES: The World Health Organization is addressing the surging COVID crisis, in Europe, on Friday highlighting the nearly 2 million new infections across the continent, in just the last week.

While some countries consider reimposing lockdown restrictions, the WHO director general says that vaccines alone will not stop the pandemic.

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DR. TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: COVID-19 is surging in countries with lower vaccination rates in Eastern Europe but also in countries with some of the world's highest vaccination rates in Western Europe.

It is another reminder, as we have said again and again, that vaccines do not replace the need for other precautions. Vaccines reduce the risk of hospitalization, severe diseases and death. But they do not fully prevent transmission.

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HOLMES: For more on the escalating COVID crisis in Europe, let's bring in CNN contributor Barbie Nadeau, joining me, live, from Rome.

Barbie, good to see you. We keep hearing it is a pandemic of the unvaccinated.

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HOLMES: How worried are European nations about the surge, which is underway before winter is even here?

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is worrying. You look at a country like Germany, looking at 50,000 new cases every day. That was really the poster child of how to handle the pandemic, before they were very strict with restrictions, very positive with their vaccination schedule.

Now they have announced, they really are in a fourth wave. You have other countries, really, introducing new mandates again. Here in Italy, we've had mask mandates indoors, since the very beginning and our numbers aren't as bad as they are elsewhere.

But when you're looking at whether the vaccinations are working, these countries are, 100, percent vaccinated. Here in Italy, about 90 percent of people have had one vaccine. So they should be looking at, booster shots already. They haven't even started giving boosters to people, over the age of 40, yet in this country.

So you are looking at a combination of issues, a combination of challenges and, as you said, winter hasn't started yet -- Michael.

HOLMES: Is there a sense, Barbie, that countries will see the sorts of restrictions, lockdowns and so forth, that they saw last year or is that unlikely?

NADEAU: It's likely, they will implement something like what is happening in Austria, right now. The people who have not been vaccinated or refused to be vaccinated will be those that will have to succumb to the lockdown. So they're looking at more targeted lockdowns, in an effort to get people to get vaccinated and try to get a handle on this.

But I don't think anyone is expecting the sort of lockdowns we saw last year -- Michael.

HOLMES: Barbie Nadeau, in Rome, appreciate it.

Now the Russian government is considering new legislation that would make health passes mandatory for restaurants, bars and public transportation. Officials are hoping, the two bills will help boost lagging vaccination rates.

One restricting access to bars and restaurants, largely to people who can show proof of vaccination or recent recovery from the virus. The other bill requiring passengers to present a QR code to show that they are safe to travel on airplanes and trains.

Russia seeing a crippling new wave of COVID cases and record death tolls in recent days.

Now a new draft of the COP26 climate agreement expected to be released soon. We are watching for possible changes on measures to avert the worst impacts of climate change.

Key differences on issues, like warming limits, payments to developing countries and phasing out fossil fuels have pushed negotiations into overtime. Phil Black joins me now, live, from Glasgow.

Phil, what are the expectations when it comes to this communique?

How concerned are some that it won't go nearly far enough?

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Michael, it won't be a breakthrough moment, in the battle against climate change. It was never likely to be. The best we can hope for at this stage is a final text that provides a timetable, a way forward, that is in line with the urgency of the scientific advice.

That advice says, in order to avoid the worst of climate change, the world has to cut emissions by 45 percent, this decade. At the moment emissions are still increasing. So we are nowhere near achieving that goal.

That is why it is crucial that one particular line of text survives through to the final version. That is the line that tells countries to go away, revisit their existing emission cutting commitments, for this decade and come back with stronger ones next year.

It is vital, if the world is to have any chance of achieving what the science says is necessary in just the next few years. Beyond that, there could be some other incremental but potentially significant developments, significant points of progress.

For example, if the final text, still mentions, as the drafts do, a reference to phasing out coal power, hard to believe but that was never included in one of these documents before.

We know it is under pressure, we know that there, are also, countries that are desperate to include it, in the final version. So that would be a small, potentially significant and hard-fought win, if it makes it through.

HOLMES: The people you were talking to, how disappointed are environmentalists that this COP did not rise to the occasion in terms of the urgency and the pace of climate change?

BLACK: Yes, hugely disappointed, frustrated, even outraged. I'm sure that's a feeling that is expressed by people all around the world, concerned people everywhere, really. It is reasonable to consider and think about, how has it still come to this?

Why hasn't progress been made at this conference?

When you think of all that we know, the clarity of the scientific message, what all countries promised to do back when they signed up to the Paris agreement six years ago.

I guess the answer is still the same as it always has been with these conferences.

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BLACK: Countries come here, under the banner of making progress in order to prevent the worst of climate change. But the reality they are also significantly governed by what they perceive to be, in their national and political and economic interests, particularly in the short term. Those self interests, often, win out to a significant degree and are certainly a major factor in slowing down momentum.

HOLMES: Indeed. Phil Black, in Glasgow, Scotland. Thank you so much.

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HOLMES: Joining me now from Glasgow, is Alden Meyer, he's a senior associate at the climate change think tank E3G.

Thanks for being with us. You know, Scotland's first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, she described the latest draft at the summit as "incremental progress."

That's the concern of, many isn't it?

Incremental, as opposed to concrete, wide-ranging action, it's not enough, is it?

ALDEN MEYER, SENIOR ASSOCIATE, THIRD GENERATION ENVIRONMENTALISM: No, it's not. We need transformational change right now. The latest report from the United Nations says we are on track to see emissions of greenhouse gases increase by over 13 percent by 2030.

And the science says that we need to cut emissions 45 percent to have any chance of avoiding the worst impact of climate change. So we don't need incremental change; we need wholesale transformation of our vehicles, our electric utilities, our heavy industry, agriculture systems, everything.

And that's the daunting point about this. It's a huge challenge, requiring radical, transformational change and not incremental change.

HOLMES: Wealthy nations, they threw billions of dollars at the COVID pandemic but nowhere near enough toward mitigating climate change.

How disappointing is that, when powerful nations aren't doing what is really, really, required?

MEYER: It is very disturbing, actually. They have actual spent trillions of dollars in the last 20 months, trying to recover their economies from COVID. Yet, the developed countries, the U.S., Europe, Japan, Australia and others are struggling to meet $100 billion per year commitment they made 12 years ago, to help developing countries on this.

So really, it is a misperception of their self economic interest because the impacts of climate change are going to be far more expensive than investing in the clean energy technologies to avoid it.

HOLMES: Yes, good point. We have heard never-ending noises about the use of coal and ending deforestation and ending methane emissions and so on. But promises have been made so many times and there have been pledges that don't get adhered to.

What hope do you have that this meeting and its aftermath will lead to meaningful steps, the kinds of steps that the planet needs in order to avoid catastrophe?

MEYER: There are a few things that give me hope. One is that the cost of this solution technology, solar photovoltaics, wind, lithium-ion batteries, and so on, they've all come down sharply, 90 percent or more, in the last decade.

Increasingly, they are cost competitive and even outcompeting the dirty sources like coal and oil. The other thing giving me the hope, is that the public, really, is becoming more aware of this issue, more concerned about, it and pressing their leaders to take action.

This is especially true with the youth. They have been out in force here, in Glasgow and around the world, protesting and demanding action, from the leaders here. So that gives me some hope.

But we have to be honest here. There are very powerful interests trying to frustrate, delay and block action for the last 30 years, the oil companies, the gas companies, the coal companies.

They've done everything they can, because their interest, is not ours. Their interest is to make profit over continuing to pollute and destroy the planet. Our interest is to phase them out of business or into a new line of business.

HOLMES: Yes, when the future of the planet is at stake.

Aid is something I also want to ask you about, aid for poorer nations, to help them deal with the mitigation and the impacts of climate change. That was promised a decade ago and still, has not been delivered.

How much of an issue is that?

MEYER: That's a huge issue here, as we go to overtime. The meeting was supposed to end last night and it's going into overtime. We hope it will wrap up today. But that, is probably, the biggest, final crunch, issue in these whole negotiations.

Will developed countries keep their word and deliver the promises they made?

Will they start to help the countries that, now, unavoidably, are facing tremendous impacts from hurricanes, typhoons, wildfires, floods, drought, et cetera?

It is called loss and damage, you can really return at (ph) suffering. And we have to step up. It's in our interest for several reasons.

First of all, it's the right thing to do, ethically and morally. Most of the communities facing these impacts had almost nothing to do with creating the problem.

The second, is if we don't help them, there will be tremendous instability, mass migration, failed states, hotbeds for terrorism, et cetera. Really, it's a threat to the entire planet.

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MEYER: So we really need to step up and deliver on these promises.

HOLMES: Really, it is staggering, those who can make the decision, just seemingly, unwilling to. Alden Meyer, got to leave it there, unfortunately. Thank you so much.

MEYER: Good to be with you, thanks a lot.

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HOLMES: A quick break here, on the program. When we come back, a city in Iraq, once reduced to rubble, now seeing new hope. Next, Mosul begins to resemble its former self four years after its liberation from ISIS.

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(MUSIC PLAYING) HOLMES: The daughter of Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte is running for vice president next year. Sara Duterte Carpio, seen here with her father, filed for her candidacy on Saturday. Until now, she has been giving mixed messages on running, despite favorable, political polls.

President Duterte, not able to run for reelection but some experts say, he wants to have loyalists, in high places, to shield him from possible legal action over his brutal war on drugs, that has left thousands of people, dead.

The U.S. State Department, saying it is making progress evacuating U.S. citizens who remain in Afghanistan. Secretary of state Antony Blinken, saying all Americans who asked for help leaving have been offered a chance to do so, as long as they have their documents and are ready to go.

The U.S., also in touch with about 200 other Americans, who are not ready to leave yet. And officials are tracking thousands of U.S. green card holders, who also remain in Afghanistan.

Turning, now, to Iraq and a city rising up from the ashes after years of brutal rule under ISIS. Mosul was devastated by the terror group and the operation to liberate the city in 2017, which did much damage.

But the U.N. organization, UNESCO, has embarked on a major reconstruction effort to restore what had been left in ruins. As Jomana Karadsheh, now reports, Mosul is starting to get back on its feet.

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JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the sound of music once silenced by terror, the sound of a resilient population turning the page on a dark chapter of Mosul's history, one that made Iraq's second largest city synonymous with ISIS and its so-called caliphate, one that reduced much of Mosul into rubble, shattering the lives of millions.

Countless lives were lost here. During its reign of terror, ISIS tried to literally erase thousands of years of Mosul's rich history, culture and diversity.

OMAR MOHAMMED, IRAQI HISTORIAN: As a historian it's beyond just it's being painful. When you know the history of the city and you witness the destruction of everything you have learned about. This was the most brutal moment in the history of the city of Mosul, a brutality that will never be forgotten.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): Eighty percent of Mosul urban landscape was destroyed by ISIS and the battles for liberation, according to the U.N. More than 800 years of history were wiped away when the grand al- Nuri mosque and its iconic Al-Hadba Minaret were blown up in 2017.

[02:35:00] KARADSHEH (voice-over): The monument and churches and many other sites were also devastated. But four years after the defeat of the terror group, Mosul is rising up from the ashes. Thousands of tons of rubble and explosives have been removed from these historic sites, paving the way for reconstruction set to begin in the coming weeks and months.

Reviving the spirit of Mosul, as it's dubbed, is the most ambitious reconstruction campaign undertaken by the United Nations cultural agency in recent years. UNESCO's initiative funded by the UAE, the EU and others will create 2800 jobs much needed by this community.

And change is already visible with the ongoing restoration of 122 heritage houses in the Old City.

PAOLO FONTANI, UNESCO DIRECTOR FOR IRAQ: The idea of rebuilding Mosul is not just the fact of rebuilding stones or houses. But it's really the idea of rebuilding a spirit of a city that has always been a symbol of connection among the people, whether religion or culture, the city of publishing, the city of books, the city of art.

This is not just an exercise in rebuilding heritage but it's really a willingness also to bring back cultural identity to bring back the spirit of living together.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): It is that spirit of peaceful coexistence that ISIS tried to destroy by ripping apart the very social fabric that made Mosul the city it was for generations, a home for Iraq's different ethnic and religious minorities.

MOHAMMED: But historic at the same time, I chose the most is insignificant, it can't have important impact and positive impact on the people. Trust can be so the Mosul but what are the conditions?

There are many but we have to start with reconstruction.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): Visits by world leaders this year, including the first ever by a pope, brought the world's attention to the city and gave its people hope that Mosul will not be forgotten.

MOHAMMED: Just don't give up on that most of the people of Mosul. It is an important example of resilience and recovery. Don't give up on those people. They are literally rebuilding their life step by step.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): Healing the wounds of a city that is lived through an unimaginable help will not be easy. But Mosul's long road to recovery begins with bringing back to life when ISIS reduced to ruins -- Jomana Karadsheh, CNN.

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HOLMES: Such an important project.

Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, Free Britney has long been the rallying cry for fans of Britney Spears. Now a court decision has given the pop star what she wants. We will be right back.

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HOLMES: Britney Spears fans celebrating there outside a Los Angeles court, Friday, after a judge terminated her 13-year conservatorship. The pop star has been fighting a lengthy legal battle with her father.

Up until last month, he, oversaw her estate, controlling much of her personal and professional life. CNN's Stephanie Elam, with more.

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STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For the first time in 13 years, Britney Spears is once again in control of her own destiny. A Los Angeles County judge, terminating the conservatorship, effective immediately.

We understand, from her lawyer, that there will be some safeguards put in place, to protect her and also, to protect her estimated $60 million estate. We also know, that there will be two more court dates but those will be for technicalities.

This is essentially the end of the conservatorship at this point now. There were no objections in court, which is noteworthy, considering that we have seen her go back and forth with her father since this started playing out in court earlier this year.

Remember, in those two explosive testimonies over the summer, Britney Spears said she was forced to take birth control, that she was forced to perform. And she said she was a victim of conservatorship abuse. And she was pointing the finger at her father.

After those testimonies, her father petitioning the court to end the conservatorship. Instead, in September, the judge terminating him as co-conservator of her estate but keeping on the conservatorship until now, finally, ending this long saga for Britney Spears.

Obviously, the Free Britney band, out here, in great numbers, celebrating. We saw some people who were hugging and crying. There was pink confetti everywhere. And you can also see some people performing and singing her songs.

And Britney Spears herself, taking to Instagram to post about it, writing, "Good God, I love my fans so much. It is crazy. I think I am going to cry the rest of the day. Best day ever, praise the Lord. Can I get an amen?"

Then, she signed off from it with #FreedBritney.

When you look at how her fans have played a role in this, her thanks to them really makes a lot of sense because, without them, who knows if this day would have come as quickly as it did -- Stephanie Elam, CNN, Los Angeles.

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HOLMES: And on that note, thank you for spending part of your day with me, I am Michael Holmes, you can follow me on Twitter and Instagram, @HolmesCNN. I will see you back here in about 20 minutes. "MARKETPLACE AFRICA," next.