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Russian and Chinese Presidents Tout Strategic Partnership to Counter West; Diplomatic Boycott of Beijing Olympics; Toronto Braces for "Freedom Convoy" Event; Brazilians Outraged over Murder of Congolese Refugee; Rescuers Scramble to Save Moroccan Boy in Well; Climate Change Threatens 2022 Winter Games; Rotterdam May Dismantle Historic Bridge for Jeff Bezos. Aired 2-2:45a ET
Aired February 05, 2022 - 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 am Michael Holmes, coming up on CNN NEWSROOM.
With the Olympic Games now underway in Beijing, politics the dominant sport for now. Diplomatic boycotts and a show of unity between Russia and China stoking political tensions around the world.
New information about the ISIS-K attack while Afghans were being evacuated from the Kabul airport. What the U.S. says it's got wrong after the explosion.
And a tropical cyclone has Madagascar in its sights. The region, still recovering from a monster storm, killing dozens.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Michael Holmes.
HOLMES: France's president, spearheading the latest diplomatic efforts to defuse tensions over Ukraine, when he heads to Moscow on Monday. Emmanuel Macron expected to try and get Moscow to offer some sign of de-escalation along Ukraine's borders.
And he will seek to revive negotiations between Kyiv and Russian- backed separatists in Eastern Ukraine. The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, currently in Beijing for the start of the Winter Olympics.
He and Chinese president, Xi Jinping, met before Friday's opening ceremony and pledged mutual support on numerous fronts, including their opposition to NATO expansion. Here's how President Putin, describes the state of their relations.
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VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA (through translator): As for our bilateral relations, they are developing linearly with a spirit of friendship and strategic partnership and have reached an unprecedented level. (END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: There wasn't just complementary words; the two country had entered into new economic partnerships, that, presumably, could offset the impact of U.S., in the E.U. sanctions, should Russia invade Ukraine. CNN's Nic Robertson, with more, in Moscow.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: President Putin's trip to Beijing and meeting with President Xi of China proving to be a huge boost for President Putin's position.
He got reinforcement on his central message, that NATO should stop moving eastward and the United States is the country that is causing all the disruption in Eastern Europe at the moment.
He got buy-in from President Xi on that and both of them issuing a joint statement, talking about a deeper strategic coordination, that in that there would be a message for the world, not just on the security front but the economic front as well.
President Putin getting some big economic deals signed, one of them on oil. But also talks between the two leaders of future cooperation on high tech, on green tech.
Of course, Russia needs a lot of support there but there's an important piece of messaging for President Putin that he can do business with China. It may not cover all the deficit that he might have if there were every sanctions as promised by the United States and European nations if Russia invades Ukraine.
But signaling there that he does have another economic partner who can make up some of that potential shortfall. Meanwhile, back home, the United States, getting huge criticism for saying that Russia was planning a false flag operation involving actors, involving blood, that would then be used to precipitate an incursion, a Russian incursion into Ukraine.
The foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, calling that delusional, saying that there have been more and more of these things that clearly people didn't believe them. And heavy trolling as well for the State Department spokesman, Ned Price, on Russian TV, where a reporter asked him a question for more details about these allegations of a false flag operation.
Ned Price, not giving those details. And here, the Russian media playing that up, that this is just another empty claim by the United States -- Nic Robertson, CNN, Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Olympic competitions are moving full steam ahead, following Friday's opening ceremony in Beijing. Some 3,000 performers, taking part, most of them teenagers. The big event filled with fireworks, light shows and colorful costumes as well. The ceremony ended with two young Chinese Olympians, lighting the
cauldron inside the stadium, one of them a member of China's Uyghur population.
Her inclusion noteworthy and uncontroversial, since China's alleged genocide of the Muslim minority group sparked a diplomatic boycott by several Western nations --
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HOLMES: -- including the United States, Britain and Canada.
Despite Beijing's best efforts, the COVID-19 pandemic, still, weighing on the games. The Olympic Committee reported 45 new infections among games related personnel, as of Friday.
Since the closed loop system began, January 23rd, more than 350 cases have been identified. Andy Scholes joins me here in Atlanta but first to Will Ripley, who is in Taipei for us.
So, give us a sense of just how different this opening ceremony was, compared to pre-COVID. And, how different the games will be, overall.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The opening ceremony was smaller; it was modest, and it was most definitely successful in shifting the narrative, at least temporarily away from COVID-19.
China is defending itself, against much of the Western world, specifically on the issue of human rights. By choosing a Uyghur cross country skier, from Xinjiang, where the United States and other allies have accused China of genocide for suppressing the mostly Muslim minority population, to send that athlete to carry that Olympic flame, place in that giant snowflake, that was a message for the United States and President Biden and for much of the West.
China won't back down on this issue. They deny human rights abuses, saying they're sending Uyghurs to vocational training schools and fighting terrorism.
Of course, survivors of those institutions, painting a different picture. China not hiding the issue but putting a Uyghur athlete, front and center. And many believe that was very deliberate, Michael.
When the parade of athletes, the parade of nations were walking out the athletes, from Taiwan, were introduced on Chinese state media, as being from China Taipei. Now they compete as the name Chinese Taipei.
That was agreed upon but state media, essentially taking away the word Chinese, saying China Taipei, they are implying that the self- governing island is part of the mainland even though the Communist rulers in Beijing never controlled this island, since the end of China's civil war more than 70 years ago.
HOLMES: I guess, with the opening ceremony and tensions over Ukraine, apparently, even the crowd reception for the Russian and American teams was pretty different, apparently.
RIPLEY: This was, in opening ceremony, that was different in many ways. It was certainly a focus on the time that we're living in. China, while paring those down, while making it smaller, with only 3,000 performers, versus 15,000, making it shorter, two hours, versus four hours, keeping the crowd size very limited, it felt like a message that is very pertinent for this time and this place.
China is sending a confident political message but certainly, paring things down considerably from 2008, that lavish, showcase ceremony. And you are right, the crowds representing different countries and the athletes getting quite a mixed reception.
HOLMES: Louder for Russia than America. Will Ripley in Taipei, appreciate it, thank you so much.
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HOLMES: Canadian truckers may have a hard time getting cash for their protest, against COVID restrictions. Next up, a major fundraising source for the so-called freedom convoy dries up.
Plus, the race against the clock to save a little boy who has been trapped in a well for days.
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HOLMES: Greece is making it easier for Europeans to holiday there -- and why wouldn't you?
Starting on Monday, tourists with a European vaccination certificate will not have to show a negative COVID-19 test, to enter the country. Greek officials hope, it will help tourism.
And meanwhile, Austria the first European country to enact a strict and controversial vaccine mandate. All adults, eligible to receive a COVID vaccine, are now required to do so. It was signed into law on Friday. Officials begin conducting compliance checks next month and those in violation will face increasing fines.
GoFundMe is cutting the cash flow of donations for the truckers' protest in Canada. The fundraising site suspending a campaign that has, already, raised $8 million. The site says the protest in Ottawa has turned into a, quote, "occupation," and there are police reports of violence and unlawful activity.
The so-called freedom convoy has been protesting near Canada's parliament for a week now. The truckers, initially, opposing a vaccine requirement for drivers crossing the border into Canada. But now, they want all mandates dropped. Canada's trucking alliance says that many protesters, apparently, have
no connection to the industry and have their own agendas.
A similar protest, set to get underway in Canada's biggest city this weekend. But Toronto police make it clear, they are ready to use strict enforcement if necessary. Preparations include road closures for the protests near Ontario's legislature already going on.
Police say, they will not tolerate disrupting access to hospitals or cutting the routes used by first responders.
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CHIEF JAMES RAMER, TORONTO POLICE: We work with the crowds and the organizers and try to facilitate a peaceful protest. But our intention is that these areas will not be used for people to encamp or stay permanently for any duration of time.
MAYOR JOHN TORY, TORONTO, CANADA: I don't personally agree with all the views expressed by all those protesters, but I respect the right of all Canadians to peaceful protest.
So, we have seen many peaceful and respectful protests in our city. And it is my hope, if people are determined to gather, to protest this weekend, in our city of Toronto, that a commitment to respectful, peaceful protest, will be demonstrated again, this weekend.
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HOLMES: Downing Street says the British prime minister Boris Johnson has not lost control of his staff after the departure of a fifth close aide in two days. Mr. Johnson lost one of his special advisers on Friday, a day after four others called it quits.
The staff exodus, following a damning report over the so-called Partygate scandal. The report found Downing Street held multiple parties while the rest of the U.K. was under strict COVID lockdowns, mandated by the government. A growing number of Conservative lawmakers are now pushing for a no confidence vote against Mr. Johnson.
The Pentagon has announced the findings of its investigation into the deadly attack at the Kabul airport last August. Officials now say it was carried out by a lone suicide bomber. Oren Liebermann, with more, on what we have learned.
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OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The initial accounts of what happened on August 26th, just outside of Abbey Gate Kabul International Airport, suggested it was a complex attack on U.S. forces there.
Multiple bombers and perhaps ISIS-K gunmen opening fire. We now have a much clearer picture of what happened, not only at that moment but both before and after. Investigators, now say it was a simple attack, a single suicide bomber armed with a 20-pound explosive, packed with 5 millimeter ball bearings.
When the suicide bomber set off the explosive device, it tore through the packed crowd around him, around Abbey Gate, that killed 13 U.S. service members, as well as over 170 Afghans.
Investigators say, on that day, the attack itself was unpreventable. That is because, they believe, the attacker used alternate routes to get to the airport that day, to carry out his attack. The U.S. had been working with the Taliban. The Taliban had been carrying out some security checkpoints.
But because of how restrictive these were, the U.S. had set up alternate routes to avoid the Taliban checkpoints and they say, it is likely the bomber used one of these routes, to get so close to U.S. service members.
Investigators did not identify the bomber. They said his identity and his background is part of an FBI investigation but CNN has previously reported his name was Abdul Rahman Alogri (ph). He had been released only days earlier from a prison outside of Kabul, when the Taliban was sweeping across the country and releasing prisoners.
In the chaos and the confusion after the attack itself, investigators say there were a number of warning shots fired from a few different positions around Abbey Gate. From two nearby locations, they say that British forces fired around 25 to 30 rounds.
Another U.S. service member, a Marine, fired off four rounds and there was a team of Marines nearby, firing off an unknown number of rounds.
The shots crisscrossed in the air, leading to the confusion that there was gunfire associated with the attack. Investigators say now, in hindsight, after a month's long investigation, they know that that was not the case.
As for this how unfolded and where it goes from here, investigators spoke with dozens of not only U.S. service members but coalition service members as well. They paint as clear a picture as they say they could of what happened on that day and how.
But they didn't speak with any Afghan witnesses. They say it was simply too difficult to get to Afghanistan and the infrastructure, the framework wasn't in place, with no U.S. service members or diplomatic personnel there, to conduct interviews with Afghan witnesses there -- Oren Liebermann, CNN, at the Pentagon.
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HOLMES: China accusing the United States of not trying hard enough to resolve tensions with North Korea. Pyongyang carried out a flurry of missile tests last month, in violation of U.N. resolutions, including a intermediate range ballistic missile last Sunday.
That prompted the U.S. to call a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Friday. But ahead of that closed-door session, China's ambassador to the U.N. called on the U.S. to show more, quote, "sincerity and flexibility" toward Pyongyang.
Zhang Jun told reporters that Washington should, quote, "come up with more attractive and more practical, more flexible approaches, policies and actions in accommodating the concerns of North Korea."
Outrage in Brazil over the brutal murder of a Congolese refugee in Rio de Janeiro, many calling it a hate crime --
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HOLMES: -- sparking protests, a social media campaign and calls for justice.
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HOLMES (voice-over): Police in Brazil are investigating the death of a young Congolese immigrant, after he was killed while working in Rio de Janeiro. Police say 23-year-old Moise Kabagambe was beaten to death on January 24, at a beach bar where he was a bartender.
His mother says he was killed when he demanded his boss pay him overdue wages. His friends and family are outraged.
CHADRAC KEMBILU, MOISE KABAGAMBE'S FRIEND (through translator): We are afraid of Rio de Janeiro. We didn't know that Rio de Janeiro was like this. A cowardly act that was carried out against our brother, Moise, I'm really sorry and sad.
HOLMES (voice-over): That anger has since spilled into the streets. Demonstrators chanted and held a banner, reading, "Fire to the racists." Many say his death is part of a larger issue of racial discrimination in Brazil.
MARIA LAURA CANINEU, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH (through translator): This case must be analyzed in the very serious context of violence against the Black population in Brazil, whose chance of being a victim of homicide is almost three times higher compared to non-Blacks.
What we are asking is that the investigation into this case scrutinizes the possible discrimination against the victim, against Moise, about his race and his origin.
HOLMES (voice-over): Kabagambe's murder has also ignited a social media campaign, calling for justice. Police say they have arrested three men in connection with the incident, which was caught on a security camera.
It shows Kabagambe being attacked by a group of men, who beat him repeatedly with a club and a baseball bat, according to police. The beach kiosk since has been shut down. His mother said he came to Brazil in 2011, fleeing the armed conflict in his native Democratic Republic of Congo.
(END VIDEOTAPE) HOLMES: Just weeks after a deadly tropical storm hit Madagascar, the island is bracing for another dangerous cyclone. Tropical cyclone Batsirai is expected to make landfall on the East Coast of the country, in just a few hours.
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HOLMES: Now in Morocco, rescuers are making slow but steady progress in their efforts to save a boy trapped in a well.
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HOLMES (voice-over): These are live pictures of the rescue site in northern Morocco, where rescuers are using heavy machinery to try to reach 5-year-old Rayan. But, as Kim Brunhuber reports, the operation is risky.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A race against the clock to try to save a young boy in Morocco, who has been trapped in an underground well for days.
On Tuesday, 5-year-old Rayan fell into a well in a town in northern Morocco. His mother said he was playing in the area when he disappeared. The well is approximately 45 centimeters or 17 inches wide at the top.
[02:25:00]
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): It was small enough for him to fall into but too narrow for anyone to reach him. Now he's stuck, about 30 meters or 100 feet down.
An all-out rescue effort was launched. Bulldozers and heavy machinery were brought in. Broadcasters have been livestreaming workers as they dig a second hole to try to save him. A camera lowered into the well showed pictures of the boy alive. Rescuers have also sent water and oxygen down through a tube.
Workers say they are going as fast as they can, first digging down and then over to get closer to the child's location. But it's meticulous work. Drilling too aggressively could collapse the walls around the well.
One rescuer says, "The most complicated matter is the landslide, but the machines are operating and the teams are working hard with no food or sleep."
Crowds have gathered at the scene, where there is a helicopter standing by to take Rayan to the hospital. And there's been an outpouring of support on social media, where the #SaveRayan is trending across North Africa.
Raya's grandmother says, "He's very much loved here in the village, not only at home." Rescuers are hoping their efforts will soon pay off and they can
return little Rayan to his family -- Kim Brunhuber, CNN.
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HOLMES: All right, it's time to cheer on your favorite athletes at the Beijing Winter Olympics. But experts are warning that climate change is threatening the future of the games. More on that, after the break.
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HOLMES: Beijing has been promoting its Olympics as the greenest ever. But with a warming planet, there is an inescapable fact about the Chinese capital: its winters are arid. And this year, as Rene Marsh reports, it's so dry that organizers are forced to use artificial methods to make its hills and mountains even skiable.
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RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): No natural snow, a Winter Olympics first. Over 100 snow generators and 300 snow-making guns are doing what Mother Nature did not -- blanketing Beijing's bare slopes with snow.
JAMIE ANDERSON, U.S. OLYMPIC SNOWBORDER: It's not quite ideal but I would say we're all making the most of it. You definitely don't want to fall. It feels like pretty bullet proof ice.
MARSH: Climate scientists warn this scene will become the norm as global warning threatens the future of snow sports. A new report finds that viable venues for the winter games are dwindling, iconic sites like Vancouver, Norway, Sochi and the French Alps seeing temperatures warm and shorter and less reliable snow seasons.
Of the 21 cities that have hosted the Winter Olympics, only one is expected to have the necessary conditions to host them again safely at the end of the 21st century if greenhouse gases are not drastically reduced.
ELENA HIGHT, U.S. OLYMPIC SNOWBORDER: I worry the mountains around me won't have snow for the next generation or maybe even in my lifetime with the path that we're on.
MARSH: Two-time Olympic snowboarder Elena Hight says climate change already affecting her sport in her hometown of Lake Tahoe.
[02:30:00]
MARSH (voice-over): Due to shorter winter seasons and a lack of snow, resorts have done away with this concave structure known as the halfpipe. One of snowboarding's most famed contests. HIGHT: We don't have consistent enough snow for the resorts to be enticed to build them. So I see that and there are no younger generations coming into Lake Tahoe that will be able to be home and train in the halfpipe and potentially pursue those Olympic dreams.
MARSH: Hight says artificial snow as a substitute comes with higher injury risks, less training, coupled increased danger are a problem for these athletes, environmental advocacy group, Protect Our Winter, warns artificial snow has limitations.
MARIO MOLINA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PROTECT OUR WINTERS: In order to make artificial snow, there's a temperature threshold so you can't just make artificial snow in 40 degrees weather. You still need cold temperatures.
MARSH: Fake snow also comes with environmental risks, Beijing one of the most water-scarce cities in the world, estimates it will use some 49 million gallons of chemically treated water to make snow for alpine sporting events, something environmental advocates have criticized.
HIGHT: So it's actually causing the problem that we're being affected by. I hope that we never get to the point where snowboarding isn't a viable sport because of lack of snow. And really, I think that we have the ability to make those changes now.
MARSH: While artificial snow can create a faster surface, because it's almost 30 percent ice compared to real snow that's closer to 10 percent ice, so it's a much harder and much more slippery surface, that is what creates the risk of severe injuries if an athlete takes a fall.
But outside of the Olympics, ski resorts in the towns and cities surrounding them are also being threatened by warming temperatures and unreliable snow -- Rene Marsh, CNN, Washington.
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HOLMES: Daniel Scott is a professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Management at the University of Waterloo in Canada.
Great to have you on, Professor. Even with these games, most of the snow is from snowmaking machines.
How different will conditions be for the next generation of Olympic athletes, given climate change impacts, how different will their opportunities or experiences be compared to today?
DANIEL SCOTT, UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO: Yes, the difference really comes down to what we do in the next decade or so, what the U.N. calls the decisive decade for climate change.
If we continue on the emissions path we're on right now, our research shows that we're going to be left with about four climate reliable locations or past hosts by mid century and maybe down to one in late century. And that is Sapporo, Japan.
So it could really change the geography of where you can host the games and how they will have to be hosted, as you see with the dependence on the 100 percent snowmaking this year in China.
HOLMES: Yes, not every city wants to host the games and if you are running out of places they can host it, it's going to be a problem.
The research group that you led found that out of the 21 previous host cities for the Winter Games, nine would be too hot for the Olympics to be held at those locations in the future. Some of those were recent host cities, too.
How fast is change happening?
SCOTT: We are, really, seeing how things have changed. That was one of the most fascinating things talking to the coaches and the athletes. Some of these coaches have been around for 30 years.
And they travel the world, go to some of the same events and competitions year-over-year. They talk to the old timers there. They really see how the landscape is changed, how the climate has changed.
Some of their competitions can't be held anymore. Their summer training grounds at high elevation are not happening anymore. So, they are a really interesting source of just how winters are changing around the world.
And what we have seen, from an observational perspective in the 21 host locations over the last 70 years, since 1950, on average, they've warmed up about five degrees. Some of them, in February, some as high as nine degrees. So on average, they are warming up about twice the global average, over the last 50 to 70 years.
HOLMES: Amazing. And the other thing that is interesting in your study, is it's not just Winter Games.
Could warmer temperatures mean some potential venues might be too hot for the Summer Games?
SCOTT: We saw a little bit of that -- that's a really good point -- in Tokyo, last year, particularly, over the marathon and some of the things happening at high temperature, high heat index, with the humidity.
So one of the good things for the Summer Games is they are a bit more adaptable. You can move into the shoulder seasons, going into the spring or the fall a little bit. And you can go North and South Hemisphere. So Australia has hosted the Summer Games.
That's not really a possibility with the Winter Games. In part, there are fewer places that could host the Winter Games, in the Southern Hemisphere. And, really, you change the cycle for the athletes. You'd be holding the Winter Games in June instead of February. So that would really their training and their competition schedules.
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HOLMES: You touched on this and I think it is important.
How vital are the voices of athletes when it comes to lobbying for climate action?
Non political, publicly respected figures, who, as you say, see the effects firsthand.
How important is their voice?
SCOTT: Yes, that is something that we've really seen in the last five years, amongst winter athletes in particular, finding their voice -- you know, more broadly in sport, too, it's been amazing to see athletes aim for social causes, as well as climate change, really stand up for that.
The IOC has really taken notice of that. They've committed themselves as an organization to be climate positive by 2024. They're going to make it contractually obligated of host cities after 2030 to be climate positive as well.
So it is finding its way up to the leadership. And I think that is what athletes really expect of their sporting federations and the IOC.
HOLMES: As you point out, too, as you said, by the end of the century, there might, if nothing is done, there may be one city that can host a Winter Olympics.
Is it too late?
Can this be turned around?
SCOTT: Absolutely. As I said, the future of the Winter Olympics is really in our hands, as it is with many things. So if we manage to achieve the Paris climate agreement, a low emission future, the numbers of climate reliable host locations, largely, stay unchanged from where they are now.
It's that high emission future that really, makes a big change that we don't want to see for many reasons, including winter sport and the Olympics as well. But it also means the IOC, in the future, probably will have to be a bit more flexible, in terms of who can host and how they will host it.
As you said, some cities, the disruption, the cost, they don't want to host the games. But if you could move to something like a regional games, where a Salt Lake City, Calgary in Canada come together, now there are two countries that can split the bill. They can reduce some of the disruption at the community level.
And you can find the most climate reliable locations. And that's something that we will hopefully see in the future.
HOLMES: Such important work that you and your team have done. And it's a good time to be talking about it. Professor Daniel Scott, thank you so much.
SCOTT: Thank you for having me, have a great night.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Still to come on the program, a bridge in the Netherlands has become a battleground over Jeff Bezos.
Is a request to dismantle the historic landmark a bridge too far?
We will take look at that, when we come back.
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HOLMES: With a net worth of $164 billion, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is the third richest person in the world. And he has, reportedly, spent some of his wealth on building a 127-meter mega yacht.
But the Dutch shipbuilder needs the city of Rotterdam to, temporarily, dismantle a historic bridge so the ship can sail away. As you might imagine, that is sparking some blowback. Nada Bashir reports.
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NADA BASHIR, CNN PRODUCER (voice-over): The super yacht, reportedly commissioned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, is under construction and Rotterdam.
But in order to get it to the ocean, the Dutch city's historic steel bridge will have to be temporarily dismantled, a feat that is proving not quite as simple as an Amazon delivery with some accusing Bezos of going a bridge too far.
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MATTHIAS VAN DER WITT, ROTTERDAM RESIDENT: The more moneys (sic) you have, the more power you get, even though it goes against the principles of the city. The city says we're not going to do it.
RENE JONGENEEL, ROTTERDAM RESIDENT (through translator): What can I say?
I guess big money wins again as always. But it will also create some employment, of course. And I think that's important for this region as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASHIR (voice-over): When the bridge, known to locals as De Hef, was last renovated in 2017, local officials promised the 19th century landmark would never again be dismantled, according to Dutch public broadcaster (INAUDIBLE).
Authorities have acknowledged that the super yacht is a significant project for Rotterdam, considered Europe's maritime capital, benefiting the local economy and creating jobs.
Bezos and shipbuilding company Oceanco would also need to foot the bill. But some, including Rotterdam's Green Party, have questioned why the city should be forced to dismantle an iconic landmark for Bezos' personal gain.
One local Green Party council has said, "This man has earned his money by structurally exploiting staff, evading taxes and avoiding regulation.
And now we have to take down our beautiful national monument?
That is really going a bridge too far."
Thousands have even signed up to an event shared on Facebook, calling for locals to throw eggs at the super yacht once it finally sets sail. The request has also sparked debate further afield.
U.S. House representative Adam Schiff tweeting, "If Jeff Bezos can pay to dismantle a bridge in the Netherlands to fit his super yacht, then his company should have no trouble paying its fair share in taxes so we can build bridges in America."
For now, the request is still under consideration, which could mean a shipping delay for Bezos -- Nada Bashir, CNN, London.
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HOLMES: Thank you for spending part of your day with me, I am Michael Holmes. You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram @HolmesCNN. "MARKETPLACE AFRICA," starts after the short break and we'll see you in just about 15 minutes.
