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Russian Forces Gaining Ground in Luhansk; E.U. Slowly Banning Russian Imports; U.S. Sending Munitions and Long-range Rockets to Ukraine; Families Bid Their Last Farewell; A Survivor's Memory of Shooting; Shanghai Now Back to Normal; Pope Francis Appointed New Bishop; Activists Going After Mafia Groups; Rafael Nadal Defeats Novak Djokovic; Queen Elizabeth in Her Jubilee Year. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired June 01, 2022 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Just ahead here on CNN Newsroom, as Russian forces continue to barrage of shelling across eastern

Ukraine, U.S. President, Joe Biden announces advanced artillery reinforcement are on the way.

And as the first funerals of the victims of the Uvalde, Texas shooting take place, a look into the generational trauma caused by the all to frequent mass shootings in the United States.

Plus, saying no to the Italian mafia, how one province is pushing back despite bombings, arson and threats of extortion.

Well, Russian forces appear to be close to a major victory on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine, local authorities report, Russian troops now control most of Severodonetsk. CNN has geolocated video posted on the social media app Telegram showing Russian troops patrolling the central part of the city.

Severodonetsk has been a key target of Russian fighters in their offensive to claim Luhansk and the entire Donbas region. Ukraine blames Russia for missile strike on a nitric acid tank in the industrial area. Russian-backed separatists say Ukrainian fighters blew up the tank as they retreated. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine is losing 60 to 100 soldiers a day in the war with Russia.

Meanwhile, in the Donetsk region, Ukraine reports a Russian missile strike on Sloviansk and killed at least three people. The president's office says a school and seven high rise buildings were damaged. Internet and mobile phone services are down in the city of Kherson which is now under Russian control. And, Russian soldiers are reportedly selling sim cards to people who provide their passport data. Well, meantime, E.U. leaders have finished a two-day summit after

finalizing a new round of sanctions on Russia. A ban on the majority of the E.U.'s Russian oil imports was the largest item on the agenda. Latvia's prime minister says E.U. members are determined to move away from Russian energy dependency.

And, while countries like India may be increasing their purchase of Russian fuel. A top U.S. official, says Russia has a lot of work ahead of it to replace its most important client.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEP BORRELL, E.U. FOREIGN POLICY CHIEF: Certainly, we cannot prevent Russia to sell their oil to someone else, and, not so powerful. But we are the most important client for Russia. They will have to look for another one and certainly, they will have to decrease the price. The purpose is for the Russians to get less resources, less financial resources to fit in the war machine. And this will certainly happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And Ukraine's military will soon be getting some high-powered help from the United States. President Joe Biden has announced he will provide more advanced rocket systems and munitions. Administration officials stressed the U.S. is not encouraging or enabling Ukraine to hit targets in Russia. But these new systems have a far greater range than any weapons the U.S. has sent to Ukraine so far.

CNN's Clare Sebastian joins me now live from London with more on all of this. So, Clare, what is the latest on President Biden's op-ed about sending these more advanced rocket systems to Ukraine?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Rosemary, this is something that Ukraine has been asking for, for a long, time as Russia has stepped up its offensive in the Donbas, characterize of course by these artillery barrages which Ukraine has been struggling to breakthrough it. And U.S. officials have been debating this and how to do this.

So, in this op-ed, President Biden stress out, he says we will now provide the Ukrainians with more advanced rocket system and munitions that will enable them to more precisely strike key targets on the battlefield in Ukraine. He says that Russia -- that the Ukraine needs to have sort of an edge on the battlefield in order to be able to continue to push for a diplomatic solution to this. Which he says he quote President Zelenskyy as saying is the only way out of this conflict.

But this is clearly a balancing act. Senior administration officials have confirmed to reporters on Tuesday that this will be U.S. made high mobility artillery rockets system. They will be a part of an 11th package military aid coming from the U.S. to Ukraine.

[03:04:57] They will be -- they will have the longest range, if anything that the U.S. has provided to Ukraine so far. But they will not have the maximum range of this particular rocket system. It all depends not only on the system itself, but on the munitions that are supplied to go with it. And they will have a range of about 80 kilometers which is less than 300 kilometers maximum that these systems could provide.

And the balancing act here is that the U.S. does not want to be seen as providing weapons that could strike Russia. And this Russian official has said, you know, it could potentially be a red line in the conflict. And in the op-ed, President Biden clarifies, he says, we do not seek a war between NATO and Russia. He, says the United States, while he disagrees with Mr. Putin, will not try to bring about his ouster in Moscow.

CHURCH: Right. And Clare, what all did French President Emmanuel Macron have to say about future sanctions against Russia?

SEBASTIAN: Yes. And now that they have agreed on the sixth package, frankly, against pretty high odds there, Rosemary, you know, attention now turns to what else they can do now that they've unlocked the situation. He said that nothing can be ruled out on the future sanctions package. And it will be dependent on the path of the conflict.

The next E.U. summit is at the end of June. Now there are a lot of questions around the issue of gas, whether now that they have agreed on an oil bar go they could move to something on gas. That is going to be a lot difficult and a lot more difficult, I think in some way away from that. But they are under pressure and especially from Ukraine. Listen to what President Zelenskyy had to say about these latest sanctions package.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): We have agreed on the necessity to increase sanctions. It's more than 50 days since the fifth package of sanctions. This is unacceptable for us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: Yes, he says it's taking a long time. And the debate of course, is that, you know, if this takes a long time does this give Russia more room to adapt and thereby minimize the impact on its economy and on its war machine.

CHURCH: Yes, they were late with this. Clare Sebastian joining us live from London, many thanks.

Well, there are new questions as to whether or not a car explosion in the Russian occupied Ukrainian city of Melitopol was an act of Ukrainian resistance. The city's exiled mayor says that the blast was most likely carried out by the Russians as they begin to, quote, "cleanup collaborators." But he says it is also possible that the explosion was the work of Ukrainian guerrilla movement. This, as ordinarily Ukrainians are finding their own ways to express

their defiance to Russian occupation.

CNN's Melissa Bell has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: An explosion in southern Ukrainian city of Melitopol, blamed by Moscow on Ukrainian resisters.

And on Sunday, Melitopol is Ukraine chanted in the heart of a town that's been in Russian hands for nearly three months. Yellow ribbons more defiantly displayed than elsewhere in Russian held southern Ukraine.

From Crimea to Kherson, symbols of silent resistance.

But Melitopol noisily resisted from the start. After the early chants of its people were silenced, and when the town's mayor was kidnapped by Russian forces in early march, some locals turned to armed resistance.

IVAN FEDOROV, EXILED MELITOPOL MAYOR: It was a very dangerous situation.

BELL: Now in Ukrainian government held Zaporizhzhia Ivan Fedorov says that Melitopol will never give up.

FEDOROV: They can kidnap. They can kill. They can make come tortures. But we can't give support because our citizens don't want to live in Russia. I know it. Melitopol will return to Ukraine.

BELL: Melitopol fell quickly. And even as Russian forces pulled back to the south and east of the country, remained on the wrong side of a line that has harden.

MYKOLA KRASNY, UKRAINIAN MILITARY INTELLIGENCE (through translator): Russia is using hybrid message of occupation. That means that the Russian Federation is trying to identify and destroy centers of resistance. Ukrainian partisans. Such people are often uncovered and sometimes disappear in Russian prisons.

UNKNOWN: The idea of the yellow ribbon was --

BELL: Which is, why the yellow ribbon has become key, according to its spokesman in Kyiv.

He tells me, "The ribbons allow people to pass on the message that Ukraine is present here. That there is no other south than under the Ukrainian flag."

Here in Zaporizhzhia, there is also a sense that that line between Russian controlled Ukraine and the rest of the country is hardening even as it continues to move forward. We can hear here the regular sound of outgoing artillery fire. But we can also see an emerging refugee crisis. [03:10:02]

Hundreds of families living in their cars as they try to get back to their homes now in Russian-controlled cities.

Melissa Bell, CNN, Zaporizhzhia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: We are following new developments in the investigation into the horrific elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. One week after a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers. Officials say, the incident commander during the shooting, the school district's police chief is not responding to investigator's request for a follow-up interview.

Meanwhile, heartbroken families are beginning to bury the victims and seek answers on the police response to the massacre.

CNN's Ed Lavandera has details.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A chilling new account from inside Robb Elementary during the mass shooting.

UNKNOWN: Are you injured?

UNKNOWN: We got shot.

UNKNOWN: Where? Where?

UNKNOWN: A kid got shot.

UNKNOWN: A kid? They shot a kid?

LAVANDERA: That audio was taken by a man who spoke to CNN but didn't want to be publicly identified. A Facebook live video includes what he says is audio from the radio in a Customs and Border Protective vehicle outside the school. It is not clear at what point during the shooting this video was taken.

We are also hearing from a Customs and Border Protection officer whose wife is a teacher at the school where his daughter is also a second grader. He was off duty at a barbershop when he got this text message from his wife.

JACOB ALBARADO, U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PATROL PROTECTION AGENT: There's an active shooter, help, I love you. From my wife.

LAVANDERA: That's when he raced over to what he describes as a chaotic scene at the school.

ALBARADO: Everyone was trying to get to the school, people were trying to get situated. I was just trying to get towards my wife's room and my daughter's room. As I was going in, I could just see kids coming out of the windows and kids coming my way. So, I was just helping all the kids out.

LAVANDERA: Both his wife and daughter got out safely. One teacher describes the tense moments in her school room after spotting the gunman outside her class window.

NICOLE OGBURN, 4TH GRADE TEACHER: I just kept hearing shots fired and I just kept praying, God please don't let him come in my room. Please don't let him come in this room. And for some reason, he didn't.

LAVANDERA: ABC News obtained a portion of video that appears to be audio from a 911 operator relaying information from a child inside the classroom.

UNKNOWN: We have a child on the line. Child is advising he is in the room full of victims.

LAVANDERA: Questions remain focused tonight on the police response. The Texas Department of Public Safety Director, says it was the school district police chief, Pete Arredondo who made the decision not to breach the classrooms earlier. Arredondo who hasn't been seen publicly since the shooting is facing harsh criticism and the Department of Justice review for what officers didn't do as kids inside the school repeatedly called 911 pleading for help.

JULIE GARCIA, ATTENDED MEMORIAL: You cry and you mourn harder here because they didn't have a chance.

LAVANDERA: The first funerals for the mass school shooting in Uvalde were held today.

GARCIA: When that casket closes, and that they lower it down, for me it's the realization that you won't be able to touch them again. One more hug, one more kiss, one more goodbye.

LAVANDERA: The funeral expenses for every family are being covered at no cost, thanks to an anonymous donor, according to Texas Governor Greg Abbott.

UNKNOWN: At the above my head, I can tell you how much, but I think one every day.

LAVANDERA: Father Eduardo Morales says he will preside at 12 funeral services for victims over the next two weeks. Today visitations and funerals were held for at least four students, and one teacher.

DORINA DAVILA, ATTENDED VISITATION: Nobody should ever have to go through this hardship. You know? And something that could have very well been avoided.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: If you remember, last week, Texas Department of Public Safety investigator said that the gunman had entered Robb Elementary through a door that was left propped open by an unidentified teacher. Well now that turns out not to be entirely the case. Texas DPS officials are now saying that the teacher realizing that there was a gunman on campus went back and close the door, but it did not lock.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Uvalde, Texas.

CHURCH: Marin Cogan is a senior correspondent for Vox who survived a school shooting when she was in the sixth grade. Months before Uvalde, she wrote about her experience and how kids like her process what happened to them as they grow up.

Marin joins me now from Tampa, Florida. Thank you so much for being with us. And I am so sorry that you had to go through that trauma as a child.

MARIN COGAN, SENIOR CORRESPONDENT, VOX: Well, thank you for having me, and I'm sorry that this trauma is being repeated all across the country.

[03:14:56]

CHURCH: Yes, it is just horrifying, isn't it? I wanted to ask, how your own experience as a survivor has shaped you in life and what's your reaction when you hear the details of this latest school shooting in Uvalde and all the shootings have come before this because they just keep happening.

COGAN: It's so interesting you ask because this is something I've done a lot of reporting on survivors of school shootings, and what I realized is i never considered myself a survivor because I wasn't in the room where the shooting happened, I was outside. And so many of the other survivors I spoke with had the same feeling, like they didn't feel like they deserve to consider themselves survivors.

But I think, you know, there's a reason why I kept returning to the subject as an adult and trying to seek out other people who have been through this experience and talk to them. And it's because I've been trying to sort of unpack what happened in my own community.

To see it happen again and again and again has been so disheartening and so frustrating, you know, to think that these shootings which were unusual, but were happening when I was a kid in the late 90s and early 2000s, to see them become more frequent and much more deadly, is not just disheartening but it's incredibly frustrating.

Because the people who, you know, were young when I was young, we now have children, and to see this pass through to another generation makes me feel like we really failed as a society to protect our children.

CHURCH: Yes, I totally understand that sentiment, and some are suggesting though, that this shooting in Uvalde marks a different time in history, perhaps, setting in motion by partisan efforts in Congress to make changes to this country's gun laws. Many gun owners are speaking out saying, enough is enough, along with most Americans, of course, who want to see gun controls put in place.

Do you think it will be different this time, and what gun control measures do you think are possible, and do you want to see put in place now?

COGAN: You raise a very good point, and to your point, you know, I grew up in a family where people own guns, that was just sort what everyone did work came from -- it really wasn't a partisan thing quite like it is now. And I think you're right that there are a lot of people, as much as the debate is framed as, you know, pro Second Amendment gun owners, and people who hate guns and would never touch them, there is actually a ton of people in the middle.

I think you are seeing those people really demanding change now. So, we're talking about things like universal background checks, and expanded red flag laws that make it easier for guns to be removed from the homes of people who are considered high-risk for violence.

Those are things that have large public majority support, and so if there is hope of getting something done on a federal level, I think that that would be the direction that they be looking at.

CHURCH: And how much do you worry that the failure of the police in Uvalde to respond urgently to an active suitor situation will end up overshadowing the need for gun reform. Because everyone's talking about that now, do you worry it will get forgotten in the mix?

COGAN: I think if anything, it underscores the need for gun reform, because you know, the details are still emerging, we don't know everything that happened there, but the details that have come out so far really seem to indicate that the police hesitated because they know how serious an AR-15 is, and they were reluctant to confront someone who was armed with one.

And if they are reluctant to confront someone who is armed with an AR- 15, I think that says a lot about how dangerous these weapons are, and really makes a case for some sort of meaningful reform. So, I think, if anything, it really underscores the need for sensible gun reform in this country.

CHURCH: And Marin, what, what would you say to the parents and the young students who survived this latest school shooting, who more than likely, fear returning to the classroom now.

COGAN: I would say that their fear is totally understandable, I think that it's so unfortunate that so many kids have had to return to school after something like this has happened. But mostly, I would want them to know that there are millions of people all over the United States, and I think all over the world as well, that are grieving with them, that are holding them in their hearts, and really want to fight to make sure that, you know, nothing like this ever happens again, and that we make school safer so that they don't have to have that fear.

Because I think you're right, you know, the survivors are having that fear, but also parents all across the United States. I don't think there's any parent in the United States who hasn't thought about this in the last few days. I think, you know, that really underscores the need to not let this moment go to waste, and to have a real conversation about how we can keep each other safe and our children safe.

[03:20:02]

CHURCH: Yes. Such important points, we need change now, we need action now. Marin Cogan, thank you so much for joining us.

COGAN: Thank you.

CHURCH: And just ahead, after a long, strict COVID lockdown, Shanghai is starting to come back

to life.

Listen to the excitement there, but perhaps they shouldn't celebrate too hard just yet. We are live in China with the latest.

And meet America's newest cardinal, his stance on the issues and his reaction to his new role. That's coming up.

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CHURCH: After more than two months under lockdown, China's richest city is finally beginning to ease COVID restrictions in low-risk areas. Most Shanghai residents are now able to leave their homes and see some semblance of normalcy, although the number of new cases has been declining, China's COVID outbreak is not over, and there are still safety measures in place.

So, let's bring in CNN's Beijing bureau chief, Steven Jiang, he joins us live. Good to see you again, Steven. So, while Shanghai has loosened those COVID restrictions in some areas, we don't know for how long so many residents that we saw them essentially fleeing their homes. What is the latest on all of this?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Rosemary, it's actually quite surreal to see the return and hustle and bustle in many streets in Shanghai after so long, and we've been speaking to numerous residents in the city who are really reacting to this moment with very mixed emotions and feelings. In contrast to the portrayal in state media which obviously focuses on people's excitement, hopefulness, and even gratitude to the government leadership and health workers.

What we are hearing from residents is many are still really processing their pain, suffering and losses that either they experienced or seen in the past few months. Many are still angry what the local authorities demanding a public apology which is unlikely to come given the root cause of the catastrophic response to COVID in Shanghai, really comes from the central leadership's insistence on a zero COVID policy.

Now even though the majority of Shanghai's 25 million residents now have regained some degrees of freedom of movement, they are actually face with increasingly pervasive and invasive COVID control measures that are here to stay. That includes COVID tests every 72 hours in order to access most public places including public transportation.

[03:24:54] And also, the incessant need of scanning a so-called Q.R. location, Q.R. codes to allow the authorities to easily literally track their every step in the city in the name of contact tracing. Not to mention that their residential compound could be place under lockdown again anytime a new positive case emerges.

So that's why I think a lot of people have also become very reflective, telling us that brutal lockdown really made them realize, no matter how much money are perceived success they have their life could be upended overnight by arbitrary decisions made by a distant leadership with very little accountability.

That's why many are saying they are now voting with their feet starting with the cities expatriate community, but also many Shanghai natives seriously considering immigration for the first-time, willing to leave their beloved city, which they say may never be the same again.

And also, Rosemary, it's worth noting, as soon as we started this conversation the Chinese censors have blocked out CNN's coverage in this country, that's how sensitive this topic remains to be in China. Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right, Steven Jiang joining us live there, many thanks.

Well, a 19-year-old woman is hoping to be the youngest member of Seoul City council. Noh Seo-jin who you see there in yellow is one of seven teenagers running for public office in today's local elections in South Korea. Teen candidates are able to run, thanks to a rule change lowering the minimum age requirement from 25 to just 18 years old. Noh says voters shouldn't worry about her age because she has more experience than some of South Korea's highest-ranking politicians.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NOH SEO-JIN, JUSTICE PARTY CANDIDATE FOR SEOUL CITY COUNCIL (through translator): In fact, in terms of political career, I have a longer political career than the president. Just because I'm young doesn't mean the lack of ability. I'm a politician who has been well trained, and I've grown within the Justice party in the past four years with various experiences and achievements. I plan to work hard to change these perceptions in the future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: There is a growing movement in southern Italy that is standing up to organized crime. Ahead, the residents refusing to go along with business as usual when it comes to the Italian mafia.

And rivals hit the court at the French Open with only one advancing. We will hear from Rafael Nadal after his thrilling win.

[03:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHURCH: Rescue workers have been combing through the mud in northeastern Brazil, searching for survivors and victims. At least 100 people have been killed from flooding and landslides triggered by heavy rains. More than a dozen people are still reported missing. The force of the landslides ripped apart houses and more than 6,000 people have been displaced.

In Dubai, an historic trade deal was reached between Israel and the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, the two countries normalized relations in 2020 in what was then a groundbreaking move. The free trade agreement was reached after months of negotiations and will gradually remove most tariffs on food, medicine, cosmetics and other goods.

Leaders from both sides called Tuesday's deal, quote, "a new chapter of prosperity." The agreement aims to reach $10 billion in annual free trade within the next five years.

In the coming hours, Danish voters will head to the polls to decide whether Denmark should join the E.U.'s common security and defense policy. Right now, they're the only E.U. member not a part of the agreement opting back in 1993. Denmark has relied on its NATO ties for defense. But joining would also allow access E.U. military operations.

Reuters reports early polling shows nearly 50 percent of voters in favor of the measure.

Well, the Vatican has announced who will become the Catholic Church's newest cardinals in just a few months. Among the group, an American bishop who appears to share priorities with Pope Francis.

CNN's Delia Gallagher has more now from Rome.

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: A new cardinal for the United States Pope Francis has named San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy, the only American in a group of 21 new cardinals to be installed at the Vatican on August 27th. McElroy said that he was stunned and deeply surprised at the announcement.

He is known as a progressive. He has opposed banning to support abortion rights when receiving communions, something which the archbishop of San Francisco Cordileone did recently with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, while the James Martin have outreach tweeted, that McElroy has long been a friend to the LGBTQ community and McElroy supports the possibility of women eventually becoming deacons in the Catholic Church.

So, Pope Francis' choice of McElroy over other higher ranking conservative bishops suggest that he finds in him an ally with somebody who shares in his priorities. McElroy is 68 and he now becomes one of 10 U.S. cardinals eligible to vote in an eventual conclave.

Delia Gallagher, CNN, Rome.

CHURCH: Residents and activists in a southern Italian province are taking a stand against organized crime after police say the local mafia attacked nearly a dozen businesses earlier this year.

CNN's Ben Wedeman reports from Foggia in Italy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I've always stayed away from here, because he makes me bitter businessman, Lads Dauria (Ph) tells me.

Two years ago, three of his trucks and other equipment were torched after he said no to mafia bosses here in the southern Italian province of Foggia, who demanded more than $200,000 a year in pizzo, slang for protection money.

[03:35:02]

Dauria (Ph) now has around the clock police protection. He says paying pizzo is still the rule in Foggia but changes a foot. The population is beginning to understand that they shouldn't pay says Dauria (Ph). The mafia, however, is fighting back.

Police suspect the mafia was behind 11 arson and bomb attacks in January on businesses, including Anna Aprile's (Ph) flower stand outside the main cemetery in the provincial capital, also called Foggia. She and her son have since repaired the damage. "No one ever asked us to pay anything," Anna insist.

The Foggia mafia is really a collection of often warrying crime families living off extortion, drugs, and arm smuggling.

One of the characteristics of the Foggia mafia is its extreme violence, says police chief Paulo Cierna (Ph). There have been eight mafia wars in the city of Foggia. In recent years, the authorities have woken up to the growing threat of organized crime in this relatively poor underdeveloped part of the country. Yet, their efforts are often stymied by Omerta, the southern Italian law of silence fear and family loyalty ensure many residents see nothing and say nothing when the authorities come calling.

In Foggia's main outdoor market, our questions about the mafia are dismissed.

"No, we don't know about those things" she tells me. "There is no mafia," says this man. But cracks are starting to show in the wall of silence, thanks to a brave few. Daniela Marcone is a leader of Libera, an anti-mafia group. Her father was shot at point blank range 26 years ago, an official with the finance ministry he was investigating dubious business activities. His killer has never been found. The more active she has become, the more ominous the threats against her.

"I've received anonymous letters," Marcone says, "some really nasty in which the tone was always, mind your own business, change city, go live somewhere else." Some mafia bosses have been put behind bars, but that might not be enough, warns Foggia's chief magistrate Ludovico Vaccaro. "Unfortunately, prison he is very porous," he tells me. "There's a lot

of osmosis between inside and outside, prison doesn't insure an interruption of criminal activity."

Someone shot a bullet through the window of one of Alessandro Zito's businesses after he refused to pay pizzo. He left Foggia with his family fearing for their lives. On this day he's back in town, a member of a newly-grouped of businessman who have had enough of extortion.

"Civil society is changing," he says, "because people are tired, because the situation is no longer livable." In the evening, we joined the police on patrol, after January spade of attacks, checkpoints have become a frequent site. The fight against the mafia here has only just begun.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Foggia, southern Italy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: It is an event 70 years in the making. Coming up, how Britons are getting ready to celebrate Queen Elizabeth's platinum jubilee.

[03:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Another thrill on the court in Paris as longtime rival, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic battle it out at the French Open. In the end, Nadal defeated the defending French Open champion to advance to the semifinals. The match between the all-time tennis greats lasted more than four hours and ended after one in the morning, local time. Nadal is seeking a record extending 14th French Open title and record extending 22nd major title. And he spoke after the match.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAFAEL NADAL, 13-TIME ROLAND GARROS CHAMPION: The feeling about playing in the most important place and the most important special place, personally in my tennis career, I feel the support of all the crowd is just something very difficult to describe. And also, I just can't thank enough everyone here in Paris for making me feel that way. I'm having one of this unforgettable night. So thank you very much everyone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Well-done. Well, in world football, Scotland will face off against Ukraine in Glasgow today in a qualifying match for the World Cup in Qatar. For Ukraine, the war at home is very much on the player's minds. But a win would provide a much-needed morale boost, the winner of this match will go on to play against Wales on Sunday with a spot in the World Cup on the line.

Britain is getting ready for a party. Queen Elizabeth's platinum jubilee. The events officially kicked off Thursday and run through Sunday. The nation will celebrate Queen Elizabeth's 70 years on the throne with pomp and pageantry, including the custom trooping the color. Stay tuned to CNN for live coverage of the celebrations.

And thank you so much for spending time of your day with me. I'm Rosemary Church. African Voices Changemakers is coming up next.

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(AFRICAN VOICES CHANGEMAKERS)

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