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Venezuela Is Reeling Under A COVID Crisis; Iran Battles A Third Wave Of COVID; U.K. To Begin COVID Vaccinations Tuesday. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired December 07, 2020 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[10:00:18]
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is intensively neonatal ward, and the reason I'm holding up disliked right here is because there is no electricity in this
hospital.
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BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Tonight, we take you exclusively inside Venezuela's largest hospitals falling apart under the weight of
COVID. And.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIIED MALE: A lot of the debris has been cleared away here, but you can still see the ship from the explosion on the curb and the damage done
to the road below me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Were on the scene in Iran as it spins in ever more bizarre story about the assassination of the man who led its nuclear program. Plus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He says if you showed fear, they would kill you. But if you were brave, escaped with your life and the scars on your back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: We had incredible access, you will only get here on CONNECT THE WORLD. The stories of separation and despair from the frontlines in
Ethiopia's war.
We are connecting your world this evening with unparalleled access. I'm Becky Anderson. Hello, and welcome to the program. We are this hour,
connecting to places that could be given their natural resources and the industrious nature of their people. Fantastically rich and really quite
nice places to live, they are neither far from it. Instead, right now both Iran and Venezuela are dealing with the ruins of economies that have been
all but evaporated by almost unbelievably intense American sanctions.
Both have been truly decimated by COVID outbreaks both are ruled in extremely dictatorial ways and both often cling to one another in the face
of it all. In the latest example of their ever-close ties and in a somewhat grotesque irony, Iran has been sending flotilla of ships to Venezuela
carrying fuel that are then greeted by fighter jets. Remember the ships carrying fuel that's fuel to Venezuela, which is literally floats on oil
with some of the largest reserves on Earth.
We are in both countries this hour connecting everything that is going on for you. We're going to start in Venezuela. A country where the stark
reality of the effects of this pandemic playing out amid the daily struggle of life under sanctions and government neglect. To translate it more
bluntly, it's about as bad as it gets. People can barely survive a third of those they're struggling to eat.
All manners of basics from medicines to much of what you might like to grab at the store out the value of money next to nothing, add to that a glaring
medical crisis that existed even before the pandemic exactly how much worse it's gotten. We can't tell because we can't trust any of the official
numbers on COVID. And that is mostly down to this man, hopes for any quick improvement lightly flickering out with Venezuelans.
Reelecting President Nicolas Maduro's government in a vote the opposition calls neither free nor fair. Let me bring in Isa Soares who is incorrect as
for you. Isa, and a CNN crew gaining exclusive access to two hospitals for you that labor just how bad things are. Isa, what have you seen and how are
people coping?
ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Becky, my team and I have been in Venezuela on various occasions, and we have been keeping on top of the
crisis. Crippling crisis here in Venezuela. And what we have witnessed is like nothing we have seen before. It's gone past of despair. It's gone past
the desperation. It's almost exhaustion and resignation. I spoke to one lady two days ago and something she said we stuck to me.
She lives in one of the biggest slums here. And she said, it's gotten so hard the life we're living, it's almost not -- it feels like almost we
don't want to live at all. And that's really captured the mood and the crisis in Venezuela. So, we really wanted to get a sense of what was
happening behind closed doors because Venezuela has been so closed off, so isolated from the rest of the world because of COVID-19.
And what we saw, what we witnessed with our very own eyes was really a healthcare system in total collapse.
[10:05:01]
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SOARES: In (INAUDIBLE) public hospital in Caracas, remnants of this once wealthy nation lie strewn on the dirt floor. It's shackled ward's hiding
what the Venezuelan government doesn't want us to see. Here COVID-19 has a masked Venezuela's open wounds. And practically every floor this hospital
is empty, tells me this hospital worker who prefers to remain anonymous.
It's a risk only a few dare to take. This is the COVID-19 ward. Only this part of it is functional. The rest is completely rundown after years of
mismanagement. So, it's no surprise many would rather face the pandemic outside these walls, choosing instead their homes over these decrepit rooms
where darkness has literally taken over.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is intensive neonatal ward. And the reason I'm holding up this slide right here is because there is no electricity in this
hospital. Have a look around, bare bones. And what I've been told by doctors around Caracas and outside of Caracas is that this is a situation
day in, day out.
SOARES: Even in the morgue death comes with shortages. There's no pathologist here, and with intermittent electricity, the stench is
unbearable. Now imagine having to face a pandemic in these conditions. It's why doctors like (INAUDIBLE) are no longer free to speak out.
I have friends of mine who have been criminally charged he says. Why? For protesting the conditions in which they've been forced to practice. So, he
doesn't hold back. In Venezuela tells me there are only as many recognized COVID cases as the regime once. We're testing limited to three government
control labs (INAUDIBLE) says it's impossible to paint an accurate picture. With regards to COVID he says we don't know where we are.
The government however, claims the pandemic is under control, saying its strategy has worked. A government minder shows us inside a hotel where
suspected infected patients are kept in quarantine for up to 21 days. It's a lockdown strategy employed by China, which the government of Nicolas
Maduro has been keen to extol. Dr. Rodriguez shares a similar pride. Venezuelans have shown an immunity to the virus he says.
The families of those who have died on the frontlines may see it differently. 272 healthcare workers have lost their lives in Venezuela as
of November the 30th. As hospital Vargas in Caracas, you can see why they are overworked and unprotected.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's one nurse for this whole area here.
TEXT: We don't have a mask, we don't have gloves. They turn on the water on hour in the morning, one in the afternoon and one at night. There's
nothing. There's no broom, no mop, no cloth.
SOARES: This is evident all around. And as a walk this ward, I stopped to speak to a patient's daughter. She tells me her frail, 69-year-old father
is here because of malnourishment. The same state-imposed malady that we've seen across Venezuela. His immune system is compromised, yet he shares this
ward with a COVID patient. His daughter tells me he needs iron supplements, that the hospital simply doesn't have.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have a look at this. I mean, this is what -- this is what they have to work with here, nurses and doctors, syringes to standing.
They've got nothing.
SOARES: There's a vast emptiness all around and a sense of disillusionment and surrender. Painful no doubt for those who saw this once oil rich
country is one of the wealthiest in Latin America now teetering on the brink of survival.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: And Becky, fear then has reached out to the Venezuelan government for comment on the conditions we saw across those two public hospitals. And
also, the criticism we heard and you heard in that piece from various healthcare professionals today. We have heard nothing from the Venezuelan
government. But let me give you a better sense as well from those on the ground, doctors who were seeing that really the difficulty, the dye states
day in day out.
I'm joined now by Dr. Marianella Herrera, a doctor here in Caracas. I'm scoping my mouth on, Doctor. Apologies. Give me a sense of what is
happening. What you're seeing the day in day out across Caracas.
[10:10:08]
DR. MARIANELLA HERRERA, HEAD OF VENEZUELAN HEALTH OBSERVATORY: Yes, we are facing a very difficult time. And mostly those underserved are the most
vulnerable. They have been in situations to test deciding whether to go to work and earn the income and salary to buy foods, or staying at home,
because they already know this system, the health system is collapsing. So, it is a very difficult time for everybody.
We have seen mothers struggling to feed their children and even not eating themselves in order to feed them -- their children. And also, we have seen,
you know, very painful situations such as children telling, give me a little bit of your glass of water because that water is clean. I've never
seen that type of water before.
(CROSSTALK)
SOARES: -- important for viewers to really understand is this hasn't started just because of COVID, it was already here. COVID as really
exacerbated the situation on the ground. And there are those from those I spoke to that didn't want to go to hospital that the home with symptoms of
COVID. Is this what you're hearing too?
HERRERA: Absolutely, because they are already scared about going to the hospital that they already knew. There was nothing, no medicine, no water.
I mean, that is a real collapse. So, people are very and fully aware of the situation. And they are -- I mean, having to decide whether I go or stay
home and I can die of hunger, but I also can die of COVID. It's a very difficult situation.
SOARES: Very, very briefly, have you seen Venezuela ever in the state?
HERRERA: No, absolutely never.
SOARES: Dr. Marianella Herrera, thank you very much.
HERRERA: Thank you.
SOARES: And Becky. So, you heard it there from the doctor. We saw it really in our piece. It's gone point past the point of desperation, it's
exhaustion, resignation. We'll continue telling the stories of people in Venezuela in the next -- the next week or so. I'll bring you story exactly
what the doctor was talking about. And that is the poorest here, malnutrition and people dying because they can't quite get a plate of food
day in, day out, Becky.
ANDERSON: I was just writing down some of the words that you've just used to describe what is going on on the ground. It is desperate, Isa, thank
you. Isa Soares on the ground in Caracas. Look, as we said Venezuela closely aligning itself with Iran, if not by religious affiliation or faith
or ideology, they're really by necessity, so pushed into the cold as they both are by American sanctions.
Iran, though, can offer little comfort. It's the hardest hit country in the Middle East in this pandemic. The Islamic Republic battling a third wave of
this COVID-19. But it's really part of one huge disaster story there. Iran's government claiming sanctions are making things worse since they are
blocking access to vaccines and all manner of medical supplies. And there have been yet more coming even still in the aftermath of last month's
assassination of Iran's top nuclear scientists.
Nick Paton Walsh and his crew got rare access to the scene of the killing as Iran's story of how it was carried out gets. Nic, even wilder.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITYEDITOR: Certainly. We went to the scene ourselves, see precisely what evidence could be remaining there
minimal, frankly, as Iran's senior officials have been telling state media, they now believe that at fact, it was artificial intelligence with facial
recognition and a satellite-controlled robot machine gun that carried out this attack.
Some are skeptical, that version of events. But still the broader question reverberating now is what does this mean for the future of diplomacy here
in Iran and the region.
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WALSH (voice-over): Amid Tehran's holiday homes by the snowy roadside is where the man whose work Iran says must go on was fatally shot reportedly
in front of his wife. Nuclear Scientist Dr. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was Iran's repository of nuclear bomb knowledge Israel has claimed while not saying
they were behind the assassination.
A lot of the debris has been cleared away here but you can still see the surge from the explosion on the curve and the damage done to the road below
me. There are still so many different versions of events of what happens here but one witness we've spoken to says at first they heard an explosion,
a wood truck they say that detonated here, and then there was an exchange of gunfire the lasted about eight to 10 minutes. You can see over here the
damage still done to the site by the bullets.
WALSH: (voice-over): From the orchard nearby, possible vantage points for a low-tech ambush. Even though, Iranian security officials are telling state
media this was a high-tech plot involving an A.I. powered facial recognition satellite-controlled robot machine gun into his bullets
Fakhrizadeh stepped when he got out of his bulletproof car.
[10:15:13]
WALSH (voice-over): One of the many reasons offered through a lapse in security in this neat backwater. Fakhrizadeh's son told state media his
father ignored warnings from his security detail the day before. My father said he had a class the son says, one he could not teach virtually and an
important meeting. They could not persuade him to turn back. Deep inside the defense ministry Sunday they remembered him again at the highest
levels.
Among Iran's critics louder and louder the question, does this another lapse in security? Make a race towards a possible nuclear weapon a good
idea or a worse one? Officially, Iran says it does not want the bomb. But its Parliament last week demanded Iran enrich uranium to 20 percent in the
first weeks of the Biden administration. That could make a weapon a lot closer. Yet there remain two versions of Iran both a bit visible here. It's
hard hit by sanctions and wants to talk or has resisted and will hit back.
MIKE POMPEO, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE: We know our campaign is working because now the Iranians are desperately say to like their
willingness to return to the negotiating table to get sanctions relief.
SAYEED MOHAMMED MARANDI, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF TEHRAN: Israeli regime if it feels that it can continue carrying out acts of terror. Iranians will
pay an unnecessary price. The only way to stop these acts of terror is for them to pay a price that makes it not worthy. I have no doubt that the
Iranians are going to respond.
WALSH (voice-over): Iran has been here before a lot as this museum have blown up cars or tests. All Peugeot models going back in the ages or
nuclear scientists assassinated in Iran's pursuit of what it says is peaceful nuclear technology that it needs alongside its huge oil reserves.
We may never know what knowledge perished with Dr. Fakhrizadeh or what impact that will have on Iran's critics, the hoax, who claim that it could
be as little as four months away from a possible nuclear weapon.
WALSH (voice-over): Deals, scientists, assassins all have come and gone. But the mounting tension which Joe Biden has a huge diplomatic task to ease
in a matter of months, has about 40 days left to build.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALSH: It is really a clock ticking on that diplomacy. Can it get sanctions lifted fast enough to give those arguing against hawks here in Iran, the
moderates pro diplomacy, a reason to continue those negotiations? Another thing we heard today, France, Germany in the United Kingdom, the E3 so to
speak signatories of that nuclear deal from 2015 expressing their deep concern of what they say is Iran adding new centrifuges to its Natanz
nuclear plant.
So, concerns they're certainly voiced in Europe, the U.S. continuing perhaps to edge towards diplomacy, which looks likely under President-elect
Joe Biden, the real question is whether that can bring fruit fast enough, Becky, for the various different hardliner sides here in the region and in
the U.S. to continue to support it.
ANDERSON: Nick Paton Walsh, he's on the ground in Tehran. Nic, thank you. Trading warnings with plenty of noise on both sides and what our do or die
Brexit talks. What's being said. And why live from London. Up next, first, though, COVID-19 vaccinations getting underway in Britain in less than 24
hours. But before shots go into those arms, what some called vaccine passports, get much of the spotlight.
And even with a vaccine on the way some places are preparing for what would be a third COVID wave. We are live in Jerusalem this hour.
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[10:21:18]
ANDERSON: We started the show connecting you to Venezuela where the situation is desperate. But as a society there is caught in a horrible
vacuum of COVID. There is a sharp difference, for example, in Britain because in these boxes hope there is being delivered or a form of it at
least there. These are the first doses of the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine being delivered.
In less than 24 hours from now the first shots of it will begin going into people's arms kicking off what is a massive vaccination programs. CNN's
Salma Abdelaziz joining us from Downing Street with more. Salma?
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Becky, it all starts tomorrow less than 24 hours, as you said. And the question is, is the government ready? So, they
will say yes, that they are. There are 50 hospital hubs set up across England. And starting tomorrow, they will be giving vaccinations first to
people over 80 who have an appointment or can come in rather for an appointment as well as care home staff or nursing home staff and frontline
healthcare workers.
But there's still a lot of challenges. This is a very large and complex operation, the largest vaccine program in the U.K.'s history. And one of
the questions is, how are you going to keep track of people, right? You have to remember people have to get two shots. So, one and then 21 days and
then a second one before they're actually immune. So, how are you going to keep track of everyone while there is images circulating of a sort of
credit card size, NHS card that had dates and specifics on it.
The question is, is it an immunization passport? Here's what one official had to say about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ABDELAZIZ: What is it if it's not a passport?
JAMES CLEVERLY, MINISTER OF STATE FOR MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA: It's -- I mean, ultimately, it is about -- it's about making sure that there is a
wide rollout and confidence in that rollout as well. So --
ABDELAZIZ: But it's a passport, isn't it? It allows you to go into places that you wouldn't be able to go if you didn't have it.
CLEVERLY: It's about unlocking -- it's about unlocking people's lives. It's about unlocking the economy. It's about making sure we protect lives of
state life. It's -- well there you go. Get it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABDELAZIZ: So, it's not a passport. One official -- one spokesman rather for the prime minister said it is a reminder card. It is a card to remind
people. And of course, there's ethical issues swirling around whether or not you should have an immunity passport. And that's why officials have
been very keen to clarify that this is a reminder card, not a passport. But again, this is just one of the very many complexities that officials will
have to delve into.
And the other one is, of course, that the U.K. is exiting the E.U. in just a matter of weeks and less than a month's time. So, that could complicate
transport. So, we also heard in that interview that potentially the military could be involved. This is all why the chief medical officer has
said. This is going to be a marathon, not a sprint, Becky.
ANDERSON: Salma is outside the Prime Minister's residence in London.
Well, vaccine won't mean the pandemic instantly goes away far from it. But you wouldn't know that looking at this tightly packed crowd in Nottingham
in the north of England. Take a look at this winter wonderland market forced to close this weekend just a day after opening. Thanks to
overcrowding. And as you can see there, there were very few masks being worn and absolutely no social distancing.
This -- even though the city is under the highest level of restrictions in the U.K. which is very high alert.
Well, of course even with a vaccine on the way we are by no means out of the woods when it comes to this virus. Israel's Prime Minister now warning
of a third Wave. Look at these staggering, rising COVID cases since the end of the summer especially.
[10:25:05]
ANDERSON: Don't forget Christmas and Hanukkah celebrations are around the corner. And the situation is particularly dire in Gaza, where there's been
an alarming spike in cases. Oren Liebermann has been on the forefront of this story throughout the pandemic joining us tonight from Jerusalem. How
is the government there are in reacting to what is this threat of a third wave?
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu actually said this is the beginning of the third wave because there's a
rise in both coronavirus infections, the daily numbers which have been above 1000 for most days this past week. But also arising the positivity
rate of testing a week ago it was 1.9 percent over the weekend, it was 3.9 percent, so that's worrying.
There's also a steady rise according the ministry of health data in the number of severely ill patients across Israel. All of that is why Netanyahu
came out and said that we have to get back to what helped the country get through the second wave and the first wave and that is masks, social
distancing, and the washing of hands. He says he's not afraid to reimpose restrictions if the numbers keep getting worse.
And it's because of those numbers that the coronavirus czar issued a warning. He said Christmas and Hanukkah, the holidays should be celebrated
with a nuclear family and the nuclear family only to avoid a rise in infections, a continued rise in infections. As we look at the numbers here,
the situation is even worse in Gaza, with a Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza warned and put out numbers showing that recently the positivity
rate for testing has been around 30 percent most days the past week, nearing roughly 1000 cases a day in recent days.
And all of that is incredibly worrying because according to a spokesman for Hamas, they're out of testing supplies in a central laboratory there can no
longer conduct tests. A very drastic situation here as the E.U. tries to step in to remedy this situation. Gaza had for months, been able to hold
off the pandemic with strict quarantine procedures, quarantine centers and lockdowns. But at this point, it looks like it may be too late.
Gaza has imposed strict lockdowns once again to try to get these numbers under control, worrying numbers on both sides, Israel and Gaza, the West
Bank as well, Becky.
ANDERSON: Gaza had managed to hold off the spread of the virus for months as you know, reported has appeared to have gotten out of control.
Resources, of course, are extremely scarce at. What what's the sense of what's going on the ground? How are sort of a hospital infrastructure
coping if at all?
LIEBERMANN: That's an excellent question. Look, I wish I could get into Gaza and get a good look at what it looks like there. The fact that they're
out of testing supplies and testing materials is in and of itself incredibly worrying. Hamas and Gaza authorities are trying to work with the
European Union, the United Nations to try to get some sort of testing supplies into there. We'll see what testing supplies other countries,
perhaps Turkey and Qatar send in.
And we'll see if Israel itself decides to bring in some of its own testing supplies to try to figure out first how bad the problem is. How quickly it
could get worse and where it's leading Gaza. For a long time for months at the beginning of the pandemic as it was raging effectively across the world
in most cases.
Gaza managed to keep it at bay and used its closure to its advantage and built quarantine centers to make sure anybody who came in with the virus
was immediately put into quarantine, that all seems to fallen apart very, very quickly over the course of recent weeks.
ANDERSON: Oren Liebermann is in Jerusalem for you. Oren, always a pleasure. Thank you. Well, there's plenty of political rhetoric flying between London
and Brussels with the U.K. on the brink of monumental change. The future of its relationship with its closest neighbors hangs in the balance. Our live
report from London is up next.
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[10:31:23]
ANDERSON: A low tech connection for high stakes conversation. I'm talking about a phone call that good out decide the United Kingdom's future for
decades to come. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen are expected to speak again
next hour for the second time in two days now. This is because the U.K. is looking to secure a trade deal with the E.U. and it's only got 3-1/2 weeks
left to do it.
But besides basically counting on their fingers now until the Brexit transitions back in January, Britain left the European Union. It's been
negotiating a trade deal with the bloc ever since. Now, if the U.K. crashes out of the E.U. it could mean big problems for the British economy. Of
course, we know tough talks mean plenty of rhetoric on both sides. There's an E.U. diplomat saying this is "the end game" while the British Prime
Minister is rolling out any negotiations into 2021.
But it's not all political theater. Three sticking points are a big deal because they could essentially wreck any deal. The tough trio include or
our fishing rights, a level playing field for businesses and deal enforcement. Well, connecting us to the angles is Nic Robertson in London.
And Nic, I just want to pick through these one by one fishing. Why is that such an issue?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Emotive, political, Boris Johnson said that Britain will take back control. Fishing has been an
area where Britain has always felt it's lost out to the European Union. It's a tiny part of the U.K. GDP. U.K. fishermen want 100 percent control
or as much control as they can have of all the fishing in U.K. waters. Where it is the French fishermen who fish in some of those same waters
don't want to lose those rights.
Right now, it's all looking towards a transition. How do you get from where we are to where we're going to be in the future? Is it going to be three
years as Britain wants or 10 years as the European Union says or five to seven years as with being floated in the air at the moment?
ANDERSON: That's fishing. Level playing field. Nic, what is that and why should we care?
ROBERTSON: We should care because it could affect the trade that the European Union does with the U.K., vice versa. And this would have knock on
effects for anyone that's doing business with either of those entities. Look, level playing field means for the European Union that the British
government can't, for example, pump subsidies into one area of manufacturing. And therefore disadvantage European manufacturers are
manufacturing the same thing.
There's also a part of it that's known as sort of regulatory alignment and the European Union has been pushing the U.K. specifically on the issue of
labor laws and environmental laws, which they plan to toughen. So, if the - - if the U.K. agrees we'll have the same labor and environmental laws as you have right now. But then the European Union changes and the U.K. stays
where it is, again, perhaps an advantage for the U.K.
So, the E.U. wants the U.K. to track and follow those changes, how tightly how closely? That's what they're discussing.
ANDERSON: What do we mean by deal enforcement and why is that a sticking point?
ROBERTSON: Well, as we, you know, not to make light of it, Becky, but look, I mean there's so much difficulty in hammering out the nuance of all the
details in the deal -- in -- the trade deal as it is at the table.
[10:35:08]
ROBERTSON: But then imagine writ large, you've got to deal. It's on paper. And now it has to be enforced. Who does it? Who's the -- who decides who's
the independent body? How many people of each country are on this independent body that's overseeing? What level of control and authority
will they have? Of course, that word control, Britain was all about take back control. They said that before. That's what Boris Johnson wanted.
And that's what he campaigned on. And that's what he believes he has to deliver on for the U.K. So, whatever regulatory body oversees all of this,
Boris Johnson does not want to look like that body will then trap the U.K. back into losing that control.
ANDERSON: Thank you, Nic, for making clear what is an extremely complicated negotiation that is going on at present. It's so important that our viewers
get a sense of what's going on behind the scenes. I interviewed Philippe Lamberts, a member of the European Parliament's U.K. Coordination Group
late last week. Have listen to what he told me briefly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHILIPPE LAMBERTS, MEMBER OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: So just imagine that the U.K. and European Union would come to an agreement on the 29th of
December, of course, there would be no time for ratification between that date, and the first of January. And while one method would be to
provisionally apply all the provisions of the treaty as of January 1st, even though it would not have been ratified by them.
But this is an option that has been excluded by the European Parliament. And therefore, the alternative is to strike on would be a period of no deal
before we get to the future relationship.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: In a word, none of this is easy and nothing, Nic, clear at this point with just -- what? We were talking days not numbers of weeks at this
point until a deal of some sort needs to be cut or it is a no deal crash out for the U.K. from the E.U., correct?
ROBERTSON: Correct. That's the pressure that we've heard from a number of - - a number of diplomats today in Europe who really referencing what they heard from Michel Barnier in his briefing this morning to E.U. diplomats,
he briefed very early in the day, you can't help but look at that and say the negative tone that's come out that there's big gaps to be made up it is
really E.U. pressure on the U.K. to start caving and to start make -- some -- starting to make some of those tough decisions.
It's all a negotiation and some of these things that we've talked about here, the fishing, the regulatory the governance these things, the level
playing field, they can be close, but until you look all of them in because there are tradeoffs, you don't have a deal.
ANDERSON: Nic Robertson is in London for you. Thank you, Nic. And you can connect to even more analysis on what looms in the New Year for the United
Kingdom. That is on our digital site. cnn.com for insight from our Brexit expert Luke McGee. Well, ahead CNN World Sport, Tottenham Hotspur returning
to the top of the English Premier League. We will talk about what was a world class strike that is given the North London team, their bragging
rights.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:42:09]
ANDERSON: Well, Spurs fans have a real reason to dream for the English Premier League title on Sunday. He came out victorious over bitter rivals
Arsenal and returned to the top of the standings. World Sports Amanda Davies here with me. Amanda that result not only putting Spurs top but 20
Tottenham fan almost as important, it relegates said North London rivals to six from bottom and the win a veritable Jose Mourinho masterclass in front
of some real fans.
AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: Yes, absolutely. Becky, as I am sure you well know, Spurs fans daring to dream top of the table and looking for
that first league title in how many years? Since 1961. If ever there was a club desperate for the silverware, I mean, Mourinho is trying to urge some
caution but it is looking pretty good. And yet, to nowhere, no boss, no witness by a few 1000 lucky fans, as supporters finally allowed back into
grounds here in England.
But I have to say sadly, Becky, it wasn't all good news on that front in England. We've got an all too familiar tale to tell from Milwaukee. She's
coming up on World Sport.
ANDERSON: All right. Well, let's do the good news first and then get to the not so good news, or certainly not so good news. In fact, very bad news
after that. I look forward to it. World Sports is up after the break. I'll be back after that. Stay with us, folks.
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