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ICRC: "Decades of Loss" Taking Heavy Toll On Syria's Youth; From Peaceful Uprising To Multinational Bloodbath; Brazilian Hospitals Overwhelmed By New Cases; 10 Years In Brutal Conflict, Has The World Failed Syria; Lack Of Oxygen In Hospital Sparks Outrage Across Jordan; Women Rule In Historic Night At The Grammy Awards. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired March 15, 2021 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST: A decade of destruction and despair and no clear path forward. Today is the 10th anniversary of the start of the Syrian
civil war. 10 years on the UN Secretary General says the country remains a living nightmare with devastation, impossible to fathom.
Well, it began with a peaceful protest in Dara. Quickly crushed by the government years of unimaginable horror followed that hundreds of thousands
of people have been killed millions fleeing the country or displaced from their homes. Large parts of Syria left in ruins from relentless battles,
bombings and the ISIS reign of terror.
Well, today a tenuous ceasefire reached a year ago has cut down on the killing, but no one inside Syria or outside can predict if it will last or
lead to any permanent peace. During a Sunday prayer, Pope Francis asked all sides involved for a glimmer of hope for what he called a beloved and
tormented country.
Well. CNN's Arwa Damon has been reporting on Syria's war for us from the start with a particular focus on the plight of Syria's children. She has an
exclusive look now at the enduring horror faced by the war's youngest victims.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): What do I do? Use a bucket of water a blanket. I tried using my hands like this to put out the flames. I
couldn't. My son's body was a ball of fire. Sultan was playing on his bike when a rocket blew up fuel canisters nearby.
An ambulance brought Sultan to Turkey. He and his mother have been there ever since. This is the last photo of Sultan before the airstrike. No, you
are not ugly, you are beautiful. Omar constantly tells him. Sultan has an utterly disarming smile with eyes that fluctuate between sparkling like a
10 year old should but at times darken as his past sets in.
He has these nightmares where he's on fire his whole body's on fire, even his eyes are on fire and he wakes up screaming for his mother to put out
the flames. Sultan's his old Syria's war itself a life that carries the emotional and physical scars of a nation.
When he was five, his baby brother was killed in a bombing when Sultan was six his father died in a strike on the market. This is where a Sultan was
born into unimaginable violence where he lost so much a grey dusty town of smothered childhood laughter stolen by war.
Renad's family did not know that mines were daisy chained along the wall of their home. Her grandfather shows us where the first one went off. She was
swinging off the door with her siblings, and then all of a sudden there was an explosion from the mine right there.
She lost her left leg under the knee. She has a prosthetic now. She says her father disappeared a decade ago at the start of Syria's war. She tells
us he was blindfolded and she was thrown to the ground in a forest. It's the longest sentence she speaks.
Mostly she gives one word answers or fall silent. Her grandfather says he feels like she's just gone blank. She doesn't dream of a life without war
because she can't even imagine it. It's been over a year since we were last year covering Russia and the Syrian regime's most intense assault on what
remains of rebel held territory.
There's been a ceasefire in place since then that has been relatively speaking, holding. COVID-19 peaked here late last year now ICU beds are
mostly empty. It's all sandbagged underneath here just in case there's more bombing that resumes.
This is a pediatric hospital, one of the few that remains intact. Syed is 2.5 months old and severely underweight. They've seen a threefold increase
in malnutrition cases in this clinic alone for a number of reasons.
Years of bombings and displacement leading to greater poverty and then further fueled by COVID-19 border closures and humanitarian aid slowing
down. We past ramshackle camps with each bombardment more of them blooded the countryside a decade for so many a lifetime of compounded trauma.
[11:05:00]
DAMON (voice over): The past permeates everything. For most, there's not a month a week that goes by, that isn't the anniversary of the death of
someone they love. Perhaps all that is left to save are the shreds of innocence of a scarred generation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well Arwa, is the only Western reporter in Idlib right now and she joins us live. Reminders of these cities' significance Arwa if you
will, and describe what you've discovered and what people there are telling you?
DAMON: Well Becky, one of the most striking things that we were talking about was actually how a few years ago when you would come and film stories
from inside Syria, the vast majority of people would ask over and over again. Why is this happening to us? How is it that the outside world is
watching what's going on? Don't they care?
Now people don't even ask those questions anymore. It's almost as if what has happened here has taught them that no matter how many of them die, no
matter how many millions are displaced, no matter how miserable and tragic their lives are. None of that matters because there are bigger geopolitical
games that are at stake.
This is the last rebel held province it is a size of territory that has been shrinking as the offensives have been ongoing and bombardments have
been ongoing over the last few years. Now, it's not home to just residents of Idlib Province.
This is where everybody was bused to whether it's from, you know - close to the Syria and Capitol, whether it's from Hama or Aleppo, and no one here,
Becky talks about going back to their home. Their homes are by and large, right now under regime control, they are relatively speaking in terms of
being safe from, you know, airstrikes safe, but they're too afraid of what the government would potentially do with them to go back.
And they feel very, very stuck. On this day in particular, there were, you know, there was a demonstration in Idlib city itself, people were chanting
the same chants we heard, at the beginning of all of this 10 years ago, when there was so much excitement and so much faith and belief in this
notion that if they could just hang in there long enough, surely someone some superpower would come in to help them.
There is this realization that a lot has been lost. But the activists you speak to will say at the very least, the one thing that they haven't lost
is their determination not to give up or given.
ANDERSON: You focus your reporting over the years on Syria's children and this most recent piece that you have filed, very much reflects that. These
are kids who have off times known nothing but war 10 year olds have known nothing but war. This is a country where half the population is under the
age of 25.
What's the path forward because as you report that people are now weary, even of asking for help? So Syria must try and look to its future and for a
generation. That means what, at this point, Arwa?
DAMON: We've been asking that as well. We've been trying to figure out what it is and how it is that people here see the next few years or in the next
phase of all of this unfolding. And the adults have absolutely no idea that children don't have any clue either.
We've actually got quite a gallery of them standing around us right here. And you know these are kids who, in various different situations, as this
country was going through the bombardments the wars and the advances, ended up having to flee on foot.
Many of them will have had someone who they know or who they love who was killed in this conflict. They don't have proper clothes, they don't have
proper shoes. They're not able to go to school. What was quite striking in that piece that you aired earlier, Becky was that 13 year old girl?
And I keep thinking back on what it was that she said she doesn't dream of a world without war because she can't even imagine it. Becky, these kids
here are all I assume most of them are under the age of 10. None of them know anything but war, which means that they don't know what it's like to
sleep in their beds safe at night, be warm.
They don't know what it's like to be able to just walk down the street and go to kindergarten or go to the playground or go to the market, because all
of these things here, they don't exist for these children the same way that they do elsewhere.
[11:10:00]
DAMON: And we're not just talking about kids going through a single trauma, we're talking about compounded trauma upon compounded trauma, because they
weren't just displaced once they were displaced multiple times. They didn't just feel the fear of an airstrike or a plane overhead once they felt this
multiple times.
And that's also why there are so many alarm bells being raised about concerns when it comes to these children's mental health. We briefly
mentioned malnutrition in our reporting there, the vast cases of malnutrition who, are yes on the rise. But these vast cases are children
who are under the age of two.
And what doctors were explaining to us is that their mothers while they're pregnant, because they are constantly being displaced from one location to
another having to leave everything behind, not having proper ways to actually feed themselves, the babies are being born fairly severely
malnourished already to begin with.
And so you really begin to get this feeling that the impact of all of this transcends a lot of what is happening today at this very moment in the
sense that if certain actions aren't taken, at the very least, to save these younger generations, then we're going to be feeling the impact of
what has happened here in Syria for many years to come, and quite potentially, in ways that we can't even begin to imagine.
ANDERSON: You are absolutely right to point that out. Arwa, thank you - thank you for being there and thank you for the reporting it's so
important. So what is next for Syria? Well, much of it depends on the stakeholders, of which there are many.
Russia has helped out the Assad regime Turkey and Iran also playing a part as does the U.S. and Israel. Well, the countries poured in scores of
refugees poured out that is fueling anti immigration sentiment across the region and beyond. Ben Wedeman explains why the answer to what's next is
sadly nothing good?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Al Asad or we burn the country regime loyalists like the chant. And over the last 10 years as
Syria has plummeted deeper into the abyss.
The country has burned and President Bashar Al Assad has clung to power. An uprising that started peacefully has left as many as half a million dead by
some estimates, United Nations gave up counting five years ago.
More than half the population has been driven from their homes or is fled the country unwilling to concede that his dynastic regime and decades of
oppression were to blame Assad call today foreign conspiracy and indeed the uprising has become a multinational bloodbath.
The U.S. and its Gulf allies initially provided the divided opposition with just enough money and weapons to keep fighting, but never enough to win.
And the failure of that opposition opened the door to ISIS and its brutal brand madness, which brought American and European boots to Syrian soil.
Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah came to Assad's aid followed by the full might of Russia. Turkey also joined the fray along with Israel. Syria today is a
kaleidoscope of conflicts. Getting superpowers regional powers local powers against one another, now in a stalemate a quagmire where it has become
costly to stay, perhaps even more costly to leave.
Dreams of freedom faded long ago. Syrian American Author and Journalist Alia Malek witnessed the early years of the conflict.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALIA MALEK, AUTHOR & JOURNALIST: Order instability, I think have emerged as things that are more important to the international community than the
messiness of a true sort of open or democratic society. The fear of like ISIS type, Islamic militants is psychologically terrorizes people more than
the idea of like a butcher in an Armani suit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WEDEMAN: The official Syrian media portrays Assad survival as a victory that has left him ruling over just part of his devastated country, a
traumatized population and in the economy in freefall due to corruption and sanctions, if this is victory, what is defeat? Ben Wedeman CNN, Beirut.
[11:15:00]
ANDERSON: We've taken an in depth look at the last 10 years of fighting in Syria on our website, including analysis from Arwa who looks at the lost
generation of children who know nothing but war, trauma and loss that is cnn.com.
Breaking news out of Germany now and more problems for AstraZeneca the German government says it is halting use of its COVID vaccine. The Health
Minister saying it is doing so as "A precaution". Meanwhile, prosecutors in Northern Italy are seizing a batch of the vaccine.
We are hearing that these decisions are precautionary moves at the same time the EU is saying follow the signs of the Netherlands and Ireland join
some other European countries suspending use of the AstraZeneca short run. I'm connecting you to London and to CNN's Cyril Varney what's going on? We
absolutely do not want to encourage any sense of skepticism here. But why are so many countries making these decisions?
CYRIL VANIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. Becky, I agree with you, I'm going to be very careful and deliberate with the words I use. And we'll
be, as we always are, tried to be as accurate as I can and not play doctor here. I think that's paramount.
But over the last 48 hours, we have seen an accumulation of European countries that have either partially or fully suspended vaccinations using
the AstraZeneca vaccine. So Germany is the latest. The announcement was made officially by the German Health Minister just a few minutes ago. As
you say, they say it's a precaution.
None of these countries that have suspended AstraZeneca have any proof that the adverse health incidents that were reported actually are connected to
the vaccine. It's very important to recognize that and they stated publicly as the German Health Minister did.
In Italy earlier today, an Italian prosecutor, decreed that entire batch of the AstraZeneca vaccine was to be seized after a man fell ill and died post
inoculation. And then yesterday, both the Netherlands and Ireland also suspended AstraZeneca vaccinations following new reports of adverse health
effects, many of them involving blood clots.
So you now have almost one half of EU member states Becky that have either fully or partly suspended vaccinations with AstraZeneca. And as the German
Health Minister said just a short while ago, he understands they understand the signal that they are putting out there. They are not at this stage
saying that AstraZeneca is unsafe.
They are at this stage saying, Becky that there is some troubling information that has come to light. There are enough instances of people
who have suffered adverse health effects. And there have been a number of deaths reported in the last week in the European Union, put all that
together, and they need answers before they continue to vaccinate.
At this stage, there is still a majority albeit a slim majority of European countries that continues to use the AstraZeneca vaccine. The European
Medicines Agency, the European health watchdog is looking into these health incidents. And they say for the moment the benefits of the vaccine outweigh
the risks.
So they say that countries should continue to use it. But this is where we stand at this stage Becky, there's this investigation ongoing to see
whether the vaccine is connected to any of the adverse health effects. And in the meantime, almost half of the European countries have taken some
restrictive measures against AstraZeneca.
ANDERSON: Yes. Cyril, very briefly, what's the company itself said?
VANIER: Yes, great question. They have answered that they have looked at the data from 17 million people who have received a dose of AstraZeneca,
both in the UK and in the EU. And that data tells them that there are actually fewer events related to blood clots, deep vein thrombosis, all
these things that we're talking about in the vaccinated population as compared to the number you would typically expect from a non vaccinated
population.
So they're saying statistically, the cases of deaths and adverse health effects are not significant, and their vaccine is safe.
ANDERSON: Cyril Vanier, on the story for you an important one. Thank you. Well, the Kremlin's top cricket - top critic, is speaking out for the first
time since he was sentenced to more than 2.5 years behind bars last month. Alexey Navalny confirms he is at one of Russia's most notorious prison
camps.
In an Instagram post, he says he had no idea that "It was possible to arrange a real concentration camp 60 miles from Moscow".
[11:20:00]
ANDERSON: The opposition leader also says he hasn't seen any violence but he believes the recent stories of convicts nearly being beaten to death
with wooden hammers. Well, it's a cruel reality for the grief stricken families of COVID patients.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The coffin is closed, so the family doesn't have the opportunity to say goodbye.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Just look at these mass graves for Coronavirus victims in Brazil and try to imagine the heartbreak of all their loved ones. We are live in
Sao Paulo for you just the ahead. Plus Easter plans being canceled across Italy where millions of people are back under lockdown, Europe battle to
stop a third COVID wave is just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well, Brazil has just ended its deadliest week since the Coronavirus pandemic began reporting more than 1100 new deaths on Sunday
alone. COVID-19 is overwhelmed some of the country's biggest public hospitals as second wave of cases especially national death toll above
270,000 some communities even being forced to use mass graves for the victims.
Well, Matt Rivers is in Sao Paolo as the death toll and the frustrations grow. What's the situation there? Matt?
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes Becky, we've been here for a few days now and we've really gotten up close and personal look at just how brutal
this latest Coronavirus wave here has been in Brazil.
Remember this pandemic Brazil was the first Latin American country to treat a COVID patient all the way back in the beginning of 2020. But right now,
we are actually in the worst days unquestionably and this pandemic here in Brazil so far.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RIVERS (voice over): Pamela VB can only look at the photos of her grandmother. She says watching the video is too painful. The world didn't
deserve my grandma. She says she was too good admitted March 3rd with COVID at this small hospital outside Sao Paulo she died just two days later the
facility quickly overrun by a new wave of COVID-19. This doctor who works there says we think about the families that are suffering and we can't
sleep. It is unbelievable.
This hospital just doesn't have the facilities to care for those who are really sick, those patients would usually get transferred somewhere else.
But right now there's nowhere else to go. So instead of getting transferred, they're dying.
In just five days last week, 12 patients died waiting for an open bed somewhere else according to hospital officials. Pamela's grandmother was
one of them. She thinks that she would have survived if treated in an ICU.
But right now access to those facilities is nearly impossible. Albert Einstein hospital is one of Brazil's best but here too, the rooms are full.
[11:25:00]
RIVERS (voice over): They are scrambling to build more ICU beds because the patients just keep coming.
DR. FARAH CHRISTINA DE LA CRUZ SCARIN, ALBERT EINSTEIN HOSPITAL: It's the busiest time we have ever been in this last year.
RIVERS (voice over): We first saw hints of this about six weeks ago when we reported from Manaus a city in Brazil's Amazon rain forest. Hospitals there
were overwhelmed amidst a new outbreak, and the city was forced to build so called vertical graves.
And from then to now that chaos has spread nationwide. In 22 of 26 Brazilian states ICU capacity is at or above 80 percent government data
shows in Sao Paulo its 90 percent and climbing and when you run out of beds, doctors tell us people die.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The coffin is closed. So the family doesn't have the opportunity to say goodbye.
RIVERS (voice over): The number of such coffins is surging at the Sao Paolo public cemetery. From above, you can see the thousands of newly dug graves.
The number of burials like the one going on behind me has been staggering recently. Since the pandemic began the three single days where Sao Paolo
has recorded the most Coronavirus deaths have come in just the last week.
Experts say the causes of the new surge are myriad a more transmissible variant few vaccines, relapse, lockdowns and government mismanagement, all
playing varying roles. But no matter the cause, these are the effects.
Outside this public hospital every day between 3 and 5 pm family members of COVID patients inside wait to hear their names. They go in to get news on
conditions. And often it's not good. And then comes the grief and the tears wrought from a pandemic that just won't end.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIVERS (on camera): And Becky, you know, we all know that the ultimate solution to this pandemic and here in Brazil and across the world will be
access to vaccines. Despite a long history of successfully vaccinating its population against myriad diseases Brazil's vaccination program is woefully
behind.
Less than 10 million people out of a population somewhere between 210, 220 million have gotten their first dose less than 2 percent of this population
has been vaccinated in total. And if you look at the near future government plans in terms of procuring more vaccines, they're just not that set in
stone.
And the one vaccine they do have is that AstraZeneca vaccine, which as you were just talking to Cyril about has lots of questions around it. So and so
how we get out of this particular situation here in Brazil? It's a question I just don't have an answer to.
ANDERSON: Matt Rivers, on the story, seeking some answers, thank you Matt. Still ahead 10 long years of war in Syria with no end in sight, we'll talk
about the devastation with one of the officials investigating human rights abuses in the country.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:30:00]
ANDERSON: More now on our top story. 10 years ago this month, a series of peaceful pro democracy protests against the Syrian President Bashar Al
Assad during the Arab Spring turned into a civil war that continues today, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed. In what is this brutal,
bloody conflict?
Millions more have been displaced. You may be one of those displays. Many of you may know someone who has been forced from Syria. United Nations
Secretary General says the country remains a living nightmare.
Well, Earlier I spoke to Hanny Megally, who serves on the UN's Independent Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic. The body is
investigating human rights abuses in Syria, including potential crimes against humanity. I began by asking him if the perpetrators of the crimes
committed in Syria will ever have their day in court.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANNY MEGALLY, COMMISSIONER, U.N. INDEPENDENT INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF INQUIRY IN SYRIA: Why? Well, what's encouraging is we're seeing once it
became clear that the route through the Security Council to the International Criminal Court was blocked because of the veto and
disagreements amongst the member states.
We've been seeing other states other governments then moving to see if they could bring to justice Syrians in their own jurisdictions using either
universal jurisdiction or national jurisdictions whereby if there are either victims or serial perpetrators on their territory, then the courts
in those countries could move forward them and bring them to account.
ANDERSON: And we've seen federal prosecutions in Germany over allegations of chemical warfare in Syria. In France, judges looking at deadly chemical
attacks. Also a now British police looking to bring a case against the wife of Syria's dictator Asma Al Asad, on the basis that she incited and
encouraged acts of terror. That's according to "The Times of London". Is this kind of ad hoc approach, as it were to prosecuting international law,
a smart way then to go about this?
MEGALLY: It said first, that at least telling the Syrian people that the outside world has not forgotten about them, and left them to their fate,
which many of them believe has been the case, because the route to the International Criminal Court has been blocked.
So they're beginning to see accountability happening, there are at least 60 investigations going on. At the moment, we've been helping in quite a few
of those in different countries around the world, in Europe, Australia, Canada, et cetera. And that's a huge step forward for Syrian people to see
there is accountability.
In the end, of course, the best route will be having justice, closer to home in Syria itself. It's unlikely at the moment, because the Syrian state
is not looking to hold people accountable or to give justice to its people but in the future, that that may happen.
And what's important now is to also collect the information and make sure that information is protected for future accountability.
ANDERSON: 10 years into this brutal conflict, has the world failed Syria?
MEGALLY: Absolutely. I think the Syrians - the Syrian civilians feel the world has led them down, that it's left them to dictatorship that's been
bombing the civilians to regain control over the country, that the terrorist groups have been allowed to gain control over territory in their
in their fight to overthrow the regime in Syria.
That the armed opposition groups have not had the support they've needed politically, to try and pressure the state into compromise it and turn into
a political agreement. And as I said at the beginning, that what we've ended up with is people looking for a military solution which is not going
to come and if so then the conflict can carry on for another 10 years.
ANDERSON: Do you have any hope for a better future for the Syrian population?
[11:35:00]
MEGALLY: I think you have to hope because the people on the ground are looking to the outside world for a way out of the situation. And you know
we have seen a lull in the fighting, because or at least a decrease in the fighting because the state is back in control of large chunks of the
country.
And there are a number of areas now that remain outside its control. But where it's unlikely to be venturing in because other states are, are in
those areas. So this could be a time to be saying which were which what we've got for and our secretary has called for, for an immediate ceasefire,
an immediate ceasefire that allows everyone to now look and say, OK, well, what are we reached?
What compromises can we can we make? How can we start to negotiate? The fighting is not going to get people further. It's time now for negotiations
for a ceasefire and for the violations that have been going on to stop and it's down for - this time for accountability for the violations that have
taken place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, that's Hanny Megally speaking to me earlier. The Commissioner helped compile the report that concluded "Over the past
decade, Syrians have enjoyed heinous abuses and violations by the government and by all parties to the conflict, inflicting almost every
international crime imaginable on the population".
And that is for those who have survived the human toll of this decade long tragedy is staggering. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimates
close to 600,000 people have been killed in the civil war that counts those who disappeared and are presumed dead. The UN says more than 5.6 million
have fled Syria, while some 6.7 million are displaced within the country. Just let's pause to reflect on those numbers for a moment.
Mina Al-Oraibi has been trying to make sense of all of this, she is Editor in Chief of the National, good friend of this show, and she joins us live
from the newspapers headquarters, your thoughts as we reflect Mina on this anniversary.
MINA AL-ORAIBI, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, THE NATIONAL: Thanks Becky. The sheer level of destruction to Syria, people's lives livelihoods you spoke of some
of the numbers now close to 600,000, at least those that are confirmed either dead or missing.
And of course, over half of Syria's population was either displaced or had fled the country as refugees at the height of this war. And what's
heartbreaking is that more than 60 percent of Syrians today are food insecure inside of the country, we can continue to rattle on the numbers,
but each number is someone's life.
The ICRC issued a report to say that over half of Syria's young people have either lost a relative or a friend to the war. So the devastation
emotionally and physically on Syria and its people over the 10 years is hard to measure just the numbers.
We as journalists, you at CNN have been great. We at "The National" and others have tried to keep the story alive because it is important.
Sometimes people feel overwhelmed by the statistics. But we have to keep reminding them. These are not just statistics.
And as you were saying all the amounts of international humanitarian law that's just been thrown to the wind in Syria and nobody cares. We've just
had a story. My colleague, Gareth Brown was - in Syria, where there are citizens of European countries that are languishing there because their
parents had joined ISIS and there are now children's dozens of children sitting in this jail that cannot be repatriated back to Europe.
That's just one slice of it. Another one is, of course, children, more than half of children in Syria or refugees have not attended school for part of
the last 10 years. What happens to their futures?
ANDERSON: What's the way forward at this point?
AL-ORAIBI: Well, there is the political track that the UN has been trying for years now. And frankly, most people feel it's just become a fig leaf
almost for the regime to continue to consolidate its control over the country. But we have to believe in a political process because there is no
other way.
Another way forward is to make sure that Syrians themselves are protected, be it through COVID vaccines, be it through humanitarian aid, be it through
finding ways to rebuild the economy. It's a very difficult decision for non Syrians to say whether it's acceptable to deal with the current regime in
Damascus or not.
I don't think it's a decision for external parties despite the fact that this war probably has had more foreign intervention than any in living
memory, having said that it's a serious decide, but how can they decide when so much of their agency has been taken away from them?
[11:40:00]
ANDERSON: There's been a recent push from some Arab countries including here in the UAE for the reinstatement of Syria back into the Arab League
just last week. Abu Dhabi's Foreign Ministers Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed alongside his Russian counterpart said that the sanctions imposed by the
U.S.'s Caesars act complicate serious return to the Arab fold.
Just today, the U.S. State Department spokesman refused to say that Bashar Al Assad must leave office in order for a political solution to be found. I
wonder what you make of these regional rapprochement efforts with Mr. Assad if they should be seen as that who of course, is seen still viewed by many
as a brutal dictator. And what the kind of wider picture is here for the country and those who lead it going forward?
AL-ORAIBI: For those who want to see Syria reinstated back into the Arab League, it's because there comes a moment after 10 years of this for to say
what is the reality on the ground? The reality on the ground is Bashar Al Assad continues to control Damascus and is still seen as the sovereign
leader of the country, whether, you know, we agree or disagree with that position.
So then it comes well, that Arab voice has been completely lost in Syria. Let's not forget at the beginning of the Syria conflict, and just before it
became a full-fledged war, the Arab League even sent monitors to Syria, it was one of the few times where I felt the Arab League could have a positive
on the ground impact to try to stop a civil war.
And of course, it failed because they were attacked. So the Arab League wants to replay that role, and also not leave Syria to Iran in some part
and also to Russia. So how do you bring in an Arab voice? Jordan has tried in different ways to negotiate it with the Turks and the Russians and
others to try to bring back an Arab voice of some sorts into Syria.
So that's part of the thinking, the other elements on sanctions, you know, one of the problems with sanctions, and as you know, I'm from Iraq
originally, and sanctions in the 1990s only destroyed the middle class and really, really hurt the most vulnerable in society and the most poor.
So some people push back and say, well, sanctions at the end of the day are actually not crippling the regime. They're crippling society even more. And
so do they actually lead to a political solution in the country? Many people would argue against sanctions.
So the wider picture here is that after 10 years, at what point do we draw a line and say, how can we go forward? Most people will call for justice,
some sorts of accountability. But real politic often comes in. And people say, well, there won't be justice, but at least how can we try to stop
further suffering?
And that is, I think, some of the sentiment that comes out from regional countries. I've spoken to officials, not only from the UAE, from other Arab
countries, Iraq has been advocating for this, Lebanon has been advocating for this, and some countries further away, not sharing borders with Syria
who say, we need to get out of the impasse that we're in.
It's very painful. This is an emotive issue. And it's very painful for Syrians who have lost so much to accept that but at the same time, what is
the alternative? If we simply say, let's try to push Syria out of the picture? Let's try to keep it isolated.
Not only is it unfair to Syrians inside of the country, but also does it helps us get to the next stage where Syria can begin to heal? It's a very
difficult answer, because some people say you can tell with the current regime and still in power.
ANDERSON: No, I understand. I understand your insight and analysis is hugely important valuable for our viewers watching around the world. This
is a complicated issue. Ultimately, at the end of the day, the big question is what is the way forward and for Syrians?
Ultimately, that should be all that counts at this point. Mina, thank you very much indeed for joining us Mina Al-Oraibi at "The Nationals", news
headquarters.
Well, a groundswell of anger in Jordan just days after at least seven COVID-19 patients dies in a hospital that ran out of oxygen. The Health
Minister has resigned. Well, protesters say that is not nearly enough.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:45:00]
ANDERSON: Jordan's government is under increasing pressure over how it is handling the Coronavirus pandemic? Two those of the seven COVID-19 patients
died when their hospital ran out of oxygen. And it happened in the town of - which is about 13 miles northwest of the Capitol of --.
Angry families demanding answers one report says witnesses were forced to do CPR on their loved ones just to try and keep them alive. Well the
incident has sparked widespread outrage against what preaches the calling carelessness as well as Jordan's COVID-19 restrictions and worsening
economic conditions.
CNN's Jomana Karadsheh who was Bureau Chief for a long period of time in Jordan now in Turkey joining us from Istanbul what do we know at this
point? I mean, we certainly know this incident has exposed gross negligence in the country's health system. What went wrong?
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that is the big question, Becky. And there are a number of investigations, including a criminal
investigation taking place in Jordan to get to the bottom of this about what went wrong and how? What we do understand from officials is that there
was an oxygen outage for about two hours that morning at Salt government hospital.
And as a result of this outage that impacted the intensive care unit that's already overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients, at least seven people died. And
it's important to note Becky, that this is not any sort of shortage of oxygen supplies in the country. This seems at this point that it was the
hospital only calling for resupply of oxygen after it was too late after the fact after they ran out of oxygen.
As you mentioned, there was so much anger within you know moments of the news spreading that this has happened angry crowds began to gather outside
the hospital including family members of those who died and a rare royal intervention, something you don't usually see at times like this in Jordan
because of this is just a very rare sort of incident.
You had King Abdullah arriving at the hospital in his military fatigues, visibly angry, obviously there to try and calm down the crowds. And also we
could see him in social media video that emerged questioning hospital officials how something like this could happen at a hospital like that?
This is pretty much a new hospital that they opened last year and also very rare. The King himself fires officials from the hospital from the local
health directorate and also the country's health minister, who had submitted his resignation, saying he will take responsibility moral
responsibility for what happened. He was fired by royal decree.
And while the country's waiting to see the results of the investigation, as you mentioned, Becky, officials, doctors at that hospital Jordanians are
saying that this is the tragic consequence of negligence in competence that is the result of years if not decades of mismanagement of the country's
public sector.
You know, at the best of times the public sector there has been described as inefficient, underperforming and on top of that you've got COVID-19. The
country right now is dealing Becky with a devastating new wave of the pandemic that is also impacting the health sector and the health healthcare
sector. Just in the past hour we are getting the latest figures from Jordan 9400 cases reported.
[11:50:00]
KARADSHEH: A new record the highest since the start of the pandemic 82 deaths. This is the country of 10 million people. A lot of concern, Becky,
that this might not be the last time something like this happens.
ANDERSON: Jomana reporting on the story out of Jordan and Jomana, Thank you. Well, France and Italy joining Germany suspending use of the Oxford
AstraZeneca coronavirus Vaccine. They are three of the biggest EU countries and they want to investigate reports of blood clots.
French President Emmanuel Macron calls this move a cautionary measure Public Health England says there is no indication of a link between blood
clots and the vaccine. One of the historic night at the Grammys especially for female artists we'll tell you who's snagged the top awards.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well, you are looking at China's Capitol envelops in a shroud of sand Beijing's biggest Sandstorm in a decade impacting tens of millions of
people who face the dual problems of poor visibility and hazardous air quality. And its peak officials measured pollutants at levels 25 times
higher than considered safe.
Now this sandstone began in Mongolia. A Chinese run news outlet there says it's killed six people and dozens more are missing. A big sandstorm like
this one has decreased dramatically in recent decades, thanks in part to reforestation and ecological projects.
Well a history making night for Beyonce Taylor Swift and fellow female artists who reigned supreme at the Grammys.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIIFIED FEMALE: The Grammy goes to Beyonce.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Beyonce won four awards, giving her a career total of 28 Grammys more than any singer in Grammy history. That will be on stage daughter her
nine year old Blue Ivy Carter snagged her first Grammy winning Best Music Video for her song "With their mom brown skin girl".
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the Grammy goes to Folklore Taylor Swift.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: And Taylor Swift also making history becoming the first woman to win "Album of the Year" three times for Folklore.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Billie Eilish, well down Billie. Lots of love, all right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: And Billie Eilish took home "Record of the Year" "Everything I wanted" while so much to unpack. Let's get straight to Stephanie Elam in
Los Angeles. It's really nice to be talking to you about an entertainment story with a smile on your face. I'm sure you enjoyed watching me -
watching the event is good for us isn't it it's really good for us to see something just I guess entertaining a successful night for women to boot
Steph?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All everything you just said Becky I completely cosign on. For one thing I would say last night was the first
night I really was like OK, OK, OK; I need life music in my life again, because there were some amazing performances that happened during the show.
[11:55:00]
ELAM: You're right it was ladies night when it came to the awards but you had so many different genres that were represented throughout the show with
the performances. Many of them were taped in advance. But it really was a seamless show with Trevor Noah doing, you know, a great job of being the
glue throughout the show to keep the show moving along and just weaving through all this.
And then it was also great because the artists were on stage for each other and these intimate groups when they were performing in some of the cases
and so you can see them nodding along and singing along to the other famous person singing the song there. It was also a very good touch that you could
see throughout the show.
But you know, you had these great moments to win right there. You've got "Meghan the Stallion", who won for song Savage, which Beyonce was on
Beyonce getting that that new record that she just got with that Grammy win. And Megan clearly surprised that Beyonce was there and so thankful
Beyonce being so gracious.
Then Billie Eilish goes ahead and she won for "Record of the Year". And you can see on her face that she was just shocked that she won, and then got up
there and spoke about how she really thought that it should go to "Megan The stallion".
So the women were supporting each other last night to with their wins, which was also really, really nice to see. And then the other thing that I
thought was really well done was the "In Memoriam" because for the Recording Academy. They say they lost over 1000 people last year and a lot
of that was because of COVID.
So it was a very well produced segment, looking at some of the well known people who had passed away from Bruno Mars and Anderson Park doing a
tribute to little Richie. And then you also had Lionel Richie doing an ode to Kenny Rogers with the song "Lady" which Lionel Richie actually wrote for
him.
And so that was also a really touching moment. But you saw Britney Howard and Chris Martin also out there as well. Just really, really touching and I
have to say the overall hands down win for me, Becky, hands down, as far as performances go have to go to Silk Sonic.
That's this new power group of Anderson Park and Bruno Mars. They came out there with their like brown leisure suits throwing back to the 70s made you
want to break out some vinyl records. And they killed it. It was just a fantastic performance.
ANDERSON: Thank you, Steph, what a joy. You have rounded out a couple of hours of "Connect the World" and what a way to do it. Thank you. And thank
you all for joining us. It is a very good evening from Stephanie Elam in Los Angeles and me here in Abu Dhabi.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHN KING, CNN HOST: Hello to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm John King in Washington. Thank you for sharing another busy
news day with us. See what it brings us those are the words of the President of the United States.
END
