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Connect the World

Germany Seeks More Powers To Impose Nationwide Lockdowns; Iranian MP Claims Thousands of Centrifuges Damaged In Attack; Anthony Blinken Reaffirms U.S. Support To Ukraine; U.S. And Israel Officials Meet For Discussions on Iran; Capitol Police Officer Lies In Honor in Capitol Rotunda; Japan to Release Treated Fukushima Water into the Sea. Aired 10- 10:40a ET

Aired April 13, 2021 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Abu Dhabi. This is "Connect the World" with Becky Anderson.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNNI HOST: Hello and welcome to the program this hour. The 12th day of testimony is set to begin in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the

former police officer charged with the death of George Floyd. We'll take you live to the courtroom when that starts.

The U.S. Capitol Police Officer William Evans, who was killed in an April 2nd attack at the Capitol, will lie in honor there in the next half hour.

President Joe Biden is expected to arrive for that ceremony, covering both of those for you.

First up this hour, we are seeing what could be a major snag in vaccine rollouts both in the U.S. and in Europe. U.S. health authorities are

calling for a pause of the Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine. They cite an extremely rare but serious type of blood clot that was only happened to six

people out of 6.8 million who have gotten the single dose vaccine but concerning enough, apparently to authorities to prompt them to ask for a

pause.

Well, Johnson & Johnson now says it will delay its European rollout too. As you can see Covax the African Union and several countries have ordered

millions upon millions of doses. The J&J vaccine is much easier to distribute than the MRNA vaccines.

Well, joining me now CNN Medical Analysts, Dr. Leana Wen, she's an Emergency Physician and Visiting Professor of Health Policy and Management

at George Washington University. I just wonder what you make of this decision by authorities to ask Johnson & Johnson to pause on its vaccine

rollout at this point.

DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: It's the right decision, even if it's disappointing overall, in terms of decreasing the world's supply of this

vaccine, but it's the right decision because at this point, we have to use an abundance of caution here.

Whenever there is a safety signal that's found, we need to fully and transparently investigated, or else it could feel vaccine hesitancy for

other vaccines as well. And I do think it's important that we keep this in perspective, in this case in the U.S., we're talking about six cases of

these blood clots out of 7 million people who have received it. So it's very rare.

And I think people also have to remember that this is a very specific type of vaccine that Johnson & Johnson vaccine is actually similar to the

AstraZeneca vaccine. It's a very different mechanism from the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.

And so those individuals who have received the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or who are scheduled to get it should not have any concern about those

vaccines because there are no adverse safety signals found in those vaccines.

ANDERSON: Right. OK. I understand what you're saying. But there will be an impact that could be quite significant, as far as people's appetite for

taking any vaccine, not least the J&J vaccine going forward. This does nothing for vaccine hesitancy doctor, does it?

We've seen a similar situation here in Europe, similar statistics as far as the impact on those who have died from blood clots. And both the W.H.O. and

the European Medical Association in the first instance suggesting that the benefits outweigh the risks, just how concerned are you that this sort of

decision and of course reported around the world and reported on social media could have devastating consequences in getting these vaccines into

people's arms?

DR. WEN: Sure. So I think there are two components here. One is the actual limitation on vaccine supply, because if in fact these vaccines are not

going to be distributed to certain parts, because there is a pause on the vaccine that limits the ability of people to get the vaccine and to be

protected from Coronavirus. So that's one concern.

The other concern that you raised is a very fair point is about vaccine hesitancy. There are anti vaccine activists who I'm certain we'll be using

this kind of news as some kind of way of justify why vaccines are not safe. Actually, I think we should be sending the exact opposite message, which is

that these regulatory agencies are doing their job.

They are using an abundance of caution approach here and investigating these cases to look at what is underlying for example, is there something

about these particular individuals who have the blood clots, perhaps they're on certain medications or perhaps they have an underlying

condition, in which case you could say the particular individuals should not get the vaccine but others should be.

[10:05:00]

WEN: Or maybe there is an age based kind of risk benefit that needs to be evaluated here. And so I think we should be actually saying this case that

the regulatory agencies are doing their job, something that is a one in a million occurrence still should be identified. But then at that point, we

should weigh the risks and benefits.

And again, I want - I really want to emphasize that Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have a totally different mechanism of action. There has been no

adverse event like this that has been uncovered even in the more than 100 million people who have received those particular vaccines.

ANDERSON: Thank you. I also spoke with our Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta a little earlier. I asked him what he believes is behind this

horse.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: What they have found, Becky, is that there have been six women who've developed blood clotting

problems that seemed to be related to this vaccine. It's not entirely clear yet, they're still sort of investigating this.

But there's enough of a concern that the women developed blood clots known as cerebral venous thrombosis. These are basically the blood vessels in the

brain, blood vessels that drain blood away from the brain, and one woman died, one woman is in intensive care.

And again, they're still trying to investigate that this is directly related to the vaccine but you know, that's the concern. What you're seeing

there on the screen, Becky, is basically a graphic image of what the blood vessels in the brain looked like that's in blue.

As you might imagine, if you take blood to the brain, he has also got to drain blood away from the brain. And that's what the veins do. If those

veins become blocked, the brain can start to swell and even develop some bleeding around those blood vessels.

It's a lot to sort of absorb, I realized, but that's essentially what they're concerned about in trying to identify why these women develop this,

or are they at risk and what to do going forward?

ANDERSON: And do we know how many doses have actually been administered and just what the incidence therefore is, of these blood clotting issues?

GUPTA: It seems very rare. Right now, Becky, I think there have been over 6 million doses administered and we're talking about six or so literally one

in a million. So that's, that's, you know, it is rare. And I think that that should hopefully be somewhat reassuring for a lot of people who are

watching right now saying, hey, I took that vaccine.

But look, you know, the thing about this sort of thing, Becky, is that we saw some concerns about blood clotting with the AstraZeneca vaccine. You'll

remember that in Europe, we're seeing consult the J&J vaccine.

ANDERSON: Sure.

GUPTA: They are both what are known as adenovirus vaccines. It's a type of vaccine. It's different than the MRNA vaccines, which are from Pfizer and

Moderna. It's different from a protein subunit vaccine. That's another type of vaccine.

So you know, this is a warranted, I think, concern in that we now have some sort of safety signals that have come up a few times now with regard to

these adenoviral vaccines and blood clots overall, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca.

So it's your - the point you're making, I think, is a very important one. It is rare, it is very rare. And I think that should be reassuring, but it

is of concern enough that if this is something that is found to have some sort of association, that there may be certain segments of the population,

who are most at risk of developing blood clots that are told to not take these vaccines. We saw that with AstraZeneca. We may now see that with

Johnson & Johnson as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: That's Dr. Sanjay Gupta and a note for you that the FDA is currently giving a briefing to the press. We are monitoring that event for

you and should there be any news of merit we will of course, bring it to you.

Well, Germany trying to put an end to its patchwork response to COVID-19. Today, cabinet members agreed to give the government more powers in setting

nationwide pandemic lockdowns. Now, these new rules would help stop a third wave of COVID infections across the country.

It's now up to the German parliament to approve the changes for them to take effect. Jim Bittermann joining us live from Paris with the wider story

here, Jim.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, Becky. This is something that has come up in the last couple of days here because the

Germans have been totally alarmed at the way their case rates are going up the way the hospitalizations are going up the way the ICU beds are filling

up.

Over the weekend the - they had the ICU Association said it's a really grave problem and that medical workers are at their ends with meaning that

they just can't take anymore because the ICU beds are totally full. So, they've got - they've got themselves going what the Angela Merkle and other

people around here are calling an emergency brake.

[10:10:00]

BITTERMANN: This is the idea is that they will do a heavy lockdowns, heavy restrictions. But the most important part of this new infection protection

amendment that they're going to put forward to the Bundestag is that it will bring together on one path all of the 16 states.

The federal states of Germany up until now, things like health care, vaccinations, lockdowns, restrict restrictions, that sort of thing has been

up to the individual states and it's been kind of a patchwork of various severity from one to the other.

So now, the federal government wants to bring them all in line. Now, of course, there's been some political pushback on this. But I think the main

it's going to be something that the Bundestag is going to pass because it's something that people recognize is very much needed by Angela Merkel said

today the situation is serious. We may now overburden our healthcare system. We must stop the third wave Becky.

ANDERSON: Jim Bittermann on the story for you. Thank you, Jim. Well, we have some news just in from Iran now. The Foreign Ministry telling the

International Atomic Energy Agency that it will start enriching uranium at 60 percent purity tomorrow. That's according to Iran's state run Press TV.

The increase in enrichment comes after the weekend incident at the Natanz Nuclear Facility that is being described inside Iran as a sabotage attack.

The 60 percent level far exceeds caps put in place in what was the 2015 nuclear agreement, which Iran already was breaching.

Well, I want to bring in Fred Pleitgen now. He has been in and out of Iran numerous times for us over the years and was just in Vienna for these

informal talks as they started last week, aimed at returning both the U.S. and Iran to that 2015 deal. And, Fred, what do you make of what we are just

learning?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it certainly seems like this is a direct reaction to what happened there at

the Natanz Nuclear Facility. It was one of the interesting things that we read last night is that Javad Zarif, the Foreign Minister when he wrote a

letter to the UN Secretary General.

In that letter, he basically put the onus on the United States that look, if the U.S. wants to make sure that Iran stays in compliance with the

agreement, and the U.S. wants to get back into the agreement. They need to lift all their sanctions, and then Iran would go back into full compliance.

But then there was a sight sentence that said, in the meantime, Iran would significantly scale up what the Iranians call their remedial measures.

That's essentially the parts of the nuclear agreement that Iran is no longer abiding by, for instance, enriching uranium to a higher grade.

You were just saying, Becky, that they were enriching uranium already higher than they are allowed to. We're talking about the Iranians going up

to 60 percent now, and under the nuclear agreement, at least nominally, they're only allowed to enrich uranium to a rate of 3.67 percent.

So that certainly is already a very large leap. The Iranians had been hinting at something like this for a while. But it certainly seems as

though the incident that happened at the Natanz facility certainly seems to be have been a catalyst to at least make the Iranians do this, maybe a

little faster than they had planned to in the first place.

That doesn't necessarily mean however, Becky that the negotiations, the indirect ones between the U.S. and Iran are in trouble, or might fail the

Iranians for their partner saying that they are going to remain at the table. In fact, they had said, of course, they're pointing the finger of

blame at Israel, for what happened at the Natanz nuclear facility.

They are saying they indeed believe that this strengthens their position. As far as those negotiations are concerned, of course, both Iran and the

U.S. said they want to salvage the nuclear agreement, Becky.

ANDERSON: And we'll get the view from Israel in a moment on the sabotage attack. Let's call it that. And over the weekend, nanny rhenium, a

parliament member, as I understand it, now claiming that thousands of centrifuges were damaged. Would that be the case? Just how significant is

that?

PLEITGEN: Well, it's it certainly would be very significant, because of course, the Natanz Nuclear Facility is a very important one, as far as

Iran's uranium enrichment is concerned for that country. And you're absolutely right. It's a senior member of Iranian parliament, also the Head

of the Scientific Center for Iran's parliament.

He said the thousands of centrifuges were destroyed. We understand Iran has 20,000 centrifuges. I think they're allowed to use about 5000, according to

the nuclear agreement, so certainly that would be a pretty significant blow if that were really the case.

Now, we do always have to put in that caveat that this is a hard line Member of Parliament. It's someone who has been quite critical of the

uranium enrichment going on there at Natanz, but nevertheless, of course, a senior member of Iran's parliament.

What we've been hearing from Iranians so far officially have been several statements. They said that repairs are already going on within the Natanz

facility.

[10:15:00]

PLEITGEN: They also said that they have restored power at least the backup power for that facility. And the other thing that they have said and this

was also Abbas Araghchi, saying this, who is the Chief Negotiator for the Iranians and the Deputy Foreign Minister.

He said that the centrifuges that have been damaged in this incident that they will be replaced by even stronger, more powerful and more efficient

centrifuges. So certainly, it looks like the Iranians remaining defined saying that Natanz will stay online and saying that it will move forward

more powerfully than it has in the past.

And, of course, all this in front of this backdrop of those negotiations that are going on in Vienna, to again try and salvage that nuclear

agreement that both the U.S. and Iran say is so very important that both of them said they really wants to, they really want to make happen.

But of course, we're still in that in that phase Becky, as we have been reporting over the past couple of weeks is right now they're talking about

who's going to move first, which moves are they willing to make?

And then of course, in front of this backdrop of what happened there at Natanz, it's really, really a very key time for those negotiations. Becky?

ANDERSON: Yes. And Tehran would not refer to these as negotiations. After all, they say there is a deal. There is nothing to negotiate. But I think

let's be quite clear, there are negotiations going on behind the scenes in these send direct talks. Let's call it what it is. All right, thank you for

that.

Israel is not officially commented on the Natanz incident over the weekend as is typical for its government. But there are hints of Israeli

involvement. Hadas Gold has the latest from Jerusalem for you.

HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Becky Israel has so far not officially commented confirming or denying any Israeli role in the incident the Natanz

Nuclear Facility. Israeli media though has reported citing unnamed sources that the Israeli Mossad Agency was involved, and many people have been

looking at some comments made by the Israeli Army Chief Aviv Kochavi.

He made these comments just hours after the incident took place. He said Israel's operations throughout the Middle East are not hidden from the eyes

of the enemy. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also commented on Iran not specifically speaking about the Natanz incident, but he did give

some interesting comments about Iran while standing alongside U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who was in Israel for a visit, take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: My policy as Prime Minister of Israel is clear. I will never allow Iran to obtain the nuclear capability

to carry out its genocidal goal of eliminating Israel. And Israel will continue to defend itself against Iran's aggression and terrorism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLD: Now, Becky, this incident took place actually, while U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was in Israel for his visit. He did not specifically

address the incident at the nuclear facility, only saying when asked that the U.S. is focusing on diplomatic engagement with Iran as those talks are

ongoing in Vienna.

And the White House Press Secretary has said that the U.S. had absolutely no involvement. But, there's a big question, of course, about whether the

Americans did know anything about this incident before it took place? We just don't know the answer to that just yet.

Interestingly though, today, actually, the U.S. and Israel are expected to continue having strategic talks related to security where an administration

official is telling CNN that Iran will be discussed. However, that official told CNN that these talks were pre scheduled before the incidence of the

Natanz Nuclear Facility, Becky.

ANDERSON: Hadas Gold reporting. Well, we just saw the U.S. Defense Secretary in Jerusalem Monday today Lloyd Austin is in Berlin with a troop

announcement he calls a message to NATO to show support for the alliance. Austin says America will deploy an additional 500 U.S. military personnel

to Germany to focus on space and cyber capabilities.

The Trump Administration you'll remember had planned to reduce U.S. military presence in Germany. Well, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken

is making it clear that Washington supports Ukraine. His comments at a bilateral meeting with Ukraine's Foreign Minister come as Russia builds up

forces near the border and Crimea.

Ukraine estimates an additional 50,000 Russian troops have gathered in the region. Have a listen to Blinken's warning to Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: United States stands firmly behind the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and

alliterative reaffirm that with the Foreign Minister today. And that's particularly important at a time when we're seeing unfortunately, Russia

take very provocative action when it comes to Ukraine.

We're now seeing the largest concentration of Russian forces on Ukraine's borders since 2014. And that is of deep concern, not only to Ukraine, but

to the United States and indeed too many of our allies and partners.

[10:20:00]

Foreign Minister just came from a session with NATO and I'll be consulting with our close NATO allies and partners in the days ahead about the - about

the situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: And more on what is going on, on that border? Reporting from my colleague, Matthew Chance who has been on the ground you can find

that@cnn.com. Well, coming up we're going to connect you back to Iran for a closer look at those negotiations over a possible new nuclear deal.

And Japan plans to dump treated Fukushima waste water into the sea. Now China and South Korea are furious. Our report from Tokyo is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: I want to get back to Iran's announcement that it will start enriching uranium at 60 percent, 60 percent starting on Wednesday. Now this

news comes days after what was a mystery outage at Iran's main nuclear site. The Iranian Member of Parliament says thousands of centrifuges were

damaged after what's been described as someday sabotage.

The country's top diplomat Mohammad Javad Zarif blames Israel for the attack. He says the incident will only strengthen the country's position

and upcoming talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal. Well, Israel is not officially commented on the incident though it's Army Chief hinted at

Israeli involvement.

This isn't the first time Israel has been accused of sabotaging Iran's nuclear program for a closer look at all of this. I'm delighted to be

joined by Barak Ravid. He's a Diplomatic Editor at Walla News and a regular Contributing Correspondent at AXIOS based in Tel Aviv.

I follow your reporting. And you have excellent sources. According to your reporting, top national security officials from the U.S. and Israel set to

convene virtually today for a second round of strategic discussions on Iran. Let's just start there. What are your sources telling you about what

we'll be up for discussion?

BARAK RAVID, DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT, WALLA NEWS: Well, actually, Becky, I'm here in Washington and the talks are going on. I think what like 300

meters from where I am. Now, obviously its ritual talks because of COVID. But it's actually happening as we speak.

And the main issue is Iran. This is actually a second round of talks. The first round took place several weeks ago. And it was intended to basically

lay out all the intelligence Israel and the U.S. have about the Iranian nuclear program to see if there are any gaps in the information and both

sides have.

Today's discussion was supposed to be focused on Iran's regional behavior in Syria and Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen.

[10:25:00]

But obviously the latest escalation on the ground, whether it's the series of attacks Israeli Iranian attacks on ships in the Red Sea and in the Gulf

or this incident in Natanz and obviously, the Vienna nuclear talks, all of those issues are on the table.

ANDERSON: Right, let's set things out here. The Biden Administration has distanced itself from Sunday's let's call it an attack on Natanz and says

it played no role. Now, you reported that the last time U.S. Israeli officials met one of the main agreements that emerged was a neutral, no

surprises policy effectively meaning no unexpected moves against Iran.

Where these two have been Israel, and there is no confirmation of that? How would you describe relations between U.S. and Israeli officials at this

point?

RAVID: First, I think it's safe to say that Israel is behind this attack, I think we can take the question marks away and put an exclamation mark, I

think it's very clear. And the main reason is because I don't know how many of the viewers who watch us now know.

But in Israel, the system of military censorship for highly sensitive national security publications, and if the government wanted this story not

to be out, it could have put a gag order on it. This was not the case of the Israeli government is trying to signal in a very sophisticated way, and

in an indirect way that it is responsible for this attack.

And as you said, there were no surprises, understanding between the U.S. and Israel. And I think that many U.S. officials in the Biden

Administration see what is happening in recent weeks as a sort of violation of this understanding, because the U.S. was not in the loop in any way, as

far as I know, about this attack in Natanz, which is - which obviously, that it was meant to make the nuclear talks much more complicated.

ANDERSON: Well, interestingly, the Iranian Foreign Minister, Javad Zarif, said that this attack simply strengthens Tehran's hands. I wonder what you

make of that and what impact or damage to Joe Biden's attempts at diplomacy at this point.

RAVID: Well, I think it completely - it really complicates the nuclear talks. And on the one hand, it could totally derail them, on the other

hand, and we saw the Iranian statement of 60 percent enrichment. So the Iranians are escalating. They're doubling down.

They trying to use what happened in Natanz as leverage in the negotiations, hoping that the U.S. that the Biden Administration, who wants to go back to

the nuclear deal known to put Iran's nuclear program in a box that all of those developments will make the U.S. more flexible.

And eventually that it will cave to the Iranian demands to lift all sanctions first, and only afterwards, Iran would come back to compliance.

So I think that the Natanz incident really complicates the negotiation. And it will be very interesting to see how it will develop in the next few

days?

ANDERSON: Just moments ago - who is buries himself in U.S. Iran relations, tweeting, and I quote him here. Thanks to Netanyahu and maximum pressure

cheerleaders in DC, Iran's nuclear program is now going to be enriching at unprecedented levels with less international oversight. Tremendous work,

everyone he says exclamation mark. Do you share his concerns briefly? I've got 30 seconds sir.

RAVID: Yes, you look I think it is very clear that Iran is much closer to a nuclear weapon today than it's been several years ago before Trump withdrew

from the nuclear agreement. This is a fact however you want to call it this is a fact Iran today is closer to a nuclear weapon.

ANDERSON: With that, we'll leave it there, sir. It's a pleasure having you on.

RAVID: Thank you so much.

ANDERSON: Please come back. Thank you.

RAVID: Thank you.

ANDERSON: Right. That's our reporting on these talks. He's in direct talks, which of course begin next week in the wake of what has been this

unexplained attack over the weekend on the Natanz facilities in Iran. Japan plans to dump treated Fukushima wastewater into the sea.

[10:30:00]

ANDERSON: Now South Korea and China are furious. Our report from Tokyo is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: We had live pictures from Washington where U.S. Capitol Police Officer Billy Evans is lying in honor. The 18 year old veteran died in the

line of duty earlier this month protecting the Capitol from an attacker. Another officer was injured in that same attack. U.S. President Joe Biden

will lead the ceremony for Officer Evans in just about a half hour from now.

Beijing and Seoul are raging over Japan's plan to dump treated wastewater into the sea wastewater from the ruined Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant.

Tokyo says water is safe and will be released gradually. And the U.S. says the move meets global standards.

The water was contaminated after the 2011 nuclear disaster. Well CNN's Blake Essig connects us to the facts for you now from Tokyo.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): After years of debate following the nuclear disaster in Fukushima, a decision has been made. On

Tuesday, the Japanese government announced it will be releasing water used to cool the damage reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

into the Pacific Ocean.

YOSHIHIDE SUGA, JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER: We will secure safety which is far above the regulation standards and the government as a whole will conduct

exhaustive measures against harmful rumors. On these premises, we have judged that oceanic release is a realistic option.

ESSIG (voice over): To understand how we got here in 2011 a powerful earthquake and tsunami cut off the power supply and cooling systems for the

plant ever since water has been used to prevent the damaged reactor cores from melting down.

More than 1.2 5 million tons of water is being held inside 1000 tanks at the seaside plant. The Japanese government says three quarters of it still

needs to be re purified. And once it's been treated and meets international regulatory standards the International Atomic Energy Agency says the water

poses no harm to the environment.

RAFAEL MARIANO GROSSI, AIEA DIRECTOR GENERAL: So there is no harm. It is not like you are going to see the sea glowing in purple or green and all

fishes will be dead and the Pacific Ocean will be killed of course not.

ESSIG (voice over): While the U.S. showed support for its ally. The plan has failed to ease the fears of its neighbors. Both South Korea and China

expressed grave concern at Japan's plan, South Korea even summoning Japan's Ambassador over it.

KOO YUN-CHEOL, SOUTH KOREAN MINISTER FOR GOVERNMENT POLICY COORDINATION: The decision of the Japanese government is totally unacceptable. We will

take every necessary measure on the principal of putting our people's safety first.

[10:35:00]

ESSIG (voice over): But perception is often reality. And in this case, the fishermen who make a living off Fukushima's Coast say safer not the

reputational damage of dumping the treated water into the ocean will be devastating. Adding salt to the wound, some fishermen feel betrayed by

their government.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They made a promise to us fishermen that they will not release the water unless they talk to us to get agreement from us. But they

broke it today by the single words of the Prime Minister. They're not thinking about us at all. At least they should have explained to us before

they did this.

ESSIG (voice over): A big disappointment for fishermen in Fukushima who now have to live with the fallout of this decision. Blake Essig, CNN, Tokyo.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: We've just had some new information coming into CNN on the Ever Given. Remember that name? Most people won't forget it. It's the supersize

containership that was refloated a couple of weeks ago after blocking the Suez Canal.

But it turns out it didn't actually get to sail all that far. It's still being held midway on the canal in the so called Great Bitter Lake. You can

see it on that map here and why? Well, Egyptian authorities say they will keep hold of it until a $900 million compensation bill is paid.

That is according to Egypt's state run - news outlet. Over 400 ships were blocked from trying to cross the vital waterway due to the Ever Given

running aground. The Japanese owning companies - said that insurance companies and lawyers are currently working on the compensation now and

refused to comment any further.

Well, a new blast of ash rock and gas from a volcano is covered St. Vincent it's the biggest explosion in four days of activity and what is this tiny

Caribbean Island. Thousands have been evacuated by land and sea. Patrick Oppmann takes a look at the first eruption in more than 40 years.

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: People on St. Vincent say this usually lush and green Caribbean Island now looks more like a war zone. For days

less afraid of volcano there has continued to erupt, dumping ash over much of this island.

There are places - communities on this island that are now under several feet of ash. And scientists say their fear is that pyroclastic flow could

begin to come out of the volcano that is when lava mixes with rock and ash and becomes this very fast, flowing, dangerous phenomenon that destroys

everything in its path.

So they're continuing to warn people to stay away. Already thousands have evacuated some have evacuated by cruise ships to other islands and it's not

clear how long this situation will last? Over the weekend power was knocked out through on much of the island. Eruptions continued to be felt on the

ashes of course, complicating the rescue efforts the efforts to assess the damage.

And making it dangerous just to breathe in many parts of this island, the Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines said that the impacts from

the eruptions could last months longer. Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana.

ANDERSON: Well, in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the prosecution has now rested. The defense is calling its first witnesses. We will be on that

story for you just as soon as we have taken this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:40:00]

ANDERSON: Well, jurors in the murder trial of a Former Minneapolis Policemen are now back in the courtroom. Let's take you there live on day

12 of testimony on the killing of George Floyd.

END