Return to Transcripts main page
Connect the World
India Overwhelmed amid COVID-19 Surge; Tourism Banned May 8-16 in Pakistan; E.U. Chief Protests Sexist Treatment; Myanmar Military Accused of Beatings, Torture; Iranian Foreign Minister Criticizing Elite Forces in Leaked Audio; Japan to Open Mass Vaccine Center in Tokyo. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired April 27, 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]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VEDIKA SUD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's a queue outside, just waiting for the final rites to end for a family member who has died of COVID-19.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNNI HOST (voice-over): A top court in India calls for murder charges against officers of the electoral commission, blaming
political rallies for the country's catastrophic second wave.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON (voice-over): Then, contradictory COVID messaging in Turkey. The country announces its strictest lockdown yet but exempts tourists from the
new measures.
Plus --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): They tried to brainwash us. There are soldiers who only believe what the commanders told them.
ANDERSON (voice-over): Inside Myanmar's military, CNN speaks to a young soldier who defected after the coup there began.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: A very warm welcome. I'm Becky Anderson. It's 6:00 here in Abu Dhabi. This is CONNECT THE WORLD.
We begin once again in India for all the wrong reasons. The country now enduring the world's worst COVID-19 outbreak anywhere since the start of
the pandemic. But experts suggest official numbers could just be the tip of the iceberg there. COVID cases could be 20 to 30 times higher than
reported.
The devastating scenes at hospitals, at cremation sites, have been mainly from big cities. What's likely happening in rural villages, where the
infrastructure is much less developed, is unthinkable.
The anger, of course, is growing. India's Madras high court blaming the electoral commission, saying its officers should probably face murder
charges for this brutal second wave.
Why?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON (voice-over): Scenes like this. It is election season in India and, just weeks ago, the prime minister himself encouraging crowds to flock
en masse to rallies with no social distancing measures and few masks.
The court today citing the election commission's refusal to stop these rallies, calling it, quote, "the most irresponsible institution," and now
threatening to halt vote counting scheduled for the weekend unless COVID protocols are put in place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: New COVID cases in India did dip very slightly today for the first time in a week after repeatedly smashing global records. But the
numbers are still staggering. You can see the astonishing rise on this chart. The true number of cases thought by the WHO to be dramatically
higher. And deaths currently on track to keep rising until mid-May.
The images coming out of India in the past week are among the most shocking that we have seen during the pandemic. Mass cremations happening in New
Delhi and other big cities. So many people are dying so fast that families are left with no choice than to part with their loved ones in what is a
soulless, heart-wrenching way. CNN's Vedika Sud is for us on the ground in India's national capital.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUD: These raging fires will continue all day and through the evening, the surge in cases being so much that there is a waiting for these bodies to be
put on the pyre by family members.
There's a queue outside, just waiting for the final rites to end for a family member who has died of COVID-19.
Body after body being brought into this crematorium in India's national capital, New Delhi, that has seen a huge surge, not only in cases but in
fatalities as well. Family members pulling out bodies such as this one, from ambulances lined up in this crematorium ground, taking them for
cremation.
They've grown up with these people, they've lived with them and now it's time to say their final goodbyes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): My uncle died at about 11:15 pm on April 24th. The hospital didn't inform us. When we called the help desk, we
were told he was no more.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SUD: One of the more heartbreaking scenes was when a 27-year old was picking up the ashes of his 49 year-old mother. His brother is still in
hospital, recovering from COVID-19. While his father has just got home after recovering from infection.
I'm standing right behind another crematorium, this time in South Delhi, where you can see about 50 people at work here. They're trying to get 100
platforms ready, this is going to be a makeshift crematorium because of the increase, the exponential increase in fatalities, we believe, that this
makeshift crematorium should be ready in the days to come.
I'm standing outside a COVID emergency ward at a top hospital in New Delhi, it is here that a lot of people have been coming and almost begging for
beds and oxygen for their loved ones.
[10:05:00]
SUD: If you look at all these cars, starting from here, almost a dozen parked right outside this emergency ward, they are asking just for beds and
oxygen, which they have been denied as of now, because there are no beds available, according to officials inside this hospital.
They are old people here, old women, old men. There are even younger people who are gasping for breath in these cars. They're just waiting for the one
lucky moment where they get a bed inside this facility.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I brought my father, here there are no beds, there are people who are in the corridors, lying on the floor. And the very first
portion says that (INAUDIBLE) PCR test, what is the infection rate?
Am I getting oxygen cylinder?
For which I wasn't aware of, I thought this is what the hospital would provide.
SUD: Relatives of patients suffering from COVID-19 have been waiting for ambulances to take them home but these ambulances have been so busy getting
patients here out of crematoriums that has been extremely difficult for them to get the sick ones home after being denied a bed -- Vedika Sud, CNN,
New Delhi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: The list of countries offering to help India is growing, as supplies do begin to arrive. Today the first shipment from the U.K. landing
in India. Britain sending oxygen concentrators, ventilators and other equipment.
India's government says it's going to import oxygen equipment from France and from Thailand, among the latest countries pledging assistance. Well,
there is a tremendous grassroots effort going on inside India at this point to help those in need. One of those groups, Team SOS India, sourcing
requests for people for blood plasma and beds.
And a founding member of that organization joins me now via Skype.
Good to have you. We have largely been seeing the situations in the biggest cities. Your team, I know, works across the country.
What is the reality in rural villages, especially in relation to medical supplies?
NITESH SINGH, TEAM SOS INDIA: So thank you for having me here and we are - - we understand the lack of resources in India right now. Specifically, like after Delhi you can see that there are cases rising in other places,
which was unaffected in the first wave.
And the station is struggling with the -- providing equipment, providing for the patients.
ANDERSON: What are requests you're getting?
You have about 436 other team members on the ground nationwide.
What are the requests that you are getting and how are you managing these requests?
Just explain the sort of work that you're doing at this point.
SINGH: So we have been receiving requests for beds, plasma and, in some cases, medicine. So medicine we do not do because that is mostly done by
government. They have been doing tremendous work.
So we have been receiving bed requests and plasma requests. We first coordinate with the COVID team member, coordinate with the COVID war room
and if they do not -- and we make call to the hospitals to find a bed for the patients.
And about plasma, the patients that we have helped earlier, what we're doing, we call them and we ask them to donate plasma for the new
requirement that we are getting.
ANDERSON: So just how many requests are you getting?
I just want to get a sense of the scope of your work at present.
SINGH: OK. So on a daily basis, we receive around 100-plus cases for bed and around 500-plus cases of plasma.
ANDERSON: You tweeted today that you understand the gravity of the situation but you, your team, you have limitations.
How are you coping with what is an influx of requests, of course?
SINGH: So actually we know that we are a small organization. Basically, we are a volunteer initiative. There are good people who join hands and they
are working directly.
We do have limitations. Like bed requests, making, at minimum, 10, 15 calls for a request, it takes time. And sometimes we feel helpless. And then
there are persons' life at stake, we cannot -- like we can't give up. We are trying to handle cases by not giving up. We try everything. Like we try
everything at our disposal to do that.
[10:10:00]
ANDERSON: I spoke to the chief scientist at the World Health Organization yesterday, who told me that cases could be 20 to 30 times higher than
official figures being reported at this point.
Does that sound reasonable to you?
You are on the ground with your teams. You are seeing what's going on. You are seeing the case load.
Do these numbers ring true?
SINGH: It might be because I cannot comment on the numbers. Like right now, we are not even getting time to have a proper bath or a meal. So I
cannot comment on that number.
We are like away from -- the only thing that we receive is the patient's request and plasma request and anything. So I cannot comment on the
numbers. But yes, it is growing and the situation is very bad. Like it is very bad.
ANDERSON: So outside of the big cities, I mean, our viewers, as I say, will have seen many of the images from hospitals. Ofttimes these are
private hospitals. We're struggling to get a real picture of what's going on inside these government hospitals. And we've seen these mass cremations.
SINGH: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: Just describe for me what's going on in the rural areas.
How concerned are you about the areas that, you know, the media are not getting to report on?
SINGH: So there are like influx of cases from the rural area, like Lucknow (ph), Kanpur, Ranchi, Jansaypur (ph). These are the places we never thought
we'd receive cases and we are receiving even not just bed requests but plasma requests.
Like we have small places like Golea (ph) and so technically, it's not just metro areas impacted this time. It's actually the rural areas also getting
impacted and affected.
ANDERSON: When it comes to social distancing, we know that there are restrictions coming into place. However, last year's lockdown hit the
informal workforce extremely hard. Many people in India simply cannot afford to stop working.
How concerned are you about the ability of people to stay safe, to socially distance, when they also have to put food in the mouths of their families?
SINGH: Right now, this time, I don't think the people can afford not to work. Last time it was like they had some -- something like some saving.
But this time it's very tough. Talking about people who are -- if they do not work for a day, their family might sleep without food.
So this time it is -- it is technically, I can say impossible for some people not to work and like -- and be at home.
ANDERSON: Yes, you're describing life or death decisions people are making at times, as India now, of course, looks to what is a second set of
restrictions. But this is way too late. Indian officials telling us this just caught them unawares but this is a real mess. Thank you, Nitesh Singh,
for joining us.
India's long-time rival, neighboring, Pakistan, is offering ventilators and other medical supplies to India. This comes as Pakistan suffers its own
shortage of oxygen. That has forced two provinces to cancel all elective surgeries.
Meanwhile, the government has banned tourism and travel between provinces during what will be the Eid holiday at the end of Ramadan. The interior
ministry says that means closing resorts, parks and hotels. The goal is to keep Pakistan from facing this dire situation that India finds itself in.
Sophia Saifi has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SOPHIA SAIFI, CNN PRODUCER: Becky, Pakistan has seen a rise in numbers that it hasn't seen since the summer of 2020. The numbers that we're seeing
due to the pandemic here is higher than it's ever been before.
Due to that, the Pakistani government has enforced certain measures to make sure the situation does not get as bad as it is in neighboring India. What
they've done is the army has been called in.
The prime minister has spoken directly to the public, requesting that they follow SOP, that they wear masks, that, during the month of Ramadan, they
ensure that there is proper social distancing.
The Pakistani government has also gone ahead and made an announcement that the government is going to be enforcing a complete ban, interprovincial
travel during the holidays of Eid in the middle of May. There's also been an announcement of a complete ban on tourism between the 8th and 16th of
May.
[10:15:00]
SAIFI: There is a very real concern of oxygen supplies running out in the country. Medical officials have come out and said that 80 percent of the
country's oxygen supply is already in use by medical institutions.
They've said that due to that, the two major provinces of Sindh and Punjab have gone ahead and banned nonurgent surgical procedures in the country. In
case somebody has tonsillitis or breaks a bone, has a kidney stone, they cannot be operated upon unless it's a complete emergency measure or if it's
urgent.
So due to that, there is a real concern amongst the Pakistani people, there's a concern due to the month of Ramadan. There's a concern because of
the impending Eid holidays and there's the concern and fear amongst the Pakistani people that things should not and cannot get as bad as they are
next door.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Sophia Saifi in Pakistan for you.
In Turkey, giving tourists a break from its toughest lockdown ever. These new restrictions, which start this Thursday night local time and will be in
place for nearly three weeks. But even as schools and restaurants do prepare to close, museums and historical sites will stay open.
It's a very different way of doing a lockdown, it all coincides with the end of the holy month of Ramadan and the Eid al-Fitr holiday in May. Let's
connect you to Istanbul and CNN's Jomana Karadsheh.
This is rather conflicting messaging.
What's the thinking?
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Becky, they do want to keep this country open for tourism. That is a very big part of Turkey's
economy, an economy that's been struggling for a long time. And it's been hit hard by the COVID pandemic.
So they just want to make sure that nothing they do will stop tourists from coming to this country. And I think also this strict lockdown, in one part,
is to really bring this pandemic under control and also prepare the country for the tourist season.
They already lost out a lot last year. So they want to try and make sure that, in the coming months, they are going to be able to bring more
tourists into this country.
Throughout the pandemic, the Turkish government has resisted calls for any sort of a full shutdown, a real lockdown. They've opted for their versions
of a partial lockdown up until now.
This is going to be the strictest lockdown we have seen in Turkey since the start of the pandemic. It seems the government was left with no other
choice two weeks ago, as the numbers this month have reached unprecedented levels. On some days, it was more than 60,000 cases a day, Becky.
More than 300 deaths also being reported pretty much on a daily basis so far this month. So the partial lockdown two weeks ago, it did seem to bring
down the numbers gradually over the past few days. But it's not happening fast enough.
We heard from President Erdogan last night, saying that Turkey is going to be left behind as much of Europe is opening up. They need to bring down
these numbers rapidly, bring it down to under 5,000 cases a day or, he said, this is going to cost industries like tourism and the trade sector
heavily.
So they're going to have to do this as of Thursday evening. Much of the country is going to be under this stay-at-home order. People will only be
allowed to go out for essentials. You can go out on foot during certain hours of the day to grocery stores and others.
There will be no travel to different cities in the country without a permission from the government and it will only be issued in emergencies.
They are hoping this, coupled with the vaccination campaign, will bring down the numbers, Becky.
ANDERSON: All right. While I've got you, our viewers are likely to remember this moment a few weeks ago, when European Commission president
Ursula von der Leyen was in Turkey and was left without a seat in a meeting with Turkey's President Erdogan and her E.U. male counterpart.
She's responded to that incident today.
What did she say?
KARADSHEH: As you mentioned, this incident earlier this month, you had two European Union presidents, Sean Michel, the president of the European
Council, and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, meeting with President Erdogan.
The two E.U. presidents walk into the room; there are only two chairs set up in the center of the room and the two men took those seats.
[10:20:00]
KARADSHEH: And it was a very awkward moment that was caught on camera. And at the time, there was a lot of criticism of Turkey, accused of basically
treating two presidents differently because von der Leyen was a woman, something the Turkish government rejected.
And they blamed this on the E.U.'s protocol team, saying that the two sides had protocol teams that met. They decided on the arrangements and this is
what happened.
Sean Michel at the time saying he blamed this on Turkey's strict interpretation, as he called it, of the protocols. Now we've heard from von
der Leyen, speaking to the European Parliament, saying that she felt hurt and alone as a woman and as a European. Take a listen to what she had to
say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
URSULA VAN DER LEYEN, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN COMMISSION: I am the first woman to be president of the European Commission. I am the president of the
European Commission. And this is how I expected to be treated when visiting Turkey 2 weeks ago, like a commission president.
But I was not. I cannot find any justification for what I was treated in the European treaties. So I have to conclude, it happened because I am a
woman.
Would this have happened if I had worn a suit and a tie?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KARADSHEH: She went on to say, Becky, that thousands of far more serious incidents continue to take place, that this was caught on camera. Others go
unnoticed and unobserved.
ANDERSON: Jomana is on the story. Jo, thank you.
The COVID pandemic low on the list of priorities in Myanmar. The firsthand account of a soldier so horrified by the military's tactics there that he
has left his post.
And a rights group accuses Israel of effectively committing apartheid. Israel calling the accusations fiction. More on that is just ahead.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
The Karen National Liberation Army in Myanmar, an ethnic minority rebel group, says it has taken control of a military outpost operated by
Myanmar's military. And it's situated near the Thai border. A spokesperson said the operation took place early Tuesday and they are still confirming
casualties.
Just hours later, dozens of pro-democracy protesters held a brief march in Yangon, carrying anti-coup banners and signs in support of the national
unity government.
[10:25:00]
ANDERSON: These border clashes are the most intense since the February 1st coup that sent the country into this current crisis. The military junta has
since waged a systematic crackdown on protesters. They are widely accused of using torture and abuse. Hundreds of demonstrators have been killed.
Our chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward was there and spoke to one young soldier, who was so horrified and ashamed by what he saw that he
defected from the military. And I want to warn you that some of the images that you are about to see in this report are graphic.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They gather outside the prison every day, mostly parents desperately hoping for
a glimpse of their children, proof that they are still alive.
They know that behind these walls, Myanmar's military junta is engaging in unspeakable cruelty against those who dare to defend democracy.
Now in hiding, this 19-year-old is brave enough to share his story with us. He says he was detained after being stopped by soldiers who found photos of
him at protests on his phone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): When we got there, the commander tied my hands behind my back and use small scissors to cut my ears, to put
my nose, my neck and my throat. Then he had his fellow soldiers beat me up that night.
WARD (voice-over): He shares photos of the abuse. His back lacerated from whippings with a cable wire, his face swollen from endless strikes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I even told them to kill me instead of torturing me. It was that painful.
WARD (voice-over): Myanmar's junta shows no shame about its cruelty. On state television, it proudly displays images of those arrested for so
called terrorist activity. The face of this 31-year-old dance teacher is barely recognizable. Family members say this is what she looked like before
the beatings.
From the safety of neighboring India, this 23-year-old army cadet says the soldiers were only allowed to watch state T.V. We have agreed not to reveal
his identity for his protection.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): They tried to brainwash us. There are soldiers who only believe what the commanders told them. They don't
think.
WARD (voice-over): Two years into his military career, he decided to defect haunted by the military's brutality after the coup. Every night he
says they would set out on raids, armed with assault rifles and the names of protest leaders given by their informants.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): At one point, we went to arrest two leaders one got arrested and one was trying to escape and we shot him
on the spot. We were ordered to shoot when they escaped.
WARD (voice-over): That night, he claims he intentionally broke his rifle so it wouldn't fire but says it was the cruelty to the families of the
protesters that finally broken.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): They were crying when we raided their houses and beat them. The neighbors knew too but no one dared to come
out at night. If someone was looking at us through their windows, we told them to come out and beat them too. The youngest one I saw was around 10 or
11 years old, a boy.
WARD (voice-over): Despite the ferocity of the military's crackdown, Myanmar is prodemocracy movement is still very much alive. The young
protesters ordeal lasted three long days. During the endless beatings he says he had one focus, staying alive so that he could protest once again --
Clarissa Ward, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Human Rights Watch has released a scathing report against Israel, accusing it of systematically oppressing the Palestinians. The
group points to Israel's policies regarding land seizures and restricting movement in the Palestinian Territories.
It says these policies amount to apartheid and persecution. Israel strongly refuting the findings. The foreign ministry says HRW has a longstanding
anti-Israel agenda. It says the report is part of an ongoing campaign and there is no connection to the facts or the reality on the ground.
We're going to speak with the executive director of Human Rights Watch, Kenneth Ross, coming up in the next hour.
Also we'll hear from the former deputy chief of staff for the IDF, Israel's Defense Forces, on that very same report. That's all in the next hour.
Iran's president wants answers, specifically.
Who leaked audio of his foreign minister's harsh words about the Iranian government?
[10:30:00]
ANDERSON: Details coming up.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ANDERSON: Iran's president has ordered an investigation into leaked audio of the country's top diplomat slamming the military. In the three-hour long
tape, the foreign minister Javad Zarif said the military's actions make diplomacy more difficult and accuses slain general Qasem Soleimani of
trying to sabotage the Iran nuclear deal.
The government says the audio was stolen from a research project that Zarif took part in. I want to bring in Vali Nasr, a professor of Middle East
studies and international affairs at Johns Hopkins University. He's a good friend of this show.
I just want to start by getting your reaction to this leaked audio.
Two things: what did you make of it and were you surprised by anything that you heard?
VALI NASR, AUTHOR AND DEAN OF JOHNS HOPKINS SCHOOL OF ADVANCED INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: It was very surprising event. I was surprised that
foreign minister Zarif would risk being so open before his term was over.
I was not surprised that it was leaked because there's a very broad campaign to both undermine the nuclear deal and also to make sure that he
doesn't run in the upcoming presidential elections. He has been very popular. He's the most popular moderate/reformist politician in Iran.
A lot of it was not new. I think what was perhaps new was the degree to which Russia had worked to undermine the nuclear deal and the degree to
which foreign minister Zarif, who was the chief negotiator, viewed Russia, rather than the United States or the Europeans, as the obstacle to the
nuclear deal and also accused Russia essentially of trying to undermine JCPOA in cahoots with the Revolutionary Guards after the deal was signed.
So that piece, I think, was new. But the fact that the Iranian military has a run-up that's showing foreign policy was not new to most Iranians.
ANDERSON: No, and I'm not surprised that you say that. And I'll come to the Iran-Russia relationship in a moment. but I want to pause on what
happened here.
I just want to -- why would Zarif conduct a seven-hour interview for research, when, you know, there's always the likelihood that this could get
leaked?
Were you surprised that he was as open and what about who might be behind this leak?
You've talked about how it might jeopardize, for example, a Zarif run for president, if, indeed, that were a likelihood.
[10:35:00]
ANDERSON: Ned Price from the State Department has said this is purportedly leaked material; can't speak to its authenticity. Can't speak to the
accuracy of it, can't speak to any motives that may be behind its decimation. Let's pause on that last point, motives behind its decimation,
if you will.
NASR: Well, motives, I think, foremost, is to prevent Zarif from participating in the election. These are probably the most important
elections in over a generation in Iran because the next Iranian president will oversee not only the fate of the nuclear deal but essentially,
potentially, the succession to the supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei.
And the conservatives are very keen on consolidating power. Zarif is probably the only candidate that could have overturned the apple cart and
brought about a surprise.
Secondly, there is progress in Vienna on the nuclear deal. And the conservatives, the IRGC, are worried about that. Some are completely
opposed to the deal. Some don't want the deal to breathe life into the Rouhani administration and the moderates want to be the ones who bring the
gains back to the Iranians.
And this complicates the deal because it undermines the legitimacy of the nuclear negotiating team in Vienna. It's also angered Russia significantly.
And Russia is sitting at the table and has the vote. And that may also complicate what will come out of Vienna.
ANDERSON: Let's talk about the Iran-Russia relationship going forward.
What are your thoughts?
NASR: Well, Russia has a very strong relationship with hardliners in Iran, particularly with the Revolutionary Guard. And they collaborated in Syria.
They have a military to military and intelligence to intelligence relationship.
So foreign minister Zarif put this on the table but also really argued that Russia does not have Iran's interest in mind and Russia benefits from
tensions between Iran and the United States because it diverts attention from Russia. It keeps Iran's oil and gas out of the international market.
And also Russia can bargain with the U.S. over what it will do and not do on Iraq. And I think these are explosive challenges to at least the ally
that the IRGC looks to, as being Iran's strategic debt (ph) but also Zarif was making a very, very strong case for why Iran has to have relations with
the United States and Europe and has to normalize it.
ANDERSON: The IRGC and its aligned media in Iran have been going hard against foreign minister Zarif and his negotiating team.
Now for months, despite Khamenei's public support for these talks to lift sanctions -- for those viewers who may not be as imbued in the machinations
of back-room politics in Iran, just explain what is the game that the IRGC is playing here?
And just how influential are they?
NASR: Well, they have been gaining in influence significantly. And I think this episode suggests that, as much as the supreme leader has been trying
to create room for the negotiations in Vienna to go forward and has expressed public support for Zarif and Rouhani and the negotiating team,
he's not quite capable of reining in quote-unquote "the deep state" in Iraq, which is still sniping at the negotiating team, still trying to cast
the nuclear deal as treason and try to cast Zarif and Rouhani as having sold Iran's national interest at the table.
The benefit to them is they want to quash the moderates ahead of the election, consolidate power and they see an opportunity in what Trump did
to the nuclear deal in the mood in Iran to do so.
And they are relentless and ruthless in pursuing that agenda. And I think the only person who can rein him in is the supreme leader. But after these
revelations, I think it's difficult for him to do so as well.
ANDERSON: Fascinating. Vali, it's always a pleasure. It's going to be a busy time on the Iran file. Please do join us in the days and weeks to
come. That election in June.
Coming up after this short break here on CONNECT THE WORLD, from empty arenas to new limits on the media, Japan getting ready for an Olympics like
no other. We'll take you inside a dress rehearsal of sorts for the upcoming games.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:40:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ANDERSON: Welcome back. You're with CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Becky Anderson.
It is crunch time in Japan. The government trying to speed up COVID-19 vaccinations with just 87 days left before the Tokyo Olympics are set to
begin there. Japan's defense ministry says it will open a large-scale vaccination center in Tokyo late next month, where up to 10,000 people a
day can get vaccinated.
Right now the country in a state of emergency as it battles a fourth wave of infections. My colleague, Blake Essig, shows us how Japan is preparing
to host the games during what is a pandemic.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're at the Tokyo Aquatic Center, one of the venues which will be used for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. With
less than three months to go before the start of the Olympics, this is one of the first test events being held since the games were postponed more
than a year ago.
Test events like this serve as a dress rehearsal for Olympic organizers, an opportunity to work out the kinks ahead of the games. In this case, only a
limited number of Japanese athletes are participating.
Here in the MiG (ph) zone, only 12 journalists are allowed in at any time. As a result, because of COVID-19, this virtual setup is one option being
considered to allow equal access to athletes.
When it comes anti virus measures, it is clear Olympic organizers are still figuring things out. This is the media room, inside of the aquatic center,
where social distancing doesn't seem to be an option.
What hasn't been decided, this is what the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic games could look like. Empty arenas, with no fans and athletes competing to
the sound of music, which does help mask the silence.
Despite a fourth wave of infections growing and Tokyo being placed under its third state of emergency order, Olympic organizers and the Japanese
government remain committed to holding the games as scheduled this summer - - Blake Essig, CNN, Tokyo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Amanda Davies joining us from "WORLD SPORT" coming up after the break.
It is amazing. You see Blake's report and you think, this time last year, we were debating -- and, of course, organizers were debating -- whether
they could still hold the games last summer. And here we are, you know, a year on and there are still question marks as to what these games will look
like, if at all, still, Amanda.
AMANDA DAVIES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They are very much saying the games will go ahead. But Wednesday is a huge day. There's a big meeting between the
major stakeholders, the organizing committee, the IOC; the Tokyo government to come up with their revised playbook or the rules of engagement as it
were for how things are going to pan out in a couple of months' time.
We know there's not going to be foreign spectators. At the moment, they're not saying vaccinations are mandatory. But in the last 24 hours, both
Australia and France have said they are going to prioritize their athletes for the vaccines.
But from an athlete's perspective, everybody we're talking to, they are just saying very much, we're putting our heads down and it's on with the
job at hand.
ANDERSON: Yes, again, we remember having those very same conversations this time last year. It really makes you realize where we have been and
where we are at. Amanda, always a pleasure. You are up after this break.
I'll be back after that, folks.
(WORLD SPORT)
[11:00:00]
END
