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Biden to Intel Agencies: Report on COVID Origins in 90 Days; Advisor to W.H.O.: China Covering Up COVID-19 Origin; Two Exxonmobil Directors Ousted After Investor Battle; A "Passport" For Your Food; Palestinian Activist Describes Talk with Blinken; "Super Flower Blood Moon" Lights Up the Sky. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired May 27, 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]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

BECKY ANDERSON, CNNI HOST: This hour the hunt for the origin of the Coronavirus, a whole lot of questions, not many answers. It is one question

that as befuddled and frustrated scientists, government leaders and really all of us since the start of this pandemic, when and how did COVID-19

start?

While there is new focus today on a theory that has been doing around since early on, but is now gaining traction that the virus originated in a lab in

Wuhan in China. Now the American President wants a clear answer Joe Biden ordering his intelligence agencies to produce a report within 90 days

examining that possibility.

And a more widely accepted theory that COVID emerged from animals and spread humans possibly in and around a wet market in Wuhan. Word of Mr.

Biden's directive coming after a U.S. intelligence report found that several researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology got sick and had to

be hospitalized back in November of 2019.

China is flatly denying there is any connection between the lab and the COVID outbreak. But the top Infectious Disease Specialist in the United

States says all theories are possible at this point.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We feel strongly all of us that we should continue with the

investigation and go to the next phase of the investigation that the W.H.O. has done. So because we don't know 100 percent what the origin is, it's

imperative that we look and we do an investigation. And that's how we feel right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, we're connecting you to this story with White House Correspondent John Howard. He was in Washington for you and Nick Paton

Walsh my colleague in London who has or is one of the few journalists anyway, who has gotten inside information from sources involved in the

W.H.O.'s investigation, some of that reporting, it's resulting in exclusive reports from Nick.

And we'll get to you shortly. John, let's start with you. What's the perspective here from the Biden Administration on all of this?

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are two processes that are going on at the same time. One is, as you just heard, Dr. Fauci,

referred to in that sound bite that what he called the next phase of the international investigation involving the World Health Organization.

And what he means by that is an extended investigation, free of Chinese interference. There's a lot of belief within the United States government

that the report that came out in March was flawed.

Of course, we know that from the very beginning that Chinese kept out American scientists, at a time when they - are Centers for Disease Control

was offering to go in and assist with a pandemic, it's possible that the Chinese have committed the scientific equivalent of obstruction of justice.

We don't know about, for example, lab results of tests done on those researchers who were hospitalized in late 2019. We don't know if all of

that forensic information can be obtained. Nevertheless, the further we get from the heat of dealing with the pandemic itself, the more pressure there

is to try to explain what happened.

And as President Biden said yesterday, there's a split within the American intelligence community, between those who believe it went from an animal to

humans in a natural way. And those who believe that there was people studying Coronavirus at a laboratory in Wuhan. And there was an accident.

The Chinese are not eager to pursue that investigation. They certainly don't want to be made to look bad in the eyes of the world. But there's

increasing pressure on President Biden to try to get to the bottom of it. So that's why in addition to pressing for that international investigation,

he's given the intelligence community 90 days to try to sharpen their analysis. We'll see what they come up with.

ANDERSON: Nick, what are your sources telling you?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: At this stage, I do feel from all I've been hearing frankly, over the last year that we are

going to struggle to get a hard and fast conclusion three months from now, simply because the lab leak theory is not being put around more frequently

now because of some startling snowballing of evidence in its favor.

It rests on three startling coincidences which when you hear them all, so pretty remarkable that Wuhan is sort of the key center for virus research

in China, that in Wuhan, in fact, according to W.H.O. investigation itself, the sort of center for disease controlling Wuhan.

[11:05:00]

PATON WALSH: And moved its laboratory closer towards the seafood market, everyone talks about - just in the second day of December, just before some

of the first patient emerged, which the W.H.O. report said could well have been disruptive, maybe even, you could speculate caused a leak.

And third, of course, this intelligence reports suggesting that three workers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology sort of China's one of its top

five Virology research labs, got sick were hospitalized. We don't know what they got sick with?

We don't have the samples. We don't have the antibody test results. The W.H.O. relying on Chinese data, they said the tests have been done and

antibody tests have been done on that lab and all the labs in that area doing such work. And they'd all come up with no positive results, given

them any kind of clue.

But those three coincidences says if you are looking, as an analyst for a sort of simple explanation for this extraordinary event that's impacted the

life of everybody on the planet, then those three things are often hard to look at.

There may be other evidence possibly too in the hands of intelligence agencies or governments that they haven't shared, because it's too

classified, possibly, which is also giving extra weight to this theory.

But that is why the lab legal idea won't go away, not because there is any evidence that it's true at this stage, and you need some pretty compelling

data, frankly, to suggest something like that happened. And on the other side, is the idea that it possibly was in bats got into what we call it an

intermediary animal where maybe it became more infectious towards humans, then it jumped into humans.

Pretty much every expert you talked to thinks that is the most likely idea. None of them can dismiss the notion of a lab leak because yes, there are

these coincidences in these things that sort of linger around. But it's extremely hard to have a finite answer to all of this.

Why do we need one because we need to stop it from happening again? We don't know what the original cause of this was. We don't know if it's

mankind pushing into areas where it hasn't been before because we're expanding as a population or we don't know if it was a terrible accident in

a laboratory possibly someone innocently researching this kind of virus in the first place.

We need those answers to be sure it won't happen again. And it's pretty fair to say China is not being transparent with what it knows and what it

will show the W.H.O. investigation that it's so spectacularly slow rolled over almost a year Becky.

ANDERSON: Well, it says this is a smear campaign. Just have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZHAO LIJIAN, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS: The Wuhan Institute of virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences issued a relevant

statement on March 23rd this year. It stated that before December 30th, 2019 Coronavirus was not contracted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Until now there has been zero infection of staff and postgraduate students at the institute. The United States continues to hype the lab leak theory

doesn't care about origin tracing, or is it just trying to divert attention?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Pandemic politics that plays effectively what Beijing is saying, John, your thoughts?

HARWOOD: I don't think its pandemic politics at all. Look, it's a fact that China was not transparent from the beginning, and they have not been

transparent up to now, that doesn't mean that it was a lab leak theory. But they certainly are not acting as if they've got nothing to hide on this

score.

And so it is a natural as Nick was saying just a moment ago, it's natural for a crisis that affected every person on this planet, for the world to

want to know precisely what happened? And the Chinese could assist that process. They could have assisted at a year ago, they could assist it now.

And they haven't shown much interest in doing so. And you got to wonder why that is?

ANDERSON: Nick, I spoke to Jamie Metzl earlier an Advisor to the W.H.O. who by the way, describes their "Investigation is no more than a study tool".

Take a listen to what he told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMIE METZL, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION ADVISOR: The Chinese authorities have done 80,000 sequences with no evidence we know that the story of the

wet market origin was a lie. The Chinese government knew it was a lie in January of last year.

So that's why we're saying there are two valid hypothesis natural origins is a hypothesis in every other almost every other past outbreak. There was

some evidence you could see, in many ways the virus evolving as it jumps between animals and then ultimately to humans. There's none of that here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:10:00]

ANDERSON: Let's be quite clear about this Joe Biden has ordered his intelligence agencies to report back within 90 days given the notorious

difficulty of penetrating the beat this Chinese state system. What is the best way of ultimately finding out the truth at this point, if at all?

PATON WALSH: Yes, I mean, look, essentially Joe Biden's request is a pretty valid one. He's saying, well, look, this is probably the foremost question

of our generation at this time, get me a straight answer, or the best answer you can.

Because until this point, we've simply had leaks coming from the Trump Administration and a lot of speculation and are thwarted, W.H.O.

investigation. Ideally, we could go back in time and put people on the ground as this was happening, and try and make sure we got data raw tested

people at the right time for antibodies for live samples to see exactly how this was spreading.

We can't do that. So the other option is does China suddenly decide to be enormously transparent with what it has? It seems unlikely it will do that,

but the W.H.O., and this is where we get into the real world now. Putting aside spy craft, and all the things that we hope intelligence agencies will

believe they might be sort of omnipotent, be able to steal, or do realistically going forward, that W.H.O. want to go back and they want to

look at blood samples, for example, that are stored for years long in hospitals, which may show people who had traces of the virus earlier.

They want to look at raw data, not the analysis done of that data by Chinese officials, they can look into the spread in October and November,

when it pretty much seems the disease was moving around undetected. China could still do that.

They could say, right, OK, we have nothing to hide, here are the raw samples that they've chosen not to do that at this particular point. And

those questions will continue to grow, as it seems the Biden Administration focuses on trying to get an answer here.

The trouble is, Becky, as I said, you really are dealing with a very small change between the idea of somebody being infected, and a lab leak accident

that's been covered up very successfully by China. And somebody being infected by an animal, exotic animal in a wet market is that tiny

difference that's very hard to prove. And essentially, is it--

ANDERSON: Nick is in London and John is in Washington to both of you thank you very much indeed. Well, as the world asks more questions about the

start of the pandemic, the UK thought or it might be seeing the back end of it.

But COVID cases are spiking up 18 percent over the last week that is partly from what has been a big easing of restrictions and also from the spread of

the so called Indian variant, a variant first identified in India. The new numbers come as the British Health Secretary stood up in Parliament a short

time ago to defend the government's early handling of the pandemic, after what have been some explosive accusations.

Let's connect you to London and CNN's Cyril Vanier. Let's start with those explosive accusations. I mean, the Health Secretary really having to defend

himself and his government at this point.

CYRIL VANIER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. Look, the Health Secretary has been accused by Dominic Cummings, once the top adviser

to the British Prime Minister of having lied to the public and having acted in a way that along with the government caused thousands of deaths during

the pandemic. He's accused of having interfered with the country's test and trace system just so he could get look good on TV and prioritize the

testing target that he had said.

He is accused of having lied in the sense that he had told the government that care home residents were in hospital returning to care homes would be

tested for COVID before they return to their care homes and therefore wouldn't be spreading it within the care homes.

And that apparently, according to Dominic Cummings was not true. And when you know that of the 130,000 odd deaths are so here in the UK 40,000

occurred in care homes, you understand how explosive an accusation that is?

Well, unsurprisingly, Matt Hancock said that these allegations were unsubstantiated, that they were not true that he has not lied either in

public or in private and that he has acted in a manner that was consistent with saving lives also trying to brush it aside really Becky saying he

didn't listen to Dominic Cummings' seven hours of explosive testimony because he was busy rolling out the country's vaccination program and

saving lives.

Still, Becky this is not over. The fallout from the Cummings testimony is not over. Matt Hancock leading a presser a little later today no doubt he

will continue to get questions on what he didn't do during the handling of the early days of the pandemic.

ANDERSON: Yes, meantime, let's talk about this spike in cases. I mean, the UK really had the got this thing under control? You know, we've been

applauding the vaccine rollout which has been remarkable.

[11:15:00]

ANDERSON: So what has gone wrong at this point?

VANIER: Well, I think two things have happened. First of all, the country has started to reopen. And that was - it was always scheduled to happen and

it's happening according to the government's pre established schedule. So you know, I told you last hour, people are going back to gyms going back to

restaurants, cinemas, museums, more people are allowed to gather indoors, even more outdoors.

So it was always a given that the virus would start to spread a little bit more once the limits on social distancing, were eased. The second thing

that happened, of course, is this new variant that is spreading here in the UK that was first detected in India, which the government says is more

contagious than the dominant variant previously circulating.

Those two things are happening; those two things are driving case numbers up. But let's keep this in perspective for now, Becky, because the numbers

were 60,000 at the beginning of the year, 60,000 new infections a day at the height of the third wave. They were brought right down to one to 2000.

And we just taught 3000 a day.

It's an increase 18 percent increase on last week; it's still a very low number of daily infections. So for the moment, this thing is still under

control, Becky.

ANDERSON: Cyril Vanier is in London. Thank you, Cyril. Well, it is a shocking day for big oil coming up what a history making court decision in

"The Hague" means for climate change and the oil industry.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Well, some big changes maybe ahead for big oil and that is thanks to some dramatic developments on climate change. In the Netherlands on

Wednesday, a court ruling against oil giant Royal Dutch Shell now that court ordered Shell to slash its carbon dioxide emissions by 45 percent by

the year 2030.

While Shell says it will appeal there could be dramatic implications for other oil and mining companies to make big changes to fight our warming

planet. Exxonmobil the shark is in the boardroom and a shareholders meeting a hedge fund holding a tiny fraction of shares means enough investors that

the company wasn't taking the climate crisis seriously.

Now at least two seats on the board will go to members proposed by the climate change activists. Wednesday was a long sought day of celebration

for Donald Pols. He's Director of Friends of the Earth in the Netherlands, the group that brought the legal action against Shell. This group along

with 17,000 cores of plaintiffs says the consequences will be enormous not only for Shell, but for other fossil fuel companies globally.

And he joins us now from Amsterdam to explain how this "David Versus Goliath" case unfolded and these pictures really speak for themselves. Just

explain how you felt as that verdict was read out in court? This is of course the first of its kind and could set enormous precedent.

[11:20:00]

DONALD POLS, DIRECTOR, FRIENDS OF THE EARTH NETHERLANDS: Indeed, it was phenomenal. I guess there were only three instances in my life with that

was more exciting. And those were the birth of my three kids. It was a - it was phenomenal and historical moment, and beautiful to be part of.

ANDERSON: Yes. Well, I'm glad that the birth of your three kids came ahead of it. But this is enormous. And you've rightly placed it right up there. I

just wonder, take us back. What pushed you to bring this case against Shell at the outset?

POLS: Yes, to give it a bit of a perspective, I've been professionally active in the climate negotiations since the year 2000. And of course, the

CO2 emissions were continually rising even though the world was discussing how to address it.

So my - I challenged myself where is the problem? Why aren't we managing to address dangerous climate change? And my assessment was that the biggest

caveat in climate negotiators and climate policy is that the largest polluters are excluded from climate policy.

25 companies amongst which Royal Dutch Shell cause half of all the global greenhouse gases globally, and they are not regulated. They are outside of

the Paris Climate Accord, they are not regulated nationally.

So that was our conviction that in order to address dangerous climate change, multinational companies, oil majors need to become part of the

solution needs to be part of climate regulatory framework.

ANDERSON: Which they say they are, of course. I just want to read out a bit a Shell's statement in response to this case, and I quote them here. We are

investing billions of dollars in low carbon energy, including electric vehicle charging hydrogen, renewables and bio-fuels. They say we want to

grow demand for these products and scale up our new energy businesses even more quickly.

We will continue to focus on these efforts and fully expect to appeal today's disappointing court decision. So they'll appeal and they also

appealing to those who will listen that they are actively involved in efforts to ensure that they can reduce their carbon footprint and that of

the rest of the world. I just wonder what sort of precedent does this set to your mind at this point, and how much more work is there to do?

POLS: Just first to refer to the statement of Shell in order to limit dangerous climate change, we have to reduce our CO2 emissions, that means

that we should invest less or stop investing in the development of new fossil fuel projects, oil and gas.

And Shell continues to invest more than 80 percent of their investment at this stage, are still in fossil fuel projects. And that's what the court

ruled. The verdict is they should reduce their investments in fossil fuels. This is not only a signal or a verdict that's relevant to Shell, but it's a

verdict that will create - that already creates legal precedent that will be copied to start off with in the Netherlands.

We will address other major polluters, but also in Europe. And I believe in the near future, also in other Western countries.

ANDERSON: It has been a long time coming but the institutional investors those who have enormous power to wield around the world, it seems are now

interested in climate crisis and see themselves playing a role in helping affect change going forward.

Big oil it does seem to be suffering a lot this week a tiny hedge fund - a major blow to Exxonmobil unseating at least two board members in a bid to

force the company's leadership to reckon with the risk of failing to adjust its business strategy to match global efforts to combat climate change.

So taken together, the case in the Netherlands that you are involved with, and this hedge funds action against Exxonmobil equals watch going forward.

It certainly sends a loud message.

[11:25:00]

ANDERSON: But where does it take us at this point?

POLS: No, I'm not surprised with investors and shareholders stating this action. Because let's be clear, there is no economic growth, no growth and

profits on a dead planet. So a prerequisite for us continuing growing welfare and a growing economy is climate mitigation.

You should also add next to the shareholders and the legal case that we want the statement by the energy - International Energy Agency that

produced a report two weeks ago that concluded that in order to stay within a climate say, one and a half degrees, all new investments in fossil fuel

should stop immediately.

ANDERSON: Yes.

POLS: And this is a reflection of the hundreds of thousands maybe even millions of people that concerned citizens that went on to the streets in

Europe and the U.S., and even in Africa and Asia, is now being taken over by the institutional parties, investors, researchers. It is really a

changing trend.

ANDERSON: Yes, and these are change makers. But let's be quite clear about this. And we see the seeds of change. The intergovernmental panel on

climate change has recognized that the transition away from fossil fuels is a huge undertaking, and will require and I quote them here, rapid, far

reaching and unprecedented change across all aspects of society.

Let's be realistic here. You know, do we expect to see momentous change any time soon? Most people I speak to tell me that it is unrealistic to say

that we will see the back of the fossil fuel industry anytime soon.

POLS: Nobody said it's going to be easy. If it was easy, I think I would have chosen something else to do in order to achieve change, because other

people could do that the easy stuff. What is realistic should be determined by how to ensure a prosperous life?

Well, my three kids and for all kids in the world. And as long as we do not address dangerous climate change our children do not have a clear

perspective on a valuable future. And do chief climate mitigation, we will need to divorce ourselves from fossil fuel energy and therefore from the

fossil fuel industry.

ANDERSON: I'm going to give you 45 seconds because that's all I've got back. Can you in 45 seconds just explain your victory over Shell and what

it means for the fight against climate change?

POLS: It's an historical moment. For the first time in history, a judge has ruled that a major polluter in this case Shell should immediately stop

causing dangerous climate change. This means less climate change, less dangerous climate change, less blood is flooding, less droughts, less

forest fires. It's an enormous movement forward for the future of our children on a safe and healthy planet.

ANDERSON: With that, we leave it there. Thank you very much indeed for joining us. It couldn't be more important stories were here on "Connect the

World". Climate crisis climate change, you will hear us talking about it a lot in the months to come. And you will have - if you are a regular view is

talking a lot about it in the months leading up to now.

Still to come, chilling words from the conflict in the Ethiopian region of Tigray here the soldiers towards as they rounded up young men.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:30:00]

ANDERSON: Welcome back. You're watching "Connect the World". I'm Becky Anderson. The United Nations is just condemned the arrest and beatings of

at least 200 internally displaced people in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. Now, witnesses say Ethiopia and Eritrean soldiers rounded up the men from

camps and could be heard saying, "See if America will save you now".

This came just days after the U.S. announced financial sanctions and other actions against Ethiopian and Eritrean officials. At this hour as we speak

a U.S. Senate committee is discussing what to do about the fighting and famine in the region?

Our Senior International Correspondent Nima Elbagir reported from Tigray last month, and she joins us now.

Let's just start with this very basic question as it were, what can you tell us about what happened in Tigray days after the U.S. announcement was

made?

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there seems to be a--

ANDERSON: With that we've got some technical issues, and we will try and see if we can get Nima back. Should we take a very short break? Let's take

a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:35:00]

ANDERSON: Well, "Call to Earth" is CNN's initiative to promote a more sustainable future for those of us who like to be responsible when it comes

to what we eat. Here's a story about how technology can help you verify where your seafood comes from?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARKUS MUTZ, CEO, OPENSC: Only if we fish in a sustainable and ethical way, can we keep fishing and do not deplete our oceans.

DERMOT O'GORMAN, CEO, WWF AUSTRALIA: Unless we solve the problem of feeding a billion people in a way that's sustainable when not trying to avert the

biodiversity crisis.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Patagonian toothfish aren't easy to find at Sydney's fish market. Global demand for the delicacy has led ecologist to warn that

without careful management of fisheries, the species could be vulnerable to extinction.

MUTZ: 10 years ago, if you had a green conscience, you wouldn't eat Patagonian to fish because it was a critically endangered species. It is

now possible to eat this fish in a quite sustainable way. If you know that it was actually caught outside of marine protected areas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those protected areas crucial to giving the fish a refuge to reproduce. But the problem is.

O'GORMAN: How can you verify exactly where a fish was caught in a place that it is meant to be caught? And then track it through the supply chain

until it arrives on a consumer plate?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To answer that question, the World Wildlife Fund has partnered with Australian Technology Company Open SC.

MUTZ: We know a lot about this fish. We know exactly where it was caught. And we can verify on the basis of data that it is only being caught in

areas where it's sustainable to do so.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Using Open SC tech each fish gets a digital identity when it's caught, a code that can't be altered.

MUTZ: You essentially give a fish a kind of passport that travels with it throughout the whole supply chain. We use Blockchain Technology in order to

create an immutable record of that. So that makes it fraud proof. You can't change that data anymore without leaving a trace.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The GPS location of the boat when the fish was caught that duck by reading of the depth of the sea at that very moment.

Information compiled by AI protected by Blockchain and instantly available.

MUTZ: It's retrieving information when and where this particular fish was caught? And most importantly, it shows you that the vessel only fished

where they were supposed to and not the marine protected areas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks to Open SC 10 percent of Patagonian toothfish caught around the world are now tracked but there is work to be done. The

United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates 85 percent of the world's marine fish stocks are either fully exploited or over fished.

[11:40:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Open SC project is a small start in verifying the eco-credentials of the fish we buy. But the WWF believes conscious

consumers are driving change, and not just in seafood.

O'GORMAN: It's not hard to imagine a world where we see 100 percent of commodities on a type of platform like Open SC. The vision is imagine a

world where consumers no matter what they buy, whether it's a fish, or a piece of beef, or a product containing palm oil, are able to confirm the

claims around sustainability that are so critical for a sustainable future.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Until then, empowered consumers can lead the way by seeking out products like this tracked and traced toothfish over the touch

of their Smartphone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: We continue showcasing inspirational stories like this as part of the initiative at CNN. And if you want to know how you can answer the call?

Well, you can with the #calltoearth do use that on social. We will be right back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Another top foreign policy priority for the Biden Administration this week was violence between Israelis and Palestinian militants of

course. U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has now ended his trip to the Middle East. His last stop was in Jordan and all of this to help shore

up the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

A ceasefire signed off on this time last week. The UN Human Rights Commissioner says that if recent Israeli strikes against Gaza were found to

be "Indiscriminate and disproportionate on civilians", then they could constitute war crimes.

The Israeli strikes killed more than 240 Palestinians, at least 12 people in Israel died as a result of militant rockets and mortar fire. Well, as we

wait to see how long this ceasefire lasts? One activist who spoke to Blinken during his trip is also waiting on the U.S. to follow through on

helping Palestinians. Nic Robertson reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice over): While in the Mideast Antony Blinken reach round politicians for an unvarnished view.

Meetings, State Departments selected Palestinian activists.

ISSA AMRO, PALESTINIAN HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST: --to listen to me and I felt from his body language that he knows enough about here. So I move to tell

him what Palestinians want from the American administration?

ROBERTSON (voice over): One of those he met was 41-year-old Issa Amro, whose regular criticism of Israel is strongly disputed by Israeli

officials.

AMRO: We want to get rid of the occupation, to get rid of the Israeli apartheid and oppression in the siege on Gaza and to support our political

and human rights.

ROBERTSON (on camera): So did Blinken tell you anything that makes you think that he understands that or is going to change that situation?

AMRO: He said that we are working to reverse some administration decisions and we want to start communication with Palestinian people, and it's not a

switch button. So everybody works in the field.

[11:45:00]

ROBERTSON (on camera): --your neighbor's garden?

AMRO: Yes.

ROBERTSON: And this is the only way you can move around here now?

AMRO: Yes, this is the only way you move around here.

ROBERTSON (voice over): Amro lives next to it Israeli settlement says America's timely help is vital for Palestinians.

AMRO: This used to be the main entrance. And the reason this is blocked now it's because--

ROBERTSON (voice over): Says in recent years roads to his and his neighbor's houses have been cut.

ROBERTSON (on camera): From here now?

AMRO: From here.

ROBERTSON (on camera): --amaze. It's an absolute Warren of gardens.

ROBERTSON (voice over): And worries without us involvement the settlement will grow more.

AMRO: Military force from the house.

ROBERTSON (on camera): Right on the house?

AMRO: Yes, right on the house.

ROBERTSON (on camera): Do family still live here?

AMRO: Yes, they still live here.

ROBERTSON (on camera): Backed out on the road again from here. And a soldier at the check post there just came to check which channel we're

filming for? We told him CNN and I think he is OK with that.

AMRO: So the main road used to be from here to many families.

ROBERTSON (on camera): Yes.

AMRO: And to me to my house was from to the left about - family now live to the right.

ROBERTSON (on camera): Yes.

AMRO: I'm not allowed to visit them.

ROBERTSON (on camera): Because they're within the settlement area.

ROBERTSON (voice over): Further down the street another control on his life.

AMRO: This is one of the main check points. To get into your house to your neighborhood, you should pass.

ROBERTSON (on camera): This is where you come in from the outside?

AMRO: When I come from the shopping area. I walk up from here.

ROBERTSON (on camera): And if you want to bring any friends to your house?

AMRO: I need special confirmation.

ROBERTSON (voice over): We walk on past a row of Palestinian shops shuttered for almost two decades.

AMRO: So this is Palestinian empty house.

ROBERTSON (on camera): This one, their families left?

AMRO: Yes.

ROBERTSON (voice over): And then we reached the limit half a mile from his house.

AMRO: I'm allowed only till here.

ROBERTSON (on camera): Why is this line? Why only till here?

AMRO: Because they don't want us to continue.

ROBERTSON (voice over): President Biden's help he says can't come soon enough.

AMRO: Biden's Administration should start from where Obama's Administration ended to make the Israeli settlements illegal, and then make the aid to

Israel conditional. If Israel doesn't respect the principle of freedom, justice and equality for all they should not get any dollar from the

American people.

ROBERTSON (voice over): His most radical suggestion to Blinken encouraged Hamas, which the U.S. designates a terrorist organization - rockets, he

doesn't support to become part of the political landscape.

AMRO: This is why I talked to Mr. Blinken to do a presidential waiver to include Hamas in the political--

ROBERTSON (on camera): To include Hamas?

AMRO: Yes, exactly. We want to bring Hamas and all Palestinian parties to the PLO according to the international law.

ROBERTSON (voice over): He says he spoke with Blinken for about 20 minutes the clock now ticking on his and Palestinians' expectations.

ROBERTSON (on camera): How long do you --?

AMRO: I think we will wait another you know, let me say six months or you know another year.

ROBERTSON (voice over): Nic Robertson, CNN, Hebron, The West Bank.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Where is that word that you heard it Nic's report apartheid? And today Israel angry over comments from the French Foreign Minister who also

used that word. He said Israel risks long term apartheid without a two states solution.

Israel's Foreign Minister calling the remarks are unacceptable and baseless and summoning the French ambassador for a reprimand.

Well, Ruler and Crown Prince, where I am here in the UAE in Abu Dhabi appear to have a peace mission in mind. Mohamed bin Zayed sat down earlier

in Amman with Jordan's King Abdullah where Secretary Blinken was earlier today the two rulers stressing the need to preserve the ceasefire between

Israel and the Palestinians their key also underscoring the importance of building on that truce and driving towards a two states solution.

We are still waiting on official results from Syria's presidential election but it does seem a foregone conclusion that President Bashar Al-Assad who

is all but assured of winning a force of 7 year term. He faced too little known challenges and there's been a clamp down on anti government dissent.

It was Syria's second election in the shadow of what has been a devastating Civil War. Thousands of Syrians who fled the war ended up in Denmark. But

last month Danish government announced a controversial plan to send some Syrian refugees back to Syria.

I spoke to Rasmus Stoklund recently. He's a Member of the Danish Parliament and Spokesman on Immigration and Integration about this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RASMUS STOKLUND, DANISH MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT: We have one group which would be threatened and in danger of being for instance, tortured if they

returned to Syria now and that group of refugees will not be returned to Syria of course.

[11:50:00]

STOKLUND: And then we have another group of refugees that are not personally or individually persecuted by the regime, but have - in Denmark

due to the acts of war during the Civil War, since 2012/13. So, it is this group of people that, for some of them, I was evaluated and decided that

they will be able to return to the area around Damascus.

ANDERSON: Well, with this policy relies on findings from a 2019 report by the Danish Immigration Service, which classifies areas in Syria as safe.

But the experts and organizations interviewed and quoted in that report say they weren't misrepresented in its findings and are openly denouncing this

policy.

Let me just read you a few lines from their joint statement. This decision used our testimonies, but we do not recognize our views in subsequent

government conclusions, or policies, and neither do we consider the Denmark Syrian refugee policy reflects the real conditions on the ground.

Conditions do not presently exist anywhere in Syria, for safe returns.

So the very experts whose testimonies we use for the basis of this policy say that the findings from the Danish government are incorrect. Isn't this

reason enough to reassess your decision?

STOKLUND: Of course, it would be if this was the only report that the decisions made by the authorities were made on. And the fact is that this

is one report out of 1400 different reports. And 400 of the reports that they use in their work are newer than the one which some experts now

denounce.

ANDERSON: Are you personally comfortable with this decision?

STOKLUND: Yes, I am personally comfortable with this because I have trust in our authorities. We have two different authorities evaluating each case,

each refugee individually. And the second authority, which makes the final decision, is headed by the judge and it is completely independent from the

government or from any political level.

So the decisions are made by experts and by people with knowledge about the area in and around Damascus.

ANDERSON: Let's also not forget that there is an ongoing humanitarian crisis in Syria. The UN estimates that 60 percent of Syrians cannot access

food. Does the Danish government accept that by returning these refugees, it could be putting them in grave danger?

STOKLUND: When refugees returned from Denmark, they offered quite generous repatriation programs with both economic and in kind help. And at the same

time, we spent a lot of money in development aid to Syria. And I certainly agree that it is the center of millions of people in the world live in poor

countries, but that is not what you - protection from when you get protection as refugees in Denmark.

But you get protection from this either that you are individually persecuted by, for instance, the Assad regime or that the acts of war in

the area where you live and that you for that reason, of course cannot stay in that area. But you do not get protection in Denmark because you come

from a full--

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Rasmus Stoklund, member of the Danish Parliament and Spokesman on Immigration and Integration speaking to me recently. Well, more hardship

and heartache engulfing India, at least three people have been killed tens of thousands are homeless after a powerful cycling.

You can see it here swept into eastern villages from the Bay of Bengal on Wednesday. You get a sense the power of the storm and these images and it -

as it hit the land Cyclone Yaas packing gusts of up to 140 kilometers per hour.

And arriving just days after another site to tore up the Western Coast of the country this piling more pressure of course on India amid its battle

against the second COVID wave amongst the worst in the world. We'll be right back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:55:00]

ANDERSON: Stargazers were treated to a rare spectacle around the world on Wednesday with the appearance of a unique Super Moon. But it was those on

either side of the Pacific Ocean who had the real treat. A Super Moon that coincided with the first total lunar eclipse in more than two years

creating this "Super Flower Blood Moon".

Well, the moon was at its closest point to the earth making it appear bigger and brighter and it gained a mesmerizing reddish color from sunlight

filtering through the Earth's atmosphere. Just look at some of these pictures. They are quite incredible. Thank you for joining us wherever you

are watching in the world, it is a very good evening from Abu Dhabi.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:00:00]

END