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Mexico's Mid-Term Elections; Peru Presidential Election Still Too Close To Call; Vice President Harris To Meet With Guatemalan President. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired June 07, 2021 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:00:32]
ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR: This hour Mexico's ruling party appears set to lose its grip on power after the country's midterm elections.
Then Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu cries fraud as the coalition trying to oust him, gets ready for a key vote. We are live for you in Knesset.
And little Lilibet Diana, the Queen of England welcomes the birth of her newest great granddaughter.
Hello, everyone. A very warm welcome. I'm Isa Soares in for Becky Anderson. Welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD. We want to start this hour in Latin America.
Flow of migrants to the U.S. border, two big elections and some of the highest coronavirus rates in the world. That is the state of Latin America
today. Well, front and center we have the U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, who will meet soon with the president of Guatemala.
This is the first of two stops she's making, isn't really are tackling immigration, namely, the reasons why so many people make the dangerous
journey toward U.S. the first place. That's at the heart of this. Harris will also visit Mexico where President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has
apparently been dealt a setback in Sunday's midterm elections.
And then people in Peru are also headed to the polls over the weekend to vote for president. And that election is still too close to call. And of
course, on this show, we are connecting you right across the region. Our White House Correspondent, Jeremy Diamond is covering Harris's trip in
Guatemala City. Journalist Stefano Pozzebon is in Colombia where he's following the election next door in Peru.
And CNN's Matt Rivers is covering the Mexican midterms, and he is in Mexico City. Let's start with Matt this hour. Matt, Mexican President Lopez
Obrador was not on the ballot. But this election still has enormous implications for him and his agenda. Does this weaken him, Matt at all,
politically? And critically, can he push through this constitutional changes that I know he wanted to?
MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good questions all, Isa. And I can tell you emphatically that he has less political power this
morning than he did yesterday. There's just no question about that. If you look at the results of these midterm elections, his party, Morena has lost
seats in the lower house of Congress here in Mexico. His party will win right around 200 seats more or less, according to the initial estimates
that we're getting from election officials here.
Even when you combine those seats with the seats won by his political allies in the coalition that he has formed here. They will not have enough
seats to form a super majority in the lower house of Congress. That brings us to your second question, he said, which is how easy will it be for him
to move some of his proposed changes constitutional amendments forward? Well, now without a supermajority, he cannot do that without working with
the opposition here.
And the opposition is unified very much against AMLO. And so, to sum it all up, he has less political power right now than he did going into elections
yesterday. Now, one thing we should note is that the violence that has surrounded this election season going back to September, through yesterday,
when the campaign season officially ended at some 96 at least, 96 politicians and/or candidates were murdered here in Mexico.
More than 900 crimes were committed against candidates and even yesterday, body parts were found at polling -- at voting locations in Tijuana, Mexico.
So the violence that has plagued this country at levels at historic levels, frankly, recently, of the elections, were not able to escape that reality.
Isa?
SOARES: That is just staggering, Matt. Thank you for bringing it up. I think it's so important given that we, you know, we have these elections,
they've just -- the voting took place yesterday. But really the context is incredibly important. On -- I want to go back if I could to Lopez Obrador
because you have talked about this before, there's been so much criticism against him with the opposition and others Ummayad, accusing him of really
undermining the country's institutions and basically centralizing power within the presidency.
Do you know or have you heard anything, Matt, as to whether the United States or whether Vice President Kamala Harris who will be visiting Mexico
in the next few days, whether she will touch on this or will it be simply a question of migration discussion here, Matt?
[10:05:01]
RIVERS: You know, I think those two issues are really intertwined. He's -- I mean, publicly, what both sides are saying is this is only talking about
immigration. But, you know, I had a conversation recently with one of Mexico's foreign -- former foreign ministers during the Fox administration,
Jorge Castaneda, and he told me that he believes that the Biden administration hasn't really brought up some of those concerns you
mentioned.
About the weakening of Democratic institutions. About the centralization of power in the presidency because of migration. Because the Biden
ministration has an immediate problem on its hands, which is the rising number of migrants arriving on its southern border, and it needs Mexico and
Mexico's cooperation in order to help stem the flow of migrants. That was the quid pro quo during the Trump administration.
So far, it's been apparently the quid pro quo of the Biden administration. And so the question moving forward is, especially now that AMLO has been
weakened a little bit politically, how willing will divided administration be to bring up those concerns about the health of Mexico's democracy
because this is a president who campaigned back at when he was campaigning against President Trump about the importance of those Democratic
institutions.
Yet we haven't heard much publicly from Biden about what's happening here in Mexico. So, it will be interesting to see how this plays out over the
coming weeks and months.
SOARES: Matt Rivers for us in Mexico City. We'll talk in the next hour. Thanks very much, Matt. Good to see you.
I want to go now to Jeremy Diamond who was following the U.S. Vice President in Guatemala City. Jeremy, this, of course, is the Vice
President's first official trip out of the country and she's not going far or in fact for long, but she's taking on some very big issues. What can we
expect from this trip? What are you hearing?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. No doubt. It will be a major diplomatic test for Vice President Kamala Harris, her first major
diplomatic test, as vice president as she tries to burnish her foreign policy resume. I asked the Vice President's national security adviser
yesterday why Vice President Harris had chosen Guatemala specifically in the -- in the northern triangle as a whole as her first destination for
foreign trip as vice president.
And she said that it's a sign of the priority that she puts on addressing the root causes of migration here in Guatemala and in the region at large.
And also that she's coming here to try and deliver a message of hope. But there's no question that there will be some deaf diplomacy required of the
vice president as she is here. There are a series of issues that she's trying to tackle. Everything from poverty and hunger, to the climate
crisis, crime.
As well as the issue of corruption, which is endemic in the northern triangle, including in Guatemala, and the Vice President and her team have
made very clear that they will confront this issue head on. There is always that question, of course, when you're a guest in a country, how far can you
press some of these sensitive issues, but they are making clear that they are going to tackle this head on.
And they're not only going to do it as the Vice President meets with the Guatemalan president here in just a few moments, but also, the Vice
President is expected to meet with civil society leaders later today. We know that the U.S. has already expressed deep concern in recent days about
some of the moves to roll back. some of the anti-corruption efforts here in Guatemala, including challenges to the constitutionality of a special
prosecutor's office that is designed to tackle some of these corruption issues and the arrests in recent weeks of several anti- corruption
crusaders.
So, there is a lot on Vice President Harris's plate here. And all of this, of course, coming as back home in the United States, there is this rising
political pressure on her to stem the tide of migration, as we are watching in the U.S. in April. That was the highest number of apprehensions at the
U.S.-Mexico border in 20 years. So these issues are persisting, and the solutions are both short term and long term.
We will see if the Vice President can make some serious steps in advancing those issues.
SOARES: Yes, not something that you can do overnight for sure, Jeremy. It's a long-term fight and you're trying to tackle these issues. Jeremy Diamond,
thank you very much. Appreciate it, Jeremy.
Well, Peru has also had a big election on Sunday. It's been very busy here in South America. It's a nail biter, but it could be putting a Fujimori in
the presidency again. Journalist Stefano Pozzebon is watching developments from next door in Colombia. And Stefano, bring us up to date on where we
are with the count. And when we might get that final result. I know it's very close.
STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: To say it's very close, it's probably an understatement. We fell over 93 percent of the votes counted to two
candidates, Keiko Fujimori and Pedro Castillo are separated by less than 50,000 votes right now. We knew it was going to -- it was going to be a
nail biter. We had been here before because this is something for the politics nerds.
Fujimori is running for the third time. She was here at this place in 2016. And she lost to the eventual former president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski by less
than 40,000 votes. She lost with 49.9 percent of the votes to Kuczynski 50.1 percent In 2016. History is repeating, Isa, because we're here, yet
again, more than 12 hours after the end of the elections, we don't know who is -- who is going to pull ahead, Isa.
[10:10:12]
SOARES: Yes, I'm sure many people saying Deja Vu because of course, as you know, Stefan, Peru has had four presidents in the past three years. And in
November alone, I think you had something like different -- three different leaders in less than a week. From those you've been speaking to Stefan or
is there a fear that this could be another tipping point for people's kind of simmering frustrations given that it might, you know, both sides seem to
be celebrating but it's so tight at this point?
POZZEBON: Precisely. It's a very tight and this situation is very volatile compared to what we have seen from Matt in Mexico, the election here in
Peru has been quite orderly. There were episodes of violence in the build up towards the vote. But yesterday, we don't have any reports of anything
out of the ordinary taking place at the polling station. Still though. What is really staggering, Isa, how different the two candidates are.
And how it really two different ideas of how the country should move forward with many crisis Peru is facing right now, Isa, are on the ballot.
On one side, you have Keiko Fujimori, who is somebody who's been here before, she's the scion of one of the most powerful political families of
the country. And more than anything, she the flagbearer for neoliberalism, capitalist enterprise, free markets economy as a way to build forward and
develop Peru.
On the other side, you have Pedro Castillo, who is a high school teacher, who has never held public office. And he comes from the party that calls
itself Marxist Leninist. So, you really have two different ideas in Peru which is already a highly-polarized nation and a highly-polarized region.
And now they're contesting and really hard to hear (INAUDIBLE) it's one to keep following very, very closely.
SOARES: And of course we shall, Stefano Pozzebon for us in Colombia. Thanks very much, Stefano.
Well, it's been a day of drama just gotten underway in Israel's parliament. A new coalition is hoping for approval by Wednesday, but the old one really
isn't going down without a fight. The speaker has just notified the Knesset of the coalition, meaning it has a week to vote on it. What members of the
coalition came together last weekend gave notice to the president of their intention.
The Chief among those intentions, get Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu out of office and for his part, Mr. Netanyahu really is not backing down. He
calls the block dangerous and promises Likud Party would topple it very quickly. His rhetoric sounding more and more like his friend, former U.S.
President Donald Trump. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We are witnessing the greatest election fraud in the history of the country. In my
opinion in the history of any democracy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Hadas Gold joins us now live from the Knesset in Jerusalem. Hadas, clearly all eyes in the Knesset today about looking forward to this vote on
when it will take place. The coalition clearly wants this to go ahead quickly. But can Netanyahu still scupper their plans?
HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, just about an hour ago, the Speaker of the Israeli Parliament here in the Knesset notified members that the
coalition had come to him and said that they have been able to form a government but all he said was that the vote of confidence vote will need
to take place by law by next Monday without giving any sort of indication of when he will call that confidence out.
And as you noted, the coalition partners want this vote to take place as soon as possible. Even calling for it to take place on Wednesday. Naftali
Bennett, who is expected to serve as prime minister if this new coalition is voted in in that confidence vote. Gave a speech last night calling on
Netanyahu to let it go. Selling that -- set -- telling the nation and telling Netanyahu to not leave a scorched earth behind him. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NAFTALI BENNETT, ISRAEL PARLIAMENT MEMBER (through translator): I call from here on Mr. Netanyahu. Let go. Release the country to move on. People are
allowed to vote for the establishment of a government even if it is not you who is heading it. A government that is 10 degrees to the right than the
current one, by the way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLD: Now the speaker is part of Netanyahu's Likud Party and it's within Netanyahu and his allies' interest to keep this vote as long as possible to
perhaps not have it take place until next Monday because every day that it is delayed is an extra day that Netanyahu and his allies can try to put
more and more pressure on one member of parliament of one member of this coalition to vote against the coalition in the vote of confidence.
And we're seeing that pressure all around from comments that Netanyahu and his allies are making in interviews to social media posts to even a protest
that have been taking place in front of some of these members houses. They are trying desperately to get at least one. That's really all they need.
It's just about one person to vote -- to potentially vote against this coalition and it could cause the entire thing to crumble.
[10:15:05]
GOLD: Now the coalition parties, they are sounding pretty confident that they will be able to have the votes. All they need, they say is just for
the conference vote to actually be scheduled. And that's why they're trying to push for it to happen by Wednesday. But today, we didn't seem to get the
answer of when this will actually take place. By law, though it has to take place by Monday.
SOARES: Yes. What is clear, it gives them plenty of time to do any political horse-trading, so to speak. We have been hearing and we just
played a little clip there, some very kind of Trumpian, I think it's fair to say, outbursts from Netanyahu, Hadas. From those who you've been
speaking to, is there a fear of potential political unrest here?
GOLD: There is a lot of fear about this rhetoric getting more and more violent and target. And there's actually a fear here, that there could be
at the style of violence that the U.S. Capitol experienced on January 6th during that mob violence of people storming the U.S. Capitol. And actually
in a very, very rare public statement, the head of the Israel Security Service, I want to read it to you, called on people to calm things down.
He says, in this recent period we have identified an intensifying and severe increase in the violent and inciting discourse with an emphasis on
the social networks. It is our duty to come out with a clear and definitive call to stop the discourse of incitement and violence, the responsibility
for calming the winds and restraining the discourse rests on all of their shoulders. Now, ever since this coalition was announced last week,
Netanyahu and his allies have been railing against it.
As you noted, Netanyahu using a lot of the words in the tone that's very reminiscent of Donald Trump, of course, he was very close to Donald Trump
during Trump's presidency. Netanyahu has called this the scam of the century. He's called the new government a fraud, a deception, he's been
calling on people to pressure these members. Now, Netanyahu has also condemned any sort of incitement to violence.
But Twitter and Facebook actually at one point suspended the account of Netanyahu son -- Netanyahu son because the sun was calling for people to
protest in front of the homes of some of these members even giving out their addresses. And that's why you're seeing these warnings from the
Israeli security service. And it's really you can feel the tension here. There's a lot of concern, especially if you look at the history of Israeli
politics in the past, there's a lot of concern here that this violent rhetoric could lead to something worse, Isa.
SOARES: Hadas Gold there for us in Jerusalem. Thanks very much, Hadas. Good to see you.
Up next, right here on CNN. The world will be watching the G7 Summit later this week. The first since the pandemic and the first Joe Biden as
president. We'll have a live greeting from the White House just head.
Also ahead. Dozens are killed and wounded in Burkina Faso after militants carry out one of the deadliest assaults there in years. We have a live when
we return.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:20:00]
SOARES: We are keeping an eye on The White House this hour where President Joe Biden is meeting today with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in
the face of security challenges from Russia as well as China. Mr. Biden, of course gearing up for two events that could shape the rules of the road for
the 21st century, the G7 Summit in England and the NATO Summit in Brussels.
The leaders of the world's leading democracies will come together in the coming days in Cornwall, where they'll be hosted by British Prime Minister
Boris Johnson, and topping the agenda, the global recovery from COVID-19. Plus, promoting fair trade as well as tackling climate change. I'm
connecting you now to Washington, our White House Correspondent John Harwood. And John, this will, of course, be President Biden's first trip
aboard.
And it's pretty wide ranging as we've just outlined, from free trade to the environment, the pandemic. Is there any real focus here, John, or is this
about getting to know his allies and his adversaries?
JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, he knows a lot of these allies. I think the general focus of the trip is to establish the principle
that Joe Biden has articulated from the beginning which is that he is going to try to move forward unlike President Trump, who had this America First
policy that was grabbed -- had America trying to grab whatever advantage it could.
He's going to replace that with a multilateral approach one of cooperating with our allies, on a range of things from national security, to economic
issues, to the pandemic. And the meeting with Secretary General Stoltenberg today is part of that process. Remember, Donald Trump had a little bit of a
mutual assistance pact with Vladimir Putin. Vladimir Putin helped his election through the election hacking in 2016.
Donald Trump consistently defended Vladimir Putin and poked the needles in the eye of NATO. Question there, U.S. commitment to Article V was very
truculent about the defense commitments by other countries. Now, Biden and other Democratic presidents have shared the desire for our NATO allies to
contribute more to their own defense, but not in the way that Donald Trump did. And I think Joe Biden is trying to lay down those markers this week.
SOARES: You know, one conversation perhaps. And I think you alluded to that, John, that may be awkward or somewhat hard to have is with President
Putin, what is likely to come out of this?
HARWOOD: I think he's going to establish and make very clear in person to Vladimir Putin, who he has known for years, that this is going to be a
different arrangement than Vladimir Putin had with Donald Trump. Remember, Donald Trump stood on the world stage next to Vladimir Putin, and said he
believed Putin over the word of American intelligence about the interference of U.S. -- within the 2016 U.S. election.
He defended Vladimir Putin against charges that Vladimir Putin was a killer. He consistently refused to call out Putin for misdeeds that the
Russian government was involved with in terms of poisoning dissidents in other countries. That is not something that Joe Biden is going to continue.
And I think there's a question as to how much Joe Biden will be able to change Russian behavior, change Putin's behavior.
But certainly he's going to set a different tone of put Vladimir Putin on notice of that and see if he can obtain some benefits for the United States
out of that new arrangement.
SOARES: John Harwood for us in Washington. Thanks very much, John. Appreciate it.
Well, Monday marks the third day of national mourning Burkina Faso after one of the deadliest attacks in recent years. Gunmen laid siege to a
village in the northeast late on Friday. And the government says the terrorists killed -- get this, more than 130 people. Setting homes and the
market on fire. CNN's Evan McKenzie is monitoring the story and joins me now live from Johannesburg. And David, the death toll is incredibly
shocking. What more do we know at this stage about this attack?
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, many of the details are still sketchy, Isa. But what we do know is that late Friday, early
Saturday morning attack on that village near the border of Niger was devastating, indiscriminate and certainly brutal. Earlier today, leadership
from Burkina Faso with visiting a hospital and the regional capital of Dori. There they really expect shock as well as just the general population
expressing shock at how all these civilians and young children were killed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SALFO KABORE, SAHEL REGION GOVERNOR (through translator): A man in shock is speaking to you right now. We lost 132 countrymen in Sahel but we also lost
13 in the commune of Oudalan. We also lost two elsewhere, and probably others of which we have not been informed of. You've seen the injured.
There's even a little girl who is less than five years old. You saw men and women who got shot in the back. These types of situations have no human
soul. No human being can watch this and go home and sleep in peace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[10:25:05]
MCKENZIE: Well, while this is the worst attack in recent months, it certainly isn't the first one. In the last few months he said you've had a
real escalation of the violence, often attributed to al Qaeda and ISIS- related jihadi groups in that region of the borders of Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso. In recent hours, the leadership in Burkina Faso has tried to
tighten on the restriction, add on to the restrictions of movement of people, particularly those driving motorbikes because it's believed that
those assailants were in -- on motorbikes attacking, firing indiscriminately in those early morning hours of Saturday. And certainly no
sign of this violence abating in the Sahel region. Isa?
SOARES: David, explain something to our viewers. I mean, like you said the situation has been bad for sometimes but it's clearly getting worse. Why is
that? Given that I know that we've got increased presence of thousands, I think it's by thousands of French troops kind of heading a counterterrorism
force in the Sahel region. Why are we seeing this surge in violence?
MCKENZIE: Well, if it was believed that the international forces were bringing an end to the suffering of civilians, that just hasn't happened.
Certainly, when the French came in to beat back insurgency in Mali in 2015, they were very much initial successes. But in those border regions, again,
it's almost impunity that is happening with these armed groups. I think one reason we're seeing it get worse as well, in the past, these Islamic
jihadists would take on security forces.
French troops or blue helmets, the U.N. peacekeeping force in Mali. Increasingly though, they're attacking the general civilian population.
That is in part, Isa, because the population themselves have banded together to form these self-defense units with kind of quasi backing of the
government. And in this case, it appears that might have been the reason a kind of reprisal attack a very devastating one on this village that had
formed a unit like this.
And whenever you depend on civilian groups to form vigilante groups, it certainly shows that you don't have a handle on the security to protect
your people. Isa?
SOARES: Very important context there. David McKenzie, appreciate it. Thanks very much.
Now, emergency crews are working to rescue more than a dozen people trapped in the wreckage of a deadly train crash in Southern Pakistan. At least 45
people were killed when two trains collided between stations. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan tweeted that he was ordering a comprehensive
investigation. The country's railroad system has a poor safety record. The series of deadly accidents in recent years. We'll have more on that story
in the next hour.
Ahead on the show, a potentially deadly combination in Vietnam. A major spike in coronavirus cases, a severe lack of vaccines and now a possible
new variant. We'll tell you what the World Health Organization is saying about that. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:30:29]
SOARES: Now, Japan has only fully vaccinated about three percent of its own population against COVID-19. But the country is about to provide the
AstraZeneca vaccine to Vietnam. The country has seen a sharp rise in new cases. It also warned of a new possible virus variant. As Paula Hancocks
reports vaccinations the next few weeks are crucial.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ta HIen Street in Hanoi, known locally as Beer Street. The throng of tourists
eating and drinking outside have been absent for well over a year. Bars are now completely shut and restaurants to take away only until at least June
14th. Vietnam was once a rare beacon of hope in the midst of this pandemic, but more than half of their total coronavirus cases have been recorded in
just the last month.
International flights to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City were briefly suspended. Ho Chi Minh City has imposed a de facto lockdown saying people should only
go out for food, medicine or cash withdrawal. Mandatory testing is underway in high-risk areas including a Christian mission where a cluster was found.
Industrials zones and teachers involved in an upcoming high school entrance exam.
With less than one percent of the population fully vaccinated authorities are scrambling to buy more doses.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I hope the government can buy vaccines for everyone. With a low vaccination rate like this, it's probably
going to be a long time before it's my turn.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I feel very worried, afraid that the disease will spread into community. Therefore, we strictly follow the
regulations. In times of pandemic like this, it's good to be alive.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): Vietnam's health minister warned last weekend of a potential new variant combining highly transmissible strains found in India
and the U.K., calling it "very dangerous." Experts say it appears to be a mutation rather than a new variant. But more data is needed over the next
few weeks to show if it is, in fact more infectious.
KARTHIK GANGAVARAPU, RESEARCHER, SCRIPPS RESEARCH INSTITUTE: at the moment I don't see a reason to be overly concerned about just that one mutation.
However, that is of interest and should be studied further and that story might change as more data comes in.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): Notice of concern now is the so called Indian variant being in a country with such low levels of vaccination.
Dr. KIDONG PARK, W.H.O. REPRESENTATIVE IN VIETNAM: Regardless of the mutation we should do our best to increase the number of people vaccinated
and then to prioritize limited quantities of the vaccine to high-risk groups.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): The World Health Organization says the next few weeks are critical for Vietnam to suppress this outbreak. The WHO is
considering Vietnam's proposal to become a COVID vaccine technology hub that for now the country is still trying to find more supply for its own
citizens, a tall order within the tight global supply. Paula Hancocks, CNN (INAUDIBLE)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: Now India is seeing its lowest number of COVID cases since early April. The Health Minister reported 100,000 infections on Monday. The 11th
straight day of cases dipping below 200,000. As things improved, several states are easing restrictions. But a new report shows just how hard the
virus has been on kids. Thousands of children have lost their parents since the pandemic began. Vedika Sud has one story of one family.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VEDIKA SUD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She lights this oil lamp in memory of her parents every morning. Just 23, Devika is now the head of the
family and caregiver to her six siblings. These children, the youngest is only four years old, lost their mother and then their father to the brutal
second wave of COVID-19 in India.
My 14 and nine-year-old sisters know about our parents. I haven't told the three younger ones. All they believe is that they're unwell and recovering
in the village.
In the last week of April when the crisis hit the Capitol Delhi hard India was reporting over 350,000 daily cases of COVID-19 and a severe shortage of
hospital beds and oxygen. Devika's 39-year-old mother was suffering from high fever, her oxygen levels had dropped. After being turned away from
many hospitals, Devika admitted her to a medical facility in the City of Kurukshetra about 170 kilometers away where she took her last breath.
All she wanted was to get better. She wanted to fulfill her responsibilities as a mother. She wanted to be saved.
[10:35:02]
SUD (voice-over): Ten days later, her father also infected by the virus and heartbroken couldn't be saved. An emotional day because says her parents
loved each other very much.
My father doted on mommy. They're together now.
You're very brave.
It's hard to console this young woman who's barely out of her teens. She hasn't had much time to grieve. Devika holds test prep classes, she brings
in about $70.00 a month. Before his death, the father was the only earning family member. While family and friends have helped them financially, I
asked Devika is she's worried about not making enough to sustain the family, and about his siblings being taken away by authorities.
This is my biggest fear. I will do all that I can to keep them with me.
Foster child welfare organizations reporting orphaned and abandoned children, especially through the second wave have been relentless.
DR. YASMIN ALI HAQUE, UNICEF INDIA REPRESENTATIVE: The biggest challenge is who takes responsibility if I can put it that way. And that's where it's so
important that we link them to the services needed. So that can be determination of especially kinship care.
SUD (voice-over): Orphaned, Devika says memories is all she's left with.
One of my favorite memories is of my parents dancing on my sister's birthday in December. It was the first time they danced in front of us.
It's now one of the lasting memories we have a of them.
In the midst of this raging pandemic (INAUDIBLE) cremate not one but both parents. Devika doesn't let us siblings out of sight. Still fearful of the
virus, this door opens to very few.
Vedika Sud, Delhi, CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: Now, Archie Mountbatten Windsor is now a big brother. He's great granny, Queen Elizabeth II is letting the world know she's delighted with
the arrival of Lilibet Diana. The second child with Duke and Duchess of Sussex. I'm connecting you now to Windsor where CNN Royal Correspondent Max
Foster is standing by for us at just outside Windsor Castle. And Max, clearly a name that honors both her grandmother and great grandmother's
majesty, the Queen.
What has been the reaction to the birth specially from the press here?
MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, I think everyone's very excited. Of course, it's great news. The baby was born on Friday was
back home. We know certainly by Monday and mom is healthy. So that's all good news. And Lilibet, I don't know if you caught the coffin here at the
funeral, Isa, when you're reporting Prince Philip's funeral.
[10:40:08]
FOSTER: But Prince Philip would call his wife, the Queen, Lilibet and she actually wrote Lilibet on gesture on the coffin there. So, it's a very
personal term for her. It comes from the fact that she can say Elizabeth is a baby. So it became a nickname. And that's the name that Harry has chosen
for his daughter which is a big gesture to the Queen, middle name Diana, obviously, after his late mother.
So both of them are represented there. A big nod to the royal family. And when you ask about the media coverage, a lot of it, of course, naturally
focus as it always is on the rift. And whether or not this was a gesture and efforts to heal that rift on behalf of the Sussexes. I think everyone's
reading into that. It could just be, you know, a father doting on his mother and grandmother wanting that reflected in his baby.
We're not quite sure but you know what the British press is like. They're trying to read something into it.
SOARES: Yes, we do. Don't we, Max? But it's a beautiful name that's for sure. Do we know -- have you had anything from the parents, Lilibet's
parents or when the royal family may meet Lily?
FOSTER: No, there's no plans. The only thing we know that in the summer Prince Harry's just come over to unveil the statue of his mother. Will the
rest of the family come at that time? It does depend on all the pandemic restrictions. Of course, they haven't seen, you know, the main family
haven't seen Archie for many, many months. And of course, they haven't met Lilly yet. I think a lot of people in the U.K. asked that question.
When are we going to see them all together again? There is the Jubilee next year. The Queen's Jubilee, platinum Jubilee. So maybe they'll come over for
that. It's not quite clear. I think people are. you know, people often talk about the rift and hoping everyone will come together. And there was a
statement that came from the royal family last night. Talking about being delighted, Prince Charles put out a tweet saying congratulations, Prince
William.
But actually said he was delighted to hear the news. But everyone really wants to see them all come together and reunite as a family really, I
think. But who knows what's going on behind the scenes.
SOARES: Yes. And we all know when any royal has the baby. Every -- all the cameras outside the hospital to try and get a glimpse, isn't it? Luckily
for the Duchess of Sussex, she won't have to do that. She can put her feet up so to speak. I'm guessing she'll be very busy. Max Foster for us there
in Windsor, England. Thanks very much, Max.
Now, Simone Biles cannot be stopped. On Sunday, the gymnastics champ racked up her seventh National Women's all round title. That's the most any
American woman has won. The four-time Olympic gold medalist is expected to be the linchpin of the U.S. team at next month's Summer Games in Tokyo.
Amanda Davies joins us now tell us more about this amazing performance. And Amanda I've interviewed and she's so talented, but also incredibly humble.
AMANDA DAVIES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes. Incredibly humble, small in stature, but huge in terms of impact not only in the gymnastics world, but beyond as
you know, Isa. I was there in Rio actually watching as she took gold five years ago now when you're -- all those questions in recent months about
what impacts this delay in terms of the Olympics would have on the athletes, on the sports people.
Simone Biles is absolutely showing no ill effects arguably better than ever. And she won this title yesterday without displaying her bigger and
better tricks that she's been coming up with it in recent months. But -- I mean, there is no doubt -- there's no dead sets in sport. But if you are
going to put your money on anybody, she's a pretty good bet for Tokyo in what? Just 46 days' time now.
SOARES: I cannot wait to see her. I mean constantly glued to her, like you said she is petite but incredibly powerful. Thanks very much, Amanda. And
I'll be back with another edition of CONNECT THE WORLD. World Sport is up next.
For all of us who weren't born yesterday, there's Consumer Cellular premium wireless with
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