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Knesset Prepares To Vote On A New Government; Israel Security Agency Warns Of Increased Violence; Biden Meets Stoltenberg Ahead Of G7 And NATO Summits; Parliament Faces Crucial Decision On New Government; Dozens Killed In Train Collision In Pakistan; UK Foreign Aid Cut Controversy. Aired 11- 12p ET
Aired June 07, 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]
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN London, this is Connect The World.
ISA SOARES, CNN HOST: I'm Isa Soares in London in for Becky Anderson today. Hello and a very warm welcome to Connect The World. Now Israel's parliament
is in session at this very hour preparing to make a decision that could really alter the course of the country's politics for years to come.
Earlier, the speaker officially announced the coalition's intention to form a government and that basically means lawmakers have a week to vote on it.
And we can find out any moment when that vote of confidence will happen. The coalition's goal here is to really lift Israel out of this political
quagmire, I think it's fair we can call it that. And ask Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the man who wants that job, Naftali Bennett, he's
calling on lawmakers to vote by Wednesday.
As for Benjamin Netanyahu, well, he's promising to battle on. 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: Our Hadas Gold is in the Knesset in Jerusalem and joins us now live and Hadas, you know, everyone waiting to see when the next step will be.
Coalition clearly wanting this to go as quickly as possible. But I suspect Netanyahu can still scupper their plans.
HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Speaker of the Knesset of the Israeli parliament did make the announcement just in the last hour or so
that the coalition had notified him that they had been able to form a coalition that they are planning to form a government.
But all he said was that a vote by law needs to take place by next Monday. He did not indicate when this vote could take place. It could take place
Wednesday, Thursday or Monday, as you noted, of course. The coalition partners want this vote to take place as quickly as possible. Naftali
Bennett, who is would be the next Prime Minister made a speech last night calling on Netanyahu to let it go and to not leave a scorched earth behind
him on his way out. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NAFTALI BENNETT, ISRAELI 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 of - the Speaker of the Knesset of the Israeli parliament is actually a member of Netanyahu's Likud party and there are
some who are wondering whether he is purposely not declaring when this vote will take place, and will potentially wanting it to take place as late as
possible, which would be next Monday.
And that's because every day that passes is more time for Netanyahu and his allies to try and convince members of this coalition to vote against, to
vote against this vote of confidence because it would not take many of them for it to crumble, The margins here are thin, and there is already so much
pressure, especially on the right wing members of this coalition to vote against it.
Netanyahu is doing this through interviews and through social media, playing video of - old videos of these members saying that they are
breaking their promises, because all they need is just a handful to vote against it. And then this coalition could crumble. And that could give
Netanyahu a lifeline to stay in power.
SOARES: Yes. And then we're back to square one. Now Mr. Netanyahu, you know, he - he's been is promising clearly to battle on and we've been
hearing as our viewers would have heard of which is played as very Trumpian like outburst Hadas.
From those you've been speaking to there, is there a fear or concern regarding a potential for political unrest here?
GOLD: It is really stunning to hear the language from Netanyahu that even using terms like deep state that almost seems right out of the Trump
playbook. And of course, Netanyahu and Trump were very close. Netanyahu was often using Trump's pictures in billboards during his previous election
campaigns, but he's been calling as you heard in that sound bite before he's been calling this the fraud, he's been calling it this new government,
a government of deception.
He's saying that it will be dangerous to Israel security. The rhetoric has reached to such a point that people here are actually concerned that they
may experience the same type of mob violence that happened at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, and it's reached such a level that the head of the
Israeli security service has issued a very rare public statement about the rhetoric.
I want to read it to you. 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 goal to stop the discourse of incitement and violence.
The responsibility for calming the winds and restraining the discourse rests on all of our shoulders.
There have been Isa, demonstrations outside of the homes of some of the members of Parliament especially those who are part of this coalition and
in fact Netanyahu's son even had his Twitter and Facebook accounts briefly suspended because he posted the address of one of these members calling on
people to demonstrate in front of this home.
[11:05:00]
And so there is a lot of concern about this language, that it's reaching such a point that it could lead to actual violence. Isa.
SOARES: Hadas, very, very quickly in a word or two, what is the mood? I mean, your - moment of transition of history here, potentially, but what is
the mood on the ground?
GOLD: There is a lot of anticipation for this new government. When you speak to people who are part of this coalition, they feel very optimistic
about what it could represent it because when you look at who is all sitting together, from the far left to the right, and for the first time in
Israeli history, and Arab Israeli party signing on to a coalition, they're very optimistic.
This could be a new unity government, a new way forward, a government that will actually function because for the past two years, there hasn't even
been a state budget because of this political dysfunction. But everybody here is still waiting on tenterhooks. You can never say never in Israeli
politics. And I don't think anybody will say for sure there will be a new government until that confidence vote is actually taken.
SOARES: I think you can never say never in any politics. But you know, I see your point. Hadas Gold, thanks very much. Now, this new change
coalition is a fragile one, as Hadas was saying on the political playing field. That's pretty rough. Let's get some perspective on this from
political analyst, Dahlia Scheindlin in Tel Aviv.
She's also an expert in public opinion. Thank you very much, Dahlia, for joining us. There is clearly time, I think, from what Hadas was pointing to
there for some political horsetrading for Netanyahu to try to convince people not to back this coalition. What is your read of the landscape, the
political landscape right now?
DAHLIA SCHEINDLIN, POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think it is a little bit gentle to call it political persuasion. What we're seeing is a very strong
or muscular form of persuasion in which the key members of the Yamina party, that's Naftali Bennett's small right wing party who have moved into
the change coalition. They are being pressured through frankly, intimidation, incitement, Hadas mentioned the demonstrations at their home.
One of the legislators who is considered a candidate for possibly being convinced has been trailed on the road to the point where she was
essentially run off the road while driving. And, you know, the question is whether that will work. And I think that what we're hearing so far from
inside the system is that the people who are bearing the brunt of this pressure so far have said they are not changing their minds.
And Hadas was right to take the point out that it takes a hand - only a handful, but that handful would have to not only change their minds, not to
vote for this government, they would have to actively vote against it, because you need a plurality, I mean, you don't need a full majority to
vote in the government, you need a plurality to vote for it.
And you need more than that, to vote against it. So they would have to actually switch their votes. They can't just abstain. And I think it looks
increasingly unlikely that Netanyahu or other right wing elements, we should say, it's not only him, it's members of the far right, members
representing settler communities and very nationalist groups that are angling for this direction.
But it looks so far, like the parties that are committed to going into the change coalition are at this moment, still committed to their decision.
SOARES: But the rest of - obviously, the rest of the week, the more time Netanyahu has, the more pressure he can put on these individuals to switch
sides, so to speak. What we have heard as well Dahlia and we played a little clip is this language that's almost reminiscent of Donald Trump.
Things like the biggest fraud. I think he said election fraud in the history of the country, saying that he felt cheated as well, and that
people should come out and protest at the formation of a new government.
This of course, as the intelligence we heard from Hadas, warning of potential - potential political unrest. How big of a worry or concern is
this in your opinion?
SCHEINDLIN: I think it's a serious concern. Israel is a country that had not one but several political assassinations in its history. It is very
unusual for the Chief of the Internal Security Agency, the Shabak, to issue such a warning. And I think that what this government is doing is not
almost reminiscent of Trump, it is exactly reminiscent of Trump, in fact, including some of the very same language.
Netanyahu used the phrase in Hebrew that translates almost directly to steal of the century. So he's clearly in the hyperbole, of course, that
this is the biggest fraud that's ever happened, it's very Trumpian. But I think that it didn't start with Trump. Netanyahu has governed with this
kind of incitement and very divisive rhetorical style in his leadership, always finding some internal enemy within Israeli society. In the past, it
has been Arab Palestinian citizens of the country, the kind that he was courting himself when he was able to, when he was tapped to form the
government.
It's also been against left wingers, anybody who's on his - who serves his political agenda to attack, he has attacked and his coalition partners.
This has been the ruling style for most of Netanyahu's term over the course of the decade.
[11:10:00]
And it's just reaching a fever pitch. I want to say one more thing. Netanyahu and his co-workers over this time have made a major effort to
undermine the legitimacy of the Israeli law, of the Israeli judiciary, of the Supreme Court, the Attorney General, the state prosecutor and the
police.
And this is when it's coming to fruition, because I think that, you know, what we're seeing, and we certainly what we saw in recent weeks during the
escalation was that there are many people in this country who do not necessarily comply with the rule of law or believe in the authority of the
law.
And I think that they are hoping that by the same logic, that Israel doesn't need to respect the outcome of democratic elections. And what's
happening now to form the change coalition is a natural outcome of democratic elections. Netanyahu does not seem to be accepting a peaceful
transition of power at this moment.
SOARES: Such important context Dahlia, truly appreciate Dahlia Scheindlin in Tel Aviv, really important context. We'll keep an eye of course, on all
the moving parts out of Jerusalem and the Knesset, obviously, a critical point in political history there in the country. Appreciate it.
Now, a horrific train crash in southern Pakistan has left dozens of people dead and several others injured. Emergency crews are battling dust as well
as high temperatures to rescue those trapped in the wreckage. As you can see, it happened when two trains collided between stations.
Some survivors say that they were asleep when the accident jolted them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It happened at 3:30am in the morning. We were asleep when we felt jerks, luggage began to fall. But
thank God we stayed safe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The train stopped at Rohri after leaving Karachi, I saw a red signal I asked my friend why the driver is
still going ahead despite the red signal. We thought there might be some other wireless system. As soon as it ran for 10 minutes, the driver applied
the brakes and one of the carriages derailed.
The Sir Syed Express was coming from the opposite direction, and it hit the mail-out Express. One of my friends had a shoulder injury, while the other
had a head injury.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: CNN producer Sophia Saifi joins me now from Islamabad, Pakistan. And Sophia, what more do we know at this stage about this crash? I know
that railway safety is an ongoing problem in the country.
SOPHIA SAIFI, CNN PRODUCER: Well, yes Isa, you know, as we've heard from these, you know, sound bites that you just played, this incident took place
in the very early hours of the morning in Ghotki, the area in the southern province of Sindh, where this has taken place is a very rural remote part
of the country.
So you know, you have not the best infrastructure, it took a couple of hours for rescue services to get there. This rescue operation is still very
much underway. It's been more than 12 hours since this happened. It was early in the morning. It's very hot here in Pakistan, it's peak summer. And
especially in the southern provinces, it's over 110 degrees Fahrenheit, 44 degrees Celsius.
We've got people scrambling to get people who are still trapped within those carriages out so we don't have a definite number of people injured.
This is something which has caused an uproar in the session of Parliament today. Parliament met after a couple of weeks today and the main topic of
discussion at the moment is railway safety in Pakistan.
We don't know confirmed as to what the exact death toll will be. The numbers that we have, are still ongoing. We're still waiting for some sort
of notice that this operation is now complete. But we have not received word that this has happened yet. So you know, we do know that there's a
medical emergency.
We do know that trains - that train services between the provinces of Sindh and Punjab have been stopped. These are the two most populated provinces of
the country. And it's still very much an undergoing a rescue effort here embarks on at the moment. Isa?
SOARES: Sophia Saifi, appreciate it, keep us abreast of the latest developments. Thanks very much. Now the host of the upcoming G7 summit in
plenty of hot water, which charities, aid agencies said the British Prime Minister's foreign aid cuts will hurt communities who have nothing. I'll be
talking to a director of Save the Children just ahead.
And Britons leave Portugal in droves. The chaos the sudden change in quarantine rules is causing for people on holiday. That's after a very
short break. And then later Jeff Bezos is getting ready to fulfill a lifelong dream. I'll tell you more about the billionaire's upcoming trip to
space.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:15:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: We are keeping an eye on the White House where President Joe Biden is meeting today with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in the face
of security challenges both from Moscow, as well as Beijing. Mr. Biden, of course gearing up for two events that could shape the rules of the road for
the 21st century.
That's the G7 summit in England and the NATO summit that's happening in Brussels. Well, I'm connecting you now to Washington. Our White House
correspondent John Harwood joins me now and John, this is President Joe Biden's first trip aboard and it's pretty wide ranging. Is there any real
focus here? What is the aim for him or out of this meeting?
JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I think the focus is and the aim is to establish the principle that this is an administration that is
going to focus on multilateral action to deal with a range of threats. You mentioned, containing Beijing and Moscow. That's something that United
States wants to do with our allies.
Attacking climate change. That's something that the United States wants to do with our allies. Attacking the pandemic with our allies. The same with
trying to sustain a global economic recovery. Janet Yellen, the Treasury Secretary has obtained an agreement with other G7 partners for a global
minimum tax to avoid multinational corporations, hopscotching around to try to evade taxes by going to low tax countries.
All of these are examples of collective effort by countries with similar values. Donald Trump had a go at alone, America first strategy that didn't
care about the sensibilities of American allies that looked to grab whatever advantage America could get in the moment, Joe Biden's got a much
different approach.
SOARES: Yes, John Harwood there. We also look forward to that meeting between Biden and Putin, how awkward that might be. Appreciate it John.
Now, the British Prime Minister had been facing a rebellion by some conservative lawmakers of his government's plan to cut billions of dollars
in foreign aid. They wanted to reverse those funding cuts, but that's just been watered.
However, the issue isn't going away. In a the letter to Boris Johnson, aid agencies warned that the world's most vulnerable people will suffer a bad
situation made worse by the pandemic, as you can imagine. Save the Children's among the group that really signed that letter. Its Director of
policy, advocacy, and campaigns is Kirsty McNeil. She joins me now from London.
Kirsty, so great to have you on the show. Thank you very much for joining us. So what is clear is that rebellion has been thwarted, but the issue
still remains. So what is your aim now? What are you going to do there to try and press the government?
KIRSTY MCNEIL, DIR OF POLICY, ADVOCACY & CAMPAIGNS, SAVE THE CHILDREN: The rebellion has been thwarted for this evening. But as I understand it, an
application is going in right now for a debate tomorrow, which could last all day. And of course, this is just days away from the Prime Minister
hosting the G7, where how we're going to pay for the pandemic response will be a matter of some debate.
So my understanding is that the eight rebels tonight feel they would have won their vote by at least nine, potentially 20 against the Prime Minister
with a working majority of 80. So you can see the strength feeling across the House of Commons. And that's because of the fact that our aid is life
saving and life changing. And our members of parliament know that to be true.
SOARES: And explain Kirsty, to our - to our viewers what these cuts would actually do to the children, to the communities that Save the Children
actually serves and helps?
[11:20:00]
MCNEIL: Let's hit just one example. Yemen is the world's worst humanitarian catastrophe. 93 percent of children in Yemen, are dependent on aid,
humanitarian aid, the very aid that keeps them alive that's helped with food and with medicine. And yet the UK Government has cut its support to
Yemen by 60 percent. So there's absolutely no doubt that lives are on the line with this vote.
And that's why we're hoping that our members of parliament tomorrow will come back and let the government know that they want Britain to be a leader
on saving lives.
SOARES: And I suspect as well that the pandemic that COVID-19 has if any made an increase in the need for help even more?
MCNEIL: Very much so. The UK is the only G7 country, which is cutting aid in the face of a devastating pandemic. All of our partners that we'll be
hosting on Friday have either maintained or increased their aid because they know that a global health emergency is the very worst possible time to
be stepping back from those who desperately need help.
SOARES: But why do you think then, why - why do you think the UK is the only one going - going in a different course?
MCNEIL: The UK government's argument is that we have had a set of economic fallouts because of the pandemic. But of course, that's true of all of our
partners. And all of our partners know that if we want to have a safer world, we want the world to be safe once again, for all of us, it's a
question of fairness, but actually more importantly of common sense that we need to jab the world.
So on Friday, we're hoping that there'll be announcements about both the fact that we need global vaccination, but also crucially that we are
prepared to pay for it and pay our fair share as one of the world's richest economies.
SOARES: And like you said, I think it's important, we're not - the UK is not the only country that has struggled financially with the crisis with
COVID-19 and the pressures put on the economy. But what we have heard as well politically Kirsty, is that plenty of backbenchers think that cutting
aid right now is simply the wrong thing to do, simply as a matter of principle. Do you think this is just Boris Johnson trying to win points
here politically? Why is he going for this? Is there a sense of what the people up and down the country want to see?
MCNEIL: I think he's very much misread public opinion here. So Save the Children released polling just today that said 79 percent of the British
public, it was actually the highest of any country that we surveyed, 79 percent of the British public wanted the UK to pay its fair share towards
global vaccinations. So whilst it may seem sometimes if you look at social media, or the comments sections of newspapers, it may seem that aid isn't
popular.
The British public know that right now, in the midst of a devastating pandemic, they want their government to play a part.
SOARES: And Kirsty, finally if it does, go ahead tomorrow, like you were saying, what else can you do? What else can Save the Children do and other
NGOs do at this point?
MCNEIL: Well, we will be calling on all of the representatives who were of course, let's not forget, all elected on manifestos to support the 0.7
percent commitment, and who are all bound by the legislation, which means it's not even legally an option available to the government to simply
declare that it's not going to meet their commitments.
This is enshrined in law. It's enshrined in the manifestos of all members of parliament, and we'll be trying to remind them of the devastating
humanitarian consequences that will follow if we persist with these deep and devastating aid cuts.
SOARES: Kirsty, let's stay in touch to see what happens tomorrow. Like to get your thoughts depending on what happens of course, in the House of
Parliament. Kirsty McNeil, Save the Children, Director of Policy, Advocacy and Campaigns, thanks very much for taking the time to speak to us here on
the show.
Now, British holidayers are trying to get out of Portugal as fast as possible. Last week, the UK announced it was removing Portugal from its so
called Green list. That's a list of countries that do not require travelers to quarantine, when they come back to the UK.
Well, starting on Tuesday, tomorrow, those returning will have to quarantine for 10 days and take two COVID tests.
BRYAN KELLY, BRITISH CITIZEN TOURING IN PORTUGAL: Early flight, we were meant to fly home on Wednesday. Now we're flying on today, an extra 400
pound in cost as well. But we've - we can't actually isolate. We've got off time on our holidays so very disappointing and expensive. Very expensive. I
don't know if the insurance will cover it. I don't know. It's up for the Portuguese people as well, because we've left.
We're leaving and we're like 80 percent of the travel industry. That's what the taxi driver was saying and now we are - we're at a loss, everybody is.
SOARES: Well, Portugal has seen a slight uptick in new cases since it started lifting lockdown rules last month. Now tweeting in Nigeria can now
get you arrested. The government has ordered federal prosecutors to arrest and prosecute those who use the Twitter app. This comes after the
government announced an indefinite suspension of Twitter's operations in Nigeria.
That suspension coming about two days after the company deleted a tweet by President Buhari. CNN.com Supervising Editor for Africa, Stephanie Busari
joins me now from Lagos, Nigeria.
[11:25:00]
And Stephanie, this is a pretty radical step. I mean, what has been the reaction to this? I know that Nigerians are pretty active on Twitter.
STEPHANIE BUSARI, CNN.COM SUPERVISING EDITOR, AFRICA: Yes, this is probably one of Twitter's largest markets on the continent, Isa. And as you can
imagine, there's been a lot of anger and outrage here. Social media is the media here. And research tells us that some people turn to social media
even before brushing their teeth. And, you know, lots of young people here, use it as a lifeline. They run their businesses here, on Twitter and other
social media platforms.
And so there is a lot of anger at what some see, as a sledgehammer approach by the government in tackling this situation, and lots of economic
implications as well, you know. Netblocks.com estimates that Nigeria is losing $6 million per day, every day this ban is ongoing.
SOARES: Yes, economically, it sends out the wrong message to any businesses, of course. But why is the government Stephanie, doing this,
President Buhari going this far? I mean, what is their argument? I think, correct me if I'm wrong, I remember President Buhari using Twitter for his
own political benefits when he was campaigning.
BUSARI: Absolutely, Twitter, he was repackaged as a reformed democrat via Twitter, social platforms, Twitter and other social platforms. And he was
given a clean image. You know, he's really leveraged the advantage of reaching hundreds of millions of young people on the platform. And this -
this new ban was actually announced on Twitter itself. And some didn't miss the irony.
But what the government is saying is that they are accusing Twitter of double standards. They say that Twitter has not taken a firm stance against
others who are disseminating inciting material and also false - false information on the platform. And why was the president targeted by deleting
his tweets when others like Nnamdi Kanu, who is the leader of a prescribed group that the government is really clashing with right now?
They're question why his tweets were not deleted. So they say it's not a ban on Twitter itself. They just want Nigerians to use Twitter responsibly.
Isa.
SOARES: And very quickly Stephanie, are Nigerians finding a way around this?
BUSARI: Oh, absolutely. In fact, just before I came on, on air with you, I was talking to an analyst for - from a site called Top - Top 10 vpn.com.
And they saw a spike of 1400 percent of the use of virtual private networks, which is VPN software that allows a user to mask their location.
And that is the way that Nigerians have decided to go around this ban.
Many people are still tweeting, in fact, government officials themselves are still tweeting. So it's really hard to know what this ban is for and
who it's really targeted to. Isa.
SOARES: Yes, ingenuity right there. Stephanie Busari. Great to see you. Thanks very much, Stephanie. Still ahead right here on Connect the world.
The U.S. Vice President goes to the heart of the immigration crisis, Kamala Harris is in Latin America, tackling the underlying issues behind
migration.
Plus the daughter of a former in-prison president versus a high school teacher who's never held office. Peru waiting to find out which of these
candidates will be their next president.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:30:00]
SOARES: We want to take you to Guatemala City now where U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is meeting with a Guatemalan president. This is video from
just moments ago, have a look, the Vice President told the Guatemalan president that it was in their collective interest to work together, adding
it was clear the U.S. has a responsibility to cooperate and work with allies. The U.S. Vice President is on a fact finding mission to find out
why so many people leave their homes in Latin America for the dangerous trip to United States.
What Kamala Harris learns can really help craft U.S. immigration policy. She's meeting with the President of Guatemala. Her next stop is Mexico
where initial results indicate the party of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador lost seats in Sunday's midterm election. There's a lot to talk
about, lots to unpack. Here's CNN's Jeremy Diamond, he's following Kamala Harris tripping Guatemala. Matt Rivers is in Mexico.
Jeremy, let's start with that meeting that took place just shortly between the Guatemalan president and Kamala Harris. Talk to us what came out of
that statement that we briefly saw, and what Kamala Harris is trying to really get the heart off during her visit.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, right out the gate, you heard her talking about the fact that migration is the number one issue
on the table and these talks between the United States and Guatemala of course, the root causes of migration is really the focus of her visit.
And those factors are many, you have everything from poverty, to hunger, climate change, and crime. And of course, the very dicey issue of
corruption. We haven't yet heard very much from inside that room in terms of whether or not the Vice President is addressing that issue of
corruption. But what we do know is that her advisors have made clear that they see corruption in Guatemala and in other countries in the northern
triangle, as endemic, and as one of the primary root causes that push people to leave their homes here in Guatemala, and migrate to the United
States.
We also heard the Vice President talk about the fact that she is trying to work to bring hope to the region. That is also something that her advisors
have highlighted ahead of these meetings. Indeed, it is that hopelessness that so many people feel here, which has pushed them to migrate to the
United States, despite the dangerous journey that they face, despite the uncertain prospects, once they actually arrive in the U.S., it is because
of the desperation that they are facing here.
Whether it is because of the devastating hurricanes that destroyed so much - so many people's livelihoods, the drought that has affected farmers in
the rural parts of Guatemala, there are many, many issues here. So we will see how the Vice President continues to engage on this today, her team has
suggested that there will be some policy deliverables today, some very clear decisions being made, one on the anti-corruption front, and also on
the Central American migrants program for children in terms of how they will be able to apply for asylum and get to the United States.
So we'll see whether there is actually progress made on that. And lastly, the thing I would just note is that the Vice President is clearly not just
focusing on her efforts in diplomacy with the Guatemalan government, she's also going to be meeting with young entrepreneurs as well as civil society
leaders.
And that is a clear signal to the Guatemalan government that they are not the only show in town. Clearly the U.S. and Guatemala need to work
government to government. But the United States can also work with many of these nonprofits and civil society organizations to try and address issues
like corruption when the government will not.
SOARES: Jeremy, do stay with us. I want to bring in Matt Rivers who is in Mexico and Matt, I was - I was going to ask you about the elections but
actually, you have covered really, you've spoken to so many migrants who made their way to the United States, you've put in some incredible
reporting. And you know, as Kamala Harris tries to get to the heart to why so many are leaving, which is you know, corruption and poverty and the
corruption.
I mean, if you start with Guatemala, El Salvador or Honduras, it's not something you can do overnight. It's the long term fight. Tell us what you
have seen or how hard of a task this will be for the United States?
[11:35:00]
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You can't put a fine enough point on that, Isa. It's a great point that you bring up here where the United States has
an immediate issue right now, which is a huge number of migrants arriving at the U.S. southern border, but to your point, addressing those root
causes of migration, those are long term solutions.
You know, so how does the United States manage to give people as one analyst I spoke to enough hope that by staying in their country, their
lives will get better. You know, you have to give people a reason to stay, people are not leaving, because they want to because this is an easy
journey.
I mean, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, all of these, you know, El Salvador, all of these Central American countries, people are leaving as a
matter of survival. You know, these trips are incredibly dangerous, and these migrants know that. But when you have nothing at home, when there is
no job prospects, when there is gang violence, when there is endemic government corruption, when - when you know, people are living on mere
dollars a day.
In a lot of cases, they don't think they have another choice. It's either migrate to the U.S., or in some cases literally starve. That is the choice
being made by a lot of migrants and over the past year, given the COVID-19 pandemic, given two devastating hurricanes, that the region had within back
to two weeks, back to back category four hurricanes, it's made the situation in so many of these countries untenable.
And yet solving those problems, you can work with civil society, you can work with NGOs on the ground, that's all well and good, but look at the
government partners that the U.S. has to work with. In El Salvador, you have what some critics are calling a rising dictator in Bukele, the
President there.
In Nicaragua, you have incredible government corruption. In Honduras, the president of Honduras is an unindicted co-conspirator with his brother, who
is officially indicted and charged and found guilty in the United States for narco trafficking, you know, and so Guatemala might be the best of all
of them. And there's a lot of corruption in Guatemala too.
So just to summarize that, Isa, this is not an easy solution for the United States to have to figure this out. Kamala Harris has a very, very difficult
task ahead of her.
SOARES: Yes, I mean, and in Guatemala alone, there's corruption within its courts and investigation is underway, isn't it with judges? So thank you
for laying out. I wish we had more time. Matt, I could speak to you for a whole hour about South America. Appreciate all your work. Thanks very much.
Well, let's stay in the region for another big election. People in Peru are waiting for the final results of Sunday's presidential race. Votes are
still being counted in rural areas where high school teacher Pedro Castillo has strong support. He's running against Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of a
former president. For more now what's at stake in Peru, let's bring in journalist Stefano Pozzebon.
He's following developments from neighboring Colombia and Stefano, this is incredibly tight race. And it seems that both sides are - seems to think
they've already won.
STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: (inaudible)
SOARES: Unfortunately, we are having audio problems with Stefano Pozzebon but he was talking about how tight of a race it is, at the moment. We'll
hope to get him a bit later in the show, but clearly very two different candidates Fujimori coming from a political family. Her father was also
president, and of course, Castillo, a teacher, so completely different set of people, very different as well bringing something completely different
to the table. So we'll try and fix those audio problems and go back to Stephano Pozzebon, a bit later.
For more developments now on all these developments out of Latin America, I want to bring in Eric Farnsworth. He worked on U.S. policy for the region
under the Clinton administration, currently he's Vice President of the Americas Society and Council of the Americas. Eric, thank you very much for
joining us. We've got so much to get through the next four minutes or so.
Let's start if I may, with Kamala Harris, Vice President's visit to Central America to Guatemala as well to Mexico. She's clearly under I assume under
intense political pressure to try and stem the flow of migrants to the United States. So far, there hasn't been a clear strategy from the
administration before she goes out there. Why not?
ERIC FARNSWORTH, VICE PRESIDENT, AMERICAS SOCIETY/ COUNCIL OF AMERICAS: Well, thanks for having me again, Isa. It's great to join you and your
viewers, once again. You know, these are some terribly complicated issues.
I think the first thing to recognize is the fact that she is traveling to Mexico and Guatemala is an important statement by the administration of the
importance that it's giving to these very important issues and sending the Vice President into really a complicated situation without necessarily a
hope of an immediate solution here is a recognition that in fact, this is going to take some work, some real elbow grease, and that somebody with the
seniority of the vice president is going to have to get engaged. A lot of this has to do with getting the facts on the ground, what it's going to
take in terms of trying to get to the root causes.
[11:40:00]
She's not coming with solutions, because I don't think that there are necessarily solutions to be had, rather management of a rather difficult
issue that's, frankly, bedeviled the United States for my entire career of 30 years on these issues of Republicans and Democrats alike. So this is a
really a first step, which I think we're going to see come to fruition and coming to this.
SOARES: And Eric, you know this region better than most. You know, the many previous governments have tried to tackle this. It's I understand that the
fact finding mission, but what are we expecting in the long term? What can Vice President Kamala Harris do here? Are we talking about plowing more
money into Guatemala or other countries? What exactly is she hoping - are we hoping to see from the United States here?
FARNSWORTH: Well, some money is going to be required. There's no doubt about that. Investment, job creation, your correspondent was talking about
bringing hope to the people of the region. I think that's absolutely true, better education, better health care, frankly, better security, that - that
really is a problem throughout the northern triangle in parts of Central America.
But the real answer here is that the United States cannot do this, this has to be coming from the people of the region itself from their own
leadership. And the United States can certainly help, we can offer guidance and advice and money. And we can show frankly, that we won't accept certain
behaviors in the context of corrupt activities or things that really go against democratic practices and principles.
But at the end of the day, and this is the reason why it's so challenging, the leadership and the people of the country have to do it themselves. It
can't be forced on - on anybody. And that's not what the U.S. is trying to do anyway. And so there's a lot of trying to nudge and guide and, and offer
incentives. So this is something that really is - has and will continue to be a challenge.
SOARES: Yes, I'm sure it is. I mean, as she's tried to get to the root cause of migration from Central America, as Matt, our correspondent was
saying, the root of it is often poverty and corruption. Guatemala, Matt was laying out, El Salvador, Honduras, even Guatemala facing, you know, this
corruption, all three countries, Guatemala facing corruption within its courts, judges who were under investigation. So how do you change that?
How do you begin to change that within government?
FARNSWORTH: Yes, and let's not forget Nicaragua a little bit further south, now part of the Northern triangle, but where the country is under a
democratic assault right now by - were in the assault on democracy by Daniel Ortega. Yes. Now, these are some intractable issues, there's no
doubt about it. At the end of the day, you have one of the world's most impoverished parts of the world, with migrants trying to get to the world's
richest economy with only Mexico in between.
So there's going to be that natural pull no matter what, as people try to improve their lives. And we've seen that from migratory communities all
around the world. But at the end of the day, there has to be hope for people who want to stay. And I believe the vast majority of Central
Americans, frankly, do want to stay in their house, in their home.
If they - if there are security issues that are challenging their families, if their livelihoods have been wiped out by hurricanes, as they were in
some cases at the end of last year, it makes those challenges all the more difficult. So from that perspective, there aren't easy answers here.
I mean, we've been struggling with this for a long time. But we have to have a better sense of what the possibilities are in the region, we have to
have the leaders working more closely together, building economies of scale for their economies. Frankly, we have to have a better sense of creating
conditions that will draw investment, business conditions, so that people will want to invest in these countries to create the jobs that will compel
some of the population to remain in their own countries.
So again, it's about providing hope, it's also about providing conditions that will provide incentives for people frankly, to remain in their own
homeland, which most people indeed probably want to do in the first place.
SOARES: Yes, having - Eric, having covered Venezuela at length, I can tell you, the majority of people if they could, they would stay at home if the
opportunities were there and the conditions were there.
FARNSWORTH: Absolutely.
SOARES: Eric Farnsworth, really appreciate your time to speak to us. Thanks, Eric.
FARNSWORTH: Thank you.
SOARES: I want to get back to journalist Stefano Pozzebon in Bogota. Stefano, you were talking to us how tight of a race it was between these
two very distinct personalities.
POZZEBON: Precisely Isa, as I was saying this must be really a pollster - a political pollster stream. There are less than 16,000 votes dividing -
separating the two candidates in an election where more than 15 million people have cast their ballots. And these can only bring further
speculations that as you were correctly saying both - both candidates will feel strongly and generally feel that they have - have the edge in this
election.
[11:45:00]
And these can foresee a prolonged, perhaps legal battle by the two parties, by the two candidates' teams at the various criminal courts, electoral
courts and constitutional courts to try claim the rights to the presidency for themselves and right now the last thing that Peru needs as we have
covered in the last year or so, is further instability.
Peru has had last week here - last year in November, more than three presidents in less than a week and, and having a such a tight and unclear
outcome in such a deeply divided, deeply contested election is not really helping the stability of this country, Isa.
SOARES: Yes, absolutely. Stefano Pozzebon for us in a very windy Bogota, Colombia. Thanks very much, Stefano. Appreciate it. Now, the world's
richest person takes on the final frontier. Coming up Jeff Bezos gets ready to go to space for his very own rocket ship. More after a very short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: Now he has conquered the world of retail and cloud computing. Now it's on to space. Jeff Bezos is getting ready for a trip of a lifetime.
Next month after stepping down as Amazon CEO, he will be on the first manned flight of the New Shepard spacecraft.
His company Blue Origin has been working on the rocket ship for several years. CNN's innovation and space correspondent Rachel Crane is now live
from New York and Rachel, this is a pretty big announcement from the world's richest man and a big vote of confidence, no doubt in his space
project.
RACHEL CRANE, CNN INNOVATION AND SPACE CORRESPONDENT: That's absolutely right, Isa. You know Bezos founded his aerospace company Blue Origin more
than 20 years ago, and they've announced it on July 28, which happens to be the 52nd anniversary of Apollo 11's moon landing, that his spacecraft the
New Shepard will make space history with its first crewed suborbital flight from their facility in Texas and Bezos saying that he's - he will be
realizing a lifelong dream of his being on that first flight and getting those astronaut wings saying, you know, he's wanted to be - he's wanting to
go to space since he was five years old.
But he will not be making this journey alone. And perhaps the coolest gift amongst siblings that I have ever heard of. He's bringing along his brother
Mark Bezos. Take a listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFF BEZOS, CEO, AMAZON: I want to go on this flight because it's the thing I've wanted to do all my life. It's an adventure. It's a big deal for me. I
invited my brother to come on this first flight.
MARK BEZOS, BROTHER OF JEFF BEZOS: I wasn't even expecting him to say that he was going to be on the first flight. And then when he asked me to go
along, I was just awestruck.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CRANE: Now the spacecraft that the Bezos brothers will be flying in is called New Shepard. It's named of course after Alan Shepard, the first
American to fly into space back in 1961 and the company, they had been working on this vehicle for six years now.
[11:50:00]
And after 15 consecutive successful test flights that have been uncrewed, the company says they are ready to put paying customers on this spacecraft
and Bezos, you know, putting his body and along with his brothers in that spacecraft for this first crewed flight certainly shows that he has a lot
of confidence in his team and the system that they've created.
Let me tell you a little bit, Isa about the journey that they will take. They'll fly in a fully autonomous spacecraft, meaning that you know,
there's no pilots on board. They'll be blasted up to three times the speed of sound to an apogee of about 60 miles above Earth, earning them their
astronaut wings. And after experiencing a few incredible minutes of weightlessness, that I myself will be incredibly envious of, the dome shape
spacecraft will bring the passengers back here to Earth in a parachute landing.
So this really will be, you know, one of the coolest brother experiences and really just any experience that any civilian has had in space up to
this point. Isa?
SOARES: And Rachel, there's only two - two seats, only him and his brother, is there another seat, is - is there an auction? Is there any more space?
CRANE: So that is the really interesting part here. So Blue Origin started a live auction in a sealed bidding process on May 5, and they're auctioning
one seat on this historic flight. So right now, that auction is in an unsealed online bidding phase. And that closes on June 10. And the price
tag right now for that, that seat is it $2.8 million.
Now this whole journey is only about 11 minutes. So that puts every second of the journey right now at over $4,000 a second. Now they will be -
there's a live auction that will be happening on June 12. That's when the final price tag will be determined. And all of the proceeds of this auction
Isa, will be going to Blue Origin's foundation club for the future. So a lot of excitement here.
SOARES: Absolutely. Rachel Crane, great, thank you very much for line laying it all out for us. We're looking forward to see who takes that third
seat. Now up next, joy in the United Kingdom. There's a new royal baby and her name is a special tribute. We'll have a live report from Windsor with
our Max Foster, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: Now she's only a few days old but baby Lilibet is already causing a stir. Harry and Meghan's brand new baby girl is eight in line to the
British throne and a favorite with the British press. I'm connecting now to Windsor, where CNN's Royal correspondent Max Foster is standing by for us
at Windsor outside Windsor Castle.
Max, clearly a name honoring both grandmother and great grandmother of course, Her Majesty the Queen. Give us a sense of what the reaction has
been.
MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Well everyone wants a photo but we haven't got a photo. Meghan and Harry very much do things their own ways
particularly when it comes to the children. With Archie remember, we did get a photo initially just of his hand is whatever they feel comfortable
with really.
We do know that mother and baby doing well. We've had a statement to that effect. They're back home within a couple of days. So that's all good news.
So things are progressing well. We're also told they're on parental leave. I asked their office when we could expect a photo and they just don't know
at this point, but still the story made the front pages as you say, based around the naming here.
[11:55:00]
So the Queen obviously in the castle behind me, she's always been known within the family as Lilibet, particularly by Prince Philip and her father.
That's because she couldn't pronounce Elizabeth as a young child. And so that is the name Harry's chosen his daughter so a very sort of touching
tribute really and then Diana being the middle name, his late mother's name, but a lot of the press is speculating around whether or not this is -
the Sussex is reaching out to the rest of the family, trying to heal that rift.
SOARES: Yes, and the press normally would have normally waited outside Max, you as well outside the hospital if it were here in the UK for hours,
waiting to catch a glimpse of that baby. You've escaped that one this time. But it's the - almost the need for a photo and then they do things so
differently, don't they?
FOSTER: Well, it works for me so I have to say not standing outside the hospital talking about something that hasn't happened yet. And I don't know
when it will happen. And it's deeply personal. But there is huge interest. I mean that tends to be for the direct heirs really.
Remember for Prince George, I was outside the hospital for 10 days, literally on air every hour talking about how nothing had happened. It's
almost anti-news. So the Sussexes have saved us from that. And they will give us you know the update when they're ready. They're ready with it. This
is part of moving out of their royal roles as well because in the past, they would have been under a lot of pressure to deliver a photo to show
progress if you know what is a public figure.
These babies aren't public figures. They are not public property. They do not take public funds so the Sussexes are in control of their own narrative
and that's what they always wanted.
SOARES: Yes, days waiting for baby, for news and then breaking news. Woman has a baby. Wonderful Max, great that you escaped that one. Max Foster for
us outside Windsor. Appreciate it.
Now, boxer Floyd Mayweather says he had fun trading blows in the rain with Logan Paul. The two squared off in an eight round exhibition match Sunday,
Miami. The judges called the match to draw. Mayweather retired into 2017 with a 50 and a record.
Logan Paul, you may know is an internet personality. I did not know that along with his brother Jake, who is also a YouTuber slash fighter. That a
title, wow, that's amazing. I'm Isa Soares in London, thanks very much for joining us. And Becky Anderson will see you tomorrow actually. One World
with Zain Asher is next. Do stay right here with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
