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4 People Dead, 159 Unaccounted for as Search Continues; A Pivotal Moment for Afghanistan; Indoor Face Masks Return in Israel; UK Health Secretary "Sorry" for Kiss with Aide. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired June 25, 2021 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:26]

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: A frantic search and rescue is underway near Miami the day after a 12-story condominium collapsed. The death toll and

the number of people unaccounted for is rising.

The clock is ticking as the president meets with the Afghan leader. American troops are due to completely withdraw from Afghanistan despite

Taliban attacks.

And put on your mask. Israel changes the rules days after having relaxed them as COVID cases rise.

(MUSIC)

ANDERSON: I'm Becky Anderson. Hello and welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD.

We begin with the developing story out of Florida, where four people are now confirmed dead and 159 others are accounted for, after the collapse of

a condo building just forth of Miami Beach, in the town of Surfside. Crews have worked through the night into the morning.

You're looking at video now obtained by CNN in the past few minutes. Rescue teams dealing with fires, with water and with shifting materials.

A hundred and twenty people have been tracked down.

The mayor of Miami-Dade County says rescuers hope to find more survivors.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANIELLA LEVINE CAVA, MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA MAYOR: As we work tirelessly and stand united, local, county, state and now federal support,

we are going to work as hard as we can to continue our search and rescue effort. That is our priority. That is where we're focused, protecting our

first responders who are on the scene.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, it's still unclear why the building came down.

This is surveillance video captured -- capturing the horrendous moment it collapsed.

President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency and will address the disaster later today.

Well, our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, is on the scene with the very latest.

Sanjay, what can you tell us?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's been a very tough, as you might, Becky, 32 hours roughly now since this happened. These

missions, these search and rescue missions that you describe -- they've been on going since the start. It is very challenging. I don't know. When

you look at those images of the building, it's just about a block away from me here. This is as close as we can get.

It was part of a building that was facing the ocean, which may be some clues but more importantly, there is another part of the building that is

questionable in terms of its integrity. So, you can imagine as rescue workers are doing this, there is debris falling on them. There's question

of power lines. There's sewage lines. There's potential significant risk to the rescuers themselves.

So that's happening. As you mentioned, you know, the numbers of people who are affected by this we're learning more. We know four people have been

confirmed to have died but there are so many people unaccounted for.

Becky, I can tell you quickly, this is an area of the country here in the United States where in Florida, south Florida where a lot of people do come

to retire. There are people who are what we call snow birds. They live in one part of the country during the cooler months and another part of the

country during warmer months.

Point being, we don't know how many people were actually inside the building at that time. It was 1:30 in the morning for people who are

actually living here at the time, there is a good chance they were inside. But were they in Florida at all or other homes? That's what investigators

are trying to piece together now. So, so many different factors so early in all this, Becky.

ANDERSON: As you speak, just looking at images of the search and rescue personnel and the conditions are really trying for them. Is it clear just

what sort of challenges they are facing? Is it clear what is actually happened to that building?

GUPTA: No, that's the challenging part. I mean, this area of the country is subjected to natural disasters like hurricanes. The buildings that you

see, I don't know if you can see them behind, there are a lot of images. A lot of these buildings have withstood significant, you know, impacts from

hurricanes and things like that in the past.

Why exactly this happened to this building is unclear. I mean, again, there may be clues, it was a part of the building facing the ocean. We know that

there had been water seeping into the parking garage underneath.

[10:05:01]

That could be a sign that maybe the building was starting to subside a bit. These are all -- it's all conjecture at this point. We're not sure. There

is going to be of obviously significant investigation into all of this.

But one thing we do know, and I don't know if you can see the images, Becky, as -- and you've seen disasters around the world. What has happened

here is basically the structural walls inside the building seemed to have collapsed. So, you just lost structure and therefore, you get this the

pancaking of the floors down, one top of the other, as opposed to one wall sort of falling and getting cantilever and things like that.

It's critically important for the people on the search and rescue missions to know this because it shows how to find potential voids of space where

there still could be survivors. That's what they're doing right now, but it's risky. It's risky work for sure.

ANDERSON: As we said, four, sadly, confirmed dead, 159 others unaccounted for.

You're our chief medical correspondent. What sort of injuries might search and rescue and emergency personnel find on those who have survived this?

What will they be -- what will they be looking out for and how will they cope?

GUPTA: If someone survived this and been able to also at this point, 30, 31 hours into this have a source of oxygen open to the air in someway, one

of the biggest concerns are going to be what are called crush injuries where they are essentially pinned underneath rubble and those can be very

devastating injuries. You have trauma surgeons who are on site to basically be able to try and help this.

I can put it to you like this, Becky -- it's not as simple as saying lift up the rubble and extricate the person. The body changes in response to the

crush. Sometimes if you just lift up the rubble, dead muscle and tissue can release toxins into the bloodstream and you can cause a catastrophic injury

as someone is being rescued.

So, it's difficult to imagine and talk about but they stand by to do amputations if necessary, to be able to rescue somebody. They may place an

IV to basically start giving lots of fluids to flush out toxins.

There is lots of intricacies to a search and rescue mission like this. You know, the people here have done these kinds of missions but, Becky, unlike

Haiti or places around the world, they're not used to a building collapse in this nature. Usually, it's because of weather event of something like

that. This is a very unusual way of approaching it.

ANDERSON: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you. Your analysis and insight is so important.

Several Latin American citizens are caught up in this disaster including the family of Paraguay's first lady.

Matt Rivers is on the story from Mexico City.

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Becky, this is what we've been monitoring since yesterday at this point. You know, as each hour goes by,

we're getting more information how this is not just an American tragedy. This is a tragedy affecting countries across South America.

Let me give you the break down as we have it right now. We're hearing from different governments, different government officials from South America.

Nine Argentinian citizens reported missing at this point as a result of this collapse. Six citizens from Paraguay, six from Venezuela, three

missing from Uruguay, one missing from Chile and six missing or unaccounted from Colombia with the Colombia government saying they do have registries

of six Columbian citizens living in that building. They just don't know if they were inside at the time of this collapse.

But in terms of who some of these people are. You mentioned the sister of Paraguay's first lady. So, Paraguay's first lady's sister and her sister's

family are among those missing at this point, including three small children. The Paraguayan government saying the first lady has now actually

traveled to Miami to be there as the search and rescue efforts continue and people are sought out trying to be identified.

We also heard from relatives of the person from Chile who is missing at this point. We're told that that person is a first cousin of Chile's former

president, Michelle Bachelet. So this is the kind of information that will be coming out over the next hours, days. We're finding out more information

who these people are, Becky. This is a part of south Florida where lots of South Americans live whether it's permanent, whether they have second homes

there, whether their vacationing, this is an area known to have been frequented by people from South America.

And so, unfortunately, there's every chance as more information is learned over the next few days, even next few hours that more citizens from South

America countries are going to be among the missing.

[10:10:07]

ANDERSON: Yeah, Matt Rivers, thank you.

Well, the White House is getting ready for a crucial meeting with Afghanistan's stop leaders. The face-to-face conversation comes at a

pivotal moment between the countries as President Joe Biden continues with his plans to bring American soldiers home from the longest war in U.S.

history. That is set to be completed in September.

That's even as the U.N. is warning of a worst-case scenario in the country. Negotiations between the Taliban and Afghan government have stalled and the

Taliban made major gains in territory taking at least 50 districts since May.

Let's bring in our international diplomatic editor Nic Robinson at this point. What do we expect the U.S. president and his Afghan counterpart to

discuss today and what sort of leverage would the U.S. still have, Nic?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, it's already good question, Becky. We've got an idea of what the Afghans and the

President Ashraf Ghani and the former chief executive of the country, Dr. Abdullah, Adbullah, are going to ask for. They're going to ask for a

security transition of maybe six months essentially asking President Biden to find a way using a third question, UAE, where the U.S. has forces based

to use that as a base for additional air cover, air support, air strikes in support of Afghan forces on the ground as sort of a transition period.

That's a real stretch. I mean, militarily, it's a stretch. It's not really in the planning at the moment. There is less than 80 days to go before all

U.S. forces are out. It seems a big ask.

The other thing they'll ask for is President Biden to put pressure on Qatar and Pakistan to stop providing the military and political support. I've

spoken to a senior Pakistan diplomat just recently who said, look, Pakistan is not supporting the Taliban at the moment. So it's not clear how much

ground can be gained on that particular point.

Qatar is providing a place where U.S. officials have been meeting with the Taliban, you know? So, Qatar in that respect has been helping it appears.

And the other thing is help with the current COVID outbreak, there's a wave of COVID passing through Afghanistan, and the Afghan president is likely to

ask President Biden for any support, additional vaccines that can be provided there.

You know, President Biden for his part probably, Becky, is going to look at these leaders who have had huge differences and represent really different

sort of political and ethnic factions within the country and calling them both the unity because essentially, that's where the Taliban is trying to

do, is trying to break down the unity of the central government.

In the international community, the United States, and their diplomats and their military commanders in Afghanistan -- haven't just been the military

that's been keeping the glue -- the glue that's keeping Afghanistan together, but there have been a real diplomatic glue as well, helping

Afghan sort of bridge some of their divisions and keep the government together. And that's going to be absent to a large degree going forward.

ANDERSON: I spoke earlier this week, Nic, to one former Afghan MP. She is a woman and she's one of only four women involved in talks with the

Taliban. She is presently based in Doha where until recently, those stalled talks were on going and you know that well. You've been in Doha a number of

times, around those talks.

She told me that she feels betrayed by the U.S. and international withdrawal. She says women of Afghanistan were involved in discussion about

this process, they were asked to step up over the past 20 years. They were promised so much and she says she simply feels betrayed.

Just how -- just what happened with the U.S. and Afghan government in finalizing these plans to withdraw. There is a sense to many I speak to

that while people understand the U.S. can't be there forever and this is now the U.S.'s longest war, but they have thrown in the towel without a

plan for peace and security going forward.

ROBERTSON: There is a real sense that President Trump really wanted to get U.S. troops out of Afghanistan and was prepared to cut a lot of corners to

do it, and he sent ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, to go and negotiate with the Taliban, to negotiate an exit for U.S. forces out of Afghanistan,

independent of the Taliban agreeing to a meaningful peace deal with the Afghan government.

[10:15:07]

That was sort of in the air, that was tentative, and those talks you're talking about that are broken down, and I've been also speaking with some

of those female negotiators as well.

Look, international community went into Afghanistan, it went in with a sort of, you know, high hopes, high standards and called for, you know, a very

significant presence, 50 percent of Afghan women to be present in the government of Afghanistan, you know, pushed for female journalists to get

access, to get rights, all these are squashed and swished and abused under the Taliban.

And there's a real sense now, as you say, this betrayal that the United States tried to cut a fast deal, a fast exit that cut the Afghan government

out of the mix, significantly cut the Afghan women out of the mix, leaves them essentially high and dry. We've seen the Taliban targeting women,

professional women, journalist and others around the country.

And these women now feel justifiably under threat and the games that have been made within Afghanistan for their rights and for their standing in

society, political standing, that risks really being eroded. The Taliban are not laying down any guarantees. They say they've learned, they've

learned to give women -- female children education. But the reality is the sort of government they want to bring is not one the Afghan women the

majority aspire to.

ANDERSON: Sure. Nic, I want to make a point this of course, this withdrawal started under Donald Trump but it is now on Joe Biden's watch.

And this is a president who is determined to reinstate the U.S. dominance or preeminence around the world and human rights will be very heart of his

foreign policy.

That doesn't equate with what the U.S. is doing at present, does it?

ROBERTSON: Doesn't seem to, Becky. It's the reality. It's real politics.

President Biden is really pivoting doing what President Obama said he'd do which is get the quite out of these conflicts because it needs to turn the

military political diplomatic attention to what it sees as the biggest threat, which is China and that is a really ugly reality of the situation,

as I can see it at the moment.

ANDERSON: Nic Robertson is our international diplomatic editor, has spent much time in Afghanistan. Also, as I point out, has spent time in Doha

covered those what are now stalled talks.

Thank you, Nic,

Coming up, Israel's COVID success story is taking a turn for the worse. Just days after getting more breathing space, Israelis are back to wearing

masks indoors. We're live in Jerusalem for you, up next.

And parts of India ramp up restrictions to battle a new COVID variant dubbed delta plus. More on the threat this variant is posing there and

around world.

Plus, a market filled with civilians since hit by an airstrike this week in Tigray.

Next hour, I'll ask the Ethiopian ambassador to the U.S. about the military campaign there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Prominent Palestinians, the U.S. and the European Union are demanding a full investigation into the death of a long time critic of the

Palestinian Authority. The family of Nizar Banat says 20 armed Palestinian soldiers broke into his home early on Thursday morning brutally beating and

arresting him. He was dead when he reached a hospital.

Banat was known for videos posted on Facebook he denounced corruption in the P.A.

Protesters angered by his death marched on the compound of the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas.

Well, meanwhile, Israelis are once again wearing masks indoors as COVID cases spike just ten days after the mandate had been lifted. It comes after

Israel reported 227 new COVID cases in the past 24 hours.

The numbers are worrying. There have been more than 100 now cases each day for four days. The setback for Israel which has had one of the world's most

successful COVID vaccine rail rollouts.

Hadas Gold is in Jerusalem, where that mandate is now in effect. If the government of Israel thought it would have a honeymoon period that extended

outside of a week, they are sorely mistaken.

A lot on their plate. Just how bad things are -- how bad are things at this point?

HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, just a week ago the mask mandate was lifted and the cases were just a few dozen a day. But as you

noted, in the past few days, the cases have surged to more than 100 per day.

And originality, there was discussion about putting the mask mandate back on by Sunday, but this morning, there was announcement, the mask mandate

indoors is now back on, as officials are increasingly worried about a surge in new cases, especially as this variant is showing it can affect those who

are fully vaccinated.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GOLD (voice-over): A sight Israelis had hoped they would soon forget, popup COVID testing sites as Israel tries to stop a new wave, especially

among the young.

Ayelet Ilan bringing her 14-year-old daughter Gal to be tested, nearly every student in her grade, now, under precautionary quarantine.

AYELET ILAN, BINYAMINA, ISRAEL RESIDENT: We feel secured, everything is under control, we pay attention to the rules, and regulations. And that's

it. We hope it will pass as it came, and it will go away.

GOLD: Here in Binyamina, an outbreak at two schools, including this one, helped lead to a surge in positive cases in the education system, as well

as in a number of towns. Masks are now required at the affected schools.

Other towns in Israel also experiencing new cases, partly due to the new Delta variant which health officials say could be 50 percent more

contagious, though they were encouraged by data from England, showing that the Pfizer vaccine still offers protection.

DR. SHARON ELROY-PREISS, HEAD OF ISRAELL PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICES: Compared to that, the Delta variant, its effectiveness, the vaccine effectiveness,

is about 88 percent, which is a slight to reduction, but it's still very high effectiveness of the vaccine.

GOLD: Israelis returning from abroad and unvaccinated children, combined with the new variant, have threatened the sense of normalcy that had

returned to Israel, after vaccinating more than 85 percent of those eligible. Israel's new prime minister, Naftali Bennett, now recommending

masks be worn by all, endorse, warning that stricter restrictions may soon need to be reinstated and begging parents to get their children vaccinated,

before Israel's current batch expires next month.

NAFTALI BENNETT, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): The pace of vaccinations right now is not good, only 2,000 young people, being

vaccinated per day. In order to meet our goal, we need 20,000. In simple language, I am calling on parents, go out immediately.

GOLD: A message getting through to Gal, who is urging people to stay close to home, and also has an appointment to get her vaccine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLD (on camera): And, Becky, further restrictions have been put into place. A plan to allow individual vaccinated tourists into the country

after July 1st has now been pushed to August 1st with the understanding it may be pushed even further -- Becky.

ANDERSON: In the meantime, what do we know?

[10:25:01]

What are the details of the death of this former popular activist while in the custody of the P.A.?

GOLD: Well, from what we understand his family telling our CNN producer that around 3:35 a.m. on Thursday, 20 armed Palestinian Authority security

forces stormed his home in Hebron, brutally beating him, this is according to his family and arresting him.

In a statement, the Palestinian Authority government of Hebron confirmed that Banat had died during an operation only saying that his -- during the

arrest, his health deteriorated. Now, an independent autopsy that was done by a human rights group, with the blessing of the Banat's family reported

abrasions and bruises all over his body and reporting that the death is abnormal.

But this death is sparking angry condemnation across the West Bank and beyond. As you noted, there are protests. There were thousands of people at

his funeral according to the CNN producer there, and she's reporting she heard people calling Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian

Authority, a traitor, saying down with their authority, there have been protests across the West Bank against Abbas.

It's putting a spotlight on the recent crackdown of opponents to the Palestinian Authority and it's showing just a further moment of crisis for

the Palestinian Authority, which is increasingly unpopular especially after they cancelled those planned recent elections -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Hadas Gold is in Jerusalem for you -- Hadas, thank you.

Well, just ahead, this is CONNECT THE WORLD, this woman admits she killed her husband but she could end up with a light sentence. Why is up next.

And he's being criticized for how he handled the pandemic. Now, the U.K.'s health secretary says he's sorry for breaking the rules with a kiss. We'll

have more on that fallout, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Rescue teams are using dogs, cameras and listening devices in a frantic search for survivors after the collapse of a residential

condominium in south Florida. Four deaths are confirmed in Surfside, north of Miami Beach, and families are despite to locate more than 150 people

still unaccounted for.

First responders guided by structural engineers are moving inch by inch, rock by rock to determine safe parts to find anyone that may still be

alive. Dozens of those missing are from several Latin American countries.

Now the cause of the collapse of the 40-year-old building is not yet known.

It's a murder trial that has all of France talking and the jury is expected to begin deliberations this hour to decide the fate of Valerie Bacot, a

French woman accused of killing her husband and then burying his body.

[10:30:08]

She says Daniel Polette raped her for years as her stepfather before becoming her husband and pimp. The prosecution is seeking a light sentence

and a psychiatric evaluation says Bacot acted out of terror suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.

Her story of recently abuses galvanized campaigners against domestic violence.

CNN's Cyril Vanier is connecting us to the details -- Cyril.

CYRIL VANIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Becky, what is interesting about this case is the facts are not in dispute.

Valerie Bacot admits she killed her husband, buried his body with the help of her children and kept that a secret for over a year. That's been

established but other facts have also established which she lived in an absolute nightmare. This man Daniel Polette, 25 years her older, started

raping her when she was 12, at the time he was her stepfather.

Then she married him and he continued to rape her even though he had been sentenced to jail for sexual abuse. And she had four children born of rape.

He beat her, threatened her and forced her into prostitution.

None of those things she said about their life together have been disputed by his family members or by their children.

What's interesting about this case, is how society should deal with a situation like that and how the law can deal a situation like that because

she did kill a man, she did take a life and the law cannot forgive her and it's what the prosecutor said.

Nonetheless, her lawyers have been pleading that she had extenuating circumstances and for the first time, this is interesting the psychiatric

evaluation has acknowledged something known as the beaten woman syndrome that they say altered her judgment and that's the reason the prosecutor is

seeking a light sentence.

Becky, Valerie Bacot heard the sentences that that the prosecutor was seeking, she fainted because she realized it meant she might walk free

today.

ANDERSON: We suggested this is galvanized, activists, campaigners in her support and for support for women going through similar circumstances,

traumatic circumstances. How might this set a precedent, if at all?

VANIER: Well, I think there is a precedent in law because the beaten woman syndrome is now something that's been recognized in a court of law, which

had never happened before. Yes, there were some related syndromes, post dramatic stress disorder or the inability to escape the control of your

tormenter. Those things had all been acknowledged in court before, but now that they are being wrapped up in a psychiatric condition known as battered

woman syndrome, and that's being recognized and used as a defense in court, I think that is going to set a very powerful precedent.

Look, a few years ago, Becky, there was a woman who similarly killed her husband after enduring a nightmare when she was married to him, she was

sentenced to jail and she spent two years in jail, and it was only because of the public outcry over that case that the president then pardoned her.

In other words, the legal system was not able to handle those cases. There had to be an exceptional intervention by political power. What we are

seeing today is that the legal system is changing so that it is gaining a better understanding of these situations and it is perhaps I would argue,

Becky, able to handle these cases with more finesse.

ANDERSON: Fascinating.

Cyril Vanier, out of London for you today. Thank you, Cyril.

Well, turning to the U.K., where Health Secretary Matt Hancock is saying he is sorry for breaching social distancing guidelines. Now, this is after the

British tabloid "The Sun" published a picture of him kissing his top aide in his office last month. It alleges he's having an extramarital affair

with that aide.

For months, Hancock has been under fire for his handling of the pandemic response in Britain.

CNN's Bianca Nobilo is live in London where Bianca calls for Hancock to resign are growing.

Will he resign, that is?

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, growing is the right word, Becky, because there have been calls for Matt Hancock to resign well before this

explosive publication from "The Sun" earlier this morning in the United Kingdom.

But the Labour Opposition Party in Britain is leading the charge. They're saying that the health secretary should resign because he's been a bad job

because there wasn't enough PPE, because the test and trace management was appalling, et cetera.

[10:35:03]

But they also are saying he should resign because the allegations of this affair are entirely inappropriate when it comes to Matt Hancock appointing

the woman he's pictured with in these photos. They argue that's an abuse of power, that is unacceptable because Matt Hancock is allegedly engaging in

relationship with someone who he appointed.

Furthermore, Becky, another point of criticism from the opposition party the U.K., Labour and Liberal Democrats, is the fact that Matt Hancock

appointed somebody and didn't publish that appointment. So right now we're not seeing any documentation that explains this appointment of this woman

for the last few months, and that is part of a systemic issue at the moment for the conservative party, the fact that many contracts have been awarded

during the pandemic allegedly in not very transparent ways. In fact, Matt Hancock was found unlawfully a couple of weeks by not publishing contracts

that have been awarded in the pandemic within the 30 day period.

So apart, Becky, from the details of this and the rather remarkable CCTV photographs from white wall in the heart of government published on the

front page of "The Sun", it speaks to other issues. You know, was Matt Hancock fully focused on handling the pandemic? And the key issue, Becky,

that we cannot overlook, is the fact that he set the guidelines himself.

Matt Hancock was a key player and a very cautious one, informing all the rules around lockdown for the United Kingdom. He has admitted that he

breached those guidelines with his actions and it's not just the letter of the law he breached, Beck, but obviously, the spirit of the law. This is

the time when NHK workers were staying away from their families because they didn't want to do the wrong thing and infect people. So, you can see

why these calls for his resignation are mounding but Boris Johnson says he has full confidence in him according to a spokesperson and he considers

Becky the matter closed.

Well, he might want to consider the matter closed but too early to tell you what the reaction from the public and media is going to be in the next

couple days and that is going to be critical.

ANDERSON: Bianca, thank you.

Can you eat it? No, you can't. It might have a delicious name but this strawberry is a case of look but don't touch.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: The international space station is getting an energy upgrade this hour. You're watching astronaut Shane Kimbrough and European Space

Agency's Thomas Pesquet, they will spent about 6.5 hours deploying the second of six rollouts solar arrays. Astronauts Megan McArthur and Mark

Vande Hei are also part of the construction crew.

[10:40:01]

They are maneuvering the space station's robotic arm from inside the space station. Isn't that remarkable?

Well, for many stargazers out there, last night, the moon was a particularly special one. It was the last super moon of 2021 and here in

the UAE, it was quite breathtaking. Known as a strawberry moon, these pictures show it in all its glory over Dubai. The phenomenon was given the

name from indigenous people so it refers to the ripening of strawberries in late spring or early summer. The moon closer to earth than usual, obviously

around the globe, but also bathe in its golden glow.

Well, a cake, candle and a rather rude awakening for one of football's biggest stars.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

ANDERSON: Messi's teammates barged again to his hotel room in the middle of the night to wish him a happy 34th birthday. The team at the Copa

American, of course, well, in Brazil.

Amanda Davies is here.

And Messi did appear to take it in sort of a good faith, good fun and his roommate maybe not so much.

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: No, they may be some of the best footballers in the world, I don't think they're going to be winning any

prizes for their singing, are they? We don't know what time they broke into his room.

But you can see, Sergio Aguero sleeping in the bed next to him because they may be superstar but still on these team training camp scenarios, they're

in single beds sharing rooms. Messy appeared to be quite enjoying it. But Sergio Aguero just take him himself back to bed, and putting the covers

over his head.

It's really tough for these players in this scenario because of the bubbles that they're having to stay within, they're not being able to see their

families like they normally would. Perhaps having won a game at these tournament if they've got a few days rest so it's really lovely to see

Messi's teammates make the most of the occasion and able to do so because they have a couple days off.

The next game isn't until Tuesday when they play, they play Bolivia and already qualified at the top of their group in Copa America.

ANDERSON: Yeah, how do they look as a squad?

DAVIES: It's tough this one for Argentina. You know, they would love to win this tournament on Brazilian soil. They haven't won since 1993, there's

been so much kind of controversy around the fact this tournament is taking place, but they're doing not too bad should we say at the moment but Brazil

very much a team picking up pace on home soil.

ANDERSON: Yeah, absolutely. Should have been held in Argentina but because of COVID, it wasn't.

All right. Thank you for that.

World Sport is up next. Amanda is back after the break. I'll be back after that.

Do stay with us, folks.

(WORLD SPORT)

[10:57:09]

ANDERSON: Thank you very much, indeed.

That's "World Sport."

CONNECT THE WORLD back after this.

END