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Connect the World
IOC Member Coventry Lauds Biles for "Brave" Decision; Confirmed COVID Cases Unexpectedly Tumble in UK; Israel May Soon Give Third Vaccine Doses to Older Adults; CNN Speaks to CEO of Robinhood Markets; Iranian Supreme Leader Criticizes U.S. over Nuclear Deal; Villages Evacuated as Weather Fuels Fires in Turkey. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired July 29, 2021 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: A very warm welcome back to the second hour of the show. I'm Becky Anderson. The U.S. gymnastics team
is still winning gold, even without their most celebrated athlete; Suni Lee won the gold medal in the women's all-around after solid performances on
all four rotations.
She edged out fierce competitors from Russia and from Brazil, all this while Simone Biles and her teammates cheered from the sidelines. After the
event Lee told reporters she almost quit the sport and credited her coaches and her family.
Coy Wire watched the drama unfold at the women's all-around event in Tokyo. He's back at the Live Shot position now. Coy just explain what you
witnessed, if you will?
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS: Well, I saw an 18 year old in Suni Lee who'd been through so much not just herself, but her family. She missed two months in
2020 with a broken bone in her foot. She missed two months with an Achilles injury. She lost an aunt and uncle due to COVID.
She as you mentioned, felt like quitting at time, but she persevered and it all came down to this floor routine today. It was quiet in there as they
entered into that final event that final rotation. She was in the lead.
She watched an athlete from the Russian Olympic Committee leap ahead of her and she needed to score 13.467 to jump back into first and she did 13.700
that would hold for the gold.
We're talking about a girl who grew up one of five kids in St. Paul Minnesota, raised by her parents, both immigrants from Laos. Her dad built
her a beam in the backyard of out of wood because they couldn't afford a real one. And that beam is still in that yard today.
She calls her dad her best friend, Becky and the reason that she does it all. In 2019 he fell from a tree in his neighbor's yard. He was trying to
help trim it. He was paralyzed from the chest down so he's hardly been able to watch his daughter compete ever since that injury.
So you can imagine the emotions back in Minnesota when Lee's family was there watching as those results came in an incredible moment for the entire
family an incredible accomplishment for 18 year old Sunni Lee who is now the individual all-around Olympic champion taking the crown from none other
than Simone Biles.
She was there Simone was in the stands. I saw her sitting at the edge of her seat she could hardly sit still as she was watching her teammate and
cheering her on to win Olympic gold.
ANDERSON: Watching some of those images coming to us from Minnesota where family and friends very much enjoying that performance and indeed that gold
medal. Simone Biles has withdrawn of course, and that continues to make noise around the world.
What is the IOC and other sports organizations said they're going to do with regard mental health resources for athletes going forward?
WIRE: A lot of work to do. This is a very serious topic it is here to stay. There aren't many people in the world with the Olympics cache of Simone
Biles, one who can kind of relate to what she's been through Kirsty Coventry. She's a five time Olympian from Zimbabwe seven time medalists.
She's now a member of the IOC, the International Olympic Committee. I met with her earlier today in a one on one interview. She said that the IOC
does have resources in place, Becky, that athletes have mental health toolkit.
They're reworking that already so they can create a step by step process for athletes in need. I also wanted to note her insight about Simone Biles,
what she is going through what she's witnessing, as she sees this young woman going through these difficult times. Here's a little bit more of our
conversation with Kirsty Coventry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIRSTY COVENTRY, IOC CHAIR OF THE ATHLETE'S COMMISSION: She's being true to herself. And she had to be very brave to make the decision that she's made.
And it will be an incredible positive thing for so many more athletes that may or may not be in the same situation that are going to look to her and
she's inspiring athletes.
She's inspiring people to be acknowledged that this is something normal and something that everyone goes through, obviously all at different stages and
maybe at different levels. But I think she's allowed for it to just be something that can be accepted by people and I think that took a lot of
bravery.
[11:05:00]
WIRE (on camera): We're seeing some of the biggest stars on the planet Naomi, Osaka now Simone Biles pulling themselves from the biggest stages in
their sports. Do you think that this shift is here to stay? Do you think this could become the norm?
COVENTRY: Well, I think athletes have finally gotten to a place where they feel empowered, that it's OK to feel whatever emotions that they're going
through and not to hide it, not to fake it. And I think that, again, is a really positive step forward for everyone involved.
WIRE (on camera): As a former athlete, myself, I always thought of the mind as a muscle, we train it, we protect it. And what we're seeing now from
Osaka from Biles and others, it's almost like the mind is a muscle that can get injured.
Do you think there might be a day in the future where athletes are being put on a reserve list or an injured list? And coming out of competition,
because they're not mentally healthy? Just as if it were a physical issue?
COVENTRY: Yes, I mean, again, I think it is sort of where we are today. It's allowing athletes to fully embrace everything that they're going
through. And as you said, your brain, and you have to train that just as much as any muscle. And I've heard many Olympians say that.
On the day, they know that the person standing next to them has trained just as hard but it comes down to that moment. And that moment can be
impacted by so many other things that can be impacted with maybe something that's happening with your family back home or a loved one or friends.
And again, I think we have to remember that as athletes, we're also just human, with families and friends and life, regular life with ups and downs
that happen outside. And when we can embrace that I think that's when we can all figure out ways of how to improve that environment for athletes and
to move forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: Now Becky, Coventry told me that the one thing that they have learned is that athletes who are having mental health issues they feel comfortable
talking to peers to other athletes, so they're working to a point, associates, if you will, who are current athletes who can be a point
person, a middle person, instead of athletes going like that to go to a doctor or a psychologist, psychiatrist or psychologist.
But perhaps the most important thing she feels is that these athletes seem to know that they are going to work to create a safe space to speak out.
She thinks Simone Biles speaking up is a powerful step towards letting other athletes knows Becky that it's OK to do what she is doing right now.
And that's putting her mental health first.
ANDERSON: Absolutely, Coy Wire in the house, thank you, sir. As Olympic athletes and chase their dreams. Tokyo has reported more cases of COVID-19
I'm afraid than it has ever before. The city of 37 million reported almost 3900 cases on Thursday these third straight days of record case numbers not
isn't the only threat to health.
Tokyo is always hot and humid during the summer months. But this might be one of the hottest Olympic Games ever. Selina Wang joining us live from
what is Selena a rather swampy Tokyo it has to be set?
SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, and unfortunately those COVID- 19 cases continue to rise. And Becky this is the exact scenario that health experts have been warning about for months leading up to these games that
during the summer months, with the games being shown on TV because spectators are nearly banned from all of these venues that the Japanese
public would gather more to celebrate and watch these games travel during the summer months and we would see a spike in COVID-19 cases.
And now Becky, the Japan Medical Association has issued an emergency statement warning that they think the medical system will collapse if these
infections continue to spread. And I've spoken to public health expert Kenji Shibuya who is concerned about the maintenance of this so called
bubble between Olympic participants and the broader public here.
IOC officials, the Olympic officials continuing to say that they do not believe the Olympics is having an impact on the broader medical situation
in Japan, Becky.
ANDERSON: As if the pandemic wasn't enough, of course, as we've been reporting for days now the heat and humidity and a real problem. You know,
the effects of climate change around the world is a story that we've been reporting on now for weeks and months.
And in Japan, of course, temperatures are soaring to record levels. What sort of impact is this having on athletes?
WANG: Right, Becky, if it weren't for the pandemic, this would be the health story that we would be talking about Tokyo summers are notoriously
hot, sticky, humid; it's been in the 90s. But because of the humidity it often feels like it's in triple digits.
[11:10:00]
WANG: And we are already seeing the impact it's having on athletes earlier this week Spanish tennis player Paula Badosa had to retire from her match
in a wheelchair because of the heat effect. And you've had Novak Djokovic say that these conditions are absolutely brutal, the condition is certainly
far from ideal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WANG (voice over): Sweaty, hot and humid, that's a Tokyo summer. Before the Pandemic heatstroke was the biggest health risk for the Tokyo Games held
during the hottest time of year in Japan. Natsue Koikawa knows the risks of heatstroke all too well.
A former professional runner, she passed out during a 1995 marathon in Japan and almost died. It took her more than a year and a half to recover
and she never returned to a major marathon race again. Now what Professor and Track Coach at Juntendo University she's been researching the dangers
of competing in the heat.
NATSUE KOIKAWA, FORMER MARATHON RUNNER: Heatstroke can happen to anyone and it's a very common cause of death. It may be extremely difficult for
athletes to give up competing in the middle of the game, because the athletes are representing their country on the stage of their dreams. The
title athletes that are having the courage to quit is the best way to prevent heatstroke.
WANG (voice over): Back in 1964 the Tokyo games were actually held in October in order to beat the heat, and it's only gotten hotter since then.
According to a report from the British Association for Sustainable Sport, temperatures in Japan have increased three times as fast as the world
average since 1900.
MAKOTO YOKOHARI, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO: When you're taking into account not only the temperature but also humidity. I would say that a
Tokyo summer is the worst in the history of the Olympic Games.
WANG (voice over): In a statement to CNN the IOC said it provides shade and water supplies at venues because the health of athletes is "at the heart of
our concerns". Still, we have already seen athletes struggle under the sun during these games with Russian Archer Svetlana Gomboeva being treated for
heat exhaustion.
KIT MCCONNELL, IOC SPORTS DIRECTOR: Lot of the competition schedule has been built where possible depending on the sport to accommodate the - to
avoid the hottest part of the day, but that's not possible with every sport.
WANG (voice over): On Wednesday, Russian tennis player Daniil Medvedev was visibly struggling when the umpire asked if he could continue. He replied,
I'm a fighter, I will finish the match, but I can die.
Later in comments posted by Tokyo 2020 he added I couldn't breathe properly. I think that was the most humid day we have had so far. Later
that day, Spain's Paula Badosa retired from her match with heatstroke; she had to be escorted off the court in a wheelchair.
In response the International Tennis Federation said that matches will now begin later in the day due to these weather conditions. But Yokohari says
that isn't enough.
YOKOHARI: Having Olympic Games in midsummer in Tokyo is not something that you should do. And we should postpone it until like October or November.
WANG (voice over): But in the future, it might not just be Tokyo. According to a commentary published in The Lancet by 2085, the number of large cities
that would be considered low risk to hold the Olympics in summer months would be extremely limited.
In the meantime, Koikawa says athletes must stop if they feel the onset of heatstroke as it's better to put their Olympic dreams rather than their
lives on the line.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WANG: Now, Becky, organizers many months ago decided to move the marathon hundreds of miles north to Sapporo to give them a bit of a reprieve from
the hot sticky Tokyo summers, which can often be deadly in 2018.
More than 1000 deaths were recorded because of heatstroke and already this year from July 19 to 25th. More than 8000 people have been hospitalized
with possible suspected heatstroke. Becky?
ANDERSON: Find yourself some air conditioning please do, you are watching "Connect the World" Selina, thank you for that. Coming up a great British
mystery COVID cases tumbling, scientists expected the opposite to happen. So what is behind this surprisingly good news?
And as the world debates the efficacy of booster shots, Israel getting ready to possibly start giving a third dose of vaccine. A live report from
Jerusalem is ahead plus, - Iran Supreme Leader is saying about his country's ongoing president and the West.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:15:00]
ANDERSON: The UK scientists admit they've been taken by surprise by some hopeful news. They are seeing a dramatic drop in confirmed COVID cases even
after England lifted most of its pandemic rules. CNN's Phil Black went in search of some answers, have a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL REPORTER (voice over): In the first week of England's hands off mostly unrestricted policy of living with the
Coronavirus. Something extraordinary has happened.
The UK is growing wave of cases has suddenly unexpectedly fallen away. The drop has been quick and dramatic compared to the previous week. The total
number of confirmed cases is down 36 percent. Scientists admit no one saw this coming.
DEEPTI GURDASANI, QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON: It's not something that I expected or predicted.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think a surprise to a lot of people to see something that's come down this quickly, this much in synchrony.
BLACK (voice over): So they only have theories on why this is happening. The end of the European soccer championships means no more big emotional
crowds. A recent stretch of good weather encouraged people to stay outside. Schools around for summer closing what some scientists believe is a
significant environment for transmission. Awareness of certain cases may have inspired more cautious behavior.
And there's also the possibility vast numbers of people are still being infected. They're just not following up with tests because they don't want
to cancel plans and stay at home.
LAWRENCE YOUNG, UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK: So the issue is, is what we're seeing in terms of a reduction in cases a true reflection of the community
levels of infection.
BLACK (voice over): So I just feel confident on one point vaccines are helping, but it's too soon to attribute the drug to herd immunity.
GURDASANI: We need to remember only 55 percent of our population are fully vaccinated. The rest of the partially vaccinated are not vaccinated at all.
BLACK (voice over): The delay between infection and symptomatic illness means the figures don't yet reflect the consequences of England throwing
away its pandemic rules on July 19.
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: It's very, very important that we don't allow ourselves to run away with a premature conclusion about this.
BLACK (voice over): But the sudden changes are fueling hope the UK will not experience the grim, difficult summer many predicted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Live reporting from London. The British ambassador to the U.S. spoke to CNN earlier about a number of issues, not least this significant
drop in cases. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAREN PIERCE, UK AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S: We're cautiously optimistic. We're conscious. We don't have all the data yet. We believe it has something to
do with good messaging. People following sensible rules on behavior, like hand washing and of course a high vaccination rate.
But we need much more information before we can properly analyze this and work out what the future trends will be. We do hope the Americans will be
able to lift the travel restrictions on the UK and other European soon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, come Monday, England will be saying welcome back to U.S. and EU travelers who've had both shots. England ending quarantine
restrictions for them from August the second that word came down from the British Transport Secretary. Have a listen.
[11:20:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRANT SHAPPS, BRITISH TRANSPORT SECRETARY: The first stage was allowing people who've been vaccinated in the UK to go away and come back. And then
the second stage that we're announcing today in comes in on Monday is to allow people who've been vaccinated in Europe or the U.S. to travel here.
Then the third stage is looking what happens at other countries and particularly where we can rely on their data and rely on their vaccine that
they're using. And so we'll be looking at that next month during August and opening that up as quickly as practical and safe to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: The latest from the UK. Well, now that England is relaxing its rules still adding more Americans, the country hoping to get international
visitors back to normal levels. CNN's Scott McLean caught up with the Head of London's Heathrow Airport about the advantages he sees in opening up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN HOLLAND-KAYE, CEO, HEATHROW AIRPORT: They've got far more passengers from the United States going into Europe than we have here right now so
we're at about 10 percent of our pre-pandemic levels, buried about 50 percent or pre-pandemic levels, but we can get that back.
And because there are so many people in the UK, who have businesses in the states who want to come over here to come and visit them. And this is a
really important start, and the hope the next step will be that we can open up at the other end.
And British people can go and visit the United States and many people are just dying to get over and see the U.S.
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It sounds like you've just given me a roundabout way of saying yes, they have squandered
that advantage.
HOLLAND-KAYE: I think we're living in a pandemic, is not the game is not over yet. But it's definitely the case that we are at a competitive
disadvantage if we don't open up. But now by opening up to the United States, we can let business get back to what is best that we can help
support the UK economy.
And I think the UK can once more be the best connected country in the whole of Europe, for connections in the United States.
MCLEAN (voice over): How much of a problem was that the U.S. doesn't have a universal system for registering that you've been vaccinated?
HOLLAND-KAYE: Well, it makes it harder. And that's one of the reasons why the government took a little bit longer to open up the United States
because in some places, you have a CDC card in some places, you have an app.
And what we've been showing in some trials we've done with Virgin Atlantic and British Airways and the American Airlines is that they can check that
people do have the right certificates at check in. And that is good enough for the UK Government.
And we presented that research a couple of days ago. And the government today has announced that people from the U.S. can now travel if they've
been vaccinated.
MCLEAN (voice over): So that's fantastic news.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: CEO of Israel. Israel could soon introduce the third dose of COVID-19 vaccine for all the adults, health care workers are apparently
getting prepared to start giving third shots to people over 60 as soon as this Sunday while they wait for approval.
Let's bring in Hadas Gold, she's in Jerusalem with the latest. What more do we know about this drive at this point?
HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, from what we understand Israel will soon begin administering a third dose of the Pfizer Coronavirus
vaccine to anyone over the age of 60 who received their second dose more than five months ago. This is according to a source with knowledge of the
healthcare planning.
We are expecting an official announcement soon. In fact, actually the Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is expected to give a televised statement in just
a few hours. Now Israel has already been offering third doses of the vaccine to people with compromised immune systems such as people who have
received organ transplants.
But rising COVID cases and recent data has caused health experts here to worry the vaccine could be losing its efficacy over time. Now the first
people in Israel to be vaccinated began getting their doses in December.
And recent data released by the Israeli Ministry of Health found that for people who received both doses by the end of January, the vaccines efficacy
at preventing infection was down to 16 percent. That's compared to 75 percent efficacy for people who receive both of their doses by the end of
April.
Now the good news is that the vaccines were still found to be very effective at preventing severe illness even in people who received their
two doses by the end of January, it was 86 percent effective at protecting them from severe illness.
But clearly this recent data is worrying to health experts here. And there has been a big debate here in Israel about whether to offer this third
booster or not, especially because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not yet approved and Israel tends to follow what the FDA does in their
decisions, especially regarding things like the vaccines.
So essentially by starting this campaign early, Israel is essentially a testing ground for the rest of the world to see what this third booster
shot will do, especially for this population over the age of 60. And especially for the population who received their second dose of the vaccine
more than five months ago, Becky.
ANDERSON: But W.H.O has been urging caution on vaccine booster shots. Have a listen to what its Director of immunization had to say earlier Hadas.
[11:25:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. KATE O'BRIEN, W.H.O. IMMUNIZATION DIRECTOR: At this point on the boosters were really saying we don't have enough information yet. So we
can't make a recommendation. We don't we wouldn't know whether that was needed or not. And we certainly wouldn't know it on a product by product
basis.
And if countries are going ahead and starting to deploy boosters, it does worsen the issue that we have that there's insufficient supply at this
point for every country to have vaccinated, you know, all of their highest priority groups and then down into lower priority groups.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: That was the view of the W.H.O. Meantime, we've seen something like a million vaccinations administered or doses administered in the West
Bank and Gaza that is according to one Palestinian information source. And just how big a deal is that at this point?
GOLD: Well, there is also a discrepancy in terms of vaccines that administrated the difference between vaccine uptakes in the West Bank
versus Gaza.
That is something that the Palestinian health officials are very worried about that in Gaza, a way fewer people are getting the vaccine and they're
hoping to try and encourage more people to get their vaccines in Gaza to try and equalize all of that.
But it is at least some positive news that more than as you said, a million doses of the vaccine have been administered.
But what the officials from the W.H.O are warning is, I think important to keep in mind that as these higher income countries are considering their
third booster shots, it could have an effect on the vaccine supplies for the rest of the world.
Because there are some parts of the world developing world especially that are still - are still trying to get started on getting their first doses of
vaccine into the arms of people. So that is something that has to be considered the effect that these third booster shots will have on the rest
of the world's vaccine supply.
ANDERSON: Yes, absolutely. It's not the first time we've heard that point being made. And as we begin to see the story of these booster shots, doing
the rounds, and as you say, Israel may be a bit of a test case in all of this.
So I'm sure that W.H.O will continue to remind people that this is such an unequal, unfair distribution of vaccines around the world at this point.
Thank you.
Still ahead it's the end of a lavish lifestyle for a Nigerian social media influencer after he pleads guilty to money laundering and other fraud
charges in the U.S. a fascinating report from Nigeria coming up.
And CNN speaks to the CEO of Robinhood Markets. Its online brokerage just went public. Vlad Tenev's plans for the future and his response to the
controversy over his licensure, that is just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:30:00]
ANDERSON: U.S. prosecutors describe him as a lavish spender, who flaunted his Rolls-Royces and luxury watches on Instagram, Nigerian Social Media
Influencer, Ramon Abbas has pleaded guilty to fraud charges in the U.S.
Now Abbas also known as Hushpuppi admitted he was part of a conspiracy to scam a cattery businessman and launder money through banks around the
world. He was arrested in the UAE, the United Arab Emirates last year.
Well, Larry Madowo, my colleague in Nairobi following developments for us on their case, and he joins us now with what we know. And I think the
question many people are wondering is who is this guy and how did he manage to pull this fraud off?
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He was part of an international network of cyber criminals involved in what is known as BEC scams, that is business
email compromise scams, and this latest guilty plea has not been previously reported.
In this case, they managed to defraud a Qatari businessman of $1.1 million. He was trying to get a loan to build a school in Qatar, and they pretended
to be consultants and bankers Hushpuppi Ramon Abbas, pass himself off as a banker in New York, a Kenyan, Ramon Abbas, according to this DOJ statement,
was the agent in this case, and when they did get that money, you know what he did?
He bought a watch worth $230,000. He bought fake citizenship of St. Kitts and Nevis. They bribed a foreign official when this man became suspicious,
these is all things that are coming to the fore. And Ramon Abbas, better known as Hushpuppi.
He has 2.5 million followers on Instagram, he had this lavish lifestyle, you see his chatter jets, and he lived at a fancy luxury apartment luxury
hotel in Dubai. And now people are starting to know that he was not the real estate developer he claimed to be, he was a scammer all along.
And according to the DOJ, he has admitted to being part of cyber-criminal, cybercrime activities where losses totaled more than $24 million, Becky.
ANDERSON: And I just want to get a sense from you of just how common these sorts of scams are.
MADOWO: They are actually quite common more than you might think, last year, according to one study, more than $2 billion was lost in these
business email compromised scam so people pretend to be who they're not, you click on a suspicious email, and then you give away your information.
And to speak to the scale of this crime when he was arrested in Dubai by police there, they found $41 million in cash, they found 13 luxury cars
valued at $6.8 million. They found email addresses hundreds of thousands of email addresses of potential scammers and 100,000 files of fraud.
So this is a huge operation and he had a network of people that he used to launder money across the world, according to the Department of Justice in
the U.S., and he's facing at least 20 years in prison, and there might be more charges. So the fact that he's pleading guilty Becky, might be an
indication.
This is speculative at this stage that he has worked on some kind of a plea agreement to get a lesser sentence in return for telling on some of his co-
conspirators.
ANDERSON: Larry, thank you for that fascinating story. And a widely anticipated Initial Public Offering on Wall Street now Robinhood the
trading app popular with young and first time investors is making its market debut today shares priced at $38 valuing the company at $32 billion.
My colleague Julia Chatterley spoke to the CEO of Robinhood Markets Vlad Tenev. And she asked him if my Robinhood is mature enough for this? Have a
listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VLAD TENEV, CEO, ROBINHOOD: Over the past year, you can see how much the company has grown not just in, in leadership, but also in things like
customer support, you know, launching, phone support, and all sorts of different channels, improving the way we serve our customers, improving our
infrastructure and technology, really building the foundation for our future growth and the products that that we'll be launching in the future.
JULIA CHATTERLY, CNN ANCHOR, FIRST MOVE: And we'll talk about that. Let's talk about pricing firstly, because a lot of people looking at this and
saying you're being a little bit conservative, perhaps on the pricing. We know as well you're giving a huge chunk to retail investors too to uses of
the app itself. Why? Tell me what you're thinking here is week as we go to market?
TENEV: Well, first of all, I think the pricing is a moment in time and we have I think it's accurate to say it's conservative, and we're happy that
retail cut tumors which make up such a big part of our allocation and really are the cornerstone behind our business and product are able to get
in at this price.
[11:35:00]
CHATTERLY: And you're, however, keeping the lion's share of control, you have 10 times the voting share in the shares that you're holding versus the
ones that you're giving to these people. What's the message that you're sending there?
TENEV: Well, the thinking behind that is we're a long term focused company. And a lot of the bets that we're making are long term bets. And we believe
that the voting structure positions as well to be continuing that focus on the long term and keep innovating, and avoid short term distractions that
that can be so tempting in the public markets.
CHATTERLY: What are you expecting in terms of performance today? You said it and you're quite right, that the pricing of this thing is a moment in
time? Are you hoping for a pop given this as you've said, it is a conservative pricing that you're going in with?
TENEV: I think that you'll find that Robinhood as a public company isn't going to comment too much on day to day price fluctuations. I think we're
going to be relentlessly focused on the long term as we have been in the past.
And as I think it was, Benjamin Graham once said, over the long run, the markets are a weighing machine. So we'd like to - we'd like to be a heavy
company over the long term, so to speak.
CHATTERLY: And someone would respond to that and say, you've been part a good part actually, of allowing people access to financial services and
young people in particular, but also provided to some degree as well at times, and being some part of the volatility.
You've been asked questions in recent days about your own registration by regulators, the FINRA regulators, when you look back over that crazy meme
stock trading time, do you think you could have overstepped the line in terms of the decisions you were making the conversations you were having?
TENEV: Well, to be clear, I'm the CEO of Robinhood Markets, which is a holding company. And we have a number of regulated businesses that are at
the entity level under the holding company.
So Robinhood Financial is an introducing broker dealer, Robinhood Securities, a clearing broker dealer, of course, we have Robinhood Crypto,
and each of these businesses have their own leadership licensed were required. And we think that structure is reasonable given our business.
CHATTERLY: Are you tempted to do the exam? Just do the exam and shut everybody up?
TENEV: We don't think that's, that's required at this point.
CHATTERLY: You'll do it when Jack Dorsey does it, is that the message?
TENEV: Maybe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: You're watching "Connect the World". Still ahead, the Supreme Leader of Iran with some very pointed criticism of Western nations as he
speaks ahead of a presidential transition more than that after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:40:00]
ANDERSON: Well, Iran's Supreme Leader with some choice words about the West and his nation's outgoing president. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei commented a
week before President-Elect Ebrahim Raisi is sworn in. He said Hassan Rouhani the outgoing president's dealings with Western nations show that
they cannot be trusted. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AYATOLLAH ALI KHAMENEI, IRANIAN SUPREME LEADER: Future generations should use this experience. It was made clear during this government that trusting
the West does not work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, Khamenei accused the United States of breaking promises in recent nuclear talks. But the top U.S. diplomat says the ball is squarely
in Iran's court. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says that Iranians have refused to talk directly and that negotiations cannot go on indefinitely.
Let's bring in Washington Post Opinion Writer Jason Rezaian. He is joining me now via Skype. And let's just see where we are at here. I just want to
sort of step back and get a real sense of what's going on six rounds of nuclear talks still no agreement, this cannot go on indefinitely. So the
ball is in Tehran's court says the U.S.
Iran says not so fast. It wants a pause until the President-Elect Raisi officially enters office next week and some pretty disparaging talk of the
outgoing president by the Supreme Leader. What's Iran's strategy here?
JASON REZAIAN, WASHINGTON POST OPINION WRITER: Becky, I think that the Supreme Leader here is really trying to bookend the Rouhani Presidency, it
started with the promise of nuclear diplomacy with Western United States that that path started, came to fruition in 2015.
A deal was implemented and being adhered to by all sides until the Trump Administration pulled out of it. And last four years, Iran has really been
flailing economically because of sanctions. But also, you know, lashing out in the region.
So I think we're at a pretty low point to be to be frank. Although I do think that Iran desperately needs a deal that will lift some of these
sanctions off of their battered economy. They're also dealing with one of the worst COVID outbreaks in the world, I think that they're in their fifth
major wave of COVID infections still don't have an effective vaccine program. So you know, they're not in a good way.
ANDERSON: Arguably, this is coming from Washington and elsewhere. These last six rounds were going somewhere at one point, at least I know there
haven't been direct talk talks between the Iranians and the U.S. But there have been indirect talks.
And there was much optimism a couple of months ago, and certainly just before this most recent election, that there might actually be an
agreement. So what went wrong?
REZAIAN: Well, I certainly think that the Iranian negotiating team, Rouhani's team led by Foreign Minister Zarif really wanted to get a deal
done before they left office. But once Raisi won the presidency, as most people would predicted because had been weighted so heavily in his favor.
They decided to put the brakes on any times.
And I think ultimately, this is going to be proved to be a strategic mistake for the Iranians because whatever team Raisi puts together, is not
going to have the sort of experience in negotiating with Western counterparts or the same kind of acumen that that this current team did.
And so, you know, I think that that there are overplaying about hand.
ANDERSON: The Supreme Leader, of course, has the last say on Iran's state matters. Earlier, our viewers heard some of his latest rhetoric, I just
want to read out one of his tweets in full and I quote here, the Western and the U.S. are totally unjust, and malicious in their negotiations, they
have no hesitation in breaching their commitments at all.
In the previous agreement, they breached their commitments, and they give no guarantee they will abide by their commitments in the future, either.
Look, this isn't going to sit well in Washington or indeed in any other Western Capitol.
And the Biden Administration has already said, listen, you know, don't try and overplay your hand here, you know, you know, you know where we stand.
We're not going backwards on that.
[11:45:00]
ANDERSON: And Joe Biden's bid to revive the deal is facing skepticism itself in Congress, including from his own Democratic Party. So while the
U.S. says time is running out for Iran, is it also running out for the U.S. internally at this point?
REZAIAN: I think so. I mean, I think that, you know, the original deal in 2015, faced, you know, massive opposition in Congress, this one might face
even more opposition. But ultimately, the goal of ensuring that Iran doesn't become a nuclear weapons power has been important enough for
successive American administrations to engage in some sort of diplomatic path forward.
Ultimately, though, I think that Iran is, you know, not an innocent bystander. Certainly, the deal was being adhered to by Iran when the Trump
Administration pulled out of it, but their actions regionally since the rollout, and also the taking of Western hostages.
Remember that every member of the nuclear deal, Western member, the United States, Germany, France, and the UK, all have citizens being held hostages
in Iran right now. So it's a tough situation, and one that that has a lot of implications for the stability of the region, but also the future of
individuals who are suffering.
ANDERSON: Yes.
REZAIAN: --because maybe these two capitals.
ANDERSON: And let's just remind ourselves and our viewers that what happens in Iran, and the decisions that are taken there, affect Iranians living in
Iran, and also have an impact around the wider region and indeed, around the world.
Raisi has a lot of challenges ahead. He will be inaugurated on Wednesday, next week, not least in his foreign policy file. But also domestically,
several protests sparked by water shortages and power outages have erupted, which reinforced Iran's deteriorating economy under the weight of the
pandemic and these U.S., sanctions.
You live there you were, of course, in prison there you have many family and friends who still live in Iran. Just get - give our viewers a sense of
life as it stands at present rather well, rest of this white noise goes on around?
REZAIAN: Well, Becky, in my conversations with people still living in Iran, there's a great sense of dissatisfaction, a mounting dissatisfaction that
has been, you know, growing for four years. The water and electricity shortages that you spoke about have as much to do with the mismanagement
and poor planning of the Islamic Republic Regime as it does with any sanctions.
So I think that time and again, we have to remember that, that the Iranian people don't have any friends. They don't have any friends in the
international community that have stepped forward to aid them. They certainly don't have friends in the regime that rules over them.
Just in the last 36 hours, a proposed bill in the Iranian Parliament move forward to further restrict the internet, making it harder for Iranians to
access information, but also easier for the regime to monitor their online activities.
I don't think that that this status quo is tenable, long term, and as you alluded to, is reaching a boiling point in protests in different parts of
Iran. I don't think that we will see an end to those protests. But I do think we will see them put down as we have successfully, periodically over
the last two decades.
ANDERSON: Just finally, what influence does China have with the current regime and on the country at present? And does the Supreme Leader and his
new government run by a much more hardline President in Ebrahim Raisi, have an opportunity by pivoting East at this point, rather than rely on sort of
P5 plus 1 as it were?
REZAIAN: I think that, you know, relations with China are critically important to Iran right now. But everybody sees them as --. When I talk
about it, I mean, the people in society but also within the regime, they were desperate to renew an economic relationship with the rest of the
world, including the Western world and still are.
But without that, they'll have to rely on a partnership with China. And I think, in many ways programmatically, although they would not say that
publicly. The people of Iran are certainly not excited about having their closest trade partner be, you know a regime that in some ways is even more
repressive than their own.
[11:50:00]
ANDERSON: Fascinating. And, we do know that the P5 which of course includes China and Russia around that table. And we had heard from the Russians, for
example about their support for the coming together again in the U.S. and Iran over these talks.
So it does feel as if those talks are as far from a conclusion as they have ever been. Jason, it's always a pleasure. Thank you very much indeed for
joining us.
REZAIAN: Thank you.
ANDERSON: Antony Blinken comments on Iran coming during a visit to Kuwait today. He tweeted out these pictures from Kuwait City Blinken touring
Kuwait's National Assembly and his tweet noting that it is the oldest directly elected parliament among the Gulf Arab States.
Well, coming up after the break wildfires turned deadly in the Middle East. We are live in Turkey as fire crews struggle to put out the flames. This is
"Connect the World" normally broadcast to you from the Gulf from Abu Dhabi. Today we're in London.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well, if you're a regular viewer of this show and I hope you are extreme weather you'll know is playing a role in recent disasters the world
over including in the Middle East and wider region in Northern Lebanon. Massive wildfires have burned large sections of pine forests.
State media says at least one person died from injuries while trying to put out the flames in one town. And in the wider area, similar story in Turkey
officials say there have been nearly 60 wildfires started across the country in just two days.
Experts say climate change is helping spread these. Thousands of villages have been ordered to evacuate at least three people have been killed. Arwa
Damon joining us live from Istanbul in Turkey. What do we know at this point?
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, a forestry expert that we were talking to was pointing to some of the very high
temperatures that we have been seeing in Turkey over the last few months.
Now 95 percent, according to him, of the fires are started by human error or carelessness but the reason for their spread and they're especially
rapid spread this year is largely due to according to him climate change, these warming temperatures, the very low humidity in May he was saying was
especially high especially hot this year.
And if we look at the temperatures in some of the areas where the fires have been raging out of control such as on Talia, there, the temperature is
about 37 Degrees Celsius. And then add to all of that you have these high winds of about 50 kilometers an hour.
So right now, these factors are very much on the side of the fire and not on the side of those who are trying to put out these flames. But again, men
experts are saying that the spread of wildfires that we're seeing in many countries around the world is due to factors that are caused by climate
change.
[11:55:00]
DAMON: It's drier than it used to be before it's hotter. And those are key conditions leading to the spread of these fires.
ANDERSON: Arwa Damon in this story for you. And seeing these fires in Lebanon, remind me of the devastating forest fires back in 2019. That of
course, sparked Lebanon's October Revolution. The government then wasn't able to respond to the fires because the helicopters had reportedly been
out of commission for several years because replacement parts weren't ever bought.
This it seems sadly, just one example of the ineptitude of Lebanon's government and indeed, many other governments in the Middle East region.
Tuesday next week, marks one year anniversary of the Beirut blast and we will have special programming on that on the investigation that was
promised over five days and is now still a year on and unfinished and indeed what is going on in Lebanon as a whole that is Tuesday next week.
Well, for one teenager in France, it certainly pays off to have a robotics engineer as a father. 16-year-old Oscar Costanza was built an incredible
echo skeleton by his dad to enable him to walk. He has a genetic, neurological condition.
That means his nerves don't send enough signals to his legs, but this feat of engineering stimulates body movement for walking. It was built by the
company Wonder Craft of which Oscar's Father Jean-Louis is a Co-Founder. The engineer said he was inspired after his son asked him to make a robot
that will help him walk and that he most certainly did.
UNESCO has added 13 cultural sites to its World Heritage List from an ancient city in India to an Ottoman Empire trading city in Jordan, all of
the sites are of huge cultural significance. But perhaps one of the most impressive is what is thought to be the world's oldest Solar Observatory in
the Americas.
The 2300 year old Ruin Chankillo lies in the desert valley in Northern Peru. It includes a temple and 13 towers constructed from stone it
functioned as a type of calendar, which uses the sun to divine dates throughout the year. That is remarkable. And I will leave you with that
good night.
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END
