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Taliban Announce new Caretaker Government; Pro and Anti-Bolsonaro Protests on the Streets of Brazil; Independence Day Brings Pro and Anti- Bolsonaro Protests; Israel Using Testing & Green Passes to Keep Kids in School; Children Falling Behind as COVID Impacts Education. Aired 11a- 11:45a ET

Aired September 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]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: Well, this hour the Taliban is finally announced its new government. I'm Becky Anderson. Hello and welcome

to "Connect the World". This is breaking news out of Kabul, an idea of what the new Afghan Government will look like under Taliban control.

You may have seen the Taliban announcing key new caretaker positions just moments ago, well, now, nations are getting an idea of who they will be

dealing with in what many leaders have called a new reality. And this is not just news, of course, for nations around the world, but news for

Afghans themselves.

So I want to pass all this out now with CNN's Nic Robertson, who is in Islamabad and Sam Kiley in Doha. And we have been talking now for the last

20 minutes or so about what we've heard. But I want any of our viewers who may just be joining us to just get a sense of what we have got at this

stage.

So Nic, let me start with you. Thoughts on the makeup of this new Taliban government as announced in the past 30 minutes.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It has all the hallmarks of being a hard line government. The prime minister who was the

governor of Kandahar was running Kandahar, a shadow Taliban Governor; under strict Sharia law that led to the death penalty for adulterous.

His deputy Mullah Baradar was the main point person interlocutor with the United States for negotiations in Doha for the past couple of years, a

tough negotiator, interesting that he doesn't actually get the top leadership position the day to day running, going to a hardliner.

Mullah Yaqoob, the son of the Taliban's founder, he gets defense minister, he is been a very tough and hard line Military Commander. And according to

a U.N. report on the Taliban earlier this year, he'd been pushing to get a senior top position in the Taliban.

He seems to have done that in the military hierarchy. Now defense minister, the interior minister important because the interior minister gets to look

out for the internal security of a country and the Taliban got plenty of enemies.

This is an interesting pick, Sirajuddin Haqqani because he is under U.N. sanctions for ties to terrorism. He is believed by many western

intelligence agencies to be the closest of the Taliban members connected to Al Qaeda.

He has a reputation for that. His Haqqani family is a strong is a strong unit within the Taliban, many western analysts watching the growth of the

Taliban in recent years has said that in the future, they'll have problems with Haqqanis because they are strong and will want to go in their own

direction. Haqqanis ties to Al Qaeda; this could be a real burden to the Taliban when trying to deal with the international community.

The ministry caretaker ministry for the promotion of good and prevention of evil sounds a lot like the ministry the Taliban had back in the 90s, which

was feared by the population, because they were in essence, the religious Police who would go out and enforce Sharia law. So a lot to pick over here,

but I think those are the headlines, Becky.

ANDERSON: And I want to get to Sam Kiley, who is in Doha, Qatar, where America's two top officials have been speaking to the press today that

after of course, they've been talking to Qatari officials thanking them for support in the evacuations.

And indeed, in hosting these political talks with the Taliban of like, how is this government going to go down back in Washington?

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think there'll be a public reaction and a pragmatic private reaction.

I think in public people will look askance at the appointment of people like surgeon Haqqani and Mullah Yaqoob, the son of Mullah Omar into these

tick key positions, very hard line, both of them as Nick was saying Haqqani with connections to allegedly to al Qaeda.

But and this is very important, but who have they been talking to over the last two weeks? They haven't been talking to junior officers in the

Taliban, the head of the CIA; Director Burns went in to meet senior members of the Taliban Administration in the early days of the evacuation process.

Now we don't know exactly who we met with. At least I'm not aware of them, but it will be very unlikely that he would not have met some of these very

key players, arguably even members of the Haqqani Network, surgeon Dean Haqqani or Kahlil his close relation, all of them part of the very strong

elements within the Taliban that the Taliban have been relying on for security particularly in Kabul but also out east in Jalalabad and out to

the Pakistani border. So these are not unknown quantities.

[11:05:00]

KILEY: And the signals that we got from the Americans hitherto repeated again today is that it is through gritted teeth, and they do not trust the

Taliban. But so far the Taliban had been delivering almost entirely on the sorts of promises that the Americans and their coalition allies have been

trying to extract from them in terms of the treatment of foreign nationals.

And even nationals of Afghanistan, who might want to leave the country very different, of course, in the future, with the development of ministries for

policing, moral behavior, so called on the streets of, of Afghanistan being a flashback to the very dark medieval days of 1996 to 2001.

And that is what is troubling, ordinary Afghans and it will be what is problematic for a new albeit caretaker Afghan government in the future. If

they don't deliver on human rights, they are simply not going to get the help that they need to keep us country stable.

And its instability is clearly growing with demonstrations against the government bold, brave people out on the streets in some numbers, in Kabul,

in Herat and only recent semi victory over most of the Panjshir Valley, where of course, there's been a holdout of forces allied with the Tajiks in

the form of government there.

So a number of very problematic interior issues that Taliban really need to solve. But it is, as Nick says, a very, very hard line government. One or

two Millers with a background in administration, not the military at the top, but the key positions or key positions of potential violence being

held by people who've had a long tradition of using violence very highly effectively, Becky.

ANDERSON: Nic, the protests that we have heard and seen in Kabul today, men and women chanting death to Pakistan death to ISI that is Pakistan's

Intelligence Agency and its chief was in Kabul, talking to the Taliban at the weekend.

What does Pakistan do you believe? What do they know about this new government? Does it have the nod of approval, for example, by either

Islamabad or indeed the ISI? We know there can be a disconnect between the two at times?

ROBERTSON: It's hard to judge that. Becky, you know, I've had conversations here with a number of very senior officials within the government. And in

those conversations they haven't told me that they've got detailed knowledge of what's going on and the sort of perambulations back and

forward within the Taliban.

You know, I think it's reasonably instructive that you were going to be interviewing on this program, Pakistan's national security adviser.

I would venture that if he already had the Taliban's list of who was going to be in which ministry in his pocket and had been studying it over the

weekend, I would suggest that you probably would have seen him on your show by now going over it.

I think that the Pakistani officials that I've been talking to at least, right now looking at this very carefully, they're studying it to see what

it means and probably coming to similar conclusions to us.

Certainly, there is a large percentage of the population inside Afghanistan that doesn't support the Taliban that really sees the Pakistan as being a

supporter of the Taliban. I don't think you'll find a U.S. general that served in Afghanistan, that wouldn't point the finger at Pakistan and say

Pakistan supported the Taliban.

Taliban would come out Taliban would kill U.S. forces and disappear for sanctuary across the border in Pakistan. This perception of Pakistan as

being a supporter of the Taliban grew out of the early days of the Taliban in the 90s.

When they were very supportive, they saw a Taliban government in Kabul as what they call strategic depth. Pakistan's a long, thin countries strategic

depth inside Afghanistan from their enemies and their big enemies in the region, India.

I think the Pakistan's influences, perhaps not been as strong as it was in the early days. And certainly that's what I understand from Pakistan, from

Pakistani sources here that they're not as influential as they are, but the perceptions are there and the perceptions are on the street, and they're

not going to go away quickly. This is something that Pakistan will have to deal with.

ANDERSON: And those perceptions fed Nic by the, for example, National Resistance force, the opposition group reportedly overrun by the Taliban in

Panjshir accusing Pakistan of using drones to support the Taliban offensive, I mean, I'm not sure that we can stand that reporting up here on

CNN.

[11:10:00]

ANDERSON: So this is only reports at this point. But certainly it's a narrative like that about, you know, direct Pakistani involvement on the

ground over the past sort of 48 hours, certainly in the air over the past 48 hours, which is feeding the sort of anti-Pakistan protests surely that

we have seen in Kabul today.

ROBERTSON: Look, one of the big features of this Taliban advanced across the country was its strategic planning. And the level of training of

Taliban fighters is a lot of images, if you look at them at the Taliban fighters who are really well trained, well prepared the way that they use

their weapons.

This doesn't is not doesn't sort of go across all of them. But that, you know, there's a very clear sense for those who study and analyze the

Taliban, that they had outside support that helped them shape this very quick advance across the country, strategically, taking down districts in

the north of the country, which historically held out the longest, take them down first, rely on the Heartland move in from the Heartland.

Politicians in Afghanistan, according to Pakistani sources here, we're told we're talking to Pakistani officials about the possibility of the Taliban

coming to power. It's undoubted that Pakistan seeks to have an understanding, and if it could, an influence seeks to have an understanding

in the political developments inside Afghanistan.

And it's and it seems to be taken as read that they are more comfortable with a government that is closer to them, ethnically and closer to them in

sort of international levels of support. And that's the Taliban.

It's not the previous government who they felt was close to India. But there is in this association with the Taliban for Pakistan blowback. And

that's happening on the border that the Pakistani versions of the Taliban, the TTP have increased their attacks, and have vowed to take the border

region.

We interviewed their leader recently, the first time he'd spoken. And he spoke because the Taliban were coming to power in Afghanistan. He felt

empowered by that, and said that he would start this campaign. This is what we're seeing.

ANDERSON: Yes and our viewers will have, our viewers will have seen that interview here on "Connect the World" some weeks ago. To you Sam, the U.S.

Defense Secretary is in Doha, along with the Secretary of State U.S.'s top Diplomat Anthony Blinken.

He's offering words of caution about future threats coming from Afghanistan and the region. Sam, I just want our viewers to have a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: There's no question that it will be more difficult to identify and engage threats that emanate from the region.

But we're committed to making sure that that threats are not allowed to develop and create, can create significant challenges for us in the

Homeland.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Let's not forget the symbolic 20 year anniversary of 911 this weekend coming Lloyd Austin, Sam, also promising, "There isn't a scrap of

earth that the U.S. can't reach and touch when it needs to". In this case, is that true?

KILEY: Well, it's true, perhaps that America could bomb anywhere it likes. But what do you bombing, hopefully not just Earth. It there's no substitute

for human intelligence. But it's also true.

And this is kind of the truth of the matter in the background that for the last 20 years, there's been no plot of any significance that has been

generated out of Afghanistan in terms of international terror.

The brand for international terrorist been dominated by so called Islamic State, originally out of Syria now has tendrils all over North Africa. A

lot of these plots are generated within your European countries by European citizens.

They no need ultimately in metastasize to use a term used by President Biden form of contemporary terror. The idea of the al Qaeda base and a

member of al Qaeda means the base back in the mountains of Tora Bora, where people are plotting away to commit atrocities such as the 911 attacks no

longer necessary.

So yes, I mean, it's it is also true he was simply admitting that these over the horizon efforts that the United States can conduct are going to be

a lot more difficult if such things do emerge.

[11:15:00]

But it is equally true that there's nothing in the world really, that would stop America bombing an ISIS-K base if it found out where that base was,

and had reliable information that it had the right people inside it. But that often, almost always, frankly, comes from human intelligence.

So they want to do that then probably have to work with the Taliban, the Taliban, of course, will be very, I need to happy to hand over the

coordinates for alleged ISIS-K training camps, not so much necessarily with al Qaeda.

But ultimately, the nature of the international terrorist threat has mutated and is mutated away from being something that really needs to keep

American strategies up awake at night when it comes to Afghanistan, at least at the moment, Becky.

ANDERSON: Yes, those two top U.S. officials in Qatar. The talks behind the scenes as you and I have been discussing likely, very much underlining the

idea that the U.S. as it pulls its strategic influence from this region is looking increasingly for cooperation from its key allies.

Qatar is being one of those, of course the UAE where I am being another. To both of you, super work. Thank you very much indeed for joining us. It's

been a busy what 45 minutes as we get.

The beginning we'll certainly the sense of what a Taliban government is going to look like going forward with the announcement of key members of

its caretaker cabinet that have been happening just 45 minutes or so ago.

All right. Look, thousands of Brazilians are spending their Independence Day holiday at demonstrations today. Some are supporting the country's

embattled president while others want him out.

The details on that are just the head. Also ahead CNN speaks to a leading global education expert from UNESCO. His argument for protecting teachers

as the pandemic puts students back in the classroom, but behind.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: You're watching "Connect the World". I'm Becky Anderson and I want to update you on our breaking news out of Afghanistan. The Taliban

have revealed their new key government positions.

The new government will serve as an act your caretaker government the lineup including a Taliban co-founder and an associate of the late found

out Mullah Omar as well as the son of the founder of the Haqqani Network which the U.S. has designated as a terrorist organization.

Well, Brazilians have taken to the streets on their country's Independence Day. This was the scene just a while ago in Brazilia where protesters for

and against the president made their voices heard. His tenure has been plagued with scandals from not doing enough to save the Amazon rainforest

to basically ignoring the COVID pandemic.

Well, earlier in the day, Bolsonaro supporters tried to break through Police lines near the country's Supreme Court and Congress. Mr. Bolsonaro

is expected to speak in Sao Paulo in the coming hours.

[11:20:00]

ANDERSON: He is likely to face protests there as well. One of the main concerns his critics have at least is that he will follow in the footsteps

of Donald Trump and so doubt about the country's democratic process.

He has just signed a decree for example, to stop social networks from arbitrarily removing accounts and content. Sound familiar? Well, Isa Soares

now takes a look at our all that will play into what is next year's presidential election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Splashed across the big screen Brazil's conservatives look to the American right for

inspiration.

DONALD TRUMP JR. GUEST SPEAKER, CPAC BRAZIL 2021: Do you go the path of socialism or do you remain steadfast and strong for freedom?

SOARES (voice over): The Conservative Political Action Conference CPAC an American import is hoping to revive Jair Bolsonaro is dwindling base as the

embattled president faces sliding approval ratings, a weakening economy and public outrage over his handling of the pandemic which is claimed over

580,000 lives.

He wishes flip the liens against a lawmaker and Bolsonaro supporter tells us why the president is seeking a second term in office.

JAIR BOLSONARO, BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT: He believes that there is a risk that the radical left will take over Brazil and that there is a risk of a

totalitarian regime to take place in Brazil. And I believe in that too.

SOARES (voice over): With an election in Brazil looming large, this relationship with the Trump in a circle has strengthened over the years.

And in the Bolsonaro family the likes of former Trump campaign manager Steve Bannon.

STEVE BANNON, FORMER TRUMP CHIEF STRATEGIST: He's the third son of the Trump of the tropics, President Eduardo Bolsonaro of Brazil. They say it

worked for you, you were --

SOARES (voice over): With Eduardo Bolsonaro making an appearance at the MyPillow CEOs event.

BANNON: Bolsonaro will win unless it's stolen by guess what? The machine.

SOARES (voice over): Taking his cue from the Trump playbook Bolsonaro has been sowing doubt on the integrity of Brazil's entire electronic voting

system, calling for printed ballots to supplement electronically cast votes.

BOLSONARO: Ah, you don't have proof that there is fraud, but there is also no proof that there isn't either.

SOARES (voice over): I'm threatening not to hand over the presidency next year. If there's suspicion of fraud--

BOLSONARO: I have three alternatives for my future being arrested, being killed or victory.

SOARES (voice over): As the calls for his impeachment grow louder, Bolsonaro continues to fight for political survival using the armed forces

to project power with a Military parade recently in front of the presidential palace enough to rattle some of Brazil's political dissidents.

AMELINHA TELES, BRAZILIAN ACTIVIST: This is an authoritarian gesture, it's a dictatorial gesture. So this leaves me very worried, yes, very worried.

SOARES (voice over): A fellow member of Brazil's Communist Party, Amelinha Teles says she was a victim of torture during the country's brutal Military

dictatorship, which lasted 21 years.

TELES: I lived through persecution, I lived through torture and was constantly threatened, I and my family, but we also had the joy of seeing

the resistance, the people's fight on the streets.

SOARES (on camera): Is Brazil's democracy at risk Amelinha?

TELES: Absolutely, absolutely, unfortunately. We cannot let go of the past and think that what went on, went on and is over, it's not true. The past

is very much in the present.

SOARES (voice over): Cautionary words from those who carry the scars of those dark days. And who fear that Brazil's past might just be about to

repeat itself. Isa Soares, CNN.

ANDERSON: Well, let's bring in CNN Brazil's Anthony Wells, who joins us from Sao Paulo? We are seeing huge crowds gathering now in cities across

Brazil and we are seeing protesters demonstrating in favor of the president and against.

Is there any sense that the favorite tips in one way or the other at this point who's got the louder voice at this point in Brazil?

ANTHONY WELLS, REPORTER, CNN BRAZIL: Well, at this particular moment here in the capital of the state of Sao Paulo, the city of Sao Paulo, Becky, the

biggest protests going on right now is in favor of President Jair Bolsonaro.

And we are actually live from the very top of a building here where we have a bird's eye view of the protest going on down below. So I am going to step

out of the frame and let our photo-op here who shows up to give you guys a look at the scene.

[11:25:00]

WELLS (voice over): As I was mentioning this are a protest in favor of President Jair Bolsonaro and his administration and demonstrations like

this one are taking place across the nation. This particular one is happening on an avenue that runs through arguably the biggest commercial

and cultural center not only in Brazil, but really in all of South America.

And that is why it is the prime location for protests such as this. So down there we have pro government supporters you can see really thousands of

people bearing green and yellow, the national colors, many of whom believe Bolsonaro is on a patriotic crusade to rid the country from leftist

opposition and argue the Brazilian Supreme Court is impeding him in that quest.

I don't know if you guys can see but there's even a banner that's laid out on the street calling for the impeachment of the Brazilian Supreme Court.

And over really the past few days we've seen hundreds of buses pour into not only the city of Sao Paulo, which is need I remind you guys the biggest

city in South America, but also the nation's capital Brazilia with -- angelical workers as well as rural workers, groups were Bolsonaro still

enjoys substantial support.

Now the president is expected here in the next few hours. That is why a perimeter has been set up. Opposers would argue these protests are meant to

give the current administration a false sense of strength in what is his weakest moment since his term began back in January of 2019.

In fact, polls show that over 60 percent of Brazilians would not vote for Bolsonaro, putting them behind. For example, former leftist President, Luiz

Inacio Lula da Silva and in fact, his ratings have nosedived as a result of a pandemic that is claimed over 580,000 lives now in the center of town a

location at just around three kilometers away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WELLS: Another protest Becky to answer your question a little bit better, is going down but a protest against President Jair Bolsonaro. So to keep

both movements from clashing against each other Brazilian Police has deployed almost 4000 police officers as well as 1500 vehicles, assisted by

Jones choppers every now and then you can see helicopters flying over our position here.

And it's an effort being done to keep these movements from becoming violent. We've all already had reports come into our newsroom of officers

in Brazilia, the nation's capital having to deploy tear gas from keeping protesters from trying to invade some of the buildings in Brazilia.

So officers are making it very clear if you want to participate, don't show up with firearms, fireworks, weapons, sharp objects, really anything that

could be used to hurt another person. So it's a busy day down here in Brazil. It's Independence Day.

It's the 199th anniversary from Brazil's independence from Portugal, which happened way back in 1822. So we're going to stay on top of these protests.

And should they become violent? Should we have any updates? Becky, I'll be sure to let you know so, back to you.

ANDERSON: Yes, absolutely. Do please do please bring those updates to us. We are - thank you Anthony seeing similar competing demonstrations, similar

scenes in Brazilia and in Rio de Janeiro. Stay with us for more on that.

Also, this week, we are focusing on education, as many students around the world head back into classrooms ahead. We'll be speaking with the leading

education expert from UNESCO more on that after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:30:00]

ANDERSON: Well, recapping our breaking news from Afghanistan and the Taliban making their much anticipated announcement of a new government. And

it will serve as in a caretaker capacity.

A spokesman announcing key posts for by a number of senior Taliban members, some of them hard line is of no key appointments of any Afghan politicians

who served during the war, contrary to the Taliban's earlier promise to form an inclusive government, at least for now.

More on that as we get it all this week, we are looking at something that no society can or should ignore education. It's critical to all societies

who want to see their kids prosper. But sudden closures because of COVID, of course, have ripped a hole in the very fabric that holds institutions

together.

And it has worsened equalities that were already there. A UNESCO report earlier this year showed that at the peak of the crisis, 1.6 billion

learners in more than 190 countries were out of school.

Southern closures had also impacted over 100 million teachers and school staff. Students are falling behind in learning 100 million children will

fall below the minimum proficiency level in reading and at a time when teachers need all the support they can get to make up for lost time.

UNESCO says two thirds of poor nations have slashed their education budgets. The report also highlighted the worsening digital divide. Nearly

half a billion, 500 million students from preprimary to upper secondary school don't have access to remote learning at all.

Three quarters of those live in the poorest households and neighborhoods. Well, yesterday we talked about Mexico and how millions of students there

have been missing from classrooms because parents are quite frankly afraid that schools can't keep their kids safe from COVID.

Well, today, I want to focus on Israel, the country has resorted to testing and green passes to keep their kids in school. Here's Elliott Gotkine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST (voice over): It's all fun and games at a resume school in Tel Aviv, where these new first graders are readying

themselves for class under the shadow of COVID.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're worried, of course, but really, really without any choice.

GOTKINE (voice over): Getting a bunch of six year olds to wear masks in class will be just one of the challenges. How do you feel in terms of the

preparation in the face of with COVID still happening?

DALIT ROCHMAN, TEACHER: I am trying not to think about it because otherwise there will be paralyzed. And so I'm trying to take every day as it is to

come very happily to school to show the kids that there is life. And there are so young kids, we don't want them to be focused on the COVID, we want

them to focus of the first grades in school.

GOTKINE (voice over): They might just be able to do so, thanks to the lessons learned over the past 18 months.

GOTKINE (on camera): In the previous school year, if a child or a teacher came down with COVID, the entire class would have to go into isolation and

homeschool.

This time around things are said to be different. Children who test negative on a daily basis would be able to continue to come to school as

normal.

GOTKINE (voice over): The same applies to children with so called Green passes. To that end, the government has launched a mass serological testing

campaign for virus hotspots. Children whose results show they've recovered from COVID as well as over 12 who are vaccinated will receive green passes.

[11:35:00]

GOTKINE (voice over): Yet for - schools principle overseeing these new rules and regulations won't be simple.

URI PERLMAN, SCHOOL PRINCIPAL: But who is supposed to enforce it? I, the Minister of Education and we're not so sure. Everybody is a bit confused. I

mean, like every year September 1 is going to come, everybody's going to be here, it's going to be OK. I would love to have more information. But as we

all know, it's a rolling situation.

GOTKINE (voice over): It's not quite the leap into the unknown it was last year. But with vaccination booster shots being rolled out amid near record

levels of daily COVID cases, everyone in Israel will be hoping that back to school this year, means staying at school too. Elliott Gotkine, CNN, Tel

Aviv.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, a snapshot so of the story in Israel, part of this week long series that we have is so many children do actually get back into

school this week in parts of the world, of course, many parts of the world.

There are kids who won't be going back to school; they don't get that opportunity for more on educational disparities affecting kids around the

world. I'm joined now by Borhene Chakroun from UNESCO's education sector.

He's the director of what's known as the division for policies and lifelong learning systems. It's a long title, sir. But you are absolutely the right

man to be talking to on this show today. And it's a pleasure to have you on.

I know you'll applaud us for the work that we are doing as we provide a platform for what is going on in the education sector around the world. But

I do just want to bring back the figures from your very own organization that we used slightly earlier on this show.

1.6 billion learners in more than 190 countries were out of school, at the peak of the pandemic, as a result, students have fallen behind 100 million

kids will fall below the minimum proficiency level in reading. This is so damaging, sir, isn't it? What can be done to address this?

BORHENE CHAKROUN, DIRECTOR, DIVISION FOR POLICIES & LIFELONG LEARNING SYSTEMS, UNESCO: Indeed, it is a learning crisis, Becky and thank you for

the invitation and the points you just highlighted. The learning losses are huge, and we have to act very quickly. And countries have options to do and

your colleague was referring to the learning curve that countries have had during the last year.

We need to act on learning losses in terms of training of teachers to get them prepared to assess and to accompany learners. We need to act on the

resources in terms of the education programs and the pathways.

And we have to act on the well-being of the learners as well, to get them back to school and to get them learning. These are three actions that

governments have to take now. We cannot wait.

ANDERSON: And you're absolutely right. And you make a very, very good point, school closures in countries where they exist. And let's be quite

clear about this. I do I do want to underscore that, that this story that we are telling is very much a story, isn't it of the sort of developed

world.

I mean, there are many places around the world where children still won't be going back to school because they simply don't have the infrastructure

for it. But for those going back, sorry, for those who were out of school. The impact wasn't just on kids learning.

Of course, it was also on their mental health, kids feeling isolated, they felt anxious, off times depressed, it's not going to be an easy adjustment.

Is it for many of those children going back to school? What can be done? How can we help these children out?

CHAKROUN: Indeed, I think the point is that schools are not only for learning, therefore social integration for nutrition for health for well-

being. And it's important to re-emphasize the role of schools in this case and dismantle the myth that digital learning and online learning will

replace schools.

Now, government can take at least three actions to address the issue of the well-being. And in reality is a health crisis and well-being crisis that we

are facing as well. One is being able to early identify the stress or issues related to the well-being among the students second, to put those

resources at the disposal of the learners.

This could be resources in terms of how to identify the issues, how to compose and cope with that challenge, or what are the actions that have to

be taken by the parents by the school leaders or by the teachers.

[11:40:00]

CHAKROUN: The last point is about teacher training. Teachers are critical also to accompany the learners and to identify the challenges and also to

offer solutions together with parents.

ANDERSON: With that, we're going to leave it there. I'm sorry to shortchange you. We've had a lot of breaking news this hour. But I know our

viewers will find it immensely valuable that we've, that we've heard your thoughts tonight, Sir.

And we will absolutely have you back because this clearly isn't a story that is going away and it's one that we must continue to underscore. Thank

you. For kids fortunate enough to have access to remote learning.

Parents are charged with making sure that kids stay on task and that can bring up a lot of conflict. If you are wondering how to improve this

dynamic do look at cnn.com read psychologist John Duffy's piece on staying connected to your kids during this pandemic year, that's cnn.com# health,

well look, as I was just explaining it's been a busy two hours of news here on "Connect the World". How about some sport for you?

Star of the Emerald Isle celebrates a group pace on the green as Europe wins the Solheim Cup. Amanda Davis will swing in with more on World Sports

after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Well, it may have been American soil but the victory was all Europe's at the Solheim cup in Toledo, in Ohio. This was the moment Europe

secured the trophy. The competition so particular praise for Ireland's Leona Maguire who was taking part for the very first time and indeed it is

just the second time team Europe has beaten America on its own turf.

I'm smiling here, Amanda Davies in the house. I'm showing I'm showing my part is that -- aren't I really.

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Well, it's not difficult with these competitions, isn't it Becky, the Ryder Cup, the Solheim Cup. They are team

events. But so often we see it is individuals who step up when it matters and really write their place into the history books.

And that's what we saw over the last couple of days. And team Europe enjoying their moment even more the celebrations making up for the lack of

European fans of course allows into the U.S. at the moment.

Really sensational scenes, the men certainly have something to live up to it in a couple of weeks' time and we've got all the news coming up that

involves sport in a couple of minutes.

ANDERSON: Lovely. That's World Sport with Amanda up after this.

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