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Nations' Leaders Head to the G20; Biden Tries to Get Legislation Passed before Going Overseas; Military Coup in Sudan; Interview with Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas on Sudan, Congress and U.S. Foreign Relations; Movie Set Killing Investigation Update; Fossil Fuels versus Climate Science; British-French Fishing Industry Woes. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired October 28, 2021 - 10:00   ET

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

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BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): All roads lead to Rome and, in this case, the G20 summit of world leaders. President Joe Biden due to depart

for Italy shortly. Who won't be at the table and why is coming up.

A fatal mistake: the assistant director of the film, "Rust," admits he didn't check the gun before handing it to Alec Baldwin.

And fishing for trouble: French authorities seize a British vessel in a simmering row over fishing licenses. We'll be live in Paris for you.

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ANDERSON: I'm Becky Anderson. Hello and welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD, live from Abu Dhabi. The time is 6:00 in the evening.

New diplomatic tensions, a pandemic and its economic fallout and a climate on the precipice of catastrophe, that is the state of the world as leaders

of the wealthiest nations make their way to Rome.

G20 leaders will meet in person this weekend for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began. Fighting the virus will be front and center

still, as richer nations are pushed to give away more vaccines.

Climate will also take center stage just ahead of that make or break U.N. meeting in Glasgow, starting Monday.

U.S. President Joe Biden leaves for Rome in the coming hours. First, he's making another appeal to the U.S. Congress for key parts of his domestic

agenda.

Here is who we won't be seeing at the G20 this weekend. Chinese president Xi Jinping and Russian president Vladimir Putin are sitting this one out.

Jeremy Diamond is at the White House, where we're expected to hear from Mr. Biden next hour. Sam Kiley is in Moscow. I want to start, though, with Ben

Wedeman in Rome.

What are the expectations for the G20 meeting of some of the world's leaders, Ben?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Expectations are somewhat limited, because of the absence of the Russian and Chinese and

also the Mexican leaders now.

The Italian prime minister, Mario Draghi, did express the hope that this would be a return to multilateralism after four rather chaotic years of

America First, lack of diplomacy under former president Donald Trump.

But already, for instance, we were reminded, just a few months ago, that the United States under Joe Biden, when it comes to the catastrophe that

was the American retreat from Afghanistan, that multilateralism hasn't returned to what it used to be under previous American administrations

regarding, for instance, climate change.

There is still a variety of views on how to combat it among the members of the G20. And as far as the coronavirus pandemic is concerned, let's recall

that, during the last remote summit of the G20 that was hosted by Saudi Arabia, there were lots of promises of sharing the vaccine with the

developing world.

But what we have seen is, according to one study, per capita, G20 countries have received 15 times more vaccines than sub-Saharan Africa. We may be

seeing a return to the symbols of multilateralism but what is really going on is a rather vivid display of the fraying world order -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Sam, it's who won't be attending, that is, as interesting as who will and what will be discussed.

Why is President Putin deciding to opt out on this one?

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think the first, if you like, the first line to take here is that Russia, like the United

Kingdom, the hosts both have a growing problem with COVID, which is to some extent running beyond the control of central government.

Perhaps Vladimir Putin's administration don't want to expose themselves or expose themselves to others who may infect. The reality, really, Becky, you

get more attention at these sorts of gatherings and Putin is not going to the G20, not going to the COP26 by not turning up.

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KILEY: And that is a very important aspect in terms of making sure that you maintain, if you like, some element of control over the agenda. If

you're there and participating, you can get stuck in the long grass of negotiations. If you're there remotely, as he was with the ASEAN summit or

not there at all but there in the form of having delegations there, you have a great deal more control.

And as Ben was hinting there, it is about the fraying of the world order. One of the things that Vladimir Putin enjoys most of all is chaos in the

ranks of its rivals -- of his rivals and perhaps Russia's enemies.

That is the sort of thing you can do if you don't turn up to these events. I think that, above all, too, he's hoping to create some of these pressure

points, particularly through the G20 and some of those powerful nations there, to open up the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline into Europe, which, of

course, he is saying is behind the skyrocketing gas prices in Europe.

Europeans, meanwhile, accusing him of strangling off some of the supply -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Jeremy, Joe Biden will be there; at least he is due -- or scheduled to leave within the next hour or so.

What are we expecting from Joe Biden?

What is he bringing to the table at G20?

And indeed then, as we have been discussing at the meeting that follows that, the COP26 meeting in Glasgow in Scotland?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, much of that depends what will happen in Washington over the next few hours. The president, as

we speak, is on Capitol Hill, addressing members of the House Democratic Caucus and making the case for this $1.75 trillion framework for this

reconciliation bill that the president is putting forward.

Although it does not yet have support, at least explicit support from the two key holdout senators as well as the progressive caucus. It is not yet

clear whether the framework is a pathway to a deal.

But certainly that is the case that the president is making. And we know, Becky, over the last week, President Biden, in making the case to lawmakers

he needs to see some legislation before he leaves on this foreign trip, he has argued that the prestige and the credibility of the United States is on

the line here.

That is why he is making this last-ditch effort on Capitol Hill to get some kind of agreement here and perhaps even a vote on that bipartisan

infrastructure bill because he desperately wants to show up at the G20 -- and particularly at the COP26 summit -- with climate change provisions in

particular; at least an agreement on those.

This reconciliation framework has more than $550 billion laid out for investments to fight climate change here in the United States. And the

president was hoping to use that in order to get increased commitments on climate change from other countries.

It is clear, though, regardless of whether or not the president gets that legislation at the G20, the president will be looking to cement the

progress that his administration has been making with other world leaders on this global minimum corporate tax.

That's a key -- going to be a key deliverable coming out of that G20 summit. And, of course, the president is also looking to address a range of

other issues, everything from the supply chain issues that have hit the world over, as well as several other major issues, like gas issues, for

example; the supply of oil around the world.

So the president is going to have a lot on his agenda. And as Sam and Ben have mentioned, it is going to be a very different international visit for

President Biden, who came in on his first foreign trip, had this huge kind of wave that he was not a Donald Trump, coming in to reinvigorate

multilateralism.

This time there is a lot more skepticism, given that a lot of the promises perhaps have not come to full fruition, as many of those world leaders see

it.

ANDERSON: It is going to be fascinating; G20 this weekend, COP26 starting Monday.

To all of you, thank you very much indeed.

Stick with CNN as we continue to cover the story as it unfolds, both in Italy and in Scotland.

Connecting you now to Sudan, where, for the first time since the military takeover on Monday, Western diplomats have met the prime minister, Abdalla

Hamdok, reportedly under guard at his home, after he and his wife were released from custody on Wednesday.

The diplomats who visited him say he is in good health. Meantime, on the streets of the capital, protesters called for a march of millions this

Saturday to oppose the military leaders who staged the takeover.

The coup leaders face growing international pressure to restore civilian officials to what was the transitional government. CNN's Larry Madowo has

done extensive reporting from this region and joins us.

The military did allow those diplomats to visit the prime minister.

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ANDERSON: Indeed, he's back at his home. And we understand he's in good health.

Just how much impact is this international pressure having on the military, who, at this stage, are in control?

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The military have not let on if that pressure is going to lead to any actual changes. We have seen one response

from this military leadership in Sudan now.

Six ambassadors who opposed that military takeover were fired, including the ambassador to the European Union and to the U.S. And we now know that

the prime minister Abdalla Hamdok is in good health, because this foreign ambassador in Khartoum saw him.

But we have not heard from him. He's not put out a statement nor been seen on video. We still do not know the status of those other ministers,

civilian members of the sovereign council, the power sharing party between the military and the civilians.

We don't know where they are, we don't know how they're doing and the military has not said anything about that. We do know, on the streets there

is going to be continued civil disobedience until the people, who are now in charge and the other military officials, exceed to the demands; that is,

a return to the civilian rule.

Yesterday, at the U.N. Security Council in New York, Sudan did come up because it was prearranged. And the representative of the military or the

previous government, he did speak. And these are his words to the rest of the world.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We would like to reiterate the need for the international community and the Security Council more

specifically to continue providing its support to the people of Sudan at this very important moment, which is a crossroads, in order to bring

together the positions of different Sudanese parties or civilian military.

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MADOWO: The military in Sudan do diplomacy, the African Union has suspended Sudan until it returns to this civilian rule. And the World Bank

has paused any disbursement of much needed money for that democratic transition.

And the U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken has spoken twice with the leadership in Khartoum to try to figure out --

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ANDERSON: OK, Larry, I'm going to stop you there. I just want to get to Capitol Hill. Thank you.

This is Joe Biden, emerging from what was a key meeting with Democrats over his economic agenda.

Obviously as we look at these pictures, it is not clear what was discussed ,as I can see there. It looks like he's walking out with Nancy Pelosi, of

course. Joe Biden after this is expected to leave for Italy, where he'll join some of the leaders from 20 of the world's top economies.

Not at that table this time will be the Russians and the Chinese. But we'll have Joe Biden headed to Rome this week. Live pictures, though, ahead of

that, of Joe Biden leaving the halls of Congress.

Well, my next guest is one of four U.S. lawmakers, who issued a statement condemning the coup in Sudan and calling for an immediate end to the state

of emergency. The U.S., as we have been reporting, has suspended its $700 million aid program to Sudan.

Michael McCaul is a U.S. House Republican and joins me now via Skype from Washington.

Before we talk about the foreign fobix (ph) because of course you sit on the Foreign Relations Committee, I have to ask you about what is going on

in the States as we speak.

We have just been looking at that pictures of Joe Biden, emerging from that key meeting with Democrats over the economic agenda. Just provide some

context for us.

What do you understand to be going on, on the Hill, at present?

REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL (R-TX): Well, it is unclear. I think there has been a lot of negotiations about a infrastructure package but a more massive

spending and tax bill. And I think senator Joe Manchin seems to be holding all the power in Washington right now.

They had floated this idea of a billionaires' tax, which would basically tax unearned capital gains increases; in other words, if you bought a

house, even though you hadn't sold it, you'd have to pay for the capital gains tax increase -- or your stocks.

Apparently Manchin has said, no, I'm not in favor of that. And so I think these negotiations -- it is like a bit of a ping-pong match right now. And

I think the Democrats are trying to get the votes for something.

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MCCAUL: And we just don't know what that is going to be.

ANDERSON: For our international viewers, who will have read a counterargument here over this bill, I know, at the moment, it is Joe Biden

negotiating with his own party, trying to get certain elements of this through.

But ultimately our viewers will have seen the discourse out of the U.S. It says the Republicans are the anti-business party. They don't like the idea

that this bill, ultimately with every Democrat on board, could pass. And it will pass, the Democrats say, for the good of the American people.

What is your response?

MCCAUL: To say that the Republican Party's the party of anti-businesses is really -- that's very laughable. We passed the tax cut and Jobs Act last

Congress, you know. They want to raise our corporate tax rate to the highest in the world, right?

They want to raise taxes on capital gains tax rate; that's very anti- business. They want to raise the individual tax rate up; in a pandemic economy, this is not what the American people need.

How can the United States be competitive globally if we raise our corporate tax rate to be the highest in the world?

All that does is it pushes business offshore because, in the board room, the CEO has a duty to his shareholders. And he or she is going to say, you

know what, it doesn't make sense in the United States of America, I'm going to move my business offshore.

We changed that with the tax cut and Jobs Act, when we repatriated billions of offshore into the United States to invest in the United States. All

this Democrat plan is going to do is push that offshore. And it is absolutely laughable to say that we're anti-business.

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ANDERSON: With respect, sir, the idea is to raise the corporate tax rate and then take that within to Rome, where he will effort the signing off of

that by G20 leaders. So the idea would be that the rest of the world bought into that.

So that would mean that they're -- that the States remained or was even more competitive going forward.

So, with respect, I'm not quite sure where you're at with that.

MCCAUL: Well, France has the highest corporate tax rate in the world. France is looking at reducing its corporate tax rate. What the Democrats

are proposing is raising the corporate tax rate to 39.6 percent.

You know, I'm not an economist. But I do know, if you overtax the American people, it hurts our economy. When you cut taxes, it spurs the growth in

the economy. And when you raise the corporate tax rate relative to the rest of the world -- and, you know, maybe the G20, they agree on this like we're

all going to have the same tax rate, corporate.

I don't know. But having said that, all I know is if we have the highest corporate tax rate in the world, how does that make the United States

competitive?

It just pushes our business --

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ANDERSON: Right, that was my point. If he gets the signoff by other G20 members, then there is a good argument in this to suggest that that will

make the U.S. more competitive.

Let's move on, sir, because I want to --

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MCCAUL: -- everybody is like down to the same tax rate, right?

It doesn't make the United States --

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ANDERSON: All right. That's your position. All right. Well, that's your position.

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ANDERSON: Let's -- let's just interrogate some of the issues that I wanted to discuss with you.

Sudan, very important and on your file, as it were. The U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken spoke to Sudan's foreign minister on Wednesday to

discuss American options for Sudan.

I interviewed the foreign minister earlier this week and she pointedly told me she expects international intervention.

What more do you believe can be done by the U.S. and other countries involved in Sudan's push to or for democracy?

And do you support the temporary halt on aid, $700 million of aid, which will be swingeing to an already destroyed economy in Sudan?

MCCAUL: Well, and this is an issue I think where both Republicans and Democrats in the Congress come together. My office had a briefing in the

Situation Room on this yesterday. I think I'm completely supportive of the administration's efforts and also the international community on this. You

know, we had Bashir for 30 years.

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MCCAUL: And, you know, remember the genocide in Darfur and the loss of life and how horrible that was. We finally had a governance that was a

shared military/civilian-led government.

Unfortunately, the military side has decided to launch a coup and take over the entire government. That's not what the people of Sudan want. They

wanted democracy. They wanted freedom. So now we have a military dictatorship at odds with the people of Sudan.

To your question, I completely support the idea of withholding this aid. That's the only leverage we will have on this military dictatorship in

Sudan. And France holds $4 billion in sovereign debt. We hold $3 billion and there is $450 million from Germany on hold as well.

This is where I think the international community is coming together because whether it is the crisis in Ethiopia, with the Tigray population,

what is happening there, to what is happening in Sudan.

And, of course, you have the Suez Canal there, which is a very strategic military point.

ANDERSON: We know that Iran has said it will resume nuclear talks by the end of November. Just wanting to get your assessment on that.

And also, sir, the U.S. needs ambassadors around the world to be effective with its foreign file. Two Senate Republicans, as I understand it, at the

moment, are blocking dozens of President Biden's ambassador nominations.

I mean, not least does this reek of partisanship.

But how do you feel about the fact that there are so many positions at present not filled, when there is still such a very busy agenda, as far as

State is concerned.

MCCAUL: No, I agree with you. I think we need -- the government needs to go forward and ambassadors are critically important. If you have a hold on

an ambassador for a very good reason, that's fine.

But you don't just basically, across the board, hold up all of these positions. I talked to senator Menendez and senator Risch, both the chair

and ranker on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. They're very, I guess, concerned about the fact that these positions are being held up.

I don't think it is -- it is sort of counterproductive, right?

I think the constructive way forward is to -- let's appoint these -- confirm the ambassadors. If you have a serious opposition to it, fine. But

if you're just holding it up to hold it up for political purposes, I think that's very destructive, not constructive. And right now, the United States

really needs to lead. We have a lot of problems in the world.

ANDERSON: With that, we're going to leave it there. We thank you very much indeed for joining us today.

Important times; the G20 this weekend, COP26 next week; Iran talking about coming back to the negotiating table back end of November on the JCPOA

talks, you talked with us about Sudan. It is a very, very busy time at present. Thank you, sir.

Coming up, investigating the fatal shooting on the movie set of "Rust."

How did a live round end up in a prop gun handed to Alec Baldwin?

We are learning more about that and who knew what and when.

U.S. lawmakers plan to ask the old question to oil executives about climate change and whether they misled the public.

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ANDERSON: The FBI crime lab will be helping local officials in New Mexico as they try to figure out just what happened last week with that fatal

shooting on a movie set. Right now investigators are focusing on two people, the film's 24-year-old armorer and this man, the assistant

director, David Halls.

The Santa Fe County sheriff says no one on the set of "Rust" has been cleared, including actor Alec Baldwin. Authorities want to know how a live

round got into the gun that Baldwin fired, that accidentally killed the cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins.

Halls, who handed Baldwin the gun, told investigators he did not check all the rounds loaded into it. Lucy Kafanov has been following this

investigation from the beginning and she joins us now live from Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Local authorities saying nobody has been cleared in this investigation.

What more do we know at this point?

LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Becky. The Santa Fe district attorney here saying that all options are on the table; no one's

been ruled out. This was the first time that we heard from investigators and authorities since this deadly shooting, which was exactly a week ago

today.

The big headline from the Santa Fe County sheriff was that the weapon handed to Alec Baldwin was indeed a functioning gun. And they believe it

was a live round that killed Halyna Hutchins. This was one of three weapons seized on set, alongside 500 pieces of ammunition.

So of them were blanks; some were suspected live rounds. We know that medical authorities extracted a lead bullet, they believe, from the

shoulder of Joel Souza, the director. They sent that off for testing.

The Santa Fe district attorney telling CNN yesterday that the question of how that live ammunition got on set is going to be the linchpin for

charges. She told CNN that involuntary manslaughter is potentially on the table depending on the investigation.

Those cases are rare here in the state of New Mexico. That's one of the big questions they'll be investigating. That stunning admission from the

assistant director, Dave Halls, saying he failed to check that gun, he saw three rounds in the weapon but did not check.

And then Hannah Gutierrez, the armorer, telling detectives that there was no live ammunition on set, the sheriff yesterday contradicting that

statement, saying there were suspected live rounds.

Now both Gutierrez and Halls have had accusations against them shared with CNN by folks who have worked with them on previous films. David Halls was

actually fired from another production over gun safety.

And Hannah Gutierrez worked with the film -- with Nicolas Cage on a film and a crew member from that film told CNN that she fired a weapon very

close to Nicolas Cage, who tried to get her fired. Neither Halls nor Gutierrez have responded to CNN's inquiries -- Becky.

ANDERSON: More on that as we get it. Thank you.

Company bosses in the hot seat; U.S. lawmakers about to grill them on whether they tried to confuse the public about climate change. Coming up,

evidence that just may surprise you.

Plus, it may not be another Agincourt but could the fishing rights fight between the U.K. and France erupt into a trade war?

The search for answers just a little later.

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ANDERSON: Welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD.

In the next two hours or so, President Joe Biden will board Air Force One, bound for the G20 summit in Rome. Before he heads out, he plans to address

the American people about his economic agenda and the path forward for the spending bill that he is pushing to pass in Congress.

Then it is off to Italy, where some diplomats say he will be at a disadvantage, because so few of his ambassadors have been confirmed. And

the situation not helped by Republicans holding up Mr. Biden's nominations.

After the G20, he'll head to Glasgow, Scotland, for this year's COP26 climate summit. Climate change top of the agenda in the U.S. Congress

today, specifically whether the fossil fuel industry misled the public about the climate crisis.

The heads of six major fuel companies and trade groups are about to answer questions about whether they put profits over a climate solution. This

comes after reports that the fossil fuel industry created confusion and cast doubt on the science behind climate change. Rene Marsh has the

details.

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RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Increased floods and flames scientists link to climate change have caused death and destruction

nationwide. But lawmakers say the fossil fuel industry has misled the public on the energy sector's role for decades.

In one leaked 1998 memo -- this one from the oil industry's most powerful lobby, the American Petroleum Institute -- it lays out a multimillion-

dollar communications plan for the industry.

It states, quote, "Victory will be achieved when average citizens understand uncertainties in climate science."

REP. CAROLYN MALONEY (D-NY): They spent billions of dollars lobbying or trying to stop any meaningful change in Congress, which they were

successful at doing, and really putting out false information -- very similar to the tobacco companies.

MARSH (voice-over): In this 1978 internal memo, Exxon scientist James Black wrote, "Present thinking holds that man has a time window of five to

10 years before the need for hard decisions regarding changes in energy strategies might become critical."

Despite the warning, more than two decades later, Exxon took out this full- page "New York Times" ad titled "Unsettled Science," which argued little is known about the effect of climate change, positive or negative.

Documents also show the energy industry heavily funded contrarian scientists, like Willie Soon, and junk science theories like this.

WILLIE SOON, CLIMATE SKEPTIC: For polar bears, I think essentially you do want to watch out for ice. Too much ice is really bad for polar bears.

MARSH (voice-over): More recently, this July, an Exxon lobbyist was caught on a secret recording, admitting the company had used shadow groups to

fight early climate science efforts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's nothing -- there's nothing illegal about that.

[10:35:00]

MARSH (voice-over): Exxon CEO Darren Woods responded to the footage by saying the comments, quote, "in no way represent the company's position on

climate policy and its commitment to carbon pricing."

GEOFFREY SUPRAN, RESEARCH FELLOW, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: This is a labyrinth of people and money connecting fossil fuel companies, trade associations,

think tanks and P.R. firms, all feeding into an echo chamber of climate- denying media blogs and politicians.

MARSH (voice-over): The fossil fuel industry's messaging has evolved to include social media. The industry is using Facebook to target Americans

with messaging based on their demographics and interests.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We know there's an urgent need to tackle climate change.

MARSH (voice-over): Some users could see ads similar to this one from Shell, that touts their net-zero plan by 2050, and this one from BP,

promoting methane regulation.

Meanwhile, the American Petroleum Institute, a trade association funded in part by Shell and BP, uses Facebook's advertising to target conservatives

in key states, such as Arizona, with anti-climate policy ads. That's according to InfluenceMap, a nonprofit independent think tank, that has

analyzed corporate spending in Facebook ads.

SUPRAN: So this sort of speaking out of both sides of their mouths is a contemporary and ongoing means by which fossil fuel companies divide the

public and politicize the politics of global warming.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: That was Rene Marsh reporting.

Up next, in deep waters, how the E.U. is trying to calm a stormy fish fight between the U.K. and France.

And everyone knew this was coming, just not necessarily when. Ask fans of Barcelona, what had to be done after last night.

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ANDERSON: Some of the other stories on our radar now.

Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro is asking the supreme court to intervene after a senate commission recommended criminal charges against him for his

handling of the coronavirus pandemic. He argues the committee has no authority to investigate him. Brazil's attorney general, who is an ally, is

now weighing any measures.

Lebanon is set to hold legislative elections on March 27th. The Lebanese parliament passed the measure today, despite president Michel Aoun's

challenge to the vote last week. That gives the prime minister just a few months to secure a recovery package from the IMF before that government is

dissolved, before those elections.

And the E.U. says it will go on talking to both sides in the escalating fishing dispute between the U.K. and France.

[10:40:00]

ANDERSON: This comes after a French government minister declared, quote, "There will be no tolerance, no indulgence," as he announced a port ban on

British fishing boats from Tuesday.

French authorities already have seized the British vessel and Paris says a second series of retaliatory measures is being prepared. CNN's Melissa

Bell, port ban, the E.U. has mediated. Just explain how we got to where we are and what the E.U. hopes to do about it.

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, France says this row has been going on for nine months and the U.K. has failed to fix. What we're talking about

according to France's Europe minister is 50 percent of the requests made by French fishermen, having been turned down by the U.K.

Those figures are disputed by London. When you look at official French figures, some 200 licenses have been turned down. Hence the beginning of

the retaliatory measures that began last night, according to the Europe minister here in France.

And that allowed France to seize these two vessels, one still held by the French. Here is what France's Europe minister had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLEMENT BEAUNE, FRANCE'S EUROPE MINISTER (through translator): So now we need to speak the language of strength, since that seems to be the only

thing this British government understands.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BELL: Now that's just the beginning. What the French are now saying is that, if by Tuesday, the U.K. hasn't granted more of those licenses it

wants granted, it will reduce more measures; for instance the blocking of British fishing vessels from French ports.

But also increased customs checks in places like the Channel Tunnel on all freight. That could lead to the very kinds of queues we have seen in days

running up to Brexit on either side of the channel. The French are calling this not so much a war as a battle but seem determined to get those fishing

licenses it so clearly wants, Becky.

ANDERSON: Melissa Bell is on the story, thank you. This one will run and we'll keep you across it.

Well, nobody is irreplaceable. Barcelona's head coach has been sacked after what can only be described as a pitiful performance against a lowly

opponent.

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