Return to Transcripts main page

Connect the World

Taiwan Remains Flashpoint after U.S.-China Summit; Violence at Belarusian-Polish Border; Russia-Ukraine Tensions; Kampala Twin Suicide Bombings; Danny Fenster Released by Myanmar; Rittenhouse Jury Deliberates. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired November 16, 2021 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are fighting to stay alive here.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Stay alive?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, to stay alive.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): Violence at the Polish border as migrants grow increasingly desperate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON (voice-over): "Play with fire and get burned."

What's behind the threat made by Xi Jinping during his big summit with Joe Biden?

And after Uganda's capital is blasted by two suicide bombings, police there now on high alert for more attacks.

Good evening. I'm Becky Anderson. Hello and welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD.

"We are fighting to stay alive," a refugee's declaration to CNN as violence erupts on the Belarusian-Polish border. Dramatic scenes unfolding today as

tensions escalate. Polish guards have been firing tear gas and water cannons at migrants, who've been throwing stones their anger boils over.

Some 2,000 desperate to cross over into Poland are living out in the open in often bitterly cold temperatures. Their kids are freezing. Food and

water is scarce.

Belarus says it will investigate today's border clashes but NATO is now echoing what Western leaders have been saying for weeks, that this hell on

Earth disaster for stranded refugees has been engineered by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, described as Europe's last dictator.

CNN's Matthew Chance is on the ground on the Belarusian side of the border, where he and his crew have been on the receiving end of that tear gas and

water cannon, witnessing the clashes first-hand. Have a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE: Very dramatic scenes playing out, as you can see. The migrants angry at their reception by the Polish authorities, they're being

disallowed from getting back -- getting into the European Union have reacted angrily. They started throwing stones.

Oh, my god, we're being blasted by water cannons from the Polish side, tear gas has been thrown as well.

There are flashbangs going off. You can see a helicopter up there to push back the protesters, who are over here, I can show them here, in their

makeshift camp near the border fence, throwing stones and charging the barricades that are being manned by the Polish border.

You can see some migrants there, actually sort of throwing -- approaching the Poles and throwing stones as the water cannon there blasts out what is

acrid water -- it just got in my eyes -- to push the migrants back. So very dramatic situation here.

Of course the migrants have, of course, the migrants have been very sort of angry at the fact that they have been stuck in these camps for more than a

week, in freezing conditions, very little food, very little water.

Yesterday they marched en masse on to the Polish border, that have been refused entry by the Polish guards. But as you can see, there is no sign at

this stage of the Polish authorities, the E.U., of backing down and allowing migrants through with this outburst, this boiling over of

frustration into violence here.

So I'm just wiping the -- as I say, it is quite acrid water, as I got some here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Well, that was just a couple of hours ago. Matthew with us live now, as is CNN's Fred Pleitgen, getting you the view from the other side of

the border in Poland.

Let's start with you, Matt. You've experienced first-hand what the refugees are experiencing.

And what is happening now, what sparked today's escalation?

CHANCE: Yes, it is interesting, because this story keeps on developing. We have just come here this evening, to take another look at what the

situation is. And the whole region, the area along this border has been cleared out.

Belarusian security forces, border guards have been posted along this road, leading to the gate toward the actual Polish entry point into Poland, into

the E.U. And what is happening now, according to Belarusian border agency officials, is a decision has been taken to move the migrants away from that

volatile border area.

[10:05:00]

CHANCE: Move them back about a mile, about 1.5 kilometers away from the border, to a processing center. And that process is starting now.

We're seeing whole groups of people being brought and escorted away from the border, being moved into a facility, which we're told -- we haven't

seen it yet.

What we're told is it is a building, so it provides indoor accommodation, which is a huge, you know, upgrade from the situation these people have

been living in, which has been very desperate and exposed in the freezing conditions out here.

They're going to be getting food, we're told by the Belarusian officials, and medical treatment when necessary. And a decision will be taken on

whether to deport them and when to deport them.

Now we don't know who is going to make that decision. It is the Belarusian authorities that will ultimately decide. But what the Belarusian officials

are saying is that we won't deport anybody who doesn't want to go.

What we can say is there are moves underway by Belarusian officials to ratchet down the tension along this border.

Of course, there are allegations made by the United States, made by the E.U. and by Poland, this whole crisis has been manufactured by Belarus to

cause a humanitarian catastrophe on the border.

That culminated in these dramatic scenes of violence that we witnessed earlier on today. But now it seems that the Belarusian authorities are

moving to lower the temperature a little bit and to bring these migrants away from the border and put them in a situation which is, at least for

tonight, a bit more secure before they decide what to do with them, whether they will deport them back to their countries of origin.

And the majority of the people we have spoken to are from Iraq, from Iraqi Kurdistan. You can see, while I've got you here, you can see some of those

families are coming up behind us right now. A father there carrying his child on his shoulders.

And people are now just coming back. They're being moved back, it is a -- they're walking back, they're not being put on buses. They're walking back

about a mile, about 1.5 miles maybe, toward this processing center but where they'll get medical treatment, we're told, where they'll get some

food and some warmth, some shelter.

And they can escape from the --

Where are you going to?

Where?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where are we going to?

CHANCE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Iraq.

CHANCE: You're going back to Iraq?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back to Iraq..

CHANCE: Back to Iraq.

So goodbye Belarus, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Goodbye, Belarus.

CHANCE: OK.

No Poland?

OK. Well, there you have it. There you have it. These migrants telling us here, as we walk past, that they're going away from Belarus. They've

decided they want to go back to Iraq.

And I think that's a sign of just how desperate people have been on that border. They came here under false pretenses, they were told that they were

going to have an easy route into the European Union.

But the Polish side have made it quite clear that they are not backing down, they are not letting these people through. And so these migrants at

least -- and there are a lot of them, you can see them streaming past -- have made the decision that they are going to get out of here. They're

going to go back home, they're going to go back to Iraq. Becky?

ANDERSON: Yes.

And viewers note just how many kids are being carried there in the dark.

Matthew, thank you. Let's get to Fred on the other side of the border.

What is the perspective there, Fred?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly the Poles are saying one of the things that Matthew was just pointing out

there as well is they say they believe all this was manufactured by Alexander Lukashenko and especially also that melee that happened there

today.

They also believe that was steered by Belarusian security forces. The way that all of that started, the Poles say, is that some of the migrants came

to the border, started throwing rocks at the Polish security forces, who were out there in force, also had two water cannon trucks with them as

well.

One of the other things the Poles said as well -- there was some video also circulating -- was that they believe that the Belarusian security forces

gave some of the migrants there, who attacked Polish security forces, flashbang grenades or stun grenades, which were thrown at the Polish

security forces.

And that is something that escalated the situation as well. The Poles have said that two of their forces were injured, severely injured, in what

happened today, one police officer and also one soldier.

They put out a press release earlier today. But they did say that they ultimately repelled that attack, as they called it. And certainly the

interior minister of Poland, tweeting out congratulations to the Polish security forces at the border.

What Matthew was saying was correct. The Poles are saying they're not going to open the border, not going to let anybody through. They're going to

remain tough on this issue.

What you have at the same time is a coordinated response really from the European Union. They have been trying to pull on a full court press in all

this, on the international stage, certainly a lot of diplomatic pressure.

[10:10:00]

PLEITGEN: And the E.U. said yesterday there were going to be additional sanctions, not just against Alexander Lukashenko and his regime but against

anybody, they said, who profited from all this, especially possibly airlines.

And one of the things we have to point out is that the Belarusian flagship carrier leases a lot of the planes from the European Union, from companies

from inside the European Union, so that could potentially hurt that carrier a great deal.

So the Poles say they're going to remain tough. We saw today a lot of movement by Polish security forces while that melee was going on there at

border.

ANDERSON: Fascinating. Fred is on the Polish side of the border, Matt is on the Belarusian side. To both of you, thank you very much for joining us.

Continue to follow that story.

NATO leaders are expressing concern about unusual Russian military activity near the border with Ukraine. Satellite images show Russia moving hardware

at a training ground relatively close to the border.

Russian troops are amassing near an area of Ukraine controlled by Russian- backed separatists. France and Germany have called on Russia to be transparent about what its forces are doing while expressing their

unwavering support for Ukraine.

The NATO secretary-general is warning allies, they need to be on the lookout for any signs of aggression. Our senior international correspondent

Sam Kiley has been covering Ukraine and Russia's moves against it for years. He joins me now live.

What is going on here?

Just explain; for the benefit of our viewers who may be relatively new to the Ukraine-Russia story, just explain what we are seeing here.

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What we have just been seeing is going on in nearby Belarus and is all part of the same syndrome.

What's going on in Belarus is what's called hybrid warfare, certainly in the view of NATO, who are complaining about Russia, Russian behavior here.

They believe that the Russian Kremlin, that Vladimir Putin is essentially encouraging the Belarusian project to move large numbers of refugees into

Belarus and then trying to destabilize the relationship with Poland. At the same time, they're putting pressure on the Ukrainian border.

Why are they doing that?

Not very long ago, Lloyd Austin, the U.S. Defense Secretary, was in the Ukraine and in Georgia, both considered by the Kremlin and all Russians to

be very much the Russian back guard. Indeed the Russian people originate from Kiev in Ukraine, not in Russia.

So you got this very tight cultural and strategic idea in the heads of the Russians that means that any kind of overtures to NATO -- and, again,

Austin repeated these recently in Ukraine, suggesting that, at some future time it might be possible for Ukraine to join NATO.

So the Ukrainians are very keen to join the European Union. So the Russians are essentially saying, that's what your plan is, we're going to mess with

it and we'll mess with it badly.

They already have seized the Crimean Peninsula in 2014. They've destabilized Eastern Ukraine and they look like they're going to do it

again. Whether they are going to invade or not I think is very unlikely because they're not actually using the northern axis, which is what you

would do if you were Syria.

ANDERSON: The question is what happens next?

The reality is Ukraine can do very little to stop Russia if it wanted to move in. I'm not suggesting it will. But if it wanted to move in, right.

Is NATO really willing to take a stand here?

KILEY: Well, they are all making these noises. We had heard from Jens Stoltenberg; we've had the French, the Germans making these noises.

And in the background you also today have seen the Germans say that the Nord Stream 2, the pipeline that is also strategically important to the

Russians, directly from Russia into northern Germany, is going to be paused now until next year for various legal reasons.

This is all part of that ongoing squabble in terms of whether or not NATO is going to go to war or really get seriously involved. The United States

and the United Kingdom and other NATO members are in Ukraine.

They have been training Ukrainian forces, they've been reinforcing Ukrainian forces but not with the sort of strategic weaponry that would tip

the balance. They could try and help freeze the front lines, as they have now for several years in the -- what is known as the Donbas, and of the

Russian speaking area of Ukraine.

They are making the noises, though, that they will somehow come to Ukraine's aid. The intent of that is obviously to try to push the Russians

back. But Vladimir Putin is very good at calling people's bluff.

ANDERSON: You've been in Moscow recently.

What is the perspective there?

KILEY: A hundred percent support. I don't think I've come across a Russian that doesn't consider they might be very uncomfortable with the rule of --

which is how they call it -- of Mr. Putin. But 70 percent at least support it.

I spoke to leading members of the liberal media there, and who also -- we're in a tiny minority, we're battling away against the majority view,

which is that Vladimir Putin did the right thing in Ukraine. This is Donbas' Russian speaking, we're protecting the Russian-speaking world.

[10:15:00]

KILEY: And there is also generalized support for Russia's idea that you keep NATO out of Russia's back garden. That's something that the NATO

leadership, if they do understand, they are clearly not interested in acknowledging. We have seen that recently with Austin's tour.

ANDERSON: Always a pleasure. I have to say, this is the first time that Sam's been back on the set in -- I think 21 months. So we are moving out of

our sort of COVID phase, I hope.

KILEY: No mask.

ANDERSON: We did have masks on earlier on, though, in the newsroom, as we always do.

Thank you, sir. Good to have you back.

That highly anticipated virtual summit between the presidents of the U.S. and China was a healthy debate. That is according to one U.S. official, who

was present for the discussions. It started off amicably with both leaders greeting each other as old friends.

A readout from the White House says Mr. Biden raised human rights concerns over Xinjiang and Tibet. The toughest back and forth was over Taiwan.

President Xi said China would be compelled to take, quote, "resolute measures" if independence forces crossed the red line. And that whoever

plays with fire will get burned, he said. Will Ripley joins us now live from Taipei.

We've heard a lot from Taiwan since the meeting.

How are they responding to Xi's warning?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We got a pretty fiery statement tonight, Becky, from the ministry of foreign affairs here in Taipei.

And their number one complaint that they have right now for how China has been framing the discussions with President Biden, as you mentioned, lasted

much longer than expected.

What Taiwan is accusing China of doing is selectively cherry-picking the pieces that work for them on this issue of Taiwan, while ignoring what was

in the White House, you know, what was in the White House description of the conversation, which was that the United States' policy regarding Taiwan

-- they have a one China policy; they acknowledged China as the legal government of China, which includes the mainland.

But they still have this unofficial alliance with Taiwan or friendship with Taiwan, if you will, which is guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, which

requires the U.S. to sell weapons to Taiwan to defend itself and preserve this status quo, this self-governing democracy, acts independently of the

mainland, without formerly declaring independence.

This is an issue going on since the end of China's civil war 70 years ago. Beijing insists they will reunify, that's the word they use, with this

self-governing island, which has its own military and says, "Reunify? The Communist rulers in Beijing never ruled this island. This island rules

itself."

I wanted to read for you a portion of the statement from ministry of foreign affairs. They were upset with Chinese state media ignoring the fact

that the United States continues to adhere to the Taiwan Relations Act and just focusing on President Biden saying one China policy.

They jumped on that and made it sound like the U.S. acknowledges that Taiwan is a part of China. Here is the full screen.

It said, "It would not be the first time that, after bilateral meetings, Chinese state media mischaracterizes and misrepresents statements or

positions by other countries, a breach of good faith internationally.

"We highly regret China's deliberate distortion of accounts."

Deliberate distortion and intimidation is what they say they're dealing with on this island, Becky, including China flying record numbers of

warplanes right near this island and breaching its self-declared Air Defense Identification Zone.

But Xi Jinping was clear, Taiwan is a red line issue and they consider the Taiwan situation and the U.S. acknowledgement of this one China policy as

the foundation of their -- of all foreign policy with the United States. That includes their economic relationship as well -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Thank you, Will. Will Ripley on the story for you.

You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD.

That was a busy near 20 minutes, wasn't it?

Ahead on the show, deadly blasts rock the Ugandan capital. We'll have the latest on the investigation and who police suspect is behind the attack.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:20:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

ANDERSON: At least three people are dead and 33 others injured in two twin suicide bombings that rocked the capital of Uganda today. This video shows

a flash there and then smoke. Two explosions went off within 30 minutes of each other, one near the central police station in Kampala and another near

parliament.

A police spokesman says three suicide bombers also died in the attack. We'll get you to CNN's Larry Madowo from Nairobi. He's monitoring what is

going on.

What do we know at this point?

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What we know is that these two suicide attacks took place, the central Kampala, one outside central police

station, one of the busiest police stations in the capital of Uganda. And another on Parliamentary Avenue, not too far from there, three minutes

apart.

The police say they were suicide bombers, one in the central police station, two on a border board (ph) or a motorcycle outside Parliamentary

Avenue. And police say they intercepted a fourth suicide bomber, arrested him and they recovered two detonated bombs from his home that they will be

detonating safely.

But they say this is not the last of it. There could be more. Listen to the police spokesman a while ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRED ENANGA, POLICE SPOKESPERSON: The bomb threats are still active, especially from suicide attackers. We believe there are still more members

of these domestic terror cells, especially the suicide bomb squad that has been created by the EBF.

And this calls for the proper vigilance of the community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADOWO: So 33 people were injured today, five critically, according to authorities in Uganda. These attacks happened just 22 days after two other

attacks, also in Kampala. One at a bar, one on a bus that the police also blamed on the Allied Democratic Forces. This is an affiliate of Islamic

State, that operates in parts of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and police say there's still likely to be more of these suicide

attacks specifically because the materials they used are easily available at home.

They took mobile phones they're talking about ammonium, they're talking also some things that anybody can assemble at home and they've asked

Ugandans to be very vigilant because of that -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Larry, thank you.

Journalist Danny Fenster is back in the United States after spending almost six months in a Myanmar prison. His family greeted him with hugs when he

landed in New York a short time ago. He was released Monday after Myanmar's military government negotiated with former U.S. diplomat Bill Richardson.

Myanmar convicted Fenster of visa breaches and spreading false information as he covered a military coup in the country earlier this year. Fenster

says, despite the isolation of prison, he knew his family was working to get him freed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANNY FENSTER, JOURNALIST: I was able to get a little hints of what was going on occasionally throughout the experience.

If I was outside of the prison in court, maybe some police aide that could speak a little bit of English would flash a picture on his phone, of my

entire family wearing T-shirts with my face on it on CNN, which was a pretty bizarre thing to see, sitting in a courtroom there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Fenster says he was not physically mistreated while in prison.

[10:25:00]

ANDERSON: You are watching CNN. I'm Becky Anderson. This is CONNECT THE WORLD.

Still ahead, America on edge as it awaits a verdict in the high profile trial of Kyle Rittenhouse. The jury has just gotten the case. We will show

you what the defense and prosecution argued in court.

Plus, bans for the unvaccinated in Bavaria. I'll get you the details on the German state's tough new COVID restrictions. That after this.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

ANDERSON: I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. For those of you just joining us, you're more than welcome.

In the United States, a tense waiting game as, just moments ago, jurors began deliberations in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse. Hundreds of National

Guard members are on stand in Wisconsin, bracing for protests after the jury there renders its verdict.

Now this is a high profile trial, which intersects several flashpoints in America: gun rights, police brutality, racial justice and the right of

self-defense.

Last year, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, protests broke out following the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, shot multiple times in the back by a white

police officer. During one protest, Rittenhouse shot and killed two demonstrators.

The 18-year-old faces five felony charges. Shimon Prokupecz now with the emotional final day of arguments.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

THOMAS BINGER, KENOSHA COUNTY ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Now you've heard the evidence. And it is time to search for the truth.

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE PRODUCER (voice-over): The prosecution giving their closing arguments Monday, saying Rittenhouse was

in Kenosha, Wisconsin, to start trouble instead of what he claimed that night.

KYLE RITTENHOUSE, HOMICIDE DEFENDANT: Part of my job is also to help people. If there's somebody hurt, I'm running into harm's way. That's why I

have my rifle, because I need to protect myself, obviously. But I also have my (INAUDIBLE).

PROKUPECZ: But, according to prosecutors, Rittenhouse did the opposite.

JAMES KRAUS, KENOSHA COUNTY ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY: We know that Mr. Rittenhouse is going around that night, trying to be a paramedic, a

policeman and a fireman, without receiving any real training in any of them. Tough job to do all three at once.

He's a chaos tourist. He was there to see what was going on, act important, be a big deal. And then the moment a little bit of that chaos comes back at

him, he cowardly shoots a man instead of fighting back.

[10:30:00]

PROKUPECZ: They also focused on the AR-15 style rifle he carried, used to ultimately kill Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and injure Gaige

Grosskreutz.

BINGER: No serious, credible medic wears an AR-15 slung around their body. That's because the defendant was a fraud. He was not an EMT. He lied.

He showed no remorse for his victims. Never tried to help anybody that he hurt. And even on the witness stand, when he testified on Wednesday, he

broke down crying about himself. Not about anybody that he hurt that night. No remorse. No concern for anyone else.

PROKUPECZ: The prosecution also showing this slowed-down drone video, portraying the final altercation before Rittenhouse shot and killed

Rosenbaum.

BINGER: You can see from this video that Mr. Rosenbaum is not even within arm's reach of the defendant when the first shot goes off. The defendant

fires four shots in quick succession.

PROKUPECZ: For over two hours, prosecutors working to prove Rittenhouse should be held responsible for the shootings.

BINGER: There is no doubt in this case that the defendant committed these crimes. The question is whether or not you believe that his actions were

legally justified. And I submit to you that no reasonable person would have done what the defendant did. And that makes your decision easy. He's guilty

of all counts.

PROKUPECZ: But for the defense, they say Rittenhouse was only trying to protect himself from people like Rosenbaum, who they say was a threat to

others at the protest.

MARK RICHARDS, RITTENHOUSE'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: He was a bad man. He was there. He was causing trouble. He was a rioter. And my client had to deal

with him that night alone.

Mr. Rosenbaum was shot because he was chasing my client and going to kill him, take his gun and carry out the threats he made.

PROKUPECZ: Defense attorney Mark Richards arguing that Rittenhouse killing Rosenbaum was justified.

RICHARDS: Kyle shot Joseph Rosenbaum to stop a threat to his person and I'm glad he shot him. Because if Joseph Rosenbaum had got that gun, I don't

for a minute believe he wouldn't have used it again somebody else. He was irrational and crazy. My client didn't shoot at anyone until he was chased

and cornered.

PROKUPECZ: Richards arguing the same for Rittenhouse's attack of the two other victims.

RICHARDS: Every person who was shot was attacking Kyle. One with a skateboard. One with his hands. One with his feet. One with a gun. Hands

and feet can cause great bodily harm.

PROKUPECZ: In closing, the defense also claiming the prosecution's presentation of Rittenhouse as a dangerous active shooter was unfair.

RICHARDS: Ladies and gentlemen, Kyle was not an active shooter. That is a buzzword that the state wants to latch onto, because it excuses the actions

of that mob.

PROKUPECZ: Judge Bruce Schroeder dropping a misdemeanor charge for possession of a dangerous weapon under the age of 18, ruling the barrel of

the firearm in question was too long.

RICHARDS: It is not a short-barreled shotgun or short-barreled rifle, yes.

JUDGE BRUCE SCHROEDER, PRESIDING OVER RITTENHOUSE TRIAL: Either by barrel or by overall length?

RICHARDS: Correct.

SCHROEDER: All right. Then count six is dismissed.

PROKUPECZ: Now, Rittenhouse faces five felony charges of first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide, attempt at first-

degree intentional homicide and two counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety. He has pleaded not guilty to all.

Judge Bruce Schroeder telling jurors they are allowed to consider convicting Rittenhouse for lesser offenses for two of the five counts.

The trial could be nearing its end after 31 witnesses taking the stand over eight days of testimony, including Rittenhouse, who testified in his own

defense last week.

RITTENHOUSE: I didn't do anything wrong. I defended myself.

PROKUPECZ: Now, Rittenhouse's fate is in the hands of the jury, who will decide what happens to the man who shot three, killing two.

SCHROEDER: Members of the jury, the time has now come when the great burden of reaching a just, fair and conscientious decision in this case

will be placed wholly with you jurors, selected.

PROKUPECZ: But within those directions, the judge also sending potential jurors home with this unusual note. too.

SCHROEDER: You will pay no heed to the opinions of anyone, even the president of the United States or the president before him. The founders of

our country gave you and you alone the power and the duty to decide this case, based solely on the evidence presented in this court.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[10:35:00]

ANDERSON: Shimon Prokupecz reporting there. And when the jury does reach its verdict, you will see it here on CNN.

Well, Switzerland has reason to celebrate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON (voice-over): Thanks to a victory over Bulgaria, they are now booking flights to Qatar. The details ahead in "WORLD SPORT."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON (voice-over): And Macy's tests out balloons for next week's Thanksgiving Day parade in New York. We'll get you some news on the new

giants joining the holiday tradition.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

ANDERSON: Let's get you up to speed on some of the stories on our radar right now.

Pfizer has signed a licensing agreement that will boost access to its experimental COVID-19 pill around the world. The deal will allow generic

manufacturers to make and sell the pill cheaply to low income countries. Pfizer will not receive loyalties on sales in those countries.

India is welcoming fully COVID vaccinated tourists on commercial flights for the first time in 20 months. Travelers from the U.S., U.K. and other

European countries with agreements with India on vaccination certificates will be allowed in. Upon arrival, tourists will still need to follow

India's COVID-19 protocols.

Tough new COVID-19 restrictions went into effect today in the German state of Bavaria as officials there try to fight a new spike in cases.

Unvaccinated people over the age of 12 are now banned from restaurants, hotels and other public places. Berlin implemented similar restrictions on

Monday.

France in a state of alert after a recent spike in COVID infections. A French government spokesman says cases have gone up by more than 50 percent

in the past week. More than 12,000 cases were reported on Sunday.

As you can see from the news I've been reporting, some of Europe is seeing a surge in cases, with some countries reinstating COVID restrictions.

France, though, not planning on lockdowns just yet. Let's bring in Melissa Bell live for us from Paris.

French government is saying that this is the start of this wave, as I understand, of the COVID infections and yet not looking at sort of

swingeing restrictions, at least not yet.

What do we know at this point?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You mentioned a moment ago, Becky, the new restrictions coming into place in Bavaria and other parts of Germany,

also now in place in Austria and specifically targeting the unvaccinated. That's already the case here in France.

[10:40:00]

BELL: Here in France, you need a COVID pass that shows either you've been vaccinated or had a PCR test to get into restaurants, cafes, bars, cinemas.

We have heard very alarming figures from the government spokesman who warned, 10 days ago, COVID-19 was in the staircase. It is now in the lift

and on its way up very fast.

No plans on any kind of massive lockdown like we saw at the beginning of the pandemic in France but the strict measures very much in place and they

have not prevented this resurgence in this latest COVID wave.

That is extremely worrying. One of the factors in this is vaccination rates; Germany's is relatively low at around 68 percent; Austria is 65

percent. And that may explain why they're seeing a resurgence.

Here in France, we're at 74 percent and still the figure is rising. So you're quite right, no major lockdown on the cards, according to the

government spokesman. But what we are hearing over the course of the last half hour, is some areas in France, some are going to introduce in some

localities, some areas, the reintroduction of masks outdoors. Here

in France, we wear them when we're inside in office places, anywhere inside. Some parts of the country now saying they're going to be made

mandatory outdoors.

This is very much in line with what the World Health Organization has been warning over the course of the last couple of weeks, that Europe is once

again becoming the epicenter of the pandemic.

ANDERSON: And, very briefly, Melissa, how do people feel about what is going on at present?

BELL: Well, we have seen protests in a number of countries. There is a great deal of anger about this. But it is that resistance to the

vaccination that is proving so difficult to overcome.

You and I have been speaking about it for the last couple of years. governments trying to make it difficult for people who have not been

vaccinated to go about their daily lives. And that's likely to continue.

But there are those steadfastly opposed to any form of vaccinations and, as we heard from the Austrian chancellor, he announced that new lockdown for

the 2 million Austrians not vaccinated, he said, look, the driver of this surge is those who are unvaccinated.

ANDERSON: Melissa Bell is in Paris. Melissa, thank you.

Something full of color next, a holiday tradition in New York City is about to be revived. Macy's unveiling new balloons and practicing for the annual

Thanksgiving Day parade, which is next Thursday. Last year's parade was, well, if you were watching the show, it was very abbreviated, only for TV

event because of COVID.

Spectators will be back this year. The new balloons will include Ronald McDonald, Pikachu and Baby Yoda.

Switzerland has sealed a place in the World Cup. The game was goalless during first half against Bulgaria.

(WORLD SPORT)

END