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Race Is On For Next British Prime Minister; Russia-Installed Official Denies Mines Planted At Kherson Dam; Iranians Risking It All In Turbulent Civil Rights Protests; Star Singer Silenced By The Islamic Revolution Speaks To CNN; Awaiting Steve Bannon Sentencing For Defying Congress; Head Of Lettuce Outlast U.K. Prime Minister In Tabloid Contest. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired October 21, 2022 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:29]

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: The race is on for the next leader of the U.K. Could Boris Johnson return as prime minister?

Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon is due to be sentenced today for his contempt of Congress. We'll be live in Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDRIY SHEVCHENKO, FORMER UKRAINIAN FOOTBALLER: Everything has been changed for me since the war started. I just concentrate in everything to help my

country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Legendary footballer Andriy Shevchenko on his grief at seeing the destruction caused by the war in Ukraine, and his efforts to help others.

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

We begin this hour with a high-stakes scramble for Britain's top job. The race to replace Liz Truss as prime minister is on, and the three main

contenders include former finance minister Rishi Sunak and his ex-boss Boris Johnson. Sources say Johnson who stepped down a few months ago under

a crush of scandals may indeed try to get his old job back. British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace says he, quote, "leans towards Johnson." He says he

might run himself.

Well, this all comes after Truss abruptly announced on Thursday that she is resigning after only six weeks in power. She says she will stay on until

Conservative MPs pick her successor, which will be no later than next Friday.

Well, whoever winds up in Downing Street this time next week will be the U.K.'s fifth prime minister in six years.

Let's get you to Downing Street now and bring in CNN's Bianca Nobilo.

It's like a revolving door behind you there at Number 10. The U.K. will have five prime ministers in just six years. As you reflect on what is

happening in the U.K., is it clear at this point exactly what has gone wrong?

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I have been doing that so frequently at the moment, Becky. I don't think I have a certain answer. But it is

remarkable. Just to think that Boris Johnson was actually prime minister in the building behind me last month because at the beginning of September he

was still in there. And the fact that people are discussing a possible return before the month is over is just incredible.

In terms of what is behind this, something I've noticed with how politics in the U.K. has shifted over the last decade, and it really has. I speak to

MPs, and I know for my own experience, that the place in some ways is unrecognizable in parliament in terms of behavior and civility at times,

standards for public life politicians. But also how the public regards MPs.

Now something that's happened since Brexit is the amplification of fringe voices in U.K. politics. So generally like the Conservative Party, for

example, could be a broad church. You could have people on the right, you could have people on the left. But generally you'd find yourself in a

moderate center place because that's where the center of gravity was. But with Brexit, with Boris Johnson, and the decision to expel MPs from the

party if they didn't tow the government line on fairly extreme matters like a no-deal Brexit has led to less and less MPs in that center ground.

And that's increased the factionalism, so you have MPs on the right of the party and you have less on the left and in the center, which is driving a

very divisive politics. So I think that's one of the reasons behind this is the fact that moderation is no longer winning the day. And that means that

these leaders have to appeal to the grassroots and more fringe elements, which generally increases the temperature of political debate and makes it

more volatile.

I also think the culture wars have quite a bit impact as well, Becky. But it's too early I think to tell exactly what's got us to this place but we

have now symptoms which demonstrate that something is fundamentally awry in the British political system, with the Conservative Party at least.

ANDERSON: I will ask you very briefly, what's the possibility that Boris Johnson could return as PM?

NOBILO: Seems to be growing as the day goes on. As we started, there were a lot more backers for Rishi Sunak. I believe at the moment, I'm trying to

keep count, but it's around 57, 58 MPs that are declared for him. And Boris Johnson is now creeping up there.

[10:05:01]

He's got over 30 I think, over 35 MPs declared him. Penny Mordaunt running behind both of them, not quite breaking the 20s. You hear lots of people

now today saying bring back Boris. In the WhatsApp group some constituent MPs are telling me, are saying well, Boris didn't really get a chance, and

everybody makes mistakes.

But other MPs saying to me, have we gone through a period of collective amnesia here? Let's not forget the circumstances in which Johnson was

ousted from office. 148 of his own MPs voting against him in a confidence vote, public letters from his own cabinet minister saying he's not fit for

office, and an investigation against him in parliament which is still ongoing, and theoretically if he did become prime minister again could make

him suspended or make him lose his seat.

So there's a lot of arguments against him even though I think some MPs are attracted by his ability to win elections and an idea of a triumphant

return.

ANDERSON: Bianca, the story continues. It will be continued on this show in the days to come. For now thank you very much indeed for joining us.

Outside Number 10, the home of whoever will be the new British prime minister were former British Conservative MP, who by the way had a file for

the Middle East for a long period of time, and so is a good friend of this show, Alistair Burt, has been tweeting -- paraphrasing him now -- that the

Conservative Party needs to sort itself out. He joins me now live from Bedford in England.

And it is good to have you on the show. I mean, just describe for me what this party is going through at present. I talk about your party, that being

the Conservative Party. And what impact is it having on Britain?

ALISTAIR BURT, FORMER BRITISH CONSERVATIVE MP: Becky, you and I have met in a variety of places where democracy isn't particularly stable. And we've

always marveled at the fact that we are able to rely on certain things on our own countries, where the principle of stable government is followed.

And of course at the moment that's just not the case in the U.K. It's astonishing. And the speed of collapse of stresses this government was a

great surprise.

Literally all the events since the pressure on Boris Johnson and the issue surrounding him grew to remove him from office, over him to leave office.

And Bianca is right in tracing it back I think to the polarization of Brexit which has damaged the Conservative Party. And unless it get itself

out of the factions that are currently damaging it and making it very difficult for anyone to bring everybody together. Unless it can do that it

will lose any credibility of governments whatsoever.

ANDERSON: Alistair, is the man to do that job Boris Johnson?

BURT: Well, I don't think so and I think that would be very difficult. People are forgetting that some 60 officeholders physically resigned from

his government to say they could not work with him. Explain to me how that would work in a new situation again. The work that's going on at the

moment, the investigation that's going on into whether or not he misled the House. This is very serious stuff that the House is considering.

And it found against Boris Johnson that would be very difficult. I think also in politics it's very hard to look backwards and go backwards. And he

had an opportunity as prime minister. And certain things, the Ukraine issue, as Ben Wallace, his good friend, has been explaining I think very

much stands to its credit. But difficult to see how with all the background and bearing in mind it was his leaving office that triggered what we have

seen just this week with Liz Truss losing office.

It all stems from the failure of the Johnson premiership to see him as the answer to put forward to the British people is genuinely difficult for me

to see. But colleagues will make up their own minds in the next few days. I think there are other strong candidates who could do the job.

ANDERSON: Yes. You are talking about colleagues of yours in the Conservative Party because of course it's not the British public who gets

an opportunity to choose who is the next British prime minister. It's the leader of whichever party has a majority in government. And that at

president is the Conservative Party.

Whoever comes in next, he-she will be the second prime minister in a row that the wider country hasn't voted on. There will be people watching this

show who say, well, that's not very democratic, is it? The U.K. is one of the world's greatest democracies, with the mother of all parliaments. What

is happening to that British democracy now? And what chance the British public gets the opportunity to vote on who will lead their country out of

this crisis?

[10:10:09]

BURT: Well, we are a constitutional democracy. We are a parliamentary democracy. And that means we don't have a presidential system. So when

people voted in 2019 in the general election, they voted for their local candidates who then chose the leader of their party, Boris Johnson, to be

the prime minister. Now that still holds. And I can well understand, we can all understand looking at this from the outside, how the public are pretty

outraged by what's happened.

But constitutionally, they don't have a say at this stage. There have been members of other parties who have become prime minister without elections.

What we do know for certain in Britain is an election is coming. There will be no change to that. We have a patent of five-year parliaments that won't

be changed. And an election could be called at any time before that. So the public will get their choice.

So angry and annoyed, though, they may be, there is no constitutional reason why they should vote at the moment. But people are human. They will

remember all this. And the Conservative Party is going to have to work incredibly hard to persuade people to forget what has happened in order to

vote for them in 12, 18 months' time. And the Conservative Party, I'm sure, is pretty aware of that.

So how they handle this next few days, and how they handle the responsibilities of government after that, we'll have a profound effect on

how people vote. But whether the public will forget what they've been through this summer, I really don't know. I think it's very difficult. And

I also don't think that the fissures in the Conservative Party that Bianca was talking about, I don't think they are easily fixed.

And it's not a question of how many people are backing each of the three major candidates. It's, are any of them prepared to work with each other in

order to do the job, and put the country first? Because if they can't put the country first, they won't be in office.

ANDERSON: Alistair Burt, it's always a pleasure having you on. Your analysis and insights extremely important. I do want to just bring up the

patent at present against the dollar because whatever happens over the next few days, the next week or so, will also have a profound effect on the

assets, British assets including this. The British pound.

This present, FTSE pretty stable. Upper third of 1 percent. And the pound just off, but only just. These markets and investments in these markets

because that's, you know, how these markets move, of course, really waiting to find out what happens next. But let's remember, markets hate a sense of

insecurity. They really look for some stability out of the British economy at this point. And that means some leadership. Right.

A Kremlin installed official in the occupied Kherson region is responding to an alarming claim from the Ukrainian government. Russian state media

reporting the official denies Russian forces are planting mines on a dam, a hydroelectric power plant in the Dnieper River. This comes after an adviser

to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia intends to blow up that dam and flood the region in order to slow Ukraine's counteroffensive.

The Russian commander in Ukraine has told state media that the situation in the region is, quote, "very difficult."

Let's bring in CNN's Nic Robertson. He's in Kyiv.

That Zelenskyy adviser says Russia is plotting a manmade catastrophe. Those are alarming words. What do we know at this point?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, and Becky, it was only a few days ago that the Russian officials in that illegally annexed

area of Kherson was saying that Ukraine was going to blow up that dam. They are talking about the dam that the Nova Kakhovka hydroelectric plant. They

would be potentially downstream and upstream effects. But at the thrust and center of what Ukrainian officials are saying, they say that they have seen

Russian forces going to the sluice gates and minding the sluice gates.

They say that Russia's part two military trucks with tents on them that the Ukrainians believe are full of explosives on top of the dams and that

they're getting ready to blow up. So what are the downstream effects or the downstream effects are that it could wash away or heavily damage houses and

homes near the rivers, towns and villages close to the river in the Kherson region? That would be a big setback for the Ukrainians.

The potential, as well, would make them harder for them to cross the river. Once they take Kherson of which they expect to do and to be able to chase

the Russian forces. But it's perhaps the upstream effects that are the most worrying. Ukrainian officials are saying, look, the Dnieper River gets to

that hydroelectric plant after it's been at the nuclear power plant further up the river.

[10:15:05]

Blow that dam, they say, and you would reduce the water in the river, 18 million cubic tons of it. You reduce the water in the dam. The level goes

down. And the nuclear power plant loses the supply of water it needs to keep cool. So these are very big and serious concerns. Upstream and

downstream, Becky.

ANDERSON: Absolutely. Meantime exhumations finished as I understand it at a mass grave in Lyman. What are officials telling you?

ROBERTSON: Yes, they are saying, look, they've been through the bodies. It's been a long and slow process. It's been difficult. They didn't want to

come to conclusions early. They are still looking at the evidence that they found. But they found that there were a number of children killed there.

Dozens upon dozens of women and many men. Some people they said appear to have died through, you know, as a result of shrapnel from explosions.

But there are the people there they say who appear to have been tortured, who appear to have been, you know, physically restrained before they have

been killed. So the evidence there points, indicates, for the potential for war crimes. So this is again what Ukraine has been doing systematically in

Lyman as they did in Bucha to the north of Kyiv is catalog all the evidence that they say amounts towards war crimes.

ANDERSON: Nick Roberson in Kyiv. Nic, thank you.

At times of crisis, a nation often turns to its icons for hope and inspiration. And for one of Ukraine's most famous football legend this time

is no different. Since Russia invaded Andriy Shevchenko's homeland in February, he's visited four times and is being torn apart emotionally by

the destruction he has seen. We spoke earlier this week about the work that he's been doing there to help lift spirits and help his country recover, in

particular rebuilding a football pitch in Irpin. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHEVCHENKO: I remember, you know, being a very, very nice physical small city close to Kyiv. It's probably only 15 kilometers from Kyiv. And I used

to go down a lot when I was a kid playing different games. And I remember that stadium in Bucha, you know, being it's all very close. I used to spend

the summer time there, in summer camp with my friends playing football. And I remember that stadium was very nice, small stadium, where we go with the

mayor of the city for the town, and we would come to the stadium.

It was the hole from the bomb of this stadium, absolutely destroyed some dressing room. And I saw is a few kids in the middle of this pitch been

playing football. I immediately spoke to Milan Fondazione and we did some very nice project. And most of the money been coming from selling the t-

shirts, the Milan Ukraine special shirt for this, for Ukraine, and with my number and it's exactly the same shorts when I won in Champions League in

2002, 2003 season with (INAUDIBLE). All the money were recovered from some of the shorts, we're going to use to rebuild the stadium in Irpin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: And you can watch that full interview with Shevchenko next hour. We discuss his state of mind as the first missiles fell in Ukraine. His

childhood on the streets of Kyiv and the role of football in Ukraine's national identity. That is coming up next hour here on CONNECT THE WORLD.

Well, five weeks of widespread protests in Iran, with women there leading the movement. Well, they are also describing the horrors of the Iranian

regime's merciless crackdown.

Well, she was a megastar, one of the most famous singers in Iran until she was silenced by the Islamic Revolution in 1979. CNN's conversation with

Googoosh about her life and the protests is after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:21:48]

ANDERSON: For five weeks now, five weeks, Iranian citizens have risked it all in turbulent protests against a repressive regime.

The in custody death last month of a 22-year-old woman ignited this current swell of civil rights activism and it's Iranian women who've been on the

frontlines, leading and inspiring this movement. Not to say that the men haven't supported them but it has been woman on the frontlines. With each

passing day, the circulating images and firsthand account of police brutality are simply astonishing.

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh just talked with one woman who described some of the horrors of the regime's crackdown. Jomana joins us now live.

What have you been told, Jomana?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, five weeks into these protests, and it does seem that the Iranian regime is struggling to contain

these protests, that some are now describing as a national uprising that is calling for regime change. The state is using everything it has used in the

past to crush dissent. It's that old tried and tested playbook on crushing these protests.

And it does not seem to be working right now, Becky. It seems to be fueling the anger of the people on the streets and really increasing their

determination to continue going out and to continue calling for the end of this repressive regime. And, you know, throughout this whole, you know,

past five weeks, you and I have discussed this a lot, everything about these protests seems to be different. And the female element is something

that really stands out in these protests.

Women have been at the forefront of this battle for change. But they have also paid a heavy price for their defiance, Becky. Many have been killed,

imprisoned, and every day women are facing unimaginable brutality. We have to warn viewers that some of the images in our report are graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARADSHEH (voice-over): Every day for the past five weeks, a little bit of video trickles out of Iran, giving us a small window into the repressive

republic, a snapshot of the bravery of protesters and the ruthlessness of regime forces.

The government's internet restrictions have made it hard for us to speak to those on the frontlines of this battle for change. But we got a rare

opportunity to speak briefly with a 28-year-old protester. We're not identifying her for her safety.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I went to protest location, I was really scared and I was like, what am I doing here? Here's a war zone. And I was so

scared. I realized that if we want to make a change, I should start with myself.

KARADSHEH: That defiance was met with shield brutality. Women who've been beaten up with batons and shot at. This protester's body riddled with

shotgun pellets according to rights group Hengaw. Many have been dragged by their uncovered hair.

[10:25:03]

And according to human rights groups and Amnesty International, some sexually assaulted in plain sight by the very forces claiming to be the

enforcers of morality.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Individuals and basset forces attack people and beat them and to scare people. I saw a lady who was coming back from class and

the basset forces hit her, with a baton in her sensitive place and she couldn't walk.

KARADSHEH: She recounts in terrifying detail what she and others have witnessed firsthand. Security forces roaming the streets on motorbikes

attacking people, opening fire on peaceful protesters and chasing them into buildings.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When we were attacked, we ran into a store and the salesman closed and locked the door. So the forces couldn't see inside. My

heart was pounding and I was shaking. My friend said, do you want to go home, I said no, like home. I didn't come to run away. Nothing has happened

to me yet and I was able to escape. But it is possible at any moment. We are now in the worst time of our life. We do everything we can despite all

this stress, even if it costs our lives.

KARADSHEH: Too many lives already lost in a battle they say for women, life, liberty, but that's not stopping a fearless generation rising up to

reclaim freedoms they've never known.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KARADSHEH: And Becky, the world has been in awe of the bravery of Iranian women and what's really extraordinary is not the fact that they're just out

there on the frontlines of these protests, almost every day, we are getting images that capture these moments of defiance, individual acts of defiance

by women who decide to not wear their head scarves when walking out on the streets or in the metro station or at restaurants. Standing up to the

morality enforcers in Iran and saying enough to being controlled.

And we are seeing this almost every day right now. And people will tell you that they don't think Iran will ever be the same again, no matter what

happens with these protests. People say they will not allow it to go back to what it was before now that that barrier of fear has been broken, Becky.

ANDERSON: Jomana Karadsheh on the story for you. Jomana, thank you for that.

Mahsa Amini was among the millions of fans around the world of Iran's most famous, singer Googoosh, known as the voice of Iran. Listen to Amini.

Well, this widely shared video of the 22-year-old who sparked the protests -- whose arrests sparked the protests in Iran shows her singing along to a

Googoosh song. Well, she is a cultural icon in Iran. As a young woman she gained fame as an actor and singer. After the 1979 revolution she was

banned from singing and effectively silenced for decades. Well, now she is in her 70s, living and performing outside Iran.

My colleague, Christiane Amanpour, spoke to her from exile in Los Angeles. Here's part one of that interview about her remarkable life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOOGOOSH, IRANIAN SINGER (through translator): I was very successful in all fields before the revolution. I was a teenager and I was a young singer and

as such I managed to introduce another style of a singer, and I became known as a pop singer. And before me there weren't pop singers as such. Not

the way I performed. Because not only I sang but I acted at the same time. I also danced while I was singing.

That's why that style of performance as mine, especially among the young generation of the time. And of course my hair as well.

[10:30:04]

I cut my hair very short. So I was a trendsetter. And the young people loved it. And everyone, especially women. The women followed suit and they

all went for Googoosh haircut.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, Googoosh, it seems like an age away, like a century away, when you look at what's

happening in Iran right now. When you look at how, you know, hair has to be covered with a mandatory hijab. How women are not allowed to sing and dance

and perform in public. Before I ask you to comment on what's happening, what was it like for you when all of that changed overnight in 1979, and

you were silenced by the regime? You could not perform in the Islamic Republic?

GOOGOOSH (through translator): It was very painful. It was painful not just for me but it was painful for all female singers in Iran. They all suffered

the same fate as me. They were banned from singing. When I returned to Iran, the revolution had just started. It was in its early days. And I was

told, in fact I was asked, to sign a pledge at Evin Prison not to perform anymore. And since then I was forced to forget I was Googoosh.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: That's just part one of Christiane's interview. You can find more of that online.

Still to come on CONNECT THE WORLD, the sentencing of one Donald Trump's closest allies happening today. We'll tell you what a judge had to say

about Steve Bannon's criminal conviction. That is after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Today is a day of reckoning for one of Donald Trump's staunchest allies. And it is also a watershed moment for the congressional panel investigating

the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. A judge is sentencing Steve Bannon for two counts of contempt of Congress, as it's known.

[10:35:02]

Now Bannon was convicted in July for refusing to talk to the January 6th congressional committee. The judge could issue a sentence at any minute. He

has already said Bannon will get at least a month in prison.

CNN political correspondent Sara Murray is at the U.S. District Court in Washington for the sentencing.

This isn't the end of course. Bannon has appealed all of this. Correct?

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, he is planning to appeal his conviction. It isn't the end, but what we don't know is when the

judge does hand down a sentence, and of course we're still waiting to see what that will look like, is whether the judge is going to say, you know,

you need to serve this punishment now or whether the judge will say, I'm willing to put your sentence on hold while this appeal plays out.

You know, the government has asked that Bannon get six months behind bars and pay a $200,000 fine. Bannon has been arguing that he should just get

probation, but as you said the judge weighed in and said look, you know, there's a one month minimum for your conviction so we're going to see how

he squares all of that. They're on a brief recess right now so we would expect the sentencing to come pretty soon.

ANDERSON: Sara, does any of this help the January 6th Committee out at this point? There are of course others who have refused to testify. What sort of

precedent might this set?

MURRAY: Well, I mean, I do think that they are trying to use Steve Bannon to send a signal that you can't just snub the committee. You can't get a

subpoena from the committee for documents and testimony and say, I'm not going to give you anything, I'm not going to bother to show up, I'm going

to do nothing to respond to this. I mean, I think to them this is also an important signal to send as they are preparing this subpoena for former

President Trump.

You know, depending on the sentence Bannon gets today, it could be a signal to the former president to remind him, you know, you have to at least

engage with the committee. You have to engage in some negotiations. You have to try in some way to comply with parts of the subpoena or be sort of

making their case in court as to why you should never to do. Bannon didn't do any of that. He just didn't show up.

ANDERSON: Thank you. And as we get that sentence of course, you will hear it here first on CNN.

Well, the race is on for Britain's next prime minister. And it will be a very short race. The Conservative Party intends to have a new leader to

succeed the outgoing prime minister Liz Truss by the end of next week. Liz Truss resigned on Thursday amid the fallout from what was a disastrous

budget plan sent financial markets reeling. Well, several prominent party members are being floated as the next PM including the man who Liz Truss

replaced, former prime minister Boris Johnson.

There are three on the screen there. Rishi Sunak was Boris Johnson's chancellor, finance minister to all intents and purposes. Penny Mordaunt

who is speaker of the house for the Conservative Party at present. She has just said, I am being told, that she is running. And then there's Boris

Johnson. Now each of these needs to get 100 members to back them so that they can actually be polled for party leader, and therefore prime minister.

So as you'd expect British tabloids have been making a meal out of Liz Truss' troubled tenure as prime minister. One of the biggest media gimmicks

went to the "Daily Star" newspaper. It asked its readers if a fresh vegetable would last longer than the premiere. Lettuce. See what Anna

Stewart reveals.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "Utter Chaos," "Broken." As Liz Truss' days as prime minister became numbered, one British

tabloid posed a question that captured a nation. Could she last longer than this lettuce?

You may be wondering how it all began. Well, let us explain.

An "Economist" article compared the total days Truss had been in control to roughly the shelf life of a lettuce, which inspired this gem from "The

Daily Star." Who would perish first? Day or night, the campaign continued. And despite some tough talk from Truss --

LIZ TRUSS, FORMER BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I am a fighter and not a quitter.

STEWART: -- it was a resounding victory for the greens.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is just the tip of the iceberg.

STEWART: Officially, the lettuce cannot be tossed into the upcoming leadership race. But romaines the Caesar of salads.

Anna Stewart, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: She didn't romaine long, did she? That coming from one of my producers.

Ahead on sports, Cristiano Ronaldo out of action for Manchester United's next match. Why he's getting benched and what he is saying about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:42:14]

ANDERSON: Well, the shortlist for one of football's biggest award ceremonies has been announced. The Dubai Globe Soccer Awards will be held

on November 17th, just days before the World Cup starts in Qatar.

And this year CNN is partnering with the awards to launch the new CNN Off the Pitch category. Now this award will recognize the achievements of an

individual club or other soccer organization for their impact on wider society and on culture.

Well, Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the players up for some awards, but when Manchester United faced Chelsea Saturday they will do so without their star

striker. Why? And what is he saying about all of this.

Alex Thomas is in the house. What is going on?

ALEX THOMAS, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: One of the greatest footballers of all time, as we know, Becky. We report on him a lot here on CNN particularly on

"WORLD SPORT" we got coming up in a few minutes. But he is not first choice for the new Manchester United boss and he is frustrated with that. He

walked out of the game early in mid-week and he's been punished by the new manager.

We'll tell you why and what both men have said in just a moment, as well as some breaking sports news from the world of tennis involving Simona Halep.

ANDERSON: More on that after this. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:45:10]

(WORLD SPORT)

END