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Violent Clashes in Sudan Despite Second Cease-Fire; At Least 78 Killed in Yemen Charity Event; SpaceX Launches Most Powerful Rocket Ever Built; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Inspects Fortifications on Border with Belarus; Global Scientists Urge Ugandan President to Veto Anti LGBTQ+ Bill; Texas Cheerleader Awake, Alert after Shooting; SpaceX Launch Ends with Explosion. Aired 10-10:40a ET

Aired April 20, 2023 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:00]

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CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Hello and welcome, I'm Christina Macfarlane live from London. This is CONNECT THE WORLD.

Coming up, chaos in Sudan as hundreds are dead and thousands injured.

At least 78 dead in Yemen's stampede.

Later, chief Jens Stoltenberg visits Ukraine.

And in the last few moments, the most powerful rocket ever built launches.

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MACFARLANE: More chaos and more suffering in Sudan after the collapse of a second ceasefire in as many days. Hundreds of people are dead and thousands

injured in six days of fighting between Sudan's army and a paramilitary group.

Sudan's doctors union, says 52 hospitals, that is 70 percent of the hospitals in and around Khartoum, are out of service. Food, water and gas

are running out and there are power outages as well.

Thousands of traumatized civilians are packing their bags and attempting to flee but in some areas, it's just too dangerous to leave. And that includes

a swathe (sic) of the capital that houses foreign diplomats. Larry Madowo has been covering the story for us from the start and joins us now live

from Nairobi.

Larry, Sudan was in such desperate need of this cease-fire. But as we were saying, it failed to hold for yet a second time here.

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christina, depending on who you ask, that's actually a third time because there was a temporary truce that was

attempted on Sunday, the second day of the conflict, that quickly fell apart.

There was one on Tuesday that did not hold and now this other one on Wednesday that also quickly fell apart. Now the Rapid Support Forces had

this paramilitary group that's so powerful that's involved in this conflict with us in the military, the head of that group, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo or

Hemetti has said he is open to another ceasefire.

Why is this important?

Because tomorrow is the Muslim holiday of Eid. That's the end of the holy month of Ramadan. And people are hoping that, if a humanitarian ceasefire

didn't work on humanitarian grounds, that maybe a ceasefire on religious grounds might work. I want you to listen to this political analyst and

researcher.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KHOLOOD KHAIR, SUDANESE RESEARCH AND POLITICAL ANALYST: The argument could be made on religious grounds by getting religious leaders from the region,

particularly of key Islamic sites, like the mufti -- Grand Mufti of Mecca, of Jerusalem and of -- as head in Cairo, potentially getting a collection

of Islamic leaders, religious leaders to make the case to the generals.

But this will still need to be backed up by political pressure on both generals to concede to a ceasefire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADOWO: A ceasefire is badly needed in Sudan, where 331 people have died so far, according to the World Health Organization, and more than 3,000

have been wounded. A third of the hospitals in Sudan are not operating. In Khartoum alone, 70 percent of the hospitals are out of commission, have

been bombed or they've been shelled.

They've run out of basic necessities. They don't have water or power because in some cases even the water and power lines have been bombed. And

sometimes staff can't even get there because it's not safe for them. The few operating are getting inundated by the wounded.

So that is why this humanitarian cease-fire is necessary just for the medical system, which is on the risk of collapse but also for so many

people who've been cared since Saturday that they haven't gone out. They are running out of food. They're running out of water. They're running out

of medication. And they just don't see an end to this.

So many people who can are fleeing Khartoum to other parts of the country that they consider to be slightly safer.

But still in the grand scale of things, a major problem here, especially considering that these two warring generals will not agree to any sort of

mediation efforts from the region, from the United Nations, from the Arab League, from the African Union.

In this hour, the Arab League, the African Union and the U.N. Secretary general are meeting virtually to try and find a way out of this.

We're waiting for a communique to see exactly what came out of that, if there will be some kind of white smoke and if they can find a way to

convince General Hemetti and General Burhan to talk and to cease fire.

MACFARLANE: Yes, it is a desperate situation with so many of those evacuation routes now closed as well as a result of this fighting. Larry

Maduro there live from Nairobi, appreciate it, Larry. Thank you.

Now it's a country already in the grip of what the U.N. calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

[10:05:00]

MACFARLANE: Now a horrendous new tragedy in Yemen, where a charity drive for the desperately needy has turned into disaster. A warning that the

following video is graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE (voice-over): You're looking at a crowd surge at a school in Sanaa, where food and donations were being handed out during the holy month

of Ramadan. A local journalist says, people were so desperate, they essentially gave up their lives for just $10.

At least 78 people were killed. Salma Abdelaziz is following the story for us here in London.

I mean, Salma, the fact that this happened for just $10 is incredibly sad. But also there have been conflicting reports about what actually caused the

surge.

What can you tell us?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's really a true tragedy, a tragedy on tragedy in one of the most hard struck corners of the world. What took

place was -- this is normal, during Ramadan at sunset, that local people.

So these were two local merchants offered charity. And people lined up outside of the school, awaiting that charity. In the minute those doors

were opened, that's when the surge happened. That's when the stampede happened. That's when those horrifying images that you played out took

place.

People simply crushed in that crowd to death. You can hear people screaming. It's quite harrowing, their arms flailing. Some people trying to

pull them out but they simply couldn't; 78 people killed. Local authorities say that this charity drive was not coordinated with local authorities and

that led to this crush happening and that loss of life.

The two merchants who held this charity drive are now under arrest. Houthi officials are offering aid to the family of any of those victims. The

dead's family will receive around $4,000. Those in hospital or wounded will have their treatment covered, according to officials.

But again, you were looking at a very terrible, heartbreaking case taking place at a really poignant time. It is the end of Ramadan. It is Eid

tomorrow. This is just tragedy on tragedy.

MACFARLANE: Yes, and coming so soon after the positive news last week, we had of that successful prisoner swap. It really is a heartbreaking summer.

Thank you.

And for the wider context on Yemen's humanitarian crisis to a little known drug that's being exploited in Syria. You can get a deeper dive on some of

our stories with our "Meanwhile in the Middle East" newsletter.

You can head to cnn.com/mideastnewsletter to sign up or just use the QR code at the bottom of your screen now.

Now just minutes ago, SpaceX launched the most powerful rocket ever built for its maiden test flight. It exploded in midair on one official, calling

it a rapid, unplanned disassembly. CNN's Ed Lavandera is in south Texas, where the rocket was launched.

Ed, not the outcome they wanted but not entirely unexpected. Tell us what happened exactly.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, I think the likelihood of this mission having gone off as best case scenario or

perfectly was always a long shot. Several days ago, Elon Musk was talking about just being happy if the rocket ship cleared the launch pad.

And we did experience that here this morning. It was a stunning sight to watch this Starship clear the launch pad. Those 33 engines inside that

heavy booster launching and it was seconds after it had cleared the launch pad that we could feel the rumbling and the vibration from where we are,

about seven kilometers away from the launch pad.

In about three minutes or so roughly this started going out east toward over the Gulf of Mexico.

And what this rocket was supposed to have done, best case scenario, is travel out and about three minutes in the booster was supposed to separate

from the Starship and then continue eastward and make almost one pass around the Earth and land somewhere around the state of Hawaii in the

Pacific Ocean.

But it was about around the three minute mark where things went wrong. And as you mentioned there, that disassembly, which is just a technical way of

saying that it exploded.

Now the question is, why did it explode?

And we don't have an answer to that at this point. We don't know if it was a technical issue on the rocket ship or if it was deliberately done by

officials in the control room of SpaceX. We're trying to get answers to that to see exactly what caused this.

But really a stunning sight to see, a historic sight to see, given the importance of this Starship rocket system. Just so people know that this

is, this Starship that, in the years ahead, is contracted with the U.S. NASA space agency to help shuttle supplies and astronauts to the moon.

And the ultimate goal is to incorporate and create human travel to mark. So all of this tight end with what the U.S. space agency NASA is trying to

accomplish and that is why there is so much -- so many eyes watching very closely what happened here this morning.

MACFARLANE: Yes, you're absolutely right, Ed.

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MACFARLANE: It was a spectacle, fascinating to watch and really just the beginning of what they are attempting to do here. So no doubt there will be

another go at it in the months to come. Ed Lavandera, there live for us from Texas from the site. We appreciate it. Thank you.

Are they calling it a new chapter in relations?

The Ukrainian president is welcoming today's surprise visit by NATO's chief to Kyiv. It is Jens Stoltenberg's first trip to Ukraine since Russia's full

scale invasion more than a year ago.

And a major show support. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: Mr. President, I'm here today with a simple message: NATO stands with Ukraine. We stood by you after

Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014.

We stand by you today in your heroic fight against the Russian invaders and in defense of your country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: The NATO chief spoke a short time ago in a joint news conference with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. This comes as

Moscow tells the world once again that preventing Ukraine from joining the Western military alliance is one of its top goals.

The NATO chief's high profile visit comes as Western weapons pour into Ukraine ahead of its expected spring counter offensive. In the Donetsk

region, on the front lines of fighting in Bakhmut, the Ukrainian military is offering Jens Stoltenberg some upbeat news, saying its units are

standing firm in the fiercely contested city.

Kyiv adding that Russian losses are several times higher than Ukrainian ones. He says Ukrainians living near the front lines of the war have been

seeking shelter from relentless bombing. Our own CNN's news crew got firsthand experience of what it's like to live with that kind of fear when

a Russian missile nearly hit the team.

Nick Paton Walsh tells us about their close call in the central Ukrainian town of Orikhiv.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Orikhiv hit by strategic aviation missiles. And we saw ourselves just what that's

like for locals, when a missile came very close to our armored vehicles.

WALSH (voice-over): Close to Ukraine's imminent counteroffensive in the southeast, where Russia has long been brutalizing, pain is commonplace and

the damage often everywhere and indiscriminate. The quiet is a blessing that rarely lasts.

We're warned of a missile strike incoming and leave. We can feel the pressure wave from the blast behind armored car. Matt (INAUDIBLE), our

producer, is in our second vehicle just past the smoke driver, Igor Madlich (ph) and isn't answering.

The missile landed right between our cars. For ten seconds, we have no idea if they are alive.

Matt, can you hear me?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I can hear you.

WALSH: THAT'S them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you guys OK?

WALSH: We're fine. Just leave. Drive out the way we left. We leave together. For so many, that choice of leaving is something imaginary that

happens above ground. The only power and water in town are down here.

Life underground here has been hard for quite some time. But it will get harder when the counteroffensive begins pushing certainly in this

direction.

If there is space for laughter, it's from this, a screechy slapstick Soviet era comedy about a drunken goofball briefly bending the thickset grimaces

here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking foreign language).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking foreign language).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking foreign language).

WALSH (voice-over): Guardian angels seem here to flit by in a town where 50 died in the war and 200 were injured. Safety is just a word here and

rubble is a place.

We've seen images of the damage caused by the missile that nearly hit us, a substantial crater one that you see similarly across town near a school for

sports that was hit by a strategic airstrike; also to a factory. All of them, it seemed, with very little military utility, according to locals.

[10:15:00]

WALSH: But part of the relentless bombardment Moscow is putting in place, as they seem to somehow think that might slow down an Ukrainian advance.

We're seeing signs of that in the villages around Orikhiv. Momentum potentially building; no obvious sign the counter offensive is underway.

But it feels very close and the uptick in Russian bombardment perhaps a reflection of that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: Our Nick Paton Walsh reporting there.

All right, coming up on CONNECT THE WORLD scientists from across the globe now urging the Ugandan president to veto a bill that could bring long

prison sentences or even the death penalty to some same sex relations. Details just ahead.

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MACFARLANE: The fate of LGBTQ rights hangs in the balance in Uganda. That nation's president will either veto or validate a bill that further

criminalizes homosexuality. Even identifying as gay could bring prison time, while some other cases could bring the death penalty.

The nation's already strict laws have forced some Ugandans to leave for fear of their lives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PURITY: My wardrobe is such a mess. I can be the queen that I am.

My name is Purity and I'm a trans woman and a trans activist. I'm trans refugee from Uganda.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And why did you decide to leave Uganda?

PURITY: I love Uganda so much. It's a beautiful country but when it comes to our rights, it's like hell. So I got arrested so many times. And the

last time I got arrested, I was done. Like I can't stay here. So I had to escape. I knew the next time probably I would be killed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: More than a dozen leading scientists from across the world have signed an open letter, urging the Ugandan president to veto the bill.

CNN's Stephanie Busari is covering all of this from Lagos, Nigeria.

And Stephanie, if this were to pass, it would represent one of the most extreme anti LGBTQ laws in the world.

When are we expecting or do we know when we're going to hear on this bill?

STEPHANIE BUSARI, CNN SENIOR AFRICA EDITOR: So hello, Christina. it's -- we're unsure when this might happen. A meeting did happen earlier today

about 2 pm local time in Uganda, where the president convened lawmakers.

But it was a very short meeting and which ended with him wishing the lawmakers a happy Eid festival. So you might know that tomorrow is the

important Muslim festival of Eid. And as public holidays in some places tomorrow and Monday, so it seems unlikely that we might get a decision

before the -- before that.

[10:20:00]

BUSARI: Perhaps early next week is what we're looking at now. But people who identify as LGBTQ in Uganda are waiting anxiously for this, for this

decision, because it really impacts their life.

Uganda is already a very harsh place for them to live. Many of them, as you had that in the introduction, talking about the persecution, widespread

persecution that they face. President Museveni had said that he wanted to hear from scientists before making his decision and which hence there's

some global group of scientists sent this open letter, telling him that there was nothing to discuss here. The science is very clear. Homosexuality

is a natural and normal variant of the human sexuality. So there was no debate to be had about whether this is a nurture or nature debate.

So will President Museveni take this into account?

He has called homosexuals deviants in the past and has a very strong anti gay stance. So he -- this is this is very much being framed as a Western

import into Africa. And it's not just Uganda. Tanzania is also looking very, very kind of harsh for LGBTQ people in that country.

MPs there are calling for harsher sentences and harsher punishments over in that country as well. So it's very much being framed as a Western import

versus African ideals and African traditions. And president Museveni has said in the past that Africa must save the world from homosexuality.

So it looks very unlikely, Christina, that's he won't -- he won't go forward and make this law when he does make a decision.

MACFARLANE: Yes, it is hugely deeply concerning and as you say, hugely impactful for the LGBTQ community there. It's an important story, one we're

going to keep across, Stephanie, as you say, as we hear on this bill in the days hopefully to come. Thank you for now.

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MACFARLANE (voice-over): All right, let's get you up to speed on some other stories that are on our radar. Right now.

Apple has opened its second store in India. It welcomed customers in New Delhi two days after opening a store in Mumbai. The U.S. tech giant is

planning to expand the number of products it assembles in India as it looks to cut reliance on China.

Cuban lawmakers reelected president Miguel Diaz-Canel to a second five-year term on Wednesday, he is the only candidate in his first term was marked by

deepening economic crisis on the Communist run island. Mr. Diaz-Canel previously replaced former president Raul Castro.

South Korean police believe K-pop star Moonbin took his own life. The 25 year old was found dead in his home in Seoul by his manager on Wednesday.

Moon was a member of the boy band, Astro.

A Texas cheerleader who was shot earlier this week is awake and alert, according to her cheer program leaders. She is expected to make a full

recovery from the attack, which happened after she and a friend approached a vehicle they believed was their own.

It's the latest violent encounter where a seemingly simple mistake was met with gunfire. CNN's Brian Todd reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Eighty-four-year-old Kansas City home owner Andrew Lester arraigned after being charged in the shooting

of 16-year-old Ralph Yarl.

Lester pleaded not guilty to two felony counts, first degree assault and armed criminal action. Yarl, shot in the head last Thursday after going to

the wrong house to pick up his siblings. As Yarl recovers from his wounds, the man who shot him is out on bail.

The probable cause statement said Andrew Lester believed someone was trying to break into his house. But the mayor of Kansas City says there's another

component at play.

MAYOR QUINTON LUCAS (D-MO), KANSAS CITY: I think that this has everything to do with race, the defendant's fear of Black people, Black men, Black

boys.

TODD: But this was also part of a series of incidents over the past few days where young people were shot after making the simple mistake of going

to the wrong place.

In Elgin Texas, about 30 minutes east of Austin, two teenage cheerleaders were shot and wounded in a parking lot on Monday night when one of them

mistook the suspect's car for their own. An injured cheerleader described the exchange.

HEATHER ROTH, SHOOTING VICTIM: I was trying to apologize and then here. Just halfway my window is down, just threw his hands up and then he hold up

a gun and just started shooting at all of us.

TODD: The suspect is now in custody, charged with deadly conduct.

And in Hebrew, New York, near the Vermont border, 20-year-old Kaylin Gillis was shot and killed on Saturday when a car her boyfriend was driving

accidentally turned into the wrong driveway. The sheriff says 65-year-old Kevin Monahan fired two shots from his porch. He's charged with second

degree murder.

[10:25:00]

TODD (voice-over): Monahan's lawyer says he was frightened from seeing multiple vehicles speeding up his driveway. But the sheriff says witnesses

and neighbors have another version.

SHERIFF JEFFREY MURPHY, WASHINGTON COUNTY, N.Y.: They weren't in the driveway for a very long time at all before they realized it was the wrong

house. And they were in the process of leaving, which makes his case obviously a little different. And I don't know how you could medicine

someone if you're leaving.

TODD: At least 28 states have stand your ground laws, which allow people to respond to threats of force if they're in a place where they have a

right to be.

Could stand your ground be cited in any of these cases?

CHERYL DORSEY, RETIRED LAPD SERGEANT: I don't see how it should come into play because there was no imminent threat by the individuals that were

shot. There was no furtive movement by these people. They weren't armed.

TODD: Retired LAPD Sergeant Cheryl Dorsey says the actions of some lawmakers here in Washington, some who carry firearms, some who wear pins

on their lapels shaped like AR-15 rifles aren't helping in this environment, she says. It seems like they're almost daring people to shoot

in these situations -- Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: When we come back, he's eighth out of a million to be chosen for the first ever civilian space mission around the moon, meant to fly on

this SpaceX Starship. I'll speak to choreographer Yemi A.D. about today's launch.

Plus, Florida's governor is turning up the heat on the Walt Disney World Company. What his committee is threatening to do to the happiest place on

Earth.

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MACFARLANE (voice-over): Welcome back. I'm Christina Macfarlane in London and you are watching CONNECT THE WORLD. Here are your headlines this hour.

Sudan's doctors union says 70 percent of the hospitals in and around the capital of Khartoum are out of service. A second ceasefire in as many days

between Sudan's military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces collapsed Wednesday, right as it was set to begin.

NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg says the Western military alliance, quote, "stands with Ukraine." He made a surprise visit to Kyiv earlier, his first

since Russia invaded Ukraine more than a year ago.

This comes as Moscow says, keeping Kyiv from joining the Western military alliance is one of its top goals.

Officials have ordered an investigation into a horrific crowd surge at a Ramadan charity event in Yemen. At least 78 people were killed at a school

in the capital, Sanaa, on Wednesday night. Local merchants were handing out food and donations, worth about $10.

MACFARLANE: Now as we saw earlier, last hour, SpaceX test launched Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built.

[10:30:00]

MACFARLANE: Let's take another look at the moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE (voice-over): Shortly after liftoff, Starship exploded in midair around the moment when the spacecraft was meant to separate from the rocket

booster. Starship is at the heart, of course, of NASA's plans to send humans back to the moon.

Missions are already lining up to launch. It's due to launch the Superbird- 9 communications satellite next year. NASA's Artemis program will use Starship for a crewed landing at the moon's south pole, some five decades

after the final Apollo mission.

And a Japanese billionaire is paying for the dearMoon mission. That's a weeklong tourism journey that will fly within 200 kilometers of the moon.

Yemi A.D. is one of the eight artists chosen for that mission. He's a Czech Nigerian that choreographed Kanye West's first world tour and has done

shows for Google, Mercedes Benz and "Saturday Night Live."

He is also a philanthropist that works with disadvantaged children across India, Indonesia and Nigeria. Let's take a listen to what he said about

being selected as a crew member.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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YEMI AKINYEMI DELE, CHOREOGRAPHER, ART DIRECTOR, PERFORMER, CORRESPONDENT AND ARTIST (voice-over): I am coming from middle of nowhere, from very,

very adverse condition.

And to make this trip and do this long life journey, to go from nothing, to in the end fly around the moon, I think that's going to be a huge

encouragement to all the kids that we serve, all the kids that we work for, to be able to also fulfill their dreams and to be able to get on their own

mission.

So that's what excites me the most.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: And Yemi is joining me now live from near the launch site.

Yemi, so good to see you. You are one of the ones with the golden tickets for the dearMoon mission. But standing there today, Yemi, watching that

launched must have been such a range of emotions. Just tell me what the experience was like for you.

YEMI: Thank you for having me. It's really hard to put into words. No, we were here for a couple of days. We saw the unsuccessful attempt first. We

stick around and we were just like praying for this to work.

It was the first time they were, you know, using the launch pad. It was the first time that anything this big and this advanced would take off the

ground. So when, when, when we saw that it's taking out the ground, I felt my heartbeat was racing.

And I was trembling because imagining that I will be on board that ship and that sound that was so intense just being so far. We're like five miles

away, imagining to be in the epicenter of the sound and be taken off on a quarter million miles journey around the moon.

It's very hard to -- very hard to fathom.

MACFARLANE: Did it endorse for you that this is definitely something you want to be doing, that you are in the right place?

YEMI: Yes I feel -- I feel that everything I went through my life has got somehow prepared me and brought me to this to this point. This is a great

privilege. It's amazing honor just to be -- to be part of this, to be part of the space community.

I think it's the right thing that we are looking up and looking and dreaming big and trying to push our frontiers, you know, instead of waging

wars with each other, you know, being like -- trying to make this by uniting forces.

And for me to be an artist, to be partly Nigerian, partly from Czech Republic, you know, representing the young people who also feel like they

maybe don't have a chance to dream big and maybe they cannot change and shape their future, I think for me, it's all about creativity.

I think creativity is what's bringing humankind forward.

MACFARLANE: Yes, yes, absolutely. I know the application process was a really long one. And you were handpicked from more than a million

candidates.

Why do you think you were chosen by the Japanese billionaire, Mr. Maezawa?

YEMI: This is a very hard question. I would prefer that MZ would answer it. I just -- I just feel that what MZ did is a history altering decision.

The fact that he decided to give this chance to artists and to choose -- to take this time to really see 1 million different applications and then cut

it down to 50,000 and then to 20 and then choose the eight people to represent humanity from different, you know, different parts of art. This

means so much not just to me --

[10:35:00]

YEMI: -- and to ask eight of us. But every creative soul in the world. I hope that I am there because of my art. I am hope that I'm there also

because of my past, because of my journey, because my life is about movement.

But not just about movement as a dancer but also about moving around the world. I'm traveling around the world for 20 years, seeing indigenous

tribes, seeing children from villages, from Indonesia to South America and Africa and trying to teach them about creativity, trying to infuse them

with that courage and self efficacy, that, if they want, they can shape their future.

They can shape their communities and they can shape the world.

MACFARLANE: Yes, and I know you'll be traveling with this group of artists and it will be exciting to see what you can create as a result of this

trip.

But I have to ask you, I mean, what -- were you at all frightened just then watching that launch explode in midair?

There must be a degree, something within you that is perhaps slightly apprehensive about doing the same.

YEMI: So since I was announced in December 8th, December last month, my life has changed a lot. I've been doing lots of media communication, have

been talking to lots of interesting people who were invited me and wanted to hear from me.

But at the same time people would be showing me this images, images of exploding spacecraft, images of this race car doing the belly flop and

asking me, so, how does it make you feel?

Are you afraid?

And it would be -- it would be silly to say I'm not afraid. I think fear is a -- is a necessary element of survivor -- of survival. And -- but my

curiosity and just trust that this matters, that this is very meaningful. This just is more powerful than my fear.

And also I have seen -- I'm in such a great hands with SpaceX. You know, the fact that, in the past, there was almost all about space race, right?

Trying to push it, you know, like being on time because the press is watching and we need to satisfy the optics.

But here at SpaceX, I've seen something else. I've seen them, you know, calling off the launch because of that -- of that failure and not really

caring about how it looks but really caring about making it work.

MACFARLANE: Yes, I think you are going to be in safe hands, Yemi, and I can't wait to see what you and your group of creatives will produce as a

result of this fight. It's been great to speak to you. Great to get your perspective on seeing this first-hand. Really thrilling to be there today,

I'm sure. Thank you so much.

YEMI: Thank you very much for having me.

MACFARLANE: All right, still ahead, the Sky Blues fly sky high, even in their away kits. A big win for Manchester City in the Champions League.

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[10:40:00]

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANWAR HADID, PALESTINIAN FILMMAKER: What's happening right now is a great example of people's religion, people's love. People's connection to God

just kind of gets thrown out the window.

When these type of things happen and governments get out of control to the point where you can't see people for who they are and allow them to pray in

peace, you know, I think it's a big problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Next hour, my colleague Becky Anderson's exclusive interview with Anwar Hadid and Vin Arfuso to talk about their new film, "Walled Off,"

highlighting the stories of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation.

And if you want to read about it, head over to CNN star section to get a deeper look into the inspiration behind the film, details on how it was

shot and its global response. That's published in the next few hours.

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