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High-Rise Apartment Among Targets Hit in Russian Airstrikes; Turkish Evacuation Plane Shot at Over Sudan; Reports of Fighting in Khartoum Despite Ceasefire Extension; Former Vice President Mike Pence Testifies Before Grand Jury; Humanitarian Crisis Intensifies Amid Severe Shortages; U.S. Fed Chair Tricked into Call with Fake Zelenskyy; British Iranian Activists in U.K. Call for Rally. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired April 28, 2023 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:37]

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: I'm Eleni Giokos live from Abu Dhabi, and this is CONNECT THE WORLD.

Coming up this hour, Russia launches a wave of deadly airstrikes across Ukraine. There are reports of fighting in Khartoum despite a new ceasefire.

Former U.S. vice president Mike Pence testifies before a grand jury about his former boss Donald Trump. And how similar can two songs be before it's

considered copyright infringement? Ed Sheeran is looking for answers.

Russian forces are once again taking aim at civilian targets in Ukraine, including presidential -- residential homes, rather. Right now rescue teams

are desperately trying to find survivors from this high-rise apartment tower that was hit by a missile in the city of Uman this morning. Ukraine's

Ministry of Internal Affairs says 27 of the building's 46 apartments were destroyed and others were damaged.

CNN's Nic Robertson is on the scene of that attack and brings us an update on the number of people who have lost their lives.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: We are seeing the body count climbing. It climbs again. Police just updated us, 17 people dead, 18

injured. Three of the dead are children.

Looking over my shoulder here, Dave is going to zoom in there. And you can see the firefighters clustered around the lower part of the building, the

first floor of the building there. They are still searching the rubble there. The police say they're going to focus on that.

Now Dave is going to pan up and take you higher up in the building there up towards the eighth floor. The smoke still coming out of there. And I can

tell, you a tragic story about what happened there overnight. We have spoken to a lady. Her friends lived in one of the apartments up there on

the eighth floor. The husband is in hospital. The wife managed to escape, but there is a 13-year-old and a 7-year-old daughter still missing.

The lady telling us this was an absolute floods of tears. Still missing somewhere up there on the eighth floor. And the police say that's where

they're going to go to next. They say they're not going to stop searching here until they've gone through everything and turned over all the debris

here. 109 people registered living in this building.

And as I'm talking to you here, behind David there is a line of people just waiting here to find out what's happened to their loved ones, what's

happened to their friends. A lot of emergency workers here. The Ukrainians sadly are getting all too experienced about clearing up after Russian

strikes like this. 21 of the 23 missiles Russia fired into Ukraine last night were intercepted.

This is what happens when just one gets through. And this is the fear that we have been hearing from neighbors here, not knowing if this is going to

happen again. The lady who lived in the building right here told me she heard the woosh of the missiles. Put her kids in the bathtub, put a blanket

over their heads, and just hoped that they would see the daylight come up in the morning.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: All right. While since we heard from Nic, we've learned that the death toll has now risen to 19 in that attack. We're also told that a

separate attack killed a mother and her 2-year-old child in the city of Dnipro.

Nic Robinson will join us live from Uman shortly with an update on search and rescue efforts there.

Well, foreign nations are urging Sudan's warring sides to fully implement the now extended temporary ceasefire. But Khartoum and other areas of Sudan

are still warring today. Parts of the capital injuring artillery air fire and air strikes during a 14th day fighting. Adding to the chaos reports of

gun and rocket fire and mass looting in the western Darfur region.

And while evacuations continue and incidents involving a Turkish transport plane highlights the dangers of getting people out of Sudan. It took

gunfire as it was preparing to land at an airport just north of Khartoum. No one was injured.

We've got Larry Madowo is with us from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, the entry point for thousands of evacuees.

Larry, great to have you there. I know that you've just arrived. I want you to tell me what you're seeing. Of course Jeddah port becoming a vital entry

point for evacuations.

[10:05:01]

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Eleni. Most of the people who have been evacuated from Sudan have ended up here in Jeddah in Saudi

Arabia. That's because across the Red Sea from Port Sudan, that is the main seaport for Sudan. But to get to Port Sudan, people who got there endured

about have miles of a journey, more than 800 kilometers across a war zone, the territory that even in the best of times takes 12 hours, but right now

it takes up to 30 hours.

They've been joining convoys. They've been hiring buses and trying to make that journey over to Port Sudan. And then, hopefully, if you're lucky, get

on a Saudi ship and come over here to Port Sudan.

So we're across the border here. Many of them have been arriving thanks to the Saudi Navy. The King Faisal Naval Base where they come in here, they

have temporary rights to be here for a couple of days. They get access to a hotel until they can then move on to other countries. So far the Saudis

tell us that they have evacuated almost 3,000 people. But only about 100 of them where Saudis. Most of them were from other nationalities, 80 in total.

And we're not inside the naval base because it's a military installation. And when there is a ship coming we will be able to get closer to that. But

in the absence of it we're out here waiting for word when the next ship will be arriving with these people who have been evacuated from Port Sudan.

It's been a chaotic scene. That's what it's been described as in Port Sudan because so many people are trying to get out of the country. Not just

foreigners but also many Sudanese people. But to be able to get on one of these ships, you have to have either a passport of another country, so you

have to be a dual national, U.K., U.S., German, France, Swiss, dual national with Sudan. Or at least a right to live in another country or a

visa to another country.

So that is why so far all the reports are there's prioritizing for nationals or dual nationals or people who have residency in another country

or here in the Gulf. But this has been an important lifeline for people from India, and China, and the Philippines, and Pakistan, and Germany, and

France, and all around the world to get out of the conflict in Sudan -- Eleni.

GIOKOS: And we saw some of the images from Port Sudan and people also arriving in Jeddah. But you highlight the most important thing that people

need to get on a bus, get somehow to the port. And that's when it becomes difficult, right? You need the right paperwork, you need the right

resources, and you need money.

The ceasefires, Larry, you and I have been covering this. We have seen so many of them fail. We had a fragile ceasefire, a three-day ceasefire

ending. It's now been extended. What is the situation on the ground in terms of the ability of people to be able to start making that journey to

one of these exit points?

MADOWO: So this is the fifth or probably the sixth ceasefire that's been agreed to. It's the third 72-hour ceasefire that was negotiated by what is

called the tripartite mechanism, the U.N., the African Union, and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, and the Quad, the U.K., the

U.S., Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. But the two sides have agreed to it in principle. They say we agree to this.

It's necessary to allow some people time to reconnect with their families, to get basic supplies, and then shortly after you see these statements

where they accuse each other of having first violated it. The Rapid Support Forces will say, no, we respect that. But this is a breach of international

law. That's the other side, the Sudanese armed forces, are not respecting it.

People in the middle, the 45 million people in Sudan who are caught in this crossfire, and they can't all leave the country. You can't evacuate 45

million people out of a country and leave it empty. And that is why whenever there is a lull in fighting they try to make this journey, this

dangerous journey over 30 hours to try to get to Port Sudan or to the Egyptian border, the Ethiopian border or the Chad border, to get away from

the heart of the conflict -- Eleni.

GIOKOS: Yes. Thank you so much, Larry. Great to have you on the show.

We've got Stephanie Busari standing by for us in Lagos to give us more insight into the extension of that three-day ceasefire.

And, Stephanie, look, we've ascertained that both sides are pointing fingers in terms of who isn't adhering to the ceasefire, but the hope is

that something will hold in terms of changing the situation on the ground to get more people out.

STEPHANIE BUSARI, CNN SENIOR EDITOR, AFRICA: Yes. And Saudi Arabia has been helping nations to evacuate. So far we have around -- over 2,000 people

have been evacuated from several nations, and that is ongoing. But these ceasefires have left the Sudanese citizens terrified. People telling us

that they holed up in homes, they can hear bombing and heavy firepower going on over their heads.

And then they don't know how they're going to get out of these places as countries scramble to evacuate their own citizens. The Sudanese are left

wondering how they are going to get out, and many are taking these perilous journeys to places like Egypt.

[10:10:04]

And now people are telling me that Egypt has stopped letting men under 50 into the country. They are refusing to give them visas to get in. So,

Eleni, the ceasefire has not held. It's clear that both sides are not adhering to what they say when they say they're going to stop fighting. And

it's just the Sudanese people who are left to carry the brunt of this, Eleni.

GIOKOS: Stephanie Busari, thank you so much.

Well, I want to take us back to our top story and Ukraine experiencing a barrage of missile strikes, and specifically hurting one of the cities that

lies between Kyiv and Moldova. It is Uman. I've got Nic Robertson standing by for us.

Nic, I know that you're on site. The death toll is rising. Initially it was 17. We're looking at 19 and search and rescue operations continuing.

ROBERTSON: Yes, and the police have just told us the death toll has climbed again, as we've seen it do all day. The death toll is now 20 from the

apartment building behind me. We're told that three of those children. I don't know if David can get a shot for you pass these diggers, but there

are still rescue workers, recovery workers behind the diggers looking into the basement area of the apartment building that they are clearing out

there right now.

But if David tilts up you can see the pancake floors of the building up there, and the police have told us that they're going to be searching

through that area next. And a neighbor from here told us that her friend, who lived up on the eighth floor, her friends survived. The husband is in

hospital. But their 13-year-old daughter and 7-year-old daughter, they believe that they are still somewhere high up in that building.

And the police are saying that they're going to continue with this recovery rescue mission until they've been through and cleared all the rubble and

searched everywhere. So it does seem as if the death toll will climb further. And it does seem at least as if more of those who are awaiting,

more of those bodies waiting to be discovered are two young girls higher up in the building.

Now we're just moving. Police officers here need us to move back a little bit for the rescue workers, recovery workers can continue doing their job,

but witnesses describe what happened in the early hours of this morning. Everyone asleep in their beds in the apartment here. One of the first

people on the scene, a man told us that he got here. He said he could hear children screaming. That they managed to pull one woman out of the rubble

very quickly.

They put her an ambulance but he said unfortunately she died when she got to a hospital. And a lady in another one of the apartment buildings here

heard the woosh of the missile, thought it was coming for her apartment, put her kids in the bathtub, she said, put pillows on their heads. She

really thought that they weren't going to live to see the morning. Of course they did. She feels lucky.

But she said so many children lived in this apartment building. And I think the full toll is yet to be revealed here, even though this is the deadliest

single strike on civilians since January this year.

GIOKOS: Absolutely tragic. Thank you so much for that, Nic Robertson, for us in Uman, Ukraine.

Now to the historic moments in U.S. politics. An American vice president has testified about the president he served beside. That's a first in

modern history. Sources telling CNN that Mike Pence gave sworn testimony before a grand jury for more than five hours Thursday. This is all part of

the federal investigation of the 2020 presidential election. Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the results and the deadly riots at the U.S. Capitol on

January 6th, 2021.

We've got CNN's Katelyn Polantz joining us now.

Pence had avoided speaking under oath as part of any investigation. Tell us what we're hearing right now.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Eleni, this he did indeed speak under oath, and it was for more than five hours

yesterday before the federal grand jury. Now the public wasn't able to witness that. Those proceedings do remain secret as investigators continue

to investigate the 2020 election aftermath, what Donald Trump and others were doing to try and overturn the election result, and what happened on

January 6th, that day that we know that Donald Trump and Mike Pence had direct conversations, where Trump was still pressuring him to be the person

that stopped the outcome of the election. Has refused to do that.

And this -- it was not a surprise yesterday. It was quite a moment to mark, historically, legally politically. But this wasn't a surprise because there

had been a subpoena we reported many months ago that Pence had received.

[10:15:04]

And it went through the court system. Ultimately, on Wednesday, Donald Trump lost a bid to try and drop block Pence from answering some questions

about their direct conversations. And so when Pence came in yesterday to the federal court, it was quite expected that he would be asked to divulge

exactly what he recalled from those conversations he would have had directly with Donald Trump, moving that investigation forward.

This is something that the special counsel's office and the Justice Department really have been building toward getting people's recollections

of what happened, especially around Pence and with Pence after the election. Still, at this point, though, we don't know exactly what he said

or what he was asked, or how it would even factor in to a criminal case if it was brought.

And Pence's team at this point is only acknowledging that he was willing to comply with the court order and with the subpoena. They haven't even

asserted that he did indeed testify.

GIOKOS: Katelyn Polantz, thank you so much.

Well, still ahead on the show, Sudan's growing humanitarian crisis, we'll be talking to the World Food Programme's East Africa director about the

challenges his group and others face in the ongoing conflict. That's all coming up. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GIOKOS: The U.N.'s humanitarian corridor in Sudan says he is extremely worried about Sudan's dwindling food supply. Nearly two weeks into this

conflict food, water and fuel are running out across the country if not already gone. While much of the focus has been on Khartoum, the Darfur

region is facing a particularly acute crisis.

I want to talk more about this humanitarian situation. We've got Michael Dunford. He's the World Food Programme's regional director for Eastern

Africa, and joins me now from Nairobi.

Great to have you on the show. Look, I know that you're constantly in crisis meetings. So we appreciate you taking the time to have this

conversation. You suspended operations at the start of the fighting and what we've seen on the ground. You tragically lost three of your staff

members. What is the timeline in terms of reigniting operations on the ground? And what do you need to see to feel safe enough to get back in?

MICHAEL DUNFORD, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME REGIONAL DIRECTOR, EASTERN AFRICA: Thanks very much. Yes, unfortunately, tragically, we lost three staff. We

lost another five partners in that event on the 15th, so immediately we did suspend to ensure that our staff was safe and that we're able to move them

to safe locations.

We are already starting to think, how do we get operations up and running again. And I expect that there'll be a few who will be taking decision very

shortly. Before this crisis, there were 15.8 million people who were acutely hungry, almost a third of the population.

[10:20:08]

In the last two weeks, that number has increased dramatically. We have seen the images on the TV, you've seen people moving from their homes, forced to

move because of the crisis and the fighting. WFP, the World Food Programme, and other humanitarian actors are already looking to see how do we

reengage, how do we feel the plates of the people of Sudan?

GIOKOS: The numbers are startling. The stories that we're hearing from people and their experiences are absolutely scary. Compounded in that,

you've had 4,000 metric tons of food that has been looted. What percentage of your stockpiles have been attacked? And are you concerned about being

able to replenish those stocks?

DUNFORD: So we have huge resources in country today. What we're doing is trying to protect them. Trying to ensure that we don't lose anymore. We are

asking principals on both sides to protect humanitarian commodities, humanitarian assets, and of course, humanitarian workers. Give us the space

to meet the needs of the population. Absolutely critical.

We can respond as soon as the security situation allows, but it will require all sides to respect that humanitarian access and space to allow us

to do so.

GIOKOS: So let's ask that. Let's talk about that. In terms of the ceasefire that has now been extended, the last few days had a largely -- you know, I

guess, a ceasefire that was largely adhered to, but it was still fragile, shaky and we still heard fighting. What is your understanding about the

security situations particularly in Darfur and other parts of the country, that would possibly allow for humanitarian corridors to open up?

DUNFORD: So unfortunately what we've seen in addition to the fighting and the insecurity is increased levels of lawlessness linked to the

displacement that is occurring. Sudan was already hosting 1.2 million refugees, many of them are being forced back to their countries of origin

because of the insecurity that is increasing. So there's a whole range of different factors. But first and foremost we need the conflict to end.

We need the fighting to stop so that people can go home, people can meet their own needs to the extent possible, and where not humanitarian actors

such as the World Food Programme are able to operate. As I said at the beginning, we have commodities in country, we have the capacity to respond.

What we don't have yet is the humanitarian space to do so. And so it's a call to both sides to respect that and allow humanitarian actors to work.

GIOKOS: You were talking about the numbers, about 15.8 million people that were facing acute hunger. That number is certainly to rise. We are hearing

the U.N. saying that the movement of people from Sudan into Chad could reach up to 270, 000, and also into South Sudan. This is going to further

exacerbate the situation in Chad and South Sudan that were relying on food imports from Sudan.

So give us an overall perspective on what this fighting actually means, regionally, in terms of food security.

DUNFORD: Yes, it's going to have a devastating impact. As you say, WFP was importing sorghum from Sudan for our operations in South Sudan. Already we

are seeing prices increase in the market in Juba in South Sudan. The same is happening in Chad. This conflict inside Sudan today has potentially

regional implications. And I fear, the longer it goes, the worse it is going to have across the region. So again, desperate times, absolutely

essential that we see a ceasefire.

The other additional challenge is, to what extent will WFP be able to respond, given that we already are on reduced rations in many of the

countries that we're operating because we simply do not have the levels of funding required to meet the needs population. So a bad situation quickly

getting worse in a region that was already extraordinarily fragile.

GIOKOS: Thank you so much, Michael, for clarifying what you're experiencing and what is still needed. So funding and of course a safer environment for

you to get in. We hope you get in soon because people are in desperate need of assistance.

[10:25:02]

Michael Dunford for us, coming to us from Kenya.

Well, coming up, Iranian activists in the U.K. call for protests Saturday. We'll tell you what they are asking the British government to do. That's

all coming up.

And the world's most powerful banker thought he was talking to the Ukrainian president, but it was a pair of Russian pranksters instead. Their

conversation when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GIOKOS: Welcome back. I'm Eleni Giokos in Abu Dhabi, and you're watching CONNECT THE WORLD.

Here are your headlines this hour. At least 20 people were killed in a Russian airstrike on a high-rise apartment in the Ukrainian city of Uman.

It's believed to be the deadliest single attack in Ukraine since January. A separate Russian airstrike this morning killed a woman and her 2-year-old

child in Dnipro.

The U.N. says thousands of people are still trapped in residential areas of Sudan and we are getting reports of heavy gunfire, even though a ceasefire

was supposed to be extended. At the same time, the White House is urging Americans to leave Sudan within the coming hours. But the U.S. government

says it can only help its citizens from afar.

Well, the chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, arguably the most important person in the world of global finance and banking, appears to have been the

victim of a prank phone call from Russia. Jerome Powell thought that he was having a conversation with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in

January, but in fact it was two Russian comedians who are supporters of Vladimir Putin. Here's how that call began.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEROME POWELL, U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: Let me just say it's a great honor to speak to you today. I'm glad you've made time to speak to me. And

it's just great to be with you today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: Well, CNN's international correspondent Matthew Chance is tracking the story for us. Perplexing to say the least. This happened in January.

Jerome Powell thinking he was talking to President Zelenskyy. Take us to that conversation.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, this is something that these two Russian comedians, they do quite a lot. Vovan

and Lexus is what they're sort of like show names are. It's what they call themselves. And they routinely pose as world leaders or prominent figures,

and then call other world leaders and other prominent figures and have these conversations, which are not necessarily hilarious but they are meant

I think to be as sort of an approximation of the kind of conversation you'd expect those two leaders to have, as a way of sort of getting into public

what otherwise, you know, isn't made public.

[10:30:18]

And when it comes to Jerome Powell, the chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, they were talking to him about the U.S. economy, about the

interest rate rises in the country. He was talking about how the economy could fall into recession or at least experience very slow growth. They

also tried to draw him on his assessment of the Russian central bank, given how many sanctions have been imposed against the country.

Now to his credit, he didn't in the clips that I've heard actually say anything that was sort of, you know, particularly, you know, inappropriate

or anything like that. In fact, the Federal Reserve has released a statement saying that no, you know, sensitive or confidential information

was discussed. But nevertheless, you know, the fact that, you know, what Jerome Powell believed was a private conversation has now been made public,

they're not going to be happy about that.

Remember, you know, every time this figure says anything in public, it could potentially move the markets. I don't think it has on this occasion,

but, you know, that's why he's so tightlipped about economic matters.

GIOKOS: Absolutely. I mean, you're so right on that. Potentially market moving information. These Russian comedians have targeted, as you say,

other prominent figures. It is how they operate. The question becomes, how do they get through all the firewalls within these teams to eventually get

to the person at the top?

CHANCE: Well, I mean, who knows? I mean, I don't know how they do that. But obviously, you know, there's a lot of, you know, a lot of people want to

speak to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for instance. I mean, you heard Jerome Powell there talking about what an honor it was to be on a call with this figure.

GIOKOS: Yes.

CHANCE: And so, you know, when they masquerade as Zelenskyy or whoever else, on one occasion several years ago they posed as Vladimir Putin and

called Elton John to discuss LGBT rights. They posed in the past as Greta Thunberg and got through to the Canadian leader, Justin Trudeau. They got

through to Prince Harry in Britain as well and discussed environmental issues. You know, they always make sure they occupy the persona of somebody

who, you know, people want to speak to at a given moment.

And so I think that probably unlocks a lot of doors, frankly. And it seems to work for them because they have been doing this for several years now

routinely. And there is no sign that they're being, you know, curtailed in any way. You know, they're still being very successful, as the Jerome

Powell conversation, you know, suggests.

GIOKOS: Yes. All right. Matthew Chance, thank you so much. Great to have you on the show.

Well, the U.S. is imposing new sanctions on groups in Russia and Iran that are accused of taking Americans hostage. Officials say the move should

serve as a warning to those that might be thinking of doing the same. The sanctions notably impact Russia's federal security service and Iran's

Revolutionary Guard Corps. Now the penalties come amid several high-profile cases of Americans that the Biden administration considers to be wrongfully

detained.

Iranian activists in the U.K. are calling for a rally on Saturday demanding that the British government designate Iran's Revolutionary Guard as a

terrorist organization. Activists and members of parliament have been pushing the U.K. to do so for months now what the U.S. has already done.

One British Iranian activist has become the face of this campaign after setting up camp outside the British Foreign Office, and going on a hunger

strike that has now entered its 65th day.

Our Jomana Karadsheh has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Iran International, a powerful voice the Islamic Republic once silenced. It labeled the U.K.

based opposition channel a terrorist entity, but it didn't stop there.

(On-camera): In November London's Met Police notified the channel of serious security threats against a number of its journalists. Armed police

were placed outside its studios but the threat had become so severe British authorities could no longer guarantee their safety. And in February, Iran

International announced it had no choice but to relocate to Washington.

(Voice-over): This past year alone, the Met and intelligence services have foiled at least 15 plots they say, projected from Iran to kidnap or kill

individuals, including U.K. nationals on British soil.

[10:35:04]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The IRGC have managed to infiltrate the U.K. to suppress our freedom of expression.

KARADSHEH: Many in the Iranian community say they're now living in a constant state of fear. Every time this couple go out to a London protest,

they tell us their children fear for their safety.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't want to check our locks every night, set up alarms. We are scared, our families--

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want a freedom of speech to be valued. We are living in the heart of democracy, and it doesn't look likely.

KARADSHEH: British-Iranians who have been gathering outside the Foreign Office demanding their government do more. They want Iran's Revolutionary

Guards, the IRGC, to be designated as a terrorist organization, something the U.S. and a few other countries have done.

Their demand is Vahid Beheshti's cause. The British-Iranian activist, journalist has been camped outside the Foreign Office on a hunger strike

for more than two months. He was jailed twice and tortured before he fled his homeland 24 years ago.

VAHID BEHESHTI, BRITISH IRANIAN ACTIVIST AND JOURNALIST: They took everything away from us, but I can say I was one of those lucky people who

could run away and come out of the country. But they are here now. Here where we are sitting in front of Foreign Office is the most, safest place

in London. I don't feel safe here.

KARADSHEH: We met Beheshti on his 59th day of surviving on a handful of brown sugar cubes and water. He says he's lost more than 17 percent of his

body mass, too frail to get himself out of the wheelchair.

BEHESHTI: You feel your body start eating your muscles. But mentally and internally, I'm getting stronger.

KARADSHEH: Beheshti's voice is being heard. More than 100 parliamentarians signed a letter to the prime minister urging the government to designate

the IRGC. With his wife, a British politician by his side, Beheshti is vowing to keep up the pressure. It's not only about Iranians, he says, this

is about standing up for the most basic of British values.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They are terrorists. They must go.

KARADSHEH: Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: Iran did not respond for CNN's request for comment, but it has condemned similar destinations in the past. A U.K. government spokesperson

told CNN they have sanctioned more than 300 Iranian individuals and entities, including the IRGC.

The spokesperson says they do not comment on future destinations, but, quote, "We do not tolerate threats to life and intimidation of any kind

towards individuals in the U.K. And we'll continue to use all the tools at our disposal to protect against any threats from the Iranian state.

Still ahead, there is joy in Barcelona. The women's football side is a step closer to adding another piece of silverware to their trophy cabinet.

That's all coming up.

[10:40:22]

GIOKOS: So how similar can two songs be before it's considered copyright infringement? That's what a New York jury has to decide in a high-profile

case against British popstar Ed Sheeran. Sheeran took the stand Thursday and brought his guitar with him to show jurors the differences between his

Grammy-winning hit, "Thinking Out Loud," as well as Marvin Gaye's classic, "Let's Get It On."

And I want to play both songs for you, so you can hear the similarities yourself.

(MUSIC)

GIOKOS: All right. That's a pretty good mash-up, I have to say. Now the lyrics and melody of the two songs are clearly different, but it's the

chord progression that is at the heart of a lawsuit. Sheeran's testimony continues on Monday.

Now we move to sport. The Women's Champions League is gearing up for the final, and Barcelona managed to advance after beating Chelsea on aggregate.

While there was disappointment amongst the Chelsea players, do the Barcelona women have what it takes to lift the cup? The Catalans were in

fine form last night. What are their chances?

Amanda Davies, do you have the answer for us?

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN'S WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: You know what, Eleni, I'm so pleased you've asked me that question, and not to specify the differences

between those two tracks earlier because I'm lost with that one. Though, yes, Barcelona, this is the competition that they dominated for so many

years. This is their competition. They have reached the final for the third straight year.

They were beaten in the decider last year by Lyon, a side that were knocked out by the semifinal this time. They are absolutely the favorites heading

into the final on June 3rd. Regardless of who wins the second semifinal between Arsenal and Wolfsburg, being played on Monday night. They are so

comfortable. They did not really have many chances, but the chances they had they absolutely took.

And that was even without the Ballon d'Or winner, Alexa Putellas, who, yes, made her first appearance on the bench in 10 months, but wasn't needed to

be called into action. So she'll be hoping she will get that moment come the final on June 3rd. But we've got plenty more coming up in just a couple

of minutes.

GIOKOS: Yes. We'll see you in a couple of minutes for more sports news, and I'll be back at the top of the hour. We'll see you soon.

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[10:46:10]

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