Return to Transcripts main page
Connect the World
At Least 20 Killed in Attack on High-Rise Apartment in Uman; Reports of Fighting in Khartoum Despite Extended Truce; New Detail about Suspect in Leaked Intelligence Documents; Residents Fight Gangs as Crime Rate Doubles in One Year; Sunday on CNN: "The Whole Story" Monarchy in the Modern World. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired April 28, 2023 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: This hour thousands remain trapped in Sudan as rival Military leaders agreed to extend a fragile
ceasefire. But first, your headlines this hour.
At least 20 people are dead in Ukraine after Russia launched a barrage of lone rage cruise missiles early this morning. A high rise apartment
building is among the targets hit in the Russian airstrikes.
Regulators in the U.S. are releasing their report on the Silicon Valley Bank collapse officials have already described it as a quote textbook case
of mismanagement. Iranian activists in the UK are calling for a rally on Saturday demanding that the British Government designate Iran's
Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization.
Welcome to our second hour of 'Connect the World' smoke is still rising from Khartoum and other parts of Sudan food and water are running
dangerously low and thousands of trapped civilians are desperate to find a way out.
One American teacher has been describing her harrowing escape. She's also expressing frustration with the U.S. Embassy in Sudan. So tonight we ask
has the U.S. failed to protect its citizens in Sudan. CNNs. Kylie Atwood is with us the USAID departments in Washington.
We have Larry Madowo in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, where nearly 200 more evacuees have arrived just today and consular services are trying to help
fleeing Americans from a fight. Larry, I want to get to you and here's the thing. This has become a very important point for people trying to leave
Sudan getting through to Saudi Arabia, what is the latest in terms of evacuations?
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Eleni was awaiting more ships coming from Port Sudan across the Red Sea to here in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. And the
scale of evacuation we're seeing out of Sudan compares in recent times, only to the evacuation out of Afghanistan as the Taliban were taking over.
And one of the main landing points is here in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, because so many people are ending up in Port Sudan after enduring a harrowing
journey from Khartoum that's about 500 miles away, in the best of times, that's about 12 hours of a trip.
But right now, that trip could take up to 30 hours, at least one person told CNN, and when they get there, they hope that they can get on one of
these Saudi ships that's coming, who over here, the King Faisal naval base where they can then go on to whatever country that they need to go to they
get free hotel here to get free food.
A warm welcome, after a terrifying journey to get across Sudan, from the capital Khartoum, to Port Sudan and then across the Red Sea we saw one
ship, may be two ships arrive this morning. From Port Sudan, we're expecting more we don't know exactly why we're on the port.
If there's an arriving ship, we will be told and they'll get close and we can speak to the people who are coming in. But Saudi Arabia is a key
diplomatic player in Sudan. It is part of what is called the quad. The quad includes the UK, the U.S. Saudi Arabia and the UAE and even the latest
ceasefire was negotiated by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.
So it's not just helping evacuate nationalities of different origins from Port Sudan. It's also actively trying to get people, the two warring
generals to agree so far. It says from here in Jeddah, they've brought in almost 3000 people have 80 nationalities.
GIOKOS: All right, Larry, thank you so much. Kylie Atwood standing by for us! Many people are asking the question why the U.S. has not activated more
resources to get citizens out of Sudan, instead relying on other resources that have been, you know, activated by Western allies. What is the state
department saying?
KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, listen, we heard yesterday from the Secretary of State who essentially said that overland
routes in the opinion of the U.S. government continue to be the best way out for Americans, because they think that they can create a sustained
ability for those Americans to get out through those overland routes.
But those are still of course plagued with tribulation and violence along the way. We spoke with some family members of Americans, and who may making
those journeys listen to what they told us.
[11:05:00]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MUNA DAOUD, DAUGHTER OF AMERICANS TRAPPED IN SUDAN: Never in a million years did I imagine that as American citizens, my parents would be left
defend for themselves in a war zone
ATWOOD (voice over): Muna Daoud describes the harrowing story of her parents, American citizens trying to make their way out of Sudan after a 12
hour bus ride from Khartoum to Port Sudan, during which her father was held up at gunpoint by one of the country's warring armies. They found no
support for U.S. citizens.
DAOUD: No American presence, no American assistance, no signage anywhere to tell them where to go.
ATWOOD (voice over): Arriving at the gates of this hotel. They showed their U.S. passports, but received no shelter.
DAOUD: They told her no, oh, no, no, no, you have to wait, without providing lodging, assistance, food water. My father is running low on his
medication that he needs for both his heart condition and his blood pressure.
ATWOOD (voice over): Other travelers have descended upon Sudan's border with Egypt, some finally finding water, but others including Americans, not
so lucky.
MAISOUN SULFAB, HAS AMERICAN FAMILY MEMBERS TRPPED IN SUDAN: The wait time at the border is many days children's are crying, and they're just lying on
the ground. It's a desert.
IMAD, SON OF AMERICANS TRAPPED IN SUDAN: They're stuck at the border. There's no water, there's no food. The border is essentially a humanitarian
crisis. And is the not the only Americans who are facing this issue.
ATWOOD (voice over): Muna and Leila is an American couple living in California, like Muna they're deeply frustrated by the lack of U.S.
government support in these dangerous and complex conditions. As they've tried to assist their parents escape.
IMAD: We contacted them on numerous occasions, asking for just bare minimum help. Just let us know. If you are going to help us please let us know
you're going to help some help us
ATWOOD (voice over): U.S. officials say it's more dangerous to carry out a government led evacuation from the country right now than to have American
citizens joined the overland caravans.
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATES: Were in contact with Americans who have registered with us in one way or another and very active contact.
ATWOOD (voice over): The doubt paints a different picture.
DAOUD: The only communication was to somehow make your way to Port Sudan because that seems kind of very vague. And it seems like different people,
different Americans are getting different information.
ATWOOD (voice over): And in recent days, many other countries around the world including the UK, India, and Germany have blown their citizens out of
the country.
DAOUD: I'm just appalled, and frankly disgusted that European nations are able to coordinate evacuations of their citizens. But somehow Americans are
left defend for themselves.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ATWOOD: And yesterday, we heard from the White House spokesperson saying that Americans in the country should take advantage of options to get out
of Sudan in the next 24 to 48 hours. Now, obviously, they say that because there's no prospect here that the situation on the ground is going to get
any better anytime soon.
But of course, that is a very specific timeframe for these Americans who are not only having troubles, you know, with the violence that is
occurring, but making their way to places where they can get out of the country on these caravans or on these flights that are going out by other
countries.
GIOKOS: By other countries. That is the key. Kylie Atwood thanks you so very much. In just a moment, we'll be speaking to the former U.S. Special
Envoy to the Horn of Africa. That's coming up in just a moment.
But now I want to bring you back to Ukraine. An urgent search for survivors is happening at the scene of a bombed out apartment tower in the Ukrainian
city of Oman. That's happening right now the building was hit by a Russian missile early Friday morning while people were sleeping so far.
At least 20 people are confirmed killed but that toll is expected to climb it is believed to be the worst single attack on Ukrainian civilians. Since
a high rise apartment in April was hit back in January.
You've got Nic Robertson, standing by fries from inside the building neck I hear that was actually struck as rescue operations are happening. And we
can see the destruction behind you absolutely tragic story. Take us through what you're seeing.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, this is where the rescue and recovery effort is going to shift to up here once the rescue and
recovery mission down at ground floor and I'm just going to ask David to pan around so you can see it will shift up here.
But what you're looking at there, you shouldn't be able to see those other apartment buildings that should been that was where the rest of this
apartment was. The floors pancake down. So we're in the crawlspace above the top floor.
That where the floor stops there that was where the other apartments were below they're completely pancake down when The rescue recovery is completed
at the ground floor level the firefighters are going to shift up here they got the ropes laid out already.
[11:10:00]
They're going to lower themselves off the edge here, down to the concrete, pancake, concrete floors of the apartments below literally, this is where
those apartments where you can see where the building is shown off that the side over there completely shown off all of that there was where those
apartments are.
We've been talking to one lady who lives close to here; one of her friends was in one of those apartments on the eighth floor. She says her friend
survived the friend's husband is in hospital, but their two daughters a 13 year old girl and a set her seven year old sister are missing.
And there's a real concern that they will unfortunately have perished but their bodies may still be up there trapped on the eighth floor along with
potentially other people. So the firefighters will come up here.
And as they've been doing all day in this dangerous mission here literally putting themselves in danger to try to recover to clear out the site to
bring solace we've been talking to people down there who are neighbors who were here when the missile hit at five o'clock in the morning.
Who are desperately trying to find out what's happened to the people that they know to the people that they love, the people that they care about the
firefighters are going to be doing just that one man who was one of the first on the scene here said that when he got here, he could hear children
screaming.
He said they managed to pull a lady out of the rubble. But by the time she got to hospital, she had died. And another lady and apartment just close to
her told us when she heard the missiles flying over, she didn't know what it was she put her kids in the bathtub, put pillows on their head, because
she thought they were going to die to luckily they survived.
But one of the things she told us and I think that's the tragedy of this building. When we think about those lives, 20 people killed, that we know
about so far three of them confirmed to be children. This lady told us that so many children lived in the space that's just gone. That's where they
live.
GIOKOS: That's really, really difficult to really difficult to see where you are, it's really difficult to hear the story. This is a barrage of
missile strikes on Ukraine. I know that Ukraine was able to intercept a lot of the strikes.
But how does this incident change the calculus for Ukraine? I know they haven't completely said when they're going to start the counter offensive.
But I'm curious to see what the wider strategy is going to be here.
ROBERTSON: I don't think this changes the calculus at all. What Russia has succeeded in doing here is draw another group of Ukrainians if you will,
into deeper animosity of Russia, yes, some families here have tragically lost lives.
But what the Russians have done to this community here who haven't seen a missile like this since March last year, is reminded them of how terrible
the war is of how high the price families are paying.
But it just firms people's resolve here to continue with the fight that the defense minister today has indicated that the counter offensive is pretty
much ready to go. I'm not saying we're not saying when. But when we look at the recovery and rescue effort here, I have to say compared to six months
ago compared to compared to the beginning of the war, when Ukraine was grappling with the situation.
Down here there are dozens upon dozens of firefighters of Police of soldiers in the apartments here. There are repair workers already going in,
pulling out broken windows, putting up plastic sheeting and woodwork over those areas that are broken.
They don't live here. They've come here to help. There was a there was a pizza van passing by here. Relief effort from Scotland, they stopped and
handed out pizzas. There is a Police DNA team here already helping do DNA to trace and track relatives.
Ukraine has become sadly incredibly well organized, and deeply resourced in these situations to help their civilian. So there's an area down there
where people can go and get psychological help they can get plastic for their windows, they can get one to repair their doorframes.
This is all about resisting Russia. So astray like this, does it change the government's calculus? No, it just makes the Ukrainians, some of them more
heartbroken, many of them just more willing to resist for longer.
GIOKOS: And the resilience we have seen playing out over the past year has been extraordinary. But we want; we hope that you're safe. I know that you
are in a bombed building right now. So you and the crew, thank you very much for taking the risks to show us. This apartment block that clearly has
been torn apart. Thank you Nic Robertson to everyone else on the ground there well as
[11:15:00]
Ukraine stocks up on Western weapons there's widespread speculation about when its Military will launch a widely anticipated counter offensive. Nick
Paton Walsh reports on Russian efforts to head off this expected operation and how Ukraine's Military is responding.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN, CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY (voice over): Spring is here. After winters frozen horror, and the buzz and sting of Ukraine's
looming counter offensive is growing. Aiming at Russian positions within 30 seconds the Ukrainian unit has moved away. It may be a precise operation,
but the Russian response is not slamming into the nearby town, edging closer to us.
WALSH (on camera): Impossible to tell what the Russians are trying to hit, but another example of the intense bombardment their bid to stop the
counter offensive from starting.
WALSH (voice over): It is ordinary civilians caught in the rising dust behind us who bear the brunt of Russia's frustrated rage. Along and around
the brutalized towns where Ukraine says it may launch its attack. There are more signs it is underway lurking in the foliage than Ukraine has given
publicly.
That's because Ukraine has said nothing at all about when, where or how it will attack. But among machine gunfire in the nearby trenches, a drone
operator hidden in the rubble the detailed intimate picture they have of their enemy just two fields away is startling watching and trying to kill
each other every hour they've noticed the Russians pulling back. Another drone team has seen the Russians also left defending ruins written by chaos
in their ranks.
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WALSH (voice over): He won't be long until that's coming or chaos meets a decisive test in this flat, open and perilous space. Nick Paton Walsh CNN
Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine!
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: Brilliant reporting there from Nick Paton Walsh, as well as the big thank you to Nick Robertson that we saw just a short while ago coming to
the city from Oman. And you can follow Russia's war on Ukraine on our websites.
There is a story up now. A new research that shows Iranian drones deployed by Russia in Ukraine is powered by stolen Western technology that's at
cnn.com on your computer, or through the CNN app on your Smartphone.
Get out now just ahead the UK and U.S. wanting their citizens to leave Sudan immediately we'll be talking with a former U.S. Special Envoy for the
Horn of Africa about what kind of leverage if any, Washington has to end the fighting stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:20:00]
GIOKOS: More now, on our top story, the U.N. has, as we've been reporting says thousands of people are still trapped in residential areas of Sudan,
and we're getting reports of heavy gunfire as well. 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. My next guest writing in The Washington Post says, "The marriage of
convenience between the two warlords built on a shared contemptuousness of Sudanese civilian's democratic aspirations collapsed into a winner-takes-
all battle for supremacy in which civilians are the collateral damage.
We've got Jeffrey Feltman, former U.S. Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa, and visiting fellow in international diplomacy at the Brookings Institute
joins me now. Ambassador, great to have you on! Thank you so much. Look, American citizens that are trapped in Sudan basically feel abandoned. It
has been an ongoing theme since fighting broke hearts.
I know you can't speak to why the U.S. has taken this approach. But I'm curious to find out what your thinking is, and what you believe is right in
terms of helping to evacuate diplomats, and not allocating resources in the same level that the other Western allies have done in terms of getting
their citizens out.
JEFFREY FELTMAN, FORMER U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY TO HORN OF AFRICA: Well, I think for one thing we have to keep in mind is that the scale of the size of the
U.S. community in Sudan seems to be far, far larger than the size of the communities that other countries have had. But I think that the government,
the U.S. government is doing the right thing in emphasizing and building support for a sustained ceasefire.
Now, you as you mentioned, the ceasefire has not been honored completely. There's still too much fighting, but the emphasis on a ceasefire is
absolutely essential, not only to allow American citizens, no nationalities to leave to have safe passage out of the country.
But because you've got 46, 47 million people who need to resupply themselves who need to get to safety. These people have been taken hostage
by these two generals less for power. And so the ceasefire being the priority of Washington and other governments, I think is the right thing
for the right approach to the right direction to go.
GIOKOS: You're no stranger to what we've been seeing in terms of the complexities that playing out in Sudan. In 2021 you met with then Hamdok,
who was the civilian Head of States with Hemedti as well as Burhan, there was some kind of way forward, things changed dramatically. I think the
criticism has come through that the U.S. has almost emboldened or empowered the two generals. Do you think the U.S. could have and should have done
more?
FELTMAN: Look at the time I argued that we should have cracked down harder on those two generals after the October 21 coup. There was a policy debate
in Washington. The decision was made to take some measures. But the argument was we're still going to have to work with these people because
the reality is that they are present on the ground with arms.
But let's say that we had taken stronger sets back in October 2021 is at the time which we had in hindsight, I think reinforced my conviction. But
do I think that would have actually changed the current situation? I don't. Each of these institutions each of these generals, sees the other as an
existential threat, sees the other as the block to his of the institution's ambitions to rural Khartoum.
And I don't believe that stronger measures October 2021 would have eliminated that sense that each is fighting an existential battle. So yes,
I think we should have taken stronger steps.
[11:25:00]
But I still think that at one point, these two generals and their institutions, we're going to go after each other at the expense of Sudan
civilian population.
GIOKOS: So do you believe that even back then when you were having these conversations that this scenario was a big probability even back then?
FELTMAN: We were talking; we're talking with the benefit of hindsight, of course. But these institutions, these generals have been rivals for a long
time. They were set up as rivals with Omar al-Bashir, the former Dictator of Sudan, authorized the rapid security forces under Hemedti. It was as a
balance against the traditional army, the Sudanese armed forces. So these guys, these institutions have been rivals since well, before Omar al-
Bashir was overthrown from power.
They had, as I wrote a marriage of convenience, a marriage of convenience, because they had a shared interest in preventing the civilian aspirations
for democratic rule to death for civilian oversight of themselves for accountability of past atrocities, they have a shared interest in that led
to that marriage of convenience. But there was never a bromance. And that rivalry was going to break out at some point, whatever the United States
did, I believe.
GIOKOS: So let's talk now. I mean, do you believe the U.S. has leverage in terms of negotiating power getting these two generals to have a
conversation? The outlook is that it's, it's there's going to be one winner, and they're going to fight until one of them win. Is that your
scenario as well?
FELTMAN: Well, that's really their view that the two generals view is that what is that they're in it to win? But I think that the asset that the
United States, other countries have, the leverage they have is the unity of the neighborhood, the region and the international community that nobody
wants to see Sudan destabilized.
And you've even seen this in the Security Council where the Security Council came out strongly calling for a ceasefire and condemning what's
happening. This is despite the well-known Security Council divisions and polarization over Ukraine and other issues. So what you have happening now
is that you have Washington.
GIOKOS: Alright, Ambassador, I think we've lost your picture. Are you still there? All right, I think we've lost the ambassador. We will try and get
him back on, that was Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman, Former U.S. Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa, taking us through some of the scenarios that could
play out in Sudan between General Hemedti of the paramilitary force the RSF, and of course the SAF leader Burhan.
We'll try and get that story back to you as soon as we can. All right, I want to move on now on our reports on the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank
is out, just ahead what the investigation revealed and possible solutions moving forward. And later, we're learning new details about the suspects in
the Pentagon leak. What prosecutors are saying about his background, that's all coming up?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:30:00]
GIOKOS: Welcome back to "Connect the World". I am Eleni Giokos, and I'm in for Becky Anderson, your headlines this hour. A Russian airstrike on a high
rise apartment has killed at least 20 people in the Ukrainian city of Oman. The missile hits the building early Friday morning while people were
sleeping and was among several fired by Russian forces.
Separate air strike Friday killed a woman and a child in the City of Dnipro. More fighting that's coming through in Sudan after the warring
sides agreed to extend the latest temporary ceasefire. Artillery fire and airstrikes are reported in densely populated areas in and around Khartoum.
There's also fighting in the Darfur region.
Sudan's health ministry reports 460 people killed and thousands more injured in nearly two weeks of fighting. Now, Sources tell CNN that former
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence has testified before a grand jury. This is part of the federal investigation into the 2020 presidential election and
Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the results.
It's the first time an American vice president has testified about the president he's served beside. This hour U.S. regulators are revealing the
results of their investigation into the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank last month. The Federal Reserve has now detailed what it calls serious
management failure by the executives of Silicon Valley Bank.
The Fed also took responsibility for its own lapses in supervision of the bank. One possible solution may be rolling back rules that allowed medium
sized banks like SVB to skirt around specific capital and liquidity requirements. Now it appears that two Russian comedians in the meantime
succeeding in making a prank phone call to one of the most important officials in the U.S. government.
The Russians, who are known as supporters of Vladimir Putin pretended to be Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a video call with the Chairman
of the US Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell. A Fed spokesman says nothing confidential or sensitive was discussed on the call. Now the Russians have
also claimed making prank calls to other world leaders.
That's including Canada's Prime Minister and the Head of the European Central Bank. We're learning new details in the meantime about the 21 year
old man that was accused of leaking top secret Pentagon documents online in court on Thursday. Prosecutors say Jack Teixeira had an arsenal of weapons
in his Massachusetts home.
They say he has a history of making violent threats to share. It also had to fill out a detailed questionnaire before receiving security clearance in
2021. Joining us now with the latest on this is CNN Pentagon Correspondent Oren Liebermann. I think many people are scratching their head saying how
does this person get access to this kind of high level information? How does this person have passed with flying colors clearly, security
clearance? What more do we know?
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, the detention hearing itself has revealed more about the suspect here, Jack Teixeira's background
including what he said to investigators as part of that questionnaire, what he said to authorities as he was getting his security clearance. But it
also reveals more about his own background in terms of what stopped him from getting a firearms ID permit not once, but twice and then what he said
to get that permit and some of the red flags there along the way.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LIEBERMANN (voice over): Tonight 21-year-old Jack Teixeira in custody after appearing in court for his detention hearing. His father is asking the
judge to release his son into his custody, the elder Teixeira promised to report him if he violates the conditions of release. But prosecutors
portrayed the suspected leaker of classified documents as a risk to flee incapable of the trustee promised to uphold as a member of the
Massachusetts Air National Guard.
There is no integrity Teixeira's character because there can be none when there is such a profound breach of trust, said Nadine Pellegrini from the
U.S. Attorney's Office. In a dumpster at the sheriff's home authorities found a tablet, a laptop and an X Box. They've all been smashed.
Prosecutor said it was a way of stopping them from fully understanding the seriousness and scale of Teixeira's conduct. In March 2018 a year and a
half before he enlisted, prosecutor say Teixeira was suspended from his high school when a classmate heard them talking about weapons and making
racial threats.
[11:35:00]
The incident prevented him from getting a firearm's ID card that same year and the year after, according to court documents. In 2020, he still managed
to join the Air National Guard, where he'd get a top secret clearance using his service to show he'd be trusted with a firearm. The Pentagon asked how
this wasn't a red flag.
BRIG. GEN. PATRICK RYDER, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: The department is looking not only at our intelligence processes and procedures as it relates
to security or sensitive information and who has that information, but also looking at the process by which we clear and vet individuals for security
clearances, and that work is ongoing.
LIEBERMANN (voice over): Authorities say he had an arsenal of weapons just feet from his bed including rifles, AR and AK style weapons and a bazooka
his room decked out in military, camo and paraphernalia. In a recent online chat uncovered by investigators, Teixeira said he would kill an expletive
ton of people because it would be calling the weak minded and then he wanted to make an assassination then.
He also asked another user what type of rifle would be good to conduct a shooting in a crowded urban or suburban environment. Teixeira's lawyers
argued in court he poses no danger and is not unique in collecting weapons. Some people are car guys, some people like boats and some people like guns.
His attorney said in court defending his client as the Pentagon defended the process that led here.
GEN. RYDER: The vast, vast majority of people who are awarded security clearances come to work every day and do the right thing. And this
investigation will tell us what happened and where this individual did the wrong thing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIEBERMANN: A judge has not yet ruled in this detention hearing, in the meantime Teixeira remains in custody. But the judge may have given a hint
as to which way he was leading when he said he found the prosecution's evidence "Fairly compelling", Eleni.
GIOKOS: All right, Oren Liebermann, thank you so much. I want to get you up to speed now on some other stories that are on our radar right now. In
historic moments, the first ever astronaut from the UAE is conducting a spacewalk outside the International Space Station, along with a NASA
astronauts and they are preparing for the installation of new solar panels.
The spacewalk started about two hours ago and is expected to last six hours and a half. Six and a half hours, that's a long time. Well, tennis star
Simona Halep says she's under huge stress after a positive drug test. She tells the tennis majors website that she never knowingly took a banned
substance and is now trying to clear her name and returned to competition.
The two time Grand Slam winner was provisionally suspended last October. She says a contaminated supplement caused the positive test. The embattled
chairman of the BBC has resigned. A new report says Richard Sharpe failed to disclose his involvement in helping former British Prime Minister Boris
Johnson secure a loan of almost $1 million, Prime Minister's appointments the head of the BBC.
Now the review says sharp twice broke the rules governing public appointments. And coming up, why radian activists in the UK want to hold a
rally this weekend even as some of them say previous protests have left them fearing for their safety. And rising gang violence in Haiti is making
an already difficult existence for many they're even worse.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:40:00]
GIOKOS: Iranian activists in the UK 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 UK to do for months 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 went silence. It labeled the UK based
opposition channel a terrorist entity, but it didn't stop there.
KARADSHEH (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.
KARADSHEH (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 UK nationals on British soil.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The IRGC have managed to infiltrate the UK to suppress our freedom of expression.
KARADSHEH (voice over): Many in the Iranian community say they're now living in a constant state of fear. Every time this couple goes out to
London protests, they tell us their children fear for their safety.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't want to check our locks every night, set on alarms. We are scared. Our families--
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want our freedom of speech to be valued. We are living in the heart of democracy. And it doesn't look like it.
KARADSHEH (voice over): 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, THE BRITISH-IRANIAN ACTIVIST: 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 safest place in London. I don't
feel safe here.
KARADSHEH (voice over): 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 intentionally, I'm getting stronger.
KARADSHEH (voice over): 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. Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: Well, Iran did not respond to CNN's request or comment, but it has condemned similar designations in the past. A UK government spokesperson
told CNN they have sanctioned more than 300 Iranian individuals and entities that's including the IRGC.
The spokesperson says they do not comment on future designations but, "We do not tolerate threats to life and intimidation of any kind towards
individuals in the UK. And we'll continue to use all the tools at our disposal to protect against any threats from the Iranian state". We're
already struggling with extreme poverty, a humanitarian crisis and overwhelmed police forces.
[11:45:00]
People in Haiti are now forced to defend themselves against rampant gang violence. And new data reveals Haiti's crime rates has more than doubled
since last year. CNN's Patrick Oppmann has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Desperation on the streets of Haiti's capital, as a mob beats and kills about a dozen alleged gang
members of Port-au-Prince, leaving their bodies to burn in the streets.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was simply the sound of gunfire that woke us up this morning. It was 3 a.m. the gangs invaded us. That was shooting, shooting.
This neighborhood is a peaceful area. All the people in the surrounding area are peaceful citizens.
OPPMANN (voice over): The police, the U.N. says are largely under resourced and understaffed, leaving frustrated terrorize residents in charge of their
own safety. Activist say 60 percent of Port-au-Prince is controlled by gangs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The gang asked for a lot, the gang members have invaded the area. We want the police to go ahead and confront them. We are on our
own. We have nothing. If the gangs come to invade us, we will defend ourselves. We have our own weapons, we have our own machetes, we will take
their weapons, we will not run away. Mothers who want to protect their children can send them elsewhere.
OPPMANN (voice over): Elsewhere in the country, violent crime is on the rise too. The U.N. says crime has more than doubled in the past year, with
gangs controlling large parts of the country, including residential areas. The U.N. says sexual violence exploitation, kidnappings homicide are
rampant, sparing no one, not even children.
MARIA ISABEL SALVADOR, U.N. ENVOY TO HAITI: Children are among the victims of the most heinous crimes including killings, kidnappings and rape. Over
the last three months, school children have been hit by bullets while sitting in their classrooms, and kidnapped when being dropped off at
school.
OPPMANN (voice over): Many schools closed last year because of the violence. But parents fear sending their children to the ones that have
reopened, furthering frustration over a potentially bleak future for the next generation of Asians. Patrick Oppmann, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: Well, we're back right after the short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GIOKOS: After a 20 year loan, the giant panda Ya-Ya is back in Shanghai. She had been living in the U.S. at the Memphis Zoo -- in 2003 was a symbol
of a positive relationship between China and the U.S. But as CNN's Will Ripley explains her return is now a symbol of how far that relationship has
fallen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In China, a hero's welcome for Ya-Ya, the panda, at the end of a 16 hour flight from
Memphis to Shanghai. Crowds gathered outside the airport trying to catch just a glimpse of the Ya Ya's crate. Her first moments back on Chinese
soil. She'll spend the next month in quarantine at the Shanghai zoo, where immediate Feeding Frenzy is in full swing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And many Chinese have been working closely and looking forward to Ya Ya's return.
[11:50:00]
RIPLEY (voice over): This geriatric giant panda is a household name in China for all the wrong reasons. When Ya-Ya's panda playmate died of heart
disease in February, pictures of Ya-Ya was scraggly fur and sagging skin sparked online pandemonium, a Chinese social media frenzy fueled by false
claims, rampant rumors denied by the zoo of panda abuse and neglect in the U.S. Outrage amplified by anti-American sentiment.
Bring Ya-Ya home became a rallying cry for millions of Chinese. The panda's picture plastered on billboards from Beijing to the Big Apple it's true Ya-
Ya was young and fluffy when she arrived at the Memphis Zoo 20 years ago, on a long term multimillion dollar lease from China.
U.S. and Chinese scientists say she has a genetic condition affecting her skin and fur, a condition that worsens with old age. No impact on her
quality of life, just her looks. They even issued a joint statement saying the fact is, Ya-Ya had excellent care. But facts don't always matter in a
world full of fake news.
Anti-American panda propaganda is filling the feeds of Chinese social media users. No mention of the healthy pandas at two other American zoos, but
plenty of pictures of an active and playful panda in Russia, a panda Chinese state media praises for improving bilateral ties.
Ya-Ya saga will end where it began, the Beijing zoo, where she live out her final years. She just might be the world's most politicized Panda, a
beloved bear that brought the U.S. and China closer now being used to divide. Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: Wherever she is, I hope she's safe and happy. Right the coronation of a new British monarch has only been televised once before when Queen
Elizabeth the Second was crowned 70 years ago. Now as final preparations are underway for the crowning of King Charles the third, many are asking
questions about what this moment and this man means in the modern world.
This week on the whole story, CNN's Erica Hill travels to London in search of those answers meeting with leading British scholars, journalists, and
some of those closest to Queen Elizabeth and King Charles himself. Joining us now is CNN National Correspondent Erica Hill. What did you discover on
this journey, Erica?
ERICA HILL, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It was a great assignment, first of all, Eleni. But also just a really interesting set of discussions
around as you said, so clearly what this man and this moment mean. Now in 2023, with the death of the Queen, there's almost a reset for a number of
people. When you have one woman on the throne for 70 years when a change is made, it raises new questions not just about what King Charles his reign
will be like, but what it means for the future of this family and the monarchy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The King is acutely aware like his late mother was that they're only there for as long as the public wants him to be there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In Britain among 18 to 24 year olds, specifically, where now more than 50 percent would support abolishing the monarchy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The way I understand it, there's no real rule about how the UK would go about abolishing the monarchy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have no constitution. This is one of our questions. Unlike so many other countries that have them on the head of state they are
have constitutions. So their political world has to be there to abolish the monarchy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The monarchy does depend on taxpayer's money. It receives 80 to 90 million pounds of taxpayers' money every year. Every year
that goes through the parliamentary process.
HILL (voice over): Last year, the Royal Family cost each UK taxpayer roughly $1.60. And while that number is admittedly low, amid rising
inflation, it's the optics that really add up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The current generation are about to go through a cost of living crisis. It's his problem right now. In the future, it might actually
be William's problem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: So we know of course, that optics are being taken into account, not just in terms of the number of those who've been invited to the coronation
versus what we saw with the queen 70 years ago, only about 2000 people. But they are trying to scale things back.
And also Eleni, to make it more inclusive, making it not just about of course, the Church of England, which is really what this coronation oath is
about but involving other faith leaders, recognizing the diversity of the United Kingdom of the Commonwealth. But again, it also raises these
questions and we heard this from a lot of folks that we spoke with even just down the street.
They want to know what does this mean for the monarchy going forward. What does it look like in the future and will the monarchy also address its
past?
[11:55:00]
GIOKOS: While I'm looking to the episode, I do want to know did you walk away with royal regalia. Did you purchase -- while you were there?
HILL: I did not. You know, it's funny I didn't. I will say when I covered wheeling Kate's wedding in the Diamond Jubilee, my kids were much younger
than, so we did come home with a lot of things for them, Bobby hats, swords, things that young boys would need. But you know, they're teenagers
now, so I didn't have as many people to buy for.
GIKOKOS: There you go. All right, Erica Hill, I'm looking forward to the episode. Thank you so much for joining us today.
HILL: Thank you.
GIOKOS: And thank you so very much for joining us on "Connect the World". I'm Eleni Giokos in Abu Dhabi. We've got "One World" with Isa Soares coming
up next from London. And I will be back with Quest Means Business a little later in the day.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
