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U.S. Expected To Supply Cluster Bombs To Ukraine; Belarus Has Camp To House Wagner Military Group; Zelenskyy, Erdogan To Discuss Expiring Grain Deal; Ukraine Claims New Advances Around Bakhmut; Two Palestinians Killed In Israeli Operation In The West Bank; U.S. Treasury Secretary Travels To China; Presidents Of Brazil And Colombia To Tackle Amazon Deforestation; IAEA Chief Backs Plan To Release Fukushima Wastewater; Special Counsel Focusing On Chaotic White House Meeting In 2020; U.S. FDA Fully Approves Alzheimer's Drug. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired July 07, 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 Dubai. I'm in for my colleague Becky Anderson. This is CONNECT THE WORLD.

Coming up this hour, the U.S. is expected to announce a new military aid package for Ukraine that includes controversial cluster munitions.

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy gets ready to meet with Turkish President Erdogan in Istanbul. Japan is set to release treated wastewater from the

Fukushima nuclear site into the Pacific Ocean. And a Hollywood celebrity is suiting up to race at this weekend's British Grand Prix.

Welcome to the show. And we begin on news that controversial weapons banned in more than 120 countries could be headed for Ukraine. Today, the Biden

administration is expected to announce a new military aid package to Ukraine that will include controversial cluster munitions or cluster bombs.

You can see them here. They are canisters filled with smaller bombs that can be dropped from the air and released across a wide area.

They also pose a major threat to civilians after the moment of attack because they leave behind unexploded munitions.

CNN U.S. national security reporter, Natasha Bertrand, has more from the Pentagon.

Natasha, cluster munitions. Controversial. They're banned in many countries as we've just said. It is important to note, however, that both Russia and

Ukraine have used cluster bombs since the war began. Why is the U.S. making this decision now?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Eleni, we're told that this really has to do with the changing conditions on the

battlefield over the last several weeks, specifically the fact that Ukraine's counteroffensive is going more slowly than U.S. and Western

officials had anticipated. And the Ukrainians are burning through a large rate of artillery ammunition in a way that the U.S. is not certain will be

sustainable in the long term without tapping into that stockpile of cluster munitions that the U.S. has had for many years now.

Now this all comes, of course, as the U.S. is trying to figure out how best to support Ukraine throughout the entirety of the war. And the ammunition

problem has been a very acute one for the last several months. Ukraine has been asking for the cluster munitions for a while now, saying that they

could really make a big difference on the battlefield. But the administration has been reluctant.

They did not want to seem out of step with U.S. allies, who of course -- many of whom have banned the use of cluster munitions. Over 100 countries

worldwide have. But in the end the U.S. realized that it was not sustainable to keep providing Ukraine with the level of ammunition that it

needs without tapping into the stockpiles of these very controversial munitions.

Now the U.S. does say that the ones that they are going to provide to Ukraine are not the very old variant that the U.S. has in its stockpiles.

The ones that have a higher dud rate and that could perhaps pose a greater risk to civilians, but that the ones that they are looking at providing to

the Ukrainians have a dud rate of 2.35 percent or lower. So they are making the argument here that the cluster munitions that the U.S. is preparing to

provide to Ukraine won't necessarily be as dangerous as the ones that Ukraine and Russia have already been using on the battlefield.

Yesterday, the Pentagon press secretary said that the cluster munitions that the Russians have been using have a dud rate of as high as 40 percent.

So the argument they're making is, look, we can help Ukraine make a dent in its counteroffensive into Russians while at the same time making sure that

they have enough ammunition to support the war against Russia for the long term -- Eleni.

GIOKOS: So from my understanding, President Biden is going to have to bypass a U.S. law that prevents production as well as transfer of these

cluster bombs. Then the question becomes, how soon will they be delivered given he has to overcome these hurdles?

BERTRAND: Well, it could be pretty immediate. We are told that the U.S. is going to be announcing today a new military aid package to Ukraine based on

drawdown of U.S. stocks. And that is going to include the cluster munitions. And what that means is they're essentially going to take

directly from Department of Defense stockpiles and provide them to Ukraine.

Now we are told that the U.S. does have some cluster munitions stockpiles in Europe already. And those could then be sent to Ukraine fairly quickly.

[10:05:03]

So this isn't something that is going to be either a long, drawn-out process. Defense officials told us that these could be in Ukraine by the

end of this month -- Eleni.

GIOKOS: All right. Natasha Bertrand, great to see you.

Well, meantime, CNN has visited a site in Belarus where the country's president says Wagner fighters could be housed should they take up Belarus'

offer to transfer to the country.

CNN's Matthew Chance takes us around the camp which has sprung up in the past weeks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: All right, well, you join me here in this military base in Belarus about an hour's drive

outside of the capital Minsk. You can see it's a vast tent city with all these enormous canvases which we're told can house about 5,000 people.

They've been erected in the past few weeks. There were satellite photographs of this place before and after, and we all believed this is the

location where Wagner forces, the mercenaries from Russia, would be located if they came to Belarus.

That was part of a deal, remember, with the Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko inviting Wagner and its leader to come into exile in Belarus as

a way of diffusing their military uprising in Russia last month. Well, I mean, at the moment, though, these tents are completely empty. I mean, you

have a look inside of one of these here, completely empty, there's nobody in in there. It's too dark for us to show you inside but I can tell you,

it's just wooden platforms. Nobody in there at the moment but ultimately it can house as many as 5,000 people.

The problem is, is of course the events of yesterday here with the revelations from Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarusian leader, that actually

is that plan is no longer sort of in operation. It's on hold at the moment and at the moment, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner leader, is not here in

Belarus, he's said to be in Russia, and not a single Wagner soldier has so far come here. And so we don't know whether there is going to be a transfer

of Wagner to Belarus or not at the moment, or we can tell you is that it hasn't happened yet.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: All right. Matthew Chance for us there.

Now in Prague earlier Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv is talking with the U.S. about long-range reference for its counteroffensive.

Mr. Zelenskyy is making his way to Turkey to meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and they're expected to focus on the grain exports deal

that Turkey helped broker with Russia. That deal is seen as crucial to world food security. And it expires in just 10 days.

Ben Wedeman joins us now from eastern Ukraine.

Ben, this meeting happening in just a few hours. A lot on the agenda. How central will this Black Sea grain deal be in these talks?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They'll be an important part but there is another part where we can get to later. But

yes, the deal is critical. As a result of the deal that was mediated between Russia and Ukraine by the United Nations and Turkey Ukraine has

been able to export about 30 million tons of wheat and other food stuffs. It's considered very important to keep those supplies of grain going to

those countries that desperately needed to avoid food shortages.

But the problem is, as you mentioned, it's expiring on the 17th of July. The Russians have said they don't want to renew it because they feel that

they have not been able to export their grain and other goods as a result of sanctions imposed by Western nations. And certainly, President Erdogan

is perhaps an ideal figure to mediate between the Ukrainians and the Russians because he is on good terms with both sides, despite the fact that

Turkey is a member of NATO and Turkey has actually supplied Ukraine with a fair amount of weapons since the invasion began last year.

Also on the agenda, however, President Zelenskyy will be pressing President Erdogan to drop his objections to Sweden's membership in NATO. Those

objections are based upon the Turkish impression that the Swedes are not cracking down on Kurdish militants who are based in Sweden. Kurdish

militants who have been fighting for the creation of an independent Kurdish state in Turkey.

So there's going to be a lot on the agenda. However, keep in mind that President Erdogan is known to be quite a stubborn negotiator. So it might

be hard going -- Eleni.

GIOKOS: Yes, Ben. A lot to get through. We'll wait to see what happens in the next few hours. But I just want to move to what we're seeing on the

ground. Ukraine saying it has advanced around Bakhmut. How significant are these gains?

WEDEMAN: Well, actually we were in the area around Bakhmut, Chasiv Yar and other points in the axis around the town.

[10:10:07]

And what the impression I got, and I've been going there sort of on and off since actually last summer, and what I heard was more artillery going into

Bakhmut than I've ever heard before. Pretty much constant shelling around in the city.

Now we spoke to soldiers there who told us -- we were with some several artillery batteries, they told us that in recent days the amount of

incoming Russian fire has gradually decreased because they say the Russians are under pressure and they are being pushed back. The Ukrainians, yes, the

spokesman for Ukrainian forces in the eastern Ukraine has said that Ukrainian forces have advanced by a kilometer. He didn't go into specifics

as to where that is.

We do know that the emphasis of the counteroffensive in the Bakhmut direction is from the north and from the south. We understand from troops

on the ground we've been in touched with that more progress is being made in the south. In the northern area it's been pretty intense fighting but

the progress has been more incremental.

GIOKOS: Yes. All right. Ben Wedeman, thank you so much.

Now the cycle of violence is continuing in the occupied West Bank just days after Israel's largest operation in decades ended in Jenin. Two

Palestinians were killed during an Israeli operation in Nablus. This is a convoy of Israeli armored vehicles driving through the city.

We have Salma Abdelaziz in Jerusalem with more information for us.

Violence continuing this week and it's in Nablus this time. What is the latest?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. So today Israeli forces saying that they entered the city of Nablus. They say that they engaged in

a shootout with, again, what the Israeli military says was Palestinian militants in Nablus that led to two Palestinians being killed, three others

injured. Israel says that these two Palestinians were involved. The two who were killed were involved earlier this week in a shootout with police.

And this comes just a day after there was an incident outside a settlement in the occupied West Bank. Israeli forces saying, again, that there was a

shootout that led to the death of one Israeli soldier. Hamas has claimed responsibility for that. And Israel says that that one Israeli soldier --

there were several people trying to treat him on the scene. And then later that Israeli forces tried to chase the perpetrator, engaged in a shootout

with him that led to the perpetrator being killed.

But all of this, of course, in the context of an uptick of violence in the occupied West Bank. And the fallout from that military operation in Jenin -

- Eleni.

GIOKOS: All right. Salma Abdelaziz. Thank you so much. We'll have you back on in the second hour of CONNECT THE WORLD to talk about your experience in

Jenin. We'll see you soon.

Well, healthy economic competition. That's what U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said is needed between her country and China during a meeting

with China's premier in Beijing. Li Qiang offered positive words about the world's top two economies, saying after a round of wind and rain, we will

definitely see more rainbows.

Yellen is on a three-day visit to China. She also met with business leaders today telling them a separation of U.S. and Chinese commerce would hurt

both countries and she criticized what she called China's unfair economic practices.

Matt Egan joins me now from New York.

Look, this trip is about making contacts, easing tensions. Yellen is also raising quite a few grievances. Tell me what is going on right now.

MATT EGAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Eleni, this trip to China is no easy assignment. Not even for Janet Yellen. She, on the one hand, has to try to

stabilize this very rocky relationship between the United States and China, which is by the way arguably the most important bilateral relationship on

the planet. On the other hand, yes, she does need to stand up for Western businesses. Many of which have serious gripes with China's trade tactics.

That's no easy task here. This is a delicate balancing act. Now on that latter point Yellen did say that she is, quote, "concerned" about these new

export controls rolled out by China just this week around some of these critical raw materials that go into making computer chips. On that point

Yellen said, quote, "We are still evaluating the impact of these actions. But they remind us of the importance of building resilient and diversified

supply chains."

Now Yellen knows that these two nations can't completely separate. That's not what she's trying to do here. She is trying to get them to work

together and have a healthy dialogue here.

[10:15:05]

Yellen also, though, she did call out some concerns around some of the actions that China has taken to prop up their state-owned businesses, their

domestic firms. Some subsidies that they provide. She said that -- she's, quote, "particularly troubled" by these punitive actions that China has

taken.

I do think that her broader message, though, is trying to get better communication between Washington and Beijing. She said that the two nations

need to communicate better. She did stress, as you mentioned, the need for a, quote, "healthy economic competition." I think that when you take a step

back it is, of course, encouraging that top officials from the United States and China are sitting down together.

That is a low bar, Eleni. But I do think that speaks to just how rocky this relationship has gotten.

GIOKOS: Absolutely. All right, Matt Egan, great to have you on. Thank you.

And just ahead, putting criminals on notice in order to save the Amazon. How leaders of Brazil and Colombia plan to unite to rescue the world's

biggest rainforest. Plus, 12 years after the disaster at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant, officials are moving forward with a controversial plan

to the site's wastewater. That story coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GIOKOS: The heat records just keep dropping. So I'm talking about the planet getting hit with four straight days of record temperatures this

week. Scientists point to the climate crisis combined with this year's El Nino and they say the earth's average daily temperature touched 17.3

degrees Celsius on Thursday, or 63 degrees Fahrenheit. Remember, it is a global average. Part of the globe is in winter. So these temperatures are

high.

Now temperatures in the low 60s Fahrenheit may not sound that hot to anyone sweating through the summer heat wave but researchers say this figure

represents a new indicator that the earth's climate is heating up faster than anticipated.

So an especially tough week for the home planet. And it's not just El Nino adding to climate concern. Crime has been doing a number on the Amazon

rainforest often described as the lungs of the planet. Brazil says it's battling what's known as narco-deforestation in the Amazon. That's the use

of land to launder profits linked to the drug trade. But there's still a way to go. So the presidents of both Brazil and Colombia are set to meet

this weekend with a major goal to save the Amazon.

I want to head to the capital of Colombia right now. I want to bring in journalist Stefano Pozzebon who's in Bogota for us.

Look, this is a really big problem. We've ascertained how important the Amazon forest is. We know how important it is to try and stop

deforestation.

[10:20:04]

Deforestation has plummeted dramatically in the first half of this year. But what kind of interventions can we see from these two countries?

STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: Yes, Eleni, it's a massive problem because it really affects the entire Amazon region. And we're talking about the

largest rainforest in the world, spanning over nine different nations here in South America.

The challenge itself is enormous because it's so hard to police the Amazon, to essentially exert state control on that region. And yes, narco-

deforestation is a new term brought forward by the United Nations office for drug and crime. It points to the link between organized crime and

deforestation, and the effects on the environment.

Take a listen to what we're hearing from Leticia in the Amazon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POZZEBON: The Amazon is the largest rainforest in the world. Thus spanning over nine different nations, it is also a vast trafficking region for

international criminal networks. Illegal miners and drug traffickers know no border.

BRAM EBUS, INVESTIGATOR, AMAZON UNDERWOOD: A few days ago we took a plane and flew over across border river that springs in Colombia and finishes in

Brazil. This river is plagued by illegal mining barges which are destroying the waterways and using toxic quicksilver called mercury in the extraction

process of gold. On this river there have been several military crackdowns to destroy the mining barges but it always have returned because there is

no structural control in the Amazon.

POZZEBON: According to the United Nations, narco-deforestation, which means a laundering drug trafficking profits into land speculation and cattle

ranching, is posing a growing danger to the Amazon. Potentially increasing the effect of climate change.

On Saturday, control of the region will be center stage as Colombian President Gustavo Petro welcomes his Brazilian counterpart, Luis Inacio

Lula da Silva, for a bilateral meeting here on the shores of the Amazon River. The two leaders are pushing for renewed international attention to

this corner of the world.

Deforestation in the Amazon is still at record levels despite commitments by companies and governments to cut it down. And scientists believe the

ecosystem will be further threatened this year by the emergence of a climate pattern called El Nino. New research this week shows that Latin

America saw its highest rate of warming over the last three decades.

For a leader like Gustavo Petro, the bilateral is also an occasion to raise his profile on the international stage.

JUAN CARLOS RUIZ, PROFESSOR OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, UNIVERSIDAD DEL ROSARIO (through translator): I think this agenda could be interesting for

Colombia because it allows Colombia to present itself as a stakeholder and an agent against greenhouse gases in Latin America, or at least for the

preservation of the Amazon.

The meeting will serve to prepare an international conference over the future of the Amazon to be held in Brazil next month. But activists believe

that concrete steps must be taken urgently.

EBUS: Before new plans for the Amazon are made, we must recognize that there is a great security crisis that needs more understanding and better

comprehensive answers by the respective governments.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

POZZEBON: And Eleni, we should also say that Leticia, the Colombian city where the two presidents will meet tomorrow, is just 30 kilometers away

from (INAUDIBLE) which is the Brazilian village where last year in June, the British journalist Dom Phillips and the indigenous activist Bruno

Pereira were brutally murdered in a case that has really become a symbol of the security crisis hanging over the horizon.

The Brazilian prosecutors arrested and charged two people last month including the alleged mastermind of the crime. But of course, that crime

really brought attention forward on the security crisis down in the forest -- Eleni.

GIOKOS: Yes. And it just goes to show that government policy is going to be so vital in reforestation and even breaking up these narco networks that

have been dominating parts of the Amazon rainforest. Is there hope that they can do it quickly? Because as we've just ascertained, we hit record

heat globally. Time is of the essence.

POZZEBON: Yes. The hope is becoming more and more strong because, Eleni, the environmental issues have become a major talking point in international

meetings, in bilateral meetings, and the world is really looking at the Amazon and is looking at the environment in general.

[10:25:05]

Both Lula and Petro know that their country -- maybe they can't bring too much to the world stage in terms of, for example, the solution to the

Ukrainian war, in terms of like the big questions of our era. But both Colombia and Brazil, together with Peru, Ecuador, and the other Amazonian

countries, can really play a pivotal role in how the earth can bring climate change under control.

So of course there is renewed interest. And everybody here in Latin America and South America is well aware of that. However, the challenge is

enormous. I was speaking with Bram, the activists there from the Amazon Underworld, in the last few days and he was telling me that now you have

the Colombian government is making pacts with the gangs of urban Brazil from Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, who are teaming up together to exploit

illegal gold minds in Peru, in Brazil, in Venezuela.

It's literally a far west of multinational organized crime that is happening underneath the trees of the Amazon. And you can understand, that

with such a difficult terrain and such a difficult and vast regions to police how mighty the challenge to tackle this crisis -- Eleni.

GIOKOS: Well, I fear that the generational issues and the big crisis of this generation is not going to be geopolitics but the existential threat

of what we're seeing on climate change.

Stefano Pozzebon, always good to have you on. Thank you.

Well, the head of the U.N.'s nuclear agency has given its support to Japan's plan to release treated wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear site

into the Pacific Ocean. The International Atomic Energy Agency says it's convinced it is safe for people and the environment. But his confidence

does little to reassure rattled residents, local fishermen, neighboring countries and some international scientists.

More now from CNN's Marc Stewart in Tokyo.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARC STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Soon, the treated wastewater inside these massive tanks at the Fukushima Daichi

nuclear plant will be released off Japan's Pacific Coast.

It was collected after the meltdown at the plant, following the massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011. The release is controversial. The chief of

the International Atomic Energy Agency came to Tokyo to reassure the public.

(On-camera): What do you say to members of the public who feel a bit leery about this decision to release the water?

RAFAEL GROSSI, DIRECTOR GENERAL, INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY: First of all, that I understand them. And so all sorts of fears kick in, and one

has to take them seriously, to address and to explain.

STEWART (voice-over): In April, CNN was granted rare access to the plant. We saw the tanks with enough water to fill more than 500 Olympic pools. The

water has been treated and diluted to remove radioactive elements. One exception, tritium, a radioactive isotope which the government says is

impossible to remove.

It's all part of the process to slowly decommission the plant. As you can see on this map, the release of tritium is common for nuclear plants around

the world. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission says that the radiation from tritium is far less than what one might assume. It says a cross-

country roundtrip flights exposes a person to 12 times more radiation compared to water with tritium from a nuclear plant.

(On-camera): How will you know if this was the right decision or this is the right decision?

GROSSI: Well, I think we have the benefit of science, either you have a certain radionuclide in a water sample or you don't have it. And for that,

you have -- it's a measurable thing. So we have the science, we have the laboratories, we have a network of international laboratories working with

us to ensure the credibility and that transparency of the process.

STEWART (voice-over): The release is drawing criticism from Asia, including South Korea and China. Despite the reservations, including those of local

fishermen, the planned release is moving forward, a process that will likely take decades to complete.

Marc Stewart, CNN, Tokyo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD.

Ahead, exclusive CNN reporting. The team investigating Donald Trump's efforts to stay in power zeroes in on a chaotic meeting filled with wild

ideas and lots of screaming. Plus, the U.S. gives full approval to the first drug shown to slow Alzheimer's. What this could mean for people

living with the disease. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:32:19]

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

Now to a CNN exclusive on the special counsel investigation in the U.S. and the efforts to keep Donald Trump in power despite his loss to Joe Biden in

the 2020 presidential election. CNN has learned that investigators are zeroing in on a notorious meeting inside the White House Oval Office just a

few weeks before the January 6th insurrection. And it's now become a focal point for the special counsel's investigators.

CNN's Zach Cohen is part of the team reporting on how investigators are focused on that meeting. He joins us now from Washington.

Great to have you on. This emphasis on a meeting that was held on December 18th, how did this overlap with the special counsel's broader efforts to

get more insight on the actions of several Trump lawyers and allies between December and January 6th?

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Eleni, our team is reporting that this interest in the December 18th Oval Office meeting is

really interesting on a few fronts and it matters because, one, Donald Trump was there in person. Listening to those closest to him pitch an array

of ideas, some of the most extreme proposals for that point trying to overturn the election.

Now I want to make clear that at this point in the process almost all of Donald Trump's legal court challenges to try to overturn the election have

mostly failed. And there was a resounding conclusion that there was not any evidence of widespread voter fraud to justify continuing to push those

plans forward.

But this Oval Office meeting was a moment where, you know, there was a stark divide, a showdown of sorts between White House lawyers and outside

advisers to Donald Trump. The advisers wanted Trump to take extreme steps like seizing voting machines, using the military and the Department of

Homeland Security to do so, while White House lawyers effectively said you can't do. There is no fraud. That is not a legal thing to do.

And so the House January 6th Committee really painted this meeting as a moment where Trump himself made a choice. And he chose to side with those

advisers who were really pushing this idea to continue forward and continue trying to challenge and overturn the election.

Now take a listen to what some of the witnesses who testified before the January 6th Committee, how they characterized this meeting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAT CIPOLLONE, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL: I was not happy to see the people in the Oval Office. I don't think -- I don't think any of these

people were providing the president with good advice.

DEREK LYONS, FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY: I mean, at times there were people shouting at each other, throwing insults at each other.

SIDNEY POWELL, FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY: Cipollone and Herschmann and whoever the other guy was showed nothing but contempt and disdain of the president.

ERIC HERSCHMANN, FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY: I think that it got to the point where the screaming was completely, completely out there.

[10:35:07]

RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY: I'm going to categorically describe it as you guys are not tough enough, or maybe I will put it another way you

are a bunch of (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: So you just saw there Rudy Giuliani, the former president's one-time attorney, who was present for this meeting. He spoke to prosecutors

recently where he was asked about it, and several other witnesses our sources say were also recently asked about it, too, demonstrating the

special counsel is definitely still interested in what took place in the Oval Office that day.

GIOKOS: Yes. Zach Cohen, brilliant reporting. Thank you so much.

Well, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has fully approved the first Alzheimer's treatment proven to slow the course of the memory-robbing

disease. The move paves the way for an estimated one million people to get access to the medicine.

CNN's Meg Tirrell reports for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Six years ago Joe Montminy saw a neurologist for what he thought were a few minor problems

with his memory.

JOE MONTMINY, DIAGNOSED WITH ALZHEIMER'S: She came back and said, you know what, Joe? You actually have younger onset Alzheimer's disease. You're

likely going to start to experience declines in the next five years. And you may not recognize your family in five to seven years.

TIRRELL: Now 59, Montminy is one of millions of Americans living with Alzheimer's disease. But this year, new hope emerged. A drug aiming to slow

down the disease's progression got accelerated FDA approval in January based on the fact that it clears amyloid plaque buildups in the brain

associated with Alzheimer's.

But Medicare declined to cover it until the FDA granted a fuller traditional approval based on a bigger clinical trial proving the drug has

benefits for thinking clearly and being able to function in daily life. Without insurance, the medicine called Lecanemab and sold under the brand

Leqembi costs $26,500 a year.

MONTMINY: You had this treatment at your fingertips, and suddenly you had Medicare saying, yes, but you can't quite get access to that at this point

in time.

TIRRELL: A larger trial funded by the drug's makers Eisai and Biogen did find that Leqembi can slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease by about

27 percent. It's the first time a drug has proven to alter the disease's course.

LAWRENCE HONIG, PROFESSOR OF NEUROLOGY, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IRVING MEDICAL CENTER: It was a very dismaying experience getting a diagnosis of

Alzheimer's disease, and to be told that we don't have anything that will slow down or stop the disease in its tracks.

TIRRELL: Columbia University's Dr. Lawrence Honig says this is the beginning of a new treatment era, but he warns that Leqembi is not a cure

and not everyone will be eligible for the drug.

(On-camera): How difficult do you anticipate the conversations being with people who are more advanced and maybe are too advanced to benefit from the

drug?

HONIG: We're already having these conversations that sometimes aren't so easy. It's not that we know it's not good for people with moderate or

severe disease, it's just that we don't know.

TIRRELL (voice-over): Side effects could be worse for people with more advanced diseases as well, he says. Already, there's something to be aware

of. About 13 percent of patients receiving the drug in its trial had brain swelling, 17 percent had brain bleeding, compared with 9 percent in the

placebo group.

Leqembi is administered through IV infusion once every two weeks. Infusion centers like Vivo Infusion are gearing up for an expected surge in new

patients.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In certain areas, I anticipate we will receive probably at least 15 percent to 20 percent more patient referrals for this

drug.

TIRRELL: Joe Montminy is hoping he'll be able to get it for a chance for more time with his wife and two grown sons.

MONTMINY: Like any parent, I would love to see them actually get married and have a family. I just want to experience many of the activities that

most people take for granted.

TIRRELL: Meg Tirrell, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: All right, ahead in sports, a famous Hollywood face suiting up for the British Grand Prix. What Brad Pitt is doing on the race course when we

return.

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[10:41:29]

GIOKOS: Well, you can call it a case of art imitating life or at least trying to at this weekend's British Grand Prix. In between practice

sessions a Hollywood A-lister is suiting up to drive the course.

Amanda Davies joins me now, who's going to tell me about why we are seeing Brad Pitt on the screen and also at Silverstone Circuit.

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN'S WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: Yes. We've been hearing, haven't we, about Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney getting involved in Formula 1 as

part ownership of a team. Well, Brad Pitt is getting even closer to the action. Eagle-eyed viewers would spot a new team represented in the pit

lane this weekend. And this is a fictional team because Brad Pitt is working with Apple and Formula 1 to create, to make, a new film where Brad

Pitt -- his new name is Sunny Haze is coming back.

A former driver who has retired, who's deciding to make a return to Formula 1. So he's actually driving a car at Silverstone at the British Grand Prix

this weekend. Not a Formula 1 car, I hasten to add. A Formula 2 car which goes a little bit slower. It's got special adaptations but there's a lot of

excitement around the paddock about Hollywood being in town.

But, Eleni, we're not only building up to the British Grand Prix in "WORLD SPORT" in a couple of minutes. We are doing it even more style because

we've got an interview with the two-time Formula 1 world champion, the current championship leader Max Verstappen coming your way.

GIOKOS: Brilliant. We'll see you right after this short break. And I'll be back at the top of the hour.

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