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Crash Investigation Intensifies as Recovery Effort Begins; 8 Dead in Cross-Border Attacks Between Israel and Lebanon; How the Collapse Impacts the U.S. Economy; Up to 35,000 Vehicles a Day Used Key Bridge; Krispy Kreme and McDonald's to Team Up. Aired 9-9:45a ET

Aired March 27, 2024 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: Well, this is the scene in Baltimore, Maryland attention now turning to what went wrong the NTSB Chair

telling CNN that investigators have boarded the vessel and we have learned that recovery teams have located the critical data recorder from the ship.

It is 9 am in Baltimore, it is 5 pm here in Abu Dhabi, I'm Eleni Giokos, and this is "Connect the World". Also happening in the next few hours

attorneys for Hunter Biden and Special Counsel David Weiss are set for courtroom showdowns in Los Angeles over the future of his felony tax

indictment. And in this region, Israel and Lebanon trade rocket fire leading to several dead and injured on both sides of the border.

Well, we begin this hour with new developments in Baltimore. We are just learning that recovery teams have recovered the critical data recorder from

the ship. Divers are in the water they're looking for the victims of the Baltimore Bridge collapse after the operation moved from the search phase

to recovery.

Official say the construction workers were on the bridge Tuesday when a cargo ship lost power, veered off course and crashed into the bridge

plunging the workers into the river below and six people are presumed dead after the collapse of the Key Bridge in Baltimore. We've got CNN's Gabe

Cohen in Baltimore with much more on the victim's background and the investigation into the crash. And he spoke with my CNN colleagues just a

short time ago. Take a look.

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're learning more about those six lives as you mentioned. These were people, many of them longtime Maryland residents,

with families that dearly loved them. We've learned about 38-year-old Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval.

He was an immigrant from Honduras who had been a U.S. resident for 18 years. He was a married father of two an 18-year-old son, and a five year

old daughter. His brother told CNN describing him as a really beloved, a member of their family. We've also learned about Miguel Luna, he's a father

of three from El Salvador who had lived in Maryland for more than 19 years.

You can feel Fred the heartbreak as you talk to people here in the Baltimore community about the lives that have been lost. And as John

mentioned before, this investigation into what went wrong is really kicking into high gear this afternoon.

The NTSB has said they have boarded the dolly their investigators, they have close to two dozen of them here at the scene. And they've started

collecting electronics including that data recorder, which is essentially the black box of the ship to try to piece together a timeline that we're

expecting to get a little bit later today.

They're processing it in their lab right now. But that could tell us what caused this total blackout on the ship. The reason the pilot might have

lost controls lost the ability to operate the ship as he tried to slow it down tried to drop anchor couldn't pull that off right before colliding

with the column of the bridge causing that collapse. A lot of questions but it is promising that the NTSB has said they are hoping to have a much

better timeline by later this afternoon.

GIOKOS: Well, as Gabe just reported the National Transportation Safety Board is leading the crash investigation in Baltimore. A short time ago,

the Chair of that organization spoke to CNN's John Berman about what her team is focused on at this time. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER HOMENDY, NTSB CHAIR: Right now our work on scene. And we have a team of 24 investigators of various specialties. They are focused on

collecting the perishable evidence, that is all the documentation including pictures and components that we may need on the vessel or amongst the

structure to begin to conduct our investigation.

With regard to analysis and really looking at the documents and digging into inspections and what occurred leading up to the striking that will

take a longer amount of time. Right now it's getting what would disappear once this is cleaned up and that is the focus.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Understood.

HOMENDY: -- we're also spending part of the day beginning to do our interviews All

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: All right, let's bring in Anthony Foxx a Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation and he joins us now.

[09:05:00]

Sir, very good morning to you good to have you join us today.

ANTHONY FOXX, FORMER U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: Good morning.

GIOKOS: We've just heard from the NTSB in terms of what their priorities are, at this point in time. That black box is hopefully going to hold some

critical answers to a lot of questions that are unanswered. What is top of mind for you right now?

FOXX: Well, it's top of mind for me and so many people in the -- in the DMV area and across the world is just the law life, the tragic circumstances

that occurred yesterday, and maybe even a bit of gratitude that it wasn't worse than it was. The fact that the captain of the ship, notified

authorities and they were able to stop a lot of traffic on that bridge means that we were able to avoid an even worse situation.

Now, that said, there are three things that need to be worked on. Obviously recovery of us six people who fell as a result of this collapse into the

water and trying to find their bodies there are also the investigation that the NTSB is underway to identify root cause of why this container ship

collided with the bridge.

And then of course, there's the bridge itself a major thoroughfare on the Eastern Seaboard, a major port in America, particularly for automobiles.

And so we have to figure out how quickly we can get that bridge reset and back up and going.

GIOKOS: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, there are lots of things to focus on right now and as you mentioned, critically, the search and rescue teams' heroic

effort yesterday and now turning into a recovery mission. But in terms of this investigation that is now in full swing, they're going to try and

build a timeline, this mayday call that perhaps created a window of opportunity to stop some of the traffic but not enough time to get those

workers off the bridge.

That is going to be important information to figure out when the -- you know the captain and the pilot figured out something went wrong and their

ability to alert authorities.

FOXX: Yes, absolutely. That will absolutely be part of what the NTSB looks at as Chair Homendy said in her -- in her notes. They have to first recover

as much information that otherwise would be lost as possible. And it will take likely weeks, maybe months before they have assessed that information.

And it's going to take a while for us to really understand what happened on that ship. I understand, for example, that before it had blacked out before

it systems went dark. It was traveling about eight and a half knots, which is roughly 10 miles an hour.

And we don't know what the speed of the shipping container was when it impacted the bridge. But eight and a half knots is 10 miles an hour. And

that's a -- that's a pretty swift blow to a bridge of that size. So there's a lot more to know. And we will learn more in the coming days and weeks.

GIOKOS: The Incumbent Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg had this to say. I want you to take a listen to some of his thoughts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE BUTTIGIEG, U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: The impact of this incident is going to be felt throughout the region and really throughout our supply

chains. We're talking about the biggest vehicle handling port in the country that is now out of commission until that channel can be cleared.

And a bridge that took five years to build. The president has been very clear that every federal resource will be directed toward getting back to

normal both for the traffic that counts on the bridge and supply chains, the count on that port. But this is going to be a big long and not

inexpensive road to recovery.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: Now, a really important point there, this is going to be a hefty price tag. We know that there's a $1 trillion infrastructure bill right

now, right? And I guess the question is should a lot of that also be put to assessing the safety of bridges, whether they have these safety buffers of

concrete slabs around critical pillars that could cause structural damage to bridges as well.

FOXX: I suspect that in the wake of this incident, there will be a lot of conversation about the level of resilience of bridges to impact such as

this. But I have to say that when these bridges are designed, there's a lot of thought that goes into questions of that type.

[09:10:00]

And one has to employ sort of a risk based approach to this. You know, what is the likelihood of a freak accident such as is this happening to a bridge

and we have to assess that risk not only from pure accidents, but also obviously from a national security perspective.

So, I'm confident there will be some looks at that. But obviously, there's, you know, you can't always count for every single scenario that will ever

possibly occur. And in this instance, we don't know for sure, but it certainly looks as though this was something that was such an outlier. And

we probably would not have anticipated it.

But now that it's happened, there will be a lot of looks at it, what should happen in the future? And particularly to your point about the workers,

there will be looks at it. What happened there? And why we weren't able to evacuate those workers in time? And again, these are things that we

learned, unfortunately, from the most terrible things that happened in the world. How to do better the next time and hopefully there won't be a next

time.

GIOKOS: Hopefully, yes, exactly. Look the images show the vessel with flickering lights. There is some kind of working argument here that the

vessel experience power outages. We know that they've also said that it lost its steering. This is why there was a mayday call, and so forth.

I want to talk about liability down the line in terms of the owners. And importantly, in terms of the inspections that this boat had -- you know,

this vessel had been under. Last year had passed that there were there's a lot of talk about whether they were able to pass the previous inspections

as well. How would the Department of Transport be looking at that in terms of liability?

FOXX: Well, there will certainly be a lot of discussion about liability here. Obviously, there's loss of life and their families impacted. And

there will likely be a lot of discussion about that insurability of the shipping container vessel owner, relative to the impact to the bridge that

will also be a conversation that will happen.

But you know, in the wake of what happened yesterday, I think a lot of us thought and still think that a downstream issue that will -- that will be

addressed eventually but recovery of the bodies of these workers trying to get as much data that would be lost if we don't find it right away so that

we can determine root cause.

These are the things that people are most worried about today. And of course, you're exactly right. This issue is going to -- is going to be

something that that comes up perhaps through court proceedings, perhaps through settlements, but there will absolutely be some liability assessed

to the shipping container vessel owner.

GIOKOS: All right, Anthony Foxx. Good to see you today. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us important context there. And you can

follow all the latest on the bridge collapse and recovery efforts on our website. We've got more on the victims who were from multiple countries.

The economic impact and a story on how the Singapore flag cargo ship that hit the bridge was briefly held in Chile last year for what's the Chilean

Navy called a propulsion issue.

One person was killed during a rocket attack in Northern Israel on Wednesday. Hezbollah claimed the attack on Kiryat Shmona saying it launched

dozens of rockets in response to an Israeli attack that killed seven medical staff in a facility in Southern Lebanon earlier Wednesday.

Israeli warplanes raided Lebanon's emergency and relief core killing seven staff members and injuring number of others according to Lebanese state

media. CNN's Ben Wedeman has reported extensively from Lebanon, and joins us now live. Ben, good to have you on the story for us what more can you

tell us about this incident?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNTIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly today has been perhaps the bloodiest day on the Lebanese Israeli border in quite

some years.

What happened was this airstrike took place in the early hours of Wednesday on the town of -- where this emergency medical center that's affiliated

with Jamal Islamia (ph), or the Islamic group, which is a militant group operating in South Lebanon had this this center, where seven people were

killed according to the Lebanese national news agency among them medics and civilians according to the NNA.

[09:15:00]

Now the Israelis say that the target was what they described as a significant terrorist operative and others who were with him. Now in

response, as you mentioned, Hezbollah responded with a barrage of rockets on Kiryat Shmona, which is an Israeli town very close to the border with

Lebanon.

In that instance killing a 25 year old factory worker in that town now, many of the civilians in fact tens of thousands of civilians have fled the

border areas on both sides according to figures from the Lebanese Government, as many as 91,000 people have left southern Lebanon since the

7th of October and a similar number of Israelis have also left the border region as well. But as I said, this is certainly the bloodiest day on that

border since the war in Gaza began Eleni.

GIOKOS: All right, Ben Wedeman, thank you so much. And you can follow that and all of our in depth coverage from the region in our newsletter

"Meanwhile in the Middle East" there you'll also find a closer look at Gaza's looming famine and the rift between the Biden Administration and the

Israeli Prime Minister. Access that all by scanning the QR code at the bottom of your screen right now.

And still to come, Hunter Biden has an important court hearing in Los Angeles today why his legal team believes the entire tax case against him

should be dismissed? And how the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore will impact the U.S. economy that's all coming up?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GIOKOS: A showdown in the Los Angeles courtroom is set for today. Attorneys for Hunter Biden will try to persuade a federal judge to dismiss multiple

felony tax charges against him. What the judge eventually decides could possibly impact the November election.

The president's son was charged in December with nine tax offenses to which he's pleaded not guilty. Special Counsel David Weiss is leading the charge

for the Justice Department. Hunter's lawyers say Weiss caved to pressure from Donald Trump and House Republicans.

Now in court filings Hunter's attorneys also said their client is quote been targeted because of his political and familial affiliations. CNN's

Katelyn Polantz joins us now Katelyn, good to see you as always what are we expecting to happen in court today?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME & JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, this will be a media set of arguments from Hunter Biden's lawyers. They're challenging the

indictment in federal court against Hunter Biden related to tax crimes, failure to pay his taxes or to evade paying taxes.

What they're going to be arguing today to the judge though, is going to pull on the strings in this case that make it unusual. They're going to be

challenging the Special Counsel's authority.

[09:20:00]

They're going to be arguing to the judge, that there were political things that were happening that made it -- made this case happen against Hunter

Biden and that should not have been the case. They're going to argue to the judge that Hunter Biden should never have been charged here because he had

an agreement with the Justice Department before this indictment happened, that should have cut out the ability for these charges to take place.

They are also going to argue that politics were creating a situation where Hunter Biden's privacy was invaded as a taxpayer when he was under

investigation, bringing in a lot of the political conversation to this criminal case where Hunter Biden is a defendant.

We don't expect the judge to make decisions today on whether to allow this case to go forward to trial or to throw it out. But we're going to be

watching quite closely to see what the federal judge does here. And if there is any ability or traction, that Hunter Biden's lawyers get in

challenging the indictment against their client.

GIOKOS: Look, also happening today separately, a California judge expected to rule on whether former Trump Attorney John Eastman should be stripped of

his law license. What can you tell us about that?

POLANTZ: Right. This is a special court that manages the attorneys in California and their ability to practice law. What's at stake is John

Eastman's law license. He's a law professor, very well known in conservative circles, who had been one of the architects behind Donald

Trump's challenges of the outcome of the 2020 election and his loss in court.

So John Eastman has already sat through an attorney discipline trial, and now today a judge will decide whether he should lose his law license or

face other sanctions, whatever that opinion is from the judge would still need to be certified by the courts.

But this is evidence of the due process and the process that attorneys must face for working for Donald Trump. John Eastman is not the only person

facing a disciplinary proceeding like lists. There are others who were effecting on behalf of Donald Trump after the 2020 election. Jeffrey Clark

is sitting through his own attorney discipline trial right now. And so we are likely to see outcomes in these even three years after the events of

the 2020 election and January 6th.

GIOKOS: All right. Katelyn Polantz, thank you so much. Well ahead on "Connect the World" the economic fallout from the Baltimore bridge collapse

why the U.S. Transportation Secretary says he's getting things back to normal and that won't come back -- come back -- come easy, or quickly we'll

explain why after this stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:25:00]

GIOKOS: Welcome back. I'm Eleni Giokos, in Abu Dhabi, and you're watching "Connect to the World". Our first thoughts after tragedies like the

Baltimore Bridge collapse go to the victims and their family members who lost their loved ones.

There's also another impact, the economic impact, the collapse, and that has indefinitely halted the flow of goods into and out of the Port of

Baltimore. And it shut down a major route that tens of thousands of vehicles use each day to travel around the city. And up and down the U.S.

East Coast.

Kathy Szeliga is a Maryland State Legislator representing Baltimore County, and she knows better than just anyone about how vital this port is. It's

good to see you, Kathy, thank you so much for joining us. It really struck me to hear that actually, you are one of these frequent users of this --

was once a bridge. What is your response and reaction to this very catastrophic and tragic incidents that saw this rapid collapse of a bridge

that had become really important to the city for decades?

KATHY SZELIGA, MARYLAND STATE REPRESENTATIVE: Yes, thank you so much for covering this important story. The bridge collapse was surreal. I mean,

we've all seen it replayed. And it's hard to believe that it wasn't a movie. And it was real. And we're so grateful that it happened at 1:30 in

the morning, when the bridge was not full of commuters and truck traffic.

And of course, we're praying for the families of the six people that have perished, they're now looking for their bodies. So yes, this is just a

catastrophe of historic proportions, especially for our area. And this bridge is so vital.

I represent Baltimore County, and we all have to commute either through one of two tunnels or over a bridge because the Patapsco River runs through

that part of our city. And the loss of this bridge is going to be really tough for everyone in the area, not just for the important port traffic

that has now stopped for -- you know now as they tried to clear the debris and reopen that shipping channel.

But the truck traffic, the car traffic about 30,000 people a day commute over that bridge. So it's really going to make it difficult for people in

the Baltimore area and really up and down the whole East Coast.

GIOKOS: And certainly a key artery as you has explained. What we do know and what lot more information is coming in as the investigation is in full

swing right now as we speak. But we do know there was a mayday call from the ship that was able to alert authorities to stop some of the traffic not

enough time, though, to get those workers off the bridge. I want you to take a listen to what the authority said just before the collision with the

bridge. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I need one of guys on the south side. I need one of you guys on the north side, hold traffic on the Key Bridge. There's a ship

approaching has just lost their steering. So they tell you that under control. We got to stop all traffic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, if we can stop traffic, just make sure no one's on the bridge right now. I'm not sure what. There's a crew out there -- want

to notify whoever the foreman is see if we can get them off the bridge temporarily.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 313 dispatch. The whole bridge just fell down. Start, start whoever, everybody the whole bridge just collapsed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: A surreal, just listening to that -- to that alert Kathy, really. And you know -- and they said we need to alert the foreman. It's trying to

get to the workers in time. I mean, it sounded like they just didn't have a lot of time to do that. But I guess the question is could more lives have

been saved?

SZELIGA: Of course, you know, we'll look back in hindsight is 2020 and see what could have been done to save the lives of those construction workers.

Certainly that may help to shut the traffic off on either end of the bridge and -- you know potentially saving lives of people that would have been

going over that bridge at 1:30 in the morning.

[09:30:00]

But you know our ships that come in and out of the Chesapeake Bay and up into the Port of Baltimore they're all driven by bay pilots, very skilled

maritime ship divers in layman's terms, and so we'll be looking for the report from those bay pilots today they are recovering the black box.

So they'll find out why -- you know, what happened? Was that a mechanical failure? You know what exactly happened? We're going to be looking at --

you know, could the anchor have been dropped sooner that would have possibly slowed that ship down?

You know, we're always going to look at those things. And of course, we have the full cooperation of the federal government, state government,

local authorities -- you know all hands on deck here for the recovery. And then, of course, to see how quickly we can rebuild this very important

bridge that crosses the Patapsco -- you know it is the gateway to our city.

GIOKOS: I know and look at it's a heroic effort by the search and rescue teams and other recovery teams that is continuing for over a day now. Kathy

here is the question in terms of this bridge. It is over 50 years old.

And the big question is you know whether concrete slabs around to create some kind of buffer zone, which usually newer bridges that -- they designed

very differently to deal with some kind of ship impact, especially through a very busy through fare for vessels like this. What is your understanding

in terms of firewalls that might have been created or perhaps lack thereof?

SZELIGA: Right -- you know, we're going to look at that the bridge was older. And also, again, the navigation we are ships that come in and out of

our port, not just piloted by very skilled, competent Bay pilots that are local -- seamen that understand the bay and the shipping channels.

But we also have tugboats that accompany those boats in and out of the harbor. You know so we'll be looking at all of those things are that the

channel has to be wide enough. Baltimore has one of four Panamax deep water channels for these big new ships that can now traverse the Panama Canal.

Baltimore's port can handle those larger ships. So you know that's another thing about keeping that channel wide enough. And so we'll be looking at

all those things as we look to rebuild this bridge.

GIOKOS: You know, as you said Kathy, over 30,000 vehicles on this bridge on a single day. The Port of Baltimore really important, in fact, transport

secretary said, Pete Buttigieg said that this is going to have an impact on the entire supply chain.

Could you give me a sense of what you're expecting right now, in terms of the supply chain impact the movement of vessels and so forth, not only for

Baltimore, but the spillover effect is going to have?

SZELIGA: Certainly, you know, this -- we are one of the busiest ports on the East Coast again, because we can handle those larger newer ships. And

we are Baltimore proudly; the largest in the country for roll on roll off. They call it row cargo, which would be cars, tractors, farm equipment --

you know think of anything that could drive itself on and off of a cargo ship.

The top Mercedes Benz importer for the entire country so you know that's kind of certainly impact the courier industry, people who need to buy a

vehicle, some of that traffic will be diverted to Norfolk and other ports. But our objective here is to get that shipping channel back open as soon as

possible.

We're also one of the top exporters of coal in the country. So we have -- you know have that important energy source waiting at our port to be

exported, just so many jobs about 140,000 jobs, direct and indirect jobs at the port. I think it's about for our state about $15 million a day of

commerce.

You know so we're working closely with all of the port workers that are directly affected by this closure. And -- you know we're really hopeful

that the federal government is going to come in with all of their resources and really help us clear that shipping channel and get that port reopened

as soon as possible.

GIOKOS: Yeah, Kathy, thank you so much. Actually, the Mayor -- no, the Governor said yesterday. He said Maryland tough and Baltimore strong. So

that is the line that's going to stick with me. You guys are tough. And thank you so much for your time. It's good to have you on important to have

these conversations. Kathy Szeliga for us thank you so much.

[09:35:00]

Well look, I want to bring in Matt Egan for more on the economic impacts. Matt, good to have you on, you just heard from Kathy there talking about

the spillover effect and what that's going to mean for supply chains. What are we looking at initially?

MATT EGAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Eleni, of course, this is first and foremost a human tragedy, but there will be an economic impact. We are

talking about one of the biggest ports in the United States. This is a major employer, as you were just discussing, we're talking about 15,000

direct jobs 140,000 or so jobs indirectly, as well.

So this is a body blow to the local economy. And you know this port, it's not just an employer, it's a major hub of economic activity, right? This is

the number one port for coal exports. The number one port for the imports of sugar, farm and construction machinery as well and then autos and light

trucks.

I mean, 850,000 vehicles went through this port last year alone. That was an all-time record. And we've heard from a number of major companies that

are going to be impacted here, because either they rely on the port or they relied on the Key Bridge, or both.

Some of the major auto companies like Ford and GM is the Lantis. We also know that Amazon, Under Armour and other companies have facilities there.

And Domino's Sugar, they have this iconic sugar refinery that is sort of a landmark in the Baltimore Harbor, but it's also the biggest sugar refinery

in the western hemisphere.

So listen, I think all of those impacts are going to be there. And Eleni, you know, we all learned during COVID that when something breaks in one

part of the supply chain, there can be ripple effects really everywhere.

GIOKOS: All right Matt Egan thank you so much for that context. I want to bring you up to speed on some other stories that are on our radar right

now. Thailand is a step closer to being the first nation Southeast Asia to legalize same sex marriage. Its House of Representatives voted 400 in favor

to just 10 opposed earlier Wednesday. It could take several months for the Senate to vote on the measure and it must also be endorsed by the king

before becoming law.

Russia has remained an eighth suspect reminded rather than a suspect for the alleged role in the deadly terror attack last Friday near Moscow.

Officials now say at least 140 people were killed and 360 injured during the ambush at a concert hall. State media says the suspect is accused of

providing the attackers a place to stay may have known about the plot in advance.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has dismissed a top security official providing no reason for the move. Secretary of Ukraine's National

Security and Defense Council, Alexei Danilo will be replaced by the Head of Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service, Alexander Litvinenko. We're going

to have a short break, I'll be back right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:40:00]

GIOKOS: Welcome back. And to our next story, a Glazed Doughnut and an Egg McMuffin might sound like a mouth-watering if not hearts attack inducing

breakfast. Well, McDonald's and Krispy Kreme are partnering up to make that dream a reality at restaurants across the United States. Three types of the

ice streets will hit branches of the fast food chain later this year, with the rollout complete by the end of 2026.

Interesting combination I have to say. After this announcement -- sweeter announcement Krispy Kreme stock surged by almost get this 40 percent look

at that graph incredible. Who would have thought this partnership would have caused a surge like this clearly investors like it.

Well, it was almost a case of life imitating arts Actor Hugh Grant says he once considered launching a career into politics. Grants, who has played

politicians discuss the possibility with his mother in law, a former member of the Swedish Parliament's and he told entertainment weekly she advised

him against it because politics is quote, all horse trading and the incoming abuse is unthinkable.

The Ukrainian football team is celebrating their first birth in major tournaments since the country was invaded by Russia. The blue and yellow

rallied from a goal down to beat Iceland to one to secure a place in the Euro 2024 this summer in Germany. Amanda Davies joins me now and look at

those incredible pictures of jubilation and joy.

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yeah, this really is a story of triumph over adversity. And you know this is a football team who for the last two

years have been forced to play their home games and a host of different venues across Europe because of the invasion.

This was being played in Poland, a country that has taken in more Ukrainian refugees than perhaps any other so the crowd was incredibly part of that

and you can just imagine the atmosphere. The Coach Sergey Rebrov just said that he sees this as a triumph for an entire country.

The fact that Ukraine will be running out to the European Championships in Germany in just a couple of months' time and we've got plenty more

reaction, what it means coming up in just a couple of minutes?

GIOKOS: And look at those fans. OK, Amanda, we'll see after the break, I'll be back at the top of the hour stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:45:00]

(WORLD SPORT)

END