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Connect the World

George Clooney: Democrats need a New Nominee; Closing Arguments Resume Today in Menendez Trial; Hatred Thought at Government-Run Children's Camps; Michigan Governor: "Wouldn't Hurt" for Biden to take Cognitive Test; Late Goal Lifts England Past Netherlands, into EURO Final. Aired 9-10a ET

Aired July 11, 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)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: We are looking at live pictures of the U.S. capital Washington D.C. where NATO leaders are

gathered. And President Joe Biden is expected to hold a news conference later today. It's 9 am there in Washington. It's 5 pm here in Abu Dhabi.

I'm Becky Anderson. You're watching "Connect the World".

Also happening over the next two hours, a strong condemnation of Russia, China and Iran in NATO's latest declaration with China, firing back at a

high stakes news conference for Mr. Biden, who is facing calls from some Democrats of course to step aside from the presidential race, plus, it just

could be coming home for England fans see Three Lions head to the Euro final.

And the stock market in New York will open in about 30 minutes from now at 9:30 Eastern Time just had the latest inflation numbers in the futures

market, certainly indicating a very mixed open more on that bottom of the hour. Well, Joe Biden will hold a highly anticipated news conference at the

NATO Summit in Washington later today as he faces more calls from Democrats to exit the presidential race.

For the first time at Democratic Senator Peter Welch of Vermont, is calling on Mr. Biden to end his campaign. Another Senate Democrat Michael Bennet of

Colorado says he thinks Donald Trump will win in November, maybe he says by a landslide. And the president has also lost the support of Hollywood

Megastar George Clooney just weeks after Clooney hosted a high profile Biden fundraiser.

Lauren Fox is connecting us from Washington. Lauren, let's start with new polling from ABC News, Washington Post and Ipsos, which shows Biden and

Trump nearly head to head. The new polls also show that 62 percent of Democrats say he should step aside. What's the sense on the Hill and in the

White House about how concerned Democrats should be about these numbers?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I can tell you that one of the concerns coming from a lot of Democratic members up on Capitol Hill

is that national polling, doesn't necessarily give a great insight into what happens in their individual races. I think the concern about what

Biden's view at the top of the ticket does down ballot is something that a lot of Democrats are still very concerned about.

You can expect that today. When Biden campaign officials come and meet with Democratic senators just off Capitol Hill, that they are going to be buoyed

by these kinds of polls showing the fact that there hasn't been a lot of movement in the race between Biden and Trump in this matchup.

But I think a lot of Democrats who are running in states like Montana, Arizona, talking about states like Ohio, those Democrats still have

concerns about what this means for them down ballot. It's one thing in the words of Peter Welch yesterday to me to be running and trying to make up

some ground between them and the president.

It's another thing to try to make up a major chasm in a state like Ohio or Montana. So something I think that we still have to watch as these polls

come out in dribs and drabs.

ANDERSON: Explain what we've got from George Clooney, the Hollywood actor and why what he wrote for "The New York Times" is or at least could be very

significant.

FOX: Yeah, in conversations with Democrats yesterday, I think a lot of them were quick to dismiss George Clooney's voice as just one donor in the sea

of many, you know, one Democrat put it to me, we're not going to lose this race because we don't have enough money. But I think what was damaging

about Clooney's op-ed yesterday was the fact that he himself had an observation that the president was not the same Joe Biden, he was four

years ago.

I think of everything written in that op-ed that was probably the most damning line, in part because it is yet another piece of evidence from

someone who has been Biden supporter in the past that they maybe doubting that Biden is up to the job, Becky.

[09:05:00]

ANDERSON: George Clooney's op-ed was damning. We saw footage from the fundraiser that he held. Barack Obama was also at that fundraiser. And

there was footage of Barack Obama sort of leading Joe Biden off the stage there, I guess.

You know, the question at this point is, as we await a news conference, an unprompted news conference, by which I mean, there'll be no prompter for

Joe Biden to use this afternoon, as we await that 5 pm Washington time. Where do we stand at this point? You're testing the temperature on the Hill

there?

FOX: Yeah, I mean, there's still a lot of concern, Becky, you know, one thing I point out is that there are nine Democrats publicly calling for

Biden to get out of this race. But I think behind closed doors and in private conversations, there are many more who have doubts.

And some of those members are publicly making their comments in just subtle ways, saying that they hope the president decides soon, despite the fact

that the President has said repeatedly, he's staying in the race. I think Democrats are trying to give him a -- and opportunity. They respect the

president.

They're proud of what they've been able to accomplish. But at the same time, they're not sure the Biden's current decision to stay in this race is

the best one. I think that's why you hear a lot of Democrats, including Nancy Pelosi, continuing to say that they hope Biden makes a decision soon,

Becky.

ANDERSON: There does seem to be a lot of anticipation of this news conference this afternoon. And then perhaps the voices out there who are

suggesting the Democrats should wait to see how he performs and allow him to lead at this NATO Summit. Perhaps there should be some further sort of

decision making after that will see.

Thank you. Now to that NATO Summit in Washington, leaders of the 32 member nations are directing blunt criticism at China, calling it a decisive

enabler of Russia's war against Ukraine. Beijing has claimed it is neutral on the war, even portraying itself as a potential peace broker.

Well, the NATO leaders, declaration also affirm that Ukraine's path to entering the alliance is and I quote them here irreversible. Natasha

Bertrand is there or certainly here for us? And China, certainly responding to the NATO narrative, suggesting the comments are malicious, is what we

are witnessing here, a shift in focus for NATO and its members towards China and its growing influence and power.

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky it certainly a major shift for many of the allies inside NATO who had been

reluctant previously, to directly call out China in previous NATO communications, because of things like really deep economic ties to China

that they did not want to necessarily compromise.

But it has become really increasingly difficult for certain allies inside NATO, including France and Germany to ignore the fact that China is

basically the biggest driver at this point of Russia's war economy, something like 70 to 90 percent of the components that Russia is getting to

in order to fuel its weapons production are coming from China, things like micro-electronics, microchips, components for missile systems.

And that is really a threat, according to U.S. officials to the Euro- Atlantic security alliance. And so this is an effort by NATO to really plant a firm flag here that they understand what China is doing and sending

them a warning that if they do not stop, then there are going to be additional consequences.

Because of course, the United States has already sanctioned, really over a dozen Chinese firms that have been involved in providing this kind of

equipment to the Russians of fueling the war in Ukraine. Other European countries have been a little bit more reluctant to do that. But now we see

the 32 member alliance coming together, sending this warning shot to China in a way that we have not seen before back in 2019.

The alliance first mentioned China and kind of vague terms saying that they were you know, there were opportunities and challenges and dealing with the

Chinese. But this is the first time we have seen this strong language. And of course, China is coming out pretty strongly against it, saying that it

represents a cold war mentality denying that they are fueling the war in Ukraine.

But of course, the U.S. has shared intelligence with NATO members in order to convince them that China is in fact a major driver of this conflict. And

that has increasingly convinced all of the members of the alliance who may have been skeptical previously that is not something that they can ignore

at this point, Becky.

[09:10:00]

ANDERSON: Fascinating! Good to have you. Thank you. Well, the elephant in the room as it were at that NATO Summit is Gaza hostage ceasefire talks

have now wrapped up in Doha, and see no closer to a deal. Meantime, the situation on the ground continues to escalate. The Israeli military has now

ordered Palestinians to evacuate all of Gaza City urging more than a quarter of a million people to head south.

The IDF says it has opened a quote safe passage route for civilians, but we of course have seen civilians killed on numerous occasions while taking

such routes previously. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz joining us now, what do we understand to be the situation on the ground?

Evacuation orders from Gaza City where as we just reported, we understand there are some 250,000 people many of whom may have returned to their homes

or may never have left and have been putting up with this sort of constant assault from Israel. What do we understand to be the situation on the

ground at this point?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Becky so you have a fresh offensive on Gaza City tanks closing in on certain neighborhoods Shujaiya,

neighborhood as these bombs this bombardment nearly intense bombardment continues to rain down the drones overhead and in this climate, the

entirety of Gaza city's population has been ordered to evacuate, ordered to leave their homes, leaflets were dropped on the city just yesterday by

Israel's military.

But here's the thing, if a family is trying to leave their home in Gaza City, they have to first step out into an open combat zone. As you

mentioned, they have to take what Israel has called safe routes, but in the past have proven to be deadly, even dangerous for families trying to get

further south.

And even if they do reach the south, Becky, there is no sanctuary there. Just on Tuesday, there was a displacement shelter, U.N. run displacement

shelter held inside a school in Khan Younis. That's all the way in the south that just two days ago, was struck by Israeli firepower.

Israel says it was targeting and did kill a Hamas operative, but there were civilians caught in the middle. So for any families receiving this

evacuation order, they have very little trust that they can make itself safely. And they simply know that there is no safety to be had, even if

they do take those evacuation orders seriously.

Painting again the wider picture here on the ground nine months into this conflict, you're looking at nearly 38,000 people who have been killed, that

are according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Famine and hunger is now spreading through the Enclave. That's according to the United Nations.

The healthcare system is on its -- Medecins Sans Frontieres the Doctors without Borders said they've shut their last center in the north of Gaza

today. And as all of these suffering increases on the ground, Hamas is responding by saying those talks happening in Doha. Well, that takes us all

back to Square One.

And that's really where the question is right now, Becky, as these talks are ongoing we know the Doha portion has wrapped up. There continue to be

mediators shuffling around the region. They are desperately trying to find respite, the six week ceasefire deal but these continued assaults on the

ground could threaten that peace, Becky.

ANDERSON: And we are getting some sense that some progress has been made in these Doha talks, but sources telling CNN that significant work still

remains to be done. And this is of course, talks about making progress towards what might be a deal on both hostages and a ceasefire. Thank you.

All right, let's move on to a high profile criminal trial -- involving a U.S. Senator that we are following in New York. Closing arguments from the

defense are expected to resume this hour in a wide ranging corruption case involving the Democratic Senator Bob Menendez and two of his co-defendants.

The prosecution will then follow with its rebuttal before the case is ultimately handed to the jury. Menendez and his co-defendants to New Jersey

businessmen are accused of taking partner years long bribery scheme that included actions benefiting the governments of Egypt and Qatar.

All three men have pleaded not guilty. Well CNN's Kara Scannell is following this story for us as the defense rests its case after some

months. What are the possible outcomes as we understand them from this trial for Bob Mendez?

[09:15:00]

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So Bob Mendez has been charged with 16 federal felony counts including bribery, extortion, acting as a foreign

agent that's for these alleged meetings and steps he took to aid the government of Egypt, as well as numerous conspiracy counts.

And based on you know, if he's convicted of some of the most serious charges, some of them carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Now,

this is still up to the judge to decide if the senator is convicted, how much of that he would actually serve. They rarely get the maximum allowed

under the statute.

But these are serious charges. And that's why we saw Senator Bob Menendez's lawyer give a five hour in -- and closing argument over the past two days

trying to convince the jury to acquit the senator of these charges, saying that the prosecution has not made its case. Now prosecutors have accused

the senator of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, cash that they found in the senator's home, including in envelopes with the

senator's DNA on it.

Also -- interfering in criminal investigations, as well as helping the government of Egypt by softening his stance on human rights abuses and

pushing through some military aid that the government was seeking, including through private meetings that aides testified at this trial

saying that they thought were weird.

Now, of course Menendez's lawyer is arguing that these were routine meetings that all the senator was doing is trying to help his constituents

when speaking with prosecutors about other investigations. And we are expected to hear this morning from another one of the co-defendants in this

case, one of the businessmen, his lawyers will continue his closing arguments, and then as you said the prosecution will have their rebuttal.

We expect that to go for about two hours that once that is completed, then it's the judge's turn to instruct the jury on the law what they have to

find the prosecution proved in order to find the senator guilty of these charges of course you know, then the deliberations will begin, they will

take as long as it needs to be.

This trial is now in its ninth week of the case and so it's really not clear how long it will take the jury to deliberate but they've certainly

heard a lot from the lawyers over the past several days, Becky.

ANDERSON: Good to have you Kara, thank you. Well you're watching "Connect the World". I'm Becky Anderson just after quarter past 5 here in the UAE.

Still to come, inside look at a summer camp in North Korea for children from quote friendly countries turns out a key part of the curriculum is

learning how to hate the USA.

Plus, we just got the latest read on the fight against inflation in the U.S. and it shows well good news for Americans wallets will break down the

numbers few and a live report from New York. That is just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:20:00]

ANDERSON: Well, NATO Leaders are meeting in Washington Vladimir Putin has been hosting members of the BRICS alliance in St. Petersburg. The Russian

President is a staunch proponent of the bloc of major developing economies seen as a counterweight to Western led institutions like G7, for example,

that have condemned Moscow for its war on Ukraine.

Well, the meeting comes as Ukrainian authorities confirmed the first death of a child following Russia's attack on a children's hospital in Kyiv on

Monday. Local officials say at least six people have been killed in Russian attacks across Ukraine in the past 24 hours. Let's get to CNN's Fred

Pleitgen, who is set in Kyiv.

This BRICS meeting, I don't think anybody would believe is any is a coincidence in timing coming. At the same time as NATO meeting, of course,

in Washington. There are those suggesting that we are seeing an even more emboldened Putin. Now that he has this sort of, you know, coalition, as it

were.

And certainly members of BRICS or countries that have been very neutral on this war, as so many countries away from the West have been. What's your

sense of what he's taking into that meeting? And what he hopes to achieve?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, I think you're absolutely right. I think that Vladimir Putin is

certainly trying to self-style himself to a certain extent, as a kind of counter gang balance to NATO, and to what he calls Western domination. So I

think that that certainly is the case.

And I think you're also right, Becky, that he's trying to rally those BRICS members around himself in order for BRICS to possibly become a

counterbalance to NATO, and possibly also to the G7. As well, of course, it used to be the G8 until Russia was kicked out of it after the invasion of

Crimea.

It's going to be quite interesting to see what exactly the BRICS are going to come up with. But you're also absolutely correct to point out that, of

course, countries like India, for instance, have been extremely neutral in all this, because we know that the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.

He was under some fire from nations in the West for embracing Vladimir Putin, on the very day that, that attack that you were talking about on

that children's hospital took place. Of course, 43 people were killed across Ukraine. And now we know three people, including a child were killed

at that children's hospital.

So there was some fire, because of that, however, India has also remained very neutral, and some are saying is essentially providing a lifeline

economically to the Russians by continuously and increasingly purchasing Russian oil. You have countries like South Africa, also and of course,

China, which was heavily criticized by NATO in that communique as saying that they were essentially an enabler of Russia's war effort.

And Vladimir Putin himself continuously is trying to portray himself as someone who is that counterbalance weight to the west to what he calls

Western oppression, Western hegemony. And that's certainly something that an emboldened Vladimir Putin is going to take into that meeting.

One of the things that I think is sort of the basis for all this is that the Russians are saying, first of all, international sanctions against them

aren't working, of course, also because of some of the other BRICS members that are providing help to the Russians and continuously doing business

with the Russians.

But also the Russian saying that despite the sanctions, they believe that right now, their war effort against Ukraine is fairly successful, even

though that's not necessarily reflected on the battlefield were some of the momentum that we saw from the Russians about a month ago, when the

Ukrainians still weren't getting many weapons from Western nations.

A lot of that has now been stymied. If we look at the northeast of the country, the area around Kharkiv, for instance, the Russians there right

now, really on the back foot, and the Ukrainians advancing, if anything, in most other places, the frontline has essentially stalled. Nevertheless, the

Russians are saying they're still in the war effort.

They believe that their military superior, they believe that their air force is functioning better than before. So right now, it seems as though

Vladimir Putin believes that he can take some of that momentum that at least he's portraying to the international community, take it into that

BRICS meeting.

And it certainly does seem to be the case that, that meeting is absolutely no coincidence the timing of it coming right on the heels of that NATO

meeting, Becky.

ANDERSON: Yeah, Fred, good to have you. Fred is in Kyiv in Ukraine. Well, hatred for perceived enemies drilled into children from a very young age,

CNN has received a first-hand account of what it was like inside an international children's camp run by North Korea. Will Ripley speak to a

Russian graduate student who went there as a teenager. Have a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Russian and North Korean Leaders budding alliances at full speed for the

world to see. Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-Un, toasting a stronger partnership than, ever before, intent on taking down the U.S.

YURI FROLOV, VISITED NORTH KOREAN CHILDREN'S CAMP: My president is also a murderous dictator. So there is no surprise --

RIPLEY (voice-over): Yuri Frolov is a Russian graduate student studying in the U.S. He was in high school in Russia in 2015 and 2016, when his parents

sent him on two summer trips to North Korea.

[09:25:00]

Russia, one of the only nations Pyongyang still allows in on government controlled sightseeing trips.

FROLOV: We landed in Pyongyang and we spent two days in the capital. They showed us some attractions they showed us. And I like their museum, this

show that's like dolphins.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Frolov says he's not surprised to see rising Russian tourism in Kim's heavily sanctioned secret state.

FROLOV: Russian tourists are one of the pipelines they can use to get this currency in the country. Because once I was there, it was one of their

purposes just to use the people like -- just to get like the most the money they wanted.

RIPLEY (voice-over): He visited the same souvenir shops I did on my 19 reporting trips to North Korea.

RIPLEY: You don't need to read Korean to know what this means here. The U.S. capital their symbolism says that all.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Shops overflowing with anti U.S. propaganda.

FROLOV: It wasn't like straightforward propaganda. It was brainwashing you like through different ways.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Frolov spent two weeks at this international children's camp on North Korea's East Coast. Some of fun, mixed with daily

chores like cleaning giant statues of the late leaders.

FROLOV: Which was also very strange, it was like 6 o'clock in the morning, and who just called to clean some dust out from this monuments.

RIPLEY (voice-over): After morning chores, mandatory music lessons.

FROLOV: Sometimes the people were forced just to sing propaganda songs about like the great leaders of North Korea, Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il and

Kim Jong-Un. And basically we were forced to speak the songs as well, but they were like in Korean but they were translated into Russian.

RIPLEY (voice-over): He says even the video games had an anti-American theme.

FROLOV: They were like driving tanks, like destroying the White House in the U.S.

RIPLEY (voice-over): It reminds me of this exchange with two North Korean campers playing that same video game.

RIPLEY: What do you want to fight?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fight the sworn enemy, Americans.

RIPLEY: What if I told you I'm an American? You want to shoot me too?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Yes, a lesson from Kim and Putin to the next generation. Will Ripley CNN, Taipei.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Well, still come on "Connect the World", three British women killed in an attack that authorities say involved across both, will now the

suspect has been found in a quiet North London neighborhood, so live report on that is just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:30:00]

ANDERSON: Well, a fresh sign that inflation in the U.S. may be easing. Consumer prices did something in June. They haven't done since the early

part of the COVID pandemic they fell. Prices dip to 1/10 of 1 percent compared to the previous month, which could help solidify expectations of a

Federal Reserve interest rate cut in the coming months.

While the markets are opening as we speak. They were very mixed. It does seem as if investors are sort of hanging on to see what is going on. Matt

Egan is on the story for us. And we have to remember, you know, these numbers will certainly feed. What happens at the Fed? How people feel in

their back pocket, of course, is something completely different, Matt?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, that's absolutely true, Becky, listen, I think that this report is clearly very good news. Inflation has been such a

problem for years. And this report really is the clearest evidence yet that inflation is getting back to normal. These numbers, they really do amount

to a green light for the Federal Reserve to start dialing back that inflation fighting medicine.

Today's report showed that prices did fall between May and June. We haven't seen that since the spring of 2020 when COVID crashed the economy. On an

annual basis, we saw prices up by 3 percent. That beat expectations tied for the lowest in three years. And when you dig in, you can really see why

we saw annual price drops for gasoline for new cars, used cars, air fare for transportation.

And one of the biggest problems shelter, that is going up at a slower pace. And so when you put all that together, then you couple it with what we're

seeing in the jobs market, you understand why people are starting to talk about the Fed cutting interest rates because remember, the Fed has had

interest rates very high for the past few years.

And that is starting to slow the jobs market down. We're starting to see the unemployment rate creep higher, some yellow lights are flashing in the

jobs market. And so that is why economists do expect the Fed to be able to start lowering interest rates perhaps as soon as September, Becky.

ANDERSON: Matt Egan is now folks. Thank you, Matt. We are awaiting Joe Biden's highly anticipated news conference at the NATO Summit is that wraps

in Washington later today. He faces more calls from Democrats to exit the presidential race. For the first time a U.S. Senate Democrat Peter Welch of

Vermont is joining nine House Democrats in publicly calling for Mr. Biden to step aside.

And sources say several big money democratic donors are holding back on campaign contributions, at least for now. Arlette Saenz joining me from the

White House, Arlette, I want you just to listen to and our viewers to listen to, some sound from Gretchen Whitmer, who is the Governor for

Michigan, which of course is a swing state and incredibly important state as we are what 100 odd days away from this next election. Here is what she

said about Joe Biden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So you think that he should take a --

GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER (D-MI): I don't think it would hurt. Certainly, the first presidential debate was not a great success for President Biden. But

he is the happy warrior. He shows up every day and fights for the American public.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: It wouldn't do me any harm to take a cognitive test. She said there will be people watching this show around the world who are slightly

confused as to why he hasn't. Is that clear at this point?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, President Biden and his team say that he has not taken a cognitive test and they said that there

were no plans for him to do so. And the President's arguments that he's made is that he takes a cognitive test every day by showing up and doing

the job as commander-in-chief.

[09:35:00]

But certainly, there have been questions raised about President Biden's age and health and mental stamina as after the fallout from that debate just

two weeks ago today, President Biden is hoping to use this press conference, or really to try to ease some of the concerns stemming from

that debate about his candidacy.

The President's goal heading into tonight is not just to stem the concerns and convince American voters that he's up for a second term, but also try

to stop any further democratic dissent coming towards his candidacy. You have seen a growing number of Democrats outwardly, publicly say that they

believe President Biden should step away aside at this moment.

There are others who are privately saying that even though Biden still does have a large contingency publicly backing him, but it does come as you've

started to see these real cracks in the Democratic coalition, be it among Democratic lawmakers, be it Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi yesterday,

seeming to leave the door open to the possibility President Biden could drop out of this race.

Even though the President and his team have been adamant and saying he's remaining in it. You have that major "New York Times" op-ed from Hollywood

star George Clooney, not just any random celebrity, but someone who headlined a major fundraiser for Biden just last month, and warns that the

Biden he saw at that fundraiser was the same Biden, American saw on the debate stage.

So this is all kind of the sound that it was coming from some corners of the Democratic Party about President Biden, of course, there's also concern

about how his fundraising could be impacted in the month of July. So the President hoping to quell some of those concerns with this press

conference, but many will be watching to see not just what the President says but how he saws it.

ANDERSON: Yeah, it's all about the performance at this point, isn't it? It is. No, it sounds like a cliched phrase or a hackneyed phrase, but that is

a very closely watched news conference, which is due around 5 pm Washington time. It is said just after half past 9 in the morning in Washington,

Arlette thank you.

Well, tributes are being paid to three women killed in what police say was a crossbow attack near London earlier this week. Figures from the sporting

world expressed shock and offered condolences to the BBC Racing Commentator John Hunt and his family after his wife, Carol and their adult daughters,

Louise and Hannah were killed.

Police said Wednesday they detained a 26 year old man in connection with the attack. Now the killings of Louise, Hannah and Carol Hunt serve as a

stark reminder of this fact. In the U.K., a woman is killed by a man on average once every three days that's according to the U.N. Special

Rapporteur on violence against women and girls.

Well CNN's Nada Bashir joining me from London with the very latest on a crime that Nada has shocked people in Britain.

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It certainly has, Becky, and we are learning today more details around the possible connection between the 26

year old suspect Kyle Clifford and the three women killed in this tragic attack. Now we heard yesterday from police saying that they believe that

the suspect may have been known to the victims in this incident today.

Various U.K. media outlets have reported that the youngest of those victims, Louise Hunt just 25 years old may have recently ended a

relationship with the suspect. The BBC also reporting that it understands that the suspect may have been a former boyfriend of one of the young

victims.

And of course we have been hearing from Hartfordshire police they have so far declined to comment on any possible relationship between the victims

and the suspect. But interestingly, Louise Hunt the 25 year old victim had recently re-shared a post on social media on X formerly known as Twitter at

praising women who leave toxic relationships.

Again, no comment from police there, we are still waiting for more details on that investigation. But as you mentioned tributes have been pouring in

from across the country.

ANDERSON: Nada thank you. Well you're watching "Connect the World" live from Abu Dhabi. I'm Becky Anderson. We'll take a very short break, back

after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:40:00]

ANDERSON: European Championship final on Saturday in Berlin is now set. We're talking football here. England continued their run of coming from

behind in the knockout stages to when it was substitute Ollie Watkins making the difference in the first vintage of stoppage time to deliver a 2-

1 win for the Three Lions.

Amanda Davies joining me now, that was a performance certainly the first half was a cracker. What did you make of it?

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yeah, it's all about peaking at the right time in tournament football, isn't it Becky and after all the criticism

that the usual pressure on an England football team at a major tournament that we've come to expect finally, the feeling that it came together for

Gareth Southgate's England when it mattered in the semi-finals against the Dutch.

I mean, boy, they left it late Gareth Southgate receiving a whole lot of praise for proactively making the substitutions that a lot of people had

been, fearing weren't going to come. He did it. It paid off. So England's in their second successive European Championship final. The question is can

they go one better than last time out on home soil against Italy.

But of course they're up against Spain without doubt the team that have played better than any other in this tournament so far, we've got plenty

more to come in just a couple of minutes, Becky.

ANDERSON: It is going to be terrific. Thank you. That's "World Sport". I'm back after that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WORLD SPORT)

[10:00:00]

END