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Hala Gorani Tonight
World Leaders Gather for High-Stakes Climate Summit; China's Xi Addresses Climate Summit with Pre-Written Statement; Many Feared Trapped After Building Collapses in Lagos; Barclays CEO Resigns Over Epstein Probe; Alec Baldwin Speaks Out On Fatal Movie Set Shooting; France's Macron: Australian P.M. Lied About Submarine Deal. Aired 1-2p ET
Aired November 01, 2021 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[13:00:00]
HALA GORANI, CNN HOST: Hello everyone, live from CNN in London, I'm HALA GORANI TONIGHT. Tough talk, dire warnings and friendly greetings on the
opening day of COP26. But can these world leaders actually solve the climate emergency? Then, a desperate rescue effort ongoing in Lagos,
Nigeria. CNN is on the scene of this 21-story building collapse. We will bring you the latest live.
And 5 million COVID deaths, we'll look at the latest vaccine guidance and border reopening as the world hits a very grim milestone. Well, the stakes
have never been higher, as world leaders presented a united front against a global threat. The climate crisis no long a distant reality on the horizon,
but one that is very much here already. So today's summit in Glasgow is ultimately a test, will the world meet this moment or let it pass, come
what may? The resounding theme from today's speakers has been urgency, the head of the United Nations, for instance, did not mince his words earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONIO GUTERRES, SECRETARY-GENERAL, UNITED NATIONS: Either we stop it, or it stops us. And it's time to say enough. Enough of brutalizing bio-
diversity. Enough of killing ourselves with carbon. Enough of treating nature like a toilet. Enough of burning and drilling and mining our way
deeper. We are digging our own graves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the host of the summit, shared a similarly dire message.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS JOHNSON, PRIME MINISTER, UNITED KINGDOM: Humanity has long since run down the clock on climate change. It's one minute to midnight on that
doomsday clock, and we need to act now. If we don't get serious about climate change today, it will be too late for our children to do so
tomorrow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: And the American President Joe Biden, who is pushing lawmakers at home to pass landmark climate legislation says the world still has a chance
to step back from the brink, it just needs to take it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is the decade that will determine the answer, this decade. The science is clear, we only have a
brief window left before us to raise our ambitions and to raise to meet the task that's rapidly narrowing. Glasgow must be the kickoff of a decade, a
decade of ambition and innovation to preserve our shared future. Climate change is already ravaging the world.
We've heard from many speakers. It's not hypothetical. It's not a hypothetical threat. It's destroying people's lives and livelihood and
doing it every single day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: So, we heard from all the top leaders. Outside the conference, Greta Thunberg, perhaps the most famous climate activist in the world,
despite her youth, gathered with a crowd of protesters, she held a banner with a message, we heard, echoed inside, enough is enough. Christiane
Amanpour joins us now, she is live in Edinburgh, she spent the day in Glasgow talking to key participants, one of them, Ursula von der Leyen.
What are these leaders saying, because already going in, the expectations have been considerably lowered, Christiane.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hala, it's true. It seems that all the world leaders have decided certainly in the few days
running up to this COP26 Summit in Glasgow, and even today, to lower expectations. And I keep asking, is that just a political ploy to then pull
something out of a hat?
And many of them told me no, we are really very concerned. So, the idea here is to at least keep the idea and the objective of 1.5 degrees alive.
It will not happen here. They will not get the commitments this time. But they want to make sure that they get enough commitments and keep the
process going over the next decade, to keep it under 1.5.
That's the first big thing. Ursula von der Leyen; who is the president of the European Commission, I spoke to her exclusively just before she
addressed the world leaders, and she said just like President Biden did, that they also need to call on the big polluters like China, India, Russia,
and the others, as well as the United States, to step up now when it really matters.
[13:05:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
URSULA VON DER LEYEN, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN COMMISSION: We would have liked to see China and Russia being here, but if I look at China, I think we
should remind them that they have the ambition of global leadership that should match with global climate leadership. So it is very important that
they step up and show what they're going to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AMANPOUR: So, of course, you know, the president of China is not here, and it's causing a lot of disappointment among many of the delegates, as you
just heard from von der Leyen. But they're also saying that it is likely at least that some progress, if not quite a lot of progress will be made
towards providing the $100 billion per year from the rich countries to poorer countries, those who emit less, but suffer the most from the
developed world's emissions.
So I think they may come up with some money promise, and then they're also saying, and I'm hearing this buzzing around the conference center in
Glasgow, that unlike what we've had recently, which is, you know, a check- in every five years, whether it's from Paris then to Spain and now, they want to, and the -- the more front line countries are calling to have these
pledges re-examined and held accountable every year or every two years. They know that they just have this one decade to really make the kind of
pledges they need to keep 1.5 a reality.
GORANI: What can really be achieved without China, for instance, pledging to do more, and developing countries are saying, look, richer nations, you
know, they became rich by polluting the earth's atmosphere, for 100 years. We're now being asked to limit our emissions without being given a chance
to catch up. How is that -- how is that going to be resolved, that particular question coming from developing nations?
AMANPOUR: Well, it's very difficult. And when you say developing, you mean countries like India and China, which are now economic power houses, but
also --
GORANI: Yes --
AMANPOUR: Polluters. China is the biggest polluter in the world. And they have not, certainly China has not updated its pledges and its commitments
since Paris. And that violates the Paris Accords. Frankly, many countries, whether they're rich, poor or indifferent, have not kept their promises and
met their promises since Paris. So, it's again about inculcating and instituting a sense of urgency. You have people like Ursula von der Leyen
and others, rightly talking up the amazing ability of green technology to provide jobs to spur and spark economies as well.
They're saying it is not green or bust. They're saying green and, you know, boosting your economy. So I think they're trying to send that message. And
you're right, also, as I spoke about the money piece, there is a huge amount of money that needs to be spread around the developing and the front
line countries to help them mitigate the impact of climate change.
GORANI: And the U.S. President Joe Biden came to Glasgow, and of course at the G20 in Rome before that, with very much an America is back message. But
the U.S. has depending on who is in the White House, time and again, pulled out of climate agreements, and then rejoined them. What are delegates and
world leaders saying, and telling you, about whether or not they can trust that America will stick to its commitments this time?
AMANPOUR: Well, you remember, President Obama's administration worked really hard during the Paris Climate Accord, and that was viewed at the
time as a big success. Then of course, you had President Trump who pulled the United States out of the Paris Climate Accord. And what people are
saying to us here, and publicly, too, they're very pleased that the United States is now back in the climate game. They're very pleased that the
president of the United States has tied his economic program to climate, and has really put so much on the line.
Yes, they can see he has huge political difficulties, not just with the opposition Republicans, but with Democrats in his own party. So, they're
watching it quite carefully, but they very much appreciate that he is, you know, leading the United States to do the best it can on climate. And you
heard President Trump -- sorry, you heard President Biden apologize for the former President Trump, apologize for the United States having pulled out
of the Paris Climate Accord. So he's very much talking the talk.
The real issue is, will they all, as they say, walk the walk. There's such a gap --
GORANI: Yes --
AMANPOUR: Between the promises on paper, the pledges that are made and those that are actually kept, in other words a huge gap between rhetoric
and real action. And that just needs to change now, because --
GORANI: Absolutely --
AMANPOUR: The time is literally now running out. And you know, Hala, one thing that's really --
GORANI: Yes --
AMANPOUR: Important to say, since 2014, since Paris, things have improved. In other words, the world can do it with the --
[13:10:00]
GORANI: Yes --
AMANPOUR: Commitment, it's just not enough, degree less has been forecast, and that's a big deal, but it's not enough and it's not fast
enough. They say we have the tools, we have, you know, the mechanisms, we now need the will to make it happen.
GORANI: Yes, absolutely, especially for some of these countries, low-lying countries like the Maldives and the Seychelles, we're be talking about that
in a bit later. And Christiane, your program will air live from Scotland at the top of the hour at 2:00 p.m. Eastern.
AMANPOUR: Yes --
GORANI: So we'll see you then. Thanks very much. Well, equally and notable. And Christiane was mentioning this, is the long list of attendees
of world leaders who are not in Glasgow, none looming larger than China's Xi Jinping. David Culver joins us now live from Shanghai with more. So you
were discussing there with Christiane, the fact that China is not sending its leader, it's also not committing more than what was promised in Paris
to do more. What's the Chinese strategy here going into COP26?
DAVID CULVER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, and I'll highlight, Hala, one of the things that you and Christiane were talking about, and
that's what you brought up as far as the lack of consistency from the United States, as far as going from one administration to another. That
is certainly something that the Chinese have honed in on and have highlighted. And I'm just now looking at a translation from the statement
that President Xi has provided, this of course taking place of his being there in person.
And this, a lot of folks considered to be rather disappointing that he's not there physically to attend, but he wasn't at G20 either, that's
possibly rooted in some of the recent COVID outbreaks that we're seeing here. Nonetheless. the first thing that is highlighted as I looked on the
read this year is that, first, we need to uphold multilateral consensus, specifically talking about the Paris Agreement. So that clearly is a point
towards the United States to say, there needs to be consistency in this at a global level that goes from one administration to another.
Now, obviously in a country with one party, that consistency is in place, but is it enough? Now, they go on to say in some of the other points, this
from President Xi, that we need to focus on concrete actions, we need to accelerate the green transition. And then it stresses that there needs to
be a prioritizing of ecological conservation and a low carbon path to development. Now, it's not a lot of details, that's part of the concern,
too, is, there's not some overwhelming concrete steps laid out that will suggest some dramatic change that will come here.
What China is pushing for right now is that they say before 2030, they hope to reach peak emissions, and then by 2060, so not even by 2050, but by
2060, they hope to be carbon neutral. Now, they also are stressing here that this is a country that is under that category of developing, and they
say look at the other countries that have already developed, particularly the --
GORANI: Yes --
CULVER: United States, they've had 150 years to do that, and they've polluted the world in that time, we've been doing this in 30 years, give us
time we'll get up there. Analysts have said to me that they do believe that China is the type that likes to go conservative with some of these
projections, perhaps under promise, over deliver, and why should you keep them at their word for that? Well, this is a matter of national security,
Hala, this is securing energy sources, and coal is an incredibly integral part of the power right now here, and they're even stressing that they've
had issues, you know, trying to rein in some of the emissions.
We saw power outages in recent weeks, people trapped in elevators, traffic lights stopped, people panicking as Winter was moving in, and they had to
then step up production of coal domestically and are continuing to use that so as to move forward with their power sources --
GORANI: Sure --
CULVER: But they're also looking at green energy, wind and solar is huge here. The investment bigger than anywhere else in the world. The
manufacturing out-does any other country, and the employment as well in that sector. So that is one positive, Hala.
GORANI: All right, David Culver in Shanghai, thanks for that. For island nations, climate change is not just a challenge for the future, it's an
immediate threat -- I should say it's an immediate existential threat. The prime minister of Barbados is calling the crisis a code red.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIA MOTTLEY, PRIME MINISTER, BARBADOS: One-point five is what we need to survive. Two degrees, yes, SG, is a death sentence for the people of
Antigua and Barbuda. For the people of the Maldives, for the people of Dominican and Fiji. For the people of Kenya and Mozambique, and yes, for
the people of Samoa and Barbados. We do not want that dreaded death sentence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: The Barbados prime minister there. CNN's chief climate correspondent Bill Weir joins me now, he's live in Glasgow. I've spoken
with top officials from some of these island nations, and they're basically saying, we will disappear in a few decades if nothing is done to keep
global warming in check. I wonder, are those world leaders from richer countries, those that are a little less vulnerable listening?
[13:15:00]
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Well, you certainly would hope so, Hala. It's been really striking to see this parade of world leaders,
all of them from these low-lying developing countries saying hey, here's the reality, we contributed a tiny fraction to this problem, and we are
tasting the wrath in a disproportionate way, and I think that is why really, the big take-away from President Biden's speech here, it was an
apology and it was a promise.
He said specifically, those of us most responsible for deforestation and all of these other problems, have a responsibility. He acknowledged really
that America has been back and forth to the table on this, depending on the person sitting in the White House. He made a vow to quadruple the United
States donation into these adaptation funds, and $100 billion a year that was promised to these smaller developing countries, years ago, and nobody's
really delivered on that yet.
But it's interesting, if you look back historically, since 1850, the United States has put about 509 gigatons of carbon into the air. That's twice as
much as the next one in line which is China. Which has, you know, three times the people. If you price carbon at removing it from the sky and
storing it underground, say $100 a ton, that means the United States morally is on the hook for $50 trillion to clean up the mess that was
created over the last industrial revolution.
That is a number that's laughable because it's so massive. But it gives you a sense of the chasm between what a lot of people around the world think
the United States and other big rich nations that are responsible for, and these pledges that they're making today.
GORANI: One quick one on the U.S. role in all of this, we were speaking with Christiane about this. We talk a lot about Trump pulling out of the
Paris Accords, but this of course isn't the first time the U.S. has pulled out of a climate agreement. George W. Bush pulled out of the Kyoto Protocol
that Bill Clinton had signed a few years before that, now of course, we have President Joe Biden rejoining climate talks in Glasgow.
I mean, you could forgive allies and in fact, adversaries alike for saying they're getting whiplash from America's behavior when it comes to
committing to climate change. What are you hearing where you are about whether or not they trust the U.S. to stick this time to its promises?
WEIR: Well, i think things are so -- the stakes are so high now, and we've seen 30 years of essentially failed talks at the global level, that you
have to hold on to any positive hope you can get. So they'll take wins wherever they can get them. You know, there's countries out leading, and
the vanguard of this, like Denmark or Costa Rica who have set a date for we're going to be off of fossil fuels, you know.
And so, to have any sort of support from the United States is a positive. Also, optimists will look at the fact that 60 percent of the American
economy is pledging, is all in, big states like California and New Jersey, they're doing their level best. And then industry, you know, the cost of
inaction will be unfathomable, really, if you look at just so far in the United States, it's $100 billion a year when it comes to storms like that.
GORANI: Yes.
WEIR: But much the way that the world got off of whale oil, and whoever came next made a fortune. Fortunes will be made and a lot of smart people
know that, in the industrial revolution 2.0. So, if you're looking for hope, it's all of those signs. If you're looking for despair, a reason to
be depressed, you can look at the American political system, where one senator from a coal state can stop the will, the majority of Americans who
believe in this and want to do everything possible.
And then of course, ultimately it comes down to right now we're in this real politic, you know, jockeying, everybody comes here with a different
agenda, we all share the same sky, we're all breathing from the same atmosphere, our children will all grow up with the same levels of
heightened temperatures and all that comes with that. And so, even if China isn't saying what needs to be said now --
GORANI: Yes --
WEIR: Every country has to think about their own self interest for survival.
GORANI: Certainly, let's look for hope, Bill Weir, thanks very much live in Glasgow. Still to come tonight, a multi-story building collapsed in
Nigeria, we don't know how many people are inside, but you can see here, it looks pretty bad. We'll take you to the scene after the break.
[13:20:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: All right, we're going to take you live to Nigeria. There's a desperate rescue effort going on there in Lagos, digging through the rubble
of this, this pile of concrete, it was a 21-story building, it collapsed this afternoon. Stephanie Busari is on the scene. What's the latest,
Stephanie?
STEPHANIE BUSARI, CNN SUPERVISING EDITOR, AFRICA: Hala, it's a very chaotic scene right now. Behind me you can see the excavators searching for
-- through the rubble for potential survivors. What we do know and details are sketchy, is that this afternoon, early afternoon, this 21-story
building behind me collapsed and residents telling us, look, they thought it was an earthquake when they heard the building tremble and rushed out of
their homes.
So, the chaos that was unfolding before them -- this, to put it in context, it's an affluent district of Lagos, many professionals, many of the
Nigerian elite live in this part of town, and this building was some luxury apartments, was going to be luxury apartments, and residents tell us that
it's been ongoing for about two years, this construction, and we're told by multiple residents, although unconfirmed by CNN that the developer of this
building site was at the site this afternoon when the building collapsed and may be among those who are trapped under the rubble.
So rescue efforts ongoing, and earlier, I spoke to people who, while still waiting for excavators and officials to turn up, started digging through
the rubble themselves, to bring out survivors and others who collapsed -- who were under the building when it collapsed. So you know, ongoing stories
developing, Hala, and you can hear the excavators behind me now.
GORANI: And quickly, this was not a -- this was a building under construction, so you would have had construction workers and builders on
the structure when it collapsed, correct?
BUSARI: Yes. What we're learning is that the developer was here with prospective buyers for the flats, construction workers who may have been in
scores, dozens of construction workers because there's -- if you see -- if you look behind me, there's three towers. So, there's three towers, one of
the towers is the one that collapsed. So multiple construction workers working on this site at the same time. Those numbers still not confirmed,
but we are told by people who were here and witnessed it that many people were in that building when it went down.
[13:25:00]
GORANI: All right, we'll stay in close touch with you, Stephanie Busari, thanks very much there. She's on the scene of that building collapse in
Lagos. The latest on COVID now, 5 million, it's hard to wrap your brain around, that's how many people around the world have now died from COVID as
countries race to vaccinate their populations. Some countries are leaving nothing to chance. Shanghai Disneyland is closed today over a single
coronavirus case in line with China's zero infection strategy.
On the other hand, Australia is starting to reopen, it was one of the first countries to shut its borders to international travel. But now, look at
these scenes of people reunited after a long lockdown. Let's talk more about the global fight against COVID, we're joined now by Peter Drobac, Dr.
Drobac is an infectious disease and global health expert at the University of Oxford. Thanks for being with us. So Australia finally reopening its
borders, what potential impact on its COVID infection rates do you think this might have?
PETER DROBAC, INFECTIOUS DISEASE & GLOBAL HEALTH EXPERT, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD: Well, Australia was one of many countries in the Asia-Pacific that
had a real success with the so-called zero COVID strategy, a pretty strict restrictions along with border controls to prevent importation of the
virus, and I think in the first phase of this pandemic -- with some challenges that prove very successful, and then in fact, they were able to
resume some more normal life within their borders.
And of course, that also created a lot of isolation, and we're seeing these very joyous scenes today. I think what's really happened is that, in the
era of the Delta variant, which is so infectious that full eradication of zero COVID really isn't possible any more. Many countries are realizing
that pushing for vaccination and relaxing some of the restrictions is the way forward There is of course, a risk that cases will rise again, but
Australia now has reached a relatively high level of vaccination in its eligible population, and so that should, as in other countries, hopefully
keep the number of cases and particularly severe cases down.
GORANI: All right, that's going to be a big test for Australia, so we'll keep our eye on that. Europe, the numbers are rising, hospitalizations for
instance are rising in countries like France, here's a look at the latest graph with COVID case numbers, and you can see there that, Germany is the
highest, Italy and France, sort of tied more or less around 5,000 cases a day. But I was just in Paris, though pretty much everyone wears masks
indoors, the fact is, it's getting colder, people are indoors more, and when you're eating and drinking, you're taking your mask off, so
inevitably, I imagine it's going to lead to a rise in cases How concerned are you about the upcoming Winter?
DROBAC: Yes, there are lots of reasons to be concerned about what's to come, particularly, you know, this happened last year as well, where we're
seeing a rise in cases as we enter these high risk months, and just not a great way to start off. As you say, the colder weather pushes us indoor,
when it's colder and drier favors a lot of respiratory viruses and then of course, one of the real risks we see is that we enter the season of
influenza, RSV --
GORANI: Yes --
DROBAC: And other respiratory viruses, that puts a real strain on the health care systems as well. And so we'd like to see is, countries in this
region doing more to maybe pull back on some of these relaxations, to increase mask wearing, to think about working from home, and some social
distancing measures along with vaccinations to try to drive down or stem the surging cases before it gets worse.
GORANI: I've just become the resident moaner about the U.K., and I'm not apologizing for it because I came from Paris, we were in the metro -- well,
it was crowded, everyone was wearing a mask, I take the tube in London, no one practically, I'd say about 90 percent of people mask-less on Halloween.
It just really just does not feel safe. But I mean, this is just the way it's unfolding in this country right now.
Let's talk about China with the complete opposite approach here. Closing down an entire theme park and basically, you know, not -- I'm not going to
say detaining, but keeping people in the Disneyland Theme Park, confined in the theme park until everyone was tested before allowing them to leave. How
sustainable is that approach?
DROBAC: It's a great question. As I mentioned a moment ago, most of the other countries in that region that were pursuing zero COVID approaches,
Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan, have now changed tack in the era of Delta, pushing vaccinations, but also starting to open up travel for
example. China is the one major country that seems to be sticking to the zero COVID approach and really trying to eradicate infection through border
controls, through local lockdowns when needed to stem outbreaks.
You know, again, with the highly infectious Delta variant, it's incredibly difficult to control, it's an interesting test case, but I think if you
look at the kind of balance of, you know, public health measures versus, you know, the sort of social costs of isolations and lockdowns and things,
I do think it will be difficult to sustain.
GORANI: Dr. Drobac, as always, thanks so much. Have a great evening. And still to come this evening, the boss of Barclays bows out. Jes Staley has
stepped down after an investigation into his ties with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. We'll bring you that story coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Well, an urgent call to action against humanity's impact on the planet at the COP Climate in Scotland. Leader after leader is saying the
time has come to act. Will they act? That's the question, David Attenborough had this take.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID ATTENBOROUGH, NATURALIST: Working apart, we are force powerful enough to destabilize our planet. Surely working together, we are powerful enough
to save it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: The Summit attendees will be gathering next hour for a royal reception at a Glasgow Art Museum. However, as many of you know, the Queen
herself will not be there. She's been advised to rest. She won't be there in person. CNN's Max Foster is part of our team in Scotland covering the
summit. So will Prince Charles step in? Who will be hosting this affair?
MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So I don't think Prince Charles is officially hosting it. But he's certainly there in the place of the queen.
She was hosting this reception. Camilla will be there as well. And Kate and William as well, the duke and duchess of Cambridge will also be there.
They've all been very busy on environmental projects throughout the day. And they are really using this opportunity to promote something they're
deeply interested in as well, which is tackling climate change.
Interesting, David Attenborough, someone who works very closely with the royal family, hearing him speak there. He had quite a positive tone.
Actually, he's very worried about the state of the climate. But, yes, he was actually offering a great amount of hope to say there is a way out of
this if we all act now. And that's really the message coming from the royal family, even the queen who was caught off on a hot mic recently, saying she
just hopes that this whole event isn't just words. There's some actions associated with it. But she is presenting -- she has sent a video to be
shown tonight so people will be poring over that to see how she is.
[13:35:04]
We've also seen sorts of photos today of her driving her car around Windsor so I think people are quite hopeful that she's on the mend, but she will be
missed because she's, yes, the longest serving head of state, revered by many other heads of state around the world. She's meant to be the star of
the show. And Prince Charles doesn't quite cut it for many people, but, you know, plenty of heads of state there to choose from.
GORANI: Right. Yes. And it was interesting to see her driving looking energetic. Thanks very much, Max Foster.
The Barclays CEO is stepping down effective immediately. He's the latest corporate figure forced to resign in connection with the Jeffrey Epstein
sexual abuse scandal. This follows an investigation by British regulators into Staley's relationship with Epstein. Barclays stresses the
investigation does not conclude that he saw or was aware of any of Epstein's crimes. Let's get more on this. CNN's Business editor-at-large
Richard Quest joins me live. Do we know what this investigation then concluded and why he stepped down?
RICHARD QUEST, BUSINESS EDITOR-AT-LARGE: Yes, we do. It's because the regulators felt that he had been less than transparent about how close the
relationship he had with Epstein and his previous job at J.P. Morgan when he was a banker there.
The feeling was that Staley had not been as forthcoming. He'd said that there were relationships of a private banker that would have with a client,
but apparently the regulators, when they looked further at this felt it was more. Now this isn't any great friendship or anything more than that. But
it goes to Stanley's veracity. Can they believe what he said?
And what's happening now is Staley is basically going to be caught up in a mat -- in a longstanding regulatory dispute because he's objecting to what
they've said. So he and the bank have basically said, "Look, do you know something, this could go on for months, if not years, I better leave."
GORANI: And -- but I mean, the New York Times reported that in 2009, he visited Epstein in prison.
QUEST: Yes.
GORANI: He visited his island, his private island with his wife a few years later. So --
QUEST: So the --
GORANI: -- I mean all of that is public, there was a relationship there. But then I mean, I suppose they were very close business partners.
QUEST: That's the key point, Hala, that we know he visited him as Staley himself said. If you are a very wealthy person, and you have a relationship
with your private banker, you don't do it by email, they come and stay with you, you discuss this, you look at possible investments, et cetera.
What's happened here is he hasn't -- in the view of the regulators in Britain, he hasn't been as forthcoming about how much, how deep, how far
these friendships went. But there is no suggestion that at any time, Staley knew of the appalling, horrific nature of what's -- of what Epstein is said
to have done.
GORANI: All right. Thanks very much, Richard. We'll see you a little bit later. Still to come, we're hearing from Alec Baldwin more than a week
after a fatal shooting on the set of his latest film. Hear what he told reporters on the side of a road in Vermont ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:40:47]
GORANI: Well, Alec Baldwin is speaking out for the first time since that deadly shooting on the set of his movie rust in New Mexico. A gun fired by
Baldwin killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounded the film's director, Joel Souza. Here's what Baldwin said to paparazzi over the
weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEC BALDWIN, ACTOR: I've been ordered by the sheriff's department in Santa Fe I can't answer any questions about the investigation. I can't.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
BALDWIN: It's an active investigation in terms of a woman who died. She was my friend. She was my friend. The day I arrived in Santa Fe to start
shooting, I took her to dinner with Joel, the director. We were a very, very -- excuse me. We were a very, very, you know, well-oiled crew shooting
a film together and then this horrible event happened.
Halyna Hutchins, I met with her husband, Matthew, and her son, Andros, right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And how did that meeting go?
BALDWIN: I wouldn't know how to characterize it. They'll be -- they're mortified it was --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You guys, you know what, no details.
BALDWIN: Do me a favor? I'm going to answer the question.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I'm pretty sure that he was probably very upset.
BALDWIN: The guy is overwhelmed with grief. This is something that, you know, there are incidental accidents on film sets from time to time, but
nothing like this. This is a one in a trillion episode. It's a one in the trillion even and so he is in shock. He has a 9-year-old son.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: And the woman there in that video is the wife of Baldwin, Hilaria, who was filming the paparazzi as they were asking questions. Natasha Chen
is tracking the story. And Natasha, how did this impromptu news conference come about on the side of a road in new -- in Vermont?
NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. So, Hala, we understand that Alec Baldwin was with his family and that they were presumably being
followed by cameras and he apparently pulled over on the side of the road and decided to address the cameras and answer what he could to the
paparazzi. Being very careful, keep in mind, to not answer anything related to the ongoing investigation.
But you heard him there, and you saw his wife, trying to answer some questions, talking about how he was friends with Hutchins, the woman who
was killed, and just how devastating this was. He also called this a one in a trillion event. When you think about how many film sets over the decades
and decades have had special effects and shootings with very few incidents. And so he also mentioned he's very interested in future discussions about
making film sets safer.
Now, the Los Angeles Times has some newer reporting, based on interviews they did with 14 members of the "Rust" movie crew, including nine people
who were actually there on the day of the incident. I want to read one quote to you from that article about Alec Baldwin right in those final
moments before the fatal shot. This says here "So he had said placing his hand on the Colt .45 revolver in its holster, 'I guess I'm going to take
this out, pull it, and go bang.'" And that is the -- what people told the Los Angeles Times was the last thing Alec Baldwin said.
And we also -- CNN has previously reported, as does the LA Times, that this was a rehearsal. Director Joel Souza had said to the investigators that
Baldwin was practicing a cross draw where the person pulls the weapon from the holster on the opposite side of the body from the draw arm and that
this was a practice run as the crews were getting their camera angles lined up.
We also know that Souza told investigators he heard the term "cold gun" said on the set and that the assistant director also told investigators he
was handing Baldwin what he thought was a cold gun meaning no live rounds in it. Of course, the result was very shocking and different from what they
all expected. And this, of course, is an ongoing investigation. We've been in touch with the sheriff's office in Santa Fe New Mexico today.
[13:45:05]
They are still hoping to do follow up interviews with both the assistant director and the armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, who on Friday released a
statement through her lawyers saying that she has no idea how a live round got onto the set.
I also just spoke with someone at the union I-A-T-S-E, IATSE, in New York, they had many members of their union working on this set. And they
acknowledged that there were general concerns from their members, they're about safety, about the hours being worked, about the hotels, they were or
were not offered, you know, far away from where this shooting --
GORANI: Yes.
CHEN: This film shoot was happening. So, of course, when you have long days, and you perhaps need to drive a long distance to your hotel, that
also affects safety because people are perhaps not as fully alert as they need to be. So, general concerns like that were already building up before
this incident happened, Hala.
GORANI: All right. Natasha Chen, thanks so much. The French president Emmanuel Macron arrived in Glasgow a few hours ago for COP26. The British
Prime Minister was there to welcome him. Appearances, though, can be deceiving because for days now, the two have been fighting over a post
Brexit trade deal. That's on top of another dispute.
London recently joined a security alliance with the U.S. and Australia which caught Paris by surprise, tearing up a submarine contract worth
billions to France. Mr. Macron is even accusing the Australian Prime Minister of lying to him in the process. He was asked "Do you think he was
lying to you?" And he -- by a reporter and he responded "I don't think. I know."
CNN Paris Correspondent Melissa Bell joins me now live. So let's start with what President Macron said about -- basically saying that the Prime
Minister lied and the Australians have replied saying, "Look, it's not like we defaced the Eiffel Tower. Relax."
GORANI: That's right. I mean, it was pretty straight talking that Macron was doing at -- when he was in Rome, asked by that reporter that he didn't
think, he knew that the Australian Prime Minister had been lying and I think it speaks, Hala, to the profound disappointment, the sense of
betrayal, frankly, that the French felt not only over the fact of losing a deal that was worth tens of billions of dollars to in the shape of that
contract that submarine contract, but also the fact of the way that it learned it.
If you look also at what Joe Biden had to say after that meeting, you know, not apologizing, but recognizing the United States had been clumsy, and
explained that he had thought that it had been explained to the French well in advance that this was going to be announced. For from it, Hala, France
learned as the rest of the world did of the AUKUS deal and therefore the fact that it was having its own negotiated deal with contract with
Australia taken away from it.
So there was a blow to its ego, there was a blow to the -- the blow to the faith they will have in its negotiating partners. And I think that's --
that was what you saw expressed in Rome. But clearly the Australian Prime Minister defending himself saying, look, it had been made perfectly clear
to the French that the conventional submarines they were proposing were not necessarily what we were after, and that we might be more interested in the
sorts of nuclear submarines that the AUKUS deal will bring them, but clearly some pretty frayed tempers and as you say, a lot of disagreement
also between Emmanuel Macron and the man who is currently hosting him in Glasgow.
GORANI: Indeed, and it's not the only spat Macron is engaged in. There is, of course, the fishing row as they've been calling it here in the U.K.,
with both sides now threatening legal action against the other.
BELL: That's right. We've really seen the temperatures rise a great deal, Hala, over the course of the last two days. Now, of course, this is all
slightly awkward as world leaders try and concentrate on the far more pressing question of global warming with the United Kingdom hosting
Emmanuel Macron.
So you rather sense that that's put on -- been put on hold for today. But you're right, tomorrow comes into effect, the retaliatory measures that had
been announced by France over the last few days when it explained that because of those couple of hundred fishing licenses that have been denied
by the British, disproportionately affecting France, says Paris, they will be announcing these measures but not beginning them tomorrow.
So for instance, French ports closed off to French fishermen, so they won't be able to offload their goods, also greater customs checks at places like
the Channel Tunnel, not just on seafood, Hala, but on any goods leaving the United Kingdom or coming towards it. You can imagine the sorts of chaos
that that is going to create. So tomorrow, I'm sure this is a row that's likely to come back. We've far from hearing the end of it, Hala.
GORANI: Yes. Thanks very much, Melissa Bell in Paris.
A man in his 70's is in critical condition after being stabbed in the chest on a train in Tokyo. Sixteen other people hurt as well. Police tell us
they've arrested a 24-year-old man, Blake Acid -- Essig reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This was no Halloween prank.
[13:50:03]
As commuters in Japan headed for Tokyo's city center on Sunday, some ended up running for their lives. This video shows streams of panicked people
trying to escape a train car where witnesses say a man, who might have been dressed up as the comic book character of the Joker, or possibly a
different character, was attacking passengers.
Observers say the suspect was waving along knife and according to Japan's public broadcaster, NHK, set fire to the train after spraying lighter fluid
across the seats. At least seventeen people were injured, including one man who police say is in serious condition after being stabbed in the chest.
Shunsuke Kimura was on the train and captured this video. He told CNN he was incredibly scared and couldn't escape fast enough.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHUNSUKE KIMURA, WITNESS (through translator): I do feel scared by this incident, but it's something you can't ever plan for. This happened to me
again, all I can do is flee.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ESSIG: Shortly after the attack began, train operators say the train made an emergency stop. Video here shows frightened passengers scrambling out of
the train's windows and onto a platform to try to get to safety.
Police say they've arrested a 24-year-old man on suspicion of attempted murder. They say the suspect dropped his knife when they approached him and
told investigators that he "Wanted to kill people and be given the death penalty." Blake Essig, CNN, Tokyo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Shocking. We'll be right back. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Now for the first in our week-long series Going Green, one teacher in South Africa is making sure her students are ready to be caretakers, the
caretakers of our planet. Becky Anderson has that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's early morning Khayelitsha, the largest township in Cape Town as kids at Yomelela primary arrive for the
school day, some will swap their books for earthworms under the guidance of environmental educator, Xoli Fuyani.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
XOLI FUYANI, ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATOR: The living classroom is a program that introduces environmental education into the schools. My favorite part of
the living classroom is when -- beginning of each year when we introducing the worms. A lot of the kids are very squeamish because 1they've never seen
a worm before.
[13:55:03]
And then that becomes a pet basically so they have to take care of them by feeding them, they have to, at home, keep all their organic waste, which
they bring to school, feed to the worms. And then they watch the worms turning that into organic waste, which then we use to teach them how to
grow their own food. So it's completely like full cycle for them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Thirteen years ago, Xoli Fuyani partnered with the EarthChild Project to introduce environmental education to schools in underserved
communities in Cape Town.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FUYANI: These kids, majority of them, they come from informal settlements. So, they're very disconnected to the environment. What we do is really
giving them access, and then really cultivating that love of nature.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Xoli's own background significantly influenced her life's mission.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FUYANI: I grew up in Gugulethu, which is a township. But I actually was very fortunate that I had someone that was introducing me to the natural
environment. So I took it upon me to become enriched by setting an environmental club, working with kids, raising awareness, but also
inspiring people to be the change that they would like to see.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Today, she runs several hands on environmental programs, which engage kids all the way from grade one through to high school. In the past
13 years, she says she's impacted the lives of over 1,500 children.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OTHEMBELE DYANTYI, STUDENT: Hi, my name is Othembele Dyantyi, I am 13 years old.
ANELISA MGEDEZI, STUDENT: Hi, my name is Anelisa Mgedezi. I'm 14 years old and I'm a young climate activist.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Xoli's also deeply committed to mentoring the next generation of climate activists, and founded a program called the Climate Change Girls.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FUYANI: And the Climate Change Girls is really a space where we equip the future generation to take positive responsible action towards the
environment. My hope for the future is really it's a future where young kids are given spaces to really lead and being in the forefront so that we
can really learn from them because I mean, if we're talking about resilience, building resilience, these communities are really embodying
that resilience.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: And thanks for watching tonight. I'm Hala Gorani. Stay with CNN. "AMANPOUR" live from Scotland is coming up next.
END
