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Hillsborough Inquest Calls 1989 Stadium Deaths Unlawful; Brazilian President Claims Vice President Responsible for Impeachment; Authorities Say Prince Autopsy Results Could Take Weeks. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired April 26, 2016 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:15] LYNDA KINKADE, HOST: 27 years after the Hillsborough stadium disaster, justice for the families of the 96 people killed.
Hello, I'm Lynda Kinkade. You're watching Connect the World. We begin with the deadliest sporting disaster in British history.
The tragedy took just moments to unfold, but the fight for justice in the Hillsborough Stadium disaster took 27 long years. Today, at an inquest,
jurors found that 96 Liverpool football fans who were crushed to death at a match in Sheffield, England were unlawfully killed. And police errors, not
the behavior of fans, caused the deaths in 1989.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID CRMOPTON, CHIEF CONSOLATE, SOUTH YORKSHIRE POLICE: We unequivocally accept the verdict of unlawful killing and the wider findings reached by
the jury in the Hillsborough inquests.
On the 15 of April, 1989, South Yorkshire police got the policing of the FA Cup semifinal
at Hillsborough catastrophically wrong. It was and still is the biggest disaster in British sporting history. That day, 96 people died and the
lives of many others were changed forever. The force failed the victims and failed their families.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: We're looking at this story from all angles. I'm joined by Christina Macfarlane from outside the courthouse in Warrington, England.
Christina, you've been following the findings as they've been handed down. Finally, some justice for the families of these 96 people killed. Fans
have been exonerated.
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Lynda, as you speak to me, you can see just behind me that the families of the victims
are now returning to court here. They've been speaking for the past who are at a press conference where members of the
22 families spoke up and spoke with incredible poise and eloquence about what they've been through for the past 27 years. I think for many of them
it was a cathartic moment where they could say who they were and who they were here representing today, one of the 96 victims
that died on April 15, they also to be a took the opportunity to remind people that the media, the authorities and police were
complicit in a coverup, a truth we now know to be true here today fanning outside the courtroom.
The fans and the families have been exonerated today on two key crucial points that we learned this morning. The first was that the 96 victims on
that day were unlawfully killed, that's a ruling that was made by the jury here earlier. And question seven, the second issue, which related to the
fan actions on that day, the jury found that the fans did not contribute or cause the disaster.
Now both of those findings are the direct opposite of what was found in the original inquest heard in 1989 following that disaster and it's what
everyone here has been waiting so long to hear, 27 years, the truth has finally come out.
KINKADE: Christina, for the families that you've been speaking to, is this closure for them or is this just the beginning of the next step to hold
those responsible accountable?
KINKADE: Well, I think the emphasis shifts now, Lynda, from the findings that we've heard
here today to what happens next. It's important to point out that this is not a criminal proceeding here, so criminal investigations cannot be
brought as a result of this inquiry. But for the fans and the families that are speaking here today, now that the truth is out, they now want
someone to be accountable for this and there are indications that something of that nature is to follow.
We heard from the UK crown prosecution service earlier today saying that they were considering bringing criminal prosecutions as a result of the
inquiry today and we've heard from a number of organizations who were involved in that incident. We've heard from the FA, who have
reaffirmed their deep sorrow and regret at the tragic events and said that they must learn from the tragedy. We have heard from the engineering
company who were in effect that day saying on behalf of the company at the time, we add our deepest sympathies and perhaps more importantly we've
heard from the South Yorkshire police, who have been shrouded in controversy for
the past 27 years as to their dealings in that day.
They issued a statement, but no apology, saying that they accept the verdict of unlawful killing.
Now, as I say this is the verdict that many families have been waiting for. And we had a chance to speak to one key lady, Margaret Aspinall, her son
that died in the Hillsborough disaster. And she has been a prominent campaigner for all the families here moving forward trying to get justice
for not only her son, but for the other 95 victims. Here's what she had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARGARET ASPINALL, SON DIED IN 1989 HILSSBOROUGH DISASTER: For what we've gone through, somebody's got to be held accountable.
If I say prosecution, yes, I think they do need to be prosecuted, for what they put us through. The truth was there for 27 years. We never got that
truth. A lot of that has come out in the court over these past two years, it's things that we've never seen -- we hadn't seen before and that's what
shocked me.
And I thought, that has been there. Why wasn't that handed over?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: So some closure for some families here, but for the likes of Margaret Aspinall, who has been campaigning for so long, I don't think this
is over yet. And it will be very interesting to see in the weeks to come whether criminal proceedings are brought.
KINKADE: Following that closely, Christina Macfarlane outside the inquest, thank you very much for following those developments for us.
We also have with us our Don Riddell, a CNN sports anchor. Great to have you with us.
You've been following this story for such a long time. And this justice today has been a very long time for these families, taken a long time for
them to get to this point. But there was an inquiry after the disaster. How did this current inquest come about?
DON RIDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Well, it's a long story. Well, it's a long story. How long have you got, Lynda? I mean, the families did not want to
walk down this road. They said so today. It was never their expectation that it was going to be so painful and so difficult.
The initial report, the Taylor Report, into what had gone on largely found the police to be
largely responsible and the fans and their behavior that day were celebrated in the report. But when it came to the actual inquest and
mechanisms by which the causes of death were recorded in 1991 two years after the disaster, it came back as accidental death and the families never
accepted that because in their opinion, this was nothing like an accident.
But it has taken them so long to try and get to a point where all the evidence was put on the
table. They've had many inquests. They've had other hearings and investigations. We were talking about one of the campaigners even going to
the European court of justice and it took them 25 years to get this inquest. And that was the first point at which all the evidence was on the
table, that was the first point at which you had a thousand witnesses coming to give evidence about what really happened and basically roadblock
after roadblock was thrown up by the establishment to prevent the families from getting to the bottom of this. And finally they got there and it's a
great credit to them.
I think we can bring in our guest now from our London studio, David Davis, who was a journalist at the time of the disaster and who has since worked
for the football association in England and a very prominent figure within the FA and football in the UK.
David, it's good to have you with us on the show. It's an incredibly emotional dayfor so many people. How do you feel about the way things have
played out in Warrington today?
DAVID DAVIS, FRM. ENGLAND FA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: I'm thrilled for the families who have been through so much, whose stoicism, whose resilience,
whose bravery I think has been here for all these years and they got what they wanted so far.
At the same time, there is shock and real disappointment that South Yorkshire police have been exposed in such a humiliating way for the
behavior that they were responsible for. And as far as the football authorities are concerned, and Sheffield Wednesday Football Club in
particular, they have some serious questions that they clearly haven't satisfactorily answered up to this point as far as this latest inquest was
concerned. And then the FA still have to answer the question why was there not a valid safety certificate, an up to date safety certificate enforced.
But I have to say that the reality was at that time, and this is not mentioned very much today, Hillsborough Stadium, the home of Sheffield
Wednesday, was regarded as one of the very best stadia in the country, which was why successive FA Cup semifinals were held there.
RIDDELL: Yeah, that's a good point. I was a football fan in those day. I remember the idea being that your team would play in the semifinal at the
Hillsborough was actually a really exciting proposition, but of course now we know that the reality was very different.
You were a reporter at the time. You weren't working for the football association then.
I mean, what are your memories of that day? Because we hear so much about the 96 and it's become a fairly generic reference point for the victims
that day, but we don't hear, until days like today, too much about the actual emotion and the trauma and the devastation of what happened. I
mean, what do you remember of covering the story?
[11:10:06] DAVIS: Well, I had got to know Liverpool pretty well over 13 years living and working in the northwest of England. But I'd moved on,
I've gone south, and on that particular day I was at a game at Arsenal. I can remember going into the press room at halftime and seeing this
extraordinary story unfolding from Hillsborough. And then at the end of the game, football went on normally elsewhere around the country. I have
to say that. And then as you traveled home, and then as you watched the proceedings on the news later that Saturday evening it was horrendous.
And I was sent very quickly by the television program that I was then working for to Liverpool, and meeting people, talking to people. There was
initially shock and of course disbelief that this could happen.
But yet it was a reflection of how low soccer in England had sunk at that time in my view.
RIDDELL: And everything's changed in British football as a result. We have all seater stadiums there. The Premier League was born out of the
Hillsborough disaster. Everything looks so different.
We heard from some of the families earlier. And they were talking about this idea that still more could be done. There are still people who think
that we should reintroduce standing at football games because for many fans it's more fun. There's a better atmosphere. What do you think? Could
more still be done? And what do you feel about the idea of reintroducing standing at football stadiums?
DAVIS; Do you know something, Don, I think those of us who witnessed what happened and were around in the aftermath of that awful incident at
Hillsborough remain totally opposed to that. I understand why so many supporters in this generation say, hey, it can be much safer these days,
times have moved on, the Germans have standing in many of their stadia.
But I think in this country if it happens in the future, and it may do, I don't think it will happen very quickly because it is still, as you've seen
today, a hugely emotive issue.
RIDDELL: Quite right. David Davis, thanks very much for being with us live from our London studio. Really interesting insight from David Davis
there on his role both as a reporter and as a senior football administrator. Of course, it was an FA Cup semifinal between Liverpool and
Nottingham Forest in which 96 supporters stood behind the goal of their beloved Liverpool team and they never came home.
And that tragedy remains very raw even today.
KINKADE: I want to take us back to that inquest today. The moment outside where the families came out hand in hand singing "I'll Never Walk Alone."
Let's just take a listen to that song.
(SINGING)
KINKADE: Quite a powerful moment there, them singing "You'll Never Walk Alone." And this is a song that is very much connected with the sport.
RIDDELL: Well, absolutely. It's actually a song that was written for a musical, "Carousel," if you're into your musicals. It was adopted by
Liverpool Football Club in the early 1960s. It's a really wonderful song. It's very powerful. You're right, it has become a football song, but
essentially it's Liverpool's song. And the lyrics came to really represent this monumental struggle, you know, "at the end of the storm, there's a
golden sky, don't be afraid of the dark, walk on with hope in your heart, you'll never walk alone."
And it really came to represent the struggle. And Liverpool fans, when they sing this song now and have done for the last 27 years, it's kind of
taken on another meaning altogether, but a very, very poignant meaning. And I must say that when these families came out on to
the court steps earlier today and quite spontaneously broke into a rendition of this, it was very, very emotional, it was very powerful. And a lot of these family members aren't
necessarily football fans. They're the parents of football fans or they're the kids of football fans who perished on the terraces. But the song has
come to represent so much. And that really was just an amazing moment.
[11:15:00] KINKADE: It was an incredible moment.
Don Riddell, great to have you with us and great to have your perspective on all of this. Thank you.
Well, journalist Graham Beecroft was covering the match when the chaos broke out at Hillsborough, and he described it all for his listeners on the
radio. Only later did he find out that two of his friends had been killed.
He joins me now via Skype from Liverpool.
Graham, thank you so much for being with us. I am really sorry for your loss. Two friends killed that fateful day. What did it mean to you when
you heard that 27 years later today that the behavior of the fans played no role in this tragedy.
GRAHAM BEECROFT, JOURNALIST: I think to me, and more especially to the families, it was a massive, massive relief because this was a campaign,
sadly I have to say, mounted by South Yorkshire police to besmirch the name of the Liverpool fans, to try to put the blame for that disaster on to the
Liverpool supporters.
In Liverpool, the families knew, and everybody knew that this was the case, but it needed to be spread around the country, it needed to be spread
around the world that this wasn't the case and thankfully, the inquest has shown those lies for what they were and Liverpool supporters have been
vindicated in that respect.
So it was a massive sigh of relief for me and certainly for the families.
This is a massive, massive weight off their minds because not on have they lost loved one
there is who went out to a football match never to return, but they'd also -- almost worse than that -- being accused of killing their fellow
supporters. And so it's very difficult to understand really, how much of a relief this must be to them.
KINKADE: And an incredible relief.
And of course you were there the day it happened broadcasting. You watched as this horror unfolded. Take us back to that day, what you remember.
It was a very nice day. It was a pleasant day. And I remember getting to the ground quite early. And the police presence was quite heavy there
already. And quite a confrontational presence as well as I went to take my seat in the stand where we had to get set up and ready to broadcast.
And you can see as the crowd was building that the middle to two pens were filling up and the outside pens were much less full. And as the day went
on, this got more and more the case.
So that when the game started, you just felt, well, they're getting crushed in there an awful lot, but everything must be okay, the police must have
sort it out. They must know what they're doing and of course at 6 minutes past 3:00 the game was stopped because people were climbing over the fences
And originally, I thought like everybody else that this was an act of football hooliganism rearing its ugly head again, but it very soon became
apparent that there was no fighting on the terraces, that there was no element of that in any way shape or form, so why would people want to jump
on the pitch, especially as Liverpool had started the game well and had just struck the crossbar in fact at one end of the ground.
And very quickly, it appeared that there was a problem, people started to be pulled up into the seating above the standing terraces to get out of the
crash. And straight away the referee had stopped the game.
And then as things went on, when I'd been there to commentate on a football match, I then became a reporter of a news item, and a very tragic news item
indeed.
KINKADE: It was suddenly a very tragic event. And today thankfully some justice for the families of those 96 people, including a 10-year-old boy.
Graham Beecroft, great to have you with us. We'll have to leave it there for now. But thank you very much for your time.
BEECROFT: Thank you.
KINKADE: Well, our coverage of the jury's verdict in the Hillsborough Stadium disaster will continue in about 20 minutes. We'll have the view
from our correspondent in Liverpool.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:21:22] KINKADE: You're watching CNN, and this is Connect the World with me Lynda Kinkade. Welcome back.
The polls are open in five U.S. states in this latest Super Tuesday. And both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are hoping for clean sweept.
The Republican and Democratic presidential front runners are expected to do well in the northeastern primaries today. Trump says he's looking to
deliver a knockout blow to his rivals Ted Cruz and John Kasich. He's blasting their new alliance, but that's not all, proving once again that
basically nothing is off limits when it comes to his attacks.
Here's our Jim Acosta.
(BEGIN VIDETAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Lyin' Ted.
ACOSTA: Sensing an opportunity in the new alliance between Ted Cruz and John Kasich, Donald Trump isn't just smelling blood, he is going in for the
kill with a double barreled attack on both Cruz...
TRUMP: You know he is a joker. He cannot do it. So he said let me form a partnership, which I call, what do we call it, it's called collusion,
folks.
ACOSTA: ...and Kasich.
TRUMP: He's like a spoiled guy, Kasich. I'm not getting out, mom. I'm not getting out.
ACOSTA: Trump even ridiculed Kasich's eating habits as un- presidential.
TRUMP: You see him eating in the morning. I have never seen. He is stuffing pancakes in his mouth like this.
SEN. TED CRUZ, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He has no answer. How do you bring jobs back to America beyond just printing it on a baseball cap.
ACOSTA: With a few one-liners of his own, Cruz is arguing to his supporters the name of the game is denying Trump the magic number of delegates needed
to clinch the nomination, which is why Cruz is planning to focus on Indiana where he is stronger while yielding New Mexico and Oregon to the Ohio
governor.
CRUZ: What that means is that Indiana gets a straight and direct choice between our campaign and Donald Trump.
ACOSTA: But by Monday afternoon, the Cruz/Kasich alliance was already showing signs of strain, with Kasich refusing to explicitly tell his
Indiana supporters to vote for Cruz over him.
GOV. JOHN KASICH, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't tell voters anything. I'm not there campaigning and it speaks for itself.
ACOSTA: Stressing that he has his own strategy to see through, to stay alive until the party meets for its convention this summer.
KASICH: I would like to see an open convention. Ted Cruz would like to see an open convention. And I think Trump would not because he is afraid if he
goes to an open convention, he has got no chance of winning.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Well, now to the Democrats. Hillary Clinton is hoping to shake Bernie Sanders once and for all so she can focus on the general election.
But even as her rival acknowledges that he's facing a narrow path to victory, he's promising to fight to the very end.
Chris Frates takes us on the campaign trail.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, 2016 DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You have an enormously important Democratic primary.
CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Today's high-stakes primaries have Bernie Sanders calming for his supporters to turn out.
SANDERS: If you come out to vote, grab your friends, your aunts and your uncles, your co-workers, we're going to win here in Pennsylvania.
FRATES: With nearly 400 delegates up for grabs, Hillary Clinton could widen her delegate lead and help effectively close the door on Sanders.
CLINTON: You vote for me tomorrow, I will stand up and fight for you.
FRATES: On the stump, Clinton is already looking past her Democratic rival and focusing on potential general election opponents.
CLINTON: When I hear the kind of reckless rhetoric coming from Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, it's deeply troubling, because it's not only offensive; it is
dangerous.
FRATES: Leading in the polls, the former secretary of state is expected to win big. Her likely clean sweep is forcing Sanders to saturate his speeches
with the contrasts between them.
[11:25:03] SANDERS: The differences between Secretary Clinton and myself.
Secretary Clinton -- Secretary Clinton.
FRATES: But Clinton is ready for Sanders to concede, much like she did in 2008.
CLINTON: I didn't say, "You know what? If Senator Obama does X, Y and Z, maybe I'll support him." I said, "I am supporting Senator Obama."
FRATES: Sanders argues that, while he'll do whatever he can to keep a Republican out of the White House, it is up to Clinton to sway his voters
to her side.
SANDERS: She has got to go out to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Now for some other stories under our radar. Mitsubishi Motors has admitted
to cheating on fuel efficiency tests for the past 25 years, much longer than previously known.
The scandal only affects cars sold in Japan and has wiped away half the company's market value.
Canada's prime minister calls it a cold-blooded murder. Canadian hostage John Ridsdel was killed by Islamic militant group Abu Saif in The
Philippines. His remains were found the day after a ransom deadline expired.
Ridsdel and three others were abducted from a tourist resort last September.
Protesters gathered across Cairo Monday with much of their anger focused on the Egyptian president handing back two strategic Red Sea islands to Saudi
Arabia.
Police later dispersed the crowds with tear gas and rubber bullets, an unknown number of protesters and several journalists were also detained.
Live from CNN Center, this is Connect the World. Coming up, we'll return to our lead story. A jury finds that the actions of police, not the fans,
led to the deaths of 96 people in the Hillsborough Stadium disaster.
Also ahead, the U.S. sends a message to Russia with two of the most advanced fighter jets
in the world.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KINKADE: Welcome back to Connect the World. I'm Lynda Kinkade in for Becky anderson.
A jury at an inquest in the UK has found that 96 Liverpool fans who were crushed to death at a 1989 match in Sheffield, England were unlawfully
killed, and that police errors, not the behavior of fans, caused the death.
Now, Don Riddell takes a look back at that terrible day and how stadium conditions have changed since then.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[11:30:13] RIDDELL: The Premiere League is promoted at the best in the world. Every week its games broadcast all over the globe taking viewers
inside England's state-of-the-art all theater stadiums.
But 27 years ago it was a different story. Stadiums were decrepit. Many fans stood, the scourge of hooligans that meant that rival supporters were
kept apart by fencing. They were penned in on all sides.
PHIL SCRATON, AUTHOR: The conditions of the stadia, we took them for granted. We would cheer when people were handed down who had fainted in
the cup and they were handed down no the to the front, passed over to the ambulance people. We cheered, because it was just part of the way it was.
RIDDELL: But in 1989, one game changed everything. It was April 15. The semifinal of the FA cup between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. More than
50,000 fans of both teams had traveled to a neutral venue in Sheffield, Hillsborough Stadium.
Usually fans accessed the stadium one at a time, but a crush outside prompted the local police in charge of crowd safety to open a large exit
gate. In that instant, some 2,000 fans streamed down a tunnel into a section behind the goal, an enclosed section that was already too full.
And then, as the game kicked off in full view of the stadium and the live television cameras, hundreds of people were crushed.
WENDY WHITE, HILLSBOROUGH SURVIVOR: I felt it was like -- imagine hell to be, where people are dying people are dead, other people don't know what to
do.
RIDDELL: The game was stopped after just six minutes.
Back in the dressing room, Liverpool's manager Kenny Dalglish tried to counsel his players.
BRUCE GRUBBELAAR, FORMER LIVERPOOL GOALKEEPER: All of a sudden the fan came in with tears in his eyes, and shouting -- there's ten people dead.
What do you mean?
He said, it's like a war zone over there.
RIDDELL: Hundreds of people had been injured, and for 96 Liverpool fans, those injuries proved fatal.
GRUBBELAAR: And you see them pressed up against the fence, for them to get -- the air sucked out of them like that must be the most horrific way to
go.
RIDDELL: It was an unspeakable nightmare, and one that would only get worse. As the disaster was still unfolding, police pinned the blame on the
fans saying they had arrived late, drunk and without tickets.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People initially were stunned that the truth could be so quickly fabricated. And within days, they were being held responsible
for the deaths of their loved ones, or their friends.
So -- it hit people at their most traumatized, and I think that it united the city and the region immediately around a search for what they
considered to be the real truth.
RIDDELL: Professor Phil Scraton himself was a Liverpool fan and he worked doggedly to uncover the real truth. What he found was a shocking cover-up
at official levels.
SCRATON: What I'm illustrating in these two statements is where they overlap word for word.
RIDDELL: But his dedicated research and the fans tireless campaigning took decades to force the British establishment to change the narrative.
Finally, the longest running inquest in British legal history determined the real story. The whole world now knows what the victims' families and
survivors have known all along, it was never their fault.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Well, our Phil Black joins us now live from Liverpool. Phil, this remains the worst
stadium disaster in English sports history. All those killed were Liverpool fans. You've been at the club today. What's been the reaction
there?
PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, across the city you can imagine, this has been met with considerable satisfaction I think it's fair
to say, Lynda. You can see the words on the building behind me, there "truth" and "justice."
These are the causes, the goal, if you like that the club, the fans, so many people in this city have been aspiring to for some 27 years now. And
today there is a sense that that has finally been realized.
From the club itself no detailed comment as yet. They say they wanted to let the families have their say first in their media conferences, which
have now happened. So, we should hear from the club shortly.
But they did make a brief statement on Twitter, if you like, only brief but it talks about this being a landmark day for everyone affected by the
Hillsborough disaster and that it describes 27 years of courage, resilience and determination.
And that is very much the feeling here in Liverpool generally, Lynda. This has been such a long time coming. It is something that so many people here
have aspired and worked towards. And so today for the first time in some 27 years, there is a sense that those words, those ideas on the building
behind me have been achieved -- Lynda.
[11:35:30] KINKADE: and given it has been such a long time, some 27 years, some of the family members of victims who died have since died prematurely
and some of the survivors I understand have committed suicide. This really took a toll on everyone involved.
BLACK: And not just those most intimately involved either. But everyone within this city that perceived a sense of injustice with this, that
believed that the truth as they knew it to be had not been recognized, that other versions of the truth that they disagreed with
really strongly were being promoted.
So for so long so many people here have believed that the fans were not to blame, that they did
not play a part in what happened, and nor did they believe that those deaths were accidental.
Today, people here finally accept that those truths are now undeniable. And they've never been able to say that before.
But at the end of this exhaustive inquest process, they feel they can now finally say that.
And it is for many of them, been something of really an emotional day.
We've spoken to a lot of people here.
One thing you do see a lot in this town are people wearing pins and badges demanding justice for the Hillsborough victims.
We've seen even more of them today. And these are people who say they found it really emotional when those determinations were finally being read
out.
I spoke to one man who was at Hillsborough the day of the disaster. He talked about how the most terrible image he still remembers and still the
primary image from that day in addition to the chaos, the fear, but walking into the room that was used as a makeshift morgue for all the bodies that
were laid out there. It was such a traumatic event. That trauma has been carried by this
community here for so long, but carried with the sense of determination about making sure that people would one day out of respect for those people
who died learn the full facts about what actually happened.
Today, here in Liverpool, there is a sense among people that that is what has finally happened -- Lynda.
KINKADE: Yeah, a long time coming. Phil Black, we will cross back when Liverpool do give an official statement. We thank you very much for your
reporting.
Well, now to a show of force on the doorstep of Russia. The United States has sent two of its most advanced fighting jets to Romania, an important
NATO ally.
CNN's Clarissa Ward got an up close view of the mission from a refueling plane. She says the message is clear.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These Air Force pilots are preparing for a unique mission. They will be accompanying two U.S. fighter
jets to Romania, a NATO ally on the Black Sea. It will be the first time America's fearsome F-22 raptor has landed there. An opportunity for the
U.S. to show it is bolstering NATO defenses on Russia's doorstep. Flying one of the two is Squadron Commander Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Lehosk. He
explained what makes the F-22 special.
LT. COLONEL DANIEL LEHOSK, U.S. AIR FORCE: A combination of stealth, super cruise, increased situational awareness that the aircraft provides us,
which all that adds up to a unique asymmetric advantage on the battlefield.
WARD (on camera): So basically you're saying this is the best fighter jet in the world?
LEHOSK: The aircraft is truly incredible and it is indeed the best fighter aircraft in the world.
WARD (voice-over): The technology is so advanced that Congress has banned their sale overseas. En route to Romania, the jets must regularly be
refueled, a delicate balancing act we got to see close up. A nozzle, called a boom, is lowered from the tanker. The jet then moves into place directly
below it and the gas starts pumping.
(on camera): Officially, this is a training exercise to move U.S. fighter jets from a fixed space to a forwarding operating base, but it's the
symbolism that is important here. This is intended as a show of force to an increasingly assertive Russia.
(voice-over): Earlier this month, Russian jets repeatedly buzzed a U.S. Navy destroyer in the Baltic Sea, in maneuvers the U.S. called provocative
and aggressive. Since the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Russia has steadily built up its military footprint on the Black Sea, unnerving many NATO
allies in the region. As Romanian Air Force Chief of Staff Laurian Anastasof told us.
LAURIAN ANASTASOF, ROMANIAN AIR FORCE CHIEF OF STAFF: Increasing the air activities, they're increasing their missions, they're increasing the
training. These are the things that we are seeing every single day. So we need to get ready for what's going to be. That's my major concern, how it
get ready for what's going to be next.
[11:40:16] WARD: And like many here, he hopes that the U.S. will continue its commitment to its NATO allies whatever tomorrow may bring.
Clarissa Ward, CNN, Constanza (ph), Romania.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: We have just over 100 days to go until the Olympic Games. Brazil is embroiled in political turmoil. President Dilma Rousseff could formally
be impeached in the coming weeks on allegations she misrepresented government finances to help win reelection.
President Rousseff flatly denies the accusations, calling the impeachment effort a coup, the conspiracy she puts her own vice president squarely in
the middle of.
Our Shasta Darlington has this exclusive interview with him.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: President Dilma Rousseff has called the whole impeachment proceedings a coup d'etat with no
legal basis. How do you respond?
MICHEL TERNER, BRAZILIAN VICE PRESIDENT (through translator): I respect President Dilma Rousseff's opinions, but I think her point of view on this
is wrong first of all because the impeachment process is legal in the constitution. The view abroad now is that Brazil is this little republic
where there could be a coup, that's why I say there isn't a coup in this country, there isn't any attempt to violate the constitution.
DARLINGTON: The president has also accused you personally, Mr.Vice President, of being a
conspirator in this coup. Does this surprise you? How does it make you feel?
TERNER (through translator): 62 percent of Brazilians are in favor of the impeachment happening so what conspiracy am I leading? Do I have the
power to convince 367 members of congress, more than half of Brazil's population? I think the president is wrong on this point as well.
DARLINGTON: well, a majority of Brazilians support the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, a
majority also support your impeachment, the impeachment of the vice president. They'd prefer elections.
In this context, how are you going to govern, how are you going to bring the country together?
TERNER (through translator): I want to regain the trust of the Brazilian people in all sectors of society if this happens.
Secondly, I am aware that if I do become the president, I too, could be processed for anly political wrongdoing.
What is in place now is a campaign to disqualify the vice president, which even though this has not in the constitution, there has been a proposal to
impeach the vice president. This does not exist in our constitution.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Brazil's vice president speaking exclusively there to CNN.
And Christiane Amanpour will have an exclusive interview with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, to her response. That will air this Thursday at
7 p.m. in London, 10 p.m. in Abu Dhabi. That's only right here on CNN.
Your watching Connect the World. Still to come, he lost part of his leg during the horrors of
war in Syria. Now, this athlete will carry the Olympic torch. We'll have more on this one refugee's incredible story when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:45:41] KINKADE: Your watching CNN. And this is Connect the World with me Lynda Kinkade. Welcome back.
As I mentioned earlier, in just over 100 days, the Olympic Games kicks off in Rio. For the first time ever, a team of refugees will be taking part as
the Olympic flame makes its journey from ancient Olympia to the host city. It will make a detour through an Athens refugee camp.
Atika Shubert reports now from the Greek capital.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to Eleonas Refugee Camp in Athens, about 1,600 people live here. And this is where the
Olympic torch will stop on its way to Rio.
SHUBERT (voice-over): Eleonas was the first official refugee camp set up last summer when the number of arrivals to Greece reached a peak of as many
as 10,000 a day.
Since then, dozens of camps have mushroomed across the country. Quite often, the numbers have overwhelmed the facilities.
Two of the camps are actually in former Olympic sites. Take a look at what we saw a few weeks ago, when we were actually able to access the former
field hockey stadium.
This is a pretty extraordinary scene. The families sleeping out here in these abandoned buildings, children, mothers.
There are now more than 50,000 asylum seekers stranded in Greece, hoping to be given a place somewhere in Europe. Greece's prime minister has said the
country has become a warehouse of souls.
For the first time in history, the Olympics will have a team of refugee athletes. About five to 12 competing under the Olympic flag. And to focus
the world's attention on the refugee crisis here in Greece the International Olympic Committee has selected a Syrian refugee currently in
Greece as one of the Olympic torch runners.
So how do people in the camp feel about this?
What do you think?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just heard that from you. I don't know. It's really nice, you know. I would love to see and I would love to share that.
SHUBERT: Do you think that by having the Olympic flame come here it will give hope?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Maybe help.
SHUBERT: Maybe a little?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
SHUBERT (voice-over): A gesture of Olympic solidarity as thousands wait for an answer.
Atika Shubert at Eleonas Camp in Athens, Greece.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Well, let's take a closer look now at the Syrian refugee who will be carrying the torch through that camp in Greece. This is a remarkable
story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Ibrahim Al-Hussein once dreamed of competing in the Olympics, swimming for Syria. But then the civil war came and Hussein was severely
injured in a bombing. He had to have his right leg amputated from the mid- calf down. Now, he walks with a prosthetic.
IBRAHIM AL-HUSSEIN, SYRIAN REFUGEE (through translator): The whole thing was like a test, not a small thing to go through. At first I didn't accept
it, but finally I came to terms with it.
KINKADE: Like thousands of others, Hussein's lead Syria in 2014, crossing the Mediterranean Sea on a rubber boat. The 27 year old was granted asylum
in Greece and now lives in Athens.
He started a new life working at a cafe playing wheelchair basketball with his friends, and he still swims. While he can't compete, Hussein has been
chosen to carry the Olympic flame as part of the torch relay for the upcoming games in Rio.
HUSSEIN (through translator): After 20 years I managed to make my dream come true. I always dreamed about this, and I dreamed of competing in the
Olympic games. And today, I am here and I will carry the Olympic flame.
A great honor for me. It is such an honor.
KINKADE: Hussein says he's very proud to carry the torch through a refugee camp in Ahtens on Tuesday saying he's doing it not just for himself, but
for all Syrians and for refugees.
Wounded in war, but still making his Olympic dream a reality.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Well, still to come, climate change is already creating climate refugees. One photographer shows us the harsh new realities for people
forced to abandon their homes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:51:37] KINKADE: Your watching CNN and this is Connect the World with me Lynda Kinkade. Welcome back.
Well, it could be weeks before we know what caused Prince's death according to authorities and thesinger's publicist. The 57-year-old was found dead
at his Paisley Park studios on Thursday. His death came about a week after his private plane made an emergency landing in Illinois. He was reportedly
rushed to a hospital, but then continued home to Minneapolis.
The Federal Aviation Administration released the 911 call on Monday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OPERATOR: What's the nature of the emergency?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An unresponsive passenger.
OPERATOR: Was it a male or female passenger?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a male passenger.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: And we have learned a lot over the past few days about Prince's philanthropy. He also had a very spiritual side.
CNN's Kyung Lah visited his church to find out more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(MUSIC)
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Prince, the mega pop star known for -- this was best known here singing these religious songs. This as a
Jehovah's Witness kingdom haul St. Louis Park congregation, Prince's home church for the past decade.
DAVID OSBORN, PRINCE'S JEHOVAH'S WITNESS BROTHER: We feel it deeply. It's - - you know, it's a sad loss.
LAH (on camera): For you, though, what is he?
OSBORN: He was a brother. You know, simply a brother. LAH (voice-over): A brother in a little understood religion. Prince was baptized in 2003 and
embraced it. The congregation invited CNN into this first service after Prince's death, sharing stories of a starkly different man than the one we
know.
(on camera): He never acted like Prince, the pop star?
JAMES LUNDSTROM, PRINCE'S JEHOVAH'S WITNESS BROTHER: At the kingdom hall, never, no. His dress would be similar to what I am wearing as well.
Nothing, you know, flamboyant.
LAH (voice-over): Elder James Lundstrom says he befriended him 14 years ago.
(on camera): Tell me about Prince as a witness.
LUNDSTROM: Oh, he would go door to door, knocking on doors like you're familiar with what our ministry is. A woman probably in her early 40s, says
nice presentation, middle of it, woman says, excuse me, has anyone ever told you, you look a lot like Prince? He's just, (inaudilbe) said, but
going back to my ministry here.
LAH: Here, Prince asked to go by "Brother Nelson", his legal last name, dutifully knocking on doors monthly, setting his Bible, marking with post-
it notes. This conservative group, some admit they never heard of or dance to "Let's Go Crazy", are fiercely protective of their brother and faith.
They tell us Prince looked healthy when he attended services last month.
Prince last seen two weeks ago at his Atlanta concert walking with a cane, reportedly suffered from hip problems that required surgery.
Jehovah's Witness members forbidden to receive blood transfusions say that belief had nothing to do with Prince's death.
OSBORN: Nobody said he couldn't get surgery, absolutely not. We are not anti-medicine. In fact, we go out of our way to try to find the best
medical care that we can.
LAH: A religion of 8 million believers calls of sympathy and grief over Prince's loss have been pouring into this church. The only solace, the
witnesses believe Prince will return to them.
LUNDSTROM: We expect Brother Nelson to be resurrected here on earthlike the Bible says, when Jehovah cleanses this earth of all it evil, there will be
a resurrection, we're going to welcome him back. Like flesh and blood like we talk right now. It's a deep, deep belief that we have.
(MUSIC)
[11:55:16] LAH: A spokesperson for Prince was asked whether or not a will is this. The spokesperson declined to respond. If a will doesn't exist
under state law all of it would go to next of kin. In this case, a sister and some half siblings.
Kyung Lah, CNN, Minnesota.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Well, climate change often feels like a distant threat, something that may only affect other people sometime in the distant future but that's
not the case. Right now across the world it's turning some people's lives upside down.
In your Parting Shots today, one filmmaker shows us some climate change refugees.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My project is called Warm Waters and it's about people living in the front line of climate change. My project shows how
communities of the Pacific region are confronting rising sea levels, rising temperatures and extreme weather events. This communities I experienced in
firsthand the consequences of climate change. Not only it is damaging their physical environment, but it's impacting their connection to their
history, culture and their identity.
What I like most about the Pacific region is that people are extremely resilient and positive. They do not linger on the past and what would seem
to most like a hopeless situation. Instead they search for solutions and move forward.
My aim is to show how climate change is already affecting our planet. I want to share what is
happening in the most vulnerable communities of our planet and how this may soon become everyone's reality.
My name is Claude Sorkin (ph), and these are my Parting Shots.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: And that was our edition of Connect the World today. Thanks so much for watching.
END
