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Thailand Cave Rescue Operation; World Cup 2018; Trump Demands NATO Allies Spend More on Defense; U.S.-North Korea Dialogue. Aired 11-12p ET
Aired July 03, 2018 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
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BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): A warm welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. It's 7:00 pm here, it's 10:00 pm
in Bangkok. And it is to Thailand that I want to connect you now, to an incredible story that's unfolding as we speak.
And images you are likely to remember seeing for the rest of your life. Looking at what are these first incredible moments, a group of terrified
young boys were miraculously found alive nearly half a mile beneath the surface of the Earth, all packed together onto a tiny, dry shelf in a
cramped cave full of floodwater.
This hour they're still down there and could be there for months, locked in a vault of rock and rain 1,000 meters underground. CNN's Anna Coren with
their story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many of you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 13.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brilliant.
ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ten days and nights in total darkness, cold, wet and starving.
Then, rescuers shine a light.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ten days. Ten days. We are very strong.
COREN (voice-over): There is no celebration. The boys, the youngest just 11, sit still, their strength gone.
"We're hungry," the boys cry out.
Divers have now brought them pork and rice. A medic has evaluated their light injuries. Quickly they'll be asked to regain their energy; their
nightmare, however, is not over.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Our mission is not accomplished yet. It will be over after we have brought all the kids out.
COREN (voice-over): This is how rescuers fought to reach them. Navy SEALs, experienced cavers, forcing themselves through flooded holes, deep
in a network of tunnels that stretch on for kilometers.
The trapped teenagers know these caves well. As muddy currents surge at their feet, the boys cling onto life, collecting droplets of water from the
roof of the limestone cave, a natural filtration system. Surely they're all too aware how hard it's going to be to get them out.
The tunnels that these boys squeezed through to get here 10 days ago are now swept with water. Some of the boys cannot swim.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Actually, there are scuba masks that they can use for breathing and getting out. But they have to be
trained and to practice inside. So let's see what they're capable of.
COREN (voice-over): The next step is to put in a phone line so that these families can hear their sons' voices. Relief for parents; many haven't
slept, as the clock has ticked for their boys.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I was happy to hear the cheering from the rescue workers. It gave me hope that I was going to see my son
alive.
COREN (voice-over): But time remains the enemy. Heavy rain is forecast to resume in the next few days. Too much water and this already-grueling path
out of the cave will again be closed off completely -- Anna Coren, CNN, Chiang Rai, Thailand.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Connecting you right to the front lines of this story now, the excellent journalist, Jonathan Miller, right by the opening into the
complex cave system for us.
Jonathan, none of the ways out here are easy. In fact, it seems they are all extremely tricky. The main ones simply waiting until the monsoons let
up. That won't happen for three more months. Keep drawing water from the caves, try to find a new entry point from the top of the cave. Or the one
no one wants, teaching these boys how to dive out.
A full day after they were first found and we are far from being able to call this a discovery.
How are things playing out there?
JONATHAN MILLER, JOURNALIST: Well, Becky, you've connected to command headquarters here outside the cave. I'm standing in four inches of mud.
And that's on a day that it hasn't been raining.
The racket you can hear behind me are a bank of generators, which are generating the compressed air for the divers' tanks. And every so often,
you'll see them coming out of the cave complex. It is about 200 yards up there behind me in the jungle mountain hillside.
Now you talk about these options. There's no good option here. And some might say that the rescuers are as much in the dark as the boys down below
about what on Earth to do about this. They're exploring various possible options. There's one that's been explored, which is, you know, somehow --
[11:05:00]
MILLER: -- carving out or blasting off the sharp corners of these narrow passageways. This cave is a whole load of interconnected chambers and the
interconnections are weaving passageways up and down, sideways.
And just getting these boys out through these partially and often completely submerged tunnels will be an absolute nightmare. It's possible
that they might be able to give them oxygen masks and put divers' masks on them and somehow get them out on stretchers.
But that would require a lot of blasting. The other option, as you say, is to keep them down there. But they could be down -- this rainy season has
only just started. And anybody who has been to Thailand in the monsoon will know what it's like. It's torrential.
And the rain, this is a taste that we've had so far. By August, it will be twice as much rain. And that cave system will just be a torrent of raging,
coffee-colored water. So there really is a sense of urgency and wanting to get them out.
And there's one more option which I should mention. I don't know the degree to which it's actively being explored. But do you remember, back in
2010, when those Chilean miners were stuck, the 33 miners were stuck deep underground in the copper mine in the Atacama Desert.
And they drilled in through the mountain, through very, very hard rock and eventually extracted them in a little capsule called the Phoenix, which
went up and down. And they got them all out safely.
It's not impossible to imagine a similar scenario here, drilling down through actually quite soft limestone from the ridgeline up above into one
of the cave chamber roofs and getting the boys out that way.
But right now, all options are on the table. I think, at the moment, the boys are safe, they're being fed. They in fact they had their favorite
dinner of grilled pork and sticky rice, a Thai staple and a favorite here.
So they're being well fed. They seem to be in reasonable health. Psychologically, this ordeal must have been absolutely horrendous and
punishing. But they seem to have come through it.
The question is on everybody's minds, what on Earth to do to get them out fast.
ANDERSON: And whether it's fast or whether it takes one, two, three, possibly even as long as four months, is all up for speculation at
present.
Right after hearing that his son was alive, Jonathan, a father telling CNN of the utter joy that he felt. We heard a little from him. Let's hear a
little bit more. Stand by.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I was happy to hear the cheering from the rescue workers. It gave me hope that I was going to see my son
alive. I'm very happy and I'm very proud, even if it was the soldiers, the police and the rescue team, thank you to everyone for helping get all 13 of
them out.
I want to hug my son. Usually our family sleeps in the same bed. We're a very close family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Amazing.
Are many families on site now and what is their reaction?
Is it relief or is it fear at this point?
MILLER: Well the families are very close by here, up and behind. And you know, there was absolute joy yesterday, a real sense of euphoria late last
night, 11:00 last night local time, when they found them down the cave.
That euphoria has, as you suggested, sort of like taken on a new layer of anxiety, I think, for many of the parents and, in fact, for the whole of
the country because of this problem of how best now to extract them.
The country has been glued to their television screens, taxi drivers to their radios. This is a nation consumed, completely transfixed by this
story. It's following every twist and turn of it. It's actually been quite a cathartic moment for Thailand. It's a country of 17 million people
and it's been riven by political argument and dissent over many years.
You may remember Red Shirts and Yellow Shirts fighting in the streets. It's a military dictatorship now. There's a Muslim insurgency in the
south. But everybody in Thailand has come together because they all want to see these boys out.
And it does remind me of when I covered the Chilean miners, way back in 2010, and the euphoria then, when all of them were finally brought to the
surface. You just hope that you can see the similar scenes here in Thailand in not too long.
ANDERSON: Yes. That was eight years ago. It was as if it was yesterday, wasn't it, when we were covering this story just over the past week or so.
Jonathan, thank you, good to have you on.
It's hard to put into words just how brave the rescue divers have been. They are all heroes, surely. You are looking at the moment at the men who
actually found them, got to the scene just last week.
Richard Stanton, Jonathan Valentin and Robert Harper, they are describing the way to get to the boys as quote, "complicated and --
[11:10:00]
ANDERSON: -- "gnarly," pulling themselves through a kilometer and a half of extremely dangerous passageways. As you can imagine, they've got a lot
going on right now. Let's speak to Chris Jewell. He's a close friend of theirs who has dived with all three.
And Chris, these are some of your best mates. You must be incredibly proud of them.
CHRIS JEWELL, DIVER: So the gentleman you describe are members of the British Cave Rescue Council overseas, divers' call-out team. They're
specialist cave divers and specialist rescue workers who are able to, obviously, make their way into this cave to assist the Thai Navy SEALs.
I should stress that the Thai Navy SEALs have been leading the operation there at the cave and have been very much in charge with the members of the
BCRC diving team working alongside them, using their specialist experience to route-find (ph) in this difficult cave.
ANDERSON: Remarkable. I want you to stand by, Chris. I just want our viewers to see more of the very first moments your colleagues found the
team, who seemed totally lost in every imaginable way, not knowing how long they've even been down there for.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many of you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thirteen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brilliant.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, not today. (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're coming. It's OK. Many people are coming. Many, many people. We are first. Many people come.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tomorrow.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, no, what day is it? (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Monday, Monday. OK, but one week and Monday. You have been here 10 days, 10 days. You are very strong, very strong.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, get back. We come, we come.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know, I know. I understand. We come. We come, OK, we come.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Absolutely amazing stuff.
Chris, they were the first there. You've made the point rightly so that this has been a really big effort by many, many people. But these divers
are first in to see these boys.
Have you spoken to them?
What have they said about that moment?
JEWELL: Yes, I spoke to them last night after they exited the cave. The point I'd make is their skills are particularly navigating underwater in
difficult caves. So the visibility underwater is particularly poor.
Rick and John are sort of expert cave divers, cave diving for many decades and their specialist skills in terms of navigation but they was able to
route-find the way to where the boys were.
Rick and John installed a guideline, a line that can be subsequently followed by the Thai Navy SEALs, so they can actually now reach the boys.
So Rick and John will now step back from operational diving whilst the Thai Navy SEALs continue to conduct work in the cave, making multiple trips to
the boys to drop off supplies and look after them whilst they plan the point of extraction.
ANDERSON: Did they say how they felt that moment when they actually saw the kids in front of them?
JEWELL: I think at the moment, because we're not out of the woods yet, because there's an awful lot that needs to be achieved before we can
celebrate, I think we're all trying not to focus on the emotional side of it. I think actually it's easier to focus on what needs to be done and the
practicalities. And we didn't talk about that.
ANDERSON: OK. Well, look, things are being done right now to help; food, of course, being sent in; fresh air pumped in, as I understand it. Doctors
will go and look at the boys. Water is being pumped out at what is a huge rate.
It is easy to see, Chris, how this all affects the body. You're an expert in this.
How about the mind?
What would be going on in the minds of these young boys and their coach?
JEWELL: So I'm probably not an expert when it comes to what --
[11:15:00]
JEWELL: --they're going through. I'm lucky not to have been trapped in a cave myself (INAUDIBLE). And as you say, being a caving expert, of course,
I'm reasonably comfortable spending extended time underground.
But people that don't regularly do that, you know, no doubt it will have been a stressful situation for them, not least about that they will have
had no vessels of light for 10 days. I assume that their torch batteries will have run out a while ago.
I do know that one of the things that John and Rick did when they met them is leave them a couple of lights so, you know, and provide a little bit of
food that they were carrying with them. So they had some you know, some assistance there immediately.
But sitting in the dark for 10 days, it will obviously have been pretty disorientating (sic). I imagine that they would have lost any sense of
time and the transition of time would have been very hard to follow.
ANDERSON: Yes. Indeed, they were asking your colleagues, what day it was. They clearly had lost any sense of just how long they've been there.
There's a lot of talk about getting these young boys to dive out. And as we understand it, it's likely that they can't even swim. But as we know,
teaching them to dive in those circumstances would be tough. And there are huge risks with that.
Earlier on I got into a pool in Abu Dhabi in absolutely ideal conditions, nothing like as hard as these kids are facing. Just to give our viewers
some sense of just one of the issues that they would have to deal with if they were being taught to dive. Stand by.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: These can be knocked out of your mouth in the water. That's the problem, we're told by the rescuers, about teaching these young boys to
dive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: I've been diving for years, I can't imagine going through the sort of conditions that they are in. I haven't cave-dived myself. It's
been talked about.
But is it a bit of a fantasy to have them dive out at this point, do you think?
JEWELL: I think the problem is, there are limited options for how the boys get out, as you were saying in your piece earlier, you know, unless you can
extract them via some surface and some kind of surface shaft can be drilled.
The only other option is to bring them out through the flooded tunnels. So I'm not sure it's a fantasy. It's an extremely undesirable option. But
I'm not convinced the other option is any more realistic, either.
So at some point they will need to pursue one of those choices. It may be that they try and dive them out. The practicality of that will hinge also
on the weather conditions on the surface.
Diving has been a great challenge in the cave, particularly because of the high water level. There's a bit of a weather window, when the rain has
eased off for a few days, they might consider the diving conditions to get a little bit more straightforward.
But let's (INAUDIBLE) how it's still a very difficult, taxing dive to come an awful long distance and for people that haven't dived before.
ANDERSON: Yes and it's that bite-down regulator that one of the experts was talking about earlier on, which can be knocked out of your mouth in
conditions like they're in, when they can't see anything. That might be really worrying there.
The rescue teams have been appealing for these sort of full-face masks, which have a regulator integrated into them. So at least that might, might
be an easier way of getting these kids sort of up and running on this.
Clearly, it could be, as we've been told, sort of, you know, weeks, if not months, before these guys are out of there. But we obviously wish your
colleagues and these kids the absolute best of luck.
Chris Jewell, a man everybody wants to speak to right now. Thank you for coming on to CONNECT THE WORLD. Your work with the British Cave Rescue
Council, amazing. Your divers helping find the boys are truly heroic. So we really appreciate the time. Thank you.
JEWELL: Thank you.
ANDERSON: Here's why divers are so important in the caves. We've all seen rain fill up a small hole in the ground. What's going on in Thailand is
kind of like that but on a monumental scale, huge volumes of water pouring down into these caves, flooding them. And the monsoons won't let up for
months.
(WEATHER REPORT)
[11:20:00]
ANDERSON: It's about as human a story as you will get, getting the boys out has taken the world coming together with skill, grit, determination and
courage, more than what many of us will ever have. Along with all of that is also taking this, small, unassuming but cutting-edge.
We speak to a world-leading engineer about the technical challenges and opportunities of the rescue hopes.
Plus after Belgium's joy, is it England's turn next?
We're back in Moscow for you after this.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's plenty of emotions. Extreme emotions, we had a lot of stress, yes, 0-2, it was amazing. Almost unreachable, invincible,
but we still made it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Unreachable, invincible, you could just go on, that Belgian fan, capturing the feelings of his nation after --
[11:25:00]
ANDERSON: -- his team had an historic comeback to win 3-2 and send Japan home. In the dying embers of that game they got that winning goal. This
World Cup of shocks and upsets continues. And we are bringing you all the action here on CONNECT THE WORLD, as you would expect us to do.
Welcome back, 25 past 7:00 here in the UAE.
Six teams are through to the quarterfinals, who will join them?
The biggest of the final two matches in the round of 16 for many is Colombia against England. The three lines will be attempting to win their
first knockout game in 12 years. They're the only team on this side of the draw to have won the World Cup, all the way back in 1966.
So after half a century of disappointment, is England's luck about to change?
Well, Amanda Davies is at the Spartak Stadium in Moscow, where kick-off will happen in just under three hours' time.
England captain Harry Kane, King Kane, has called today's game the team's moment of truth.
Can they dare to dream of possible World Cup glory at this point?
AMANDA DAVIES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Becky, I've given up trying to be impartial for this one, I have to say. All through this tournament, you
try and retain your professional integrity and tell the story as it is.
But, no, I am an England football fan. And for too many years have been through the highs and the lows. It is really difficult not to start
getting a little bit excited about what's going on in this tournament, because there have been so many upsets and ups and downs so far.
Everything we saw yesterday, I would be more than happy with a very sensible, dull 1-0 win for England. But it was very interesting in that
press conference yesterday, for all the talk of history and the potential for what this young side could do, Gareth Southgate, the manager, said,
yes, you can dream, you can have hopes, you can have ambitions.
But at this point, there is no point looking past this one match against Colombia, the side who were quarterfinalists four years ago in Brazil.
Southgate is saying he's been so impressed by what he's seen from this young side so far.
He's not really been surprised by them, despite the challenges being thrown at them. They go in and they perform as he's expecting. And he says he
doesn't expect that to change, despite this for many of them being the biggest game of their careers to date.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GARETH SOUTHGATE, ENGLAND COACH: They're gathering experience, we are the youngest team left in and we have the most inexperienced team left in. But
we've got some old fogeys as well, who help the younger ones to get through it and show super leadership.
And everything is ahead for this team. They're really hungry. They want to do well for their country. They're incredibly proud to wear the shirt.
And I'm very confident that we'll see a really good performance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DAVIES: Colombia won't be any pushovers. The one big question mark for them is the fitness of James Rodriguez, who was the Golden Boot winner four
years ago in Brazil. He limped off after just half an hour of their last game against Senegal.
Interestingly, he didn't train with the bulk of the group yesterday. They were trying to sound positive in the press conference. They said the
scans, the good news, it hasn't shown a muscle tear. But he was obviously not training with the rest of the squad.
So interesting to see what kind of impact that has on the morale really of the Colombian side. They, though, if the fans that we've seen have
anything to go by, will absolutely have the bulk of support here.
Apparently, if you look at numbers wise, there's 50,000 Colombian fans here in Russia. Just 7,000 English fans have made the journey.
ANDERSON: That is amazing. Listen, you're absolutely right to suggest that Colombia shouldn't be underestimated. But I'm going partisan at this
stage as well. I'm with you. We need the boys to win.
Listen, Switzerland and Sweden, currently in action, the Swedes just went 1-0 up. But I'm keeping one eye on the game. And Switzerland are crawling
all over the Swedes in their own box at the moment. Neither are considered footballing powerhouses. But this Swiss side drew against Brazil and were
undefeated in the group stages.
Which team would England or Colombia prefer to face in the quarterfinals, do you think?
DAVIES: Well, I think England and Colombia would be happy to face either of them, to be honest, because that means they've made it through to the
quarterfinals of the World Cup. And either England or Colombia would be regarded as the favorites. It's the Swiss on paper who, you have to say,
are the better of the sides.
They're actually the sixth-ranked team in the world, the highest-ranked side in this half of the draw --
[11:30:00]
DAVIES: -- and unbeaten in 25 matches. Both the Swiss and the Swedes, though, not renowned for creating too many chances. They sit back; they
play on the counterattack. This game is pretty much played out as expected.
Arguably, the Swiss are able to create a little bit more than the Swedes. The Swedes, this very much that rebuilding process in the post-Zlatan era.
But their boss, Yann Anderson, has made a big virtue of the fact that he's building a team of human beings here, not footballers.
He's wanted all of them to be seen as equals and going towards this common cause. I think fans it is paying off for him isn't it. But I think it's
fair to say this game very much played down to expectations -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Interesting. All right. Amanda, thank you. We're going to get back to you in Moscow before the end of the show to see how that Swiss-
Swedish showdown ended.
And then, of course, an hour or so after that, it will be Colombia-England. We're going to take a very short break, back after this.
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ANDERSON: Welcome back, just after half past 7:00 in the UAE. You're watching CNN. This is CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky Anderson, from our
Middle East broadcasting hub. Welcome back.
I want get you briefly caught up on those 12 boys and their coach, our headline story today, trapped in a cave in Thailand.
In the coming hours, crews hope to set up communications so the boys can talk to their families. Rescuers are looking at several options for
getting them out of that cave. They could trim the passageways of the cave network and pull them out in stretchers or, for example, drill in from
above.
Another idea is leaving them there for several months until monsoon rains subside. The boys are said to be in relatively good health after 10 days
in the cave and they are now getting food.
[11:35:00]
ANDERSON: More on that shortly.
Meantime, U.S. President Donald Trump is putting pressure on fellow NATO members ahead of their summit next week, warning them to increase their
defense spending or else.
Well, "The New York Times" first reported on letters sent by Mr. Trump to several NATO allies last month, suggesting that the U.S. could decrease its
global military presence if its demands aren't met.
After the NATO meeting, Trump heads for Finland for his meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin. He wants to begin with a one-on-one
meeting with the Russian president with no aides present. The Kremlin today said that suits Mr. Putin just fine.
Let me get you our White House reporter, Stephen Collinson. He's a regular guest on this show and always helps us break all of this down.
Donald Trump's threat to NATO, Stephen, repeated what he said in May last year. Here's the thing, he's only asking other NATO members to honor their
commitment, echoing his predecessors, President Obama and President Bush. His style may be different; his erstwhile allies in Europe might like it.
But Trump is Trump.
So what's the beef here?
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Becky. There's been long-term frustration in Washington that NATO allies, from the position of
the United States, aren't bearing the enough of the burden of their own defense. Not enough of them are reaching that 2 percent target for GDP
spending for defense expenditures.
I think this has been a long time coming. We're now at a point in history where World War II and the Cold War are receding. And there are mounting
questions in the United States, not just from Donald Trump and his populist supporters about what exactly the U.S. is getting from the NATO alliance.
But you're right. It's the tone that President Trump is adopting. When President Bush and President Obama went over there to Europe and spoke
about this, they were urging, they were encouraging, they were a little frustrated.
Donald Trump is a president that has got a record of pulling out of international multinational agreements. There's great concern about the
NATO summit next week in Brussels if he doesn't get what he wants.
I think the question you have to ask is, is this kind of threatening, bullying tone going to be effective in getting the U.S. to the point, where
it's getting more spending out of the allies on defense?
And that, I think, is the real question here.
ANDERSON: I think the timing of this is fascinating as well because, as we just reported, he will be seeking and likely will have this one-on-one with
President Putin after this meeting.
I guess the question is this, will he blow up the NATO meeting, like he did the G7 recently?
Because if there is one thing that would suit the Russians, President Putin, more than anything else, it would be the death of NATO. Since its
inception, after the Second World War, the Kremlin has seen NATO and its creeping encroachment as its number one threat.
So posturing by President Trump might suit Putin and may create an atmosphere that both of them may enjoy, when they meet in Finland after
this, correct?
COLLINSON: Yes. And it would be possible to see Donald Trump's approach here as a negotiating tactic were it not for the debacle of the G7 summit
in Canada a few weeks ago, where the president did blow up that summit, withdrew the U.S. signature on the communique in protest of some fairly
mild criticism of U.S. trade policy by Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau.
There's every -- you talk to diplomats from NATO countries in Washington, they're very concerned that Donald Trump is going to put on a similar
scene.
Now when Theresa May, the British prime minister, or Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, are arguing with their publics for the need to spend
more on defense, this approach by Trump makes it more politically difficult for them to do that.
After all, this is a president who is branding America's European and Canadian allies as a national security threat because of what he says of
their unfair trade practices. He's made it clear that he sees NATO and other alliances in terms of dollars. His calculus is the U.S. is paying
billions of dollars and we're getting nothing for our alliances.
The whole point of NATO in Europe was they were part of this post-Cold War projection of American power, which has profited the U.S. Donald Trump
doesn't see anything apart from the dollars-and-cents calculation.
ANDERSON: Stephen Collinson, it is 11:39 in Washington, it is 7:39 in the evening --
[11:40:00]
ANDERSON: -- in the UAE. Thank you.
Turning from the president's concerns, let's call them with NATO, to North Korea, Mr. Trump says if it wasn't for him, the U.S. would be at war with
Pyongyang.
He tweeted, "There have been many good conversations between the countries."
You recall he met with the North Korean leader last month in Singapore.
There will be another conversation later are week when the top U.S. diplomat, Mike Pompeo, returns to Pyongyang. His trip comes amid new
questions about North Korea's sincerity in its commitment to denuclearize.
Secretary of State Pompeo's trip will also bring him right here to Abu Dhabi in the UAE. The White House said he'll meet with UAE leaders about
ways to strengthen ties with a focus on security and economic issues. Pompeo will also visit Vietnam and Japan to meet with South Korean leaders.
He will then will meet with the president at the NATO summit in Brussels. Busy agenda for them both.
Live from Abu Dhabi, you're watching CONNECT THE WORLD.
Coming up, found but not home. We'll look at how technology could make a big difference when it comes to rescuing these trapped boys from this Thai
football team.
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ANDERSON: I want to get you back to our top story this hour. It's been exactly 24 hours since this show, CONNECT THE WORLD, broke the news that
the missing Thai football team, 12 players and their coach, had been found by British divers after a desperate 9-day race against time.
Take a look at these incredible images shot by those divers, who displayed nerves of steel to operate under what are these incredibly tough
conditions. They are deep inside a cave, around 1 kilometer below the surface, where communicating with each other is crucial but, of course,
extremely difficult.
Helping them is this man, Uzi Hanuni, who is a top engineer, whose company is giving these divers the tools to do just that.
Uzi, thank you for joining us. The technology that I understand you have sent to Thailand, what is it and how does it work?
UZI HANUNI, MAXTECH NETWORKS: OK. So our technology called MESH, MESH is actually a technology that enables radio devices like this to communicate
with each other, screw other in between. For instance, if these two radios want to communicate inside a cave and there is no way -- and there is no
way that they can see each other, then the third radio come in between them and actually is bridging over the gap between the radios.
And we see hopping of that information, video, voice and data from this radio, through this radio to the other one.
[11:45:00]
HANUNI: And we can chain all the radio like that and to establish a communication from the entrance of the tunnel to the end, to the 1
kilometer below the surface, where we cannot reach anymore because of the water.
ANDERSON: That's remarkable because, as I understand it, you know, normally, you would need line of sight, correct?
And you don't have that in what is this incredibly complex cave environment. And there's an algorithm, is there, that ultimately you guys
have written, which allows these to speak to each other. OK. Let's just get a sense of how difficult these conditions are for the, for the divers.
Stand by.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: So those are the conditions. I'm not sure that you can actually see a television screen, so you may be able to hear what we are seeing.
We're just showing how dark it is and how -- how convoluted this environment is.
So your technology will help these -- I guess we should be calling them, at this point, very brave men in what is a very, very difficult mission.
What's your biggest hope for your technology with this rescue and beyond?
HANUNI: OK. So this is, this incident in Thailand is showing us that the communication like Maxtech has should be on the possess of any rescue team
around the world. I think it's crucial equipment. You never know; you know, sometimes there are natural disaster that all communication as we
know it today collapse. And you need some kind of resilient device like this.
It looks like a regular walkie-talkie but it's not like that at all. It has a smart algorithm inside it. It was developed over 10 years of hard
development of more than 20 smart engineers to do this magic.
And you see the result of this magic in Thailand right now, where all the rescue force is using our equipment to navigate inside this complicated
cave.
ANDERSON: Anything that's helping out is a good thing at this point. We're looking at video which actually shows what is received by those
walkie-talkies. We can see it in video form.
Fascinating, thank you for spending some time with us tonight as we try to pick apart exactly what is going on and just how challenging the situation
is. Thank you, Uzi.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ANDERSON: Let's get you up to speed on some of the other stories on our radar right now.
In the U.N, urging Jordan to accept a new wave of Syrian refugees. Around 270,000 people have fled the regime's offensive in Southern Syria. Many
have amassed along the Jordanian border. The U.N. says fighting is escalating, making conditions even worse for civilians.
Well a U.N. envoy in Yemen for talks to avoid a major battle in the Yemeni port city of Hodeida. The Yemeni government forces, backed by the Saudi-
led coalition, are edging toward the city. They're trying to retake it from Houthi rebels.
German chancellor Angela Merkel has struck a deal on migration. That will keep her government together. She agreed to transit centers along the
Bavarian border, where asylum seekers can be processed or sent back. It was a demand of her interior minister, who was threatening to resign.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANGELA MERKEL, CHANCELLOR OF GERMANY (through translator): As such, the spirit of partnership in the European Union is preserved and, at the same
time, an important step to order and control a secondary migration, which was as and is important to me.
And that's why I think we have found a good compromise after tough negotiations and difficult days.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Angela Merkel.
You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Becky Anderson for you. We'll bring you any developments on what is this incredible story out of Thailand
as we get them. Until then, we are heading back to Moscow for some World Cup action for you. That's next, stay with us.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:50:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ANDERSON: What a tournament it is turning out to be. You're watching CNN. This is CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky Anderson, welcome back. I want to
get you back to Russia, where the Sweden-Switzerland game is just about wrapping up.
Amanda Davies, standing by with all the details.
We've come to at this point because we thought we would have a result. But they are in overtime, as it were, or injury time, 1-0 at present. You've
been keeping an eye on the game. I know you're outside the stadium, where the next game will happen, that's England-Colombia.
Any surprising performances as we close out this game?
It's Sweden 1, Switzerland 0 at this point.
DAVIES: No, Becky, this was a game that all the people, the fans we spoke to in the run-up to it, really were not going to put themselves on the line
with how it was going to go, people saying it's very much 50-50.
Two teams who play at a similar way really, kind of they set up very strong defensively, play on the counterattack. But it is, it does look like it's
Sweden currently playing, of course, in their first World Cup since 2006. It looks like they are the side that will be heading through to the
quarterfinals, thanks to that single goal from Emil Forsberg after 67 minutes.
And interesting, a lot of people saying, Sweden, one of the dark horses of this tournament, don't necessarily deserve to be here.
But when you look back over what they've done in the last 12-18 months of football, they've finished ahead of the Dutch in qualifying. They beat the
French in qualifying. They knocked out Italy in that European playoff.
And then, of course, in the group stage, they finished ahead of Mexico and Germany and impressed a lot of people with that pretty comprehensive 3-0
win over Mexico in their final group stage.
So perhaps one of these teams that people have been writing off at their peril. We know that Yann Anderson, who had to very much build a new side
after Euro 2016, after a lot of players, including Zlatan, retired, and it seems to be going pretty well, doesn't it?
Playing a very organized game and Sweden celebrating their place in the World Cup quarterfinal, having knocked out Switzerland 1-0. Becky, I can
tell you that's now full time.
ANDERSON: And so and so the question is, who will they play?
We're looking at fans of fans from Sweden celebrating at this point. They are through. They will face either England or Colombia. We both know who
you and I are supporting. We've given up pretending that we're not.
But I remember, do you remember the headline writers, way back when, who wrote about a famous game, when Sweden beat England, and it was all about
Swedes and turnips, I'm just waiting for this match, were it to be England --
[11:55:00]
ANDERSON: -- to see what the tabloid writers come up with this time.
What's your betting for the next match, England-Colombia?
DAVIES: I think on paper people would say that England do have the stronger side and have the advantage in terms of the players and the
momentum behind them.
But you and I both know, Becky, this is an England side who, notoriously, in recent times, have lived down to expectation. They had their worst-ever
World Cup showing in Brazil four years ago.
Gareth Southgate, in his press conference yesterday, was actually joking when he was asked, how suited, how well equipped he is to lead the England
team in a knockout stage, possibly into extra time and penalties.
He said that certainly wasn't a question I was asked. We were a long, long way from that point when he took over. So it will be very, very
interesting to see how it plays out. Colombia themselves, you know, they want to be in that quarterfinal as well. They --
(CROSSTALK)
DAVIES: -- who were quarterfinalists four years ago and their fans are pretty confident.
ANDERSON: Nobody should underestimate that team or this young England team. It should be a good match. I'm going to go home and watch.
That's it from us, thank you, Amanda, I'm Becky Anderson, I'm with CONNECT THE WORLD, thank you for watching.
END
