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China under Fire over Coronavirus; American Evacuees Test Positive for Virus after Leaving Cruise Ship; Michael Bloomberg Qualifies for Wednesday's Democratic Debate; Boy Scouts of America Files for Bankruptcy; U.N. Envoy to Yemen Warns Surge in Fighting Risks Peace Efforts; Jeff Bezos Commits $10 billion to Fight Climate Change. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired February 18, 2020 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is CONNECT THE WORLD with Becky Anderson.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): Despite lockdowns and quarantines, the coronavirus keeps spreading.
Plus is Michael Bloomberg buying his way to the U.S. presidency?
We talk to one of the top people in his campaign.
First up, the big picture is really a big question.
What do we actually know about the novel coronavirus this hour?
Let me take you through everything we know for sure at least. The death toll from the virus has gone up by nearly 100 to close to 1,900 with the
vast majority in Mainland China.
The number of confirmed cases now stands at more than 73,000, according to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the fatality rate is
just over 2 percent.
The big question is how much worse could it get before it gets better?
The French health minister says there is a, quote, "credible risk" that the outbreak could turn into a pandemic. The World Health Organization remains
cautious and does not classify this as a pandemic because the spread outside Mainland China, they say, has been limited.
One place where the spread has not been limited is the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan. The passengers were meant to be preparing to
disembark as Wednesday marks the end of a 14-day ship-wide quarantine.
For many of them, that's not going to be happening just yet. That's because the number of confirmed cases has jumped again by 88. It takes the total to
more than 500, well over 10 percent of all passengers.
We are joined by Kristie Lu Stout out of Hong Kong. We've got Dr. Sanjay Gupta with us as well and John Defterios with me here in Abu Dhabi.
Kristie, if only the Diamond Princess were the only maritime debacle to deal with. The Westerdam cruise ship was meant to be cleared until a
passenger got off and, a couple days later, it was found she had the virus.
What's the very latest?
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR: You're right. There are two cruise ships we're monitoring right now. First, zero in on the Diamond Princess; 88
additional cases on board, bringing the total number to 544 on that cruise ship and 606 in all of Japan. This makes the Diamond Princess the biggest
single site of the outbreak outside China.
We know that evacuations are underway. More than 300 Americans were flown to the U.S. over the weekend; 14 of them tested positive for the virus. And
other governments around the world are scrambling to bring their residents home, including the U.K., Canada, Italy and Hong Kong.
And more red flags about the other cruise ship. It was supposed to be the lucky one but not, the Westerdam. This was the cruise ship turned away from
several ports in Asia over virus fears because, at one point it had docked in Hong Kong. The ship finally was allowed to dock in Cambodia late last
week.
Then soon after, a passenger, an 83-year-old American woman, tested positive for the virus in Malaysia. They are scrambling to find all the
other passengers to retest them. As for the 83-year-old American woman, she is in a hospital in Kuala Lumpur and in stable condition.
ANDERSON: Sanjay, one of the hundreds of Americans evacuated from the Diamond Princess are now again under quarantine. She didn't know that 14
fellow passengers on flights back to the U.S. had the virus. She talked to CNN earlier. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, again, that's one of the things that's amazing. So I didn't hear a single word about that until I literally heard it on the
news when we landed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: These people were in isolation for 13 days, not showing symptoms and, during the evacuation process, were found to be positive for the
virus.
Does what happened on the cruise ship give us any idea of how this virus is spreading and what the incubation time might be?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. No, this cruise ship is sort of a microcosm in some ways of, I think, what's happening with
the virus. I will say, Becky, that cruise ships are notorious, even before the coronavirus outbreak, for being incubators of viruses.
We've reported on noroviruses and others that spread on cruise ships. I think the fact that there's so many people who have now been diagnosed with
the coronavirus from this cruise ship suggests a couple things.
[11:05:00]
GUPTA: It is possible that maybe some of the folks had been exposed to the virus before they went into quarantine and they tested positive near the
end of this incubation period. That's possible.
But you know, a quarantine is different than isolation. People weren't in their rooms the whole time. People were allowed to get out and about. Crew
members we know were still having meals together and circulating around the ship.
This is a very transmissible virus, which it seems to be. That could be the way this was sort of spread.
But I think to your point, right now what you hear from public health officials is this is spread through respiratory droplets. People cough,
they sneeze; the virus within those droplets, people may breathe that in or close enough, within 1.8 meters, or they may touch a surface that's
infected.
But as you have hundreds of people on this cruise ship that became infected, I think it's going to raise the question among public health
officials, is there something else going on?
You may remember in 2003, we were together in Iraq. The SARS outbreak was occurring. The modes of transmission with SARS were sort of developing, our
understanding, developed over time. We learned things, lessons from what happened in Hong Kong. We may learn lessons here as well with regard to
this virus about how it behaves.
And just quickly, take a look at the screen. I get this question more than any other.
How does this compare to other infections?
There's a big box in the middle for this coronavirus, because we still don't know exactly how it's behaving. You compare it to seasonal flu, for
example, it's probably pretty comparable to seasonal flu. Measles, you can see, is a lot more contagious but not nearly as deadly.
SARS at the top is probably the biggest comparison. That's what killed about 10 percent of people who became infected. The fatality rate with this
seems to be closer to 2 percent.
ANDERSON: France's health minister has said there is a credible risk that this could turn into a global pandemic. I think it's important to get you
to sort of nail down what that means and whether that would change anything, should the WHO decide to label this a pandemic.
What does that trigger at this point?
GUPTA: Right. Some of this is semantics. But I think there are a couple of things worth pointing out. When we talk about a pandemic, what they're
really referring to is an idea that within countries around the world and continents around the world, you have what's known as sustained
transmission.
People in that country who never traveled outside the country become infected. They pass it onto someone else. And typically when you get three
to four generations of this sustained transmission, that's when the people start referring to this as pandemics.
You and I have talked about this idea that it's not just how transmissible this is but also how lethal. For people that's the more critical question.
Big study out of China. We summarized the study. Maybe it's a little bit of good news in this.
If you look at some 45,000 people confirmed infections, about 80 percent either had no symptoms or only mild symptoms. OK? About 15 percent had
more serious disease like pneumonia; 5 percent were more critical, like respiratory distress syndrome or sepsis.
And then that 2 percent fatality rate at the bottom. But keep in mind there may be hundreds of thousands who don't have any symptoms or have only
have mild symptoms and never go to the clinic, the hospital, never get tested. They don't get counted.
If you have a lot more people infected and the number of deaths stays the same, that brings the fatality ratio way down. Even without that 8 out of
10 people, they could have the coronavirus and have no symptoms at all or only mild symptoms.
ANDERSON: Yes. That's fascinating. Thank you, Sanjay.
John, questions about whether we have reached the peak on this and whether the response has been bungled. Those remain sort of questions that we
continue to ask. Meantime, the global impact of this virus very much being felt by businesses around the world.
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: And a very big brand in Apple. It's double trouble for Apple. Number one because they can't get the
manufacturing up and moving in China, for example.
Number two, consumer sales in China are dropping like a stone. The Chinese don't know when this will come to an end.
Should they open their wallets and spend?
Major contractor Foxconn usually have 200,000 people at their factories in the Yellow River valley.
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DEFTERIOS: They're not allowing workers from outside the province to come in after the lunar holiday. No surprise, Apple is saying look, we're having
problems getting phones into stores, not just in China but around the world.
And these are the sorts of bottlenecks I talked to a managing director about in Dubai, who said these are the dangers to global growth. Let's take
a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now we are saying that 3.3 is our forecast. They may be cut. We're still hoping it would be in the 0.1-0.2 percentage space.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEFTERIOS: So 0.1 percent to 0.2 percent. That's not dramatic. But she said give me 10 more days and we'll do a reevaluation. She's admitting the
slowdown, even though some of the Chinese resource were suggesting a 1 percent drop.
Here's the damage, the iPhone impact. Let's look at the fallout we see every day. South Korea said there's an emergency situation. It will require
stimulus. Singapore, $4.5 billion package. There's a German institute that suggested that economic sentiment in Germany is falling and the Beijing
motor show has been delayed past April because of the virus.
Just that little snapshot tells you people don't know where we're going yet because of that cloud that hangs over commerce.
ANDERSON: John, thank you.
There's been another death of a doctor on the front lines fighting this virus. Lou Shin Ming (ph) was the director of a hospital in Wuhan. Now
China says it will designate all doctors and nurses who die of the virus as martyrs.
Well, the bottom line is we still do not know a lot about the virus and how bad the outbreak can get as we hear from the World Health Organization and
another medical experts, we'll bring you the latest here on CNN digital at cnn.com.
Still to come, President Trump calls him Mini Mike. The former New York mayor could be poised to make a big impact in the race for the White House.
Plus the Boy Scouts of America files for bankruptcy amid thousands of sex abuse allegations.
What does the future hold for what is this century-old institution?
We'll discuss that later this hour.
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ANDERSON: The richest man in the race is using his billions to fund his campaign for U.S. president. But his detractors claim he is buying his way
to the highest office on Earth. Whichever way you see it, Michael Bloomberg is gaining traction. He has qualified for the first Democratic debate
taking place in Las Vegas on Wednesday.
When he got there, thanks to a new national poll, which shows the former New York mayor in second place behind Bernie Sanders, Bloomberg effectively
in a fight for second with the former vice president and once the man to beat, Joe Biden.
But with a bottomless pot of money, it seems. And that money matters. The debate tomorrow in Vegas ahead of the Nevada caucus ditched the requirement
that candidates have a specific number of donors.
Bloomberg is self-funding, so rich he doesn't need donors. So he faces off against his 2020 competitors in Sin City for the first time tomorrow.
Well, Jason Schechter is director of communications for the Bloomberg campaign and joins us from New York.
It's good to have you with us.
JASON SCHECHTER, BLOOMBERG CAMPAIGN COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Thank you.
ANDERSON: Mr. Bloomberg, he is by far and away outspending the other Democratic candidates in $400 million. That's so much money that he's
raising the price of ads for other candidates even. Critics suggest he's trying to buy the presidency.
Is he?
SCHECHTER: Well, we've decided we don't have a limit on beating Donald Trump. You could have a debate on whether we're spending too much to beat
Trump or not enough.
But Mike believes that Donald Trump is an existential threat to this country. His reelection poses a huge challenge to America. He will spend
whatever it takes to get Donald Trump out of office.
I would say Mike is somebody who is self-made. His father never made more than $6,000 a year. He built his own business from scratch, came from a
working middle class background and he's using his own money.
I think what voters value is the independence that provides. He doesn't take money from special interests. He uses his own money. He's independent.
He focuses on doing what's right and that's what he's doing.
And I would say one other thing. I think this idea he's just running a campaign of ads I think is wrong. Mike has been to 61 cities in 25 states
so far in the three months he's run this campaign. We have thousands of staff around the country that are making the case for Michael Bloomberg. We
have tons of support. We feel good about where we're at.
ANDERSON: What have you been authorized to spend?
You say he'll spend as much as it takes.
How much?
SCHECHTER: Working for Mike, we don't focus on the ceiling. We focus on how we can be most efficient with our money. If there's something that
makes sense for us to spend money on, we will.
Mike actually was spending money on anti-Trump efforts before he got into the race last summer, launched a digital campaign just focused on Donald
Trump in the battleground states that will decide the election.
If he doesn't become the nominee, he'll continue to spend, focusing on the battleground states with field staff in the states because he doesn't see a
limit on what it will take. His focus is on getting Donald Trump out of the White House.
ANDERSON: Just out of interest, who would he support were he not to get this nomination?
SCHECHTER: He has said he would support any of the Democratic candidates if they become the nominee. He believes that any of the candidates would be
better than Donald Trump. He will support any of them if he's not the nominee.
That said, we are now, as you pointed out, in second place in this race. We're going into Super Tuesday in a pretty strong position. We're looking
forward to debating tomorrow night and making that case.
ANDERSON: Your campaign has taken a somewhat unconventional approach to social media, a dancing gingerbread man with the text, "Liar, liar, pants
on fire."
What's the thinking behind this campaign, this social media effort?
SCHECHTER: So look, something I have always appreciated working for Mike is Mike likes to take risks. He believes that we should try different
things. And when you have the voter -- when you have the bio of Michael Bloomberg, successful mayor of New York City, successful businessman hired
and promoted thousands of people in his company.
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SCHECHTER: A successful philanthropist who fought for gun safety and climate change, you don't want to rule out any type of voter. You want to
be able to reach everybody, whether they're on the Left or on the Right or in the center.
And so that means that, as a campaign, we want to try things out. Those videos are examples of people seeing us try different things out. Most
importantly, taking on Donald Trump and standing up to Trump and showing we're not afraid of Donald Trump. We will not back down in the face of his
taunts.
ANDERSON: Michael Bloomberg has battled accusations of sexist and crude remarks to women for decades. "The Washington Post" reported on several
lawsuits against him in the '70s and '80s.
What's your response to the characterizations of Bloomberg?
SCHECHTER: Sure. Mike has been in public life for nearly 30 years now. I think what was reported was something back in 1990. It was a book that was
given to him as a gift. It was quotes that he has literally for decades denied saying. This came up in his 2001 mayoral race when he was running
for mayor.
His opponent tried to use the comments against him. New Yorkers obviously decided and understood that he didn't say those things. He said he didn't
say those things and got reelected and reelected again.
Our response is actions speak louder than words. Look at his actions for decades. You'll see somebody who in the workplace has promoted women and
who has supported maternal health and family planning, one of the largest funders of Planned Parenthood.
You'll see someone who has politically supported female candidates in 2018. He helped get elected 21 Democrats, 18 of whom were women. So Mike has a
long record of supporting women, fighting for women and he has an agenda for this country that will help continue to advance gender equality.
ANDERSON: Right. The latest national polling, as you pointed out at the beginning of this conversation, does show Michael Bloomberg at 19 percent
behind Bernie at 31 percent. And that does put him on tomorrow night's debate stage.
The last time he engaged with one was some 11 years ago, back in 2009. I wonder how he is preparing. And there are those critics who say this --
these debates will be his downfall effectively.
SCHECHTER: When you have his resume, you're excited to get on the debate stage. He was mayor of a city that was larger than 38 states. He came in
after 9/11. He rebuilt New York and the economy. At the same time brought down the rolls of uninsured, improved the school system, brought down
crime, made New York City a better place to live in.
As a businessman, he built his business from scratch. As a philanthropist, he's fought on issues that are really important to Americans.
So we relish the debate. It's a chance for Mike to come out, talk about that background and what he's done and, more importantly, talk act what
he's going to do as president. Mike is known as somebody who gets things done.
He's going to talk about how he will get things done when he is elected president. And the first thing he's going to get done is to get Donald
Trump out of the Oval Office.
ANDERSON: Jason, you were formally the chief communications officer for the news organization Bloomberg. Of course, owned by Michael Bloomberg. The
editor in chief of Bloomberg News now, John Micklethwait, released a public memo when Michael Bloomberg announced his candidacy, saying that Bloomberg
News would refrain from, quote, "investigating Mr. Bloomberg and his rivals."
In 2018, Bloomberg told Radio Iowa that if he ran for president, he would place Bloomberg News into a blind trust or sell it. Neither of those have
happened yet.
What will happen to Bloomberg News if Mike Bloomberg is elected?
(CROSSTALK)
SCHECHTER: So a couple things on that. First, just to be clear, Bloomberg LLP is a parent company with different components. Bloomberg News is one
part but there's also a financial business, a media technology business.
Mike has said, if he's elected president, he will put the company in a blind trust and sell the company. And he believes, of course, that there
should be a separation. He will -- and is and will always put American interests above the interests of his business. If he's elected president,
that's what he'll do.
ANDERSON: Who would his vice president be should he be nominated?
[11:25:00]
SCHECHTER: Well, we're not quite there yet. We're -- right now I would say we're focused on --
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: Give us a clue. What are you thinking?
SCHECHTER: I have to be honest, I think it's premature to have that discussion for us. For us, we're looking ahead to the debate tomorrow and
to Super Tuesday.
We're focused on the voters on Super Tuesday, making sure they understand the story of Michael Bloomberg, what he'll do for the country. We're not
focused on speculation around who a vice president could be.
ANDERSON: What's his response to the Mini Mike label that the U.S. president has decided he would tag Michael Bloomberg with as this race goes
on?
SCHECHTER: Yes. This is what happens to somebody like Donald Trump, when they see somebody like Michael Bloomberg rise in the polls and they get
under attack. This is what Donald Trump does. He taunts and he threatens like a schoolyard bully.
Our response is that Michael Bloomberg stands taller than Trump when he stands on his record of accomplishment. Mike stands taller than Trump when
he stands on the stage that matters. We're not going to sit by and let Donald Trump attack us with schoolyard taunts. We'll fight back every time
he comes at us.
ANDERSON: So it doesn't get under his skin?
SCHECHTER: Not at all. Clearly it gets under Donald Trump's skin. Does not get not under Mike's skin.
ANDERSON: Jason, pleasure having you on. Thank you.
The race will bring more twists and turns. Money really matters when it comes to U.S. elections. Just hours from now CNN kicks off a series of five
town halls in Nevada. Sanders, Buttigieg, Klobuchar, Biden and Warren all making their case to voters ahead of the next critical contest.
That all starts at 8:00 pm Eastern. That's 1:00 in the morning London and 5:00 am Wednesday here.
Alongside the presidential town halls, a debate this week. It is a busy time for the Democrats.
Chapter 14: that's the tantalizing hint from former U.S. national security adviser John Bolton about his upcoming book on the Trump administration.
Bolton spoke publicly for the first time since President Trump's impeachment trial.
Asked about Trump's assertion that his July 2019 conversation with Ukraine's president was perfect, Bolton replied, "You'll love chapter 14."
Bolton's book is said to be critical of President Trump's dealings with Ukraine. The White House says it is reviewing the manuscript for
confidential information. John Bolton says he hopes the book will not be suppressed.
You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD.
Coming up, Boy Scouts of America files for bankruptcy amid allegations of sexual abuse. We'll talk to a lawyer who is part of an alliance to support
survivors and call out the organization for its negligence.
And the U.N. is sounding the alarm on Syria while the country's leader celebrates the success of his offensive. We have all the details on that
just ahead.
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ANDERSON: The future of the Boy Scouts of America is now up in the air as one of the cornerstone institutions of childhood in the United States files
for bankruptcy. The bankruptcy filing happened earlier today in a court in the U.S. state of Delaware.
It comes as the Boy Scouts of America faces hundreds of sexual abuse lawsuits with thousands of alleged victims. Now the group celebrated its
110th anniversary earlier this month.
According to court testimony from April of last year, the organization said it believed nearly 8,000 of its former leaders were involved in abusing
more than 12,000 children over seven decades.
Well, why does today's news about filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy matter?
Well, all civil litigation against the Boy Scouts of America is now suspended and that could mean a long delay to hear the hundreds of lawsuits
from alleged victims of sexual abuse. Let's bring in CNN's Martin Savidge live from CNN Headquarters in Atlanta -- Martin.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello. We can't overstress how much this is an iconic institution or was an iconic institution in the
American fabric of life. The bankruptcy may have been a surprise in the headlines to many Americans but it's been in the works for over a year.
And it basically has been that the number of sexual assault cases brought against the Boy Scouts have been accelerating. There are hundreds of them
and they represent thousands of potential victims and the numbers keep coming.
And eventually there are some lawyers that projected the cost of payouts would be in the billions of dollars.
So the Boy Scouts Administration essentially has said that they need to seek bankruptcy protection in order, one, to be able to pay fair
compensation to the victims and also to be able to continue the programs that is, in fact, the Boy Scout programs of America.
However, attorneys will say this will deny many victims their chance to speak out about the horrors they say were committed against them. And it
also means they have to go through the filings again, this time a mechanical filing to the bankruptcy court to seek some kind of compensation
here.
And lastly, there is also going to be a deadline. It means if someone has not come forward, they need to come forward now, otherwise they may never
get a chance to see the compensation.
The head of Boy Scouts said in an open letter, I encourage you and all victims to come forward and file claims so you can receive compensation
from this trust. It says we believe you. I want you to know we believe you. We believe in compensating you and we have programs in place to pay for the
counseling for you and for your family.
But to many Americans, for so long, the Boy Scouts were the embodiment of all the great qualities of being an American -- loyalty, honesty,
trustworthiness. And now all of that seems so far in the past and so harmed by what we now know -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Yes. Absolutely. Martin Savidge there.
When there was first talk of the Boy Scouts potentially filing for bankruptcy, a group of lawyers got together and launched a campaign to help
get justice for the victims.
[11:35:00]
ANDERSON: Here's part of an advertisement they ran.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are attorneys representing survivors of Scout leader sexual abuse. If you were abused in a scouting program, you are not
alone. Come forward and get the help and healing you deserve. Protect tomorrow's children. Identify your abuser and help put a stop to the
coverup.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Stewart J. Eisenberg is part of that legal team that put out the ad. It's called "Abused in Scouting." He joins us now from Philadelphia.
Just how effective was that advertisement in ensuring as many of those who have been abused came forward?
STEWART J. EISENBERG, ATTORNEY: Well, thank you for having me. And the advertisement and the movement that we started almost a year ago has been
very successful.
We have almost 2,000 clients at the moment, who have come forward and told us their story and we know that there are hundreds, if not thousands, more
who need to come forward in order to take advantage of the bankruptcy filing, which is unfortunate, because these survivors will lose their day
in court.
So it's been successful --
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: -- our viewers will say this crisis sort of echoes the one facing the Catholic Church in the United States.
I just wonder how much more difficult will it now be to pursue legal claims against the organization and, indeed, going forward, recover damages, now
that they have filed for bankruptcy?
EISENBERG: Well, I think that this tragedy that has occurred in the Boy Scouts, the Catholic Church and the religious institutions pale in
comparison. Because this institution has existed nationwide for over 100 years. And there have been boys who are victims of this sexual abuse and
tremendous suffering during all that time.
We represent people who -- children even today who are 8 years old to 89 years old. So the tragedy is catastrophic. And they will be very much
harmed by this bankruptcy filing, because they won't be able to pursue their legal remedies in court.
What's going to happen now is the Boy Scouts will have to disclose their assets, fully disclose their assets and we will have to establish some sort
of compensation structure that allows for these victims to be -- to receive some sort of justice.
ANDERSON: Well, in an open letter to victims of child abuse, the Boy Scouts of America says, and I quote here, "Please know we have worked
consistently over many years to implement multilayered policies to keep kids safe.
"Today we believe the BSA's youth safety measures are the strongest and most effective policies found in any youth-serving organization."
You have worked long and hard on this case now for months.
Have things changed?
EISENBERG: We don't believe they've changed. They've implemented certain procedures. But this institution is rife with the opportunity for
pedophiles to infiltrate it.
If you were to create a scene or an idea where pedophiles could flourish, it would be where boys would go alone in the woods with Scout leaders, with
leaders who they trust who are not their family, who don't know them like their family does.
And they are exposed to these predators who have infiltrated this organization. So we don't think that any measures that they've taken so far
have been effective to make the organization safe and safe for children.
ANDERSON: With that we'll leave it there, sir. We appreciate your time. Thank you very much, indeed, for joining us. Boy Scouts of America.
EISENBERG: Thank you.
ANDERSON: Coming up, the U.N. special envoy for Yemen addresses the Security Council with a vision for how to achieve peace.
Is he optimistic?
That's up next.
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ANDERSON: Let's get you to up to speed on some other stories on our regional radar.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due in court on March 17th. That will be just two weeks after the country's elections. You'll remember
he faces charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. The 70-year-old denies any wrongdoing.
In Turkey, a controversial court case has come to a surprising end. A group of defendants, including prominent businessman and philanthropist Osman
Kavala, have been acquitted of trying to overthrow the government. They were charged in relation to 2013 protests against the construction of a
shopping mall in Istanbul's famous Gezi Park.
The charges were seen as a crackdown on dissent. The court ordered the release of Kavala, who has been detained more than two years.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights expressing horror over northwestern Syria. The number of displaced Syrians edges close 1 million.
She called on the government and its allies to allow humanitarian corridors. Meanwhile, Bashar al-Assad congratulated his forces Monday for
regaining control in Aleppo.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BASHAR AL-ASSAD, PRESIDENT OF SYRIA (through translator): We are fully aware that this does not mean the end of war, nor the collapse of schemes
nor the demise of terrorism. Nor does it mean that the enemies have surrendered. But it certainly means rubbing their noses in the dirt as a
prelude for a complete defeat sooner or later.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: That's the Syrian president.
To Yemen's battlefield now, where we've seen a lot of recent developments over the course of the past couple weeks. Coalition warplanes being shot
down by Houthi rebels, two missing Saudi officers. The UAE celebrating the withdrawal of its troops and the first large-scale prisoner exchange
between the two conflicting sides.
The U.N. special envoy for Yemen addressed the Security Council earlier today. Have a listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTIN GRIFFITHS, U.N. SPECIAL ENVOY FOR YEMEN: We are witnessing in Yemen what we have long feared. Since October, I have briefed this council
several times on the signs of hope and momentum toward peace.
But at the same time we've all been acutely aware that renewed violence could reverse the gains made, render peace more difficult and inflict even
more severe humanitarian consequences on the population.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: For a detailed analysis, we have our Middle East expert here, Sam Kiley, to break it down.
[11:45:00]
Sam, let's start with Martin Griffiths. I listened to his speech at the Security Council. I have to say, he did not sound particularly positive.
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Indeed. His whole demeanor, body language was about backsliding beyond the previous cease-
fire negotiations that had indicated some degree of potential hope.
The reason -- I think there are several reasons why it must have collapsed. First, the south turned on itself, leaving the Houthis, who there had been
a north versus south conflict between the Houthis and the internationally recognized government. Those forces themselves divided.
Then on top of that, the international community is becoming increasingly and more -- increasingly vocally irritated, particularly the World Food
Programme, that's feeding 12 million people a month, 9 million of them in the Houthi territories.
And again and again demanding the Houthis stop abusing both the World Food Programme staff and the systems of distribution and essentially gouging the
aid process. There's actually a proposal from within the World Food Programme at the moment to reduce the amount of aid they're giving to the
Houthi areas, knowing ultimately that ordinary civilians may suffer.
But in order to expose this level of gouging, in their words, that is going on at that time, that's been resisted by other elements within the United
Nations. They'll be looking -- they were looking for Mr. Griffiths to give opportunity for hope so they could shorten the timeline.
But there's no sign that there's any kind of cessation of violence. Recently, as you mentioned, there's been a slight uptick, with 31 people
killed last Friday in an airstrike in the Houthi territory, allegedly all civilians, and the shooting down of the Saudi aircraft.
ANDERSON: That's Yemen. I want to get to Syria. Before we do that, I want to get to Libya. The E.U. agreeing to a mission to, as they suggest, block
arms supply to Libya following meetings in Brussels on Monday.
Germany's foreign minister said to safeguard the compliance with the arms embargo in Libya, the E.U. must also make a contribution because Libya is
also about the security of Europe and therefore the E.U. is challenged.
This new blockade, replacing another E.U. mission, has pretty much become obsolete. The question is how does this one stick? There's a wider question
about what's going on in Libya and why this U.N. arms embargo has been on the books for so long, has never been enforced.
KILEY: It's never been enforced. It has a panel of experts, who repeatedly identify the Egyptians, the United Arab Emirates, the French, British,
Italians, a number of groups supplying arms or military aid to one or other of the many sides within the Libyan conflict. That's been going on for some
years.
The issue now is that the European Union -- and this is particularly awkward for the internal structures in the European Union. You had a scene
in which the British were backing the internationally recognized government. The French were backing General Haftar. He's seen as a strong
man who might be able to bring the whole tribal structures that have largely collapsed together.
And then you have the Russians who recently got involved again on Haftar's side. Haftar's people control access to the oil exports. And NNG (ph),
which is not captured or exported, is on Europe's doorstep, as are the refugees coming from West Africa.
ANDERSON: You didn't mention the Turks, who are involved. The only interesting thing in Libya at the moment is the sort of lack of will of
Americans to get involved on either side. The country as a whole, Washington will say it backs the U.N. internationally-recognized government
in Tripoli. President Trump making a supportive telephone call in April.
Again, a split. We'll leave it there. We've run out of time. We'll do Syria another time. I'm going to talk about it now but we'll have you back as
ever.
Today in Geneva the U.N. calling for an end to violence in Idlib. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The sheer quantity of attacks on these hospitals, medical facilities, schools, would suggest they can't all be accidental.
[11:50:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And at a minimum, even if they were accidental, it shows lack of precautionality, (INAUDIBLE) all of which can contribute to
something being attributed as a war crime.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Important words once again from the U.N., giving us a sense of the urgency, the ferocity of the situation on the ground, the disaster that
is that part of Syria at present. We are on the story. Arwa Damon has been inside Syria and reporting on it. You can find her reporting, as you can
find our own at cnn.com.
Jeff Bezos promising to help fight climate change with $10 billion. We'll explain his big pledge after this.
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ANDERSON: The world's richest man is putting a proportion of his vast wealth, and it is vast, behind the fight against climate change. Amazon's
Jeff Bezos pledging $10 billion to support activists and organizations. Let's bring in our chief climate correspondent Bill Weir.
It sounds like a lot of money and well spent.
Will it help?
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Well, probably not. Becky, to be honest. I mean, it is anything will help. At this point, life on planet
Earth can take all the help it can get. But think about proportion.
As you mentioned, he is the richest man on the planet. $130 billion in net worth. That's about less than 8 percent of his net worth. If you scale it
down, it's the equivalent of the median American his age giving about $14,000. You know, not insignificant.
But the question is how fast he'll get the money out and where it will go. And what's interesting about this move is it seems to be prodded by his own
employees. Hundreds of Amazon employees walked out on one of the Friday climate strikes. And a couple were actually threatened with their jobs, as
reported by "The Washington Post," also owned by Jeff Bezos.
The statement from the Amazon employees for climate justice is, we applaud our boss's philanthropy but on one hand cannot take what the other hand is
giving away.
That means the basic massive carbon footprint of a company like Amazon, which ships about 10 billion items a year, when you think about all the
fuel, the massive server farms, Amazon web services creates.
So just this one company has the carbon footprint of a country like Switzerland and Belgium. They would say you can do so much more. It's a
question of where the money is going to go. If it's to NGOs planting trees or giving cleaner cook stoves to folks in India, that's India, that's not
going to solve the problem.
The problem is switching to a fossil free new economy.
[11:55:00]
WEIR: Which would take massive investment in technologies that already exist but have trouble getting venture capital funding to make the products
inevitable for all of us.
ANDERSON: It's called the Bezos Fund. He's going to hand out grants this summer.
Are there any more details?
WEIR: Not really. It's thin on specifics. There's plenty of people in the space I'm sure would love to get any sort of funding, scientists, NGOs as
well, they'll be glad to get all the help they can get.
But we think about Amazon is sort of the pinnacle of the consumerist society. And as we see year by year with the warnings, we're not sure if
planet Earth can have an amazon.com and an Amazon rain forest at the same time.
I say buy as much of the Amazon and protect it. Think of the branding opportunities.
ANDERSON: Hopefully he's watching this and might take you up on that. Always a pleasure.
Thank you. I'm Becky Anderson. That was CONNECT THE WORLD.
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