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Tsunami Warning Issued after Quake Strikes off New Zealand; Dramatic Escalation of Violence against Myanmar Protesters; Pope Francis to Meet Iraq's Minority Christians; Buckingham Palace to Investigate Claims Meghan Markle Bullied Staff. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired March 04, 2021 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[10:00:00]

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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNNI HOST (voice-over): Hello and welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Becky Anderson. We begin with breaking news.

We are watching an unfolding situation in New Zealand, where tsunami waves have been observed in some coastal areas. That's after a magnitude 6.9

earthquake that hit near New Zealand's north island. So far no reports of injury or damage.

Security forces in Myanmar are, quote, "shooting people down in cold blood." That's according to the U.N. special rapporteur, Tom Andrews,

speaking with CNN; 38 people were killed Wednesday, making it the bloodiest day in protests over last month's military coup.

Here you can see someone loading, shooting and reloading. CNN has confirmed both shotguns and Uzi submachine guns were used. It's not clear if the

forces were being attacked.

You can see in this protest the crowd used smoke grenades and set off fire extinguishers. Undeterred, protesters were back on the streets on Thursday

en masse.

I apologize. We seem to be having some technical issues in trying to get some of that video up on Myanmar. And I'll return to that story

momentarily.

I do, though, just want to follow up on the story that we broke with at the top of this hour and the threat of a tsunami off the coast of New Zealand.

(WEATHER REPORT)

ANDERSON: Our apologies, viewers, for our slight technical problems at the top of the show. Let's get on to Myanmar now. Security forces there, quote,

"shooting people down in cold blood."

That's according to the special rapporteur Tom Andrews, speaking with CNN; 38 people were killed on Wednesday, making it the bloodiest day in protests

over last month's military coup.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON (voice-over): Here you can see someone loading, shooting and reloading. We have confirmed both shotguns and Uzi submachine guns were

used. It's not clear if the forces were being attacked.

You can see in this protest the crowd used smoke grenades and set off fire extinguishers. Undeterred, protesters were back on the streets Thursday en

masse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: CNN's Paula Hancocks is following this crackdown. She has been doing so since the beginning of this coup. She's been speaking to people on

the front lines of the fight for democracy and with those who have suffered unbearable loss.

It's incredibly difficult to get information on the ground, Paula now joining us live -- Paula?

[10:05:00]

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Becky, the level of force that we are now seeing security forces using against protesters on the street is

escalating. There is simply no doubt about that.

Unfortunately, what we have been seeing over the past couple of days as well is that death toll increasing. Many of the people that you see on the

streets calling for democracy are young people, which means that many of the fatalities and injuries are also young people.

But everybody we speak to and even the family members of those who have lost loved ones in these protests insist that they will continue to go out

onto the streets, to protest, even though they know the risks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANCOCKS (voice-over): Protesters bang pots and pans on the streets of Mianchan (ph) in central Myanmar, unaware it's about to turn deadly. They

duck and run for cover as security forces start firing; 22-year-old Zencocozoa (ph) is shot in the head. His brother carries him to a waiting

ambulance.

But it's too late.

Reliving that moment, he tells me, "My brother was shot and fell down. Blood was coming from his mouth and his head. I dragged him away from there

and he died in my arms."

His parents say he was the breadwinner of the family, working at the local market. They were all at the protest together, his mother says, but were

separated when the shooting began.

She says, "We are risking our lives to claim victory. We don't have any weapons. But they are fully armed. All we can do is protest. They are

shooting us with live bullets. Please help us."

Makeshift hospitals were set up for the injured, treating a steady flow of protesters with gunshot wounds.

TOM ANDREWS, U.N. SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR: Now we're seeing orders that police and military soldiers shoot people down in cold blood. They are using 12

gauge shotguns, .38 millimeter rifles, semiautomatic weapons.

HANCOCKS (voice-over): Security forces were caught on camera, taking three charity workers from their ambulance in Yangon and beating them with guns

and batons. The charity says the three are now in hospital with nonlife- threatening injuries.

HANCOCKS: Is anybody safe at this point?

ANDREWS: No. No one is safe. I mean, even ambulance workers, people that are there purely to save lives, to help anyone who needs emergency medical

care, they aren't there to hurt anyone. They there are to help everyone.

HANCOCKS (voice-over): The level of force being used by security forces has increased since Sunday. Dozens have now been killed across the country.

Activists on the ground fear the actual death toll is far higher than that the United Nations has been able to confirm.

Makeshift shrines are emerging on the streets where protesters fell. Funerals are becoming a daily occurrence. As Zencocozoa's (ph) family

prepares for his funeral, they say they hope his death has not been in vain. His parents praying the next to fall will be the military

dictatorship that took their son.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HANCOCKS: One more young death to tell you about, 19-year-old Calsin (ph), also known as Angel. Video of her has emerged just before she lost her

life. She was at a protest in Mandalay on Wednesday, the deadliest day since the coup.

And the reason that she has caught the imagination and the attention of so many people is she was wearing a T-shirt, which said, "Everything will be

OK." Clearly it wasn't. She was killed shortly after that video was taken. We spoke to the doctor who treated her, saying that she had been shot in

the head, the same as many other of these protesters that are being killed.

And there was a funeral for her this Thursday. Hundreds who didn't even know her turned up to pay their respects and pay respects to someone who

paid the ultimate price in the fight for democracy.

But one worrying thing is that it doesn't appear at this point as though the military is pulling back; at least it seems the exact opposite, despite

this international condemnation, sanctions, pressure. And we did hear from the U.N. special envoy Christine Schraner Burgener, at a U.N. briefing and

she said she spoke to one of the military representatives in Myanmar and said there will be pressure. There will be consequences.

Now an ominous response from him, saying they have dealt with sanctions. They have survived sanctions. And they are used to having only a few

friends.

So a really worrying response there and really showing, Becky, that the military has no intention, it appears, of backing down.

ANDERSON: Yes, tragic. Paula, thank you. Paula Hancocks on the story.

Connecting you now to Iraq, where the recent uptick in violence and COVID cases will not stop an historic visit by Pope Francis. He arrives in Iraq

tomorrow. All health precautions are in place and there will be limited crowds at the pope's appearances.

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ANDERSON: He said he's been wanting to meet suffering Iraqis for some time. He offered a message of peace ahead of the visit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE FRANCIS, PONTIFF, ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH (through translator): Dear brothers and sisters in Iraq, peace be upon you. In a few days, I shall

finally be among you.

I long to meet you, to see your faces, to visit your land, ancient and extraordinary cradle of civilization. I come as a pilgrim, as a penitent

pilgrim, to implore forgiveness and reconciliation from the Lord after years of war and terrorism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Ben Wedeman has been covering the lead-up to the pope's visit all week for us from Iraq. And he joins me now.

There are certainly questions about the timing of this trip, given the risks in terms of both security and COVID, Ben. But the pope insisting that

he will, I quote him here, "not let Iraqis down."

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He's not going to. I mean, this is a pope who is known for his stubbornness and, despite all the

doubts being expressed along the way, even by pope emeritus Benedict XVI, who said it's a dangerous trip, he's going ahead and he's going to do it.

In less than 24 hours, God-willing, he will be in Baghdad visiting a country where, not just Christians, the entire population has suffered for

decades, decades through wars and sanctions and now under a political -- a regime that seems largely indifferent to the plight of the entire

population but particularly to the Christians.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WEDEMAN (voice-over): A bell summons the faithful to the church in this city of Irbil in northern Iraq. Christianity's roots run deep here.

Prayers conducted in the local dialogue of Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke. But his flock 100 years ago, which made up 20 percent of the

population of the Middle East, has dwindled to below single digits.

An ISIS mortar killed a 4-year old in 2014 outside of home near Mosul. His mother, Dhoha (ph), sees no point in staying.

"If someone will take us, away I'll be the first one to emigrate," she tells me, "I wouldn't hesitate one moment. Me and my husband and my family

will get dressed and go and leave everything else behind."

Over the last century, revolutions, wars, chaos, suppression and intolerance have driven many Christians abroad. In the last 20 years,

however, it's gone from bad to worse, culminating in ISIS' reign of terror, from Iraq to Syria, to Egypt.

The group gave Christians under its sway a stark choice: a tax on non- Muslims, convert, flee or die.

The Muslim majority in the Middle East will remain indifferent to the plight of minorities, the archbishop of Irbil believes, until the majority

starts to tear itself apart. Iraq's once dazzling diversity is fast disappearing, including the smallest communities, like the Mandaeans,

followers of a pre-Islamic monotheistic faith that has all but vanished from Iraq.

BASHAR WARDA, CHALDEAN ARCHBISHOP OF IRBIL: What's frighting (ph) me, is that during this period no one have asked what we for example, have lost

when we have a declining number of the Mandaean, for example, and now the Yazidis, Christians. They don't care about this as they did not care when

we lost the Jewish community back in the '40s, '50s and '60s and the cycle is ongoing.

WEDEMAN (voice-over): If that cycle carries on, worries Archbishop Warda, Iraq will destroy itself; 21 years ago, Sabah Zaitoun moved to Sweden, now

home to a large Arab Christian community. He's back in Irbil for a brief visit; those who have left, he believes, have left for good.

"I don't think anyone will return from Europe," he says. "That would be difficult."

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WEDEMAN (voice-over): In a stadium in Irbil, rehearsals are underway for Pope Francis' upcoming visit, the first time a pope from Rome has set foot

in this land, where Christians and so many others have suffered so much, for so long.

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WEDEMAN (voice-over): their voices, they hope, finally being heard.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WEDEMAN: And this trip is truly a whirlwind tour of Iraq for a pontiff that is a mere 84 years old. In addition to going to Baghdad, he'll be

going to Ur in southern Iraq, which is the birthplace of the patriarch, Abraham, the so-called father of the three great monotheistic religions.

He'll be going to Najaf to meet with the grand ayatollah, Ali Sistani. He'll be going to Irbil and Mosul and the town of Karakoshin in Northern

Iraq, with, really, two messages, one of solidarity with the shrinking, the rapidly disappearing Iraqi Christian community but also trying to build

bridges of brotherhood and friendship with the Muslim world -- Becky.

ANDERSON: That report that you filed tonight is a hugely important piece, Ben. Thank you so much for that.

You have just scored out where the pope is going and what his message will be.

I wonder, is the pope being universally welcomed in the country?

WEDEMAN: I'd say, largely, Iraqis are very happy, very welcoming when it comes to the visit of Pope Francis, whether they be Christians, Muslims or

whatever.

But there have been some voices of opposition. For instance, on Telegram, reported to be a leader of the Kataib Hezbollah, a group that was targeted

by the strike just over the border in Syria by the United States a week ago, he has said that people should not make a big deal out of this visit,

that Pope Francis should really deal with the problems in his own country.

The Vatican, which he said is just the equivalent of a tiny part of Sadr City, which is just a suburb of Baghdad. And he also suggested that this

talk about religious dialogue is really just a conspiracy.

Having said that, however, there are other Iraqis, are not only happy that he's coming for religious reasons but also because they -- they are seeing

all the efforts the government is exerting to pave roads and clean cities up.

They want the pope to visit other parts of Iraq, some saying they want him to stay for as much as a month so that all the good work the government is

doing will spread throughout the country if the pope sticks around a bit longer -- Becky.

ANDERSON: That's Iraq for you. Thank you, Ben.

We'll have much more on the pope's visit to Iraq later this hour. We'll speak to Cardinal Vincent Nichols on the trip to Iraq, the first ever by a

pope. And also with religious scholar Maulana Ali Rizvi. That is coming up later this hour.

Want to get you up to speed on some other stories on our radar. And multiple witnesses say at least one person was shot and killed when a group

of kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls were reunited with their parents.

The crowd apparently became angry and impatient when officials announced they had to wait to take their daughters home. Soldiers then opened fire

when some parents stormed the hall where their kids were being held.

Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for two attacks in Saudi Arabia this Thursday. The Yemeni group said it fired a missile into an oil

distribution facility in Jeddah and hit an airbase with a drone. Saudi Arabia says it intercepted and destroyed the missile and drone.

An Iranian official says he sees a glimpse of hope in the prospect of savoring the teetering nuclear deal. Iran's ambassador to the International

Atomic Energy Agency spoke after the organization scrapped an anti-Iran resolution at a meeting. The resolution was meant to express concern at

Iran's recent breaches to that deal.

The first delivery of 800,000 COVID vaccine doses has arrived in Sudan. The AstraZeneca vaccine It was provided by COVAX, the coalition to get vaccines

to the world's poor.

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ANDERSON: Health workers will be vaccinated first and people over 45 and those in high transmission areas.

Alexei Navalny is being held in quarantine in a Russian detention center. The whereabouts of the Kremlin's most prominent critic had been a mystery

after being removed from a Moscow jail last week.

Navalny's lawyer says the opposition leader will remain at the Kolchugino jail about 2.5 hours' drive from Moscow until he's taken to a penal colony.

There he'll serve a 2.5-year prison sentence.

Russia's got its eye on the E.U. That is because its COVID vaccine is now being reviewed by the European Union's regulator. The E.U. keen to get the

bloc's inoculation campaign back on track.

There's been a shadow on the Sputnik V vaccine. Kirill Dmitriev runs the Russian direct investment fund, which is bankrolling Sputnik V's

production, I spoke to him earlier and I asked him about it. You can hear that interview in the next hour of CONNECT THE WORLD.

Coming up, tensions are heating up in the British royal family as the Duchess of Sussex accuses Buckingham Palace of falsehoods. The latest on

that is coming up.

Speaking of royalty, controversy has erupted over two Spanish princesses who received the COVID-19 vaccine before they were eligible.

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ANDERSON: Tensions are rising between two British royal households in what has become a war of words among the Windsors.

In a new clip from the upcoming Oprah Winfrey interview with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle accuses Buckingham Palace of pushing

falsehoods against the couple. When asked about the allegations, the palace simply said no comment.

Meanwhile, the palace has announced it's investigating complaints involving the duchess herself. Well, things do seem to be getting pretty ugly pretty

fast. Let's discuss this with Max Foster, who is tonight in England for you.

So who has said what and to whom?

Spell this out for us, Max.

MAX FOSTER, CNN LONDON CORRESPONDENT: It's interesting you say that Buckingham Palace said no comment. This is becoming the center of this row,

really.

So I think that Meghan has talked about how she felt this huge amount of pressure from the tabloid media, the lies they put out there. She also

complained the palace, the system, the institution, wasn't protecting her enough against those complaints.

It does come down to the fact they have this protocol generally not to comment. They would say that's because they don't want to comment on

speculative stories and, if they did, they'd be commenting all the time.

And the duchess now takes it up a level, effectively saying that the palace were working against her, allowing these stories to flourish.

[10:25:00]

FOSTER: So have a look at the latest clip that we received for this upcoming Oprah interview on CBS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MEGHAN, DUCHESS OF SUSSEX: I don't know how they could expect that after all of this time we would still just be silent. If there is an active role

that the firm is playing in perpetuating falsehoods about us and if that comes with risk of losing things, I mean, there is a lot that has been lost

already.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: You'll notice there, Becky, that Oprah mentioned the palace but then Meghan mentioned the firm, which, obviously, refers to the family. So

she's escalating it there as well.

This interview was recorded a couple of weeks ago, I believe, so before the latest allegations surfaced here in the U.K. that she was bullying staff.

And Buckingham Palace now investigating that, even though the original complaint came from unnamed sources in "The Times" newspaper.

So it is escalating and I think we can say it's a rift and it's burst out in public.

ANDERSON: Yes, Meghan Markle has absolutely no truck with the British press, of course.

How are they dealing with this?

FOSTER: Well, if we take you through some of the front pages, generally, because she's gone to war effectively with the British tabloids, the

tabloids do often take a critical view. And they'll often sympathize with the palace side.

Not all the papers do that. There's some recognition of, you know, what the duchess achieved in British society and that fantastic wedding, which

wasn't really that long ago, which is widely embraced by everyone in the U.K.

But what's interesting here is you get a different story when you look at the U.S. magazines and papers, which tend to be more sympathetic to Meghan.

And I think there is, you know, again, this issue of no comments on the palace side.

I think when they look at the U.S. media, for example, they feel that their view isn't represented, which is why these sources, I think, went to "The

Times" in the first place, to try to give their point of view as well.

It's an imbalanced story but certainly the focus is on the Sussex side of the story, because of these teasers leading ahead to the big show on Sunday

night, which has been expanded now to two hours. So I think the network is pretty confident they've got some good material there.

ANDERSON: Or milking it, one of the two. Max, thank you. Max Foster on the story for you today, thank you.

To another royal controversy making headlines now around the world. Spanish princesses Elena and Cristina received their COVID-19 vaccines in Abu Dhabi

long before they would have been eligible in their own country.

The pair have since been publicly criticized by several Spanish ministers. Princess Elena says they were visiting their father, Spain's former king,

Juan Carlos, and got vaccinated so they could visit him regularly. Juan Carlos has lived in Abu Dhabi since last August following a financial

scandal.

It's the first-ever papal visit to Iraq. Pope Francis isn't letting security concerns and a pandemic keep him away from what is this landmark

trip. We'll talk to Cardinal Vincent Nichols and Maulana Ali Rizvi about the visit and its implications.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON (voice-over): You are looking at video of Pope Francis visiting here, the UAE. Two years ago, he was the first pontiff to visit an Arab

Gulf state. He spent three days here in the capital, Abu Dhabi. He attended an interreligious conference with Jewish and Christian leaders. And he

hosted a public mass for Catholics living in the region.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: We, of course, brought all of that to you here on CONNECT THE WORLD. The pope set to make another historic trip to the region tomorrow.

He's vowing not to cancel the four-day tour of Iraq, despite an uptick in violence and a spike in coronavirus cases.

The Vatican calls the trip an act of love. It's the first ever by a pope to Iraq. He is set to visit Biblical cities and sites associated with some of

Iraq's worst tragedies. The Vatican said all health precautions are in place and there will be limited crowds at his appearances.

For more on this historic visit, let's bring in Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the archbishop of Westminster. And also joining us from London, I'm

delighted to say we have religious scholar and leader, Maulana Ali Rizvi.

Good to have you both.

Cardinal, let me start with you, if I can. There are significant risks involved in this trip, not least those of security and indeed COVID.

Why do you believe it's so important to the pope to do this visit now?

CARDINAL VINCENT NICHOLS, ARCHBISHOP OF WESTMINSTER: Well, what he said very clearly over the last few days is that, unlike the last papal visit

planned for Iraq with John Paul II, he does not want this canceled.

And he's just said it is so important the objectives of the visit and he's going with the assurance of the Iraqi government that everything is in

place. And he's determined, as he says, to make this act of love for the people of Iraq, for all the people, but maybe especially for the Christian

community in Iraq.

ANDERSON: You both know each other, I know, and, as I understand it, Cardinal Nichols, you were in Iraq in 2015. You were set to go to Najaf

with our other guest tonight, Maulana Ali Rizvi. And it's good to have you both on this show.

Maulana Ali Rizvi, what does this papal visit mean?

MAULANA SYED ALI RAZA RIZVI, RELIGIOUS SCHOLAR: I personally believe that this is a momentous and historical event. And this will make (AUDIO GAP).

It will send a message of moderation, dialogue and respect. It is going to cause the extremism and radicalism to be vacant. It is one of the most

important events as I have not come across in the past thousand years, that two such most powerful religious leaders are coming together in goodwill to

make the communities become closer to each other.

ANDERSON: How will he achieve what you have just suggested, getting communities to get closer to each other?

He talked here and in Abu Dhabi about human fraternity, about co-existence and, indeed, signed the Human Fraternity Document.

How does he ensure that what was conceived here in Abu Dhabi actually gets action on the ground, sir?

RIZVI: Just the two largest and the two greatest leaders sitting together, showing respect to each other, visiting for (AUDIO GAP) agenda and no gains

from it because they have reached the highest level of dignity.

[10:35:00]

RIZVI: And they have reached the highest level of their own religious command. So they have nothing to gain from it except for doing it for God's

sake, for the community's sake, for humanity's sake.

And this sends out a very positive message to the entire world that more than 60 percent of the world's population, Christian and Muslims,

approximately, more than 4 billion people, should get the message that (AUDIO GAP).

And in this difficult time, we need to support each other and be closer to each other rather than being fighting against each other.

NICHOLS: Could I --

(CROSSTALK)

ANDERSON: The Christian community, Cardinal Nichols -- do go on, sir, absolutely, please.

NICHOLS: No, I think I was going to follow what you were suggesting. I think what is very important for the pope's visit now, is, firstly, that

he, as it were, embraces the Christian community in Iraq and that he will do that most dramatically in the north, when he goes to Mosul and Karakash.

But also that he speaks up for the Christian community in Iraq. And I think he will do that on the first day of his visit when he meets the state

officials.

Sure, he'll talk the language of religious freedom and mutual respect and the dignity of each person. And I think the fact that, as Maulana says, as

he stands side by side with Ayatollah al Sistani, will say to the Iraqi people, we live together in peace. And that's a tension that is in Iraq.

From a Christian point of view, in a Muslim majority country, sometimes Christians can feel just tolerated. But this is the actual birthplace

almost of monotheism. And it's around that, that I think the two religious leaders will call for a deeper and more consistent mutual respect and

cooperation on the ground.

And I think the gesture, just the gesture from Ayatollah al Sistani, is very, very eloquent.

ANDERSON: We were speaking to Ben Wedeman, who is on the ground in Baghdad, and has been following the build-up to this trip. And he filed a

report tonight about just how difficult things are for the Christian community in Iraq.

And they have been, of course, over the past period, particularly under ISIS. But for a period of time now, it is a dwindling Christian community.

You know, one assumes the pope will want to do more than just talk the talk. He will, one assumes, want to see sort of action on the ground to

ensure that what he says is actionable in sort of, you know, walking the walk at this point.

What can be done, sir, to improve the lot of the Christian community in Iraq and around the region?

NICHOLS: Yes, well, I think, you know, from my experience of being there a few years ago, when literally 150,000 refugees turned up in Irbil and the

Christian communities worked together to welcome them, now they are going back to the plains of Karakash and Mosul.

And the pope going to that cathedral in Karakash, which is just being rebuilt, will be an enormously important thing. And I think it will help to

cut through the remaining tensions of different power groups that exist still in Northern Iraq and give solid presence and solid confidence for

people to stay there.

And I know the initiatives of the Christian community there are often focused on the provision of education because, if children have an

education, then families are likely to stay. And I hope this will strengthen the provision of that education on the ground, in those

villages. And Archbishop Wuldogh (ph), one of the local bishops there, is a great campaigner for this and he will have the full support of the holy

father, I'm sure.

ANDERSON: Last question to you, Maulana. As the pope will spend a significant of time on the ground, we know what his schedule is and his

message is. I was interested to hear from Ben Wedeman tonight that there seems to be sort of universal support across the board for this visit.

These are difficult times.

Does that surprise you?

RIVLI: We are going through a very difficult phase. But I think (AUDIO GAP).

[10:40:00]

RIVLI: (INAUDIBLE) initiative that he, besides all of the tensions and all the political difficulties with coronavirus, has still made an effort at

his age to go to Iraq and Najaf and visit. Yes, it's very important for the Christian world and I respect that very much.

But I think it is more important for the humanity at this stage where the greatest two leaders are coming together to give the message that, yes,

we're going through a difficult phase in this world.

But there is positivity ahead of us and sending a very -- even for the political world, I think it will be extremely important. And we will all be

benefiting from his visit. And I respect him for taking this initiative.

ANDERSON: Sure.

RIVLI: This is giving out a significant right, message for the moderation internationally.

ANDERSON: Yes. And with that, we'll leave it there. An extraordinary trip. He has been advised by many not to make it but he is making it. The pope

will be in Iraq soon. Thank you both for joining us this evening.

We will be right back.

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ANDERSON: Right. Welcome back.

Five-time gold medalist Katie Ledecky looks like she is going the wrong way because the other swimmers are so far behind. They are still heading in the

opposite direction.

Don Riddell, this is some swimmer.

DON RIDDELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: She's just amazing. I remember watching her at the Rio Olympics five years ago. There were times it just seemed as

though she had the entire pool to herself. As she's approaching the line, there's nobody else in the frame. Been out of the sport for a year.

(CROSSTALK)

ANDERSON: Almost lonely.

RIDDELL: -- and she comes back and wins that race by 21 seconds, just absolutely incredible.

(LAUGHTER)

ANDERSON: It's a lonely world out front.

RIDDELL: Yes.

ANDERSON: Don's got "WORLD SPORT" after this.

(WORLD SPORT)

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