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Palace Watchers Compare Meghan and Diana Interviews; Security Forces Target Railway Workers in Myanmar; Bad Leadership Resulting in More COVID- 19 Deaths in Brazil; Venezuelan Women Losing Access to Affordable Contraception. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired March 10, 2021 - 10:00   ET

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

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The British royal family is now speaking out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The idea that there's going to be any change, it was always a fantasy.

MAX FOSTER, CNN LONDON CORRESPONDENT: The royal family simply don't recognize some of the things that Harry and Meghan told Oprah.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is actually a slap in the face, I think.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is CONNECT THE WORLD with Becky Anderson.

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BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): We are this hour connecting you to stories that will not only be remembered 100 years from now but will likely

be defining our world then.

Racism, the so-called culture wars and their impact on society, China's rise as a powerhouse and, of course, the pandemic and the world we build

from its ashes.

Hello and welcome to the program.

We begin with all that everyone has been talking about, that interview. I didn't even have to say what that interview is and you know what I'm

talking about. The ongoing rupture in the House of Windsor is not only interesting for the sense of insider gossip -- and that's part of it, of

course, let's be honest -- but rather for what it has revealed within all of us, a generational struggle, a clash of cultures. A representation of

the need not only to speak but to be heard.

The old-fashioned way of doing things, it turns out, can be, well, quite old-fashioned. We're going to get to all of that.

First, I want you to see this. If the interview, the Oprah interview with Meghan and Harry, was a bonfire of news and emotional meaning, this meant

to douse the flames, 61 words from the head of the firm, the queen herself, breaking the royal silence about Harry and Meghan's revealing television

interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Connecting to Windsor now and CNN's royal correspondent, Max Foster.

Max, what did the palace have to say?

FOSTER: The palace effectively, they -- I think they suggest in that statement, quite plainly worded, but actually suggesting that they don't

agree with a lot of the narrative that Harry and Meghan described in that interview.

One of the narratives they can't argue with is how Harry lives in fear of history repeating itself, that Meghan may experience exactly what Diana

experienced all those years away, arguably in a more charged way because it always also involves race.

And actually when you look at the two narrative narratives, Diana and Meghan's, they are remarkably similar.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER (voice-over): When they joined the ranks of monarchy through their world-famous marriages, one was a wide-eyed young British girl of 20, born

with an aristocratic pedigree, who barely had any worldly experience.

The other, an American biracial divorcee in her 30s, an independent career woman in her own right, an actress who had already had her fair share of

the limelight.

But whilst the journeys that led Diana, Princess of Wales and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, to give the two most shocking interviews about the royal

family, are quite different.

Diana, already separated from her husband, Prince Charles; Meghan, with her husband Prince Harry, supportively by her side, the sit-down exposes filmed

26 years apart are hauntingly similar in describing how their lives changed after becoming part of the firm, both admitting naivete on the lives they'd

chosen.

DIANA, PRINCESS OF WALES: At the age of 19, you always think you're prepared for everything and you think you have the knowledge of what's

coming ahead.

MEGHAN MARKLE, DUCHESS OF SUSSEX: I didn't fully understand what the job was.

FOSTER (voice-over): Both sharing the weight of being the constant focus of tabloid fodder.

DIANA: I seem to be on the front of a newspaper every single day, which is an isolating experience. And the higher the media puts you, place you, is

the bigger the drop.

MEGHAN: I am everywhere but I am nowhere. And from that standpoint, I continue to say to people, I know there's an obsession with how things

look.

But has anyone talked about how it feels?

Because, right now, I could not feel lonelier.

FOSTER (voice-over): The sense of loneliness and isolation leading to a deterioration of their mental health, Diana opening up about bulimia and

self-harm, Meghan to thoughts of suicide, leading to one overarching feeling for both: shame.

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DIANA: I didn't like myself. I was ashamed because I couldn't cope with the pressures.

MEGHAN: Like I said, I was ashamed. I'm supposed to be stronger than that.

FOSTER (voice-over): At their darkest moments, detailing a lack of support from the firm.

DIANA: Where no one listens to you or you feel no one is listening to you, all sorts of things start to happen.

MEGHAN: And I said that I needed to go somewhere to get help, said that I've never felt this way before and I need to go somewhere. And I was told

that I couldn't, that it wouldn't be good for the institution.

FOSTER (voice-over): Both interviews noting a curiously specific similarity, that the women's tours of Australia led to a rise of jealousy

within the royal family. Even more alarming, the accusation from both women that the institution was not only not helping but actively working behind

the scenes to hurt them.

MARTIN BASHIR, JOURNALIST: Do you really believe that a campaign was being waged against you?

DIANA: Yes, I did, absolutely.

BASHIR: Why?

DIANA: I was a separated wife of the prince of Wales, I was a problem, full stop. Never happened before.

What do we do with her?

MEGHAN: The narrative about making Kate cry I think was the beginning of a real character assassination and they knew it wasn't true.

And I felt, if they're not going to kill things like that, then what are we going to do?

FOSTER (voice-over): And yet both women ending on a note of optimism, despite the turmoil.

DIANA: I sit here with hope because there's a future ahead, a future for my husband, a future for myself and a future for the monarchy.

MEGHAN: We've actually not just survived but are thriving, you know. This, I mean, just is miracles and this is, in some ways, just the beginning for

us.

FOSTER (voice-over): And while the world watched as Diana's story ended in tragedy, Meghan's chapters are still being written.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: You know, Becky, you remember the wedding here, Harry and Meghan's wedding, it was a celebration of modernity, how monarchy can move with the

times, despite its thousand-year history. I think this latest chapter for many just shows how it hasn't modernized at all, one step forward and two

steps back, arguably.

ANDERSON: Max Foster is in Windsor. Thank you, Max.

As you can see, the parallels between Meghan and Princess Diana there manifestly evident. I want to go further into this with Anna Stewart, who

takes a look at Diana's legacy on Prince Harry's life.

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ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Prince Harry was only 12 years old when his mother died in a car accident in Paris.

The Duke of Sussex has, in many ways, mirrored his mother's public image and embraced similar charitable causes. Nearly two decades after his

mother's death, Harry opened up about struggling with grief and seeking counseling.

PRINCE HARRY, DUKE OF SUSSEX: I was a typical sort of 20-, 25-, 28-year- old, running around going, life is -- life is great or life is -- life is fine. And then started to have a few conversations and actually, all of a

sudden, all of this grief that I'd never processed started to come to the forefront.

And I was like, there's actually a lot of stuff here I need to deal with.

STEWART (voice-over): Back in 1995, his mother spoke about her struggles with post-partum depression.

DIANA: I was the first person to ever be in this family, who ever had a depression or was ever openly tearful.

And obviously that was daunting because, if you have never seen it before, how would you support it?

STEWART (voice-over): Harry and his brother, Prince William, put mental health awareness at the forefront.

PRINCE HARRY: You want to, with a little bit of experience, you want to help as much as you can.

STEWART (voice-over): In 1997, the Princess of Wales shocked the world when she walked through a live mine field in Angola, steps Harry retraced

22 years later.

For both mother and son, official tours of Australia were a turning point in their royal careers. Diana felt all the positive attention from that

trip created jealousy on the part of other royals, something Harry and Meghan alluded to in their own lives, after their 2018 trip to Australia in

that bombshell interview with Oprah Sunday.

OPRAH WINFREY, ACTOR AND ACTIVIST: Are you saying that there were hints of jealousy?

PRINCE HARRY: Look, I -- I just wish that we would all learn from the past.

STEWART (voice-over): In her life, Diana made it her mission to reach the most desperate of people and was one of the first on the global stage to

advocate for AIDS patients.

DIANA: HIV does not make people dangerous to know. So you can shake their hands and give them a hug.

STEWART (voice-over): Similarly, Harry co-funded a charity for AIDS orphans. The British army veteran also launched the Invictus Games to

support wounded soldiers.

Diana tried to make life as normal as possible for her sons, walking them to school and taking them on ski trips and to Walt Disney World. Harry now

cherishes the normalcy he can have with his family.

PRINCE HARRY: The highlight for me is sticking him on the back of a bicycle in his little baby seat and taking him on these bike rides.

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PRINCE HARRY: Which is something I was never able to do when I was young.

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ANDERSON: That's Anna Stewart reporting.

Reaction to this interview has been divisive, to say the least. The couple's revelations have split opinions across generations and racial

lines. And there's perhaps no better personification of this than the media lightning rod that is one Mr. Piers Morgan. Listen to this.

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PIERS MORGAN, "GOOD MORNING BRITAIN" ANCHOR: If people want to believe Meghan Markle, that's entirely their right. I don't believe almost anything

that comes out of her mouth.

The damage she's done to the British monarchy and to the queen at a time when Prince Philip is lying in hospital is enormous and, frankly,

contemptible. So if I have to fall on my sword for expressing an honestly held opinion about Meghan Markle and that diatribe of bilge that she came

out with in that interview, so be it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, he left his role as anchor of one of the U.K.'s biggest breakfast shows, "Good Morning, Britain," off the back of what happened

over this interview. This is splitting society asunder through the grand old medium of a television interview, it seems. Let's ask the one and only

Brian Stelter, in the house from New York, what he makes from all of this. He's CNN's chief media correspondent.

There is absolutely no doubt that the relationship between the royals in the U.K. and the press has been checkered at best. What this interview has

done, though, is really reveal a chasm between, as we were saying, generations in racism and revealing some issues which, I think if you ask

the average Brit, they knew existed, non-British.

These issues exist. And this may be about the best opportunity to get them out in the open and air them at this point.

What do you make of what's going on?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: I think people in other countries, including the United States, are now learning about those issues

you're describing, in some cases, for the first time.

This was a moment for many Americans, for many viewers in other countries, to learn about Harry and Meghan, to hear about their struggles. This was

Harry and Meghan's reintroduction as they start a new career and a new life in the United States.

So it's put a spotlight on something that ordinarily doesn't get a lot of attention outside the U.K. but all of a sudden is the big story.

And Piers Morgan personifies this. We live in a media ecosystem where extreme or incendiary or provocative points of view are rewarded. Piers

Morgan knows that. He's been doing that for years and he will probably get rewarded with some other show on some other network.

There's already speculation that Rupert Murdoch will give him a show on an upcoming channel. This idea that, if you go out there, you throw bombs and

shock people, you'll get attention, that's the Piers Morgan style. And it's worked for him in the past.

ANDERSON: Culture wars are not unique to the United Kingdom, let's be very, very clear about this. And we have been -- it's been an avalanche of

stuff involved with culture wars for us to report on over the past just year and, of course, it's not a new phenomenon.

What role the media in this era of culture wars?

STELTER: Well, everybody is a member of the media now. I'm coming to you from my phone, which I can use to post Instagram and TikToks and share with

my friends.

But those can also go viral. Everybody is a member of the media now. I think that, in some ways, heightens cultural divides because you are able

to see what other people are doing that's in your face on your phone at all times.

I'd like to also say technology brings people closer together, has the ability to make people more social and more connected. But oftentimes we

see it does exacerbate divides and it creates these clickbait viral stories.

Here in the United States recently, controversies over Mr. Potato Head and Dr. Seuss, Republicans leaning into these culture war issues to distract

from President Biden's first 50 days.

This is true in many different countries in many different ways. And I think all the phones we have in our pockets are exacerbating this.

ANDERSON: Fascinating. You and I will continue this conversation and we must. Thank you.

Coming up later on the show, I'll be joined by former British talk show host Trisha Goddard. I'm going to talk to her about the palace's statement,

what it means to her and where she thinks this discussion, these culture wars, go next.

We are across your world this show because, before that, the drumbeat for change rolls on in Myanmar.

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ANDERSON: As protesters and the military junta are undeterred.

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RAYHAN ASAT, UYGHUR HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCATE: He spent three years in the concentration camps and, only in January 2019, he was transferred to

prison.

ANDERSON (voice-over): The sister of a Uyghur businessman missing in China wants America's help to find and free her brother. The risks she says she

is facing in going public right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON (voice-over): And Brazil sets a grim record as hospitals get close to filling up with COVID patients.

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ANDERSON: Welcome back. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. It's 17 minutes past 7:00 from our Middle East broadcasting hub here in the UAE.

We are right now at an epochal moment in our global order, one that is seeing China emerge as an increasingly assertive and even larger player in

almost every sphere that you can imagine, militarily, scientifically, economically, politically.

Its vision for the world entirely different from the Pax Americana that we, many of us have been living with. And so, over the years and decades to

come, incredible change is likely to happen.

Right now, it's China's increasing military footprint that has caught the attention of the states and others. One U.S. commander calling China "the

greatest long-term strategic threat to 21st century security."

The U.S. citing Chinese military activity near Taiwan, China's disputed border with India and even around America's Pacific Island territories.

There is also speculation that China is assisting Myanmar's military since it seized the power in a coup.

China's ambassador in Myanmar calls those rumors "nonsense." China has been providing diplomatic air cover at the United Nations.

I want to show you a powerful image out of Myanmar right now, a nun on her knees in front of police, begging for peace in the face of a brutal

crackdown on these -- on those protesting the military coup.

The nun implored officers not to hurt the protesters. She and other witnesses say gunfire erupted soon afterwards and two demonstrators were

killed.

There is no let-up in sight, either of the crackdown or the huge numbers of people in Myanmar, demanding return to democratic rule. Tear gas was fired

at a protest in southern Myanmar.

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ANDERSON (voice-over): Crowds run from the sound of firing in Yangon. Security forces in the city targeting striking railway workers in what the

U.S. embassy calls, quote, "innocent students and civilians."

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ANDERSON: And we are now hearing more reports of mass arrests at one of the protests and there are new fears about what is happening to those who

have been rounded up. CNN's Paula Hancocks with the very latest from her bureau in Seoul.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Becky, we're hearing reports of another potential event, where hundreds of protesters are being cornered by

security forces in Myanmar.

This is what we saw just a couple of days ago. And on that occasion in the neighborhood in Yangon, dozens are believed to have been arrested, although

we don't have an exact figure.

This one is in another neighborhood of Yangon. The U.S. embassy has talked about it, tweeted and said they have reports of, quote, "innocent students

and civilians" surrounded by security forces. The U.S. embassy calling on the security forces to withdraw and to release those who have been

detained.

There have been unconfirmed reports of 200-plus being detained, although we cannot independently confirm that at this point. We do know that that is a

tactic they have used in the past just a couple of days ago.

And they also systematically were targeting different groups of the civil disobedience movement, those coming out onto the streets to protest for

democracy. In the early hours of Wednesday, the predawn hours, we saw that they were targeting the railway workers.

This is a group that, quite early on in the CDM, were coming out and protesting and were going on strike. And we have reports of stun grenades

being used in the early hours and roads being blocked so that the security forces could target those railway stations and the housing for railway

workers.

Now we did hear from state media that, as far as the military is concerned, they believe that security forces and the police on the streets are using

minimal force. Clearly this is not the way the protesters, activists and many around the world see it.

And there's also increased concern now for the safety of a number of NLD members, the National League for Democracy, Aung San Suu Kyi's party, who

are custody. There have been two occasions over the past few days, where an NLD member has been arrested in the middle of the night and, later the next

day or the same day even, the family has been notified that they have died in custody.

There are allegations of torture, which we cannot independently confirm. But I did, just a few hours ago speak to one activist, who had seen the

body of the member who died on Sunday and said that he saw markings and bruising in line with what you would expect from someone being tortured. So

we're hearing reports as well that other NLD members are going into hiding, probably not surprisingly.

And one final thing to update you on, Becky, the ambassador for Myanmar to the United Nations, he made a very impassioned plea last February, calling

for the U.N. member states to protect the people of Myanmar and giving the three-fingered protester salute.

He was fired by the military leadership but he is not leaving. He spoke to CNN and said that he will fight the military from their position in the

U.N. as long as he can. He feels, he said, it is his duty to protest in even though he's unable to contact either the civilian government, which is

mostly in detention, or even his elderly parents -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Paula Hancocks on the story for you.

We have shown you examples of Chinese military might in the South Pacific and insinuations it is assisting Myanmar's coup leaders. That's China

abroad.

Now I want to look at what are extreme allegations at home, that China is committing genocide against Uyghur Muslims. America is now weighing in on a

damning report that says China, quote, "bears responsibility" for the alleged atrocities.

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NED PRICE, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: Secretary Blinken have arrived at the judgment that genocide has taken place in Xinjiang. We

absolutely stand by that. In fact, there have been additional reports, even today, detailing allegations that -- of what has transpired in Xinjiang.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Meantime, the sister of a Uyghur man who has gone missing wants the Biden administration's help in finding her brother. He vanished after

returning home to China from a U.S. visitors program. As Kylie Atwood tells us, the woman feels she has to speak out now, despite the risks to herself

and her family. This is her story.

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ASAT: He was recently seen in a video.

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KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN U.S. SECURITY ANALYST (voice-over): Rayhan Asat hasn't seen her brother in almost five years after he returned home to China and

disappeared. Now, in a rare interview with CNN, the Chinese national, living in the United States, says recent images of him are shocking. She

hasn't seen them herself but says he was described as:

ASAT: Absolutely unrecognizable. He lost tremendous weight. He looks like a bone with a human face, except the face is absolutely unrecognizable.

ATWOOD (voice-over): Epkar Asat, a successful Chinese entrepreneur, went missing in 2016 after arriving back in China from a State Department

program in the U.S.

ASAT: Years have gone by and I am still looking for answers.

ATWOOD (voice-over): She said the Chinese government, without evidence or a trial, sentenced him to 15 years in prison on charges of incitement of

ethnic hatred and ethnic discrimination.

The Harvard Law School graduate says 35-year old Epkar never criticized Chinese leadership and believes he is one of up to 2 million Uyghurs and

other ethnic minorities detained by the Chinese government and put into internment camps.

ASAT: He spent three years in the concentration camps and, only in January 2019, he was transferred to prison.

ATWOOD (voice-over): The Chinese government says it's a policy of re- education. The U.S. government has called it genocide. The Chinese dispute those claims.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WANG YI, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): The claim that there's genocide in Xinjiang couldn't be more preposterous. It's just a

rumor, fabricated with ulterior motives and a lie, through and through.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ATWOOD (voice-over): After years of staying silent, Rayhan has begun speaking out, taking to new social media platforms and speaking with us, a

great risk, she says, to her and her family's lives.

around the world What do you think would happen to you if you went back to China?

ASAT: I think I would also disappear into the shadows of these internment camps.

ATWOOD: Your parents are still in China?

ASAT: They are.

ATWOOD: Do you fear for their safety?

ASAT: I do. Every time I speak out, I do.

ATWOOD: Now Asat is turning her attention to the new Biden administration, which is facing mounting pressure from human rights advocates to hold China

accountable for these camps.

Former detainees tell CNN inmates are subject to rape and forced sterilization, which the Chinese government denies.

President Biden voiced concern about these alleged human rights abuses in China's Xinjiang region during his first phone call with President Xi.

Biden publicly claims China will face repercussions. His administration has yet to offer specifics.

PRICE: I think the question that we are posing to like-minded allies and partners around the world is what, collectively, can we do.

ATWOOD (voice-over): For her part, Rahan is very clear. She believes the Biden administration must put this genocide above everything else when

dealing with China.

ASAT: I would love to have an opportunity to make a case for President Biden and Secretary Blinken that any sort of future engagement with China

has to have some form of conditions and, one of it, to release my brother.

ATWOOD (voice-over): Kylie Atwood, CNN, the State Department.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Later in the show, China's expanding influence beyond Earth. The latest on Beijing's plans with Russia to build a lunar research station.

After this short break, up next, Brazil's hospitals are filling up, as coronavirus variants rage across the country. And as hospitals are

overwhelmed, the death toll there is spiking.

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PAMELA GABRIELA OROZCO, DAUGHTER OF COVID-19 VICTIM: Every minute, a family member is lost. This is not normal, this cannot be trivialized. We

are paying the cost for the selfishness that we see at the end of the year and at the beginning of the year.

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ANDERSON: Grief and anger from a woman who has lost her father to the coronavirus in Brazil. It is one of the worst-hit nations in the world. And

Tuesday was the country's deadliest day since the pandemic began.

COVID variants are running wild across Brazil and the health care system is barely keeping up. In many Brazilian states, ICUs are already at 90 percent

of capacity as hospitals fill up with more and more COVID victims. Well, Stefano Pozzebon is in region following this for us. And he joins me now.

Stefano, what are we hearing out of Brazil?

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're hearing that the situation in Brazil is going from bad to worse. In the last 24 hours, a new state has

joined the list of the states that are over -- are over 80 percent capacity of their ICUs.

There are now 23 states out of the 27 that make up Brazil, where the ICU capacity is at over 80 percent. And this can give you, Becky, an idea of

how widespread this new wave of the virus is across the country.

It's not just isolated cities but it's one -- of 23 states out of 27. The situation is most serious in the south but it's widespread all across the

country, all across Brazil.

ANDERSON: The president, president Jair Bolsonaro, has said Brazil would never go into lockdown if it were up to him. And he has criticized many of

the mayors and governors for imposing restrictions.

Just how much has Brazil's politics impacted the COVID situation there?

POZZEBON: It's been a massive impact, Becky. We are seeing Bolsonaro taking a strong stand time and time again against imposing lockdowns or

against even seriously considering national measures to try to curb the spread of the virus.

Sort of taking the playbook from former president U.S. Donald Trump. Now this has so far favored Bolsonaro or not damaged his reputation. He was, as

late as last December, Bolsonaro was still at the highest poll ratings in his presidency.

But this situation, Becky, could change very, very soon. Today is also another landmark moment in Brazil because former president, Luis Ignacio

Lula da Silva, is giving his first speech in three years after a federal court has dismissed some of the charges that brought him to jail in recent

years.

If Lula comes back into the political stage and would decide to throw his hat back into the rings and challenge Bolsonaro for the leadership in 2022,

Bolsonaro fortunes could change very, very quickly, Becky.

[10:35:00]

POZZEBON: It's interesting to see a return of the former president into the center stage and how could the Bolsonaro's handling of the crisis or

actually lack of the handling of the crisis, sort of like not taking decisions and not imposing lockdowns to try to curb the spread of COVID,

how that could play out in the political scene if Lula comes back to challenge the leadership of Jair Bolsonaro, Becky.

ANDERSON: Yes, blast from the past, isn't it?

Thank you.

In neighboring Venezuela, a deep economic crisis that's worsened with the COVID pandemic is putting lives at risk. Women are now having a hard time

finding affordable birth control methods, which also means a loss of control over their lives and the potential to make desperate decisions.

CNN's Rafael Romo explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SR. LATIN AFFAIRS EDITOR: Women start lining up very early in the morning.

"It's just impossible to find contraceptives elsewhere," this woman says.

What all of them have in common is they are seeking subsidized women's health services at this independent clinic in Caracas affiliated with the

International Planned Parenthood Federation.

In the Venezuela of the oil boom and even during the first few years of the Hugo Chavez mandate, who declared himself not only as socialist but also a

feminist, the government offered free women's health programs. Contraceptives, condoms and other birth control methods were offered at no

cost.

But after several years of a deep financial crisis, the current situation is dire, according to this administrator at the women's health services

clinic.

"For example," she says, "we now have more unplanned pregnancies which are happening to younger women. We are also having higher rates of maternal

mortality."

Scarcity of birth control methods reached a level of a whopping 90 percent in 2018 and it has since improved to 50 percent, according to a report by

the Venezuelan Association of Alternative Sexual Education. But scarcity is not the only problem.

"We don't have money to pay for them," this woman says.

Minimum wage is not even enough to buy food, much less contraceptives or other kinds of birth control. Contraceptives that used to cost 5,000

bolivars in local currency are now around 20 million, some $10.60 of the official exchange rate, according to Freddy Ceballos, president of the

Venezuelan Federation of Pharmacies.

And since 95 percent of pharmaceutical products are imported, the industry depends on the U.S. dollar, a currency that has gone through the roof in

the last few years.

Couples and women have to decide between buying food and getting contraceptives.

"That's the reality," Ceballos said.

CNN recently visited several conventional pharmacies and also checked online and found that condoms cost between 2 and 8 million bolivars, from

$1 to $4; contraceptives between 24 million and 36 million, from $13 to $19 and IUDs as much as 260 million or $115.

For most women, those are unaffordable prices, especially considering that the monthly minimum wage is 1.2 million or 65 cents of $1, according to the

official exchange rate at the Venezuelan central bank. This situation means women's health in Venezuela is as bad as it was several generations ago,

according to this expert.

"We could say that we are in the same situation our grandmothers and great grandmothers were.

"And what are the implications for women?

"Number one is that they end up trapped inside the home," Leon says, "not that there is anything wrong with being a mother or a housewife," she adds.

The problem is the lack of choice and the risks that women are exposed to.

According to Leon, effective women's health programs were replaced a few years ago by seasonal campaigns, whose reach is insufficient. An official

at the Venezuelan health ministry contacted by CNN recognized the government has indeed had difficulty getting enough birth control supplies

but blamed U.S. sanctions, saying that they've also have had negative effects on importing food and medications.

Meanwhile at the Caracas clinic, women keep waiting, hoping that one day they wouldn't have to stand in line to get pills to avoid unplanned

pregnancies and get the health services they need to live safer lives -- Rafael Romo, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: We're going to take a very short break. Back after this.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:40:00]

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ANDERSON: The football world buzzing today about a rookie mistake by one of the greatest players on the planet. Cristiano Ronaldo jumping, turning

his back while trying to block a free kick. Players do that.

What he didn't see was the ball going right between his legs and into the goal. The error was decisive. The result knocking Juve, Juventus, out of

the Champions League.

(WORLD SPORT)

[11:00:00]

END