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Emotional Testimony from Witnesses in George Floyd Murder Trial; Foreigners Flock to Serbia for Vaccine; Countries React to WHO Study on COVID-19 Origins; Conflicting Reports on Who Controls Palma; Hong Kong's Political Fate Remade in Beijing. Aired 10-10:35a ET

Aired March 31, 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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OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The story of what happened in Minneapolis told through the lens of eyewitnesses.

DONALD WILLIAMS, WITNESS: I did call the police on the police because I believe I witnessed a murder.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): Day three of the Derek Chauvin trial in the death of George Floyd set to begin this hour.

The United Nations Security Council meeting in the coming hours about the spiraling violence in Myanmar.

And --

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An abundance of vaccine doses and a lightning fast rollout.

ANDERSON (voice-over): Why E.U. residents are flocking to nearby Serbia to get COVID-19 vaccines. We are live for you this hour in Belgrade.

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ANDERSON: Hello and welcome. I'm Becky Anderson. It's 6:00 pm in Abu Dhabi from our programming hub here in the Gulf. You are watching CONNECT THE

WORLD.

We are waiting for the Derek Chauvin trial to resume shortly in Minnesota as a third day gets underway.

He is the police officer on the right of your screen, accused of killing George Floyd in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Floyd's death last year

sparked demonstrations in nearly every major city around the world, protesters shouting that Black Lives Matter in every nation.

It is no surprise the trial has garnished international attention. In court on Tuesday, a teenager who filmed Floyd's death summed up why she said she

saw her own Black family in George Floyd, knowing it could have been any one of them. We hear from that teenager and several other witnesses in this

report from CNN's Omar Jimenez.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ (voice-over): Six eyewitnesses took the stand Tuesday, all recounting their feelings at the scene of George Floyd's death. Donald

Williams, first on the stand, stood just feet away from Floyd in May. He was so disturbed from what he saw that he called 9-1-1 to report Derek

Chauvin. Prosecutors played the audio from the call in court.

WILLIAMS: Y'all murderers, bro. Y'all murderers.

I called the police on the police.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And why did you do that?

WILLIAMS: Because I believe I witnessed a murder.

JIMENEZ (voice-over) As part of the contentious exchange, the defense argued that Williams and the rest of the crowd grew threatening, which they

argued distracted the officers.

ERIC NELSON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: You called him a tough guy.

WILLIAMS: I did.

NELSON: Those terms grew more and more angry. Would you agree with that?

WILLIAMS: They grew more and more pleading for life.

JIMENEZ (voice-over) Other young witnesses echoed Williams' feelings, highlighting how what they saw has haunted them since May.

DARNELLA FRAZIER, WITNESS: I stayed up apologizing and apologizing to George Floyd for not doing more.

I have a black father. I have a black brother. I have black friends. And I -- I look at that and I look at how that could have been one of them.

JIMENEZ (voice-over) That was then-17-year-old Darnella Frazier. She recorded the now-infamous video showing some of the final moments of

Floyd's life. She testified, along with her 9-year-old cousin, who was also at the scene. They both appeared via audio only, given their ages at the

time of the incident.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was it about the scene that caused you to come back?

FRAZIER: It wasn't right. He was -- he was suffering. He was in pain.

J.R., 9-YEAR-OLD WITNESS: I saw the officer put a knee on George Floyd. I was sad and kind of mad.

JIMENEZ (voice-over) She testified that, even after paramedics arrived and tried to check Floyd's pulse, Chauvin's knee remained on Floyd's neck.

FRAZIER: The paramedic did like a motion like get up, telling him -- basically telling him to remove his knee. His knee was still there, even

when they came, even at the end, even unresponsive.

JIMENEZ (voice-over) Off-duty firefighter and trained EMT Genevieve Hansen took the stand last, telling the court she tried to intervene to provide

medical assistance to Floyd.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you really a firefighter?

HANSEN: Yes, I am. For Minneapolis.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, OK. Well, then get off the sidewalk.

HANSEN: Show me his pulse.

I would have been able to provide medical attention to the best of my abilities and this human was denied that right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you couldn't do that, how did that make you feel?

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HANSEN: Totally distressed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Were you frustrated?

HANSEN: Yes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: That was Omar Jimenez reporting. The trial set to begin shortly. We will take you there live as and when it starts.

The Black Lives Matter movement in the U.K. slamming a long-awaited report on race in Britain. Downing Street suggesting the U.K. should be seen as a

model for other countries because the findings say, quote, "claims of institutional racism are not borne out."

But BLM U.K. says the government's report, quote, "goes out of its way to deny and obscure the existence of racism," and it tweeted this.

"We are also disappointed to learn that the report overlooks disproportionality in the criminal justice system, particularly as police

racism served as the catalyst for last summer's protests."

The U.N. ambassador who represents Myanmar's ousted government is pleading for help from the international community. He says the military there is

using heavy artillery on innocent victims, framing the brutality as a threat to global security.

That urgent call for action comes as the U.N. Security Council prepares to meet behind closed doors for crisis talks. Britain called the meeting after

protesters against the military coup faced the deadliest crackdown yet over the weekend and as activists raise the alarm about what has become daily

airstrikes in the southeast of the country.

The strikes are targeting an area controlled by an armed ethnic group. Aid workers say they have hit civilian areas, destroyed a school and killed at

least one small child. Will Ripley following this from our Hong Kong bureau and joining us now.

We know the U.N. Security Council is meeting in the hours to come.

What can we expect to hear from that group?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's a lot of talk about what can be done, Becky. Given the fact Myanmar is still a relatively isolated

country. And, therefore, these generals who might get sanctions, still have most of their money inside Myanmar.

Of course, many analysts believe that this is largely about money and control and the way to end it will be some sort of penalties that these

generals might feel. So there could be talk about cutting off revenue from oil and gas in addition to trying to block the military's access to

weapons.

The United States has just suspended this diplomatic trade engagement. It was a cooperation between Myanmar and the U.S. to try to integrate the

country to the global economy when they were still dipping their toes in democracy; whereas now, we're back to something that resembles very much

the 50-year military dictatorship.

So I think the big question that world leaders are facing is, what can they do to stop this?

So far, all of the criticism has simply been brushed off by the leaders.

ANDERSON: The ousted civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has, as I understand it, just had her first meeting with her legal team.

What are you hearing about that?

RIPLEY: Her first meeting -- and this coup is almost two months old, Becky -- yes, she was able to speak with her lawyer virtually, who says that she

appeared to be in good health. But she's being kept in pretty much total isolation.

The only people who are close to her are members of the military, who are loyal to the senior general and his associates. In other words, she doesn't

have anybody with her who may be sympathetic to her cause; unlike when she was held for 15 years of house arrest during, you know, the period she was

nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.

She's under much tighter guard now because they certainly don't want her having any ability to communicate and, perhaps, influence the crowds in

Myanmar loyal to her to protest even further.

ANDERSON: Will Ripley with the very latest on what is going on in Myanmar and what is happening at the U.N. Security Council. Will, thank you.

The European Union's vaccine rollout, with bickering and fights over fairness, mixing politics with life and death. COVID-19 cases in the bloc

are rising as people wait for leaders to get together on a distribution plan.

Hospitalization rates in places like France forcing some hospitals to decide which patients should get treated. Deaths will inevitably follow,

deaths that could have been prevented if people got a vaccine earlier.

Serbia outpacing richer E.U. countries by a mile.

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ANDERSON: Foreigners flocking from all over the region to get COVID vaccines. The Serbs not turning anyone away. Fred Pleitgen is in the

Serbian capital of Belgrade.

How did Serbia end up in this position, Fred?

PLEITGEN: It is really quite remarkable. I think there's really two key factors to it. On the one hand, they had a real sense of pragmatism,

ordered from a lot of different companies. They ordered their vaccine, like, for instance, from Russia, from China as well.

They also had a big sense of urgency. They made it a national priority to order as fast as possible and as much as possible. Now they really are

doing exceptionally well.

The vaccination center I'm in in Belgrade, there's about 7,000 to 8,000 jabs per day, moving at a very, very fast pace. Here's what we saw.

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PLEITGEN (voice-over): An abundance of vaccine doses and a lightning fast rollout.

Serbia, a non-E.U. state, is setting the pace in Europe, fully vaccinating people with two doses quicker than any other country on the continent.

Zoron Czazic (ph) just got his second shot.

ZORON CZAZIC (PH), VACCINE RECIPIENT: About 10, 15 minutes.

PLEITGEN: It was very easy?

CZAZIC (PH): Very easy. Very smooth. Very fast.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): Serbia has so much vaccine, they are even offering free shots to foreigners, like Tomas Cupr (ph) from the Czech Republic, who

came here on a work trip and decided to get inoculated as well.

TOMAS CUPR (PH), VACCINE RECIPIENT: Freedom, I guess. Freedom to be with my mother again.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): Serbia's secret: they ordered vaccines early. They ordered a lot. And they ordered from various manufacturers, Chinese,

Russian and Western companies. The country's biggest vaccine center, at the Belgrade Fair alone, administers around 8,000 doses per day, the center's

head says.

ZORAN BEKIC, VACCINATION CENTER AT BELGRADE FAIR: Thanks to authorities in our country, we have, I think, much more vaccines than in other parts in

Europe.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): Another key to the fast rollout, an easy to use registration site that cuts down on unnecessary bureaucracy. Serbia's head

of egoverning explains.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your ID number, name, surname and it's very important, email address, mobile phone or fixed phone, because we're going to invite

you SMS and email.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): Unlike the E.U., which is facing severe vaccine shortages, Serbia is donating vaccines to neighboring countries and

allowing their citizens to get vaccinated in Serbia, making the country a regional vaccination hub; also out of self-interest, the prime minister

tells me. ANA BRNABIC (PH), SERBIAN PRIME MINISTER: We are also trying to support

mostly the region. So our neighboring countries, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, because if -- we are a small region. And if

they are not safe, even when we get the collective immunity, we are not going to be safe.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): Like many countries, Serbia is facing rising numbers of new coronavirus infections and has had to put new restrictions

in place. The only way out of the pandemic, the government believes, is to keep vaccinating as fast as possible.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PLEITGEN: I just want to show you some of that pragmatism here. You can see some of the different booths. These are the ones for Sputnik V. We have

to tell our viewers, people in Serbia can choose the vaccine that they want to get, whether you are a foreigner, whether you are a Serb. You can choose

which vaccine you want to get.

Over here we have the Sinopharm booth. The interesting thing about Serbia, they were one of the first countries to sign a deal with Sinopharm but also

one of the first countries, for instance, to sign a deal with Pfizer and BioNTech. So they got a lot of that vaccine as well.

We move over here. The other thing is also, for instance, they told us that they had a batch of AstraZeneca vaccine and that batch was -- or a lot of

that batch -- was in danger of expiring because they weren't vaccinating it fast enough. So they decided to give it to other countries and to invite

more people to come in here and get the vaccine.

This area here is particularly impressive as well, sort of coming to the end of the day now but this is the registration area and their I.T. area.

That is something that really brings that abundance of vaccine into arms very quickly.

It's a very fast process. People who come here are in and out in about 10 to 15 minutes with the complete registration process and getting the jab,

Becky.

ANDERSON: Fred is on the story for you in Belgrade. Thank you.

We are still looking at how the coronavirus started in the first place, of course. China says that's becoming a political issue and called it immoral.

The World Health Organization released its report on Tuesday, with no real answer. Beijing increasingly under fire for not giving investigators all

the information they needed.

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ANDERSON: CNN's Steven Jiang tells us China is now firing back.

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STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER, BEIJING BUREAU: Becky, the Chinese government has responded to the WHO report, saying it demonstrated the

country's openness and transparency while again calling for more investigations to be conducted in other countries.

With the officials here often pointing fingers at the United States, especially a U.S. military-run biolab in Maryland, without presenting any

concrete evidence.

Now all of this came as Dr. Tedros, the head of the WHO, considered pro- Beijing by critics, surprised many by saying that more data and studies are needed for the Wuhan lab leak theory while also saying that WHO experts

encountered difficulties in accessing raw Chinese data during their investigation in the country.

He said he expected more timely and comprehensive data sharing during any future collaborations. Now all of these remarks, of course, echoed and

reinforced the message by the U.S. and 13 other governments in their latest joint statement, calling for unfettered access to original Chinese data by

independent experts -- Becky.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Let's get you up to speed on other stories that are on our COVID radar right now.

Pfizer says it will have a ready-to-use COVID-19 vaccine by the second half of the year. The current formulation is concentrated and requires the

addition of a saline dilute before being given. This new vaccine will eliminate that step.

Russia has registered the world's first COVID-19 vaccine for animals. State media report trials involve dogs, cats, foxes, minks and others. Firms from

Greece, Poland and Austria plan to buy the drug.

More than 36,000 Australians stranded overseas are filing legal action with the U.N. Human Rights Committee. They say the government's limits on

international arrivals due to the pandemic breach their right of return. Around a half million Australians have come back so far.

Suez Canal officials are about to board the ship that blocked the canal. They want to know if it was a dust storm and wind that ran the massive

container ship aground. One of the investigators says if the crew doesn't get access to the black box and data, a lawsuit will be filed and all of

its cargo will be seized. That could be as many as 20,000 containers.

Several witnesses to the killing of George Floyd told the jury they called the police on the police because they believed what they saw an officer

doing was just wrong. Ahead, more on the testimony in the murder trial of Derek Chauvin.

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ANDERSON: Families in Mozambique are desperately waiting for word on their loved ones after a deadly siege in the northern town of Palma. ISIS

fighters have claimed responsibility for the terror attack that left dozens of people dead, with many still missing. Listen to what one survivor had to

say about what was a terrifying attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE). So we were on our way to (INAUDIBLE) people started to shout and shoot around me. So we stayed two days in a

hotel. No one was allowed to go outside. So (INAUDIBLE) we ran away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: CNN's David McKenzie following the story for you.

And David, you have been able to get the first on-camera interview with Lionel Dyck, the CEO of the Dyck Advisory Group, who has been involved in

fighting insurgents in Palma.

What did he tell you?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what he said was that Palma is still under the control largely of the insurgents. That's been backed up in

just a short time ago by the U.N., who said the situation in Palma, that strategic town in northern Mozambique that really has seen the worst

fighting and the most serious escalation of this insurgency that we have seen since it began in 2017 but really escalated in recent months.

The rainy season ended just a short time ago. We had anticipated that there could be attacks like this. The Dyck Advisory Group is a mercenary group

contracted by the police. They have been lauded for rescuing scores of civilians in the aftermath of this attack, which first unfolded about a

week ago, exactly a week ago to the hour, Becky.

You heard that witness about from the hotel just a short time ago. CNN was speaking to a Portuguese survivor who was badly injured in the attack,

saying they ran out of food, were sitting in darkness, waiting possibly for helicopters to pick them up.

He was involved in a convoy that was struck in an ambush, horrifying scenes, very difficult to get a real clear picture of what's going on. I

spoke to Lionel Dyck. This is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LIONEL DYCK, DYCK ADVISORY GROUP: The situation on the ground was awful when my pilots (ph) got there and the first thing they saw was two food

trucks on the road and where the drivers were obviously pulled out in their assistance and been beheaded. There were lying next to their cars.

Then there were more people around that (INAUDIBLE) and then we came under fire from these people and, obviously, we do what we do best. We engaged

them.

MCKENZIE: What is the situation now in Palma?

DYCK: It is not much different. These people are still all in their houses. They live the in houses, amongst the people and they come out

shooting and run to the houses. It's a standard ISIS-type tactic to hide amongst the people.

I think the operation in northern Mozambique is like a cancer. It will insidiously grow because there's quite a good growing ground for them. And

as they grow and there is no real control of this, they could lose their province.

And losing their province would be a huge political benefit to the terrorists and, of course, the government would battle. So right now, I see

no ships any hardships (ph).

MCKENZIE: What do you feel about that reputation, that private military contractors have in this region?

DYCK: We had that reputation, too, good or bad. I don't understand it. You know, we're doing something and right now, today, we are doing something

that no one else can do, always wanted to do. So use what you've got. And if it's not efficient, fire us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCKENZIE: Mercenary groups on the African continent especially are controversial and Amnesty International has accused Dyck Advisory Group of

indiscriminate shooting of civilians.

Dyck responded to those allegations, saying they have always targeted militants and that they have senior officials from the Mozambican security

forces on those choppers with them to clear any action.

Look at this video, if we have it, from ISIS propaganda, showing these militants in a different city that they released after this attack on

Palma. They are shown with very heavy weapons.

An escalation of the capabilities once, the department official told me recently, that this is a very serious escalation. And that, in part, is why

the U.S. has designated this group as ISIS affiliated. Becky?

ANDERSON: Worrying stuff. David, thank you.

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ANDERSON: For more on what has been this terrifying siege in Mozambique, you can learn how the deadly attack threatens the country's financial

future. That's at cnn.com.

Quickly to Saudi Arabia now. There's some big plans to diversify its economy so it is less dependent on oil exports. We've known that for some

time. But on Tuesday, crown prince Mohammed bin Salman announced a $3 trillion stimulus program.

And it's counting on the private sector to fork over a lot of that. Let's get a little more insight from our emerging markets editor, John Defterios.

This was a crown prince with his sleeves rolled up, quite literally, as he presented the details of this plan. It is a project with a large ambition,

one would say eye-popping.

How realistic is it and what are they asking companies to do to effectively drive this investment, John?

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Yes, you asked the key questions there Becky. Number one, it's highly unusual for the crown prince

to do a public briefing like this. So it gives you a sense, with the sleeves rolled up as you suggested there, that he's giving this a very

important weight in terms of the future.

He set out the targets for 2030. It's 2021. He wants to go beyond oil and make Saudi Arabia a top 10 economy in the world by 2030. So he is really

pushing the throttle down here, if you will. He has two main partners to drive this.

This program is called Shariq, which means partnership in Arabic. The big partners are Saudi Aramco and SABIC, the petrochemical giant. You have

these two pillars invest in different companies throughout Saudi Arabia.

And one of the key things here for the kingdom and the drivers here by the crown prince is to get the Saudi trading groups, which are literally have

billions of dollars overseas, to come back home.

There are major investors in the Middle East, Europe and the United States but they hold up to $1 trillion overseas. He's saying, look, I've given

you my best corporations. They'll start doing some investments here at home. And we want you to be in a public-private partnership with them.

There's a couple of complications here. They're talking about $3 trillion over 10 years, Becky. The size of the economy now is $700 million. This is

four times the size of GDP. The crown prince said $7 trillion. He's adding a calculation for government spending in the budget and also private

consumption, which seems ambitious at best.

I would say that's a stretch target for him but it's an eye-popping number, as you suggested here. And I also think he knows he has to try to reignite

foreign direct investment after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi and the Ritz- Carlton round-up.

And so he's got to put a lot on the table. And he's in a hurry, this 35- year-old crown prince.

ANDERSON: This is a figure that I think he described as more in 10 years than has been spent by the Saudi government in 300. Ambitious targets.

John, always a pleasure. Thank you for that. We're taking a very short break. Back after this.

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ANDERSON: We are waiting for the trial of Derek Chauvin to resume in a U.S. courtroom. That should be starting any moment. This is the trial into

the death of George Floyd.

We are expecting more emotional testimony from witnesses, who watched George Floyd die. Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin dug his

knee into Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes last May.

Back on the stand will be firefighter and emergency medical technician Genevieve Hansen. She's already testified that police on the scene

repeatedly denied her access to Floyd, as she screamed to them that he was in medical distress.

In the words of at least one former lawmaker, Hong Kong has changed beyond recognition. Beijing has passed a new law for the city known as the patriot

law. It drastically restricts the right of Hong Kongers to stand for election and their ability to shape the city's parliament.

The move comes as dozens of pro-democracy activists are being held in custody and a controversial national security law. My colleague Kristie Lu

Stout has more on the new political environment in Hong Kong.

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KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The political fate of Hong Kong remade by Beijing. The National People's Congress

standing committee, a powerful panel of China's top legislature, has amended Hong Kong's basic law to formalize changes on how the city's top

leader and legislative council members are elected.

A small committee that chooses the chief executive will now also select some lawmakers, reducing the percentage of seats that are directly elected,

and a new panel will vet candidates for patriotism.

STOUT: What does it mean to be a patriot?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It means that you love the country. It means that you support the one country, two systems, especially in the last two couple

years. The central government observed that we are not going on the right track in our electoral system.

STOUT (voice-over): According to the standing committee vice chairman, the changes are necessary because of obvious loopholes that caused chaos in

Hong Kong. The events of 2019 were seen as a direct challenge to Beijing.

The pro-democracy protests that gripped the city for more than half a year; the involvement of U.S. lawmakers, who voiced support for the protesters

and the massive turnout for pro-democracy candidates at district council elections. But that Hong Kong is gone.

Last June, China imposed the national security law, which criminalizes secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, making

them crimes punishable with up to life in prison; 47 pro-democracy activists, including former lawmakers, have been charged with subversion.

Scenes of social unrest and mass protest are over. In June of 2019, I reported from a mass march when, according to organizers, more than 1

million people marched on the streets of Hong Kong.

STOUT: Under the national security law, nothing even close has happened since. A slogan has been outlawed. A song has been outlawed in schools.

National security curriculum is being rolled out. This is the new political reality here.

STOUT (voice-over): Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam has pledged to fast track the changes made in Beijing and there will likely be little

pushback. Hong Kong's pro-democracy leaders are in exile, in prison or intimidated by the national security law.

EMILY LAU, HONG KONG DEMOCRATIC PARTY: Hong Kong has changed beyond recognition. Beijing chose or chooses to clamp down on us to snuff out

opposition voices which I think is dreadful. And they are going to replace the -- especially the pan-Democrats and others -- with what they call

patriots.

STOUT (voice-over): In less than a year, Hong Kong's political destiny has been dismantled and rebuilt for patriots to run this city -- Kristie Lu

Stout, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: I'm going to take you now to Minneapolis in Minnesota, where the third day of the trial of Derek Chauvin is beginning. He is the police

officer accused of killing George Floyd last summer. This is testimony from an off-duty firefighter, who witnessed Floyd's death. She is resuming her

testimony.

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