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Blinken In London For G7 Talks; Patients Dying As Hospitals Run Out Of Oxygen; Manchester United Fans Protest Club Owners. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired May 03, 2021 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:00:25]
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: This hour, foreign ministers from the world's richest countries gather in London on the agenda some of the
most existential crises of our time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. SCL GUPTA, LAPAROSCOPIC SURGEON IN BATRA HOSPITAL DELHI, NEW DELHI: We cannot express our feelings to you. I cannot express my feelings to you,
sir. How I'm feeling inside.
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Is it destroying you?
GUPTA: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: The pain is palpable. Indians left gasping for air and hospitals desperately pleading for help. We are live in Delhi in India with the
latest on the COVID catastrophe there.
And Israelis calling for accountability after the deadly crash that left 45 people dead. We are live at the scene.
It is 3:00 p.m. in London, it's 7:30 p.m. in New Delhi, and it's 6:00 p.m. here in Abu Dhabi. Home to CNN's Middle East programming hub. I'm Becky
Anderson. Hello and welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD. Well, It's May and the world's richest countries have sent their top diplomats to London but this
is no embassy garden party. Far from it. The world faces some serious issues and foreign ministers know it.
They are meeting face to face for the first time since the global pandemic began. Including U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. They're in London
where they've got to come up with the goods this week. So their respective bosses will be able to make progress when they meet in Cornwall next month
for the G7 Summit of world leaders and there is plenty to do. Climate action, defending democracy, recovering from the pandemic, short term
India's COVID catastrophe.
That will be a hot topic with the country represented in London. But the massive attention getter is China. Antony Blinken also working on a bit of
fence mending with America's traditional allies after years of friction under the previous administration. Let's connect you to London now and to
CNN's international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson. And well, this is -- Nic, an opportunity to discuss the big existential questions of the day.
The precursor to the leaders meeting in the U.K. in June. What will have escaped no one's attention is the COVID outbreak in India and the potential
danger it poses to the rest of the world.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes. The COVID building better message had been one that's been sort of choreograph for
the leaders G7 summit coming up in June here in the U.K. But I think you're right, China has become a dominant issue and push you into that, you know,
this is the G7. United States, Canada, Japan, the U.K., Germany, France, Italy, those main powerful economic nations democracies, all of them.
But they've invited here, Australia, India, South Korea, South Africa as well. But these countries all have a real stake in the indo-Pacific region.
And therefore, as part of the U.S. calculus on how to contain and corral and build a new relationship to deal with the rise of China. So, you also
have here the foreign minister from Brunei who's representing the ASEAN nations, the Association of South Eastern Asian Nations.
So, this really does bring together a lot of powerful players with vested interests in the Indo-Pacific region that are partners of the United
States. So undoubtedly COVID will be a topic when the G7 foreign ministers sit down tomorrow and on Wednesday, but today the discussions have been
we've had bilateral Secretary of State Antony Blinken meeting bilaterally with the -- with the Japanese Foreign Minister, with the -- with the South
Korean Prime Minister, with the foreign minister from Brunei on on all of those who sort of stress the importance of those bilateral and particularly
South Korea and Japan, trilateral relations in the indo-Pacific region.
With the Prime Minister from Brunei, thanking them for the work that they've done on Myanmar. But the absolute -- you're right, these are the
big existential issues, biggest of all, relations with China.
ANDERSON: Yes. And this massive focus on China, of course dominating G7 this year, as you rightly point out. And it does seem as though the U.S.
certainly uses -- using this meeting to advance its China diplomacy by lining up its allies. What is likely to be achieved, Nic?
[10:05:15]
ROBERTSON: So, key things when it comes to the relationship with China, we know that the Bible administration has stressed the importance of working
with allies, we know that Secretary of State Blinken's first trips overseas were of South Korea or were to -- were to Japan. So, really strengthening
those here. And it's really, you know, making sure that there's a combined universal position from Democratic nations to uphold as they say, those
sort of international -- the international rules based society that that allows democracies to prosper.
That autocracies like China don't recognize and respect intellectual property rights, those sorts of issues. So, it's how to respond to China
collectively on those as well as sort of in the -- in the security way, if you will, in the South China Sea. So, that's where we'll see how those
nations sort of come together and articulate really, you know, with the United States, bring them together a combined view on that.
And we've heard, you know, from Secretary of State -- foreign -- secretary -- state for foreign affairs here Dominic Raab saying exactly the same
thing that these values, China's treatment of the Uyghurs is not something that Democratic nations share in the value system, and it's something that
cannot be allowed to happen. So, you can see a lining up of the message there. But what are the specific concrete actions? We haven't seen those
yet, Becky.
ANDERSON: As these talks, of course, go on, there are talks in Vienna over the Iran Nuclear Deal. Those deal -- those talks, of course have slowed
somewhat. But Iranian state media suggesting over the weekend that some sort of deal has been reached. What do we know at this point?
ROBERTSON: It was interesting because what Iranian state media was suggest -- suggesting was that for American Iranian nationals being held in Iran by
the Iranian authorities could be released in exchange for four Iranians being held in the United States. Now, Ned Price the spokesman for Secretary
state Antony Blinken when he arrived here said that wasn't the case. And also, the Iranian state media saying the case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.
The Iranian British woman who was held for a whole period of what she was accused and judged to have been guilty of that whole jail term she served.
And then they sort of put another jail term on her recently. The foreign minister here, Dominic Raab sort of a call that essentially, she was being
held hostage and the -- and the narrative on Iranian state media was, they would have Britain pays back the money that it owes Iran.
Some $400 million which goes back to the time of the -- time of the (INAUDIBLE) and a contract over tanks, which Britain says it does though
but it's still the two countries have to work out the accrued interest on all of that. The narrative on Arabian media was well just pay that money.
And Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe could come back which really amounts to what the Foreign Secretary was saying.
That sounds like a hostage situation. So these things are in the air and the narrative in the background as the U.S. works out how to sequence
sanctions relief and Iran coming back into compliance with the international Iranian Nuclear Deal. Becky?
ANDERSON: Nic Robertson is outside, number 10 in London. Thank you, Nic.
India's Foreign Minister present at the G7 meeting as his government back home scrambled to get desperately needed oxygen to the critically ill.
Another 368,000 new COVID-19 cases reported in India today and 3400 more deaths. Now the Indian Supreme Court is weighing in, ordering the central
government to take steps to address what is this oxygen shortfall by midnight tonight. Shortages are especially severe in and around the capital
of New Delhi today.
Its first oxygen generation plant opened at the Commonwealth Games village that is now a COVID treatment center. international aid also arriving but
in many hospitals, oxygen supplies are low or gone. Our senior international correspondent Sam Kiley is on the ground for us in New Delhi
with a first-hand account of the terrible reality that hospitals there are experiencing. And Sam, just describe what it is that you have been seeing.
[10:10:00]
KILEY: Well, Delhi you find -- Becky, you find me on the outskirts of Delhi in dusty backstreet where a Sikh NGO Hemkunt has been able by driving many
hundreds of miles. And by that, I mean, 500 -- they're hoping to take a delivery from 1200 miles away tomorrow morning. They have been able to find
oxygen from time to time. This area though, was full. This whole 10 area was full earlier on today.
Now it's almost empty and the last patient is leaving because all of these bottles are now themselves empty and they too have run out there. That's
the situation here if you like in the sort of artisanal area. The emergency responses, things are no different in the state of the art hospitals in
downtown New Delhi. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KILEY (voice-over): Tears for a much loved colleague, Dr. R.K. Himthani killed by COVID-19 in the same hospital where he'd spent a year treating
other victims of the coronavirus. Grief and the inevitable silent question. Who's next? He died here in this Intensive Care Unit. Because the bachelor
hospital where he worked, ran out of the most basic necessity. Oxygen. He was not alone. The medical director of the hospital SCL Gupta gave the mid-
afternoon casualty figures in this war against the virus.
GUPTA: Eight patient died today.
KILEY: Eight.
GUPTA: Died just now and five patients they are under resuscitation, may or may not survive. Just because in the capital city of Delhi and because of
want of oxygen which is the lifeline.
KILEY (voice-over): He knew the chances of reviving the five were slim.
KILEY: When you heard this morning that you had just a few hours of oxygen and then eight patients died. What does that do to you to the soul of a
doctor?
GUPTA: I cannot explain to them my feeling. We are dying inside. We are the saviors not the murderers. And we cannot express our feelings to you. I
cannot express my feelings to you, sir. How I'm feeling inside.
KILEY: Is it destroying you?
GUPTA: Yes.
KILEY: How long have you been a doctor?
GUPTA: What, sir?
KILEY: Forty-five years.
KILEY: Must be a soul destroying, doctor. I can't imagine what it must be like for you. I'm sorry,
GUPTA: I'm sorry, sir.
KILEY (voice-over): Over the next hour, four of the five resuscitation patients died.
KILEY: In a space of about two hours when the oxygen ran out 12 people died in this hospital, which in every other respect is a first world facility.
They simply asphyxiated.
KILEY (voice over): The hospital copes by advising patients to source their own supplies of oxygen to cover its erratic supplies. Local and
international efforts to get enough of the gas into India's capital are still failing. India's Central and national governments have been unable to
explain the oxygen shortages. And as the numbers of people infected with COVID-19 soar in India, along with the daily death toll. The Batra Hospital
like many others, will admit no more patients. There's no point.
SHINU VARGHESE, HEAD OF NURSING, BATRA HOSPITAL: We will not take more admissions because we don't want people to die in front of us. So they can
go to other hospitals where the oxygens are available.
KILEY (voice-over): Dr. Kishore Chawla Chola runs a Hindu temple charity, he pulled through COVID before the oxygen started to run out.
KISHORE CHAWLA, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, CHHATARPUR MANDIR: From housekeeping, the -- and even the nursing staff, the supervisors, all are
working very hard.
KILEY (voice-over): Fair enough. But the Indian government's failure to ensure basic supplies to hospitals in the face of a long-term pandemic is
simply not going to wash.
KILEY: Now Becky, one of the striking things about this has been the attitude of the central government. You mentioned there that Supreme Court
has had to get involved. This is the position as expressed just a few days ago by none other than the national Minister of Health.
KILEY (voice over): The Indian government has provided data for appropriate oxygen production according to the man. And according to the production,
states have been allocated their quotas, Delhi has been allotted more oxygen than what they probably asked for.
KILEY: Now clearly that flies in the face of the evidence that we can see on the ground here where people have been coming all day here, Becky, all
day, they were being treated and now they're being turned away.
[10:15:07]
There is hope that they're trying to get more oxygen to this location just as they are to the hospitals but essentially, Delhi is gasping, Becky.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Sam Kiley is in Delhi for you. Sam, thank you. Well, compounding the disaster in India is the short supply of vaccines. The government
hitting back at media reports claiming it hadn't placed new orders saying those reports were just not true. The leader of one of the world's biggest
vaccine manufacturer, it's India's Serum Institute also issuing a statement. He said, vaccine manufacturing is a specialized process and the
population is huge and to produce enough doses for all adults is not an easy task. Ivan Watson has more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was billed as the world's biggest vaccination drive, a COVID-19 vaccine
program, launched in mid-January celebrated by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
We are minutes away from India initiating the world's biggest vaccination drive.
But 3-1/2 months later, India is in the grips of a deadly second wave of COVID infections. Its healthcare system completely overwhelmed. Meanwhile,
the vaccination drive has been a disappointment. India lags far behind other countries for a percentage of its population inoculated.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We vaccinated only two percent of our population right now. We lost two crucial months where we could have ramped up our, you
know, vaccines.
WATSON (voice-over): India is the world's largest vaccine maker as it launched the first phase of its vaccination program domestically.
NARENDRA MODI, PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA: India is humbled that Made-in-India vaccines are going around the world.
WATSON (voice-over): The government also embarked on vaccine diplomacy overseas. Since January, the vaccine made three program or vaccine
friendship shipped more than 66 million doses to foreign countries. But at home experts say fewer eligible Indian signed up for shots, in part because
by February, the COVID threat appeared to be receding.
SHAHID JAMEEL, VIROLOGIST: Unfortunately, that also created a dilemma in the minds of some people that we are done with this outbreak. So what's the
point of getting a vaccine?
WATSON (voice-over): By March daily infection rates were growing. Meanwhile, vaccine supply was becoming a problem. On April 16, the CEO of
the Serum Institute of India, the world's largest vaccine manufacturing company addressed this tweet to the U.S. president, asking him to lift an
embargo on vaccine component exports. Soon after India began asking for more foreign help.
HARSH VARDHAN SHRINGLA, INDIAN FOREIGN SECRETARY: Obviously, if we can source vaccines, we will do it. Whether it's from the United States,
whether it's from Russia, whether it's from other countries.
WATSON (voice-over): But that hasn't fixed the supply problem. On April 30th, this man says he lined up with his family at 4:00 a.m. for vaccine
shots at this location in Mumbai. They left hours later, unvaccinated.
UDAY BHAN YADAV, MUMBAI RESIDENT (through translator): At 9:00 a.m. when the vaccinations were meant to begin, the authorities told us they had
orders from above to shut down all vaccinations.
WATSON (voice-over): On May 1st, India was supposed to expand vaccine eligibility to anyone over 18. But at least seven states and territories
postponed the launch, citing a shortage of supplies.
(on camera): You have the world's biggest vaccine manufacturer that's now facing a shortage in the midst of a pandemic, which is quite a
contradiction, isn't it?
JAMEEL: Yes, it is. I really feel that it is poor planning and poor execution that has led to this.
WATSON (voice-over): With thousands of Indians dying of COVID each day. Russia has now shipped at least 150,000 doses of its Sputnik vaccine to
help India immunize its vulnerable population. Ivan Watson, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well next hour, join us for a special edition of CONNECT THE WORLD. India's COVID catastrophe. An in depth look at how bad it is how it
happened and how you can help. That's at 8:30 p.m. in New Delhi. 7:00 p.m. in Abu Dhabi.
Well, new video shows the desperation during a deadly crash of people at a religious festival in Israel. Well now there is growing outrage over how it
happened.
Plus, Afghanistan's troops ready to protect the country. We'll hear what the top U.S. general says about that as his troops begin their withdrawal.
And my colleague Alex Thomas on why Man United's fans took the pitch.
ALEX THOMAS, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: Becky, the 1200 protesters was such a handful on Sunday. The Greater Manchester Police had to call for back up
from neighboring forces.
[10:20:01]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THOMAS: Angry fans wanted to get the biggest game in English before called off and they succeeded. Hugely embarrassing for the Premier League. Not to
be able to show a blockbuster match that could have decided the title to its global T.V. audience of millions. It keeps the Super League issue in
the headlines and the pressure on United's owners to quit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: More on that coming up in less than half an hour in World Sport.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: What Israeli politicians have been paying special tribute to the dozens who died in crush of people at a religious festival last week. A
short time ago the Knesset held a moment of silence. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke but did not mention committing to an independent
commission to investigate. New video shows the desperation as people tried to get out of what was the tightly packed walkway and towards the exit.
The U.S. Embassy says six of the victims were American citizens. Hadas Gold joining me now live from Jerusalem and as families bury their dead calls,
had asked for accountability.
HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Becky, yes, lots of calls for accountability of just how this was a disaster waiting to happen. That there have been
warnings by officials for years that the site was simply not fit for purpose fit for the tens of thousands of people who have got Rive every
year. We've spent quite some time up at this site over the past few days. And I can tell you that the walkway where this incident happened, it's a
ramp, it's metal, it was slippery with for wet from water bottles, at least to a narrow stairway.
It does not seem like it's fit for tens of thousands of people to be walking through it. And former officials for the region tell us that they
had tried to shut -- to change, to make some sort of changes to the site. They were essentially saying that it operates almost on its own. Outside of
government control. And Becky, in fact, the day before this event took place, the director of Public Health Services was on interviews talking
about how she -- that they tried to do controls in terms of actually coronavirus controls.
They were worried about contagion, coronavirus contagion during this event where tens of thousands were expected up there. But that nobody was taking
responsibility. She called it a disgrace. She said that everybody was trying to pass the buck. There are questions of what -- about whether there
was some sort of -- there's political considerations with this event as well because of who attends it.
And Prime Minister Netanyahu just now in Parliament as they were recognizing and memorializing the people who died. He talked about how they
will be investigating every aspect of what happened to ensure that it does not happen again. But he did not yet commit to the strongest level
investigation that could be held to be an independent commission, and at its highest level. It could be headed by a Supreme Court justice.
And it could recommend criminal charges, it could recommend firings. But so far, he has not committed to an independent commission. That is what many
people are calling for because this is one of if not the worst civilian disasters in Israeli history.
[10:25:14]
ANDERSON: Hadas Gold is in Jerusalem for you. Thank you, Hadas. Well, the Taliban struck an Afghan military base over the weekend. Is this an
isolated incident or a sign of things to come now that the U.S. is pulling out? That is coming up. And.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): it's not even for myself that I was worried she says, but about catching it and passing it on
to a cousin or nephew. I'd have felt terrible even though it would not have been my fault.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: French secondary school students are back in their classrooms and some say that they are feeling a familiar burden, the fear of bringing
COVID-19 home to their families. That is coming up after this short break. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky Anderson.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Afghanistan's military is back in control of an army base after it briefly fell into the hands of the Taliban. The base is in Ghazni,
southwest of Kabul and belongs to the Afghan National Army. This comes as the U.S. ramps up its efforts to withdraw its troops by September the 11th.
President Joe Biden's chief military adviser says in the months that the U.S. has left in Afghanistan, it will work to end the fighting (INAUDIBLE)
Afghanistan could face several bad possible outcomes as the U.S. pulls out. Nick Paton Walsh joining us from London with the story. And an ominous
warning from Biden's top military adviser by which, Nick, he means what?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's interesting to hear General Mark Milley almost talk as though the U.S. is becoming an
observer, rather than participant in what's been its longest war. He obviously refers to the fact that as the U.S. withdraws its power on the
ground and quite likely the airstrikes support that it's been given Afghan security forces over the past years as that begins to diminish we'll see
the Taliban increasingly move forwards.
And that's why many people are pointing towards this brief over running of a Afghan military base to the south of Kabul in the province of Ghazni that
happened over the weekend. We've seen things like this happen in the past, frankly, and then normally U.S. airpower comes in and kicks out the
Taliban. We don't quite know what occurred here and it isn't even clear exactly how many Afghan soldiers necessarily at the base when this occur.
But it fits part of a broader pattern that many are concerned we might see emerging in the months ahead.
[10:30:03]
WALSH: And during the same weekend, we saw in fact, U.S. troops NATO troops handing over a significant base. in Helmand to the Afghan security forces
in full camp Leatherneck, which is used by U.S. Marines. And before it was called Camp Bastion used by British soldiers about 10 years ago now and
that is now fully in Afghan control, Helmand itself will be under great pressure in the weeks and months ahead as the Taliban flex their muscles
here.
So, as the U.S. pulls out, Becky, we are just simply seeing what many expected to happen, which is Taliban moving territorially forwards on many
separate fronts.
ANDERSON: And all of the possibility of peace, the U.S. signed an agreement with the Taliban in in Doha ahead of the announcement that they would pull
their troops out. And this was under the Trump administration, of course. The condition was that these -- that these talks will continuing and that
piece was a possibility, is it?
WALSH: Well, sort of two separate deals here. It really the Doha agreement signed by the then Trump administration did agree that U.S. troops will be
out by May the 1st. So they're two days late now for that, of course, there'll be some who say, well, look, I mean, there's no reason to tear the
whole thing apart for a matter of months or weeks until the September the 11th deadline. The Biden ministration has unilaterally set for itself.
The Taliban have said, well, that breaks the deal. We're not interested in talking. But there are some critics, frankly, of the Taliban's policy here
who say, look, they simply let the Americans along and suggest that they were interested in the Biden administration's peace initiative. That should
have picked up in the past weeks in Istanbul, but simply isn't on the cards at the moment.
And the Taliban, were always looking for a territorial offensive to shore up the broad kind of scattered church of extremist moderates, young and old
now form part of their insurgency into sort of a military cohesive victory. We have just heard in the last few hours, a sort of article from the
Taliban suggesting they'd like to see sanctions lifted against some of their main personalities.
That's something really that the U.N. did and U.N. could potentially lift in order to coax them back to the negotiating table. There'll be some who
say that's simply just them trying to get better things for themselves as part of this negotiating deal. The broader question has always been this
one, the Americans have lent a lot of weight on here. If the Taliban are trying to run Afghanistan again, have they learned the lesson from the 90s?
They don't want to be an international pariah and they may need a peace deal to enable some kind of international need to keep flowing in. That
doesn't really give any cipher though, to Afghans facing a highly violent it seems summer ahead. Becky?
ANDERSON: Nick Paton Walsh on the story. Thanks, Nick. Well, in Southeast Asia, Myanmar security forces skilled at least eight protesters on Sunday
as large crowds gathered across the country to protest military rule. And that's according to the Human Rights Organization there. For more on this
and the challenges that journalists face covering the Myanmar crisis. CNN's Paula Hancocks with this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): (INAUDIBLE) spent the first weeks after the military coup on the streets of Yangon
talking to protesters.
YAGMAN TU, DVB ANCHOR: This is the last fight for the country. They don't give up.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): An anchor for media company DVB. He and his colleagues rushed to the office on the morning of the coup to collect their
equipment and work from home. A month later, the military canceled their media license along with others, they then went underground.
TU: I had to do my job, whether it's dangerous or not.
HANCOCKS: When you were able to report on the streets, I mean, what concerns did you have? What dangers did you face?
TU: Ah, you know, I could die. I could die on the street, like I had to be really, really careful not to get arrested on the street.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): He was placed on a wanted list when one of his reports was shown at a military press conference. A friend told him to run.
TU: So I've got a call. So -- it's your time now to run. So I had to run like within 10 minutes.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): In hiding he is still working despite the daily internet shutdowns, relying on images from protesters. He says this
military crackdown does not feel new. When he was four, his father, a democracy activist was imprisoned for 10 years. More than 70 journalists
have been arrested since February 1st according to the U.N., more than 40 of them are still behind bars. Some have not been heard from since they
were taken.
SHAWN CRISPIN, SENIOR SOUTHEAST ASIA REPRESENTATIVE, COMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS: Myanmar's press freedom crisis is becoming effectively a
humanitarian crisis for us journalists, right? They're being held in prison. There are reports that they're being tortured in prison. Many are
in hiding and others are leaving the country altogether.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): Ten years ago in Yangon, I spoke to journalists who were cautiously optimistic for an opening up of media, as the military
appeared to accept limited democracy.
THOMAS KEAN, JOURNALIST IN MYANMAR: I wouldn't say that you can't have articles about the military, but they're going to be looking at it very
closely.
HANCOCKS: And crossing out quite a lot?
KEAN: Yes, yes.
[10:35:01]
HANCOCKS (voice-over): Those days are long gone. The photographer who filmed this does not want to be identified as he is also on a warrant list.
He says he can now only film security forces from behind closed doors. When he could still go out site and cover the protests he said he never felt
safe. He describes one sit down protest in Mandalay with security forces suddenly started shooting into the crowd.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): They didn't care who they hit, or who they killed. I was so worried. And I didn't know where to run. I just
grabbed those around me and ran We're also scared. I was running for my life.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): He says he hasn't been paid since the coup. A problem for many inside the country daily life is a struggle. He's hiding
in a separate place away from his wife and young son to try and protect them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I had to send them to another safe house as the military was arresting anyone in the house if they can't find that person on the
list.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): He praises the efforts of citizen journalists doing the job that he is no longer able to do, documenting the brutal military
crackdown, risking their lives to show the world what's happening in Myanmar. Paula Hancocks, CNN (INAUDIBLE)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, coming up after the break for you. Why Manchester United fans stormed the pitch before a key match with Liverpool. That after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Secondary students are back in school in Franc. They are switching between in- person and remote learning to classrooms are only
half full. But for some, these COVID safeguards aren't enough. CNN's Melissa Bells reports from Paris for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BELL (voice-over): It's been a year since grace and her sisters lost their father to COVID-19.
Grace who's also does not use her surname is in her final year of high school. All she wants now is to make her father proud. One of the hardest
things she says was having to go back to school last September burdened not only by her grief, but also by her fear.
It's not even for myself that I was worried she says, but about catching it and passing it on to a cousin or nephew. I'd have felt terrible even though
it would not have been my fault.
France has made keeping schools open its priority. Throughout the pandemic fringe school kids lost 10 weeks of school according to the U.N. compared
to the 47 lost by American children.
JEAN-MICHEL BLANQUER, FRANCE EDUCATION MINISTER: We are really convinced that it's necessary for children to go to school, not only because of the
education and learnings, but also for interactions with the others and for psychological and health reasons.
[10:40:03]
BLANQUER: So the idea is to say that COVID is a key question, but it's not the only question.
BELL (voice-over): In the end France did close schools in April for one month amid a wider lockdown. On Monday, high school kids will go back to
class with more testing and tighter measures. Speaking exclusively to CNN France's Education Minister says the French experiment has shown that it is
possible to make schools safe.
BLANQUER: I believe, thanks to the different studies we have that school is not a specific place for contamination. Of course, you can have
contamination at school but not specifically because at school there are rules. And those rules are respected which is not the case in the other
aspects of life.
BELL (voice-over): But some schools did suffer disproportionately. Greece's school on the outskirts of Paris in one of France's poorest regions so 20
children lose a relative to COVID-19 in 2020. And this year, hundreds of children and staff got sick.
MAELLE BENZIMERA, STUDENT, EUGENE DELLACROIX: Well, I was really scared because I know that if I catch the virus, I will be sick, but I won't be
sick enough to go to the hospital. Whereas if my parents or grandparents have the virus, I know that they could die or could go to the hospital and
it's pretty scary.
BELL (voice-over): Teachers here tried to get the school closed down but to no avail. They say that too little was done to help keep them safe.
COLLEEN BROWN, ENGLISH TEACHER, EUGENE DELACROIX: France may be exceptional and that they've kept the schools open at all costs. But they have not been
exceptional in finding the schools so that they can do that safely.
BELL (voice-over): Nationally too, France's policy has come in from much criticism. The minister accepts that it may not have been perfect, but he
says that focusing on in class learning was the right thing to do.
BLANQUER: The strongest critics were in May 2020. At the beginning, when a lot of people said you don't have -- you should not reopen, the critics are
less strong because kind of consensus of the society was created around the opening of school.
BELL (voice-over): And even Grace who bore such a heavy burden personally says she has achieved train. Thanks to her teachers. She says she expects
to do well in her final exams.
And when she sees how well she's doing, she says she thinks of her father looking down and feeling the pride she'd always hoped he would. Melissa
Bell CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: A major Premier League football match between Manchester United and Liverpool was postponed on Sunday after about 100 Man U fans stormed
the pitch. Hundreds more protesters outside venting frustration with the club's owners and their failed attempt to join that European Super League.
Well, now those fans are calling for the owners to leave the club. Amanda Davies here to tell us more. She's with -- she's got World Sport coming up,
Amanda?
AMANDA DAVIES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, absolutely Becky. And there was only one story to lead the way with today. And this is that protest. You know,
16 years of frustration is what we're talking about here for Manchester United fans and the way their owners, the Glazer family go about their
business, which fans feel very much is against the ethos of the club that has been around since the 1880s.
And the way they've leveraged debt against the club, they've taken money out rather than investing in the pitch. They see it as a business and not a
family-run football club. And really, the decision to join the European Super League, the ill-fated European Super League was the last draw for
fans. They say that they will go ahead and do these protests again if needed, but very much want more of a say in the future of the club.
And that's what we're going to be looking at. I've spoken to a fan coming up and World Sport in a couple of minutes.
ANDERSON: Good stuff. That is World Sport and that is up after this short break. Stay with us.
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(WORLD SPORT)
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