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Connect the World
Israel-Gaza Conflict Enters Second Week; Netanyahu: "We'll Do Whatever it Takes;" IDF Says It Struck Hamas Tunnels, Commander Residences; Sr. Hamas Source: Israel-Gaza Truce Stalled on 2 Main Points; Pro- Palestinian Protests in Major Cities Around the World; Crowds Protest Gaza Violence at the Israeli-Lebanese Border; Blinken: U.S. "Greatly Concerned" Over Escalating Violence; More Than 25 U.S. Senate Democrats Call for Immediate Truce; India Aims Resources at Rural Areas as COVID-19 Cases Spike; India's COVID Crisis Putting Africa Further at Risk; 43% of Japanese Favor Canceling Olympics Due to COVID-19; Deadly Violence Between Israel and Gaza is Worst in Years; CNN Talks to Former Israeli Ambassador to U.N. Danny Danon; AT&T to Spin Off Warnermedia, Combine it With Discovery; Getting a Remote Scottish Island Vaccinated; Caution Urged as More COVID Restrictions Lifted in UK; Tiny San Marino Selling COVID Vaccines to Tourists. Aired 11a-12p ET.
Aired May 17, 2021 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:00:38]
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Atlanta, this is CONNECT THE WORLD.
LYNDA KINKADE, CNN HOST: Hello. I'm Lynda Kinkade, in for Becky Anderson. Welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD. Good to have you with us.
Air strikes on Gaza, rockets fired towards Israel, and hundreds reportedly killed. Immeasurable destruction. The conflict between Palestinian
militants in Gaza and the Israeli military moved into a second week with these all-too-familiar scenes and no end in site.
This week began with even more bloodshed. The Gaza Health Ministry, which is run by Hamas, says 52 people in Gaza were killed Sunday. That's the most
in a singe day in the current flare up so far bringing the total number of deaths in Gaza to 200. That's according to the ministry there.
Well on Monday the Israeli military says it killed a top commander of the militant group in Gaza. The IDF also bombed what the military says was an
underground tunnel system used by Hamas.
Fighter jets hit the homes of several top Hamas commanders, and Israeli officials saying these buildings were part of a, quote, "terror
infrastructure". Palestinian militants fired rockets at several Israeli towns. 10 Israelis have been reportedly killed in the past week.
Well the U.N. Security Council held an emergency meeting Sunday in which the Israeli and Palestinian representatives accused each other of
committing war crimes. Secretary General of the U.N. pleaded for a ceasefire, but that appears unlikely to happen anytime soon. Take a listen
to what Israel's Prime Minister had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NATANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: We'll do whatever is takes to restore order and quiet and on the security of our people and deterrence.
We're trying to degrade Hamas's terrorist abilities and to degrade their will to do this again. So it'll take some time. I hope it won't take long,
but it's not immediate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: The scene (ph) has reporters fanned out across the region covering the various aspects of this conflict. We are along the Israel-Gaza
border as well as in Jerusalem. We're also going to look at the anger growing across the region and the world. We will connect you to the White
House where President Joe Biden is under increasing pressure.
Well we want to start with CNN's Ben Wedeman who's reporting from Jerusalem, and Ben, as we've been seeing Sunday, yesterday was the
deadliest day so far since this conflict began a week ago, and of course those strikes continued overnight. Israel saying it's targeting Hamas
tunnels in Gaza.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It calls those tunnels, Lynda, the so-called metro, an extensive system of tunnels it
claims that allows Hamas fighters and officials to move out of the view of Israeli drones, airplanes, and other means of surveillance.
They say they've destroyed until now about 100 kilometers of those tunnels. And of course it would be those tunnels that the - that Hamas and other
organizations in Gaza would use in the event of an Israeli ground incursion, a ground incursion that at this point doesn't seem to be
imminent despite recent tweets by the Israeli military.
Now meanwhile the situation in Gaza is becoming evermore difficult as a result of airstrikes, as a result of the cutoff of fuel for Israel to the
Gaza Strip. The power situation is becoming evermore difficult as well. The water system has been severely damaged as well. As many has 40,000 people
have taken refuge in UNRWA schools -- that's the U.N.-Palestinian refugee agency -- because they're hoping that those are sites that will to be hit
by Israeli airstrikes.
And so, the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate dramatically. And amidst all of this we sometimes forget there is a COVID pandemic going
on. We spoke to a representative of UNWRA today who said that as many as 30 percent of the population in Gaza has been or is infected by COVID.
[11:05:00]
And obviously any attempt to vaccinate the population or test the population has been crippled by the ongoing hostilities for a place which a
few years ago senior U.N. officials said Gaza is a toxic slum. Lynda -
KINKADE: And Ben, just talk to us about the tactics Israel is using right now with its airstrikes because we are seeing entire buildings collapsing,
including one of the weekend (ph) which houses the bureaus of international media, including the Associated Press and Al Jazeera. We know Israel has
the ability to pinpoint its attacks. Why are we seeing entire buildings destroyed right now?
WEDEMAN: That's a question I've asked myself and many others many times since the A.P. and Jazeera building was brought down. Prime Minister
Netanyahu calls them terror towers, which sounds wonderful, but the fact of the matter is that these so-called terror towers include commercial
offices, media offices, residential homes for ordinary civilians.
Apparently U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, says he has not been shown the evidence that Israel keeps on talking about that it has, for
instance, the Jalaa building, the building that was brought down on Saturday night that contains the Jazeera and Associated Press - contained I
should say their offices. He has not seen that evidence.
We've seen Israeli military spokesmen and officials talk about evidence, but none of that that has been made public. And even if there is evidence I
have seen time and time again the Israelis have the technology to take out apartment 3C, the living room, not the kitchen. And so, I don't understand
how they can take down an entire building if they're maybe even a floor or two that's being used by Hamas or any other militant organization in Gaza.
Lynda -
KINKADE: Ben, we are incredible to get that perspective from you given how your extensive reporting in the region thanks to you. I want to get the
view now from the border region. Our Nic Robertson is there as Israel fires artillery into Gaza. Nic, Egypt was instrumental in brokering a truce, the
last Gaza conflict seven years ago.
Again, Egypt and Qatar and other world players are trying to broker a ceasefire. What are the major hurdles right now.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well Hamas says that there are two hurdles. One of them is they have a demand. If there is a
truce and end to the hostilities that Israel ends what they describe as provocations in Jerusalem, and the other hurdle is that Hamas says that
Israel is demanding that Hamas goes on a ceasefire first by three hours. So that's not acceptable to them. That's what they're saying.
We don't know the Israeli position on this, on those talks and negotiations, but what we do know is that Israel's Prime Minister has said
very clearly that he doesn't feel that this is the moment to end the conflict, that the air force - the Israeli Air Force is still going after
Hamas tunnel - Hamas tunnels, which they use to move fighters around the battlefield. That's what Israeli Defense Forces say.
And this artillery position here has been firing shells into Gaza over the past couple of hours. Freshly-delivered artillery rounds have been located
at the backs of - at the back of those weapons in the past couple of hours.
So the indications area from here, and these artillery positions often use to target those tunnel networks as well. The indications are from here that
there are still targets that Benjamin Netanyahu and his government believe they need to hit while Hamas fires rockets out into Israel rather than put
a pause on the fighting right now.
So I think over the weekend, you know, where the Qataris and the Egyptians and Hannah Yamma (ph) the U.S. diplomat in country (ph) really putting some
effort and their shoulders into getting a cessation.
I think this Monday morning, Monday afternoon here now you get a sense that this could play out for some more time.
KINKADE: Yes, it certainly seems that way. Our Nic Robertson, as always our International Diplomatic Editor, thank you for being there near the
Gaza border. We will speak to you soon.
Well in major cities around the world people are gathering to protest the violence in Gaza. London, Berlin, New York, Paris among others all seeing
pro-Palestinian demonstrations over the weekend. Well similar protests breaking out within the region as well, drawing big crows in Jordan.
Our Salma Abdelaziz - I beg your pardon - is following the demonstrations from Beirut. You have been out amongst the protestors. Just explain what
you've been seeing.
[11:10:00]
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Absolutely, Lynda. I mean, these images that have been playing out last week of the horror and terror inside Gaza
of the anger and grief over the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, this really compounded the timing of the Nakba Day commemoration rather.
This happens once a year. It's an annual commemoration for the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians that were displaced in 1948, and all of that
anger really poured out in what we saw on the Lebanese-Israeli border over the weekend. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ABDELAZIZ: On a Lebanese hilltop overlooking Israel they gathered to mark 73 years since what they call the catastrophe. Some commemorated the
occasion with selfies for posterity. Others stood for a moment of quiet reflection. But most chose the traditional chants that have echoed through
these valleys for decades.
Soon small groups of men made their way down to the border fence to take part in another long-standing tradition, stone throwing. Soldiers tried to
control the youths' anger, but a sole rebel climbed to the top. A day earlier, a Lebanese man had died doing the same from wounds sustained by an
Israeli rocket. But with the barrier of fear now broken, demonstrators grew bolder.
We're seeing protestors throw rocks, sticks, really anything they can get their hands on over this border fence. They've seen Israeli troops on the
other side, and we've heard what appears to be the sound of gun fire.
"We're throwing stones at the Israelis who've occupied our lands," this man tells me. "We wish the Lebanese Army would let us across." Then a
collective effort to scale the nearly 25-foot tall concrete walls began. Those who made it to the top hoisted their flags. Others chose to send a
more direct message.
Israel says acts like these threaten its national security, but the mother of one of the men hanging atop the observation tower told me this is their
resistance. "We are in pain," she tells me. "This is happening to Jerusalem and the Arab governments are asleep. Where are their morals?"
As perch capacity was maxing out, a tear gas canister landed in the crowds, and Lebanese troops quickly moved in and dispersed the gathering. The day
ended as it began with loud promises to march to Jerusalem from a crowd that knows it can do no such thing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ABDELAZIZ: Now we also saw very similar scenes play out in Jordan, Lynda, where Jordanian authorities, Jordanian police also stepped in to break up
the demonstrations, but there's a very real sense that the Arab streets have been silenced. That's what you hear from that protestor telling me in
our story there.
There's a couple of reasons for this. First and foremost is that many autocratic regimes around the region simply do not want to see hundreds of
thousands or tens of thousands of people gathering in their streets even if it's around the Palestinian Gaza (ph). Human rights groups will tell you
that that feels like a threat to a lot of governments, particularly after the Arab Spring.
And the second issue is that there is a huge diplomatic shift in the region. Several countries just last year sign normalization agreements with
Israel. United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan, so there's an attempt, a drive particularly coming form the Gulf to normalize
relationships with Israel. That comes, of course, with a more muted criticism from those governments in an attempt to keep the streets more
quiet across the Arab world.
But the question now, Lynda, is as negotiations are starting and as you see these very traditional actors like Egypt stepping in to negotiate between
the different parties, will these governments actually be able to mediate more on behalf of the families in Gaza for example or on behalf of the
families in Sheikh Jarrah because of course that was the argument around normalizing relationships with Israel, highly-contentious issue that they
could have greater stake (ph), greater leniency at the negotiating table when and if something happens.
Well something is happening now, Lynda, so the question is were those just empty words or will these governments actually be able to gain greater
rights for, for example, the families in Gaza during these negotiations? Lynda -
KINKADE: All right. Salma Abdelaziz for us. Good to have you on that angle of this very important story. Thank you.
Well America's top diplomatists (ph) defending the Israeli response amid growing cause in Washington for a strong White House condemnation of
Israel.
[11:15:00]
In Delmar today, Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, also expressed concern of the escalating violence while talking about the U.S. role in the
negotiations. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Palestinians and Israelis like people everywhere have the right to live in safety and security. This is
not an Israeli privilege or a Palestinian privilege. It's a human right, and the current violence has ripped it away. So we've been working
intensively behind the scenes to try to bring and end to the conflict.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Well Blinken also asserted President Joe Biden's contention that Israel has a right to defend itself from rocket attacks. Well that stance
is getting pushback from some Senate Democrats and Independents. 28 of them have released a joint statement calling for an immediate ceasefire.
Our White House Correspondent, Jeremy Diamond, is following developments for us in Washington and joins us now live. Jeremy, good to have you with
us. So civilian casualties are growing. President Biden has spoken to both the Israeli and Palestinian leaders. How is the U.S. handling this?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well it's largely handling this issue behind the scenes. That seems to be where the brunt of the work
is happening. As you mentioned, the president speaking over the weekend with the Israeli and the Palestinian leader, although of course not
speaking with the other party to this conflict, which is not the Palestinian authority in Mahmoud Abbas but Hamas rather, which the U.S.
deems a terrorist organization and therefore doesn't have any contact with.
But we do know that Hady Amr, who is a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State at the State Department, he is in the region negotiating directly with
Israelis alongside the help of Egyptians and Qataris who often serve as intermediaries between Hamas and the Israeli government.
So there is U.S. involvement, but what there is not is the kinds of public calls for a ceasefire - an immediate ceasefire from the President of the
United States or his team. We haven't heard that directly from the president. In fact, we haven't heard from the president on this issue other
than in a prerecorded message on the celebration of the Muslim holiday of Eid over the weekend since last week.
Now we do know that the words from the Secretary of State, Tony Blinken, this morning were calling very clearly on Hamas to end its rocket attacks
on the state of Israel and also saying that the U.S. would be willing to facilitate a ceasefire if the two parties do come to an agreement. That is
a different view from what we are hearing from more than 25 Democratic senators, who as you mentioned just penned this letter first obtained by
CNN in which they call for an immediate ceasefire to this conflict.
Now we will have to see how this evolves. The president certainly coming under increasing pressure from within a Democratic Party that is
increasingly divided on this issue of support for the state of Israel. So far, though, he is not changing his approach.
He is not bending in what so far has been pretty unwavering support for Israel's right to defend itself and conduct these military operations in
Gaza, although we are hearing these increasing, you know, calls and expressions of concern for the civilian casualties that are occurring in
Gaza.
KINKADE: All right, our Jeremy Diamond for us at the White House. A very complex problem to handle. Thank you so much. You are watching CONNECT THE
WORLD live today from CNN Center here in Atlanta. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Good to have you with us.
Still ahead plenty more to come. A former Israeli envoy as his talks at the U.N. Security Council is speaking a false anti-Israeli narrative. I'm going
to talk to a former U.N. Ambassador, Danny Danon.
And we often hear in a pandemic no one is safe unless everyone is safe. Well just ahead we'll take you live to Kenya where vaccines are in jeopardy
because of that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:20:35]
KINKADE: Welcome back. Well India has experienced the worst COVID crisis in the world for months now, so the health ministry is focusing on slowing
the outbreak in rural areas. Well that's where infections are spiking and where two thirds of the population lives.
The government says it will provide beds, oxygen, and other supplies to equip community health centers to care for moderate cases of the
coronavirus while sicker patients would be transferred to larger hospitals with more advanced facilities. Officials say vaccines are also helping to
reduce the severity of cases.
Well India's COVID crisis is putting Africa's fight against the virus at risk. Well India's Serum Institute, of course, is the largest manufacturer
and supplier of COVAX shipments, but those vaccines exports have been halted since late March. COVAX is the global agency working for equitable
access to the coronavirus vaccine.
Well less than 2 percent of Africans have been vaccinated, and we've just learned that Kenya is just weeks away from totally running out of vaccines.
Well that's where we find our correspondent, Larry Madowo, who joins us now from Nairobi. Larry, so even in Kenya less than 2 percent of the people
there have had a shot, and officials seem to be saying they're receiving less than half of what they were expecting.
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly, and they're not even sure when that is going to come. Kenya got about one million vaccine shots. They
expected about 3.6 million from the COVAX facility. This is that global vaccine alliance.
The group behind me here even in rush hour I would be surprised if any of these people have actually been vaccinated because the country is just
weeks away from running out of vaccines totally. Their chair of the vaccine task force here in the country is telling CNN that by the end of May or
early June they will be completely out of vaccines and only 2 percent of people are vaccinated, Lynda.
So it's a big problem because India is the world's pharmacies. Most of the vaccines in the COVAX facility liked Kenya and other countries in Africa
relying on would have come from India, but with India facing its own COVID- 19 crisis it's blocked those exports and countries like Kenya just do not know when they will be able to vaccinate more people.
KINKADE: And Larry, as we have often said here at CONNECT THE WORLD, at CNN, and as we hear from world leaders no country is safe until all
countries are safe, and we are hearing from experts within Kenya who talk about the fear of super variants spreading if the coronavirus continues to
be allowed to mutate.
MADOWO: That is a real fear here because the variant first discovered in India has been detected here in Kenya. It's been detected in Morocco. It's
been detected in a handful of other African countries, and without any sort of vaccine it could spread. And healthcare systems here in Kenya and around
the continent cannot deal with a huge surge, so they really need to get people vaccinated as much as possible.
There are restrictions. For instance, everybody is rushing to get home because of the curfew for 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. There are restrictions on
wearing masks, for instance, in public. Schools have only recently reopened. The bars are to close at 7 p.m. The countries are trying to do
everything to make sure that they don't have a huge surge in cases because they just do not have the capacity to deal with it.
And that's why you saw many African countries locking down back in March and April before they had committed (ph) transmission and had a huge case -
a lot of cases on their hands.
KINKADE: All right. Larry Madowo, certainly a big issue, one we are going to continue to follow. Thank you very much for your time.
Well Taiwan is temporarily banning foreign nationals from entering the country as it records a spike in coronavirus cases. Taiwan has been one of
the world's success stories. However, it reported 335 cases Monday, a new daily high. That brings the total to just over 2,000. The surge is
triggering panic-buying at supermarkets as the government tightens restrictions.
The support for the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo is plummeting among Japanese residents. A poll by a major Japanese newspaper shows 43 percent
of respondents favor cancelling the Olympics. 40 percent want them postponed again.
[11:25:00]
Well just 14 percent of those answering the Asahi Shimbun Poll thought the games should proceed as planned. Well Tokyo is under a state of emergency
with a new wave of COVID-19 infections.
Well just a little later this hour, foreign travel is back on the calendar for millions of people in the U.K., but there is a caveat. I'll explain
that. Plus the latest on the flare up between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza. I'll talk to a former Israeli ambassador to the U.N. who
says the decision to stop the bloodshed is up to Hamas.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:22:50]
KINKADE: Welcome back. Well let's get the latest now in our top story hostilities between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza moved into a
second week with more violence. The Israeli military says it's strikes Monday killed a commander, the Islamic Jihad, and targeted Hamas tunnels as
well as other infrastructure.
The Gaza Health Ministry, which is run by Hamas, says more than 200 people have been killed since the flare up began last Monday. Well more rockets
were fired into Israel from Gaza. 10 Israelis have been killed in the past week with the Prime Minister vowing to do, quote, "whatever it takes to
restore order."
Well the flare up of violence in Gaza and Israel is the deadliest in years. CNN's Nic Robertson looks back at the past week of fighting.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTSON: First Hamas's rockets reaching Jerusalem followed by Israel's fast response pounding Gaza. A week of accelerated warfare later, fear,
death, suffering on both sides. Gazans' toll significantly higher as it has been in previous such confrontations. Different this time, militant
sophisticated heat-seeking weapons and Hamas's rockets, more of them reaching farther from Gaza at a greater intensity than every before,
cutting deeper into Israel's sense of safety.
Also different, sudden open confrontation between Israel's Arabs and Jews catching Israel by surprise.
DENNIS ROSS, FORMER SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO U.S. PRES. OBAMA: We haven't seen this kind of internal conflict where the real social fabric of the country
is being stressed.
ROBERTSON: In the West Bank, generational Palestinian anger ignited by Gazans suffering, resulting in deadly confrontation with Israeli police.
LEON PANETTA, FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: If you combine all of that together it is a very different situation than what we've seen in the past.
ROBERTSON: Before the first rocket fired, a perfect stormed brewing.
[11:30:00]
Planned Palestinian evictions in Jerusalem, a collective Palestinian pain raising tensions worsened by heavy-handed Israeli police tactics at Islam's
third holiest site during Islam's holiest week that Hamas exploited all against the background of political stagnation and increasing polarization.
MARTIN INDYK, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO ISRAEL: Over the last 10 years we've seen a swing in Israel to the right, and that pendulum has still been
swinging further to the right, and that has enabled this kind of chauvinistic extremism to gain a greater grip, and that has roiled things
with the Palestinians.
ROBERTSON: Both sides now under increasing American pressure to end the conflict.
ROSS: The real question is going to be do the Israelis feel that they have exact - exacted enough of a price on Hamas and is Hamas ready to end this?
ROBERTSON: Saturday night, Hamas signaled they are ready, unilaterally stopping rocket attacks on Tel Aviv for two hours. Netanyahu, whose
political prospect's to hold onto the premiership, rose over the past week seems less willing. Sunday, the deadliest day of the week in Gaza.
NETANYAHU: We're trying to degrade Hamas's terrorist abilities and to degrade their will to do this again, so it will take some time. I hope it
won't take long, but it's not immediate.
ROBERTSON: But with international pressure mounting, too, just possible this Gaza conflict won't go a second week. The problems that caused it,
however, have no resolution in sight. Nic Robertson, CNN, Ashdod, Israel.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Well I want to bring in former Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon. He is Chairman of World Likud Organization, and he
joins me via Skype from Tel Aviv. Good to have you with us.
DANNY DANON, FORMER ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: Thank you for having me.
KINKADE: Right now we have been seeing protests in areas around the world voicing support for Palestinians, and even here in the U.S., which is a
strong ally of Israel we are hearing from lawmakers who are also expressing concern for Palestinians and what they call a disproportionate response
from Israel. What's your response to that?
DANON: With all due respect to the demonstrations, Israel's under fire still. 3,000 rockets, 70 percent of Israelis are running to shelter almost
every day. I fit myself (ph) here in my apartment in Tel Aviv with my two daughters and my wife. We have to seek shelter. Some people in the south
they are 15 seconds (ph) to get into the shelter.
So we respect and we hear those voices, but I ask you what is proportionate when you have 3,000 rockets flying into your cities? I think it would be
quiet in Gaza or it will be quiet in Tel Aviv and other places in Israel. That is very simple. We appreciate all the efforts of many leaders, of many
organizations, but the bottom line we want to live peacefully here in Israel. If it won't be peaceful here it will not be peaceful on Gaza.
KINKADE: We know that Israel has the ability to pinpoint strikes and target, for instance, a level within a building without causing the entire
collapse of that building. Why then over the weekend did we see the destruction of a building that housed international media Al-Jazeera and
the Associate Press? Why was that building completely demolished?
DANON: One of the goals of the operation is to restore the terms (ph), to make sure that Hamas will think twice before sending rockets again. Last
time was in 2014 and here we are again we have to get involved again.
So when we know the Hamas facility office infrastructure we attack. We minimize the significant casualties. We actually called the people in the
building. I'm not familiar with any other military that is doing the same techniques to minimize civilian casualties. We call the people and we text
them and make sure nobody is in the building.
And in the case you mentioned, al-Jalaa building office in the center of Gaza, it was an office building that housed the media outlets you
mentioned, but it also housed Hamas headquarters. So we made sure no one was there and they evacuated the computers, the instruments, and we knocked
down the building. We will continue to do it to send a message to Hamas. We will hunt you everywhere, in your offices, in your homes, in the town in
where (ph) you're hiding. If you made a mistake with Israel you will pay a price for it.
[11:35:00]
KINKADE: The Mayor of Gaza says some of those strikes have caused the destruction of civilian infrastructure, water, sewage, electricity. These
people in Gaza obviously are very, very poor, and now infrastructure around them is failing. In terms of a proportionate response and an end to this
conflict, what is it going to take to see a de-escalation?
DANON: So first we tried to minimize the civilian casualties. As we speak and as the rockets offline from Gaza (ph) into Israel we allow few medical
supply and other things to enter. Hamas in the contrary they want to see those pictures of civilians being wounded because it serves their own
cause. They are targeting our civilians and they're using their civilians.
In order to deescalate, it's very simple. They need to decide to stop the rockets and missiles and then it will be quiet. You know, they put up a
statement about a ceasefire that you mentioned. That was a pure (ph) stunt that said we have to evacuate part of Jerusalem and release people who were
involved in terror attacks. If they want a ceasefire they don't need to do anything but just to stop fire at Israel.
KINKADE: There is speculation that Israel could launch a ground offensive in Gaza. Under what conditions would that happen?
DANON: Well is served in 2014 as Deputy Minister of Defense and I can assure you that we still have the capabilities of a ground operation in
Gaza. We are not there yet. We have not intention to enter Gaza, but we have that capability. In the past, you know, we had experienced with the
ground operations in Lebanon, in Gaza. It's complicated. It's costly. I don't think it's being considered now in the cabinet.
KINKADE: Even within Israel proper we are seeing a rise of aggression amongst Jews and Palestinians living side-by-side in the same city. Even if
there is a ceasefire, how do you deal with that internal aggression? How do you bring a calm to those cities?
DANON: I'm more worried about this issue than Hamas. With Hamas unfortunately we will have to deal with them every few years or one day we
will have to make a major act in Gaza. It's a terror organization, but when you speak about an internal dispute, we live together Jews and Muslims here
in Israel, and we appreciate the coexistence, and we should fight the radicals who are trying to break that coexistence.
It is a threat to our society, and we should not accept it. We should not accept the violence against civilians, and I think the police now have full
control of the situation, but last week the pictures we saw were horrible.
KINKADE: Danny Danon, former Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, good to get your perspective. Thank you for joining us.
DANON: Thank you very much.
KINKADE: And still ahead here on CONNECT THE WORLD, it's a blockbuster deal that would bring in some of the biggest names in television under one
roof. We're going to have a live report from New York on the new marriage coming up. Plus just a little later one of the world's smallest countries
is selling extra doses of COVID vaccine, but you have to be a tourist to get a shot. We're going to explain just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:41:50]
KINKADE: Welcome back. A new mega merger is about to shake up the media landscape. AT&T is announcing that it's spinning off its WarnerMedia unit,
which includes CNN and HBO, and combining it with Discovery, which is home to channels like Animal Planet. Well the deal would create a new standalone
company that could compete with streaming rivals like Netflix and Disney+.
CNN's Chief Media Correspondent, Brian Stelter, joins us live from New York. Good to see you, Brian.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: You, too.
KINKADE: So there's only a handful of people in the newsroom right now and most people still working from home, but when this news dropped it was the
talk of town. We're trying to find out more. Tell us what's going on.
STELTER: Yes. Nothing will change right away. Not for CNN employees. Not for you or me. Not for viewers in the U.S. or around the world, but what we
will see in about a year is this newly spun off company, a merger between WarnerMedia and Discovery that wants to be a global player in streaming.
That's really what this is about. It's about competing with Netflix and Disney by bringing together the HBO Max streaming platform and the
Discovery Plus streaming platform.
Right now HBO Max is growing in the U.S., but it needs to grow around the world, and Discovery is hoping to do that with its own platform as well. So
this is really about trying to win the streaming wars, but of course cable is also quite profitable for these companies.
So the heads of this company say this is about getting more scale both in cable and streaming. You know, in the land of the giants you have to keep
getting bigger and bigger in order to survive.
KINKADE: Bigger and bigger indeed. So this deal could potentially happen mid next year if the regulators approve it. What sort of hurdles could it
face?
STELTER: So far what I'm seeing from Wall Street analysts, from the regulatory community is that this is not going to experience severe hurdles
the way that AT&T did five years ago when it tried to buy CNN and the rest of Time Warner now known as WarnerMedia.
Remember, back then Trump's Justice Department sued to block the deal. They went to court. Eventually Trump's DOJ lost and the deal took effect. It
does not seem that's going to be the same challenge as this time around, but it is complex. This will receive regulatory oversight in the U.S. and
around the world.
KINKADE: And so, what does this mean for CNN at the end of the day? Tell us a bit more.
STELTER: Well I think that's important to underscore here. You know, Discovery had Animal Planet, Food Network, HGTV, all those cooking and home
shows that are watched and loved all around the world, and those are great but those are entertainment just like Game of Thrones on HBO.
CNN is a unique news asset in the middle of these entertainment brands, and I asked David Zaslav, the Head of Discovery who will run the combined
company, I asked him today what about CNN? Do you plan to sell off CNN? He says no. He says CNN's a core opposite. He wants to do the opposite. He
wants to invest more in CNN, make it even more of a global player, and focus on streaming for CNN as well. You know, like every other news brand
out there CNN wants to have more of a streaming presence.
And so, we can expect to see that down the line. With regards to editorial independence, Zaslav is making the same commitments that AT&T made five
years ago to basically leave the newsroom alone, and frankly that's why I always ask those questions.
[11:45:00]
It's important to hear those commitments early on. You got to be honest, AT&T has lived up to that word and kept true autonomy for CNN, and I would
expect the same with Discovery taking over next year.
KINKADE: That is what we want to hear. I will be coming back to you with more questions as this all unfolds. Brian Stelter, thanks so much.
STELTER: Thank you.
KINKADE: Well still to come -
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In this remote, beautiful place, the landscape feels raw and powerful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: It took powerful determination to make sure the people of Fair Isle, Scotland got the shot. Our Phil Black takes us there just ahead. Stay
with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KINKADE: Well this day could not come soon enough. For many people across the U.K. longing to get on a plane for a holiday after months of being
cooped up by another COVID lockdown. Well people in England, Wales, and parts of Scotland are getting the go ahead to travel to some countries, but
it's not all good news. (inaudible) asserting caution over a new COVID variant in the U.K. which was first identified in India.
The U.K.'s Health Secretary says there's increasing confidence COVID vaccines will work against this new variant. Well with that in mind, the
U.K.'s successful vaccine rollout faced another major challenge, this one north of Scotland. Health workers had to figure out how to get shots into
the arms of people who live in Fair Isle, part of Scotland remote Shetland Islands. CNN's Phil Black traveled with a nurse on a visit to Fair Isle.
Take a look at what he found.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
BLACK: Where the Atlantic Ocean meets the North Sea the weather is often dramatic, always changing. It rolls over Shetland, a group of British
Islands around 100 miles north of the Scottish mainland.
In this remote, beautiful place, the landscape feels raw and powerful. These gusty hills are known for their short, often feisty ponies. These
waters are shared with apex predators. And well into spring and arctic blast can blanket everything, grounding aircraft, and delaying a
potentially life-saving mission.
[11:50:00]
On the Shetland Islands, the weather governs all, including efforts to rollout the coronavirus vaccine. Eventually the sky is clear and an
operation is launched to protect one of the U.K.'s most isolated communities. In the region's only hospital, the doses are dispatched to the
airfield and escorted by nurse, Margaret Cooper. Her job is to distribute the vaccine on an extraordinary place.
Fair Isle, a tiny wedge of land surrounded by open ocean, steep cliffs, sloping fields, more than a few sheep, and that's it. People live here.
Just 45 people. Soon we see them striding out, converging on the small building used as a medical office. That's where Margaret Cooper gets to
work.
MARGARET COOPER, NURSE, NHS SHETLAND: And you can have a seat.
BLACK: A strong mix of jolly warmth -
COOPER: All the better for this glorious day.
BLACK: -- and no nonsense efficiency.
COOPER: Sharp scratch. Sharp scratch. Sharp scratch.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right (ph).
COOPER: There we go. That's you (ph).
BLACK: And the residents of Fair Isle are grateful.
How are you feeling today?
DAVID PARNABY, FAIR ISLE RESIDENT: The sun is shining.
(LAUGHTER)
PARNABY: After a week of snow we've had our second vaccines. And so, yes. Pretty good. Pretty good.
BLACK: Unlike the rest of the U.K., everyone here is getting vaccinated at the same time regardless of age.
KATHY COULL, FAIR ISLE RESIDENT: Very happy to have had the second jab, and very privileged because in spite of my gray hair I'm not that old.
BLACK: For all the obvious reasons, live here is isolated but especially during the pandemic. For more than a year, Fair Isle has stayed largely
closed off to the world.
But even here there is a fear of the virus?
JIMMY STOUT, FAIR ISLE RESIDENT: Well it's a bigger fear in a certain way because if it did come here it could be devastating. It could spread like
wildfire.
BLACK: Jimmy Stout has spent most of his 77 years on the island.
STOUT: It's been very quiet. It's been like what that was when I was a child growing up here, and with you - with tourism now and people coming
and going, but it's been - it's been very, very quiet.
BLACK: Getting the doses here was challenging, but injecting them into arms only takes a few hours. A small, fragile, remote community with
limited medical facilities now has some peace of mind.
COOPER: Good morning.
TOMMY HINEMAN, FAIR ISLE RESIDENT: Hi. How are you?
BLACK: Tommy Hineman is one of the last. He moved here from upstate New York 15 years ago.
There are people all over the world who desperately want this vaccine, but here we are on Fair Isle and you've got it.
HINEMAN: I think it's impressive because I thought Fair Isle would be the last place ever to get the vaccine.
BLACK: Britain's vaccine program is a rare pandemic success story, but it's about more than just securing enough doses. It's an achievement built
through the organizational power of a national health service combined with the relationships, the experience of committed local staff.
COOPER: Now Jimmy, did you have any side effects after the last one?
BLACK: Margaret Cooper says it's the proudest chapter of her 50-year nursing career.
COOPER: It's a privilege to be able to be part of the vaccination program and feel that you are contributing.
BLACK: A crucial contribution to an unprecedented operation that's saving lives and restoring freedoms everywhere in the United Kingdom. Phil Black,
CNN, on Fair Isle, Shetland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Well one of the smallest countries in the world is also working hard to get more people vaccinated. San Marino nestled in Central Italy is
now offering visitors the chance to buy doses of Russia's Sputnik V COVID vaccine. San Marino said it started its vaccine tourism campaign as a way
to use an extra 20,000 doses.
Well I'm connecting you now to Italy. CNN's Delia Gallagher is live from Rome, and this is quite unusual, Delia, because so many countries have said
we don't want foreign visitors unless you've been vaccinated. This tiny nation says come on in. We'll give you a shot.
DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well that's right, Lynda, and you know, even more interesting that they just opened this offer today. And I
was just speaking to some officials from the San Marino government. They say they've already got bookings from countries as far away as China, the
Philippines, Dubai, as well as from Ireland, the United Kingdom, France, and Switzerland. So there is a lot of interest in this.
There is a catch. You have to get, obviously, to San Marino, but you also have to book a hotel there for three nights in order to get your first jab
and for them to have time to monitor you after that and then you've got to go back after 21 days in order to get the second jab.
The other point is that San Marino uses the Sputnik vaccines. They are part - they are in Europe, of course, but they're not part of the European Union
so they don't have to abide by the E.U. guidelines, which so far have not approved the use of the Sputnik vaccine. But all that considered, there is
still obviously a lot of interest in this.
You know, San Marino is a tiny state. It's got about 35,000 residents, and the officials there told me that even calculating for the vaccines for all
their residents they still had these 20,000 extra doses. They say they will start vaccinating tourists next Monday. Lynda -
KINKADE: That is very positive, and there are some positive, of course, for this Russian-made vaccine. I understand it can be stored in a regular
refrigerator. The price is quite affordable as well.
GALLAGHER: Well that's right. And so, if people want to take advantage of that they can, but of course for Europeans that will put them in a little
bit of a no man's land for the moment because that's not been approved officially by the European Union, so I put that question to the officials.
They said, well that's up to the individual if they want to take the chance of being vaccinated with the Sputnik vaccine that is still not approved in
Europe, Lynda.
KINKADE: All right, Delia Gallagher for us. Good to have you with us. Certainly a very interesting case. We'll see how many people actually take
up that offer, and we will speak to you again soon.
Well you have been watching CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Lynda Kinkade. You can find me on Twitter at Lynda Kinkade. Thanks very much for joining me. ONE
WORLD is up next with my friend and colleague, Zane Asher. Stay wit us for that.
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(CNN ONE WORLD)
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