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Israel's Assault on Gaza; U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib Reads Tweet from U.N. Teacher in Gaza; Monster Cyclone Disrupts Testing, Vaccinations in India; Kenya Weeks away From Running out of COVID-19 Vaccines; Myanmar Seeks to Silence Celebrities on the Military Coup; Ethiopian Soldiers Storm Hospital Featured in CNN Report. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired May 18, 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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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL (through translator): The directive is to continue to strike at the targets of terrorism. The IDF is

doing well.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): The U.S. President says he supports a cease-fire between Israel and Gaza but stops short of explicitly calling

for one. The U.S. continuing to block any formal U.N. action as the conflict continues.

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ANDERSON (voice-over): COVID-19 vaccine inequality gap is growing. Why COVAX missed its target by 100 million doses. That is ahead.

Plus:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think we have all become a little inclined to be closed in and hesitant to go back to that normal life.

ANDERSON (voice-over): For those lucky enough to get a vaccine, re-entry anxiety, as it's now known, is overwhelming many, trying to return to life

after lockdown.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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ANDERSON: I'm Becky Anderson. Welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD. It's 6:00 pm in Abu Dhabi, this is our Middle East broadcasting hub.

This hour, is the door to diplomacy open?

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ANDERSON: Militants resume their attacks after the skies over Israel were quiet overnight for the first time since the current conflict with Gaza

began.

Just hours ago, the Israeli Red Cross reports two civilians were killed in a mortar attack. That would bring the total number of dead in Israel over

the past week to 12.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON (voice-over): Meanwhile, Israel says it struck more Hamas infrastructure in Gaza today, including tunnels and the homes of militant

commanders. In all, the Gaza health ministry, which is run by Hamas, says 213 people have been killed there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Egypt is trying to craft a cease-fire deal with support from world leaders, including the French president, Emmanuel Macron. The U.S.

President spoke to the Israeli prime minister on the phone for the third time in six days.

Mr. Biden said he supported a cease-fire but did not explicitly demand one. The U.S. is continuing to block formal action from the United Nations. The

Security Council meets privately in just two hours' time. We're going to break down all of the angles for you over the next couple of hours.

On the ground and behind the scenes, amid what's a flurry of diplomatic activity, Nic Robertson is near the scene of this latest attack in Israel.

Ben Wedeman is in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem.

And, Nic, what do we know at this point?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, this is the deadliest attack from Gaza into Israel so far; two people killed, seven

wounded. They were foreign workers, working at a farm here right down toward the southern end of Gaza, about 9.5 miles -- 9.5 kilometers over the

border inside of Israel.

And while we've been here, we've seen other workers, who were working on this farm area, leaving. It's not clear if they are leaving just to find

different accommodation or they are leaving this area.

Certainly, this part of Israel, close to the border with Gaza, the residents here have been warned by the government that they need to stay in

and close to their shelters at this time for the next couple of days.

And the prime minister has been having a conversation with the leaders from this -- from these border communities. And he's explained to them, look,

you just need to stay safe for a little while longer. After that, things will get better.

Further up the border, a mortar landed at the Erez Crossing where a humanitarian convoy was going into the Gaza for the first time, again,

since this conflict began. A soldier was lightly wounded. That crossing has now been closed.

A lot of rockets fired out of Gaza today, mostly toward the cities of Ashdod and Ashkelon; an apartment building in Ashdod hit there. But the

strikes that went on overnight, the Israeli Defense Force said were targeting Hamas' tunnels inside of Gaza.

They say now that they think they've reduced the capacity of Hamas to make weapons by 80 percent to 90 percent and have taken out or rendered useless

about 100 kilometers of tunnel.

So it feels, at this ground level right here that this is, rather than heading towards the diplomatic wrap-up, there's an element of unraveling.

Maybe the diplomats can tie it all back together.

[10:05:00]

ROBERTSON: But today, it's not going so well.

ANDERSON: Yes and let's talk about what we understand to be that diplomatic activity behind the scenes momentarily. I do want to get to Ben,

who is in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem.

A potentially tense day of protests and strikes, Ben, as both sides in this conflict prepare to bury the victims of what is this deadly violence. You

are in a neighborhood which was a flashpoint some weeks ago and, indeed, for some years now for this latest escalation in violence.

Ben, what's the atmosphere there today?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It still very much is a flashpoint in Jerusalem. Keeping in mind that today is a national strike by

Palestinians, called by civil society groups, political parties and the factions (ph) as well.

What we've seen is major confrontations between Palestinian protesters and the Israeli military in places like Hebron, in Bethlehem and Nablus and now

here in Sheikh Jarrah. Our understanding from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society is that more than 150 people have been injured in the course of

these confrontations.

And as I said, this remains an open sore in the eastern part of Jerusalem. Just over here to the right are the -- is the area where Jewish settlers

have taken houses and also where local Palestinian residents, who have lived here for decades, are under the threat of forced eviction.

And it's worth pointing out that the tensions that have been brewing here for weeks and weeks and weeks, actually going back years, are very much

part of the crisis or part of the build-up to the crisis that are now, with Gaza, basically a hot war between Gaza and Israel.

Massive unrest on the West Bank and also unprecedented intercommunal violence between Palestinian Israelis and Jewish Israelis on the West Bank.

Now they're shooting it looks like rubber bullets in our direction. In fact, I think I'm going to put on my helmet. Those are Israeli troops

there. Just -- there's not really anything in the way of rock throwing going on. They just seem very determined to disperse the people who have

come here to take part in the activities of this national strike.

And earlier, they were spraying what is called sewer water, (INAUDIBLE) by the Palestinians, this noxious liquid that they spray willy-nilly on

houses, cars, people and it stinks. Basically once you're sprayed by that stuff, you have to take your clothing off and throw it away. So that is the

atmosphere here.

But across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, you have a variety of these sort of confrontations ongoing at the moment -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Ben Wedeman is in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem.

The images on the of right-hand side of your screen, perhaps we can bring them up once again, are scenes on the streets of Bethlehem.

Again, very, very tense across the Palestinian Territories today and, indeed, in Israel, as we expect to see funerals of a number of people who

have been killed on both sides of this conflict and, indeed, at these protests, as Ben has been reporting.

And we'll get back to these images throughout the body of this show. This is, of course, a two-hour show. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD.

As we mentioned, for the first time since this conflict began, the White House says U.S. President Joe Biden is expressing support for a cease-fire.

This comes amid growing pressure from some Democrats in Congress, who want him to do more to stop the violence.

He's expressing support but has not outright called for a cease-fire nor has he demanded one. One of those who is pushing the U.S. president is

Muslim American congresswoman Rashida Tlaib. On the House floor last week, she read a tweet from a United Nations teacher in Gaza. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. RASHIDA TLAIB (D-MI), MAJORITY MEMBER, HOUSE COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND REFORM: I want to read something a mother named Eman, a Muslim (ph),

wrote two days ago.

She said, quote, "Tonight I put the kids to sleep in our bedroom.

[10:10:00]

TLAIB: "So that when we die, we die together. And no one would live to mourn the loss of another one."

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ANDERSON: Eman Basher is the teacher who wrote those heartbreaking words. She is with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian

Refugees in the Near East. She joins me tonight from Gaza.

Thank you for joining us. In that tweet of yours, which congresswoman Rashida Tlaib read out last week, you talked about waiting for your

children to die. That is heartbreaking stuff.

How often do you have that fear?

EMAN BASHER, UNRWA TEACHER: Hello. First, I want to say thank you for having me and thank you for giving me this opportunity to deliver my voice

and deliver -- to deliver every mother's fear for her children.

I am always afraid. This is not new but it is new for my children, because this is the first aggression they are going through and continue to that

through them (ph) so happy that my tweet went viral. I really am.

I still believe in the power of word and everything.

But then what?

This is my fourth interview, I think. I said so many words and wrote so many words but nothing has changed. And this is the eighth or ninth day the

aggression -- I stopped counting. But nothing has changed. So no one has moved a finger to save us.

I mean, the U.S. President has done the opposite. He approved more than $700 million weapons sale to Israel. The only thing that has changed is

that some psychologists and therapists has contacted me and gave me instructions and sent me videos.

Some of them even suggested doing a daily Zoom session to help children with trauma. But there are mothers who have situations worse than mine. The

Israeli army has killed 200 Palestinians from the beginning of this aggression, including 60 children and 34 women. Three of them were

pregnant.

You know, we are helpless in our houses, waiting for them to be our graves.

ANDERSON: You also tweeted these triggering images and disturbing videos you have been viewing from Gaza, "All of these beautiful, kind faces who

have been pulled out from under the rubble are ours," you say.

"We spend the day not believing that we are still alive and, in the night, we wait for our death."

These are traumatic words. As well as being a mom, you're a teacher for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Refugees. One of the 10-year-old girls

that you teach, as I understand it, was killed in an airstrike.

And you have just delineated the number of kids who have died in this latest escalation of violence.

Just what kind of impact, what kind of psychological impact, is what is going on now having on Gaza's kids?

BASHER: It is hard to hide my feelings as a mother. Imagine their feelings as children. Like every day, my kid, who is all right these days, asked me

that he's so worried about the moon. And if he was dead, will God make him see the moon first because our windows are half closed from the beginning

of this aggression, not fully closed because we don't want them to be broken under the pressure of the bombardments and not fully open because we

don't want to inhale the poisonous gunpowder, the artillery fire.

And sometimes my eldest son -- I have two, by the way -- my eldest keeps asking me that if we are going to be safe from under the rubble. So I

actually stopped making him seeing triggering and disturbing images. And I make them sleep before the beginning of the loud bombardment, the loud

explosions in the night because this has been our daily life.

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ANDERSON: Terrifying.

[10:15:00]

(CROSSTALK)

ANDERSON: I understand it's absolutely terrifying as a mom and for your kids. Look, many of those who have lost their homes are finding refuge at

the UNRWA schools. These must, under international law, remain safe spaces.

As I understand it, I think there are four schools run by the U.N., which are refuges at present for so many who have been displaced.

Are these schools safe and what are conditions like?

BASHER: Regarding -- if you are asking me about, they are safe?

I don't know because, two days ago, the Israeli warplanes destroyed all the streets that lead to the hospital, which is technically a facility to

provide help for sick people.

And this stopped the ambulances and the medical help from leaving or coming back and this led to more death. And regarding Aramat (ph), that facility,

I have been reading so many tweets, that so many people were waiting for their first or second shot of the vaccine and now they can't.

So -- and so I don't know if these schools are safe because nothing is safe in Gaza. Yes.

ANDERSON: Look, I'm so sorry that your kids are going through what you have described and, indeed, your family and those innocent civilians, who

are caught up in this. We wish the best for you and your family. Thank you.

We will have a lot more on the Middle East ahead on CONNECT THE WORLD. Thank you for joining us. I'll speak live with the Jordanian foreign

minister, Ayman Safadi. His party behind what is this big push behind the scenes underway to end the conflict.

I'll also talk to Nora Erakat, a human rights attorney, critical of how Western governments are responding, saying that they expect the people of

Gaza to die.

Before that, up next, India lashed by the strongest cyclone ever to hit its west coast as it reels from its COVID catastrophe. What the prime minister

has been saying just ahead.

And these are some of the lucky few in Kenya getting COVID vaccines. We'll connect you to Nairobi, where doctors are scrambling to prevent a

coronavirus outbreak possibly like the one in India.

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ANDERSON: Just when you thought India's nightmare couldn't get any worse, the country now being battered by two colliding challenges, its second wave

of COVID-19, still ravaging rural areas, and now a powerful cyclone, hampering an already slow vaccine rollout across the country.

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ANDERSON: India now only the second country in the world to surpass 25 million confirmed COVID cases. And those are the official figures. Only the

U.S. has more.

And you'll wince when you hear that India's latest single-day death toll is the worst of the pandemic. Prime minister Narendra Modi is speaking out on

the COVID catastrophe for only the second time this month after being silent for weeks. He's promising to ramp up vaccine supplies after several

states said they are running short.

In the country's deadliest single day from COVID, India is also dealing with the aftermath of a powerful storm. The cyclone pounded the west coast

overnight, disrupting testing and vaccinations in that region. At least four COVID hospitals in Gujarat lost power. But officials say the state

still has backup oxygen supplies. CNN's Anna Coren has more details on what is India's deadly double blow.

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ANNA COREN, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: The death toll continues to rise in India in the wake of a monster cyclone that barreled into the country's

west coast overnight, claiming the lives of more than 2 dozen people.

It comes as the nation continues to be devastated by a second wave of COVID-19 that, on Tuesday, crossed the mark of more than 25 million total

cases while recording the highest daily death toll of more than 4,300.

The fear is the cyclone has further complicated efforts to try to stop the virus from spreading. Hundreds of thousands of Indians had to be evacuated

from low-lying areas in Gujarat as it made landfall. Many crammed into shelters to weather the storm.

Some COVID patients had to move hospitals while others experienced power outages. The strong winds, heavy rain and extensive flooding wreaked havoc.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Society said the cyclone was, quote, "a terrible double blow for families," who have already

been hit by COVID infections and deaths.

Vaccination programs have been suspended in those badly affected states, which were seeing a drop in cases prior to the cyclone. There are concerns

it could take days, if not weeks, to repair storm damage and complete cleanup operations before the vaccination program can be restored.

A search and rescue operation continues off the coast of Mumbai after one barge sank and another was adrift at offshore oil fields. The Navy has

rescued more than 170 people but more than 230 remain missing, with efforts hampered by the poor weather conditions -- Anna Coren, CNN, Hong Kong.

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ANDERSON: As we've been reporting, India's COVID crisis has been spreading beyond its borders with other countries in the region still seeing record

cases.

Let's get you up to speed on some of those stories on our radar right now.

Taiwan holds halts all in-person studying as COVID-19 cases rise rapidly. Schools will be shut from Wednesday until May 28th. One senior official is

also asking people to reserve medical resources for critically ill coronavirus patients.

Thailand reports the highest one-day death toll from COVID-19 at 35. The record number of cases being reported, many spreading through prisons and

detention facilities across that country. Thailand's death toll since the beginning of the pandemic is now nearly 650.

Alongside it, India's COVID crisis having a knock-on effect on vaccine rollouts in developing nations. India is a global hub for vaccine

production. It was supposed to manufacture a significant amount of the vaccines that would be shared on the worldwide initiative known as COVAX.

COVAX has missed its target by 100 million doses.

What does that actually mean?

It means that the vaccine inequality gap is just getting wider.

There has, however, been one encouraging pledge from the United States. On Monday, President Biden promising to share an additional 20 million vaccine

doses abroad by the end of June. This on top of the 60 million already pledged.

The stark inequality in access to vaccine is evident in Kenya. Less than 2 percent of the population has been given a first jab. And supplies are

running out. Larry Madowo joins us from a hospital in Nairobi.

Vaccine inequality, Larry, a huge concern. The shortfall of doses from COVAX will have direct consequences for countries like Kenya. Just explain

what's going on and, indeed, whether this pledge from the U.S., for example, might go some way to bridging this gap.

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It will have dire consequences.

[10:25:00]

MADOWO: The president of South Africa has called it vaccine apartheid. All the rich countries have 83 percent of the vaccines. Poor countries that

control more than half of the world's population, only 17 percent.

And it's been felt here in Kenya, where less than 2 percent of people are vaccinated and the country is on the verge of running out of all the

vaccines by the end of this month and they don't know when the next shipment is coming.

One of the things hospitals are doing is setting up an oxygen production plant. They have rushed this equipment in, some from Germany, some from the

United States. They flew it into the country to prepare for what's being anticipated as a third surge when they just do not have enough oxygen in a

third surge.

When the fourth surge comes they want to be better prepared. The government is zeroing all its import taxes on this just to make sure it's available.

If a lot of people were to get sick in the country, the health care system cannot handle it, like many other African countries.

They need to do everything possible to make sure there's not community spread and many people get sick all of a sudden. So lockdowns when

necessary, all the restrictions, curfews and all that.

We'll be speaking to a doctor, who is the chairperson of the Kenya Health Care Federation. He's telling us how serious it was two months ago, when

the country saw its last surge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. KANYENJE GAKOMBE, KENYA HEALTH CARE FEDERATION: March was a bad month. Easter was a terrible period to my staff and I because all of us were

oxygen shopping. That was the primary job the entire management in this place was doing.

We are looking for oxygen and we are looking for critical care beds, ICU beds, because Nairobi ran out of ICU beds. Oxygen was in short supply. So

that is what we are focusing on doing. We are simply trying to make sure that we do not go through that kind of crisis again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADOWO: And the doctor there, speaking to the fears that many health care professionals have, that if they run out of oxygen, we may see a situation

in India, where you see the heartbreak with people trying to find oxygen on the black market, walking around, driving around with oxygen in the back of

their cars, just because it's so critical in the treatment of COVID-19.

And it wasn't so critical before. Hospitals didn't actually see that importantly. Here in Kenya, they procured it along with food and meds for

patients because there's not a medical need. But all that has changed.

And the inequity here is that, in the U.S., anybody over age 16 can get a vaccine. I am fully vaccinated because I've been living in the U.S. But my

grandmother, who lives in the west of Kenya, who is 96, has not been vaccinated.

ANDERSON: Remarkable. Thank you, Larry.

Larry is in Nairobi for you. We're here in Abu Dhabi. This is CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Becky Anderson. We'll be right back.

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ANDERSON: The U.S., U.K. and Canada have come together to impose new sanctions against Myanmar. The sanctions target members of the state

administrative council, the military government that took over the country in February.

Since that coup, the military junta has repressed, often brutally, the pro- democracy movement and the protesters. Both individuals and companies are now named in the sanctions.

The louder these voices of dissent are, the more Myanmar's leaders want to shut them down. So pro-democracy celebrities have been hunted down and in

some cases, forced to flee the country because they want the world to know what is going on in Myanmar. Paula Hancocks has the story.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking foreign language).

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Han Lay is more used to representing her country in beauty pageants. But after the February 1st

coup, she took to the streets, calling for a return to democracy.

The following months she traveled to Thailand for a pageant, not wanting to win but to speak out.

HAN LAY, MISS GRAND MYANMAR: I am deeply sorry for the people who have lost their lives on the streets.

The situation is really bad in Myanmar and I have decided that, in my speech, I need to talk about that.

HANCOCKS (voice-over): The 22-year old is sure, as she returns home, she will be arrested at the airport. Her mother is already in hiding.

HAN: I love my country and everything I do right now is for my country. If I have a chance I really want to go back home and I want to meet my

parents.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking foreign language).

HANCOCKS (voice-over): Unlikely while the military junta is control. It has issued warrant lists for celebrities.

HANCOCKS: The one thing we have been seeing consistently with this military junta is the effort to silence voices that are against them,

especially those who have a following or an audience.

HANCOCKS (voice-over): Countless well-known personalities have been detained already. A famous comedian who criticized the military for many

years; a well-known model with millions of followers in Myanmar and overseas and Myanmar award-winning actors who use their platform to

criticize the coup and the junta.

Most are charged under Article 505(a) of the penal code, a clause amended by the military leadership to effectively make disagreeing with them a

crime.

The days of actress Paing Phyo Thu, protesting in public are long gone but she is determined to keep speaking out. She and her film director husband,

Na Gyi, are on the warrant list. They have been in hiding for almost three months.

PAING PHYO THU, ACTOR: To be honest, we feel guilty because I'm not and I can't be among the people while protesting. It's very sad for me to see

these people getting killed and I can't do anything. And I can't do anything to help them.

HANCOCKS (voice-over): She was helping to finance protesters struggling to get by. But with the banking system at a standstill, it is becoming too

challenging. She refuses to flee the country but to continue to fight the only way she can now, through social media and her platform, the reason the

military want to silence her.

PAING: My husband and I, we don't have any kids. So the worst thing that could happen is they could kill us or they could put us in jail. That's the

worst that could happen to us. But we don't have to worry about anyone left behind.

HANCOCKS (voice-over): Arbitrary arrests continue on the streets of Myanmar. What they once did at night, they now do in broad daylight.

Protesters, celebrities, bystanders, no one is safe under this brutal military crackdown -- Paula Hancocks, CNN, Bangkok.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Spain scrambling to respond to a chaotic migrant situation in northern Africa, turning back thousands of migrants, who swam to the

Spanish territory of Ceuta from a Moroccan beach nearby.

The mayor of the enclave calls it unprecedented. In the past two days, 6,000 migrants or more have made it there, including children, even babies.

Around half of them have been sent back so far.

Spain has deployed troops and now the prime minister says he'll visit the enclave. Next hour, we'll take you live to Spain for the latest on what's a

developing story there.

We'll take a very short break. Back after this.

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[10:35:00]

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ANDERSON: You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Becky Anderson.

If you are a regular viewer of this show, you will be aware of my colleague, Nima Elbagir's, reporting in Tigray. She's been there recently

with a team, exclusive reporting from Ethiopia's embattled region.

Our crew witnessed Eritrean soldiers obstructing aid to the region. This despite statements from Ethiopia's government, that Eritrean soldiers had

withdrawn. Nima spoke with doctors in the city of Axum, who detailed the conditions at the hospital there. Just have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Another health facility, Axum referral hospital. Soldiers walk in and out of the

hospital with impunity. One spots the camera and runs off.

They've run out of blood here. Doctors and medical students are donating their own. But it's still not enough. People who could have been saved are

dying. Every patient you see here, the old, the young, the helpless, all injured in this conflict.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: We've now learned that Ethiopian soldiers, armed with guns and grenades, have raided a hospital there, reportedly because people talked to

CNN. Now joining us from London with an update on her story, Nima.

ELBAGIR: We have stayed in touch with many of the people that we featured in our reporting because of the reality of life in Tigray and the reality

for many Tigrayans in Ethiopia.

We were contacted by medical staff at Axum Hospital to say that on 4:00 am on Sunday, they were raided by Ethiopian soldiers, armed with grenades,

with machine guns, attempting to go from ward to ward and in fact were able to go from ward to ward, into the medical student dormitories, harassing

and interrogating doctors, accusing them because they spoke to us, of tarnishing the country's image.

They returned subsequently again on Monday. And the threat of their return again is hanging over all of these doctors' heads.

So it is why it is so important for us today on your show to speak out about this, because people there say that they are very afraid for their

lives and they are afraid of what's going to happen next.

And we've had this confirmed to us by Medecins sans Frontieres, who were witness to this extraordinary scene. Many of the patients have now fled the

hospital. Doctors say that only those unable to run are the ones who still remain.

And the doctors say they are remaining as long as their patients do, as long as their patients need them, in spite of the threat.

ANDERSON: This is remarkable.

Just how worried are people?

Just how concerned are people about the threat?

ELBAGIR: Incredibly worried, which is why it was so extraordinary that they spoke to us; in fact, insisted on speaking to us. When we interviewed

the doctors, we asked them if they wanted us to name the hospital. And they said, yes, because it was important, not only for the world to know that

they were still there, that they were persevering.

[10:40:00]

ELBAGIR: But for patients to know that they were open and they were available to treat them.

So in the face of that, for them to be attacked, to face this level of retaliation -- and this comes after the U.S. secretary of state, Antony

Blinken, in the aftermath of our reporting, really went after the Ethiopian government at the weekend, criticizing them for not meeting their promises

to the world with regard to Ethiopian withdrawal.

So for this to happen, despite this level of scrutiny, it really allows you to understand why so many Tigrayans feel that the world is not doing

enough.

Because, if Ethiopian soldiers can behave with this level of impunity, at this point of international pressure and criticism, then it really explains

why they are so afraid for their lives and why it is so extraordinary that they continue to speak out -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Nima Elbagir on the story, your reporting was brave and remarkable. And I know that you will want me to also tell our viewers that

there is a fantastic team behind you, who work so hard to ensure that you get this reporting out. Nima, thank you so much.

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ANDERSON: It's been like deja vu, the pressure to cancel the Tokyo Summer Olympics getting louder. But organizers giving it the green light. Every

day, there's more uproar over these games but it doesn't seem to move the needle with the Olympic Committee. Amanda Davies is here.

You've spoken to the World Athletics chief.

What are his thoughts?

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Sebastian Coe not only the president of World Athletics, Becky, but also an International Olympic

Committee member, who was in Tokyo last week for a number of test events.

He didn't go as far as to confirm to me the Olympics will go ahead. He did say he's confident they will go ahead and that he will be there in just

less than 10 weeks from now, on July the 23rd, for the opening ceremony as scheduled.

That is very much the rhetoric coming out of not only the top level organizers in Japan but also the International Olympic Committee.

But I think, all of us sitting on the outside, you have to ask, how much opposition is too much opposition?

Because it is coming thick and fast at the moment, isn't it?

ANDERSON: Yes. Good stuff.

More on that interview, of course, coming up in "WORLD SPORT," which is up next. I'll be back at the top of the hour with another edition of CONNECT

THE WORLD. Do stay with us, folks.

END