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Israel's Assault on Gaza, Efforts at Cease-Fire Prove Difficult; U.S. Congress Not Expected to Oppose Arms Sale to Israel; Biden Dramatically Scales Up Pressure on Netanyahu; U.S.-Russia Relations; Outbreak Puts Pressure on Taiwan's Low Vaccination Rates; Pressure to Cancel Tokyo Summer Olympics Growing. Aired 10-10:45a ET

Aired May 19, 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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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This priority is the immediate cessation of all violence and the implementation of a cease-fire.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): Well, in the last few moments, the American president tells Israel's leader that he, quote, expects "a

significant de-escalation today."

Taiwan accuses Beijing of blocking access to COVID-19 vaccines.

Plus, after a long and lonely winter, countries in Europe are beginning to slowly re-open. We're outside a restaurant in Paris, as diners say "salut"

to more freedom.

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ANDERSON: I'm Becky Anderson. Hello and welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD.

Efforts to stop the fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants gaining new urgency as the conflict moves into the 10th day. Yet the

fighting goes on with no letup in sight. Israeli military officials saying it will last for, quote, "more days."

Well, elsewhere we are seeing a diplomatic scramble. Egypt, France and Jordan are teaming up on a cease-fire proposal and now we are getting word

from France that it is holding, quote, "active discussions" with the U.S.

The White House saying Biden told the Israeli prime minister he expects a dramatic de-escalation today. From the E.U., calls for an immediate truce.

While the diplomats keep pressing, the human toll from the conflict is increasing; 219 people are now reported to have been killed in Gaza. That's

according to the health ministry there run by Hamas; 12 people in Israel are dead as a result of Palestinian militant fire.

Israeli military said it struck militant targets and will expand its attacks on Hamas' extensive tunnel network within Gaza. An Israeli military

source tells CNN the IDF has twice tried to kill the powerful leader of Hamas' military wing. Both times he got away.

Meantime, the Israeli military says its artillery is going after targets in Lebanon after more rockets were fired from inside that country. Ben Wedeman

has covered Lebanon extensively for us. He joins us now today from a neighborhood in Jerusalem.

And Nic Robertson is at the Israel-Gaza border. I looks as if Nic isn't with us.

So are you with me, Nic?

Have you got me?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: I am.

(CROSSTALK)

ANDERSON: No worries. Excellent. Thank you, Nic. Let's start with you. We have just had a read out from the White House that says, during the fourth

call between the U.S. President and the Israeli prime minister, Joe Biden has called for an immediate de-escalation today. And that is his message to

Israel.

Your thoughts?

ROBERTSON: Yes. That's a step change. That's the kind of pressure that Biden has been called upon to put on prime minister Netanyahu, called on,

from sort of domestically, politically even from Democrats in the United States, has been called on by his international allies and partners as

well, who look to the United States to take leadership on this because they know that's the voice that prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu will listen

to.

You have this diplomatic initiative underway with France, Egypt and Jordan. That carries a fairly hefty amount of weight but nothing in comparison to

what the president of the United States can come to bear.

Biden's first foreign policy speech took a strong moral position on human rights and his allies and partners said, look what's happening in Gaza

right now, the suffering that's happening there. You need to put more pressure on the Israeli leadership to try to de-escalate things, to end

that suffering both in Gaza and, of course, here in Israel.

I think this is the first thing that comes to mind. This does seem to be the sort of pressure that the prime minister here will need to heed. He was

met with diplomats earlier on today and said, look, we're not running a stop watch on the situation here in Gaza. There are conflicts that have

taken a long time to run their course.

There are other targets we want to go after. Let's see the if he changes that message subsequent to that phone call with Biden.

[10:05:00]

ANDERSON: Ben, your thoughts?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think, obviously, the Americans are in a rather difficult position, because, until

now, they sort of left it up, not just this time but in previous rounds of fighting between Gaza and Israel, they left it up to, for instance the

Egyptians and Qataris to intervene and work out some sort of cease-fire.

I think they realize this time, perhaps with the growing uproar over the level of destruction, the high civilian death toll in Gaza, that they can't

sit on the sidelines any longer.

Of course it's well-known the Americans have many cards when it comes to Israel. Every year, the United States provides $3.8 billion in military aid

to this very wealthy country. It provides fairly constant diplomatic cover for Israel in the United Nations. And it doesn't really make sense that it

sits with its hands tied as this conflict goes on.

What's equally interesting is a lot of speculation in the Israel media today, that, as far as security and military leaders here, they feel that

essentially the goals they, the objectives they had for this operation, now into its 10th day, have been largely achieved.

Apparently, according to the speculation in the Israeli media, it's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has gone through a series of inconclusive

elections, who wants to present the Israeli public a clear victory.

There isn't a clear victory at this point. He's also very worried about the corruption cases against him. So he wants to clearly reap some political

benefit of this at a time when the military leaders are saying, look, we've accomplished more or less what we expected to and maybe it is time to

cease-fire -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Ben, one of the points raised on the Israeli side is that it says it has targeted the Hamas military commander twice but has not been

able to kill him.

I just wonder, from your experience, what would the significance of that targeted killing be, were the IDF to be successful?

WEDEMAN: Well, obviously symbolically to kill the head of the military wing of Hamas would be huge symbolically. But he has a number two, he has a

number three, number four. Cut off the head, another head will grow and take its place.

What we've seen time and time again with the Israelis, with the Americans going after Al Qaeda and whatnot, is that getting rid of the head doesn't

necessarily kill the body. What you have in Hamas, in Islamic Jihad, are people who are convinced and ready to die for the idea that the military

struggle against Israel is still viable.

And, therefore, yes, they can -- there will be a lot of political capital to be gained by killing him but it doesn't mean in any sense that Hamas as

an organization, political and military, is coming to an end -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Yes. Ben, thank you.

Nic, you are an international diplomatic editor. We're spoiled by the experience that you and Ben bring to the table in this region and beyond.

We talked earlier about the significance of this White House readout on Joe Biden, expressly asking the Israeli prime minister to dial down, de-

escalate immediately today.

Of course, there is a congressional deadline looming for $0.75 billion weapons sale to Israel. That deadline expires tomorrow.

Just how much of what is going on, with regard the U.S. stance to Israel at present, is pressured by what's going on back home?

ROBERTSON: You know, I think significantly. I think, if you look at this from the beginning, Biden, when he came to office, didn't particularly want

to engage in the long-running, the decades-old issue of lasting Middle East peace, which so many presidents tried to tackle and it cost them political

capital at home. Biden sidestepped that.

[10:10:00]

ROBERTSON: He didn't speak to the Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas until just last week. He took a long time before he spoke to prime

minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He is trying to keep his political capital at home for what he sees as the big international issue confronting the United

States, which is China.

And if he gets engaged here, he is not going to please everyone. It's going to cost him political support back home. And that's something that he

doesn't want to lose, for the big focus, big issues he sees going forward.

Obviously, when the United States sort of cedes itself from a situation like this, then not other potential enemies will perhaps try to take the

United States' place, move into some of that vacuum.

That's not happening here right now but there's a potential for that in the future. So it's not something he can ignore. It's just not something that

he wanted to have that domestic political losses over.

And he does, as Ben said, absolutely have leverage over prime minister Netanyahu with the big amounts of aid that come to Israel and the

significant weapons that come to Israel as well. That is a huge amount of support, a huge amount of leverage.

And it does appear that he's now choosing, it appears, to exercise that by turning up his language. But it does feel as if he's been forced to turn up

that language by the criticism he's been getting at home.

ANDERSON: To both of you, thank you.

My next guest was Israel's ambassador to the U.S. during the first years of the Obama administration. After leaving that post, he argued against any

quick cease-fire during the 2014 Israel-Gaza hostility, saying Israel should be allowed to crush Hamas to end a repeating cycle of conflict, an

opinion he holds today during what is this current fighting.

Michael Oren joins us now from Israel.

I must start with what's a dramatic escalation in its public messaging. The White House said Biden told the Israeli prime minister he expects a

significant de-escalation today on the path to a cease-fire.

Just what is the significance of that call, that readout, that public messaging from Washington?

What are its consequences, do you believe at this point?

MICHAEL OREN, FORMER ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: Good to be with you Becky. Listen, when the President of the United States comes out and makes

a statement like that, Israeli decision makers have to take it very seriously, especially with a friend like Biden who is known for his staunch

support for Israeli security over many years and during this recent conflict, as has been said repeatedly, within growing criticism in his own

party. And I think Israelis are appreciative of that.

Having said that, at the end of the day, Israel will act to secure its own population, its own citizens from rocket fire, which continues unabated

from Gaza and it won't be the first time. If Israel continues its to press its fighting against Hamas, it won't be the first time that Israel has said

to a president, thank you, thank you, but we have our security and that's our priority.

ANDERSON: The prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made it clear -- and let's be quite clear, this was ahead of us receiving this White House

statement this morning. But the prime minister has made clear that he's not done with this offensive.

Do you expect an update on that positioning?

Do you expect Israel to now step back at this point?

OREN: Not necessarily. A poll was taken several hours ago that said 80 percent of Israelis, that's including millions of Israelis who are in

direct rocket fire, are not in favor of a cease-fire.

What they see is an endless cycle of Hamas re-organizing, re-equipping itself and opening fire at will and basically ruining our lives. I would

say they are fed up, first being locked down because of COVID and now locked down because of the war. They are willing to press on until Hamas is

deterred.

ANDERSON: Considering the civilian death toll in Gaza, I'm asking you whether you -- I mean, you just talked about this poll and I get that. And

that's very important as we hold this discussion.

[10:15:00]

ANDERSON: But do you want to see a cessation of violence now, despite what you have just said?

(CROSSTALK)

OREN: I want to see a cessation of violence when deterrence is restored and when Hamas leaders internalize, as I said before, that opening fire on

millions of innocent Israelis with thousands of rockets will cost -- will carry with it a prohibitive cost from Hamas. That's what I want.

I think that's what the overwhelming majority of Israelis want. And while we regret the loss of civilian life on the Palestinian side, we're also

acutely aware these Palestinian civilians are being used as human shields by Hamas and we appreciate our military is doing its utmost to minimize

civilian casualties.

We're aware of it. It's painful. It's difficult. It's terrifying at night, when the rockets come in. I've been under rocket fire for successive

nights. We're willing to endure it all to ensure a more secure future for our children and grandchildren. It's that simple.

ANDERSON: This is all taking place during a period of deep political uncertainty in Israel, deep political uncertainty, if not a deep vacuum in

the Palestinian Territories as well. And Hamas seems to be filling that vacuum at present.

Let's talk about Israel. This follows four unresolved election, prime minister Netanyahu is moving ahead with this offensive while his political

opponent tries to build a coalition. Let's not forget, Netanyahu has been charged with fraud and corruption. He's potentially facing a hefty prison

sentence if he loses power.

How much of Netanyahu's actions right now do you think are opportunistic, motivated by self-preservation?

OREN: I know there's a lot of conspiracy theories floating around Israel right now that would allege that Netanyahu was actually, is fomenting this

strife to politically gain from it.

I know how decisions are made in the Israeli government and that's not the way. It's admirable he put politics aside to cooperate with his utmost

rival to effectively manage the crisis.

Having said all that, Becky, clearly, Netanyahu will emerge, appears to be able, poised to emerge from this crisis politically strengthened and his

opponents weakened and it appears Israel is en route to yet another round of elections, our fifth in just over two years.

That has ramifications for our security. Again, I can't qualify this. But I believe one of the considerations that Hamas made in opening fire at

Israel, in opening this round of firing in Jerusalem, was that the belief that Israel's political system was in chaos and that Israel's decision-

making process would be impaired. In fact, I think it was a false assumption, a miscalculation.

But I can understand if Hamas made that miscalculation because that's the impression we're making.

ANDERSON: I just want to finally just get a sense from you as to an argument that you have made with "The New York Times." You said you think

Biden's decision to refrain from publicly calling on Netanyahu to end this offensive until now, you say, was because he made the political calculus

that allowing Israel to go after Hamas could offer him leverage as he closes in on this new JCPOA agreement with Iran.

Now as Israel's ambassador to the U.S. during the Obama years, you worked closely with Biden.

What led you to conclude the Iran deal is at the center of all of this?

OREN: Well, the key word is "could." We're looking at the strategic picture broadly beyond Gaza.

Who is supporting Hamas?

It's Iran, who supports and basically owns Islamic Jihad. Iran manufactured about 90 percent of the rockets being fired at us and engineered the

remaining 10 percent. So Iran wants to gain from this conflict. It diverts Israeli attention from Iranian attempts to transform Syria into a forward

base against us, for example.

So what we're really witnessing is a type of proxy war. That's a proxy war with an Iranian foe, who actually is engaged in negotiation with the United

States to renew the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, which Israel viewed as a strategic -- is not an existential danger.

So it is quite possible that the president could come to us at the end of this conflict and say, listen, I stood by you and I showed you I was

willing to stand by Israel's right to defend itself against Iranian proxies.

[10:20:00]

OREN: Now give me some leeway in renewing the 2015 deal.

ANDERSON: It's an interesting argument, one we'll continue to discuss. For the time being, thank you. It's good to have you on, sir.

Biden's top diplomat is set to meet with his Russian counterpart today. Why this could be a make-or-break moment for the strained relations between

Moscow and Washington. That's ahead.

And just a little later, cyclone-battered parts of India get a visit from the prime minister there as the country tries to soldier on what's in the

middle of record COVID deaths.

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ANDERSON: In the coming hours, the top diplomat from the U.S. and Russia will be face-to-face in Iceland for first time since U.S. President Joe

Biden took office. U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken will talk with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of what is the

Arctic Council meeting. There's a lot on the agenda.

To name a few, Russia's beefed-up military presence in the Arctic region; the massive SolarWinds hack and next month's anticipated summit between

Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Blinken said he also expects the issue of Russia's Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to come up. That pipeline goes from Russia to Germany via the

Baltic Sea and it's controversial at best. The U.S. fears Russia could use its control over energy supplies to pressure other countries and has called

the pipeline a threat to the energy security of Europe, NATO allies and Ukraine.

But the Biden administration decided to forego sanctions on the company in charge of building Nord Stream 2. Let's bring in CNN's Matthew Chance.

We're told by sources familiar with U.S. plans for this meeting that nothing will be off limits. Question is where Russia intends to go in terms

of substance and tenor.

Is it clear at this point?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No. They haven't been as forthcoming, as the State Department has been in the United States,

about the kinds of issues they want to discuss. They are talking about, they want to discuss global security, strategic stability, things like

that.

They are keen also to, I think, re-establish a relationship with the United States that doesn't involve the U.S. imposing sanctions on Russia every

time they have a disagreement. There are already rafts of sanctions imposed by U.S. and the rest of the international community on Russia.

[10:25:00]

CHANCE: And Moscow wants to ensure there aren't any further ratcheting up of those sanctions, at least from Washington. Of course, over the longer

term, it wants to get rid of those sanctions which are causing a big impact on its economy, so it can start the process of building up its economy

again after the double hit, really, of the sanctions regime that's been ratcheted up over many years from Washington and the pandemic as well.

ANDERSON: It feels like a reset but we've seen those resets before across a number of U.S. administrations.

You know, what's the kind of atmosphere?

How would you describe the atmosphere going into these talks and, indeed, the possibility of a meeting between two leaders?

CHANCE: Well, I think the possibility of a meeting between the two leaders, Biden and President Putin of Russia, is pretty high, given no date

has been announced. Behind the scenes, there's planning going on for an actual face-to-face meeting to take place, sometime perhaps in the middle

of next month.

The atmosphere, I mean it's strained. We've used that term a lot when it comes to the U.S.-Russia relationship. But there's a whole catalog of

issues which are outstanding between the two countries.

You mentioned some of them already, also the Colonial Pipeline infrastructure ransomware attack that recently crippled parts of the United

States in terms of energy production. That's something that will be raised as well. There's a whole host of bilateral issues between these two

countries that need to be addressed.

ANDERSON: Matthew Chance, thank you.

Also at top of Antony Blinken's agenda is the Iran nuclear deal, which the U.S. wants to rejoin. A few weeks ago I spoke to the Russian ambassador to

international organizations in Vienna about the ongoing talks. I asked him if he thinks a new deal can be achieved. Take a listen.

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MIKHAIL ULYANOV, RUSSIAN REPRESENTATIVE TO INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS IN VIENNA: I believe it's doable by the 21st or the 22nd of May. There's a

current understanding between the international community and the agency that are due to expire to broker in negotiations in order to avoid some

uncertainties.

ANDERSON: You sound optimistic, which suggests that because, of course, you have been party to these talks, that you have seen evidence that

Washington is prepared to act first.

Can you just explain what evidence it is that you have seen that suggests that?

ULYANOV: I saw by myself we observed strategic goals coincide. The response and the American states would like to see a nuclear deal restored.

ANDERSON: U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said these talks were in, and I'm quoting, "an unclear place." Let's talk sanctions, for

example.

Which sanctions are on the table to be lifted?

And do you believe there's congressional support for the lifting of any sanctions at this point?

ULYANOV: In your Washington, sanctions which are incompatible with the nuclear deal. All sanctions should be lifted and should find middle ground

in order to make (INAUDIBLE) the U.S. (INAUDIBLE) of assumptions.

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ANDERSON: That's the Russian ambassador in Vienna involved in those talks, representing Moscow and we, of course, continue to monitor what is going on

in Vienna and what is an incredibly important story, not just to this region of the Middle East but around the world.

[10:30:00]

ANDERSON: Taiwan meanwhile working hard deals to ensure it has enough COVID-19 vaccines to go around. Ahead on the show, why officials in Taipei

are accusing the Chinese government of blocking access to vaccines amid a serious uptick in new cases.

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ANDERSON: A deadly double blow for India. Prime minister Modi has been on the ground in Gujarat state today to see for himself the destruction left

by a cyclone, the strongest storm on the record to hit India's west coast. It's killed at least 40 people.

The question now will Mr. Modi land on his feet with the people of his country. He's barely spoken publicly this month as India tries to find a

way out of this brutal second wave of COVID-19.

The cyclone colliding with that second wave compounding the suffering. Indian health officials say the country is closing in on 25.5 million

confirmed cases and those are official numbers. When cases spike, of course, more deaths often follow.

I loathe the numbers game. But it's important when they are so high so let's do them. India now reporting its worse daily COVID death toll since

the pandemic began, more than 4,500 people.

And if you watch this show on a regular basis, you all know India has been breaking its only daily death records for two days in a row. Health

officials also facing rising cases of what's known as black fungus disease amongst COVID survivors. Several states are now trying to cope with a

shortage of the drug that treats that.

Taiwan, in trying to avoid a situation like one in India, has tightened its COVID restrictions around the island. It's reported more than 270 new cases

on Wednesday alone. Now the vast majority of them were locally transmitted.

Meanwhile Taiwan's presidential office is launching fresh accusations against Beijing. A spokesman said Taiwan's access to COVID-19 vaccines has

been slowed down by Chinese interference.

Taiwan has repeatedly accused Chinese of blocking its procurement of vaccines from around the world. Will Ripley is there in the capital,

Taipei.

This crisis in Taiwan now turning political. Let's just remind ourselves, this was an island that had sort of swerved the COVID crisis. And so when

we talk about numbers like I just described, they found relatively low but these are huge numbers for an island that has had so few cases. And now

things are getting to the realm of pandemic politics.

How has China responded to these claims?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Becky, you and I have been in countries where the numbers start very small and then it snowballs. The problem is

Taiwan is vulnerable because they have one of the lowest vaccination rates in the whole world, less than 1 percent of this island's population of 23

million is vaccinated.

A lot of people are scratching their heads.

How could this wealthy island, one of the world's leading semiconductor manufacturing hubs, they have tons of cash, how could they not have a

stockpile of vaccines?

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RIPLEY: Part of it complacency. People weren't thinking about getting vaccinated when, for months on end they had eliminated local transmission

of cases. But this week this is really exposing this fracture between this island that governs itself and Mainland China, which considers it a

renegade province.

There was on Monday this message from China's Taiwan affairs office, offering to help this island as they deal with this outbreak because

they've a vulnerable population. They have no herd immunity here because pretty much nobody is vaccinated.

Taiwan shot back, if you want to help us, stop military flyovers. They said China is intimidating them and forcing them to buy Chinese made vaccines.

A tweet from the regional spokesperson says Taiwan's access to vaccines continues to be slowed down by Chinese interference. They insist we buy

Chinese made ones. If you really want to help, please don't stand in the doorway, don't block up the hall.

They know even though they got 400,000 additional doses today, they still have fewer than 1 million doses. They have been trying to get foreign made

vaccines because they view them as more reliable. But they're also looking at late July as a goal for vaccines developed here in Taiwan to be

available to the public.

Taiwan's president saying they are in the process of safety trials. They want to get Taiwan vaccines in arms as quickly as possible. In the

meantime, they took the action that they took at the beginning of the pandemic, they shut down their borders. No foreigners allowed in. No

transit flights happening for the next month.

They have expanded the restrictions, the most severe of the pandemic, from not just here in the capital, Taipei and New Taipei City, but throughout

the entire country. People are experiencing the kind of restrictions that the rest of the world saw a year ago.

ANDERSON: Fascinating. Will Ripley is in Taipei, thank you.

Many parts of Asia still face some dark days ahead. Global coronavirus cases have declined over the past week and the biggest drop that we've seen

is in Europe, down by 26 percent this week.

Spain's foreign minister said his country is looking forward to summer tourism as the E.U. relaxes travel restrictions. In Germany, the rate of

infection continues to drop. Outdoor events and pools are re-opening. Italy still has a nationwide curfew but shortened the hours.

In France cases have dropped for the last three weeks as businesses are re- opening at half capacity.

You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky Anderson. Still ahead, are the Tokyo Olympics in jeopardy?

And you'll be forgiven for asking me whether that isn't a question I put to you every day, it seems. It's a bit deja vu. Two months before the games

are due to begin, there's another COVID related setback. That's next in "WORLD SPORT."

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DEMI LOVATO, SINGER AND ACTOR: I'm going to take this moment to share something very personal with you. Over the past 1.5 years, I've been doing

some healing and self reflective work. And through this work I've had the revelation that I identify as non-binary.

With that said, I'll officially be changing my pronouns to they/them. I feel that this best represents the fluidity I feel in my gender expression

and allows me to feel most authentic and true to the person I both know I am and still am discovering.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: A very personal revelation from American singer and actor Demi Lovato, that they are gender non-binary. The U.S. National Center for

Transgender Equality explains some societies recognize just two genders, male and female. That dichotomy is referred to as a gender binary. So non-

binary is one term people use to describe genders that don't fall into one of these two categories.

Lovato says they are, quote, "doing this for those out there that haven't been able to share who they truly are with their loved ones."

Well, the delayed Tokyo Olympics cannot seem to escape the long shadow of COVID-19 and, with it, controversy, with the country battling a fourth wave

of coronavirus, calls growing to cancel the games and now dozens of Japanese towns are pulling out of plans to host Olympic athletes from

around the world in the run-up to the opening ceremony.

Amanda Davies is here.

It does feel like a deja vu. Does feel like we have this conversation on almost a daily basis.

Are these games in jeopardy?

What's the impact of these growing calls for a cancellation?

Where are we at this point?

Is it clear?

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No. I think the one thing that is clear is it isn't clear. We had the head of World Athletics, the IOC committee

member Sebastian Coe, admitting to us yesterday he fully expects a number of countries not to be at this Olympic Games because of this global fight

against COVID-19.

And this news today, with a number of Japanese cities saying they don't feel it's safe, they don't want to divert resources to looking after

athletes from around the world. And you can understand why. You just have to put it down as another day, another notch in the negative column, the

reasons why people within Japan don't want these games to go ahead.

We are hearing more and more of this every day as you say. But you have to say, Becky, those at the top, the people who ultimately matter in terms of

decision-making process, the International Olympic Committee and Japanese organizers, they maintain it is business as usual and this is going to go

ahead as an Olympic Games.

But there's a "but" isn't there?

Where is the tipping point?

ANDERSON: Absolutely. More of that on "WORLD SPORT." That's coming up after this short break. We'll be back at the top of the hour with the

second hour of CONNECT THE WORLD.

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