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Tennis Phenom Drops out of French Open; Greece Working on "COVID- Free" Islands to Attract Tourists; Top U.K. Scientific Adviser Warns against Reopening Plan; Lebanon in one of World's Worst Crises since 1850s; Peru's COVID-19 Death Toll More than Doubles after Data Review; June 4th Museum Keeps Tiananmen Square Memory Alive. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired June 01, 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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BECKY ANDERSON, CNNI HOST (voice-over): The world's top earning female athlete is putting her tennis racket down -- for now at least. Naomi Osaka

dropping out of the French Open.

The E.U. urging the bloc to gradually restart travel. We head to Greece, which is gearing up for a much-needed burst of summer tourism.

And Lebanon's economic meltdown. The World Bank reporting that it could be one of the planet's worst crises in more than 150 years. We are live in

Beirut.

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ANDERSON: A very warm welcome. I'm Becky Anderson. This is CONNECT THE WORLD.

A tidal wave of support rolling in after the world's number two tennis player, Naomi Osaka, dropped out of the French Open. This comes after

announcing that she wouldn't talk to the media for mental health reasons, including anxiety and depression.

When Osaka skipped a news conference after Sunday's match, she was fined $15,000. The president of the French Tennis Federation says, and I quote

here, "We are sorry and sad for Naomi Osaka. Naomi withdrawing from Roland- Garros is unfortunate. We wish her the best and quickest possible recovery and look forward to having Naomi at our tournament next year."

Fellow tennis champ Serena Williams added this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERENA WILLIAMS, 23-TIME GRAND SLAM CHAMPION: The only thing I feel is that I feel for Naomi. I feel like I wish I could give her a hug because I

know what it's like. Like I said, I've been in those positions. We have different personalities.

And people are different. Not everyone is the same. I'm thick. Other people are thin. So everyone is different and everyone handles things differently.

So you know, you just have to let her handle it the way she wants to and the best way that she thinks she can. And that's the only thing I can say.

She's doing the best that she can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: That's Serena Williams. Osaka's sponsors have also expressed support, including Nissin Foods and MasterCard.

Nike adds, "We support her and recognize her courage in sharing her own mental health experience."

This comes after a tough year for athletes. The pandemic postponing events and then forcing them to travel in bubbles, putting an obvious mental

strain on athletes already under immense pressure. Let's get more perspective on Osaka's decision. We're joined by "WORLD SPORT's" Alex

Thomas in London.

This is a big talk, Alex. Your thoughts.

ALEX THOMAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I spoke to Patrick McEnroe earlier, brother to John McEnroe, both tennis players in the '80s and 1990s. And

he's been at the top of tennis for decades and says he's never seen anything like that.

That's just to put in perspective how unusual this is. We have been talking about mental health issues, particularly at the highest levels of sport for

some time. It's great there's more awareness of the trouble.

But this is probably one of the most high-profile examples to date. We've got the world number 2, after winning comfortably her first round match,

just quitting a grand slam tournament. There are only four of them every year and they are the measure of any tennis player's legacy when it comes

to the end of their careers.

So she wouldn't have taken that decision lightly. A quick bit of background because it's important to note that Osaka gave out two statements, one

before the tournament starting, saying she wasn't going to speak to the press because she found that a stressful experience.

She got quite heavily criticized, even by fellow players for that. And there was that strong statement from tennis bosses after her first round

victory, when she did, indeed, not speak to the media at that mandatory press conference and they threatened expulsion from the French Open and

indeed future grand slam events.

Her statement on Monday night after pulling out was far clearer and revealed a bigger problem, depression she'd been having long before COVID-

19, going back to that breakthrough grand slam title victory at the 2018 U.S. Open, which is more often remembered for Serena Williams having a huge

argument with one of the line judges.

Interesting seeing Serena's sympathy for Naomi then and clearly Osaka's whole tennis career is in question if she can't get over what is a part of

a tennis player's job.

ANDERSON: Not just part of a tennis player's job, is it, part of the wider sporting world, speaking to the media, which can't be easy, particularly if

you are on either the losing side or as a tennis -- as a tennis player, an individual, who has just lost a big match.

[10:05:00]

ANDERSON: Look, the pressures are enormous. Pat Cash speaking to our network earlier on today, former Australian tennis star, just pointing out

that, you know, this tour has now been 5.5 months in the making. They've been traveling in these tennis bubbles.

You will think back to the Australian Open, when a lot of the tennis stars were in their rooms, having to practice against the wall. I mean, it's a

very, very tough time, isn't it, for these tennis stars. I just wonder whether this will change anything going forward.

THOMAS: Yes, I think there could well be changes. I think what's important is that Naomi Osaka, in her statement Monday night, as she withdrew from

the French Open, concluded by saying she hoped that, after taking a break from sports, she will be able to speak to officials who run the tours,

quite a fragmented hierarchy in tennis. The International Tennis Federation is the governing body, but actually the professional men's and women's

tours run by the ATP and the WTA and then different organizers again for each of those four grand slams, the Australian, French and U.S. Opens and

the Wimbledon championships.

But they all have to listen because there's still this tendency to deliver stuffy old white men in suits' image when it comes to sports bureaucracy.

Tennis is certainly no different, perhaps even worse than other sports. They need to listen to someone like Naomi Osaka, a 23-year old from Japan,

who, nonetheless, not speaking in her native language, has been so eloquent, particularly when it comes to issues of social justice.

Remember the masks she wore at the U.S. Open, featuring the victims of police brutality in the U.S., which is a huge thing for anyone to take on

their shoulders, particularly someone who we now know has mental health problems.

ANDERSON: Alex Thomas in the house, thank you, Alex.

And Alex will be back in about 40 minutes with much more about this story, Naomi Osaka and what her decision does mean for the world of sport. This is

bigger than just tennis.

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ANDERSON: Europe's COVID numbers are dwindling and it is trying to figure out how to get people back traveling within the bloc again. The E.U.

Commission has proposed member states coordinate a, quote, "gradual" lifting of travel restrictions. They are being asked to use a new common

tool, the E.U. digital COVID certificate.

You'll have heard about this if you're a regular viewer of this show, which allows vaccinated travelers to skip quarantine and testing. The scheme is

set to be in place for all E.U. member states by July the 1st.

However, countries are able to start implementing it now, if desired. Well, Greece says it is ready to use that travel certificate before the rest of

the bloc and wants to ensure people on all of its islands are vaccinated by the end of the month. There's one island that poses a special challenge,

the party maker (ph) of Mykonos. Sam Kiley has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAM KILEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Not exactly the modern temple to Aphrodite that Mykonos has a reputation for. The party island is barely

waking up, two weeks after the official tourist season was declared open.

Museums are still locked up, many shops shuttered. But others are getting a makeover, while plans to create more than 80 COVID-free islands get

underway.

It is the centerpiece of Operation Blue Freedom, the Greek plan for economic recovery driven by tourism. Before the pandemic, a fifth of the

population was employed in the industry which generated 18 percent of GDP.

With U.S. visitors being Greece's biggest spenders, Athens is banking on a summer surge in American visitors. And U.S. airlines are increasing flights

to Greece this year for New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Newark and Washington D.C., The key is an aggressive vaccination campaign to jab every

island resident by the end of June so visitors can come if they've been vaccinated themselves, survived infection or have a negative PCR test.

IRENE ASIMOMITIS, RECEIVED COVID-19 VACCINE: It's a COVID free island. It's a COVID-free island. And we wait all the tourists to arrive in Mykonos

to enjoy the beaches, to enjoy the life.

KILEY (voice-over): Getting that done may rest on ending nationwide regulations, that ban music and crowds. Iraklis Zisimopoulos is a heart

doctor.

He also owns several Mykonos nightclubs and hotels. His clients call in with two questions, especially from America.

IRAKLIS ZISIMOPOULOS, SEMELI HOSPITALITY GROUP CEO: First of all, they ask if we are all vaccinated. And secondly, they can really party on the island

like they used to.

KILEY: A vaccine party.

ZISIMOPOULOS: Yes. That is the magic recipe.

KILEY (voice-over): Around 18 percent of Greeks have been fully vaccinated.

[10:10:00]

KILEY (voice-over): New COVID cases are falling and deaths are about 40 a day. For now though, the clubs are empty. Only cocktail shakers generate

any rhythm. Potion from Circe to soften the blues.

Tourists are trickling back and they're doing their best to enjoy a beach, without decibels of dance music. But with more than half the residents

population vaccinated, all eyes are turning to Athens to unleash Dionysus and let the fun begin in July.

VANGELIS SIAFIDAS, ALEMAGOU BEACH BAR AND RESTAURANT CO-OWNER: Not necessarily that the tourists need to feel that safe in order to come and

party and feel safe, you know. Because for example, last year people were ready to party. It was hard for us to enforce the rules on them. But I

think we are all trained now, us, the clientele and the personnel, everyone is right that this is going to be a better summer.

KILEY (voice-over): That's if a Hades of sound is your thing.

KILEY: There's a lot of talk in Mykonos about how the vibe won't get going until the loud music starts. But for the more mature traveler that can only

be a relief -- Sam Kiley, CNN, Mykonos.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: No longer part of the E.U. is the U.K., of course. Let's home in there and specifically on who can travel in and out.

England has been using a traffic light system. Travelers from countries on the green list require no quarantine in England. And U.K. passengers are OK

to travel to green list destinations.

However, it's worth noting that most countries on that green list are not themselves welcoming travelers.

Meanwhile, if you are returning to England from an amber list country, which includes much of the E.U., you must quarantine at home for up to 10

days; quarantine also mandatory for red list countries but must be undertaken at a government-approved hotel facility.

Red list arrivals are generally still banned from entering the U.K. unless they are U.K. or Irish citizens. We are expecting that list from England to

be updated in the coming days.

Well, the Cambridge professor, whose argument against herd immunity influenced a U.K. government to impose its first lockdown back in March of

2020, has a new warning as restrictions begin to ease.

Tim Gowers says, quote, "Things will get bad very quickly if the spread of the variant first seen in India is underestimated."

And Tim joining us now from Cambridge.

June the 21st is the date in which final lockdown measures are due to be lifted in England. Public Health England says this highly transmissible so-

called Indian variant now accounts for up to 75 percent of new reported cases across the U.K.

The 21st of June is being looked forward to as Freedom Day by many people in the U.K.

Do you still think it is safe for the government to continue with that plan, which effectively would mean everything is open once again?

TIM GOWERS, CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY: I think that would be taking a big risk. We've seen that the numbers are going up. It may not be certain that we're

at the beginning of a new wave.

But I think there's a big possibility that certainly can't be ruled out. And to what extent our certainty about it will have increased by the time

we reach June 21st, I think it's a mistake to be too fixated on that particular date.

I think we need to get to that date, see what the situation looks like then and, in general, be very cautious about further easing of restrictions.

ANDERSON: It was information that you gave the government back in March of 2020, which we now understand led to the first lockdown, which you and

others have suggested was late.

If the government is, as you suggest, cautious enough to postpone the opening, are you sufficiently confident that the vaccination rollout and

other COVID resilience, as it were, in England is sufficient to avoid a second wave at this point?

GOWERS: I wouldn't want to say that I was confident of that. I think ultimately one has to ask people who have been looking much more closely at

the data than I have. But just looking at the raw numbers superficially and having many thoughts.

[10:15:00]

GOWERS: Such as we have got a lot of people still unvaccinated and they are all of similar ages, I would probably expect them to mix with each

other more than they mix with vaccinated people.

So I think there are potentially large sections of society, where the virus could just grow, not completely unchecked, but not all that checked in

addition, because we have a much more transmissible variant. I think that, even things as they are now, is a bit worrying.

ANDERSON: Scotland's first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has spoken about Scotland's reopening road map today. Most of Scotland was meant to

downgrade to level 1 on June the 7th. She has said it is necessary to temporarily pause the easing for some areas until vaccination levels

increase.

Are you suggesting that that is a good decision and could be a sign of what's to come for other parts of the U.K. -- or perhaps should be a sign?

GOWERS: Again, I haven't dug too deeply into the numbers. My instinct would be that's a good decision if for no other reason than that it gives

us time just to look more closely at what's going on because, if you do ease restrictions, it's taking a gamble, however you look at it, one's

taking (ph) -- we're taking a decision with not -- with incomplete information.

And in that situation, what worries me is that the penalty for getting it wrong, if you underestimate how quickly the spread will be, it is much

larger than the penalty for getting it wrong in the wrong direction. The policy for being overcautious is that we have to wait a little bit longer

to enjoy a few of the things that we do enjoy.

But the penalty for getting it wrong the other direction could be, apart from lots of people dying, who wouldn't have died, which is, of course,

itself, pretty bad but it could be that we might have to go into a much deeper lockdown somewhere further down the line, when it just gets

completely out of control.

So even people who value their freedom, as I -- and I do myself, could find that it we're not cautious enough now, it's actually counterproductive and

we may have less freedom down the line.

ANDERSON: We've been talking about traveling in and out of the country. There's been much criticism of the U.K.'s traffic light system for

international travel.

What do you make of it and how might it be improved?

For example, there have still been incoming flights from India.

GOWERS: Yes, maybe that's -- again, I think I'm slightly out of my area of expertise. I do think a bad mistake was made earlier on, when flights were

coming in from India quite a long time after we knew there was an Indian variant.

But now that that mistake has been made, maybe the penalty for allowing more people in from India is not as great as the initial big mistake.

That's not to say that it's wise to let them in. We know that the numbers are great. So the chances that, in any one planeload, you'll have some

people with COVID coming in, are probably quite high.

And in general, there are difficult questions associated with that, what the -- questions about what the prevalence is in another country. If

somebody comes in from a country where the prevalence is lower than it is in this country and given the way things are growing, that may start to be

the case for countries that are currently higher, one could argue that it's not having a huge effect on the numbers in this country that are in fact

coming in.

But the problem with -- that's -- also that argument is not the whole lot - - the story because, if there are other variants around, and of course you don't want to let those in. So -- but there are a lot of factors to take

into account.

ANDERSON: At the start of this pandemic, Boris Johnson delayed locking down the U.K. That decision has been linked to roughly 20,000 avoidable

deaths.

You were advising the government at the time and, as I suggested earlier, played a critical role in finally triggering the U.K.'s first lockdown.

Do you genuinely believe that this government has learned from those very serious mistakes it made early on?

GOWERS: Well, first of all, I'd just like to say it's not -- I wasn't actually formally advising the government. And it's not -- I don't know to

what extent my contribution was critical. I think I gave Dominic Cummings confidence in a view that he was coming to already.

But it may have made some difference. I think, turning to your question, though, I think it was clear that they made the same mistake again in the

autumn, so they made the same mistake that --

(CROSSTALK)

GOWERS: -- because nobody really wants to lock down, it's very tempting just to put off (INAUDIBLE) the lockdown until you're absolutely forced to

do so. But that's the very worst thing to do. So a case where a stitch in time really almost literally saves nine.

[10:20:00]

GOWERS: And so by not doing that, they made the situation much worse, not just the numbers of deaths but also the lockdown itself. They made it much

worse. And it needn't have been.

And the talk of measures taken being irreversible gets me worried, that the same mistake could be made yet again. I think probably there are -- I don't

know this for sure because I don't have inside information -- but I would guess there are voices in the Conservative Party who are very keen not to

have any further lockdowns at all.

And so the people actually making the decision, in particular, the prime minister, will be, if they are going to lock down early, will have to fight

against a lot of opposition. And I don't thing --

(CROSSTALK)

GOWERS: -- not sure I have the confidence in him to do that.

ANDERSON: Tim Gowers, it's a pleasure having you on, sir. Boris Johnson has said that, you know, decisions will be made that are irreversible. So

your insight today is very important. Thank you.

Troubling COVID numbers in Peru. The country has revised its coronavirus death toll. It's now more than double what it had been reporting earlier. A

live report on that is ahead.

Plus, at the abyss: Lebanon's economic crisis may be one for the ages, with conditions going from bad to worse.

Is there a way out?

You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD.

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ANDERSON: Start with endemic corruption, mismanagement; add to that the coronavirus pandemic and a devastating explosion and you have is Lebanon

today. Besides the tragic loss of life, the World Bank now says Lebanon's economic meltdown may constitute one of the planet's worst crises since the

19th century.

Prices skyrocketing, the economy dramatically shrinking and more than half the people may be living in poverty, struggling to get basic services like

health care. And all of this in a period of, quote, "peace."

Well, the report paints a grim picture, unfortunately, with very few signs of hope. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz is on the ground in Beirut and joins us now.

And these are very frightening numbers. We are talking about the worst crisis in 150 years. This is about people at the end of the day.

How do these numbers translate to the reality on the ground, Salma?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is a country on life support. The value of the currency here has crashed by 90 percent just in the last

couple of years. People are simply suffering, unable to get by, unable to feed their families.

I spent time last week with a charity group, a grassroots movement, that's trying to address the need in their own neighborhood.

[10:25:00]

ABDELAZIZ: Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOSEPHINE ABOU ABDO, NATION STATION CO FOUNDER: This is the Nation Station's community kitchen. It started two days after the blast. We

started to distribute food because, as you know, the food security and the food accessibility in Lebanon is becoming harder and harder every day.

In the kitchen, for example, we distribute food to around 120 households, so around 225 individuals.

ABDELAZIZ: And how often do you do this?

ABDO: We do this three days a week. So we cook all week long. But we deliver Monday, Wednesday and Friday. We have this ward, where everything

in blue is being delivered to the house directly. And everything in black is delivered when the people come in with their own containers.

And we feed them up and we get them happy and we slowly -- slowly we felt that, after the blast, the need would really diminish or it would decrease.

But, to our surprise, like with the economical situation, the needs really increased. We have people coming --

(CROSSTALK)

ABDELAZIZ: So you're seeing people more in need?

ABDO: Exactly. We're getting people every day asking to be on the list, asking to have the support. I don't know if you know the situation

(INAUDIBLE) in the supermarkets. There is a daily increase in the price. The inflation is really --

ABDELAZIZ: Very high?

ABDO: Very high.

ABDELAZIZ: How do you feel when you see that, when you see how people are suffering?

ABDO: It's really heartbreaking because I know how bad the situation is. And to see that I can contribute in the small tiny 2 percent, 3 percent

that I can give, makes me super emotional but also very happy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABDELAZIZ: Now the struggle to eat and to feed your family is just one of the many challenges facing the Lebanese people. There's also constant power

outages here. Electricity is constantly cutting off. That's because the national grid is failing.

People are having to buy money, participate in generators to have electricity in power. There's also shortages of vital drugs if you go to a

pharmacy here. A lot of the key medicines that people need are simply no longer there.

Doctors and nurses are fleeing en masse because of a brain drain. The list of problems is excruciatingly long, Becky and these small community

projects, they're just a Band-Aid on a problem that is hemorrhaging.

ANDERSON: Our colleague, Ben Wedeman, filed this report early on in the months of last year. It was about the level of poverty in Lebanon back

then. I just want to play a clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMAL HAMDAN, ECONOMIST, CONSULTATION AND RESEARCH INSTITUTE: The danger of jue --

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hunger.

HAMDAN: -- of hunger is still at its beginning.

WEDEMAN (voice-over): Veteran economist Kamal Hamdan warns the already sputtering economy will soon fall into the abyss.

HAMDAN: At that moment, I think Lebanese will be at the peak in term of hunger, in term of maybe unrest, degradation of security conditions, the

massive migration.

WEDEMAN: Mark Derido (ph) recently lost his job and now scrapes by, selling sandwiches in Martyrs' Square, the epicenter of Beirut's protests.

He and others have posted copies of their university diplomas on the barricades down the street from the prime minister's office.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: That report was filed in the wake of mass anti-corruption protests in late 2019 and early 2020. We were in Beirut with CONNECT THE

WORLD at the time. And yet we are now having this conversation.

A World Bank report suggesting, "that such a brutal contraction is usually associated with conflicts or wars."

And the point is this didn't need to be like this.

Salma, what prospect of any improvement anytime soon?

Becky, I think the people of Lebanon will tell you that, although they are not fighting with bullets and bombs, they are at war with the ruling elite,

a political class that is unwilling or incapable of bringing about that change you are speaking of.

I think that World Bank report, one of the most important things it highlights, is what is called deliberate depression. Essentially, the

report says that, although you have a political class that's been unable to form a cabinet now for months, that cannot find any consensus, they do have

political consensus over one thing and that is an economic system of corruption, an apparatus of corruption that the caretaker prime minister

said is bigger than the state.

Let's take a step back and see, how did we get here?

Yes, there were those demonstrations that you were at, that you were covering. But after that, you had the COVID crisis. And then you had the

huge explosion at Beirut's port that ripped through the city, killed more than 200 people and still scars much of the city behind me today.

[10:30:00]

ABDELAZIZ: All of that compounded with this decades-long corruption that's been bleeding this country dry. And the result is the currency is in

freefall. People can't access their own money because of discretionary capital controls.

There is essentially no functioning state apparatus, because, again, that political class has been unable to form a government now for months. The

picture is bleak, Becky. And anyone here will tell you, it has to start with addressing the issues at the very top.

ANDERSON: Absolutely. It's a narrative that we have been reporting on now for months and months and months and still no change. So we will continue

to report on this story. Salma, thank you.

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

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ANDERSON: Some startling coronavirus statistics coming out of Peru. The South American nation has revised its official COVID-19 death toll upwards

to more than double what it had been reporting before.

Officials now say more than 180,000 people have died from the virus since the pandemic began. That is the highest death rate per capita in the world.

The prime minister says the number was updated based on data from local and international experts. Patrick Oppmann has been looking into this and joins

us now.

Is it clear specifically what led to this increase, Patrick?

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We've heard a number of different explanations, Becky. And while this statistic -- these updated statistics

are shocking, they're not really surprising for Peruvians, who, from very early on in the pandemic knew their government, their health system was

simply overwhelmed.

Thousands of people died without ever having a coronavirus test, without ever having access to oxygen or even hospitals. So people there have known

for quite some time that the figures the government was giving them and what they were simply just seeing by looking out the windows was very, very

different.

And one of the ways that determined this is simply looking at how many more people died in the last 1.5 years than you would have over a regular

period. And there's a lot of confusion, bureaucracy, different systems to keep track of different parts of the country and different parts of the

health care system.

So again, this is an estimate that so many more people died. The true number will probably never be known. But certainly it is more in line with

what actually happened in Peru.

[10:35:00]

OPPMANN: Which is that you had a country that simply could not deal with the challenges, particularly early on, of the coronavirus and was one of

the hardest hit countries in the world.

Of course, this has already led to a change in government in Peru.

And the open question is, how will it impact Peruvians' choice this Saturday for a new president?

They'll be going to the polls. It's an open question now as they are looking to a neck and neck race of how this announcement that things were

so much worse could impact that presidential race.

Certainly approving officials while they're admitting something that is very shocking, it is not a surprise to Peruvians, who have known all along

it was much worse than what their government were saying.

ANDERSON: Patrick Oppmann, reporting from Havana in Cuba today, thank you for being with us today.

Still to come, 32 years after the Tiananmen Square massacre, the Chinese government still attempting to rewrite the past. There's one museum

determined not to let that happen. That is just ahead.

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ANDERSON: If you saw these images from central Beijing in June of 1989, they are no doubt forever seared in your memory. For months leading up to

this moment were mostly peaceful. A growing wave of determined young students yearning for an end to Communist rule.

And this powerful symbol, one man versus the military might of China. It is a picture and a movement no one can or should forget.

For the second year in a row, though, China has denied plans for a Hong Kong vigil commemorating all of this. But as CNN's Kristie Lu Stout shows

us, there's a museum determined to preserve the truth of what became a massacre, despite Beijing's attempts to erase its bloody past.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Pictures seared into the minds of those allowed to see them. Rights groups say

hundreds, if not thousands of pro democracy protesters, were killed by their own country's troops at the Gate of Heavenly Peace, Tiananmen.

For over 30 years, Hong Kongers have refused to allow what happened in Beijing in 1989 to be forgotten. Through the annual vigil and the June 4th

museum in the city's Mong Kok district. Before he was imprisoned for his involvement, the 2019 pro-democracy protest, we spoke to veteran activist

Lee Cheuk Yan, an organizer behind the museum.

LEE CHEUK YAN, PRO-DEMOCRACY ACTIVIST: For the mainland Chinese, coming here I think is very important because they are the whole -- many in China

brought out -- or black out any mentioning about June 4th. So there's no -- the whole period of time, the truth is totally disappeared and suppressed.

[10:40:00]

STOUT (voice-over): One country, two systems afforded Hong Kongers the right to speak their minds about the present and the past in a way not

possible on the mainland. That right, encapsulated here at the museum, home to historical evidence not available to the public anywhere else in China.

This year, organizers have lost their appeal to hold the candlelight vigil in Hong Kong's Victoria Park, marking the second year that police have

banned the gathering, citing coronavirus restrictions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police have reasonable grounds to believe that the activities not only increase the risk of infecting COVID-19 by participants

and other people but also pose serious threats to the lives and health of all citizens, jeopardizing public safety and affecting rights of others.

STOUT (voice-over): Hong Kong security bureau also issued a statement, warning people not to take part in or advertise unauthorized assemblies or

challenge the national security law.

But on June the 4th, the museum will unveil a new exhibit about the history of the once annual vigil.

LEE: The people support you.

STOUT (voice-over): To its supporters, the June 4th museum is a place to honor those who stood up to harassment and fear. Lee believes that bravery

will continue to be celebrated, remembered and harnessed by a new generation.

LEE: You know, no matter what happened, this new generation, the younger generation, will also have that remembrance of June 4th.

But the problem is, how about the next one?

STOUT (voice-over): As China's tightening grip continues to minimize Hong Kong's freedom of expression, a new museum is being built online. A crowd-

funding campaign has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to digitize records and artifacts so the lessons of history will endure -- Kristie Lu

Stout, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: To a towering feat now from a 46-year-old man from China. Zhang Hong has become the first blind man in Asia and the third in the world to

climb Mt. Everest. Zhang says it doesn't matter if you are disabled as long as your mind is strong.

He scaled the tallest peak in the world from the Nepal side, which reopened to foreigners in April. Zhang lost his eyesight at the age 21 due to

glaucoma. He says he was inspired to make the climb by a blind American mountaineer, who scaled Everest back in 2001.

Another U.S. basketball fan got a little too exuberant. Check this out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON (voice-over): A fan ran on to the court Monday night during a playoff game in Washington. He was tackled by security and escorted out.

Arena officials say he won't be coming back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: This is just the latest in a string of incidents of NBA fans misbehaving. CNN's Alex Thomas is here with more on that.

And whilst it's got to be said that there will be people probably watching, who sort of are cheering him on, this is -- this is not good form, is it,

whichever sport we see it in, the security issue at the end of the day.

THOMAS: Yes, we've seen a series of incidents in the space of just a week, with popcorn being poured over a player. We've had a water bottle thrown at

another; someone spat at.

Each and of their own, we've probably seen similar incidents through the years, just not so many in such a short space of time. And it really calls

into question the mentality of basketball fans possibly after being locked away for so long during these COVID times that we live in.

But that's no excuse for bad behavior and authorities are (INAUDIBLE) to work out how to clamp down on it, Becky.

Yes, absolutely. You have "WORLD SPORT" after this. And we are back with the second hour of CONNECT THE WORLD after that.

(WORLD SPORT)

[11:00:00]

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