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Connect the World
Websites And Apps Go Dark Around The World; U.S. Vice President Meets With Mexico's President; Confidence Vote For New Israeli Govt Set For Sunday. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired June 08, 2021 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN, London, this is Connect The World.
ISA SOARES, CNN HOST: For today, the world is asking what broke the internet. I'm Isa Soares, hello and a very warm welcome to the second hour
of Connect The World. Well, if you heard a collective gasp right around the world earlier, we have the reason.
Multiple high traffic major web sites went down for about an hour after content delivery network had a widespread failure. Well, that company
Fastly says it identified and fixed the problem. And among the affected sites, CNN, The Guardian, Amazon, Target, and the UK Government. Anna
Stewart joins us now with the details of the outage.
And Amanda and Amanda - and Anna apologies, I was the person - I was one of those people that gasped when that happened. I was like, am I doing
something wrong? And I'm not very tech savvy. So what exactly happened here? What caused this?
ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: Isa, you weren't alone, I got a call from our boss saying the internet had broken. It was a big concern. I think
everyone's first worries were this was a result of some sort of cyber or ransomware attack, it was short lived, it was actually purely an error at
Fastly, a company that many people would never have heard of.
It is a content delivery network, a CDN. There are a few of them in the world, including Amazon, Microsoft and a few others. And there was some
sort of issue. So all the websites that use this company were down. And effectively what it does, the CDN, it has a whole network of servers around
the world.
And so a user of one of these websites will have a server nearer to them, meaning that websites load really fast. So you get CNN wherever you are in
the world, we hope really fast but not this morning as a result of this error. They did identify it, they say it is fixed. And many websites or
most websites are back up and running as usual user, Isa?
SOARES: And I suspect Anna, what it does, it makes us really question the infrastructure of the internet, because it's very and correct me if I'm
wrong, it's in the hands of very, very few companies.
STEWART: That's it. The internet is relying heavily on a few very large companies. And most of the time, of course, they work just as they should.
And we're talking about Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Fastly is one, Cloudflare is another one, you may not have heard or but there are quite a
few. And all these different websites all around the world rely on them.
And this is not the first web outage of this sort that has happened. We've had issues fairly recently with Amazon Web Services, and also with
Cloudflare. And that just goes to show that there's some fragility here. And then there's really a centralization really of these CDNs, not that
many of them, the whole internet relies on them.
It doesn't take too much for it to break and to have a collective world gasp as it looks like the Internet has broken, back up and running now
though. Isa.
SOARES: Yes, thank goodness. Let's talk more about this fragility. Anna, thank you very much, great to see you. While this outages Anna was saying
only lasted really an hour or so it illustrates really the fragility of the internet and just how much we depend on it.
Let's get some perspective from CNN law enforcement analyst Anthony Ferrante, who is also Global Head of cyber security at AFT consulting.
Great to see you, Anthony. This is happening more and more. You know, Anna spoke about this fragility, we saw it happen before with Cloudflare, Amazon
Web Services. What does this tell you about the internet infrastructure, the internet ecosystem we have in place?
ANTHONY FERRANTE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, you know, I think it's really interesting. Anna spoke and she said she woke up this morning and
she gasped, you know, ironically, it's actually not the first time this has happened over the last 10 or 15 years. I have lived and worked in this
space, my entire professional career.
And I can look back and think about a few times where this is actually happened. But rest assured, the internet did not break. OK? The internet,
as it was designed by the United States Department of Defense is a vast interconnection of computers, distributed and diversified to allow
governments to communicate in the event of a nuclear war.
And rest assured, this morning, the internet did not break. What happened - What happened were services on the internet became unavailable. Now it is
unknown why they became unavailable. And as I said earlier, it's not the first time this has happened.
I remember when I was at the White House in the Obama administration in 2016, where this actually happened three to four times during the course of
a single day. And I assure you during those outages in 2016, there were many within the U.S. government really concerned why this was happening and
how this was happening.
And I remember then, just like today, we learned that it was a misconfiguration of computer systems. Now what exactly does that mean? We
don't know. I think this deserves an independent investigation, a review, how did this happen? Why did this happen? And of course we want to make
sure it certainly doesn't happen again.
[11:05:00]
SOARES: And Anthony, I know you didn't gasp and the reason perhaps many more of us are gasping when things like this happen is because, you know,
this could have been nefarious, it could have been some sort of cyberattack, which we have seen more and more of. How real is the security
threat and talk about how it's evolved, that we got to the point that we are gasping at things like this?
FERRANTE: Yes, no, you're absolutely right. And you ask a great question, because here's what happened today. While the internet, OK, or the services
on the internet did go down and become unavailable for a few hours, they are back up and running. But what happened? OK, what essentially happened
is one of two things. OK, there could be others, but one of two major points. One, we don't know how it happened. But it certainly had a global
impact. OK. And the world noticed.
So now moving forward, whether it's a malicious actor, or an engineer that misconfigures equipment, we now know that this service introduces a single
point of failure. OK? And now our adversaries may be watching and know that if they're looking to disrupt information, global information, now there's
a target that they can hit in and block that information spread very quickly and very easily.
SOARES: Yes, that's such an important point. And it leads me to my next point, which is, you know, we're seeing G7 leaders meeting this week in
Cornwall here in England, Anthony, and we've heard recently, from President Joe Biden's National Security Adviser basically saying that cyberattacks
must be a priority for NATO's own countries in the group of G7. What can we expect from G7 on the topic of cyber security here?
FERRANTE: You know, it's a great question. I'm not sure what we can expect from our global leaders. But what I what I do hope to expect from them is
that they are all sitting up and taking notice, and realizing that everything we do today involves a computer network, no matter what we do,
from the moment we wake up in the morning, till when we go to bed at night, everything that we do involves a computer network.
And we cannot ignore how fragile that infrastructure can be. And how quickly, easily and candidly inexpensive, it is to launch a large scale
attack that can disrupt services, frankly, for an entire region of the world.
SOARES: Yes, and the reality is that in cyberspace offense may have the advantages over defense. So that's incredibly important. Anthony Ferrante,
great to - great to see you. Thanks very much.
FERRANTE: Thanks for having me.
SOARES: Now stay at home. That is the message U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris has for anyone considering migrating from Latin America to the
United States. She is looking for help from the President of Mexico, they're meeting now, sure we can show you some live pictures, it's the
second and final trip, a stop-off her trip. She's looking at reasons why people migrate, and what can be done about it. Matt Rivers joins us now
live from Mexico City.
And Matt, we are waiting for a memorandum of understanding and agreement on migration and development between Mexico and the United States. Explain to
us what that actually is and what it entails.
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, we're not really sure yet, Isa. We haven't had a lot of detail from either office, as of this point, we're
going to just be waiting to see. But we know, based on what the Vice President did in Guatemala on Monday, that she clearly wants deliverables
after this trip.
She wants to be able to show that the Biden administration is doing something beyond just having conversation. So what we saw on Monday in
Guatemala was the Vice President announcing a couple of different task forces, one focused on corruption, one focused on human smuggling and
coyotes, the human smugglers that that operate and bring so many people to the border.
And they also announced a female empowerment initiative, basically focusing on female entrepreneurs in Guatemala, hoping to help jumpstart female run
businesses in that country. So we're going to see what comes out of these meetings today, which we should know very shortly here in Mexico City. The
question is, how substantive is this? What does this mean?
Because, you know, none of these problems that they're trying to solve Isa, you know, are new and so what are they going to come up with to really
address these migration issues?
SOARES: Yes, I mean, we have been here before have we not, Matt? So it will be interesting to see what exactly they are putting on the table, if it's
financial, if it's aid, that hasn't stopped the flow of migrants and for all the talk matt of creating jobs and incentives and opportunities, I
would suspect that Washington's plans also include bolstering police and security forces. How much of a concern is that for people there?
[11:10:00]
RIVERS: Yes, you know, it's certainly a concern. I mean, what we've seen in Mexico going back, you know, to the Trump administration, because the last
time we saw a big spike in numbers of migrants at the U.S. southern border was during the Trump administration.
You had the Trump administration playing hardball, basically saying to Mexico, we're going to put tariffs on a whole bunch of your exports or your
imports rather to the United States unless you augment your - basically you stop the flow of migrants. That's when you first saw the deployment of
Mexico's National Guard to the southern and northern borders to try and halt the flow of migrants.
And that really brings up what makes Mexico different about all this because Mexico, you know, don't forget of all the migrants that are
arriving in the United States, the largest single group are single males from Mexico, even though we're talking a lot about Central American
migrants.
Now, Mexico represents the largest country in terms of sending people to the United States. And you have chronic violence, chronic poverty and
chronic corruption here in this country as well. Where Mexico differentiates itself from an El Salvador, from a Honduras is that Mexico
has a role in implementing these enforcement laws on these borders.
If Mexico stops, Guatemalans and Hondurans, trekking through its territory to the U.S., that only helps the United States in the long run, because
that means that less people will arrive at the border. And I think that's an interesting point is that when you look at how much you've heard from
the Biden administration, about tackling corruption and tackling poverty, you've heard them talk a lot about that in the Central American context.
You haven't heard them talk a lot about that in the Mexican context. And that's because they need Mexico as the former foreign minister here told me
a few days ago, they need Mexico to do the US' dirty work for it, to stop migrants on their trek north. It's a much more nuanced relationship that
the US has with Mexico as compared to, you know, Guatemala or Honduras.
SOARES: Yes, El Salvador, Honduras, the dramatic relations are really pretty inexistent there, aren't they? Matt Rivers for us there. Thanks very
much, Matt. Let's take you now to Peru where the leftist high school teachers lead in the former leaders daughter in the presidential race for
more than 96 percent of the votes counted. Pedro Castillo holds a slim lead over Keiko Fujimori.
But it could still be go either way, Castillo gave what sounded like a victory speech on Monday, take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PEDRO CASTILLO, PERUVIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (through translator): The homeland, Peru needs its children to rescue her. And thanks to every one of
you, thank you for showing solidarity. We have to be respectful of the popular will and I will be the first to enforce the will of the Peruvian
people here and there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Now without offering proof Fujimori is raising questions about Sunday's vote. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEIKO FUJIMORI, PERUVIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (through translator): Here this is about defending democracy, it is about defending freedom. It is
about defending the future of our country. And of course, respecting each of the votes of our population.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Castilla's party denies any irregularities at the poll. We will cross that story for you the next few days. Now the number of new COVID
deaths is spiking in several Latin American countries. We'll speak to a doctor in Brazil as the country faces a wave of new COVID infections plus
outrage directed at the UK after removal of Portugal from its COVID travel Green list. We'll speak for the Portuguese lawmaker, and doctor about why
he says a decision simply does not make sense. We'll bring you both the stories after a short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:15:00]
SOARES: Now Latin America is now seeing an alarming rise in the number of people dying from COVID-19. Right now the top countries reporting the most
COVID deaths per capita are all from the regions you can see that Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Bolivia, low COVID vaccination rates in those countries
are causing the virus to soar and despite having a high vaccination rate, Chile has now surpassed 30,000 COVID deaths.
I want to bring in Dr. Miguel Nicolelis, he's a professor of neurobiology at Duke University. He is in San Paolo, Brazil as the country faces one of
the world's worst outbreaks. Doctor, great to speak to you once again. Let's talk about Brazil. Let's focus in Brazil, if we can. We're seeing yet
again, doctor, a rise in ICU bed capacity in North Eastern Brazil, in the north eastern states of Brazil, I should say.
Do you think we're heading towards a third wave here? Paint us a picture of the COVID reality on the ground?
DR. MIGUEL NICOLELIS, PROFESSOR OF NEUROBIOLOGY, DUKE UNIVERSITY: Oh, absolutely. I think we are already in the third wave. There's signs coming
from multiple regions in Brazil, particularly the central West, the Northwest and Southeast shows that we are increasing the number of cases,
we are going to probably pass 100,000 cases a day this week.
And we see critical care units flooded with patients, not only COVID-19 patients, but also patients that needed medical assistance and couldn't get
it in March and April, because of the second wave that is, you know, was devastating across the country. So I think we are already in the midst of
this third wave.
SOARES: And yet, Doctor, we're seeing governors, we're seeing mayors across Brazil, relaxing restrictive measures. And may I add winter is just around
the corner.
NICOLELIS: Oh, absolutely. I'm calling here the coming of general winter which usually wins its battles, because during this period in Brazil, we
have peaks of all sorts of endemic diseases, tropical diseases, respiratory diseases, influenza. And now we have basically most of the health system
across the country is stew in the type of collapse that started in March.
So all these patients will need beds and they will not find it in hospitals. And at the same time, as you said, we have governors and mayors
and of course the president of Brazil calling for the relaxation of all these social distancing measures so it's pretty insane what is going on.
SOARES: Insane is the right word to use here, especially when you put into context what we're seeing in terms of the rollout of vaccinations,
incredibly slow. And what I've read and you can correct me here doctor is that Brazil's government Institute Fiocruz as well as Butantan are delaying
deliveries of that of the vaccines. Why is that, do we know?
NICOLELIS: Yes, we know some of the reasons. First, you know, they suffer delays from supplies, they were coming from India and from China. That was
the first reason. Then they had problems in manufacturing, local problems. And now of course, they're trying to catch up. But you know, we had a
milestone a few months, a few weeks ago of getting close to a million doses delivered per day, which is way below what do we needed.
We needed between two and three million doses per day. And even that milestone is not being fulfilled right now. We are way below -
SOARES: Yes, go ahead. Go ahead, doctor.
NICOLELIS: Yes, we are about 700,000 - 800,000 doses a day. And we are not getting vaccines to people that need it the most.
SOARES: And very worrying indeed. Dr. Miguel Nicolelis, Great to see you. Thanks very much.
NICOLELIS: My pleasure.
SOARES: And now fast - fast-changing COVID rules in Europe on making for a travel nightmare for holiday makers. Brits relaxing in Portugal have been
rushing to get home. Last week if you remember the UK removed Portugal from his travel green list after coronavirus variants had been detected there.
Now anyone returning to the UK from Portugal has to undergo quarantine.
Portugal has blasted the decision as lacking logic. A new study found that travel restrictions last year did not stop a new variant from taking over
Europe and spreading across the world. I'd like to bring in Dr. Ricardo Baptista Leite. He is a member of the Portuguese national parliament and
head of the public health at the Catholic University of Portugal. Ricardo, thank you very much for being with us this hour.
[11:20:00]
Let me first get your reaction to the government's decision to move Portugal to Amber.
DR. RICARDO BAPTISTA LEITE, PORTUGUESE PARLIAMENT MEMBER: Well, thank you so much for having me. It's quite unbelievable that the UK has made this
decision three weeks after they decided to put us on a green list to allow football fans basically to come see a football match between two English
soccer teams in the city of Porto.
Three weeks later, when the COVID scenario in Portugal did not transform tremendously, we see a reverse in that decision making process, which makes
us think that it is not based on science, but based on their own economic personal interests.
And the truth is, if we see the way that those football fans behave, some of them almost as hooligans in comparison to those that we were welcoming
now, families, middle class British families, elderly people from the UK who want to just to spend a week or two in the Algarve, which, by the way,
is one of the safest places in Portugal right now, when we look in terms of COVID numbers.
Well, it is quite astonishing how the UK is making these decisions with a tremendous negative impact. And you can only imagine in terms of the
tourism staff, hotel staff, restaurant owners, everybody is in despair, because we worked so hard to welcome the British citizens as tourists here
not to speak about the Portuguese citizens living in the UK, wanting to come to Portugal and also a business entrepreneurs from Portugal going to
the UK.
So this is really disrupting and certainly not based on science and policy at this point should be based on science, instead of going back and forth
in terms of these Amber's and Green lists, what we should be discussing is how in this new time with vaccination, can we find solutions to make sure
that we keep travel corridors open.
SOARES: Doctor, it's clear that you're clearly - it's clear that you're - that you're angry about this decision or frustrated about the decision. We
heard from the UK government basically saying that they saw a rise in COVID cases in Portugal, that was the reason for their decision, they spoke of a
Nepal variant. What's your response to this?
BAPTISTA LEITE: Well, listen, if we look at the data, even in looking at WHO data we see that there is really no significant scientific knowledge to
subsequent substantiate a decision to reverse our position especially because the number of cases of the Indian variant, not to speak of sub-
variant as the Nepalese variant we see here in Portugal are minimum, especially when in comparison with the UK.
And so it's quite astonishing, especially now that we have seen that in terms of vaccination, it is highly effective, including against these
variants. We haven't seen a rise in terms of hospital bed requirements, in terms of ICU, and certainly not in terms of deaths. And so at this point,
we cannot keep using the formula from 2020 to respond to this challenge in 2021 when we have a greater knowledge of how to deal with this virus, we
have a greater knowledge of the impact that vaccination, which is becoming widespread has.
And so honestly, I think that the lack of a true global health convention is undermining our economic efforts to get on our feet. And these kind of
solutions are bad not just for the Portuguese economy, but for the global economy, including the UK. And so looking at the countries not as a whole
but looking at a regional approach, discussing a vaccination certification, finding solutions that can keep citizens safe, both tourists and people
living here is the way to move forward.
And that is exactly the opposite that Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his team have been dealing with. And we just heard today that Boris Johnson has
requested - has asked the citizens to take their holidays across the UK. So if there was a real concern about the variants, which are quite present in
the UK, he would be basically disseminating within the United Kingdom, which is exactly the opposite that a public health approach would need.
So there's a feeling once again, that there are other interests that are not based on science focusing the UK's decision making process.
SOARES: OK, so other interests not based on logic, not based on science, Dr. Leite. You said that the Prime Minister here Boris Johnson's asking for
families to stay in the UK, holiday in UK as they prepare though, as though some of them prepare for the summer holidays. What is your message to Brits
who want to come over to Portugal, if this is not based on science? If this is based on politics, let's say?
BAPTISTA LEITE: Well, I'd like to say to the British people that Portugal is continuing to work hard. Our hotel owners, our restaurant owners, our
taxi drivers, our Uber drivers, everyone on the ground has been working around the clock to make our country safe to welcome everyone who wants to
visit us. We asked them, those that come to comply with the rules as the Portuguese are complying and together we can get out of this stronger.
[11:25:00]
I would actually like to reinforce the invitation of the President of the Madeira islands, who actually invited Prime Minister Boris Johnson to come
to our country and spend his holiday - his honeymoon among our citizens, and to see how safe it is. I'm sure that we should all be focusing more on
finding solutions on how to overcome this pandemic, than just focusing on a nationalistic approach, which will at the end undermine us all.
SOARES: Yes, I don't know if you heard me earlier, just before I came to you, saying we found that - the researchers have found that the mild travel
restrictions such as recommendations to quarantine after international journeys Doctor, failed to stop a new variant of coronavirus from taking
over Europe and spreading, which begs the question, like you said about the whole system there is in place right now.
BAPTISTA LEITE: Absolutely. That is the main question here. You know, if we were to manage air traffic control the way we are managing global health,
we would have a plane crash every five minutes. There is no kind of rules and regulations that actually support countries in a coordinated manner to
make sure that we are responding adequately in the face of this pandemic.
And of course, this is all new, but 15 months have passed. We need a multilateral approach, we need a global public convention in which those
rules and regulations are settled so that we can keep citizens moving, but in a safe manner, which is exactly the opposite of these kind of approaches
where each country is doing whatever they feel they should do or whatever their local constituents are asking them to do.
We need to make decision making processes that are based on science and coordinated at a multilateral level. Sadly, as you mentioned, these kinds
of approaches do not have the impact of stopping the virus, which should be our main concern at the same time as we try to make sure our economy kicks
back and we overcome this pandemic.
SOARES: Well, I hope Prime Minister Boris Johnson is watching. I hope he gets your invite to the honeymoon in Portugal, anywhere in Portugal, in the
Algarve where numbers are very low, like you said or too late. I for one, I'm very looking forward. I haven't seen my family for over a year and a
half who live in Lisbon. I'm very excited to see them. Thank you very much, Dr. Ricardo Baptista Leite joining us from beautiful Sintra. Thank you.
BAPTISTA LEITE: Thank you.
SOARES: Now French President Emmanuel Macron found himself in a tense encounter earlier today. This is the moment he was slapped in the face by a
bystander in southeast France. The man in the video was heard shouting, 'Down with Macronia,' a slang word for Mr. Macrons presidency, before the
assault.
The two men are now in police custody. Political rival and far right leader Marine Le Pen condemned the attack. Mr. Macron was meeting restaurant
owners at the Elysee, the President's official residency exchanges with the crowd and handshakes resumed, the trip continues.
Now a new era in Israeli politics is poised to begin but the old guard is not giving up just yet. We look at the new government and the hurdle it's
facing, coming up. Plus the final decision for the former boss new military commander Ratko Mladic. He is appealing his conviction for genocide and
other crimes during the Bosnian War. We'll have a live report for you just ahead. You are watching Connect The World.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:30:00]
SOARES: Now the United Nations court has just upheld the life sentence for the former Serb military commander known as the Butcher of Bosnia. The
court rejected his appeal against a lower tribunals verdict. Ratko Mladic, was convicted in 2017 for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity
for acts committed during the Bosnian war from 1992 to 1995.
And that includes the killing of more than 8000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica in 1995. CNN's Scott McLean has more on the verdict. He joins us
now from London. Scott, is this the end of the road, would you say for him? Or does he have any more appeals that he could - he could afford?
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey Isa, yes, I mean, this case has been going on for what seems like ages. Keep in mind that the war ended in 1995
as you said. He actually did manage to disappear for 16 years after that. So he's captured in 2011 finally, 2012 is when his trial began. It lasted
for more than four years, we didn't end up getting a verdict from that until 2017.
And as you mentioned, verdict, including, you know, things like crimes against humanity, genocide, murder, terror, hostage taking all in the name
of ethnic cleansing against Bosnian Croats and Bosnian Muslims, as well. And if you read the original verdict, it reads like the worst kind of
horror that you could possibly imagine.
And it goes into some pretty specific detail on some pretty horrifying events. I'll just give you a couple examples like a group of 28 men who
were marched down to a bridge in one town. Some were shot along the way, those who survived were forced to jump off the bridge while Mladic's men
shot at them in the river below. There was only one survivor.
Or the 24 Muslim men who were suffocated in the back of a truck or the unarmed detainees forced out of the room with gas and then shot as they
were fleeing for safety outside of the building. In the prison camps that, you know, they, they described starvation, unsanitary conditions and rape
of girls under 12 years old.
And so after 2017, that conviction, he appealed there hoping to at the very least get his sentence reduced. Today, as you said, though, the judge
ultimately upheld all of the convictions against him. And so the situation really doesn't change for Ratko Mladic. And so if there is any kind of a
route to appeal, it's certainly not going to be an easy one, Isa.
SOARES: It's kind of an obvious question. But why 26 years later, Why is it taking this long, Scott?
MCLEAN: Yes, as I said, I mean, so many things that happened between - between then and now. I mean, he primarily the 16 years where he went on
the run after the war, sort of shielded by people in in Serbia, shielded by the security forces, shielded by, you know, his family members who were
able to protect him, because remember, there's a lot of people who are sympathetic to this person.
He is yes, viewed by a villain by Bosnian Muslims. But he is very much a hero in the eyes of a lot of people in Serbia, and even recently, and this
is something that world leaders, even at the G7 foreign ministers meeting brought up sort of warning against this rising tide of ethnic nationalism
that we're even seeing today, sort of ginned on by some of the leaders today continuing to use these ethnic tensions to their political advantage.
And a lot of people are, you know, concerned that this country, Bosnia and Herzegovina won't be able to withstand all that much, especially
considering the government, which seems to be quite dysfunctional, has sort of a power sharing agreement between different ethnic groups that helped to
end the war.
But, you know, there's plenty of concern that given how dysfunctional the government is, and given this rising tide of ethnic nationalism that, you
know, things haven't quite resolved themselves the way that the international community would have thought that they would, this many years
later, Isa.
SOARES: Yes. And for many of the families, a long journey to justice, isn't it? Scott McLean there for us. Appreciate it. Thanks very much, Scott. Now,
never before heard audio of a 2019 phone call now obtained by CNN is shedding light on how far the man once known as America's Mayor was willing
to go for former U.S. President Donald Trump. Long-time adviser Rudy Giuliani can be heard relentlessly pushing the Ukrainian government to
investigate baseless conspiracies about then candidate Joe Biden and his son.
[11:35:00]
Allegations that Trump pressured the Ukrainian government - the Ukrainian leadership to investigate his would-be political rival in exchange for
better relations and military aid later became a central part of his first impeachment.
CNN's Matthew chance has our exclusive report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: What exactly did you mean?
RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER MAYOR OF NEW YORK: Meaning meddling in the election.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was the call that set events in motion.
KURT VOLKER, U.S. DIPLOMAT: OK, so we should have on the line here, America's mayor, Mayor Giuliani and we have Andriy Yermak.
CHANCE: Thrusting a reluctant Ukraine into America's divided politics. We already know through transcripts and testimony, Giuliani pressured them to
announce investigations important to then President Trump, but this is the first time we've heard his actual voice.
GIULIANI: I want very much to see that our two countries are able to work together.
CHANCE: Giuliani cajoled the Ukrainian presidential advisor on the other end of the line, first promoting debunked conspiracy theories that Ukraine,
not Russia was involved in U.S. election meddling in 2016 and tried to hurt the Trump campaign.
GIULIANI: Way back in November, I got information from a reliable investigator, international investigator that there was a certain amount of
activity in Ukraine during the 2016 election that was - that involves Ukrainian officials and Ukrainian - mostly officials being asked by our
embassy, possibly by other American officials. Basically, the statement was to produce dirt on then candidate Trump and Paul Manafort.
CHANCE: By the time of the call in July 2019, Joe Biden had already emerged as the Democratic Party's front runner to challenge President Trump.
Digging up dirt on Biden, like the unfounded allegations of corrupt dealings in Ukraine, when he was Vice President, had become a priority for
Trump and his longtime advisor.
Throughout the roughly 40 minute call, Giuliani repeatedly pressed the Ukrainian leadership to publicly announce investigations into these two,
something that would have undoubtedly benefited Trump's re-election campaign and damaged candidate Biden is to have Giuliani sets out what's
required.
GIULIANI: And all we need - all we need from the President is to say, I'm going to put an honest prosecutor in charge, he's going to investigate and
dig up the evidence that presently exists and is there any other evidence about involvement of the 2016 election, and then the Biden thing has to be
run out. I don't know if it's true or not. I mean, I see - I see him bragging about it on television.
And to me as a lawyer, to me as a lawyer, it sounds like a bribe. Somebody in Ukraine's got to take that seriously.
CHANCE: And the Ukrainian presidential office, they took it very seriously, then as now the country was fighting a desperate war against Russian backed
rebels in its east and heavily depended on U.S. weapons and military aid to hold its ground, including millions of dollars that had been frozen by the
Trump administration, while Giuliani pursued these political investigations.
Mindful of the need for a strong relationship with Washington, the Ukrainian presidential advisor on the call, tried to assure Giuliani
investigations he wanted would be looked at.
ANDRIY YERMAK: And we'll be ready this day immediately communicated, to coordinate, to work and investigate everything which you listed.
CHANCE: But privately Ukrainian officials say they were alarmed of being sucked into American politics, especially when Giuliani repeatedly
suggested compliance would open the door to closer U.S.-Ukrainian ties, even a presidential meeting, undermining the former U.S. presidents
assertions that he never sought political favors from Ukraine to secure U.S. support. So called quid pro quo.
DONALD TRUMP, 45TH U.S. PRESIDENT: I want nothing. I want nothing. I want no quid pro quo.
CHANCE: Now we can hear Giuliani set out his offer.
GIULIANI: So he could make some statements at the right time, that he supports a fair, honest law enforcement system and that these
investigations go wherever they have to go. It's going to be run by honest people.
[11:40:00]
That would clear the air really well. And I think it would make it possible for me to come and make it possible, I think for me to talk to the
president and see what I can do about making sure that whatever misunderstandings are put aside, and maybe even - I kind of think that this
- this could be a good thing for having a much - a much better relationship where we really understand each other.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To my factual knowledge, they approached numerous--
CHANCE: One former Ukrainian official who was listening in on the call, understood all too well. He spoke to CNN last month of his outrage, as he
heard, Giuliani tried to force a deal that, in his words, threatened Ukraine's national security.
IGOR NOVIKOC, FOREMER ADVISER TO UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT ZELENSKY: Let me remind you, we're a country fighting an active war with Russia for many
years. So anything to do with swapping, you know, favors within our bilateral relationship in exchange for trying to get us involved into U.S.
domestic politics is just wrong on many levels, morally, ethically, and probably even legally.
CHANCE: By call's end Ukrainian side seemed to understand exactly what President Zelensky of Ukraine was expected to do to keep Washington on the
side. And on the call, at least, they agreed.
YERMAK: I'm sure that Zelensky will say that. Yes.
VOKER: Yes. Good. Second.
GIULIANI: That would - that would. Believe me, Andriy, that would - that would be good for all of us.
CHANCE: Giuliani has denied any wrongdoing in Ukraine, and says he was just trying to help his personal client, Trump. It was, of course, this and
other aggressive attempts to coax Ukraine, vigorously denied by then administration officials, that led to former President Trump's first
impeachment in which he was eventually acquitted by the U.S. Senate.
It's hard to know if actually hearing Giuliani relentlessly pressing Ukraine like this.
GIULIANI: If he could say something like that on his own in the conversation, it would go a long way. It would go a long way with the
President to solve the problems.
CHANCE: Would have in any way influenced the outcome of the impeachment vote. Matthew Chance, CNN, London.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Now this Sunday could be one of the biggest days in recent Israeli history. Israel's parliament is set to vote on a new governing coalition,
then swear-in a new Prime Minister. If it all goes as expected Prime Minister - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's 12 years as Prime Minister
will come to an end. But he's not done fighting just yet.
Let's bring in Gil Hoffman. He's the chief political correspondent for Jerusalem Post. Gill, great to have you on the show. Let's talk about the
options left for Netanyahu. What does he have left? What else can you do?
GIL HOFFMAN, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, JERUSALEM POST: Netanyahu can still try to bring some kind of defector from the other side to deprive
Naftali Bennett of the majority required to unseat Netanyahu in the parliament. Of course, security tensions can always escalate.
We are in the Middle East. And that can lead to calls to delay or keep Netanyahu in power. Until it really happens, those who want Netanyahu to
leave cannot breathe easy.
SOARES: Yes, give me a sense, Gil, of the - of the political landscape right now. How is this likely to go ahead? Is this transition likely to go
ahead? This change of government, this coalition?
HOFFMAN: Yes, absolutely. They've come so far. They've brought together a wide spectrum into a unity government from the far right to the far left
with an Israeli Arab party, that is agreed to join the governing coalition for the first time making history here in Israel, and hopefully they will
usher in a period of internal reconciliation.
SOARES: Yes, but like we were saying, you know, Netanyahu is still fighting. He has, even though we've had language for him from him that's
kind of reminiscent of Donald Trump. He said the biggest election fraud in history and I think he said people feel cheated. And he actually said
people should protest the formation of the government.
You know, what is your biggest concern here, as we head towards Sunday?
HOFFMAN: Look, I don't expect there to be 1000s of people going to the parliament building and trying to break in, like they did in congress. And
I also don't expect Netanyahu to go gracefully. It would be wonderful if he did. We've had many changes of power here in our democracy that went
smoothly.
[11:45:00]
He's got another few days to realize that he's not going to remain Prime Minister and to take the high road out, I think if he did that would help
him make a political comeback later on. He's not going anywhere. He's going to be the opposition leader and the candidate for Prime Minister. You can
woo voters a lot easier if he goes on with respect.
SOARES: And what I mean, I know he's stepping down, we think he's going to step down - expected to step down - the Prime Minister's this - this
weekend. What would be his legacy here?
HOFFMAN: Netanyahu's legacy is that Iran did not acquire a nuclear weapon. It wanted to acquire a nuclear weapon long ago. He made Peace Accords so
with United Arab Emirates, and with Bahrain and even with Morocco and with Sudan, without Israel having to make significant concessions.
And in the pandemic, Israel handled better than countries around the world. There are fewer than 200 people in a country of 9 million people who have
the coronavirus right now and that's a very big relief that Israelis will be appreciative to Netanyahu.
SOARES: Gill Hoffman, appreciate your time to speak to us. Thanks very much.
HOFFMAN: Thank you.
SOARES: Just ahead right here on the show, CNN's showing its commitment to World Oceans Day, we've been talking to an award winning conservationist
about protecting our blue planet. Her words of hope in our special 'Call to Earth' report. That is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: Now nature lovers right around the world are celebrating World Oceans Day, today. Throughout this week, CNN is marking the occasion with a
cluster of content about our blue planet. Today's Call to Earth is a rallying cry from a Rolex Awards Laureate Kerstin Forsberg, a champion of
manta rays in her native Peru. Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KERSTIN FORSBERG, ROLEX LAUREATE: There are many reasons why we should protect the oceans. We're talking about 70 percent of our planet's surface
and over 95 percent of where there can be life so it's really the most important part of our planet. My name is Kerstin Forsberg. I am marine
scientist and conservationist and I work to protect giant manta rays in my homeland of Peru.
[11:50:00]
In the past, they were not protected, they were being harvested. And many times, even local citizens didn't even know that giant manta rays existed
in Peru. Manta rays typically have small population sizes, we were talking about a species that could really be jeopardized by this continuous over
exploitation.
When we were able to secure national protection for giant manta rays, that's what makes me feel like an achievement. Once - once you start
creating those changes. What Planeta Oceano does is we really bring people together, we empower people to conserve marine environments.
(Foreign language)
When I grow up, I wasn't talked about the ocean as much as I should have been in school. And really, as I move forward in my career, really
recognizing how this issue was also going on worldwide. There's so - so much to do to engage ocean issues within the curriculum, within classrooms.
It's not enough to just research or educate, you need to think about creative solutions that can support livelihoods of these impoverished
communities.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How are you?
FORSBERG: We've been working with fishermen to build manta ray ecotourism. And this serves not just as a way for fishermen to contribute to
conservation, but also to develop additional income that is really benefiting them and their communities. There's fishermen that perhaps in
the past have harvested giant mantas, but that now go out with us to study them.
They don't throw plastic bags into water anymore, and if they see a plastic bag in the water, they'll pick it up and they'll bring it back to coast.
We'll talk about sustainable fisheries and how they can't fish, juvenile fish, for example, you start seeing changes in behavior, thanks to this,
you know, one flagship species that has created even more care for the environment.
For me, it's always about looking at those connections with the people. Meeting with the teachers, seeing a smile on a child's face, working with
local volunteers. That's what gives me most hope, really.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: And Kerstin Forsberg, whom you saw, there is our guest Editor of the Call to Earth webpage until the end of July. She's helping us to
continue showcasing really the ocean related stories as part of the initiative at CNN and let us know what you are doing to answer the call
with the hashtag call to earth. We'll be right back after a very short break. Do stay right here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: Now a London Metropolitan Police officer has pleaded guilty to the kidnap and rape of Sarah Everard. The 33-year old's body was discovered in
March in a woodland in southeast England. Prosecutors say the suspect Wayne Couzens hasn't yet been asked to enter a plea on the murder charge. CNN's
Nina dos Santos brings us the details.
[11:55:00]
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He's a 48 year old former police officer. Wayne Couzens appeared via video link from a high security prison
Belmarsh at the Old Bailey the central criminal court here in London to answer to charges of kidnapping and rape of 33-year old Sarah Everard, a
young marketing executive who vanished from the streets of a quiet South London suburb at the height of the lockdown in March this year.
Her disappearance prompting a wave of anger and indignation and grief, with many 1000s of women taking to the streets, including here to converge upon
parliament to highlight the consequences of a toxic culture of dangerous misogyny in the UK. Well, Couzens pleaded guilty to both raping and
kidnapping Sara Everard. He also said that he was responsible for her death, but he was not at this point asked to enter into a murder plea.
That may come later, pending the release of medical report. The next date in this case is said to be on July 9. Isa?
SOARES: Thanks very much. Nina Dos Santos there. Now to a Hollywood A- lister known for speaking out. Keira Knightley saying that every woman she knows has been sexually harassed, harassed, including she says herself.
Speaking to Harper's Bazaar magazine, the British actress says she finds the whole situation quick depressing. Knightley known for starring in film
roles such as Pirates of the Caribbean as well as Pride and Prejudice said a few months ago that she will no longer do intimate scenes directed by
men, citing the male gaze as the reason.
And before we end the show, and I'll leave you with this story.
(VIDEO PLAYING)
SOARES: A herd of wandering elephants now famous in China for their adventures were found napping in a word in the country's union province.
Taking a rest, these giants have been on the move since March of last year, traveling approximately 500 kilometers from their nature reserve.
And that's all for me for this hour of Connect The World. I'm Isa Soares. Do stay right here with CNN. One World is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
