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Connect the World
124 Plus Dead, Hundred Missing in Europe's Devastating Floods; Growing Uncertainty in Lebanon as Hariri Calls it Quits; Spain's Coastal Tourism Economy Struggles to Recover. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired July 16, 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]
BECKY ANDERSON, CNNI HOST: thousands are missing. There are growing questions over the motive behind the assassination of the Haitian
President. We've got new video from moments after a deadly shootout between police and the suspected assassins.
And we don't want the Olympics from Japan. We'll have the latest on protests against the games as COVID cases surge. We're live in Tokyo with
just a week to go.
All right. It's 3 p.m. in London and it's 6 p.m. in Abu Dhabi where the show is normally based, of course, and it is 11 p.m. in Tokyo. I'm Becky
Anderson. Hello and welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD.
Deluge, destruction, and death. A sinister triple threat slamming parts of Europe. It is a tough one. We don't like playing along this game at CONNECT
THE WORLD, especially when we are covering people's live in communities in distress, yet it is important to know that the death toll has been rising
after catastrophic flash floods engulfed entire communities in Germany, Belgium, and in the Netherlands.
Officials say more than 125 people have sadly lost their lives, and hundreds we are told are still missing. And the power is out for tens of
thousands.
Well dramatic rescue efforts are underway in what's been called Europe's worst flooding in a century. All of this in a week when the E.U. announced
one of the world's most ambitious proposals for cutting carbon emissions to help fight the climate crisis.
Well Belgian authorities say they lack the equipment to cope with such intense flooding. CNN's Melissa Bell is in Liege where, unfortunately,
Melissa, some houses have collapsed. Just explain what you are seeing around you.
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well you mentioned there a moment ago the fact that the Belgian authorities recognized and they simply didn't have
the equipment they needed. So we've just been brought here and dropped off by a rescue boat. They then had to take a family back, so they'll come and
collect us in a bit, but it gives you an idea of what the city of Liege looks like.
And what these people have been telling us is that the water has rose incredibly quickly yesterday. It wasn't that there was a steady trickle of
water and that they rose gradually. In fact, a torrent came down this street I'm told from that end of it, and within a couple of hours the
flooding had taken hold. The basements entirely flooded.
Now here in Liege the water never came above around here. We've just come from a village where it reached the top of the doors, the tops of the
doors. That's how high it reached in some villages around here, with people stuck, and you can see these people here outside their homes waiting either
to be rescued or for food and water because, as you mentioned, there's no electricity. There's no water until yesterday we were told. They said,
look, we could have a cup of tea. We could have a cup of coffee, but we have nothing to eat and at this stage nothing to drink.
Some of them are choosing to stay inside their homes. They're not going to be rescued because they want to protect what little is left, but it really
gives you an idea of these incredible scenes across a vast swathe of Northern Europe. This is, of course, the city center of Liege, but this is
- these are scenes being repeated, of course, across the border in Germany, as you mentioned in the Netherlands.
And it's I think taken this long that is for the world to wake up this morning for people to be able to look around, look at themselves, for the
rescue efforts to begin to get an idea of just how catastrophic these floods have been and just how vast the scale of the devastation is, Becky.
ANDERSON: Yes, and is there any real understanding of why things have been as bad as they have? And what are governments as you say not just where you
are but around this part of Europe doing to ensure that help and repair when necessary is on its way?
BELL: Well I think not enough, and that's something that's been recognized by officials already. We heard from the premiere of one of the states
hardest hit across the border in Germany visiting this devastation yesterday, the man who's due to take over from Angela Merkel at the helm of
her party when she stands down this - later this year saying look, this is about climate change, and we need to be better prepared to deal with the
consequences of climate change.
And that has not been the case. Experts have been warning for years that the climate change we've been seeing these last few years will lead in this
part of the world, Becky, to lots of rain very suddenly, especially in the summer months. Of course, the result of that are these flash floods. Why
were authorities not better prepared? Why did they not have the equipment to deal with it? I think that's something that once these rescue efforts
have finished, once a bit of the tidying up has begun, these are the questions that are going to dominate why these countries that were so
vulnerable to this kind of catastrophe were not better prepared for it.
And it's something we've heard already from the people. I was mentioning the village a moment ago we just came from where the water had reached the
tops of the houses - the tops of the doors saying, look, we were here yesterday. The water came. It came fast. It came high, and we were just not
getting any kind of help. And of course, with communications cut off, imagine how terrifying that would be.
[10:05:00]
Still now there are many parts of those areas varied (ph) if you can't get a phone signal and, again, no electricity, no water, and no word from the
outside world. These will have been a terrifying 24 hours for a lot of people in this region, Becky.
ANDERSON: Yes. Absolutely. Absolutely. Thank you for that. I want to bring in our meteorologist, Jennifer Gray, at this point. And Jennifer, clearly
no surprise that the talk is turning to the climate crisis and the climate change. There is an acceptance amongst some leaders in that region that
that is a factor if not the key reason for what is unfolding. Which begs the question, you know, are we likely to see more of these types of extreme
weather events going forward?
JENNIFER GRAY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well one thing the climate evidence shows greatly is that you will see many more rain events and heavy rain
events from climate change. That's one of the things we're most confident about when you're talking about climate change.
What's happening in the atmosphere is it's becoming warmer, of course, and that's allowing it to hold more moisture, and that in turn leads to
increased rainfall. We're seeing it across Europe. We've seen it with several of the hurricanes that have impacted the U.S. They're moving
slower, they're holding more rain, and it's creating just catastrophic floods around the world.
We had a similar event in May of 2016 that impacted France and Germany, and after the research what it showed is a warmer climate made the event 80 to
90 percent more likely human-caused climate change. And so, these are the images that we're seeing out of this latest event.
In Belgium the rivers just overflowed their banks. The water cam at such a fast rate that we weren't able to recover from it before the flooding
began. It's called training. You see these showers just pounding these same regions for hours on end. Nine hours straight just torrential rain.
And so, it just can't drain fast enough in this very slow-moving load (ph). You can see that spin in the central portion of Europe. That's basically
what caused this and all of this rain that fell during that nine hour duration caused this flash flooding. You can see these numbers. Look at
that, the area shaded in hot pink. Of course, we received several hundred millimeters of rain, about 150 just in that nine-hour span.
That's more than we should receive in the entire month of July. We should receive about 87 millimeters of rain. We received more than 150 just in
that single day. And so, it is extremely alarming when you're talking about climate change, and we're going to see more events like this.
Impossible to predict exactly where they're going to happen, but countries and cities do need to be prepared for more events like this. Here's a
satellite imagery of the Meuse River, and you can see the over flooded banks right there on either side, so these villages right alongside the
river just devastated. Toppled cars. It only takes about 60 centimeters of rain to life a car, Becky.
ANDERSON: Absolutely. Thank you for that. We're pushing to get a lot more on these weather events at CNN.com. You know how to find that. We are
learning more about the involvement of Colombian nationals in the assassination of Haiti's President.
Colombia President, Ivan Duque, says that some of the commandos detained or killed in Haiti were aware the goal of their mission was to kill Jovenel
Moise. He spoke after Colombian police said the suspects were meant to detain the president and turn him over to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency,
which has previously denied any involvement.
It is still not clear how the assassins made it into the presidential compound last Wednesday night without anyone other than Moise or his wife
being shot. Matt Rivers connecting us from Port-au-Prince where he has been since just after that assassination.
And Matt, it is more than a week now and still so many questions about just how these commandos entered the compound and more, indeed, the head of
presidential security was doing at the time.
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Becky. There - and also the motive. I mean, what is the motive behind this? We don't really know. What we have
been able to put together over the last few days is we have learned a lot more about the suspects in terms of who they are and how they were brought
here, who might have supplied them, who might have financed them.
There's a lot of allegations floating around out there that we have more information on including, now, we were made aware for the first time of a
clip circulating here in Haiti but not really talked about internationally at all, and we want to show that to our viewers because we think it gives
them a firsthand glimpse of these alleged mercenaries in the hours right after the president was assassinated and also their claims that they didn't
do it.
[10:10:00]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
Just hours after Haiti's president was killed, this video livestreamed by a local journalist shows some of the men accused of killing him. Here you can
see two of the Colombian mercenaries that officials say were apart of the hit squad. The first man is holding a rifle and signals for the journalist
to stop. A second then stands up, rifle glinting in the sun. They tell him to stop recording.
At this point, Haitian Security Forces had trapped the two dozen or so alleged assassins along this stretch of road. At the bottom a road block,
then the lookouts with the majority of the suspects hold up in this building.
Moving up the streets and passed the vehicles the suspects had abandoned on the road, the camera reaches that building. As it pans, you can see two
things. Several black clad mercenaries, and this man, one of the two Haitian Americans accused of taking part in the crime. In this moment he's
actually giving a live interview to Haiti Radio Mega saying they didn't kill the president.
"Someone died, but we didn't do it," he says. "People inside the president's house started to shoot at us and we fired back to defend
ourselves." Vincent then says most of the group believed they were going to arrest the president, not kill him.
The journalist who filmed them, Malhaiko Shenashal (ph), who didn't want to show his face, said the group didn't seem to have a plan. He says they knew
they were in a tough position and knew the president was dead. They were confused, not sure whether to turn themselves in or fight.
Ultimately some chose to fight in a fierce shootout with police left at least three Colombians dead. The easiest way to tell who actually killed
the president would be to see the footage from CCTV cameras inside the presidential residence that a source tells us captured most of what
happened, but authorities have refused to release it or even describe its contents.
We know that there is CCTV footage from the presidential residence the night of the assassination. Why not release that footage to the public?
Would that not answer so many outstanding questions about who did this?
LEON CHARLES, HAITI NATIONAL POLICE CHIEF: So we cannot reveal to the public anything - any more information until the investigators allow us to
do so.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RIVERS: So Becky, clearly trying to avoid answering that question really. I also had a follow up question for him. When will we hear from these
alleged mercenaries, these Colombians that he has detained? What have they officially been charged with, and do they even have legal representation?
And again, he did not answer that question, which means that our questions will remain about what exactly is the motive behind all this.
And one quick thing I'll mention, Colombian President Ivan Duque speaking last night to local media saying that all Colombian detainees in this case
have a responsibility for the death of President Jovenel Moise. However, he did leave open the possibility that perhaps not every Colombian suspect
actually knew of this alleged assassination plot. Perhaps there were just a few of the Colombian suspects that knew what was going to take place, but
again until we hear from these detainees themselves or at least their legal representation those are questions that we cannot pose to the people who
actually know the answers.
ANDERSON: Absolutely. It's a cliche, but I mean so important in this case. There are simply more questions than answers at this point. Matt, thank
you. Matt Rivers on the story for you.
Coming up, the final countdown to the Olympics begins. COVID-19 and protests against the games are growing louder. We are live in Tokyo for you
after this break. Plus, massive protest in Cuba from the government there to shut down parts of the internet. Now the U.S. looking into whether it
can help the Cuban people and turn that internet back on.
And a heartbreaking story out of Indonesia, which is seeing a rise in the number of young children dying of COVID-19. We'll speak to the Executive
Director of Mercy Corps in Indonesia who says the government should be doing more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:16:23]
In Japan COVID-19 casting a deep shadow over the Olympic Games, which are now only a week away, of course. There's not much celebration as host city,
Tokyo, reports more than 1,000 new COVID cases for a third straight day. That's the highest number of infections there in months. And take a close
listen to this.
You're hearing the distant cries of protestors as the International Olympic Committee Chief laid a wreath earlier today at a Hiroshima bombing
memorial. He has failed to gain popular support for the Games. I think that is somewhat of an understatement.
Blake Essig joining us now live from Tokyo, which of course, Blake, is still currently under a state of emergency. We have been talking about how
people locally feel about these games now for months. With a week to go, what is the move?
BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Becky, the buzz and excitement that typically is associated with the Olympic Games simply does not exist
here. An Ipsos MORI poll recently released shows that nearly 80 percent of people in Japan say the Olympics should not be held. Tens of thousands of
people from 28 countries, including Japan, were surveyed, and more than half, close to 60 percent say the Games shouldn't go ahead.
This poll was conducted after the ban on spectators and increased border control measure were put in place to limit the spread of infection and
highlights the reality that attempts to ease the health and safety concerns of the Japanese people haven't worked and that still a vast majority of the
people here oppose these Games.
Now ongoing health and safety concerns are the primary reason these Games have been and continue to be so deeply unpopular with the majority of the
people. Now, in fact, I spoke with people just a few hours ago who told me it's not too late to cancel these Games. They say that long after the world
spotlight has come and gone it's the people of Japan that will be left to deal with the consequences.
That being said with one week to go before the start of the Olympics, COVID-19 cases in the capital have set a six-month high. The infection rate
here in the host city is surging despite a fourth state of emergency now in place.
And to put things into perspective, the case count reported Thursday was up 46 percent compared to the week before. Tokyo has now seen cases increase
for 26 straight days compared to the previous week.
Fueled by the Delta variant, local government experts fear that the current wave of infection forming could be Japan's worst yet. Becky -
ANDERSON: the IOC Chief determined these Games will go ahead it seems, and he has sparked outrage over a visit earlier to Hiroshima. Tell us about
these protests against his moves.
ESSIG: Yes, Becky. Thomas Bach visited Hiroshima to send a message of piece that coincides with the start of the Olympic Truce. Now, that truce
which was adopted by the United Nations is meant to pause hostilities and allow for the safe passage of athletes. His visit was met with anger form
people who felt that Back used Hiroshima's image as a tool to increase Olympic support, and given the loss of life as a result of this pandemic
you have some people including one A-bomb survivor who said that his visit runs counter to the spirit of the Games.
[10:20:00]
Bach is already very unpopular here in Japan with many people feeling like he and the International Olympic Committee are forcing the Games to go
ahead despite the pandemic.
ANDERSON: Blake Essig is in Tokyo for you folks. Thank you. One way these Olympic Games will be different is that there will be no spectators, but
despite that ban some VIPs will be able to attend, and amongst them is U.S. First Lady Jill Biden. Here's CNN's Will Ripley with a look at her visit
and the historical intersection of the U.S. presidency and the Olympic Games.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: First Lady Jill Biden will travel to Tokyo next week leading the U.S. delegation at the Olympic Games. It's not her
first time. The First Lady represented the United States alongside then Vice President Joe Biden at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.
JILL BIDEN, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: You are the best of the best, and we could not be more proud or excited to be here to cheer on team USA.
RIPLEY: This year the First Lady will be going solo just like former First Lady, Michelle Obama, in 2012 for the London Games.
MICHELLE OBAMA, FORMER FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: This only happens every few years, so try to have fun.
RIPLEY: And while many president have hosted American Olympians at the White House over the years --
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What you guys did was inspire us. You made us proud, and as president you made me especially
proud to see how you conducted yourself on a world stage.
RIPLEY: -- former President George W. Bush became the first acting U.S. President to attend the Game abroad at the Beijing Olympics.
GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm looking forward to cheering the athletes. I think it'd be good for these athletes who have
worked hard to see their president waving that flag.
RIPLEY: His father, former President George H.W. Bush, led the U.S. delegation to Athens in 2004, more than 10 years after leaving the Oval
Office.
RONALD REAGAN, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Celebrating the 23rd Olympian of the modern era, I declare open the Olympic Games of Los
Angeles.
RIPLEY: In 1984, Ronald Reagan was the first sitting president to attend the Olympics opening ceremony when the United States hosted the Summer
Games in Los Angeles. Former President Bill Clinton also attended the opening ceremony at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics. He insisted the
competitions continue just days later following the deadly bombing at the Centennial Olympic Part.
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are all agreed the Games will go on. We will take very necessary step to protect the athletes
and those who are attending the Games.
RIPLEY: This year following a one-year delay due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 Summer Olympics will happen after Japan declared a state
of emergency last week. Dr. Anthony Fauci says he's confident the First Lady will be safe based on COVID-19 protocols in place in Tokyo.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIR., U.S. NATL. INST. OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: I believe that there's no reason right now given the situation
that the protocol to protect her health I think will be also rather stringent, so I don't have a concern about that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Will Ripley reporting for you, and this is not the first time Tokyo has hosted the Summer Olympics with some significant changes. CNN.com
is where you can learn more about these '64 Summer Games. It was the first Olympics to be held in Asia, and back then organizers in Tokyo had to hold
it in October because - instead of summer because of the extreme heat. You can check out the coverage there and see more on the upcoming Games.
All right, the Cuban government lashing out at social media campaigns, particularly #SOSCuba. The president calls it media terrorism. Last
weekend, thousands of people took to the streets across the communist island nation. They are angry over food shortages, shortages of medicine
and COVID vaccines, and indeed of electricity. In response, the government blocked many social media and messaging apps like WhatsApp and Twitter.
Well now the U.S. President says Washington is looking to see whether it is able to force the internet on again. Joe Biden also had this to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Cuba is a - unfortunately, a failed state and repressing their citizens. Communism is a fail system,
universally fail system. And I don't see socialism as a very useful substitute, but that's another story.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Patrick Oppmann has been bringing us the very latest since these protests broke out and then, of course, as they spread across the country
last weekend. Patrick joining me now from Havana. How has the government if at all responded to what we have heard from Joe Biden?
[10:25:00]
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well the war of words across the Florida straits continues to intensify as the U.S. accuses the Cuban
government of cracking down on peaceful demonstrators, and the Cuban government says that the demonstrations are something that was essentially
engineered by Washington, but let's go to what Cuban President, Miguel Diaz-Canel, had to say in response to Joe Biden this morning.
The Cuban President tweeting out, "If President Joe Biden really had humanitarian concerns for the Cuban people he would eliminate the 243
measures applied by President Donald Trump, including 50 imposed cruelly during the pandemic," end of his quote.
And what you see the Cuban President saying here is that the U.S. is responsible or has played a large part in the economic troubles that Cubans
are experiencing right now, and certainly it is true that the Trump administration had put into place some of the toughest sanctions in decades
on Cuba, and the Biden administration has not lifted any of those sanctions.
And we heard Joe Biden yesterday say that when it came to remittances that this is the money that Cuban Americans send back to their relatives here on
the island, that he felt the Cuban government keeps too much of that money as it comes in and that he would not authorize, once again, Cubans to send
that money.
This is a bit of a turnaround for Joe Biden. During the campaign he had said that he expected to do that. That's something that really had been in
place for years even in some Republican administrations allowing people to help their families here.
So for him, for Joe Biden to say that he is going to keep that freeze on remittance, that's going to have a major impact here, Becky. That is by
some estimates $3 billion a year that comes in. Of course, the Cuban state does get a lot of that money because it's spent in stores here, and the
Cuban government forces people to convert it into Cuban pesos.
What's going to happen, though, to all the Cuban people who need that money just to eat, Becky. Tough times ahead.
ANDERSON: So no change in the Biden administration's position then, which is as you rightly point out considered by many as very damaging to the
people of Cuba. The U.S. government, though, is looking into whether it has the ability and the technology to reinstate internet access for the Cuban
people. I wonder is this - is there anything in this? Is there a sense that this could actually happen? And if so, what would be the response from the
authorities at this point?
OPPMANN: It would drive them crazy. The technology part is interesting, or some people who are way smarter than me feel that perhaps the U.S. has a
way either talking about creating balloons that you can fly over a country, that kind of thing to provide internet.
The internet in Cuba is controlled by the Cuban government, so they can turn it on and turn it off, and we have seen many social media apps still
continuing to block messaging services like WhatsApp continue to be blocked here in Cuba by the authorities.
A word of caution, though. For years, Becky, the U.S. has been trying to beam in anti-government radio stations, anti-government TV stations from
Miami in Spanish that are produced at the cost of millions of dollars. Most Cubans have never seen or heard these stations. The Cuban government
despite all their shortages here does a pretty good job at blocking them. It's an open question whether or not the United States could beam in
internet as Joe Biden said he hoped to do, they would study doing. Certainly if they did do that it could be a game changer. We saw - we've
seen the last week the impact that having internet here has been on protests and Cubans who are trying to make their voices heard.
ANDERSON: Patrick Oppmann is our man in Havana. Thank you, Patrick. More upheaval on the way for Lebanon as the latest top politician hands in his
resignation and sparks a new wave of protests across Beirut.
And in our next hour we'll look at the European plan that could make gas- fueled cars a thing of the passed. You want to know when your vehicle could become obsolete, and you are watching in the - one of the European
countries, then do stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:31:54]
ANDERSON: Well, now on our top story if you're watching Connect the World with me, Becky Anderson. Europe's devastating flash floods, death toll
rising at least 125, people have lost their lives after intense downpours unleashed catastrophic flooding in parts of Germany, and in Belgium and in
the Netherlands and Luxembourg. A huge rescue effort underway with hundreds of people missing.
Some senior German and E.U. politicians are blaming the crisis on climate change.
One newspaper headline today declaring Lebanon towards more danger as the country faces yet another political crisis. Protesters in the country say
they have little hope left as they clashed with security forces on Thursday. Protesters shutting down major highways and ransack buildings.
Official say 10 Lebanese soldiers were injured after protests in Tripoli.
The violence broke out after Prime Minister designate, Saad Hariri resigned even as the economy crumbles. He's been trying to patch together a new
government for months but he has it seems been unable to do so. Well, at least been unable to put something together which is satisfactory to others
in the political elite.
Ben Wedeman, joining us now from Beirut. We heard from Saad Hariri last night about why it was that he is decided to step away from his commitment
to putting together a technocratic government that would try and sort out this mess. What did he say?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What he said was basically that he was unable to agree with President on the president of
the republic on the makeup of this government. Now they had met twice in 24 hours. And he came out after 20 minutes and said he just could not do it.
Now, when describing when -- in this interview he had on, one of the local television stations. He basically put the blame on president down and
pointedly mentioned Hezbollah, which is allied with President own in his political bloc and therefore Lebanon has now fallen deeper into the void.
There has not been a proper government here since the 20th of August last year when that government resigned in the aftermath of the fourth August
Beirut port blast that left more than 200 people dead.
Now, at this point, we've heard from the United States, the United Nations, the European Union, France, and others, criticizing Lebanon's political
elite for failing to take this opportunity and form a government now staring in the face of Lebanon's leaders are E.U. sanctions. The E.U.
foreign ministers agreed on Monday to put together that they're going to finalize the framework for sanctions against leaders who were part of this
effort to form a government that failed. Those sanctions will include travel bans and freezing of their assets that may be the only way to force
Lebanon's leaders to agree on a government.
[10:35:18]
And it reminds me, if you'll allow me, Becky, to harken back to when I used to cover the Vatican in Rome in 1268, in the city of Viterbo 70 kilometers
north of Rome. There was, of course, the attempt after the death of one of the Pope's to elect a new pope. But the cardinals took 33 months to make up
their minds. They couldn't make up their minds. Eventually, the people of Viterbo locked them in a room and gave them only bread and water. And when
they could not agree on a new pope, they removed the roof and finally a decision was made. And the feeling is here that something drastic has to be
done to put pressure on Lebanon's political elite to make up their minds. This country is falling day by day into the abyss. They have to do
something to stop this country from collapsing all together. Becky.
ANDERSON: Well, that critics will say don't remove the roof, but remove the entire political elite. But of course, that is the way that this system is
set up. And at present, there seems no likelihood that that is going to happen with elections now 10 months away. This is going to be an awfully
long term months unless something happens to fix this. Ben, always a pleasure, thank you very much, indeed. When I say it was a pleasure, I
mean, it's good to have Ben Wedeman, who is our senior International Correspondent in Beirut, couldn't be any better to report on the story.
It is just very sad that we have to visit this story as often as we do. Because of course it is an absolute crisis.
I'm Becky Anderson. You're watching Connect the World. We will be back off after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Europe is slowly rolling by whatever COVID restrictions may be left about the travel situation, of course, is a tough one. And the travel
rebound so many beach destinations so we're hoping for hasn't materialized as at least not yet. CNN'S Richard Quest went to Spain's southern coast to
see it firsthand.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD QUEST, CNN EDITOR-AT-LARGE: By Jingo, it's good to see the beaches along the mad getting busier as more countries are opening up. And if we
think about the beach economy will get a really good idea of the damage that's been done and how things are now getting better. It costs only five
euros about $6 to rent a beach chair here in Torremolinos. But as you can see, most of the lounges are empty.
[10:40:11]
The locals and the Spanish tourists, they tend to bring their own chairs and umbrellas, and the higher spending tourists from Northern Europe.
They're not here yet. Put it all together, it's really simple in the economy of the beach, these empty chairs mean hardship. Our holiday isn't a
holiday without an ice cream. And the beauty and the best part is choosing which one right those but I haven't had those and so -- but the man has to
sell me an ice cream make money from a mask of pony con something or other.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, one.
QUEST: One.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
QUEST: It may only cost three or four euros maximum. But that's part of the profit center of a place like this. So they stay in business.
Thank you very much.
The cost of a beach chair or an ice cream, relatively small amounts that soon add up in Torremolinos.
I hate it when it does that, when the best all falls on the floor. Grills sardines on the beach, a local specialty. The restaurants here, in fact,
along the coast have been badly hit. Many won't stay in business as a result of COVID. Thankfully, this one is still going.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, have the sardines.
QUEST: Sardines. Did you take the head and the tail?
QUEST: Grab it by the tail and the head and dig it. Keep it simple, he said and that's the way to think about tourism. Forget this idea of global
tourism being 10% of the world's employment instead. Remember, it's beach chairs, ice creams and yes, sardines grilled. Keep it simple. And remember
that men and women make all this possible. He was right. Use your fingers.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Richard Quest.
Well, there's a new leader at golf open championship and it came ever so close to a record breaking performance. American Collin Morikawa came
within inches of tying the course record at Royals and George's and he currently leads the fielding golf last major championship of the year.
Alex Thomas is there, exciting time certainly one young American.
ALEX THOMAS, CNN INTERNATIONAL SPORTS ANCHOR: The only turn pro back in 2019. So we've only seen him on the PGA Tour in the worldwide circuit for a
couple of years, won the PGA Championship at the age of 23 last year. Only Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy legends of the game have managed
that feat at such a tender age since World War Two. So a prodigy of sorts is now 24 making his open debut. He won that PGA on his debut. He's
certainly a fast learner, Becky, will have all the latest live from here at the open in just a moment.
ANDERSON: What a gorgeous day it is. I know yesterday was a track windy so you must be having a ball there today. Lovely day on the south east coast
and more from Alex after this short break, I'll be back after that. Stay with us, folks.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:45:27]
THOMAS: Hello, welcome to CNN World Sport live from Britain's open golf championship. It's day two here at Royal St George's, a lovely, sunny
summer's day on the southeast coast of the U.K. And it's Collin Morikawa, the young American prodigy who's got everyone talking. Let's take you to
take a look at the latest leader boards. With a few hours of this second round to go you can see that Morikawa has shot around of 64. It could have
been so much better than that. He had a bogey on the 15th. Apart from that, though, he had an astonishing rounds that could have broken records, Jordan
Spieth and Louis Oosthuizen with their second rounds underway making moves as well, particularly Spieth, the 2017 Open Champion who's picked up a
couple of shots in the early holes of his round.
Morikawa, an absolute master class, we expect the laser focused ions from him. He admitted in the press conference afterwards that his driving was
particularly good on round two as well. That drop shot at the 15th apart from that, though, he had seven birdies. And he was, his part of the last
slipped out. What would have been a recording score of 63. He's a fast learner, seems to be unfazed by majors. And he spoke about that in the
press conference afterwards.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLLIN MORIKAWA, CURRENT CLUBHOUSE LEADER AT 9-UNDER: I look at them as obviously their start, you know, we get four of them a year and you're
trying to definitely win these four because they're that big. But, you know, playing in -- you know, talked about last year's PGA I had seen every
single guy before I played with every single guy and that doesn't make anything different, you know, it's just the stage that we're on, more
media, more spectators, more people around. But that's all, that's everything outside that I can control. You know, for me, it's just let's
go, figure out this golf course Monday through Wednesday, like I had been the past couple years and figure it out on what I need to do to play well.
This style of golf is very different but last week, like I said, helped tremendously.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
THOMAS: Last week, like I said he was referring to the Scottish open. He played in the build up to this Britain's Open Championship. We really
learned about links golf here in the U.K. for the first time didn't do well there, but clearly made some adjustments to his irons. He was telling us in
that news conference, and boy has it paid dividends. He's only 24 been a pro since 2019, join the PGA Tour out of college. Morikawa making an
immediate impression on all watches of men's golf. He claimed the PGA Championship on his debut in the tournament, Jack Nicklaus, Rory McIlroy,
Tiger Woods, the only other players to win the event before turning 24 and he now he's making waves on this, his open debut.
Let's show you what's happening with some of the other players in this tournament, though, because last week we talked a lot about whether or not
footballs coming home as England competed in and lost the Euro 2020 final to Italy and Lewis Hamilton will be leading the bid for an English winner
of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone this weekend. The wait for an English winner of the open, it's been a long one. Nick Faldo, the last
English winner almost 30 years ago, and you have to go back even further for the last time an Englishman won in England, Tony Jacklin lifting the
claret jug at Royal Lytham and St. Annes in 1969, of the English Gulf was in the field this week. Only Tyrrell Hatton and Matt Fitzpatrick are ranked
in the world's top 20 along with Paul Casey, Tommy Fleetwood, Lee Westwood, and Ian Poulter. They have 106 worldwide wins between them.
Justin Rose and Danny Willett, the only English major winners since the turn of the century is Andy Sullivan. Someone we haven't mentioned until
now, he's doing best so far. He's six under par after 16 holes very much in the hand, just a few strokes back.
One of the better news to bring you on day two of the open here at Royal St George's Will Zalatoris, the (inaudible) young Americans had to withdraw
after injuring his leg, trying to hack out of the thick rafi on day one.
OK, we're going to focus on more sport for you after the break. We've got Formula One's radical do you plan to make the sport more diverse.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:51:12]
THOMAS: Hello, welcome back to World Sports on CNN. We're live from Britain's open golf championship on day two of the tournament. Let's turn
our attention though to Formula One because this weekend's race at Silverstone we'll see a big change to the sport with the introduction of a
New Sprint qualifying format. But just a couple of days ago, we had a stark reminder that off the track it's a sport that still has a long way to go in
terms of diversity, the Hamilton Commission set up by seven time world champion Lewis Hamilton with the aim of improving diversity and access
within the motorsport industry found that just 1% of F1's 40,000 employees were from black backgrounds. Former CEO of the McLaren Formula One team
Martin Whitmarsh spent 25 years in F1 and was one of the men responsible for bringing Hamilton into the sport. He was part of the commission and has
admitted he didn't do enough to increase diversity.
Amanda Davies has been speaking to him and fellow commission members about their findings.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNE-MARIE IMAFIDON, CO-FOUNDER OF STEMETTES: I wasn't surprised by a lot of the findings, I think it's things that we knew, that we maybe didn't
have quantified or detailed or have explored to this level. So for me, it was it was not a surprise. But also it still is disappointing, right, being
able to see in the statistics and the stories in the anecdotes and the case studies kind of the state of play that we have for black people in
motorsport and for young black people, and exploring stem and considering their stem options.
AMANDA DAVIES, CNN INTERNATIONAL SPORTS ANCHOR: Martin, from your perspective, as somebody who has spent so much of your career in
motorsport, how much has it made you reconsider things or reevaluate?
MARTIN WHITMARSH, FORMER CEO OF MCLAREN F1 TEAM: The Commission experience was really humbling, and a terrific for learning experience for me, you
know, I spent 25 years in this, in sport focused on performance and trying to win, frankly, not with a sort of a broader regard to social issues, or
any other particular agenda. And, you know, once I hadn't, or didn't believe that I'd witnessed or conscious racial discrimination. You know, I
was aware that the barriers to entry were high to get into the sport, you know, Formula One, requires more than boots in a ball or racket and ball.
So for athletes, it's extremely difficult to get into the sport without a lot of help.
Formula One is the pinnacle of motorsport. Its focuses on performance and winning and excellence, is traditionally recruited from the top
universities. And really, part of my learning was that in itself is discriminatory. Sort of the disadvantaged in our society, they don't feel
invited to those institutions. And I think that was -- I think the big lesson for me.
DAVIES: Was that perhaps a degree of embarrassment that that's the case?
WHITMARSH: No, no embarrassment, but I think you know, yeah, you know, I was in a leadership position for 25 years in Formula One. I didn't do
enough. I mean, I don't -- and that's something that you reflect on with time and experience. We weren't using that opportunity. And I think that's
the big learning that we can come out of this. I think Shapiro (ph) trying to apologize the sport. Formula One isn't unlike many other sections of
society. But we should come out of it saying we can do better and we can use Formula One. And particularly, of course, we can use Lewis, who's
developed into this iconic figure who transcends Formula One. And, you know, he he's a great catalyst and a great ambassador for this messaging.
So I think Formula One can do a lot more, not just for Formula One, but for society in general.
[10:55:14]
DAVIES: In terms of people being allowed into the sport, from your impression, is it actively racist? Or is it just the system isn't set up in
the right way?
IMAFIDON: Yeah, I think it's definitely been unconscious. And I don't know that I would necessarily say outright that it's fully racist, but it's not
anti-racist. And so make it that what you will?
DAVIES: How much were you aware at the time in those early dealings with Lewis, that you were breaking the mold and doing something differently?
WHITMARSH: Well, I think you're aware, I mean Lewis, when I first met him, I guess he was probably 13. You know, he had been told to look you in the
eye and try and break your hand with a handshake. And that, you know, he did just that. He held your attention, his commitments to win, even though
that early age was very, very clear.
In terms of, you know, his ethnicity, I don't think we truly considered that obviously, people started to talk about it as we started support,
would he be, you know, the first mix heritage racing driver, to make it all the way through to Formula One, but that was an issue being discussed by
others, we were trying to help someone who was gifted, and clearly didn't come from an advantaged background, and therefore needed our help to
achieve his potential.
DAVIES: Martin, from your perspective, how hopeful are you?
WHITMARSH: I'm confident that we can make a difference. I'm confident that, you know, Anne-Marie is much more articulate about this than I am. But I
think, you know, we've got to be consciously anti-racist, and we will make a contribution to society. And we can stimulate that because we've got this
platform of Formula One, and we've got this icon called Lewis Hamilton.
So I think but we've got to put the work in and we've got to make sure that, you know, the report doesn't get circulated some grand gestures made
and then it goes away. So this is -- as Anne-Marie said, this is the only a start. At the moment, we're creating a discussion, we're creating some
awareness. But we've really got to make sure that the sport signs up to a charter and commits to changing its actions. Otherwise, the results won't
be different.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
THOMAS: From Formula One's a men's golf, which is also seeking more diversity. So it's delightful to see an Asian American athletes and Collin
Morikawa leading the way here, Becky, on day two of the open at Royal St George's.
ANDERSON: And we wish him and of course, those are the golfers competing the best of luck. Thank you, Alex. We're back with Connect the World after
this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
