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Rebels Slowly Edge To Ethiopian Capital Amid Fears Of All-Out War; Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's Posts Taken Down From Social Media; Youth Demonstrators March In Glasgow, Scotland; Pfizer's Experimental Pill Cuts Risk Of Hospitalization; Broken Asylum System Forces Refugees Into Deadly Journey. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired November 05, 2021 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[10:00:31]

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Growing calls for a cease fire as rebel forces threaten Ethiopia's capital. A dramatic and dangerous

escalation in what is a yearlong conflict.

Fired up. A youth-led movement takes to the streets of Glascow on the side lines of the climate summit.

And Europe's broken asylum system forces desperate refugees on a deadly journey at sea. Where is the accountability? I'll pose that question to the

Greek migration minister. That is just ahead.

Well, it's 6:00 p.m. in Abu Dhabi. It is 5:00 p.m. in Addis Ababa. I'm Becky Anderson. Hello, and welcome to the show.

Days away, weeks away, months away? Just when rebel forces in Ethiopia will reach the capital Addis Ababa or if they will at all are open questions

today. A police commander in the capital telling CNN on Thursday that rebels were nowhere near the capital. A spokesman for the Tigray People's

Liberation Front says taking over Addis Ababa is not its goal. It's focused instead on breaking the siege of Tigray.

But the now yearlong fight for control of the Tigray region has grown into a wider conflict. Nine rebel and anti-government groups, several of them

armed, say they are forming an alliance to oppose Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Just minutes ago the Ethiopian attorney general downplayed this

alliance calling it a publicity stunt. The U.N. Security Council set to meet today on Ethiopia as governments from Africa, from Europe and indeed

the U.S. government urge all sides to negotiate.

There is a lot to unpick here. David McKenzie joining us from Johannesburg. Kylie Atwood is at the U.S. State Department in Washington.

Kylie, stand by, I just want to get to David first who I know has the latest on what is going on on the ground.

David, what have you got?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, there was this rare press event with the foreign press from the attorney general and a spokesperson

from the prime minister's office where they called that alliance that will be signed in D.C. of different regional and ethnic groups to counter Prime

Minister Abiy a political publicity stunt. But strikingly I asked the attorney general what would it take, in fact, to sit down, to negotiate,

with the TPLF. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEDION TIMOTHEWOS, ETHIOPIAN ATTORNEY GENERAL: The TPLF has to withdraw from Amhara and Afar regions where it's brutalizing innocent civilians. It

has no business, none whatsoever, being in this parts of the country. And at the very least it has to withdraw from this parts of the country and it

has to renounce the violence and offensives that it has been engaging in.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

MCKENZIE: There is an important point that the government wanted to make. They don't see that this is a, quote, "engagement of equals" from their

perspective. They say that they are the federal, the national government. They assess the TPLF to be a rebel group that they say is illegally exiting

Tigray and coming towards the capital.

The spokesperson of the prime minister's office did confirm that at least one senior commander of TPLF has been detained in fighting in those

regions, around 300 kilometers from the capital, but the fact that the TPLF and now in alliance with the OLA rebel group in a different part of the

country have at least symbolically threatened the capital is significant.

Despite the government calling this alarmist it is a pressure that is building on the prime minister and where this goes is unclear. But regional

powers, the U.S., the U.N. and the E.U. all calling for an immediate end to the fighting -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Yes. I want to talk to you about that in a moment, and just where this goes.

[10:05:00]

Kylie, the U.S. special envoy for the Horn of Africa, Jeffrey Feltman, is in Ethiopia as we speak, meeting with officials trying to quell this

violence. Meantime in Washington, this is what State Department spokesman Ned Price had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NED PRICE, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: We call on the TPLF. We call upon the Oromo Liberation Army, the OLA, to halt their advance towards

Addis, and we call on all parties to engage in dialogue on a cessation of hostilities.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: We know that both sides of this conflict are responsible for atrocities. It's though the Ethiopian government who instigated this

fighting the rebels say in the first place. I just want to try and, you know, draw a line under what's going on here. What is the U.S.'s position

at this point? Is it clear?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: What they are leaning into, the Biden administration, is talks and maintaining talks between both sides so

that they can end the conflict. It is not exactly clear where they are drawing lines as to who did what and who was fueling this conflict. Of

course they have called out the atrocities that we have reported on on the ground. Of course they haven't gone so far as to call this a genocide,

which many folks have been calling for the administration to do, and that's significant.

But what they are still doing right now with Jeffrey Feldman, of course as you said, in the country yesterday and today is trying to see if they can

broker some sort of an agreement here that leads to an end of this violence. Now Secretary of State Tony Blinken noted in a statement last

night that there are about 900,000 Ethiopians who are in -- suffering from a situation where they can't even get food right now induced by this

conflict.

So basically, the Biden administration is looking at this from a humanitarian perspective. The one thing that they have done in the realm of

using a stick is threaten that if there's not a significant action taken to end this conflict by January then Ethiopia is going to lose out on a

lucrative trade deal with the United States, but so far we haven't seen the administration employ any other sticks in the negotiations, in the talks

here.

They are really just trying to get all parties at the table and there's a lot of questions about what they are saying in private that they aren't

saying in public.

ANDERSON: And this is really interesting. And I want to get to that with David. Kylie, thank you.

The diplomacy and discussion since this conflict began, David, have been held behind closed doors. I think by, what, July or August there have been

one UNSC, one U.N. Security Council meeting, just one, on Tigray. The U.N. is being criticized for what's been -- the way they handled this whole

situation with Ethiopia by rights group for months and months now.

You say that the pressure may be building on the prime minister locally. And that's very clear at this point. But I just wonder what your perception

is of the involvement of the international community at this point with so much of these discussions going on behind closed doors my sense is that

there has been this, you know, this push to try and get this sorted out without using any sticks but it's become a total mess.

Is your sense that the international community really failed Ethiopians at this point?

MCKENZIE: Well, I think it's too early to say and you can't really blame the international community for Ethiopian's own domestic issues. I do think

what is at play here is the possible collapse of Ethiopia. Now though the government did just a few minutes ago again says the reporting is alarmist

there's a history of friction amongst the regions within Ethiopia even before this conflict began.

This has always been a collection of regions and previously provinces that have their own an identity, sometimes their own militia, and if you throw

into the mix a very bloody and dirty conflict over the past year where all sides have been accused of atrocities there is very little if no trust

whatsoever between these sides.

Both Abiy, the prime minister, and his government, and the main rebel group TPLF say they are the ones that can hold Ethiopia together. It's the

international community's interest also to not see any dissolution of that country. So that is what these talks will be happening behind the scenes.

Whether they have any effect remains to be seen.

ANDERSON: Yes. Strategically important country in Africa, the second most populous, and what goes on there the international community knows is

incredibly important going forward.

[10:10:14]

David, thank you.

How does the leader of the second most populous African country go from Nobel Laureate to getting his posts removed from the Web for inciting

violence? Well, many people -- many believed Abiy Ahmed could unite Ethiopia. Well, now he's vowed to bury the enemy.

CNN's Melissa Bell has a closer look at his rise to power.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Abiy Ahmed was elected prime minister of Ethiopia in 2018. The charismatic 41-year-old

promised to bring about change and heal divisions. Initially, many of his promises were backed up with action. Abiy announced plans to relax

Ethiopia's terrorism law and he released thousands of political prisoners.

He was seen doing pushups with members of the military after they marched to his office, demanding better pay. He signed a peace deal with Eritrea,

ending a two-decade long war. And in 2019, Abiy won the Nobel Peace Prize for ending that war.

ABIY AHMED, ETHIOPIAN PRIME MINISTER: This is a labor of love. Sustaining peace is hard work. Yet, we must cherish and nurture it. It takes a few to

make war, but it takes a village and a nation to build peace.

BELL: But making peace with Eritrea angered the people of Tigray in the country's north. The TPLF, the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front, had

long-standing tensions with the Eritrean government.

Abiy had already sparked anger when he rearranged the ruling coalition, founded by the TPLF, into a single new party. He promised to hold

democratic elections in 2020 but postponed them because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But in a show of strength, Tigray held its own regional elections and won. The prime minister called those elections invalid. Ethiopian lawmakers

voted to cut funding to the region in October 2020, which incensed Tigray leaders.

A month later, TPLF allegedly attacked an Ethiopian military base. Abiy retaliated, ordering a military offensive into Tigray, with help from

neighboring Eritrea, igniting a deadly conflict.

Abiy's party won most of the seats in the country's June parliamentary elections, assuring him another term in office. But the elections were

overshadowed by an opposition boycott and logistical problems. Abiy deemed them free and fair.

AHMED: You can see how it's free and fair election. Everybody is here for free, and I hope it will be the best election in our history.

BELL: The fighting continues to escalate. Neither side is backing down.

AHMED (through translator): This pit, which is dug very deep, will be where the enemy will be buried, not where Ethiopia disintegrates. We will bury

this enemy with our blood and bones, and make the glory of Ethiopia high up again.

BELL: It seems the prime minister who was once celebrated for bringing peace is now speaking the language of war.

Melissa Bell, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Just ahead on CONNECT THE WORLD, more tragedy in the high seas, I'm afraid, as the E.U. wrings its hands over a broken asylum system. I'll

be talking live to the Greek migration and asylum minister. That's coming up a little later in the show.

And fighting for their future, young climate activists march on the streets of Glascow.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:18:46]

ANDERSON: Well, this crowd is fed up with world leaders as they see it banging the same old drums. Fridays for Future, the youth led movement

protesting a lack of action on climate change, is currently marching through the streets of Glascow, Scotland. Not far away at the U.N.'s

climate summit in the same city decisions are being taken that will directly impact these youngsters' lives.

For now the power to affect change is out of their hands. Those cities at the decision-making table now still have time to steer the boat around. The

International Energy Agency says if all the pledges from COP26 are fulfilled as promised and on schedule, global warming can be limited to 1.8

degrees.

And with some of those big promises, slashing harmful methane emissions by 2030, India reaching net zero even if its 2070 target is still decades

later than its peers, and that landmark global agreement to end and reverse deforestation by 2030. These are momentous challenges but if met could be

key to saving our planet.

Joining me now from the heart of those protests in Glascow, Scotland is Phil Black.

[10:20:05]

And Phil, those protesting around you clearly passionate about conserving our planet, our home. What's the mood like where you are?

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Noisy, passionate as you say, Becky. These are mostly young people. This is a youth protest. These are people

who do not have a great deal of faith in the negotiating process that is taking place in a conference set in not too far from where they have

gathered here in this square in the center of Glascow.

These are people that have been watching the deals as they have been announced through the week, many of which you have just detailed. These are

deals which indicate real progress in a way that do to some degree put the world on a low carbon path but which crucially are still insufficient. For

all the enthusiasm surrounding them the science says it's not enough.

The people that are gathering here today in the thousands very firmly believe that it is not enough. What these people want to see is more

ambition, much greater political will. The sorts of decisions that will result in really significant changes in the short term. But this is only

the start. We're about one week through the conference process here. This is when the protests traditionally happen.

This is the first of them. This youth protest. We're going to be seeing an even bigger one over the weekend. Tens of thousands of people are going to

be marching through the center of Glascow. More people have traveled vast distances because they're not satisfied with qualified deals and

incremental progress -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Phil Black is in Glascow for you, folks.

And join us for the first-ever "Call to Earth Day" next Wednesday, November 10th. CNN partnering with schools, individuals and organizations around the

world to raise awareness of environmental issues. It will be a day of action dedicated to conservation, environmentalism and sustainability.

Follow us online and on TV and follow the hash tag "call to earth" on social media. And join us that day for a special CONNECT THE WORLD. "Call

to Earth" our first big day.

Meanwhile, Germany's health minister says that country is suffering a fourth wave of coronavirus. Germany will now offer a COVID-19 booster shot

to everyone six months after their last vaccine. The country's disease control center reporting more than 37,000 new in cases in the last 24

hours. That is the highest ever daily number since the start of the pandemic.

Germany's vaccine program also lags behind other European countries, about 67 percent have been fully vaccinated.

Meanwhile the European CDC is expressing concern over the situation in other countries including Croatia, Greece, Hungary and the Czech Republic.

Cases and death rates are forecast to increase over the next two weeks. Greece hitting a new record for daily infections with more than 6,000 daily

cases for three days in a row.

There is a bit of encouraging news on the COVID front. Pfizer says its experimental pill can reduce the risk of hospitalization and death for

high-risk patients by about 89 percent. The company hopes it can offer that pill for people to take at home before they get sick enough to go to the

hospital.

Let's bring in our senior health correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joining us now with the details.

And just how long is it before this drug could be prescribed and where?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: So the CEO of Pfizer, Becky, has told CNN that they think that Pfizer might apply for

authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as soon as Thanksgiving. That holiday is less than three weeks away. So that could be

very soon now.

It does then take a matter of weeks for it to be reviewed by the outside experts, to be reviewed by the FDA itself, but it really could be a matter

of just, you know, weeks to months before this gets on the market if, and this is of course the big if, if it really is as effective as this data

makes it -- as it sounds like it is and if it's safe. You of course have to look at the safety profile of any of these medicines -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Yes. Very briefly, were there any side effects as we understand it at all?

COHEN: No. They said that there actually weren't. They said that actually the folks who got the placebo had more side effects than the folks who got

the drug. And let's talk about that a little bit. In these clinical trials, what they do is they take hundreds of people, half of them get the drug,

half of them get the placebo.

So let's take a look at the results when Pfizer did that. So what they found is that the folks who got the placebo, which is a pill that does

nothing, just a dummy pill, 27 of those folks were hospitalized over time and seven of them died of COVID. However, when they look at the folks who

received the pill, three of them were hospitalized and none of them died.

[10:25:04]

That's a pretty big difference and in fact they stopped the trial early because there was such a big difference.

Now two points that I want to make here, these are folks in very early COVID. They were within three days of when their symptoms showed up. So

you've got to get there early. Also vaccination, always better. Always better to prevent than to treat.

ANDERSON: Elizabeth, thank you. Elizabeth Cohen on the story for you.

Still ahead tonight, folks, as refugees suffer and die, the European Union's migration crisis causes more friction between Turkey and France.

What's being done to help the most vulnerable?

I'm going to ask the Greek migration minister that question, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: All of this week we have been talking about the climate crisis and we are seeing stark warning from the White House saying, quote, "No

country will be spared from the effects of climate change." That report includes research from the U.N.'s refugee agency and it's more than a

little startling. Finding that more than 21 million people have been displaced each year between 2008 and 2016 all because of sudden weather-

related hazards.

So many refugees not only lose their homes, they end up on a deadly journey in a dinghy life raft, for example. Some are currently at the center of

tension between two neighbors, Turkey and Greece. Recently Athens promised to investigate accusations that it is illegally pushing back migrants at

the border.

CNN's Arwa Damon brings us a closer look at what is a broken asylum system. Have a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A dinghy is floating helplessly in the distant darkness.

(On-camera): The dinghy is right there. It looks like it's getting completely hammered by the waves.

(Voice-over): The Turkish coast guard speeds out. This is nothing new for the Turks. More like a routine whose intensity has varied over the years

with the various waves of refugees and migrants trying to reach European soil.

(On-camera): It looks like there are children on board.

(Voice-over): As we approach we can see the waves battering and rolling over the sides of the flimsy boat.

(On-camera): Can you see that? They're bailing water out of the back.

(Voice-over): The Turks were notified by the Greeks via fax of the dinghy's location.

[10:30:04]

This is what happens on a regular basis. For more than a year now the Greek coast guard has been pushing back those that try to reach its shores.

Greece continues to vehemently deny this blaming criminal gangs and human traffickers for trying to enter Europe. But the practice has been

extensively reported on by media and rights groups, and recently led to a call for an investigation by a senior E.U. official.

(On-camera): There are about 12 people who are just smooshed into that dinghy including that small child. I mean, how terrifying this all must

have just been for them?

(Voice-over): And how desperate they must have been to even try this, especially now when the chances of success are so much less than they were

before. Much of it is spurred by a rise in anti-refugee sentiment. Greece doesn't want them and ultimately neither does the rest of Europe.

Pushing people back out to sea would be a violation of international law. Even if these people had a legitimate case for asylum it most likely will

not be heard.

The family with the baby who was just 5 months old is Somali. Mohammed says the Greeks beat them and knocked him into the water.

We requested a response from Greece on this specific incident, provided the coordinates from the fax sent to the Turks but received no reply.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's take over the boat, over me in the sea.

DAMON: He worked construction in Somalia with a football player and district team manager. He says the terror group Al-Shabaab accused him of

working with the government.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. I kill you. I had to leave Somali.

DAMON: Turkey is rescuing them out of the water but President Erdogan says Turkey will no longer be the dumping ground for migrants and refugees. Come

legally, the West, says but the system is slow, broken. And how are you to apply from a country where death threats are at your door?

Nawid Habibi (PH) was a military pilot in Afghanistan. The sea route was too expensive, too risky for his small children, and he was lucky perhaps

in that he had evidence to prove his legal case. Around a year ago his friend, also a helicopter pilot, was shot by the Taliban in a targeted

assassination.

NAWID HABIBI, AFGHAN REFUGEE: He did not survive.

DAMON: Naweed was also getting direct threats which just became a lot more terrifying. The family fled. He has all his documents, evidence of his work

with coalition forces. He also has a note stamped by the Taliban.

(On-camera): What does this say?

HABIBI: It says Afghanistan Islamic Republic of Emirates and Balkh, Balkh was in Mazar-i-Sharif. The Judgment Commission. It was judged for kill me.

So when we get you, we will definitely kill you. You or your member of you families.

DAMON (voice-over): It is only now, now that the Taliban controls his entire country that he has hope for asylum in the U.S. America broadened

its eligibility requirements after Afghanistan was catapulted into the global spotlight.

It should not be this way. Whether it's America or Europe, the Western world is failing those in need. Forgotten conflicts, neglected populations

from Somalia to Yemen to Congo, Syria, Afghanistan. People will continue to be driven by the sliver of hope in something better and they deserve better

than this.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Balikesir, Turkey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Well, according to UNICEF the number of refugees arriving in Greece in the third quarter of this year was 60 percent higher than for the

same period in 2020. This week the Greek migration minister along with the interior minister met with Turkish officials in Ankara to discuss this

migration crisis, and the Greek migration minister Notis Mitarachi joins me now from Athens.

You heard CNN's reporting there. What's your response to what you heard, sir?

NOTIS MITARACHI, GREEK MIGRATION AND ASYLUM MINISTER: Thank you, Becky. First of all Greece has provided safe harbor to over one million people.

This is 10 percent of our country's population the last seven years. You are discussing a major challenge that affects the whole world and Europe

needs to act. We need act and provide legal pathways to the European Union for people in need. And Greece has done so considering the last few years.

At the same time there's smuggling networks that are making money out of people's misery. The U.N. and Turkey have signed an agreement in 2016 and

Turkey has undertaken to prevent all illegal departures from Turkey.

ANDERSON: All right.

MITARACHI: Greece is willing to help and recently last month we took 700 people from Afghanistan. They flew with humanitarian visas.

[10:35:02]

We took female members of parliament, female judges, female advocates, people that are at risk in Afghanistan. So we're very much willing to help

but we wouldn't allow the smugglers to decide who gets to live in Europe.

ANDERSON: I understand. Do you deny that Greek coastal guards illegally pushed back asylum seekers into Turkish waters?

MITARACHI: Absolutely. We do protect our borders. There are European regulations that tell us what is allowed to do and I have to tell you that

the latest judgment from the European Court of Human Rights in the case against Spain said that countries do have the right to protect their

borders. It found in favor of Spain when it was protecting their border Andalusia.

ANDERSON: OK.

MITARACHI: Now the latest report that came out and that's very important, Becky. The latest report that came out against Greece I said that it has to

be invest gaited so I wrote to the authors of this report, asking them to produce hard evidence and witnesses. They replied in writing that they

refused to do so. So they're not helping us investigate their own report.

ANDERSON: OK. Do you deny what you've seen and heard in CNN's reporting?

MITARACHI: I didn't see it. I didn't have a picture. I was just hearing some sounds so I don't know the videos you're referring to but the latest

one that came out officially we asked for the evidence to be delivered to the competent authorities. We have three layers of independent monitoring

mechanisms that are there to ensure compliance to the border code and we're waiting for this evidence to be delivered so there will be an

investigation.

Absolutely Greece is fully committed to the protection of the fundamental rights of the European Union. Yes, the European Parliament LIBE Committee

was here in London. We discussed exactly that.

ANDERSON: We were feeding that package into your ear. That report into your ear and I was hoping that you were hearing enough of it to be able to

respond specifically.

MITARACHI: I did hear some.

ANDERSON: We will certainly make sure that you hear it properly after this program if indeed you weren't able to hear it specifically because I did

want you to respond specifically to CNN's reporting.

MITARACHI: Becky, I'm not any investigator. I'm not an investigator.

ANDERSON: You are being accused of pushing back refugees.

MITARACHI: There are competent independent authorities.

ANDERSON: An act that is illegal under the E.U.'s -- OK. You are --

MITARACHI: Listen.

ANDERSON: Greece is being accused of illegal action.

(CROSSTALK)

MITARACHI: Becky, sorry.

ANDERSON: Let me just put my question to you. Let me put my question to you and I'll get you to respond. This is illegal under the E.U.'s Human Rights

Convention as well as the international humanitarian law. In fact the head of the European Parliament Civil Liberties Committee as you say just

visited Greece this week. I'm going to pull up a photo of the two of you at a press conference where he echoed those statements. So again, do you deny

the allegations? It is a very simple question, sir.

MITARACHI: Yes. I do deny the allegations that we have violated any law. We are protecting our borders. There are European regulations that say exactly

what we are allowed to do and we're not allowed to do. And since you mentioned international law, I come back to tell you that the latest ruling

of the European Court of Human Rights does not fully agree that there is no right of sovereign states to protect their borders. So international law is

something everybody uses as a phrase.

There are specific things that are allowed and things that are not allowed. And what I'm telling you is Greece protects its border as we're allowed and

we don't do anything against the law. And if there are any specific allegation --

ANDERSON: All right.

MITARACHI: We have promised that there are independent authorities who will investigate because we want to be absolutely certain that there is no --

nothing ever is done in violation of the fundamental rights which we fully respect, but I come back to you what I said originally that the E.U. has

signed an agreement with Turkey and Turkey must prevent every legal departure of every dinghy from Turkish soil. Turkey is not a country in

war. It's a safe country.

There is no war in Turkey and people -- they're not fleeing Turkey. People that have arrived in Turkey do have a sufficient level of protection. So

when people say that people are fleeing Turkey this is their own phrase to use. People are choosing to leave Turkey to get a better future in the

European Union. And I don't say they shouldn't. We should allow people to come to Europe. But this would come with more open programs and Greece is

in the line of countries in the European Union advocating for more humanitarian visas.

ANDERSON: Right.

MITARACHI: For more legal access to the European market. We gave this year 55,000 work visas. We are welcoming people to come work in Greece. We

welcome people in need to come and seek protection in Greece. But not through the smugglers, Becky. That's the big issue and the European Union

agrees with me and the latest European Council said that we should make sure that no country weaponizes migration and smugglers do not get away

with it.

ANDERSON: Sir, I wish we had more time to speak. Apologies.

MITARACHI: I'm sure we can speak again.

ANDERSON: Your shot froze for us. I'm sure we will, and I invite you back on to the show. Your shot froze for about 10 or 15 seconds but we did hear

what you were saying all the way through.

[10:40:02]

So thank you very much indeed for joining us, and I would like to have you on again because I do have a number of other questions for you. We've run

out of time as of today.

Many of these asylum seekers in Arwa's reporting and in other reports are of course from Afghanistan. Some of them are literally trapped on an island

unable to go back to their home for fear of course of the Taliban and unable to enter Europe because countries won't take them.

We will continue to do the story. At this point we will take a very short break. Back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Somber day for many in the United States today as the country pauses to remember General Colin Powell who passed away of COVID

complications while battling cancer last month. He was 84 years old. President Joe Biden will be among those attending the private funeral at

the Washington National Cathedral. And CNN will have special coverage here just about 15 minutes from now.

Before that, just time for some sports news. And we are a day away from the Manchester Derby. City are facing challenges lately. United's Cristiano

Ronaldo could take advantage of that. He had not rejoined the club in or had he not rejoined this club in August this could have been a very, very

different derby.

Amanda Davies joining us now with a preview. It's not like United haven't been suffering of late as well. So it's going to be a great cracking match,

I think.

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: It is absolutely, Becky. And Ronaldo scored nine goals in 11 games since heading back to Old Trafford. But if

you think back to the end of August we were actually talking about Ronaldo heading to Manchester City and that was what sparked all the phone calls

between the Old United players very much demanding that Cristiano head back to Old Trafford, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be hoping he shows City just

what they're missing when they square off on Saturday so we've got plenty more on that coming up in a couple of minutes.

ANDERSON: Excellent stuff. And lots more, as well. "WORLD SPORT" is up after this short break.

That's it from us tonight. See you next week.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:46:00]

(WORLD SPORT)

[10:53:01]

DAVIES: OK, we're going to take you live to the White House where U.S. President Biden is speaking.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Was nearly 250,000 more jobs than previously thought.

Six million new jobs, a record for any new president. That's a monthly average of over 60,000 new jobs each month. Ten times more than the job

creation at three months before I took office. New unemployment claims have fallen every week for the past five weeks are down by more than 60 percent

since I took office and are now at the lowest levels since the pandemic started. And people continue to move from unemployment rolls to work.

Unemployment has decreased this year by more than any other year since 1950. So any year since 1950 unemployment has decreased more in this year

than since 1950. And not only are more Americans working, working Americans are seeing their paychecks go up. Weekly pay went up in October with an

average hourly earnings up almost 5 percent this year.

That's more than some of the lowest paid workers in our country, men and women who work in restaurants, hotels, in entertainment, have seen their

pay go up 12 percent this year. Over 5.5 million jobs. Unemployment down a record pace to 4.6 percent. And before we pass the rescue plan, forecasters

said it would take to the end of 2023, to the end of 2023, to get to 4.6 unemployment rate.

Today we have reached that rate two years before forecasters thought it was possible. I would humbly suggest this is a significant improvement from

when I took office and a sign that we're on the right track. This did not happen by accident or just because.

[10:55:01]

We laid the foundation for this recovery with my American Rescue Plan that Congress passed at the beginning of my term that put money in working

family's pockets and gave a tax cut with children. It gave families with kids the tax cut each month. It help keeps small businesses going in the

dark days earlier this year and it provided the resources needed to launch one of the fastest mass vaccination programs ever.

We got more than 220 million shots in arms in my first 100 days. We didn't stop there. In recent months we've started implementing vaccination

requirements which had helped bring the number of unvaccinated adults down in this country from around 100 million several months ago to 60 million

now. You know, that's good for our health but it's also good for our economy.

Now vaccinated workers are going back to work. Vaccinated shoppers are going back to stores and with a launch of the vaccine for kids ages 5

through 11 this week, we can make sure more vaccinated children can stay in school. These plans I have implemented, through these plans of economic

success, the economic rescue and vaccination plans, both of them, have made the economy the envy of the world.

We're the fastest growing major economy and one creating jobs at a faster pace than anyone. Yet yes, there's, you know, there's a lot more to be

done. We still have to tackle the cost that American families are facing but this recovery is faster, stronger and fairer and wider than almost

anyone could have predicted. That's what the numbers say. But we want to make sure that people continue to feel it in their lives and their bank

accounts and their hopes and expectations.

For tomorrow that's better than today. That's what this is all about. Making sure our recovery is fully felt to determine. That depends on two

things. Two things that are entirely within our reach. The first, for our economy to fully recover, we need to keep driving vaccinations up and COVID

down. And that effort we took two major steps this week. On Tuesday, the CDC recommended COVID-19 vaccine for children between the ages of 5 and 11.

We've prepared for this moment by securing enough vaccine supply for every single child in that age category in America. Those doses have started to

arrive at thousands of pediatrician's offices, pharmacies, schools, and other sites. As a parent of one of the first children to receive the shots

said, quote, "Today is such a huge sigh of relief," end of quote.

Starting next week our kids vaccination program will hit full strength with about 20,000 trusted and convenient places for parents to get their kids

vaccinated. And yesterday the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a rule requiring employers with 100 or more employees to ensure that

each of their workers is fully vaccinated or tests negative for COVID-19 at least once a week.

And the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued a rule requiring that all workers at healthcare facilities participated in Medicare and

Medicaid are fully vaccinated. Together these rules along with other requirements we've put in place means that two-thirds of all workers in the

United States are now covered by vaccination requirements. These requirements have broad, public support, and they work.

Already we've seen organizations that have adopted vaccination requirements increase their vaccination rates by more than 20 percentage points, often

as high as over 90 percent. This is good for the workers, for their colleagues, for their loved ones and for their communities, and it's also

good for the economy. In a recent University of Chicago survey, every economist agreed, requiring staff vaccinations or regular testing among

large employers would promote the economic recovery that is faster and stronger even than it is now.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs project these kinds of requirements could lead to up to five million more Americans reentering the workforce. That's because

they feel safer to do so, it's because there are fewer disruptions to things like childcare.

Again, beating COVID-19 remains one of the most important ways to strengthen our economy. Not just save lives but strengthen our economy.

We're making progress. As of this week, 70 percent of American adults are fully vaccinated. More than 193 million Americans fully vaccinated. It was

less than 1 percent when we took office 10 months ago.

And one more piece of good news. Last night, we received promising news about another potent and potential COVID treatment, a pill, a pill

developed by Pfizer.

END