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E.U. to Extend Sanctions on Belarus as Migrants Await Help; South Africa's Last Apartheid President F.W. de Klerk Dies; Nations Want Key Section Remove from COP26 Agreement; Chinese Communist Party Wraps Up Plenary Meeting; U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and French President Emmanuel Macron Discuss U.S.-French Relationship; Inflation Fears Spreading in U.S., Europe and Japan; Attorney Says "Rust" Armorer Is Being Framed. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired November 11, 2021 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:00]

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MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST (voice-over): More sanctions may be on the way for Belarus as some in the E.U. claim the migrant crisis at its eastern border

amounts to human trafficking.

He freed Nelson Mandela and shared the Nobel Peace Prize for ending the apartheid system. A look back at the legacy of F.W. de Klerk.

And we're in good shape. That's Kamala Harris' message from Paris as she mends fences with a longtime ally.

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FOSTER: It is 3:00 pm Here in London. I'm Max Foster in for Becky Anderson. Hello and welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD.

Now the accusations between Belarus and the European Union are getting louder. Just hours ago Germany's acting foreign minister said the European

Union will extend sanctions on Belarus for what he calls illegal human trafficking.

Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko is threatening to shut off a gas pipeline. The threats coming as Poland observes its Independence Day.

And these are live pictures, nationalist crowds marching in support of the Polish government's efforts. Fred Pleitgen is tracking developments for us

from a town in Poland not far from the border with Belarus.

What have you seen so far, Fred?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The area that I'm at right now is about a mile still away from the border because

essentially what the Polish forces have done is created what did they call an emergency zone, where journalists are not allowed in there. And a lot of

NGOs aren't allowed in there either.

And for a very long time, E.U. officials weren't allowed in there. The Poles essentially hermetically sealed off that border. That's the way

they've put it. There are some migrants that have managed to come through.

And they usually end up in the forests that you see around me, really under very dire conditions, just as dire as the conditions in that camp that

we've been seeing, of course, the many people who are camped out there at the border.

I can tell you from being on the ground here that it's extremely cold and the temperatures here drop below freezing virtually every night. So

extremely difficult condition.

And I was speaking to a member of an NGO, of an aid group just a couple of hours ago. He said they are extremely concerned that people, who make it

into the forest and people who are in the camp, that they're in big danger of obviously getting hurt very badly but possibly even dying as well, as

the situation continues to extend.

And, of course, at this point in time, there really isn't any end in sight, Max.

FOSTER: Russia accused of being involved in this on the Belarusian side, something the E.U. says has been happening in what it calls a manufactured

crisis.

But what's the Kremlin saying about that?

PLEITGEN: Well, the Kremlin denies anything like that. The Kremlin, in fact, came out today and denied any sort of allegations that it plays a

role, that it's behind all of this. Of course the E.U. said it believes that Vladimir Putin could play, as they put it, a more constructive role in

all this.

Of course, yesterday the chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, asked Putin to intervene in this and to help stop the flow of migrants into Belarus.

The big standoff, of course, that you do have right now, is the one between the European Union and especially Poland and Belarusian strong man

Alexander Lukashenko.

There were threats by Alexander Lukashenko, today hinting that Belarus could cut off gas supplies to Europe, other logistical routes.

Poland calls this state-sponsored terrorism. And they believe their border is under severe attack by that wave of migrants coming through there.

Of course, the European Union has said that it wants to implement further sanctions on Alexander Lukashenko but not just on him. The E.U. now

apparently also taking a look at some of the airlines that are flying people into Belarus.

And the E.U. saying that airlines that do that do face the threat of at some point possibly getting blacklisted by the E.U. If those practices

continue.

So what you really see here -- and you can really feel it here on the ground as well -- is that tensions are very much on the rise. You can see a

lot of police vehicles moving through here. You can see a lot of the Polish army moving through here as well.

[10:05:00]

PLEITGEN: As the more forces concentrate in that very small area, the more volatile the situation becomes there on the border.

And just to be clear, what you have there is you have thousands of Polish troops, thousands of migrants and then also many Belarusian troops in a

very, very small, condensed area and, of course, also in a very volatile situation as well.

FOSTER: We saw an image there from the Polish side of the border, of the migrants caught between the police lines on the Belarusian side and on the

Polish side and they're trapped effectively.

So who's helping them?

You're saying people can't get through to support them.

But who's helping them?

PLEITGEN: It's an extremely difficult situation. It's certainly one that has become even more difficult now that that sort of makeshift camp has

been set up. In the past, you've had those standoffs, with migrants caught in the middle between Belarusian forces and Polish forces.

And at some point at least some of those migrants did manage to get here on the Polish side. They do get some help if they do manage to get on the

Polish side from aid groups. Of course, the vast majority who make it through, they move on to Germany.

But the people who are caught on the Belarusian side, they receive very little in the way of aid. Apparently there was some aid that was brought to

the migrants from the Belarusian side, from a Belarusian aid group, some food, some water.

But if you look at some of the images that you were referring to, you see the people who are trapped there, they're gathering firewood. They're

gathering basically anything that will burn.

And there were people, Max, who we spoke to in the past couple of weeks because, of course, this crisis has been going on for a very long time, who

say that they quite frankly ran out of supplies, they ran out of food and water.

There was one woman who told me she had to drink water from a puddle in the ground because they simply didn't have any supplies left. So it is

certainly a dire situation and certainly one where the life of many of the people who are there are very much in danger, Max.

FOSTER: OK, Fred, in Poland, thank you.

You can follow all the latest on this story on our website, too. Go to cnn.com for the latest news and video. And you can hear from migrants

directly there about the hardships they're facing in their quest for a better life, one of them describing in vivid detail how he was beaten so

severely by border guards that he passed out.

Now the last white president of South Africa has died. F.W. De Klerk passed away at his home after a battle with cancer. He was 85. He shared a Nobel

Peace Prize with Nelson Mandela after freeing the anti-apartheid leader in 1993. He ultimately ratified a new constitution that ended decades of

racial segregation.

David McKenzie joins us from Johannesburg with a look at his legacy.

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Max, certainly this is a deeply complicated legacy. F.W. de Klerk is seen by many South Africans as someone

who really represents the old apartheid bad old days of South Africa and by other as someone who start the process, at least formally, to the

democratic transition.

Even I remember what that day in 1990, when he announced the unbanning of the ANC and the move to release Nelson Mandela, it was like a thunderclap

in this country and around the world.

Many people, even those close around him, didn't expect it to come. It did come and despite that, he's still known as the last apartheid president.

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MCKENZIE (voice-over): F.W. de Klerk helped end generations of white minority rule in South Africa.

F.W. DE KLERK, FORMER SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT: A new democratic dispensation is foreseen, with full political rights for all South

Africans.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): But earlier in his career, there was little hint of anything revolutionary. A deeply conservative de Klerk rose through the

ranks of the national party during the most draconian periods of racist apartheid rule.

Then as president on February 2nd, 1990:

DE KLERK: The government has taken a firm decision to release Mr. Mandela unconditionally.

We learned that in a place which was morally unjustifiable. And I came to the realization I cannot move the security of my people on the basis of

injustice toward a majority of all the people.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): Some of his people, Afrikaner South Africans, called de Klerk a traitor for releasing Nelson Mandela. But South Africa's

painstakingly negotiated democratic transition helped stave what many saw as inevitable civil war.

DE KLERK: It was only in South Africa when we negotiate and when Mandela sat across me and said, "I will try to understand your concerns --

[10:10:00]

DE KLERK: -- you cannot defuse tension unless the parties to the conflict start talking to each other."

MCKENZIE (voice-over): De Klerk would jointly win the Nobel Peace Prize with Mandela, a move criticized by many.

And served as deputy president for a time. But the last white president of South Africa once called apartheid "a developmental policy," only truly

repudiating it after an outcry.

Some South Africans felt that he had little moral authority to criticize a democratically elected government, as he frequently did. Over the years,

Mandela and de Klerk developed a strong, mutual respect, even friendship, a symbol that de Klerk said represented what could be possible in a country

with such a painful past.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCKENZIE: Well, the South Africa's current president, Cyril Ramaphosa, as well as fellow Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu, have both praised F.W. de Klerk

for his critical role in the transition.

There are many younger politicians and pundits in South Africa, who feel he has no place, either through their own strong feelings or through political

expediency, for him to have any real positive legacy in this country. And I think that legacy will change over time.

But he certainly played a pivotal role in South Africa's history of its democracy -- Max.

FOSTER: David, thank you.

Now another setback in Europe's battle against COVID-19. Germany has shattered another record. The vice chancellor is calling for tighter

restrictions. For a fourth day in a row, daily infections in the E.U.'s biggest economy have hit a pandemic high.

But things are about to change in its capital. Starting on Monday, the Berlin senate says leisure and hospitality venues will be off limits to the

unvaccinated. Around 67 percent of the German public is now fully inoculated against the virus. CNN's Scott McLean is tracking all of this

for us, joins us now live.

A really grim picture coming out of Germany.

Any sense of why this suddenly spiked?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, German chancellor Angela Merkel said that the reason here is that not enough Germans are vaccinated in

order to prevent the virus from spreading quickly through the one-third of the population which are unvaccinated right now.

And as a result, as you mentioned, some German states are starting to change their rules. Case in point, right now in Berlin, you can go into a

movie theater or a restaurant or a gym, that kind of thing, if you can show either proof of vaccination, proof of natural immunity, recent infection or

a negative test that's recent.

But starting on Monday, a negative test is not going to be good enough. You actually have to prove that you have antibodies. Chancellor Merkel's likely

successor would like to see this approach taken worldwide. And many German states either have followed suit or are considering whether to follow suit

today, including Bavaria, Germany's richest state, which just today declared a state of emergency.

Brandenburg also following suit as well. This is significant because Germany has always had this policy or this goal of not discriminating

against those who choose not to take the vaccine.

But as the case counts continue to rise, another record today, and the situation starts to get out of control, especially in hospitals, where ICUs

are really starting to feel the pressure, German politicians, it seems, are really trying to pull out any lever that they can in order to try to right

the ship.

Now in Germany there is undoubtedly a bit of an east-west divide when it comes to the COVID situation. Some western German states doing better than

eastern German states in terms of case counts.

When we look at the continent as a whole, there is also this east-west divide. One graph shows the death toll per capita in Germany. And you can

see it start to rise. It doesn't look great by any stretch of the imagination.

But then all of a sudden you add on these Eastern European countries, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Romania. And suddenly Germany doesn't look so bad. These

are countries that really have struggled to increase their vaccination rates, trying to convince people even to take the first shot of the

vaccine.

All the while, Max, many Western countries are trying to put this pandemic behind them. They have already moved on to focusing on giving people the

third booster shot of the vaccine. Max?

FOSTER: OK, Scott, thank you very much indeed. Some worrying news there from Germany.

But now to the other scourge of our time, climate change, some saying it's even more threatening.

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FOSTER: Ahead on this show, with just hours left in the COP26 climate talks, developing nations demand reparations to be paid. More on the most

contentious issues of the summit.

And global summits rarely feature surprise announcements. So imagine the shock when the U.S. and China made one at that COP26 climate summit.

Details on that just ahead.

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DAVID BEASLEY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WFP: Here I am, in the children's wing of this hospital in Kandahar, where the number of patients is doubling.

FOSTER (voice-over): The grim picture: half of Afghanistan on the brink of starvation, apparently. The head of the World Food Programme issues an

urgent appeal to aid. I'll speak to him in the next hour.

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FOSTER: Welcome back.

COP26 climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland, are winding down. And they're getting tougher in these final hours. Developing nations are demanding

reparations to be paid. They argue they're suffering disproportionately from the impacts of climate change.

The group is called the Climate Vulnerable Forum. And they're pushing for a Glasgow loss and damage facility. It's one of the most contentious issues

of these climate negotiations. Phil Black joins us now from Glasgow.

And a group known as likeminded developing countries want an entire section removed from the draft.

It's getting really tight now but they've got to agree on something, haven't they, in the next couple of days?

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, Max. In terms of this contentious part of the text, it's difficult to overstate how important this is, the

very success of the failure hinges on it. So does the viability of the COP process, the Paris agreement going forward.

The contentious part of the text refers to what's at stake. It paints out pretty clearly why the science says the world must aim for 1.5 degrees of

average temperature increase by the end of the century, because the science says, go beyond that and things get very bad very quickly.

It also points out that the opportunity for restricting climate increase to that temperature is slipping away. Dramatic action needs to be taken by the

end of this decade, emissions cuts of around 45 percent.

And, so, it also sets out what to do next, because, based upon what's been committed at this conference, we know it's not enough. So therefore, the

next step becomes crucial. It calls on countries to come back in one year's time with bigger, more ambitious emissions cuts.

That is the section that is contentious. It lays out what's at stake, what to do about it. But this group of likeminded developing countries, which

includes China and India, say they want it to be stripped out of the text because they believe it disproportionately shifts the responsibility onto

developing countries.

This is an old line of battle in these climate talks. There has long been a difference of opinion over whose responsibility it is to fix this.

[10:20:00]

BLACK: Especially given that it is rich, developed nations that have emitted most of the carbon. But crucially, if something close to this sort

of text does not appear in the final version, then it's very unclear to see how we go from here, because the timeframe is very specific in order for

there to be a viable way of cutting emissions quickly by 2030 to the degree that is necessary.

Countries need to come back next year, possibly the year after that, and really ramp up their ambition, as I say; otherwise, that dream, that goal

of 1.5 degrees, which is so crucial, will simply slip away -- Max?

FOSTER: It feels like it is slipping at the moment. Thank you, Phil. Good luck to the negotiators in the next couple of days.

The U.S. and China surprised delegates and announced an agreement to work together on their climate ambitions. That was some welcome good news. It

doesn't mean their goals are the same.

China didn't sign onto the global methane pledge, saying it had its own plans for reducing methane gas. Despite that, China's climate envoy says

there is more agreement than divergence. David Culver joins us from Shanghai.

It was an extraordinary moment. No one saw it coming. The envoy saying that the agreement would make the cooperation more concrete and pragmatic.

Do you have any clues what the specific measures are?

DAVID CULVER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And, Max, when was the last time we heard agreement, cooperation and China and the U.S. all in the same

sentence?

You're right, this is quite remarkable to hear that. Here's what we know what China is projecting to do. They say they intend to reach their peak

carbon emission by 2030. And then they hope to be carbon neutral.

And here's the controversial part, not by 2050 but by 2060. A lot of the analysts I speak with about China's climate initiative in particular will

stress that they don't like to overpromise. In fact, they like to underpromise and then overdeliver.

And they've been very critical of other countries, including the U.S., who will tend to pledge things and come far short of those pledges. They hope

to surpass them eventually.

But the reality is that, of course, China is the largest carbon polluter. You see that they are making massive efforts. And it's a struggle for them

to try to come off some of the fossil fuels. They tried this a few weeks ago and they had people stuck in elevators, traffic lights going dark.

They had to back off of that and once again move forward with the production of coal. And it's something that they are heavily reliant on.

More than 60 percent of this country is powered by coal.

But they also focused heavily on renewables. In the Shanghai metro initiatives, they are trying to push onto solar power and they have solar

panels put onto several of the metro stations to then try to move off fossil fuels and get on to wind and solar to keep people moving about this

massive city of more than 24 million people.

But all in all, it seems that this is one area where we might actually see some cooperation; that is climate and that is something that special envoy

for climate, John Kerry, has been pushing since his visit to Shanghai a few months ago.

He tried to stress, look, you can parcel out all these other issues we have and let's focus on climate because that's going to be critical moving

forward.

FOSTER: Yes, they are the two big players, of course. Meanwhile, China's Communist Party just wrapping up its plenary session. All sorts of other

domestic and international issues dealt with there.

CULVER: This is really interesting because we talked, Max, about the lack of presence from Xi Jinping in Rome, as well as in Glasgow for the COP26,

as well as for the G20.

Why wasn't he there?

Well, part of that was because there was a COVID outbreak in Beijing. But also if he were to leave and come back in, he would have been subject to

many days quarantine, 14 in Shanghai, 21 in Beijing.

So he would have missed out on what was a major meeting of his top party officials; that's the plenary that wrapped up. It was a four-day closed-

door session. What came out of that is a resolution that looks at the history of this country through the eyes of Xi Jinping.

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CULVER (voice-over): China's ruling elite meeting behind closed doors for four days in Beijing, rewriting the Communist Party's history to chart a

new course.

The 350 or so top officials passing an almost unprecedented resolution and this time highlighting the role of its current leader and Chinese

president, Xi Jinping, in the nation's triumphant rise on the global stage.

VICTOR SHIH, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA/SAN DIEGO: He wants to really highlight his own contribution to the development of the party.

[10:25:00]

SHIH: That also will seal his legitimate rule over China in the foreseeable future. And, of course, no one would challenge his power within

the party.

CULVER (voice-over): Unrivalled control: that puts Xi on par with past paramount leaders, Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. Both oversaw the only two

previous resolutions. The first in 1945 firmly placed Mao at the apex of the party.

The second, 1981, five years after Mao's death, in effort to push past his disastrous policies as Deng opened China up to a surge of prosperity, an

economic boom that has lasted decades.

CULVER: Now 100 years since its founding, right here in Shanghai, the Chinese Communist Party has just passed a third such resolution, this one

widely seen as elevating Xi Jinping as undisputed supreme ruler of what many here believe will become the world's strongest nation.

CULVER (voice-over): China's already become the second largest economy in the world. It has successfully lifted millions of its people out of poverty

and making other countries, including the U.S., uneasy with its rapid military expansions.

Its ascendance, the leadership proudly displays its so-called Communist Party pilgrimage sites, historically revered spots that downplay or ignore

failures and controversies, from the tumultuous cultural revolution to the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Instead they focus on a century of successes and credit Xi alongside, Mao and Deng, for the nation's rejuvenation with Xi's two immediate

predecessors barely mentioned.

Xi is now even a mandatory part of school curriculums. All students must learn Xi Jinping thought. Since taking power in 2012, Xi has methodically

consolidated control, launching an anti-corruption campaign that simultaneously eliminated his political rivals.

In 2018, he rewrote the constitution, getting rid of presidential term limits. And this year, with a series of regulatory tightening on business

and tech, he showed the tycoons that the party is above all else. And loyalty to the party now means loyalty to Xi.

JEAN-PIERRE CABESTAN, HONG KONG BAPTIST UNIVERSITY: Now we're back to the strongman politics with the danger, of course, that relying on one person

to make decisions but also relying on his health, on his own character to decide about the future of a nation of 1.4 billion people.

CULVER (voice-over): So much power handed to one man, history has taught us what that could mean. But for now, the world's biggest governing party

keeping history in check and paving the way for a future, where its strongman leader could rule for life.

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CULVER: And this is happening notably just a few days ahead of the virtual meeting we expect to be happening next week between President Biden and

President Xi Jinping. Nothing like having this firming up of your base to bolster confidence going into that one on one.

FOSTER: OK, David in Shanghai, thank you very much.

When we come back, a V.P. of presidents and some hurt feelings over submarines. How the U.S. and France are trying to get their struggling

relationship back on track.

And Elon Musk asks his followers if he should sell some of his Tesla shares, just a few. Then he did it.

But is the real reason for his $5 billion deal something that you wouldn't normally think of?

We'll explain after the break.

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FOSTER: Welcome back. I'm Max Foster in London. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD.

Now any minute now, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will arrive at the Paris Peace Forum, where leaders from across the globe are gathering to

discuss the global war and that's the war on COVID. The annual gathering is opening on the anniversary of the end of World War I, which is known as

Remembrance Day, Veterans Day and Armistice Day in various countries.

Harris' visit to France has already included a fence-bending meeting with French president Emmanuel Macron. U.S. and French relations have been

frayed since the U.S. struck a deal to help Australia develop new submarines, something France had been expecting to do instead and make a

lot of money from.

CNN White House correspondent Jeremy Diamond is in Paris covering the vice president's trip for us.

A big, big test of her diplomatic skills, how did that meeting with Macron go, do you think?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No doubt about it. And we know that the meeting between the vice president and the French president

last night seemed to have gone well. Senior administration officials believe that the relationship between the U.S. and France is in very good

shape.

The two leaders had an opportunity to spend some time one on one together as well, something that we heard the vice president talk about this

morning, a tour of the Elysee Palace that the French president gave to the vice president, giving them an opportunity to chat together one on one.

And then they also had time today during an Armistice Day ceremony. In terms of actual clear-cut actions, deliverables, from that meeting, there

were a few but not too many. What we've seen so far has mainly been focused on space.

We saw that the U.S. and France agreed yesterday to engage in a comprehensive dialogue on space going forward, including on some climate-

related provisions as it relates to space.

And also an intention on the French president's part to join the Artemis Accords, something that governs space exploration, ensuring that it is

being conducted responsibly.

The U.S. is also signing onto a cyberspace treaty that France has been pushing. So there is that as well. There was not, though, anything concrete

and direct in terms of European defense, for example, something that has been a top priority for the French president and something on which he's

been seeking assurances from the United States in the wake of this submarine affair.

We do know that that is a point that was discussed as well as Indo-Pacific security, just nothing specific or concrete coming out of this meeting. But

overall, this visit by the vice president, five days spent here in Paris, these remarks at the Paris Peace Forum happening next hour, all of this

intended as a gesture from the United States to France to reassure the French that this relationship is a top priority and, indeed, try and

revitalize and strengthen that relationship going forward -- Max.

FOSTER: Also very high-profile visit for the vice president. We haven't really seen her operating at this level internationally before.

Is this a sign that the White House is trying to get her out there more?

DIAMOND: It's certainly her first time on the European stage, which many foreign policy experts consider to be the big leagues of foreign policy.

She has previously traveled; her first trip was to Mexico and Guatemala. She then went to Singapore and Vietnam over the summer.

That first trip did not go very well, in particular because of an interview that the vice president gave at the time on the subject of immigration,

where she really -- big swing and a miss on a key question as it related to border security.

So obviously this is also a diplomatic test for her and an opportunity for her to raise her public profile. So far there haven't been any gaffes --

Max.

FOSTER: OK, Jeremy, appreciate it. We'll be hearing more from the vice president as she speaks coming up.

Now let's get you up to date with some other stories.

Inflation fears are spreading across the U.S. but also Europe and Japan. European Union today warned about rising prices and its economic forecast

comes a day after the U.S. reported its highest monthly inflation rate in more than 20 years.

[10:35:00]

BLACK: That sparking volatility in financial markets.

Tesla's CEO, Elon Musk, has sold nearly $5 billion worth of shares in the electric car company. It comes just days after Musk asked his 63 million

Twitter followers whether he should sell 10 percent of his stock.

He has already made plans to sell shares this week to raise $1 billion to pay in taxes. Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, is apologizing for

misleading a British court over her involvement in a biography about her.

A British newspaper is appealing a high court ruling that it had breached the duchess' privacy. Meghan had previously said she wasn't involved in the

book but now says she forgot that she provided details through a former communications adviser to pass onto the authors.

Accusations of foul play; hear what a lawyer defending the armorer in Alec Baldwin's film, "Rust," is saying now after last month's fatal shooting on

set.

And we look ahead to "WORLD SPORT," where two cricket rivals squared off for a chance to reach the finals of the World Cup.

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FOSTER: The lawyer for Hannah Gutierrez Reed says his client is being framed in last month's fatal shooting on the set of the movie, "Rust." Reed

was the armorer and props assistant for the film. Actor Alec Baldwin was given a prop gun she had handled.

Baldwin later fired the weapon during rehearsal, killing the film's cinematographer and injuring the director. Now Reed's attorney is crying

foul play, saying someone tampered with the evidence. Stephanie Elam joins us now from Los Angeles.

What's the basis for these latest counterclaims, effectively?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is noteworthy, Max, because they are tripling down, the lawyer for Hannah Gutierrez Reed, about this

idea that there was tampering on set.

They are saying that they do believe that someone put real ammunition inside of the dummies box, where the dummy ammunition should've been. So

they're saying that they believe that someone messed with the scene even after the shooting happened.

So let me just read a little bit of what the statement from her lawyer said.

In part, it says, "Information is coming out that needs to be fully investigated and considered by the district attorney. We eagerly await the

FBI's investigation as well and we are asking for a full and complete investigation of all the facts, including the live rounds themselves, how

they ended up in the dummies box and who put them in there."

They go on to say that, "We are convinced that this was sabotage and Hannah is being framed. We believe that the scene was tampered with as well before

the police arrived."

[10:40:00]

ELAM: Now they have said here that they have gone back to the Santa Fe County sheriff's department for another interview, that they are

cooperating with the investigation.

But to this claim that there was sabotage there, the district attorney for the Santa Fe County area, she is saying that they have no proof that that

is even the case, that they say that they don't see any leads that say that there could have been sabotage.

At the same time, you have Hannah Gutierrez Reed coming out about her part. We also have now a lawsuit from Serge Svetnoy. He was the chief lighting

technician. He was there on set, he says, when this shooting happened.

He said that he's had severe emotional distress in this lawsuit now that he has filed against Alec Baldwin, against the D.A. on this movie, the

director's assistant, David Halls, who was also there and handed the weapon to Alec Baldwin, we know because of court documents.

And also mentioning Gutierrez Reed as well as other people here. And in this lawsuit he's saying that they breached their duties by allowing real

ammunition onto the set at all.

He claims that he was hit by some of the discharge materials when that fatal blast went off that killed Halyna Hutchins. So he is saying that he

was there, that he was actually holding her as she died, that her blood was on his hands.

To this claim, though, that he's saying that he's not motivated by money but really that he wants to see change in the industry there. He said also

that they had worked on several films over the last few years together, he and Halyna Hutchins. And he considered her a friend.

I should note that we have reached out, CNN has reached out to both Baldwin, to Gutierrez as well as Dave Halls as well to see if they would

comment. But we have not gotten comment back on this lawsuit.

But it is the first of what some see could be many more because of what was happening there on the "Rust" set and the fact that it left people injured

and one woman dead.

FOSTER: Yes, and her family need to know what happened there. Extraordinary allegations. And thanks for covering it all for us so

clearly, Stephanie.

Now you are looking at some mighty big shoes to fill. These Nike sneakers belong to the late NBA icon Kobe Bryant. A short time ago they went under

the hammer at Sotheby's in Geneva. The auction house says Bryant's high- tops fetched around $33,000. The Los Angeles Lakers star died in a helicopter crash last year.

(WORLD SPORT)

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