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Israeli Poised for Fifth Election in less than four years; Source: Mideast Allies Pressuring Biden to Contain Iran; Ukraine: Frontline Village near Sievierodonetsk Captured; Thousands of UK Rail Workers on Strike Today; Texas DPS Chief: Police Response to Shooting was "Abject Failure"; Ancient Iraqi City Surfaces due to Extreme Drought. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired June 21, 2022 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN, London. This is "Connect the World" with Becky Anderson.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: We are just an hour away from Special CNN coverage of the next January 6th hearing on Capitol Hill. Do
stay with us for that before we get to that our big story this hour turmoil in Israeli politics. I'm Becky Anderson. You are back with "Connect the
World".
Well, these appear to be the last days for Israel's diverse coalition government. The wheels are in motion to dissolve parliament on the way in
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid shown here on the right of your screen. He could become the Caretaker Prime Minister.
He's with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett now on the way out after moving to disband the government yesterday. Now it had been splintering for weeks
with members of Mr. Bennett's own party defecting his decision triggers Israel's fifth general election in less than four years.
Well, CNN's Hadas Gold back with us from Jerusalem. And Hadas, this announcement comes after weeks of uncertainty, but still came as a major
surprise why?
HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this government was on shaky ground for some time, especially after they lost their parliamentary majority with
that first affection in April and then a second defection in the last few weeks pretty much put them in the minority.
But what was most surprising about this announcement last night was that it was the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister essentially falling on
their own swords and choosing to dissolve themselves, rather than waiting to be dragged into it dragged into disillusion dragged into new elections
by the former prime minister and opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, they essentially said they recognize they had no political future.
They couldn't get important bills passed because even if it was laws that the opposition agreed with ideologically, the opposition parties would just
simply not vote for them as part of a way to try to destroy this coalition. And part of what led to this fragility of this coalition.
We've been talking about it for more than a year. It's just how diverse it was from the right to the left the first era party, but it was that
ideological diversity that was part of its undoing and part of what helped bring down Naftali Bennett as Prime Minister.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GOLD (voice over): Naftali Bennett, he was not supposed to be Prime Minister, at least not yet. But in 2021, his small party opened the door to
a new government, one that ended Benjamin Netanyahu's run as the longest serving Israeli Prime Minister. And with that the high tech millionaire
became the country's 13th Prime Minister.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Naftali Bennett.
GOLD (voice over): Leader of the Right Wing Party Yamina joining forces with unlikely bedfellows to form the most diverse coalition in Israel's
history. Bennett, a keeper wearing religious former settler leader sitting alongside left wing parties, he wants to ride it and the first Arab party
in a governing coalition.
NAFTALI BENNETT, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: We knew it was gonna be hard. We knew that when you put secular and religious together right and left and
Jews and Arabs together, there are going to be bumps in the road. But that's the challenge.
GOLD (voice over): With so many diametrically opposed positions the coalition agreed to avoid major changes on lightning rod issues, especially
in regard to any move towards peace talks with Palestinians. But marking achievements elsewhere, passing the first budget in nearly four years
building our security alliances on the back of the Abraham Accord normalization agreements, Bennett becoming the first Israeli Prime Minister
to visit the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
YOHANAN PLESNER, PRESIDENT, ISRAEL DEMOCRACY INSTITUTE: It's a government with many achievements in comparison to its short period and narrow
parliamentary majority. What it didn't succeed to do is to rescue or extract Israel from its internal cultural identity and warfare. And in this
respect, this government was more of a ceasefire, rather than putting an end to the political deadlock.
GOLD (voice over): The grand experiment barely one year old, crumbling, sending Israelis once again to the polls for the fifth time in just over
three years.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GOLD: So Becky, what will happen is likely by next week, this proposal to dissolve parliament will be brought to the parliament and if it passes when
we expect it will pass Yair Lapid will then become the Caretaker Prime Minister. Elections are expected to be held in the fall, but even though
elections will be held in the fall, that doesn't necessarily mean that Lapid will stop being Prime Minister if he doesn't win, because as we've
seen, in that last endless cycle of elections, unless somebody can get that governing majority that 61 seats, then a Caretaker Prime Minister can be a
Caretaker Prime Minister for quite a long time.
ANDERSON: Yes, absolutely. Well, we can discuss who may be able to get that magic number of 61 momentarily. Thank you for the timing being. That's
Hadas Gold in Jerusalem.
[11:05:00]
ANDERSON: My next guest who was featured in Hadas' report that we just played out for you he is a former member of the Knesset who said in a
recent interview that the call for early elections, "Is a clear indication that Israel's worst political crisis did not end when this government was
sworn into office".
Yohanan Plesner, President of the think tank, Israel Democracy Institute joins me now live via Skype from Jerusalem. It's good to have you sir. What
did you mean by that? Was this inevitable from the start?
PLESNER: Well, it wasn't inevitable. But hi, Becky and thanks for having me. And you've been covering this crisis for quite a while as well. And as
this government - the government was established exactly a year ago, we thought that it put an end to Israel's political crisis.
We thought that the this very strange and unique coalition of parties from the right from the left from the center and an Arab party for the first
time, would bring Israelis together and would be able to govern for a few years. But apparently, this coalition did not manage to hold together.
And a couple of months ago, essentially, it fell apart, not a result of - not as a result of a decision of any party leader to leave the coalition.
But rather, it was a decision of a number of backbenchers to shift sides and basically, to eliminate the narrow majority that the coalition had.
ANDERSON: Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and his coalition partner, who is the Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, said at that press conference that they
held together joint press conference yesterday that they hadn't I quote, exhausted options to stabilize their coalition government. Is that true? Do
you agree with that assessment?
PLESNER: Yes, you can be sure they had a very strong interest both in the national interest and a personal political interest to do the utmost to
keep this coalition together. But it started as a very narrow coalition their coalition included eight different political parties that added up
together to 61 seats out of 120. So it was 61 versus 59.
And as one coalition member, actually from Naftali Bennett's own Yamina Party was lured by the opposition with - lured by Benjamin Netanyahu to
shift sides. Basically, the coalition lost its majority and began to fall apart.
So once they realize that the government lost its majority and can no longer manage the affairs of state can no longer pass legislation in the
Knesset, as the opposition really, led by Netanyahu led a scorched earth political policy of objecting to everything, they realized that this they
better ended before others will end up for them. And the Israeli public will lose patience for this government.
ANDERSON: Well, the collapse of the government gives Benjamin Netanyahu the country's longest serving Prime Minister, of course and his opposition
Likud Party more than a political lifeline at this point. What chance of a Netanyahu return to office at this point?
PLESNER: Well, that's the $1 million, or 1 billion or whatever. That's the big question that is now looming above the Israeli politics. Israelis are
split right down the middle between the pro Netanyahu camp. It's basically code plus ultra-orthodox parties, and the inside Netanyahu camp that is a
combination of parties from the right from the left and from the center.
Polls are demonstrating that Netanyahu did not cross the 60 Knesset member majorities that he needs in order to build a majority. But he's quite close
to it. So nothing guarantees for Mr. Netanyahu to win the next election. He tried for four times and he failed. There is strong opposition against him.
And many Israelis don't feel comfortable with the fact that Mr. Netanyahu is trying to become Prime Minister. And while he's in a conflict of
interest, because he's still also dealing with a court case with criminal charges so there's a serious competition, and an eventful upcoming few
months.
ANDERSON: This eight party coalition that has now fallen apart was the most ideologically diverse in the country's history. For the first time it had
an independent error party and still, it had seen a slow fracturing in recent weeks and the sort of straw that broke the camel's back as it were.
And the decision to - the failure on the part of the government to renew legislation that applied to Israeli civilian law for Israelis in the
occupied West Bank. I just wonder what does this say about Israeli society today.
[11:10:00]
ANDERSON: What needs to happen next?
PLESNER: Well, number one, you know, one cause for this deadlock is, of course, this split right down the middle over the personality and policy of
Mr. Netanyahu, what brought this heterogeneous coalition together was opposition to Mr. Netanyahu.
But it's not only opposition to Netanyahu, they actually managed to legislate quite a serious sequence of reforms in the social and economic
areas, and unprecedented the decisions to integrate in the Arab a minority into Israeli economy and society. So this is one aspect.
The second aspect is that Israel's electoral reform is in dire need for Israel electoral system is in dire need for reform; our current system does
not produce a decisive outcome and produces unstable outcomes.
So in the current conflict around Mr. Netanyahu just amplifies the need for electoral reform that will produce a decisive and clear and stable outcome
after Israelis go for an election.
ANDERSON: What briefly will happen now to that legislation over the West Bank, which the government didn't get through over opposition from mostly
Arab lawmakers in the coalition? What happens to that now?
PLESNER: Well, what will happen to this legislation is what will happen to all legislation that is expected to expire after the Knesset, it resolves
itself. So this legislation was expected to the current arrange legal arrangement in the West Bank was expected to expire early in July.
And the Knesset will dissolve itself before that, and therefore it will be extended automatically until about three months after the upcoming election
date. So basically this issue like many other issues will be rolled forward until a later date. ANDERSON: That election as I understand it expected for
some time around September. Good to have you on Sir, thank you.
PLESNER: Late October, beginning of November.
ANDERSON: Late October, beginning of November. Thank you. I stand corrected. Thank you. Well, next month, Israel is preparing to host the
U.S. president of course. Sources say he's under more and more pressure from his Middle East allies to come up with a plan to deal with Iran.
But hopes for reviving the 2015 nuclear deal look dimmer and dimmer. And regional officials say the administration still hasn't told any of its
regional partners about any plan B, should these nuclear talks fail?
Natasha Bertrand is in Washington DC with more and this is CNN reporting. Tell us more about this pressure? Who is it coming from and why?
NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, Becky. So it's Saudi Arabia, Israel, the UAE, many of the Gulf allies that the United States
President Biden is going to be meeting with in Jeddah next month.
And they are getting anxious here they are seeing that the JCPOA talks the Iran deal talks are tenuous at best, in the words of the U.S. envoy to
Iran, Rob Malley, and faltering and unlikely to produce any kind of real breakthrough in the next month.
And they are wondering what the administration's plan is, if those talks do fall through. And of course, it's not just the Iran nuclear deal that the
allies are concerned about, many of them, in fact, are worried even if it did go through what that would mean for the region given that it would
result in sanctions relief for Iran.
So what would they do with that money? So there is a desire here by the Gulf countries by Israel, to get a sense from the administration about what
a comprehensive Iran strategy looks like to keep Iran's malign activities at bay, whether it has to do with the nuclear program, its ballistic
missile program, its drones, or of course, its financing of militant groups across the region.
And they have been expressing this clearly to Biden's national security officials. Just last month, the Deputy Defense Minister of Saudi Arabia,
who also happens to be the Saudi Crown Prince's brother told them very clearly that while he is pleased that the administration's relationship
with the Saudi government is kind of getting back on track.
He is also and the kingdom is also very concerned that there is no real strategy here in the long term to deal with Iran's malign behavior. So
they're looking for answers.
The administration has been a bit cagey about what a Plan B might look like, because they are hoping to not completely derail these talks right
now. But again, they're just hoping to get some kind of clarity from President Biden when he goes over there next month.
ANDERSON: Yes, so this idea that the Middle East allies want for a plan on containment would be, as you rightly pointed out, you know, containment of
its nuclear program plus, its malign activity and its ballistic missile program, which both fall outside of the 2015 deal of course. The question
is you know Middle East allies are pushing to understand what that plan B is.
[11:15:00]
ANDERSON: The real question at this point is, is there a plan B? Does the White House have one?
BERTRAND: If they do have one, they have not articulated it very clearly, either to American lawmakers or to the partners and allies in the region.
And we were told very explicitly that they certainly have not articulated it to Saudi Arabia, which has been pressing them for answers over the last
several months that they have been in ongoing discussions about this trip.
And the closest that we could get to discerning what a Plan B might be, is for the administration to keep up the economic pressure on Iran should a
deal fall through. So ramp up sanctions enforcement, increase the economic pressure on the country, in order to prevent them from furthering their
nuclear weapons program, their ballistic missile program, and of course, financing those groups across the region that the allies are so concerned
about.
So that right now seems to be the plan B so to speak, if the Iran nuclear deal does not come to pass, Becky.
ANDERSON: Fascinating, well, thank you. Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince, looking to shore up regional ties. Meantime, in Cairo, Mohammed bin Salman
met with the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, during the visit there.
Saudi and Egyptian companies signed more than $7 billion worth of deals the crown prince will also visit Jordan and Turkey. The Biden trip, of course,
to Saudi Arabia, Israel and the West Bank is mid-July.
And we will be tracking the story closely for you here on "Connect the World". And you can also follow along our Middle East newsletter tracking
the most important stories across the region.
The Middle East, on the region from the region the latest edition looks at Libya is struggling oil industry harsh news for countries around the globe
looking to supplement supplies in the wake of Russia's invasion on Ukraine.
And a lot more you can sign up to have these crucial stories delivered to your inbox@cnn.com. Well head on "Connect the World" a potential new
flashpoint in Russia's war on Ukraine involves a decision to ban certain rail shipments to Russian ex-enclave, we'll explain coming up.
And the railways across Britain grind to a halt for the massive walk out can you just tell CNN they have some sympathy for strikers, but how long,
our search for answers, a little later.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Was Russian forces pound Ukraine or Russian Nobel Peace Prize Laureate is auctioned off his medal to help Ukrainian child refugees. On
Monday, journalist Dmitry Muratov's gold metal fetched a record smashing $103.5 million.
[11:20:00]
ANDERSON: Heritage auction says the noble metal was sold to an unidentified bidder over the phone. The proceeds will go to UNICEF. Muratov won the
Nobel Peace Prize last year alongside journalist Maria Ressa of the Philippines.
His independent news outlet Novaya Gazeta has been critical of Russian aggression in Ukraine.
It suspended operations after a government crackdown on the media. Well, UN data shows European countries have taken in more than 5 million Ukrainian
refugees.
Many of them are women and children. CNN's Fred Pleitgen has the story of a Russian priest who has become a lifeline for many of those refugees hoping
to reach the European Union.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The church, a single bear room and a former Factory in St. Petersburg. But
Reverend Grigory Mikhnov-Vaytenko's tiny parish is a humanitarian powerhouse. He's helped scores of Ukrainians displaced by what Moscow calls
its special military operation get to the European Union.
REVEREND GRIGORY MIKHNOV-VAYTENKO, RUSSIAN PRIEST: We have thousands, thousands of people because every day, every day, a few 100 people go.
PLEITGEN (voice over): Most of the Ukrainians sheltering in this hostel in St. Petersburg is from Mariupol, a city almost completely destroyed by
artillery, airstrikes and urban combat.
On March 9, the city's maternity clinic was hit, a now infamous incident that killed four people and wounded scores including Victoria - who lost
her unborn baby.
They did a cesarean operation. There was panic everywhere, but they said they have to save me she says, they saw that the child had no more vital
signs. They tried to pull them out and reanimate him, but the explosion hit me right in the belly and they couldn't save him.
A double tragedy as her husband Vladimir was also hit by shelling as he was trying to visit Victoria killing a friend walking with him.
I heard a loud ring in my ears and I thought to myself, I'm dead too, he says, But I looked down at my leg and my kneecap had been torn off, I
crawled to a fence and screamed help, help.
Vladimir's leg later had to be amputated. Thanks to Reverend Gregory and his network of volunteers. They made it to St. Petersburg where like so
many; they stay free of charge at this hostel waiting to leave Russia.
Ukraine has accused Russia of targeting civilians in Mariupol. Russia denies those claims and instead blamed Ukraine bogged down stanchion cough
and his family also escaped Mariupol.
They live near the Mariupol drama Theater, which was bombed in mid-March reportedly killing hundreds though the exact number remains unknown. As his
neighborhood was being flattened, - took his wife, his son and his eight month old baby girl Kira and fled ending up in southwestern Russia. Like
everyone here, they want to get to the European Union.
Reverend Grigory says Russia does not preventing Ukrainians from leaving the country. But due to a lack of information, some end up in remote
regions of this massive country.
VAYTENKO: They have no information. This is the main problem. They have no information what they can do, what is possible to do where they can go.
PLEITGEN (voice over): The costs of moving so many Ukrainian some severely wounded to the EU are massive. Reverend Grigory relies on donations mostly
by Russian hospitals, companies, business people and ordinary citizens.
Some opposed to what Russia called the special military operation, but afraid to speak out. Reverend Grigory left the Russian Orthodox Church in
2014. Its head Patriarch Kirill is a staunch ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and supporter of the special military operation.
VAYTENKO: For me, it was not possible to stay there when they have a military church.
PLEITGEN (voice over): Reverend Grigory says he doesn't fear speaking openly about his opposition to Russia's actions in Ukraine. He only fears
God. As he sees Victoria and Vladimir off, they've gotten the go to head to Germany where Vladimir is set to receive a prosthetic limb, a bit nervous
but also grateful for the chance to start a new life thanks to the help of Reverend Grigory and his band of supporters Fred Pleitgen, CNN, St.
Petersburg, Russia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, Ukrainian forces under constant fire in the Eastern Donbas. That's the word today from Ukraine's military in what is the Luhansk
region, which reports the fall of a village near Severodonetsk.
And you'll have heard us talking about the symbolic and strategic importance of Sievierodonetsk now for weeks. These images posted online
show the aftermath of Russia's assault on Toshkivka.
[11:25:00]
ANDERSON: And official saying Russia took that city on Monday. Now the fall of Toshkivka happening as Ukrainian forces fight to hold on to what a small
portion of Sievierodonetsk that they do still control is.
Elsewhere in the country, new explosions reported in the southern city of Mykolaiv, which you can see on this map in the Kherson region. Ukraine's
military saying Russian forces are shelling areas in and around Mykolaiv trying to defend territory that they have seized.
Well there is today, a potential new flashpoint in Russia's war on Ukraine. And this involves the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. Now, you can see it
here nestled between Lithuania and Poland.
Russia threatening to retaliate after Lithuania halted some rail shipments to Kaliningrad. Our International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson joining
me here in the studio, just some pick what's going on for us here. Is this your assessment is this worrying?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It is look, when Russia sends a top security official to Kaliningrad and he calls us a hostile act
and says there'll be negative consequences for the Lithuanian people.
Russia calls in the top EU representative in Moscow and the EU's top diplomat says what the Russians are saying is false. And it's pure
propaganda. It's very clear both sides were a long way apart.
Strategically Kaliningrad is very important for Russia. It has its Baltic Fleet there and it is, you know, a tiny population off a million to a
million people that are separate and outside of Russia, and they feel separated and outside of Russia.
And what the EU is saying is look, Lithuania is only putting in place what the EU has said sanctions on Russians moving in and out of the European
Union or through the European Union, building materials, sporting goods like golf clubs, art, you know, paintings, that sort of thing, antiques.
This is what the EU was saying. But Russia sees this as something different than an effort to disconnect it from this small enclave. And that's why
it's that's why this could ratchet up.
ANDERSON: Right. This is why this is significant. What might and this is a hypothetical, of course, at this stage. But we are hearing you know a
robust narrative out of Russia at this point, what might the consequences of this be?
ROBERTSON: So I was on that border between Lithuania and Kaliningrad a few years ago 2016, I think. Russia had just increased its military defensive
posture inside Kaliningrad and put Iskander missiles, these big missile systems that can reach deep into the heart of Europe.
In fact, they will be the closest Russian missiles on a permanent piece of soil, close to Europe. That was 2016. And there was a real concern about
how things could escalate.
Russia was reacting to European sanctions, because of its invasion of Ukraine back then. And it's in previous invasion of Georgia. So NATO began
putting its defensive postures in place around there.
So the tensions began there. But you know, in the view of Carl Bildt, former Swedish Prime Minister, he believes and so to other European
politicians that the Russians actually have nuclear tipped missiles there in Kaliningrad.
That short gap, they're so lucky corridor, as they call it between Belarus and Kaliningrad, which can provide Russia and emergency land bridge or
throttle back Europe's access to the Baltic States become a critical juncture here, a critical land juncture.
All of these can become flashpoints in the future. And I think if you look at what President Putin said a couple of months ago, when he met with
President Lukashenko of Belarus, he said it was important for Belarus to have access to seaports.
Now, you might have normally interpreted that as St. Petersburg, but the closest seaport to Belarus is Kaliningrad. We're in an era where you don't
know what dots the Kremlin is going to join. This is why it's troubling.
ANDERSON: Nic Robertson on the story for us. Nic, your analysis and insight is extremely important. Thank you. Well just ahead it's Britain's biggest
national rail strike in more than a generation find out how commuters are coping and what the strikers want next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:30:00]
ANDERSON: Welcome back, you're watching "Connect the World". I'm Becky Anderson. It is just after half past four here in London. This show, of
course, normally broadcasts out of Abu Dhabi in the UAE.
Thousands of people here in the UK are on the picket line today and millions more struggling to get where they need to go as a result. That is
the scenario as rail workers across Britain strike for job security and pay that keeps up with soaring inflation.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson condemning the walkout the biggest on the railways for 30 years and more strikes are set for Thursday and Saturday.
Here in London the underground system is also halted by what is a separate strike.
Well CNN's Scott McLean is live for us at London Bridge station and this should be at half past four on a Tuesday afternoon and extremely busy
transit environment. This is in the heart of the City of London, evidence there of just how crippling this action has been, Scott.
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there's hard - anyone here Becky and the Evening Standard. A lot of Londoners will be familiar with his a
commuter newspaper that hardly anyone will actually be reading today is branding this lockdown 2.0.
Because the feeling inside the station is very much like what things were like at the height of the pandemic, when there were scenes like this.
Hardly anyone traveling hardly anyone allowed to travel today, if you're traveling, it's going to be a long day for you.
We've seen just a trickle of people coming in through the gates mostly just confused people trying to figure out where they're going. And then on the
platforms, a lot of messages, messages like this, please check timetable for services, which is code for there is no train about 20 percent only of
all of the trains are running today.
And the reason why there is even that high is because in the UK, not all workers have to be members of union, not any workers have to be members of
the Union. And so therefore, some people are still showing up to work.
We've been talking to people inside of the station, a lot of them this morning came from outer lying parts of London. But they were having real
difficulty once they managed to get here and getting anywhere else in London because of that tube strike that you mentioned.
Some people simply abandon their efforts to make it to work because they were going to be so late that by the time they got there, they'd have to
turn around or it would cost them a lot of money to take a black cab here to get there.
And so many of them were turning around and going home it simply was not worth it for them. And so while there is undoubtedly a lot of sympathy for
these striking workers, it is also undoubtedly hitting people's bottom lines. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody has whole issues with speed that you know is not going to help if nobody can't walk you know?
[11:35:00]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So because they are saying everything is increasing, but we just have to go to work as well because if you don't work, you don't
get paid.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's very inconsiderate. I support the action and stuff like that. But it's like come at the cost of everyday people.
MCLEAN (on camera): Do you think that you'll make it at all today?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hope so. I have patients waiting, I can't say no.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCLEAN: Now that last person, a medical professional in South London, a lot of the other people that we met were teachers, contractors, roofers, people
who simply cannot work from home, they have to be physically in a location in order to do their work.
Now, here's the reality is that, since the pandemic and things have been largely back to normal here in the UK, for some time now, there have been
increasingly high numbers of people actually riding the trains riding the underground, but it is still not at the level that it was pre pandemic.
So from the government's perspective, Becky, the status quo is not going to work, things are going to have to change in order to keep the business
model sustainable. You mentioned the Prime Minister, he condemned the strikes today, he called them wrong and unnecessary.
He also points out that look; the government essentially bankrolled an industry that was not working by and large during the pandemic with
billions of dollars to make sure that no one was unemployed.
The unions though see it very much differently. They say there's no fault of their own, they've had a pay freeze for the last two years. They want
their wages to keep up with inflation. Of course, the big problem, though, is that inflation right now is 7 percent.
And it's going to get worse before it gets any better. And so the government's concern and the reason why they and the rail companies are
pushing back is they don't want to do anything that might actually make this inflation problem any worse than it is. Becky?
ANDERSON: Got it, absolutely. Scott McLean, thank you, sir. Well, the railway chaos confined to the United Kingdom, very specific to Britain. But
the chaos at the airports spreading worldwide, the entire air travel industry is struggling to meet what is post pandemic demand adding to the
pain, inflation and an unstable labor force for the result is passengers facing delays, cancellations.
And if they do travel problems getting their baggage, let me tell you now travelers are wondering, as the summer travel season, at least in the
northern hemisphere, a rolls on will airports and the airlines be able to keep up? Well, our Richard Quest posed that question to the CEO of United
Airlines, have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Realistically, there's not much that can be done to improve the situation to now in the
summer. It's hold you knows and--
SCOTT KIRBY, CEO, UNITED AIRLINES: I disagree. Although it requires, you know, the truth is, I think it requires government help. Because the
biggest issue is there's more flights scheduled in New York, for example, then there is capacity at the airport, even in a perfect blue sky day.
And air traffic control is understaffed. And because of that, there's just more flights in the airport can handle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, OK, that's the United Airlines CEO; Richard is with the travel industry's leaders in Doha at present. It couldn't be in a more
important place to try and sort of unpick what's going on.
Our colleague Clare Sebastian is with me here in London with a closer look at all of this. The airline industry is trying to recover from the
pandemic. And airlines at this point, not just asking, it seems some quite frankly, begging for help from government, in terms of what is it that they
are asking for at this point?
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think it's important to make that clear, because two years ago, they were asking for money, right, when
travel ground to a halt. Now they're asking for help with the bottlenecks that are appearing as demand rockets back after the pandemic, and they just
can't keep up.
So it's not just about sort of worker shortages within airlines, but you're hearing it from the likes of Scott Kirby of United is that there are
bottlenecks that they don't have control over at the airports air traffic control at New York.
I lived in New York for eight years. I know that that is the most packed airspace, probably in the world; there is no room for error there. And
they're saying that New York just can't handle the flights that are scheduled at that airport.
They want government help to sort of reduce the strain there bring down the numbers of flights to match the numbers of workers. Having said that,
though, Willie Walsh, who the Director General of IATA, he says, while airports in many cases were caught by surprise, by the surge in demand this
summer, it will get resolved is limited to a few airports. Not to worry is the --.
ANDERSON: Yes, OK. I mean, we get that but that doesn't really help the passenger who may not have traveled in two and a half years and will have
expected frankly, and probably rightly so.
That is when they could travel the airline industry and the airports would be ready to receive them particularly those who booked flights, which may
now be canceled as a result of all of this.
[11:40:00]
ANDERSON: I just wonder whether it's worth looking at how the travel industry's problems might reflect the wider global economy to a certain
extent; because this isn't the only industry we are seeing bottlenecks in by any stretch of the imagination right?
SEBASTIAN: No, I mean, look, the travel industry is at the extremes of what we've seen over the past couple of years, the sudden stops and now the
surge back. But if you sort of break it down, it is a microcosm of the overarching issues in the economy, the issue of jobs, for example, airline
slash jobs during the pandemic now because people have sort of reassess their lives.
We've seen the great resignation, they're struggling to bring them back and bringing new people and that takes time and training. And obviously safety
is a big issue with airlines inflation, a major issue, that's why we're seeing strike action.
Scott was talking about it today in the UK, we've seen it at airports, this is a time because of the inflationary environment. And because of the
worker shortages, where workers are starting to demand more in terms of paying conditions.
And of course inflation at the same time airlines are dealing with much higher cost especially when it comes to things like jet fuel.
ANDERSON: Passengers being asked to be patient, I'm hearing that from those that Richard is getting an opportunity to interview. I wonder how much
patience people will have certainly in London today on a separate story, but as you say related to the extent of job cuts and inflation and the fact
that pay isn't inflation adjusted at the moment.
You know people are being relatively patient as you know during this railway and tube strike but you do wonder how long that's going to go on.
We'll see. It's always good to have you. Thank you, Clare. When we come back, anger and frustration grow over new evidence in the Uvalde school
shooting investigation, more on that after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well, a quick programming note for us, for us for you. We are just over an hour away from the next public hearing on the investigation
into the U.S. Capitol right.
The House Select Committee expected to hear testimony about how former President Donald Trump and his allies pressured state governments to
overturn the 2020 election. Do join us for our special coverage, which begins just after this show at the top of the hour.
Meantime, we're learning new details on the investigation into the Texas School shooting last month in which 19 kids and two teachers were killed.
Texas State Senate listening to testimony on the Uvalde massacre just a little while ago.
Colonel Steve McCraw, the Director of the Texas Department of Public Safety gave a compelling statement. Have a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COL. STEVEN MCCRAW, DIRECTOR, TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY: There is compelling evidence that the law enforcement response to the attack at Rob
Elementary was an abject failure and antithetical to everything we've learned over the last two decades since the Columbine massacre.
Three minutes after the subject tender to west building, there were a sufficient number of armed officers wearing body armor to isolate distract
and neutralize the subject.
[11:45:00]
MCCRAW: The only thing stopping a hallway of dedicated officers from any room 111 and 112 was the on-scene commander who decided to place the lives
of officers before the lives of children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, that is pretty damning stuff. CNN's Rosa Flores joining us now live from Uvalde. And what do you make of that?
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Becky, this is an excruciating account of what happened when you think about the lives that were lost
here. 21 people, 19 children and two teachers. And what the Head of Texas DPS is doing here is going on a second by second account.
And in his words, how this was an abject failure by law enforcement how members of law enforcement from various agencies had body armor. They had
weapons at some point that had ballistic shields, and they did not go inside that classroom for 77 minutes to stop this threat.
He goes on and on about how law enforcement here in this community failed children.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANGELI GOMEZ, UVALDE PARENT: I find it shameful that we had almost 100 officers on the scene and I had to leave work and save my own.
FLORES (voice over): Outrage palpable in Uvalde, Texas as a first image from inside Rob Elementary during the shooting is released by the Austin
American Statesman. This surveillance picture shows officers standing in the school's hallway with rifles and a ballistic shield with a timestamp of
19 minutes after officials say the gunman entered the school.
TONY PLOHETSKI, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN: That shows in the minds of at least some investigators reviewing what happened
that day is that authorities had adequate firepower and adequate protective equipment 58 minutes past from the time we see these officers in that video
in that screen grab to when they ultimately breached that classroom.
FLORES (voice over): Just 12 minutes before at 11.40 Uvalde School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo called the Uvalde police department from inside
the school asking for help.
According to a transcript Arredondo says it's an emergency right now. We have him in the room. He's got an AR 15 he's shot a lot. They need to be
outside the building prepared because we don't have firepower right now. It's all pistols.
After reviewing body camera footage, the Statesman writes Arredondo was trying to find keys to open the classrooms doors, even though officials say
they do not believe officers had tried to open either door.
The Texas Tribune reports officers held their positions outside the adjoining classrooms as the gunman fired at least three more times. The
tribune released a surveillance picture it says is from 12.04pm that shows multiple officers with at least two ballistic shields.
Police would not enter the classroom for another 46 minutes. In transcripts reviewed by the tribune officers were growing impatient. One agent asks,
are there still kids in the classroom? To which another agent answers, it is unknown at this time.
The agent replies, you all don't know if there's kids in there. If there's kids in there, we need to go in there. The other agent response whoever is
in charge will determine that.
ROLAND GUTIERREZ, TEXAS STATE SENATE DEMOCRAT: All of those officers are trained in an active shooter situation. And from the very beginning, even
the ones that didn't have the ballistic shields, they should have just gone in. That's what their protocol suggests. Children were left in a room
scared to death, calling 911 and yet no one went in.
FLORES (voice over): The community directing its anger at Chief Pete Arredondo at an Uvalde school board meeting Monday night.
BRENT CROSS, UVALDE PARENT: He told our kids, teachers, parents in the city and by keeping them on your staff, you all are continuing to fellas. How
Mr. Arredondo is still with the program suspended pending termination? It's an insult to injury.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FLORES: And Becky, this testimony is still going on right now with the question and answer session by committee members to Colonel McCraw. And I
can tell you that the list of failures continues to grow.
Some of the things that he has mentioned most recently is that the radios didn't work inside that school because the signal wasn't strong enough, and
also that the lock to the outside of the school was broken. The teachers had asked for that lock to be repaired and it wasn't. Becky?
ANDERSON: Rosa Flores continues our reporting from Uvalde. Thank you very much indeed. We're going to take a very short break, back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:50:00]
ANDERSON: Well, Monsoon floods across India and Bangladesh have claimed the lives of at least 84 people. Experts say climate change causing more
extreme rain events in South Asia. Vedika Sud brings us the view from the region, have a look at this.
VEDIKA SUD, CNN REPORTER: Heavy rainfall and flooding have had a devastating impact on the lives of millions of people in Bangladesh and
India. Huge settlements have been engulfed by floods.
Villages in northeastern parts of Bangladesh, especially in a district called Salhab to remain submerged, while tens of thousands have been taken
to safer ground by rescue teams. Many remain homeless and stranded.
There's water all around but very little to consume. This young boy in Salhab can barely keep his head above flood water, holding a metal job in
his hand. He's in search of potable water, as are these women riding on boats.
There's been a huge shortage of drinking water in this district. Bangladeshi Air Force choppers have been deployed in haunted areas like
Salhab. They've been dropping food and water packets to those cut off by the floods.
In news from India, 11 deaths have been reported Monday in India's north eastern state of Assam. More than 1400 makeshift camps have been set up
home to more than 230,000 people displaced by the ruinous floods.
Rescue teams have been working around the clock. In this image, a young boy sitting inside a bucket was steered to safety by rescue worker. People
young and old are being evacuated to higher ground from their homes in low lying areas.
One of India's leading environmentalists Sunita Narain says climate change is causing extreme weather events in the region.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUNITA NARAIN, ENVIRONMENTALIST: So it is very clear that with climate change, this region is going to see extreme rainfall. And already in
Bangladesh and in the northeast, you're seeing that impact that the region has gone from water scarcity to flood in one in one - and that is the
impact of climate change. This devastating flood is clearly linked to the changes that we are seeing in the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SUD: Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina carried out an aerial survey of the flood affected areas Tuesday, according to Bangladesh national news
agency Hasina has promised to rehabilitate every person impacted by the floods.
Vedika Sud CNN, New Delhi.
ANDERSON: Well from extreme floods to extreme drought. Tonight in our parting shots this ancient Iraqi settlement is believed to be the Bronze
Age City of Zachiku, a major hub of the Metallian pilot reigning from 1550 to 1350 BC became submerged in the 1980s after the Mosul Dam was built.
But an extreme drought has caused the reservoirs water level to drop swiftly bringing the city above water earlier this year. Archaeologists
rushed to excavate the site before it recent merged. And they found five ceramic vessels holding over 100 cuneiform tablets the writing system used
in the region during the Bronze Age,
[11:55:00]
ANDERSON: The researchers believed these artifacts may shed light on the ancient cities demise on an extraordinary find. Well, thanks for joining
"Connect the World". I'm Becky Anderson from the team working with me here in London at present and those working with me around the world,
particularly those in Abu Dhabi, where this show, of course is based.
We wish you a very good evening just after this break, CNN special coverage of the investigation into last year's January the sixth attack on the U.S.
Capitol, please do stay with us for that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:00:00]
END
