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Final Day of Tournament for World Cup Group Stages; Morocco Advance to Round of 16 After 2-1 Win Over Canada; Ukrainian Embassies Targeted by Letter Bombs and Threats; Wagner Faces Scrutiny Over Death of Zambian Recruit. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired December 02, 2022 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:36]
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: At the World Cup Uruguay facing Ghana as we speak in what is being described as a grudge match. It comes
one day after two European football giants Germany and Belgium were knocked out. And.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wagner admits it is recruiting fighters from Russian jails and even confirmed to CNN they're
sending inmates with HIV, tuberculosis and hepatitis to the frontline.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: How did a Zambian man die fighting for Russia and Ukraine? CNN has a special report. And some Chinese cities are easing COVID-19 measures
as residents continue to tear down barriers surrounding their apartments. We're live in Hong Kong for you this evening.
I'm Becky Anderson. Hello, and welcome to what is a special edition of CONNECT THE WORLD live from Doha.
You may be able to hear some of the fans behind us. It is our final day here in Doha as a team, on CONNECT THE WORLD. And the final day of what has
been a thrilling group stage for this World Cup. Today's matches will determine the final 16, that starts Saturday. And there are some big games
to watch out for.
Brazil, meanwhile, already through to the knockout stages, will take on Cameron in group G, while Switzerland are hoping they can secure a spot
with a win against Serbia. In group H, Portugal has also qualified and taking on South Korea as we speak, while Ghana are playing Uruguay in their
first encounter at a World Cup since 2010.
Amanda Davies is with us now. I say since 2010 because that is why. And explain, if you will, for our viewers why this is being slugged a grudge
match.
AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yes. The World Cup in South Africa in 2010, Ghana well on the brink of reaching a World Cup semifinal for the first
time in their history. Luis Suarez had other ideas. He stopped a goal. Literally on the goal line. By putting his arm up in the air he batted it
away. He got sent off. The result in penalty was missed. And it has never been forgiven or forgotten from the Ghanaian perspective.
So there was an amazing moment yesterday at the press conference. Uruguay could've put up any player in their squad but who did they decide to put up
in the press conference? Luis Suarez. A Ghanaian journalist turn around to him and said, you do realize in Ghana you are seen as the devil himself.
And --
ANDERSON: To which he said?
DAVIES: To which he smiled, which is a very Luis Suarez response.
ANDERSON: Good job.
DAVIES: And he said it's not my fault. I have nothing to apologize for. I didn't miss the penalty. And --
(LAUGHTER)
DAVIES: And -- yes. So he has walked out as the Uruguayan captain tonight. And it has been billed, rightly, as a grudge match. And this is the
Ghanaian side on the upward curve. Looking actually to put Uruguay out at the group stage of this tournament for the first time in 20 years. And they
have a real chance because Uruguay so far hasn't scored a goal in this tournament.
ANDERSON: And it's nil-nil as we speak. Brazil and Portugal are through. We got to talk a lot about, you know, Ronaldo's performance on the pitch
tonight when we see how he performs. Let's talk about what happens tomorrow because it is the beginning of the next stage as it were. And the U.S.
versus Netherlands first out of the gate. How's that shaping up? What are you watching?
DAVIES: Well, I think a lot of people had never heard of a pelvic contusion until a couple of days ago. But Christian Pulisic, I think is fair to say,
has the most talked about pelvic contusion ever in a football tournament. Captain America, as he is known, after he literally put his body on the
line scoring that decisive goal to put the U.S. through, he is in a race against time to be fit against the Netherlands.
The U.S. is interestingly turned their open training yesterday behind closed doors so we didn't get to see his first session. But the words
coming out of the U.S. camp are positive. He says he is doing everything in his power to be fit, to be able to play against the Netherlands, and I
think it's fair to say the U.S. needs him. He's talking a good game in terms of the strength of the squad but there's no doubt they play better
with him on the pitch. He is the most expensive U.S. transfer into Europe.
[10:05:04]
The Netherlands, a team three-time World Cup runners up. He knows about playing European football or so. I think it would without a doubt be a huge
boost if he is back. They have a training sessions in less than an hour I think so we might find out a little bit more then.
ANDERSON: In order to get through, you know, a lot of people are telling me the Netherlands really have to up their game at this point.
DAVIES: Yes, and --
ANDERSON: The footballing nation, they've got good pedigree but at this tournament to beat the Americans who we've seen really perform, and they've
been unlucky to date, I think, as far as goal scoring.
DAVIES: And as a criticism against the Dutch is they haven't been playing good football. They've made it through and actually Louis van Gaal has
pushed back on that today. He said it's not about playing good football, it's about winning this tournament. And that's, I guess, you know, we've
seen that in the past. Portugal winning the European championships. Didn't play British football, didn't score goals. But they got the results when it
mattered and ultimately when you look at those history books you don't say they played well or they didn't play well. You see he won the tournament.
ANDERSON: Yes. You don't remember the runners up, only those that got knocked out. Thank you.
Well, one team we won't be seeing again this tournament is Germany who crashed out at the group stage for a second time in a row. Their 40 win
against Costa Rica not enough to qualify. World number two Belgium also out of this tournament after a goalless draw against Croatia. But where was
jubilation for Morocco who goes through to the knockout stages for the first time since 1986.
CNN's Don Riddell is in Doha and he has the details on that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT (on-camera): The first World Cup in the Arab world now has an Arab team to celebrate. Morocco are heading to the
knockout stage and fans from all over the region have come to join the party.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm from Saudi Arabia.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm from Egypt. I'm not from Morocco but I came today just to support Arab country, Morocco, to win.
RIDDELL (voice-over): Morocco have been brilliant in the World Cup so far, and they finished group F on a high beating Canada 2-1. Hakim Ziyech who
came out of retirement to play in this tournament punished the goalkeeping error to score an early goal before Youssef En-Nesyri scored a second. And
the scenes at the final whistle confirmed exactly what this meant to these players and they're fans.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's like a Moroccan win. And when everyone is enjoying the music and everyone is singing. Just listen at it. It's all
amazing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope Morocco will win World Cup. Must be. Must be win. Must be win.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow. Of course. Who can -- who can say that we're going to beat a Belgic, and now we're going to beat all the team.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm very happy. I'm very, very, very happy.
RIDDELL: It all means that Morocco have won group F ahead of the 2018 runners up Croatia, making them the first African team to win a group since
Nigeria in 1998.
(On-camera): So the Atlas Lions will now play the 2010 champion Spain. And for these fans, it is a time of great pride and joy. As one local supporter
just told me, it is so nice to see Arab people being happy instead of worrying about the issues that so often plague the region.
Don Riddell, CNN Qatar.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, Ukraine is ramping up security in its embassies abroad after a series of bizarre threats. Besides letter bombs, we are learning
that several Ukrainian embassies received bloody packages this weekend, containing animal eyes.
More on that in a moment. First up we're also getting new numbers about the casualties in this war. A top Ukrainian official says up to 13,000 troops
have been killed since Russia's February invasion. That is far below U.S. estimates. Other developments Kyiv says Russian troops are giving up some
ground in the Zaporizhzhia region. And a local official claims that Russia has started a census in part of the region allegedly to prepare civilians
for evacuation.
Well, more now on those threatening packages at Ukrainian embassies and other developments. Let's get you to Matthew Chance. He's joining me now
from Kyiv in Ukraine.
Let's start with these bizarre threats. What do we know at this point?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, they really are bizarre. That's for sure. These bloody packages that have been
sent to various Ukrainian embassies, the Polish embassy, the Italian, the Austrian, you know, the Croatian, a handful of others as well. And they
basically got animal parts in them. You know, the eyes, specifically, of animals apparently sent anonymously to these Ukrainian diplomatic outposts.
[10:10:06]
And so it's very disturbing. Obviously there are investigations underway to try and get to the bottom of this. But it all follows the delivery couple
of days ago of an apparent letter bomb to the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid and Spain which apparently exploded and caused injury to one of the
diplomats who was opening the package.
And so, you know, it's put to the Ukrainian diplomatic staff abroad on the heightened state of alert, and as I say there are investigations underway
across those countries to try and get to the bottom of it. But so far no culprit has been sort of identified by the authorities.
ANDERSON: On the ground, Ukraine says Russia is firing dummy missiles that were originally built to carry nuclear warheads. Again, what do we know the
details on this?
CHANCE: Again another extraordinary development really. I mean, this idea, coming to us from Ukrainian officials and defense officials that a number
of the missiles that have been engaged in the strikes against infrastructure targets for instance across Ukraine over the past several
weeks, have been found to be dummy missiles. Missiles without an actual explosive warhead on the top. And what the Ukrainian Defense Ministry is
saying is that these are for the most part old Soviet era cruise missiles that would normally be tipped with a nuclear warhead.
Those nuclear warheads have been taken off and they've just fired the missiles at the target. Now they don't explode in the same way as they
would if they had an explosive device on the end obviously, but they've got kinetic energy. They're loaded with fuel. They still cause damage and the
key to it is that they can confuse or exhaust Ukrainian air defenses. They still, you know, are firing anti-missile defenses at these missiles as they
come in.
It may well also speak to, and this isn't confirmed but it may speak to a shortage of conventional weaponry on the Russian side as well. The fact
that they are turning to these dummy missiles instead of firing actually explosive missiles at targets in Ukraine.
ANDERSON: Matthew Chance is on the ground for you.
Well, Russia's Wagner private military group is facing questions about the death of one of its recruits in Ukraine. The reason, well, he was from
Zambian and his home country is not buying the explanation about how he ended up fighting with Wagner in the first place.
Fred Pleitgen with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Mercenaries for Russia's Wagner private military company are fighting on some of the toughest battlefields in Ukraine. A
social media channel affiliated with the group recently posted this video allegedly showing a severely wounded Wagner fighter trying to shoot himself
rather than fall into Ukrainian hands.
Now, the group has acknowledged a man from the Southern African nation of Zambia has been killed fighting on the frontlines in Ukraine. This is 23-
year-old Lemekhani Nathan Nyirenda. Wagner's founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, known as Putin's chef, admits he recruited Nyirenda from a Russian jail and
says he died a hero.
I talked to him in the (INAUDIBLE) region, Prigozhin wrote in a statement. Why do you need this war? After all, the chance of dying is quite high. And
he answered what I expected. You Russians helped us Africans gain independence for many years. The Wagner group saves thousands of Africans.
And if I go to war with you, this is probably a very small way in which I can pay our debts.
Zambian authorities say Nyirenda was studying nuclear engineering in Russia but was thrown in jail for more than nine years for what his father told
Reuters was a drug offense. Despite what Prigozhin said about Nyirenda's alleged gratitude, the Zambian government is demanding answers.
JOSEPH KALIMBWE, INFORMATION AND PUBLIC SECRETARY, UPND PARTY: How did he find himself fighting for Russia when Zambia is a country -- when Zambia as
a state does not have any interest whatsoever in what is happening in that war.
PLEITGEN: Wagner admits it is recruiting fighters from Russian jails and even confirmed to CNN they are sending inmates with HIV, tuberculosis and
hepatitis to the frontline. As Russia struggles with manpower issues, videos and inmate testimony show Prigozhin visiting prisons and offering
freedom in return for contract to the frontline.
YEVGENY PRIGOZHIN, WAGNER GROUP (through translator): If you choose to go with us, there will be no way back. Nobody will be able to go back to
prison.
PLEITGEN: But Africa has been the major theater for Wagner for years. CNN has tracked the unit across the continent, including in the Central African
Republic, where Wagner mercenaries officially train the Central African Army but have also allegedly committed horrendous human rights abuses.
[10:15:08]
Wagner recently published a propaganda video glorifying its military training in the Central African Republic, where the group's operatives show
recruits how to kill effectively. Yevgeny Prigozhin says Lemekhani Nathan Nyirenda was so grateful to Wagner he was willing to die for the
mercenaries, claims Zambia's government clearly isn't buying.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Just ahead, a surprise from the world's biggest economy. The latest U.S. job numbers are out. We will take a look at why Wall Street
isn't impressed. Plus, a fireside chat that lasted almost three hours. We'll get a French view on what these two men achieved.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: The demand for U.S. workers isn't easing despite aggressive action from the Federal Reserve to try and somewhat chill the economy and
therefore the inflation numbers. In fact, the U.S. added 263,000 new jobs in November. That's a lot more than estimates. Many economists have been
expecting a hiring slowdown and this is what Wall Street makes of those stronger than expected U.S. jobs numbers. The major indices are all in the
red.
CNN's Matt Egan looking at the story behind the numbers for us. And he joins us now. And let's just be quite clear about this because I'm sure
people around the world will be saying, well, you know, doesn't the U.S. and doesn't Wall Street want, you know, a healthy economy where people are,
you know, getting jobs, and companies are still hiring? The fact of the matter is what Wall Street at least is looking at is a slowing in the pace
of interest rates at this point. And this isn't indicative of that going forward, is it?
MATT EGAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Becky, I think that's right. Everyone really wanted a Goldilocks number here, not too hot to fan inflation and not too
cold to suggest that there's some sort of a deep freeze coming for the economy. We did not get Goldilocks, we got hot. And the number that I want
to draw your attention to because a lot of numbers have come out with this monthly report, the one that investors are really focused on and economists
is wages.
Now the expectation coming in was that wages would cool off in November. That did not happen. Year over year we saw wages up by 5.1 percent. Some
context that is roughly twice as hot as the pace from the past two decades before COVID. And as you can see in the chart, it really is not much lower
than some of the recent peaks. Month over month wages jumped by .6 percent.
[10:20:02]
That was double expectation and it is actually tied for the highest monthly wage increase that we have seen in the last three years. Now this is good
news for workers, whose paychecks have been hammered by the high cost of living. But this is not good news if you're sitting over at the Federal
Reserve. They want wages to really cool off because when they are hot that supports inflation.
And this is also not good news if you're sitting at the White House because they are hoping that the Federal Reserve is going to be able to slow the
pace of rate hikes. They want to see more sustainable growth, and of course this is not being well received on Wall Street where the moment these
numbers came out, we saw stock futures go down sharply. Bond deals come up. And although I think some of the losses in the stock market have moderated,
this again is being seen as a negative by investors -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Worrying about wage price inflation of course. The Fed's next rate decision is just a week from Wednesday. Ahead of that, and early this,
Fed chairman Jerome Powell had said that the U.S. Central Bank could pull back on the pace of its aggressive rate hikes as soon as December. Are we
reading into what we see on Wall Street today and investor response to these numbers, that people aren't necessarily convinced of that?
EGAN: Yes, Becky I think that today's hotter than expected jobs report keeps alive the chance of another monster sized interest rate hike by the
Fed. Investors see about a one in four chance of a 75 basis point hike from the Fed, that would be the fifth in a row. Kind of unthinkable that they
would do that in a row. But the odds still favor, even after today's report, that the Fed ends up moderating the pace of a rate hikes and go
from 75 basis point to 50 basis points.
I think when you really zoom out, though, today's report does show the very difficult job that the Fed faces here in terms of trying to tame inflation,
and it does suggest that they're going to have to, one, keep raising interest rates next year and two, keep them at relatively high levels to
get inflation down. And so, Becky, this is not going to be an easy job for the Fed trying to get inflation under control without causing a recession.
ANDERSON: Who would be a central banker anyway in the world, not least in the United States, at present? Not an easy job. I'm sure they're paid well
to do it.
Thank you.
The French president and first lady are leaving Washington today after what has been an impressive sendoff. Have a look at this.
On Thursday night Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigette were treated to a lavish state dinner. The star-studded guest list was so long that President
Biden couldn't host the event inside the White House. So it was held outside in a huge candlelit tent. The dinner part of a fence mending
campaign to smooth over some of the tensions between U.S. and France. The two presidents tackling many of their issues earlier in the day, meeting
for almost three hours in the Oval Office.
Let's getting a view from France on this state visit. Melissa Bell joins me live from Paris.
You and I spoke at this time about Elysee would be hoping to achieve. So as we consider those images, and if you've got time talk about who was at that
event. What did these two man actually achieve when they got down to business yesterday? Is it clear?
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all you're quite right. No expense was spared. That extraordinary dinner last night, 350 guests, 250
main lobsters. It was quite a sumptuous affair. And of course, beyond that, there was all the pomp and circumstance, the pageantry that goes with a
state visit.
And just as it had been in 2018 when Emmanuel Macron met with a counterpart that he really didn't have terribly much in common with in terms of their
views on multilateralism and so on, it is all about reminding the world and both countries that whatever the temperaments or disagreements of the
presidents that happened to be sitting, this is an alliance that is as old as America and post-Revolutionary France themselves. And that therefore
this matters and needs to be made a fuss of whenever these occasions present themselves. And certainly that is what happened in Washington these
last couple of days.
Now on the substance of that three-hour meeting, you're quite right, Becky. It went on for much longer than we'd anticipated and there was another
flock for the two men to get through because for all of their more natural chemistry, for all of their more aligned views on multilateralism, Europe
has been pretty disappointed on the number of occasions by the attitude of the Biden administration.
[10:25:02]
There was of course the row last year of AUKUS both in substance and in the way it was announced to them or rather that it was not announced to them.
And of course most recently this Inflation Reduction Act that we were speaking about yesterday, Becky. Now the hope of the French was that some
exemptions might be made for certain European industries, as they have been for Canadian and Mexican ones, as the United States tries to boost its
economy and transition towards a greener one.
As far as we can tell, Emmanuel Macron is going to be walking away entirely empty-handed as far as that is concerned and President Biden making clear
in the press conference afterward that he made no apology for supporting the American economy. However, what both men did say is that they will be
looking at ways that they might work together to invest in some emerging economies.
Now that's not terribly much substance. We don't have terribly much detail but we understand that they are going to be trying to look at ways that the
legislation that's now been passed in the United States, not just on the Inflation Reduction Act but on semiconductors for instance, the CHIPS Act,
that it will -- some changes will be made to what President Biden referred to as glitches in order that they do not impact the European economies as
badly as Europeans fear they will.
So he's not going home entirely empty-handed but clearly disappointing for Emmanuel Macron that he didn't get more than he did and again we will have
to wait for the details. The next step of course New Orleans, historically extremely important for France. There, there will be talks on climate
change. There'll be a walk through the French Quarter and this will be much more about the cultural ties between that part of the United States and
France.
But I think Emmanuel Macron comes home claiming to have made some progress on the detail, though. It's very difficult to see how the immediate coming
into effect of this Inflation Reduction Act won't impact Europe as indeed they fear it will -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Yes, absolutely. It's going to be a contentious issue, that one. And one that you and I am sure will discuss at length going forward. Thank
you.
From a misty Paris this evening or this afternoon, late afternoon. 4:26 there, it is 6:26 here in Qatar we are of course here in Doha at the World
Cup. More on that coming. Also ahead China eases some COVID restrictions. All the while using cell phone data to track protesters as they've been
asking for those very changes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Welcome. I'm Becky Anderson for you at the World Cup. You're watching a special edition of CONNECT THE WORLD. And wherever you're
watching, you are more than welcome.
[10:30:03]
China now softening COVID restrictions in some of its cities, citing increased vaccination rates and the mildness of the Omicron variant. Now of
course this follows a wave of unprecedented protests against the country's harsh COVID restrictions fueled by instances like this. Police violently
dragging a resident to a quarantine facility. And here you see Shanghai residents pushing against police trying to lock down the community there.
But we have now learned that authorities are using cell phone data to track down these protesters.
CNN's Ivan Watson has been monitoring the situation closely as these protests have evolved in recent days.
You are in Hong Kong and you have been looking at this cell phone tracking report. How widespread is this and what happened once protesters have been
tracked? Is that clear at this point?
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, we have spoken to one protester who was in Beijing on Sunday when it had one of
these protests and was called up several days later by a police officer. We listened to a recording of that call where the police officer says we know
you were there in the vicinity of the protests because we tracked your phone there, so come on down to the police station for interrogation.
That's one testimony but we have seen parallels to that in Shanghai from eyewitnesses who say police were stopping pedestrians after protests in the
vicinity of them. And stopping pedestrians and searching their phones for VPNs and for photos of previous protests. So that gives you a sense of the
lengths that Chinese security forces will go to control and prevent forms of dissent. That said you also get a sense that people are frustrated.
I'm going to direct you to a couple of videos that emerged just from December 1st, from two separate cities of residents. Not huge numbers of
residents but people just breaking down barriers around their communities, the kind of things that the authorities have been putting up for the past
year, to wall off residential communities from the outside world when their fears of COVID outbreaks, a sign of the sheer frustration that some Chinese
are feeling after all of this zero COVID approach to the virus, a sense that some Chinese people are saying enough is enough.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WATSON (voice-over): This was the week people across China said they're mad as hell and they are not going to take it anymore. The most widespread
display of dissent the country has seen in a generation. Protesters are pushing back against the crushing lockdowns and restrictions of the
government's zero COVID policy.
But Chinese state media never showed any of these images. Instead, on Thursday, offering scenes of very different crowds -- somber people lining
the streets of Shanghai, honoring former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin. He died Wednesday at the age of 96. Jiang is being given the country's highest
honors. His open casket met at the airport in Beijing by current Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Jiang was president of China from 1993 to 2003, famous
for his trademark spectacles and for periodically bursting into song.
His death has triggered a wave of nostalgia on the heavily censored Chinese internet. "Who would have thought that movies, books and even World Cup
livestreams have all been censored," one person wrote in a post. That appears to have since been deleted by censors. "I miss the old man that
just passed away. I miss the old times that were open, lively, embracing and renaissance like."
MATTIE BEKINK, CHINA DIRECTOR, ECONOMIST, INTELLIGENCE CORPORATE NETWORK OF SHANGHAI: And maybe this is a challenge for the leadership in Beijing. It's
allowing that outpouring of grief, that kind of nostalgia, that memory, without having it turned into a fib criticism of the current leader and the
current administration.
WATSON: In 1989, the death of another senior Communist Party official was the catalyst for the Tiananmen Square protests. They were ultimately
crushed in a deadly military crackdown. Analysts say Chinese officials will be careful not to let Jiang's death become a flash point at another time of
national tension.
DALI YANG, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO: This is exactly why the authorities also time the activists -- the sort of the easing of the zero COVID measures
yesterday. Partly in response to some of the protests and partly -- probably the news, also, actually the occasion of Jiang's death.
[10:35:04]
WATSON: Authorities lifted some lockdowns in some cities on Wednesday, while also cracking down in other areas with police arresting and
intimidating protesters.
Jiang's upcoming state funeral may present an additional challenge for authorities. Will Xi Jinping's predecessor Hu Jintao attend? Hu Jintao last
shared a stage with Xi at October's tightly scripted Communist Party Congress. He was ushered out of the hall, seemingly against his will -- a
strange, apparently unscripted moment for a government that prioritizes control above all else.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATSON: Now, Becky, the Chinese government says it is trying to reduce some of these restrictions, ease the burden on the population. But China
continues to pay costs for the zero COVID policy. Formula 1 just announced that it will not be holding the 2023 Chinese Grand Prix in China because of
the ongoing difficulties presented by the COVID-19 situation -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Thank you.
Let's get you up to speed on some of the other stories that are on our radar right now, folks. And Russia's government formally notified the U.S.
embassy in Moscow about Brittney Griner's transfer to a penal colony weeks after it happened. A State Department spokesperson says the basketball
star's legal team visited her last week. Talks are continuing to free Griner and another detained American Paul Whelan.
Molten rocks flowing from Hawaii's Mauna Loa appears to be slowing down. Welcome relief to authorities worried that the lava might block one of
Hawaii's busiest highways. Look, this is a spectacular show. It's created traffic jams as tourists flock to see the area. To see those flows.
Weeks after having his account restored Kanye West has again been suspended from Twitter. Twitter CEO Elon Musk says West violated the platform's rules
about inciting violence. It is unclear exactly what tweet, or which tweet, why West broke the rules. But earlier in the day he tweeted an altered
image of the Star of David with a swastika inside.
Just ahead, there may be controversy up in the air but the prince and princess of Wales appear to be getting on with a job as they gear up to
meet President Biden during their visit to Boston. That and the view from London is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Keep calm and carry on. That is certainly what the new prince and princess of Wales appear to be doing during their visit to Boston.
[10:40:05]
And that is despite a racism controversy erupting back home in the United Kingdom. And a headline-generating trailer for Prince Harry and Meghan
Markle's new Netflix documentary. I'm going to show you a little bit of that in a moment. First up, though, we know that in the coming hours the
heir to the British throne is expected to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library.
But the main focus of the royal couple's Boston visit is to announce the Earthshot Environmental Prize which Prince William created.
CNN's Scott McLean bringing us the view from London. And that is certainly the reason for this ultimate trip to Boston, although there's some other
sort of stuff around it. President Biden and the Earthshot prize clearly the focus. And that's certainly how the royal couple will hope that the
media deals with this. Certainly they're having to handle what has turned out to be, you know, a string of -- certainly one story which is sort of
overshadowing this, Scott.
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, one after the other, really, Becky. It is difficult to imagine the timing of the release of this trailer for
the Meghan and Harry Netflix documentary series being any worse for the prince and princess of Wales. It was released yesterday. That is smackdab
in the middle of their three-day tour of the United States, the country they haven't actually visited for the last eight years.
Now there's all kinds of speculation about when precisely that series could actually release. But whenever it is, it is almost certain to cause plenty
of headaches for the royal family based on what we've seen in this trailer.
Becky, it is about only 60 seconds long or less. There is very little dialogue in it. I counted there's only 44 words actually said out loud and
yet in that very short space of time how they have added it with the pictures and the sound. It tells us a whole heck of a law. Here is part of
it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRINCE HARRY, DUKE OF SUSSEX: No one sees what's happening behind closed doors. I had to do everything I could to protect my family.
MEGHAN, DUCHESS OF SUSSEX: When the stakes were this high, does it make more sense to hear our story from us?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCLEAN: So that all went by pretty, quickly but you may have noticed there were three photos where Meghan seems sort of distressed or emotional or
anguished. There was also one solitary photo of the prince and princess of Wales in black and why. And typically accompanied by at least what to my
ears sounds like breaking glass. So draw your own conclusions there.
Of course it's well-established that Harry and his brother William, there is been a huge rift in that relationship in recent years. One that doesn't
seem to be healing anytime soon. And this documentary series, and his upcoming memoir, seem to be taking a lot of oxygen and a lot of attention
away from some of the things that the prince and princess of Wales are trying to accomplish and to try to draw attention to.
Like these Earthshot Awards which will be presented later on tonight. Yesterday for, instance they were toured around the Boston Harbor, Becky,
with the mayor of Boston who was said that they were delightful and generous with their time, though of course that's not what the British
press is talking a whole heck of a lot about today.
And then just quickly, you mentioned the presidential visit as well. We don't have a whole lot of information about that other than it is in the
president's schedule for 30 minutes only to meet with the prince of Wales. Also interesting to note that Biden is going to the place that William was
said to be at, not vice versa.
ANDERSON: Scott McLean is on the story out of London for you. Thank you, Scott. We will be back at the top of the hour with another hour of CONNECT
THE WORLD. This special addition out of Doha. "WORLD SPORT" with Andy Scholes and my colleague Amanda Davies is here in Qatar is up next. We'll
see you after this break.
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