Return to Transcripts main page
Connect the World
Kremlin Blames Russia For Drone Attacks In Russia; Russian Fighters Take Up Arms In Defense Of Ukraine; World Reacts To Reports Morality Police Being Disbanded; Georgia Voters Head to Polls in Crucial Senate Runoff; Al Jazeera Submits Shireen Abu Akleh Case to ICC; State Memorial Service Held For Former Chinese President; Navigating Zero COVID Measures While Living In Beijing; Historians Document Italian Landmarks from Mussolini Era. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired December 06, 2022 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Russia blames Ukraine for the drone attacks targeting military bases inside of Russia.
The Ukrainian president is visiting his country's front line troops. We will have a special report from the Donbas region.
A running protest is calling for a three day nationwide strike and many businesses are listening, shutting their doors.
Also, China's ruling party pays tribute to Jiang Zemin. The late leader took over after the Tiananmen Square massacre, hosted an economic boom.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
KINKADE: Hello, I'm Lynda Kinkade, welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD. Good to have you with us.
For the third time in two days, Russia says a military base inside its own country has come under a drone attack. The, Kremlin says Ukraine is
responsible. If true, it could mark a dangerous new escalation in the 9.5 month war.
The apparent attack this morning happened at an airfield in the Kursk (ph) region, about 90 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. There was a fire at
the airfield, it caused the cancellation of classes in nearby schools.
Russia says three of its soldiers were killed in an explosion Monday at a base in Ingles (ph), hundreds of kilometers inside Russian territory. That
was one of two apparent attacks Monday. Afterwards, Russia launched 70 missiles at Ukraine, with Ukraine claiming it shot down 60.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited troops in the Donbas region and Eastern Ukraine in the country's Armed Forces Day, calling them, quote, "an
outpost of our independence."
In the midst of the latest fighting, news of a prisoner swap. CNN's Will Ripley has the details and more on those apparent drone strikes inside of
Russia.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right now, I'm in Sumy, Ukraine, about 25 miles from the Russian border. We just received
word that a prisoner exchange has taken place; 60 Ukrainians coming back from Russian prisons and 60 Russians headed back home at this hour.
This is the result of a negotiation between the Ukrainians and Russians that have been going on for likely quite some time. We expect to learn more
details as we head to speak with some of the people who were involved in this.
These prisoner swaps have been one of the few bright spots for the families that have endured so much suffering in this unprovoked cruel war that is
going on some nine months now.
These family members who have been waiting desperately for word about their missing loved ones will be able to actually see them in the coming hours
and days. They will be able to share their stories about what happened when they were captured and what their life was like as prisoners of war.
Meanwhile, there is new concern that the situation may actually be escalating, with Ukraine launching apparent drone strikes far into Russian
territory, even though the Ukrainians are not claiming responsibility.
Russia is blaming Ukraine for these mass explosions caused by Soviet technology jet drones, that have flown, in one, case just 500 miles outside
of Moscow, the strategic military base. That is the situation we continue to monitor in northeastern Ukraine -- Will Ripley, CNN, Sumy, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: One of the bloodiest battles of the war right now is the city of Bakhmut in eastern Donetsk. The city is being a target of nearly constant
Russian shelling since May, and as Sam Kiley reports, some of the fighters are taking a stand against Russia.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAM KILEY, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Caesar is Russian. He's taking a break at a monastery from fighting Russians in
nearby Bakhmut. It's a relief from scenes like this, Bakhmut's Ukrainian field hospital. He's been defending this Ukrainian town from Russia's most
intense assault along an 800-mile front.
Artillery duels and trench warfare have almost destroyed Bakhmut as Russia throws its army at a bid for victory after months of defeats to the north
and south.
Defending against his Russian motherland is a religious imperative for Caesar.
"The fighting is very brutal now," he says. "There are very few prisoners."
KILEY: When you see those Russians in your gun sights, what do you think and what do you feel?
CAESAR, RUSSIAN FIGHTING FOR UKRAINE (through translator): I believe that these people who have broken the law of man and the law of God, I have no
pity for them.
[10:05:00]
CAESAR (through translator): I take them prisoner if I can. But most often, I just have to kill them.
KILEY: So have you killed a lot of our countrymen?
CAESAR (through translator): A dozen and a half.
KILEY: This is the remains of a Russian Orthodox monastery. Now for Vladimir Putin, the Orthodox is absolutely central to his vision of the
Russian world. For some Russians though, that's a world they don't want to live in. Indeed, they don't want it to survive.
KILEY (voice-over): Ukraine's Orthodox Church broke with Moscow three years ago. This is all that's left of a rebranded Ukrainian Orthodox Saint
George's monastery after nine months of war.
CAESAR (through translator): Putin says that he defends traditional values, yes?
That is what he's defending. A ruined old monastery.
KILEY (voice-over): Vinnie has been fighting in Bakhmut for weeks against mercenaries from Russia's Wagner company, many of them convicted criminals.
"It's obvious," he says, "when private companies hire criminals and convicts, imagine, a man kills once and they put him in jail, then he kills
a second time and he becomes a repeat offender under the law. Then he gets let out of jail and given a gun. That's not a person. That's a beast."
KILEY (voice-over): After a former Wagner deserter, Yevgeny Nuzhin was murdered in a video that was praised by Wagner's boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin,
Vinnie is in no doubt how he would be treated if captured.
VINNIE, RUSSIAN FIGHTING FOR UKRAINE (through translator): It will be the end, 100 percent. But it will just be more painful.
KILEY (voice-over): The Russian Legion does claim to be in the hundreds and it says many more back home are trying to join Ukraine's army.
Alongside their Ukrainian allies, the Russian Legion is focused on the battle for Bakhmut. The aim of the war after is more ambitious.
He says, "I'm doing my military and Christian duty. I defend the Ukrainian people and, when Ukraine is free, I will carry my sword to Russia to free
it from tyranny" -- Sam Kiley, CNN, Dolyna, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: I want to go to Iran now, where five people are being sentenced to death over the killing of a member of the Basij paramilitary force
during a nationwide protest. Another 11 people were handed lengthy jail times.
It comes as protesters tried to hold a three-day general strike ahead of what is known as student day on Wednesday. Video posted on social media
shows several businesses closed on Monday.
Iran state media is pushing back, saying businesses are operating normally. Meanwhile, claims that Iran is reviewing its hijab law are being met with
skepticism by activists and the international community. CNN's Melissa Bell is following the developments out of Iran and joins us from Paris.
Good to have you with us, Melissa. Let's start on these death sentences. More protesters sentenced to death.
Is there any hope for an appeal?
MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They can appeal; this is allowed under the country's laws. They are, however, with these five fresh
death sentences now, 11 people who have been protesting since those protests began nearly three months ago who have now been sentenced to
death.
Of course, the latest death sentences a reminder of the cyclical nature of this. These were protesters who are accused of having killed the Basij
militia men at protests to mark the 40-day anniversary of the death of a young protester back in September in the first few days of the protest.
That is something we have seen over the course of the last few weeks. The trouble is, there are so many more protesters now in the hands of
authorities, some of them already facing either very lengthy prison sentences or death sentences.
For the time being, the judiciary continues the relentless march toward those dreadful consequences to all of this. Even as those questions hang
over the country over whether or not there will be a concession when it comes to the hijab.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BELL (voice-over): It was her death in the custody of Iran's morality police in September that led to the outpouring of grief and anger that has
gripped an entire country. Demonstrations calling for justice for Mahsa Amini and for change that have now lasted for nearly three months.
Antigovernment protests led by women around the rallying cry, "Woman, life, freedom," and chants of "death to the supreme leader." But now, signs of a
possible shift in the government's hard line policy. Iran's attorney general saying that the mandatory hijab law is now under review by the
judiciary and parliament.
[10:10:00]
BELL (voice-over): But Iranian state media have pushed back strongly on his comments, noting that the forces part of the interior ministry and not
the judiciary. The interior ministry has not responded to CNN's request for comment.
NEGAR MORTAZAVI, JOURNALIST: What one lawyer was saying was that the morality police has become so notorious and so -- such a bad name that no
official is willing to take responsibility for it essentially. This official claiming that it has been disbanded.
But what's important is that the law of the mandatory hijab, which goes back to early 1980s, on paper, has not changed.
BELL: Speaking to CNN, women in Tehran were skeptical about the possibility of change.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's the regime propaganda. They just changed the name of their forces as they did before so the media would announce that
they have backed down then they continue all the brutal stuff they were doing.
BELL: With Iran's hard line president, Ebrahim Raisi, hinting on Saturday that any reform may be limited in its scope.
EBRAHIM RAISI, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Iran's Republican and Islamic foundations are constitutionally entrenched but there are
methods of implementing the Constitution that can be flexible.
BELL: The stance taken by several Iranian celebrities and athletes in support of the protests suggest the crucial barriers of fear of the regime
may have been broken, with a widening also of the protesters demands for more rights for women to the end of the regime itself. And a sense that any
reforms it undertakes now may prove too little too late.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BELL: Now on the question of any concession at all will be made, that is still unclear. We are hearing warnings from Amnesty International, saying
the world should not pay attention to dubious claims being made by the regime, that it should remain extremely skeptical.
And we have been hearing today from a spokesperson for the Iranian judiciary, warning that any such decision or announcement would take a
meeting of the three branches of government. And only then would a meeting be held and an announcement made.
So I think we are a long way off from being able to assume that any concession is on the cards or on the verge of being announced, Lynda.
KINKADE: Melissa Bell from Paris, thank you very much.
Still to come on CONNECT THE WORLD, some people love him, some people loathe him but no one can stop watching him. Today could be one of the last
times we see Ronaldo on the World Cup stage.
Also why the winner of the U.S. Senate runoff election in the state of Georgia will make history. More on that story when we come back.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(SPORTS)
[10:15:00]
KINKADE: Voters are headed to the polls in the U.S. state of Georgia to decide the runoff race for the U.S. Senate between Democratic incumbent
Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker.
And it is expected to be tight. Both parties have pumped millions of dollars into a contest that will shape the balance of power in the U.S.
Senate over the next two years.
As you know, Democrats already clinched control of the Senate but a victory for Warnock would give Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer a vote to
spare. CNN's Dianne Gallagher is standing by live outside of a polling station in Atlanta.
[10:20:00]
KINKADE: Good to have you there for us, despite being out in the rain.
Dianne, polls stay open until 7 pm tonight. Already almost 2 million people have voted early.
What has the turnout been like so far today?
DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm sure you can see behind me, there are no long lines leading into the polling places. That is a positive thing
for voters, of course. Nobody should have to wait for hours just to cast their ballot.
According to the secretary of state's office, their unofficial estimate is that at least a quarter million Georgians have already voted today. But the
wait times to do so are somewhere around a 1.5 minute.
So people are literally just walking in and walking out right now after they cast their ballot. That is a good thing for the voters. And it is
likely due to the fact that, look, more than 1.85 million people voted during the early voting period. There were extremely long lines then,
Lynda, because they had to compress it into this five-day schedule because there was a law that was passed last year that shortened the runoff period
from nine weeks to four weeks and reduced the number of early voting days.
So we have record daily numbers. But it also required people to wait in extremely long lines and we are just not seeing that today.
KINKADE: Despite that shorter campaign period, Dianne, we have been inundated with campaign ads from both candidates.
How do these candidates differ?
GALLAGHER: More than $80 million worth of those campaign ads on the airwaves throughout Georgia during just a four-week period. A large chunk
of that coming from the candidate himself, Raphael Warnock.
He spent more on television ads than all of the GOP entities combined. Look, they're trying to basically sell themselves to voters but also
motivate voters to show up. People are election fatigued.
Senator Raphael Warnock leaning on his record in the Senate, trying to talk about allowing him to continue to work in Washington, to continue to push
through different projects of his.
He has talked about trying to be bipartisan by appealing to maybe Republicans who do not like Herschel Walker, saying, I am not this liberal
monster that Walker has painted me out to be.
But he's also leaning on trying to talk about the character of Herschel Walker. In this runoff period, this particular election has gotten
extremely ugly, with both Walker and Warnock attacking the character and background of their opponent.
Of course, Herschel Walker is calling himself a check on President Biden and trying to appeal to a strong Republican base here in Georgia, saying
that it will not be as easy for the president to get things done if Walker is in the Senate.
KINKADE: Exactly, all right, Dianne Gallagher, good to have you there for us. Thanks very much. We'll check in with you later.
And do make sure to stay with CNN for special coverage of the Senate runoff in Georgia, set to start at 4 pm Eastern time on Tuesday.
The Qatar-based news network Al Jazeera is taking a case to the International Criminal Court over the killing of one of its journalists.
Palestinian American correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh was shot in the head while covering an Israeli raid in the West Bank in May.
Al Jazeera says it has evidence that she and her team were deliberately targeted, something Israel has repeatedly denied. The network is asking The
Hague to investigate if the circumstances around her death constitute a war crime. Hadas Gold is following this and joins us from Jerusalem.
So Israel initially claimed that she was killed in crossfire, they then concluded that its military unintentionally shot her. Al Jazeera says it
was intentional.
What evidence do they have?
HADAS GOLD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so, this is actually the second case being brought to the International Criminal Court. The first
one was brought by the Abu Akleh family.
But they were there alongside officials from Al Jazeera at The Hague in order to brief this case. Al Jazeera has said they've conducted their own
investigation and say they've uncovered new video evidence.
They say they've talked to new eyewitnesses and they believe, and this is the case that they want the ICC to investigate, that Shireen Abu Akleh and
her colleagues were deliberately targeted by the Israeli military.
They also go on to say that they believe, and this is part of their case, that this is part of a wider campaign, they say, to target and silence Al
Jazeera. Israel has repeatedly denied this. Israel in its own investigation did come to the conclusion it was most likely an Israeli soldier who fired
that fatal shot, that they believe was unintentional.
And they did not know that they were firing toward members of the media, even though Shireen and her colleagues were all wearing those protective
vests that say "press" across them on the front and back and protective helmets.
Now multiple media investigations as well as independent investigations have found that it was most likely Israeli fire that killed Shireen Abu
Akleh.
[10:25:00]
GOLD: And CNN's own investigation found that the shots were fired in a way that show they were not necessarily indiscriminate fire. It also shows that
it was just not a kind of spray of gunfire.
Now Shireen Abu Akleh's niece, Lina Abu Akleh, was at The Hague today, trying to urge the International Criminal Court to take action. Take a
listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LINA ABU AKLEH, SHIREEN'S NIECE: I am here today on behalf of my family, because months after multiple requests have been submitted to the ICC, the
court has still not taken meaningful action toward accountability.
When individual states are unwilling or incapable of investigating their own atrocities, as in the case with Israel, it is the responsibility of the
international community to intervene to ensure war crimes do not go unpunished.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLD: Now if the ICC even does take up this case, there is a rub. Israel and the United States as well do not recognize the International Criminal
Court. So they would not likely participate.
Israel's prime minister, Yair Lapid, put out a statement, saying no one will investigate IDF soldiers and no one will preach to us about morals in
warfare, certainly not Al Jazeera.
KINKADE: Hadas Gold from Jerusalem, thank you very much.
Still to come on CONNECT THE WORLD, see how the Chinese president is using a moment of national mourning to call for China to unite around his
leadership. We'll have more on the final tribute to China's former president.
Also ahead, Italy, home to some of the most iconic landmarks in the world. Many of them are remnants of a dark chapter in the country's history.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
KINKADE: Welcome back, I'm Lynda Kinkade. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. Good to have you with us.
In China, a somber farewell for a former leader turns to a call for unity. In Beijing, thousands of China's Communist Party members, state and
military leads bid farewell to Jiang Zemin.
The former Chinese leader died last Wednesday at the age of 96. And during a speech at that memorial, Chinese president Xi Jinping called on the
nation to unite around his leadership.
This comes after Xi faced an unprecedented wave of protests against his government's harsh COVID policies for the last month. CNN's international
correspondent, Ivan Watson is covering all of this from Hong Kong and joins us now live.
Good to have you with us, Ivan, take us through the state funeral. This was broadcast live on national television.
[10:30:00]
KINKADE: How is Jiang Zemin being remembered?
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He was awarded the highest honors by the Chinese government. I mean, this memorial in the
Great Hall of the People, with the Communist Party elite, their president, that was just the latest of almost daily ceremonies on Monday.
He lay in open casket in a military hospital, where Xi Jinping was in attendance there, embracing Jiang's surviving son in a rare show of
emotion. And Xi Jinping was even at the airport in Beijing, greeting Jiang Zemin's body when it was flown in from Shanghai.
The main apps and web pages in China have all gone black and white, their format over the past couple of days. Sirens blared, calling for a moment of
silence around the country.
And you had the stock currency and bond markets also suspend trading during that time. And even some popular online games put pause to what they were
doing as well.
And again, the Communist Party coming out with letters and with Xi Jinping calling Jiang Zemin an outstanding leader with high prestige, a great
Marxist, a long tested Communist fighter. And his body was viewed by crowds that lined the streets of both Shanghai and Beijing as a funeral car drove
it through the streets of the cities. Lynda.
KINKADE: And Ivan, the president used this moment to call on the Chinese people to support his leadership after he was seen and spoken about these
protests week after week against his zero COVID policies.
What exactly did Xi say?
What has been the reaction?
WATSON: Sure, well, Xi Jinping, while not only applauding Jiang Zemin, he also cited him with one of his quotes, saying that, quote, "We must have a
heroic spirit that crushes all enemies. He talked about the '80s and '90s, there being difficulties, both externally and in China.
He kind of said that Jiang Zemin was this great leader in the '90s that brought China forward, independent sovereign with dignity as well.
But yes, the death of Jiang Zemin comes a little bit more than a week, this memorial, a little bit more than a week than the biggest protest that the
country has seen in a generation.
People out on the streets angry at the zero COVID policy that have really infringed on people's kind of ability to just live life normally. So there
were concerns that this death could perhaps set the stage for more protests, as we have seen in the past decades, when other senior Communist
Party officials have passed away.
That does not seem to have taken place at this time. But it gives more resonance to Xi Jinping's call for unity behind the single ruling party of
China, the Communist Party. Back to you.
KINKADE: All right, Ivan Watson for us in Hong Kong, thanks so much.
Well, of course, as we were just discussing, those massive protests against the ruling Communist Party's zero COVID policies. Now the testing measures
in China are changing. They say Beijing's two major airports no longer require departing passengers to show a negative COVID test to get to the
terminal.
Instead, travelers will scan their mobile health codes and have their body temperatures checked. The move comes as multiple cities across China either
dropped or relaxed measures requiring COVID tests to enter public spaces. CNN's Selina Wang takes us through what a regular day in Beijing has been
like up until now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the kind of line Beijing's standing in, outside in the cold, to get their COVID tests. A 48-hour test
is required to get into most places. But there aren't many places to go.
Much of Beijing is still closed down. This is one of the most popular tourist places, in the city. But the restaurants are largely closed and the
malls are pretty empty.
So this McDonald's is still open but for takeaway only. But even to get takeaway, you've got to prove that you're clear of COVID.
And here's how I do it. I open up the health app on my smartphone, I scan the QR code.
So it says, I've got a green code and I've got a recent COVID test. So I'm good to go.
This code dictates all of our daily lives in China. Green means good to go. Red means I may have to isolate at home or go to a mass quarantine
facility. This allows China to track the movements of virtually all 1.4 billion people in the name of contact tracing.
[10:35:00]
WANG: I've got to scan my code to get into a taxi, a public park, a mall or a coffee shop, even a public bathroom.
WANG (voice-over): I ran into a group of delivery people, on the street. They've got to do COVID tests, every single day, to do their jobs.
This woman tells me the pandemic has been hard on her. I ask her why. She says it's because she's scared of the virus.
WANG: Getting COVID in China is unlike anywhere else in the world. You and your close contacts all get sent to a quarantine center.
This is a convention center, in Beijing that's been turned into a massive quarantine facility, with thousands of beds. But some of these facilities,
in the country, they are in very rundown and unsanitary condition. And then, your whole building or community could go into lockdown.
WANG (voice-over): I spoke to a man, who has been in and out of quarantine, six times, already, just this year. He tells me, his whole
building of more than 200 families went to a quarantine facility, last month, because they were considered close contacts. He says he's not scared
to get COVID, because Omicron is less severe and his whole family has been vaccinated.
I approached a few people just released from this mass quarantine center here. I ask, if they had tested positive for COVID. "Yes," the man nods and
says they have recovered. "How many days did you spend in there," I ask. "Seven days," he said.
Unprecedented protests recently erupted across China.
WANG: They're chanting that they don't want COVID tests. They want freedom.
WANG (voice-over): Authorities swiftly crack down on the protesters. But they are finally softening their stance, on zero COVID. Some cities are
lifting lockdowns, changing COVID testing requirements. Under some conditions, people can now quarantine at home, if they have COVID, which is
a huge deal.
But this country has already built up a whole infrastructure, around zero COVID, spending all of its resources on quarantine facilities and COVID
testing. So it's going to be a long and slow exit, from zero COVID-19 -- Selina Wang, CNN, Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: While, let's get up to speed on some other stories on our radar right now.
Colombian authorities are on high alert for more mudslides due to heavy rains, a bus was buried by a mudslide in northwestern Colombia on Sunday.
The death toll has risen to at least 34, as rescuers dig through the mud, looking for survivors.
A tribute to Kirstie Alley, who passed away at the age of 71 following a battle with cancer. John Travolta, who starred alongside her in "Look Who's
Talking," said their time together was one of the most special relationships he's ever had.
Jamie Lee Curtis, who worked with Alley on "Scream Queens," praised her onscreen comic brilliance.
For many fans she'll be best remembered as the feisty and hilarious bar manager Rebecca in the iconic comedy, "Cheers."
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:40:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
KINKADE: Welcome back.
Italy is home to a long list of historic landmarks. The Colosseum and St. Peter's Basilica in Rome and St. Mark's Square in Venice. But historians
are now documenting one of the darkest chapters of the country's history, global landmarks from the fascist rule of Benito Mussolini. Ben Wedeman
reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Benito Mussolini and his fascist party are long gone. His favorite balcony
overlooking Rome's Piazza Valencia is now just a balcony.
Yet the fascist era left a lasting mark on Italy's landscape. Now documented in a new online database, listing more than 1,400 sites linked
to Italy's fascist past.
Over the last four years, historian Lucia Cheche (ph) worked with others to catalog the sites.
"Our idea is even more important at a time like this," she tells me, "because it raises awareness and helps the circulation of anti-fascist
antibodies."
Those antibodies have yet to kick in, with a new far-right government in power here, led by prime minister Giorgia Meloni, who, in her youth, was a
Mussolini admirer. She now insists fascism is history.
Rome certainly is not short of landmarks that hark back to those days.
WEDEMAN: After the fall of Italy's fascist regime in the end of the Second World War, busts and statues of Mussolini were removed. Other monuments
from that era, however, have been left untouched.
WEDEMAN (voice-over): Many here do not hide their appreciation for what fascism left behind, if not fascism itself.
"There is no point in cleaning up history," says the culture ministry's Vittorio Scala.
"Fascist architecture is the last recognizable style of Italian architecture," he says. "There is no Christian Democrat, no socialist, no
communist architecture. There is only horrific architecture of speculation of brutal capitalism that destroyed the landscape and the environment."
While postwar Germany went through a thorough process in denazification, Italy emerged from World War II and did not look back.
And even now, a whiff of nostalgia lingers here for the days when the trains ran on time.
"This idea that, in the end, fascism did some good things is something you often hear in Italy," says historian Lucia Cheche (ph).
At Rome's Foro Italico, previously known as the Foro Mussolini or Mussolini's Forum, statues the dictator commissioned still watch over
athletes in training. The past, blemishes and all, is never far away -- Ben Wedeman, CNN, Rome.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Our thanks to Ben for that report.
Well, the Orion is now coming home. And with those words, NASA let the world know that its historic Artemis I moon mission is coming to a close.
The space agency says the capsule without a crew Orion successfully completed an engine burn Monday, sending it on a path to return to Earth.
The maneuver brought the Orion just 128 kilometers from the lunar surface.
"WORLD SPORT" with Alex Thomas is up next. And I'll be back in about 15 minutes with another hour of CONNECT THE WORLD. Do not go anywhere.
[11:00:00]
END
