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Connect the World
Thousands of Fans Gathered to Salute Argentina's National Football Team; CNN First to Visit Snake Island since Ukraine Recaptured it; Victory Parade for World Cup Champions in Buenos Aires; Migrants in Limbo at U.S.- Mexico Border with Title 42 in Place; Former FTX CEO Due in Bahamas Court for Extradition Hearing. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired December 20, 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]
LYNDA KINKADE, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: Hello, I'm Lynda Kinkade. Welcome to this special edition of "Connect the World".
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: I'm Coy Wire, a very special edition. Indeed we have a party going on.
KINKADE: We certainly do and a massive party in Argentina right now tributes, parades and national public holiday. And it seems like Argentina
can't do enough to salute its World Cup champions. Celebrations have erupted across the country.
WIRE: Now right now you are looking at live pictures of a jubilant victory parade underway in the capital Buenos Aires euphoric crowds. Lining those
streets today has also been declared a national holiday.
KINKADE: And today Argentineans champions arrived home and the air was filled with cheers as the crowd sang and dance.
WIRE: These football fans have been waiting since 1986 to see Argentina carry the trophy home. And right now we would like to bring in journalist
Stefano Pozzebon, who's been there all week long in Buenos Aires. We see the images, they look overwhelming. How does it feel? Take us there,
Stefano.
STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: I feel it's very, very wild. It feels very warm and hot Coy, not just because here in Buenos Aires we are in the
middle of the summer actually while compared to the winter that Europe and North America are in. But it's also because the passion that these
Argentinean fandom these Argentinean supporters have brought to the streets of the capital has been overwhelming for the last three days.
It has been a non-stop 72 hour roller coaster of emotions from the moment the match began and Argentina took the lead in the first alpha then France
clinging in reopening the match. And then of course, penalties, which means the roller coaster in itself. And then from that moment, it was just a wild
party going on.
I think the sales of our calls have skyrocketed over these, this weekend here in Buenos Aires, at least from what we see from our vantage point nine
floor above the avenue. And you can hear and you can feel the fans that really are buzzing in it. Of course now there is also as with many of these
events, it's so, so big, so crowded that the question of will the selection actually the national team actually be able to drive through these ocean of
people.
Because what you are seeing here is just the arrival point of the highway that takes them from the airport and the headquarters of the national
federations. But the entire highway is actually packed. It's a sea of people that is tens of kilometers long.
And you can probably see from live images that really every person in Buenos Aires seems to have gone out on the streets today with our flag and
their shirts, and just be thankful for Lionel Messi and his teammates after a historic triumph in Qatar 2022.
KINKADE: Yes, it really is hard to understand how that bus is going to make it through that crowd there Stefano. This, of course does come at a time
when Argentineans I cast cash strapped, they are dealing with this record high inflation. I guess this for some extent, at least temporarily gives
people a moment to forget their worries, right, a moment to celebrate their heroes.
POZZEBON: Yes, I think it also gives them a moment to feel proud of the Argentinean. One of the stories that I've most reported in this past year
in South America is how can Argentina be in an economic crisis when it's a net grain exporter have seen a grain crisis around the world because of the
Russian invasion of Ukraine.
And Argentina has all the capacity to export grain around the world wide set of flowers and they also have some of the wide the largest lithium
reserves in the world. So there should be really 2022 should really be a year for Argentina to have it all and concrete misfiring economically. And
it's been that way for decades.
Of course, just as you said, it's a tough moment for most of Argentineans, because of these paradoxes, a country that has all the potential, but
actually never managed to come through to that potential while they manage to come through to the potential on the football pitch.
And so it's a moment for them to feel proud. I think feel proud of having arguably the greatest player of the last 10 years or so. There was only one
trophy that Lionel Messi was still dreaming off and missing from his cabinet. And he wanted on Sunday it was a football World Cup, Lynda.
[11:05:00]
WIRE: Stefano Pozzebon, thank you so much. All week long you have bringing us the sights and sounds from Buenos Aires. They're in Argentina where
history making moments are being made as we speak. I'm sure we will speak to you later. Hopefully that bus will arrive to indeed.
Alright, now we're going to bring in CNN's Andy Scholes, our sports expert extraordinaire. Andy, this really was I mean, an incredible World Cup
final, wasn't not I mean, you had these two nations who had each won two World Cups in France and Argentina?
France had been to for the last seven finals, Argentina to the last three and then you have the greatest of all time, perhaps in art, Lionel Messi
facing off Kylian Mbappe perhaps the greatest of all time to come. And they're going head to head it was just an absolutely poetic ending to an
incredible world cup.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN WORLD SPORT: And then the way the game went, you know, Argentina dominated that game for the first half into the second half up to
zero everyone thought oh, this is just going to be you know, a messy coronation this is just going to be very easy for him.
But then when that game turned and France tied in, I've talked about this with many people. From the moment that Mbappe knocked in that penalty kick
to make it 2-1, for the next 90 minutes is arguably the most exciting 90 minutes in sports history.
From when France tied it then to extra time, then to penalty kicks, it was just incredible. And they say you know championships are so much sweeter
when you have to suffer to get there. And those Argentina fans had to suffer through that game because they thought they had it they thought they
blew it. They thought they had it they thought they blew it multiple times.
And so that's why these people are so happy out there. And you remember this was a first winter World Cup it was in Qatar, they had to have it in
the winter because it's still so hot there, even in the winter. It's the summer right now in Argentina, all those people in this are in this sun.
Hopefully they brought a lot of water bottles with them because it's going to be a long day out there. I've seen images of the bus. It's moving now
but it's not moving very fast because the people are all in the way so the police have to clear the people for it to even move a little bit.
But you have all these people coming in to try to get close, close to the candidate bus. So it's going to be a struggle, we'll see if they end up
getting to that monument.
KINKADE: It's going to be a long day if that bus can actually make it there. Andy Scholes, stick around for us. I do want to welcome in a sports
commentator Francisco Aure. He is in the middle of the celebrations near the Obelisk in Buenos Aires. He joins us now, I can only imagine how loud
it is where you are right now Francisco, just give us a sense of the feeling there.
FRANCISCO AURE, SPORTS COMMENTATOR: Hello Lynda, Coy and it's a pleasure to join you from the - which is the wider southern in the country. And it is
one of the iconic avenues of Argentina that has been packed for the last 72 hours after the game was over on Sunday. And now it's full of people that
are heading towards the Obelisk to my right side.
And still celebrating hoping to see the bus because the routes that the bus will take is still very uncertain considering there's loads of people in
the streets just like you perfectly illustrates a very hot day summers beginning tomorrow in Argentina in the southern hemisphere, but it's heated
up enjoy seems Sunday.
It's the day that half of the people in Argentina had never seen anything like this. It's an incredible day and it will be an incredible week, I'm
pretty sure until next week and until Christmas.
KINKADE: And beyond.
AURE: Yes, indeed. Francisco there have been generations and fans of decades since their last World Cup. We talked a little bit about the
rollercoaster ride of this World Cup final, the ups, the downs, the joy, the pain within that match, but it's been decades explain how big this win
is for Argentina.
AURE: Well, we are a country of 45 million people. And for 36 years, Argentina couldn't leave the World Cup despite having glorious generations
of players. In the 1990s the lineup included things like --Once they're on field, they don't give us --.
In the 2000s - Lionel Messi himself and now with Lionel Messi --. But it was brilliant generations of players that could never leave the trophy. It
all came to an end last year with the Copa America but of course, a World Cup is beyond anything else in the world.
Lionel Messi himself said this, there is nothing left after a World Cup, there is nothing else to chase, you know World Cup despite the key let's
clear that he would like to play a couple of games as a world champion in the national team. Half of the country have never lived a day like Sunday,
we had the chance to leave to enjoy the game in a house that you learn to deal with - family.
And trust me it was a thrilling atmosphere from the very first minutes until the last until the last penalty taken by Gonzalo Montiel. Nobody
happened to country I've never seen Argentina it's in the World Cup. It's the day that half of a country dreamed all their lives.
[11:10:00]
AURE: I think it's the most precise way I can sum these up. It's a day that half of the country dreamed all their lives. As massive as that is what we
lived on Sunday and we are enjoying throughout all these weeks.
WIRE: Francisco Aure, thank you so much for bringing us the sights and sounds there in Buenos Aires in this historic day, national holiday now in
Argentina. We thank you very much. Lynda, it'll be incredible to watch this progress throughout the day. We'll keep you covered right here on CNN, if
the parade does go on, indeed with those players and the bus.
KINAKDE: Yes, we are just seeing shots of the bus moving through that crowd. So we will come back to that bus in Buenos Aires and the world
champions in just a moment. Thanks to Coy and Andy. Right now I want to move on to some other news we're covering.
And actually let's just stay on these shots for just a moment. You can see there some of the players on the bus now moving through the crowds in
Buenos Aires world champions of first time, in some 36 years that Argentina have brought the World Cup home.
WIRE: There's Lionel Messi there, you can see the players are just as excited as the people they have their cell phones out capturing this
historic moment, campeones del mundo, champions of the world, written on the side of that bus look at the fans like herds of people--
KINKADE: Running to the bus.
WIRE: Rushing to get a close to get a glimpse of their heroes returning home celebrating with this championship parade in the streets of Buenos
Aires, incredible scenes.
SCHOLES: Certainly is and you can imagine the emotions you saw in the World Cup Final against France, you know Angel Di Maria other players just they
were crying on the field. Yes, their game wasn't even over at some point and they're crying. You know, this World Cup means so much to these guys.
Because you know, not only had they not done it, all of them because Argentina hadn't won one in 36 years. And none of them had experienced it
on the field. But they had gone through so much failure. And they had heard it for so many years. And they knew the one thing Messi needed to do was to
win a World Cup to cement his legacy.
And that's why this one meant so much more to this team and to these people. Because not only you know, can they say their World Cup champions
they can say they're the home of the greatest player of all time.
KINKADE: Exactly. And to see him today, I mean, you can see all those crowds thousands and thousands of people hoping just to get a glimpse of
those champions after what was such an incredible World Cup final some say it was the greatest World Cup final ever.
SCHOLES: Yes. It certainly it wasn't my lifetime and our lifetime. I don't I go further than the --. I say it's greatest. You know, I'm not the
biggest football fan in the world. You know, I grew up basketball. You know, American football, baseball. I still think it's the greatest sporting
event of all time. Yes, I had no rooting interest and I was on the edge of my seat going crazy the entire time.
WIRE: They were playing for Maradona, who died two years ago the football legend from Argentina. They're playing for Lionel Messi, who at 35 years
old finally won the World Cup title. It's the nation's third overall their first since 1986. Lionel Messi stepped up in the final plate all 690
minutes of the World Cup matches to lift his team and his nation to victory.
Now the fans have been waiting for days to get a glimpse of their heroes returned home from Qatar, and they are now being paraded through the city.
We had those glimpses of the bus just moments ago. It does appear that it is closer to the sea of people who have descended upon Buenos Aires; the
capital there of Argentina to celebrate what is now a national holiday that has been declared celebrating this World Cup win.
KINKADE: Yes, national holiday declared. And as you can see, it looks like the entire city have come out descended on this area to see their heroes,
the World Cup champions moving slowly making their way through the crowd. We've seen a couple of glimpses of the bus, but it's certainly going to be
a long day trying to work through these crowds, right?
WIRE: I mean, it's hard to estimate what crowd sizes are when you just look at these pictures, but I've seen a lot of championship parades in my time
been to a few. Those were upwards of, you know, people they'd be like, oh, 600,000 people, some million people at this parade, I don't think I've ever
seen anything like this.
SCHOLES: This isn't 50 million people in Buenos Aires. I mean, there's a lot of people a big portion of that city is there.
KINKADE: And a lot of people are looking for a sense of hope right now. These are people that are really struggling economically, inflation through
the roof. Just a day to day has been a real grind. We spoke to some business owners earlier in the week who said, you know, they had to turn
off the air conditioning to afford a TV so that the customers could watch the World Cup final. So this is certainly a moment of celebration, a
country that really desperately needs it right now.
[11:15:00]
WIRE: And on top of all those socio economic issues you're speaking about Lynda there this is also on the end of the pandemic which shut down many of
these types of celebrations for years as we know, but now that this is about so much more than the World Cup for these people right.
This is and Andy you mentioned being at championship parades you were in Houston with the Astros.
SCHOLES: Yes.
WIRE: And as you know when you get there, it's a family moment it's a fellowship moment.
SCHOLES: And you know, a lot of these people don't know each other, they're all together they're all together hugging, enjoying the same thing.
KINKADE: More social distancing any world--
SCHOLES: And I tell you what, it made Christmas really easy for everyone in Argentina to kind of get you know, get him Messi, Jersey World Cup 2022
champions.
WIRE: The largest congregation of any church in Argentina where football is religion and the World Cup champions some way.
KINAKDE: And will of course continue to cover these celebrations in the Argentinean Capitol, thanks to Coy and Andy. We're going to take a quick
break don't go anywhere we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KINKADE: Welcome back. We're going to turn now to the latest on Ukraine where our International Correspondent Will Ripley has filed a fascinating
report from Snake Island. He joins us now live from the port city of Odessa. Will, just give us a sense of the significance of Snake Island
given this is an island that has now back in the hands of Ukraine. We're going to go now to this report and we'll bring Will in after it. Take a
look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): As the saying goes whoever controls Snake Island controls the Black Sea. The
safest way to get there the Ukrainian military's inflatable speedboat with seating for six. It's small enough to stay out of sight.
RIPLEY (on camera): We are really getting tossed around out here but we need to take a small bow because we need to stay out of the sights of
Russia reconnaissance aircraft.
RIPLEY (voice over): Safer than a helicopter but no protection from the Black Sea's big waves, bitter cold and whipping winds, not to mention the
lines. By the end of our stomach turning journey Snake Islands craggy cliffs are a welcome sight up - appear and pieces previews the destruction
we're about to see.
We enter Snake Island by climbing up a pile of half sunken, slippery sea blocks. We're the first journalists allowed here since Ukraine recaptured
Snake Island five months ago; Russia blanketed the island with booby traps before bailing out.
RIPLEY (on camera): The soldiers told us we need to follow in their footsteps exactly. And we need to be very careful where we step. This whole
island is littered with landmines unexploded ordnance basically a powder keg.
[11:20:00]
RIPLEY (voice over): A powder keg with plenty of cats, wandering through the wreckage of 10 brutal months of war, not a snake in sight. On February
24, the first day of Russia's full scale invasion Russia's Black Sea flagship, the Moskva aimed its arsenal in Snake Island, demanding dozens of
Ukrainian defenders surrender or die.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am a Russian military ship, I propose that you lay down your weapons immediately or you will be bombed.
RIPLEY (voice over): What happened next is how legends are made.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Russian warship go - yourself.
RIPLEY (voice over): Five words seen at the time as a final act of defiance, everyone on Snake Island presumed dead. Russian bombs raining
down the islands radio went silent. Those five words is telling the Russian warship where to go, instantly iconic, inspiring T-shirts, postage stamps,
pop songs. Ukraine later learned Snake Island defenders were alive, prisoners of war some released in a POW swamp earlier this year, others
remain in Russian captivity.
RIPLEY (on camera): Is it intimidating to look out and see a giant Russian warship and know that you guys are a small group here?
RIPLEY (voice over): If anybody tells you it's not intimidating, he's a liar, says - Fortuna a volunteer soldier. It was chaos. The garrison here
was small. Russia capture the island quickly taking the island back took a long time. On Snake Island, we find a graveyard of Russian weapons, the
result of relentless Ukrainian attacks for several months earlier this year.
RIPLEY (on camera): This is one of Russia's most expensive anti-aircraft weapon systems, as you can see not much used anymore.
RIPLEY (voice over): In April, Ukraine says its missiles sank the Moskva. Where did it go, the bottom of the Black Sea. A humiliated Kremlin says
their flagship caught fire sinking in stormy weather. In May a Ukrainian drone strike on Snake Island turned this helicopter into a fireball.
RIPLEY (on camera): This is what's left of that Russian helicopter pulverize, along with its crew of about eight people.
RIPLEY (voice over): A twisted relic of Russia's ill-fated plan to transform this remote Black Sea outpost into a permanent aircraft carrier.
RIPLEY (on camera): What's it like to live out here?
RIPLEY (voice over): We need to be on guard 24/7 Fortuna says. So we never get bored. We notice his Russian accent, turns out Fortuna was born in
Russia. He moved to Ukraine and got married before the war. Now part of a Russian volunteer corps is protecting Snake Island for Ukraine.
RIPLEY (on camera): How do you feel about Russia now?
RIPLEY (voice over): For us they're enemies no matter what, most of the Russian volunteer corps lived in Ukraine before the invasion, he says. We
were living life had families good jobs. And here comes Russia attacking us. If some other country attacked us we would fight too.
Life on Snake Island means almost total isolation. Soldiers tell me the simple act of switching on a cell phone brings Russian rockets within 40
minutes. They say Russia attacked the island just last month.
RIPLEY (on camera): We are now out of time we've been on the island just about an hour and it's important that we get off before the waves get too
big and before the Russians know we're here.
RIPLEY (voice over): The Ukrainians say Russia blew up Snake Island historic lighthouse and museum on the site of an ancient Greek temple. Evil
spirits are rumored to roam these 46 acres of rock and sand bearing witness to centuries of bloodshed. Ukraine is not the first nation to control Snake
Island, but vows it will be the last.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Well, our Senior International Correspondent Will Ripley joins us now live from the Ukrainian port city of Odessa. Will, it's just an
incredible report there. And this certainly was a dangerous mission for you and the team, not just one landmine. But you spotted four different types
of landmines on that island.
RIPLEY: Hi, Lynda, thank you. Yes, I mean, Pierre Peter, Costa Vic, our security guy we all - we've never been colder in our lives than we were on
that boat trip back from Black Island. But I'll tell you what, it was nothing compared to what these guys endure every single day and certainly
what they endured when they were defending against the Russians.
The Russians basically aimed with their flagship warship and unloaded on that island on the 80 people who were there. And yet, you know, even though
they were presumed dead and the country mourned those awarded them posthumous medals for heroism, it was then discovered that they actually
survived.
They were alive. They were taken prisoner by the Russians; some of them endured really horrific treatment at the hands of the Russians. But then
they were released in a POW swap and they've told some of their stories. And they're incredibly humble about what they've done. And that was the
same situation for the soldiers who are protecting the island now.
[11:25:00]
RIPLEY: Even though they're living in total isolation, they can't see their families over the holidays. They don't even they didn't even know exactly
when we were coming. They got a warning a couple days earlier and basically had to be scanning the horizon for a boat to arrive.
And you know, low and behold, there we were. That is it's just it's, I've been to a lot of isolated places in my career. And never have I been
anywhere like Snake Island. It was just a really surreal experience on the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, visited there twice in his
helicopter before the war.
And he visited today. Another now, you know, frontline in Russia's war Bakhmut in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, where he visited with
soldiers. And he asked the United States for help saying they are facing yet another dire and difficult situation.
But you know what happened on Snake Island that it really pierced this, this illusion of invincibility that the Russians had and the Ukrainians of
Bakhmut against all odds continue fighting back every single day and holding their ground.
KINKADE: Will Ripley, thanks so much to you and your team for joining us live from Odessa, Ukraine. Good to have you with us. Well, the EU's foreign
policy chief met with Iran's foreign minister in Jordan just a few hours ago.
Josep Borrell said the meeting was necessary given the deteriorating relations. He also said Tehran should stop its crackdown on protesters and
providing military support to Russia. Well, talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal are at a standstill. I want to bring in CNN's Nada Bashir for
more on all of this.
Nada, good to have you with us joining us from London, certainly a lot of ground covered in these talks around Foreign Minister told to stop its
crackdown on these protesters despite that the protest movement continues in Iran.
NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Yes, absolutely, Lynda, those talks between Iran's foreign minister and the EU's Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell
said have taken place over two hours a crucial meeting there. Of course, the European Union has taken a firm stance on Iran's crackdown on those
protesters in the past and has placed sanctions on Iran.
And it is still demanding that the Iranian regime, of course, eases its crackdown on protesters and brings a total end to the violence that we're
seeing in Iran. But of course, as you laid out there, the focus was also on the nuclear deal and on efforts to salvage that deal.
We heard from Iran's foreign minister speaking during that conference, he thanked EU's Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell for what he described as
his constructive role in those negotiations and said that Iran is open to a revival of the deal, providing that the government's so-called red lines
are observed.
Borrell for his part acknowledged that relations between the European Union and Iran have become particularly strained in the wake of Iran's crackdown
on those protesters. But did say the two officials agreed on the importance of keeping those channels of communication open and on focusing on a
revival of the nuclear deal based on those Vienna negotiations.
Because we do know that just yesterday, Iran welcomed a delegation of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency for talks. They're focused not only
on the current state of those negotiations, but also on future cooperation, where those talks have really stalled in the wake of that crackdown. And
those protests are still very much ongoing.
More than three months on the crackdown, I have to say is growing more violent. By the day, we've already seen protesters now executed by the
regime. And despite that crackdown, despite the rising death toll, protesters are still taken to the streets every single day.
And in fact, today marks the second day of what is said to be three days of strike action in the northwestern Kurdish region by shop owners and market
workers eerily quiet street scene and video merging on social media of people taking part in that strike action.
And what is perhaps more significant is the fact that we've also seen oil workers now going on strike. They've threatened that they could see further
strike action if the regime doesn't respond to their demands when it comes to pay and working conditions but of course, is one of the key pillars of
Iran's economy. This is a significant development.
But as far as the international community goes, there is still growing pressure on the Iranian regime to end its crack down and bring an end to
the violence that we're seeing against those peaceful protesters.
KINKADE: Exactly, Nada Bashir for us reporting from London, thanks to you. Well still ahead a change of pace, we are going to go back to the streets
of Buenos Aires, Argentina as the country celebrates the World Cup champions. Don't miss a moment. We'll be right back in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:30:00]
KINKADE: Hello and welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade at the CNN Center with a special edition of "Connect the World.
WIRE: I'm Coy Wire; it is a very special edition indeed. Because there is a massive victory parade is happening right now in Buenos Aires as Argentina
celebrate its World Cup winning squat. If you hear the rumbles and the reverberations that might be coming from the southern hemisphere their
captain Lionel Messi and his team back home from Qatar.
After their thrilling victory over defending champions France on Sunday, Argentina has waited 36 years to win its third World Cup title. And to mark
this special moment today has also been declared on national holiday. We will go now live to Buenos Aires, where journalist Stefano Pozzebon has
been there for us all week bringing us the sights and sounds. It's a beautiful summer day there in Buenos Aires. Tell us what you're seeing
Stefano?
POZZEBON: Well, what I've just seen Coy is yet another show that Argentina does know how to throw a party because only a few minutes away, we were
able to witness a few aircraft of the Argentinean Air Force flying on top of these avenue behind our backs.
I don't know if you haven't been able to see the images yet, we're definitely going to bring them to you in the coming minutes after of the
show. But really, it just feels a momentum building up of course, the parade, we already know that has been affected just by the sheer quantity
of people who showed up here in Buenos Aires to greet the players, to greet the captain over the national team, Lionel Messi.
And we understand that they're still going to try to drive down with their open bus from the ninth of July Avenue, but of course, it will take some
time just by the sheer quantity of people the crowds are immense all over the route that these parade is meant to be taken.
They've left, the Argentinean football Federation's headquarter where the player spent a few hours after they landed in Buenos Aires at around 2.30
am local time from Qatar. But of course, their procession is been slowed down just to use a euphemism by the sheer quantity of people who took onto
the street to greet them.
Every single Argentinean in the country probably and definitely in Buenos Aires wants to be able to have a peek at the World Cup that returns to
Argentina 36 years after the great and late Diego Armando Maradona won it in 1986. And this time, it's Lionel Messi's trophy.
[11:35:00]
KINKADE: And Stefano, today, of course has been declared a national holiday in Argentina. So no surprise, we are seeing those massive crowds. But give
us a sense of what this means for the people of Argentina, especially given that they have been suffering through a severe economic crisis. There's no
doubt a huge moment of hope and joy.
POZZEBON: Yes, exactly a huge moment of joy or enjoyment, but also a huge moment of national pride. These Argentineans know that the country is not
doing well, it's in deep negotiations with the International Monetary Fund or their repayment of a debt that was negotiated a few years ago and
probably the upcoming Monza of the summer.
Here we're in the middle of the summer, but they're coming full season, which is the month of January, February and March, it will be tough for
most of these people. Right now the inflation is at over 90 percent annual rates. So that means the prices keep growing and growing. The salaries of
course, are not being adjusted at that rate.
And so these people are facing a hard time but for today, and for the last two days because this is truly a three day party. They have been able to
forget for the trouble and to finally just focus on the party and on the football, Lynda.
KINKADE: Wow. We're just seeing the balloons, the blue and white balloons flying up above the city of Buenos Aires, incredible scenes there. Our Andy
Scholes is with us. And Andy, you've been trying to spot the bus, which is slowly crawling through the crowds.
SCHOLES: Yes, we wonder where the balloons are going to land as well. But yes, it would be interesting to see if that bus is actually going to end up
getting to the monument because it's also got to get out once it gets in there. So it's good, but it's definitely just a fun day there in Argentina,
for sure.
I'm sure those fans wouldn't mind spending all day out there if they could to just soak up as much as this moment as they can because as we mentioned
before, you know Argentina has not won a World Cup since 1986, so many of these people experiencing this for the first time in their lives.
They always heard their parents and grandparents talk about it when we won the World Cup back then, but now they guarantee it through experience
themselves and cheer on their hero, Lionel Messi and it's just such a great moment for him and his national team.
You know, they've gone through so much over the years, you know, it'd become Messi story. Oh, he can win everything in Europe, but he can't bring
home a championship to Argentina. Well, he erased those doubts in 2021 when he won Copa America with this squad.
And he gave a legendary pregame speech in the locker room beforehand it's just like it gets you going to play anything listen to him say all that.
Then coming to the World Cup guys, we've talked about it just an epic performance seven goals leading the team and finally getting that World Cup
title.
WIRE: It's just beautiful scenes we're seeing these blue and white balloons the --the white and sky blue of the kit, the national team for Argentina,
the whole nation flying high floating above. It seems in this euphoria that they're experiencing right now.
And you mentioned Lionel Messi, Andy and he has done something that many thought maybe he would not do. And what he said was his last his final
World Cup. He also created a little bit of fun social media history with his historic performance there in the world cup win.
He has now the most liked post on Instagram. He has surpassed the legendary egg, world record egg which was 56 million at last check with Lionel Messi
posting that holding the "Championship Trophy Campeones Del Mundo" he wrote and he's holding that World Cup trophy 63 million surpassing the most liked
post on Instagram.
KINKADE: And it's 40 million when I checked just a few hours ago.
WIRE: So it's suddenly ticking up there, people--
SCHOLES: Just incredible.
WIRE: Is your country has 45 million people? I mean, this is--
SCHOLES: Yes, he's a worldwide superstar. More than 400 million followers total and it just goes the Messi, you got to think he's a special superstar
to a lot of times when you see our sports figures, you can look at them and like oh, yes, they're bigger, they're faster, they're stronger than
everyone.
You look at Messi you know, if you're standing next to him and he had a hat on in the mall, you might not know right? Because he's five foot seven.
He's 160 pounds. He's just the most skilled soccer player though, arguably that we've ever seen. That's what makes him so special.
WIRE: He did it with hard work with dedication with focus with sacrifice. You know, at four years old, he was playing in the streets by 12 years old.
He was living in Barcelona because he wanted to chase his dream and he had to leave his family in Argentina.
But he never lost ties and from his hometown Rosario there in Argentina he comes back and finally brings him that World Cup title first, third overall
and first since 1986. Special times, we'll continue to follow this coverage. There you see Lionel Messi in 15 years so far a seven time Ballon
d'Or winner record for the best footballer in the world, countless trophies. But now he has the one that means more than anything.
[11:40:00]
KINKADE: At 35 years he finally got that World Cup trophy. It's just fantastic. And we are going to continue our coverage of the celebrations in
Buenos Aires. But for now we're going to take a short break. And when we come back confusion uncertainty at the U.S. Mexico border, as a pandemic
immigration policy stays on the books for now, what it means for migrants who are counting on that policy to expire.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KINKADE: Welcome back. A controversial U.S. immigration policy set in motion during the pandemic is set to expire Wednesday. Well, it's now
gotten a reprieve but it's only temporary. The Chief Justice is stepping into freeze the lifting of Title 42.
Now this allows officials to swiftly expelled migrants at the U.S. border. But some Republican led states have issued an emergency appealed to keep it
in place. They say lifting it will mean an overwhelming surge of migrants.
And while the court and the Biden Administration tried to sort things out, migrants are expecting the restrictions to be lifted, confused,
disappointed and unsure about what to do next. CNN's David Culver has been talking to some migrants who've made the journey and joins us now from the
border in Herreras Mexico.
Good to have you with us, David. So you've been speaking to these migrants, suddenly a lot of confusion right now about what opportunities they have in
the coming days or weeks where they go next. What are they telling you?
DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're right about that Lynda. Confusion, frustration really, so I'm just trying to get the information to know how
to plan the next steps here because this was where I'm standing here on the Mexican side, the staging area for most of those migrants to come in and to
prepare for crossing over into the U.S. And it was a really simple crossing. This is it right here you see all these stones that were put into
place.
And they would go right across and they would go up and they would go into the U.S. because that technically is the United States and they'd start the
processing. What happened overnight changed everything. We saw the National Guard's members come out around 4.30 in the morning, local time, state
troopers from Texas, and they put up this barbed wire fence.
Now this is a show of force from the state of Texas. This is not the federal government here. This is the state putting up this law enforcement
really blockade to keep people from going across. Let me just show you over here real quick. This is a group of migrants.
This is what we've been seeing throughout the morning, as folks are just learning about this barricade being put in place. These folks are trying to
figure out how they're going to cross. They'll walk along here. Oftentimes actually take a listen here, Lynda; you're going to see this National
Guard's member with the megaphone.
This is actually first; we haven't seen anybody this morning physically. Just listen in. You cannot cross this way, you need to go to the
International Bridge is what that National Guard's member is saying.
[11:45:00]
CULVER: And so they're sending people along, continuing on their way to try to figure out how they can go and start being processed and perhaps move
forward with their claim for asylum. This is what has been playing out, really now over the past few hours.
But this is the first we saw with somebody actually trying to go back over those stones which was so popular. Thousands of people Lynda over the past
several weeks and we were here a month ago. And it was just one person after other families and it was so easy for them, they'd be able to go back
and forth and help the other across, but now from the state of Texas, a show of force that is preventing that from happening. This has Title 42
remains in place.
KINKADE: David for that group, heading further downstream. Are they trying to cross further down?
CULVER: Yes, let me show you real quick, it's a bit tough to see. But on the U.S. side, so if we look across, you see all those Humvees, you see all
those members of the National Guard along with state troopers. And then it stops towards the end there because that's where a lot of the migrants
would also come from another direction once on the U.S. side to then get back up to start the processing.
Instead, if you look past that, you'll see the highest bridge and that's where they're directing people that is one of the formal land crossings
that then has a lot of the officials trying to process people.
But for folks we spoken with, it has been a journey where some have actually made it across before the barricade went up. And what happens
next? Well, it depends on who you ask.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CULVER (voice over): We watch as they step over a debris field of personal belongings, clothes and trash reminders of the thousands who crossed
illegally before them most hoping for asylum in the U.S. In this very spot last month, we introduced you to Georgia Gutierrez, her husband Franklin
and their five year old son. Like so many migrants chasing their American dream, they waited for the right time to step across.
CULVER (on camera): Are you scared? Said he's a little scared. It's always hard because you don't know what's going to happen.
CULVER (voice over): That was their second attempt to enter the U.S. They're now in Indianapolis near - brother and staying with a friend.
There's still the fear that they can expel us Franklin says, we don't want to do anything bad that will call attention. When they entered the U.S.
they say border agents brought them in, no questions asked a sign they say of the seemingly overwhelmed land crossing.
They only told us what we needed to do go here go there, she says. After seven days and immigration detention in El Paso - says they were granted
conditional release. Now they wait for a January court hearing to determine their status and future in the U.S.
Rafael Rojas shared with us his treacherous and deadly journey from Venezuela to Mexico witnessing tragedy throughout. When we met him last
month, he held tied to his shoes and follow the same stone path Jody Bell (Ph) took just hours earlier. But unlike Jody Bell and her family, Rafael
says he was handcuffed and immediately deported more than 700 miles from Ciudad Juarez.
And his last message to us, he said he vows to keep trying until he makes it to the U.S. Then there's - family. Four weeks ago, 9 year old Ruby told
me all the countries she traveled through just to get to Mexico. Their dream destination sketched out.
We caught up with them still in Mexico now renting a small home, no kitchen no heating, Ruby's still without a school but determined. She wants to
learn English. They no longer live at the encampment because those tents no longer exist. In this messy clash with Mexican police late last month, the
migrants living here were forced to leave, tents and blankets burned as the space was cleared out. Ciudad Juarez's Mayor, Cruz Perez Cuellar tells me
the migrants were offered city shelters.
CRUZ PEREZ CUELLAR, CIUDAD JUAREZ, MEXICO MAYOR: It was dangerous for them to be there. And we have place to offer them.
CULVER (voice over): He warns many migrants have become vulnerable targets of organized crime, a reason Francisco adapted young kids desperately wants
out. The families tried to cross twice before.
CULVER (on camera): Can you stay here in Mexico to live and work?
CULVER (voice over): I really don't like the idea of staying here he tells me. He fears the dangers of child trafficking cartels and more. Ciudad
Juarez once known as the murder capital of the world still dangerous, despite the uncertainties at night hundreds lined the U.S. side of the Rio
Grande, lighting fires to keep warm in the freezing cold, hoping there'll be granted asylum, a seemingly endless stream of migrants of different
backgrounds, but with the same goal.
[11:50:00]
CULVER (voice over): The multifamily also getting ready to cross making the difficult decision to leave behind their dog Linda, who has been with them
since the start staying with a caretaker in Mexico, a tearful goodbye. But Fransisco believes his family's future a safer one is on the other side.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CULVER: And Lynda, that overnight mobilization from the National Guard out of Texas along with state troopers changing all of that for families like -
this common crossing, no longer an option for them.
KINKADE: Yes, fascinating reporting there. David Culver, good to get that perspective from you. Thank you so much for that report. Well, the man at
the center of a massive crypto controversy is during court at any moment. FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried faces fraud and conspiracy charges here in
the U.S. a live update from outside the courtroom next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KINKADE: Welcome back. FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried is during court at any moment as his extradition hearing resumes. On Monday the former Crypto
currency celebrity agreed to be extradited from the Bahamas to the United States, but the hearing is now set to be completed today.
Bankman-Fried is facing eight cancer fraud and conspiracy in the U.S. Now Patrick Oppmann joins us now alive who's covering the story. And Patrick,
we were speaking yesterday we thought this extradition would happen yesterday. Why is it taken two days?
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it may take three it's a bit of deja vu all over again. This morning we saw what appeared to be U.S.
embassy officials and SPF's attorneys arriving in court. It seemed like things were moving forward and then just in the last hour or so, all those
people have vacated this courthouse behind me where the hearing was supposed to take place and no sign of Sam Bankman-Fried, so a bit of a
mystery.
Yesterday there were some fireworks in the courtroom as the prosecutors and the SPF's attorneys clashed. There was obviously disconnect between his
Bahamian attorney who said that he had no knowledge of a planned extradition agreement and his U.S. attorneys who basically presented this
as a done deal.
So by the afternoon his Bahamian attorneys appear to be on the same page saying yes, they had consulted with their client and then he would waive
his right to fight extradition here in the Bahamas. Why no hearing today, it remains something of a mystery.
Usually, by now, we would have expected Sam Bankman-Fried to be brought here from the prison where he's being held. There have been no preparations
to do so. And the hours continue to click by. I was sitting next to SPF in Court yesterday and I have to say he seemed confused throughout much of the
proceedings as the prosecutors and as attorney went back and forth and kind of argued over the most basic points.
And as the hours were on, I'm starting to share that sentiment. It is a very confusing situation. A lot of drama in the Bahamas right now. And even
though everyone says there for extradition, this point no indications that that is going to take place anytime soon.
KINKADE: Drama in the Bahamas indeed, Patrick Oppmann, we will continue to follow this case with great interest. Good to have you on the story, thanks
very much.
[11:55:00]
KINKADE: Well, thanks so much for joining this edition of "Connect the World". I'm Lynda Kinkade. And I want to leave you now with some of the
amazing pitches from Argentina where we spend the last two hours trying to catch a glimpse of that bus carrying the victorious team through the
Capital.
Thousands and thousands of people are turning out on the streets just wanting to share in the joy and pride of the nation. We'll have much more
after a very short break. "One World" with my colleague and friend Zain Asher is up next, stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:00:00]
END
