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Connect the World

Netanyahu: Preparing for Scenarios Beyond Gaza War; UNICEF: Vehicle Hit By Gunfire In Gaza; Russia Attack Destroys Largest Power Plant In Kyiv Region; Ukraine: 200,000 People Lose Power After New Russian Strikes; Trump: Would Not Sign Federal Abortion Bill; Biden To Host Japanese and Filipino Leaders For Historic Summit; House Speaker Johnson To Hold News Conference With Trump; U.S. Wholesale Inflation Rose Again In March; Bogota Rationing Water Amidst Drought Crisis; Goals Galore In Champions League Quarterfinals. Aired 9-10a ET

Aired April 11, 2024 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: Well, this is the scene at the White House where the U.S. President will host an historic meeting with the

leaders of Japan and the Philippines this afternoon.

It is 9 a.m. currently in Washington, DC., 5 p.m. here in Abu Dhabi. I'm Becky Anderson. This is "Connect The World."

Also, happening this hour. The Israeli Prime Minister says, he is preparing for scenarios outside of Gaza.

Russia has destroyed the largest power plant in Ukraine's Kyiv region.

And Donald Trump says the near total ban on abortion in Arizona went too far.

And the stock market in New York will open in about 30 minutes time. The futures are mixed right now, rallying slightly on a better than expected

report in U.S. producer prices. Wholesale inflation rose to 2.1 percent year-over-year. And we will break those numbers down for you later this

hour. The future is just ticking into positive territory. We're 30 minutes away.

Well, we begin with fears of conflict escalating in the Middle East. In the past few hours, the Israeli Prime Minister has visited his country's Tel

Nof Airbase where he has said, Israel is preparing for scenarios beyond the war in Gaza.

CNN's Nic Robertson standing by in Jerusalem, and Ben Wedeman joins us from Beirut. Nic, what more are we learning at this point?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: I think if one reads between the lines, and this is what the Prime Minister clearly intended, he

didn't say this was a direct threat to Iran, but it does seem to be a very clear from its timing message to Iran. He said whilst in the middle of this

conflict in Gaza, he was talking to the F-15 pilots. F-15 pilots, as we know, very active in the skies, dropping bombs in Gaza and very active as

well along Israel's northern border with the south of Lebanon.

So the timing of this, it comes right on the heels of President Biden telling Israel that it has United States' steadfast support amidst the

concerns that Iran may strike directly into Israel as a result of Israel strike. Although, they haven't claimed responsibility for it. The United

States says they believe they did it at an Iranian consulate in Damascus a little over a week ago.

The tensions are still high. The Prime Minister, again reading between the lines, seems very clear. What he says here, you're about to hear it, is

aimed at Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU PRIME MINSTER OF ISRAEL (via translator): We are in the midst of the war in Gaza which continues in full force. At the same time,

we continue our unceasing efforts to return our hostages.

But we are also preparing for scenarios of challenges in other arenas. And we established a simple principle, whoever hurts us, we hurt him. We are

preparing to meet the security needs of the state of Israel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: So this was very similar to language used by the foreign minister yesterday, who specifically said, if Iran strikes us, we will

strike Iran back. And the defense minister, who was slightly more equivocal in his language, but also indicated that if Israel is struck, Israel will

strike back. Becky?

ANDERSON: Let me bring you in, Ben. Clear risks here of a bigger conflict rising as Iran has said it intends to hit back. Joe Biden, U.S. President

has vowed ironclad, and I quote him here, "Ironclad U.S. commitment to Israel amid this, you know, uptick or more than uptick in war rhetoric at

this point.

What would a threat or, sorry, let me put that -- put that more precisely. What would an attack by Iran look like?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's the question everybody's asking, Becky, but nobody has any idea. Now what has

been made clear to us from a variety of sources, including, for instance, a Lebanese source very close to Hezbollah, that the Iranian response to the

Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus will be Iranian. It is not going to be via Hezbollah or any of Iran's other allies or proxies in

the region.

Now we know that the United States and Iran, through intermediaries, have been passing messages back and forth. The Iranians have told the Americans

don't protect the Israelis. The Americans have told the Iranians don't attack. Now, whether those messages are going to sink in on one side or the

other is unclear.

[09:05:00]

What is clear, some sort of Iranian response is going to happen. But there's so much speculation that I don't have the time to list all the

various scenarios people are talking about. Just to name a few. There's talk of perhaps an Iranian attack on the Israeli occupied Syrian Golan

Heights from Syrian territory. There's talk about Iranian attacks on Israeli facilities outside of Israel itself. We just -- we don't know.

The Iranians have made it clear, however, that their response will come. But, obviously, the attack happened, I believe, on the 2nd of April. Here

we are well over a week later. And I think so far what the Israelis have succeeded in doing is causing the Israelis to suffer from a lot of jitters.

We know, for instance, that the mayor of Haifa has told the people of his city to check your landlines to make sure they work out of fear, perhaps

that the Iranians will do something that will interfere with the cell phone service. So there are lots of concerns in Israel about an attack. But

where, when, how? Your guess is as good as mine. Becky?

ANDERSON: Ben, working his sources, like he says, he's got a laundry list as long as his arm on what this could look like. The question is, as he

says, when, how, where and by whom at this point, still up for debate. Thank you both.

For the second time in just over a week, an aid vehicle has been hit in Gaza. UNICEF says one of its vehicles was struck by gunfire on Wednesday

while at a checkpoint to enter Northern Gaza from the south.

UNICEF's Tess Ingram was in the car. Here is what she told CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TESS INGRAM, UNICEF COMMUNICATION SPECIALIST: While we were waiting there, gunfire broke out in the vicinity and shots were fired from the direction

of the crossing towards civilians who then ran in the other direction away from the crossing.

We were caught in that line of fire. Three bullets hit the car that I was in. A UN colleague dropped to the ground outside and lay on the floor. We

thought he was injured, but thankfully he was OK and so was everybody else with us.

But this incident is just another example of how dangerous it is for us and for the people that we're trying to serve in Gaza.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, UNICEF says, it has raised the incident with Israeli authorities, and CNN has reached out to the Israeli military. We haven't,

as of this show going to air, heard back at this point. You recall last week seven food charity workers were killed in an Israeli strike.

Well, another wave of Russian shelling hits Ukraine, this time destroying the largest power plant in the Kyiv region.

(VIDEO PLAYING)

ANDERSON: You can see in this video vast plumes of smoke billowing from the Trypilska plant as a fire continues to rage there. Now, Russia has been

pounding Ukraine's energy infrastructure with more missile strikes. In Kyiv itself, people took two shelters in the capital's metro system as the

missiles fell earlier.

CNN's Clare Sebastian is standing by with more on what is happening in Ukraine. And these images, out of Kyiv will remind people of the early days

of this war more than 2 years ago. What do we understand to be the current status, Clare?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Becky, this was a big, a widespread attack covering 5 regions. Multiple types of missiles were used,

and, Shahed attack drones. We know from the air force that they were able to shoot down, they say, out of about 82 aerial targets, they were able to

shoot down some 57. That's most of the drones, but less than half of the missile. So that's why you see the extent of that damage.

These attacks have become something of a trend. We've seen major attacks towards the end of March by Russia on Ukraine's energy facilities, very

targeted, specifically things like power stations, thermal power stations, like the Trypilska station in the Kyiv region that was hit there and now

destroyed.

Case in point, by the way, Centrenergo, the company that runs that power plant now says it has lost all of its power generating facilities. One

power plant in Donetsk was occupied by Russian forces in 2022, another destroyed at the end of March, and now this. So you see how this cumulative

effect on Ukraine's power generating capacity builds up.

Mercifully, there were no power outages in the region served by that power plant. There were some 200,000 people in the Kharkiv region lost power.

Today, Russia's Ministry of Defense came out and said, like, this is a response, they said, to Ukraine's attacks on Russia's energy facilities.

[09:10:00]

We have seen an uptick this year in Ukraine using long range drones to target things like Russian refineries, but this is also part of the pattern

that we've seen throughout this war, Becky, of trying to, you know, use this tactic of attrition on the Ukrainian people, exhaust them, cripple,

the economy, and, of course, this has led to more appeals today from Ukrainian officials, including President Zelenskyy, who is currently in

Lithuania, for more weapons, specifically air defense. Zelenskyy saying we need air defense support, not a blind eye, and long discussions. Becky?

Clare Sebastian, on the story for you. Clare, it was a pleasure. Thank you.

Meanwhile, the top U.S. commander in Europe says, Ukraine could lose its war with Russia if it doesn't get continuing U.S. support.

General Chris Cavoli spoke as $60 billion in U.S. aid for Ukraine is being held up, of course, by Republicans in Congress. He said Ukraine can still

turn things around because Russia is struggling to launch any large operations. But at this point, the general says, Ukraine is simply

outgunned.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. CHRIS CAVOLI, COMMANDER, U.S. EUROPEAN COMMAND: The severity of this moment cannot be overstated. If we do not continue to support Ukraine,

Ukraine could lose. They are now being outshot by the Russian side 5 to 1. So Russians fire 5 times as many artillery shells at the Ukrainians than

the Ukrainians are able to fire back.

That will immediately go to 10 to 1 in a matter of weeks. We are not talking about months. We are not talking hypothetically.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: That's a grim warning. Well, Donald Trump is weighing in again on the abortion debate in the U.S.. In Atlanta on Wednesday, Republican

presidential candidate said he would not sign a federal abortion ban.

And he was asked about the near total ban in Arizona just reinstated by the state's Supreme Court there. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yeah. They did, and that'll straightened out and as you know it's all about

states' rights and it will be straightened out. And I'm sure that the governor and everybody else are going to bring it back into recent, and

that will be taken care of, I think, very quick.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Donald Trump has previously said he thinks abortion rights should be up to the states. CNN's Steve Contorno is with us from Florida.

And you talk to anybody in in the U.S. at present, Steve, and they'll tell you this is -- this is a Donald Trump who is either being, you know,

managed by a very effective team or has decided he's just going to be politically expedient on this one.

But whichever it is, he's taking a different position from that which he has in the past and that which many have expected on what is a very

contentious issue in the United States in this an election year.

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Absolutely. And what you're seeing there in those clips is Donald Trump confronting the political landscape that he

helped create when he put the Supreme Court justices in place that helped to overturn Roe v. Wade.

And, yes, Donald Trump has been on every side of this issue. When he first ran floated the idea of running for President all the way back in 1999, he

said he was, quote, "very pro-choice." 15 years later, when he was running for President again, he's trying to court the GOP base, convince the anti-

abortion movement that he can be their standard bearer.

He suddenly came out in favor of a federal abortion ban. Well, now yesterday, he says he's against the federal abortion ban, and this is why

Democrats say you cannot take Donald Trump at his word on this issue. You should just go by his actions, and those actions are putting in place the

justices that helped to overturn Roe v. Wade.

But no doubt there, this is a difficult political landscape for him to navigate, and we are seeing him in real time try to address it. And even in

this week alone, where he tries to say that this is an issue that should be left up to the states. Well, now he is saying one of those states, Arizona,

went too far. So he has been all over the map on this and just indicative of the kind of challenge he faces, trying to make this political liability

disappear.

Fascinating. Good to have you, sir. Thank you.

Well, still to come here on CNN, you're watching "Connect the World" with me, Becky Anderson out of our Middle Eastern Broadcasting hub here in the

UAE. Time in Abu Dhabi is just before quarter past 5:00 in the afternoon, just before quarter past 9:00 in the morning on the East Coast.

We are closely monitoring a historic meeting between the U.S., Japan, and the Philippines as these countries grapple with China's aggression. A live

report ahead on what these talks might produce. That is coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:15:00]

ANDERSON: Welcome back. Later today, President Joe Biden will host the first ever leaders' summit between the United States, Japan, and the

Philippines. This is the latest attempt to draw Pacific allies closer as the region grapples with an increasingly assertive China and nuclear

provocations from North Korea.

Their meeting is expected to produce an announcement on how the three countries will work more closely together. CNN White House Correspondent,

Arlette Saenz, joins us now. Arlette, it's interesting for us to discuss what this historic summit today can achieve, more than the symbolism, which

in and of itself, I think, we can agree is important to the U.S. president.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Becky. And President Biden and the leaders of Japan and the Philippines are really hoping to

project the show of unity amid China's aggression, especially in the South China Sea.

Now president Biden will meet one on one with Filipino President Ferdinand Marcos, in the Oval Office. They will then expand that meeting to that

trilateral summit to bring in Japanese Prime Minister Kishida, a historic moment as it will be the first time the leaders of the three countries will

all be meeting together.

And senior administration officials say that maritime security will be at the top of the agenda, heading into this summit. Officials I spoke with

really expressed concern about China's actions in the South China Sea when they relate to the Philippines. There have been incidents where Chinese

coast guard has rammed into Filipino ships firing, water cannons on crews there.

And so one of the announcements that's expected to come out today is quite significant. The U.S., the Philippines, and Japan, the coastguards from

each of those countries will hold joint patrols a bit later this year. The officials have yet to outline exactly when this will happen. But this

follows on a previous joint patrol from the three coast guards. In addition, the coast guard from the U.S. will welcome on members of the

Japanese and the Filipino coast guards onto their ship to train them as they are trying to coordinate a bit more.

Now ahead of the meeting today, there were also a maritime military exercises between the U.S., the Philippines, Philippines, Japan, and

Australia, all really coming at a time when the allies are trying to show cooperation and coordination with each other.

Now President Biden has really sought to nurture this relationship with Marcos, since Marcos, took office. He hosted him here at the White House

last year. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, went to Tokyo where he met with the national security advisers of the three countries, the first

meeting of its kind as well.

But the relationship with Marcos comes on the heels of the previous leader, Rodrigo Duterte, who really had distanced himself from the U.S. and more

closely aligned himself with China. Officials here really say that this summit today will highlight a new era in these relations as the President

has really sought to bolster these alliances, as he has tried to find ways to counter China's influence in the region as well.

[09:20:00]

ANDERSON: Let me ask you very briefly. Japan, key, of course, to Biden's Indo-Pacific strategy, and we saw the way with which the Japanese Prime

Minister and his wife were welcomed on the South Lawn there yesterday for their first official visit.

Some new initiatives announced after the Biden-Kishida meet on Wednesday. Can you just provide some detail?

SAENZ: Yeah. There was a very warm personal relationship on display between President Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida, yesterday throughout,

all of the lavish and pomp and circumstance of the official visit.

Now there were a host of initiatives, that the two leaders sought to highlight that included this expected upgrade to the U.S. force posture in

the region as they're trying to better coordinate and integrate, and work together going forward when it comes to military issues.

We saw economic announcements when it came to trying to deepen semiconductor production partnerships between the two countries. We've --

there's going to be new space collaboration as Japan is hoping to land its first two astronauts on the moon.

All of this really speaking to the fact that the U.S. has viewed China -- or has viewed Japan as the center of their Indo-Pacific strategy. They have

seen a very willing partner Kishida, based on the fact that he has increased the country's defense posture, committing to raising defense

spending to 2 percent of GDP in the coming years. He also has been quite a vocal supporter of Ukraine, amid Russia's invasion of that country.

The President really stressing that it's not just a regional partnership that they now have, but they view Japan as a global partner. And just a

short while ago, we actually saw Prime Minister Kishida's motorcade leaving Blair House where he was staying on this trip, and he's heading up to

congress for a joint session to address members there.

SAENZ: Fascinating. It's good to have you. Thank you, Arlette.

Well, it's strike 3 for Donald Trump as the, former U.S. President and his legal team lost a third petition to delay his criminal hush money trial,

which is, of course, set to begin on Monday.

It took an associate justice just minutes to reject their latest motion on Wednesday. Trump's team wanted to appeal a lower court's ruling on

presidential immunity and have the, judge recused from the case.

The criminal trial regards payments made to the adult film star Stormy Daniels to cover up an alleged one night stand with Trump nearly 2 decades

ago. Trump can still appeal the denied motions to New York's highest court, but that court doesn't have to accept the appeal, and so it goes on.

Well, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson announced he'll be holding a joint news conference on Friday with Donald Trump to talk about election

integrity. Now this comes as he faces backlash from his fellow Republicans with some threatening to vote him out of the leadership position.

CNN's Manu Raju has details of a contentious day on Capitol Hill.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Frustration within the House GOP is palpable.

REP. GARRET GRAVES (R-LA): We don't truly have a majority at this point. You have a loosely aligned coalition government right now, and it's an

incredible challenge.

RAJU (voice-over): Bitter GOP infighting, derailing the GOP agenda and now threatening speaker Mike Johnson's job as he weighs major decisions over

the FBI spying power and providing billions in aid to Ukraine, all as a threat to oust him continues to loom as Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor

Greene escalates her attacks.

REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): The motion to vacate is real. We can't continue to be led by our elected speaker of the house that's passing the

Democrat agenda. Our voters will not tolerate that.

RAJU (voice-over): All of it enraging fellow Republicans.

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: This is incredibly reckless.

REP. MAX MILLER (R-OH): This is nothing more than just, look at me. No one else is paying attention, so here's my motion to vacate. Now it's my time.

REP. MARC MOLINARO (R-NY): I think it's an absurdity that's unnecessary, and frankly, it was a mistake when this congress allowed it to happen to

Kevin McCarthy.

REP. TROY NEHLS (R-TX): It's an impossible job. The Lord Jesus himself could not manage this conference or this -- you just can't do it.

RAJU (voice-over): Johnson will soon see his razor thin majority shrink, giving him just one vote to spare. But the Right Wing continues to give

Johnson fits of furious over his deal making with Democrats and warning him about his moves ahead.

Greene outlined her anger in a scathing 5 page letter, attacking Johnson over his handling of a funding package to keep the government open, and

missed 70 minute meeting with Johnson today, warning him not to move ahead with any more aid to Ukraine or a bill to renew the FBI's warrantless

surveillance authority, something former president Donald Trump successfully urged Republicans to kill earlier today.

GREENE: Most of the members I've talking to support the letter that I sent, and they completely agree with it. And that's the only feedback that I've

heard.

RAJU (voice-over): But Johnson offering this warning if Greene moves ahead.

[09:25:00]

JOHNSON: It would be chaos in the House.

RAJU (voice-over): Yet several hardliners are open to Greene's call for his ouster.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think she has some valid concerns. I'm not closing the door.

RAJU (on-camera): Are you ready to vote to vacate the speaker?

REP. ANNA PAULINA LUNA (R-FL): We're not going to go down that path right now. I think that the Republican Conference as a whole needs to really

figure out what we are about.

RAJU (on-camera): If he does move forward with any Ukraine package, could that cost him his job?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah. I think it'll be a real risk for the speaker to move a giant package.

RAJU (voice-over): But Johnson, who is holding a Florida press conference with Trump on Friday, could also be saved by Democrats, especially if he

moves on Ukraine aid.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to support him because he he's trying to do the right thing.

RAJU (on-camera): Now this all comes that there are still questions about whether or not Donald Trump will support this effort to oust Mike Johnson

from the speakership. Johnson is going down to Mar-a-Lago on Friday to hold a joint press conference with him. The idea is to talk about the issues of

elections.

Donald Trump, of course, has been making false claims that the 2020 election was stolen. We'll see what they ultimately have to say. And we'll

see if Donald Trump offers any support for Mike Johnson. We do know a lot of Johnson allies have been lobbying Trump to get behind him.

But also Marjorie Taylor Greene has spoken to Donald Trump just yesterday, but Marjorie Taylor Greene would not comment about her conversations with

Trump and neither would Mike Johnson, when I asked him if he's asking for the former President's support to stay in the job.

Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: And you're watching "Connect the World" with me, Becky Anderson.

Still to come. Another key U.S. inflation gauge out in the last hour. Is there hope for Americans who are feeling the pinch from higher prices?

We'll break down those numbers for you just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(VIDEO PLAYING)

ANDERSON: On Wall Street, the markets out of the gate.

[09:30:00]

I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. Welcome back. And the futures markets were indicating a lower open just ahead of that bell. We'll give these markets a

little bit of time to settle.

Well, they've opened mixed. The Dow Jones, they're slightly higher as is the S&P, but the Nasdaq, just there in negative territory. This is the

open. I mean, then they're all settling out. You can see the Nasdaq just popping into positive territory. It takes a few minutes for these things to

work their way through the system, a couple of, big trades, and there you go.

It comes today, that bell after the second of this week's three key reports on the U.S. economy released just last hour. U.S. wholesale inflation rose

again in the month of March according to the PPI, that's the producer price index. This on the heels of a report out on Wednesday, of course, showing a

higher than expected jump in consumer prices.

Well, CNN Reporter Matt Egan is in New York, always around for us to break down these numbers, both for U.S. and international audience. What are the

takeouts here, sir?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Becky, I would argue that this is a rare bit of positive news on the inflation front, because this was the first cooler

than expected inflation gauge that we've seen in a bit.

Now, again, we're talking about wholesale inflation. This is prices before it gets to all of us as consumers. PPI, producer price index, was up by 0.2

percent month over month. Now that is cooler than expected, and it is a slowdown from the month before a significant slowdown.

The big number, the annual rate, 2.1 percent. Again, that is cooler than expected, but that does mark an acceleration from what we've seen recently.

It's actually the hottest rate in 11 months.

Now let's look at the trend for this annual rate. And you can see the good news is that we're nowhere near the peak of that chart back in 2022. Right?

This gauge was at almost 12 percent. That was pretty crazy. So we're nowhere near that.

The bad news, though, is that you can also see that recently some of the improvement here has kind of leveled out. Right? It's actually starting to

creep a little bit higher, and that's not what we want to see.

I do think that the reaction on Wall Street is telling. Yesterday, as soon as that consumer price index came out, we saw stock futures plunge, bond

yields go up, and fed fears and inflation fears really come back.

Today, though, we are seeing the opposite reaction. Bond yields come down and the stock market opening significantly higher after it was supposed to

be opening. Stock futures were actually sharply lower before these numbers came out.

So where does that really put us? I think that this is all just another reminder that the effort to try to really conquer inflation, it's been a

lot harder than people thought. Right? Economists are throwing around the word stubborn a lot. Some even comparing it to a toddler who just doesn't

want to leave the playground.

And this does raise questions about what the Fed is going to do next, because a lot of people had hoped for a rate cut as soon as June, but those

expectations, Becky, are being dialed back significantly. We're hearing from Goldman Sachs, no rate cuts until July. They now only see 2 rate cuts.

Barclays says 1. Some economists are saying no rate cuts this year. And there's even some talk that maybe the Fed has to start thinking about

raising interest rates again.

Now it's too early to say that's going to happen, but just the fact that we're even talking about it speaks volumes. Becky?

ANDERSON: Well, it's so interesting. I think you put your finger on it here because these markets now are trading almost even. I mean, you got the Dow

Jones up by 0.01. And as we speak, it goes to flat. The S&P at less than a fifth of 1 percent higher, and the Nasdaq really knocking around, below a

half of 1 percent high.

Investors really, I think, very confused as to what is going on. And as you rightly point out, they're getting a lot of sort of mixed messages from

those who are investing their money at present. So I think we need to just spend a little time digesting, let these markets do what they are doing,

and, I would expect these volumes will be relatively low until people get a bit of a sense of what happens next.

It's good to have you, Matt. And, as someone with a toddler trying to get them out of the playground is a great analogy to what I think, many people

feel is going on in this markets.

EGAN: Yeah. It's an experience -- it's an experience I know all too well, Becky.

ANDERSON: Yes. Good stuff. Thanks very much.

EGAN: Thanks.

ANDERSON: Let's get you up to speed on some of the other stories that are on our radar right now.

And severe flooding in Kazakhstan and neighboring Russia has forced more than 100,000 people to evacuate their homes. The flooding has been caused

by warm temperatures, rapidly melting snow. Kazakhstan's President says the flooding might be the biggest disaster in more than 80 years.

[09:35:00]

Well, demonstrators were met with water cannons in Buenos Aires as they protested President Javier Milei's economic reforms. He has fired more than

15,000 public workers and has cut numerous government programs. Critics say the reforms have caused Argentina's poverty rate and consumer prices to

skyrocket.

The Colombian capital Bogota, and dozens of surrounding towns are facing a mounting drought crisis and have started to ration water. Around 9 million

people are affected. Officials say Colombia has experienced long periods without rain since June of last year. They say this is due to El Nino.

Stefano Pozzebon has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: We are in the reservoir of San Rafael. It's one of a few that provide fresh water to the city of Bogota. But as you can

see, this reservoir is mostly dry.

In fact, less than a year ago, the ground I'm standing on was covered in water. And right now I don't even need to wear rainboots for walking here,

because of how dry the ground is. The situation is so troublesome that Colombian authorities have called for water rationing measures in the city

of Bogota, which is about 10 km that way, starting today.

Now, Bogota's mayor has urged his fellow citizens to save as much water as possible, at least until the rains come back. In fact, much of the supply

of water to the city comes from surface water like this one, which are highly dependent on precipitation. This year, however, rain has been scarce

in part because of El Nino, a climate pattern that originates in the Pacific Ocean, which is hundreds of miles from here.

El Nino can have different effects at different latitudes, but in Colombia it largely means less water. And the Colombian government has issued a

natural disaster decree as early as in January to mobilize resources to prevent the effects of El Nino.

SUSANA MUHAMAD, COLOMBIA ENVIRONMENT MINISTER (via translator): We must have a deep thought about the type of development we want. We can't keep

handling emergencies. It's not sustainable to break through the water cycle, ignoring the time nature needs to recover and then expect the water

to keep flowing as if anything is happening.

POZZEBON: Colombian authorities as well as scientists say that it's incredibly hard to predict how long this drought would last. But what is

most worrying is if droughts like this become a yearly thing and this becomes the new normal. For CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Bogota.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Well, next up, a clash of the Titans in the Champions League quarterfinals, as Kylian Mbappe and company bounce back after what was a

thrilling game against Barcelona. More on that after this.

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[09:40:00]

ANDERSON: Well, any football fan will tell you there are two things they want out of a decent game and two things they really want out of the

Champions League quarter finals. Those are goals and drama.

And what a game between Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona last night. The Spanish side's snatched here 3-2 advantage in what is the first leg, and

some of it's still recovering, of course, from the Real Madrid, Man City game on Tuesday.

Amanda Davies joins me now. And we talked, didn't we, earlier on in the week, and we said we thought this would be a good week for football. We

hoped it would be at least, and, boy, has it turned out to be.

AMANDA DAVIES CNN WORLD SPORT: Yeah. I'm going to add a third thing to that list. Goals, drama, and number three, your side winning, ultimately, when

it comes down to it. But I have to say, as a neutral, it has been an incredible couple of days of football. Actually, set a new record for

Champions League quarter final first leg games. We had 18 goals across the four matches in the 2 days, which is more than we have ever seen before in

the Champions League era.

Javi said that he still thinks Paris Saint-Germain are the favorites to go through to the semifinal, despite the fact is Barca with the advantage. But

the really good news is we have no time to wait at all until the second legs.

The second leg just next week, and we've got more on that. And of course, finally, the Masters getting underway after a rain delay in just a couple

of minutes in world --

ANDERSON: Amazing. Good stuff. Your team has to be in the competition --

DAVIES: Yeah.

ANDERSON: -- for you to, be able to talk about that third point.

DAVIES: Yes.

ANDERSON: Or mine clearly isn't. All right.

DAVIES: No mine.

ANDERSON: "World Sport." That's fantastic. I can't wait. Yes. Exactly. So we're just we're just loving it. We're loving the drama. We're loving the

goals. Good stuff, Amanda. We'll be back top of the hour for you.

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