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Top UK & German Diplomats Urge Israel to Avoid Escalation; Dangerous Flooding Hits Gulf Region, Dozens Killed; Johnson: Threats to Oust me from Speakership "Absurd"; Russia-Linked Hackers may have Carried out Cyberattack on Texas Water Facility; Colombian Superstar Announces Initial Concert Dates. Aired 9-9:45a ET

Aired April 17, 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 in Dubai where history making downpour flooded the airport and saw motorists

stranded. The local services are doing their best to get things back to normal and we will keep you honest on that. It's 5 pm here in the United

Arab Emirates. I'm in Abu Dhabi. I'm Becky Anderson. This is "Connect the World".

The British and German Foreign Ministers are in Jerusalem pushing for a tempered response from Israel's war cabinets after Iran's weekend attack.

And Donald Trump's hush money trial picks up steam. The first group of jurors was seated on Tuesday, but there are still spots to fill.

And the stock market in New York will open about 30 minutes from now. Take a look at the futures for you. It looks like the main indices may have a

better day yesterday was a mixed close, although futures now indicating a slight downward slant for both the S&P and the NASDAQ, investors really

digesting the fed chair's comments on inflation.

It doesn't look like Jerome Powell is going to cut rates at any time soon. So keep an eye on those markets for you. That is how things stand at

present. Well, top diplomats from the U.K. and Germany are in Israel today ramping up pressure on that government to not escalate tensions after

Iran's weakened attack.

Israel vowing to respond but it's unclear, when it will happen or what it will entail. David Cameron and Annalena Baerbock met with Israel's Foreign

Minister and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose office thanked them for their quote, unequivocal support. Israel's Foreign Minister told his

British and German counterparts that Iran's Revolutionary Guards should be declared a terrorist organization.

He is asking them to push for new sanctions on Iran's missile program. Meanwhile, in Gaza, there is no let up to the fighting or the civilian

deaths. The health ministry their reports -- 56 people killed over the past day and that includes 13, who died in an Israeli airstrike at the Al-

Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, 7 of them children.

This video obtained by Reuters shows emotional scenes in and around a hospital -- as families mourn the loss of their loved ones.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My brothers were sitting by the door, my brother was wounded and his cousin too, and I lost my son. I do not have a house nor

husband or anything anymore.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh people of the world. What is happening is wrong. Have mercy on us. Stop the war. Stop the war. Children are dying in the streets.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, Israel says it is continuing to target and destroy terrorist infrastructure and to kill Hamas militants. Nic Robertson,

connecting us from Jerusalem this hour, let's start with the visit by the U.K. and German Foreign Ministers. I mean, I want to get to what is going

on in the ground in Gaza.

You've just heard an appeal there by one Palestinian man to stop this carnage. What do we understand to be going on behind closed doors at this

point?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Pressure by these diplomats, Lord Cameron and Annalena Baerbock on the Israel is not to

escalate tensions in the region. But it's clear the British Foreign Secretary believes Israel is going to strike.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: It's clear the Israelis are making a decision to act we hope they do so in a way that does as little to

escalate this as possible. And in a way that as I said yesterday, is smart as well as tough, but the real need is to refocus back on Hamas, back on

the hostages, back on getting the aid in, back on getting a pause in the conflict in Gaza.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: Yeah and as you were saying, Becky, the pressure back from Israel is please go to the G7 which is about to start in Italy. Go to the

U.N. and represent us and designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization and help bring us sanctions on Iran. That's the message from the Israelis.

But look, I think when you get these international visitors like this the message also resonates with the Israeli public. There was a poll that came

out today.

[09:05:00]

Three quarters of the Israeli population say that they don't want Israel to strike back if it's going to weaken relations with the United States and

with the countries like Britain, like Germany, that helped defend it, because they're part of the deterrence. And I think that gets into a

conversation that I had last night with a former military intelligence chief here in Israel who was behind the plan to bomb and destroy Syria's

nuclear reactor in 2007.

And indeed, was a fighter pilot that dropped the bomb on Iraq's nuclear reactor in 1981. And he said, look, the reason that the Iranians struck

back at Iran, strike back at Israel this past weekend, is because they see a weakness in the relationship between the United States and Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu.

And they think that their international result is not as strong as it was. And we've seen that a reflection of that perhaps in the way that Hamas is

treated in the negotiation over hostage releases at the moment. So there's a lot in play, but the Israeli public have a view.

And the question is their prime minister going to read? Is the prime minister going to listen to them? And can he read the room right with the

way that Iran will respond? Because quite clearly that first of April strike and Damascus on the Iranian consulate there. Israel read the room

wrong, Iran was ready to do something and have never done before, Becky.

ANDERSON: If there is any weakness between the Israelis and the U.S. it is, of course, over the way that Israel has run its conflict in Gaza. What's

going on, on the ground?

ROBERTSON: Yeah, I think the latest figure from the Palestinian authorities in Gaza is 33,899 people killed we're talking so far of about 1 in 5 people

in Gaza that population 2.2 million. 1 in 5 now either killed or injured in the conflict. And you're right. That's where the divide comes.

That's where the pressure from the international community is coming on Israel to do more. We know that in the north of Gaza. Earlier in the week,

people were desperate to try to get home. We've seen that there's an Israeli military operation in Beit Hanoun was there for two days in the

early part of this week, that village right at the top end of Northern Gaza.

I stood on the border there recently that, that town was pretty much destroyed from the outside and the most harrowing pictures, I think,

perhaps that I've witnessed of the conflict last night that you were mentioning that we were hearing from people grieving their children, a

woman begging the doctor just to give her a few more moments with her son.

Harrowing scenes of distress and loss and suffering of people just trying to cling to a little bit of life, pull possessions from the rubble, take

shelter in a school forced to leave the school. Their children killed. And this is where the international pressure has its sharpest focus on Israel.

ANDERSON: That's right. Well, the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Italy ahead of the G7 foreign ministers meeting. Nic, the

agenda will be dominated by efforts to end the war in the Middle East and of course in Ukraine and ministers there are expected to present a united

front in calling for a ceasefire that would be around ultimately at this stage.

You know successful talks on releasing hostages, Palestinian prisoners, and getting humanitarian aid and even if aid is on a temporary basis, it will

provide some respite for those Palestinians who are on the ground and living this living nightmare. Thank you. Well, more on this as we move

through the next couple of hours.

Here in the United Arab Emirates. Let me tell you yesterday, was one of the wildest days of weather that I've seen in my time here over a decade. A

year's worth of rain, unleashed immense flash flooding in Dubai. For example, I'm here in Abu Dhabi its roads turned into rivers and rushing

water inundated homes and businesses.

Many attempting to travel became trapped on highways. This is video from social media showing the chaos for example on Dubai's roads Dubai

International Airport, one of the busiest in the world. Let me remind you were also forced to temporarily suspend operations amid the heavy rain.

And you can see here jets struggling to get through the flood water there on the tarmac, on the apron where nearly 100 millimeters of rain fell in

just 12 hours. Eleni Giokos joining me now from down the road in Dubai to describe what she -- and how the day after looks now?

[09:10:00]

Let's start with what happened as I understand it, this was storming some 75. Just explain what you experienced and what Dubai is doing now to try

and clear up?

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Look, yesterday during the torrential rain and the storms, it was absolutely scary. I mean, that's the only way to

really describe it. I mean strong winds, my house was flooded most of the people in my area became flooded as well and almost impossible for people

to leave homes.

In fact, getting around Dubai has been very difficult. But today I feel like, it's A Tale of Two Worlds. I've been seeing, you know, immense

destruction, cars that are submerged underwater, you can see quite a bit of damage and areas where just cause can't get through. People cannot get

around.

And then I see kids playing in the water with canoes. But honestly, Becky, it's been one of these unprecedented events, you know, people I've been

speaking to saying they've never seen this for as long as they've lived in Dubai. I'm pretty new, have been living here for three years.

And I can tell you that this was absolutely harrowing to see some of the images of people stuck on Sheikh Zayed road, one of the key arteries into

the airport. People stuck for hours and the people trapped at the airport unable to get taxis to leave the airport. We spoke to one woman who

eventually was ended up in Abu Dhabi after her plane.

She said was circling around trying to find a place to land and then delayed in Abu Dhabi unable to come to Dubai and then with a six year old

daughter trying to get through the floodwaters to go to her hotel taxis. You know, dropping people off in random areas.

What is encouraging is you've seen a lot of Emiratis coming in with their big trucks to try and help people get around, but truly, just absolutely

significant last 24 hours with this record rainfall that we've seen.

ANDERSON: What's the story at the airport?

GIOKOS: Yeah, right now, I mean, this morning, we woke up to a message saying anyone who wants to go to the airport should only do so. It's

absolutely necessary. Look, local flights out of Dubai were canceled. Anyone traveling into Dubai was able to catch connecting flights, but

essentially no one could get to the airport.

That was one of the big fundamental problems. We also know the airports had to deal with stranded passengers and they were helping people with food and

drinks and trying to figure out a way to accommodate them. The latest as they started to clear up those runways. We still there's dramatic images of

aircraft unable to effectively land and also take off.

I mean, incredible flooding that we saw in that area. But overall, Becky, you've got to understand that this was an issue around the other Gulf

countries in Oman. Over 17 people lost their lives in Ras Al Khaimah just an hour from here 170 year old man also died during the flooding yesterday.

Now they're trying to assess the damage. The cleanup is underway. It's incredible just to see how much of this has affected the city, the roads

are quiet and where they are cause, they completely trapped with really nowhere to go. It is definitely a precarious situation that is playing out.

One that I think called Dubai by surprise in many ways and of course all the people traveling here as well. The questions are becomes is how to deal

with the infrastructure damage and also calibrate the infrastructure and retrofit the infrastructure to deal with more rainfall which we have been

seeing increasing over the last few months.

ANDERSON: Good to have you Eleni is in Dubai. Let's get you a sense of what is going on as far as the weather is concerned and heavy rain having an

impact around our region and beyond. As Eleni reported at least 17 people have died in flash floods in Oman since Sunday.

And severe weather has also killed more than 100 people in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Officials in Pakistan say at least 40 people have died after

heavy rain and flooding with dozens more injured and thousands of homes damaged. These are of course countries whose infrastructure isn't prepared

for the sort of rain and flooding that we have seen.

I want to bring in Derek Van Dam to see what is next for this region of the Gulf where I am. Derek, what are you seeing at this point?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, Becky very powerful imagery coming out of Eleni's live shot, but also what we're seeing as the storm continues

to progress across the Gulf of Oman impacting southern portions of Iran and into Pakistan as well. Here's the storm system that brought multiple rounds

of wet weather and heavy rainfall to Dubai and the surrounding UAE.

Look at how it raced eastward across the Gulf of Oman but also picking up more precipitation along this part of the Middle East. And that has really

caused some significant concerns. In fact, rainfall totals across this region have been significant as well. We have set records across many

locations including coastal areas of Pakistan and into Dubai.

[09:15:00]

Look at this over 100 millimeters of rain in some locations, as the system continues to move eastward throughout the area. Just a torrential downpour

for this location that's caused so much havoc that you've seen on the ground. We now notice into Pakistan. Now authorities reporting over 40

people impacted unfortunately losing their lives from this torrent of precipitation that has turned roads into rivers.

Here, this location into Oman has also seen rainfall totals approaching 300 millimeters. That is significant considering that this storm system is not

quite done just yet. See how it wraps around with that counterclockwise rotation that is a low pressure system that's bringing the rainfall to the

area.

Some of our computer models picking up on another 50 millimeters just west of Karachi so coastal areas of Pakistan look to get more rainfall from

this. The 24 hour rainfall totals impressive in Dubai. But look what happened in 12 hours. That was more rain than they receive in a period of

an entire year, of course leading to scenes just like this.

And what I found most astounding that in the 75 year history, they have never seen as much rain as what fell from the skies yesterday. This is the

rainfall records date back to 1949. I found it very interesting that oil, Becky, was not discovered here in the UAE until the late 50s. So we're

predating that.

And when we talk about the current climate crisis right now, as we continue to extract oil from the ground, we burn these greenhouse trapping gases. We

have already warmed 1.2 degrees Celsius since pre industrial times. And what that does is allows our atmosphere to hold more water vapor. And that

allows for more extreme heavy rain events just like what we saw across the UAE yesterday, Becky.

ANDERSON: There is an alert warning system here in the UAE. And it went off a number of times not least when I was traveling home after the show

yesterday and it started by saying and these are things that come to your mobile phone and due to climate change -- this is what is going on alerting

us to be safe here in the UAE.

So it was a very pointed message from the authorities here keeping us as safe as we can be. Thank you. Well still to come on CNN, Donald Trump's

hush money trial picks up steam. The first groups of jurors were seated on Tuesday but there are still spots to fill a live report on that is ahead.

Plus, U.S. Senators to be sworn in later today for the impeachment of Homeland Security Chief Alejandro Mayorkas, but with democrats in the

majority, how far will Republicans actually get with all of this? More on that is just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:20:00]

ANDERSON: We could be just days away from opening statements and the New York criminal trial of Donald Trump. Jury selection is moving at a brisk

pace with seven people already seated. 12 jurors and 6 expected alternates will be ultimately chosen to decide Trump's guilt or innocence.

The former president is accused of falsifying business records to hide the reimbursement of hush money paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Now,

this trial is not in session today, and is expected to be dark each Wednesday for the duration of the proceedings. CNN's Zachary Cohen joins us

from Washington.

What more do we know about the jurors who have been selected? We know an awful lot were thrown out after the first cross examination do you have a

bias effectively? What do we know about those who have been selected?

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yeah, Becky, overall, these are the seven jurors who convinced the judge and ultimately were convincing

enough to the prosecutors and to the defense attorneys in this case, that they can render a fair and impartial verdict in this case, which is

something a lot of people speculated would be a challenge in choosing a jury for this case, given how polarizing and how political and politically

charged this trial of Donald Trump is?

But the seven jurors, we are learning a little bit more about who these individuals are? The four persons for example, is somebody who's originally

from Ireland, he works in sales. He will be effectively the leader of this jury, once it's completely formed. In once the trial begins, which the

judge said could start moving forward with opening statements as soon as Monday.

Other members of the jury, we have four men and three women so far. We have five with college degrees or higher levels of education than that. We have

two lawyers, there's none of them expressed very strong views about Donald Trump or politics, which is really key because that was the core question

that defense attorneys and prosecutors were asking these potential jurors as they were screening them.

And as they were going through the process of disqualifying or removing certain ones from the pool and we went we saw yesterday as defense

attorneys were really harping on social media posts from some of these potential jurors, trying to raise questions about potential biases against

Donald Trump.

And even one juror was dismissed for acknowledging that he had potential bias for Donald Trump and therefore he couldn't render a fair and impartial

verdict. So a very diverse group of people that make up the seven jurors so far, that process will continue on Thursdays. The judge and as the lawyers

in this case, try to fill out those remaining five jury spots and the about six alternate slots that are left before opening statements can take place.

ANDERSON: Thank you, sir. Congressional chaos continues on Capitol Hill, the U.S. Senate moving forwards in an attempt to a rare attempt to impeach

a cabinet member. Republicans contend that Homeland Security Chief Alejandro Mayorkas has been an abject failure with the U.S. border.

The southern border, of course, and another Republican House Speaker is in the hot seat. Well, Mike Johnson survived after some Republican colleagues

are threatening a revolt over his new foreign aid plan. Write two stories for you dominating Capitol Hill. Lauren Fox is there. What evidence do

Republicans have in the first instance to start off this impeachment trial, Lauren?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Becky, if you remember back in February, Republicans impeach Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas by a

narrow margin that has now been delivered to the United States Senate and around 1 o'clock today, senators will be sworn in as jurors.

But democrats are arguing that Republicans have very little evidence that there's any high crime or misdemeanor here that is the bar typically that

you would use to move forward with a conviction against someone who had been impeached in the house. Instead, what we expect to see is Senate

democrats moving swiftly to try to dismiss or kill this effort to have a full impeachment trial in their chamber democrats have the majority.

All eyes are on a handful of democrats who are running and tight re- elections in Republican States like Ohio and Montana. If democrats are united in moving forward with an effort to dismiss this impeachment against

Mayorkas, this could all come to a close very swiftly.

Meanwhile, you have a number of conservatives who might try to use delay tactics on the floor to drag this out a little bit longer. But the reality

is democrats are arguing this is futile. This is a waste of their time. They do not view this as the kind of serious impeachment trial that was

taken up in the past. In this case, they are saying it's better to move on swiftly so they can get to other business, Becky.

[09:25:00]

ANDERSON: How precarious -- Mike Johnson's position right now? Is he in the same spot as Kevin McCarthy was it seems a lifetime ago but it actually

wasn't that long ago of course?

FOX: Yeah, Becky, it's just been about six months that Speaker Johnson has been in this job. He was facing a threat from Marjorie Taylor Greene. She

was one member who was saying that she might bring this motion to try and oust him as the house speaker, but she was really non-committal about her

timing.

And it was really unclear if she had much support within the Republican Conference. Well, yesterday that sort of started to shift because Thomas

Massie, another conservative hardliner, who is opposed to the kinds of foreign aid packages that Johnson is pledging to move forward with.

He announced in a private Republican conference meeting that he was now moving forward with Marjorie Taylor Greene, that he would be willing to

support an effort to try and remove him from the speakership. The reason that's a problem for Johnson is that after Friday, he has just a one vote

margin.

That means that he can only afford to use one Republican on any single vote. And the question now becomes what democrats step in to try to save

him. They have not said when they would move forward with this. They have not said definitely they are moving forward with this.

But certainly it's hanging over every single step that Johnson takes, in fact, despite the fact that he committed on Monday night to move forward

with four separate bills on Ukraine aid and other kinds of aid across the world. He has not released the legislative text yet that is making some

democrats nervous that perhaps he's getting cold feet, Becky.

ANDERSON: Good to have you. Thank you still to come. He claims some of Boeing's planes could potentially break apart midflight. Well now an

engineer turned whistleblower is set to testify to U.S. lawmakers as the company's safety record comes under the microscope.

A live report from Washington is just ahead. Plus, Texas water facility is targeted in a cyber-attack. Find out who's being blamed and why it could be

part of a much bigger problem, more on that after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:30:00]

ANDERSON: We are out of the gates. That's the opening bell on Wall Street ringing the bell is Wednesday the Co-Chair of Education, Free Music, a

Nonprofit that has provided over 8 million hours of music education in New York. Good for them. Welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. You are

watching "Connect the World".

It looked like a fairly decent start on the futures markets. The arrows were pointing in a northerly direction looks like we're going to have a

better day on Wall Street though it doesn't look like the Fed will cut rates anytime soon. Inflation is still a big concern this possibly a

response to a more mixed day yesterday.

A bit more competence in these markets as we get out of the gate. Well, today Boeing's safety record is once again in the spotlight. The public is

set to hear for the first time from an engineer turned whistleblower who claims poorly assembled parts could cause some of Boeing's jets to break

apart.

He is the key witness at a U.S. Senate hearing that gets underway in just over 90 minutes from now. This is just the latest in what has been a

nightmare stretch for the embattled airplane manufacturer since the Alaska Airlines' door plug blew out in mid-flight in January. CNN's Aviation

Correspondent Pete Muntean is live on Capitol Hill. How is Boeing responding to the whistleblowers claims ahead of today's hearing? Let's

start there.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky Boeing has already been on the defensive ahead of these dueling hearings in the Senate today.

Both are putting Boeing in the spotlight when it comes to its safety culture for manufacturing.

Key witness as you mentioned, the whistleblower who allege just last week that the 787 is unsafe. His name Sam Salehpour, he was a quality engineer

on the 787 line. You saw those big sections of the 787 fuselage being joined together. And he says the gaps in the fuselage are just too big,

which could lead to failure over time.

Now Boeing insists in the 16 years that 787 have been flying for airlines, there has been no evidence of that. There are about 1100 787s flying

worldwide right now. Not one lost to a crash. Salehpour was on NBC ahead of this hearing. He takes his accusation a step further here. He says this --

in this section of this interview, the 787 is at risk of falling out of the sky listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAM SALEHPOUR, BOEING WHISTLEBLOWER: The plane will fall apart at the joints where -- talking about. Once you fall apart, you're going to descend

all the way to the ground.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: -- getting this. Boeing held a press briefing on Monday, addressing the safety and quality concerns but executives would not comment

directly on Salehpour's allegations. Here's what Boeing says in his statement. We are fully confident in the 787 Dreamliner.

These claims about the structural integrity of the 787 are inaccurate and do not represent the comprehensive work Boeing has done to ensure the

quality and long term safety of the aircraft. This is just the latest in the chapter. This long saga of Boeing issues that stretch about five or six

years now.

Two 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019 killed 346 people abroad then January 5th, there was the door plug blow out on that Alaska Airlines 737 Max-9.

But remember this issue has to do with the 787. That plane has not been without its problems though deliveries of new plants were paused in 2021

most of 2022 because of quality issues.

Some of that Becky is because the tolerances are extremely tight. The gaps allowed between the parts of the fuselage are five one thousandths of an

inch. We're talking about the width of two sheets of paper or the width of a human hair. Sometimes it's very hard for Boeing to meet those tolerances,

and it says it is only made exceptions in very rare cases.

ANDERSON: It's fascinating. Well, that hearing coming up Pete, thanks for giving us a heads up on that important stuff. Let's get -- connect you to

an alarming cyberattack now in Texas, which is being blamed on hackers linked to Russia.

And this hack in January caused the tangle of Texas water facility to overflow according to cybersecurity experts. The FBI is investigating but

its raising fears that public facilities in the U.S. may not be equipped to deal with similar attacks. Sean Lyngaas is monitoring this story for us

from Washington, Sean.

[09:35:00]

SEAN LYNGAAS, CNN CYBERSECURITY REPORTER: Becky, this is a bit of a startling development because there are all kinds of claims being made

online by hackers about taking down infrastructure. For my experience, a large portion of the time they are false claims.

In this case, they actually backed it up. And what we're learning now several months later is that a hacking group that the Russian military

intelligence agency, the GRU has been linked to support it in the past, the exact nature of that connection isn't entirely clear, but there's strong

evidence they have interacted with these people.

And that's the group that was behind this disruption of the water facility in Texas. We're talking about a town of 5000 people in North Texas. I spoke

to the city manager there and he assured me that there was no threat to the actual drinking water supply.

But they had to work with the FBI. They had to replace their software. And it's a huge wake up call for small towns across America that may not think

that they're the target of something like this. You know, what -- what is the -- the actual intention of the hackers it was a descendent message?

We're not entirely sure. We know obviously, that over the war in Ukraine, there's been long standing tension between the U.S. and Russia and the

Russians have bristled at all the sanctions imposed by the U.S. government. This may be a way of sending a message that they are still capable of

disrupting critical infrastructure in the U.S. with an element of implausible or plausible deniability Becky.

So this is a strong development. And what we've seen in recent months of facilities across the U.S. whether it be water plants, or hospitals, or

others being the target of hacking when they're not necessarily expecting to be in the crosshairs.

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

president of the nation of Georgia -- has vowed to veto a controversial bill approved by lawmakers on Wednesday that sparked these violent protests

between protesters and police.

The law will require organizations that get funding from abroad to register as foreign agents or face fines. It has been criticized by some western

countries and seen by rights groups as an attempt to curtail basic freedoms.

Well, in Myanmar, the jailed Former Leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been moved from prison to house arrest according to the military. A spokesperson said

the measure was taken due to extremely hot weather and the risk of heat stroke. Concerns previously rose about the overall health of the 78-year-

old former leader.

Well, a bill aimed at phasing out smoking in the United Kingdom cleared its first parliamentary hurdle on Tuesday. The bill would make it illegal to

sell cigarettes to anyone born after January 1st, 2009. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says he wants to create the first smoke free generation.

Well, you're watching CNN. I'm Becky Anderson live for you from Abu Dhabi where the time is 05:38 in the afternoon. Still to come TikTok, TikTok can

you hear that Paris clock the start of the Olympic Games in France is exactly 100 days away more on that after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:40:00]

ANDERSON: Well, if you are a fan of Shakira, the wait is over today you can start buying tickets for her first World Tour since 2018. Well, the

Colombian singer will kick things off November 2nd in Palm Desert California with stops across the U.S. and Canada.

The concerts will feature -- future music from our latest album, which was released in March, which is a mix of pop, reggae, and rock. And Shakira

says it describes her journey from vulnerability to resistance.

Well, Paris fought hard to host the Olympic Games and is a city that is proud to show off its brand new venues in 100 days. That's right, the

waiting is almost over. And soon it will be time to greet the athletes, the officials and the tourists. The gold, silver and bronze medals have been

minted, and Paris certainly wants gold as hosts. So what can we expect more from Amanda?

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: It's really interesting actually, Becky. I was -- I've just got off a call to Paris. And some of those people involved

in organizing the games. And actually they're making a real virtue of this being at an eco-friendly game.

They're not building as many brand new venues as we might have seen in the past. There's a huge cleanup operation that's been taking place from the --

from the River Seine, with the triathletes actually getting excited about swimming in a river in the center of a city which wouldn't necessarily be

the case.

But this is a major milestone when it comes for gender equality as a game. It's the first ever Olympic Games where we're going to see the same number

of female athletes as male, which is I mean long overdue, but massively, massively welcome. But there's plenty to look forward to this.

The torch as you know began its journey to Paris yesterday. And this is really where the build-up begins in earnest. We've got plenty more coming

up in "World Sport" in a couple of minutes.

ANDERSON: That is after this short break "Connect the World" at the top of the hour. We'll be back for that. Please stay with us. And Amanda will be

back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:45:00]

(WORLD SPORT)

END