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Gaza Crossing Still Closed Amid Dispute Over Bodies; Kenya Declares Seven Days of Mourning for Raila Odinga; Trump Confirms He Authorized CIA to Operate Inside Venezuela; PM Lecornu Survives No-Confidence Vote Thanks to Socialists; Indian Police Investigate After Baby Girl Found Buried Alive. Aired 9-10a ET

Aired October 16, 2025 - 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)

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: President Trump escalates his fight against drug traffickers, saying CIA agents can now

operate inside Venezuela. It's 09:00 a.m. in Washington. It's 02:00 p.m. here in London. And I'm Christina Macfarlane. This is "Connect the World".

Also coming up, Israel holds a national remembrance for the October 7th attacks as Israelis await the release of more hostage remains. The French

Prime Minister gets to fight another day after surviving a no confidence vote. But what will happen next? Plus, why JPMorgan CEO, Jamie Dimon, is

warming of cockroaches in the U.S. economy.

Let's take a quick look at the stock market, which in New York is about to open about 30 minutes from now. As you can see the DOW, S&P, NASDAQ all

futures up in the green. U.S. stocks rose higher as investors welcome good earnings from chip maker TSMC.

The company is bullish on the outlook and expects robust demand for AI to continue. Now, Hamas says it has handed over all the remains of deceased

Israeli hostages it can get to and that to recover any more bodies from under the rubble in Gaza, it will need special equipment.

The bodies of 9 hostages have been returned so far out of 28 who have died in Gaza. Hamas' latest comments come as Israel commemorates the attacks on

October 7th and the Gaza war. And as frustration in Israel builds, its forces have still not reopened the Rafah border crossing, with the

government threatening further restrictions on the flow of aid and other measures if Hamas does not hand over more bodies.

Well CNN's Jeremy Diamond is joining us live from Tel Aviv. And Jeremy, it was always known that the recovery of these hostage bodies would take some

time, given the conditions on the ground there, and yet, we're seeing Israel here threatening to escalate the situation. How much of all of this

is a threat to the ceasefire?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is, no doubt about. It another indication of the fragility of the ceasefire and of the

different perspectives here. I mean, Hamas has returned 9 of the 28 bodies of deceased hostages that it has been holding.

Thus far, they have released bodies every single day since the release of hostages began on Monday. But from the Israeli perspective, it's simply not

enough, both to the frustration of the families of those deceased hostages, who feel like more bodies should have gotten out by now.

But also from the Israeli government's perspective, with Israeli sources telling us that they believe that Hamas does know the location of

additional hostage bodies that it claims are missing and that it should have released additional bodies by now. But I think what's important to

keep in mind here is the perspective that we heard from two senior U.S. advisors on a call that I joined just yesterday.

They said that in their view, Hamas is not violating the terms of this agreement, that they expected it would take some time to secure the release

of additional remains of these deceased hostages. And that they are satisfied that there have been remains that have been released by Hamas

every single day so far this week.

That being said, they made clear that they will not be fully satisfied until all of those bodies are back in Israel and able to be buried by their

loved ones. We know that there are efforts underway, involving both the Egyptians as well as the Turks, to try and recover more of these bodies

from the rubble.

Specialized teams, it seems, are operating in Gaza to assist with that, but it's clear that some of these bodies are buried beneath the rubble of

buildings that were destroyed in Israeli airstrikes, and that in some cases, there may also be unexploded munitions there as well, rendering that

task dangerous and needing specialized equipment for it.

But from Hamas' perspective, they say that they have now released all of the bodies that they have in their possession. And again, those efforts now

underway in Gaza to try and find, locate and ultimately return the bodies of additional deceased hostages.

MACFARLANE: And while all of this goes on, Jeremy, we know that the humanitarian situation on the ground in Gaza is continuing to be

catastrophic. We know that a flood of aid is what's needed required right now, but that is unlikely. I guess while the Rafah crossing remains closed,

what if anything, are you hearing about negotiations ongoing over that?

[09:05:00]

DIAMOND: Well, we certainly have heard threats from the Israeli government, via you know, Israeli officials, that they would withhold additional

shipments of aid until Hamas returns more bodies. Israeli authorities had made that clear to the United Nations. There's a little bit of uncertainty

about exactly how many trucks of aid have gotten into Gaza these last couple of days.

The Israeli government hasn't been sharing those numbers, as they typically do. We have had Israeli officials indicate to us that the number was going

to be reduced, but no final confirmation on that, especially as it pertains to where things stand today. It does seem that Hamas' decision to release

additional bodies these last two nights may have taken a little bit of pressure out of the situation.

What is clear, ultimately, though, is that there is not enough aid in Gaza right now. And much more aid is going to need to get into Gaza in the

coming days and weeks in order for the humanitarian situation there to be alleviated. We understand that inside of Gaza, hospitals say that they

still have a shortage of medication, that there are not enough medical supplies reaching those hospitals.

We've heard from people in Gaza City as well, describing the dire humanitarian situation where they say there is not enough food, not enough

shelter, not enough basics to be able to survive and try and you know, emit all of this rebuilding, and, of course, all of the rubble that still needs

to be clear, there is a very, very long road ahead for Gaza and for the people of Gaza in particular.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, and we will, of course, continue to follow this. Jeremy Diamond there live for us in Tel Aviv. Thanks, Jeremy. Now turning now to

Kenya, where seven-day period of national mourning is underway for Raila Odinga, who died on Wednesday.

Earlier, thousands of mourners pushed their way into Nairobi's International Airport to try and get a glimpse of Odinga's casket which had

been flown from India to Kenya. Odinga served as prime minister from 2008 to 2013 and is remembered his decades of work as a pro-democracy activist.

Kenyan flags are flying at half-mast in his honor. And Odinga will be given a state funeral with full military honors. CNN's Larry Madowo is following

the story from Nairobi. So, Larry, just talk us through what we can expect in these services ahead to honor Raila Odinga.

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christina, there should have been a public viewing of Raila Odinga's body today. It should have been at parliament

buildings. It was quickly moved to Kasarani. That's the largest stadium the city has capacity of over 60,000.

And hours before the body arrived there, the whole stadium was full, and security services fired in the air to disperse the protesters. I want to

show you some of this video right now. Look, watch this. The understanding is that they were unable to access the stadium.

The motorcade, the procession carrying the body, were blocked from the stadium and that fire in the air. But at the same time, there were reports

of shots fired inside the stadium. There was no single space in there. Every inch of the turf and the stands were completely packed with mourners

waiting to view the body.

So, it should have been ending in this hour, it has not even begun yet. But that is the kind of love that Raila Odinga got from the people here. He has

not been in public office in more than 12 years, but many just called him Baba. That is Swahili for dad, and he was much beloved across the nation,

probably the most consequential politician of the last three decades or so.

He, according to the family, wanted to be buried within 72 hours, and so there's an abbreviated plan where he gets a state funeral on Friday. There

will be another viewing of the body in the Western Kenya City of Kisumu, and the final burial on Sunday. So that's all to try and accommodate as

many people as possible, paying their respects, but also respecting the wishes of the family that he'd be better within 72 hours.

You've heard words of condolences from around the world, people eulogizing him as a tower of African democracy, and that's also covered in the

newspapers in Kenya today. This one just says Enigma bows out, the man, the myth, the legend. Another newspaper says a giant of democracy.

And this the highest circulating daily, just a picture of him and the 80 years that he lived on this earth, Christina.

MACFARLANE: Yeah. And these pictures, Larry, just an indication, as you say, as to the love and the respect people clearly have for him there will

obviously continue to follow this to that state funeral tomorrow. Thanks, Larry. Now the CIA is now operating inside Venezuela.

It's the latest move in an escalating pressure campaign by the U.S. against the South American nation. President Donald Trump says he authorized the

covert CIA action to clamp down on the illegal flow of drugs and migrants. It comes as the Trump Administration continues its lethal strikes against

alleged drug trafficking boats in the region and President Trump suggests those military efforts could expand to land.

[09:10:00]

Venezuela has condemned Mr. Trump's statements calling them warmongering.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICOLAS MADURO, VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT: Tell the American people, no to war. We do not want a war in the Caribbean or in South America. No, not war,

just peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Well CNN's Alayna Treene is at the White House with the very latest for us. And Alayna, it's interesting in announcing this, the

president seemed to stop short of saying that CIA agents would have the authority to remove President Nicolas Maduro from office. So, what else

have you been hearing about this covert operation?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, I will say, despite the president stopping short of saying that publicly, I know at least

privately, Christina, from my conversations with people throughout the Trump Administration, that is what the president desires.

He wants to see Nicolas Maduro, the authoritarian leader, of course, of Venezuela, out of power. And it shouldn't come as a huge surprise. This is

the type of rhetoric we have heard from President Donald Trump for months now. Even before he was actually sworn into office for his second term.

He had Maduro as a target that he wanted to see removed from power. But to get more into what he's allowing now and what he authorized, it was secret,

I should argue, at least until yesterday, when he said it publicly to reporters, but the Trump Administration had secretly authorized the CIA to

carry out some of these covert missions off the coast of Venezuela.

And essentially this comes, of course, as we know that for weeks now, the United States has been targeting and issuing strikes on boats traveling off

the coast of the country. The Trump Administration has argued it's due to their effort to try and crack down on drugs being smuggled into United

States, as well as the flow of illegal migrants.

But of course, again, a lot another part of this is that they want to try and see if they can weaken and destabilize Maduro's power. Now, what the

president actually said yesterday was that he had authorized some of these lethal targeting, these different strikes for the CIA to try and carry out.

He said he's looking at trying to target some of it on land next. But as you mentioned, he did not go as far as saying that he believes the CIA also

has the authority to remove Maduro. Listen to how he put it, Christina.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I authorized people for two reasons really, number one, they have emptied their prisons

into the United States of America. We have a lot of drugs coming in from Venezuela, and a lot of the Venezuelan drugs come in through the sea.

So, you get to see that, but we're going to stop them by land also. I think Venezuela is feeling heat, but I think a lot of other countries are feeling

heat too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: So, as you can see, there a real escalation of his pressure campaign on Maduro and Venezuela overall. But look, I think a huge

question, of course, moving forward is we are now hearing a lot of people criticize, and not just Democrats, Republicans as well, whether what the

president is ordering is legal, specifically, if he begins having some of these strikes actually be carried out on land, as he is vowing to do.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, and it's worth noting, I think, Alayna, that 27 people, I think, have been killed by these strikes on so called drug vessels. But the

White House have yet to provide any evidence, any intelligence, that they were, in fact, drug traffickers, and that certainly isn't being shared with

Congress, and definitely not while the government is in shutdown.

TREENE: No, exactly right, and that's what the big concern is, because, you know, I was reading from one of the Democratic Senators who has been

commenting on this, and they were saying that, essentially, this idea that the United States is essentially going to war, potentially, with some of

these cartels without having them identify exactly who they are, is not constitutional.

And they're arguing that they should be, at a minimum, getting briefings on these and even more so, many of them believe that they should have the

power to vote on these strikes. We actually heard from one very conservative Republican lawmaker Warren Davidson.

He was on CNN earlier today, saying that if some of these lethal strikes are carried out on land and have specific targets that are tied to the

Venezuelan regime, the Maduro regime that and then Congress really should have a vote on some of this. And so, this could potentially become a major

issue and a major kind of sticking point that we're going to see between both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue.

But we'll have to see how the president moves forward with this and if he actually follows through on that threat. But you're totally right. It's

very notable that they've carried out so many of these strikes. They actually had their fifth one, or at least as far as we know, the fifth

strike on a boat off the Venezuelan Coast yesterday, again, no full details though, of who these people are or who these alleged cartels are that they

are targeting.

MACFARLANE: All right, for now, Alayna, appreciate the analysis. Thank you. All right.

[09:15:00]

Coming up next walking a tightrope last week, he quit then back, he was back by the weekend. Today, the French Prime Minister faced a new bid to

topple him. We'll have all the latest from Paris after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACFARLANE: Welcome back. Now France's political crisis has eased, at least for now. Recently reappointed Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu leaves to

see another day in office after the Socialist Party chose not to back today's no confidence vote. Lecornu had given into one of the socialist key

demands that were suspending President Emmanuel Macron's plan to raise the pension age.

The relief could be short lived, though. It comes amid fierce opposition to government efforts to rein in public debt, as well as calls for Mr. Macron

himself to resign. Unpack all these developments. Let's bring in CNN's Melissa Bell is live from Paris. So, Melissa, tell me what the latest is

your hearing and how long we can expect this calm to last?

MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: Possibly not very long. In fact, several of the lawmakers who came out of those confidence votes this

morning described this government as having had a sort of reprieve, because bear in mind that the next big date will be when Sebastien Lecornu tries to

get his budget voted through.

We can expect, no doubt, more no confidence votes then, but it was really by the narrowest of margins that he survived today. It wasn't so much the

no confidence vote tabled by the far right that didn't do terribly well, but the one tabled by the far left got within 18 votes of seeing this

government collapse.

That's how fragile this Lecornu government is. Still, what he appears to have managed to have done is to have found within the center of French

politics some kind of consensus which did involve concessions. You were quite right to point out, Christina, to the socialists specifically on the

suspension of pension reform, on the promise also not to use the constitutional tool that had been used, often by several governments under

President Macron.

Namely, also on getting that pension reform through which allowed them to RAM legislation through, whether or not they had the backing of parliament.

This said Lecornu is a device that this government, his government, will not have resort to. So, all of that appears to have brought him some kind

of consensus in the middle, and certainly some time to push this budget through. The difficulty for him, as it has been for his predecessors, is

that you have this very divided parliament with very strong blocks on the extreme right and extreme left.

Populists at both ends who are deeply opposed to any kind of cuts to France's welfare system. And yet, given the size of its budget and the

growing expense of servicing it, there really is no choice but to announce cuts. What Lecornu has done for 2026 in this budget that will be voted on

soon.

[09:20:00]

That he announced on Tuesday, is look for about 30 million euros worth of cuts or savings compared to the 44 billion, 30 billion, I'm sorry, compared

to 44 billion that had been announced by his predecessor, and that cost him his place. So, a slightly smaller reduction, but a reduction in France's

budget, nonetheless, a necessary reduction.

And the main task now keeping that moderate, centrist consensus in parliament whole enough that he can withstand what will likely be more

confidence votes from the extremes and votes against his budget. If he falls, of course, Christina, this continues to be what hangs over his

government.

There would be another dissolution of parliament, there would be another snap parliamentary election. There would be suggest the polls greater gains

for the far right and the far left, possibly, and that means that this moderate center that I talk about both for traditional right, the

traditional left, but also the centrist sort of Macron followers.

All of them have helped, have had their minds sharpened, brought into focus as well when it comes to backing this government by the fear that they may

lose more seats, should there be another election. So, for now, he holds the question is, for how long, Christina?

MACFARLANE: Yeah, it's an incredible balancing act at play right now, isn't it? Fun for us to watch from the outside. Perhaps not fun for those in

France right now. Melissa, appreciate it. Thank you. Now let's get you up to speed on some of the stories that are on our radar right now.

Afghanistan and Pakistan have agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire. Air strikes and ground fighting over the past week have left more than a dozen

civilians dead. Experts say the recent escalation between the neighbors and former allies could signal a new era of instability.

Hundreds of people are being airlifted from Alaska's storm hit coastal village in one of the most significant operations in the state's history.

So far, around 300 evacuees have been brought to Anchorage as shelter spaces closer to the impacted villages reaches capacity.

At least one person has been killed and 1500 displaced from extreme weather in Alaska's remote southwest. And more than 10 hours of debate, Uruguay's

Senate has approved a bill legalizing euthanasia in the South American country. That's according to the country's news Agencia EFE.

The dignified death legislation allows assisted suicide for mentally competent adults who are in the terminal stage of an incurable disease that

causes them suffering. Now police investigation is underway in India after a baby girl was found buried alive in a village in the northern part of the

country.

One of the possible motives under investigation she was left to die because of her gender, making her another victim in a nation grappling with a deep-

seated preference for sons. CNN's Hanako Montgomery reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Her hand was the first thing farmer Shyam Babu saw poking through the dirt. A baby girl, around 15

days old, was buried alive here. CNN has chosen not to show the mobile phone footage taken by locals the moment she was pulled from the ground.

But this is the scene in North India's Shahjahanpur district of locals gathering to help. It's a girl, they shout after hearing her soft cries.

They gently remove the soil and hand her to a policeman, who places her in a female villager's arms before she's rushed to hospital.

SHYAM BABU, MAN WHO FOUND PARI: When I saw the scarf a child's hand sticking out of the dirt caught my eye. I went closer and saw its fingers

were moving, and could sense a heartbeat her head, some of which was visible, was also moving. I was terrified, and thinking about how someone

could bury a child alive, I felt very sad and began to cry.

MONTGOMERY (voice-over): Babu says he ran for help, afraid he'd be falsely implicated if he touched the child himself. Police are investigating

multiple theories for the motive, like her parents mistaking her for dead, or far grimmer theories, rejecting her for syndactyly, a birth defect where

two or more fingers or toes are joined together.

There's another theory too, that they didn't want a baby girl, a reality of female infanticide in India and a deep-rooted social preference for boys.

As a search began for her parents, doctors treating her found she had a severe infection, respiratory distress, injuries and sepsis, but they were

hopeful about her recovery, even giving her a name, Pari or angel in Hindi.

But just a day after CNN's team left, Pari died. India has one of the worst gender imbalances in the world. In rural communities like Shahjahanpur,

daughters are often seen as a burden. A 1994 law looked to curb female infanticides and sex selective abortions by banning the disclosure of a

baby's sex during ultrasounds.

SAPNA SINGH, SHAHJAHANPUR RESIDENT: Earlier, people would openly say they want boys now they don't. They don't share anything with others. They do

whatever they need to do within their four walls.

[09:25:00]

They will just buy the medicines after getting to know if it is a boy or a girl, whether the woman lives or not, it doesn't matter to the family.

MONTGOMERY (voice-over): Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged to address this issue with his campaign, save the girl child, educate the girl

child. It's a central focus of his government. But Sarita Singh, one of the nurses caring for Pari, is skeptical over the change it could bring.

SARITA SINGH, NEONATAL NURSE, SHAHJAHANPUR MEDICAL COLLEGE: No one is following it. It's just a catch phrase. Humanity has been killed by burying

this child in the ground.

MONTGOMERY (voice-over): For Shyam Babu, the farmer who found Pari, the discovery still haunts him. He has two daughters of his own, and he and his

family even considered raising Pari themselves.

BABU: My wife was very worried. She kept saying, I should bring the baby home so we can look after her that there would be no problem. I would work

harder and raise her. We would not cause any sorrow to our children.

MONTGOMERY (voice-over): After the news of Pari's death, CNN spoke to Babu again.

BABU: I took her out of the dirt but now she has returned to the soil. What do I do now? I was hoping to meet her.

MONTGOMERY (voice-over): Pari won't be the last baby girl in India whose life ended far too soon, pulled from the Earth only to return an angel

before her life could begin. Hanako Montgomery, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: And we'll be right back after this quick break, stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACFARLANE: Welcome back. I'm Christina Macfarlane in London, and you are watching "Connect the World". A critical aid route into Gaza remains closed

amid a dispute over the deceased hostages from Israel. Hamas says it has handed over the bodies of all the captives it can access, and that special

equipment will be needed to reach the rest.

Nine of the 28 deceased hostages have been returned to Israel. So far, President Trump confirms he has authorized covert CIA operations inside

Venezuela to fight the flow of drugs and migrants to the U.S. He also says he's considering expanding strikes on suspected drug boats to include

military operations by land.

The U.S. has hit at least five boats off the coast of Venezuela in recent weeks. And another twist in France's political crisis, recently appointed

prime minister Sebastien Lecornu has survived today's no confidence vote less than a week after returning to office.

To stay in power, though, Lecornu agreed to suspend President Macron's controversial pension reform. And in New York, the top three candidates

vying to become the city's next mayor will face off on the debate stage in the coming hours. Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, independent candidate

Andrew Cuomo and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa are expected to take part in the high stake's general election debate.

[09:30:00]

And bringing off the opening bell today, in honor of the National Breast Cancer Awareness month, the CEO of Breast Cancer Organization, Susan G.

Komen. And the U.S. markets have just opened. Let's have a good check of where the arrows are pointing. Everything pointing up across the board,

though in the green -- Wall Street.

This as Wall Street CEO Jamie Dimon is warning of cockroaches in the U.S. economy. On a call this week with analysts the JPMorgan Chase boss

cautioned that trouble could again be lurking beneath the red-hot markets. The comments come after risky loans fueled the collapse of subprime auto

lender and dealer tri collar holdings.

Then weeks later, auto parts supplier first brands declared bankruptcy, in a situation that shares similarities to the demise of Lehman Brothers

during the great recession so. CNN's Matt Egan is joining us now to tell me, Matt exactly what Dimon means when he uses the phrase cockroaches in

the economy.

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yeah, Christina, well, don't worry, Jamie Dimon is not making a late career change into pest control, but he is

making another colorful analogy about some potential trouble brewing in the U.S. economy and in financial markets.

So, Dimon made the comments while speaking to Wall Street analysts this week who were quizzing him about those bankruptcies that you just

referenced, and the risk that those are not one offs, and that there could be wider spread trouble to come. Take a listen to how Dimon explained it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMIE DIMON, CEO OF JPMORGAN CHASE: My antenna goes up when things like that happen. And I probably shouldn't say this, but when you see one

cockroach, there are probably more. You know, and so, we should -- everyone should be forewarned on this one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EGAN: Now, when Dimon preface is saying anything with I probably shouldn't say this, you know, his spokespeople must be cringing, and journalists

everywhere start taking notes. But look, Dimon is the most powerful banker in America and arguably in the world, and he's no stranger to financial

trouble, so when people -- when he speaks, people do listen.

And so, the first real issue that got people's attention was last month with that bankruptcy of tricolor, a sub-prime auto lender that was making a

lot of risky loans. And this demise was caused, allegedly, according to one of the lawyers in bankruptcy court by, quote, pervasive fraud of

extraordinary proportion.

And it really does underscore how millions of Americans are hurting right now. Right hiring is low. The cost of living is high. It's never been more

expensive to buy a car, and some people are falling behind on their loans. And JPMorgan itself took a loss of about $170 million on this bankruptcy.

And then just a few weeks later, there was that second bankruptcy, right? That's the auto supplier known as first brands based in Ohio. It was built

on this complex web of financial instruments and hidden loans off balance sheet borrowing one creditor claim that as much as $2.3 billion simply

vanished in this bankruptcy, and the Justice Department is reportedly investigating here.

And look, history does show that sometimes trouble on Main Street can start in some of the corners on Wall Street. Look what happened in 2007 there

were a pair of Bear Stearns hedge funds that went bankrupt. A lot of people kind of shrugged it off at the time, but in hindsight, that was the first

of many shoes that would drop in what would ultimately become the great recession.

Now no one is saying that's going to happen here. It's entirely possible that these are just one offs company specific issues that are not more

widespread. We may completely forget the names of these bankruptcies a year from now, but at a minimum, it does seem like these incidents are a wakeup

call for Wall Street, and it certainly got the attention of Jamie Dimon, Christina.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, certainly did. Well, I hope you are right, Matt and that these are just one offs. Let's keep our fingers crossed. Matt Egan, thank

you.

EGAN: Thanks.

MACFARLANE: Now, the mismanagement of sexual abuse allegations involving catholic clergy is causing ongoing harm to victims, according to a new

report survivors of abuse recount denial and dismissal from church officials. Calls have come for greater transparency from the Vatican and

the report calls out parts of Italy and Africa for failing to enforce anti abuse measures.

This is the first report since the election of Pope Leo, and lays out the size of the challenge that faces him. Christopher Lamb is across this

report and joins us now.

[09:35:00]

So, Chris, Pope Leo's Predecessor, Pope Francis took important steps towards tackling the abuse scandal, but some have said he should have gone

further. What does Pope Leo need to do here to properly handle the crisis? How is he responding to it?

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Well, Christina, broadly speaking, there are two big challenges that Pope Leo has to face, according

to this report. The first is to better respond to the needs of victims and survivors, to listen to them, to offer support, not just financial

settlements, but to really accompany them and to help them.

That's the first thing that this report says. The second is that it calls for greater accountability of church leaders and bishops, which the report

says has been lacking. And so, these two things really, that Pope Leo has to address, come through loud and clear from this new report, which is

actually from the Vatican's own Child Protection Commission.

It is a very hard-hitting report, and it calls out problems in different parts of the church. And it shows, really, that Pope Leo has to try and get

the Catholic Church moving in the same direction on this crisis, which really is, according to commentators and historians, really is the gravest

crisis to face the Catholic Church in centuries, and it is really high on Pope Leo's entry, as he continues in the first months of his pontificate.

MACFARLANE: And as we were just mentioning Chris, it also calls out particular regions, such as Africa, where the practices for dealing with

abuse do not seem to be working. What more needs to be done in that region?

LAMB: Well, that is a striking element of this report, that it says that in parts of Africa, there really aren't proper procedures to deal with

complaints of abuse, that there is a cultural taboo dealing with the abuse crisis. I think one of the major things that has highlighted is need for

infrastructure and funding.

So that the churches in Africa, often in very poor parts of the world or war-torn parts of the continent, need to have an infrastructure and a

proper way of dealing with abuse, and there is a kind of an operation to help them with that. There is funding available. The report also calls out

Italy, the Italian Catholic Church, which, of course, is on Pope Leo's doorstep.

And it shows that in some parts Italian Church, you know, the bishops were just really not cooperating with the Vatican's own anti abuse body. So,

some big challenges for Pope Leo to face.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, certainly problematic. Christopher Lamb there. Appreciate it. Thank you. Now coming up the world's best sumo wrestlers become social

media sensations as they take in the sights and sounds of London.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:40:00]

MACFARLANE: The world of pro sumo wrestling is stepping outside of Japan for only the second time in its centuries-long history. London's Royal

Albert Hall is the site of the grand sumo tournament, but it's what they've been doing outside the venue that's been catching people's eyes.

Amanda Davies is here to explain more. And Amanda, I've been keeping my eyes peeled for a sumo wrestler this week, but I haven't seen one yet.

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: No, I fear, Christi, you and I have missed them because the action started. The competition is well underway at the

Royal Albert Hall. But this is one of my favorite stories, the pictures that we saw emerging from the last 24, 48 hours of the sumo wrestlers.

There's about 40 of them who are here taking part in these competitions. They have been on lime bites. They've been playing tourists in London.

They've been at Buckingham Palace. They've been to Abbey Road Studios recreating the iconic photos. They've been to the Harry Potter platform

nine and three quarters at King's Cross Station.

And of course, I'm not sure the hot dogs are really that. I mean, I think it should probably be fish and chips, shouldn't it? They are allowed it

10,000 calories a day is apparently their normal consumption. But yeah, they've become absolute social media stars. People really getting the

points and the kudos for the sighting of the sumo wrestlers around London. It's been brilliant to see.

MACFARLANE: Yeah, that image on the line bikes. I think will stay with me. I love that in particular. More on this with Amanda, and we definitely want

more of it after this quick break with "World Sport". Stay with us.

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