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International Outrage Rises After Latest Massacre In Syria; 19 Arrested In Italian Football Match Fixing Investigation

Aired May 28, 2012 - 16:00   ET

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

BECKY ANDERSON, HOST: Tonight on Connect the World the aftermath of a massacre beyond comprehension. Row after row, more than 100 bodies are buried in Syria. Many innocent children no more than 10 years old.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN London, this is connect the world with Becky Anderson.

ANDERSON: Tonight, the UN special envoy is in Damascus vowing to get to the bottom of what happened in Houla. Half of his peace plan in tatters, what options are left to end this bloodshed in Syria for good.

Also this hour, their both under pressure as his butler is charged with setting off a scandal shaking the Vatican to its core.

And getting suited and suited, the British marathon man who is taking on a new challenge for queen and for country.

First up tonight, it's a symbol of Syria's carnage: 108 children, women, and men massacred, some are shot at pointblank range. The world demanding accountability for the slaughter of these civilians in Syria. Special envoy Kofi Annan says he is, and I quote, "shocked and horrified" by Friday's massacre in Houla, a town unknown to the world outside until now.

He began a visit to Syria today. By meeting with the foreign minister, Annan tries to salvage his peace plan that was violated from day one. He called the Houla massacre an appalling crime.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KOFI ANNAN, UN SPECIAL ENVOY TO SYRIA: The Security Council has requested the United Nations to continue to investigate the attacks in Houla. Those responsible of these brutal crimes must be held to account. I understand the government has initiated an investigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Right. We're going to get a rare report from the ground inside Syria in a moment. And then we'll take a look at what we believe the options might be for this country going forward. First, though, a closer look at the massacre that has outraged the world. Nearly half of those killed in Houla were children.

I warn you, about to show you some images of those young victims. The injuries are disturbing and not appropriate for all viewers, but given the nature of the attack and the number of dead civilians we believe that showing a few of these images is appropriate and necessary to convey the extent of this crime against humanity. Let's start with Mohammed Jamjoom who has our report this evening.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In Houla, more burials. More than a 100 dead. So many, so many in one day. And such grief and such rage.

49 of the victims posed no threat to anybody, least of all the regime in Damascus. They were children not yet 10-years-old.

"By god, I washed the dead bodies of little children, one was less than 9 months old. Why are they treating us like animals. We are human. Did the infant carry an RPG? Was he a fighter? He was a baby. He had a pacifier in his mouth. What was his guilt? Why was he killed?"

Opposition activists accuse the Syrian government and its thuggish militias of carrying out this massacre. The Syrian government blame terrorists for the killings and called the allegations against them a tsunami of lies.

JIHAD MAKDISSI, SYRIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN (through translator): We absolutely deny that the government armed forces had any responsibility in committing such massacre. And we strongly condemn the terrorist massacre.

JAMJOOM: The United Kingdom's foreign minister said the world had heard that line from Syria and its backers before.

WILLIAM HAGUE, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: That is a familiar tactic of the Assad regime to blame others for what is happening in the country to try to get out of responsibility for the scale of death and destruction.

JAMJOOM: In Houla, more amateur video attesting to that death and destruction. Here, the bodies of more than a score of women and children stuffed into a small room.

And these pictures are the ones we warned you about, pictures agonizing to watch, children's bodies mangled and bloodied, some with skulls torn open.

UN observers arriving on Saturday to begin their investigation found a mass grave. With no power to stop the violence, they issued yet another call for calm and reason.

MARTIN GRIFFITH, DEPUTY HEAD OF U.N. MISSION, SYRIA: The first thing to do is to stop the fighting, stop the violence, so that we can then get on to helping the wounded and of course the bodies of those who lost their lives.

JAMJOOM: The United Nations Security Council rushed into a special, but brief meeting.

The deputy ambassador from Russia, which can veto any Security Council resolution dashed any hope for quick action.

ALEXANDER PANKIN, RUSSIAN DEPUTY U.N. AMBASSADOR: It's difficult to imagine that the Syrian government would not only shell and mortar, but also use point blank execution against 40 plus women, 30 plus children under age 10.

JAMJOOM: And as outrage continues to mount around the world, the finger pointing goes on in a massacre hard to comprehend for its callous brutality. The young continue to pay the price for a cease-fire written on paper only.

Mohammed Jamjoom, CNN, Beirut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: As you may be well aware, the regime restricts access for foreign journalists to report from the country. Channel 4 news's Alex Thomson, though, has managed to enter Houla over the weekend. He joins us now on the line. Just out of that part of that country and towards Homs I believe, Alex, tonight.

Though you witnessed the aftermath of what Annan called this appalling crime. How would you describe the scene?

ALEX THOMSON, CHANNEL 4 REPORTER: I'd describe it like this, I describe walking into a building which had clearly been broken and trashed and set on fire and finding a small body and pulling back the blanket over that -- discovering that body to find an old man way beyond fighting age with a gunshot wound to the head. I'm not a pathologist, but I'd say that's what killed him.

I describe putting that blanket back and giving that man whatever dignity one could, walking three paces further into the next room and finding another blanket covering a body, pulling back that blanket and finding the body of a small girl I should say around five or six-years-old with a large gunshot wound in her chest. That's what it's like.

Now that was a very small part and that was in the Syrian army controlled sector of the city. That's but a very small part of what went on here.

So I would suggest to you that actually the death toll from people killed would be well in advance of 100, because I came across those two bodies -- those two bodies have not been found by the United Nations and there are no civilians in that part of town. I suggest the numbers will go higher.

ANDERSON: We're looking at pictures as you speak to us. We've had some here over the past couple of days. And indeed very, very few civilians on the streets.

For those that you did talk to, what are they saying, Alex?

THOMSON: Well, here's the point, Becky. I didn't speak to civilians in the sector that we got into, which is controlled by the Syrian army. So ask yourself this, why are there no Syrian civilians in an area which you control and presumably protected by their own government's army, their own government's forces and yet there are civilians in the other part of the city which is controlled by the rebel forces.

Clearly people, ordinary civilians, feel able to stay in the areas which are controlled by the rebel militias, the rebel army, and don't feel able to remain in the areas controlled by their own soldiers. You have to ask a simple question why? Both sides are blaming the other for this massacre, but I suggest to you tonight very strongly that what I saw with my own eyes is that the civilians, the Syrian people, have voted with their own feet. They fled areas where there are only government forces are. They stay in area where the rebel forces are. You have to say why? Who are they connecting to this massacre? I think the answer is obvious. They suggest that these civilians, these Shahiba, thugs, they are known by all sides, were connected and were supported by President Assad's regime in Damascus.

ANDERSON: Alex Thompson, on the ground, in Syria for you this evening. Alex, thank you for that.

Well, Russia, one of Syria's only remaining allies, was on board with this weekend's UN Security Council resolution that condemned this Houla massacre. But Russia insists both the Syrian government and rebels are to blame. Foreign minister Sergey Lavrov spoke to reports after meeting with his British counterpart in Moscow. He said the world needs to focus on bringing peace to Syria not overthrowing the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): International players should play the same game. We should all take efforts to implement the Kofi Annan plan, not try to change the regime. We have to choose our priority. What is our priority? To achieving our geopolitical objectives or saving people's life? That's the bottom line.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: The foreign minister there out of Russia. Well the Syrian rebels say the Houla massacre is clear evidence that Kofi Annan's plan is dead, his peace plan is dead. Our next guest has argued that Annan is the right negotiator for the Syrian crisis, but he needs more time.

Lord Owen -- David Owen has plenty of experience with war and peace. The former UK foreign secretary also served as the EU's peace negotiator in the former Yugoslavia. You heard Alex Thomson's assessment of the situation civilians voting with their feet. They don't feel safe. They're getting out of the way.

And the pictures that we saw out of Mohammed Jamjoom's report I thought were important. We saw not just pictures that we hope we never see again, but pictures of men in blue suits. These are UN observers who simply are out of -- they have no chance there.

DAVID OWEN, FRM. UK FOREIGN SECRETARY: I mean, not an intervention force, all they are is observers. But one very important thing, because they were there, because we were able to hear that very careful wording of the general, making absolutely clear the Norwegian general, that he believed that the Syrian government was behind this. Now if he hadn't been there, there'd be no objective force, there'd be the usual argument who is responsible. So as long as we can keep those observers there we should.

But I agree with you that Kofi's initiative, through no fault of his own, is running into very serious trouble. And you can only really be rescued by the Russians who wanted it. And so the key issue now is how much is Russia prepared to salvage the diplomacy which they themselves wanted. I hope they will.

ANDERSON: What do you think the answer to that is? Because what we heard from Lavrov is the same thing I have heard before. There is nothing new in what the Russians said today despite the scenes that we have witnessed out of Houla over the weekend.

OWEN: Well, the Russians have to convince -- I go through their intelligence people who are there on the ground with their Syrian counterparts that there has to be a transition administration and there has to be a complete withdrawal of all the Assad family. That doesn't mean that the transition administration would not be composed of some of the people who are already in power, it would have to have people from both sides.

But they have to realize that the Assads have to go. And it can only come from the Syrians.

ANDERSON: But David, that is not what they've signed up for when they agreed to the Kofi Annan peace plan. Of course that was one thing that wasn't part of that plan.

Let me push you on here, because back in April you warned in an article that in times like this wars can't be unwound overnight. But you also said it's a security, and I quote you on this, if the security situation deteriorates again should no-fly zones or outside military intervention be contemplated. Should they?

OWEN: I never think you should rule it out. The worst thing for a diplomat with very little power is to be told there will be no intervention, which is what we were told in Bosnia. And it totally destroyed our effectiveness. So I want to keep that open. I think there would be a very good merit in Turkey taking the lead in NATO. In the NATO- Russian counsel starting to have talks about how they would intervene. And don't envisage this as a purely NATO operation. Ask the Russians to be involved.

ANDERSON: All right. Let's have a listen to some sound from the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the States talking to CNN earlier this morning about the possibility at least of military intervention. This is what he said. I want you to ask you to listen to what the essence is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. MARTIN DEMPSEY, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: My job is to provide the commander in chief with options. And I think the military option should be considered. And I think that -- but my preference, of course, always as a -- as the senior military leader would be that the international community could find ways of increasing the pressure on Assad to do the right thing and step aside.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: The SNC speaking to us just before this show. Certainly looking now to encourage intervention. There are a number of issues to support that. This is what they said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AUSAMA MONAJED, SYRIAN NATIONAL COUNCIL MEMBER: From having a surgical air strikes or having a -- creating a Benghazi situation that would expand later, adding more and more territory under the control of the opposition. And then you have a caution no-fly zone, maybe a complete no- fly zone and then intervention by sending troops on the ground in order to defend the civilian areas.

So there are different scenarios. And even the defense ministry around the world have developed different scenarios for that. We're just waiting for a political will and political decision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: It's clear that there is an appeal from the Syrian National Council there for military intervention. It's clear that Dempsey has said that at least in principle they are planning for military intervention, that being in the states. You've said there shouldn't be any without the Russians. Is it conceivable the Russians would ever get involved? And if not, can we leave them out?

OWEN: I didn't say that. I said you should offer the Russians to be involved. The Russians decide not to be involved that's their affair. But I think there's a strong air of fear that all these things are always done by the western democracies. And I think that Russian doesn't exclude itself from that. Remember, Russia played a very important part in Bosnia at one stage. I'd like to get back into that type of working together.

But I agree that there are things you can do from the air, but it's a very difficult country to do it from the air. This is not like Bosnia, this is not like Kosovo, it's the use of heavy weapons by the Syrian government that is so offensive. And even the threat of using cruise missiles or the threat of using air power against them if they go out to open territory might be a powerful force on them.

It's very difficult to do it in a wholesale way, though, very difficult.

ANDERSON: We'll leave it there. We thank you very much indeed for your analysis. Lord Owen with you here on CNN.

Still to come, a scandal which is being brewed for months now shaking the very heart of the Catholic church. The pope's butler is embroiled in a scandal and another case of giving the Vatican an even bigger headache. All the details coming up here on CNN.

And we take a look back in time when on a royal visit to Kenya, this young lady suddenly became queen. All that and much more when Connect the World returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Welcome back. You're watching CNN. This is Connect the World. I'm Becky Anderson.

Now the Vatican is reeling as two new scandals rock the Catholic Church. The pope's butler has been formally charged with theft for allegedly stealing private papers. Today, the pope spokesman denied that a cardinal or a woman are being investigated alongside Paolo Gabriele. A separate incident in the case of an Italian girl missing for nearly 30 years. It's putting further pressure on the Vatican. The brother of Manuela Orlandi is urging the Vatican to investigate her case.

Well, several hundred demonstrators marched in St. Peters Square on Sunday. A priest who used to run a church in Rome is under investigation for alleged involvement in her abduction. We'll have more on both these stories plus reaction from our senior Vatican analyst coming up in around 15 minutes time.

A look now at some of the other stories that are connecting our world tonight

And 13 children are among 19 people killed in a fire in a shopping mall in Qatar's capital Doha. The children were in a nursery on a top floor. Four female teachers were also killed as well as the two civil defense workers. At least 17 more people were injured. The Qatari government has said an investigation is now underway.

Egyptians will be going back to the polls next month in a run-off vote to choose the country's first freely elected president. No one candidate won an outright majority in last week's election. Mohammed Morsi on almost a quarter of the vote with Ahmed Shafik a close second. The run-off leaves the people of Egypt with a choice between the Muslim Brotherhood and the former prime minister under the Mubarak regime.

I'm joined now by CNN's Ben Wedeman who is in Cairo -- Ben.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDNET: Yes, Becky.

Well, we already know there are several thousand people in Tahrir Square to protest against this rather stark choice the Egyptians are going to face when they go to the second round of voting on the 16th and 17 of June. Many people complaining that it really is no choice at all. Many of those who are in Tahrir Square are supporters of the man who came in third with 20 percent of the vote and that's Hamdi Sabahi. And who was -- who is a sort of socialist Nasserite candidate. And he was very popular in Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt's two megacities. And so we are seeing both here and in Alexandria large demonstrations condemning this choice. And many people feel that there may have been some small duggery in the voting process as well -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Ben Wedeman out of Cairo for you this evening.

Well, Spain's prime minister says he won't seek an international bailout for the country's struggling banking sector, but his decision to bailout Bankia for $24 billion has sent the country borrowing costs soaring. Bankia shares also tumbling, closing down more than 13 percent.

And in other European markets, Spain's IBEX was the worst performer. Falling banking shares dragging it down by more than 2 percent to a new nine year low.

Former British prime minister Tony Blair was in the job today giving evidence that the Leveson inquiry into press ethics probe was set up. The room was responds to phone hacking allegations at Rupert Murdoch's News of the World newspaper.

Blair denied cozying up to the media mogul and said his government never changed policy to please the Murdoch press.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, FRM. BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I don't know a policy that we changed as a result of Rupert Murdoch. By that, am I saying he's an all-powerful figure in the media. Well, no, of course he is. And of course we're aware of what his views are. And that's why I say part of my job is to manage this situation so that you didn't get into a situation where you were shifting policy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, his testimony was interrupted by a protester who broke in and accused the former prime minister of being a war criminal.

We'll take a very short break. When we come back, the European football championship begins in just two weeks, but the focus in Italy is on a match fixing scandal with serious implications across the nation. That coming up after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: You're watching Connect the World live from London. Welcome back. Becky Anderson for you.

Authorities in Italy have arrested 19 people in connection with what is an ongoing football match fixing investigation. Now police forces storm the residences of various players, coaches, and officials early on Monday as part of what is a nationwide operation.

I want to get Patrick Snell from CNN Center on this. Patrick, what do we know at this point?

PATRICK SNELL, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Becky.

Yes, plenty of details still coming in this Monday, but one of the key names from Monday's developments so far has been speaking out. He's been hitting out. He's the Juve head coach Antonio Conte who just won the Serie A title with the old lady of Turin earlier this month. Now he was questioned earlier this day. Police looking to try and find out more information about several matches took place last season when he was at Siena in Serie B.

This reaction from Conte himself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONIO CONTE, JUVENTUS COACH (through translator): Today I received notice I am being investigated for criminal association. They searched my house and I wasn't even there. I read the notice and the few words that were written, but my question is why wasn't I called by the prosecutors before the search and before becoming a suspect?

I read this notice and these few words and I would have expected to at least have been heard before certain actions were taken.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNELL: Well, emotional Conte went on to say "my football history as a player and a coach speaks volumes. You can ask my teammates, my players, and my opponents. Last year with Siena, we won promotion through sacrifice and effort. It was an amazing year. And I repeat I and my players have nothing to do with these facts."

Plenty of other developments Becky to bring you up to date with namely the Lazio captain, Stefano Mauri. He is without question probably the highest profile player. He was taken into custody on Monday. He's the 32- year-old, an attacking midfielder kind of player if you like. He's been with the Rome club since 2006, the year of the German World Cup.

Officers also raiding the Italian national team training center, this to question Domenico Criscito. They searched the room of the former Genoa defender looking for evidence that might or might not connect him to the match fixing scandal. He was excluded as a result immediately it seems from the Italian Euro 2012 squad as a result of this investigation.

Becky, there's no doubt this is the last thing Italy needs with -- Italian football needs with its checkered past. And of course bearing in mind that you're going into these European football championships in less than two weeks from right now. As I say it's a huge bombshell for the Italian to get its head around. And you know what it's like over there, it's a nation that lives and breaths the beautiful game. And this is a talking point that's going to be there for weeks to come I would imagine, Becky.

ANDERSON: Yeah, yeah. All right. Football and I being. Fast cars also coming up in World Sport in just about an hours time. One on one with the winner of the Indy 500. Looking forward to that. World Sport an hour from now. Patrick, thank you.

Still to come on Connect the World. He's not crazy, he says, he says he's patriotic. Find out why one man will spend all this week running a marathon -- sort of running -- in a divers suit.

Missing for nearly 30 years, the case of this Italian woman is rocking the Vatican at a time when scandal, it seems, is never far away.

And we've got our eye on Poland as the country gears up to co-host Euro 2012 as Patrick said starting the end of next week. We find out how the country plans to deal with tens of thousands of football fans. That all coming up after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: A very warm welcome to our viewers across Europe and around the world. I'm Becky Anderson, these are the latest world news headlines from CNN.

Special Envoy Kofi Annan says those responsible for an horrific massacre in Syria must be held accountable. He met with the country's foreign minister today in Damascus. Activists say government forces killed 108 people in Houla, nearly half of them children.

Nineteen people, including thirteen kids, have been killed in a fire in a shopping mall in the Qatari capital of Doha. The children and four teachers were in a nursery on the top floor. Firefighters were also killed.

Egypt's next president will be decided in a runoff election. Official results show the Muslim Brotherhood candidate, Mohamed Morsi, won the most votes in the first round, but not an outright majority. He will face former prime minister Ahmed Shafik, who served in Hosni Mubarak's regime.

Spain's prime minister says he won't seek outside aid for the country's struggling banking sector. Borrowing costs soared, and so has debt. The government agreed to bail out the nation's fourth-largest bank at a cost of $24 billion.

Those are your headlines this hour.

In recent years, the Catholic Church has been rocked by a series of scandals involving child sex abuse by priests. The revelations have shaken many believers all over the world. Now, as Matthew Chance reports, two new scandals threaten to erode even more trust in the Vatican. Have a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sex abuse, corruption, even a murder mystery. Mention the Vatican these days, and it's hard to escape the whiff of scandal. The past few weeks in Rome have been particularly damaging.

(CROWDS CHANTING IN ITALIAN)

CHANCE: In St. Peter's Square, protesters chant the name of Emanuela Orlandi, a Vatican employee's daughter, abducted as a 15-year-old girl back in 1983 and never found.

Vatican officials have always denied any cover-up, recently allowing investigators to open this tomb of a notorious Italian mobster in central Rome. But despite lack of evidence, rumors of a church conspiracy just won't go away.

JOHN ALLEN, CNN SENIOR VATICAN ANALYST: The fact that so many Italians remain profoundly convinced that there is still a cover-up going on, I think is an index of the difficulty the Vatican has had over the years in persuading the outside world of its willingness to come clean.

CHANCE: And that trust gap may be widening with yet another scandal, this time involving embarrassing secret documents alleging Vatican corruption. The pope's own butler, Paolo Gabriele, has been arrested, accused of leaking the documents, including private letters from the pope, published in a new book casting light on how the Vatican awards contracts to favored companies and individuals.

By coincidence, the head of the powerful Vatican Bank, already under investigation for money laundering, resigned, fueling perceptions of a Vatican in crisis.

Perhaps it's the Vatican showing its age. An ancient institution, struggling to measure up to modern standards of management and transparency. But don't expect any rapid change. The Vatican, it's said, thinks not in months or years, but in centuries.

Matthew Chance, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Well, CNN's Senior Vatican Analyst, John Allen, who you saw in Matthew's report, there, joins me now from Denver, Colorado, in the US. John's a Senior Correspondent for the independent newspaper the "National Catholic Reporter," and he's the author of several books, including the first English biography of Pope Benedict the XVI.

Scandal after scandal, John, internal in-fighting. What do you believe the underlying problem or crux of this crisis is?

ALLEN: Well, look, Becky, at one level, the Vatican leak scandal ultimately is about an institution that, over the centuries, has prized secrecy being unable to keep its own secrets under wraps.

At another level, of course, it's about the content of these documents, some of them very damaging revelations, as you heard in Matthew's piece, about Vatican finances and so on.

And at yet another level, I think it's an illustration of some of the palace tensions, if you like, within the corridors of the Vatican. I think most people believe that ultimately, one of the factors at play, here, is tensions around the pope's number two official, the sort of prime minister of the Vatican, an Italian cardinal by the name of Tarcisio Bertone.

It's long been the case that there is a current favorable to Bertone, a current opposed to him, and some of what's going on in this scandal may be those tensions working themselves out in full public view.

ANDERSON: John, how damaging do you think these crises, as they were, are, then, for the Vatican at its heart?

ALLEN: Well, look, I think there's both an external and internal damage. The external damage, obviously, is to the Vatican's public image. As you indicate, this is already an institution reeling from any number of public meltdowns, most particularly the child sexual abuse crisis. And this is clearly another black eye.

Internally, however, the hit may be even worse in the sense that anyone who knows the Vatican will tell you that it's a place that runs on trust. Personal relationships is what gets things done more than systems or flowcharts.

And the obvious takeaway from this scandal is, if one of the pope's most intimate and closest personal aids could be involved in something like this, ultimately, who can you trust?

ANDERSON: You're the author of several books, as I indicated to our viewers, including the first English biography of Pope Benedict XVI, so you know the way this man ticks, as it were. How will he be coping with these crises?

ALLEN: Well, personally, Benedict XVI is, of course, a man of very deep faith, and I think that gives him a kind of preternatural calm in the face of storms. So I don't think he's in panic mode.

But on the other hand, Benedict XVI is also someone who takes his job very seriously. I think he will be pained for the perception that the Vatican is in disarray. And more particularly, he's a guy who really emphasizes a family spirit among his closest aids.

And so the notion that this betrayal, if that's what it turns out to be, this betrayal could have come from a member of his own personal household and family is going to be a source of real anguish.

ANDERSON: And you say he shouldn't be in panic mode. I wonder whether we shouldn't ask the question, shouldn't he be at this point?

ALLEN: Well, should or shouldn't, Becky, is above my pay grade. But what I can tell you about Benedict XVI is that this is not a guy given to fits of panic. So, I think at some level, he will weather this storm.

But at another level, this obviously has to be painful, both as a manager and as -- as I say, as a guy who sees himself as the father of a small little family there in the papal apartment, and this is a family that is now in tatters.

ANDERSON: John Allen with some analysis for you this evening. John, always a pleasure. Thank you very much, indeed, for that out of Colorado for you this evening here on CONNECT THE WORLD.

Still to come, as Britain gears up to mark a royal milestone this weekend, we take a look back at the night Princess Elizabeth II become queen.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (singing): It seems we've had a lifetime to wait.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN (singing): Wait, wait, wait --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: We're just days away now from the queen's Diamond Jubilee weekend, and the country gearing up for a majestic party. You've been listened to a Jubilee single today featuring none other than the queen's grandson, Prince Harry.

Already flags being hoisted, bunting's being hung, and tributes are pouring in to mark Her Majesty's 60 years of service.

Well, throughout her reign, the queen has touched the lives of millions of people around the globe, and even as a princess, she made her mark. CNN's David McKenzie went to meet a porter from one of Kenya's national parks who remembers the night before Princess Elizabeth became queen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Driving into the Aberdares Forests of Kenya. For Nahashon Muriithi, it's a trip back in time.

Protected by a ranger with an elephant gun, he wants to show us the spot where, 60 years ago, he worked as a porter and carried the bags of a very special guest.

NAHASHON MURIITHI, RETIRED PROTER (through translator): I remember very well the day the queen came. There were so many people with her. Most of them couldn't spend the night at Treetops, but she was here.

MCKENZIE: On February 5th, 1952, then Princess Elizabeth and Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh, arrived at Treetops, a unique tree house lodged on top of a fig tree. Over a cup of Kenyan tea, Muriithi, now in his 80s, tells me about those heady days in 52.

MURIITHI (through translator): Everyone was so excited hearing that the princess was visiting Kenya. And on our roads, crowds of people would line the roads, waiting for her to pass by, just to catch a glimpse.

MCKENZIE: The royal visit was an event for Kenya, then a British colony. A chance for the heir-apparent to show her public face, and for the royal couple to have some private moments.

MCKENZIE (on camera): Treetops kept newspaper clippings from the time in the lead-up to Princess Elizabeth's visit, and the public wanted to know even the most mundane details.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): The clothes she wore, where she stayed, what she saw.

But during their night in the forest, everything changed. Princess Elizabeth's father, King George VI, died in his bed back in England. As their guide wrote in the visitors' book, "the young girl climbed into a tree one day a princess and climbed down from the tree the next day, a queen."

Sixty years on, tourists flock to the new Treetops to gaze at the wildlife and to soak up a bit of royal history.

MURIITHI (through translator): Whenever people talk about the history of the queen and royalty, I feel great. I feel part of it.

MCKENZIE: And on the occasion of her Diamond Jubilee, Muriithi has a message for the queen.

MURIITHI (through translator): I am really glad she came, but I would like to see that lady again, because first of all, the queen is around my age. Now, I would like to see if she has grown old like me.

MCKENZIE: After all this time, Nahashon Muriithi is proud to be part of history.

David McKenzie, CNN, Treetops, Kenya.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Well, there is no doubt her story and life experience has served as an inspiration to many people from all walks of life, and as we draw near to the official celebrations, tributes to Queen Elizabeth II are coming in all shapes, sizes, and odd costumes. Have a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON (voice-over): He's a man who refuses to be beaten. Twenty- five years ago, Lloyd Scott was diagnosed with leukemia. Since then, he's completed more than 30 extreme challenges, always in costume, always for charity. But he's probably best known for this.

LLOYD SCOTT, CHARITY FUNDRAISER: I kind of applied my extreme sort of thoughts to what could be the worst possible costume anybody could try to complete a marathon in, and I came up with the idea it had to be a deep sea diving suit. And everybody thought I was crazy and, in fact, I probably was.

ANDERSON: But ten years on, he's still donning the antiquated suit. This is his third marathon in the deep sea equipment, so he knows what he's in for: six days of exhausting, agonizing trudging along the London Olympics marathon route.

SCOTT: It is difficult to move in. It weighs about 140 pounds, but it's where the weight is distributed. It's very, very heavy -- top-heavy. The helmet is about 40 pounds, there's another 30 pounds or so of weight to hang from that.

But then the boots, as well, are -- they weigh about 25 pounds each, so very top-heavy, and if I actually toppled, there's no way that I could actually move my feet quickly to stop me falling.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good luck!

ANDERSON: But it's all for a good cause. Not only will this be Lloyd's last marathon, it's also to raise money for a trust set up to celebrate Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go!

SCOTT: What am I looking forward to most? Probably finishing. But no, I think really I'm doing it for a very, very special lady, a very, very special cause and charity. The charity's actually been set up to celebrate Her Majesty's reign. Rather than presents, she's asked that this charity be set up so that people, not only in the UK, but all around the world and the Commonwealth can actually benefit.

ANDERSON: A legacy Lloyd Scott is now bound to be part of.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: CNN's going to bring you special coverage of Jubilee festivities taking place all this week, including an interview with that guy as he reaches the end of what is a six-day marathon, an interview with music maestro Andrew Lloyd Webber.

He worked with Gary Barlow to compose the Jubilee song you were listening to a little earlier. He gave me a behind-the-scenes listen earlier this week. Have a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(PIANO MUSIC)

ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER, COMPOSER: It sounds wrong up there, but it goes, (singing) la da da da do da da da da da da da da da da do da da, do da da, da da da. Sing it louder, sing it clearer, let the whole world -- (speaking) And it's beautiful, and everything comes together in a kind of glorious sort of counterpoint at the end.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Andrew Lloyd Webber.

You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. When we come back, it's less than two weeks until the Euro 2012 tournament kicks off. We are in Poland tonight. See how the police are planning to keep thousands of foreign fans safe. That's coming up after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Well, here at CNN, you'd expect us to have our eye on some of the world's changing places. We like to challenge you about countries that you might think you know about, but we'll give you a little more.

Our previous stops have been Thailand and the Philippines, and now this week we've got our Eye on Poland for you. Next week, of course, the country will co-host the biggest football tournament in Europe, and Jim Boulden goes behind the scenes at Warsaw's police headquarters to find out how they plan to make the footballing tournament a peaceful event. Have a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM BOULDEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Poland is no stranger to football violence. Legia Warsaw suffered violence during the domestic cup final last year. Water canon had to be utilized by the police to control fans.

Of course, European football tournaments are no stranger to violence, either. So, the 2012 Euros will have police across Europe on high alert.

In Warsaw, authorities have spent years preparing for potential trouble, along with the ongoing concerns everywhere about terrorism.

MARIUSZ SOKOLOWSKI, PRESS OFFICER, POLISH POLICE (through translator): It's such a big event, it is impossible to exclude one or the other, and we have to be ready for everything.

BOULDEN: And ready it is, say the police.

SOKOLOWSKI (through translator): The whole security plan is ready. The right equipment has been bought, the sites that needed to be renovated for the tournament have also been completed. And now, it's time to put all that we have done into practice.

BOULDEN (on camera): Europe's football governing body, UEFA, called a test event held here between Poland and Portugal in February a big success. Of course, it also gave the Polish police a chance to test their readiness.

BOULDEN (voice-over): Poland's police have already taken advice from British police, who have been controlling football games for decades. In fact, Poland's police will have a lot of help from mid-May.

SOKOLOWSKI (through translator): Each of the participating countries will send their own police officers along with the fans. There will be at least a few police officers from each country.

BOULDEN: They will be at this police command center in the hot seat when their respective teams are playing. The Polish government says there is a lot riding on the games, co-hosted with Ukraine in June.

BEATA STELMACH, POLISH DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER: We know that what we deliver must be the best and the top level, so we are absolutely the best- prepared for the Euro 2012. Welcome everybody who wants to see not only football games, but also to see how hospitable we are and how beautiful the country is.

BOULDEN: Much of the welcome will come not from the authorities but from those on the actual front line, the leisure sector.

SOKOLOWSIK (through translator): That's why today already we are educating our people in hotels and restaurants how to behave during certain situations so that it is one big party and so there is no need for the police to take actions. The less we are visible and less we need to act, the better the event will be, as it will show that Euro 12 will be a very safe event.

BOULDEN: Poland is following on from lessons learned at recent big European events. All fans are welcome, even those without tickets. Big fan zones will be dotted around the country. Poland has a month to throw a party and transform the country's image.

Jim Boulden, CNN, Warsaw.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: It's our Eye on Poland, tomorrow when Jim goes on a road trip to check out how the country's transport works, it's going to handle the influx of thousands of football fans.

Are you looking forward to Euro 2012? The team here at CONNECT THE WORLD wants to hear from you, facebook.com/connect, have your say. And you can tweet me, of course, @BeckyCNN. Your thoughts, please, @BeckyCNN.

Tonight's Parting Shots.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAVERNE EVERETT, 81 YEARS OLD: Once you get on that edge, that's -- that's another story. My upper harness came off. It slipped down. I didn't know anything, only to hold on, that's all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Yes. She was talking about her harness, and let me tell you why. This daring pensioner thought that she'd go skydiving for her 80th birthday, but when it came to jumping, Laverne Everett almost fell out of her parachute harness.

Miraculously, she held onto her instructor, and they landed safely. She said the fact her shirt flew up over her head was a blessing as she couldn't see just how much danger she was in. She was falling to earth at 125 miles per hour.

When she was asked why she tried skydiving at the age of 80, she said it's something she'd wanted to do for a long time. And she's done it, and safely.

I'm Becky Anderson, that was CONNECT THE WORLD, thank you for watching. World news headlines up after this.

END