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Security Council Condemns Syrian Attack In Turkey; Mira Sorvino Stars In Child Sex Trade Movie Trade of Innocents; U.S. Unemployment Falls To 7.8%; Syrian Historical Sites Destroyed In Conflict; Thousands Protest In Jordan
Aired October 05, 2012 - 8:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JIM CLANCY, HOST: Hello, I'm Jim Clancy at CNN Center. Welcome wherever you are in the world. To News Stream where news and technology meet.
We're going to begin with the conflict in Syria. The United Nations Security Council now unanimously condemning Syria's shelling of a Turkish town. Neither side says it wants war, but could actions speak louder than words?
Also ahead, 18 elementary school students die in a landslide in China. We're going to take a closer look at how it happened.
And we'll be talking with the Oscar winning actress Mira Sorvino about her new film which tackles the disturbing issue of child sex slavery.
We begin in Syria. Another day of relentless violence. Activists reported shelling across several cities including the town Merayah in northern Syria which sits just about 25 kilometers from the border with Turkey.
Now at the same time, a rebel group is believed to have posted this video on YouTube purportedly showing 48 Iranian hostages who were captured back in August. The group is saying it will give the Iranian government 48 hours to comply with its demands before it begins executing these hostages. Of course at this hour, CNN cannot verify the authenticity of the video.
With tensions rising between Syria and Turkey as well, the United Nations Security Council is condemning what it terms in the strongest words Syria's shelling of a Turkish border town that happened on Wednesday. That attack killed five civilians including a mother and her three children. Both Syria and Turkey have said we don't want to go to war with one another, but on Thursday Turkey's parliament approved a resolution that does give the government and the military permission to deploy troops to foreign countries if necessary.
Syria's ambassador to the UN says his government does not want to see any escalation of the conflict. He urged Turkey to exercise restraint.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BASHAR JA'AFARI, SYRIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE UN (through translator): The Syrian government of course sympathized with the martyr Turkish woman as well as with her children. And we are asking the Turkish government also to show the same kind of sympathy towards our hundreds of civilians, innocent, who falled due to the suicide bombings of the terrorist groups, some of them came through the Turkish-Syrian border.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CLANCY: Now in a letter that was presented to UN officials Thursday, Syria says the incident this week is still under investigation.
Ivan Watson has been tracking this since it's happened. He joins us now live from Istanbul, Turkey. How do you assess how this potential crisis is developing.
IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: For the past 24 hours, Jim, the very tense border, long border between Syria and Turkey appears to have mostly been quiet. And the drama seems to have moved to the United Nations Security Council, as you mentioned, where it was actually able to come together in one voice to condemn Syria for the killing of these five Turkish civilians.
Take a listen to what the UN Security Council had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GERT ROSENTHAL, UN SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT: The members of the Security Council condemn in the strongest terms the shelling by the Syrian armed forces of the Turkish town of Arkcakale which resulted in the deaths of five civilians, all of whom were women and children as well as a number of injuries. The members of the Security Council express their sincere condolences to the families' victims and to the government and people of Turkey.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: Now Turkish government officials insist that there has been no further shelling from the Turkish side since before dawn on Thursday around this flashpoint border town of Arkcakale, Jim.
The Syrian Ambassador to the United Nations announced from New York that two Syrian army officers were wounded by the Turkish artillery strikes. We talked to Syrian rebels on the other side of the border who claim that as many as 13 Syrian troops were killed by an afternoon and early dawn artillery strikes Wednesday and Thursday coming from Turkey. We can't confirm those claims. Turkish government officials are not giving any casualty estimates.
The Syrian rebels went on to claim that they shared Google Maps and intelligence with Turkish army officers to help pinpoint Syrian military targets, that has been denied by Turkish government officials.
An interesting point that's been come in my talks with the Turkish government officials in the past day is they're telling me that prior to this incident the Turkish armed forces actually were firing into Syria when fire was coming from there, either gunfire or artillery fire, over the course of the past couple of weeks. This appears to have become part of the rules engagement from the Turkish side. That may be radically transformed now that the Turkish parliament has approved this bill that basically authorizes Turkey to send armed forces into Syria and other unspecified countries if it feels a threat to its national security.
CLANCY: Well, you know Turkey - I want to go over just a couple of things quickly, do we know why would the Syrians want to attack one of these border towns? Are they being used as staging areas by the Free Syrian Army? And Turkey has said that it wants to carve out a humanitarian zone, a safe haven if you will, inside Syria - but, you know, protected perhaps by Turkish troops. Does this parliamentary action really give them the green light to do something like that?
WATSON: Two very good points. The Syrian government routinely accuses Turkey of arming, funding, and harboring Syrian rebels. I've talked to rebels who have actually mounted attacks from Turkey into Syria and then run back to freedom - or to safety here in Turkey. And that's where some of the fighting in the past has spilled over across the border. So Turkey is not exactly a neutral party in the internal Syrian civil war.
Turkey is also starting to really feel the pressure of estimated more than a 100,000 official and unregistered Syrian refugees inside Turkey. And it's actually started to stop over the past couple of weeks Syrian refugees from crossing the border forcing them to camp out just across the border fence on the Syrian side of the border. And we could perhaps see more of that if there is a lot more Syrian refugees that start coming towards Turkey.
So this new resolution through parliament does give Turkey more freedom to operate. But here's a big problem, and I'm hearing this from more and more voices and commentators inside Turkey. They're feeling very much alone right now, though there have been voices of support from the NATO military alliance, from the U.S. secretary of state, they're not seeing concrete support from western allies yet. And the Turks are feeling isolated facing off against Syria which is receiving very strong support from countries like Russia and Iran who have been accused of shipping weapons and in some cases even advisers and fighters to the Syrian government, charges of course that Moscow and Tehran deny.
CLANCY: Ivan Watson with some really good analysis there on what's happening this Friday as we look at the situation inside Syria and the developments around its borders and indeed at the United Nations today.
Ivan, as always, great to have you with us.
All right, for months now we've seen the terrible human toll of the crisis in Syria. But the violence, it's also destroying major parts of the country's identity, its wealth of ancient historic sites. Hala Gorani reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HALA GORANI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rich in history and culture, Syria is home to some of the world's greatest landmarks and ancient ruins. But now after 19 months of fighting and civil war, the Global Heritage Fund says many historical treasures are being destroyed.
The ancient villages of northern Syria were named a UNESCO heritage site in 2011. The region is home to monasteries, ancient churches and preserved Christian Byzantine villages. Many of those ancient ruins were knocked over as seen in this amateur video, possibly used as road blocks in the fighting.
And Syrian army tanks have moved through the region trampling some of the landmarks.
Al Barra was once a popular tourist destination, now the ancient tombs are damaged by shelling.
The Croque de Chevalleir has been around since the time of the Crusades, considered the most preserved military castles from that era. Now this heritage site is being used as cover by rebel forces defending themselves against the government's heavy artillery.
Another ancient location, Apamea, located about 55 kilometers northwest of Hamaa. The ruins here date back to the Roman and Byzantine periods and the site is known for its ancient columns. Now Apamea is heavily damaged by shelling, looters took mosaics, even a Roman statue reportedly selling some of the priceless artifacts for weapons.
And then there is the ancient city of Aleppo, known for its culture and urban development, and home to the largest covered market in the world dating back to the 12th Century. Last week, that market was burned during fierce fighting.
Precious, ancient treasures that belong to the world not just to Syria once preserved and admired, now some gone forever, destroyed by war.
Hala Gorani, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: Still ahead right on News Stream, a landslide buries a school in Southwestern China despite a national holiday, several children were inside.
And a closely watched U.S. jobs report is out in about 20 minutes time. We're going to break down the latest numbers for you. Stay with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CLANCY: There was a frightening incident took place at an Israeli hotel on the Red Sea resort city of Ilat today. Israeli police report an American man opened fire, killing a hotel employee. A police anti-terror unit responded and shot and killed the suspect after an exchange of gunfire. Initial reports had indicated the gunmen was a tourist, but police say now he was a sous chef who had been laid off from the hotel. To a worker incident, not a terror incident, but tragic results.
Massive street protests underway in Amman, Jordan, that's shaking up the region. The Muslim Brotherhood is rallying its supporters to push for democratic reforms. King Abdullah who is shown here earlier this year with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton dissolved parliament in Thursday. He called for early elections.
Still, take a look at this video just in from YouTube, you get a sense of the heavy police presence that's now within that area downtown where the protest is taking place.
Senior international correspondent Sara Sidner is on the streets of Amman right now. She joins us on the line to relay - just tell us what does it look like on the ground?
SARA SIDNER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There are thousands upon thousands of Jordanians gathered outside al Jazain mosque in central Amman. We're talking about thousands of people. And to give you some idea in a country that only has six million people, the amount of people who are not content with the way that things are going in their country and who want to see change, protesters are chanting things such as "whoever is corrupt is an enemy of god." and "we (inaudible) call for reform."
Now the kind of reforms that they want are not just political, they want constitutional reforms, reforms that are written in the books that make it law. And what they're complaining about mostly is that the kind has too much power. They would like to be able, for example, to have and elect their own representatives in the upper house. At this point, King Abdullah is the person who appoints those in the upper house. And they definitely want that to change.
But there are more people in the streets also talking about the economic situation here. Many people are complaining about the cost of living. They're complaining about high inflation. And the youth in particular are complaining about high unemployment among young people who are graduating from schools that can simply not find jobs.
The story that we've heard over and over again during the Arab Spring, this has been going on, by the way, the protests here in Amman while they have not been violent, I have to say we have seen no violence, it has been very peaceful protest of thousands of people waving flags and chanting. But across the Arab Spring we are seeing these kinds of things. And this one has continued for a year-and-a-half. People are saying changes have not been made fast enough. And the changes that the kind has made are simply not enough. The king, has replaced, for example, the prime minister three times in two years. But he has not relinquished his power to appoint those who are in the upper house - Jim.
CLANCY: All right. You have the Muslim Brotherhood on one side coming out of the mosques on this Friday. You have the kind who has been basically shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic trying to stave off any substantial changes in the kingdom. It is still a very popular monarchy with the people. Is there a sense that a showdown between the Muslim Brotherhood and King Abdullah is in the cards at this time?
SIDNER: Well, I just in the last few minutes just spoke with one of the political leaders of the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood. And I asked him that very question, Jim. And the answer he said was flatly no, that this place, Jordan is a different kind of country than some of the other Arab nations, that they like the kind, but they simply want him to make reforms. They do not want to dissolve the monarchy, they want the monarchy to change and to change the way that the country is ruled.
So that is what we're hearing directly from one of the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood here, that they - the people, including want to keep the king, want to keep the monarchy in place. They believe that makes Jordan what it is today, but they just want to see the king make more reforms and do them quickly - Jim.
CLANCY: Sara Sidner there with the latest. She is on the streets of Amman, Jordan, not for the first time it is seeing some upheaval, but this could be an important turning point, demands for substantive change in the kingdom that is a monarchy at the same time that it has a parliament, a complex political system, that many there, many among the Muslim Brotherhood are saying needs to promote some real reform.
Coming up right here on News Stream, facing terror charges and fighting extradition, a radical Islamist cleric at the center of a long running legal battle. We're going to take you live to London's high court next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CLANCY: A very long extradition fight surrounding a radical Islamist cleric may finally, may finally be resolved today at London's high court. The U.S. wants Abu Hamza al-Masri to face 11 terror related charges on U.S. soil. Let's go to Dan Rivers. He's in the British capital right now following the extradition case at the high court all this week.
And Dan, as you know, as you look at this case today, what makes everyone believe it might be resolved, we might here the end of it?
DAN RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we've been told that the judges are already typing up their decision this morning and late last night. So we're really just waiting for them to put the final touches on that and then they will come into court in about an hour from now to read out their decision for five men, the most famous, of course, is Abu Hamza who is wanted for 11 different terrorist charges in the United States including conspiracy to set up a terrorist training camp in Oregon and his part in a conspiracy to kidnap western tourists in Yemen in 1998.
There was some rather ugly themes outside the court earlier on as Abu Hamza's supporters clashed with the police in their efforts to try and get at protesters who were against Abu Hamza, a bit of pushing and shoving going on in the middle of the street, nothing too serious, no one arrested. The police did a very good job at calming the situation down. But nevertheless, that shows you, you know, that there are some real passions on both sides of the debate about Abu Hamza here.
He's not the only person who is facing extradition, there are two other men connected to the East African embassy bombings in 1998, Abdel Bari , and Khalid al-Fawaz, both the court heard had close links to Osama bin Laden, they were his sort of lieutenants in London. There's evidence that the crown put here that they had a claim of responsibility for those bombings before the bombings even happened.
Their lawyers tried to argue that the case against them was weak, that there were - the men had mental health issues and so on. So that will be considered. And then there are two other men Baba Ahmed and Said Hala Affan , both accused of raising money on the internet for terrorism, again their lawyers were arguing they should not be extradited because they should be tried here in the UK.
And in fact it's those two men's supporters who are still here now in front of the court behind that bus over there campaigning that, you know, we shouldn't be sending people who have committed offenses in this country to the U.S. for trial.
CLANCY: Dan, do all of these characters, and we call them - it's like a play that's coming together there, do they have a central location in London? Were mosques figuring prominently, especially when it comes to al- Masri?
RIVERS: Yeah, well, Abu Hamza al-Masri famously sort of took over the Finsbury Park mosque in North London for several years, kicking out the sort of local imam and sort of taking it over and turning it into a center for extremism in London. There was a raid there several years ago when the police found, you know, knives and so on in various materials associated, it can claimed, with terrorism.
Abu Hamza then got ejected from the mosque. He prayed in the street for awhile with his followers in front of the mosque. Eventually he was charged and found guilty for inciting racial hatred and owning terrorist manuals. He served that sentence already here in the UK. What he's wanted for in America are other offenses that he's not been charged with here, as I say, international offenses, ones connected to the U.S. and to Yemen.
And so if he is extradited, which seems more than possible, and it could happen - he could be on a plane perhaps even this evening, then he will appear in a court in the U.S. to face those charges. Obviously it's going to be a very high profile case in the U.S.
CLANCY: Dan, great work. A large cast of characters, detailed charges, very different in all of these cases, but one case together and we should find out in a matter of hours whether they will be turned over to the U.S. for trial in that country. Thank you.
Meantime, China, state media reporting there that crews have found the bodies of 18 children that came after a landslide buried their elementary school in Hunan Province. It happened on Thursday after some heavy downpours. China is on a week long national holiday, but the children, the children were in school. They were trying to make up some studies they missed, because of recent earthquakes.
One village resident also died in Thursday's landslide.
Let's get more on the situation. As always, it's great to turn to our international weather center. And no one, you know, more knowledgeable about this than Mari Ramos. Help us out to understand what's happening.
MARI RAMOS, CNN WEATHER CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, you know, it's a combination of things that are going on here. The first thing is of course the heavy rain that they've had. And it has been significant.
But you mentioned the earthquakes, and that is significant as well. We're talking about an area that is quite vulnerable to not only earthquakes, but also to (inaudible), and it's this combination I think is what made it worse. You had that rough shaking of the land and then that very heavy rain that came afteward.
And when you're looking at an area like this where you have very steep mountains and then you have the river and the villages farther, of course, at the bottom of the mountain, these people really are living in an area that is extremely dangerous at any given moment, because the whole time they're just fighting gravity, because gravity is pulling the sides of the mountain down. And you add all of these other things like the shaking from an earthquake and then you have all of this heavy rain. So the combination of things has made things pretty bad.
Another thing that happened you have a river right over here, farther upstream there was a huge problem right after that earthquake where a landslide blocked the river and formed a lake behind it. That lake, they were able to get that water finally start flowing again, that was extremely dangerous, because that could have caused some significant flooding farther upstream and if that dam broke on its own it could also cause some problems.
So when we talk about the causes for landslides, of course, we're going to first talk about the heavy rain, but it could also happen when you have a lot of snow melt. The water soaks into the soil very quickly, the soil becomes heavy and then you have that gravity continuing to pull that downward. So that's one of the things.
The other thing is once the slope becomes too steep in the water and the dirt becomes too heavy to support it, that's when you being to see that failure and then you have that landslide. And you can have small landslides, but of course when you're talking about high mountains like what we're looking at there, it becomes of course worse.
Let's go ahead and move on and talk a little bit more about the weather forecast. Scattered rain showers expected across those areas in - affected by the landslide. And notice the cloud cover, it stretches back over here even toward Shanghai. Now, you mentioned golden week. It is a holiday week. And people are starting to go back now to their homes as we head into the weekend. I'm not seeing any major weather systems affecting China, perhaps some fog could be a problem across central areas, some light rain as we move to areas farther to the east.
Tropical cyclone, that's this one right over here that you see approaching Vietnam, this is a concern because it is going to bring some very heavy rain, threat for flooding, and landslides. We're talking about high mountains also as we head over here into Vietnam. That is going to be a concern. After that, the storm expected to continue tracking on into Cambodia, maybe make it into Thailand as an area of low pressure, either way it's going to bring some very heavy rain across this entire region over the next few days, definitely something worth monitoring.
And let's head to the other side of the world, because there's another story here that continues to develop. And it's affecting literally hundreds and thousands of people. Let's go ahead and take a look at the pictures from Nigeria.
What we have here is just some really bad flooding. They're calling it the worst flooding in the last 40 years. Already this year, 140 people have been killed, but that number is expected to rise. What we have is the rainy season coming to an end, river levels are already high. And even though the rain is supposed to be over by now in this part of Nigeria, it has still been raining. So you have a combination of the rain that is falling, the water that's already in the river system and the flooding has been extremely widespread.
Let's come back over to the weather map over here. Wow, that's a lot of flooding there. I want to show you the areas that we're talking about. And I know, Jim, you're very familiar with these areas in Africa, in Nigeria. So we're talking areas to the south of Abuja in particular, along these major rivers. You have the Niger River and the Benue River. All of thse areas have been getting extremely heavy rainfall. Where you have the rivers meet, that's where the flooding is the worst.
So you have to worry about flooding upstream, but also now flooding farther down the river. So this is a huge concern and expect it to continue for not days, but weeks from now.
Let's go ahead now and take a look at cities all around the world.
All right. How do you like that? That is a look at your world weather. Let's go ahead and head back to Jim.
CLANCY: All right, Mari.
Thanks very much. A nice complete picture there. What's going on right around the world this day.
Coming up next on News Stream, we're going to take you to the set of a new film that tackles a difficult subject: child sex slavery. And we're going to speak to an activist and a true star in her own right, actress and activist Mira Sorvino.
Also, how many jobs did the U.S. economy add in September? We're going to find out. It's just going to be a matter of moments from now. This is a big one in the upcoming election. Don't go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy at the CNN Center. You're watching News Stream. These are your headlines right now.
The United Nations Security Council condemning Syria's shelling of a Turkish border town Wednesday. The Security Council appealing for restraint. Five civilians were killed. Turkey says it has no plans to go to Syria. On Thursday, the parliament in Turkey did authorize a resolution giving the government permission to deploy troops to foreign countries.
There's a large police presence on the streets of Amman, Jordan this hour, that is where massive protests are underway. We just talked to our correspondent Sara Sidner there. The Muslim Brotherhood rallying its supporters to push for democratic reforms, but says it is still supportive of the monarchy.
Britain's high court has ruled three Kenyans who are victims of torture during the colonial era can sue for compensation. The Kenyans say they were beaten and abused by British security forces while the UK was the colonial power in Kenya during the 1950s. The government in London says it will appeal the ruling.
All right, just in to CNN, the latest U.S. monthly jobs report. You can bet that Barack Obama and Mitt Romney will be watching these numbers. It shows the economy added 114,000 jobs in September, now that is slightly above the expected figure of 110,000. Analysts also predicted the unemployment rate would hold steady at 8.1 percent, but it came in much lower at 7.8 percent. Now this is the second to last jobs report before the U.S. presidential election. We're going to bring you complete analysis of the numbers coming up in just a few minutes when we get a chance to really pour over them.
Now we're going to turn to a crime. We've covered this story as part of our CNN Freedom Project, it is modern day sex slavery. There's a new film out, it's opening in New York today, called Trade of Innocents. It's hoping to raise awareness about the problem. Kristie Lu Stout has that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Far from the glitz and glamor of Hollywood, Academy Award winner Mira Sorvino is hard at work on the set of her new movie Trade of Innocents.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shut down every brothel in the city that exploits children in the sex trade.
LU STOUT: Hoping to shine the spotlight on modern day slavery.
MIRA SORVINO, ACTRESS: People are not really aware of what's going on beneath the surface. And certainly the trafficking of a child to use for sexual exploitation, sex work, is one of the most heinous things a human being can do.
LU STOUT: Shot an hour outside of Bangkok, CNN's Freedom Project was granted exclusive access to the set.
SORVINO: You're going to understand from an emotional way as well as a factual way what the trafficking of children is all about. I really hope that through my character I'm the perspective of a mother who has lost her child already to such a horror and now has become a fighter just like my husband, the character Dermot plays has become a fighter in it.
LU STOUT: She's talking about actor Dermot Mulroney who says he is moved by the film's message.
DERMOT MULRONEY, ACTOR: When I took this role I started looking into it further. I looked into the organizations that do this kind of work, investigating the abuses, and what you laern really boggles the mind and breaks your heart.
LU STOUT: Heartbroken by the tragic death of their own child at the hands of a predator, the fictional couple in the movie relocate to Cambodia, dedicating their lives to uncovering the region's sex slave trade and hoping to free its young victims.
SORVINO: All of their human rights are taken away, all of their dignity, all of their right to have just a normal childhood, I'm not talking about a great childhood just one free of being raped and beaten and abused multiple times over and over again.
MULRONEY: When you look behind the curtain a little bit to what's actually going on all over the world it's really profound what people go through so other people can make money off of their bodies and really their souls. And it's very hard to face.
LU STOUT: For Sorvino who has advocated to end human trafficking around the world for several years, facing up to the issue is critical.
SORVINO: This is a topic that affects almost all societies. So it's not critical of Thailand or Southeast Asia to say there's sex trafficking of children here. It happens everywhere. But if we don't talk about it, the only people we are helping is the traffickers. And I think this will help us expose it to the light so that more things can be done about it.
MULRONEY: There's an extra sense of reward as an actor to feel that you're having an impact on those who watch the film.
LU STOUT: Kristie Lu Stout, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: All right. Let's speak to one of the stars of this film, Oscar winning actress Mira Sorivno. She joins us from New York.
Mira, great to have you with us. Home is usually out on the west coast. What are you doing in New York?
SORVINO: I'm actually here with Upromise in New York doing a kickoff for their drive to get people to pledge to put money in for college for their kids.
But today is the day that Trade of Innocents opens across the country so I'm very excited to be here to talk to you both in my role as actress in the film and also as United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes goodwill ambassador to combat human trafficking because it's a big week for human trafficking, well, a week-and-a-half lets say, because you know we're just last week was the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation and then President Obama made his historic speech at CGI where he equated trafficking with slavery, which was profound and huge for all of us who work in this space.
CLANCY: Well, you have been working as a goodwill ambassador for UNODC for some years really - and you understand this issue. Is that how you came to play this role in the film?
SORVINO: I think they offered it to me not knowing the full extent of my involvement in modern day slavery. And then when we - when they discovered that this was already a passion of mine I was already working on pretty much full-time, they - it became a win-win situation for all of us. And I love how the film, although it moves you profoundly about the plight of the children, it also really highlights solutions and highlights that, you know, governments can work together with NGOs to find ways to combat this. And Dermot's character is, you know, drawn off of an NGO that works hand in glove with local police forces to create sting operations to catch pimps in the act of selling underage girls.
CLANCY: Well, critics have said it's pulse pounding, that the film works on its own as a film, you know, it has that effect, an activism effect, but it's more than that.
SORVINO: Oh yeah, no, it's a great film. And sometimes a work of art can do far more than just a dry description of a problem. And the film kind of breaks your heart. You really fall in love with these two little girls in specific in the story and you're very gripped by what's going to happen to them and what's going to happen to us as we try and help them.
So - but it does have hope. And that's important. And the hope comes from all of these angles that I'm talking about, all the NGOs that work to support victims when they've been rescued and become survivors really. And very few other films have shown --- shown the NGO side of the story. So I think that's important.
But it is a beautiful, strong film with a real cinematic pace.
CLANCY: Dermot Mulroney, did you convert him more or less to the cause in all of this?
SORVINO: I think it was pretty hard not to, you know, we met with a guy who had done this sort of work undercover before, before we did the film and he showed us his videotapes with his - he had a little - like a pen camera in his pocket and he had gone into these brothels and negotiated for girls and then gone into a private room with the girls where services were supposed to be performed and instead played rock, paper, scissors with them and got to know them.
And you see that scene in the movie, but it's just heartbreaking to see it really happening. And I think Dermot being a father was blown away by the implications by what this really means, this sex trafficking. And so he really is on board.
CLANCY: Mira, where did you film this? And what was the reaction?
SORVINO: We filmed it in Thailand. The story takes place in Cambodia, but we filmed it in Thailand for Cambodia. And you know the Thai government was very welcoming to us. And we didn't have any doors closed to us. I felt really lucky to be there, because there's a wonderful UNODC office there headed by Gary Lewis. And they took me into the field and debriefed me about everything that's going on in the region. And took me to meet street kids in a shelter, some of whom had been sexually trafficked and I learned all about the kind of pedophile purchase of young boys in Patia and how it's actually ironically easier for us to prosecute Americans who are buying sex from minors abroad than it is in the U.S., because the stiff federal laws apply to them, because they've crossed borders whereas here often the much weaker or non-existent state laws that legislate human trafficking responses deal with here.
And I got walked through the red light district in Bangkok with another NGO, Nightlight, over there and watched Mamasans kind of make threats as this young, fearless woman was trying to find out if girls working there were underage and trying to offer them another job, another way of life. And it was pretty scary and pretty freakish. You know, there's a strong sex tourism element there.
But what we did learn and what we did really preach was that taking child sex tourism out of the equation would not damage at all the sort of more thriving adult sex trade that is part of the Southeast Asian economies. And that's a big start for us to say, look, you stop selling kids, you make your country a more friendly place for tourists which have - that have families. So it's win-win for everybody.
But, you know, it's a tough, tough subject. But it's not just happening there, it's happening here in the United States. And when I came back to the U.S. and realized here I am, you know, just working with ECPAT and working with UNODC trying to get the message across in Southeast Asia. And when I came home, I realized we really had work to do here, because we have 100,000 to 300,000 U.S. domestic kids on the street being sold for slavery and on the internet. And that is a huge marketplace.
CLANCY: I'm sorry I've got to leave it there. It is great to see you. It is great to hear your continued enthusiasm about this whole issue. It's inspiring. And I'm sure the film is - I can't wait to see the film.
SORVINO: Tim, you've always been a great - a great champion of this cause. So thank you so much.
CLANCY; Mira Sorvino, again, thank you for being with us.
All right, we have just 32 days until the U.S. presidential election. Both campaigns are going to likely try to capitalize on the crucial new jobs report. And both of them likely could. The unemployment rate has dropped to 7.8 percent, that's helps President Obama. Still, the numbers fell a little bit short. Here's a snapshot of jobs added over the last year. The figures on the chart are not, not I repeat seasonally adjusted.
We've told you that U.S. employers added 114,000 jobs last month, still pretty anemic. It's more than expected, though. Over the past two years the U.S. economy has added an average of about 140,000 jobs each month. Hiring at that level is barely enough to keep up with population growth, the young people coming out of school.
Maggie Lake has been going over the numbers. She joins us now. She's up there at CNN New York. Maggie, what do you think?
MAGGIE LAKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Jim, this is a really interesting report. And you're right. We'll just get right out of the gate, out of the way, the fact that on a monthly gain in terms of payrolls themselves, this is not near the kind of strength you want to see to really get this economy moving, but that aside, this is a very good jobs report.
Let's focus in on that unemployment rate, that dropped down to 7.8 percent from 8.1 percent, that is a big drop. Now in other months when we've seen that happen there's been a drop in the labor participation rate, which means that the unemployment rate is dropping because people are just stop being to look for work, they're just dropping out of the economy so to speak. That is not the case it would appear this time. It looks like that drop in unemployment is because something called a household survey, where the government actually phones up people and talks to them, that's been sort of lagging that 114,000 number, that caught up and saw a really big jump. So more people are in the workforce, more people are telling the government on the telephone that they have jobs. So you saw the unemployment rate drop.
Now only that, strong revisions to both August, the August number, July and August together, 85,000 more than we thought. So average hourly earnings up. So you put this together and it's looking pretty good. Is it absolutely strong enough to move the needle in a significant way? Perhaps not. But if this is the kind of thing you start to see month on month, this is going to be a gamechanger. And importantly here as you mention it is coming against the presidential backdrop when you're talking about momentum.
I would expect the Obama administration coming off a bad debate to really grab on to this and say it's starting to happen. This is where the economy is moving. Give me more time. Of course Romney will argue against that. But this is another interesting piece of information to put in what has been a dramatic week on the presidential election front, Jim.
CLANCY: Maggie, can't wait - you know, I've got to let you go right now, but you're going to be back here in no time with more analysis. Everyone, be sure to tune in, Maggie, on World Business Today. And stay with News Stream.
We've got a little bit more ahead, too, for you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CLANCY: All right. We just gave you the update on that U.S. jobs report and the struggling U.S. economy. Of course it's front and center out on the campaign trail right now.
Let's look at President Obama today. He's in rallies in Virginia and Ohio. In the swing state of Wisconsin on Thursday, Mr. Obama accused Republican rival Mitt Romney of reversing himself on his economic positions during Wednesday's presidential debate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Whoever it was that was on stage last night doesn't want to be held accountable for what the real Mitt Romney has been saying for the last year. And that's because he knows full well that we don't want what he's been selling over the last year. Governor Romney may dance around his positions, he may do a tap dance and a two-step, but if you want to be president then you owe the American people the truth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CLANCY: Now Mitt Romney is also out there campaigning in Virginia today. He rallied his supporters in Colorado on Thursday. They are fired up after he clearly won Wednesday night's debate. He had faced some criticism over remarks that were caught on a hidden camera from months ago that said 47 percent of Americans don't pay federal income taxes and viewed themselves as victims and they'd always vote for Obama. Now initially he said the comments were not elegantly stated. Well, now he's saying he was completely wrong, and that's a quote.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Clearly in a campaign with hundreds if not thousands of speeches and question and answer sessions now and then you're going to say something that doesn't come out right, in this case I said something that's just completely wrong. And I absolutely believe, however, that my life has shown that I care about 100 percent and that's been demonstrated throughout my life. And this whole campaign is about the 100 percent. When I become president it will be about helping the 100 percent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CLANCY: All right. Romney is heading out to the critical swing state of Florida a little bit later on Friday. He'll have an evening rally there.
Well, this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix is crucial in the race for the driver's title. It's going to be the start of a long goodbye for a real legend of the sport. Let's join Alex Thomas for more on that and the day's other sporting headlines - Alex.
ALEX THOMAS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, hi, Jim. Michael Schumacher said he felt relieved after announcing his retirement on Thursday, but it didn't help his performance on the track in the opening practice sessions for Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix. The 43 year old German misjudged the spoon curve at Suzuka and slid off the track at high speed, although thankfully the Mercedes driver who will quit F1 for a second time at the end of the season emerged from the car unhurt. Schumacher is already facing a 10 place group penalty after crashing at the last race in Singapore.
Australian Mark Webber had a happier day, recording the fastest time. And then dismissing comments from Louis Hamilton that Red Bull were the team to beat this week as mind games. Webber and Hamilton are two of the five drivers still in the hunt for the world championship with six races to go.
Australia and the West Indies will contest the second semi-final at Crickets World T20 championship later. The winners will play the hosts in Sunday's title game, that's after Sri Lanka beat Pakistan in a tense encounter in Colombo on Thursday. Skipper Mahela Jayawardene hitting 42. And Tillakaratne Dilshan adding 35 as the hosts raked up 139 before from their 20 overs.
The run chase for Pakistan was led by their captain Mohammad Hafeez who top scored with 42. Umar Akmal made 29 not out in a rematch of the 2009 final. But while Pakistan won that game, Herath took three crucial wickets here to help Sri Lanka win by 16 runs.
There are plenty of derby matches to look forward to in Europe's top football leagues this weekend including another Clasico between Real Madrid and Barcelona. Trailing Barca in La Liga by eight points, this may not be a must win for Real, but it's certainly a can't lose game, which is a great point to remind you about a special program you just can't miss coming up here on CNN later today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PEDRO PINTO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: I'm sitting in the hot seat of the world's most famous football manager.
Great to see you.
But it's time to put the Real Madrid coach in our very own hot seat.
Do you think you're the best manager in the world?
We get special access inside the inner circle of the self-proclaimed Special One as he tells me what's been his greatest achievement to date, lifts the lid on Roman Abramovich, tells me where he wants to manage next and we get his reaction to some of his most memorable musings.
So is it the Special One or is it the Only One?
Please join me, Pedro...
JOSE MOURINHO, REAL MADRID MAGAGER: And me, Jose...
PINTO: As we give you a Mourinho Clasico.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
THOMAS: And you don't have to wait long for Mourinho master class. It's just over two-and-a-half hours away, an absolute much watch if you're a sports fan.
A bit of breaking sports news for you, Jim, just before I throw back to you, that is that Ashley Cole, the Chelsea and England player, has tweeted something very derogatory to English football bosses. We'll have all the details on World Sport in just over three hours time.
CLANCY: Yeah, you made us all go out to Twitter, too.
All right, Alex Thomas, as always, great to you have you with us. Looking forward to hearing from Pedro, too, a little bit later.
James Bond turns the big 5-0. How about this for a birthday present.
(MUSIC)
CLANCY: It's the brand new theme song for Bond's latest movie. Recognize the famous singer crooning that tune? I'll clue you in here in just a couple of minutes. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CLANCY: Today marks the 50th anniversary of the movie Dr. No in the launch of an iconic onscreen hero, super spy James Bond. Take a listen to this.
(MUSIC)
CLANCY: Yes, we can now officially report that the British singer Adele is singing the theme song for the forthcoming release Skyfall. All right, can we hear a little bit more?
(MUSIC)
CLANCY: Producers had tried to keep the new song a secret, but a portion of it was leaked on the internet a little bit earlier this week. Now you've heard it too.
Well, you've probably heard by now that Facebook has more than a billion active users, but before you say that means one in every seven people on the planet now uses the site, consider this, in August Facebook revealed that nearly 9 percent of its accounts are fakes or duplicates. Now to celebrate that 1 billion milestone, the site has created its first ever brand advertisement. Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chairs are for people.
UNIDENTIFIED FAMEL: And that is why chairs are like Facebook.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CLANCY: Now it goes on to list other items that help people connect - door bells, airplanes, bridges, things like that. CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the video expresses Facebook's place on Earth. Critics call the analogies confusing.
Well, what are they to you? Talk to me on Facebook.
That's News Stream. World Business Today is coming up straight ahead. Don't go anywhere.
END
