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Girl's Alleged Attacker Identified; Syrian Govt. Vows Cease- fire; Sex Abuse Scandal Rocks BBC; Obama Popular Internationally; 13 Days Till Election Day; New Light Shed on Libya and Benghazi; Interview with Steven Sotloff; Focus on Mali; Royals Attend Bond Premiere

Aired October 24, 2012 - 12:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to NEWSROOM INTERNATIONAL. I'm Suzanne Malveaux. We're taking you around the world in the next 60 minutes. Here's what's going on right now.

We're beginning with breaking news out of Pakistan. Police now say they know who shot and critically injured that 15-year-old activist, Malala Yousafzai. Malala, she was shot in the head by Taliban militants -- this happened two weeks ago -- for speaking out for girls rights. Well, police say that the main suspect, Atta Ullah, a 23-year- old chemistry student from the Swat district. Now they say they've made several arrests in the case. I want to go directly to the region there. Reporter Saima Moshin, who has a sense of what is taking place right now. And the main suspect has not yet been arrested. What do we know?

SAIMA MOSHIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Yes, Suzanne. So far I've spoken to one of the senior police officials involved in the investigation. He tells me they have six people in custody that they believe were key facilitators around this attack. They all (INAUDIBLE) from Malala's hometown of Swat. But they suspect that maybe some of them went to Afghanistan where the plot was hatched and returned to Pakistan where they carried out the attack.

Now, the main suspect, as you say, they've identified is a man called -- Atta Ullah. And what's frustrating (ph) is, this is a young guy. He's 23 years old. He was going to university. Seeming successful. Studied physics. And then went on to do a masters in chemistry. And yet he's one of the main suspects involved in shooting this 15-year- old school girl all because she was fighting for an education in (INAUDIBLE).

MALVEAUX: Have they been able to actually talk to the main suspect about the motive behind this, because this was just horrific when we heard this young girl being attacked simply for encouraging people to go to school.

MOSHIN: Susan, at this stage in the investigation, they weren't willing to share any information about the interrogation process or what they might have found out from the suspects that they have in custody. But we do know, of course, that when the Taliban claims responsibility, because the TTP (ph), they at first said they shot Malala as a reprisal for the fact that she was fighting for a woman's right to be educated. And, of course, Malala has long campaigned for that, telling everyone that actually this is not a game to Islam, this is a passive (ph) the Muslim religion.

Then the TTP (ph), when there was a huge backlash and waves of anti- Taliban protests across Pakistan, then the TPP (ph) changed their minds and they said, no, we are just attacking her for provoking western values in Pakistan.

MALVEAUX: And, Saima, real quick here, what is the condition of the little girl, the young girl?

MOSHIN: Well, so far we know that she is making progress. The last report from doctors in the United Kingdom were that she has managed to communicate freely. She's out of her coma. She is trying to communicate by gestures and communicating by writing notes and saying -- agreeing with the notes that they write for her. And she's managed to stand up for the first time. So, so far she's making good but steady and slow progress.

MALVEAUX: All right. That's the good news. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

It's all coming down to a handful of swing states and those undecided voters. The presidential election just 13 days away. The race is dead even. Both President Obama and Mitt Romney, they're crisscrossing the country, hitting those make or break states. The President just finished speaking at a rally in Davenport, Iowa, where he talked about his non-stop campaign sprint.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now, this is the first stop on our 48-hour, fly around, campaign marathon extravaganza. We're going to pull an all-nighter. No sleep. We're starting here in Iowa. We're going to Colorado. Then we're going to go to Nevada. Then we're going to Florida, Virginia, Ohio. I am going to stop in Chicago to vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: He's calling it a 48-hour extravaganza. We expect to hear from the vice president, Biden, live this hour as well. He's got a campaign stop in Ohio. Of course, another key battleground state.

In Syria today, rare note of optimism from diplomats trying to end the civil war there. The U.N.'s point man for peace in Syria says the government there has agreed to stop fighting, at least for a four-day holiday that begins on Friday. Now, as encouraging as it sounds, there is a problem. Every cease-fire that's been negotiated has now failed. Nineteen months of fighting. An estimated 30,000 people killed, most of them civilians. Want to bring in Mohammed Jamjoom, who joins us from neighboring Lebanon.

And, Mohammed, first of all, you know, I mean you think it's good news. Obviously, it's a very important holy holiday. But we've heard this before. None of the cease-fires have worked ever before. What makes us think that this is going to be any more successful?

MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's the key question, Suzanne. I mean you had Lakhdar Brahimi, he's the joint U.N./Arab League envoy for Syria. He's been traveling around the region the last couple of weeks meeting with key regional power players trying to make sure that everybody was pressing all sides in Syria to try to get this cease-fire to take hold. Now, earlier in the day, Lakhdar Brahimi was in Cairo. He was meeting with former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, as well as the secretary general for the Arab League. He seemed quite optimistic about this. Here's what he had to say about the Syrian government agreeing to the cease-fire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAKHDAR BRAHIMI, U.N./ARAB LEAGUE ENVOY TO SYRIA (through translator): I would just like to tell you that after this recent visit that I made to Damascus, there is an agreement from the Syrian government on the cease-fire during the Eid break. And I believe that they will be issuing a statement either today or tomorrow in that regard.

The other parties involved inside Syria, we spoke to some of them. Those that we were able to reach, the commands of the armed factions, the majority of them agree on the principle of the cease-fire. And we hope that if this humble initiative manages to succeed, we hope that we can build upon that to have a longer, stronger, more stable cease- fire. And this should be part of a comprehensive political process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JAMJOOM: But as you mentioned just a minute ago, we've been down this road before. Earlier this year, you had the previous U.N./Arab League envoy to Syria, Kofi Annan. He went to Syria with much fanfare, had a six-point peace plan and a cease-fire. He announced that all the groups there that were fighting were agreeing to it. And, yet, that never took root. It never held. So the concern is, will this actually hold right now? Nobody will know until the next few days.

Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Mohammed, explain to us why, in the first place, they've decided that they are going to recognize a cease-fire during this holy holiday season.

JAMJOOM: Well, this is one of the holiest times in the Islamic calendar, Eid al-Adha. It comes after Haja (ph). It is a time of peaceful celebration for the Muslim community. Lakhdar Brahimi has been trying to get the Syrian sides that are fighting to agree to this. Now, he seems to think that he's gotten these factions to agree. But the fact of the matter is, we're hearing different things from different sides. The Syrian government has yet to confirm that they have agreed to this. They say that they will issue a statement tomorrow that is still under review. They will make their announcement tomorrow. Then you have the opposition. And there are a lot of opposition groups, as you know, in Syria.

MALVEAUX: Right. JAMJOOM: We spoke to the SNC (ph) earlier in the day. They said they want to agree to this, but it's going to be up to the Syrian government to show their intention if they're serious about it.

Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right. And I just want to mention here to our viewers, 80 people killed today in Syria. It is far from clear whether or not there really is any kind of cease-fire that is taking place inside of that country.

Mohammed Jamjoom, thank you so much for joining us there.

Now to a major sex abuse scandal involving one of Great Britain's biggest TV stars. That's right, Jimmy Savile, he was like the British version of our Dick Clark. Well, his BBC show, "Top of The Pops," brought music to generations of young folks. Well, he deed a year ago at the age of 84. Well, now, hundreds of people, they're coming forward claiming he molested them when they were kids. The BBC is now investigating a possible cover-up. Lawmakers are demanding answers from its chief. We're going to get more from our Dan Rivers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He's not the first leader of a media organization to face this committee. This is where Rupert Murdock was so humiliated during the phone hacking scandal. Now, it was the director general of the BBC facing the music. This time over allegations of BBC staff, Jimmy Savile, abused children on BBC premises.

GEORGE ENTWISTLE, DIRECTOR-GENERAL, BBC: This is a gravely serious matter, and one cannot look back at it with anything other than horror, frankly, that he -- his activities went on as long as they did undetected. And, of course, that is a matter of grave regret to me.

RIVERS: Jimmy Savile was a disk jockey, TV personality, fundraiser, and now it appears a predatory child abuser. The police say he preyed on more than 200 people. A shattering allegation made worse by victims' claims the BBC tried to cover up the affair after its own expose on Savile was axed. On Monday, a new BBC documentary finally aired the material previously thought not newsworthy enough to air.

KARIN WARD, ALLEGED VICTIM OF JIMMY SAVILE ABUSE: And he wanted me to fondle him. He asked me for oral sex. And I didn't want to. And he promised me that if I gave him oral sex, that he would arrange for me and my friends to go to television central (ph) and be on his television show.

RIVERS: The BBC's top executive struggling to answer questions about the culture of sexual harassment at the BBC.

ENTWISTLE: And we're -- we're -- we're looking at between five and 10 serious allegations relating to -- um, relating to -- relating to activities. But over -- over the whole period in -- over the whole period in question, the Savile period. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But what about people now who work at the BBC?

ENTWISTLE: Well, I believe they're included in the numbers I'm giving you (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And how many of them are there?

ENTWISTLE: I don't know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't know? I suggest that that's unacceptable.

RIVERS: Meanwhile, a lawyer representing victims says they're lining up to sue once their story is finally accepted.

ALICIA ALINIA, LAWYER FOR VICTIMS OF CHILD ABUSE: At the moment we have dozens of claims, potential claims coming forward and victims. Many of them are victims and we, in fact, have witness who want to take part in the process.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Dan Rivers is joining us from London.

So, Dan, you've got this case -- and it's really quite extraordinary if it's true -- alleges sex abuse anywhere from 1958 all the way to 2006. We do see this part of this documentary from the BBC speaking out, these victims here. This was filmed last year. So why did it even take that long for this to all come out?

RIVERS: I think that's the critical question that is yet to be answered. Just sort of backing up and giving you the big picture here. The BBC were going to do an expose on Jimmy Savile and it got axed. That was going to come out at the back end of last year. It was axed. It's not clear why.

Now, there have been various kind of interrogations and inquiries into why that happened. It's still opaque at the moment. But this now has also crossed the Atlantic because the new CEO, incoming CEO of "The New York Times" is Mark Thompson. He was the top man at the BBC when this expose was being put together. Now, he's saying that he didn't know anything about this at the time, but it's awkward to say the least. He's just about to start his job, about 12 days away from starting his job at the top of "The New York Times." Suddenly there are all these questions about, well, why did you guys axe his expose on Jimmy Savile when you had all this evidence?

MALVEAUX: Right.

RIVERS: You know, is this a cover-up, basically?

MALVEAUX: Do you -- we're looking at all these pictures of his performances there. Were there any signs? Was there anything, even whispers, about the potential of sexual molestation and abuse of people, these young kids, when he was alive?

RIVERS: There was more than whispers. The police started looking into this in 2009, but they dropped the investigation because they said there was a lack of evidence. That decision is now being reviewed again in light of hundreds of people coming forward amid all this publicity saying they, too, were abused by Jimmy Savile. The police are saying at the moment more than 200 people have come forward to claim they were abused by Jimmy Savile as children.

So, there were more than just whispers, although there were lots of rumors and whispers for years and years. The amazing thing is, no one seemed to do anything about it. People in the BBC say they even saw Jimmy Savile, you know, doing untoward things to children and no one spoke up.

MALVEAUX: He -- he has since died. Do we know if during his lifetime was there ever anything, any kind of repercussions, anything where he was held accountable for these allegations?

RIVERS: There weren't. I mean he was investigated while he was still alive. No further action was taken. On one occasion, on a radio phone- in program in Ireland, he was asked directly by the host, you know, where -- there are rumors about you being a child abuser. Are they true? And he flatly denied it. And it was very difficult to prove, I suppose. If you haven't got people, victims, to come forward and take the stand and say they were victims, it's impossible to prove because it was so long ago.

MALVEAUX: And, Dan, finally, I mean, you have these alleged victims coming forward, you say in the hundreds, that are now saying this. Is there anybody beside his lawyer that defend this guy, who say, you know what, this is not true?

RIVERS: There isn't. I mean even the family, Jimmy Savile's family, are not protesting his innocence to the extent that they have removed his grave and had it, you know, destroyed, partly because they're worried about it being attacked. But I think partly because there is an element of shame. That they feel that it's no longer appropriate to have this huge shrine saying what a wonderful man he was.

The government is deeply concerned. The Prime Minister here, David Cameron, has promised that there will be, you know -- that this will be looked into.

MALVEAUX: Sure.

RIVERS: The police are looking into it. Again, it's getting bigger every day.

MALVEAUX: All right, Dan Rivers. Thank you, Dan. Appreciate it.

It has been a contentious debate topic. We are talking about, of course, the attack on the consulate in Benghazi. Well, now emails, obtained by CNN, they're prompting new questions on the timeline of the events.

And the polls showing a close race. Big question looming. Could we see a repeat of the election that took weeks to decide back in 2000?

And why else would Prince Charles turn out for a movie premier? To meet Her Majesty's Secret Service. That's Bond, James Bond.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: World support for President Obama is strong, heading into the election. A new BBC world opinion poll finds that 20-out-of-21 countries surveyed strongly prefer the President over Mitt Romney.

Check out the graphic here. President Obama represented by the blue line. France shows the most support for the President with more than 70 percent preferring him over Romney.

The only country surveyed where the people supported Romney over the President is Pakistan.

Just 13 days until the election, the choice for president among voters in swing state is far less certain, the gap now narrowing, considerably.

I want to bring in Wolf Blitzer who is joining us from D.C. Wolf, first of all, give you a couple of examples here because we've been watch this.

In Ohio, according to an average of three polls, you've got President Obama had 48-percent of likely voters, just three points more than Romney. Earlier this month, the President had a nine-point lead.

The list goes on here. Virginia, take a look at this. President Obama up by only one point, 48-to-47-percent, whereas, last month, the President had a four-point lead.

Wolf, when look at these numbers here, why do you think this gap is narrowing in these key states just days away now from the election?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think the first debate that Romney did really well on, the President did not do well on, really -- if Romney goes on to win this election, obviously we don't know if he will, but if he does, I think that first debate will prove to have been the game changer as far as his campaign is concerned because, as you remember, Suzanne, going into that first debate, it looked like Obama was going to walk away, that this thing was -- moved -- the train and was leaving the station.

He was doing really well in Ohio and Virginia and Florida, all these key battleground states. He had significant leads. They have narrowed, as you just pointed out, dramatically since that first debate, so I think that will be very, very significant.

The other thing is that -- and a lot of pollsters and political analysts have suggested this over the years that -- undecided voters in a presidential election when there's an incumbent president, somebody who's served for four years, the public knows that person well.

Undecideds, if they're still undecided at this late date, they usually break in bigger numbers for the challenger rather than the incumbent. That may be another factor. MALVEAUX: And, Wolf, I mean, there's a growing consensus now that we might actually wake up on election day and not even know who the next president is.

It could be that close and we remember the days of "hanging chads" and Bush v Gore. Do you think the American people -- do you think they can stomach that, this go round?

BLITZER: Yes, we can -- we stomached it for 30-days-plus in 2000, Suzanne. You remember, I was part of our CNN coverage on the election that we were anchoring from the CNN Center in Atlanta, and we anchored it until 5:00 in the morning, and I was getting ready to walk across the street over to the Omni Hotel there at the CNN Center, and one of their -- our executives said to me, you're on a 7:00 a.m. flight to Tallahassee. This election is moving to Tallahassee.

I didn't realize it was going to be a long time in Tallahassee, and then it would wind up at the U.S. Supreme Court.

So, the country lived through that. We'll live through this. We'll see what happens. But you're right. This is going to be very, very close, by all accounts.

And, you know, one other scenario that we haven't talked much about, but it's possible it could happen. You need 270 electoral votes to be elected. There are ways, scenarios, where each candidate winds up with 269, 269, 269. No one gets the required 270. The Constitution does have a formula who would be the next president if it is a tie.

MALVEAUX: Yeah, that was a rough going for weeks or so hanging out. I was at West Palm, covering the chads, the "hanging chads" and the painstaking effort of actually counting those ballots, but real quick here, Wolf, I want to talk a little bit about a breaking news story.

"The Des Moines Register" interviewed the President earlier in the month. It was previously established he was going to be off-the- record. Well, today, the President's team changed their mind, allowed the paper to go ahead and publish this. He laid out some of his plans for a possible second term.

Why do you think the switch happened here? Because he got a lot of criticism for actually off-the-record because, normally, it would be on-the-record. Now, he is moving forward, says, OK, this is all right. What's the political calculus?

BLITZER: It was a little strange to me that he wanted to have an off- the-record conversation with the editorial board of "The Des Moines Register," a very important newspaper in Iowa, a key battleground state.

Romney spoke to them on-the-record and I didn't understand why it was going to background, as they say, or off-the-record, and then the newspaper has said, you know, we did speak to him, but we can't tell you what he said because it was off-the-record. It was on background.

And then the campaign said, all right, publish it. And the President does go through some issues there. Maybe he didn't want to make it public. He says he's confident that immigration reform will be done if he is re-elected.

Maybe in the first year he says there will be a "grand bargain" in his words, as far as the budget is concerned. He goes on to say he will push for infrastructure investment, meaning more spending for bridges and roads.

And he promises that that $4 trillion deficit reduction target will be met.

He goes through all of that. One other thing he said there that I thought it was very intriguing. He said, since we're speaking off- the-record, if I am re-elected, I think the Hispanic, the Latino vote will be critical because I'm going to get a big chunk of that.

I think that's not a surprise, but normally you don't hear a presidential candidate I'm going to be re-elected because I'm going to do really well among Latinos.

MALVEAUX: Yeah, and I guess it was advisable that he -- the campaign changed their mind. They switched up a bit because the Romney campaign was attacking him for being secretive and ...

BLITZER: Right.

MALVEAUX: ... and not being open.

BLITZER: What does he have to hide? Why can't he talk to this newspaper publicly? There must be something he is embarrassed about.

You know, all these allegations were coming forward and, in the end, the campaign said, OK, it's all on-the-record. Go ahead and release the transcript, which they've done and which I've now read and there's some good stuff in there.

MALVEAUX: All right. It is some good stuff. We'll be reading it further. Thanks, Wolf. Good to see you, as always.

BLITZER: Thank you, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Sure.

It's been more than a month since the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. Well, now, one journalist has talked to the Libyan guards who were on duty that night, their chilling accounts of what actually happened.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: E-mails obtained by CNN, they're shedding new light on the deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya. They are raising more questions about who knew what and when.

Now, the attack on September 11th killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. Well, the e-mails were sent to the FBI, the White House, other government agencies. One of them was sent while this attack was still underway.

Our foreign affairs reporter, Elise Labott, is joining us live. So, Elise, first of all, talk a little about these emails, what they reveal, one of them including the claim of responsibility of the attack by an Islamist group.

ELISE LABOTT, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Suzanne. These are really the first communications we've seen from the U.S. embassy in Tripoli as they were reporting it, real-time.

Now, the first e-mail was from about 4:00 p.m. Eastern time which would be 10:00 p.m. in Libya, and the subject is "U.S. Mission in Benghazi Under Attack." "The embassy in Tripoli reports approximately 20 armed people fired shots, explosions have been heard, as well. Ambassador Stevens, who was currently in Benghazi and four other mission personnel are in the compound safe haven."

Now, a half hour later, the embassy updates and says that the firing has stopped and the compound has been cleared and that a response team is on-site trying to locate the personnel, but, Suzanne, as we know, that was not the case and that some of these armed gunmen had actually breached the walls and set some of those buildings on fire and that is where Ambassador Stevens and this other gentleman, Sean Smith, are believed to have died.

And so it just goes to show you how frantic and chaotic it was that they didn't even know who was going on the compound and, as you said, that third e-mail, claiming responsibility, was from that group Ansar al-Sharia, an extremist group known to have al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, this North African al Qaeda-affiliate ties.

They later denied their claims. They had it on Facebook. Then they denied it. It just goes to show you how chaotic it was in those initial hours.

MALVEAUX: And I imagine, too -- I mean, the White House initially saying this had to do with the anti-Islam video and that they did not understand or believe that it was the work of a terrorist organization.

How does that square with an e-mail two hours after the attack essentially from a group that says they're responsible?

LABOTT: Well, I think we have to be careful to note that these reports that come out of the State Department or any agency are really what they call spot reports. They're like their initial assessments on the scene.

Of course, the intelligence community takes all this raw data -- it could be an intelligence report, it could be a social media -- and then kind of gives the assessment.

MALVEAUX: Right.

LABOTT: But, clearly, the White House was notified in these e-mails about the possibility an extremist group was involved. Now, I asked Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about this just moments ago, why this wasn't more heavily weighed into the administration's assessment. Let's take a listening to what she said.

MALVEAUX: All right.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: No one wants to find out what happened more than I do. We are holding ourselves accountable to the American people because not only they, but our brave diplomats and development experts serving in dangerous places around the world deserve no less.

The Independent Accountability Review Board is already hard at work looking at everything, not cherry picking, you know, one story here or one document there, but looking at everything, which I highly recommend as the appropriate approach to something as complex as an attack like this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LABOTT: Now, Suzanne, I think a little bit of a dig there by Secretary Clinton at certain congressional committees that are, you know, kind of looking at these emails.

I mean, clearly they don't really advance the story. We know about some of these things. It doesn't really show any smoking gun.

It could have been a denial. The denial was then retracted, and Facebook certainly doesn't say anything, but it does again -- it's another data point in the narrative that the administration was talking about in the days and weeks after and didn't change its assessment until the end of September.

MALVEAUX: All right, Elise Labott. Thank you, Elise.

A "Time" magazine article is now providing even more details about the Benghazi attack through interviews actually with the Libyan guards that were on duty that night.

Reporter Steven Sotloff wrote the article, "The Other 9/11 Libyan Guards Recount What Happened in Benghazi." He joins us via Skype from Libya.

We have seen the article. We've read it. It's really kind of a fascinating, amazing account, first-hand account, from these guards of what actually took place here and what is revealing is that these guys talk about initial blasts. They talk about RPGs. They talk about eight people busting into the consulate and then dozens and dozens of them following.

What are we learning that's new here in terms of the force and the group that was responsible for this attack?

Can you hear me? STEVEN SOTLOFF, "TIME" MAGAZINE REPORTER: Hello.

MALVEAUX: Yes. It's Suzanne. Can you hear me?

SOTLOFF: Hey, Suzanne. Glad to be with you.

MALVEAUX: Thank you very much. Tell me what we know. What are we learning here from your article? Very, very detailed and it looks like these guys were heavily armed and that there were a lot of them.

SOTLOFF: Yeah, they were heavily armed. They came (INAUDIBLE). There was no protest. They were armed with AK-47s, RPGs. They had blast demolitions, you know, for -- explosives for blast fishing. They had grenades.

One person said he might have even seen someone wearing a suicide vest, but he wasn't sure. So, it seemed like these people were very, very organized. It was a well-orchestrated attack.

They came in from the front -- they climbed over the front gate and then they let everyone in through the front gate and then there was an attack from the rear gate, as well, so it came from both sides. It was clearly planned ahead of time.

However ...

MALVEAUX: Go ahead. Go ahead, Steven.

SOTLOFF: When the people came in, some of the guards said they seemed a little confused. They didn't really know the layout of the inside. So, they knew where it was. They knew how -- where the entrances were, but they didn't really know the layout of the inside of the compound.

MALVEAUX: What did the guards tell you about this group? I understand that they describe them as wearing Afghan garb, that they didn't think they were Libyans, and that even one of them actually says to one of the guards, "You are not a Muslim. You help the people who are against Allah and say bad things about the prophet."

Do we know if the guys actually did see the anti-prophet, anti-Islam movie and were motivated by that? Why do you suppose they said that to the guard?

SOTLOFF: Well, we don't know if they were motivated by that, but it wouldn't surprise me if they saw it, but I don't think that's what triggered the attack.

These people were organized ahead of time. They had the weapons. They had a plan. They knew where the gates were. So, it was something that they were looking into for a long time.

However, they -- when -- they told most of the guards when they came across them that they supported the enemies of Islam, that they were against the Prophet Mohammed, so it's definitely something that they may have heard in advance. As far as what they were wearing and thinking, if they were -- wondering if they were Libyan or not, some people were wearing Afghan garb that you just don't see in this part of the country. They weren't speaking the local dialect. They were speaking a classical Arabic dialect which you usually get from Koran scholars.

So, it's unsure -- they're unsure where these people came from, but they believe some of them were not local.

MALVEAUX: And these guys described to you how they were afraid for their lives. They've gone into hiding now and they essentially feel abandoned by the American government.

Why do they feel that way? I mean, why do they still feel like they're under threat?

SOTLOFF: Well, some of these guards were flown out to speak to some American officials and they weren't -- they didn't get any assurances. They wanted some sort of assurances from what I've been told about their security and they didn't get any. They didn't really know what to ask for.

There's also, you know -- there's one guard who went to Egypt because these people in his neighborhood started asking about him. When he came back, he started getting phone calls, so his family's very scared.

And it was really hard to get in touch with these guys because, you know, it took several weeks because they really didn't want to speak and they were very hesitant to speak with each other. They didn't know what to say. They didn't know if anything would reveal their identities and it really took a lot of patience because they are very scared.

MALVEAUX: Yeah, Steven, excellent piece of journalism really. I mean, just a fascinating review and an inside-look at what actually took place there in Benghazi. Thank you very much, Steven. I really appreciate it.

Well, in Monday night's debate, Mitt Romney listed Mali as one of the hot spots affected by international terrorism. The country was once hailed as a model of democracy in Africa. We're going to look at why Mali now is a ticking time bomb.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Monday's third and final presidential debate between President Obama and Mitt Romney, they focused on one topic, of course. It's America's foreign policy.

But if you were paying attention, close attention, you might have heard Mitt Romney mention a certain landlocked African country several times. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Mali has been taken over, the northern part of Mali, by al Qaeda-type individuals.

We want to make sure that we're seeing progress throughout the Middle East. With Mali now having North Mali taken over by al Qaeda.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Got to be the most mentions of Mali in an American political conversation. The first time it has come up, actually, in the election season.

Michael Holmes is joining us from CNN International. We've been talking about Mali for quite some time.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CORRESPONDENT, CNN INTERNATIONAL: We've been talking about it for a long time.

MALVEAUX: This is the first time we've heard it in the Presidential campaign here. You would think it is an international terrorism hotspot, the way Romney was talking about it so much.

Tell us about Mali. What is taking place in Mali?

HOLMES: I think the real thing is, it could be if it is left alone.

Now, as we've been covering this, what happened very briefly, the army had a coup in Mali and, during the instability that followed that, Islamists from AQ in the Islamic Maghreb came in. A whole bunch of other Islamists came in.

They took over the whole of the north of the country, places like Goa, Timbuktu, an area the size of France and they have instituted Sharia law. They are chopping off the hands of people. They are stoning women to death. They have rounded up unmarried pregnant women.

It is a bad, bad scene up there. They are destroying centuries-old tombs and shrines, Islamic shrines, up there. Not a good situation. This is going to be one of the biggest training grounds, if it's left alone, for al Qaeda-type militants if nobody does anything about it.

MALVEAUX: And could this be -- because you look at places like Yemen and Pakistan and you know that there are terrorists and it's a dangerous situation and al Qaeda is essentially a breeding ground in those countries.

Are we seeing the potential for a real security issue and possibly even a war in Mali?

HOLMES: Absolutely. That is the great fear is that there's already training camps there. We know this already by spy plane over-flights that there are training camps already in Northern Mali.

This could be the Afghanistan, if you like, you know, the Taliban in Afghanistan, where you had these training grounds where terrorists are bread and trained and sent outside of Mali to do bad things.

Is it going to be a war? It looks like it. The U.N. has told (INAUDIBLE), the sort of West African organization, get it together within 40 days. Come up with a plan. Got to go take these guys out. Everyone from Europeans to the Americans to African nations agree these guys can't stay there.

MALVEAUX: Would the U.S. be involved in any way? What would be the U.S. role in this? Are we talking about boots on the ground?

HOLMES: Absolutely not. I would imagine that what you would see is perhaps some drone activity there, at least aerial photography, if not predator-type drones.

The Europeans are already saying they're going to send trainers. They're going to send arms to the Malian military, which has been decimated itself. It's not terribly organized.

But it's going to involve a lot of other countries, you know, from Chad to they want the Algerians involved, the Nigerians. It's going to be a group of African nations doing the push with Mali at the head and Europeans and perhaps the Americans supporting it.

MALVEAUX: How soon could this happen?

HOLMES: Next couple of months, probably. I wouldn't be surprised if it's by the end of the year or early next year. There's going to be a fight out there.

MALVEAUX: All right. We're going to be following it in Mali.

HOLMES: Yep, we will.

MALVEAUX: All right, thank you, Michael.

HOLMES: good to see you.

MALVEAUX: An American company trying to stop its losses in Europe, we're going to take a look at Ford's strategy to turn things around.

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SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Ford Motor Company moving some pieces around in Europe. This is a major Ford assembly plant. This is in Belgium. About 4,300 people work there. Well, the company now announcing today it's going to close that plant and move production to an assembly line in Spain. Ford has been losing market share in Europe. It's lost more than a billion -- a half billion dollars there this year alone. Now the Belgium plant, it is slated now to close at the end of 2014.

This is more (ph) the image of Africa's largest economy. We're talking about South Africa. South African mining companies laying off thousands of strikers who have not returned to work. Over the past few months, tens of thousands of workers from the Golden Platinum Mines, they've gone on strike for better pay. Well, the reputation of the President, Jacob Zuma, essentially taking a blow just as he seeks a second term as the leader of the African National Congress. Lot of controversy over this. And it is now a 50-year franchise. Showing no signs of going into retirement. Stars shining for the premier of the new James Bond film "Skyfall."

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MALVEAUX: Bond, James Bond, back on the big screen for the 23rd time. Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, on hand in London last night for the world premier of "Skyfall." The new movie stars Daniel Craig. It is Craig's third time playing Bond. Neil Curry reports from London.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE, ACTOR, "SKYFALL": Murder, employment, Skyfall. Skyfall.

DANIEL CRAIG, ACTOR, "SKYFALL": Done.

NEIL CURRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The last time Daniel Craig was seen in the presence of royalty was at the opening ceremony of the Olympic games. An encounter which apparently ended with the queen parachuting from a helicopter.

CURRY (voice-over): But her son, Prince Charles, kept his feet firmly on the ground on Tuesday evening as he accompanied the Duchess of Cornwall to the world premier of Craig's new film "Skyfall," the 23rd official Bond movie.

CRAIG: Some men are coming to kill us. We're going to kill them first.

CURRY: Director and cast walked the red carpet at the Royal Albert Hall in London, buoyed by the wave of critical approval, but also by the sense of occasion worthy of Bond's 50th anniversary.

JUDI DENCH, ACTRESS: Ian Fleming wrote an endearing and enduring hero who is really essentially British and maybe that's what's -- you know, all the stunts and things like that and the fast cars and beautiful women. I think that will last maybe for another 50 years. Who knows?

CURRY (on camera): People's perception is that "Casino Royale" raised the bar on Bond movies. And there's a similar feeling about this movie as well. Do you share that?

CRAIG: I, as an actor, that's what you want to do every time you make a movie. You always try and make the best movies you can. And, you know, this was a long collaborative -- you know, it was a collaborative process. We got to -- you know, the best people we could for the job and you just hope for the best.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, ACTOR, "SKYFALL": (INAUDIBLE) when you're not ready, nor when you will likely die. Mommy was very bad.

CURRY: You yourself have brought a unique take to the Bond villain. What are the key ingredients in your mind to a Bond villain?

JAVIER BARDEM, ACTOR: You have -- you have to be theatrical in some way. A Bond villain is between reality and fiction, so you have to be grounded, but at the same time you can -- you are free to go a little bit out there.

SAM MENDES, DIRECTOR: I'm honestly more nervous seeing all these people here tonight, you know, than I was making the film because you're in such a tunnel when you make a film. You're so obsessed with detail and making everything work that you really can't -- you don't have time, all most, to think about what people are going to think.

CRAIG: 007 reporting for duty.

CURRY: Audiences in most parts of Europe and the Middle East will be among the first to see "Skyfall" this weekend. But Bond fans in Germany, India, China, Japan, and the Americas will have to wait until November for a chance to experience Bond's latest mission.

Neil Curry, CNN, London.

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MALVEAUX: Normally he's all about being diplomatic, right, a little formal? But the U.N. Secretary-General decided to let loose a little bit.

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MALVEAUX: The U.N. Secretary General showing that he's a pretty good sport here. Take a look.

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BAN KI-MOON, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: He's going to teach me.

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MALVEAUX: Ban Ki-moon taking time out of his busy schedule to meet with fellow South Korean dance sensation Psy. Turns out the secretary- general, he's a big fan, of course. And he showed him a little bit of the famous "Gangnam Style." Psy's video reaching almost half a billion viewers on YouTube now.

World Muslims taking a trip every year. We're going to take a look at this year's Hajj.

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MALVEAUX: Millions of people gathering in Saudi Arabia today for the first day of the Hajj. It is a five-day religious pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca. Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam. All Muslim who are able to afford the trip and are physically able to must make the journey at least once in their lifetime. Some of the rituals you might have seen before, the huge crowds make a circular procession around the Kaaba, the cube-shaped structure that is the most sacred shrine in Islam.