Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Syrian Woman Shot in the Street; Syria Fired Scud-Type Missiles; Pranked Nurse Hanged Herself; Interview with Ted Turner; John McAfee's Bizarre Journey

Aired December 13, 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 60 minutes. Here's what's going on right now.

Syria running out of friends. The government of President Bashar al Assad, two years deep into war with its own people, never had many allies to begin with. Well, today, Russia's support of Syria is cracking. For the first time, a senior Russian official has said publicly that Syria could likely fall to the rebels. The deputy foreign minister in Moscow said, quote, "we need to look at the facts in the eye. We can't exclude a victory by the opposition."

Remember, the Russians have blocked all U.N. Security Council resolutions aimed at stopping the civil war in Syria. They have vetoed U.N. sanctions against the Assad regime and they provided weapons to government troops who are fighting the rebels. So now, Syria's most powerful ally in the world says President Bashar al Assad might be losing.

They're not alone. The head of NATO today said this. "I think the regime in Damascus is approaching collapse. I think now it is only a question of time."

But those people, they're the politicians, want to see the real side of Syria's civil war, the streets where people are caught up in the crossfire and they are dying there. What you're about to see, you can only see here on CNN. This is a teenager risking his life to save a stranger. Here's Arwa Damon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A fighter slithering across the street, his body hugging the cold pavement. Yards away, a woman lies motionless. She's been shot by a sniper. Her rescuer is not a relative, nor a neighbor. He's never met her. Abdullah Hada Fehan (ph) is just 17. He knew he had to save the woman or die trying.

When we met him later, he tells us, "we had a feeling that she was still alive. We wanted to save her, to get her to a hospital."

As he crawls closer, he can see her hand, her fingers shaking. "Cover him. Cover him," someone shouts. Other fighters lay down cover fire. Abdullah quickly ties the hose to her legs but he's unable to retreat.

"I said to myself, if I die, it's God's will that I die next to this woman," he tells us.

Finally, he makes a run for it. And the rebels drag the woman back.

DAMON (on camera): The woman and her son were walking right down the street there. Rebel fighters shouted at them to stay away, but it was too late. Aleppo is crisscrossed with similar sniper alleys. Some are known, but others do not reveal themselves until the first shot has been fired.

DAMON (voice-over): Despite Abdullah's efforts, the woman dies. Her son utterly distraught. "Don't die now. Don't die today," he pleads. "Answer me, mom. Answer me. She's not dead. She's not dead," he says as he collapses.

Abdullah is left wondering whether her life could have been saved if he'd reached her sooner. Until recently, he worked at a bakery. Now, like thousands of young Syrians, he puts his life on the line.

"I am not a hero. I am just like anyone else," Abdullah tells us. And we're left to wonder, how many similar acts of courage go unrecorded every day in Syria? And how many innocents are lost?

Arwa Damon, CNN, Aleppo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: This is what's left of targets hit by Syrian military artillery. We're talking about rockets or missiles. And now U.S. military officials say that Syria is using more deadly types of munitions, even scud-type missiles, against rebel positions. These are U.N. guided -- they're unguided, rather, short range missiles capable of carrying chemical weapons. NATO sources say they have tracked several scud launches over the past several days all from Damascus. Syrian officials deny launching that type of missile.

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, he's in Afghanistan today. He met with U.S. and Afghan troops and commanders in Kandahar to talk about the future of the protection force there. Panetta told CNN the mission is fundamentally unchanged since it began more than 10 years ago. Target al Qaeda everywhere.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEON PANETTA, DEFENSE SECRETARY: The mission of defeating and deterring al Qaeda, I think, is well on the way towards, you know, achieving the mission with regards to Afghanistan and the threat that we face here. We continue to face al Qaeda, obviously, elsewhere, not only in Pakistan, but in Yemen and Somalia and elsewhere. But, you know, we have had remarkable success going after special operations against al Qaeda here, and we're continuing to do that.

I think, you know, the main challenge here is obviously to make sure there's no safe haven for al Qaeda in which to conduct attacks. But the key to that is an Afghanistan that can secure and govern itself. Those two are enter locked in terms of the mission that we have in Afghanistan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Hear more from the secretary of defense on Erin Burnett "OUTFRONT." That is tonight starting at 7:00 Eastern.

U.S. officials say just a few hours after Leon Panetta visited U.S. troops in Kandahar, Afghan insurgents set of a car bomb. It happened about 300 feet from the airfield Panetta was actually visiting. One coalition member and two Afghan civilians were killed. U.S. officials say there's no indication that Panetta was ever in any danger. They say it's unclear if the attack was linked to his visit.

I want to bring in Hala Gorani from CNN International to talk a little bit about what we are seeing.

A lot of developments. First of all you've got -- I mean Arwa Damon's piece was unbelievable. And we were watching it and you said, you know, these things happen every day.

HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Right, dozens of times a day you have people shot, you have people injured and killed. This is becoming a daily occurrence in Syria. People I'm in touch with inside the country have gotten used to death, they've gotten used to the sound of bombs, of shelling. And now we were talking about the scud missiles there that U.S. officials told CNN they believe were used by the Syrian regime and came very close to the Turkish side of the border in northern Syria.

MALVEAUX: How significance is that? I mean these are much more dangerous and sophisticated weapons.

GORANI: Right.

MALVEAUX: What would this mean for people on the ground? I mean the people that we saw in that piece who are just trying to stay alive?

GORANI: They're lethal, not necessarily more unsophisticated. They're unmanned missiles. They're incendiary type of bombs. They cause the kind of death and carnage that is very worrisome. And especially to a country like Turkey, if the regime becomes so desperate that it starts using these types of scud missiles, and some of them, inevitably, because they're not as precise as those who launch them would like them to be, end up landing in Turkey. And, of course, our viewers will remember that Turkey has requested the patriot missile defense system from NATO and is getting it.

MALVEAUX: So does Syria, does Bashar al Assad, does he have any friends, does he have any allies anymore because now we're hearing --

GORANI: He's still --

MALVEAUX: From Russian officials who say, you know, you might lose -- you might lose power here. That seems fairly significant. GORANI: This is extremely significant. The Russian deputy foreign minister, Mikhail Bogdanov, essentially said, we must face the facts. This is the first time we're hearing this from Russia. The possibility exists that the government may progressively lose control over an increasing part of the territory. An opposition victory cannot be excluded. We're hearing this from the deputy foreign minister. A very high level Kremlin official. This is Syria's most important friend. They are preparing for the post-Assad era in Syria.

MALVEAUX: OK. So you've got Russia saying, look, you guys are going to fall. You might fall. And you have the United States at this point recognizes the rebels as the true, legitimate authority in that country. So what does it mean for those guys on the ground who eventually, they are looking to overthrow their own government.

GORANI: Well, this is going to be a very tough battle. But I want to say one thing about Russia. Though Russia is now saying the possibility exists that the opposition is going to win, they're not calling for Assad to resign. They're still calling on a political transition that includes him, and they're not giving any signal that they will stop vetoing U.N. Security Council resolutions that would sanction Syria. So Russia is very slowly inching toward a position that would force it to acknowledge that Assad is essentially not going to survive.

MALVEAUX: Are they -- are they still arming the rebels? Are the Russians still doing --

GORANI: They're still fulfilling existing military contracts, that they have acknowledged, in terms of helicopter maintenance and other things. But, also, the NATO secretary-general today saying -- Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said, "I think the regime in Damascus is approaching collapse. I think now it is only a question of time." He is now putting into words what many of us who have been looking at the Syrian situation have been saying for a while now.

MALVEAUX: Could this be a tipping point, Hala?

GORANI: You know, it's all -- nobody has a crystal ball. It's hard to imagine a scenario in which Bashar al Assad will remain in power or will be part of a political transition. You saw the images there. This is not favorable for any kind of discussion. And Bashar al Assad, the rebels are closing in on the capital, on the seat of his power. So is it only a matter of time? Many observers think so, including now high level officials who are saying it publicly for the first time.

MALVEAUX: All right, Hala Gorani. Thank you, Hala. Appreciate it.

It started off as a royal prank. It ended in tragedy, of course. A coroner's report revealing new details now in the death of the nurse who actually took that prank call.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN MCAFEE: I don't think anybody thinks that I murdered my neighbor, except you, the press. (END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: After weeks on the run, days in detention, American technology pioneer John McAfee, well he is now back in the United States.

Yes, crazy. This is the -- only the first session of the newly elected parliament in the Ukraine. We're going to have more on this political fight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: The nurse who took a prank call at a hospital treating the duchess of Cambridge apparently hanged herself with a scarf. According to a coroner's report, Jacintha Saldanha was found dead last Friday hanging from a closet door at her hospital living quarters. The nurse left three notes, but the contents have not been revealed. Michael Holmes has been following this.

And we've learned more today about this. It just seems to be getting more and more tragic as we know.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: It's sad, yes.

MALVEAUX: What are we learning in terms of the circumstances around this?

HOLMES: Yes. Well, as you say, I mean, found hanged from a wardrobe in her staff quarters, found by a co-worker and a security guard who was with her when they went to look for her when she was missing. Those notes are interesting. The contents weren't revealed. Two notes at the scene, another note with her belongings. We don't know what was in them yet.

There were also injuries to her wrists, but they weren't specified either. So we don't know exactly what they are. And the police are going through e-mails and telephone records, talking to her friends and coworkers so see how she got to that state of mind because most experts agree, what happened with the call may have been a trigger, but there must have been underlying other issues involved. So they're trying to look at that angle.

MALVEAUX: Sure. And her family and the people around her having been rather quiet, but we've heard a lot from those DJs and I understand, you know, they've been very remorseful.

HOLMES: Yes.

MALVEAUX: What happens now in terms of the station itself? I know that they've weighed in on this as well.

HOLMES: Right. Well, what's happened is, the DJs, as you know, they were taken off the air. Their show has been canceled. They're still employed and a lot of people are show more sympathy for them because they did feel horrible. Mel Greig and Michael Christian were their names and we saw their tearful sort of mea culpa, if you like, last week, really this week when we talked.

What has happened is the station is now being looked at and the Australian media watchdog -- it's called the Australian Communications and Media Authority -- they're going to focus on the owner, the license holder, to see whether standards were breached.

They have to meet certain standards, reflect community standards, is the wording of it. There's a formal investigation under way into their license. You know, they could lose their license.

MALVEAUX: They could shut down altogether?

HOLMES: They could and this is a very big media company, too. This is a very big network of national radio commercial broadcasters.

You know, this goes back to this sort of whole -- the commercial competition, particularly in Australia. You've got like 100 radio stations battling it out in Sydney for a little slice of the market. And, you know, you can see what happens when people try to get ratings.

MALVEAUX: Yeah, you can bet they regret what they did now.

HOLMES: Yeah, well, the inquest has now been adjourned until March so more investigations are done and then they'll go back and the coroner, what happens in the U.K. and other places, it's a coronial inquest, non-adversarial, just trying to get information. And that will regroup again in March.

MALVEAUX: OK, Michael, thank you.

HOLMES: OK.

MALVEAUX: Appreciate it.

Another chapter in a bizarre story, it started with authorities in Belize wanting to talk to him about a murder. Well, now, anti- -- software founder John McAfee is back in the U.S., but might not be the end of the saga.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Tackling huge challenges head on, something Ted Turner is not afraid to do. Whether it's starting the world's first, around- the-clock, cable news network, CNN, or just pushing for major action on issues like climate change and nuclear weapons, Ted Turner is a force to be reckoned with.

We sat down to talk with him to talk about what he thinks President Obama should make a top priority.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: President Obama, he says in his second term he wants to make climate change and protecting the environment a top priority.

What do you think he should do? What should he do first?

TED TURNER, CNN FOUNDER: He should do it, do what he said he was going to do.

MALVEAUX: What's that?

TURNER: That's why -- go ahead and make climate change and the other environmental issues a top priority.

I'd like to see him add -- might as well add nuclear weapons, too, while we're at it. If we're going to make the world safer and better, we might as well go all the way.

MALVEAUX: Eliminate nuclear weapons?

TURNER: That will stop nuclear proliferation.

MALVEAUX: Do you think it's fair for what the Obama administration is doing for Iran. It says, Iran, you can't have nuclear weapons, but we can.

TURNER: It won't work because we have thousands of nuclear weapons. How can we look with a straight face to any other country and say you can't have two, particularly when we said it was OK for Israel to have 100.

MALVEAUX: Do you think, if Iran has nuclear weapons, it would be a dangerous situation?

TURNER: It's already a dangerous situation.

MALVEAUX: How so?

TURNER: Because Russia and the United States have nuclear weapons. Israel has them. Pakistan has them. India has them. You know, about eight countries have them and they're extremely dangerous.

If they all went off at once, it would clearly destroy the word completely.

MALVEAUX: So, you think Ahmadinejad should have nuclear weapons, as well?

TURNER: I think nobody should have them. That way either we all have them or nobody has them. We play by the same rules.

Equal rights for equal people. Women have equal rights with men. In Afghanistan, people have equal rights with people from the United States.

MALVEAUX: What do you think -- this is the last question. What do you think of -- when you watch the world and you see what's happening and there's so much turmoil and it looks like there's so much change, even crisis, in the Middle East. When you see that, what do you make of what's taking place?

TURNER: Well, once again, I'll take an optimistic view of things.

I was just -- war is just about over with. War is just about over with and that is huge news.

First of all, the big, intelligent, well-educated countries have already quit war. You don't see France getting ready to go to war with Germany or Russia getting to go to war with Poland. That used to happen all the time, but it's not happening.

And the best example of al was just a couple of weeks ago when Gaza was fighting -- the Palestinians were fighting with the Israelis and they lobbed a couple of missiles into Tel Aviv. And I'm sure that both people on both sides could see that the day was coming that they'd be lobbing missiles into Jerusalem.

And this is what -- both the Christian and the Jewish religion began there and it's the Holy Land. And it's some of the greatest tourist attractions in the world. People want to come from all over the world to see it, but not when a war is going on.

And they realized within a week of war that they had made a terrible mistake to go to war. And even though it's better to grumble at each other, but not to be shooting at each other and causing all this damage and wrecking the economy and upsetting people all over the world because these pictures.

Because, these pictures, you've got the BBC and CNN now, having the pictures of the grandmothers and grandfathers and little children lined up on the street in front of house, dead. You know, they're bringing them out to bury them.

That doesn't look like a fun way to live and it's not. So they quit. They quit fighting in a week.

Maybe they'll all start again. Maybe this will be the last war.

MALVEAUX: Do you think that -- you're a successful person. You have many different ventures. Do you think you should pay more as a wealthy American? Do you think you should pay more taxes?

TURNER: Yes.

MALVEAUX: How much?

TURNER: You know, whatever is reasonable.

MALVEAUX: Bit when you see the equation and when you see the kinds of conversations we're having, do you think the wealthy -- it's fair that the wealthy pay more taxes?

TURNER: Yes.

MALVEAUX: And you'd be willing to do that? TURNER: Yes. Remember, I gave most of my money away. I gave $31 million to the United States government and didn't even ask for a credit.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: To hear my entire interview with Ted Turner, log on to CNN.com/Suzanne.

And he says he faked a heart attack and that he's broke and now he's got nowhere to go. We're going to get the latest in the bizarre saga of John McAfee who's now turned up in Miami.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TURNER: American millionaire John McAfee's bizarre journey from Belize to Guatemala, well, now he's landed in Miami. The software founder says Guatemalan authorities expelled him from prison and put him on a plane to the United States.

And when he arrived at his hotel in South Beach, reporters asked him why authorities in Belize want to ask questions about the murder of his neighbor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The authorities in Belize still think you murdered your neighbor.

JOHN MCAFEE: I don't think anybody thinks I murdered my neighbor, except you, the press.

I don't think I had anything to do with it. Look, I had no choice in this. I was whisked out of the prison, I forcibly separated from Samantha and here I am.

I didn't have anything to do with anything. I don't have a plan. I'm here and hungry. I plan to eat. That's basically it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One day at a time, it sounds like.

MCAFEE: That's right. If you've ever tasted Guatemalan jail food, it's not very nice and I'd like some sushi.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: John Zarrella joining us from Miami. He wants sushi. Where was he, first of all, in South Beach?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here at the hotel behind me, the Beacon Hotel. This is where he ended up last night and today.

And, in fact, he just now -- if the truck gets out the way -- he's getting in a taxicab. He did. He got in a taxicab and left, perhaps going out for some more sushi for lunch. But I have to tell you, Suzanne, he just finished a lengthy interview with all of us here, but before that, I sat down in the cafe inside there for about an hour. And he elaborated on many of the details surrounding the events that have transpired.

One of the things he told me was that in Guatemala while in jail in detention that he faked his heart attack in order for them to take him to a hospital because it gave his attorney time to file a number of appeals.

After his attorney -- which kept him from being sent to Belize, he says. By doing that, he said, and his attorney filing all the appeals, said the Guatemalan authorities after that just said, this is going to take year to resolve, threw up their hands and deported him back to the United States.

MALVEAUX: Wow.

ZARRELLA: And, Suzanne, he says a lot of this goes way back before the events of his neighbor's killing on November 11th, Gregory Faull.