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Giffords Launches Americans for Responsible Solutions; Will Chavez Attend His Own Inaguration?; Oil Revenues in Iran Drop 45 Percent; Winehouse Death Confirmed as Accidental Alcohol Poisoning; Critics Take Aim at Bollywood Songs;

Aired January 08, 2013 - 12:30   ET

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

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MICHAEL HOLMES, ANCHOR, "CNN NEWSROOM INTERNATIONAL": Welcome back, everyone.

Former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords launches a new effort to reduce gun violence on the second anniversary of the shooting that left her critically wounded.

Giffords, of course, was one of 19 people shot during a political meet-and-greet at a Tucson shopping center. Six people died, including a 9-year-old girl.

Giffords says the country has witnessed 11 more mass shootings since then -- 11 more. No action by Congress, she says.

Today, she and her husband, Mark Kelly, unveiled a website called Americans for Responsible Solutions. Now, they say it's designed to promote a national conversation on preventing gun violence and to raise money to balance the gun lobby's influence in the debate.

After almost two years after the revolution that swept Egypt's Hosni Mubarak out of power, Egyptians are still dealing with the aftermath of all of that.

One thing that has changed, more people have guns and there is more serious crime. Here's Ian Lee in Cairo.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Gunfire outside the presidential palace in Cairo last December, a fight between opponents and supporters of President Mohamed Morsi.

Business owner Saeed Aly witnessed the chaos unfold. Reports from that night say both sides were shooting at each other.

SAEED ALY, ELECTRONICS STORE OWNER: I saw lots of people from the protest side down, lots of injuries. I saw with my own eyes more than six passed away.

LEE: Since the revolution two years ago, Aly is increasingly concerned about the security situation. ALY: I have this gun. This is the one I use. This is mine on my license. I have the shotgun, as well. It's on my license.

LEE: He's not the only one. Egypt is awash in guns and Egyptian security officials say serious gun crime is on the rise.

AHMED BAROUDY, GUN STORE OWNER: People are eagerly -- they want to buy guns due to the political instability that the country's having right now.

LEE: Brothers Haled (ph) and Ahmed el Baroudy are among the few licensed gun dealers in Egypt. They deal in pistols and shotguns and they're not cheap. These firearms range from $5,000 to $30,000, a single bullet is about $5.

It's hard to own a gun legally in Egypt. You need a clean criminal record, extensive background checks and a valid reason and even then you might be denied a permit.

Out of 10,000 applicants last month, roughly a thousand were approved.

BAROUDY: The bad thing here is that some people who are unable to get a license can seek the black market, for example, just for protection.

LEE: Criminals are also taking advantage of cheaper illegal guns.

In addition, Egypt's revolution created a security vacuum with some policemen still reluctant to go back to work.

The conflict in Libya flooded Egypt with weapons ranging from Kalashnikovs to RPGs. Homemade guns are also on the rise.

For those who want to obey the law and can't get a license, there are alternatives.

This is the most popular gun in Egypt and, while it looks real and sounds real, it's not. It's a sound gun. And because you don't need a permit to own one of these things, they're flying off the shelves.

For those who can own a gun like Aly, he hopes the day never comes when he has to draw it.

ALY: If you're going to shoot, shoot with this gun, you know, a bullet in somebody and that's it. He's dead.

I definitely I'd rather use this at the first. If I am in need for this, I'm going to use this.

LEE: Egyptian officials continue to work to secure the country and curb illegal firearms, but some Egyptians believe the only real security is the one on your hip.

Ian Lee, CNN, Cairo.

(END VIDEOTAPE) HOLMES: All right, when we come back, we're going to have a look at Venezuela. Political turmoil there, we're going to talk about what happens if Hugo Chavez, who's currently in hospital in Cuba, can no longer lead his country.

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HOLMES: Now, we're going to take you to South America now. A question a lot of people are asking, will Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez show up for his own inauguration on Thursday?

Looking pretty doubtful, I've got to say. The president hasn't been seen in public since he left for a fourth cancer operation in Cuba early last month.

The government information minister said yesterday that Mr. Chavez is in a stable situation, but that was it, no other details. There haven't been many throughout his illness.

Venezuela is the fourth largest supplier of oil to the United States, so political uncertainty there could have a huge ripple effect.

Let me bring in Miguel Tinker Salas. He is a professor at Pomona College in California. Professor, appreciate you coming on the program.

There is a pretty intense debate going on now with the allies of President Chavez saying inauguration date's just a formality, let's delay it, he can continue to lead the country.

The opposition saying, huh-uh, that's not the case. Any delay would lead to a power vacuum.

In a purely legal, constitutional sense, what's the reality?

PROFESSOR MIGUEL TINKER SALAS, POMONA COLLEGE: The reality is that the constitution on these issue is relatively muddled.

One section of the constitution says that the inauguration will be January 10th, but the preceding one says in case that's not possible, he can swear in before the Supreme Court at a later date.

And that's what's causing part of the conflict in Venezuela and part of the interpretation conflict over how to interpret the constitution.

In either case, it's obvious we're seeing a transition in Venezuela and I think that's the larger issue.

HOLMES: And, of course, the big issue there, I mean, with such a personality cult with Chavez, I mean, he ran the place with an iron fist. He sort of benighted his own successor, if you like.

But that's not going to stop the jockeying if he does not get to back to work. And to be honest, I mean, from what little we know, it's not looking good.

SALAS: Well, I think that the absence of Chavez represents a challenge for both sides.

On one hand, it represents a challenge for the followers of the president. He has said that the vice president, he would vote for the vice president if he had a chance and he's encouraged his followers do that. That's Nicolas Maduro, the foreign minister.

On the other hand, the opposition also faces a challenge with Chavez out of the picture because, after all, Chavez has been the center of attention in the country for the last 12 years and, without Chavez at the center, the opposition itself may splinter.

Because, after all, each one of these different sectors of the opposition, up until now, has been splintered. This is the first time they've been united.

And, in the past, they actually have divided, so, again, I think the absence of Chavez represents a challenge for both sides in the context of a transition in Venezuela.

HOLMES: And regionally, as well.

Even the Catholic Church weighing in on the lack of information there has been about Chavez's health.

I'll tell you what the country's bishops conference said yesterday. You probably heard this.

"The government hasn't told the nation all of the truth. The nation's political and social stability is at serious risk."

You know, Catholic leaders obviously worried about the issue of stability. Everyone is.

What -- and there really hasn't been anything. Nobody knows what type of cancer he's got, for goodness sake.

So, what's the risk of instability not just in Venezuela, in the constitutional political sense, but in a regional sense, as well?

SALAS: I think you've touched upon an important issue.

The church has been an opponent of Chavez from the very beginning, so it's not surprising that the bishops' ecumenical council made the declaration.

It underscores two things. It underscores the lack of information on the nature of the illness. We know it's a pelvic cancer. We don't know what kind.

But the other part is, the notion that somehow Venezuela is about to explode, I think is a bit of an exaggeration. We've been hearing that for about 12 years now and the reality is that life goes on in Venezuela.

Yes, there's a political discussion. There's a political debate. There are important differences that we should not underestimate, but the reality is the country continues. It's not on the edge of a precipice. It's not about to collapse.

And, in terms of Latin America, it would be different if Chavez was the only figure, but the reality is that Latin America itself has changed. We have change in Brazil, in Uruguay, in Paraguay, in Argentina, in Bolivia and Ecuador and there are many different voices now that represent this change in Latin America. It's not longer simply Hugo Chavez.

HOLMES: That's a very good point, too.

Miguel Tinker Salas, professor at Pomona College in California, appreciate you coming on the program.

SALAS: Thank you. Have a good day.

HOLMES: That story's not going away. That's for sure.

Well, running a marathon is hard enough, but try doing it while that happens. Didn't slow the Kenyan athlete down and the cops were pretty quick.

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HOLMES: Iran losing a lot of money on its oil sales and exports and it seems U.N. sanctions are the reason why. A top Iranian lawmaker says, revenues from oil and gas exports have dropped by, wait for it, 45 percent. That's a lot of money. Oil revenues inside Iran dropped 40 percent. Iran is under U.N. sanctions over its refusal to stop its uranium enrichment program. Many see this as a clear sign that those sanctions are indeed working. The squeeze is on.

Google Chairman Eric Schmitt and former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson have been paying a visit to North Korea and they're going to the technology university in Pyongyang during their four-day trip. That's according to a major South Korean news agency. Schmitt and Richardson arrived in North Korea late Monday on what the former governor is calling a private humanitarian mission. He's believed to be working for the release of an American detained in North Korea, an American of South Korean origin. Why the Google chairman is there, no one really knows for sure. A bit of a mystery.

Well, talk about perseverance, Kenyan runner Edwin Kipsang Rotich was competing in the Kings Race in Brazil when, yes, that happened. Attacked by a spectator along the route. Pushed off the course. Police, as you can see, quickly swooped in, arrested the attacker, gave him a bit of a nudge with the motorcycles. Have a look at it again. It turns out this is a 33-year-old with a history of mental problems. Perhaps no surprise there. Rotich just kept on running. He went on to win the race in Sao Paulo. And the man who tried to knock him off his feet apparently has done it before at other races. Be (ph) banned.

All right, trending today, the death of Amy Winehouse. A new investigation confirming that that Grammy Award winning singer died of accidental alcohol poisoning. Now, that is the same result as the original investigation. But the earlier one had to be thrown out because the coroner didn't have the right qualifications. It was a technicality, really. Winehouse died at her London home in July 2011, 27 years old. She had, of course, battled years of drug and alcohol abuse.

All right, next up, we're going to take you inside Bollywood, the booming Indian film industry. It turns out more than a thousand movies a year. But some people are saying it isn't trying hard enough to develop female characters.

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HOLMES: The deadly gang rape of a 23-year-old woman in New Delhi has sparked calls for Bollywood to stop objectifying women. For weeks, angry demonstrators have demanded better protection of women and stronger laws against rape and assault.

As now Mallika Kapur now reports, protesters want Bollywood to do its part.

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MALLIKA KAPUR, ABC CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Some say it's sexy. Others call it offensive. Not just the dance move, but the lyrics, too. I am a piece of (INAUDIBLE) chicken, this actor goes on to sing in a popular Bollywood film. Wash me down with alcohol.

Many in Indian argue that films portray women in a derogatory way, particularly in so-called item numbers, songs that have no relevance to a film's plot but appear in several commercial movies.

SHABANA AZMI, ACTRESS AND ACTIVIST: You see fragmented images of a woman's bosom, of her swinging hips, of her swiveling navel and it makes the woman lose all autonomy and surrender to the male gaze.

KAPUR: This actor feels it's unfair to blame item numbers. Chitrangada Singh's upcoming movie is about sexual harassment. She says it's really about the way men think.

CHITRANGADA SINGH, ACTRESS: When you buy a cigarette pack, it shows you what cancer looks like and people still buy it. You know, so I don't think it makes so much of a difference what you see. It's what's in your head.

KAPUR: But what's in the public's head is often colored by what sees on screen. A subject that's being heavily debated in India following the New Delhi gang rape that has outraged the country and made it question how its popular culture portrays women.

KAPUR (on camera): Bollywood and television (INAUDIBLE) play a huge part in shaping the (ph) society simply because they reach millions of people. Take a look at this slum. There's no sanitation. There's no running water. But almost every home has a television set.

KAPUR (voice-over): Entertainment channel Star Plus says it alone reaches 80 million households. Its series (ph) center on women, often playing the role of a dutiful wife or daughter-in-law. NACHIKET PANTVAIDYA, STAR PLUS: Yes, I mean, we want to make it identifiable. We don't want to make situations in our shows, you know, which are alien to consumers because then we simply don't get people watching them. But we want to -- we want to show particularly how these situations change with effort.

KAPUR: Azmi, who led a silent march of theater and film (ph) personalities to condemn the New Delhi gang rape, says it's time for the industry to reflect on its role.

AZMI: But, but, we do not want the morality brigade to appropriate us. We don't want somebody else to tell us, you do this and you do that. We have to indulge in soul searching and talk about self-regulation.

KAPUR: At Star Plus, the introspection could result in a new show, one that targets a male audience.

PANTVAIDYA: How do we tell our male audiences, this is right and this is wrong? And that's something that we haven't fully wrote a motive (ph) for. But that is something that is -- that is something that we are reflecting on.

KAPUR: TV and film folks say there's no point blaming their industry for recent events. The only people to blame for rape are rapists.

Mallika Kapur, CNN, Mumbai.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Well, the outrage over that deadly gang rape in New Delhi is prompting more people to stand up for women's rights and equal, as you see there. But let's show you this scene in neighboring Nepal. The last two weeks demonstrators have been chanting slogans and gathering outside office building to demand better protection for women. They have criticizes what they call a delayed response by the government there to issue such as rape and other sexual abuse.

Gender bias is sparking discussions all over the world. CNN took the open mic to Mumbai to let people have their say.

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ON SCREEN TEXT: Mumbai, India. Open mic. India's gender bias.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a man's world, actually, but we women are trying to fight. Women are really finding and fighting their way through and I mean most of the places women are really getting their rights.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sometimes I feel women are not really looked upon with a lot of respect. We need -- would like to believe that but I -- somehow I feel I don't think we have that thing in India.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The gender bias, which is there inherently in our culture, when we bring up kids. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I should get the same opportunity work (ph) they get. They can go anywhere at night, at late night, but not we. Why not we? We should get that opportunity.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I would like to see the politicians taken -- take a better action, a better law to be created for a women's safety.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is always a distinction made between guys and girls on what they should do and what they should not do. I think that is something that should change. There should be a equal opportunity, a equal respect for both genders.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Guess what? It's David Bowie's 66th birthday today. But instead of getting gifts, he's giving one to all of his fans in the form of a brand-new song. Here's a quick listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID BOWIE, MUSICIAN (singing): Had to get the train from Potsdamer platz.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: That's Bowie's newest single "Where Are We Now." It's the first time he's released a song in almost 10 years, actually. The song is on a new album, which is called "The Next Day," which releases in March. That's another slow dancing one.

That will do it for me. CNN NEWSROOM does continue right now, though, with the one and only Ali Velshi.