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Connect the World
Luis Suarez Suspended 10 Games For Biting Opponent; U.S. Intelligence Confirms Use Of Sarin Gas In Syria; Psychiatric Hospital Fire Near Moscow Kills All But Three Inside; Death Count Continues To Rise In Bangladesh After Garment Building Collapse
Aired April 26, 2013 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BECKY ANDERSON, HOST: Seemingly the land of difficult options.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Knowing that potentially chemical weapons have been used inside of Syria, doesn't tell us when they were used, how they were used...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, as Obama's red line on chemical weapons appears to shift, tonight I ask a former army general what western powers led by Washington do next.
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN London, this is Connect the World with Becky Anderson.
ANDERSON: Also ahead this hour...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a misnomer to call them lone wolves, because even though they are physically alone, of course they're interacting with other people online.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Following the digital footprint of terrorists. A closer look at the role of social media in online jihad.
And, he's an Oscar winning actor, a Prada model and now a judge. Red carpet eye candy Adrian Brody is my guest this hour from New York Tribeca Film Festival.
First up this hour, U.S. President Barack Obama says the world cannot stand by and allow the use of chemical weapons against civilians. But he also says the U.S. will act, quote, prudently and deliberately before responding to intelligence reports on Syria.
Now Mr. Obama says assessments that Syria had used chemical weapons are preliminary. But during a meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah, he again warned it could be a gamechanger.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: We're going to be working with countries like Jordan to try to obtain more direct evidence and confirmation of this potential use. In the meantime, I've been very clear publicly, but also privately, that for the Syrian government to utilize chemical weapons on its people crosses a line that will change my calculus and how the United States approaches these issues.
So, you know, this is not an on or off switch, this is an ongoing challenge that all of us have to be concerned about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, you may remember the United States announced last week that it's sending up to 200 more troops to Jordan. They would be ready for military action in Syria is President Obama orders it.
Well, Mr. Obama says there are still a range of questions, quote, about how, when, and where the Syrian regime used chemical weapons. He's promising, and I quote again, a definitive answer as soon as possible.
Let's get more on this. Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr looking now for you at the evidence gathered so far.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: March 19, Aleppo, Syria, there is talk civilians here have been attacked with chemical weapons, but no confirmation. Now, suddenly, defense secretary Chuck Hagel traveling in the Middle East.
CHUCK HAGEL, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: The U.S. intelligence community assesses with some degree of varying confidence that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale in Syria, specifically the chemical agent sarin.
STARR: The White House sent letters to congress responding to questions about chemical weapons use and calling for UN investigation. After the debacle over Iraqi weapons, Hagel says the U.S. needs to confirm exactly what happened.
HAGEL: We need all the facts. We need all the information.
STARR: Senator John McCain told CNN's Jake Tapper it's not the response he wants.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) ARIZONA: Disappointment, but not surprise. The president has not wanted to engage in Syria in any way, any meaningful way, for a couple of years.
STARR: McCain wants a no-fly zone, weapons provided to the Syrian opposition, and chemical weapons secured. President Obama had promised action, but was never specific.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: A red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized, that would change my calculus.
STARR: A senior U.S. official says the Syrians continue moving chemical stockpiles, causing even more worry.
Hagel is sending the first armored divisions headquarters from Fort Bliss, Texas to Jordan. The official tells CNN it will spearhead securing Syria's weapons if ordered.
ANDREW TABLER, WASHINGTON INSTITUTE FOR NEAR EAST POLICY: We could use air strikes, drone strikes. There could be teams of special forces who go into the country.
STARR: But the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who is reviewing military options, says troops aren't the answer.
MCCAIN: You have confidence that we could secure it?
GEN. MARTIN DEMPSEY, CHAIRMAN, U.S. JOINT CHIEFS: Now as I sit here today simply because they've been moving it and the number of sites is quite numerous.
STARR: The U.S. is adamant there will be no go it alone military action for American troops, but many allies are still reluctant to get involved. And it's raising questions about where all of this is headed.
Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Right. We're going to discuss where this is headed shortly. Firstly, just from the Syrian government. It says it doesn't have chemical weapons and wouldn't use them if it did. Well, today it strongly denied the allegations saying they lack credibility. Syria's information minister told Russia TV, quote, it's baseless and it's a new tactic to put political and economic pressure on Syria.
So, after several warnings about red lines and gamechangers, what will it actually take for the United States to act, if at all?
We're joined by a special guest tonight, Major General James "Spider" Marks now retired. You've spent more than three decades in the U.S. Army, ending his career as commanding general of the army's intelligence center. Sir, you will know more about intelligence than I will ever know at this point. The president wants the facts, does he have what it takes at this point? Certainly his red line seems to be shifting. What happens next?
MAJ. GEN. JAMES MARKS, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Well, a red line -- Becky, you know, a red line is defined as immutable. It shouldn't shift. But apparently the administration is very concerned. They really don't want to have to face this problem, but they must. The Secretary of Defense has come out and said with some degree of confidence we -- our intelligence community has assessed that Syria -- the regime in Syria has used chemical weapons against its own population.
That, by definition, falls into the category of weapons of mass destruction. We address those as we would chemical as we should nuclear, any form of weapon of mass destruction. So the thing that the administration has to do is it has to galvanize and international body, and it could be very narrowly defined. As long as it includes elements from the EU, the United Nations must be the lead element. The United States cannot. And maybe even countries from the Gulf Cooperation Council to get involved and be prepared to help separate the warring parties.
There needs to be more, Becky, than a no-fly zone. There needs to be a no-move zone so we can get in and start getting our arms around the inventory. That's the biggest challenge.
ANDERSON: Yeah. Let me put this to you. Do you think he misspoke when using this red line criteria? Because at this point to many, many people around the world it looks like President Obama is prevaricating, not necessarily for me, but I'm just suggesting to our viewers around the world it looks like prevarication.
It's not now whether there are weapons of mass destruction, but how and where they might have been used. I mean, it doesn't look good, does it?
MARKS: No, it doesn't. When the truth changes, you always have a problem. You never want to take options off the table and you never want to completely stick options on the table and say this is what we're going to do and our administration now is kind of wringing its hands that we're confronted with this.
Now, there is an element of command and control coming out of the First Armored Division. And what that really means is that will be the element around which we can galvanize other enablers to keep things from spilling over and if the -- and if an international body...
ANDERSON: What do you mean -- sorry, let me just stop you there. You're saying we'll get other enablers to help us out -- what do you mean by that in sort of clear language that I can understand.
MARKS: Well, -- and again, I'm trying to prevaricate, and I'm not trying to beat around the bush here, what I'm saying is, is there are a number of government agencies and international bodies that need the support that the military can provide to get into Syria and begin to...
ANDERSON: ...something around in Jordan, right?
MARKS: Absolutely. If you're on the ground in Jordan, we also have a presence up in Turkey. We've got to be able to try to contain that. And then if you need to get inspectors in there, if you need to get vehicles in there, there -- you know, you have to create a humanitarian corridor to get innocents out of there. And that can only be done with the military. And so there are a number of missions here that we've got to...
ANDERSON: ...war zone -- yep. I get it.
Let's just have a listen to a couple of bits of sound I want our viewers to hear today.
One from Carney, who is the spokesman for the White House and that's going to be followed immediately by David Cameron, the prime minister of the UK. And let's see if we've learned anything from what we hear from these two strategic players. Let's have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president wants the facts. And I'm not going to set a timeline, because the facts need to be what drives this investigation not a deadline.
DAVID CAMERON, PRIME MINISTER OF ENGLAND: Use of chemical weapons, probably by the regime, it's extremely serious. This is a war crime. But we need to go on gathering this evidence and also to send a very clear warning to the Syrian regime about these appalling actions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Walk me through the difficulty of any boots on the ground and indeed the idea of operating a no-fly zone. And is it any clearer at this point at this hour whether we are any closer to military action being triggered? Two questions for you there.
MARKS: Becky, there are several approaches to this, and embedded in that are a bunch of different facts. Tell me if you think I'm getting off base here. First of all, no-fly zone. No-fly zone only accomplishes one thing. Number one it really accomplishes nothing -- Syria is not flying anything essentially to arm its population, but what that can do is that can help you establish this corridor so good people and citizens and civilians can get out. That would be very beneficial.
Boots on the ground I would hazard to say is not likely, only because it is so messy at this point and there has to be a number of diplomatic initiatives and efforts that bring a body together, not the United States exclusively. And we all understand that. So getting boots on the ground has to take a number of nations, the local population -- i.e. the GCC and the regional leaders need to step up and say this is unacceptable. We don't know, as your prime minister indicated, that we need to tell the Syrian regime that this is bad, my goodness, they know it's bad.
ANDERSON: More importantly, you've got to get Russia and China on side, right, because otherwise they're just going to ignore the UN security council.
MARKS: They'll completely get in the way. They'll barricade it, absolutely. They will get in the way and they'll not let this happen. So the United Nations is a place where you at least need to talk about it, but you don't have to rely exclusively on that body in order to establish a body in order to solve this problem that we've now acknowledged exists. And we can't qualify it. You can't take intelligence and start backing off from what you identify.
Look, we've had the Sec. Def, the secretary of defense came forward and said we've got a problem. If that's not true, then we have an internal issue within our administration.
ANDERSON: Sir, it's always a pleasure having you on. You make a lot of sense. And I've been calling you striker, which is just an added name for you this evening is General James "Spider" Marks, of course as I say -- forgive me, always a pleasure.
Still to come tonight, people are still being pulled out alive from Wednesday's huge building collapse in Bangladesh. We're going to find out where rescue efforts stand now.
Africa's rhino's lives are under threat because of demand for their horns. We're going to take a look at what's being done to curb this crisis.
And he apologizes and accepts the ban as Liverpool's Luis Suarez takes his punishment for biting another player. We're going to look at the fallout and the reaction.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: You're watching CNN. This is Connect the World. Friday evening out of London, I'm Becky Anderson for you. 15 minutes past 9:00 here.
Well, some economic data out of the U.S. that we've been keeping an eye on today. The U.S. Department of Commerce reports that the economy grew at an annual rate of 2.5 percent in the first quarter of 2013. That figure slightly shy of what analysts predicted. It's not a bad figure, is it?
Felicia Taylor is in New York for us, but not as good as the markets had been expecting, which has resulted in what I would probably describe as a lackluster day, right?
FELICIA TAYLOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, absolutely. There's no question about it. I mean, initially, because it did fall short of expectations which were more like 2.8 to 3 percent the market dipped, but it's basically been trading flat all day long as you can see. It's only -- it closed up, you know, about 12 points, barely anything. Both the NASDAQ and the S&P slipping on the session.
But there is some good news in this report. Personal consumption was up over 3 percent. In other words, the consumer was definitely out there spending money. And what they were buying were autos, but that's because there's been pent up demand in the auto sector. In other words, you know, people are holding on to their automobiles longer than they used to, say an average of 11 or 12 years. So people were definitely out in the auto sector and that is a good thing.
There was also positive spending when it came to services, such as housing, utilities, health care and financial services.
On the downside, though, defense spending was off 11 percent and government spending also fell. Business, however, were able to restock their shelves. But the real concern here is that they're not going to be able to keep up this kind of growth. Expectations are is that this is going to fall in the second quarter. And that's what people are really worried about. And certainly it's a definite reflection of what we've been seeing in the corporate earnings season, which is a very mixed picture. Sometimes revenues are higher, sometimes profits are higher, or vice versa for one company.
Again, it's this very mixed idea that there isn't any clear recovery going on.
The good news, though, I have to...
ANDERSON: Go on.
TAYLOR: I want to tell you about JC Penney, because this is big news. JC Penney, which has been in the news lately. It has about 1,100 stores throughout the United States just got an enormous cash infusion of $1.7 billion from Goldman Sachs. That now makes them one of the three top investors in JC Penney. Clearly, there's no question in addition to George Soros, which we heard earlier, that this company is in play.
ANDERSON: Yeah, fascinating.
Just going back to the economy as well. As we see a cut in government spending, of course, and a rise in taxes you've got to question whether the U.S. economy can really keep this sort of growth momentum up. So it's going to be interesting going forward, isn't it?
Felicia, always a pleasure to have you on. We'll let you go. I'm carrying on with the headlines for you here on CNN.
As many as 15 people could be trapped after a hospital roof collapsed in the Indian city of Bhopal. Rescuers cutting through debris of what was the female surgical ward of this hospital. Five survivors have already been dug out, according to the hospital's spokesman. The cause of the collapse is not yet known.
Well, rescuers are working around the clock to find survivors inside of what is a collapsed building in Bangladesh. More than 2,000 people have been rescued since the collapse on Wednesday. The death toll is more than 300. And there's growing anger over the safety of the building.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUMNIMA UDAS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Rescuer workers are racing against time, searching through the rubble trying to find as many survivors as they can. There were some joyful moments as rescue workers found some 70 people alive on one of the floors, but for the most part scenes of complete desperation.
A huge crowd has gathered near the building site, many of them family members looking for loved ones. And they say they can still hear people screaming from underneath the rubble, crying out for help. Many are simply losing hope.
NAGRIS, SISTER IS MISSING (through translator): For the last three days I have been looking for my sister, but no trace. I want to get my sister back alive or dead. You people please help me get her.
UDAS: And as the death toll rises, there's also anger on the streets. The eight story commercial building housed several garment factories and now thousands of workers have taken to the streets to protest the safety problems which they say continues to plague their industry. They are very angry. They are carrying sticks. They are setting vehicles on fire, vandalizing some of the factories there. And authorities have had to push back by using tear gas and rubber bullets.
At the site of the building collapse, more anger. Some of the survivors say they had seen the cracks on one of the floors of the building and they had expressed their concern. And just hours before the eight story building collapsed on Wednesday, a group of policemen had even inspected the building, but the factory owners said it was safe.
The owners of the building and of the factories are now absconding. The country's high court has ordered them to report for court next week.
Sumnima Udas, CNN, New Delhi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, a blaze has ripped through a psychiatric hospital near Moscow killing 38 people. The Russian president has called for an investigation into the fire while officials declared Saturday a day of mourning.
Phil Black out of Moscow for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The fire started while the patients slept. Emergency crews responded, but they were slow. They took one hour to get there, because a river crossing was still closed from winter. By the time they arrived it was too late. The building was engulfed by flames and almost everyone inside was dead. Only three escaped: two patients and a member of staff on duty. 38 other people died. The active governor of the Moscow region explained on Russian television why the patients had little chance of survival.
ANDREI VOROBYOV, MOSCOW REGION ACTING GOVERNOR (through translator): All the patients were sleeping and obviously they were all sick people. This is a psychiatric hospital and that implies that this was a particular group of patients. And of course they needed help, help getting them away from the fire and out of the building.
BLACK: Investigators say it will take time to determine the cause.
IRINA GUMENNAYA, RUSSIAN INVESTIGATIVE COMMITTEE SPOKESWOMAN (through translator): We are now investigating several possible causes. The most probable one is the careless use of fire. Other reasons include patients smoking or a short circuit.
BLACK: This wasn't an isolated tragedy. In recent years there have regularly been fires in state owned medical facilities across the country killing dozens of people. 2009, 23 died in an old person's home in the Russian Republic of Komi. 2007, 63 killed in this nursing home fire in the Krasnodar region just some of the examples which show Russia remains a country of old Soviet era infrastructure where fire regulations are often neglected and rarely enforced.
Phil Black, CNN, Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: In the UK, celebrity publicist Max Clifford is being charged with 11 counts of indecent assault against a girl under the age of 16. British police say the charges include allegations of sex abuse between 1966 and 1985. Authorities say the evidence was gathered as part of the Jimmy Saville case. Now Clifford made his name as a PR guru by representing famous figures, including Frank Sinatra, Mohammed Ali, and Simon Cowell. He released a statement a short time ago which read he said "I've never indecently assaulted anyone in my life and this will become clear during the course of the proceedings."
He goes on to say, "at least I will now be in a position to fully consider all the evidence against me and to answer the evidence in public and ultimately clear my name in a court of law."
Live from London, this is Connect the World. Coming up, Twitter and terrorism, how extremists are reaching out online. And what investigators are learning from the tweets of one of the Boston bombing suspects.
First, though, we'll have the latest sports news for you as the Miami Heat's Ray Allen breaks a basketball record. That and much more after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Is Suarez really sorry? For the latest on the footballer's biting ban, Pedro joining me now from the set here in London.
Is he sorry? Is he sorry? Do you think he's sorry? He's apologized.
PEDRO PINTO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Look, the news from today is that Liverpool decided not to appeal the 10 game ban that the English Football Association handed out to Luis Suarez for violent conduct. Whether he's really sorry or not I think we'll never know unless we talk to him or we hear from him personally.
I can tell you what he did say on Twitter, and he did seem remorseful as he reacted to the ban and to the decision not to appeal. And I'll read this out.
"I know that all the things that are happening to me in England will help me improve my conduct on the field. My actions were not acceptable on the football pitch, so I do not want to give the wrong impression to people by making an appeal. I really want to learn from what has happened in the last two-and-a-half years."
And a lot has happened to him over the last two-and-a-half years. Here in England, of course he had the racism charges against him. He served an eight match ban. He was called a cheat and a diver for diving on the pitch allegedly. And now this.
So he had been defended by his manager Brendan Rodgers. The Liverpool manager said that the FA had taken other incidents into account when applying this 10 game ban.
One man who does not support this -- who does not support this kind of action from Suarez is the English prime minister, the British prime minister David Cameron. And I'll tell you what he said. And I quote, "as a dad and as a human being, do I think we should have tough penalties when football players behave like this? Yes, I think we should."
ANDERSON: I'm not sure if the prime minister should get involved in a case like this. I don't know where that comes from...
PINTO: He did it twice, though. He did it twice. In the beginning when it first happened and now again.
ANDERSON: Interesting. All right.
PINTO: I'm not a politics guy, so...
ANDERSON: Let's not get into politics, darling.
Before you go, big story out of the basketball world today.
PINTO: Yeah. We've got a first -- first of all a little bit of bad injury -- bad news for the Oklahoma City Thunder. They lost one of their stars, Russel Westbrook indefinitely. So he will have to undergo surgery on his right knee to repair cartilage. That's the incident there, happened in game two of the Thunder's playoff series with Houston. There was a clash there between Houston Rockets player and Westbrook. He went down.
ANDERSON: You can hear the pop, can't you?
PINTO: You can. You can nearly really feel it as well.
Still not sure how long he'll be out for, but it's a big blow for the Thunder who were championship contenders.
Really quickly, because I know you teased it as well, I wanted to tell you that there was a record broken in the NBA last night. Ray Allen, the veteran, became the player who has now hit more three pointers in NBA playoff history. So congratulations to Ray Allen, one of the greatest shooters of all time.
ANDERSON: You call him a veteran? What is he, mid-30s. That's a bit -- he's actually getting on a bit, isn't he?
PINTO: Mid to late 30s.
ANDERSON: Fantastic, look at that.
PINTO: Yeah, I like the word veteran because it shows he's been there and done it.
ANDERSON: Yeah, sometimes I call myself a veteran broadcaster these days.
PINTO: Well, you are.
ANDERSON: Well, thank you.
PINTO: I'm not.
(LAUGHTER)
PINTO: Experienced -- we're experienced. We're experienced, that's it.
ANDERSON: Experienced. The latest world news -- thank you, Pedro, as ever. Pedro back at the bottom of the next hour of course with World Sport.
Just ahead, your news headlines, of course. Plus, U.S. investigators pour through the Twitter account of one of the Boston bombing suspects. Find out what they are learning.
And some say it's a medicinal myth, but rhino horns have become a cure-all craze in Asian. We're going to find out what it feeding this deadly trade.
And a famous face with megafamous films. What's next for Oscar winner Adrian Brody? Well, he'll be live with us on the show to tell us. All that coming up. Stay with us here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: This is CONNECT THE WORLD, you're watching CNN, the top stories this hour. US president Barack Obama says assessments that Syria had used chemical weapons are preliminary and need vigorous investigation, but he repeated a warning that it would be a game-changer if true.
Syria's information minister denied the allegations earlier today, calling them lies. Those pictures, of course, Obama with King Abdullah of Jordan.
Now, this is an aerial view of the Massachusetts prison hospital where the surviving Boston bombing suspect has moved. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is recovering from gunshot wounds. Sources say he's largely stopped talking to investigators.
The death toll from the Bangladesh factory collapse now stands at 307. More than 2,000 people have been rescued, hundreds more may still be trapped. The eight-story building collapsed Wednesday, a day after cracks appeared in the structure.
And a new blow to the already fractured relations between North and South Korea, Seoul is recalling all of its citizen from a joint industrial zone after Pyongyang rejected an offer of talks to restart operations there.
The surviving suspect in the Boston bombing -- Marathon bombings, as you've heard, has been transferred from hospital to a Massachusetts prison. Authorities moved the 19-year-old to this federal medical prison. He's said to be recovering from gunshot wounds to his head, neck, legs, and hand.
Meanwhile, investigators sifting through Dzhokhar's Twitter account. His tweets are being looked at for what they say and what they seem to suggest. Let's do more on this. Deb Feyerick with the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The picture that emerges is of a young man proud of his Chechen roots, eager to visit what he calls his homeland, a country he'd left as a child.
Quote, "A decade in America, already I want out," he tweets in March 2012. The 19-year-old college student was planning to return to Dagestan last summer, arriving just as older brother Tamerlan was returning from a six-month stay there. But his plans fell through. Quote, "My passport's not going to come in time," he writes.
He complains that his mother is trying to arrange a marriage for him. Quote, "She needs to chill out. I'll find my own honey," he tweets. His trip canceled, Tsarnaev instead takes a train to Washington, DC, via New York, complaining about a noisy child and noting, "New York looks ill from afar. But zoom in, and it gets real dirty."
Messages and a photo from the time show Tsarnaev visited New York again with friends around Thanksgiving. Quote, "New York is ratchet on Black Friday it's ridiculous. I'm to bed soon."
Religion seems to have been of growing importance over the last year. Tsarnaev seems amused people mistakenly think he's converted. Quote, "Brothers at the mosque either think I'm a convert or that I'm from Algeria or Syria." On another occasion, he shares, "Spent the day with this Jamaican Muslim convert. My religion is truth."
Other tweets are of special interest to investigators. A full year before the bombing, Tsarnaev writes in native Russian, quote, "I will die young," unquote. Several months later, in August, he writes, "Boston Marathon isn't good place to smoke."
And in January of this year, quote, "I got those brother that I'd take a bullet for, in the leg or the shoulder or something. Nothing fatal, though."
Finally, a week before the attack. Quote, "If you have the knowledge and the inspiration, all that's left is to take action."
Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: You're going to get some expert advice, as it were, from Jean-Paul Rouiller from the Geneva Terrorism Analysis Centre on exactly what authorities do in tracking radical thought. That's coming up -- Jean- Paul, stay with me.
It appears terrorist groups are increasingly turning to Twitter to reach out to followers and spread their influence. Senior international correspondent Dan Rivers investigates whether that is helping to self- radicalize would-be attackers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN RIVERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Away from the physical battlefield, terrorists are creating a virtual one on Twitter to spread their ideology. Abu Baraa follows dozens of extremists on Twitter, reinforcing his own hard-line politics, which have already seen him jailed for urging the murder of US troops in Iraq.
ABU BARAA, TWITTER USER: The reason why people are drawn to these new Twitter channels is because there is an opportunity to hear the other side of the argument. Because no doubt the idea of the al Qaeda or other organization along the same thinking are spreading very quickly and very rapidly.
RIVERS (on camera): Based around Mali, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has gained 5,500 Twitter followers in less than a month. And up here in Syria, the Al Nusrah Front has a massive Twitter presence of more than 50,000 followers. And down here in Somalia, al-Shabaab, which the US describes as a terrorist organization, was quick to react to the Boston bombings on Twitter.
RIVERS (voice-over): The day after the attack, it tweeted, "Don't you just hate it when you can't make it to the finish line?" Adding, "The casualties are just a tiny fraction of what US soldiers inflict upon millions of innocent Muslims across the globe on a daily basis."
(EXPLOSION)
RIVERS: The degree of terrorist training received by the Tsarnaev brothers is still being investigated, but experts say if they self- radicalized online at home, they wouldn't be the first.
PETER NEUMANN, TERROR EXPERT, KING'S COLLEGE, LONDON: Over the past few years, we've seen an increasing number of entirely self-radicalized people. It's kind of a misnomer to call them lone wolves because even though they are physically alone, of course they're interacting with other people online.
RIVERS: Abu Baraa says that online army of extremists is growing.
BARAA: People are being radicalized through their own research and through their own use of alternative media, and really seeing the oppression as something that needs to be fought and to be opposed and even to seek retaliation.
RIVERS: Which is increasingly conceived, planned, and researched online without ever having to travel to camps like these to meet the extremists face to face.
Dan Rivers, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Let's bring in Jean-Paul Rouiller from the Geneva Terrorism Analysis Center, then, for more on Skype from Geneva. Jean-Paul, the evidence is clear: there is an awful lot of chat and narrative online. What should authorities be doing? Should they be cracking down and closing these sites?
JEAN-PAUL ROUILLER, GENEVA TERRORISM ANALYSIS CENTRE: Cracking them down I think they already do. We have done for a pretty long period of time, indeed. And closing sites is something that has also been discussed in different countries.
But the fact is that if close down sites, you also lose a certain amount of information that you could get if not closing it. So really, the question is open. Some have chosen to close them down, some have chosen not to close those sites down. I think --
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: How -- yes, how helpful --
ROUILLER: -- most --
ANDERSON: -- are they to authorities in tracking people? Sorry, sir.
ROUILLER: They are tracking people on the internet. This is quite clear. They are tracking them -- up to now, they've been tracking them much more on forums, where Islamic forums, specialized forums, more than on Twitter or on those kind of social networks.
But I think the future will show that you will also have to look into Twitter and all other things, like Facebook, for example.
ANDERSON: There is a freedom of speech issue here about whether you would close down a site, of course. That's clear. There's also a question as to how good is the evidence that you collect online, if you're going after somebody?
ROUILLER: The evidence can be quite effective. It just depends on targeting the right person. If you did target someone that really has a -- not on your background, but has connections, you will get some pretty interesting evidence.
There are cases in the past that clearly show that you can get a lot through the internet. But once again, the central point is making sure you are getting the right target. Because as you know quite well, there are a lot of people that are talking a lot --
ANDERSON: Sure.
ROUILLER: -- but then often do nothing.
ANDERSON: Yes. And talk isn't evidence, is it? I just want to get you to talk specifically to the report that Deborah Feyerick has -- we've seen tonight -- has filed for this show. There is quite a lot of evidence, it seems, that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was active on social media.
ROUILLER: Yes.
ANDERSON: When you see that evidence -- what do you think about it? How would you analyze that?
ROUILLER: I would analyze it by thinking, OK, this is a guy who might have some connections with radical Islam. He might be connected to that guy. But the problem is, based upon what I've heard tonight and what I've seen about Dzhokhar Tsarnaev himself, this would not lead me to focus immediately on him. It's not enough.
Quite frankly, there are so many young guys, or even older guys, that will present even more, up to s certain degree, hot profile.
ANDERSON: You say so many. Tell me, are we talking tens, hundreds, thousands around the world?
ROUILLER: I think 10,000 around the world, yes.
ANDERSON: Wow.
ROUILLER: If you really look at those sites in forums, you realize that there really are plenty of people that might fit exactly the same brand of profile.
ANDERSON: Fascinating stuff. I'm going to leave it there, sir, we thank you very much, indeed, for joining us.
So, what do you think, viewers, about virtual terror training? Should radical websites be shut down or are people entitled to write and read whatever they want? The team at CONNECT THE WORLD wants to hear from you, facebook.com/CNNconnect. I'm sure you know that already. Have your say. You can tweet me, of course, @BeckyCNN. Your thoughts, please, @BeckyCNN.
Live from London, you're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. The hunt for the horn. The shocking slaughter of Africa's rhinos is growing at an alarming pace. Coming up, a look at the high price of rhino poaching.
And a renowned actor and now, well, to a judge. Adrien Brody joins us from New York to talk about his new role at the Tribeca Film Festival. That all after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: The fight over rhinoceros poaching is escalating. Last year, record numbers of rhinos were killed, poachers hunting them for their horns, which are then sold on the black market. The grim trade is fueled by rampant demand in Asia. Rhino horn is wildly popular for its supposed medicinal uses. It's considered something of a cure-all for a range of illnesses.
Well, authorities are trying to contain the problem, but 2013 is already on track to break rhino death records. Scientists think rhinos could be extinct in just 20 years if poaching rates persists.
We've done this story before, and we're going to do it again, because it's important. South Africa is the epicenter of the poaching crisis because of its large rhino population. Despite strong conservation programs to protect the animals, the fervent black market trade is hard to control.
Nkepile Mabuse on this. And a warning to our viewers out there: you may find some of these images distressing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NKEPILE MABUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They've been roaming the Earth for more than 50 million years. Today, the African Rhino has more value dead than alive.
KEN MAGGS, ENVIRONMENTAL INVESTIGATOR: Poaching activity coming across our boundaries is relentless. It's daily.
MABUSE: Home to the world's largest population, South Africa's Kruger National Park is infiltrated daily by poachers prepared to kill for rhino horn.
MAGGS: At the moment, what we're up against is a war. It is a counter-insurgency type war.
MABUSE: Officials here say 90 percent of the poachers come from neighboring Mozambique. The rhino horn is sold for tens of thousands of dollars in the East, where it's believed to cure all kinds of conditions, from hangovers to cancer.
ANDREW DESMET, RANGER: We've arrested, we've had poachers killed who've been in armed contacts with our field rangers, but it doesn't seem to deter them.
MABUSE: A record 668 rhinos were killed in South Africa last year. Compare that to just 14 in 2005. This year, another record slaughter is predicted. Investigators like Frik Roussow are trying to stop the killing through securing successful convictions.
FRIK ROUSSOW, INVESTIGATOR: We don't get there quickly enough, the evidence do get destroyed, carried away.
MABUSE: On this occasion, four days after an attack on a one-year-old calf, some clues remain. Further probing reveals a bullet. But Roussow will need much more.
ROUSSOW: Ballistics doesn't necessarily put the suspect on the scene. It might put the firearm on the scene, so one would like to retrieve something like tracks left by the suspects, fingerprints, DNA.
MABUSE: Rhinos in South Africa are being killed so fast, investigators can't keep up, and everyone involved complains about a critical lack of resources. From the 30 soldiers patrolling the Kruger border --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need at least a battalion here.
MABUSE: -- to environmentalists overwhelmed by the scale of the problem.
FREEK VENTER, HEAD OF CONSERVATION: But it's really an international solution we're looking at. Of course, it's a few criminals that have positioned themselves very comfortably in between naive people in the east and poor people in Africa.
MABUSE: And bearing the brunt of all this, is an animal that could live up to 50 years if it were ever free to roam again.
Nkepile Mabuse, CNN, Johannesburg.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, if you follow the money, you'll find that the smuggling is across distances up to 11,000 kilometers. This is the main route. It starts here in South Africa and, indeed, in Zimbabwe. More than 95 percent of illegal rhino horns are sourced here.
Then, it moves across in bulk across the ocean here, traveling to ports in Southern Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. There, the rhino horn enters the black market, and the route moves on to China and Vietnam.
The demand for the horns in these countries is high and it is lucrative. In both countries, it rivals the price of gold, let me tell you. Well, the medicinal uses of a rhino horn is what is driving demand. There's no scientific evidence behind it, but many people swear by its healing powers.
It's been used in Chinese medicine for centuries. They use it to reduce fevers, expel toxins from the blood, and cure hangovers, even though nobody's going to tell you they've got evidence for that.
In Vietnam, it's become something of a status symbol as well. Many newly-affluent families buy it to treat cancer and other serious illnesses. You follow the money, you find the routes, you see where that demand is coming from.
All right. Some news coming into CNN Center, as a part of a landing gear, apparently, from one of the commercial airliners destroyed in the 9/11 attacks has been discovered wedged between two buildings in New York. We're just getting this news in.
The NYPD is securing the location, now deemed a crime scene, so that officials can inspect the part of the wreckage. The part includes a clearly-visible Boeing identification number. That news just coming in. As we get more on that, of course, we will bring it to you.
We're going to take a very short break here. We've got celebrity Hollywood coming up after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: All right. The Bank of England has decided on a new face for Britain's five pound notes. Many were suggested by the public. The face to join the queen will be, I can announce, former prime minister Winston Churchill.
In tonight's Parting Shots, Jim Boulden takes a look at the choices involved in picking who appears on our money.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM BOULDEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Many faces stare out at us when we make purchases. Statesmen and women, scientists, military figures. And frankly, you would be hard-pressed to recognize many of them if it's not your money.
Here in Britain, it's a bit easier. The current monarch is always on the coin of the realm. So, it's who's on the back of the note that makes a difference.
BOULDEN (on camera): Spare a thought for social reformer Elizabeth Fry. In a few years' time, she'll be replaced on the five pound note by former prime minister Winston Churchill.
(CHURCH BELL RINGS)
BOULDEN (voice-over): You might have thought the recently-deceased Margaret Thatcher was in the running, but she's not even on the list suggested by the public for faces on the back of bank notes.
Diana, Princess of Wales is. So are the Beatles. Physicist Stephen Hawking and footballer David Beckham as well. Actor John Cleese and businessman Richard Branson have also been suggested. And how about Mick Jagger? No to all of them so far.
Churchill becomes the 16th Briton to be on the back of a bank note since the policy began in 1970. Along with his portrait will be a quote from the speech he made when he became prime minister in 1940. "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat."
And the Bank of England says, look carefully behind his portrait.
CHRIS SALMON, CHIEF CASHIER, BANK OF ENGLAND: He was an MP, and obviously that was where he made his address to Parliament in May of 1940. The time on the great clock on Elizabeth Tower is 3:00 PM, which is the approximate time when he made the address.
BOULDEN: Also, next to Parliament, a copy of Churchill's 1953 Nobel Prize for Literature. The things you can learn from your currency.
Jim Boulden, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, a Florida woman is the proud owner of a $5,000 diamond. Actually, 80-year-old Miriam isn't proud at all. She's a bit mortified, actually. Jacqueline Ingles tells us why.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIRIAM TUCKER, WON DIAMOND AT CHARITY EVENT: What are the odds of this happening?
JACQUELINE INGLES, WFTS-TV CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They say diamonds are forever, and this one carat diamond is giving an 80-year-old Tampa woman a forever story she's just not ready to put her face to. And the story begins with a flute of bubbly.
TUCKER: I was not paying a whole lot of attention.
INGLES: At the fundraiser Miriam was attending, a local jeweler place fake diamonds in every champagne flute. But at the bottom of one flute, there was a real diamond worth $5,000. A diamond the lucky glass holder would get to take home.
TUCKER: With the first sip I had taken, I'd swallowed it.
INGLES: Embarrassed, Miriam kept mum.
TUCKER: I just felt certain, well, they'll find the winner and I won't ever have to tell anybody.
INGLES: Then came gem-testing time.
ANDREW MEYER, CONTINENTAL WHOLESALE DIAMOND: There was 400 glasses of champagne we had to test, and we finally get to the end, and still no diamond showed up.
TUCKER: I said oh, gosh, now I have to tell them.
INGLES: So, she did.
MEYER: And we go, no, there's no way.
INGLES: Miriam had a date with her doctor the next day for what was to be a routine colonoscopy, just with some very specific instructions for the doctor.
TUCKER: Just be on the lookout for it in case.
INGLES: Sure enough, her doctor found the elusive diamond.
TUCKER: We still had to determine if, indeed, that was the winning diamond.
MEYER: She came back with the diamond in a bag -- in a medical bag --
JOY PIERSON, CONTINENTAL WHOLESALE DIAMOND: Bio-hazard bag.
(LAUGHTER)
PIERSON: And the diamond is not even cleaned yet.
INGELS: Miriam waited while the jeweler washed, steamed, and then tested the diamond, and it was the real deal.
MEYER: Touchdown!
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(PIANO PLAYING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Remember that film? Roman Polanski's "The Pianist" was an instant success and made actor Adrien Brody one of the most sought-after actors in Hollywood. Well, he is sought-after and with us tonight out of New York. I know you're at the Tribeca Film Festival. You've got a new initiative on which you are to be a judge. Tell me all about it.
ADRIEN BRODY, ACTOR: Yes. Well, we will be, first of all, honoring this year's winning five films. Bombay Sapphire is inviting people to become a part of the Imagination Series, which is encouraging people to use their imagination on a very succinct script written by Academy Award winner Geoffrey Fletcher.
ANDERSON: Yes.
BRODY: And -- it's a wonderful opportunity for people to explore their own imagination and --
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: And get involved in Hollywood, it's fantastic. Winners, I know, from last year and the new script will be announced in about five or six hours' time. So, is there anything you can tell us about this new script that the world might get involved in? Or are you keeping it secret?
BRODY: Well, you can get all the information you like from www.imaginationseries.com.
ANDERSON: All right.
BRODY: Again, it is a script that is -- a lot of the stage direction is eliminated to leave room for your own imagination, and it is an opportunity to be --
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: To get involved. As a judge --
BRODY: -- free and be able to --
ANDERSON: -- what will you be looking for in each script?
BRODY: -- to create independently.
ANDERSON: As a -- OK. I think -- we've been having technical problems --
BRODY: Having a problem with their --
ANDERSON: -- but I think, given that you've taken your -- yes, ear out. We'll have to apologize for you, I haven't even got to what he's going to do next. Of course, one of the youngest or the youngest ever to win an Oscar for Best Actor, Adrien did that at 29. Next time we talk, we'll find out what he's going to do next.
I'm Becky Anderson, that was CONNECT THE WORLD. Apologies for the technical problems there at the end. Thank you for watching, have a fantastic weekend if, indeed, you're watching in a region where the weekend is beginning. Until Monday, good night.
END
