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Around the World

Investigators Zero in on Cooking Container; Protesters Fill Cairo Streets; Royal Baby Watch; Heat Wave Rages On; Alexei Navalny is a Free Man

Aired July 19, 2013 - 12:00   ET

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

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: This is Egypt. The army making a huge show of force today, expecting the worst street violence since the downfall of Mohamed Morsy. We're live in Cairo in just a few minutes.

Also, the waiting game for Britain's royal family may be significantly longer than we thought. Oh, no. We'll tell you why. Stay with us.

Welcome to AROUND THE WORLD. I'm Michael Holmes. Thanks for your company. Suzanne has the day off today.

We're going to begin in India where for the second time in less than a week children have been sickened by their school lunches. The latest case happened in the southwestern state of Goa. At least 23 students in grades three through five got food poisoning. All of them treated at the hospital. And, thank goodness, later released.

But across the country in Bihar state, a much more serious case. Of course you remember, 23 children died after eating lunches tainted with pesticide. Now, Reuters reporting that the chief investigator believes the oil used to cook the food had been stored in a container previously used to store the insecticides. Sumnima Udas reports the tragedy hasn't sunk in for dozens of grieving families.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUMNIMA UDAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Unbearable agony for this young mother, still in a state of shock. She repeats her five- year-old daughter's name over and over again. "Why aren't you coming back," she asks? "Why isn't anyone bringing Depu (ph) back?" Depu died after eating a free lunch in a government school on Tuesday, as did 22 of her schoolmates.

UDAS (on camera): This is the school where those meals were served. And right in front of the school over here is where one child has been buried.

UDAS (voice-over): Across the fields, more burial mounds. Locals say some 60 children were studying here that day. Now just reminders of those days that ended too soon.

"There was sudden commotion at the school, so we all rushed over there and saw all these children watching their plates after their meals and then some just started fainting 10 minutes after their meal," he says. No one here knows what caused this mass poisoning. Officials have said they suspect it was cooking oil contaminated with pesticide. Many are demanding answers. Some have even turned violent.

UDAS (on camera): Local politicians have been coming here one after the other trying to assuage the public but the atmosphere is still very tense.

UDAS (voice-over): This grieving mother, unable to even speak. She, too, calls out for her lost child, while her relatives try to stop her from trying.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And Sumnima Udas is on the line now to discuss this further.

Sumnima, I suppose that police chief clearing up the sort of confusion over whether it was the oil or pesticides. It was both. And the school's headmistress and her husband on the run. What's the latest?

UDAS (via telephone): Michael, they're still on the run and authorities haven't been able to get to them yet. But the local police chief here tells us that he is confident they will find her soon. He said she's a very important part of this very important story and they're hoping all of this confusion and all of these questions that remain will be answered. Confusion over whether the headmistress did, in fact, keep the cooking oil in the container which previously used to store pesticides. Confusion over whether the headmistress had, in fact, forced the cook to use the oil even though the cook had questioned the quality of the oil. Whether this poisoning was deliberate or accidental. Authorities are really looking into all of this and hoping to really get to the bottom of all of this soon.

HOLMES: And we're hearing about the new case in Goa, of course, which sounds like a more typical case of food going bad. But that is a big problem with this program, isn't it, the hygiene in general?

UDAS: That's right, Michael. And actually the (INAUDIBLE) director here in Bihar just held a press conference, in fact, to announce some of the new measures, what the government is planning to do now to ensure better food safety in schools. He said a new committee will be formed to monitor all the food preparations from now on. In rural communities, he said they will try to get the parents more involved in the supply and distribution and monitoring of the food. And they also put out an advisory to all the government schools here mandating teachers to test the food before they allow it to be served to the children.

Now, all of this, of course, is well and good. But as many people here and know that it's very difficult to implement these things in such a vast and populous country. These villages are very remote, Michael. How do you even begin monitoring every single school and every single village? You're talking about a huge amount of manpower to make something of this scale work.

Michael. HOLMES: Yes, I know it was difficult even for you to get there. Sumnima Udas, there in Bihar state, a very remote village, thanks so much.

Let's turn now to Egypt, where a few very important things are happening at the same time. Not only is it Ramadan, but it is the tenth day of Ramadan. A day Egyptians especially hold dear for historical reasons. So it is this day that both supporters and opponents of the new leadership promise to fill the streets of Cairo and make their voices heard.

Again, now, that's a dangerous pledge, of course, since the two groups have been fighting. People have been dying in the past. Let's go live to Cairo now. Reza Sayah is there.

First of all, just tell us about the tenth of Ramadan, what's so important and what it's been like on the streets there?

REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, first off, the best news is no violence at this moment, Michael. But anyone who's followed the news here in Egypt knows that when Friday comes, it's time to protest, it's time to demonstrate and that's what we're seeing on this day. Thousands of supporters of the ousted president, Mohamed Morsy, coming out to show as many people as possible that they're still here, they're not going away and they want the former president, Mohamed Morsy, to be reinstated.

The demonstrations started about five hours ago right after Friday prayers. Thousands of people started marching towards the main sit-in, which is right in front of a main mosque here in east Cairo, down that road. But apparently police have blocked off this road. Many of these people couldn't get there so essentially said, OK, you're not going to let us go to that mosque, we're just going to take a seat on this road and camp out. And that's what we've seen over the past few hours.

The message from these people is the same, they believe that this interim government here in Egypt is illegitimate and they want their president, Mohamed Morsy, to be reinstated. A scenario that seems to be unlikely right now, but don't tell that to these people. They are still determined to do what they can to reinstate Mr. Morsy.

For their part, the opponents of the former president, they're flexing their muscles, too. They have their own demonstrations about 20 minutes away here - away from here in Tahrir Square. And whenever you have these rival demonstrations, these dueling demonstrations, there's always concern that some elements may cross paths and there could be clashes. But for now, Michael, that's the best news, no sign of violence at this point.

Michael.

HOLMES: Reza Sayah there in the thick of things. Thanks, Reza. Keep us up-to-date.

Well, back here in the United States, a Boston police photographer (ph) has called the "Rolling Stone" magazine cover hurtful and an insult and so he has a rebuttal to that rather glamorized photograph of Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Here it is. Pictures taken by a Sergeant Sean Murphy (ph) shows what he calls the real Boston bomber. Bloody, ready to collapse, bathed in spotlights. The snipers ready to take him out. You see a laser on his forehead there. These pictures appear in "Boston Magazine's" online issue, and here's the editor on why Murphy went public with the pictures.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN WILSON, "BOSTON MAGAZINE" EDITOR (voice-over): There's no doubt, he's been sitting on them, obviously, since April, and I don't think he ever felt compelled to release them at all before, and I think he felt - I think he was genuinely worried about the impact on the families of the victims and I think he was also worried that certain impressionable people might be lured to replicate that by the kind of glamorous looking photo that is on the "Rolling Stone" cover.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Sergeant Murphy, who was not authorized to release those photographs, has been suspended for a day at least. He still faces a police internal affairs investigation.

Well, a Florida teenager is under indictment for allegedly trying to join al Qaeda in Yemen and convinced others to sign up as well. Shelton Thomas Bell faces charges of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists. According to prosecutors, Bell wanted to join al Qaeda and engage in fighting. The 19-year-old allegedly flew to Jordan last September where he began making plans to get into Yemen. Bell also allegedly made recruitment videos. Currently he is in jail on an unrelated charge.

The director of the NSA says he has proof that Edward Snowden's leaks have helped terrorists. He says terrorists are now changing their tactics based on things they have learned since the former NSA contract worker revealed secret surveillance programs. Director Keith Alexander says that is going to, quote, "make our job harder." Others at a national security forum in Colorado worry that the leaks have damaged relations with key European allies as well. Snowden revealed the U.S. spied on them, too.

Here's more on what we're working for on AROUND THE WORLD today.

The parents of Trayvon Martin speaking out about the jury's decision to acquit George Zimmerman. We've got that still to come.

Also this, the royal baby watch may be a lot longer, heaven forbid. Sources say the due date for the duchess of Cambridge is actually today, which means it could be another week or two before we see new royalty. A little something for the news crews there. We're live from London with the latest.

And in Romania, this story. Extraordinary. Investigators analyzing ashes from a stove to see if they are the remains of famous works of art from Picasso to Matisse to Monet. We'll tell you why someone would want to burn them. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Welcome back.

They sat through weeks of heart wrenching testimony about the night their son was shot and killed. Well now Trayvon Martin's parents explain to CNN why they were not in court for the verdict. They sat down with Anderson Cooper for an in-depth interview yesterday. Martin's mother says she was shocked when the jury acquitted George Zimmerman, but she says she knew it would be tough to be in court for the verdict no matter what the jury decided.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SYBRINA FULTON, TRAYVON MARTIN'S MOTHER: We didn't want to be there because we were told by the court system that there were -- you couldn't do any outbursts. You couldn't say anything. You couldn't have any reaction. And we thought that was going to be pretty difficult for us either way. Through our attorneys' advice, they told us, they suggested to us that we not be there. And we kind of weighed both sides and said, maybe this is not a good thing for us to be there because, either way, we -- how could you be quiet? How could you not say anything? How could you not show any emotions? So I think by us not being there, it took the sting out of people seeing us react to it because it literally broke us down.

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, CNN's "AC 360": When you heard the verdict on television, you broke down?

FULTON: Yes. Yes.

COOPER: How could you not, I guess? Did it come as a total shock? I mean, there were, you know, some legal analysts who were watching the trial who felt the prosecution wasn't presenting the case like some of the analysts wants them to present it or felt that they could have presented it. Did it -- did it come as just a complete shock?

FULTON: It came as a complete shock for me. And the reason I say that is because I just look at people as people, and I thought for sure that the jury looked at Trayvon as an average teenager that was minding his own business, that wasn't committing any crime, that was coming home from the store and were feet away from where he was actually going. And I just believe that they realized that. But when I heard the verdict, I kind of understand the disconnect and that maybe they didn't see Trayvon as their son, they didn't see Trayvon as a teenager, they didn't see Trayvon as just a human being that was minding his own business.

COOPER: When it was six women selected, most of them, I think nearly all of them, mothers, you felt the fact that they are mothers, they might understand some of your pain, they might understand what it's like to have a son, is that what you're saying?

FULTON: Well, I just looked at them as people. I'm not particularly saying that because they were mothers, I assumed that they would say that he was guilty. But I just thought the human side of them, the human side of them would say, listen, this was a kid. This guy made a mistake. This wasn't a burglar. And just for them to suggest that he was a burglar or that by any means he was doing, committing any crime, is just not true. It's absolutely not true.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Got a couple of programming notes for you now. It is the Piers Morgan interview that everyone's talking about. The star prosecution witness, Rachel Jeantel, in her own words tonight at 9:00 eastern on "Piers Morgan Live." And after the Zimmerman verdict, was justice served? Anderson Cooper hosting a special town hall conversation, "Race and Justice in America." That is tonight at 10:00 Eastern only on CNN.

Well, the royal baby watch may be taking a little longer. We are live from London, coming up next here on AROUND THE WORLD.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, a lot of people around the world, of course, anxiously awaiting the arrival of Britain's royal baby, but they may be waiting a little longer than expected.

One of Britain's main newspapers, "The Telegraph," reporting the Duchess of Cambridge's due date is actually today, July 19th, not July 13th as previously reported.

Max Foster, live outside St. Mary's Hospital where the birth is expected to take place, I bet you're thrilled with that, aren't you? You could be there another week, old man.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes, and then let me show you, Michael, what happened just within the last 10 minutes. Hopefully we can turn around the pictures.

A Range Rover turns up outside the hospital. Men with earpieces, looked like security, and out popped what looked like Kate and William, although we knew they won't come in the front, so it was all looked a bit fishy.

Two lookalikes turned up, and it did have the sense of reality because all day there have been these reports that Kate's left Berkshire and has come up to London, so everyone's pretty edgy.

And it's not just us. Even the prime minister admitted today that he was in a cabinet meeting, someone came in with a note of paper. He had to take a sharp breath because he thought it was the royal baby.

In fact, it was the cricket score, so he's on (inaudible) as well.

HOLMES: Yeah, you had to mention the cricket, didn't you? You really did, England beating Australia for those not in the know.

Yeah, no, how is this likely to differ from the previous royal births in terms of the logistics of it all?

FOSTER: I think it's just a bigger media environment that this baby's being born into. There are more photographers, a lot more TV.

Speak to the photographers, though, who were here, all those years ago when William was born, and they're saying there were only two TV cameras at the time, and now literally, I mean, there are dozens here.

And then you've got all of the social media element as well. And what we have is this certain jumpy thing where someone sees a Range Rover leaving Bucklebury, you see one coming towards the hospital, you see helicopters, and so it's all this trying to filter out all of that sort of rumor.

And at the same time, the palace being much more careful about anything they give out. In the past they would give out more. Now they give out literally nothing. They say they'll only tell us when she's inside safely, which is fair enough considering the circumstances.

HOLMES: Good heavens, yes.

Well, Max, as long as you mention the cricket, I'll say I hope you're not there for another week, you poor fellow.

Max Foster on the swath outside.

FOSTER: There will be other opportunities, Michael.

HOLMES: I'm sure there will. Oh, you're rubbing it in, aren't you?

All right, check the cricket out. You'll find out what we're talking about.

Princess Diana, meanwhile, she was reportedly induced to give birth to Prince William, so will the Duchess of Cambridge, perhaps, follow in Princess Di's footsteps?

CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joining us here now. Now when it comes to induction, not inducement which would be a bribe, how long do they normally wait?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, it's interesting. For our U.S. viewers, we're used to sort of 40 weeks women are often induced. They're a little more patient in the United Kingdom.

So the National Health Service tells their patients, look, at 40 weeks, you're due but we're not going to induce you.

A week later, so if you're a week late, they will do something called cervical sweeping which I won't get into the details of.

HOLMES: Please.

COHEN: I've heard from my friends it's not pleasant. But they'll do a physical exam to get you moving along.

If that doesn't work, then the woman is offered, do you want to be induced? So this is when she's a week late, she is given the offer, do you want to be induced?

HOLMES: That's a drug?

COHEN: Exactly. They put Pitocin in your arm.

HOLMES: Right.

COHEN: And that induces the baby to come along. But they are not as quick to do that in the United Kingdom as they are in this country.

HOLMES: Here it is in, out. Get them in, get them out. Literally.

What are the risks in waiting too long?

COHEN: Right. The risk that doctors get worried about, as one doctor put it to me, one obstetrician said to me today, we worry the placenta is going to poop out.

And I get it that "pooping out" is not a medical term, but they just worry that placenta has been there a while. The placenta's giving the baby everything it needs, nourishment, and they just worry that it's going to poop out.

It probably won't, but it does happen.

HOLMES: And with the royals, I'm asking you to speculate here. Is she likely to be treated different to any other British woman when it comes to whether you do or you don't?

COHEN: Here's where I think the difference might come.

If a woman in the United Kingdom is 40 weeks pregnant and says, I want to be induced, let's do this now, according to NHS guidelines, that's not the way it goes, right? You have to wait until you're 41 weeks.

Given who she is, I imagine, if she says, today is my due date, I'd like to move this along and be induced, my guess is they might take that a little bit more seriously.

But, of course, they're -- they want a healthy baby. They want to do the right thing.

HOLMES: Exactly. Oh my goodness. Let's not go further than what was it you said that they do ...

COHEN: Cervical sweeping.

HOLMES: That's right, yes.

COHEN: But one thing I want to add that they will definitely do is monitor that baby and monitor Kate to make sure she's doing OK and make sure the baby is doing OK. That's really crucial when you've hit your due date. They want to make sure everything's OK.

HOLMES: You can't have that placenta pooping.

COHEN: No, we don't want a pooped out placenta.

HOLMES: Can't have a pooped out placenta.

Elizabeth, thanks so much. Maybe TMI for some, but we now know.

COHEN: But now we know. We all need to know. It's a good education, right?

HOLMES: Max Foster, hopefully he's listening.

All right, well, it's going to feel like 104 degrees in many parts of the U.S. today in the Northeast, but relief on the way.

Jennifer Delgado's going to fill us in.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: With applause and hugs, Alexei Navalny is now a free man, for "now," being the emphasis.

Navalny is that Russian politician we told you about, one of the biggest irritants to President Vladimir Putin.

Yesterday we told you he was sentenced to five years in prison after a trial that pretty much everyone outside of Russia called a sham and many people did as well. He is out of jail today, pending appeal, a surprise to some.

Navalny is the loudest and most public figure who accuses president Putin and insiders of corruption calling them crooks and thieves. He's also running for mayor of Moscow.

Navalny said he knew all along he'd been arrested to silence him and ruin him politically. We'll be live in Moscow in a few minutes for more on this.

The secretary of state, John Kerry, is said to have a formula for reviving peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians. He's actually arrived in Ramallah on the West Bank just a short time ago to push his plan.

Kerry meeting again with the Palestinian Authority president, you see him there, Mahmoud Abbas. They met yesterday in Jordan before heading back to the West Bank.

Terms of Kerry's proposal have been kept secret, but Reuters has quoted an Israeli government official as saying Israel might be ready to give up territory it took in the 1967 war along with other land swaps.

For decades, Israel has refused to negotiate that issue.

A spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, later denied plans to negotiate '67 borders as of now.