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NEWS STREAM
Spying Row; Drone Strike Plea; Australian Bushfires; Family Reunited; Anger over Football Racism; ObamaCare Website Problems; More Charges for Berlusconi; Tracking the "White Widow"; U.S. Hijacker in Cuba; A Dangerous Job; Internet Revolution; Scrapping the Siesta?
Aired October 24, 2013 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR: Relations between close allies Germany and the United States have taken a turn for the worse over suspicions of spying. Now the German foreign ministry has summoned the U.S. ambassador over allegations that Washington monitored the chancellor, Angela Merkel's, mobile phone.
On Wednesday, the chancellor called President Barack Obama directly demanding an explanation. The White House issued a statement saying that Ms. Merkel's phone is not being monitored by American security agencies, but curiously, did not say anything about whether it had been in the past.
Now other countries are also deeply worried about America's spying operations. Information leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden have created a firestorm. The French president spoke with U.S. President Barack Obama earlier this week over reports that the NSA intercepted millions of phone calls in France and the U.S. has suggested that the reports are misleading.
And last month, Brazil's president postponed plans to visit the U.S. because of spying revelations there. But in July, President Obama suggested that America isn't the only one doing the spying.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I guarantee you that in European capitals, there are people who are interested in, if not what I had for breakfast, at least what my talking points might be, should I end up meeting with their leaders.
That's how intelligence services operate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STOUT: Now the issue of alleged American spying on its allies may dominate a European Union leaders' meeting in Brussels on Thursday. And for more on the situation, I'm joined now by Atika Shubert in London.
And Atika, we know that Germany has summoned the U.S. ambassador earlier today.
What is the level of concern and anger at the very top there in Berlin?
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's a lot of anger. Remember, this isn't the first time that Germany has completed to the Obama administration. Earlier in June, right before Obama's visit to Berlin, actually, these leaks from the NSA came out, thanks to Edward Snowden.
And in them, it made clear that the -- that the National Security Agency had been spying on E.U. delegations in Washington, in Brussels and, you know, on a number of other countries. And at that time, Germany already sent a very strong statement to the U.S., saying that this was unacceptable and they felt it was a breach of privacy.
And as a result, at that time, they said it could derail trade talks. And now it's happened again. And even worse, it seems to be the tapping of Chancellor Angela Merkel 's own phone. And this is all, again, related to those leaks put out by Edward Snowden.
It's just that this time around, German intelligence has had the opportunity to go through some of the material themselves. And they've said this is -- they fear that her phone had been tapped, according to "Spiegel" magazine, and as a result, she's called up President Obama and said she is not happy and wants an immediate explanation.
STOUT: Yes, if these allegations are true, the scope of the surveillance on leaders there in Europe is absolutely startling. Now that according to these allegations, Chancellor Merkel's personal phone is being tapped.
Now we now that a number of E.U. leaders are meeting today in Brussels, Atika.
How do you think they're going to handle this issue of U.S. surveillance?
SHUBERT: Well, there's a big drive already to put together a privacy law that will ensure that this kind of activity is firmly illegal. And so now this is going to bolster that push. Already you've seen pushback from Germany, of course.
And remember, Germany is particularly sensitive about this because of its own history with the East German Stasi police, who are listening in on the conversations of citizens there.
So Germany is particularly upset. But France as well has expressed how unhappy they are. And so it really goes across Europe and you mentioned Brazil, Mexico, other countries are unhappy as well.
So it's really an international issue at this point. How much information is the United States gathering on its allies and friends, and what does it do with this information? What does it have to do with national security?
STOUT: Yes, policymakers of U.S. allies, there's just a sense of anger and outrage.
But what about the mood on the street, the public reaction there in Europe?
Is there a general sense of outrage there?
SHUBERT: I think the general reaction here is a bit more muted, because it's not quite -- you don't really feel it in everyone's daily lives. On the other hand, there now seems to be a very public assumption that the United States can look into your email if they so want to, whether or not that's a true -- whether or not that's true, that's the way people feel as a result of these leaks coming out.
And there is a sense that the United States is sort of hoovering up, vacuuming all of this information up and storing it in servers, waiting to sift through it at a later time. And that's what has privacy advocates so worked up.
STOUT: All right. Atika Shubert, joining us live from CNN London, thank you.
Now Pakistan's prime minister is calling for an end to U.S. drone strikes in his country. Now the U.S. President Obama hosted Nouri Sharif (ph) at the White House on Wednesday. And Mr. Sharif (ph) says that he brought up the issue of drones, which have infuriated many in Pakistan.
In a joint statement, Mr. Obama, however, did not comment on the issue. Earlier this week Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said many civilians have been killed in the drone strikes and accused the U.S. of breaking international law.
Massive fires are still blazing west of Australia's biggest city, Sydney. And throughout New South Wales, authorities report 60 fires. And 20 of them are out of control. The severe weather has eased slightly, but windy conditions caused a flare-up today.
In the past week, the fires have destroyed more than 200 homes. And a pilot helping to fight the blazes from the air was killed earlier today when his water bombing plane crashed. (Inaudible) reports say an Australian defense official has apologized after one of the biggest fires was said to be caused by a military exercise.
Robyn Curnow reports from the hard-hit Blue Mountains.
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ROBYN CURNOW, CNN HOST: Fires are still burning here in the Australia bush, firefighters still battling to control some of the blazes. Above our heads, helicopters have been rotating, still constantly in the air, water bombing some of the fires here.
But the immediate risk, the immediate danger to homes and to lives is over for the moment, say officials. That's because these gusts of winds have died down; it's much cooler here. But there's still a long, hot, dry summer ahead. So Australians should not be complacent, say the officials. In terms of the causes of these fires, it's not just the unseasonable weather.
Also we are hearing that a military exercise involving explosives was one of the causes of one of the big fires here in the Blue Mountains, igniting dry bushland a week ago.
Also we hear on Thursday an 8-year old was found trying to set fires. So it's been a combination of arson, these military accidents as well as the weather that has kept these firefighters busy, Australians being warned to be vigilant -- Robyn Curnow, CNN, in the Blue Mountains, Australia.
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STOUT: All right. Now a little bit of good news for you. The weather conditions are better now that a cold front has moved through. Let's get the details now with Samantha Moore. She joins us from the World Weather Center.
Samantha?
SAMANTHA MOHR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, we got a little bit of moisture here, not a lot. You can see here in the last 24 hours of radar. We did pick up about 3.8 millimeters of rain. You know, that isn't much and, in fact, in all month we haven't had much, 13 millimeters all during the month of October. And the average is 77 millimeters. So well below average so far for that month.
You know, and temperatures definitely cooled down here, 33 on Wednesday and we're about 10 degrees cooler across much of Sydney today. And across the area we had this incredible wind, up some 83 kph as the frontal system advanced to the front on Wednesday. So there's gusty winds are really a problem for firefighters. Those are abating now. So that's good news.
Check out the rain to the south here, incredible two-day rainfall here, 80 millimeters. That broke the total, some 127 years ago on the record books. So record rainfall to the south. It's too bad we couldn't have brought it in here to the burn areas.
We still have a high to very high fire risk here across much of New South Wales. It is very high yet here in Sydney. So we can't totally let our guard down, even though the conditions here have improved.
So here are the current winds. And as we head into the next 24 hours, we're still going to see those winds gusting at times, especially here in Canberra, around 35 kph. So not totally calm, but definitely better than the 83 kph winds we saw in advance of the cold front.
But now that the frontal system has moved through, we are seeing improving conditions and temperatures definitely have cooled down here by some 10 degrees or so. So the cooler temperatures, the slackened winds and the moisture definitely helped them out.
Now talking about moisture in the tropics, we go; we have a severe typhoon here, Lekima, and then we also have Francisco, which has weakened considerably as it moved northeast of Okinawa and into the southern portion of Japan here. But it is going to be having a tremendous impact for the next 24-36 hours.
Moving to the north at 13 right now, 110 max sustained winds. And it's taking almost the same path that Wipha took last week. Remember Wipha that moved here? It just kind of sprayed the southeastern side of the island. And brought in all of that rain which caused the landslide here in Oshima. They are still trying to search for many missing people here.
And at this point, over 40 people missing or expired as a result of this mudslide. And we will be seeing some very impressive rainfall amounts here the next few days, in fact, rain in the forecast for Friday becoming worse Friday night and into Saturday. We're going to have to watch this very, very carefully, Kristie.
STOUT: That's right. More rain could mean more misery ahead for many people.
Samantha Mohr, thank you very much indeed for that.
You're watching NEWS STREAM. And coming up, we'll take you to a Roma community in Greece to hear what people there are saying about Maria, the little girl who police say was abducted by a Roma couple.
And more reports of racial abuse on the football pitch. We'll tell you what happened and why Manchester City's Yaya Toure is demanding action.
Also ahead, the search for the terror suspect known as the White Widow. Today we have chilling new accounts of her life in Kenya.
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STOUT: Now a 7-year-old Roma girl in Ireland has been reunited with her family. Police had removed the young girl from the family home two days ago over concerns about her identity. But a source says that DNA tests have confirmed what the parents said all along, that she is indeed their daughter.
And the couple are said to be considering legal options. Some groups are warning against scapegoating Roma families who face widespread discriminate in Europe. And the Ireland investigation followed a high- profile case in Greece. A Roma couple there has been charged with abducting the child they call Maria.
Karl Penhaul visited a Roma community in Greece where many people know the couple and say that they are being targeted unfairly.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Roma children at the railings of the ramshackle community that they call home. Across the way, a Roma mother walks her sons to the gates of the local school, across the starter about 8:30.
And I meet these youngsters playing in the street. They're about the same age as Maria, the mystery blonde girl discovered in this camp during a raid by Greek police last week.
This Roma couple, Christos Salis and Eleftheria Dimopoulou, are in custody, charged with kidnapping Maria. They've reportedly been raising at least 14 children. The defense lawyers say they took Maria into their home after her biological mother from Bulgaria was unable to look after her.
Residents here backed those assertions.
"Maria used to play here with all the other children and go to the store with her hum. Maria was not hidden away," Maria Kaleas tells me. "Her own mother gave her away and Eleftheria was enchanted by Maria's beauty. She shared the food for her own children with Maria," she adds.
Prosecutors say Maria, who is estimated to be 5 or 6 years old, was living in squalid conditions.
Such allegations repeated on the TV news make Katarina Sarkeris (ph) weep in anger at what she calls "police and media lies." She knew Maria well.
"The girl was raised very well. She used to bring her here, nicely dressed. She wasn't skinny but well-fed. Eleftheria took more care of her than her own children," she says.
Unemployment is rampant in this Roma community, amid Greece's economic meltdown. It's clear many families are desperately poor. The prefabricated metal homes set aside for Roma families were only intended to be temporary but have now been here for a decade.
By comparison, Maria seems to have lived in more comfortable surroundings, judging by this video showing her bedroom.
Vassilis Sarkeris (ph) says she knew her adopted family well.
"It's a good family. I've known them for many years. We practically grew up together. Christos used to sell potatoes and fruit, and she would come here for coffee and bring the little girl," she says.
Media coverage of Maria's case has enraged this community. Many refuse to talk to journalists. Some European media are portraying the Roma as social outcasts and heavily involved in crime. Some media have even suggested home videos showing Maria at parties is evidence she was trained to dance in the street and beg for money.
British and Romanian police busted a huge child trafficking ring run by Roma gangs out of Romania in 2010. The residents in Farsala saying Maria was abandoned by her real parents, not trafficked.
"We have never had such a case here before. Maria is the first of the kind. We Roma have been living here for 50 or 60 years. Nothing like this has happened," she says.
For now, an Athens-based charity is looking after Maria and until the mystery of why she was living in this camp is cleared up, all the Roma families here say they feel they're on trial -- Karl Penhaul, CNN, Farsala, Greece.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STOUT: Now racism in sport has again reared its ugly head, this time at a football match in Moscow on Wednesday. Crowds there shouted monkey chants at Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure. Toure who hails from the Ivory Coast says that he is furious and he is urging the game's European government body, UEFA, to take strong action.
UEFA had even declared this week an action week for football against racism in Europe. But some say its penalties have not been tough enough for clubs whose fans shout racist abuse.
Here's CNN's Phil Black.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The setting behind me is still under construction, but in just a few months, it's going to welcome the world when it hosts the opening ceremony to the Sochi Winter Olympics. It will also be a match venue during the 2018 Football World Cup.
The Russian government has spent a lot of effort and money attracting the world's greatest sporting events. The greatest athletes here. So this latest allegation of racial abuse against the football player will not be welcome news.
Manchester City's Yaya Toure is African Player of the Year. He is one of the world's most respected players. And he says he was subjected to monkey chanting during Wednesday's match against CSKA Moscow.
He's furious; he wants the Russian Club stadium closed for years as punishment. Manchester City is lodging a formal complaint with the sport's European governing body. But UEFA says it will not comment until an investigation is finished. This is not the first high-profile exactly of racism on the pitch in this country.
In the past other players have complained about abuse and even having bananas thrown at them. Fans from some clubs, like Zenit St. Petersburg, have a reputation as repeat offenders. Sporting officials here in the past have played down the issue of racism in football, saying it is not just a problem in Russia.
But anti-racism campaigners say Russia has a lot of work to do, educating its fans about appropriate attitudes and behavior before the World Cup in 2018 -- Phil Black, CNN, Sochi, Russia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STOUT: Immediately after Wednesday's match, Yaya Toure spoke out to Manchester City's own TV station, and here is what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YAYA TOURE, MANCHESTER CITY PLAYER: It was a few times when I went into the goal and I tried to score and I missed, and steady some --- the fans, some fans were reacted badly over. But it's always the same, you know, and they say the banner, "No against racism," or some blah blah blah, you know, they have to stop it now, you know.
We are -- we are not -- we are not the kid. They have to react. And I hope the UEFA will take -- will take -- will take the action about that, because I will want to stop now here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STOUT: And UEFA say that they are waiting for the referee's match report before they decide whether to take action. That report is due either on Wednesday or Thursday.
You're watching NEWS STREAM. And still to come, the so-called ObamaCare website has been plagued with problems. So just what caused the crash? Stay with us.
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STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, you're back watching NEWS STREAM.
Now supporters said that this website would help Americans get better health care. Instead, this has been the center of a political fight and plenty of frustration because many people say that it simply has not been working. And now the U.S. President Barack Obama is vowing that this site will be fixed.
But the site's troubles have brought up a number of key questions. So let's talk to our regular contributor and editor of newyorker.com, Nicholas Thompson. He joins me now live from New York.
Nick, first, give us the details about what exactly went wrong with the rollout of healthcare.gov.
NICHOLAS THOMPSON, NEWYORKER.COM: Well, healthcare.gov was supposed to roll out on October 1st and it was going to be the site where everybody could log on and get health insurance through our complicated system of health care exchanges.
It turned out though that building the system is really, really hard. So building the front end, which is the nice picture you showed on the screen a minute ago, that turned out pretty well. (Inaudible) got done on time. It's clear and concise. It looks fairly easy to sign up.
But in the back end, all the systems that underlie that, where the computers have to talk to all the different insurance companies, where they have to talk to all sorts of agencies in the federal government to see who is eligible for subsidies, who's not, you know, whose insurers what plan (inaudible) doesn't offer this other plan, that got very confused, very tangled.
It was written in a lot of different languages and people just can't log on and they can't figure it out. It's not working at all.
STOUT: So the problem was with the back end. That's where we were having all these reports of freezing applications and what have you.
Nick, how unusual is it for a website of this size to crash on day one?
THOMPSON: Well, this one, it's not unusual at all. It's very hard to build this kind of a sophisticated system. It's particularly hard for government contractors, not private companies, to build this kind of sophisticated system.
Everybody needs to be talking to everybody. There are all sort of complicated regulations that are hard to follow because it involves people's health information. There are all sorts of bureaucratic things that also made things more tangled.
So very, very hard to do. They had a limited amount of time to do it, 22 months. That's fairly short. Also they had another huge problem, which is that the government was shut down on October 1st because the Republican Party wanted to block the health care law. And so then the health care law goes into effect online on October 1st.
What is everybody in the country do? They all go on and try to log on because it's such a curiosity. Everybody was so excited about it, both because they want health care and because it's this cause of this massive political fight.
So the whole country tries to log on simultaneously and the system just crashes and it was a mess.
STOUT: Yes, a lot of factors leading to this epic fail. Where President Obama, he said, he's going to deal with it, he's called on trusted adviser to lead, in his words, "a tech surge," and let's roll a clip. Here's what President Obama had to say about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Experts from some of America's top private sector tech companies who've, by the way, have seen things like this happen before, they want it to work. They're reaching out. They're offering to send help. We've had some of the best I.T. talent in the entire country join the team. And we're well into a tech surge to fix the problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STOUT: OK. So that's what the U.S. president had to say about the tech surge, interesting choice of words there.
What will the tech surge entail, Nick? And how is it going to be fixed?
THOMPSON: Well, the tech surge is going to entail a lot more people dealing with this. It's going to deal ideally with better management, better structure of the different teams working on it. There's a law in software called Brooks' Law, which is that if a late -- if you add developers to a late software project, it just makes things more late.
People come in; they don't understand how the system works. They may not even know the language some of the code is written in. They get very confused. It takes them a long time to figure it out. And just slows things down.
This, it turns out, may be an exception to Brooks' Law in that there are going to be so many people under the watchful eye of the president who, as we know, had a very successful record building a fundraising system and building a campaign website. I mean, the technical prowess of the Obama campaign was outstanding. So he's going to bring in people. He's supported by Silicon Valley, the best coders in the world support Barack Obama, a lot of people are going to come in, ideally they'll get along.
They'll look at the code. They'll figure it out and they'll make it work. On the other hand, you know, this is a situation where you know, adding a whole bunch more people could, in fact, make it worse. But this is a problem that needs to get fixed and we'll see what happens.
STOUT: That's right. And here's hoping that at least a couple of America's best and brightest can fix this website, because a lot of people need it.
Nick Thompson joining us live from New York, thank you so much.
THOMPSON: Thank you, Kristie.
STOUT: Take care.
Now you are watching NEWS STREAM. And still to come, outrage in Germany over reports that the U.S. monitored Chancellor Merkel's personal cellphone. We'll go live to Washington for more on America's growing risk of European allies over its alleged spying activities.
Also ahead, the hunt for the so-called White Widow, have a special report from Nairobi. Stay with us.
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STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You're watching NEWS STREAM. And these are your world headlines.
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STOUT: The German chancellor and other European leaders are meeting in Brussels today. And allegations of spying by the U.S. will be on their minds, especially for Angela Merkel. Her government says it has information that the German leader's cell phone was monitored by U.S. intelligence. The White House says Ms. Merkel's phone is not currently being monitored by American security agencies.
A pilot has died in a plane crash while dumping water on bushfires in the Australian state of New South Wales. The aircraft went down in remote bushland, and it took several hours for emergency workers to reach the site. An emergency warning is now in place for two fires burning in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney.
Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi faces more charges of corruption. And this time it's for allegedly trying to bribe a senator in 2006. Berlusconi's attorneys say that he will be exonerated. In August, Italy's high court upheld Berlusconi's four-year prison sentence for tax fraud.
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Claims that the United States spied on its European allies are likely to dominate E.U. meeting in Brussels. And the heightened tension come after a report that Chancellor Angela Merkel's cell phone was bugged by Washington. Chief U.S. security correspondent Jim Sciutto has the latest from Washington.
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, new developments, the American ambassador to Germany summoned, also the German defense minister, saying there should be consequences to the relationship so this becoming very public very angry and President Obama having to make some very difficult phone calls to close allies and unable to give them satisfying answers.
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SCIUTTO (voice-over): One more day, one more revelation of alleged U.S. spying on a close ally, this time Germany said it received information the NSA monitored the personal cell phone of German leader Angela Merkel. Signaling the seriousness of the charge, Chancellor Merkel and President Obama personally spoke about the issue on the telephone.
JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I can tell you the president assured the chancellor the United States is not monitoring and will not monitor the communications of the chancellor. The United States greatly values our close cooperation with Germany on a broad range of shared security challenges.
SCIUTTO (voice-over): The White House did not specify, however, if such monitoring had taken place in the past. On Monday it was France that revealed to be in the crosshairs of the NSA.
The French newspaper "Le Monde" reporting that in the 30 days from December 10th, 2012, to January 8th, 2013, the NSA allegedly intercepted over 70 million phone calls in France, an average of nearly 3 million intercepts per day.
The director of national intelligence said in a statement, that report was false though it did not specify how. By then the French foreign minister had already blasted the American policy of widespread surveillance.
FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): These kinds of practices between partners that violate privacy are totally unacceptable.
SCIUTTO (voice-over): Documents released by Edward Snowden have now revealed NSA surveillance of the communications of a long list of close U.S. allies, including Germany, England, Brazil, Mexico and the European Union.
SCIUTTO: When you look at America's soft power, its message and its relationships with these countries, how embarrassing is this?
P.J. CROWLEY, FORMER STATE DEPT. SPOKESMAN: It's always awkward. I mean, what you have here is a situation where either someone sees the hand in the cookie jar or strong evidence the hand has been in the cookie jar. Every time this happens, there's going to be awkward conversations.
SCIUTTO: And when each of these surveillance cases have been exposed with American allies, the administration has made two points. They say, one, that all countries spy on other countries and also that they're conducting a review of this surveillance to get a better balance between security concerns and privacy concerns.
They haven't given any details as to what that review has shown or what changes it's going to bring. And as far as everyone spying on everyone, it would appears to get the allies angry is really the scale of this and the level of this going up to the highest leaders and that's an answer that has not yet been satisfying to American allies, Kristie.
STOUT: All right, Jim Sciutto, reporting there.
And to Kenya now, the investigation into the perpetrators of the Nairobi mall attack last month which left some 67 people dead. Now at the time, there were reports of a white woman among the terrorists that stormed the shopping center. And that led to speculation that it may have been British foreigner Samantha Lewthwaite, known as the White Widow.
Now investigates have scoured the hard drive of a computer they believe belonged to the 29-year old and have found records of an apartment rented in Nairobi two years ago. CNN's senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, is on the trail of the so-called White Widow and he joins me now live from Nairobi.
And Nic, what have you learned?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kristie, the police here also very hotly on the trail of the lady known as the White Widow, Samantha Lewthwaite. Indeed, police, we understand, were called to a meeting last week and asked why by their sources had they not been able to capture and find her so far.
One of the places that she was hiding out in for a while was an apartment close to a shopping mall here in Nairobi.
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ROBERTSON: Is this the lady who lives in the apartment here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, she is the one.
ROBERTSON: You recognize her?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Samantha Lewthwaite, aka the White Widow, here on a fake passport seized by police in a raid two years ago, she's the world's most wanted female terror suspect. Once married to London's 77 suicide bomber, Germaine Lindsay, suspect of involvement in terror attacks in Kenya, dating back to 2011, on the run from Interpol.
A building manager wants his identity withheld, explains how she hid.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She (inaudible) number to in the morning at 8:00. At 9:00, if I call her, she has changed her number like.
ROBERTSON: Really?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At 10:00 or 11:00, another line. At 4:00, another line. So.
ROBERTSON: Lots of phone lines.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Identical to this apartment, just feet from hers, the building manager says she shared the 100 square meters of upmarket living space cost about $1,000 a month, with four children and a man he believes was her husband. They arrived February 2011, and were anything but normal.
Lewthwaite would spend many hours in the local mall in the Nakumatt department store, where he would sometimes go with the family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At that time, she was going from not much. She can stay there for three hours, four hours, then she come back.
ROBERTSON: So she would -- she would go to Nakumatt for three or four hours and sit there and watch who was coming and who was going?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was going to working Nakumatt. Some then children drags things. She pays. And she goes to saloon then she come back.
ROBERTSON: So she spent a lot of her time, a lot of her time she spent here, was keeping track, keeping watch on Nakumatt?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
ROBERTSON: See who was going, who was shopping?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): From her balcony, she could see directly to the shopping center that she was spying on. This is middle class neighborhood where a white woman like her really wouldn't look out of place.
The mall, known locally as Junction Mall, is popular, particularly with affluent expats. Just like its larger companion mall, Westgate, targeted by terrorists last month, in that attack these Islamist terrorist gunmen let victims go if they were Muslim. The building manager now sees a chilling connection. He says Lewthwaite's husband asked him to spy at the mall, find out who is Muslim.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you -- money that the people who are coming this Nakumatt, are they Muslims or Wazungus (ph) or (inaudible) Kenya? Can you tell me which people are coming there are many in number.
ROBERTSON: So he wants to know if there are a lot of Muslims going to that or not?
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Authorities believe the Junction Mall was a potential terror target and have investigated. Though they haven't named Lewthwaite as a suspect in the case. Still, as they searched the ashes at the nearby Westgate Mall, many Kenyans are asking did she have a role there?
Where she is now, no one knows. She fled the apartment in a hurry, August 2011.
ROBERTSON: And when she left that apartment, she told the -- she told the building manager that she would kill him. She said, "I will kill you, I will kill you." That was because she was distraught. She said her mother had died; she wanted to leave.
She was breaking the lease on the apartment, was desperate to get away and he wanted to make sure that was going to be OK with the owner of the property. So he was left in a very, very lasting and chilling impression for Samantha Lewthwaite.
STOUT: Yes, understandably, chilling words there from the so-called White Widow who remains at large, Nic Robertson reporting live from Nairobi for us, thank you, Nic.
And now to Cuba, where American William Potts has had a lot of time to think of the decades he's been a fugitive. Now he's had a change of heart about the country he once hated. Patrick Oppmann has the story of a revolutionary who's grown homesick.
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PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nearly 30 years after he hijacked a passenger plane at gunpoint, forcing it to fly from the United States to Cuba, fugitive and former Black Panther William Potts may soon be returning home.
WILLIAM POTTS, HIJACKER: Like it or lump it, I'm an American. I was born and raised there. My family was born and raised there and that's my - - and that's who I -- you know, want -- I've been wanting to go to return to for over a year.
OPPMANN (voice-over): We talked to Potts here outside the U.S. diplomatic mission in Havana, where he applied for a passport, something he should receive within days, he says. Then a possible return to his homeland, even if it means jail time in the U.S. on top of the time he's already served in Cuba.
POTTS: I'm ready to discuss it and to debate the issue in a court of law necessary because I'm sure any average American can understand it, 15 years in prison in a Communist country is 15 years. It's not a Club Med situation.
OPPMANN (voice-over): When Potts hijacked the plane in 1984, he was in search of a revolutionary paradise. He didn't find it.
OPPMANN: William Potts came here to seek military training. Instead he received 15 years in Cuban prison. Now he's hoping the time he served in Cuba will be subtracted from any sentence he might face in the United States.
OPPMANN (voice-over): Following his release from prison in Cuba, Potts joined the country's small Muslim community. Prayer, he says, helps him cope with the separation from his family, including the two daughters he had in Cuba and now live in the U.S.
He also hopes to ask forgiveness of the 56 passengers and crew of the hijacked airliner.
POTTS: I regret taking that plane and putting those people's live in jeopardy. I didn't -- I didn't have that perspective at the time. But I have it now and I carry it to the day that I die. The thought that that plane could have gone down and I would have been responsible for all those people having died.
OPPMANN: So far, Potts says U.S. authorities are not offering him any deals. But he says he's willing to take the gamble in court if it means he can finally come home -- Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana.
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STOUT: Now you're watching NEWS STREAM. And still to come, today marks World Polio Day. After the break, we look at the challenges facing the eradication of the disease, among them the killing of health workers delivering the polio vaccine in Pakistan.
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STOUT: Welcome back. Now the polio virus was once feared worldwide. The highly infectious disease, it invades the nervous system and it can cause irreversible paralysis. And efforts to eradicate it have reduced its incidence by over 99 percent in the past quarter century.
But today on World Polio Day, it remains endemic in three countries, Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan. There is no cure, but a vaccine can protect for life. That is if the vaccine can be administered. In Pakistan, health workers administering the vaccine have been the target of deadly attacks by extremists and must be accomplished by armed guards. Saima Mohsin has more from Pakistan.
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SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Protecting children from polio with a few simple drops of vaccine has become a dangerous task not for the children, but for people like Gulnaz, who works in one of the most violent areas of Karachi, Pakistan's largest city. It's so dangerous, we can't use her full name.
Last year, her niece and sister-in-law, also polio workers, were gunned down by armed boys on motorcycles. UNICEF says it was simply for giving young children this vital vaccination.
But that hasn't stopped her.
GULNAZ, POLIO WORKER (through translator): Everybody in my family was suffering from shock. Some of them tried to stop me telling me not to do this job anymore, because two coffins leaving one house leaves a mark.
MOHSIN: Anti-polio campaigns have been targeted ever since U.S. intelligence used a fake vaccination program to help in its hunt for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in 2011. That wasn't a polio campaign, but the damage was done.
Since July 2012, 22 polio workers and escorting police have been killed.
I ask Gulnaz if she's concerned about working in the same area after so many attacks, including the ones against her family.
GULNAZ (through translator): After this tragedy, I'm not scared at all. In fact, I feel even stronger and more determined. Every woman in this country who is doing this job is praying for me. When I'm working in the field I'm with my partner, but I also sense that my niece and sister- in-law who were killed are walking alongside me.
MOHSIN: We couldn't film Gulnaz and Shawzia (ph) in the area they usually work in for their safety and for our own, because of the threat there they have to be escorted by paramilitary soldiers, sealing off the area and guarding a street at each end simply so that young children can be given these crucial drops that most parents and children around the world can get at their local doctor's surgery.
Rasman (ph) was infected with polio as a child, so he ensured his children took the drops. But after the bin Laden raid, he decided not to give them to his fourth child, 3-year-old Musharraf (ph), who became case number one for 2013.
So far this year, 28 polio cases have been detected in Pakistan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I'm not stupid or illiterate, I made sure my other children got the drops. But I was very angry and weary of aid workers, because if they are cooperating with spy agencies then it's better to keep away from them. I am sad my youngest suffered, but I don't regret my decision.
MOHSIN: Rasman (ph) only changed his mind after the government released a booklet with a series of religious edicts from Muslim scholars telling parents polio drops are safe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I am appealing to my fellow Pashtun society to give their kids polio drops.
MOHSIN: It's a message health care workers hope others will hear. It could make their job safer. And for the children, it could save them from a lifetime of avoidable disability -- Saima Mohsin, CNN, Karachi, Pakistan.
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STOUT: The Internet is about to see one of the biggest changes ever to the way it works. Here are some of the most common domains used on the Web. You have .com, .net, .org and so on. But you'll notice something about them. They're all in English. Well, that changes today. The Internet will support domains in other languages.
And here's the first four added. There's Arabic for web, there's Chinese for games and two in Cyrillic, standing for online and sites. And these are the just the first four. The Internet regulator ICANN says there could be up to 1,400 different domains like these added.
You're watching NEWS STREAM. And still to come, you've got to see this. It's going to have you on the edge of your seat. It is one of the most dangerous sports in the world, cliff diving. We hear from a man going to extreme heights to dive into the deep.
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STOUT: Welcome back. And finally, some better news for Spain. Early indications are it has emerged from recession and there's a slight dip in the sky-high jobless rate. But the economy has a long way to go and now the government is considering scrapping Spain's long lunches and famed siestas in order to increase productivity and to spur growth.
Isa Soares explains.
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ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Autumn may have arrived, but here in Madrid, workers are still enjoying their outdoor lunch breaks as if summer had never left.
Not even the music can disturb the public napping. Just a few kilometers down the road at Studio Banana when it`s time for siesta, they use this.
ALI GANJAVIAN, CO-FOUNDER, STUDIO BANANA: The ostrich pillow is a product, which is a device for sleeping. It kind of came about because we were spending a lot of time working in the studio, so we thought ourselves, why don`t we create a product that allows us to sleep anywhere?
SOARES (voice-over): Their product is in many ways a wakeup call for workers who tend to leave work, eat and go to bed later than their European counterparts. But that`s about to change. The government says it`s considering turning back the clocks by an hour.
Spanish dictator General Franco moved Spain from Greenwich Mean Time in 1942 to follow his ally Nazi Germany. Since then, Spain has been one hour ahead of GMT during the winter. And two hours ahead in the summer. And that reportedly cost the economy as much as 8 percent of GDP because of lost productivity.
IGNACIO BUQUERAS Y BACH, PRESIDENT, FUNDACION INDEPENDIENTE (through translator): For 71 years, we have been on the wrong clock. So, we`re recommending a more flexible work schedule so that the days don`t finish any later than 5 pm and that lunch won`t last for more than 40 minutes.
SOARES (voice-over): Advice that has been taken up by Studio Banana.
SOARES: The working lunch here has been reduced to 45 minutes, but it`s still an important part of their working day. Over (inaudible) they can really bounce ideas off each other. It`s this model that many say Spain should adopt because it means to have more time to spend with their families. They sleep longer, and they are less lethargic at work. All in all, more productive.
BACH (through translator): We're recommending a siesta lite, which is what doctors in dream clinics recommend, 10-15 minutes is more than enough time after lunch to relax and to be able to return to work reinvigorated for the afternoon.
SOARES (voice-over): A modern twist on tradition that this company has taken on board.
SOARES: How often do you power nap here?
GANJAVIAN: Once a day, once or twice a day, depending on how the -- kind of the rhythm of our day. But --
SOARES: Shall we go for it?
OK.
This is great.
SOARES (voice-over): Isa Soares, CNN, Madrid, Spain.
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STOUT: I hope it works. It's not a good look.
Well, now I'm going to introduce you to one of the world's most dominant sportsmen. Now he holds 11 world titles in cliff diving . Here is Orlando Duque.
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ORLANDO DUQUE, CLIFF DIVER: When I'm standing up on top, I'm worried. You know, I know this is high. You feel the wind in your face, you hear it. It is a really, really intense feeling.
Those last couple of seconds before I jump, it's -- I'm not even scared anymore. I'm so fully focused on this, on the jump that I'm just thinking, this is what I got to do.
My name is Orlando Duque. I've been diving off cliffs for the past 18 years.
I used to be an Olympic diver but moved on to cliff diving.
I did diving for 10 years and it's, you know, it's a great sport.
But after so many years, like every pool looks the same anywhere you go. So I wanted a different challenge. And that's when I started high diving. The locations change everywhere. You have to adapt to all the changing conditions all the time. And that makes it more of a challenge. It makes it a little more interesting.
The height is anything between like 25-30 meters. That's what I really to look for. In competition, we do four dives, two (inaudible) dives that is where you show style and technique.
(Inaudible). And then we do two optional dives that you can do whatever you want and that's where we go crazy doing flips and flips.
I'm 39 years old, from Colombia. People call me The Duke. I have won 11 world titles and two world records. My highest jump is 34 meters from a bridge in Italy. It takes under three seconds to hit the water.
When I jump off, I -- immediately I know if things are going well or no. The biggest risk in cliff diving is a bad impact with the water. If you make a mistake, then you can have a concussion. You can -- a broken tailbone. The legs can separate and then you kind of overstretch, separated pelvises. That's common injuries.
You have to have some really good spatial awareness. You need to know where is up and where is down. You need to know that you're capable of doing this. Your mind is going to start playing games with and tell you do not go jump. But you have to. You have to convince yourself.
Well, all I need is a high place and a little bit of water and I'm good to go.
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STOUT: And he's good to go. His fearlessness is absolutely amazing.
Now finally, we have this news just in to CNN, Portuguese police are reopening their investigation into the disappearance of the British girl, Madeleine McCann. McCann went missing in Portugal some six years ago. British police reopened their own investigation in July. We'll bring you much more on this story as soon as we learn more.
And that is NEWS STREAM. "WORLD BUSINESS TODAY" is next.
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