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France Will Take 24,000 Refugees Over Next Two Years, Urges Europe To Solve Root Causes of Crisis; Scuffles Along Border Choke Points; Why Gulf States Have Not Taken In Refugees. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired September 07, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:21] MANISHA TANK, HOST: I'm Manisha Tank in Hong Kong. A warm welcome to News Stream.

Scuffles seen on the border between Serbia and Hungary, the massive flood of refugees and migrants in Europe is pushing countries to a tipping

point.

And the number of people trying to make that dangerous journey is not letting up. We'll bring you a special report from Turkey.

Plus, we'll check what countries are doing to fix the root of the crisis.

European leaders are moving to do more to help the influx of refugees, but they warn they can't keep taking in people at the current pace.

Germany has promised more than $3 billion to help deal with the bloc's migrant crisis. France says it will take in 24,000 more. And come

Wednesday, we're told we can expect a raft of mandatory quotas across member states.

But still the swell of migrants headed for Europe is pushing Hungary and Austria to a tipping point despite scenes of welcome such as this in

the Austria capital.

Well, let's go to Vienna now. Fred Pleitgen is there. And he's actually at the train station. Fred, I know you've seen many of the

migrants come off those trains. They've been applauded as we saw in those pictures there.

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of them still coming in here, Manisha. I would say that in the early

morning hours until the early afternoon that we have right now, I would say that anywhere between 600 and 700 that have come in on trains from the

Hungarian border, so it's a little bit less than it was over the weekend, but there still are large groups of people coming in.

And it's the same scenes that we've seen over the past couple of days. Most of them are welcome here by people on the platforms. There's a lot of

cheering still going on just like there has been over the past couple of days. And there really is an outpouring of support by the Austrians as

many people here are volunteering.

Also, many Austrians actually do speak Arabic and Farsi are also volunteering to try and help these people orient themselves. That's very,

very important as just the orientation to let them know what the next process is going to be.

There is a lot of efficiency at work here as most of the ones who are arriving. And you'll see that the platforms behind me are fairly empty.

Those that are arriving almost immediately get put on trains and then they can go further on to Germany, which is the location that the vast majority

wants to go to as fast as possible, Manisha.

TANK: Yeah, I wondered about that. How is that being handled, because, you know, a week ago we had seen scenes of people building up,

them not knowing what to -- whether they could get on trains in different parts of Europe. And it was really worrying scene, but are you now seeing

you say efficiency, but are you now seeing that these people are getting through getting to where they want to go?

PLEITGEN: Yeah, you know what, there was a big backlog over the weekend, that it was certainly very difficult. I actually went with some

of the first batch of those refugees over the border between Hungary and Austria. And of course one of the big issues that the authorities here had

was that you had that big backlog, because so many people had been stranded in Hungary for such a long period of time. And there was just a

big buildup there.

Now, the officer and authorities are saying that it's well over 10,000 people -- I think only 16,000 people that have come through here just this

weekend alone.

Now, of course, that is a pretty big logistical operation. What the Austrians then did was they put in place special train services from the

border town, one is called Nickelsdorg, which is actually pretty small. But they've managed to transport all of those people, or pretty much all of

those people right here to Vienna and then the vast majority on to Munich. So those bottlenecks are sort of easing off and you can still feel that

there are a lot of people coming in, but the whole system that they have in place is working a lot better than it was before.

TANK: OK. Fred, thanks very much for that. Fred Pleitgen there who is at that train station in Vienna monitoring the situation there.

Well, the Vatican is among the voices calling for a greater response to the staggering number of migrants. Pope Francis is urging Catholics

across Europe to take in refugee family in each parish. But politicians say the root of this migrantion needs to be addressed. The British prime

minister has repeatedly argued that the best policy is to focus on restoring peace. We'll hear from him in a few hours from how.

The German chancellor took a similar stand.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[08:05:10] ANGELA MERKEL, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translator): The community of countries and nations, of course also needs to fight the

causes of the migration of the escape that is fighting terrorism, fighting civil wars. That is our focal point and the federal government will extend

its contribution to wars prevention and preventative measures.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TANK: And just after Angela Merkel spoke, we heard a similar message from the French president Francois Hollande. He says Europe will have to

share the burden of this crisis and that France is prepared to take in 24,000 refugees over the next two years.

Well, CNN's Jim Bittermann joins us from Paris with more on that.

And he went further, didn't he, Jim? And he described this sort of -- what the approach needs to be, this three-pronged approach.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Exactly, Manisha. In fact, the president said that France would take 24,000 refugees. That's

not a generous offer, it's a compulsory mandate by the European Union which is going to be laid down on Wednesday, he revealed, by Jean-Claude Juncker,

the president of the European Commission. Each country of Europe is going to be told how many refugees they're going to be taking. France is going

to take 24,000.

But the president said that's only one of three things. Finding a place for the refugees, only one of three ways to attack the problem. The

second one, he said, was to support the countries that already have refugees. He estimated that at 400 million refugees in the countries of

Jordan -- I'm sorry, 4 million refugees, in the countries of Jordan and Turkey and elsewhere throughout the Middle East. And he said that they

have to be supported in their efforts to keep the refugees there.

And then the third thing he said was that you have to go attack the problem at its very root. That is to say go after ISIS, for example, which

France has been reluctant to do in Syria now, but here's the way he changed the policy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANCOIS HOLLANDE, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE (through translator): As of tomorrow, there will be reconnaissance flights together with the coalition,

because it is the condition for us to have the ability to intervene in this form. And then according to the intelligence that we will obtain and the

intelligence that we will have connected and the reconnaissance, we will be ready, ready to carry out strikes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BITTERAMNN: So, there the president basically laying the groundwork there to go on the attack. The president said there's no question,

however, that ground troops would be involved -- Manisha.

TANK: What do you make of the intent behind this approach announced by the president? Because you know we just heard from Fred Pleitgen where

the reception for refugees there, for migrants there has been seemingly very warm, but it hasn't been that warm across Europe. And the politicians

are having to fight against a bit of a backlash in some of the countries. Has that been the case in France?

BITTERMANN: Well, there has been a backlash up until now. If you took a poll a week or two ago it would have been in 64 percent of the

French opposed to any kind of further immigration by refugees. That same poll was taken just a few days after all of the images we've seen of the

refugees and it's down to 51 percent. So opinions are changing.

But, still, a majority of the French are against accepting any more refugees.

One of the things that's been pointed out here, however, very interesting is that France after the Vietnam boat people crisis accepted

125,000 refugees, just France along. And after the Spanish civil war, France accepted more than 400,000 refugees from Spain.

So, it's a really a question of reflecting back on history and reflecting back on the whole idea of opening up your doors in a unified

manner in a way that's showing solidarity with the rest of Europe. Manisha.

TANK: OK, we'll have to leave it there for now. Always good to talk to you. Jim Bittermann there live for us from Paris.

Well, it's been a long and difficult journey for the thousands of people seeking asylum in Western Europe. First, many had to get to Turkey

and Greece. This after fleeing their homeland in the Middle East. But even after they reached the Balkans, their hardships were hardly over. Our

Arwa Damon has been with them and shows us the hurdles they face as Europe struggles with a unified solution.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At the Greece-Macedonia border, four days spent under the rain after the

Macedonians shut it down.

UNIDENTIFED MALE: We'll die.

DAMON: The children's clothes did not even have enough time to dry before the showers started again. And no one, not a single nonprofit, not

the government, to even provide something as simple as a tarp. A pregnant Syrian woman who did not want to be interviewed grabbed my arm in the

crowd. Eyes welling up, she pleaded, please do something. I don't want to lose my baby.

Hours after me met, the Macedonian police finally started letting people through. Some so desperate they threw themselves across. Others

making a run for it. A mother lost her son. She frantic, begging the police to let her through. It just didn't make sense. How could they be treated

like this?

Brief flashes of relief. Trains departing carrying them through Macedonia. Small faces pressed up against the glass. Hands waving. But the

respite, short-lived. The further into Europe they moved, the worse their treatment became. Often traveling overnight on foot. Train tracks lead the

flow of humanity from Serbia into Hungary.

Here, the real nightmare for most begins. Parched they arrive, but there is no water. Just hours of waiting under the beating sun where buses

finally arrive to take them to a (inaudible) transit camp where all say the conditions are inhumane and they are treated like animals. Herded around

like sheep and forced to scramble for food and water, and we are not allowed in.

At the Budapest train station after having waited for days if not over a week sleeping on cement, a moment of slight hope as a packed train

departs, also short-lived. An hour into what should have been a journey to the Hungary-Austria border, it stops. Whatever hope they had shattered. A

little girl unconsolable. Her mother unable to speak. All they want to do is get out of Hungary. Police ordered refugees off into a camp but they

refused.

Bedding down for the night, up in the overhead compartments, parents trying to make their children as comfortable as they can. Still struggling

to believe that in Europe they are finding themselves reduced to this. It is heartbreaking to witness. Thousands take matters into their own hands

and start walking from Budapest to the Austrian border. No longer willing to exist at the mercy of European leaders. We are in awe of their resolve.

Here, they see the compassion of some of the Hungarian people, ashamed of their government's treatment of the refugees, handing out water, food,

and more. He was on his crutches the entire way. But then again, someone stopped and actually gave them a child's stroller. The injury's from a

barrel bomb. The men have children living under ISIS in Syria, getting to Germany means a chance of bringing and saving them.

Almost all of these people have fled the war zones of Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. Homelands that no longer offer a future for them or for their

children. The world yet unable to resolve those wars, the people suffering the consequences deserve better than this.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Hungary.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[08:14:45] TANK: Images of the humanitarian crisis. Let's take you live to Austria now, a news conference on the migrant and refugee crisis

getting underway there. Let's listen in.

(AUSTRIAN NEWS CONFERENCE ON REFUGEE CRISIS)

[08:20:11] TANK: OK. We've just been listening to the Austrian interior minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner there on the Austrian approach. She

was really calling for cohesion in terms of the policy on asylum seekers.

And just towards there end there, just before we left her speaking, a very interesting point made about how Austria would be prepared to share

its expertise and the way that it has welcomed these asylum seekers with the Hungarians.

Speaking of which, that Serbian-Hungarian border very much fast becoming a front line for the continents refugee crisis. Hungary has built

a wire fence. It stretches along its border with Serbia to try to stem this flood of asylum seekers.

But we're still seeing the numbers swell and with that tensions as well, tensions are rising.

So, let's speak to CNN's Arwa Damon. Just a short time ago we saw that piece that Arwa had filed. Very moving pictures there.

Arwa, it's incredible that we were just hearing from the Austrian interior minister. It's such a different experience, such a different

approach to the one that you have witnessed.

DAMON: It is. And you know for many the minute they cross into Hungary that is one so many of those who have actually done this whole

journey will tell you the worst of their experience begins.

But before we get into that, over here we have a very small medical clinic that is just being set up. And the person being treated inside is a

small child. I was just speaking to his father and he says that they were sitting on the tracks and all of a sudden the little boy just stood up,

made a very strange noise, and then collapsed. The medics here saying that they believe that it is because of the heat and the exhaustion.

And that just shows you the toll that this very difficult journey is taking on so many, especially the children.

But if we give you a quick look at the scene here, it is very chaotic. The numbers coming through, they are just continuing to grow. And the

Hungarians are so ill-equipped to deal with it.

You have on the other side of the road, this so-called campsite that used to be a transit point that people were staying in. Normally, when we

were here about a week ago for only about five, maximum up to 12 hours. But now, many of them are saying that they have been staying here for a

night if not two or three. And if we just take -- sorry, excuse me. If we just take a look at these conditions, I mean small wonder that people are

very upset at the fact that they are having to wait here. They're waiting here to board this buses that are meant to be taking them to a transit

camp. And that transit camp, they will be getting fingerprinted. And eventually, hopefully, moving on.

But the buses have been very slow in coming. And because of that, we've been seeing tensions here rise. There has been an ongoing standoff

with the police that earlier -- sorry -- that earlier resulted in some fairly intense scuffles as the refugees tried to break through the police

lines, push their way out because they just want to walk to the transit camp, they are saying. It's only about 10 minutes up the road.

And down there is where you see the backs of the people that are gathered. On the other side of them, the police. All of this forcing them

to stop their buses that are loading the people here on the other side of it. So it's a very chaotic situation. It's the same cycle that echoes of

the misery that we are hearing throughout all of this, because no matter what emergency measures are being put into place, because of the sheer

numbers that are coming across these bottlenecks that are being created are just coming back into existence.

So this also is underscoring that very desperate need that exists for long-term sustainable solutions. These short-term emergency measures, yes,

are serving to ease some of the pressure on the refugee community, on the nations that they're coming through. But it's really not solving the

overarching problem.

TANK: Briefly, Arwa, this is a story that you've been covering now, this is going out all over the world. Newspapers are carrying these

stories. People around the world beginning to see these images. Are you beginning to see the NGOs turn up. Are you beginning to see that kind of

support come in? Or is that still not existent at this time?

DAMON: It's still lacking. I mean, you do have this small Hungarian nonprofit that focuses its work on migrant, that have, for example, set up

this food distribution center over here inside that tent where they have water, things like biscuits, fruits, and so on -- diapers and some baby

formula. But really other than them, there has not been much aid. The major aid organizations did not tend to operate in Hungary. They still

don't operate in Hungary.

We know that UNHCR has offered to assist the Hungarian government, especially in helping them set up tents and try to bring those tents and

those camps up to standard. The Hungarians have said no thank you, we can handle the situation on our own.

So, no, at these crucial points along this entire route, the international aid organizations are not seen. And these are people that

clearly need them, because after having come so far, after having been through what so many have been through in their homelands, the war zones of

Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, and then tracked this far, risked so much to come this far, this is hardly the reception that they deserve to be

receiving, especially not once they reach a country that has meant to be a gateway into the European Union.

[08:26:0] TANK: OK. Arwa, thank you very much for that Arwa Damon and the crew who are on the border there between Serbia and Hungary.

Stay with us here on CNN. There's more to come.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TANK: Hello, again, I'm Manisha Tank in Hong Kong. You're watching News Stream. And these are your world headlines.

Germany has promised more than $3 billion to help deal with the bloc's migrant crisis. France says it will take in 24,000 more refuges over the

next two years. We're told on Wednesday we can expect a raft of mandatory quotas across EU member states.

Guatemala appears set for a presidential runoff next month. The actor Jimmy Morales is in the lead after a partial vote count from Sunday's

election, but he is expected to fall short of the majority needed to avoid a runoff. The elections come as a massive corruption probe rocked the

government and prompted President Otto Perez Molina to resign last week. He denies the allegations.

In the U.S. state of Kentucky a county clerk who refused to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples is appealing a judge's ruling that

landed her in jail. Kim Davis says she has religious objections to same- sex marriage. The judge says Davis will stay behind bars until she agrees to follow the law.

Last week's dreadful image of that young Syrian boy whose body washed up on a beach in Turkey drove home the risk migrant families take to reach

Europe. But the journey's continue along the same stretch of shoreline where two-year-old Aylan Kurdi was found, another rubber boat packed with

people was picked up overnight.

Ivan Watson joins us now from Bodrum in Turkey. And Ivan, we did a sweep, really of some of the countries that are inviting in, bringing in

asylum seekers, refugees from the region. But the plight there, what is happening in those countries, this has been happening for some time in

those countries around Syria.

[08:30:20] IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. I mean, the rescue teams that we worked with overnight here. They

estimate that over the past couple of months some 400, 450 migrants and refugees were setting out from this popular tourist resort area in Turkey

every night under cover of darkness, trying to get across a channel, just a few kilometers away to the Greek island of Kos. And this is a dangerous

and perilous journey. And the images of that little Syrian refugee toddler, his lifeless body washing up on the beach here very close to where

I'm standing right now, they have not succeeded in dissuading some people who are just determined to make this perilous journey and are in fact

taking children along with them. Unfortunately, we saw some of them rescued by the Turkish coast guard and by volunteer teams overnight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON (voice-over): Under the spotlight of a Turkish coast guard cutter --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You see -- you see the refugees?

WATSON: The silhouettes of more than 20 people stranded in a rubber boat. They are desperate, frightened, but tonight luckily saved by

volunteers from the Bodrum Sea Rescue Association, who work alongside the Turkish coast guard.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not all together. Wait. Wait.

WATSON: Among the passengers rescued, five little children. Just four days after the world was shocked by photographs of a Syrian refugee toddler

who drown at sea. These people have embarked on the exact same perilous journey. They set off from the Turkish resort peninsula of Bodrum in hope

of reaching the Greek island of Kos. Instead of drifting at sea with a failed engine, these people will be brought back safely to Turkey.

The beaches below Bodrum's villas and posh resorts, an unlikely launching point for tens of thousands of refugees and migrants willing to

risk everything to reach Europe.

Under the light of the crescent moon, we witness another attempt at a crossing.

(on camera): It's after 2:00 a.m. and we've encountered another little rubber dinghy loaded with people. They're actually paddling in the

direction of Greece. It's incredibly overloaded, this little boat. It's an accident waiting to happen.

WATSON (voice-over): To make matters worse, some wear heavy backpacks over their life jackets.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The coast guard is coming.

WATSON: Before possible disaster strikes, the coast guard comes to the rescue. Tonight, they fail to reach Greece but they will live another day.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON: Now, Manisha, the rescue teams here say many of the people trying to make this cross sea journey are in fact Syrian refugees, but they

also tell me that there are also Pakistani nationals, Afghan nationals. I heard Persian spoken aboard one of those little rafts last night. There

are even people as far away as Myanmar trying to make this journey.

Some refugees fleeing conflicts, others appear to be perhaps economic migrants trying to make his journey to what they see as the promised land:

Greece and then further into Europe.

The Turkish government says that it has rescued more than 50,000 people trying to make this journey, not only from here in the Bodrum

peninsula, but from other parts of Turkey that are close to other Greek Islands. We do not have statistics on how many people may have perished

making this journey, but the rescue teams I worked with last night they tell me that they estimate they've seen at least 50 people die this summer

in this stretch of coastline where they've been operating desperately trying to rescue people night after night -- Manisha.

TANK: And, Ivan, I mean you talk of the many nationalities of people trying to run from horrible situations in their home countries. But what

is remarkable amongst some of the Syrians, especially that were -- have been spoken to by our teams that have -- those that have reached Germany,

that have reached Austria, many have said if things were to go back to peace and calm in our home countries, we would want to go back. And yet

such desperation right now.

[08:35:05] WATSON: I mean, nobody wants to flee the country of their birth, their homes, where they're children go to school, where they have a

livelihood. But you have a massive displacement of millions and millions of people by this war that has been going on now for some four years. And

when you talk to some Syrian refugees. And we've asked some of them.

Listen, did you see these pictures of this little boy who washed up on the shore here in Turkey, who made this journey? I mean, his mother died

as well. His 4-year-old brother died trying to cross a distance of just three or four kilometers, which some good swimmers could perhaps do on a

good day without even needing a raft or a life preserver. And some of those Syrians have responded saying, you know what, I've been running away

from barrel bombs, from assassinations from a conflict, I'm not afraid of risking my life or my family's life to cross this sea to try to get some

semblance of security and safety.

The Turkish government has appeals, particularly to these refugees, saying please don't make this journey, stay in Turkey. You may not be

happy here, you may not have great economic prospects, but at least for the time being you're safe -- Manisha.

TANK: Ivan, thank you very much. A very moving report there and really bringing it home what it is these refugees, these asylum seekers are

going through right now. Thanks, Ivan.

The oil rich countries of the Arabian Gulf have offered little in the way of refuge for the migrants, that's despite their relatively close

proximity to Syria and Iraq. Becky Anderson has more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Exhausted and drained, but determined to make it, most are marching towards Germany where they are

being welcomed with open arms. The majority are Syrian, and have traveled thousands of miles in search of a better life, often paying the ultimate

price.

And now, questions being raised about why these people fleeing war couldn't find suitable refuge closer to home, namely in rich Arab Gulf

countries that could afford to house them.

The uproar has gained momentum on social media. Images like these were widely circulated, calling on leaders to do more.

And the U.N. has voiced its concerns.

ANTONIO GUTERRES, U.N. HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES: And that is why we have been asking, not only the borders of the region are opened but all

of the borders, special in the developed world are also open and this is true in Europe and in the gulf and everywhere where countries have the

capacity to receive some Syrians and to integrate them into their societies.

ANDERSON: There more than four million Syrian refugees in the region. But according to Amnesty International, six gulf countries haven't offered

any resettlement locations to the refugees. They have been giving money, though, and lots of it. Since the war broke out, Kuwait alone has donated

almost $1 billion for the U.N. to help Syrians, making it the fifth-largest donor worldwide.

ABDULKHALEQ ABDULLA, RETIRED PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, UNIVERSITY OF UAE: There is a lot they have done that is not recognized by

the international community. I don't think anybody, any country, any state has helped the Syrian refugees more so than the Arab Gulf states.

ANDERSON: But the Gulf States don't recognize the refugees as they are not signatories to the 1951 refugee convention.

So anyone who wants to enter has to meet standard visa requirements, which tens of thousands of Syrians do, and there are security concerns

about hosting large populations from Arab states.

ABDULLA: Having the refugees feeds into ISIS appeal and violence in the region, which is already the most violent region on earth. All in all,

anything that goes in the neighborhood impacts the security and the stability of the Arab Gulf States, who are by far the most stable and most

secure of all Arab countries.

ANDERSON (voice-over): We have spoke to officials here in the UAE who say they have given almost half a billion dollars, citing their efforts to

help Syrians in Jordan and Iraq, as examples.

For the moment, it seems the money will continue but the doors are staying closed.

Becky Anderson, CNN, Abu Dhabi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TANK: Still to come here on News Stream, is the democratic front- runner in trouble? Hillary Clinton loses the lead in a key U.S. state as rival Bernie Sanders finds his way up the polls.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:40:58] TANK: In the 2016 race for the White House, new polls on the Democratic front show Bernie Sanders has overtaken Hillary Clinton in

the key state of New Hampshire. The Senator from Vermont is leading Clinton there by nine points, that's according to a new NBC/Marist poll.

Sanders says his stance on economic issues is resonating with voters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (I) VERMONT: We have a very specific set of ideas and programs that take on the billionaire class and say, you know,

what, enough is enough. This country belongs to all of us and not a handful of billionaires.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TANK: Meanwhile, on the Republican side neurosurgeon Ben Carson is gaining ground on front-runner Donald Trump in Iowa. Trump is still

leading in that state, but only by 7 points now. Jeb Bush has lost roughly half his support there since July.

The American hunter who killed Cecil, one of Zimbabwe's best loved lions, says he's ready to get back to work. Walter Palmer was villified on

social media after it emerged that he had killed the lion while hunting in July. For weeks afterwards, he kept out of sight. And his dental practice

in Minnesota was closed temporarily.

On Sunday, he gave an interview to the Associated Press and the Minneapolis Star-Tribune saying, "I have a lot of staff members, and I'm a

little heartbroken at the disruption in their lives. And I'm a health professional. I need to get back to my staff and my patients, and they

want me back. That's why I'm back."

And that's it from News Stream for now. I'm Manisha Tank. World Sport with Amanda DAvies is up next. Don't go away.

END