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Hala Gorani Tonight

Another Violent Day Along The West Bank And Gaza; Turkey Makes Power Play After Summit; Malaysian Police Arrest Hacker Accused Of Stealing Info And Feeding It To ISIS; Nurse In London Has Rare Relapse Of Ebola; Lamar Odom Suffers Possible Overdose At Nevada Brothel. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired October 16, 2015 - 15:00   ET

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


[15:05:44]

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN HOST: You've been watching the President, the U.S. President's Press Conference with his South Korean counterpart. I'm Robyn

Curnow, thanks so much for joining us. And we begin the show with a violent day across the West Bank and Gaza as the Israeli Palestinian conflict

escalates with no end in sight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: The Palestinian Health Ministry said Israeli forces killed five Palestinian protesters during violent clashes. Israel's military says it

shot dead another Palestinian who stabbed a soldier near Hebron. It says the attacker was disguised as a news photographer.

Before dawn, Palestinians threw fire bombs at Joseph's Tomb, in Nablus, a site holy to Jews but also revered by Christians and Muslims.

Israel calls it a despicable violation of the freedom of worship.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Well U.S. President Barack Obama says he's very concerned about the escalating violence. We just heard him call on both Israeli and

Palestinian leaders to tamp down inflammatory rhetoric but also stressed that Israel has a right to defend its citizens against repeated stabbing

attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This kind of random violence isn't going to result in anything other than more hardship and more

insecurity. And you know I don't think that it's - I don't think we can wait for all of the issues that exist between Israelis and Palestinians to

be settled in order for us to try to tamp down the violence right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Barack Obama there. Well let's get the very latest from our senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman. You heard the U.S. President there

saying he's concerned. We spoke a bit earlier when you were in Bethlehem. Tension is very much evident, another day of rage.

BEN WEDEMAN, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, indeed, we heard, what struck me when I was listening to President Obama's remarks was his

use of the term tamp down, which is essentially what apparently Secretary of State John Kerry is going to be meeting with Israeli Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu Wednesday in Germany.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WEDEMAN: And Secretary Kerry wants to do exactly that, tamp down the violence. But what we're not hearing is any talk about addressing the

causes for the violence, which is the fact that this conflict remains after 48 years, since the 1967 war, remains unresolved.

And when you speak to people here, many people say yes, this current spate of stabbings and clashes in West Bank and Gaza will come to an end, people

get exhausted, they have to get back to work get back to school. But the fact of the matter is it will come up again and again and again until the

great powers, the United States, stops trying to tamp down violence, which will always pop up again and rather actually deals with the problem,

addresses it, and getting the two parties to talk seriously about once and for all ending this conflict. Robyn.

CURNOW: There's also then the question of this arson attack that we saw overnight at Joseph's Tomb.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Just give us also a sense of the historical significance of that and also the political significance of it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WEDEMAN: Yes. This is the tomb of the old testament patriarch, Joseph. It is on the edges of the Nablus, which is in the Northern West Bank, it's

right next to the Balata refugee camp which is a hot bed of militants in that part of the West Bank.

Apparently in the early morning hours of Friday Palestinians in that area were anticipating that the Israeli army would come into Nablus and destroy

the homes of two individuals linked to a Hamas cell in that area that is connected to the murder of two Israeli settlers at the beginning of this

month.

Now, while they were there waiting for the Israeli forces to come in apparently some of them set fire to the compound which contains Joseph's

tomb.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:10:08]

WEDEMAN: Now it is not all together whether the tomb itself was damaged or not. Palestinian officials insist that it wasn't. Now what's interesting,

is that the President, the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas came out and explicitly condemned this act of arson, saying that it's contrary to our

beliefs, our religion. And but what is also significant is that this happened under the eyes or with the knowledge of the Palestinian

authorities security forces which we've seen have almost all but disappeared off the streets in the towns and cities of the West Bank.

You only see them Ramla protecting government facilities, but in Hebron, in Bethlehem, in other parts of the West Bank, nowhere to be seen. What are

they doing?

CURNOW: Questions then about Mr. Abbas' authority and how this will all unfold. Ben Wedeman at our Jerusalem Bureau, thank you very, very much.

Well to other news now. Turkey is making a power play and the European Union seems ready to make a deal. There is a migrant action plan on the

table after a summit of EU and Turkish leaders.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: It includes a path to visa free EU travel for Turkish citizens, more than -- and more than $3 billion in aid. Turkey would get those perks

if it clamps down on refugees leaving its shores to land in Greece.

Thousands attempt that journey daily. European countries are looking to Turkey to stem the flow. Turkish -- but the Turkish President is using that

leverage.

RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, TURKISH PRESIDENT: (As translated) The West and Europe's security instability is contingent on our security instability.

They have accepted this now. In the talks in Brussels last week, they accepted all this. It can't happen without Turkey. So if it can't happen

without Turkey, why don't you take Turkey into the EU?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: So will the EU meet the President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's demands. Our Nick Paton Walsh joins us now live from Istanbul. What do you think,

Nick?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, clearly Turkey has a very strong hand in negotiation here, and today even as though

the EU stood there and said they think they've got a deal together, the foreign minister of Turkey said it's a draft, a proposal, we haven't agreed

to it yet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Now in that deal there is a lot which will assist President Edrogan, and you saw (inaudible) he's called on 1st November obviously for

Turks visa free travel to the EU Schengen area, there is a massive boon. But also too there is a potential of financial bailout package by footed by

Germany even. There are 3 billion euros proposed in this deal. There's (inaudible) to Turkey, but they say the cost of the massive influx of

refugees they received from Syria and even Iraq, too is about 7 billion, so a lot of (inaudible).

Now Turkey is so key to the whole migrant refugee problem. Everybody who comes out of Syria ends up - frankly even some of those who travel on foot

and end up going through Turkey to begin that journey. And I think some of the EU notion as agreed back in December of 2013, that refugees who didn't

get asylum should be returned back to Turkey.

Well that was good on paper, but not in practice. This deal may allow it to happen more in practice. But as we can see here the (inaudible) officials

here pretty remarkable. You know, the EU felt they had something together here, but now it appears to be slipping. But more coordinated approach with

Angela Merkel due here at the weekend and today saying clearly too that while those countries like Greece that are on the edges of Europe's borders

here are they're dealing with the biggest influx, of refugees, they need help in policing those borders. And other nations apart from Greece should

be contributing to that effort. Robyn

CURNOW: Thanks, we're going to leave it at that, Nick Payton Walsh, taking some hits on your signal there, but thanks for joining us here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Still to come tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: The U.S. and Malaysia think this 20-year-old could be taking ISIS' spree of terror online. We're live in Washington for the latest on

investigation to what he's accused of doing next. Do stay with us.

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(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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[15:17:38]

CURNOW: Welcome back, everyone. Now Malaysian police have arrested a hacker accused of stealing the personal information of American military members

and feeding it to ISIS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Ardit Ferizi who's originally from Kosovo is now behind bars while American authorities try to extradite him. The data he's accused of stealing

includes the names and addresses of more than 1,000 people. It was posted online in August by a group calling itself the Islamic State Hacking

Division.

Well CNN's U.S. Justice correspondent Evan Perez joins me now from Washington with more details. Hi, there what more do we know?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EVAN PEREZ, CNN U.S. JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well Robyn, we know that the Malaysian authorities arrested Ferizi about a month ago at the request of

the FBI, they'd have been watching him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PEREZ: He's been living in Malaysia for about two years studying at a University, a Technical College there in Malaysia.

He's from Kosovo originally, and he was there pursuing some kind of computer studies and this is why the FBI got onto him, was because they

noticed that he was communicating with members of ISIS. In particular there was one whose name is Junaid Hussain, he's a propagandist, a very

prominent hacker that was working with this alleged cyber caliphate that belongs to ISIS.

And he was - had been using this information that was passed to him as propaganda to urge people to carry out attacks against U.S military

members. You mention there were 1300 members of military who had their data stolen, including photos, phone numbers, addresses, e-mail addresses. And

they put this out there as some sort of kill list, urging members of ISIS, supporters of ISIS to attack U.S. members of the military.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: But what this incident also shows us that a random young hacker with no obvious political affiliation is as dangerous as an organized

criminal or state sponsored cybercrime here.

PEREZ: Oh, absolutely. This is one of those cases that authorities have been warning us about for some time. The idea that someone who is involved

in cybercrime could merge really these activities with terrorism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PEREZ: And that's why this is - this is why it makes this a very unusual case. They're calling it a first of its kind here at the justice

department here in Washington. They're trying to bring him back because again, they want to make an example of Junaid Hussain, the hacker who he

was in touch with was killed in a U.S. strike in Syria in August.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:20:05]

PEREZ: And this guy now is going to face up to 35 years in prison if he's convicted of these charges.

CURNOW: OK, Evan Perez we're going to leave it at that. Thanks so much.

PEREZ: Thanks.

CURNOW: Well still ahead on The World Right Now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: A nurse who was deemed cured of Ebola is now critically ill once again as she suffers a rare relapse and its forcing doctors to rethink what

they thought they knew about the virus. More ahead.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CURNOW: Hi there, I'm Robyn Curnow, thanks for watching.

Returning now to the U.K. Nine months after recovering from Ebola a nurse is back in a London hospital suffering from a rare relapse.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Pauline Cafferkey is said to be critically ill. She was the first person to be diagnosed with the virus in the U.K.

Now the relapse has confounded medical experts. But a new study from The World Health Organization indicates the virus is much more persistent than

previously believed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Well earlier I spoke to Dr. Ian Crozier, he was diagnosed with Ebola after treating patients in Sierra Leone. But after he recovered

doctors found traces of the virus still lurking in his eye.

Well Dr. Crozier told me the Ebola virus is teaching scientists some important lessons. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. IAN CROZIER, EBOLA SURVIVOR: We are being taught by this virus, particularly in the last tenth of this last mile that you don't put out 99%

of a fire. So in one sense we've had some good news, in the past two weeks there were no consecutive cases for two weeks in the region. That's the

first time this has happened since last March. We've had less cases - we've had less than five cases a week in the entire region for the past three

months. And yet two days ago, there were two new confirmed cases in Guinea.

So we're being taught by the virus and we need to remember this in our ADD, that getting to zero is very difficult and now also learning that staying

at zero will be very difficult as well. And this touches upon the findings that are emerging in the last week.

[15:25:08]

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: What was it like having Ebola?

CROZIER: Well, that's a very complicated question. I obviously have been both a doctor and a patient at the bedside in some settings, and so I've

had experiences from both sides of it, and a very difficult space in which to be a clinician as well as being a patient.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CROZIER: And remember, many of these survivors have been through almost unimaginable loss. This virus in a sense is the chief of home wreckers, so

many of them have lost multiple family members and friends. So we need as we interpret these findings a little bit of equipoise here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CROZIER: They're struggling not only physically with many long term sequelae of the disease but also struggling emotionally with unimaginable

loss. And so these findings cannot add to the - to the stigma and the ostracism that many of these survivors are facing in West Africa.

CURNOW: So then how is your experience helping in that? You've just like I said come back from West Africa. What can you and what are you giving to

the survivors?

CROZIER: Well, I think there are a number of people now interested in both providing care, and that care and evaluation is urgent, it's been called an

emergency within the emergency, particularly in regards to the eye disease that we're seeing emerging in survivors.

So our emery eye team and a number of other partners are looking very seriously and urgently at the disease that is - that is emerging in

survivors. And I think we have a great need to sort of make sure that what happened at the bedside of a few med-evacuated survivors, and I'm one of

them, can be really quickly and nimbly and in a agile manner translated to bedsides in West Africa. And I'm of course with a number of my own

clinicians very interested in that occurring well.

CURNOW: Dr. Ian Crozier there, Ebola survivor talking to me earlier.

Ahead on The World Right Now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

CURNOW: The trophy killing of an enormous elephant during a legal hunt in Zimbabwe fires up a new round of debate. Stay with us.

And as Turkey raises the stakes in migrant - in a migrant crisis negotiations, we speak to an expert on a country about President Erdogan's

bargaining chips

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

[15:30:50]

CURNOW: Welcome back. Well the Palestinian Health Ministry says five Palestinian protestors have been killed in clashes with Israeli forces in

the West Bank and Gaza.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Before dawn, Friday, Palestinians threw fire bombs at Joseph's tomb in Nablus, a site holy to Jews and other religions. Israel calls it a

despicable violation of freedom of a worship.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: The European Union has reached a draft plan with Turkey designed to ease the migrant crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: The EU is offering more than $3 billion and an easier path toward visa free travel in exchange Turkey would keep more refugees from heading

to Europe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Three people wounded in last Saturday's attack on a Kurdish peace rally in Turkey's capital have died, bringing the death toll to 102 now,

that's according to the chief prosecutor's office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: 13 people have been detained in connection with the suicide bombings in Ankara.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Another legal hunt for big game animals in Africa is sparking passionate debate around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: This time an elephant reportedly shot by an unidentified German hunter and his guide was killed outside a national park in Zimbabwe. Now

this was no ordinary elephant, he was enormous, in fact one of the biggest of his kind.

CNN's Robyn Kriel is following the story from Nairobi, she joins us now. It must be said Robyn, this was a legal hunt, this happens. But what was

different about this guy? He was just a huge tusker.

ROBYN KRIEL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, in fact Robyn, when I - when I saw the picture of him, I thought that he did look almost like a

wooly mammoth that we learnt about when we were learning about dinosaurs. He is enormous.

His tusks weigh 120 pounds each. And from all the experts that we've spoken to, they've said that they have never seen an elephant with two tusks

weighing so much.

Just to give you some perspective, there is the largest animal known to be hunted by man in the Smithsonian Institute Natural History Museum, and that

elephant's tusks are only 90 pounds. And this elephant also was very tall. It was around 13 feet they believe, looking from photos of the dead trophy.

And it's causing outrage.

Normal people, civilians saying that this should not have happened, that the hunter should have thought twice before killing such a majestic grand

old animal. That it's very sad. However the hunting community saying that he's passed his sell by date, that he wouldn't be breeding any further and

that he was fair game because he was on a hunting concession and that is where you're allowed to shoot if you have the correct permits.

CURNOW: Fair game, and of course it is - it is a controversial issue, many people arguing that legal hunting contributes not just only to local

communities but back to conservation. What really is endangering elephant populations in Sub Saharan Africa is poaching. And Zimbabwe is no stranger

to that.

KRIEL: Yes. 26 elephants at least that we know of Robyn have been poisoned by cyanide in the national parks by poachers in the last two weeks alone.

And cyanide is really a dangerous killer and they keep discovering more of these elephant carcasses because what happens is the elephants eat the salt

blocks, or however they're -- whatever they're ingesting is laced with cyanide, they then die. The vultures that would normally go to feed on

those elephants that would alert the game's park's rangers or whoever that there was a carcass there, the vultures then eat the meat and they die too.

So there could be many, many more elephant carcasses out there.

And this has become a real scourge in Zimbabwe. In fact in some national parks, the Matusadona National Parks we've been told they estimate that the

population of animals has dwindled 75% due to poaching as well as mismanagement of that national park. Robyn?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: It's a real worrying statistics there. Thanks so much. Robyn Kriel, appreciate it.

Well let's return to one of our top stories now. Turkey's embolden negotiations with the EU over migrants. Now there is a draft plan on the

table and it offers Turkey perks in exchange for keeping more refugees on its soil.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: It's already hosting more than 1.5 million people according to the UNHCR. Many in camps like this one.

[15:35:02]

CURNOW: President Erdogan named a higher figure but numbers aside, there is no denying his tough talk is aimed at Europe.

ERDOGAN: (As translated) in the meantime, we witness interesting developments. A country says they would take 30 to 40,000 migrants, and

they are nominated for a Nobel prize. I don't know how that happens. We are sheltering around 2.5 million refugees, but nobody cares because the Nobel

prize is politically biased.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Well let's get more context on Turkey's power play. Soner Cagaptay is the author of "The Rise of Turkey" and the director of The Turkey

Research Program at the Washington Institute, he joins me now live from Washington. Hi there.

SONER CAGAPTAY, AUTHOR, THE RISE OF TURKEY: Hello.

CURNOW: So the question is is Turkey holding Europe hostage over the migrant crisis or are these just some very bold negotiations ahead of an

election?

CAGAPTAY: I think it's a little bit of both but also this love and hate relationship that Turkey have had for a long time. For many decades Turkey

was begging to get into the EU, and now suddenly the EU needs Turkey. They need Turkey to control the refugee crisis so Turkey feels that it's in a

position of strength at the bargaining table.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAGAPTAY: So they're trying to get as much as they can, not just financial assistance for the more than 2.5 million refugees that they're hosting. But

also easing of travel regulations on lifting of visa requirements for Turkish citizens. And as a well as assistance perhaps from the EU, that

might be a tall order to set up a safe haven inside Syria to stop the flow of refugees.

So I think the Turks are going in with a lot of demands, they may not get all of them, but they'll probably get quite a few of them because Syria's

refugee population that's about 5 million people. A quarter of the pre-war population, that's almost a permanent presence now outside of Syria. The

country will not stabilize for decades. They're not going back. So the question is where are they going to stay? They'll stay where they end up.

And if they end up in Europe, they'll end up in Europe and I think Europe is trying to prevent their flow and Turkey being the country in between

obviously is now a country which has a lot of bargaining power inside Europe.

CURNOW: So what practically does Europe want Turkey to do? I mean are they going to be intercepting - I mean what exactly do they want from Turkey?

CAGAPTAY: They want Turkey to be a "readmission country" so that Turkey's considered a safe place so if Syrians or other refugees cross into European

Union from Turkey they can be sent back to Turkey and that there are reception centers at Turkey where they're registered so they stay.

So Turkey becomes sort of - is a country, a buffer state for refugees crossing from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, elsewhere into Europe.

Now that might be something the Turks could decide that they'll want to do if they get assistance. It's a huge burden, millions of people, but I think

they'll definitely want to get something in return.

So I guess the deal is the following: the Syrians stay in Turkey and the Turks get to travel to Europe without visas I think that will be the bottom

line.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: OK, so that's - that's the bottom line you say.

CAGAPTAY: Yes.

CURNOW: Turkey shot down a drone today, it seems emboldened both politically and now militarily here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: With the Syrian crisis in particular critics say that the rise of ISIS and the conflict was fuelled early on because Turkey was just not

tough enough at the beginning over border controls and the influx of foreign fighters. You know what's -- why is Turkey now taking this

position?

CAGAPTAY: I think Turkey is also afraid of Russian intervention in northwestern Syria which is going to tilt the balance in favor of Assad

regime. The Russians are targeting not necessarily ISIS but rebel elements who are targeting the Assad regime and those are supported by the Turkish

government.

Turkey is in an undeclared proxy war in Syria against the Assad government and the Russian presence is going to annihilate Turkey's proxies in Syria,

so Turkey is trying to be a little bit more bold at the border with the Russians so that not all of its proxies will be destroyed by the Russians.

But I think this is probably a far-fetched proposition for the Turks. Turkey is probably afraid of Russia in the sense that it has about a dozen

neighbors.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAGAPTAY: Russia is the only neighbor that Turkey has repeatedly fought in the past in wars - and lost wars against. So I don't think Turkey would

risk a conflict.

This of course being Nato's border with Syria, the Turkish Syrian border at the same time would bring the Nato appliance into a conflict.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAGAPTAY: So I think Turkey is trying to be bold, put pressure against the Russians but at the same time not cross that red line that it would

actually enter into hot conflict with Russia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: OK, thank you so much for your perspective and your analysis. Really appreciate it.

CAGAPTAY: It's my pleasure.

CURNOW: Soner Cagaptay, Thank you.

Well Bulgarian officials are investigating the death of a migrant shot by police.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Now it happened just over Bulgaria's border with Turkey near the town of Sredets. Around 50 people were trying to enter the EU member

country illegally. Interior minister says a border guard fired a warning shot that ricocheted killing an Afghan man. Since the start of the influx

Bulgaria has sent thousands of army and police to shore up its border with Turkey.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: The man who died near the border between Bulgaria and Turkey started his journey in Afghanistan. People smuggling is a lucrative

business in that war torn country. Our Nic Robertson introduces us to one smuggler in this exclusive report.

[15:40:10]

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm meeting a people smuggler. How many people have you taken to Europe? 1,500 to Germany in the

past six months, he tells me, the most popular destination. We can't show his face because what he does is illegal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (As translated) We take people to Germany, on three different routes, via sea for $7,000, we take people by road and foot for

$9,000 and we take people by air for $20,000.

ROBERTSON: Top dollar he tells me buys a black market visa and direct flights, anything less could cost your life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have had our clients injured and even killed along this journey. Just 15 days ago 70 people were caught by Iranians and

deported from the Turkish border which included 15 of my clients.

ROBERTSON: But there are plenty here who are ready to take the risk. Before dawn the line outside Kabul's passport office stretches several blocks,

people worried about the faltering economy, worried about war.

Getting a passport has never been so popular, people here say. These lines never so long. Precisely how many plan to flee is hard to nail down, but

early estimates this year already say the number of Afghans arriving in Europe is second only to the number of Syrians and how they get there

starts right here.

Oman Saboor runs the passport office. How many people are applying for passports every day?

OMAN SABOOR, PASSPORT OFFICE DIRECTOR: Every day, more than 7 or 6,000 people.

ROBERTSON: None here are ready to admit their plans, but Saboor knows many will leave.

He tells me, since Europe opened its doors to refugees, we have seen a direct increase in the number of people applying for passports. For the

smuggler, each passport holder is a business opportunity.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (As translated) They leave their money with a trusted person, for instance, a money dealer, and as soon as the person reaches his

destination, then he calls the money dealer to give us the money.

ROBERTSON: But as he explains, if the person doesn't get through, he still gets paid.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (As translated) Our rule is that we try three times but if the person couldn't reach his destination after three attempts, he has

to pay us.

ROBERTSON: The surest certainty, it seems smugglers, always win.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Kabul, Afghanistan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: And then back in Europe, Hungary says it'll close its border with Croatia within hours.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: So the people you see here could be one of the last groups of refugees to trickle across that border. Hungary is sealing its borders as

Europe grapples of course with that huge influx of migrants and refugees from Syria and beyond.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Well this is The World Right Now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Sources are telling CNN that former NBA and reality T.V. star Lamar Odom is showing slight improvement as he fights for his life. We'll have a

live report from the hospital.

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(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:46:30]

CURNOW: Welcome back everyone, I'm Robyn Curnow. We're learning a bit more about the current medical condition of Lamar Odom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: The former NBA star was found unconscious at a Nevada brothel three days ago. His estranged wife, Khloe Kardashian is said to be by his

bedside.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: CNN's Paul Vercammen joins me from outside the hospital. Hi there, we have new information about his status. What do you know?

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOSPITAL: Well, Robyn, a source very close to the Odom Kardashian family is telling us that he's a little bit

better, emphasis on the word a little bit better.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VERCAMMEN: And that last night just for a moment was responsive. He is behind me in an intensive care unit on the second floor of this hospital by

last account, still on a ventilator, and basically you know fighting for his survival after the trip to the brothel outside of Las Vegas.

Prostitution is legal in rural parts of Nevada. And we should note that the brothel owner came out with a sensational price tag for all of this. He

said Lamar Odom spent $75,000 to be with two girls 24 hours a day over the course of several days, Robyn.

CURNOW: Now that's quite a bender that's for sure. I mean just also give us some sense of the drugs he was taking and this is clearly also a very sad,

not just seedy scenario here. He was clearly troubled.

VERCAMMEN: Well, numerous people have said, including a woman from that ranch who picked him up and took him on a near hour and a half long drive

out to the love ranch as they call it, she said he was trying to escape from something it seemed to her and that he needed to get away.

While at the ranch apparently he -- according to testimony, some reports from the women, was taking call these - we'll call them sexual performance

enhancement pills, up to ten of them. And then there's also have been reports that he was using cocaine. Of course, that's all going to be sorted

out by detectives.

They were able to get a search warrant, not for the property but for Lamar Odom's blood, and they went ahead and took that blood and in a few weeks

we'll understand just what Lamar Odom might have been on before he collapsed at this remote brothel outside Las Vegas, Robyn.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: So now this is not the first time that a sport superstar has fallen from grace like this. What is different about this case and perhaps the

reason we're talking about it is his links with the Kardashian family, and you know people are also talking about their involvement here, and of

course the sort of brand Kardashian.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VERCAMME: Absolutely. Well, I think the difference is - Lamar Odom by the way, universally liked by his teammates, friends and others alike, and then

he got caught up with the Kardashians when he married Khloe. They're still married, and an interesting note in all of this, we spoke with Lamar Odom's

grandmother, she's 89 years old, lives in New York City and she described what a - what great young man he was, and she was talking about Khloe as

well. She said she liked her. But then she paused and then she said perhaps all of the spotlight, perhaps the show, meaning the reality show with the

Kardashians may have gotten to him. Perhaps that explains a lot, Robyn.

CURNOW: Perhaps it does, Paul Vercammen, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

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CURNOW: I'm Robyn Curnow, you're watching CNN, we'll have much more after this short break. Stay with us.

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[15:53:09]

CURNOW: So, despite being suspended by FIFA and the subject of a criminal investigation in Switzerland, football's World Governing body's President,

Sepp Blatter, is not going down without a fight. Take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEPP BLATTER, SUSPENDED FIFA PRESIDENT: (As translated) If I run away now and let everything fall, then I denigrate myself and that is not good.

That's my goal, that I can lead the congress. I would like to do that. I want to do that. I have to say quite honestly that I am doing well, even

though this decision is very difficult to digest. It has at the same time been a release for me. Now I am out of work and I can look after myself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Sepp Blatter there. Now, finally for us, there's no way you can really dance your way into the White House, but that isn't stopping some

American Presidential candidates from trying.

The latest one to bust a move on the dance floor with the American talk show host Ellen Degeneres, the normally austere Bernie Sanders. CNN's

Jeanne moos has that and so much more.

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JEANNE MOOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL REPORTER: First he loosened up back stage, and then 74-year-old Bernie Sanders made his entrance on "Ellen" to the

beat of "disco inferno."

We don't know if Bernie had a burning, burning desire to dance, but he did it in what New York magazine has called the requisite trial by dancing,

encouraged by Ellen. Barack Obama did it back when he was first running for President. Michelle Obama has done it. She has done it not once, not twice

but three times.

Oh and even sells a CD called I'm going to make you dance jams. She's made CNN's Wolf Blitzer dance. But occasionally there's someone who is able to

resist the siren call of Ellen.

[15:55:15] John McCain opted to walk rather and dance on stage. So did Joe Biden the Vice President even whispered in Ellen's ear. And though Hillary

Clinton resisted any impulse to boogie down back in 2007, last month Ellen managed to lure her into learning the whip nay nay during a commercial

break.

Politicians are becoming more like the movie stars we expect to dance. Though Ellen had to use a $20,000 check for charity to seduce Matt Damon

into the whip nay nay.

When Ellen asked Bernie Sanders what song he would sing to in a karaoke bar, he chose "Staying Alive." Too bad we have no polling data that

indicates whether public displays of dancing help a candidacy stay alive.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

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CURNOW: That's just too good. Well you've been watching The World Right Now. Thanks for watching, I'm Robyn Curnow, and my colleague, the divine

Richard Quest will be dancing onto your screens up next.

END