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Connect the World
More Than 100 People Killed in Indian Railway Derailment; President Park Geun-hye Becomes Suspect in Investigation; How Will President-elect Trump Handle Middle East?; A Look At The Louvre Abu Dhabi. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired November 20, 2016 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:15] BECKY ANDERSON, HOST: Carnage in India: more than 100 people were killed
when their train derailed in the north of the country. Rescue teams are still working on the last overturned carriage. A full report for you this
hour is coming up.
Also ahead...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY, FRM. GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS: A very thorough and in-depth discussion in the time we had.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: No lazy weekend for the U.S. president-elect. He's meeting with possible cabinet members. We look at what awaits his team in the Middle
East in the first of a week-long series of reports.
Plus, mass protests against President Park. South Korea's leader now embroiled even deeper in a corruption scandal. We're going to examine the
accusations and the implications.
A very warm welcome. It is just after 7:00 in the evening here in Abu Dhabi. This is Connect the World. I'm Becky Anderson.
Well, an horrific train derailment has killed at least 116 people in northern India. Rescue teams have been searching overturned cars for
survivors. They say they've cleared all but one. Our affiliate CNN News 18 reported more than 150 passengers were injured.
Well, New Delhi bureau chief Ravi Agrawal has been following the latest. He filed this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAVI AGRAWAL, CNN NEW DELHI BUREAU CHIEF: India's disaster response force has spent all of Sunday on what it is calling a war footing. They have
been trying to rescue survivors from what is India's worst train crash in more than six years.
And these rescuers are saying that if there is any chance of saving one more person, they won't stop. Take a look.
The wounded are rushed to the hospital, but the facility is overwhelmed with people. It's been an overwhelming day. this is the scene of the
disaster, a train going from the city of indoor to Patna in the east, derailed halfway through its journey. A number of carriages flipped over
on their sides and it all happened at 3:00 a.m. when everyone was asleep.
"All of a sudden there was a massive jerk," says this passenger. "Our heads collided with the roof of the carriage. And just like that, more
than 100 lives were lost."
As cranes cleared the debris, India took stock of what is its deadliest train disaster in six years. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was quick to
mourn with the nation, anguished beyond words, he said.
India's railway system is one of the largest in the world employing more than 1.3 million people, but upgrades have been long overdue and accidents
are not uncommon.
The government has announced packages for the families of the bereaved. That will, of course, be no cosulation.
About 23 million people use India's railway system every single day. Now, India's rail system is actually state run, so the government is going to
take a lot of flak for this accident. In its last budget, this government put aside large sums of money to modernize the railway system, to improve
traffic lights, to lay more rail tracks. But of course it's too late this time.
Ravi Agrawal, CNN, New Delhi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Right.
In Syria, more deaths on both sides of the fighting in Aleppo. Syria's foreign minister says at
least ten students were killed when rebel rocket fire hit a school in the government-held western part of the city. These images of the kids wounded
in that attack.
Foreign Minister Walid Muallem made a plea for the shelling to stop.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WALID MUALLEM, SYRIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): We hope that our
people in Aleppo will soon be relieved of this calamity. What is happening in Aleppo is tragic. It has to end.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, in rebel-controlled eastern Aleppo, devastation of heavy air strikes. Activists say almost 300 people have been killed in five
consecutive days of bombing.
CNN's Jomana Karadsheh is following the situation in Syria from neighboring Jordan. Joining me now live from Amman this hour. And a sickening death
toll in a city that has become the focal point of attacks on both sides of this deadly conflict, Jomana, and on a day when the United Nations, once
again, in Damascus still intent on looking for a political solution.
What is the latest as you understand it?
[10:05:21] JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, a truly devastating situation, as you mentioned, Becky, on both sides of the
front line. These reported attacks, of course, in eastern Aleppo for the past five, six days. We have been hearing from people
on the ground rescue workers, activists, people saying it has been an unrelenting, really intense bombardment campaign, airstrikes, those
indiscriminate the barrel bombs and artillery shelling that has targeted besieged eastern Aleppo.
This at the same time that that siege is really taking its toll on a 250,000 people in eastern Aleppo. There are so many dire warnings of the
humanitarian situation there, people running out of food. As you mentioned, the United Nations is trying. They do say that they have a
humanitarian plan for Aleppo and that they have presented this to all parties in this conflict.
And on Friday we heard from UN officials saying that the rebels seem to have agreed to their
plan that they were waiting for a green light as it was described from the regime and from the Russians, something that hasn't happened yet.
Of course, we heard today from the Syrian foreign minister and as it continues, Becky, we hear
this from the regime, we hear this from the rebels. It is a blame game here with each side saying that the civilians are being killed or they're
caught in the crossfire because of the other side.
But at the end of the day you look at this conflict, it is the civilians on both sides of this conflict that continue to pay the heaviest price.
ANDERSON: Syria's military and Russia's air force had caused the bombardment, of course of eastern Aleppo except from the front lines after
two weeks what was a month-long offensive from late September to late October. Reportedly -- reported by Reuters, they recommended strikes on
Tuesday.
What has gone wrong in where at least we had got to which were these moments of pauses.
KARADSHEH: Well, Becky, if you look at that pause, basically, it was a unilateral one with the Syrian regime and the Russians think that they're
going to stop their strikes on eastern Aleppo. But at the same time, there was seriously heavy shelling of western Aleppo taking place. There was
also that offense that we saw launched by the rebels pushing into the western part of Aleppo as they said at the time, to try and break the
siege.
And as we saw for some time there the rebels started gaining some ground. They did take some territory, but it all seemed to have changed over the
past week. The rebels really lost the territory that they had captured. The Syrian regime recapturing. And it seems right now, Becky, if you look
at it not just in Aleppo but the Syrian regime and the Russian military do see they do seem to be on the offensive in other parts of the country,
really escalating violence across the country as we're receiving reports, also, from other places like Idlib, for example, and also around Damascus,
and, of course, the situation in Aleppo.
And of course, during those times of pauses one would have hoped as we have spoken to residents that some humanitarian aid would have made it into
eastern Aleppo, but too dangerous for the other aid agencies to reach the civilians and war wounded in eastern Aleppo, Becky.
ANDERSON: Jomana on the story for you out of Amman having talked to her sources. That is the latest on the ground as we understand it. Jomana,
thank you.
Well, the center of U.S. politics at this hour is a golf club in New Jersey, that is where the president-elect Donald Trump is holding meetings
with potential picks for his administration, including former General James Mattis.
Now, a source tells CNN Mattis is the leading candidate for defense secretary. Trump also met Saturday with a former campaign foe, but their
clashes may now be far behind.
Vice President-elect Mike Pence says Mitt Romney is under active consideration for Secretary of State. Here's what Romney said after that
meeting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY, FRM. GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS: We had a far-reaching conversation with regards to the various theaters in the world where there
are interests of the United States of real significance. We discussed those areas and exchanged our views on those topics, a very thorough and in-depth discussion in the time
that we had and appreciate the chance to speak with the president-elect, and look forward to the coming administration and things...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[10:10:09] ANDERSON: Mitt Romney.
Well, Jessica Schneider is near the Trump National Gold Club in Bridgewater, New Jersey. Jessica, thank you. What do President-elect
Trump picks and those he is still talking to to-date tell us about what we can expect from his presidency?
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, we're looking toward the possibility that more nomination announcements could come forward
today. Of course, we saw that flurry of activity over at the Trump National Golf Club yesterday. We're expecting that same flurry of face-to-
face meetings to happen today. President-elect Trump meeting with a number of people, some of the notable names on his list, former New York City
Mayor Rudy Giuliani, as well Kansas secretary of state Chris Kobach. Robert Johnson, he's the founder of Black Entertainment Television as well
as New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
Christie, of course, was kicked off as the head of the transition team recently. So, there's question as to whether Christie could potentially
become part of the cabinet or if his controversy around the Bridgegate scandal could undermine his chances.
When Donald Trump was asked about Chris Christie yesterday all he would say is that I like
Chris a lot.
Now, we're keeping an eye on two people, one of them being Mitt Romney who met with the president-elect for more than an hour yesterday. Of course,
Vice President-elect Mike Pence saying that Mitt Romney is under active consideration for secretary of state. And then, of course, there is
retired general James Mattis. He served for 44 years in the marine corps. He is a lauded general there. He has been talked about, as well.
In fact, sources telling CNN that General Mattis is the leading contender for Secretary of State. Donald Trump even taking to Twitter this morning
calling him an impressive candidate. Yesterday, he talked before the cameras as well calling General Mattis the real deal -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Jessica there on site as the president-elect continues to debate his administration. Thank you.
ANDERSON: Well, on the campaign trail Republicans accused Hillary Clinton of pay to play politics, didn't they, but The Washington Post reports
Donald Trump's business is pushing a hotel on foreign diplomats and his children don't appear to be keeping the business separate.
CNN's Jake Tapper asked Republican Party chief and incoming White House Chief of Staff, Reince Priebus about those conflicts. Have a listen to
what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP))
REINCE PRIEBUS, RNC PARTY CHAIRMANT: Donald Trump has been very clear from the very beginning that his family is very important to him. And I think
that while it's unique, it's certainly compliant with the law and, obviously, we will comply with all of those laws, and we will have our
White House counsel review all of these things. And we will have every I dotted and every T crossed. And I can assure the American people that
there wouldn't be any wrongdoing or any sort of undue influence over any decision making.
The truth of the matter is, and I can just tell you this even from the four days or five days or so that I've been in a different role, Donald Trump
makes the decisions in this operation. And while there are meetings that take place, it's Donald Trump that makes the decisions and nothing should
be further from the truth. And so I can assure you and everyone out there that all of
these things will be followed and they'll be done properly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Meanwhile, President Barack Obama has urged the world not to jump to conclusions about what a Trump presidency will mean. He's set to
meet this hour with other Pacific Rim leaders in Lima in Peru. It's his final Asian Pacific Economic Coopearation Summit, or APEC Summit, as U.S.
president.
And the future of trade under Trump is expected to be the forefront of discussions.
For more, Shasta Darlington joining me now from Lima. And Shasta, you get a sense that this is somewhat of an apology tour as much as it is a
farewell one.
It will be OK, honest, says Obama, with reference to the man who will be taking his job on
January 20th.
How will it will be OK, I promise you, line, go down with his Asia Pacific counterparts, do you think?
SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, we have already heard a bit of it, we'll hear more today. The leaders from the 21
APEC nations are pulling up, as we speak, for the first session of the summit. Vladimir Putin is here. China's Xi Jinping is here.
But, indeed, it's the man who isn't coming who seems to be on everybody's mind, President-elect Donald Trump.
In fact, when China's President Xi sat down for his final bilateral with President Obama. He said he hoped the transition would be smooth and he
hoped the country's could continue to work together, focusing on cooperation and managing their differences, but that isn't what we heard
from Trump when he was on the campiagn trail when he accused China of being a currency manipulator. He said he was going to slap 45 percent tariffs on
Chinese goods if elected. Well, he now has b een elected. We don't know if he's going to follow through on that, but it means that Obama has been
here with all of these leaders trying to assure them that in fact there won't be these drastic changes. And at a townhall meeting with youth
leaders here in Lima, he asked the world to reserve judgment. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNTIED STATES: My main message to you, though, and the message I delivered in Europe is don't just assume the
worst. Wait until the administration is in place. It's actually putting its policies together and then you can make your judgments.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DARLINGTON: Now, Becky, we do expect to hear more of that today. Obama is going to have bilaterals with leaders from Australia, from Canada and, as
you know, this is a summit all about promoting free trade. And Donald Trump has threatened to tear up trade agreements that already exist and
those that were planned for the future, for example, NAFTA, that includes Canada.
So, there's no doubt that Obama will be doing more of that reassuring. We don't know how much it really means, though, Becky.
ANDERSON: Shasta is in Lima thank you. Shasta, thank you. Where it is, what, 10 past -- or 15 minutes past 10:00, thank you.
Live from Abu Dhabi where it is 16 minutes past 7:00.
Still to come, Donald Trump may soon be stepping into a firestorm, a new firestorm if he
follows through on one of his big campaign promises. We're going to explain what I mean by that, up next.
Plus, South Korean prosecutors go after President Park Geun-hye for her alleged role in the corruption scandal. Why they say they are now
investigating her as a suspect. That's coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: You're watching CNN. This is Connect the World with me, Becky Anderson. Welcome back.
Now, no American president can ignore it, but none of them, it seems, can solve it -- right here the Middle East. America's next leader Donald Trump
will be handed this region in a more chaotic state than any U.S. president before him.
The fighting in Libya, in Iraq and in Syria, it seems, almost endless, doesn't it? The thing is we have almost no idea what Trump's plans are for
this region.
So, all this week we are going to try to decipher what we are likely to see him do. And we kick it off by looking at the fighting between Israel and
the Palestinians.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[10:20:10] ANNOUNCER: If you've always felt a deep yearning for (inaudible)...
ANDERSON: An enticing commercial for luxury homes from an Israeli developer, but they'll be built on what the UN and many governments condemn
as land stolen from Palestinians. Israel disputes this. Bright, vivid adverts like this, part of the ongoing volley of hostilities between the
two sides, but first began decades ago.
Here an attack on a Jewish community just before Israel was established in 1948, all stretching to today. A recent run of sometimes deadly stabbings
by Palestinians against Israelis. The latest spasms of violence.
This, as Israel moves forward with new settlements and territory that Palestinians want for a future state. It's all part of the seemingly
endless pulling and pushing of cruelty from both sides.
And President-elect Trump hasn't put out a clear vision on bringing about peace, at one point, vowing to remain neutral in any negotiations, at
another, using rhetoric that feeds hard-line narratives in Israel.
TRUMP: We will move the American embassy to the eternal capital of the Jewish people Jerusalem.
ANDERSON: Doing that wouldn't go over well with many in this part of the world.
DANIEL LEVY, PRESIDENT, U.S./MIDDLE EAST PROJECT: This is a commitment that made in the past and breached in the past by presidential candidates.
It's something that hasn't been followed through in office.
I think this time around there is more of an expectation or follow up. Should President-elect Trump in office move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem,
I would say the following: the theory has been that this would cause some tumult in the Arab world. It would undermine the prospects of peace.
ANDERSON: But it would almost certainly please Israel's right-wing leader who said he was happy to see Trump take the White House.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL: President-elect Trump, my friend, congratulations on being elected president of the United States of
America. You are a great friend of Israel.
TRUMP: I love Israel, and honor and respect the Jewish faith and tradition.
ANDERSON: It's a mixture some have been hoping for and others fearing. Potential new challenges for Netanyahu.
LEVY: There will be a push to seize this moment that may not repeat itself to annex territory, to do things that have not been done before. This is
not about moving more settlers, building more settlements, but fundamental changes.
ANDERSON: But amid the president-elect's contradictions he has promised to work for peace saying, quote, "as a dealmaker, I'd like to do the deal that
can't be made and do it for humanity's sake."
But other American presidents have tried and failed.
OBAMA: That is two states living side by side in peace and security.
GEORGE. W. BUSH, 43RD PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I strongly support a two-state solution.
BILL CLINTON, 42ND PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The future of the peoples involved here, the future of the peace process and the stability of
the region are at stake. We cannot afford to fail.
ANDERSON: The peace process looks as endangered as ever.
LEVY: So, this could be a clarifying moment to say that a peace process that is thoroughly moribund will no longer be something we can pretend to
cling to.
ANDERSON: The world waits to see if there will be a renewed push for peace.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, our Oren Liebermann is live with us from Jerusalem.
Oren, this isn't a simple equation. There are surely a lot of calculations that Netanyahu will
have to consider if Trump moves, for example, the American embassy to Jerusalem, especially in light of the fact that of the detante he's been
working on one of his Arab neighbors.
So, what's the real take on that, on Trump's possible embassy move?
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDNET: Well, there's absolutely no doubt that right-wing politicians here immediately celebrated Trump's
victory. Some of the first statements we got were on some of those politicians calling on President-elect Trump to move the embassy to
Jerusalem as soon as he took office.
In fact, the education minister Naftali Bennett went a step beyond that and saying the era of a Palestinian State is over, pinning that at least to an
extent on Trump's victory.
Netanyahu has been much more cautious here. Yes, of course, he gave a congratulatory statement, but it didn't mention anything about a peace
process, it didn't mention anything about the embassy. Netanyahu has seen this promise made and broken before, the promise to move the embassy. It
seems he is being much more cautious here. In fact, he even instructed his ministers according to the education minister, not to talk about the U.S.
election.
Netanyahu knows there is a big difference between a campaign promise and a presidential action. And that is where it seems Netanyahu is going to wait
and see.
How would he would handle something like that with the neighbors? Netanyahu often speaks about emerging relations with the moderate Arab
world, some of those relationships are always done essentially behind closed doors and he would have to handle that behind closed doors and I
wouldn't even venture to guess as to how he would handle that with Trump in office -- Becky.
ANDERSON: How cozy are Trump and Netanyahu's relations? They certainly seem so. Is that the reality?
LIEBERMANN: Well, certainly at least to some extent it's the reality. Worth noting that even if Clinton had won, Netanyahu being a politician
would have given a similar congratulatory statement.
There's no doubt that whoever would have won it -- now we know, of course, that it's Trump, Netanyahu prefers that to President Obama. The two have
an icy relationship and either candidate would have been an improvement over that.
Now it's up to Netanyahu to see which of those campaign promises Trump sticks to, whether it's
moving the embassy, increasing the largest U.S. military aid deal ever. Netanyahu will play a wait and
see policy.
It's also important for him over the next two months, that is for Netanyahu, not to anger President Obama. He knows Obama can go to the UN
security council. He knows there he can take a resolution either against settlements or something about negotiations on a
peace process. That is what Netanyahu doesn't want to instigate right now over the next couple of months.
So, he's being very careful here as he tries to make sure that Israel remains with Trump a bipartisan issue, both Republicans and Democrats
staying pro-Israel.
ANDERSON: Oren Liebermann is in Jerusalem for you viewers. And that report the first in our series with a lot more ahead for you this week.
So, do be sure to tune in to Connect the World every day for more of Trump and the Middle East.
Tomorrow, we'll look at Iran and we've also got much more on the website where we break down what Trump is expected to do about this region, the
Middle East, in his first 100 days in office. That's all only here on CNN.
Right. The latest World News headlines are just ahead. Plus, South Korean President Park Guen-hye is now a suspect as three people close to her are
indicted in a corruption scandal. We'll tell you why, up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(HEADLINES)
[10:31:19] ANDERSON: Fake news has been a growing problem on the Internet and some people are convinced it played a factor in the 2016 U.S. election.
Well, Facebook has taken a lot of criticism for not filtering the content on its website, its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, addressed the issue at the APEC
summit in Peru.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK ZUCKERBERG, CEO, FACEBOOK: We can work to give people a voice, but we also need to do our part to stop the spread of hate and violence and
misinformation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: all right.
Our Brian Stelter takes a closer look at the spread of fake news and what can be done about it. Have a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Did the spread of fake news on the web help elect Donald Trump? We may never know for sure. But
researchers are asking the question because made up, false stories are polluting people's Facebook timelines and twitter streams.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This cesspool of nonsense.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bogus stories. It's horrible.
STELTER: And getting worse. Even President Obama is raising the alarm.
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If we are not serious about facts and what's true and what's not, then we have problems.
STELTER: These problems are not brand-new. But they are becoming a lot more prevalent. Here is an example. A story claiming a protester was paid $3500
to make trouble at a Trump rally. This went viral during the campaign. It looked like an ABC News story. But the URL reveals it's a fake registered
to a domain in Columbia. It was a hoax, which tricked Trump's campaign manager Kellyanne Conway and Trump's son, Eric, who shared it on twitter.
DAN GILLMOR, PROFESSOR, ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY: We have an epidemic of false information racing around using social networks as the excel ray tor.
STELTER: The Pope endorsing Trump? Fake. FOX''s Megyn Kelly fired for backing Hillary Clinton, fake. Clinton linked to crimes by an Anthony
Weiner? Fake. But at that well mis-tweeted by retired general Michael Flynn, Trump's pick for national security advisor.
Now, staffers at social media giants are doing some soul searching. Though Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg says Trump's election is not his fault.
MARK ZUCKERBERG, CEO, FACEBOOK: You know, personally, I think the idea that, you know, fake news on Facebook of which is a very small amount of
the content, influenced the election in any way I think is a pretty crazy idea.
STELTER: Others disagree. These fake sites are easy to set up and profitable for the creators. Every time we click and share, they make more
money. But we are worse off. Now, Facebook and Google are banning fake site for making money off their ad networks. It's a first effort to choke off
some of the revenue. The bigger challenge, providing more BS detection tools without threatening free speech.
GILLMOR: Suddenly they have these social societal duties to help us not be faked out all the time and yet I don't want the terms of service of one
company two or three companies to have more influence than the first amendment.
STELTER: The root problem is that some people want to believe the lies. That's why the responsibility isn't just Facebook or Google or twitters. We
all have to get a little smarter about what we share.
GILLMOR: We have to be relentlessly skeptical of absolutely everything. We have to go outside of our personal comfort zones and read and watch and
listen to things that are bound to make our blood boil.
[10:35:07] STELTER: Brian Stelter, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, major development in the corruption scandal engulfing the South Korea now. Prosecutors are turning their attention to President Park
Guen-hye herself. They accuse her of colluding with her confidante and two former aides to share confidential documents.
Now, those three have been indicted, but Ms. Park has immunity.
CNN's Paula Hancocks has more on this story from Seoul.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HANCOCKS: Well, Becky, The South Korean president is no long a witness, according to prosecutors, they have said here today this Sunday in this
corruption scandal she's now going to be investigated as a suspect, a very significant development.
If it goes ahead she would, in fact, be the first sitting president to be investigated as a suspect. The prosecutors say that they believe they
found evidence that she did conspire with a former confidant and two former aides, all three of those have been indicted this Sunday on charges of
fraud, abuse of power, coercion.
But the blue house, the presidential palace has fought back. They say that the suggestion President Park has committed a serious crime is simply not
true. They say this investigation is not politically mutual and they say that it's based on imagination and speculation.
(voice-over): Elected on an anti-corruption ticket, Park Guen-hye's pledge to clean up South Korean politics has gone disastrously wrong. Hundreds of
thousands are calling for her resignation in loud protests. Park has become yet another presidential face of what one of her predecessors called
the Korean disease.
Park is accused of sharing classified documents with a confidant who was not part of government, but who was part of a cult-like religion.
Choi Soon-sil is in custody, charged with fraud and abuse of power, accused of coercing millions of dollars from big conglomerates like Samsung
for her foundations for personal use. She has apologized and denied the charges against her.
One problem with corruption in South Korea is that it does have its roots in the very same
reasons why it's such an economic miracle. That is the cooperation, which is also collusion between the government and big business.
HANCOCKS: Not including Park, there have been six presidents since South Korea officially became a democracy in 1987. Every single one of them has
been linked to corruption either directly or through immediate family. Two spent time behind bars, one, Roh Moo-Hyun, committed suicide in the
middle of an investigation into corruption.
PROFESSOR HASUNG JANG, KOREA UNIVERSITY: Politics and the business groups linked and created all the corruption and also shaken the entire country
from the fundamentals.
So, we are very ashamed, and we are very much worried about.
HANCOCKS: Park's father, Park Chung-hee ruled South Korea with an iron fist in
the '60s and '70s. Some saw him as an economic savior, others saw him as a dictator who trampled on human rights.
Residents who once supported the daughter now fear they have voted in a ghost of the father.
This protester tells me this sort of thing happened with her father 40 years ago, but times have changed. The public will not put up with this
any more.
President Park has apologized twice publicly. She's also effectively offered to give up some of her power to parliament, but at this point it's
simply not enough for protesters. They say the only announcement they are interested in listening to is her announcement of resignation -- Becky.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Interesting.
All right, let's delve into this. John Nilsson-Wright is a senior fellow for the Northeast
Asia program and Chatham House, joining us tonight via Skype from Paris.
So, who is the real target of this investigation, sir?
JOHN NILSSON-WRIGHT, SENIOR FELLOW, CHATHAM HOUSE: Oh, undoubtedly it's the president. I think as your correspondent was explaining, public
disaffection with President Park herself as the daughter of the former dictator a sense, I think, a real anger on the part of public opinion, an
embarrassment that this collusive relationship between Blue House and corporate community is no longer seen as sustainable.
The problem, of course, is that President Park shows no signs of heeding their protests or going or stepping down. And the impeachment process,
which is really the only way of unseating her, is a complicated and difficult political process to actually put into practice.
ANDERSON: But not impossible, is it? How would it work?
NILSSON-WRIGHT: Well, you need a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly. The parties there calling for her impeachment together have 171
seats. Not enough to provide that two-thirds majority. You're going to need to peel away some support from (inaudible), the president's party.
At the moment, the party is standing firm and its leader has said we will not pursue impeachment proceedings. But if they can persuade enough
legislators to break ranks and join them, then those opposition parties will be able to pursue an impeachment motion.
But then there's a second hurdle to get over. It's important to get approval from the constitutional court, which is a nine-member body. The
majority there is pretty conservative. The process of debating whether this impeachment motion, if it happens, is in fact legitimate, but take
anywhere up to six months. So there, immediately, you can see why this is going to be a long and drawn out process if the president continues to
stand her ground.
ANDERSON: You've talked about her low approval ratings, which I understand are on the floor amongst the younger generation. Does she have support?
And, if so, from who?
NILSSON-WRIGHT: She has a little bit of support from the older generation, those people over the age of 60 and in some cases in their 80s, who still
express admiration for her and she be forgotten, her father, the man who created the miracle (inaudible), but they are in a very, very small
minority. 5 percent of approval ratings for the president, a historical low.
So, she's politically getting more and more marginalized. All of the main- stream newspapers in South Korea have called for impeachment. That is a, I think, measure of how isolated she is.
But the problem for South Korea is that the political institutions aren't really suited for unseating a president. The power is concentrated in the
hands of the Blue House. It's very difficult to see how even this deadlock how the country is going to move forward.
[10:41:45] ANDERSON: So, what are the political consequences of this deadlock, of this, well, very unclear future? What do you think does
happen next?
NILSSON-WRIGHT: Well, I think the longer this continues, I mean, domestic politics and domestic policymaking are effectively frozen. This president
has only 15 more months of her term left and my expectation is that she will continue, not withstanding some of the predictions coming out in some
circles of the political and think tank community to say that she's likely going -- I think she will stand her ground. I think we will see a weakened
presidency. In the context of foreign affairs she's indicated that she is going to attend a meeting next month with the leaders of Japan and China.
But one of the big wild cards in all of this is North Korea. And the North Korean situation
has deteriorated over the last year with two nuclear tests and ballistic missile tests. The Korean Peninsula continues to be vulnerable. We can't
help but worry what might happen as the North Korean society to seize the opportunity of political chaos south of the DMZ to do something
provocative.
We have, of course, in the wake of the election in the United States doubts about the durability of the alliance relationship between Seoul and
Washington.
This is a very perilous time, a time when, you know, for a leader to be considered so vulnerable, it's difficult for the country. It's possible
some might feel for her, Park to take the larger insterest, and maybe one idea, one glimmer of perhaps a solution is some negotiated deal with
immunity offered to the president, if she steps down now.
If she waits 15 months and comes to the end of her term in office, a potential successor might still might pursue a criminal investigation. So,
somebody needs, if you like, to present to her these two powerful options and persuade her that she's better off stepping
down in the interest of the country as a whole and perhaps also in the interest of herself.
ANDERSON: With that, we are going to leave it there, but fascinating insight. John Nilsson-Wright is a senior fellow for the Northeast Asia
program at Chatham House joining us this evening. Thank you, sir.
Police in Dubai have detained a British tourist after she reported being gang raped by two British men in Dubai, that's according to a legal charity
based in the UK.
They say police held her own charges of having sex outside of marriage. But that she's
now being released on bail.
CNN's Mohammad Lila has been investigating this story, and he joins us now from Dubai with
a lot more.
Mohammad, what have you found out? What are your sources telling you?
MOHAMMAD LILA, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, we have learned quite a bit on this case. This comes from information that we've
gleaned from social media , but also from this NGO called Detained in Dubai.
Now, that's an NGO that deals specifically with cases like this, cases of foreigners who are
visiting Dubai or who live in Dubai and are caught up in Dubai's complicated legal system.
All of this started very innocently. Millions of people vacation in Dubai every year and there was a woman in her 20s from the UK who was vacationing
here. The exact circumstances of the exact incident aren't clear, but what we do know from this NGO is that the
woman says she was sexually assaulted.
Now, as if that experience wasn't traumatic enough, when she went to the police to report what happened, police did arrest two people. But, Becky,
here is the twist, police also arrested her. They arrested the alleged victim and charged her with having sex outside of marriage, which is a
criminal violation here in Dubai.
Now, one of the challenges with the story is that nobody seems willing to talk about it. We reached out to the government of Dubai's media's office.
They said they had no comment. We reached out to Dubai police. They said they couldn't comment because the case was before the courts.
What we did do, we reached out to the British consulate here and they did give us a prepared statement and this is what they said. Here is the
statement, quote, "we are supporting a British woman in relation to this case and remain in contact with her family. We have raised the case with
the UAE government and would like to see it progress as quickly as possible."
Now as far as all the people involved in the case we do know that they have all been released on bail, but their passports have been confiscated
specifically for this woman who alleged she was raped now that her passport is confiscated. What it really means is that she is trapped in this
country.
And we are dealing with actually very serious, possible criminal violations here. The two men that have been charged with rape, if they are convicted,
they could face the death penalty here in Dubai. And if this woman is convicted of having sex outside of marriage, which as I mentioned is
against the criminal code, she could be facing anywhere from one month to three years behind bars -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Mohammad Lila on the story out of Dubai for you this evening.
Mohammad, thank you.
Live from Abu Dhabi, this is Connect the World. A global destination for art lovers set to open in our backyard. A tour of the Louvre Abu Dhabi
coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Blood is a problem that killed too many people across our continent, across the world. It is a problem we can solve with
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So we use technology to sort of discover where blood is and we deploy this information to the ancillary office of clients. Then we deliver the
blood they ordered within 55 minutes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: After the difficult birth of her son, Tamike Watsiboshoun (ph) founded Life Bank in December 2015. This May, the
company opened its doors in Lagos, Nigeria.
[10:50:08] UNIDENITIFIED FEMALE: It's not a poor problem, it's how you reach people problem. It's everybody's problem.
UNIDENITIFIED FEMALE: With a population of more than 180 million, Nigeria needs
as much as 1.7 million units of blood every year, according to Nigeria's health ministry.
UNIDENITIFIED FEMALE: We have a (inaudible) platform where we service hospitals directly and we also have a business platform where we help
people become blood donors.
So, we like to think that we've made blood donation easy and fun with our app.
When a hospital orders and makes an order on our platform, we charge a Life Bank service fee to deliver the blood and a portion to the hospitals.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One pint of blood can save three lives. Life Bank aims to make blood donations seamless.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let's say you're a donor, I register on the platform. I book an appointment. Life Bank finds the closest blood bank to you. It
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We have about 3,000 donors registered on our platform who are willing to give blood to save lives.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With initial capital of $50,000 in five months, Life Bank now delivers on average 300 pints of blood monthly to over 170
hospitals throughout Lagos.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our goal is to get to 1 million active donors. We also have a goal to get to every hospital, every single hospital within
Lagos in the next two years.
One of the biggest challenge we face when we started Life Bank was the lack of infrastructure. We needed to build everything. We needed build the
dispatch system and delivery system.
Right now we operate only in Lagos. And here in Lagos, there's a lot of traffic. To get ahead of that traffic and to solve that bottleneck use
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 25 blood banks are currently supplying through the platform, yet the startup says they haven't even scratched the surface.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm so excited about the future of Life Bank. What we do is we give a service that makes a difference between life and death
for so many people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Bananas, lots of bananas. And visitors to Abu Dhabi art are, well, bananas for this Chinese artist's installation piece. They['re to
take in masterpieces from around the world. They were in for a treat, literally. Everyone was invited to pluck a piece of fruit from the floor
and dig in.
I did it. It was fascinating.
Well, you probably won't find pieces like that in the Louvre Abu Dhabi once it opens up here in our backyard. The decade-long project nearly complete
and the hope is for it to become a major tourist attraction.
Our John Defterios visited the sight as part of our new weeklong series on how the United Arab Emirates is looking for a future beyond oil.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Under this giant dome of stainless steel and aluminum is the future home of the Louvre Abu Dhabi.
Hala Warde has been driving this mega project since day one for the renowned French architect Jean Nouvel.
HALA WARDE, PARTNER, JEAN NOUVEL: This museum is a museum that belongs to the place -- to its history, to its geography and culture, the climate and
it could not be done elsewhere.
[10:55:13] DEFTERIOS: It's called the Rain of Light for good reasons. The roof has eight layers to depict traditional Arab architecture. It is an
extraordinary design because it has some 7,800 pieces or so-called stars to have that lighting effect, and it will never be sealed. Open here, even,
to contemporary art.
The idea is to create shade while maximizing the breeze sitting by the sea.
WARDE: It's facing west. You see the sunset. You have the cafe here. So -- and when you visit, you can go in and out from one gallery to another.
DEFTERIOS: We enter what will be the enclosed viewing halls.
WARDE: Yes, you are in the 18th Century gallery.
DEFTERIOS: Housing masterpieces from the 16th to the 19th centuries. Warde describes the technology embed into to the structure to manage the
intense heat and light mother nature has to offer on the Arabian peninsula.
WARDE: We are putting all the devices that are necessary and we have three types of screens
to control the light.
DEFTERIOS: Work on this scale does not happen overnight. From the initial proposal to completion, Jean Nouvel studio will have been here for a
decade.
Construction stopped for a year during the 2009/2010 global financial crisis. And with the collapse in energy prices, the project is now looking
to complete next year.
The Louvre Abu Dhabi is a big piece of the puzzle being assembled to move the Emirate beyond oil, it's part of a cultural district, which will house
two more museums: a Guggenheim and also a national museum in collaboration with the British museum.
Attracting both tourists and residents to Saviat (ph) Island.
John Defterios, CNN, Abu Dhabi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, I'm Becky Anderson That was Connect the World. Thank you for watching.
END
