Return to Transcripts main page
NEWS STREAM
Juan Guaido Is Asking The Venezuelan People To Stand With Him; Emperor Akihito Is Stepping Down From The Throne; A New Propaganda Video Purports To Feature Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi. Aired: 8-9a ET
Aired April 30, 2019 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.
ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, I'm Anna Coren in Hong Kong. Welcome to NEWS STREAM. We have breaking news to bring you from
Venezuela, the man leading the charge to topple Nicolas Maduro from power says this is the beginning of the end of Maduro's reign.
Juan Guaido says he now has members of the nation's military on his side. His team says there are military uprisings throughout the country and he is
asking the Venezuelan people to stand with him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUAN GUAIDO, VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT OF THE ASSEMBLY (through translator): Today, brave soldiers, brave patriots, brave men loyal to the Constitution,
I believe have heard our call. We have met on streets of Venezuela. "Operation Liberty" the help and freedom committees, I invite them to
activate immediately. I invite them to immediately cover the streets of Venezuela.
The first of May has started today. The definitive end to the usurpation has started today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: Well, a spokesman for President Nicolas Maduro says the situation is under control. Let's get the view live from the Venezuelan capital,
journalist Stefano Pozzebon is in Caracas and joins us now. Stefano, describe the scene for us.
STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST (via phone): Yes, Anna, and I am talking to you two meters away from the key military base here in central Caracas,
where in the early hours of today, we have seen footage from opposition leader, Juan Guaido and Leopoldo Lopez. Why is his presence key? Because
Leopoldo Lopez is a former opposition leader who has been under house arrest and in jail for the past five years. To see him means that at least
his captors, or somehow he was able to evade his captors and evade security.
Right now, the situation in central Caracas is extremely, extremely tense that we are speaking to you with teargas going in the highway across
through Caracas and we're seeing also the presence of some members of the military forces in this case, a few men of the National Guardsmen joining
side with the civilian population that have gathered here to claim and to demand the resignation of embattled President, Nicolas Maduro.
So definitely, it is not just a civilian opposition onto the street, but the military as well as some part of the military as well.
COREN: Yes, Stefano, we're looking at pictures taken just moments ago. Lots of tear gas, obviously hundreds, if not thousands of people on the
streets, as you mentioned, members of the military there standing by. Tell me, does Guaido have the support of those key members of the military to in
fact, overthrow the Maduro regime?
POZZEBON: Yes, that was Guaido's speech from the last few months since the day in January 23 where he claimed he had the right to claim the
presidency, the interim presidency of Venezuela.
So far, the top branch of military did not join his side, did not abandon the embattled President Nicolas Maduro. But today, these hours could be
crucial, because if Guaido was unable to be in front of the ministry base and indeed has the support of at least some part of the military, this
could be a game changer and for the situation here in Venezuela, because to paint for you, of course, Venezuela is not new to military uprising because
Maduro as President himself -- Hugo Chavez made himself a name with a military uprising back in 1992. But what is happening today, in 2019, you
could definitely be completely new and it can change the situation here in Caracas.
COREN: Stefano, we will come back to you with any developments. Stefano Pozzebon reporting there from Caracas. Well, let's bring in senior
international correspondent, Nick Paton Walsh, he joins us from London. Nick, you spent a lot of time in Venezuela covering this story. Do you
read this differently?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm sorry, Anna. I am actually --
COREN: What's unfolding on the streets right now? Can you hear me Nick?
PATON WALSH: I can hear you now, Anna, yes, absolutely. So obviously, the pictures you've seen --
COREN: As somebody who has covered this story, do you read this differently?
PATON WALSH: Yes, I mean, the pictures you've seen there while Stefano was talking are frankly common scenes. Tear gas being used against protesters.
What's different about that is that it appears that members of the Venezuelans Armed Forces who defected are also being teargassed by their
own side.
[08:05:14] PATON WALSH: What's different about this morning is we have not, until this point, seen Juan Guaido, saying he is inside or near a
military base flanked by members of the Venezuelan military, or at least saying they are, and also to one of his sides, an opposition leader,
Leopoldo Lopez, who is supposed to be under house arrest makes such a blatant appeal for the army to rise up. It's always been what he hoped
would occur, but it never quite had the same sort of force, as today's announcement has had.
Now, whether or not these protests persist over the next hours, or like we've seen in the past, the tear gas sends people slowly home and we see
this as a sort of flourishing of opposition activity rather than the beginning of something new, we will learn as the day continues, but the
government's reaction has been very interesting.
It's not necessarily the actions of a government that seems enormously relaxed. Of course, they've seen Juan Guaido's predecessor, Leopoldo Lopez
somehow released from house arrest. That must cause those around Nicolas Maduro, quite some substantial unease to believe that some part of their
security apparatus has failed so massively, that he can stand next to Juan Guaido and tell the Army to effectively rise up.
The government has also called this a coup and said it needs to be intervened on. I've used lots of inflammatory language in the past, but
today to make that kind of statements, well, that may be perhaps you could be accused of overstating your opponent's actions here or perhaps giving
them more weight than maybe we've seen so far.
And finally, too, interestingly, key figures around Nicolas Maduro are calling his supporters out around the Miraflores Presidential Palace. Now,
of course, supporters coming out in support of Nicolas Maduro. We see that a lot of the time, but we don't normally see them at moments like this
being called to physically it seems come round the Presidential Palace. That was supposed to be the focus of perhaps another reason why we're
seeing this today, tomorrow, which is May the first, and that was supposed to be nationwide protests across the country in over a dozen separate
locations.
Now many have formed perhaps that we've seen in the past, we'd see Juan Guaido make an eloquent speech, call everybody out, be big on social media,
get a lot of people out to support him, and everybody goes home. We're back to square one when the night falls, but the possibility that we may
see some flare up tensions today, even the outside chance that maybe this is the moment when Nicolas Maduro moves in and decides to detain Juan
Guaido and Leopoldo Lopez, again, who should technically still be under house arrest if you're a Venezuelan government official.
That may perhaps foment further protest tomorrow, call people out on the streets who may otherwise have stayed at home. It mark a sea change here
possibly. I have to say, it's incredibly hard to tell with this protest movement because they have a tendency to go big at the beginning, get a lot
of people out and then slowly go home once their message has been made, but this is something I didn't expect to see. And I think certainly many
around Nicolas Maduro also didn't see coming, too -- Anna.
COREN: Now, well, certainly with those military people around him. It's a bit of a game changer at this stage. Nick Paton Walsh, we appreciate that.
Thank you.
Now to Japan, where a new cultural and historical chapter is unfolding. Beloved Emperor Akihito is stepping down from the throne. A short time
ago, we watched along with millions in Japan as the monarch thanks them for their support over the past three decades. It was a 10-minute ceremony,
but one which had taken months to prepare.
The 85-year-old Emperor had broken with tradition before and does so again by abdicating. He said in 2016, he was worried the state of his health
would make it harder to carry out his duties. Well, CNN's Will Ripley stood with crowds outside the Imperial Palace as this brief and solemn
ceremony took place. He joins us now.
Will, a momentous day for Japan. Tell us what the abdication of Emperor Akihito means for the Japanese people and do they feel a deep sense of
loss?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's an extraordinary day, Anna, and it's a day that no person in Japan has ever seen in their
lifetime no matter what age they are, no matter whether they lived during the Showa era, the Heisei era or as of tomorrow, the Reiwa era because in
Japan, an Emperor is supposed to serve until he dies.
So the last abdication occurred some 200 years ago. So this is all new in some ways. But in other ways everything that we witnessed by watching the
live video from outside the Imperial Palace, along with many of the crowds who were viewing on their cell phones was ancient tradition, kind of trying
to find its way in this new modern age.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RIPLEY (voice over): Emperor Akihito's final day on the Chrysanthemum Throne was a day of sacred Japanese rituals, traditions going back more
than 2000 years from his final walk in the Imperial Kimono to a ceremonial placement of Japan's three ancient treasures -- sword, mirror and jewel --
priceless artifacts hidden in secret locations with only replicas used for the 10-minute abdication ceremony.
[08:10:10] RIPLEY: The Emperor's final public remarks signaled the end of three decades on the throne.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EMPEROR AKIHITO, JAPAN (through translator): Since ascending the throne 30 years ago, I have performed my duties as the Emperor with a deep sense of
trusting and respect for the people. And I consider myself most fortunate to have been able to do so.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIPLEY (voice over): In many ways, Emperor Akihito personified postwar Japan's transformation from Imperial wartime oppressor to peacetime
economic powerhouse. He also transformed the image of the Japanese monarchy from absolute sovereign to Emperor of the People, kneeling at eye
level with survivors of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELLA TENNANT, JAPANESE CULTURE EXPERT AND TEACHING FELLOW, KEELE UNIVERSITY: He has probably done more for Japanese politics in terms of
developing and improving kind of international relations with neighbors than the actual politicians themselves all put together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIPLEY (voice over): The Heisei or era of serene peace ends like it began, on a gray, dreary day in the Japanese capital. Similar to the day in 1989,
when Hirohito today known as Emperor Showa died. The last Imperial transition was a time of mourning. This one, a time of reflection and
celebration. Japanese law says the Emperor reigns for life.
But the Parliament made a one-time exception for Emperor Akihito. In 2016, he signaled his desire to retire, making the way for his oldest son,
Naruhito to assume official duties, including hundreds of meetings and ceremonies a year.
"The Emperor is already over 80," says retiree Haruhi Shiozawa. "It must have been really hard." "I'd like to say thank you very much," says Jackie
Shiozawa, "Rest well."
RIPLEY (on camera): The Emperor's abdication is unprecedented in modern Japan. It's the first in some 200 years, which explains why you have such
huge crowds outside the Imperial Palace even though the forecast for the whole day, rain.
RIPLEY (voice over): They gathered outside the Palace by the thousands, even though just a few hundred members of the Japanese elite were allowed
inside to witness the transition.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TENNANT: The fact that the government has been creative in actually providing something in the law within the Constitution to allow this
abdication, one would hope that further innovation will develop with this new Emperor to bring some fresh air and to actually allow women to succeed
to the Chrysanthemum Thrown.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIPLEY (voice over): At the stroke of midnight, a new Emperor, Naruhito and a new era for Japan, Reiwa, meaning, beautiful harmony.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RIPLEY: So that official transition happening less than three hours from now and as forecast predicted, it's going to be rain tonight, rain
tomorrow, you know, they say that rain symbolizes change and renewal. And here in Japan, there's also an expression that after the rain, the ground
becomes more solid. So perhaps that is nature's way of saying that this new era will be getting started on some very solid ground, Anna, because
it's been raining a lot here in Tokyo.
COREN: I hope you're staying dry, but a poignant day all the same. Will Ripley, good to see you. Many thanks for that. Will this engaging monarch
reshape the role of Emperor? And Sheila Smith is a senior fellow for Japan Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. She joins us now from
Washington.
Sheila, Emperor Akihito really humanized the role of the Emperor. One of the reasons why he was so deeply loved and revered in such a traditional
society like Japan, what impact did that have on the country?
SHEILA SMITH, SENIOR FELLOW FOR JAPAN STUDIES, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Well, I think you could see it this morning in the abdication
ceremony, but also in the popular response that your piece laid out. The Japanese people really loved Akihito and Empress Michiko as well. They
were seen as a new face, a face that was not directly tied to the war, but also they embody the spirit of reconciliation outside the country, but also
inside the country.
They were seen as a couple that had deep compassion for those who did not always get into the spotlight in Japanese politics or in Japanese life. So
I think, there's a high regard for the two of them. And also a sense of commemoration and celebration that really wasn't there when Emperor
Hirohito, the father of Akihito passed away in 1989.
COREN: Sheila, the Emperor's role to the Japanese earthquake and tsunami in 2011 that claimed nearly 20,000 lives, that really helped unify the
country in a time of grief and crisis. Do you consider that one of his most defining moments?
SMITH: I think it was a very important moment for him, for the Imperial Household, but also for the Japanese people. You know, within a couple of
days of the earthquake and tsunami, the country was really shattered and as you said, many people had died and was physically -- the northern part of
the country was physically devastated. And it was the Emperor going onto television to tell the Japanese people, "This is our worst disaster since
World War II, but we will recover and we will be resilient."
That message I think really brought the Japanese people together in a sense of unity and it really showed the place of the Imperial Family and how
important they still are to the way in which the Japanese see their society.
[08:15:19] COREN: And he visited the earthquake zone up and in Sendai in the middle of winter, quite extraordinary. Sheila, finally his son, Crown
Prince Naruhito will become the new Emperor as of midnight in Japan. Do you expect his reign to modernize the monarchy?
SMITH: Well, I think each successive generation is now trying to interpret this role of the Emperor and the Imperial family as the symbol of the
Japanese people, which is what is specified under the Constitution.
Naruhito and his wife, Masako, so the new Emperor and Empress as of tomorrow. They're younger. They've lived abroad, both studied in the U.K.
and she studied at Harvard in the United States. They are outgoing. The Emperor-to-be has a very kind of relaxed interaction with people. He takes
selfies with people. I think this is a couple that's going to add another layer of that integration of the Imperial family with the Japanese people
themselves.
COREN: Good to hear. Sheila Smith, great to have you on the show and thank you for your insight. You're watching NEWS STREAM. Still to come, a
loss of all its physical territory does not mean that ISIS has been snuffed out. Instead, it could mean a deadly new strategy. We explore how the
terror group is evolved.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COREN: Welcome back to NEWS STREAM. Well, the U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka says militants may be actively plotting more attacks in the South
Asian country. That warning comes as we're hearing praise for the Easter attacks on Christians, apparently from the elusive leader of ISIS.
A new propaganda video purports to feature Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi. He calls the bombings that killed more than 250 people in Sri Lanka, vengeance. The
U.S. is working to confirm that it is indeed Al-Baghdadi in the video, but if it is authentic, this is the first time he's been seen publicly since
this video from 2014 when he spoke at the Great Mosque in Mosul in Iraq.
Well, our Sam Kiley is standing by in Colombo, Sri Lanka. But first, let's go to CNN's Clarissa Ward, who joins us from London.
Clarissa, as we say, the first time in five years that we've actually seen Al-Baghdadi and his message was clear, ISIS still exists. He is in charge,
and his international network as we most recently saw in Sri Lanka will continue to launch deadly attacks. Why reveal himself now?
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think Anna, this is clearly a pivotal moment for ISIS.
[08:20:01] WARD: Essentially, they're destroyed in Syria and Iraq, the Caliphate has collapsed. That was their big recruitment tool, and so Abu
Bakr Al-Baghdadi, unsurprisingly wants to show that notwithstanding the $25 million bounty on his head, he is still alive. He does not appear to be
injured, at least seriously so.
You may remember that there have been several reports that he's been injured in airstrikes at one stage. The Russians actually thought that
they had killed him. So he is making a point of saying that he is still alive, and that you have not seen the last of ISIS yet, that they are still
able to launch attacks that are grotesque in nature, that are violent, that are deadly, that are shocking, and that they will keep this momentum going.
You can see also, Anna, looking at the video, how carefully he has chosen or his followers or advisers have chosen every detail in terms of his
appearance. The fact that he is wearing a kind of military vest, that he has his Kalashnikov rifle in the background, a very different picture from
the sort of spiritual leader that Baghdadi he was trying to present himself as back in 2014 when we saw him assume the pulpit and give a sermon in the
Mosul mosque nearly five years ago -- Anna.
COREN: Sam, if I can go to you, the U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka says there are still suspects at large from the Easter Sunday attacks. Is there
a sense in Sri Lanka that forces have this under control? Or are they well over their heads?
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think it's a sort of double-edged answer to that. On the one hand, the Sri Lankan Intelligence
and police and military forces have had some success. They managed to shut down a cell in the east of the country that committed suicide in the end
and get rid of and capture an enormous cache of explosive materials that could have made many dozens of bombs.
But on the other hand, there remains plotters out there. The other Intelligence Services, we understand have also been warning the Sri Lankans
in the last 24 hours that they believe that there are still active plots there. Memos circulated internally among politicians reinforce that fact
two days ago. And now we've got the U.S. Ambassador repeating a warning that she gave a few days ago. In fact, the middle of the week after the
Easter massacres. This is what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALAINA TEPLITZ, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO SRI LANKA: I can't comment on specific Intelligence or investigative information. But I believe our warning is
valid and still stands, which is that we do believe that there is active plotting underway and we have warned U.S. citizens and then of course,
others who might read our warnings, to be mindful of places that might make attractive targets for terrorists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KILEY: Now, Anna, there was a threat against locations frequented by tourists, as I say, a day before yesterday, across in the east as well as
here in Colombo. So it's very clear that there are perhaps more groups out here that is certainly the working supposition of the Sri Lankans. But
they are being fairly slow to get to grips with it. I have to say, only yesterday, they appointed a General to run the overall counterterrorism
operation in response to the Easter massacres but -- and there continues to be aggressive levels of infighting going on inside the government. So I
think this story for now is definitely far from over -- Anna.
COREN: Sam Kiley in Colombo, Clarissa Ward in London, many thanks to you both for joining us. Appreciate it.
A former U.S. envoy to North Korea confirms he signed an agreement to pay North Korea $2 million for the release of American student, Otto Warmbier
in 2017. Well, Joseph Yun says he never asked Donald Trump about the deal, but it was his understanding the President approved it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSEPH YUN, FORMER U.S. SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR NORTH KOREA POLICY: As soon as the North Korean side told me that his bill for $2 million would
have to be paid. Of course, I contacted my boss, that is Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to ask him, and he got back to me very quickly
thereafter to say, yes, go ahead and sign.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: Well, despite the pledge the Trump administration insists they have not paid any money to North Korea. Otto Warmbier was detained in 2016. He
was sent back to the US in 2017 in a comatose state. He died a few days after returning home.
Well, a disease once considered eradicated in many countries is making a global resurgence. Just ahead, we will tell you just how bad the measles
outbreak is going on in some areas, and what needs to be done to stop the potentially deadly virus.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:27:23] COREN: I am Ana Coren in Hong Kong, you're watching NEWS STREAM. These are your world headlines. Japan's Emperor Akihito was
stepped down becoming the country's first monarch to abdicate in two centuries. A short time ago, we watched the ceremony as the 85-year-old
thanked the people of Japan for supporting him. The Emperor has cited his health as the reason for stepping down. His son, Naruhito will be
inaugurated as Emperor on Wednesday.
Sri Lanka's President tells CNN Intelligence Services believe the Easter Sunday bombers had very clear links to ISIS. He said the terrorist group
trained the Sri Lankan attackers and that connections between ISIS and the extremists in the country, date back to 15 years.
Venezuela's internationally recognized interim President, Juan Guaido has made an appearance with members of the country's Armed Forces. He says
they have chosen to be quote, "on the right side of his struggle the topple Nicolas Maduro from power." A spokesman for the Maduro government says
military traitors are being confronted.
Well, measles once nearly eradicated in the developed world is making a global resurgence. In the U.S., the virus was declared eliminated in the
year 2000. But this year, the number of cases has skyrocketed with over 700 people infected in 22 states. Well that's according to the Centers for
Disease Control.
Globally, according to the World Health Organization cases are three times higher the first four months of the year compared to the same period in
2018. This highly contagious disease continues to sicken and even kill children and vulnerable people, especially in countries with poor
vaccination rates.
Ukraine, India and Madagascar have reported the highest number of cases over the past year. In Madagascar for instance, the World Health
Organization reports over 117,000 people have caught it in the last six months; of those, over 1,200 people died, mostly children.
Well, joining me now. Dr. Katrina Kretsinger, medical officer in the Expanded Program on Immunization at the World Health Organization. She
joins me now live from Geneva via Skype. We are seeing the United States experienced the worst outbreak of measles in decades. But this is a global
phenomenon hitting the numerous countries that we just mentioned. Tell us what is going on? Why the rebound of measles?
KATRINA KRETSINGER, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (via Skype): Sure, the rebound of measles is something that's been in the works for a long period
of time, it reflects weaknesses in immunization programs accumulated over many years.
[08:30:08] KRETSINGER: And where there's measles outbreaks anywhere globally, it affects countries that have really strong programs as well,
because the virus is so very infectious. It previously matched in the United States and the outbreaks in the United States right now is a result
of importation into the United States from countries which are experiencing outbreaks elsewhere.
COREN: Tell us where has the outbreak stemmed from?
KRETSINGER: So in the United States, there's been -- the CDC, as you mentioned just put out a release this morning through their Morbidity and
Mortality Report stating that there's over 40 different individuals who traveled who came back to United States from many areas --
COREN: Okay, Katrina, can you still hear me? We seem to be having a few technical problems. You can., fantastic. I want to ask you that if New
York is the epicenter of the outbreak in the United States, a world class city in a first world country, what hope is there in the developing world
in stamping this out?
KRETSINGER: So it really depends on having a very rapid and effective response to outbreak, such as what we actually have seen in the United
States, albeit there are a lot of cases to steer. They've acted really appropriately to respond to them. And in countries which don't have as
robust infrastructure as some of the countries which are more developed, it really depends on making vaccination services available to everybody so
that they can raise the population immunity to at least over 90 percent to 92 percent to 94 percent is what is required to stop the ongoing
transmission in an outbreak setting.
So this is -- I agree, this is really quite a challenge, but we've made a lot of progress today. Over 80 countries have been declared -- globally
eliminated.
COREN: Okay, Katrina -- measles vaccine, it's considered safe. So why aren't parents vaccinating their children and what is your message to them?
KRETSINGER: So parents really owe it to their children to provide them with this life-saving intervention, not only for measles, but for all
immunizations. It's not only for their protection of their children, I mean, many people have forgotten what it was like when there was a scourge
of vaccine preventable diseases that caused fear among parents globally, but also for the protection of those individuals who cannot be vaccinated -
- infants too young to receive vaccine and those persons who are immunocompromised or for other reasons are not eligible to receive vaccine.
COREN: Dr. Katrina Kretsinger from the World Health Organization, great to have you with us and thank you for sharing all that very valuable
information.
Will robots take over our jobs? These funny looking ones are set to go out into the world this year and possibly take on some dangerous tasks. Find
out how robots are changing the way that we work. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COREN: We've heard the prediction before, robots are the future and it seems, we are inching closer to that reality. Just take a look at this
robot. It's called Spot Mini. Here you see 10 of them pulling a truck.
[08:35:10] COREN: Austin Dynamic says they are set to go into full production by July. The rapid growth of artificial intelligence has a lot
of people concerned, their jobs could be at risk. Well, CNN's own Andres Oppenheimer addresses this issue in his new book, "The Robots are Coming."
Andres is also the host of "Oppenheimer Presenta" on CNN Espanol and joins us now from Miami to talk about his book.
Andres, great to have you with us. Should we be concerned if the robots are coming?
ANDRES OPPENHEIMER, COLUMNIST, THE MIAMI HERALD: Sure, sure, everybody should be concerned and because as a new study, not that new but a very,
you know, telling study by Oxford University says 47 percent of our jobs are at risk of disappearing within the next 15 years. So we're not talking
about 30 years or 40 years or 50 years, we're talking about 10 to 15 years.
So what I did in this book then is to look at each profession, what's going to happen with lawyers, accountants, bankers, physicians, journalists --
everybody, and which parts of our professions are going to disappear within next 10 years? And which are the jobs of the future?
COREN: Because you are talking about half the workforce and they're not just blue collar jobs?
OPPENHEIMER: Of course not. Look at us, look at journalists. I used to do my TV show with five cameras and five cameramen, until not very long
ago. Now, how many cameramen are there on me? Zero. Not one. All the cameras are robotics. I used to write my newspaper columns and then
translate them with a translator. She is gone. Now, you know, Google Translate does the translating and we, in the newsroom, we edit it,
whatever comes out of the algorithm.
I used to have somebody to transcribe my interviews, I used to interview a president and then somebody, a person that human would transcribe the
interview, not anymore. Now they're apps, the cell phone, smartphone apps that transcribe an interview immediately, a matter of seconds for almost
nothing.
So all the jobs around us are being automated. So when I started researching this book, when this study came out saying that 47 percent of
our jobs are going to disappear. At first, I said, you know, this is a little bit exaggerated, it's not going to be that much. But then when I
started looking around me and what's happening in our profession, I realized that it is happening already and I think that this is going to be
the biggest issue of the 21st Century -- technological unemployment.
It's going to happen to more and more people. It is already happening and politicians and governments and most people haven't yet come around to
recognizing it, but it's going to touch us all. And we have to prepare for it, each of us in their own professions.
COREN: Yes, well, I hope that you and I can survive this this robotic revolution. But tell us, how does the workforce prepare for this?
OPPENHEIMER: Well, there are many ways. First of all, you have to see which part of your occupation of your profession is going to disappear,
because there's virtually no profession that is going to be spared of automation. So it's not that jobs -- categories of jobs are going to
disappear, per se. But many parts of the jobs, many parts of the things we do are going to disappear. And we know already and I say that in the book,
in each of these professions, which parts of our professions are going to disappear within the next five to ten years.
So first step is identify what parts of the things you do on a daily basis are going to be replaced by a robot or a smart computer. The second thing,
I mean, I cite several more in the book. But the second thing that comes to mind is we have to start to prepare for lifelong studying. Because, you
know, we went to school for five years or six years and got a little paper, a diploma and went home very happy and well, you know, spending our working
lives working on, you know, on what we learned from the diploma, but that's over because technological -- the pace of technological change is so fast
that whatever you studied in school, whatever that diploma recognizes is outdated by the time you graduate out of school. So you have to go to
school for the rest of your life. One of the people interviewed --
COREN: Andres, can I ask you -- sorry, to interrupt. Can I ask you this, I was reading a study in "The Economist" which found that the artificial
intelligence industry could add $13 trillion to the world's economy by 2030. And yet despite these staggering figures, only 5 percent of
companies are actually using artificial intelligence extensively.
[08:40:08] COREN: Are you sensing there is a reluctance from business to get on board?
OPPENHEIMER: Well, technologies don't take off from one day to the next. Usually, they sort of are dormant for many years -- look at the iPhone.
The iPhone -- we had cellular phones forever for many decades. But since 2007, when the iPhone appeared, they skyrocket and now we couldn't live
without them.
The same thing happens with all technologies. We've had industrial robots since the 1960s. Since "The Simpsons," you know, I used to watch them when
I was a kid, but they really took off over the past five years. Why? Because they're becoming smarter and they are becoming cheaper. So all of
a sudden, you reach a point where they become cheaper and everybody starts using them. And the same would happen with artificial intelligence.
I think, there's virtually no industry that will be able to function and be competitive without using artificial intelligence. With robots, it
happened over the past five years. Because something very fundamental changed. I mean, companies have been using robots forever for six decades.
But over the past five years, the robots have become much smarter because industrial robots now are connected to the Cloud.
So each robot can learn of the mistakes and achievements of every other robot. So they're becoming much smarter. And as more people are buying
them, more companies are buying industrial robots, they are becoming much cheaper. So that's why all of a sudden, we see a huge, huge increase of
use of industrial robots in the world. And the same will happen with industrial intelligence -- for the artificial intelligence.
COREN: So should artificial intelligence robots -- should they be feared or embraced considering that they will be taking half the jobs in the
world?
OPPENHEIMER: Well, I'm not a pessimist. In the long run, technology has always created more jobs than it has eliminated. That has always been the
rule. And it's true. I mean, since the Industrial Revolution since way before, you know, when the first mass produced cars came out, the carriage
-- the people who were driving horse-drawn carriages started burning cars saying this new machine will kill our jobs. It will kill the jobs of
carriage makers, the people who feed the horses, the people who keep the stables et cetera, et cetera.
And what happened? The opposite. The car -- the mass-produced car brought about millions of jobs and you know construction of roads and bridges and
mechanic shops and gasoline stations and you name it. So in the long run, technology always creates more jobs than eliminates.
The problem we have now will be the short run, because in the past, we had hundreds of years, thousands of years sometimes to reinvent ourselves.
When we were hunters, we were living in the Stone Ages in caves. We had thousands of years to reinvent ourselves and become farmers.
But today, if you're working at a parking garage as a cashier, you're being replaced in 24 hours. You're being replaced by a machine, by a robot. So
you don't have a thousand years to reinvent yourself. You have 24 hours. That's going to be our big, big problem over the next 10 years.
COREN: The world certainly is changing and we need to change with it. Andres Oppenheimer, author of "The Robots Are Coming," many thanks for
that.
Well, let's return to the situation in Venezuela. Nick Paton Walsh is following that from London. Nick, can you give us an update on what's been
happening in the last half hour?
PATON WALSH: Well, we've just heard from the Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Jorge Arreaza who is denouncing, in quote here, "The Colombian government
for this new attempts at a coup d'etat in Venezuela." He said that on Twitter.
Now this is a sort of long-running issue Caracas has with its neighbors in Bogota. They believe because so many of the refugees and so much of the
defectors and the Venezuelan military and certainly, the public announcements of Maduro's government have come from Colombia that much of
the resistance against the Maduro government inside the country is in fact fomented by Colombia.
I have to say, we had quite of time in Colombia watching how the Colombians handle this. They are kind of torn. I mean, certainly on the border
areas, they know they have do their best to try and control matters to try and assist refugees who come across and try and retain some control in
border areas.
But we spent hours watching Colombian soldiers get tear gassed by the Venezuelan military accidentally because they were trying to hit
protesters. Columbia is long being caught in all of this, but this statement, from Arreaza, I think is a reflection from the Venezuelan
government's side that we are seeing a lot of international support for Juan Guaido, the opposition leader who is recognized interim President by
dozens of countries including the United States and most of Europe.
[08:45:07] PATON WALSH: And so as we begin to see this protest movement on the street continue, and I have to say, you know, there are people coming
out on the streets, but we haven't seen a massive increase in the numbers at this particular stage. The question really is what level of momentum
can Juan Guaido keep going? We've heard support from Marco Rubio, the Senator of Florida, who has been fomenting an awful lot of the U.S.
administration's position on all of this.
And we've heard denunciations in capitals around South America, but Anna, I think the question really still comes down to exactly the volume of the
Venezuela military that are heeding Juan Guaido's call.
Now, as by our sister network, Espanol -- CNN Espanol whether or not he had a lot of military, he seems to assess to have the big part was on his side,
but it's the conversations happening inside barracks at this particular point between Venezuelan soldiers, many of whom are dependent upon their
jobs in the military for the so-called clap boxed handouts, that's subsidized food stuff to essentially make family life livable in a country
with inflation that runs into millions of percent.
What those conversations between Venezuelan soldiers at grassroots level or officer level actually result in in the hours and days ahead, as I say,
we've seen this kind of loud call from Juan Guaido before trying to get people out on to the streets. We've seen him call the military out on his
side before. He has never done it with this kind of theatrical pomp or with somebody who is supposed to be in jail, opposition other leader
Leopoldo Lopez who is supposed to be under house arrest at his side, at dawn near a military base in Caracas.
But does this change his protest movement? Something which in the past weeks has begun to feel a little sort of lacking in steam, a little bit
like it didn't quite have the momentum it did at the beginning. Does today's substantial gesture move the needle a lot to the point where we are
seeing as Juan Guaido describes, the beginning the sort of operation freedom of Venezuela -- Anna.
COREN: Nick, let's talk a bit more about that military support that he supposedly has. Obviously, he appeared in that video that he posted on
Twitter, it was recorded at dawn at that military base in Caracas. He was surrounded by military officers, certainly people dressed in military
uniform. I guess the question is, does he have the support of those key military personnel to really ramp this up, to bring about a revolution, to
bring about a coup d'etat and overthrow the Maduro government?
PATON WALSH: I don't think anybody really knows what the critical mass within the Venezuelan military is, that means essentially Nicolas Maduro
has to rethink where he is going to spend the forthcoming nights.
The issue comes down to the very top brass, often being inculcated in the same crimes or misdemeanors that Nicolas Maduro and his circle is accused
of, too. Now, we did a recent story on how Venezuela is fast becoming the courier for cocaine according to U.S. officials from Colombia where it is
grown up to Central America where it's moved.
The implication from U.S. officials is quite senior members of the military and the political circle around Nicolas Maduro are implicated in that. So
do they face indictment? Potentially, if they ever leave their country, that some of them are already subject to sanctions inside the United States
legal system and I think the question really is whether or not that is dissuading people from abandoning Nicolas Maduro because essentially, they
see they only have one option which is to continue in the current status quo.
Anna, when you see those pictures, when you see Juan Guaido, teargas on the streets, protests crowds, it is tempting to go think something enormous is
happening inside of Venezuela, but the problem you often face too is when you're inside Caracas or Venezuela itself, things haven't changed an awful
lot.
That you've still got the feeling a lot of the time that the Maduro government had its control on the sort of power levers of the military that
keeps them in power, and so is today a substantial sea change of that or is it, as we've seen, Juan Guaido become an expert in extraordinary moments of
theater, of calling for popular support, of attracting international attention like he is getting on social media and here now? Or are we still
going to be talking about this with the same intensity two or three days from now or as we've seen in the past, after a few hours in the afternoon
on the streets in the heat, do the Venezuelan opposition protests begin to ebb.
COREN: Nick, I known you've been in those protests, so I will ask you to just stand by as we monitor the situation. I now want to bring in Jorge
Perez Valery from Caracas. Jorge, Describe the scene to us, what you are hearing from the people where you are.
[08:50:02] JORGE PEREZ VALERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we just came back from the place where Juan Guaido and Leopoldo Lopez, both opposition
leaders against Nicolas Maduro are seen there, and there is confusion and tense situation because the military has been using some of their weapons
to repel some members of alleged groups supporting Nicolas Maduro that has passing through.
This place where Juan Guaido and Leopoldo Lopez are surrounded by these military calling the people to go to the streets to finally take Maduro out
of power. On the other hand, we have officials from the Maduro administration like Diosdado Cabello, he is like the second most powerful
man in this country asking their supporters to go to the Presidential Palace to support President Maduro, embattled President Nicolas Maduro and
to stay there to defend the Bolivarian Revolution.
Right now the situation, Anna is quite tense. We can still hear from this point some detonations, some sound that are coming from this place where
Leopoldo Lopez and Juan Guaido are staying, still surrounded by this military command that are proposing to take out Maduro from the power from
this day.
COREN: Well, Jorge, how many people are on the streets? And are you getting a sense that this protest is different from what you have seen over
the past few months?
VALERY: Yes, this is totally different because it was not expected to happen today. At 5:00 in the morning, we saw reports and a situation
happening in this point of the east of Caracas. Then it appeared Juan Guaido through the social media calling their supporters to come to this
place and what surprised everybody is that Leopoldo Lopez, one of the main figures of the Venezuelan opposition who was arrested at this house was at
that place saying that he was allowed to come by some of the same military guards that were taking care of him at his house.
Now, we have seen an increasing number of people just gathering there, just coming to this point in support of Juan Guaido's call for overthrowing
Nicolas Maduro out of power.
Let's remember that for Juan Guaido who has been recognized as interim President of this country by the majority of the nations of the Americas,
well, he is saying that he is the legitimate President, and that Nicolas Maduro is an usurper, that he has leave power because he is usurping the
functions of the presidency and this is a strategy that he is going to keep from now on. He says, from now, it has started an operation to take Maduro
out of power.
COREN: Jorge, do you get a sense of how much support Guaido has from the military? Is it a handful or are these key personnel who are backing him
and backing his leadership?
VALERY: At this point where he is right now, we were there just a couple of minutes ago, we cannot tell if there is a massive movement of military,
but there are those members of the military of the National Guard of Venezuela supporting him. We saw these members of the military hand in
heavy weapon and sitting there waiting for a start to this operation that they say is going to take Maduro out of power.
We did not have confirmation or other confirmed reports of other members of the military, in the high-ranking members of the military expressing an
open support for Juan Guaido, but the situation right now in those terms is confusing. We do not have reports of how many members of the military are
finally going to support him in this strategy that he is calling for ousting Nicolas Maduro from the Miraflores Palace, the Presidential Palace
in Venezuela.
COREN: I should mention, Jorge, and we've got hits this banner up that Reuters is reporting witnesses saying that gunshots have been heard outside
that Air Base in Caracas where Guaido is.
If we can now return to Nick Paton Walsh in London. Nick, Nicolas Maduro, he has the support of the Russians, the Chinese, the Turkish. I believe
there are some few hundred Russian troops that have been sent to Venezuela. Explain that dynamic to us.
PATON WALSH: I mean, when you say troops, Anna, it's very hard to know precisely who we're talking about. I think it's technical advisers,
certainly military to some degree. Moscow obviously loves to obfuscate what it's really up to a lot of the time. But yes, there have been planes
that have turned up that led many to believe the rumors the Russians were getting all in behind Maduro were actually leading to something.
This is sort of what many look at in South America as a revival of kind of the old Cold War assistance of a socialist government versus the
overreaching kind of they would see it northern empire of the United States.
[08:55:09] PATON WALSH: Now, while the Chavista movement initially began very much of its own, as we've seen Nicolas Maduro increasingly get himself
into trouble, he's had a fraught relationship with Moscow and Beijing has harbored in the sidelines, as well. Moscow clearly sees Venezuela's
position as potentially the source of the largest oil reserves in the world as somebody they want to be friends with, although Russia is not short of
hydrocarbons itself.
But on top of that, too, having an ally in Venezuela so close to the United States' kind of home domain, close to Cuba which is also considered to sort
of share the same world view as the Kremlin, as well, is something which both irritates Washington, that's a huge plus for the Kremlin, but also
makes Russia's global reach seem perhaps larger than necessarily.
You shouldn't overestimate what some bank loans and a couple of hundred military advisers necessarily means. The Russians are incredibly far from
home when they're in Venezuela. It's a large transatlantic flight that you need to think about before they can send resources there and they're not
remotely popular in that regards with the countries, the neighbor, Venezuela, who staunchly has come out against the government of Nicolas
Maduro.
But it is sort of part of this game that Vladimir Putin likes to play where he constantly tries sees what it is he can do to thwart U.S. policy
interest. So this is a man who, consider the collapse of the former Soviet Union to be the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 21st Century.
So as this plays out, you also see Beijing, who are perhaps equally hungry for ways to counter America's what used to be sort of unipolar attitude
towards geopolitics to try and also see that there are some resources potentially in Venezuela they would like to lay their hands on and this may
possibly be a relatively cheap way of bolstering their power in South America.
They've got a lot of natural resource projects across that particular continent, feeding Beijing's enormous hunger for basic resources to feed
its growing economy. So that's the geopolitics here. But it is a little bit misleading, frankly, because all of Venezuela's problems extends to one
thing and that's the staggering manmade mismanagement of the Venezuelan economy.
This should be one of the richest countries in the region. It's incredibly wealthy from oil, but as one U.S. official said to me, the Maduro
government, they allege, stole most of it. There's no sudden surprise that their coffers are empty. A lot of it has been embezzled or all of that is
alleged in indictments in U.S. courthouses, and so essentially people are asking themselves inside Venezuela, how come 10 years ago, 15 years ago, we
were the richest people in the region enjoying healthcare, education, that was unparalleled certainly with their Colombian neighbor and how come we've
mismanaged this so awfully at a senior government level that now people are digging through trash routinely, if they're lucky, to try and find some
food -- Anna.
COREN: Yes, I certainly want to talk about that mismanagement because obviously, there's a majority, the 32 million Venezuelans who have lived
under Maduro's power for the last six years, it has been a wretched existence.
Let's now return to Jorge Perez Valery in Caracas, Jorge, do you envisage by the end of today more people, thousands of people, tens of thousands of
people taking to the streets? Are you expecting people power to bring down the Maduro government, to defy the military still supporting Maduro and
potentially face bloodshed?
VALERY: Something particular about the Venezuelan crisis is that it's always unexpected. What we are seeing right now, the facts that we have
right now is that we are seeing people in the streets, attending this call from Juan Guaido, the President of the National Assembly being recognized
as Interim President by the U.S. and several other nations in the world, going to the streets, attending to this call, saying that they are going to
protest. We are listening to these people when we were in the streets and they say today is the day. Today, we want Nicolas Maduro to go.
What is the other fact that we are seeing? Well, we have officials from the Maduro administration like Diosdado Cabello also calling the followers
to go to the Miraflores Palace, the presidential headquarters in Venezuela to support Nicolas Maduro.
So what we are expecting is probably an increase of the amount of people in the streets, at least in the city, in Caracas, the capital city supporting
and expressing their support for each of both sides -- either for Juan Guaido or for Nicolas Maduro and we are also receiving reports of other
people protesting in the countryside in the same way, people supporting Juan Guaido in this new strategy. He says today is the day they're going
to work to get Nicolas Maduro out of power.
COREN: Well, Jorge Perez Valery, we certainly appreciate all the updates that you have been bringing us. Stay with CNN. Much more on the crisis in
Venezuela on "CNN Newsroom" with Jim Sciutto just ahead. Thanks so much for your company.
[09:00:10]
END
