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Amanpour

One Year Since Taking of Mosul; Saudi Supreme Court Upholds Badawi Sentence; The Amazing Life of Jose Feliciano. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired June 09, 2015 - 14:00   ET

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

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CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN HOST (voice-over): Tonight: one year since the fall of Mosul, the IS caliphate is growing, not shrinking, and the West

seems stymied. The former British Foreign Secretary, the humanitarian leader, David Miliband, says the solution lies in Syria.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID MILIBAND, FORMER BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: My fear is that Syria has become like background music to modern international politics. It's

seen as a disaster but that no one can do anything about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR (voice-over): Also ahead, some much-needed music for the soul.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, JOSE FELICIANO, "RAIN")

AMANPOUR (voice-over): From poverty in Puerto Rico to the world's most famous venues, the legendary guitarist and singer, Jose Feliciano, on his

amazing journey.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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AMANPOUR: Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the program. I'm Christiane Amanpour. And it has been one horrible and brutal year, a year

since Mosul fell to ISIS, which remains a force to be reckoned with by Iraq and an international community that seems at a loss for how to stop their

relentless rise.

Despite a 10-month bombing campaign, the IS caliphate now covers more territory than it did a year ago, about a third of Iraq and half of Syria.

And now that they've got Ramadi, the extremists' march towards the steps of Baghdad has shown how broken the Iraqi state still is. And ISIS doesn't

miss a chance to show how far they'll go to fulfill their apocalyptic vision.

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AMANPOUR: But my next guest says the collapse in Iraq has also been a distraction, from the chaos and the mass killings in Syria. David

Miliband, president of the International Rescue Committee, told me from New York that without peace in Syria, there is no hope for Iraq.

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AMANPOUR: David Miliband, welcome back to the program.

MILIBAND: Thanks very much. It's good to be with you.

AMANPOUR: Except this is a horrible day, it's a horrible anniversary and it certainly is important and appropriate to ask the question many are

asking and that is why ISIS succeeding?

MILIBAND: I think there are really two key reasons that one has to understand for the present situation. First, there is not a clear

political leadership of the Sunni community inside Iraq. And there is a terrible choice being offered to Sunnis at the moment, almost between

Ba'athists on the one hand and -- ex-Ba'athists on the one hand and ISIS on the other. And so the void of Sunni political leadership came through loud

and clear.

Secondly, obviously, the vacuum in Central and Eastern Syria, you'll have noted on your program the fall of Palmyra on the Syrian side of the border,

that void, that security void on the Syrian side of the border has been an immense source of strength for ISIS as well.

AMANPOUR: And this is something that the world is wrestling with, seemingly every day, and with no clear strategy.

What about what you've written and that is political inertia by the Western-led coalition or by the international community, that simply let

Syria roll on well into a fifth year of war. And as we know, more than 200,000 people dead and millions of refugees inside and outside the

country.

MILIBAND: Well, I wish, Christiane that there was daily wrestling with the Syrian crisis. My fear is that the crisis in Syria over 4 million

refugees, 12 million people inside the country in humanitarian need, my fear is that Syria has become like background music to modern international

politics. It's seen as a disaster but that no one can do anything about it.

AMANPOUR: But also as a former foreign secretary, what do you say should be done? You say people act as if nothing can be done. What should be

done to stop the war in Syria?

MILIBAND: I think there are really three elements to this. First is to support the neighbors of Syria, countries like Lebanon and Jordan, creaking

under the weight of refugees, Jordan, a very close ally of the United States. Those countries need support.

Secondly, inside the country, the Shia abdication of responsibility by the Assad regime for the welfare of citizens in rebel-held areas, I mean, seven

of our beneficiaries, the beneficiaries of International Rescue Committee programs were killed in Idlib just two weeks ago. These are ordinary

civilians.

The fact that there's no accountability for the conduct of the war inside the country is more than a screaming shame. It's actually a crime.

And thirdly and obviously most importantly and most elusive is to put far more effort into the political drive to find a resolution of this dispute.

At the moment, we're four years into the crisis, more than four years into the crisis. And there is an absence of political energy that I cannot

remember for a crisis of this scale, no trica (ph) of international nations supporting the U.N. representative, no contact group, even the so-called

Friends of Syria, a group has fallen into disarray.

And so I think there is a massive need to find common ground between those who want to keep a Syrian state of some kind or other and those who

recognize that the current leadership cannot deliver that.

AMANPOUR: Mr. Miliband, let's be very frank. It was your own party, the Labour Party, led by your own brother, Ed Miliband, who stepped back and

refused a parliamentary backing for some kind of action in Syria back in 2013. And that's when real crimes were committed, more than the average

crime. In other words, the use of weapons of mass destruction, chemical weapons.

Do you think it was a mistake in retrospect to stop that action and therefore to stop the Americans doing any action?

And did it make Assad just sit there and say, hey, I can do anything because the world is not going to do anything to stop me?

MILIBAND: I mean, my judgment is that the weakest point for the Assad regime was really in the summer of 2012. That's when it seemed to be

creaking. What's absolutely clear is that the stalemate at the international level between the U.S. and Russia, broadly speaking, and the

U.N. Security Council, has allowed conditions to be created inside the country of a vacuum in the middle and east of the country, that has been

exploited by ISIS and by other jihadist groups.

The tragedy is if Syria is put into the too difficult box because in fact the options are only going to get worse, each time I come on this program,

you are totally at liberty to say, but things are worse than the last time you came on.

They're even worse on the humanitarian side, despite the passage of three U.N. resolutions. And so my warning, if you like, to the politicians is

that, of course, the options are bad at the moment. But they're only going to get worse for the absence of engagement.

AMANPOUR: You skillfully dodged the actual heart of my question. But I still want to know whether you think that not doing something when it was

screamingly obvious that something had to be done in 2013, created this inertia that you're talking about right now.

And as a secondary question, now that there is air power over Syria, do you think that there should be air cover for those very people who need

humanitarian help, some kind of safe area?

MILIBAND: Let me take the two questions, Christiane.

The first is that the real issue in respect to the chemical weapons is whether the peaceful commitment to the renunciation of chemical weapons,

which the Assad regime agreed to under Russian pressure in 2013, is being followed through, because there are well-founded reports of the use of

chemical weapons since 2013, including this year, including the use of chlorine gas. So that is the issue in respect to the chemical weapons.

In respect of the humanitarian so-called "safe zone," it has to be my position as someone leading a humanitarian organization that all options

should be on the table, but the key from all of our experience around the world as a humanitarian organization is it's the details that matter when

it comes to saving the lives of civilians.

And so the question is, what kind of safe zone, over what area, enforced by whom with what kind of follow-up? And I think those kinds of detailed

discussions do need to be on the table. It is coming through in the U.S. now with some senators raising these issues.

And I think the only sensible answer for humanitarian organizations confronting the kind of implosion that exists at the moment is to say that

the detailed discussion about how civilians are to be protected is an urgent priority now.

AMANPOUR: David Miliband, always good to get your perspective. Thanks so much for joining me tonight.

MILIBAND: Great to speak to you. Thanks a lot, Christiane.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: And Miliband also told me that Britain would never be taken seriously on the world stage if it left the E.U. and also go to

amanpour.com to hear how he thinks the Labour Party must heal after his brother, Ed, led it to a crushing defeat in the U.K. election.

Now ISIS represents the extreme hardline end of Islam spectrum, which is firmly rooted in Saudi Arabian Salafism. And that is where we turn next

because this week the Supreme Court there upheld a sentence of 1,000 lashes and 10 years in prison for the blogger, Raif Badawi.

His crime? Insulting Islam by encouraging debate about political and religious issues on his website. He was arrested in 2012 and he's already

suffered 50 lashes and he had to be hospitalized. Despite an international outcry, he's about to suffer a second round.

So I asked his wife, who's been granted asylum in Canada, how much more of this brutal punishment could he take.

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AMANPOUR: Ensaf Haidar, welcome to the program. Let me ask you when you think that your husband will get this second round of lashes.

Do you know when that's going to happen?

ENSAF HAIDAR, WIFE OF DETAINED SAUDI ARABIAN ONLINE EDITOR RAIF BADAWI (through translator): At the beginning, I would like to thank you for your

time. I expect that the lashes will be next Friday because the sentence has been confirmed.

AMANPOUR: We're seeing pictures of your children.

How much do they know?

And how difficult is it for you to be there in Canada, trying to raise your children with their father in jail and under such duress?

HAIDAR (through translator): It is very difficult for me and for the children as well. And for him as well, because he is away from his

children for three years. And we were hoping that they would release him. But it seems that not (INAUDIBLE) 10-year imprisonment.

And this is only fair that my children have to know about this. It's very painful for the children that they say three years without seeing their

father.

AMANPOUR: You've obviously tried to take his case all around the world to get him free.

How is he holding up?

He's not well. We understand he has diabetes; how can he survive these lashes, more and more of them? And there are still 900 to go.

HAIDAR (through translator): And he has high blood pressure and they have called a committee of justice after the lashes and there are eight doctors

and they made their report; that they said that his health would not take any more lashes. His health is very bad.

AMANPOUR: What message do you want to send to your country at this time?

HAIDAR (through translator): Frankly, I want to ask for help from His Royal Highness, the king Mohammed bin Salman and Hamid bin Ali (ph). All

the people, all the officials responsible people there (INAUDIBLE). All his problem is that he expressed his view in a right way.

AMANPOUR: All right. Ensaf Haidar, thank you very much for joining us and we will keep watching this case and keep reporting on it.

HAIDAR (through translator): Thank you very much. And thank you very much. And I would like to thank you for having me on your program.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: And while he awaits his fate, we may hear more of these kinds of cases from Asia because the Sultan of Brunei, an international man of

wealth and mystery, continues harsh new sharia laws at home, which will naturally apply to everyone but the royal family.

After a break, the panacea to all this pain -- my interview with the Puerto Rican musician who became an international sensation, Jose Feliciano talks

me through a life filled with beautiful music -- that's next.

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AMANPOUR: Welcome back to the program.

And now a celebration of an amazing musical life. Jose Feliciano, nearly 70 years old and blind from birth, this Puerto Rican born superstar is

still touring the world to sellout crowds. The first Latino artist to successfully cross over into the American market and Feliciano has left a

mark on the music industry.

He's playing now at London's renowned Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club and he joined me with his guitar between gigs.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: Jose Feliciano, welcome to the program.

JOSE FELICIANO, INTERNATIONAL MUSIC STAR: Thank you. It's my pleasure to be here.

AMANPOUR: And what an amazing life, I mean, dozens and dozens of albums and gold and platinum and Grammy nominations.

What do you think when you think of where you started?

FELICIANO: I left Puerto Rico when I was 5 years old. But I have memories of my father working in the sugar cane fields, picking coffee and trying to

earn out a meager existence for us.

AMANPOUR: And what does it mean to you when you see all this immigration drama, not just in the United States with Hispanics, but also around the

world, with all these people, who are trying to get from A to B as your father did, as your family did, to try to get a better life?

FELICIANO: I really feel that if governments handled things a little bit better, people wouldn't migrate. You know, if there were jobs available

for people and if they could make a living.

I mean, the reason we left Puerto Rico is for that very same reason.

AMANPOUR: Play me "Pegoa," something that you wrote a long time ago.

FELICIANO: Sure.

(MUSIC PLAYING, "PEGOA")

AMANPOUR: And you have been all over the world; what does taking your music around the world mean to you?

FELICIANO: It is one of the greatest pleasures of my life, because I really feel that music is a peace bringer and that's what I feel I'm doing.

And I like to represent my country as best as I can.

AMANPOUR: Well, let me tell you, I first heard Jose Feliciano on the radio in Iran when I was growing up. So there is that element of, certainly for

me, learning about different culture through music.

Have you found that?

FELICIANO: Yes, most definitely. When I was a little boy, I was influenced by American music, people like Frankie Lyman or the rock 'n'

roll groups of the time, Elvis Presley.

AMANPOUR: Were you born blind?

FELICIANO: I was. As far as I could see, I was.

(LAUGHTER)

FELICIANO: Yes, I was.

But you know, I wasn't going to let being blind make me feel like, oh, you know, what am I going to do?

No. I immediately started to learn things that made me independent. I went to the Lighthouse for the Blind in New York City. And I learned a lot

from them.

My mother was always worried about me because I would try and travel around New York City by myself at the age of 16 with a cane. And I wasn't just

going to sit around. I did things.

AMANPOUR: So you know, there's you; there's Stevie Wonder. There was Ray Charles.

Is there some added sensibility that perhaps losing one sense gives to you as a musician?

FELICIANO: I can't say that for sure, not having had vision per se, although I do have vision in a sense. But no, Ray Charles was definitely a

hero of mine. You know, when I hear things like.

(MUSIC PLAYING, "WHAT'D I SAY")

FELICIANO: So.

AMANPOUR: It's great.

FELICIANO: So you know, that's -- I enjoyed that. And I thought, you know, if Ray Charles can make it, I'm pretty sure that, if I work hard,

that maybe I can make it.

And here we are.

AMANPOUR: And what would you tell young Latinos today? I mean, you are the first of the really successful ones.

FELICIANO: There's a lot of sacrifices you have to make. I also say in part, stay in school, although I didn't graduate from high school. But I

had reasons. I had to help with my family. I had to find some jobs to make a little bit of money to help out.

But I suggest to anybody, whether you're Latino, whether you're African or whatever you are, if you have a talent, nurture it. Be stubborn. And even

if people tell you, aah, you're not going to make it or whatever, don't listen to them. Listen to yourself.

AMANPOUR: And on that fabulous word of wisdom, serenade us out of this little segment with "Rain."

(MUSIC PLAYING, "RAIN")

AMANPOUR: Memories.

Jose Feliciano, I'm going to take your hand.

FELICIANO: All right.

AMANPOUR: And thank you very much.

FELICIANO: Thank you so much.

AMANPOUR: A great pleasure.

FELICIANO: This has been a pleasure, a dream come true.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: And after a break, from inspiration to redemption, more music and imagine a world where it really is a sanctuary, especially to

Londoners, thanks to one small church. We'll pay a visit when we come back.

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