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U.N. Pulls All Monitors from Aleppo; Refugees Leave Syria; Australia's Medal Slump; Madonna Comes out in Support of Imprisoned Russian Punk Band; Guatemala Celebrates First Medal; Chinese Women Wear Beach Masks

Aired August 07, 2012 - 12:00   ET

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

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you for watching. I'm Kate Bolduan. I'll see you again tomorrow. "Newsroom International" with Michael Holmes starts right now.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome to "Newsroom International." I'm Michael Holmes in again for Suzanne Malveaux. We're taking you around the world in 60 minutes. Here's what's going on out there. We're going to go to Manila first. At least 53 people have been killed in torrential rains and monsoonal rains. Now take a look at rescue teams evacuating the Philippines' capital or large parts of it. Almost 19,000 people displaced in that city of 12 million. And forecasters say the storms won't let up for at least another 24 hours. Many there, of course, living in wholly constructed homes, crowded neighborhoods. Death tolls are expected to rise by the time all of this is over.

A gunman who killed six people at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin was a frustrated neo-Nazi, that's how the Southern Poverty Law Center describes Wade Michael Page. The organization tracks hate groups and says Page was associated with the scariest, most violent skinhead group out there. Page was shot and killed by police after he opened fire on the temple. Authorities are investigating his ties to white supremacist groups.

We're seeing for the very first time video from Mars of the Curiosity rover landing. There it is. It was shot onboard moments before touchdown. OK, it's a little grainy perhaps, but not bad for 352 million miles from Earth. Stick around. NASA promises more pictures in about an hour from now. Chad Myers is going to join me as well in 30 minutes to tell us what's happening in these seven minutes of terror, as they're called.

Unrelenting attacks in Aleppo, forcing the U.N. to pull all of its monitors out of that Syrian city today. They join the steady stream of civilians who are trying to escape the fighting between rebels and government forces. Our Ben Wedeman is in Aleppo and spoke to us just moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What we've seen today is a series of air raids by the Syrian air force on areas around the old citadel, the old city and whatnot. We saw helicopters that are strafing rebel-held areas, and the same steady bombardment that we've seen since yesterday. Overnight, we got very little sleep because of the artillery bombardment that really went on all night, became quite intense at about 3:00 in the morning.

Now this afternoon after one of those Syrian air force air raids, we were outside a field hospital where we saw at least half a dozen wounded being driven out and as well as several dead bodies in the back of pickup trucks. The field hospital was really completely overwhelmed. We've spoken to the doctor before the wounded arrived. He said that they're short not only of medicine and medical supplies, but he's also short of staff because many of the nurses and doctors he was working with are unable to get to the parts of Aleppo that are held by the rebels. In fact, he came out of surgery with his rubber gloves full of blood and he was pleading with people on his cell phone to come and help him. Because he simply could not deal with the level of injured who were arriving at the hospital.

And now we've seen parts of town where there was severe destruction. These are heavily populated areas under normal times. The areas that are near the front line have obviously been sort of -- people have left. But there are still hundreds of thousands, if not millions of civilians living in the rebel-held areas. This morning we're at about 6:30 in the morning, we're outside a bakery where 100 people were lined out -- lined up to get what little bread is available. One man told me that his entire family sleeps in the stairwell of their apartment because of fear of the bombing. He said that they have very little in the way of supplies. One other woman told me that they've run out of cooking gas, and that she's cooking on firewood she's picked up from public parks.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And we just got video in actually from another city in Syria. Have a listen.

(VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: The automatic weapons going off there. Rebels apparently taking on government forces in Idlib, this is in the north of the country. A Syrian opposition group says 115 people have been killed nationwide so far today. More gunshots.

People trying to escape the violence have been crossing into neighboring countries by the tens of thousands. They have for months now. Our Barbara Starr is going to take us to a refugee camp that recently opened in Jordan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: For the Syrian refugees, the choking winds, the swirling sands, the heat -- now everyday life at the Al-Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, a short drive from the Syrian border.

Long walks across the camp for food and supplies. The camp has been open just one week. A water pipe provides a cooler moment, even as the girls do the family wash in a bucket. 13-year-old Amani has been here just a few days. Escaping from her home in Dara with eight other family members. We learn her heart is broken when she tells us -- "My mother was murdered. She was outside. We were inside and there was a bomb." She was hit by shrapnel. Amani simply says -- "She was everything to me. She brought us up and died. She would take us wherever we wanted to go. I was the one most attached to her. What else can I tell you?" Amani says there was shelling every night in Dara before they left. The family escaped with the Free Syrian Army, which took them to the Jordanian border.

The Syrian regime claims its fighting terrorists, but 22-year-old Rasha (ph) tells us more about what happened to the family. She says "My cousin was out at a demonstration after Friday prayers and was killed by a sniper. Then a female cousin killed because her brother defected." The Jordanian government says more than 140,000 Syrian refugees are already in Jordan. The United Nations is prepared to house another 100,000 here. It's trying to improve grim conditions.

ANDREW HARPER, U.N. REFUGEE AGENCY: It's a terrible situation, but the question is, would you want to put your family in a place like this? No, but we're in emergency operation. People are being bombed. They're running away. They're losing family members in Syria.

STARR: For some children, there are moments just to be a kid again and play with new friends. For the many like Amani, childhood seems gone. Dying with her mother. "We cried a lot. We cried a lot." They buried her and what happened, happened. "God bless her soul."

Although the agencies running this camp say they are doing everything they can as fast as they can to improve conditions here, things are very grim right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STARR: You know, Michael, we could not have brought you that story without CNN's own photojournalist Mary Rogers and our producer Jamana Karatich (ph). Both of them veterans of many conflicts. So, I know they are colleagues of yours, close colleagues. The refugees tell us all the same story. The camp is in desperate situation. And some of them say it is so desperate that they are beginning to wonder if they should have gone back to Syria, if they ever should have left. But the Jordanian government, the U.N., is really trying to make very urgent improvements to the situation there, Michael.

HOLMES: Yeah. And, yeah, kudos to Mary and Jamana and yourself, Barbara, of course, for that report. You know you've been there for the last couple of days. I'm curious whether you've heard anything about the Syrian prime minister, or former Syrian prime minister, Riad Hijab, who, of course, deflected yesterday. There were conflicting reports about whether he was in Jordan, whether he wasn't, whether he was going to Qatar. Have you heard anything?

STARR: Right. You know, Michael, that's why topic number one around -- among government and security circles tonight, still he has not officially turned up here. But, in fact, Jamana has been talking to sources throughout the day, and there are still opposition sources who are saying that he has defected, that he is in a neighboring Arab country. They will not say, they say for security reasons, where exactly he is. But the situation is expected to resolve itself in the next few days and he is expected to emerge, shall we say, somewhere in this region. These defections, as you know, are very dangerous, very critical circumstances until everybody gets out, all the family members get out and they are sure that everyone is safe. So it is, perhaps, now sadly somewhat routine that everyone is waiting to see him emerge, and that will be the signal that everyone who is trying to get out on this round, at least, is safely out of Syria. Michael?

HOLMES: Yeah, of course. A couple of Arab countries that are neighboring, so it does boil it down a bit. Barbara, thanks again for your reporting. Keep an eye after the PM. Appreciate it.

All right, well, here's more of what we're working on this hour for "Newsroom International." We're more than halfway through the Olympic Games. So where has Australia been? The country has only two, yes, two gold medals so far. We're going to look into that if I can keep it together.

Plus, beach basics usually include a swimsuit, sunscreen, a towel. But a ski mask? In some parts of China that's what you'll see. We'll explain when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Yes, day 11 of Olympic competition. The stage set for another big gymnastics showdown, actually. Jordyn Wieber was Team USA's main hope for Olympic gold. But so far she's been performing in the shadow of her teammates. And spoiler alert for you. Put your TV on mute if you don't want to hear. But I'm going to tell you. Jordyn's teammate Aly Raisman just won gold for her floor exercise. Maybe you hit mute, but you can lip read. That just happened moments ago, actually, for the U.S. women's gymnastics team. So, some good news there for the U.S.

Now, in track and field, American Lolo Jones is looking for redemption after her stumble in Beijing in the women's 100 meters hurdles. She's going to compete in the semifinals. And in the beach volleyball semifinals, the money is on the USA's Misty-May Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings to take their third straight gold medal. They've been playing brilliantly.

Australia does have a hope in that 100 meters hurdles, by the way. It may have a population smaller than Texas, but my home country sure does know how to breed Olympic champions, especially in the pool. We did anyway. In Sydney and Athens, Australia was fourth in gold medals. In Beijing, four years ago, finished with a haul of 46 medals. But just days out from the end of competition in London, the Aussies don't have even half of that. Yes, I'm choking up here. For a country surrounded by sea, Australia has, well, in the last few decades, anyway, put on a pretty good show, especially in the water. I interviewed five-time gold medalist swimmer Ian Thorpe, fondly known back home as the Thorpedo, and asked him why Australia is floundering this time around. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IAN THORPE, AUSTRALIAN SWIMMER, FIVE-TIME GOLD MEDALIST: Maybe because we haven't had quite as much funding in sport as we would have liked. We haven't had the results that Australians have become accustomed to, and, so, too, have the world.

HOLMES: Do you think Australians have had too high an expectation? You've got a country of 22 million people, and people just expected the Aussies and the Americans to go at it in the pool. And that's not the case anymore.

THORPE: Look, I think the expectations have been too high, and I think we've been lucky for a while as well. We've been happy to perform and perform well, but I think we've become too used to being too successful, and we need to get back to basics and appreciate individual -- each individual result for what it is, and really appreciate when we do win a gold medal.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Yes, after not qualifying for the Olympics this time around, Thorpe is hoping to get to the world championships, however.

Now, on the medal tally board, Australia sits below Kazakhstan, North Korea, and perhaps in a more painful blow, there is the prospect of being trumped by Australia's smaller neighbor and big sports rival, New Zealand.

Becky Anderson joins me now from London. I just got back from Australia, where I vacationed, Becky. And you know, people down there are really feeling this. They're not crying in the streets, but pretty close to it. Who are we, if not Olympic champions in the pool? They're talking about having independent investigations now. What's going on? What are they saying there? Is it big talk in London?

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You are making it so uncomfortably easy--

(LAUGHTER)

ANDERSON: -- that even kind of having a pop at the Australians has become a national sport. It certainly was in the first week. And then we've just begun to feel uneasy about it.

I mean, you know, this is all wrong. Don't forget, in the last three Olympics, you had by day ten at least 11 golds. You got two golds, 12 silver and 8 bronze as it stands at present. And much worse for you than that sort of result -- and you're right to point out that New Zealand have got eight medals and three golds at this point, with a population of 4.4 million, so you're being trumped by them as well.

What must be much more uncomfortable for you guys is that team GB's performance is possibly the best in 100 years. Listen, we've been having a pop at the Australians here, and the Australian cameramen -- we are surrounded by them at CNN, and aren't they great at their job, much better than your athletes are performing at the moment. I don't know. Personally, I've done some research, because I wondered what had gone wrong. So ask me what you think, what I think at least, has gone wrong.

HOLMES: I don't know if I want to, Becky. I mean, it is painful. And it is easy for you to have a bit of a shot. It's your turn. All right. What's gone wrong?

ANDERSON: Well, this is the deal. One of your athletes has made a very good point. Mitchell Watt, who has walked away with a silver medal for his efforts in the long jump, has said, listen, all Australia has ever cared about, and rightly so, because you've done so well in the past, are gold medals. 12 silver and 8 bronze is a really good haul at the moment. What the athletes are saying is that there is actually quite a good feeling in (inaudible). They're not blaming themselves for a terrible haul. And if you look at the actual medals themselves, you're doing all right. But there is this real emphasis. Because you've done so well over the past few decades, particularly, as you say, in sailing, swimming, and, for example, rowing, that we've got past that phase here and you haven't got that significant haul.

So it's tough, but the team, at least as far as I can tell, and from speaking to some of the athletes here, aren't as disappointed as the media and perhaps the general public back home.

HOLMES: Yes, no, you make a good point, though. You know, Australia has finished in the top ten of the medal nations since 1988. It's the first time since 1976 they haven't won an individual gold in the pool, and you're right, the media is having a bit of a go. We should be counting silvers as golds and we'd be doing all right. The hurdler, Sally Pearson, whose big hope for a gold medal actually came out saying that Australians expect nothing less than gold, and that it's a shame, what you're saying there. But people are saying that they're not given enough credit. And Thorpey said this, too, enough credit for getting a medal.

Now, rugby is going to be an Olympic sport in 2016. That will be the time to shine.

(LAUGHTER)

ANDERSON: Will it? How are you doing at the moment? I can't remember.

HOLMES: Doing good. Doing good. Doing good.

ANDERSON: Let me make this point. I mean, you make a very good point. And also cricket could be -- cricket could one day be an Olympic sport as well. You'll do right in the hemming (ph) gulf (ph). But you can't be waiting until these new sports come in. I think this is the crux of the matter. I know that Thorpey brought this up with you. At best, if you look at the funding over the past sort of 10, 15 years into Olympic events, it's at best static, and at worst pretty bad. I was looking at the numbers for you, looking at something like $505 million between I think 2001 and 2006. And as you increase the number of events that you competed in -- this is important for all countries around the world -- that there was a declining amount of money that was actually invested by Australia in these Olympic sports. And you see a decline in the medal haul accordingly.

And when you look at the Kazakhstans, the Belaruses, these new countries, who really are -- and we ought to be celebrating these countries, who are doing so well. I can wager -- I haven't done the figures, but I can wager you there's an awful lot of money going into developing these sports. Twenty years ago, you had centers of excellence and a really good budget. You haven't got that in Australia at the moment. So you should have it. People should start talking about that.

HOLMES: That's a very good point. And one of the Aussie Olympic Committee guys was saying, that, you know, you can get lots of silver and gold, but the difference between silver -- sorry, silver and bronze -- but the difference between silver and gold is money.

And Becky, I thank you. You're being rather gentle. And I think if it would have been (inaudible), it could have been a lot uglier--

(CROSSTALK)

ANDERSON: Ring me later.

(LAUGHTER)

HOLMES: Yes. Drop me a note and give me hate. Good to see you, Becky. Thanks so much. Becky Anderson doing a great job there in London.

All right. Madonna always speaks her mind. You knew that. But now she's supporting members of a Russian band, a punk band who were put behind bars for their anti-government demonstration. We'll tell you what she said when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, they wanted to make their voices heard when they protested against the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

(MUSIC)

HOLMES: Extraordinary and unexpected scene, a demonstration in a Russian cathedral that landed members of the punk rock band Pussy Riot in jail and on trial. The prosecutor demanding they get a three year prison term for that performance. But the group is receiving some outspoken support for their cause. For more, let's go to Nischelle Turner in Los Angeles. Madonna speaking out in Russia. What did she have to say?

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they were hoping that she'd speak out in support of them, and she has. She has been pretty outspoken about this. She was in Moscow on tour, and she was also there to launch her own fitness club. And here's what she had to say. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MADONNA, MUSICIAN: I'm against censorship, and, I am, you know, my whole career, I've always promoted freedom of expression, freedom of speech, so obviously I think what's happening to them is unfair, and I hope that -- I hope that they do not have to serve seven years in jail. That would be a tragedy.

Through history, historically speaking, art always reflects what's going on socially, so for me it's hard to separate the idea of being an artist and being political.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TURNER: And we have definitely seen her, you know, speak out in support of a lot of these things and do a lot of things in her concert that have been a bit controversial. What she says are in the name of art.

HOLMES: Yes, and she's not the first musician to speak out about the band, either. They are getting some support in various areas. Who else has come out?

TURNER: Yes, there's actually been a lot of big names that have been backing this group. Sting, Peter Gabriel, members of Franz Ferdinand, the Beastie Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers. All of them have been speaking out in support. Anthony Kiedis from the Peppers actually wore a Pussy Riot t-shirt during a recent Moscow concert. And on a statement on his website, Sting makes the point that he believes dissent is an important part of a democracy. Here's what he had to say in part. He said, "A sense of proportion and a sense of humor is a sign of strength, not a sign of weakness. Surely the Russian authorities will completely drop these spurious charges and allow these women, these artists, to get back to their lives and to their children."

So, yes, there are a lot of people that are stepping up and saying, you know what, art is expression, expression is art. You may not always agree with it, but there is a bit of a method to the madness. That's their view.

HOLMES: President Putin known for having a little bit of a thin skin. So it will be interesting to see what happens. Good to see you. Thanks so much, Nischelle Turner there, with the latest on that--

TURNER: Absolutely, sure.

HOLMES: -- ongoing thing. We'll let you know how the trial turns out.

It cost more than $2 billion and traveled more than 350 million miles. That's a heck of a commute. Now NASA's Curiosity spacecraft sending video from Mars. Cool stuff.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HOLMES: Welcome back, everyone, to NEWSROOM INTERNATIONAL. We're breaking format a little here, leaving Earth for news from our neighbor, Mars.

Check this out. You're looking at the very first video of the Curiosity rover landing. That was shot onboard moments before touching down during Monday's so-called seven minutes of terror.

Chad Myers joins me now to discuss this.

Eight months of work, I think it was -- how many billion dollars, couple of billion dollars?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: $2.6 billion U.S.

HOLMES: $2.6 billion U.S.

MYERS: Yes.

HOLMES: So what are we seeing and is it worth it?

MYERS: Well, if we find dinosaur bones on Mars, it's worth it. OK? There's no question about that. What we're looking for in this whole process is could life have ever been sustained in the 4 billion years Mars has been up there?

This thing landed perfectly. We just talked about this, kind of chuckled a little bit about it. That's the ellipse and Gale Crater they were shooting for. That's the center point. It landed right there.

HOLMES: Pretty good (inaudible).

MYERS: They would have gotten a gold medal in Mars shooting.

HOLMES: Absolutely.

MYERS: No question they got the gold here. So they put it right where they wanted it; this is a very deep spot on Mars. The reason why they wanted to go here, think about a deep spot in the U.S. or on the Earth.

(CROSSTALK)

HOLMES: That's where you'd want to go.

MYERS: That's where the water would drain. So this could have been an old lake. Had it been an old lake, there may have been some kind of, I don't know, Loch Ness Monster could have been swimming in there. Who knows? We'll find it.

HOLMES: Actually, I heard the other day there is Google Mars. I don't know whether just go around like they do here and see if somebody is standing up on their house.

We also have got some photographs. Tell us about those. They're always cool.

MYERS: The grainy photographs are important because that's how we found out which way this thing has landed. You know, obviously, it's 365 degrees, you don't know which way the thing could have landed, did it go to the east or the west, north or south?

So some of these latest pictures showing the Martian, a little bit of dust in the air. That's not haze, that's not humidity. That's certainly dust in the air. But that dust may have been caused a little bit by the landing of the rover. Things don't move around very much.

It's an elliptical orbit. This thing could be about between 36 and 250 million miles away from Earth. And that's a long ways, 155 million miles away right now. It takes 14 minutes for a picture to go from Mars back to the Earth and it takes 14 minutes for us to send a signal for it to do something.

HOLMES: That's not bad, really.

MYERS: Not bad, except you want it to turn, you don't want it to hit a rock or fall off a cliff. You have to watch where it goes --

HOLMES: Plan ahead.

MYERS: -- 14 minutes, exactly right.

HOLMES: Yes, take a left in 14 minutes. You know, I think this stuff's terribly cool. When are we going to expect better pictures, because there are better ones coming, aren't there?

MYERS: There are better pictures coming. But it won't be for a few days. And in fact, some of these things won't be working for 14 to 21 days. It's going to take a while. They don't want to turn everything on all at once. They don't want to blow a fuse.

HOLMES: Right.

MYERS: You can't go up there to fix it.

(CROSSTALK)

HOLMES: No mechanic shops there.

MYERS: Right.

HOLMES: Chad, good to see you, my friend.

(CROSSTALK)

HOLMES: I love that stuff. All right. Stick around.

At 1:00 pm Eastern, we're going to take you to California for a live NASA news conference. We are expecting to see even more pictures from the Red Planet. Terrific stuff. Now, a British bank blasted over allegations of helping Iran hide billions of dollars. It's a big bank, too. Standard Chartered could be kicked out of Wall Street. We'll have a report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Welcome back, everyone. U.K.-based bank Standard Chartered could be kicked one of Wall Street, being accused of scheming with Iran. And leaving the U.S. market open to terrorists, drug traffickers and corrupt regimes. Yes, think about.

New York's top financial regulator says the bank secretly made thousands of illegal transactions in Iran to the tune of $250 billion, earning the bank millions in fees. Standard Chartered has released a statement, saying it strongly rejects and contests the claims.

New York's top banking regulator may take away its banking license in the United States, effectively cutting off the bank's access to the U.S. market.

Let's bring in Richard Quest now in London for more.

Richard, Standard Chartered is accused of hiding 60,000 secret transactions over 10 years. Without wanting to sound like a broken record or repetitive, given recent months, how could that happen without anyone noticing?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN HOST: Well, that's the problem of course. The regulator says that what Standard Chartered did was literally go through the transaction details and strip out anything that would identify the client as being Iranian and a central bank or a bank, because then the U.S. rules, there are sanctions, of course, for anybody. And you cannot do business with an Iranian entity.

Michael, if there were awards and convictions and points for flouted language, well, Standard Chartered would be out of business.

According to the document, Standard Chartered schemed with the government, was -- has obvious contempt for U.S. regulations. It's operated as a rogue organization institution. The entire concept was a sham, another staggering cover-up. On and on it spews, all 27 pages of it.

But of course, this is only one side of the argument, and Standard Chartered has put out a statement in which it says quite clearly that having -- it has cooperated and it denies the -- it denies what has taken place, saying that, "The Group strongly rejects the position of the portrayal of facts as set out in the ordered issued by the regulator (sic)."

So, that's where you have it, Michael. This is going to turn into one of those messy disputes about whether Standard Chartered's understanding of the situation was different from the regulator's.

HOLMES: Yes, yes, I know, and also some interesting emails coming up, too, speaking of florid language, a little bit of use of the vernacular from time to time when it came to the American position on this. Yes, shares closed down 24 percent in Hong Kong -- in London; almost 15 percent, I think it was in Hong Kong. How damaging is that for the bank?

QUEST: Very damaging, because clearly the problem is if Standard Chartered were to lose its banking license, was not able to be -- to clear U.S. dollar transactions through the U.S. federal system, that would effectively be, you know, the end of Standard Chartered as we know it. There's no way the bank could survive as such. It would be very, very difficult.

So from that point of view, Standard Chartered is walking an exceptionally difficult tightrope at the moment in that regard. Having said that, nobody really expects the imminent demise of Standard Chartered. There are 1,001 fines, regulations, penalties that could be put in place.

More worrying for the British is that it's the third -- it is the third scandal in -- this year. We've had Barclays, we've had HSBC and now we've got Standard Chartered. Put it all together and you end up with a -- something smelly, a view of the world.

HOLMES: Yes, in the system.

Richard, as always, thanks. And extra points for the use of the word florid. Underused in my view. Terrific to see you, my friend.

All right. Guatemala has been competing for more than 50 years in the Olympics and the country hasn't won a medal. Well, not until now. That's not even the extraordinary part. It's that athlete's journey there on your screen to make it to the Olympics that's even more amazing. He had to borrow tennis shoes just to train.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

HOLMES: Well, his story begins when he was running for his life. Now he's running for gold. We're talking about Guor Marial, who was 8 years old when he escaped from a slave camp, in essence, in Sudan, a victim of decades of civil war between the north and his native south, which, of course, just a year ago, became the world's newest nation, South Sudan.

Well, Guor has lived for years now in the United States, a refugee who qualified for the Olympics in the first marathon he ran.

Problem is, South Sudan is so new, it doesn't have an Olympic committee. So he couldn't run for the country he loved. And no one could do anything about it -- until, after some to-ing and fro-ing, the International Olympic Committee allowed him to run under its flag in London. Earlier I asked him if it's a little lonely competing over there with no team, no country. GUOR MARIAL, SOUTH SUDANESE OLYMPIC RUNNER: I don't feel lonely that I don't have a country, because I know my country is with me. And when I line up in the line in the marathon, I know my people are going to be with me and I will know that I have a country.

But so it is something, I'm not feeling lonely at all. I'm meeting new people every single day --

GUOR MARIAL, SOUTH SUDANESE MARATHONER: And when I line up in the line in the marathon, I know my people are going to be with me and I will know that I have a country. So it is something, I'm not feeling lonely at all. I'm meeting new people every single day. Every time I go out, I see different faces, which is something very unique and just phenomenal. And I'm really enjoying that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: It's a wonderful story. He was up for the chance to run for Sudan but said no. He lost 28 family members, eight of his 10 siblings, in that civil war. So no surprise he declined that opportunity.

Guatemala has been sending athletes to the Olympics since 1952. Helsinki. But in more than 50 years of competition, half a century, they've failed to bring home one single medal. That is until now. Yes, you knew this was going to be a happy ending. Guatemala's Erick Barrondo has strolled to gold in the 20 kilometer walk. And it all started in a poor village when Barrondo borrowed a pair of his mother's shoes. Rafael Romo has his incredible story from poverty to Guatemalan hero.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He won silver, but it might as well be gold. Guatemala's Eric Barrondo's medal is the first one ever for his country. After winning the 20 kilometer race walk Saturday, he became emotional. "Can you believe it? God is great," Barrondo said after his dream of many years came true. The 21- year-old Mayan athlete is from an impoverished region in rural Guatemala, where people celebrated his victory with a parade. He says that as teenager, he trained with his mother's tennis shoes because the family couldn't afford a pair for him.

LETICIA BARRONDO, ATHLETE'S MOTHER (through translator): He went through a lot. He was hungry at times. He didn't have the support of people who should have supported him. Some treated him badly, but there were others who believe in him, and I thank God for them.

ROMO: Before leaving Guatemala for London, he bought his family their first TV ever with earnings from last year's victories in the Pan American games. The family, he says, was glued to the set when he crossed the finish line as he learned when he called them after his victory.

BERNARDO BARRONDO, ATHLETE'S FATHER (through translator): Even when he's far away, my son doesn't abandon us. He's always sending us money so that we have enough food on the table. And that gives us so much joy.

ERICK BARRONDO, SILVER MEDALIST (through translator): My family never had a lot of money. My coach always motivated me by telling me you may be able to change that if you work hard. So that became our main goal.

ROMO: Barrondo says Cuban coach Rigoberto Medina was the key to his success.

RIGOBERTO MEDINA, BARRONDO'S COACH (through translator): Erick will be an historic athlete. He has humility. We have a nice chemistry. Erick is like the son I never had. He's my friend. He's everything.

ROMO: After his impressive showings in Switzerland, Spain and South Korea, the Guatemalan government built a house for Erick, his parents and four siblings. The cinderblock home was a significant improvement over the wooden shack they used to live in.

E. BARRONDO: Doors don't open up by themselves. You have to open doors with your own action and performance.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And Rafael Romo is here to talk about this story with me. In fact we were just chatting there. Nearly got caught up. This was a real rags to riches story from the beginning. Just how -- explain to people how poor they were.

ROMO: He was hungry many times when he was a child. He didn't have sometimes -- when he was training, this is not too long ago, he didn't have one dollar to pay for his daily meals, very cheap food in Guatemala. And as you heard in the story, he also had to borrow his mother's shoes to train. So, very, very poor. It's just incredible what he did.

HOLMES: Yes, I can't imagine what the reaction's been in Guatemala.

ROMO: Oh, there's been parties since he won on Saturday. A parade. People wearing the colors of the Guatemalan flag. And also the Olympic rings, you see them all over the place.

HOLMES: Yes, we're starting to see more and more developing countries make their way on to the Olympic tally board. Is there a drive in Central America, South America, to produce more talent? A focus on it?

ROMO: Well, you've seen coaches like Rigoberto Medina who's from Cuba, whose theory is there are -- there's a lot of talent in these countries and they're like diamonds in the rough.

HOLMES: Yes, raw.

ROMO: They just need somebody who will come to these countries and polish them. And what you saw in this case is that a real diamond emerged and he made it to silver.

Now, the hope of Guatemala is that next Saturday he's going to compete in the 50 kilometer race. And he has a real possibility of going all the way. So that's what everybody in Guatemala is hoping and expecting.

HOLMES: Oh, wow, that would be a happy ending, too.

Good to see you, Rafael. Thanks.

ROMO: You too.

HOLMES: Rafael Romo there.

All right. There was celebration today, by the way, in the Caribbean nation of Grenada. Kirani James, a 19-year-old nicknamed "the jaguar," sprinted to gold in the men's 400 meters. And, boy, did he win, too, by a fair, fair way. These are the country's first Olympic medal also. And to mark the feat, the government has declared this afternoon a national holiday. You had people dancing, cheering, waving the flags as news of Olympic history spread across that tiny island. And he won that pretty easily too.

All right. Beach essential checklist. You've got your swimsuit. You've got your sunscreen. You've got a good book, and a ski mask. Really? We'll talk about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. So you're headed out for a day at the beach in China. You've got your towel, the sandals. But when you get there, this is what's coming out of the water. Have a look at this. Some women are wearing masks at the beach. Why? Well, to keep their skin as pale as possible. In parts of Asia, pale skin is actually highly prized and some women and men will go to great lengths to get it. Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen digs into this for us.

You know, Elizabeth, you know, what's wrong with hats and sunscreen and --

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Maybe it's a fashion statement, do you think?

HOLMES: Yes.

COHEN: No, I don't think so.

HOLMES: No, I don't think so.

COHEN: No, I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I don't think that, no. You knows, hats and sunscreen are great, but it is true that maybe a teeny, tiny amount of sun is going to get through them. So maybe these women are on to something. But, you know what, hats and sunscreen -- we've been talking to dermatologists -- really, you know, pretty much completely do the trick.

HOLMES: Right. And one thing that this sort of raises, though, as we said, it's about this thing of being pale in some parts of the world. I know in India as well it's a big deal with creams and lotions being sold to lighten the skin. Are they dangerous?

COHEN: You know what, they're not dangerous if they're the right kind.

HOLMES: Right.

COHEN: There's an ingredient called hydroquinone which doctors often prescribe and you can buy over the counter in a more diluted dosage. And that's OK. There are some products that are sold, though, that are a little bit sketchy. It's not really clear what's in them. Certainly in this country it's not completely regulated, so sometimes things end up in there that maybe shouldn't end up in there, though they're not as regulated, some say, as they should be. So you do want to be careful. You want to talk to a doctor. If you're buying something over the counter, look for hydroquinone.

HOLMES: It's good to see people at least taking care in the sun. As we were chatting during the break there.

COHEN: It's true. I mean you might look at them and think, wow, how crazy is that that they want to be pale so much that they're wearing these masks. But I remember when I was a kid, girls would put baby oil on in order to be tan.

HOLMES: Yes, absolutely.

COHEN: Which is really even crazier.

HOLMES: Yes.

COHEN: Because that's actually bad for you. What they're doing doesn't look very comfortable and it's certainly odd looking, but they're not actually hurting themselves.

HOLMES: Well, you know, as we were saying, you and I are a similar vintage. I grew up in Australia surfing every afternoon, no sunscreen. You just never did, you know.

COHEN: That's right. Terrible.

HOLMES: And if you weren't peeling every day in summer, you weren't having a good summer. And now, of course, you know, it's great that, you know, my kids it's drilled into them, you know, sunscreen, sunscreen all the time.

COHEN: Right. Absolutely. Sunscreen, sunscreen is so important. Even for people -- I mean you look like the complexion of someone who definitely needs sunscreen.

HOLMES: Right.

COHEN: But even people who are darker still need sunscreen.

HOLMES: Right. Yes, exactly. And if you are fair skinned, go to the dermatologist every now and then and get it checked.

COHEN: Get checked. Absolutely.

HOLMES: Yes. Yes. Good to see you, Elizabeth.

COHEN: Good to see you.

HOLMES: Elizabeth Cohen there.

All right, role reversal for Rover. People cramming into a dog cage while the dog stands outside. It is for a good cause. They are protesting the eating of dog meat. We'll tell you where it's happening when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, several stories caught our attention today, and photos as well. Take a look.

In South Korea, animal rights activists cramming into cages to protest the eating of dog meat. Some South Koreans do eat dog meat to keep them cool during the hot summer months for some reason. It's a tradition that goes back thousands of years.

And these horses at a national park in New Zealand eating fresh hay, not grass off the ground. Why? The ground is covered in volcanic ash. Today Mt. Tongariro erupted for the first time in a century.

And (INAUDIBLE) in Afghanistan. A quiet moment between a U.S. soldier and an Afghan boy during a village patrol. Winning hearts and minds.

The next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.