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"Bloodbath" Shocks South Africa; Russian Punk Rockers Get Two- Year Sentences; Zimbabwean Students Come To U.S.; American Wants To Go To Syria

Aired August 17, 2012 - 12:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to NEWSROOM INTERNATIONAL. I'm Suzanne Malveaux. We are taking you around the world in 60 minutes.

Here's what's happening now:

"A cancerous tumor" is how Iran is talking about Israel today as thousands pour into the streets today in support of the Palestinians.

And they call themselves -- these are conflict minerals. You may have likely used them every time you actually turn on your cell phone. We're going to show you where they come from.

But, first, a miner strike turns into a bloodbath. Now, the world is reacting.

I want to get straight to that. Police and miners are on strike. They are facing off again today. This is in South Africa. This is one day after the deadliest police attacks there since apartheid.

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MALVEAUX: So this is the scene we are talking about here. Police opening fire with automatic weapons on a crowd of striking mine workers. This happened near Johannesburg and police say they were defending themselves when an armed mob rushed them.

Well, today, it is tense, but the violence has subsided.

Nkepile Mabuse, she is live in Johannesburg.

First of all, tell us, do we have any more information about how this played out, and who is actually responsible for starting this in the first place?

NKEPILE MABUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Suzanne, for the very first time the national police commissioner actually addressed the nation today about what unfolded just behind me here in Rustenburg, those horrific scenes, those pictures that are being beamed around the world that left 34 people dead here. As we speak, there were teams here, police forensic teams that were still combing the area when we arrived here.

Who shot who first? That is the question that we have not been able to get answers to.

The national police commissioner really reiterating that the police used live ammunition as a very last resort, saying that the police tried to negotiate with the striking miners who have of course not been going to work since last week Friday demanding more pay. The police used water cannons, the police used tear gas, and she said that when all of the methods failed and the police, whose lives were in danger, she says, because the miners were carrying machetes and they were carrying traditional weapons and some of them the police say were carrying guns, she said that the police had to use ammunition as a last resort.

Let's take a listen to what she said when she was addressing the nation earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIAH PHIYEGA, SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL POLICE COMM.: They were met by members of the police who tried to advance with water cannons, tear gas, as well as hand grenades. Ladies and gentlemen, that was unsuccessful. And the police members had to employ force to protect themselves from the charging group.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MABUSE: Suzanne, we were speaking to some of the miners that took part in the violent protests and they insist that they were provoked by the police. There's still a lot of anger in the community, at lot of tension, and sure massive police presence -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Nkepile, explain to us, if you will, because when you think about this and talk about the days of apartheid when this was very much a racial situation when you saw this violence, this is really was based on a labor dispute here.

How are people explaining this that this is brother against brother? That this is happening here within the police department, that you have black African against black African?

MABUSE: You know, this is a violence that has shocked the nation. As you said, South Africa has seen the fair share of violence. This is a country where a majority of the population were violently oppressed for many, many years, and the resistance to that oppression was very often violent. Until today, Suzanne, you will find the violence pervasive.

You remember the pictures you saw in 2008 when we saw the xenophobic violence that spread across the country, you will still see violence when people don't tolerate a certain behaviors, and we have seen the violence against the lesbians and we've seen violence against gays. So there is a violent culture in the country.

The South Africans are soul searching. They are asking themselves, when do we move from reacting violently to resorting to dialogue and freely speaking? We are a free, democratic South Africa where there are avenues for people --

MALVEAUX: Right.

MABUSE: -- to express their dissatisfaction. And why so often do we see this dissatisfaction expressed through violent action, Suzanne? Those are the questions that people are asking.

MALVEAUX: Absolutely. Thank you so much, Nkepile, for giving us that context. We really appreciate it. Very important story.

A Russian court now sentencing three members of the punk rock band Pussy Riot to two years in prison now. A judge found them guilty of hooliganism in their protest performance in a Cathedral against Russian President Vladimir Putin was found to be offensive, disrespectful to the Orthodox Church.

But as Phil Black shows us the band has worldwide support.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At the start of the year, Pussy Riot was a small but colorful and noisy group on the fringe of Russia's growing opposition movement. But then they did this.

A punk prayer in Moscow's main cathedral asking the Virgin Mary to rid Russia of President Putin.

And they ended up here.

That triggered an international campaign to set them free. In cities all over the world, women and men in colorful fellow balaclavas were suddenly screaming, singing and dancing on the streets -- in Glasgow, and San Francisco, Berlin, New York, Washington, D.C.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any one can be Pussy Riot whenever they want to be.

BLACK: There was this ukulele tribute in Melbourne, Australia. And in Moscow, there is a Pussy Riot supporting dog. This group got together outside Christ the Savior Cathedral where Pussy Riot performed their allegedly criminal prayer.

The cathedral security reacted a little faster and more forcibly this time. But no problem with the authorities in Iceland's capital Reykjavik, that man in the pink dress ands Balaclava is the city's mayor.

Members of Pussy Riot's global army include some of the world's best known musical artists. Madonna performed Pussy Riot style, in a face mask, and with the group's name on her back during a recent Moscow gig.

MADONNA, MUSICIAN: I think that these three girls -- Masha, Katya, Nadya -- I think that they have done something courageous.

BLACK: U.S. band Faith No More also showed their support in the Russian capital and invited other Pussy Riot members on stage.

Iceland's Bjorg dedicated a song.

BJORK, MUSICIAN: Pussy Riot!

BLACK: And Berlin-based performer Peaches wrote one.

Behind the colorful masks and music and dancing is a serious issue, and one that was highlighted provocatively and disturbingly by this supporter in St. Petersburg. He sewed his lips together.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Phil Black is joining us from Moscow.

Phil, when you look at that man and you see the lips sewn together, I mean, that really expresses something that is very passionate and very emotional here.

Why do you think this group has resonated across the world here? Why are people coming to their defense?

BLACK: It's an interesting question, Suzanne, particularly given that it has happened at a time in that big opposition movement that we saw in the piece has subsided to some degree. But these three women have become a very human face of the forces here who are trying to oppose the Kremlin and indeed the President Vladimir Putin. For that reason, their message and their predicament has very much resonated around the planet.

They performed in a church on this occasion, because they were trying to highlight their objection, if you'd like, to the relationship between the President Vladimir Putin and the head of the Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill. He is a man who described Putin's time in power here as a miracle from God.

They are uncomfortable with that closeness between the church and the state, and they don't like the idea of Vladimir Putin returning to the presidency at all -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And, Phil, did it make a difference, do you suppose, when they were sentenced that they performed the protest inside of the church. Would it have played out differently if it had taken place simply on the street?

BLACK: No, that was absolutely crucial to this case, Suzanne. The charge that they faced was hooliganism motivated by religious hatred. And so that the trial was filled with witnesses who claimed that they had suffered great spiritual suffering as a result of what took place during that brief 30-second performance by Pussy Riot in the cathedral.

During the judgment today, the judge used the words disrespectful, offensive, and insensitive in regards to the way that the women had behaved to not just the church, but religious people as well, and so, very much in the country, over the last five months since they have been arrested, there's been a great debate over what their punishment should be. Many religious people here wanted them to be punished severely, wanted them to get jail time.

MALVEAUX: Right.

BLACK: Some wanted them to have mercy. But there are those who here who support the message, support the idea, and just think they overstepped the mark this time.

MALVEAUX: And, Phil, give us a sense there on the ground, and what is taking place behind you there on the crowd?

BLACK: What we are seeing here are the remnants of -- lots of Pussy Riot supporters have been here throughout the day, who are standing here, kept their distance from the court for the three hours or so that it took the judge to read out her judgment and ultimately sentence the women today.

They have been protesting. They have been chanting, shouting, some of them have been arrested. We have seen handfuls of them bundled in to prison wagons and taken away over the course of the day.

The proceedings here finished probably an hour and a half or so ago now, I believe.

MALVEAUX: OK.

BLACK: And these people are sufficiently angry by what is taking place here today by the sentencing, but they are still sticking around.

MALVEAUX: All right. We've got to leave it there. Phil Black, thank you so much. we appreciate it.

It is not just in Syria. Violence is spilling now over the border into Lebanon.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: To Israel, a massive pro-Palestinian rally. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is calling for the removal of what he describes as the black stain of Zionism. Now, the demonstrations in Tehran, they are part of the annual Quds Day, in support of the Palestinian resistance against Israel.

Hala Gorani, she's joining us live.

And, you know, some of the words that we have heard, and it's very extreme, very offensive -- not necessarily new. Why do you think Ahmadinejad all of a sudden is spewing more of the same?

HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is aimed at a domestic audience. It happens in Tehran every year, Quds means Jerusalem, by the way. So, Jerusalem Day, as they call it. Really more anti-Israel than pro-Palestinian, calling for unity in the Muslim world against the Zionist regime.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addressing Tehran University, worshippers saying that it is an insult to humanity -- he comes up with this over the top rhetoric regularly, of course, as you know. And it's a yearly event that happens on the last Friday of Ramadan. But what's interesting this time is that it's happening within the context of the increasingly open debate in Israel about whether or not that country should go it alone in a strike against Iran nuclear facilities to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

So, it's happening within this wider regional context which makes it more interesting, but then you are seeing the images here that were out on press TV, the state television in Iran, and you can see the crowds there chanting anti-Israel slogans.

MALVEAUX: Why is he doing this now? Do you think that he thinks he can get more out of this message? I mean, we've heard it before, but this is a time where -- he is under a lot of pressure, Ahmadinejad, domestically.

GORANI: Absolutely, yes.

MALVEAUX: Domestic pressure, international pressure -- what does he hope to gain from this?

GORANI: Well, it is a populist domestic message aimed at Iranians. It's not something I don't think that's going to surprise any outside observer. We are used to this type of rhetoric.

He is under pressure as you mentioned rightly from the clerical -- the clerics of the country, but also the reformists. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is under a lot of domestic and international pressure.

And the big question is going to be: will Israel go ahead alone?

What's interesting is that I was looking at some of the polls inside of Israel.

MALVEAUX: Sure.

GORANI: Now, most of the Israelis, according to the polls I saw, oppose a unilateral strike against Iran. They think if Israel is going to go against a strike against Iran with nuclear facilities, that it should go with a partner, and that means the United States. However, that opposition is declining.

So little by little as Israelis are getting closer to a nuclear armed Iran, the opposition to a unilateral strike is declining. So that the big question is going to be, what will happen? Because if it's several years away, Israel feels a nuclear armed Iran is an existential threat and it has to take action.

MALVEAUX: All right. Thank you. Appreciate it. Have a good weekend.

GORANI: You, too.

MALVEAUX: All right.

Opposition -- Syrian opposition groups -- they are now accusing Bashar al Assad's forces of shelling neighborhoods indiscriminately.

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MALVEAUX: Opposition groups say that 61 people died today in fighting in several Syrian towns. The violence spilling into Lebanon as well as a series of kidnappings on both sides of the border, now putting Lebanon on edge, triggering mass protests.

Arwa Damon, she's in Beirut.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(GUNFIRE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Syria's civil war is seeping into its tiny and vulnerable neighbor. On Wednesday, angry young Shias blocked the main road to Beirut's airport with burning tires after the head of a prominent Shia clan was abducted in Syria.

The Free Syrian Army had posted this video of Hassan al-Meqdad, who they allege is a member of Lebanon's powerful militia, Hezbollah, which supports the Assad regime. Hezbollah denies al-Meqdad is one of theirs, and the family also denies any association. But the kidnapping resulted in swift retaliation.

"This family has an armed section that kidnaps Syrians in Lebanese territories," claims one of the clan members. Two of the kidnapped Syrians appeared in a video in front of a banner that reads "The al-Meqdad Family Association."

The clan says they have taken hostage more than 20 Syrians affiliated with the rebels, as well as a Turkish business man, and more will follow until Hassan is released.

Hassan's brother, Hatem al-Meqdad vows there will be more surprises, suggesting the clan will not only target members of the Syrian rebels operating out of Lebanon, but others as well.

Tensions were already high over the kidnapping of 11 Lebanese Shias by Syrian rebels. The Lebanese government seems powerless to intervene, except to call for calm. The posture of government forces at the airport perhaps reflecting the government's paralysis, held captive by dynamics it can't control.

DAMON (on camera): The Lebanese are fed up, disgusted, and disillusioned, and at the same time, terrified that sectarian strife will break out once again. The wounds and the memories of Lebanon's own civil war are still fresh, and the Syrian conflict is not likely to spare the neighbor in its shadow.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Beirut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: All right. We are getting news in from the U.N. and this is coming in just now here. Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi, he has now been appointed to replace Kofi Annan as the special U.N. representative for Syria. That is from the spokesman from the U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. They are announcing this individual who is now going to be trying to negotiate some sort of peace plan.

As you may recall Kofi Annan failed to get the talks between the Syrian government and rebels and left essentially that mission. Well, now, the U.N. is replacing him with another individual, and it is far from clear whether or not anything is really going to be accomplished since it was yesterday that the U.N. said it's pulling back its monitors, taking them out of the country, because they were not confident of their safety.

But again, there is a new person in charge. We'll see if it makes any difference on the ground in Syria.

It is a standoff between Muslims and Buddhists in one the poorest countries in the worlds. The result? Well, take a look at this.

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MALVEAUX: They are taken from their homes, forced to live in wet muddy camps trying to survive with very little food.

Well, this is the situation facing thousands of people in Sittwe, Myanmar. They lost everything after ethnic fighting tore their city in two.

A reporter for ITN made it into this camp to film this exclusive report. We are not identifying him for his own safety.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We are living on rice and beans. It's not enough. We haven't got blankets. When we were in town, we could buy food for the kids, but now we can't.

REPORTER: The occupants of these camps are not allowed the leave and return to their homes in Sittwe seems increasingly unlikely. It is a source of great anxiety for few people here can support themselves.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We have no jobs and our kids cannot work. I used to own a shop in Sittwe, but I came here in the rain with nothing but my bare hands, no money, nothing.

REPORTER: Aid agencies told us that the situation here is desperate, but they are struggling to provide assistance.

Back in Sittwe, aide workers face hostility from members of the local Buddhist community who have plastered their views all over town. The U.N. and international NGOs are accused of favoring the Rohingya, and a view that is widely shared. Food shipments have been blocked.

These are the words of one activist.

"There are Buddhists in the state as well, we know, but the NGOs give support only to the Muslim. So why doesn't the U.N. treat people equally?"

Eight thousand members of the local Buddhist community were made home les homeless in the city, and a majority have taken shelter in the city temples though several were damaged in the violence. The conditions were cramped and uncomfortable, but there is enough food to go around.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Yes, we have the support we need and local government has been helping us.

REPORTER: But these temporary residents told us they are not prepared to live with the Rohingya again. The temple's abbot who offered this bleak vision.

UNIDENTIIFIED MALE (through translator): I don't think that the people can coexist again. The Rohingya are extremists. They are very religious and they hate us. They are trying to take revenge, that's what I think.

REPORTER: There is very little charity left in Rakhine State, and the Rohingya have few friends here. No politician seems to be willing to support them. No wonder then that many of them are dreaming of escape of reaching the islands off of the coast and finding passage abroad.

And there seems little alternative at the moment for life in a waterlogged camp is nothing to live for.

This is Channel 4 News, Rakhine State, Burma.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Michael Holmes from CNN international is joining us.

Michael, explain the situation, because you have the Buddhists who are the majority, about 90 percent, and then you have Muslims who's the minority. And there's a lot of tension between these groups.

Is this is a religious thing? Is this a cultural thing? What is taking place on the ground?

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's both religious and it's cultural. There's always tensions in the Rakhine State, and the Rohingya state. They have been there since before Myanmar was Myanmar. They came over from what is Bengal, which is now Bangladesh and part of India formed Bengal.

And there has been migration in recent years as well, but they have always been treated with indifference and outward hostility inside of Myanmar. They are not citizens and the United Nations is, I don't know if that was mentioned in the report, one of the most persecuted groups on the planet.

Yes, it has been going on for a very long time.

MALVEAUX: There was a recent incident where there was a young Buddhist woman who was raped and killed. Has that been apart of why we are seeing this reemerged, this tension?

HOLMES: Yes. As I said, you know, this has been festering for years, generations in many ways. This is the spark of the latest clash in this horrible clash that has put the Rohingya into this dreadful situation in these camps.

She was raped and murdered allegedly by Muslims. Some incendiary pamphlets started being distributed by the Buddhist side and then 10 Muslim men, pilgrims, were take n off of a bus and beaten to death. Than then sparked chaos and you have rampaging mobs going around. Burning houses, settling scores and what we saw there in the pictures that led to this.

A hundred thousand people displaced, nearly 100 killed, and NGOs say the 100 killed is a gross underestimate.

MALVEAUX: So, how they moved beyond this here. I mean, this sounds like this is really an intractable situation.

HOLMES: Well, it is in a moment. They're in limbo. They are in these camps. And camps aren't great at all. The government is saying, they had a big decision in 1982 to not allow them to be citizens. And so, they are stateless people, and now in the camps and not in their own homes and the government is saying they should all go to Bangladesh. Bangladesh is saying, we've already taken 200,000 Rohingyas, we cannot take anymore. So these people are stuck.

As you heard in the package there, they're not getting support from the government, and people like Aung San Suu Kyi.

MALVEAUX: Who you would think would be --

HOLMES: You would think. And she's spoken in support of other minorities, but not the Rohingya, and that's been taken as a lot of people as a very direct thing. A lot of people want to know why. Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace prize winner, where is the support?

MALVEAUX: Yes. We're going to be following on that as well. Thank you, Michael. Appreciate it.

So, the stuff that's inside your cell phone that makes it work, a lot of it is mined out of the Congo. Ad the people working in the mines are often digging with their bare hands. An update on a disturbing story we told you about last month. Tech giants Intel, Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Microsoft working to stop producing so-called blood phones.

They are smartphones, of course, that we use every day. They're made with metals found in the mountains of the Congo in Africa. But the metals are called conflict minerals, because they're used to fund a deadly regional war there.

Well, a team of journalists from the website Vice, they traveled to the most desolate parts of the Congo to get a look at what life is like for the workers who are digging for conflict minerals.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible) 5:30 in the morning here in the Numbi Mining Town. This is a town with no electricity, with no running water.

We basically got stranded out here, which was not really part of the plan. They didn't take too kindly to us initially, but they were even worried about our safety, because we are in South Kivu, and they are not used to this kind of thing, a bunch of foreigners spending the night here.

They gave us this little house to stay in. Then they offered us a couple of soldiers to guard us all night long. You know, yesterday, we experienced them trying to keep some secrets hidden.

So today, we have a plan. We're going to break free, we go a couple of kilometers and we're going to set up and wait for the miners to show up so we can really see how these mines operate.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the main Numbi mine, we just got here, and these houses are all miners who work right here.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It took two days of tracking and looking, and we are finally here in the heart of the mine. This is where all kinds of minerals are coming out of, everything from tantalum (ph) to coltan (ph).

This is what you call tourmaline. That's actually one of the biggest ones. (Inaudible) and they say that this is the most expensive . This is where they get it. You can see like this one. (Inaudible) this block of stone which has everything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot inside?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, (inaudible) a lot inside. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It seems so primitive with their bare hands and with shovels, they're pulling it out and a lot of it ends up in super high-tech devices, and you never think when you are using those devices back home that this is how it actually starts, and that without this process, it wouldn't exist or it wouldn't work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Earlier, I spoke with Jason Mojica. He is the producer who put that documentary together and he told me why children are sometimes forced to dig for these metals.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON MOJICA, PRODUCER, VICE MEDIA: Definitely, they are work children, and some of the locals, I mean, kind of tried to keep them out of our view. They understand that Americans, American camera crews, you know, tend to gravitate towards those sorts of things and it does not play well in the international audience.

But, again, it wasn't so, seeing the children wasn't as disturbing in a place where education is a luxury and for some people, you know, the opportunity to make one or two dollars a day to support their family is a little more important than getting to go to school.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Not all tech companies are making strides to stop conflict minerals. According to the advocacy group The Enough Project, they still give companies like Nintendo, Canon, Nikon, Sharp and HTC low ratings.

Well, imagine this, this you are on a flight to Lebanon, right, when the pilot tells you instead, you are going to be landing in Syria. Whoa. Well, this happened, actually, to Air France passengers and the story gets even worse.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Passengers on board an Air France flight to Beirut couldn't even believe what they were hearing. So, first of all, they were told that their flight was being diverted to Syria. OK. So if that is not nerve-wracking enough, they are then asked to pitch in money to refuel the plane. I am not kidding.

Richard Quest is joining us from London to explain this very bizarre story.

Richard, first of all, like, really, getting hit up for gas money on a flight? What happened?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: OK. So the flight is Air France 562 from Paris to Beirut. It is the night, as you were reporting, when there were problems at the airport, kidnappings and the like, and the aircraft and the airline and the pilot decided it was too dangerous to go the Beirut so they wanted to go and land instead at Amman.

Unfortunately, not surprisingly, it didn't have enough to be minimums, so instead, the pilot decided to land in Damascus in Syria. Now that was the safe thing to do in terms of air transport, but when he tried to pay for the fuel with the credit card that all pilots -- captains have; they all have a credit card in the cockpit, of course, he could not because of U.S. sanctions against Syria.

So he had -- not having any accounts with the Syrian airport, he couldn't get the fuel, so as a precaution, he said, anyone got any money? Who's got money at the back? They literally had a whip round in the back of the cabin.

They managed to raise $17,000 before obviously common sense prevailed and either somebody stood credit or they were given the fuel or whatever, and the plane took off for Lanoka instead.

Not the first time this has happened, by the way. There have been one or two cases where pilots have had to land planes at airports where the airline does not have credit or is in difficulties and I seem to be a bit embarrassed.

MALVEAUX: It is just the craziest story. Richard, we have to leave it there, I'm sorry. We will talk to you another time on all this, it is really a crazy situation there, but I'm glad that everybody ended up OK and strangely enough that Syria was the safe place to land in that situation.

Richard, thanks, have a good weekend.

They are recent high school grads from Zimbabwe who just won huge scholarships and tickets to the United States.

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MALVEAUX: In just five days two 17-year-olds from Zimbabwe will begin classes at Morehouse College. France Abadu (ph) and Abel Gumba (ph) arrived in Atlanta earlier this month, they are among 40 African students awarded a full ride to Morehouse as part of the Andrew Young Scholarship Program and the Higher Life Project.

Strive Masiyiwa in a businessman from Zimbabwe. He is putting up almost $6.5 million for these scholarships. Here with us, of course, Prince and Able. We also have Petronella Maramba, the executive director of the Higher Life Project at Morehouse.

Thank you for being here. Congratulations.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, thank you very much.

MALVEAUX: This is fantastic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you so much.

MALVEAUX: You are now Morehouse Men.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, actually we're still Men of Morehouse.

MALVEAUX: Men of Morehouse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The title Morehouse Men are given after we graduate.

MALVEAUX: Oh, after you graduate. OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, (INAUDIBLE).

MALVEAUX: And you're all wearing the Morehouse shirts, the outfits. Very nice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma'am.

MALVEAUX: This is your first time, right, outside of Zimbabwe, is that right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma'am.

MALVEAUX: How's your -- how's your trip so far?

ABEL GUMBO, MOREHOUSE FRESHMAN: It was nice. The flight, it was pretty long because we had to fly from suburban South Africa and then from South Africa we took a plane here to Atlanta.

MALVEAUX: How many hours was that?

GUMBO: Something like 16 hours.

MALVEAUX: Oh, my goodness. That is a long flight.

GUMBO: Yes, that is.

MALVEAUX: Give me a sense of what it has been like for you. You have gone through your orientation now. What do you make of the college? What is this experience mean for you?

PRINCE ABUDU, MOREHOUSE FRESHMAN: For me, it's been a wonderful experience. I really love it. And for all of the way from Zimbabwe to Morehouse College, I had a (INAUDIBLE) feel involved and meeting wonderful people. And my -- in the week or so, (INAUDIBLE) learned a lot.

MALVEAUX: How did you guys manage to prepare for the SAT's? I understand you got pretty amazing scores and you studied for a week. Just a week. How did you do that?

GUMBO: We were just given the -- we were given some material the week before to prepare. And we just put all of it -- we put an effort in it.

MALVEAUX: Lots of effort.

GUMBO: A lot of it because we knew our life depended on it. So we had too.

MALVEAUX: It certainly paid off.

GUMBO: Yes, it did.

MALVEAUX: It was pretty incredible when you look at just how high you scored.

Give us a sense of how this came about. Why the connection between Zimbabwe and Morehouse College?

PETRONELLA MARAMBA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HIGHER LIFE PROJECT: It was actually through a patron, Dr. Strive Masiyiwa, and his relationship with Ambassador Andrew Young and -- who introduced him, you know, to Morehouse College. And he, himself, you know, from a very early age, when he was still in Zimbabwe, had heard about Morehouse College and had always wanted to come here. So when the opportunity was afforded him to establish, you know, a relationship with Morehouse College, you know, to further a vision that he's always had to develop young, bright, you know, orphaned children in Africa, to help them develop into leaders who are able, after having attained, you know, a good education in the United States of America, to go back to Africa and give back to the community and develop it, you know, further than what has already been done in the past.

MALVEAUX: Prince, what do you hope that students at Morehouse learn from you?

ABUDU: I don't know if the students from Morehouse learn a lot from me, because I'm one character who has always been a philanthropist. I love community service. And I literally hope that the students from Morehouse will learn my Zimbabwean culture, will learn what we do -- will learn community service from me. And I'm actually a person who is bright and I wish to engage in every activity at Morehouse.

MALVEAUX: Abel, what is it -- what is the one thing that you're really hoping to take away from your experience being here?

GUMBO: I'm hoping Morehouse to help me be that leader that is going to lead back my community when I go back to Zimbabwe. Of course, I am one of those people who has got a passion to give back to the community. So I -- after I get my degree, which is computer science, I'm going to go back to Zimbabwe and use that degree to improve the provision of public services.

MALVEAUX: Abel, Prince, congratulations. I know you're going to do great work. You're going to -- you're going to be here in Atlanta. We're going to see you often. We're going to check up on your guys since we're all right here in the same place. And it's going to be just an extraordinary experience. So, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

GUMBO: Thank you.

ABUDU: Thank you so much. MALVEAUX: Well, with all the violence that is going on in the Arab world right now, you might feel helpless to stop the suffering. But, not this guy. This Young American. He just went to Libya on his own dime to help the rebels tear down a dictatorship. Well, what's his next stop? Syria.

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MALVEAUX: He spent time in a Libyan prison after being captured by Gadhafi forces. Now, despite this experience, a young American now wants to go out to the front lines in Syria. Nick Valencia tells us why.

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NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The green flag is how you know Nowi (ph) and I are on the frontlines.

Early last year, Matthew Vandyke left his home in the United States for Libya, to film and to fight. He wanted to help rebel forces overthrow long time dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Years before, he'd made friends with many locals during a motorcycle trip across the region.

MATT VANDYKE, WANTS TO FIGHT IN SYRIA: I decided that I couldn't just sit at home and watch this happen to people I cared about. So I decided that I would go to Libya. I called my girlfriend and said, sorry, you should come home from work, I'm on my way to Libya. And I just went.

VALENCIA: After less than a week there, Vandyke was captured by Gadhafi's forces while on a reconnaissance mission for rebels in the city of Brega. He was taken to Tripoli and held in solitary confinement, enduring what he calls psychological torture in the high security Abu Salim prison.

VANDYKE: This is where I spent about 85 days when I was first captured.

VALENCIA: And there were times when he thought his life would end there.

VANDYKE: I mean I thought that I would be in prison for 20 or 30 years or possibly executed. I was captured before NATO was involved in Libya, so I had no idea that NATO had got involved until after I escaped prison. But then after escaping prison, I went right back to the front line and continued doing it.

VALENCIA: Now nearly a year since leaving Libya, the 33-year-old graduate of Georgetown University wants to go back to the front lines, but this time, he is destined for Syria. He says he's better prepared than most for the journey.

VANDYKE: I knew people in Libya. I've been to Syria before. I've been working and living in the region for years. You know, it's not like I just threw a dart at a map and went over there.

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MALVEAUX: Nick is joining us to talk a little bit about -- more about the story.

And you had mentioned that this is really -- this is exclusive video, because he went back -- he was able to go back to Libya, to the place where he was actually captured and held for quite some time.

When I looking at this, it brings up a lot of concern, really, because even as a journalist covering a war zone, I had to have military training, war training, before I was even allowed to go over there. It is a very dangerous situation. I mean, why does he feel like he is even equipped to be in that kind of fighting?

VALENCIA: Well, one thing needs to be made clear, Suzanne, he's not a journalist. He's a filmmaker and an activist. And principally on this trip to Syria, he will be acting in the role as a filmmaker.

You bring up a great question though. He has never had former military training or experience. In fact, one of the first times he picked up a gun was when he went to Libya and was on the front lines there.

He decided two days -- just two days before going to Libya that he was going to go. And you saw that interview there. He tells his girlfriend, you need to come home from work now, I'm on my way to Libya. And his mom, in fact -- he's got the support of his family. His mom drove him to the airport, if you can believe it.

MALVEAUX: Really? That would not be my mother.

How is the State Department reacting to this? I mean do they think that this is a good idea that there's Americans, they feel passionate about this? They up and go and decide they're going to become a part of this?

VALENCIA: I think the principle concern for somebody in a situation like this, like what Matt's about to get himself into, is that the Assad regime can point to him as an example and say that this is not a populist uprising. These are being -- this is being funded by outside elements, by foreign powers or foreign sources. Even if it's not, they can use it as an example.

So we called the State Department and we asked them specifically about Matthew Vandyke's case. They were unwilling to comment specifically on Matt, but they did tell us this. That "the United States continues to warn U.S. citizens against travel to Syria." And really the advisory speaks for itself. They strongly recommend that U.S. citizens remain -- the remaining in Syria, "depart immediately." And they do not encourage anyone to travel there, especially somebody who feels, like Matthew. He feels he has a calling there. This is his destiny.

And we talked to him a little more. We'll have more on this story tomorrow morning with Randi Kaye on "CNN Newsroom." But when we talked to him, he said that, you know, this is a calling. He's not looking forward to it. He doesn't like war tourists. He understands that there's some criticism about, you know, sort of his credibility of why he's doing this. But his heart's in the right place. His intentions are in the right place. And he's going there to make a film unconventionally funded by kickstarter.com, which is this online fundraising site. There's a lot of nuances to this story.

MALVEAUX: Yes, Nick, we're going to follow-up on this story because there are a lot of -- a lot more questions about this.

VALENCIA: Absolutely.

MALVEAUX: And certainly what ends up happening to this young man, especially if he ends up getting in trouble. If he's, you know, captured or whatever, how all that is sorted out. So, Nick, thank you very much.

VALENCIA: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: We'll follow up with this.

The month-long fast almost over for Muslims around the world, Ramadan. We're going to take a last look at the final hours.

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