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Tropical Storm Isaac Strengthening; Gambia Has Mass Execution Plan; Mexican Cult Blocks Schools

Aired August 23, 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 going on right now:

Almost 30 years, not one execution, but now, that could change with Gambia, with the president vowing to kill all of the country's death row inmates by mid-September.

And people in a Mexican cult are destroying schools they say were built by the devil.

But first, Haiti in the direct path of this powerful storm, tropical storm Isaac getting stronger, expected to make a direct hit on the Dominican Republic and Haiti as a category 1 hurricane by tomorrow night.

Now, we are talking about strong winds and torrential winds will create extremely dangerous condition.

I want to bring in our own Chad Myers who is tracking Isaac from the CNN weather center.

What do we know about where it's going to hit and how powerful?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: The first place it will probably impact will be the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo. Not for the eye itself, but for strong winds, driving rain and maybe even the possibility for flooding. Then it moves over the mountain range and into Port-au-Prince.

What's new about Port-au-Prince? We're told 400,000 people living in tents in the city of Port-au-Prince because of the old earthquake that happened years ago.

Here's what tropical storm Isaac looks like. Not really that impressive. It is still just the tropical storm. But over the last few hours, it's getting more colorful. More colorful means higher cloud tops. Higher cloud tops means the storms are bigger, higher, stronger, and getting more organized. That's what we are in for, with this storm for the next couple of days.

Let's take you right to the track. It's about 200 miles due south of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and making some squalls in Puerto Rico, but not the big story. The big story would be, as the storm moves across very close to Santo Domingo, even though it's not the eye, the center of the storm, a lot of rain is going to pile up in the Dominican Republican that could cause some flooding.

Right here, though, that's a category 1 hurricane, almost directly over the city of Port-au-Prince, literally blowing tents apart, blowing people's lives apart because of this wind, 60, 70, 80 miles per hour and driving rain going across.

Let me show you this, because if you have not been on Google Earth, I don't think you understand the devastation that literally is Haiti. Here's the border between the DR and Haiti. There's Port-au- Prince right there.

We will zoom right into the town, very big city, lots of concrete, that was part of the problem when it was built. Stones and concrete, when the earth shakes like it did, a lot of that falls down.

Every single dot you see, blue, white, blue, white, those are tents. Those are little tents that you might put up to keep you off at a picnic. Those are tents.

Here's the palace up here. Let's move to a different spot because there are so many of these, it's hard to even get your handle on, tents. Every place there's a public place, there are tents put up for people to live in all of the way through here, all the way along the highway.

Another thing that Haiti has unfortunately going for it is that they have cut down most of the trees. Now, many areas trying to get the trees back planted, but the deforestation with 15 inches of rain may also cause flash flooding and some of the wear the going right down to Haiti.

Think about the problems when you get rain, dysentery, people altogether like that, and all that rain and all that wind over the population density living in canvas.

MALVEAUX: And, Chad, when you talk about the population density and you see the picture of the tents that you were showing us, that is a 421,000 people who are still homeless in Haiti.

MYERS: Is that the official number, 421,000?

MALVEAUX: That's right. I mean, it is going to be just unbelievable. The kind of situation they're going to be dealing with there.

Chad, real quick here. This is going to impact a lot of countries potentially and go down the list, if you will, of those who are going to be hit.

MYERS: Well, the next place after it leaves Haiti, it will go back in the water and then it will threaten the south coast here of Cuba, Guantanamo right there. It will drive all the way itself right along the spine of Cuba, Kamagire (ph) right, that will be a town that could see some flooding as well.

Then back into the Gulf of Mexico, west of Tampa, west of Florida, itself, and the peninsula, at least so far, it could be left, it could be right, these things change direction, it changed overnight a little bit. But so far, overnight, is turning to the left and takes it into the Gulf of Mexico of the United States and so that make a little breathe of a sigh of relief for some of the people on the east coast of Florida, but then the entire Gulf Coast back in the cone as of now.

MALVEAUX: All right. Thank you, Chad.

I want to go to Haiti.

Alex Claudon, he is Red Cross worker who's been in Haiti since the earthquake that Chad mentioned, the devastating earthquake. Alex, you are on the ground there. Give us a sense of how people are preparing for this and just how concerned they are knowing that this is coming.

ALEX CLAUDON, RED CROSS (via telephone): Yes. I have a little bit of a bad reception, Suzanne, sorry. Good morning.

What I can tell you now is that our focus is actually on the camp people still living in the camp. The Red Cross is looking at actually after one fourth or 25 percent of the camps and it is roughly 100,000 people for which we have been preparing ourselves actually for years.

So immediately after the storm, if the needs are confirmed, we are ready to assist those people with shelter and non-food item and medical care.

MALVEAUX: Well, Alex, how are you doing this? Because you have people living in these flimsy tents. Are you physically -- are they physically moving the people from the tents into secure structures?

CLAUDON: Well, the majority of the Red Cross has been working in a camp and we too some measures for a long time, and we have a dig ditches, we have prepared the people with early warning system, we have trained people inside of the communities, inside of the camp in first aid. We have prepared evacuation routes for the people to go to the designated places designed by the Haitian authorities.

MALVEAUX: Alex, we know that people are concerned and this could be a very, very big problem for the people suffering in Haiti. We're going to keep in contact with you as the storm comes closer. Thank you, Alex. Appreciate it.

I want to go from the stormy waters of the Atlantic to the other big weather threat on the other side of the globe. We are talking about typhoon Tembin. It is about to slam into Taiwan. It hit land just about three hours now. The storm is still moving very slowly, expected to dump lots and lots of rain.

People have been preparing. They're placing sandbags around their houses and the businesses.

But the flooding is not really the only risk. We are talking about mud slides also which is a very big threat.

And moving on to Gambia. Gambia's president says that all of the country's death row prisoners will be executed by mid-September. The tiny West African country, it is surrounded by Senegal. Now, human rights group from around the world, they are outraged by this announcement.

Michael Holmes is from CNN International. He's joining us.

And, Michael, first of all, explain to us why has the president -- why has he said that I will go forward to move forward in Gambia and execute all of the people on death row? What is behind this?

HOLMES: By the middle of next month as well.

MALVEAUX: What is going on?

HOLMES: Well, it seems crazy.

But he said a speech a few days ago and I'll just quote him. "There is no way that my government will allow 99 percent of the population to be held ransom by the criminals, so what he is saying uptick in crime and violent crime in Gambia and he is saying that this is his way of dealing with it. What a radical way of dealing with it. Everybody on death row, we will hang them by next month and it took about a couple of weeks.

This is a guy who came to power in a coupe in '94, has ruled with a iron fist ever since. There is no dissent tolerated in Gambia. I'll you one thing, he said that he can cure AIDS with a her ball body rub and bananas. So, this is the type of guy we are dealing with here.

MALVEAUX: And so, what is the reaction? What is the response? People say, OK, they are on death row, and we don't need them, we don't care? Or do they think this is some sort of solution to what's taking place in their country?

HOLMES: No, people are stunned and the people outside are stunned as well. There's been enormous condemnation already from the human rights group, and the French government has spoken out and I'm waiting for the British response, because it is a former British colony and hear what they have the say.

But there has been outraged by human rights group. Senegal, as you said, correctly, is sort of encompasses Gambia and the human rights group has condemned him for how he has repressed people. They say no public freedom in Gambia and this is another example of it.

MALVEAUX: When you think of people on death row in this country, you think of murderers and rapists, very, very serious crimes and are those the crimes of criminals on death row in Gambia?

HOLMES: Yes they are. But he goes a step father that, there's a small amount of drugs can get you the death penalty, terror offenses, obviously but also treason, and treason is a death penalty as well, but he is using it as political tool to hit at the opposition, and intimidate, if you like, to even suggested that one point, homosexuality should be on the punishable by death offenses.

MALVEAUX: You say that the human rights groups are trying to jump in here. Is there anything really do that they can do. I mean, it's a sovereign country and this is what is going to do. Do they feel confident that they could can they change it?

HOLMES: Well, it's a sovereign country, if he wants to do it, he can do it. But the thing to be done if the governments want to put some economic pressure. This is a country that is not rich. He is looking for oil, but he has not found any.

A huge peanut crop, but the country needs money and aid and it gets a lot of the aid and military aid from the United States and social programs as well. That is the route if the world is going to do something, they need to put a little bit of economic pressure, and he's done this before, too. I think we're going to touch on it. It was a couple of years ago where he said the same thing and it didn't happen. So everybody is hoping with their fingers crossed that he is bluffing again.

MALVEAUX: Michael, thank you. Appreciate it.

HOLMES: Yes. Good to see you.

MALVEAUX: Interesting story. A secretive U.S. mission, a raid to kill Osama bin Laden was secret, but now a former Navy SEAL reveals details about the mission and the special ops training.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Syrian military shelled rebel positions in one city and bombed another from the air today. Now, that is what an opposition group is reporting. The opposition is saying now that more than 100 people were killed across the country today. Mostly in Damascus.

A report on state-run television says that an attack in Aleppo killed a number of rebels. The Syrian government calls them terrorists, and international leaders are talking about what do about all of this and not if, but when Bashar al Assad gives up power in Syria. They're going to meet in Italy, in just a few days, to talk about humanitarian projects and rebuild rebuilding this country with the hope that President Assad leaves.

For the violence in northern Lebanon, the fourth straight day. Lebanon has the same intents and ethnic and religious intents that is reflected that is happening next door in Syria.

Sunni Muslims are fighting the Alawite groups in Tripoli. These two groups have been at odds for along time in London. And the bloodshed in Syria is aggravating things in that country. At least seven people died in street fighting this week in trip low.

Well, a book about to hit the shelves is story of Osama bin Laden's death. It's written by someone who says he was there, first hand account.

This is the book, the author claims to be a personal member of the SEAL Team 6, and the elite group dropped in on bin Laden's compound in Pakistan, you recall last May.

In a span of 38 minutes, U.S. troops went room to room, killed bin Laden's courier and the courier's brother and then one of bin Laden's son and then hit on the third floor, found and killed bin Laden himself.

Well, the Qaeda's leader body was then taken to a U.S. Navy, possibly identified as Bin Laden and then buried at sea.

As for the book, it comes out on September 11th. U.S. military didn't approve it, didn't review it. The publisher says that Arthur is not using his own name in the book, and using a pseudonym.

I want to talk to Fran Townsend about this, our security contributor.

And, Fran, first all, we know a lot already about this raid. We've read about it. We've seen it in numerous accounts in new papers. What is the danger really in new details coming out.

FRAN TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: Well, you know, Suzanne, each of us were more in government when we hold clearance, as you might expect, the Navy SEALs on this team has taken an oath to protect the United States, that includes information that comments on their possession by virtue of their access, right?

So, we don't -- this is not information. Just because he was there, this is not information and knowledge that is his. In essence, the government used it rightly as their property, their information. And they can control public access to that for many national security reasons and interests.

And so he has no right to make public the details of that raid and the operational information necessary to do that without getting approval. So, anyone who wants the write a book has to put it through a security clearance process so that the government gets to review their own information and decide what's appropriate for public dissemination.

MALVEAUX: So, he didn't do that, and now, of course, the government is very concerned and worried about this. Is there anything, Fran, that the government can do?

Can they track down the former Navy SEAL? Can they find him? Can the prevent this book from actually being published?

TOWNSEND: Well, I imagine, Suzanne, that they are looking at the options right now. Of course, they could go to the court to seek an injunction to prevent the publication -- you know, in some ways that increases the public interest and likely book sales, and so they have the make judgments about what they are willing to do.

The SEAL runs the risk of having not gone through that process, if he, even if it is inadvertent and he reveals classified information that is defense-related, he could face a criminal prosecution, and not simply sort of having his security clearances revoked and all sorts of penalties he could face, and the worst of which could be criminal.

MALVEAUX: And, Fran, help me to understand this -- what are the kind of specifics that would be revealed in a book like this that would put either special ops people or their missions in trouble?

TOWNSEND: Well, the easiest one for people to appreciate is that he could reveal the identities of his fellow team members. We are hearing thing that he doesn't do that and he goes to length not to do that, and often the guys take cell phone pictures and things when they are out on an operation, and he could reveal the training and the planning that went into it, which would be incredibly operationally sensitive for future, and put at risk future operations and future a operators going in harm's way, how they learned about the information, what they knew about the intelligence, and what the SEAL's relationship was with the intelligence community and how did they hide themselves from the Pakistan military in order to get in, and what was the technology and the trade craft that allowed them to do that, and all of these things were part and parcel of the mission which are classified, sensitive national security information that the government will go to great lengths to try to protect.

MALVEAUX: You know, Fran, this is one of those things where the country -- a lot of people celebrated when they saw, OK, this terrorist responsible for 9/11 was taken out by the Special Ops, by the military and a sense of pride and people want to express in some ways that they felt good about this.

Well, there is this one guy who has opened up a paintball park in Minnesota which is kind of weird. It looks like the bin Laden compound and you can go ahead for the price of admission strap on a flak jacket and infiltrate the compound, shot the man that's dressed like bin laden and as a public, should we do this sort of thing and where the public can learn to appreciate what is going on here without divulging classified information.

I mean, when you see something like that, what do you make of it?

TOWNSEND: Well, look, we ought to be clear about what that is. That is a form of entertainment, and God bless the spirit of capital is capitalism in this country, and somebody saw an opportunity to make money and provide entertainment.

It's no different that there are video games where you can pretend to be a soldier and you can pretend to be in Afghanistan. "Call of duty."

So there are all sorts of entertainment things that sort of modeled themselves off of the war on terror and the hunt for bin Laden and the conditions in Afghanistan and Iraq, but that is all it is. It is entertainment, right?

I mean, so we don't discourage that, and people have the freedom of speech, and the commercial freedoms here in this country, but it is nothing more than that. The notion that a SEAL who has operational understanding could make that public and put others in the future in harm's way is wrong. That's really wrong and that's the difference.

MALVEAUX: All right. Fran Townsend, good to see you as all. Thank you, Fran.

So, quick question for you, if you had to put a price tag on, let's say, the Eiffel Tower, THE Colosseum in Rome, or Stonehenge, which would be the most valuable? And how much would it be worth?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: The Eiffel Tower is impressive. According to some brand new research, it's also the most valuable monument in all of Europe. But the price tag, it might shock you a little bit.

Let's go to Richard Quest to talk a little bit about this.

Richard, love it, love the Eiffel Tower. But can you actually put a price tag on this?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: Have passport, will travel. Can we put a price tag on the Eiffel Tower? Well, we didn't put the price tag on.

It was the commercial institute for Manza and Branza (ph) in Italy who was putting a aesthetic value and they came up with $445 billion, Suzanne, as being the brand value of the Eiffel Tower to France and the French economy.

MALVEAUX: Wow.

QUEST: Now, that is a lot of money, I will tell you.

But some 7.5 million people a year go up and down which we worked out and how many was it? About 19,000 a day have to go in and out of the Eiffel Tower.

Now, coming behind the Eiffel Tower, from love, from Rome, we have the Colosseum. And now the Colosseum in Rome was $114 billion in value to the Italian economy.

And coming up at the rear was the tower of London with $89 billion in value.

If you want to know where the White House stands in al of this --

MALVEAUX: Yes, I do.

QUEST: -- well, it was this was a survey about monuments in Europe. And in case you had not noticed the White House is not in Europe, but they did add and some people are not really as familiar with the travel world and they did put the White House in the list, and you are certainly familiar with the White House, and it's just $69 billion.

So I'm afraid that the White House is below the tower, below the Colosseum, and way down from the Eiffel.

MALVEAUX: What is it, bragging rights or something? Now, you are trash talking here?

QUEST: No, the Eiffel Tower is the most valuable brand monument in the world at half a trillion.

MALVEAUX: And, you know, the Washington Monument because of an earthquake is still closed and they were not able to reopen it, and that's one of the treasures here.

But yes, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, a lovely place to tour, a lovely place to work, but, yes, I guess not as valuable as the Eiffel Tower, huh? They are not serving snacks up at the top.

QUEST: And -- snacks at the top! You heathen. The Jewels Vern Restaurant at the top of the Eiffel Tower does not serve snacks at the top as you put it. I suggest you stick to pretzels in the baseball park.

MALVEAUX: All right. Richard, we've got to leave it there. But I'll get back to you with your trash talking.

We've got to get to Mitt Romney. He is holding event. He's talking about an energy policy change. Let's listen in.

(COVERAGE OF LIVE SPEECH BEGINS - JOINED IN PROGRESS)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIALL CANDIDATE: Number two, we have to make sure that our schools are world class. This nation invented education, and we have to fix the schools and make them the best in the world.

Number three, we've got to have more trade. We need to open up trade with Latin America and other parts of the world and crackdown on cheaters like China when they cheat and steal jobs with unfair trading practices.

(APPLAUSE)

Number four, we won't get business and individuals to risk, start enterprises here and hiring people if they think America is going to become Greece. So, we're going to have to get serious about cutting the federal spending, encouraging growth and finally balance our budget in this country.

(APPLAUSE)

And number five, we've got to champion small business. We've got to help small business keep their taxes competitive, get regulators to see their job as to encourage business, not crush it

And take off that big cloud that's scaring away hiring from small business that, I'm talking about Obamacare and we need to repeal it and replace it with something that helps to bring down the cost of healthcare.

(APPLAUSE)

Now, I want to go a little deeper for a moment as I talk about the number one objective which is energy. If I'm the president of the United States, in a few months here, I will set a national --

(APPLAUSE)

I will set a national goal of America and North America, North American energy independence by 2020 -- North American energy independence by 2020. And that means that we produce all of the energy that we need in North America.

And there are a number of things that I want to do to make it happen. It is achievable. The is not some pie in the sky thing. This is a real, achievable objective and I have a chart despite the wind, it's holding up here. These guys have held up with every piece of weight this you can think of.

But on the left-hand side, you will see a bar there that represents -- you can't read the write, it's too far back, but I can read it even from here, so I'm going to tell you what it says.

That bar shows you how much our total demand is in the United States right now. And right now, we are making about 15 million barrels per day. We're producing in North America, about 15 million barrels a day. The rest we import.

So we are producing about two-thirds of what we use, we're importing about 1/3. And then we see as we go across the line. That there are various sources and down there is a bar representing conventional sources.

And actually, there's a little gray slice there. That suggests the conventional sources meaning that the wells we already have, the fields we already have, the technologies we already have are probably going to see a little reduction in production over the next 10 years.

And so we are going to have to make up for the reduction and then add to it. How do we do that?

Well, that's the next part. Offshore drilling -- we're going to add about 2 million barrels per day in offshore drilling, tight oil, that's oil which comes from places where you have to use the fracking technology to help get it out whether it is in North Dakota or with us right here in New Mexico, tight oil is a big source of additional supply. That's about another 2 billion barrels per day.

Alaska, this is ANWR, another source in Alaska. That will add additional oil production in this country.

Natural gas liquids -- you know that natural gas is just booming as a source of energy. As you produce the natural gas, you'll get some liquids. Those liquids can be refined and used to create gasoline for automotive purposes as well. That's about another 2 million barrels per day.

And then we come to the biofuels -- biofuels whether ethanol or biodiesel will produce 1 million barrels a day of additional capacity.

And then we come to Canada. Canada has oil sands. We are going to take advantage of that and build the Keystone Pipeline and make sure we take advantage of Canada's great energy sources.

And the last of bar that I have there is Mexico. And Mexico -- I'm not counting on any increase there. They have actually been declining slightly, but I think by virtue of a new president there, and conviction on the part of both parties in the most recent elections there, to encourage closer relationships with us, we're going to find ourselves being able to work with Mexico to share out technology and know-how to make them become more productive and add to the energy produce in North America.

The net of all this, as you can see, is by 2020. We're able to produce somewhere between 23 to 28 million barrels per day of oil, and we won't need to buy any oil from the Middle East or Venezuela or anywhere else when we don't want to.

(APPLAUSE)

ROMNEY: Now you might wonder how in the world am I going to do all those things because those opportunities have existed for a long time; we just haven't taken advantage of them. And so there are some things that I am going to do differently that makes it possible for us to be able to achieve those improvements in production from all of those sources I have described.

Number one, on federal lands -- on federal lands the permitting process to actually drill and get oil or gas is extraordinarily slow. Now interestingly, on state lands and private lands, state regulators have streamlined their permitting process, their evaluation of environmental process, safety processes.

They have found a way, because we compete, states do, with one another. They found a way to do a job in a more efficient way. So for instance in North Dakota, it takes 10 days to get a permit for a new well. In Colorado, it takes 27 days. That is to get on state land, a permit or private land.

But do you know how long it take takes the federal government regulators to get you a permit on federal land? On average, 307 days.

So here is what I am going to do. I am going to have the states take responsibility for the permitting process on federal lands. (APPLAUSE)

ROMNEY: Now, of course, the process is going to have to be reviewed and approved by the federal government. It's going to be overseen and monitored, but we are going to have state regulators not just regulate oil production and gas production on state lands and private lands, but also on federal lands, and that will improve the creation of new oil wells, new gas wells and get more production to the people that need it.

I also want to note another way we're going to get more production and that is with regards to our offshore sources. Right now the federal government has been holding off offshore development, and what we are going to have to do is speed that up and make it possible.

So I'm going to put together a five-year leasing plan to lease offshore sources, and we're going to make as part of that the Carolinas and Virginia and the Gulf. We're going to have targets. We're going to have the companies that do the drilling responsible for hitting those targets.

And if not, we are going to have corrective measures, but we are finally going to also make sure that we implement state-of-the-art safety procedures for offshore drilling and assure that as we put in place these regulations and procedures, they are designed for safety. They are not designed to stop drilling for energy resources.

Using the law to stop production of energy is not in the best interest of the United States of America and our people.

(APPLAUSE)

ROMNEY: Number three, I am going to establish an energy partnership with Canada and Mexico. We need to work together with these guys, work collaboratively and we need to have a fast-track process to make sure that infrastructure projects are approved.

And particularly we're going to get that Keystone pipeline built as one of those first infrastructure projects to take advantage of their resources.

(APPLAUSE)

ROMNEY: And number four, it is about time we get an accurate inventory about how much energy we have. The president keeps on talking about the idea that we only have 2 percent of the world's oil reserves. That's a dramatic understatement of the energy resources of this country. It's probably at least seven times that amount or even more.

So I'm going to authorize a new seismic study of our onshore and offshore resources to find out what we have and where we have it. I'm also going to require those that have these kind of surveys, seismic surveys in private hands to collect them so that we can look at them, share them with one another. We're going to take advantage of an understanding of where our resources --

(END LIVE COVERAGE OF SPEECH)

MALVEAUX: Mitt Romney, talking about his own energy policy if he were president.

We're going to actually run that through a fact check with our own Alison Kosik from the New York Stock Exchange after a quick break. But the world's most powerful women, they are breaking through the glass ceiling, leading some of the most successful companies, the nation's and the world's.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Mitt Romney calling for more drilling and fewer regulations when it comes to his U.S. energy policy. Now Romney just outlined the plan just moments ago at a speech in Hobbs, New Mexico, says it's going to make the country energy independent by 2020.

I want to bring in Alison Kosik from the New York Stock Exchange.

Talk about whether or not we think that's realistic. He is saying deregulation. He's also talking about states, specifically North Carolina and Virginia, not surprisingly, battleground states, to open up to more drilling.

Is it realistic?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Right.

MALVEAUX: Energy independent by 2020?

KOSIK: Believe it or not, it is. And the funny thing is, is we talked to this one analyst who said, you know what, even without everything that Romney is talking about, we're already on our way toward energy independence.

You look at what's been happening here in the United States for the past six years or so. The amount of oil that we produce here at home has actually gone up while we have imported less oil.

Do you know that today, more than half of the oil that we use is actually produced here in the U.S., and the oil that we do import, it may not even come from where you think it does. More than half of the oil that we import actually comes from the Western Hemisphere, talking about from Canada, from Mexico, Venezuela and the Caribbean.

Only 22 percent of the oil that we import, Suzanne, actually comes from the Middle East. Now I talked with one energy director at the nonpartisan Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.

And he told us that he thinks that this Romney plan is too simplistic. He think it's too one-dimensional. He says what really needs to happen here to get -- to gain this energy independence is we need a combination of increased production, of new efficiency standards and alternative energy, and he agrees that the U.S. is already well on its way to being independent of Mideast (sic) oil, and he says that, you know, some of these things that Romney is talking about would just be -- there would be too much red tape to get through.

One example is Romney was talking about more drilling or more production from Mexico, but the interesting thing is, in order to do that, it would require Mexico to actually change its constitution just to allow that to happen, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: So, Alison, it's interesting, because President Bush always used to talk about Americans' addiction to oil and getting off that addiction to foreign oil. And now the Obama administration has really been emphasizing renewable energy -- wind and solar power.

Explain how these actually differ, the Obama administration's plan and Romney's plan?

KOSIK: OK. Well, the one thing, so you know, Romney is putting a certain date on it, he is saying by 2020 in the next eight years he sees us energy independent.

The Obama administration is not putting a date on when that would happen, but the president is talking about kind of this -- all of the above approach, you know, expanding production and the use of alternative energy. That includes wind and solar and biofuels, clean coal, you know, the president's plan also focuses kind of on the consumption side of the equation.

And he's -- by doing this, by putting aggressive fuel economy standards in place, you look at what automakers have agreed to, they've agreed to higher fuel efficiency standards reaching 541/2 miles to the gallon by 2025.

One point of major difference, though, between Obama and Romney is that Keystone pipeline. That's of course the huge pipeline that brings oil from Canada into U.S., you know, president Obama vetoed the constriction plan and Romney clearly supports that new pipeline construction, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right. Alison, thank you, appreciate it.

A moment of silence after what some are calling a massacre. We have the latest from the South African mine shooting.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: South Africans are mourning the loss of 44 people killed in fights between police and miners.

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(MUSIC PLAYING) UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Thousands have shown up for memorial services around the country, now grieving families, they are speaking out. They are asking for answers.

Last Thursday, 34 miners were killed when police opened fire on charging strikers. Well, another 10 people, police officers and miners, died in protests earlier.

The mine is located in Rustenburg, and strikes began two weeks ago when rock drillers demanded higher wages.

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MALVEAUX: A Mexican cult destroying schools, attacking children and parents and blocking a whole town from starting classes.

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MALVEAUX: In Mexico, religion and education collide. A cult is destroying schools it thinks were built by the devil. That's right. It is happening in a small community west of Mexico City. Rafael Romo has the story.

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RAFAEL ROMO, CNN LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR (voice-over): Another day, another confrontation. At this small community of Nueva Jerusalen, or "New Jerusalem," in southwestern Mexico, tensions have been red hot for weeks. Most of the residents of New Jerusalem belong to a religious sect fighting against public education.

FATHER LUIS, NEW JERUSALEM (ph) SPOKESMAN (through translator): That school. It's not that we're against education. What happens is that those people are using the school as a way to introduce to our community things that are bad, like fashion, immorality, vice, drugs and alcoholism.

ROMO: Back in July, the members of the cult went as far as destroying the only government school building located in their town. They say the virgin of the rosary, whom they worship, told them the school buildings were built by the devil and were to be demolished. Other residents of the New Jerusalem are asking the government to intervene because they want their children to go to school without fear of being attacked.

MANUEL CAMPOS, TUICATO (ph) RESIDENT (through translator): We hope that the government will do something about it, although we haven't seen anything yet. We may have no other choice but to defend ourselves.

ROMO: The school year was supposed to begin Monday. Since the school building was destroyed, some teachers tried to start classes in private houses, but state officials says those trying to attend were pelted with stones by the group. UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We're going to keep on teaching, but we need security guarantees for ourselves, the community and the children.

ROMO: Meanwhile, the government of the state of Michoacan (ph), where the community is located, is considering dispatching state police to intervene in the dispute.

FAUSTO VALLEJO, MICHOACAN STATE GOVERNOR(through translator): I ask those people, the spiritual leaders of that community, to take action to solve the problem. Otherwise, with all due respect, we will have to act against them.

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MALVEAUX: Rafael Romo joins us now.

Rafael, you always bring the best stories, the most interesting and strange stories here. But first of all, this cult is quite disturbing. Is there anything that the community can do? I mean it seems like the school is closed. Nobody -- everything's at a standstill?

ROMO: They can and they have. They've met with the government of the state of Michoacan, where this town is located, yesterday. The government is meeting today with the cult at the town in an effort to try a solution. But the bottom line, the government says, is that children will start classes next Monday. They were supposed to start classes last Monday. They say if there's no agreement, they're ready to send state police to make sure that those kids are safe on their way to school and they're going to hold classes in private houses any way that they can. Even mobile classrooms they're willing to bring to this community so that children who are caught in the middle can begin their school year.

MALVEAUX: How powerful is this cult? I mean, how was it that they were able to actually do this?

ROMO: It is very powerful, actually. It's 3,000 people who live in this town. More than half of those 3,000 people belong to the cult. And they have -- they have a history of 40 years in that town. They were founded by a former catholic priest in 1973. So they control public life. They control the institutions. They control security. Nobody can go into the town, which is basically a fortress, without permission from the authorities there. And so they control the way people live, what they eat, what they listen to, and the government is now saying, that's too much when it comes to not allowing kids to go to school.

MALVEAUX: Is there any chance, Rafael, that this cult could become even more powerful outside of this community, spill into another neighborhood perhaps?

ROMO: What we have seen so far -- and this town is very marginalized -- is that their power is only concentrated in this town. It has the perfect conditions for a cult to flourish, which is, they're isolated, impoverished communities in this remote area in Mexico and there's really no likelihood that their influence will extend beyond the borders of that very small fortress.

MALVEAUX: Give us an update when you have one.

ROMO: Absolutely.

MALVEAUX: All right, I definitely want to follow-up on this story.

ROMO: OK.

MALVEAUX: Thank you, Rafael. Appreciate it.

ROMO: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: Hillary Clinton, Angela Merkel, even Oprah, they are all powerhouses on the world stage. But who's the most powerful woman in the world? We'll tell you.

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MALVEAUX: "Forbes" calls them the women who run the world. The magazine is out with the list of the 100 most powerful women. They lead countries, companies, charities and rule entertainment and media empires. So, the oldest person on the list, Queen Elizabeth, at 86. The youngest, Lady Gaga, 26 years old. Oprah Winfrey just missed finishing in the top 10. She comes in at number 11. Here's a look at the top five. "New York Times" executive editor Jill Abramson, she is in the number five spot. Number four, Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Number three, Dilma Rousseff, the president of Brazil. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, she's at number two. And the number one most powerful woman in the world, according to "Forbes," German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Congratulations.

And the Olympic spirit alive and well in London. Paralympic athletes beginning to arrive at Heathrow Airport today. More than 2,000 athletes expected to compete in the games beginning next week. Two and a half million tickets now have already been sold.

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MALVEAUX: This fresco painting of Jesus at a church in Spain is more than 100 years old and in badly needed restoration. So an elderly church member, with good intentions, who's also an armature painter, decided to restore this beloved painting by herself. It didn't quite turn out right. Let's take a look at it. The BBC says the woman called a cultural affairs official when she realized she was in over her head. Art historians are meeting soon to see if this fresco can actually be fixed. Some people in the community, however, they kind of find it endearing and they started a petition to keep the painting as it is.