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Netanyahu Defiant Amid Mounting Pressure; Biden Says Israel P.M. Not Doing Enough To Secure Deal; Israel P.M. Under Growing Pressure Over Hostage Deal; Renewed Hope in Bangladesh After Pm Sheikh Hasina's Ouster, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus Chosen to Lead Interim Government; Pope Francis Arrives in Indonesia for Start of 12-day Trip, Will Also Visit Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore. Aired 2-2:45a ET

Aired September 03, 2024 - 02:00   ET

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

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[02:00:16]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world and to everyone streaming us on CNN Max, I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead. Contrition and defiance from Israel's Prime Minister apologizing for the deaths of six hostages in Gaza, but insisting he won't cave on a key issue that could lead to a deal to return the remaining hostages.

Back to school under bombardment, Russia unleashing a wave of attacks the same day, Ukraine's children head back to the classroom.

And we'll hear from former political prisoners in Bangladesh who say they suffered abuse and torture at the hands of the previous government.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Thanks for joining us. Well, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is vowing to exact a heavy price on Hamas over the killing of six hostages in Gaza as he faces mounting pressure and major protests at home to secure a ceasefire deal, to bring the remaining hostages home. Organizers say hundreds of thousands of protesters returned to the streets across Israel for a second straight day as a general strike Monday brought the country to a near standstill.

All of it fueled by anger over the hostage deaths and the failure to secure a deal. Protesters outside one of Mr. Netanyahu private residences lit fires, chanting, you are the leader, you are guilty. Despite the growing pressure, Netanyahu says he won't make any concessions. Meanwhile, Hamas is warning any further rescue attempts by the Israeli military will lead to more hostages being killed.

Netanyahu is also facing criticism from Israel's closest ally with U.S. President Joe Biden, flatly saying the Israeli leader has not done enough to secure the hostages release. On Monday, Mr. Biden and vice president Kamala Harris huddled with U.S. officials who have been working to secure a deal. The U.S. President says he is close to presenting a final deal to negotiators.

CNN's Nic Robertson has more now from Tel Aviv.

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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): In the face of growing demands to get all the hostages home, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doubling down on his defiance.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL: We're asked to make concessions, what message does this send Hamas? It says, kill more hostages. Murder more hostages. You'll get more concessions.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Explaining he won't remove Israeli troops from the Gaza-Egypt border. A compromise Hamas demands. His only concession, rare contrition for the six hostage families.

NETANYAHU (through translator): I told the families and I repeat and say this evening, I'm asking for your forgiveness that we didn't manage to bring them back alive.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Pressure for him to back down rocketed Sunday. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis took to the streets, demanding he make the deal, save the other hostages. That energy and anger still alive on Monday, although the tempo are numbers down, their demands not changing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm here because I feel the government has neglected the hostages. They don't care about the hostages.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want this, this government to cease to exist. We want elections, first and foremost we want them to sign agreement to release the hostages.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): The whole nation watching what's at stake. Hersh Goldberg-Polin's poignant funeral testament to that.

RACHEL GOLDBERG-POLIN, HERSH GOLDBERG-POLIN'S MOTHER: I beg your forgiveness. We tried so very hard, so deeply and desperately. I'm sorry.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Not the cathartic homecoming his family believed to be in reach.

GOLDBERG-POLIN: We became absolutely certain that you were coming home to us alive. But it was not to be.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): An American, but a son of Israel, his family's pain, the nation's too. Goodbyes the country craves and here.

GOLDBERG-POLIN: OK, sweet boy. Go now on your journey. I hope it's as good as the trips you dreamed about. Because finally, my sweet boy, finally, finally, finally, finally, you're free. I will love you and I will miss you every single day for the rest of my life. ROBERTSON (voice-over): Nic Robertson, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[02:05:09]

CHURCH: Joining me now from Jerusalem is Gershon Baskin. A former hostage negotiator and the Middle East director for the International Communities Organization. Appreciate you joining us.

GERSHON BASKIN, FORMER HOSTAGE NEGOTIATOR, INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITIES ORGANIZATION: Me too.

CHURCH: So Israel's Prime Minister is coming under increased pressure from within his own country to make a hostage deal after six were found dead in a Hamas tunnel in Gaza. Massive protests blaming Netanyahu for their deaths because he failed to make a deal. But he's now vowing to make Hamas pay and says he will never give up control of the Philadelphia corridor. What does this tell you about any chance of bringing the hostages home?

BASKIN: Well, if it's up to Netanyahu, there will be no agreement with Hamas ever, and all the hostages will end up being dead. This is what we need to recognize. We're dependent right now on President Biden to put a deal on the table that he said is going to be ticket or leave it. And my words of advice to Joe Biden are that that deal better be a good deal, because the deal they've been trying to negotiate for three months is a bad deal.

There was a deal that would bring us a ceasefire for 42 days and release 32 hostages, and no one knows what happens beyond that. There needs to be a deal that, in three weeks, ends the war, brings home all the hostages. Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and there will be an agreed upon release of Palestinian prisoners. I've discussed this with Hamas leaders. I've discussed it with senior Israelis. I've appeared on the Israeli media and spoke about it.

This is a deal that can be done. It needs the backing of the United States of America to make this deal happen, because Netanyahu will not do it again on his own, and Netanyahu is acting like a dictator, as if he's the sole decision maker in the country of Israel today, while the majority of Israelis want a deal to be done, and the public doesn't know how to force Netanyahu to do it.

CHURCH: So why isn't the United States taking up that option you mentioned, that could have this over within three weeks and what more leverage does it need to apply to Netanyahu to get this done, to end the war and bring the hostages home?

BASKIN: Well, I think we have to recognize that the historic relationship between the United States in Israel has always been one in which the United States applies pressure, usually, on the adversaries, on the Palestinian leadership on Hamas in this case. And that's important that pressure be put on both sides. But we're at a point where this deal has to be done in the United States has leverage over Israel has to be done. Usually, the American president is thinking about the next elections. But let's face it, President Biden is free from those considerations right now. It's his decision. He's a free agent. He can use American pressure. Israel is completely dependent on the United States for its wellbeing, its defense, its intelligence cooperation in the region, the military support that the United States gives Israel is essential for Israel's survival.

And that needs to be on the table when President Biden puts a new deal on the table, that again, has to be a better deal than been there before, and the pressure has to be maximum. We have to save Israel. This is not a deal against Israel and it's not a deal against Netanyahu. It's a deal to save the country of Israel. It's also a deal to save the millions of people still in Gaza who are homeless and suffering and thousands who have been killed and don't have homes anymore.

This war needs to end. It is too dangerous for us. It's too dangerous for the Palestinians. It's too dangerous for the region, and it is, in fact, too dangerous for the United States to allow it to continue.

CHURCH: So, you say that President Biden can do this because he's not running for the next election. Why isn't he then doing this?

BASKIN: Well, I think we have to wait. He said in the coming days, or actually he said in the coming weeks, they're going to put a deal on the table. We don't have weeks. It has to really be in the coming days. And I know that Brett McGurk, his special emissary for this issue, and Bill Burns, the head of the CIA have been working 24/7 on trying to negotiate a deal. They need to be resolute in putting a better deal on the table now.

They need to coordinate with the Qataris and the Egyptians. And it has to be done together, so that it's a deal that Hamas cannot say to, no to, and neither can Israel. And it can be done. These three working together, and they've worked together over the last months, simply need to speed it up and make sure it's a much better deal than they've been talking about.

CHURCH: And Meantime, on the streets, we're seeing these protests. How different are they to previous demonstrations? Do they represent a turning point in the country as protesters demand Netanyahu make a deal and blame him for the deaths of the -- of the six hostages?

BASKIN: Right. I think we have to be clear that Hamas is responsible for their deaths.

[02:10:00]

Netanyahu is responsible for not rescuing them. So, we need to put that on the table. There is a change of mood in Israel. First, this country is extremely sad. It's difficult to find anyone in this country is who happy. And a lot of people are despairing, but there's so much anger, and this maybe is the turning point but it's very difficult to sustain that over a long period of time when Netanyahu has a very strong base and his arguments to counter any kind of agreement that you're empowering Hamas, most people don't know how to answer.

We have to know that Hamas cannot be defeated militarily. Hamas can only be defeated politically and that's when the Palestinian people know that they have a political horizon that will grant them liberation and dignity. And from that, Israel will get security. This is the deal that needs to be brokered after this war, but we need to end the war first, and everything needs to be done to end it.

The Israeli people will understand when our boys come home and they're not getting killed every day in Gaza, even if they don't see the destruction we've done in Gaza. We know that Israeli soldiers are getting killed almost every day, and this cannot continue as well. We are hurting too much. This war has to end.

CHURCH: Gershon Baskin in Jerusalem, thank you for joining us. Appreciate it.

BASKIN: Thank you.

CHURCH: The U.K. is suspending some of its arms exports to Israel over concerns about how the weapons might be used for the war in Gaza.

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DAVID LAMMY, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: It is with regret that I inform the House today the assessment I have received leaves me unable to conclude anything other than that for certain U.K. arms exports to Israel. There does exist a clear risk that they might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: About 30 of the U.K.'s 350 arms export licenses to Israel will be suspended. These include components for military aircraft, including fighter jets, helicopters and drones. British officials insist this is not an arms embargo, but Israel says it's disappointed by the decision, arguing it sends a very problematic message to Hamas.

The U.S. military says Houthi rebels in Yemen have attacked two more oil tankers in the Red Sea. It says the tankers, one from Saudi Arabia, the other from Panama were hit with ballistic missiles and drones on Monday. The Houthis only claimed responsibility for one of the attacks. This comes more than a week after the Iran-backed militants struck a Greek vessel, which has been burning and leaking oil ever since.

The Houthis have been carrying out attacks in the Red Sea since November, claiming they're protesting Israel's war in Gaza.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister says Western restrictions on using long- range weapons on Russian military targets mean his country is forced to fight with hands tied behind its back. Despite this, President Zelenskyy says things are going well for Ukrainian forces in Russia's Kursk region, but not so well in eastern Ukraine. He claims the incursion is helping reduce the number of Russian forces attacking Ukrainian frontline cities such as Pokrovsk. Although it's not stopping Russian missiles from raining down. Fred Pleitgen has the latest.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Monday morning, right before dawn, a massive barrage of Russian missiles targeting Ukraine's capital. Air defenses able to shoot down most of the incoming rockets, but some clearly impacting inside the city. Russia attacking Ukraine's largest cities just as millions of children were set to go back to school for the first day of the new term.

MARTA, UKRAINIAN STUDENT (through translator): Tonight, the explosions were very scary. I quickly ran into the bathroom. I could even feel the breeze from the impact of the explosion.

PLEITGEN (voiceover): Ukraine continuing its own incursion into Russian territory in an effort to force Vladimir Putin's army to move units away from other front lines. And now for the first time, CNN has obtained exclusive video showing how the Ukrainians first penetrated Russia's border. Elite mine clearing teams secretly infiltrated and blew up minefields in the heavily fortified border area clearing a path for the troops to get through.

But Ukraine remains both outmanned and outgunned in most areas, increasingly relying on drones to level the battlefield. We visited the FRDM drone firm as they tested their new octocopter attack drone, already carrying mock bombs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's RPG shot.

[02:15:04]

PLEITGEN (voiceover): Dropping them accurately from heights around 250 feet above ground.

Realizing the enemy's advantage in terms of numbers of people, we cannot risk people, he says. So, we are working harder to have even better drones.

The drones, a major factor on the battlefields where Ukrainian forces are currently trying to stop sustained Russian advances in the east of the country.

Russian President Vladimir Putin saying Ukraine's incursion into western Russia will not stop his armies from pushing forward elsewhere.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA (through translator): Their calculation was to stop our offensive actions in key parts of the Donbas. The result is known. Yes, of course, our people are going through a tough time, especially in the Kursk region.

PLEITGEN (voiceover): But the drone teams say they are not done yet, working on ever more sophisticated unmanned aircraft to hit the Russian invasion force.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Kyiv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Without any apparent fear of arrest, the Russian president is beginning a two-day state visit to Mongolia. This is Vladimir Putin's first trip to a country that's a member of the International Criminal Court, which issued a warrant for his arrest last year for war crimes. ICC member states have an obligation to arrest suspects and transfer them to the Hague, but Mongolia has shown no appetite for that.

President Putin is meeting with Mongolia's president today, Russia and Mongolia have been discussing building a natural gas pipeline linking the two nations.

Still ahead on CNN NEWSROOM. Venezuela responds after the U.S. seizes President Nicolas Maduro's plane. The accusations being leveled by Caracas.

Plus, U.S. President Joe Biden joins Kamala Harris on the campaign trail. Their message to voters in the swing state of Pennsylvania, that's next.

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CHURCH: Venezuela's government accuses the U.S. of piracy and escalating aggression for seizing President Nicolas Maduro's plane. The U.S. says the jet was acquired in violation of sanctions, among other criminal issues.

CNN's Oren Lieberman has more.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: This jet was in the Dominican Republic for maintenance when U.S. authorities seized it. FBI agents flew it from the Dominican Republic to Florida. There, you can see video obtained exclusively by CNN as it landed in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and was taxiing around there. It's not quite the 747 jumbo jet that the U.S. uses as Air Force One.

But it is, according to two U.S. officials, Venezuela's version of Air Force One used by President Nicolas Maduro to fly around to meetings and to other events there. According to garland, it was purchased for some $13 million. You buy a shell company before it was illegally flown out of the country. Now, the U.S. and Venezuela have long had a frosty relationship. That's only gotten worse, perhaps even almost outright hostile, since the July presidential election.

[02:20:09]

The U.S. not recognizing the claimed results of that election. According to Maduro's own regime, he won with some 51 percent of the vote. The U.S. not recognizing that is a free and fair election. In fact, many other countries not recognizing it as well. It is because of the results or claimed results of that election that the U.S. reimpose sanctions on Venezuela's oil and gas industries. Venezuela said the seizure of that jet was, "piracy."

Oren Lieberman, CNN in Washington.

CHURCH: Venezuelan authorities have issued an arrest warrant for former presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez. The prosecutor's office accuses him of crime associated with terrorism. The opposition party in Venezuela claims Gonzalez won July's presidential race by a landslide over incumbent Nicolas Maduro. The U.S. and many other countries refuse to accept maduro's claim of victory.

Edmundo Gonzalez denies the accusations against him. Prosecutors say they're also investigating opposition leader Maria Corina Machado. She says the threat of arrest will only help to unite the opposition.

A small crowd attacked two U.S. Marines Monday who were on a break in the city of Izmir in Turkey. And you can see it in this video posted to social media, several people were holding the Marines as one of them shouted help. Chanting, Yankee, go home. The attackers put a bag over the head of the other marine. The Navy says other Marines were able to help. The two break away. Both were checked at a local hospital, but were not injured. Local police and the Navy say they are investigating the incident.

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris says U.S. Steel should remain an American owned company despite a takeover bid by Japan's Nippon Steel. Harris campaign in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Monday, with current President Joe Biden hoping to win over union members. CNN's Senior White House Correspondent Kayla Tausche has details.

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Joe Biden and vice president Kamala Harris appearing on the campaign trail for the first time since Harris ascended to the top of the ticket. President Biden delivering a forceful defense of his one-time running mate who is now running to succeed him as president, celebrating the work that they've done for the last 3-1/2 years, particularly when it comes to organized labor.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Made a lot of progress and Kamala and I are going to build on that progress, and she's going to build on it. I'll be on the sidelines. I'll do everything I can to help.

TAUSCHE: While the two exhibited their characteristic and stylistic differences, they were in lockstep on much of their message that the Democrats running for office this year are the ones who have a platform that will promote and provide more benefits for those who are members of unions. Donald Trump and J.D. Vance on the Republican side, they say have no platform that would do the same.

But they did have one area of agreement in particular where the two were in lockstep and that was the endorsement of American ownership for iconic Pittsburgh-based company, U.S. Steel, currently at the center of a $15 billion takeover by a Japanese rival. Shareholders have approved the deal, but union members have voiced their opposition. And today Vice President Harris echoing President Biden's own opposition which he staked out in Pittsburgh last April.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KAMALA HARRIS (D) UNITED STATES DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Everywhere I go, I tell people, you may not be a union member, but you better thank unions for that five-day work week. Thank unions for sick leave, thank unions for paid family leave, thank unions for your vacation time, because when union wages go up, everybody's wages go up. When union workplaces are safer, all workplaces are safer. When unions are strong, America is strong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAUSCHE: It's a singular issue, but it's emblematic of the debate in middle America. That is resisting the control of foreign interests and foreign ownership and keeping American manufacturing wholly owned and strong going into the future. There's just 64 days left before the election and this is a message that is going to be carried throughout the heartland.

President Biden will be campaigning and making official visits in Michigan and Wisconsin. Vice President Harris will be visiting New Hampshire, where she'll be delivering a speech rolling out the next face of her economic plan.

Kayla Tausche, CNN, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

CHURCH: And Monday's Pennsylvania revenge is the first time President Joe Biden has campaigned with Kamala Harris since the DNC.

[02:25:05]

And I spoke earlier with Larry Sabato, director of the Center for politics at the University of Virginia. And I asked him what impact President Biden's support would likely have.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: I don't know that he would help in every battleground state, but he certainly helps in Pennsylvania, because he was senator for so many years from Delaware, right next door to Pennsylvania, and he has said over the years that he has been Pennsylvania's third senator. I don't know whether that's true or not, but it's a good place for him to go.

It's a strong union state and labor unions have always been attracted to Joe Biden's record, and he has always argued for them. So, I think for Kamala Harris, it was a good way to start out the final phase, the post Labor Day phase of the campaign with somebody who can actually help. It was also a good way to reintroduce Biden to the campaign because after all, even though his numbers have gone up since he withdrew from the campaign, he's still in the low 40s. So, he can only be so much help to her in so many places.

CHURCH: And the latest polling from ABC/Ipsos shows no real bounce for Harris coming out of the DNC. But she is enjoying a slight lead on rival Donald Trump, although it's within the margin of error. What does that reveal to you? And what could that mean for voters in critical battleground states?

SABATO: It just means it's very, very close. And everything we've seen in all seven of the battleground states has it close. Either Kamala Harris is up by a few, or she's down by a couple, but all of them are going to be very competitive. If I could just add a word about that bounce, because I've heard this constantly across many networks. We haven't had a good convention bounce since 2000.

Al Gore and George W. Bush each got eight points out of their conventions. We have had nothing in 2016, nothing in 2020 and Donald Trump didn't get a bounce either. It isn't just Kamala Harris in the conventions this year. So the bounce means nothing. There was a bounce before the convention as she was rolled out as the new nominee. So that doesn't signal anything and shouldn't signal anything to anybody.

CHURCH: Right. Yes. Very important point. So, with only about two months to go, what do you think the four to six percent or so of undecided voters are waiting to hear from the candidates before they make their choice?

SABATO: Well, they will wait for the debate that's on the 10th of September because they remember CNN's debate on June 27th which actually sent an incumbent president packing, which has never happened before in American history. So, no one can say that debates don't matter. Now, whether this one will matter, coming up on September 10th, we'll have to see, but I'll bet it draws a very, very substantial audience. That is what people are waiting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And you can see my full interview with Larry Sabato next hour here on CNN NEWSROOM.

Still to come. Bangladesh is picking up the pieces following the recent mass protests which led to the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Now political prisoners are speaking out about the horrors they face under her regime. We'll have a report.

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[02:31:05]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWSROOM": A renewed sense of hope in Bangladesh after the ouster of longtime Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. She resigned and fled the country last month, following weeks of deadly anti-government protests. Critics say her 15 years in power are marked by a stifling of civil freedoms and using harsh measures to crush dissent. Now, as the country begins a new chapter, political prisoners are coming forward, sharing stories of abuse and torture at the hands of Hasina's government.

And CNN's Anna Coren met with some of those former prisoners and she joins me now, live from Hong Kong. Good to see you, Anna. So, what did these former political prisoners tell you?

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, this was a student-led people power revolution. And despite what they've suffered and adjudged (ph), they told me they would do it again. As you say, Sheikh Hasina and her authoritarian government were overthrown by this uprising, which was less than a month ago, and yet so much has happened since then as Bangladesh take steps in seeking accountability for its dark history and human rights abuses.

We recently traveled to Bangladesh and we met with student leaders who were pivotal to the protests, who claim they were tortured by security services under orders by Hasina.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COREN (voice-over): The fresh faces of the future against that of the past, choose hanging in the face of Bangladesh's ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the ultimate insult and show of defiance in a country where people on the streets achieved the unthinkable. What began as a student-led protest against government quotas in early July morphed into a mass uprising. After Hasina who had been in for more than 15 years, ordered police to open fire on the crowds. Over the following weeks, hundreds of people were killed, while thousands were arrested.

NUSRAT TABASSUM, POLITICAL SCIENCE STUDENT OF DHAKA UNIVERSITY: They came to my house, they broke three doors. They took me with them and oh, my god, the physical torture that was miserable.

COREN (voice-over): Nusrat Tabassum, a 23-year-old political science student, says she was beaten for hours on end. Her face repeatedly hit, some of her teeth now loose, her right ear drum burst.

TABASSUM: Without hearing aid, I can't listen in my right ear.

COREN (voice-over): After five days in custody, Nusrat was paraded in front of the cameras. The only female in the group of prominent student leaders, forced to make an apology.

For fellow student Iftekhar Alam, his detainment was even more sinister. Snatched from his home before dawn, he was blindfolded, handcuffed, and believes he was taken to a notorious military intelligence facility in Dhaka were over the years hundreds of Bangladeshi considered anti-state have been disappeared.

IFTEKHAR ALAM, STUDENT PROTESTER: I was like there was no escaping from this and my life will end here, and no one will know.

COREN (voice-over): The law student says for hours, he was beaten with a metal rod, breaking bones in his feet. A burning cigarette was then pushed into his fingers and toes as part of what they called the little game.

ALAM: When I close my eyes, I remember that. I went to that horrible day.

COREN (voice-over): Once released, he discovered Hasina had resigned and fled to India.

ALAM: The people's Bangladesh, it is the people's country. [02:35:00]

COREN (voice-over): The capital now awash with colorful murals, has a very clear message. There is no going back. As the U.N. investigates the hundreds of protester deaths, the people have entrusted Interim Chief Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus to bring about desperately needed reform.

COREN: The fall of the government has unleashed a spirit that has electrified every level of society. It has given a voice to everyone, to students, to doctors, even rickshaw drivers, as they take to the streets to make the demands.

COREN (voice-over): But change doesn't happen overnight, especially in a country of 170 million people where the iron fist ruled and corruption and cronyism reigned.

TABASSUM: My country is sick, but our people, we stand together. I believed there will be sunshine in future.

COREN (voice-over): A future this generation will continue to fight for.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: Yeah, incredibly resilient and brave people, Rosemary. Look, as well as this U.N. fact-finding mission into the atrocities that occurred, Bangladesh's interim government under Muhammad Yunus, who the students describe him as a guardian, like a grandfather, and they are his grandchildren. He has set up this commission to investigate the hundreds of suspected enforced disappearances. Now, human rights groups believe that more than 700 Bangladeshi were disappeared under Hasina's 15-year reign, and at least three of those who were disappeared have since been released from secret prisons in recent weeks.

Some have spoken about the horrors that they had to endure. The families of the missing certainly welcome this commission of inquiry to be headed by a retired high court judge, and they will submit their findings in the next few months and make recommendations. Now, there are calls for India, which is providing refuge for Sheikh Hasina, to send her back to Bangladesh and to face trial for the abuses during her reign. The families of those who are missing want her to face justice. Rosemary?

CHURCH: Anna Coren, we thank you for that incredible report. Appreciate it.

And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Pope Francis has begun a marathon 12- day tour of Southeast Asia. He touched down in Jakarta, Indonesia earlier today. It comes as the Catholic Church seeks to grow and strengthen its presence across Asia. The pope is set to meet with Indonesia's president and other officials on Wednesday, before continuing his trip to three other nations.

And CNN's Kristie Lu Stout joins me now, live from Hong Kong. Good to see you, Kristie. So, the pope is embarking on this challenging tour of Asia, first stop Indonesia, home to the world's largest Muslim population.

[02:40:00]

How does he plan to cement the church's position in the region?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, by showcasing his shear commitment and determination. Look, this is a very ambitious trip for the pope, who is showing no signs of slowing his outreach. The pope's 12-day visit to Southeast Asia and the South Pacific is underway. Earlier today, Tuesday at around 11:30 a.m. local time, he arrived in Indonesia and while sitting in a wheelchair, he disembarked from the plane using a lift and he was greeted on the tarmac by Indonesian children, by honor guards, by local catholic leaders. And the pope, in addition to visiting Indonesia, will also visit it Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore.

Now CNN's Vatican Correspondent, Christopher Lamb was on the plane with the pope and he says onboard that long 13-hour overnight flight, the pontiff is in good spirits and even at the back of the plane, greeted the journalists who were traveling with him. Now, this visit across Southeast Asia and the South Pacific will be a challenge for Pope Francis. It is his longest and farthest trip ever. It is one of the longest foreign trips for any pope, and it will test his strength and fortitude because Pope Francis is now 87-years-old. He is again using a wheelchair and he has been battling health problems.

Now, the pope will not have any public events today on Tuesday. His first official events in Indonesia will take place tomorrow. On Wednesday, he will address political leaders and then on Thursday, he will visit Jakarta's vast Istiqlal Mosque. This is one of the largest mosques in the world. It has this very interesting symbolic tunnel, this underpass that links it to a neighboring catholic cathedral. So Pope Francis, he will have an interfaith meeting at the mosque. He will visit this tunnel known as the 'Tunnel of Friendship'.

I should also have the Indonesia is a secular state. It has a total population of 280 million. 90 percent are Muslim, only 3 percent are catholic, but many Muslim Indonesians are welcoming the pope.

CHURCH: All right, our thanks to Kristie Lu Stout, joining us live from Hong Kong. Appreciate it.

I want to thank you for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. "World Sport" is coming up next. Then, I'll be back in about 15 minutes with more "CNN Newsroom." Do stick around.

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[02:45:00]

(WORLD SPORT)