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Connect the World
German Doctors Find Nerve Agent In Navalny's System; CNN Speaks To Russian Opposition Politician Twice Poisoned; President Donald Trump Casts Himself As The "Law And Order" Candidate; "Hotel Rwanda" Hero Facing Terror-Related Charges; UK Government Trying To Stop Those Who Facilitate Crossings; David Blaine Soars Above Arizona Desert. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired September 03, 2020 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: --the ominous words of the German Chancellor demanding answers from Kremlin from the poisoning of
Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny. It is 5:00 pm in Berlin and Navalny is in hospital, 6:00 in Moscow and 7:00 here in Abu Dhabi.
Let's connect the facts for you. It has become a familiar scenario hasn't it? A Russian decedent or Kremlin critic suddenly falls ill because of a
mysterious poison in their system. Blame quickly falls on Russia.
We broke the news Wednesday that the German government confirmed Alexey Navalny had been poisoned by the nerve agent Novichok. He remains in
serious condition at that German hospital after two weeks after getting sick on a flight in Russia. Now world leaders are demanding answers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANGELA MERKEL, GERMAN CHANCELLOR: There are very serious questions now which the Russian government can and must answer. The fate of Alexey
Navalny has received a lot of attention worldwide. The world will wait for an answer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, several nations are condemning the poisoning. The EU calls the act despicable. The UK says it is outrageous. We have just heard from
the organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, they call the incident a matter of grave concern.
One person not on that list, U.S. President Donald Trump, though his National Security Council says it is deeply troubled by the situation. This
all comes at a time when Russia is reportedly trying to meddle in the U.S. election again. The Kremlin's response so far has been what poisoning?
CNN's Fred Pleitgen has the story from Berlin.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: After more than ten days in one of Germany's top hospitals toxicologist are now certain
Alexey Navalny was poisoned with a nerve agent Novichok. A visibly angry German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, demanding answers from Russia.
There are severe questions that only Russia can answer, she said, and indeed Russia must answer. Alexey Navalny has long been the most vocal and
arguably the most powerful critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia's power elite his investigations into widespread corruption viewed
by millions of people.
Navalny felt severely ill on a domestic Russian flight on August 20th. He could be heard screaming in pain, forcing an emergency landing where in the
city of Omsk where he was rushed to hospital. In a CNN interview, Navalny's Chief of Staff later pointed the finger squarely at the Russian state.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEONID VOLKOV, ALEXEY NAVALNY'S CHIEF OF STAFF: Their refusal even to open up a criminal investigation shows that Mr. Putin is responsible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PLEITGEN: Indeed doctors treating Navalny in Omsk claimed there was no evidence he had been poisoned. After international pressure and pressure
from Navalny's family, he was finally medically evacuated to Berlin on August 22nd where experts quickly came to the conclusion that he had been
poisoned.
Now the German government says there is no doubt Alexey Navalny was attacked with a military-grade nerve agent Novichok, the same chemical used
to poison the Former Russian Spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury in the UK in 2018 the international community holding Russia
responsible for that poisoning.
Now the German government says it will work with allies to determine if and how to further punish Moscow. We will consult with the EU and decide on the
appropriate response Angela Merkel said, the crime against Alexey Navalny is directed against the fundamental rights and valuing we stand for, and
the consequences for Alexey Navalny himself could be devastating.
The Berlin hospital treating him put out an update late Wednesday saying long-term consequences of the severe poisoning cannot be ruled out. Fred
Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.
ANDERSON: Fred will join us with more in just a few minutes. First up though I want to get to my next guest who says he has been poisoned twice
leaving him in come. He says it was like Groundhog Day when he heard about Navalny's poisoning and he blames Vladimir Putin's regime, calling it "A
regime that speaks with its opponents in the language of bullets and poison".
Outspoken Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza joins me now from Washington D.C. Shortly after the news broke about Navalny's, two weeks ago, you said
you relived a horrific Groundhog Day. Tells us about that experience, your experience?
VLADIMIR KARA-MURZA, KREMLIN CRITIC: Hello Becky and I'm actually - evidence. It is good to be in your program though I wish it we were on the
different subject. Yes, it was - and it was a Groundhog Day because when I first heard and read about the symptoms of Alexey Navalny's poisoning it
was frighteningly close to I had experienced in my own two poisonings in Moscow back in 2015 and then again in 2017.
[11:05:00]
KARA-MURZA: You know it is very scary to not be able to breathe when you try to grasp for air and you feel as if you're suffocating and then so
raising heart beat and violent vomiting and you just feel as if your body is slowly giving up. It's excruciating and painful.
I think that's actually one of the reasons that Soviet and later Russian security services have favored this method so much because it's a sadistic
method of - everything else. But this is a method also that they think gives them plausible deniability.
Because of course as you was just mentioning in your report every time something like this happens every time another political opponent of the
Putin Regime or independent journalist or anti-corruption campaign or a defector or some other type of undesirable suffers this fate or attack or
attempted murder or actual murder by poison, Kremlin spokespeople shrug their shoulders and say oh, you know we had nothing to do with this.
Nobody even knows what happens. I think it's high time that the international committee stops accepting this so-called plausible
deniability because it is not plausible. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it almost is certainly a duck in this case not almost but
certainly and let's do away with a - and formalities of allegedly and reportedly.
You know there's a whole slate along and growing list of political opponents of Vladimir Putin's regime who have suffered this fate. It is not
only by poison by the way 5.5 years ago in February of 2015, Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was gunned down literally in front of the
Kremlin walls.
And to this day the Russian authorities of the highest level continue to shield the organizers and masterminds of that assassination. So yes, it is
a regime that speaks with its political opponents in the language of poison and bullets, and it is high time that western democracy stopped any talk of
any more resets detentes or smile with the regime like this.
ANDERSON: The Kremlin says their investigative bodies will carry out the necessary verification actions once they receive information from the
Germans, implying there was not enough proof at this point. After you were poisoned, you said proof is possible to obtain. Explain if you will.
KARA-MURZA: So both times after my poisonings, again 2015 and 2017, I cannot express enough how grateful I am to be able to even sit and speak
with you here because both times doctors told my wife that I had about a 5 percent chance to survive when I was in coma and multiple organ failure. So
only by the grace of God and the good doctors in Moscow that I'm able to even sit here and speak with you.
But both times after I was back on my feet literally, my lawyer and I went to the Russian Investigative Committee which is a top law enforcement body
in Russian government and requested that they open a criminal probe into attempted murder.
Well, to this day we're now in September of 2020, to this day, we have not even received a response, neither yes or no. This is as regards to the
Russian investigative authorities. It's actually an interesting American angle on my poisoning too because of the second time this happened in
February of 2017.
My wife managed to get a blood sample to Washington, to the United States, to an FBI Toxicology Lab, which is supposed to be among the top of its kind
in the world. They accepted the sample. They conducted the testing, presumably found some results, and then they classified them.
They refused to give them to me. They refuse to do give them to members of congress, including the late Senator John McCain, who requested them
specifically. They refused to give it to media organizations who tried to get them under the Freedom of Information Act.
So earlier this year I had no other choice but to go to court through my American lawyers led by Steven one of the top Washington attorneys and then
an American court against the FBI, to compel them to hand over this information to me.
There was a story in "The Sunday Times" in London, in which as this past weekend in which an unnamed U.S. government official is quoted as saying
that the reason for the classification was some sort of a back-room deal between American and Russian security services.
I have to say I was pretty shocked to read that. But in terms of the Russian investigative bodies, we also see how they behave themselves in the
matter of the assassination of Boris Nemtsov the most high profile political assassination in modern Russia.
Not only did they refuse to conduct any investigation as to the organizers and master minds, the lowest levels the perpetrators have been arrested and
jailed because there was so much public and international outcry but anybody even half a step higher in terms of the organizers of assassination
continues to be shielded and protected by the Russian state at the highest levels.
And the Russian government has also refused any cooperation with Council of Europe and oversees oversight procedures on this case.
ANDERSON: This is fascinating. Speaking to journalists, Kremlin Spokesman Dimitri Peskov said and I quote here, I would choose words carefully when
speaking about accusations against the Russian state because there are no accusations at the moment. This is regard to Navalny. There's no reason to
accuse the Russian state.
[11:10:00]
ANDERSON: Many would beg to differ. You have to listen to the words of the German Chancellor and he was targeted effectively is what she is saying,
your response to that Kremlin statement?
KARA-MURZA: Well, first of all Dimitri Peskov is someone whose full time job is to lie constantly from morning till night every single day. So I
don't think we should take anything he says seriously. But on the substance of the point though, first of all nobody had any doubt from the first
second that they had.
And I'm talking about you know my colleagues and friends and people in Russia from the first moment they heard what happened to Alexey Navalny
nobody had any doubt what this was? And that this was nothing except a politically motivated attack against someone who today is the most
effective the most prominent and the most dangerous political opponents of the Kremlin regime.
And there's only one group of people who benefits from an attack on Alexey Navalny and that is Vladimir Putin and his close circle. There's no other
way around it. This was before German Toxicologist found the substance. So if anybody even harbored any remaining doubts you know there should be none
left by this point because you know Novichok is not something you can go and buy in the pharmacy.
It is a military grade nerve agent. It is a binary chemical weapon that was produced by the Russian state and that is used by Russian security services
which is by the way prohibited under the International Chemicals Weapon Convention. So apart from anything else it's also a clear violation of
international law.
ANDERSON: So, why do you think you know you accuse the Russian authorities of being at the heart of this and you say you didn't have enough experience
of an incident like this to be confident about that? You know there is a very basic question here, why uses a nerve agent like this? Why not just
shoot somebody on the street? I mean I guess you could suggest that that's been done in the past. But just what's your sense.
KARA-MURZA: Well, they did shoot somebody in the street and not just somebody that they shot the most prominent and the most effective political
opposition leader to Putin's regime. Former Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Boris Nemtsov he was assassinated gunned down literally in front of the
Kremlin walls 200 yards from the Kremlin walls in Moscow on February 27th, 2015.
And as we can see in the ensuing 5.5 years the Russian authorities have shielded and protected the organizer and masterminds of the assassination.
The only way to counter impunity in this case has come from international organizations and earlier this year in 2020 the parliamentary assembly of
the OSCE the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe produced its own oversight report.
The most comprehensive and detailed legal document today concerning the Nemtsov assassinations publicly available on the OC Parliamentary Assembly
website which contains a lot of detailed evidence and testimonies including of when and how the order was given by Vladimir Putin on the assassination
of Boris Nemtsov?
It also makes it a very clear conclusion that the reason for the continuing impunity of the organizes masterminds is the political will of the current
Russian government. So they use different methods, they use shooting as well but poison has been a particularly preferred method of theirs.
Going back to Soviet days we know of many poisonings of opponents Alexander Solzhenitsyn was poisoned in the 1970s for example. But this methods was
really proliferated since Putin came to power because I think above all they think it gives them plausible deniability.
Because no one can argue that Boris Nemtsov was assassinated. This time they can say oh, may be had low blood sugar as Kremlin propaganda tried to
say initially when Alexey Navalny was poisoned.
ANDERSON: Vladimir, you often say that many people across parts with the Kremlin fall victim to attacks like these. You have encouraged world
leaders to take a stance on this. And firstly, I want to know what you think the impact of the use of sanctions is? And secondly how do you feel
about the fact that effectively the U. S. president has made no mention of this no Navalny poisoning?
KARA-MURZA: Well, that's for the U.S. president you know I'm Russian I'm not American. So I let Americans comment on the behavior of their own
president. I would say let this be on their conscience. I'm so glad that they're very strong bipartisan statements from the American Congress on
both sides of the aisle Republicans or Democrats will publicly stood up and took a position on Alexey Navalny's poisoning.
And this is important because public spotlight is the major reason that he's now in safe hands in Berlin because there was so much pressure that
the Kremlin felt compelled to allow his wife to transport him out of the country.
As for the sanctions the most effective type of sanctions there is other targeted sanctions individual, personal targeted sanctions. The Kremlin
doesn't care so much about general sanctions. In fact they're very often counterproductive because they allow you know Kremlin propaganda to kind of
explain the way the many real economic problems in Russia that result from the Kremlin's own policies by foreign sanctions.
[11:15:00]
KARA-MURZA: Targeted sanction is a different story. You know there's legislation in the United States called the Magnitsky Act that was passed
in 2012. I had the honor of participating in the advocacy campaign for that legislation. I have no doubt that was the reason that that they tried to
kill me twice.
But the essence of that legislation is that it provides you as government the authority to impose visa bans and asset freezes against those foreign
government officials initially applied only to Russia since then there was a global Magnitsky Act that applies across the whole world.
So those officials of foreign governments what personally complicit in human rights abuses and corruption will no longer be able to get a U.S.
visa own U. S. assets and this principle strikes at the very heart of Putin's rotten and corrupt and kleptocratic system of power because people
who are in the Kremlin today they like to steal in Russia but spend that money in the West.
Because you know they want to take their vacations in the west and send their kids to western school and buy homes and yachts and open bank
accounts in western countries and so on. And so the Magnitsky legislation first of all it ends this hypocrisy where by people that abuse the most
basic norms of democratic society in our country in Russia then go to western countries and enjoy the benefits and privileges of democratic
society offers.
And secondly it strikes right at the heart of that rotten kleptocratic system. And so I think the main response now from western democracies to
what has happened with Alexey Navalny must be the really scaling up of these targeted personal individual sanctions in the U.S. in Canada in the
United Kingdom hopefully soon in European Union but for now there is no Magnitsky mechanism yet but I hope it appears soon.
Ratcheting up of those personal targeted individual sanctions against senior officials and oligarchs of the Putin regime what are complicit in
gross human rights abuses and corruption. That is the most effective way.
ANDERSON: Vladimir, let me just ask you this very basic question. Will you ever go back to Russia, briefly?
KARA-MURZA: This question really bizarre. I'm based in Moscow, I'm a Russian politician. I think the biggest gift we could to give to the
Kremlin those of us current democratic opposition in Russia is if we run away and gave up.
There are millions of people in Russia who are fed up with the Putin regime and who have a very different democratic vision for our country. And for
their sake we will continue our work and I have no doubt that one day will prevail.
ANDERSON: With that we'll leave it there. We thank you very much indeed for joining us from willingness this evening.
KARA-MURZA: Thank you.
ANDERSON: Still ahead, two presidential candidates' two very different takes on addressing the civil unrest that followed police brutality in
Wisconsin. Joe Biden is visiting Kenosha today what he says he hopes to accomplish on the trip.
And I will talk about Biden's messaging with the former U. S. Senator Bob Kerrey. Plus the family of the hero portrayed in the film Hotel Rwanda he
was kidnapped we'll speak with his daughter is just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:20:00]
ANDERSON: Well, the stark differences between the main U. S. presidential candidates will be on full display today in Kenosha in Wisconsin.
Democratic Nominee Joe Biden is heading that two days after President Donald Trump visited the city.
Well, the president mainly focus on touring areas damaged in the violence that followed the police shooting of Jacob Blake and giving an overarching
defense of police pushing his law and order strategy.
It has pretty much become the centerpiece of Donald Trump's campaign. He did not meet with Blake's family. Joe Biden will meet with Blake's father
today and will offer a message that is very different from the president's take listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We're going to do is we got to heal. We have got to put things together bring people together. And so my purpose in
going will be to do just that to be a positive influence on what's going on. Talk about what need be done and tried to see if there's a beginning a
mechanism to bring the folks together we have to heal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, I want to talk more about Joe Biden and his messaging with the Former Nebraska Governor and Senator Bob Kerrey. He's endorsing Joe
Biden for president. It's a pleasure having you on sir thank you. Joe Biden on his way to Kenosha now two days after the president visited the city.
And some that suggests he is playing catch up should have gone sooner?
BOB KERREY, FORMER U.S. SENATOR: No, I mean the suggestions they are playing catch up is basically inside the beltway commentary. No, it look
the difference between Joe Biden and President Trump is stark. The press has stirred up a lot of these protests by saying that they're illegitimate.
By saying that every one of them has been taken over by - we called them Marxist Black Lives Matter the chain ANTIFA is a part of everything and out
there suggested that it does a plane although. People dressed in black uniforms heading into all of his language is inflammatory as opposed to
listening to the protesters and trying to understand what it is that they want.
And if it's a reasonable request you work with local officials. You don't send in - you don't send in the police force as he did in Portland and you
certainly not going to Wisconsin to claim that you were the one that brought in the National Guard when it was the Democratic Governor that
you've been critical of the call in the National Guard that's reduced the violence.
On the other hand if they have an unreasonable request such as defunding the police you say no which is exactly what Joe Biden is done in spite of
the president lying and saying that's what he supports. So if you're trying involving the conflict at the local level you've got to listen to what the
people at the local level want.
ANDERSON: Senator you've been in politics long enough. You know that when it comes to a big event like an election hope doesn't sell fear does. I'm
thinking back to the 2008 election manifesto by Obama at that time that's probably the last time I can think of a platform where actually won the
day. This is an election all about fear at this point.
KERREY: This isn't about now is it the president trying to make the election about fear. I have friends who say oh my gosh how can you stand
the archives it's getting more and more and more violent because that's what the president is saying. It is not getting more and more violent.
My friends live in Portland who say to me you know it's surprising life is going on normally. It's the president is trying to make people afraid. It's
the president is trying to make fear the central issue in the campaign rather than trying to make the central issue of the campaign not just how
do we get our economy growing again that's a consequence of his incompetence in dealing with COVID-19?
But how do we resolve these issues at the local level. These are local issue and the president makes him worse when he makes false claims about
violence. When he doesn't listen to what the protesters want? When he doesn't make an effort to resolve the conflict and support what local
leaders are doing instead he is saying every local leaders run by corrupt Democrats.
I'm from Omaha. We have a Republican Mayor in Omaha. There's been violence in Omaha and she's handled exceptionally well. She didn't have to call in
the National Guard. She's handled exceptionally well. You resolve the conflict by saying yes, when you can do things and you say no when you
can't and that's exactly how she's led.
ANDERSON: Yes. Let's take a look at the latest polls for our your viewers and I want you to respond to these. The later showing Joe Biden at 51
percent Donald Trump at 43 percent but polls like this one not telling the whole story of course.
I want also take a look at the latest Monmouth Poll showing no clear leader for example in the swing State of Pennsylvania. This - that the campaign
does it not?
[11:25:00]
KERREY: Well, it should bother Americans if we get four more years of Donald Trump. You're going to get four more years of exaggeration four more
years of lack of leadership four more years of ignoring science when you're dealing with a pandemic. It shouldn't frighten Democrats who would fright
Americans who honestly look at his leadership and said that he's failing.
He's failed to step forward and do what a president ought to be doing. He is a good - could be close absolutely could be close. Could you end up with
an evening saying we're not certain who the winner is because I've got mail in ballots? I mean, the president went to North Carolina yesterday and
urged the people of North Carolina to break the law and vote twice.
And his Attorney General said award gosh I don't know him, maybe North Carolina's got a law that says you can't vote twice that's BS. Where is a
state in the nation that has a law that says you can vote twice? So the Americans ought to be worried about what would happen if President Trump
gets another four years?
ANDERSON: Nancy Pelosi under heavy criticism for appearing on CCTV cameras in a hair salon without wearing a mask which she calls you know this is set
up. Have a listen to specifically what she said? I've got - there was a point to this. I promise you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): I take responsibility for trusting of the word of the neighborhood salon that I've been to over the years many times and that
when they said what we're able to accommodate people one person at a time. And that we can set up that time I trusted that as it turns out it was a
set up. So I take responsibility for falling for a setup.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: So she's not taking ownership. She's taking responsibility for what she calls a set up. With incidents like these - hang on sir. With
incidents like these I have to ask, do the Democrats run the risk of hypocrisy?
KERREY: Well, it's a minor. For goodness sakes the president just brought in somebody who's inappropriate named as Atlas who believes that mask don't
work. Who is saying that young people can't transmit the disease? It's that kind of messaging that produce a spike in - Texas and Florida and in the
southern states that follow the leadership of Donald Trump.
And he's the one that's been saying don't wear a mask. He's the one that saying you can get cured by taking Hydroxychloroquine. He's the one that's
been saying do something other than what states have done to actually reduce the damage and what other nation.
I mean, we got this bizarre situation with the president having threatened to build a wall to get the keep Mexicans out. Now we can't go anywhere
because of the lousy job we've done of doing basic simple things. Wear a mask, maintain social distancing, wash your hands these are simple things
and the president ignore all those things.
I mean, Nancy Pelosi going into hair salons there is a very, very tiny issue against what the president has done you know for the last 6 or 7
months.
ANDERSON: Let's have a look at the finances because if you follow the money there is also - always a story at the back end of it isn't that? The Joe
Biden campaign and the DNC announcing that they have risen at nearly $365 million in August that's a record breaking number.
The Republicans haven't put out their August numbers yet but over convention week they pulled in a few million dollars more than the
Democrats and they've had an enormous war chest. Do the Democrats have enough cash that they put been putting in enough cash? It does matter,
doesn't it with 6 weeks to go?
KERREY: God help us if we don't. I mean, look, I hope that this campaign reveals is serious like we need another example another piece of evidence
that the American political system has got way too much money on it way too much difficulty for federal candidates for congress to run simply because
they can't raise the money.
So it's - I think you're going to see significant flaws in our system but not the least of which is with the president talking about law and order.
He's got the Director of National Intelligence refusing to tell the American people when the Russians or others are trying to influence and
interfere with our campaign.
Why shouldn't the American people know the needs - these types of things going on? Why does he consider that and a leak of national security? It's
not a leak; we're being attacked by a foreign power as we were in 2016. So I do think God help us, $350 million in a single month is not enough to
fund the campaign.
I'm sure the Trump people who loved other taxes got loved to have less regulation don't care about climate change now they'll be contributing lots
of money as well. But I don't think in this campaign that the winner is going to win simply because they've had more money than the other person.
ANDERSON: Yes, fascinating. Sir it's a last question to you. We were just talking about and thank you for your time. We were just talking about Nancy
Pelosi. She's been urging Joe Biden not to debate with President Trump.
[11:30:00]
ANDERSON: How do you think Joe Biden will fare, given Trump's style? And I put that in inverted commas of debate or debating.
KERREY: Well, Joe Biden that kind of difficulty to debating Donald Trump. I don't know what Nancy is talking about, frankly. I mean, first of all, he
said many debates in the primary, he is debated as a member of the senate, and he's been debating for an awful long time.
So, I don't think he's going to have any difficulty at all, saying to the American people, here's what I'm going to do to improve your communities to
help you have safe community.
Here's what I'm going to do to create economic growth that is fair and balance for the working class. Here's what I'm going to do to restore the
confidence not just of the American people of the world, but the leading democracy is actually going to embrace democratic value.
I don't think he's going to have any difficulty at all comparing and contrasting what he wants to do versus what President Trump have done, much
of which is quite visible, particularly what's happened with the number of Americans that died as a consequence of failing to lead to address this
pandemic.
ANDERSON: All right. With that, we're going to leave it there. We thank you very much for your time. Your insight has been fascinating, important.
KERREY: --I can't see you, though. You can see me, I can't see you. So sad.
ANDERSON: Next time. It's been a much stronger positions, I'm joking. Thank you very much indeed for joining us always a pleasure. Thank you. I'm
taking a short break, back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: The hero portrayed in the film "Hotel Rwanda", Paul Rusesabagina is under arrest in Rwanda, facing terror-related charges. I want to get
straight to CNN's David McKenzie on this. His family suspects he was kidnapped, David. Why?
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, from their perspective, Paul Rusesabagina who is well known globally for his bravery during the
Rwanda genocide, vanished and appeared days later in a police station in Kigali Rwanda in handcuffs. Now how we got there, we now have more details
of how it happened?
The real-life hero behind the movie "Hotel Rwanda" Paul Rusesabagina who saved 1200 of his fellow Rwandans at the hotel he managed during the worst
of the 94 genocide, handcuffed and paraded in front of cameras in Rwanda's capital Kigali.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TERTUS RUSESABAGINA, PAUL RUSESABAGINA'S SON: I thought my father was in Texas, in San Antonio, Texas enjoying a nice cup of coffee. No, he's in
Rwanda, he's been arrested. All of a sudden out of n where we haven't going to talk to him. That's all I know, literally.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[11:35:00]
MCKENZIE: His disappearance, a shock to family and friends back in the United States. A senior UAE government official told CNN that a week ago
Rusesabagina arrived in Dubai from Chicago on a commercial flight.
Five hours later he would leave the UAE on a private jet headed to Rwanda. Rwanda's investigation bureau announced his arrest on Monday, saying it was
in connection with terror-related offenses.
Why he got on that private jet is still a mystery. Rusesabagina would have known if he set foot in President Paul Kagame's Rwanda, he was bound to be
locked up, idolized by Hollywood for his acts of bravery doing the genocide, awarded the presidential Medal of Freedom in Washington.
But over the years he became Kagame's staunchest critic. Calling Rwanda's powerful president and autocrat accusing the rebel group that Kagame led to
liberate Rwandans from the genocide of violent abuses, deeply taboo in Rwanda in a country and with a President that brooks little dissent, and
frequently jails opponents, including one politician Diane Rigara (ph) who wanted to run against him in 2017.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCKENZIE: What do you make of those allegations?
RUSESABAGINA: So, I have to be careful what I say, because when you're not careful, what you say, then these things happen to my father. So, I'll be
careful. Having a thought is a crime in some places. Being your own man is a crime in some places. My father is guilty of having the guts to speak up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCKENZIE: Rwandan authorities insisted the arrest has nothing to do with politics saying, Rusesabagina is suspected to be the founder, leader,
sponsor, and member of violent armed extremist terror outfits.
They say he was directly involved in two specific acts of terror in 2018, and will bring more evidence at trial. His family fears that however he got
to Rwanda, Rusesabagina fate is already sealed.
Well, certainly an intrigues case, Becky, Rwandan officials have repeatedly said in the recent days that this has nothing to do with the criticism he
has put towards Paul Kagame, the President, but because of those specific acts that they say, they will bring more evidence at trial. They say he'll
have a lawyer.
He hasn't yet spoken to his family. The Chief Diplomat for African Affairs in the U.S. says that he talked to the Rwandan Ambassador to the U.S. and
demanded, or at least said that they needed to have a fair trial with due process.
He is both a Belgian, a citizen and a U.S. green cardholder, as well as, of course, a Rwandan citizen. In the next couple of weeks we should expect to
see when that trial might start in Kigali.
ANDERSON: David McKenzie with the story for you, David thank you. Joining me now Paul Rusesabagina's daughters Anaise and Carine Kanimba. To both of
you, thank you for joining us. When did you last speak to dad? And why was he in Dubai? Did he tell you?
CARINE KANIMBA, DAUGHTER OF RUSESABAGINA: We spoke to dad last week, last Tuesday evening, the night before he flew out to Dubai. He told us that he
had some meetings planned and he was supposed to return on Tuesday, the 1st. But we have not heard from him since Thursday of last week.
ANAISE KANIMBA, DAUGHTER OF RUSESABAGINA: He actually confirmed to our family that he landed in Dubai last Thursday. That's how we knew he was
there, and I worried about the way he arrived in Rwanda.
ANDERSON: Fascinating. Your dad has made some pretty serious allegations against Kagame and is accused of supporting militant group. So, I know that
you do not believe those accusations. The Rwanda Investigation Bureau claims that he is, and I quote them here "Suspected to be the founder,
leader, sponsor and member of violent, armed extremist terror outfits". What is your response to those charges, girls?
C. KANIMBA: These are often accusations. Our father is a humanitarian. He's a human rights activist. He has done everything in his power to speak up
for the voiceless, to speak up for the people who are not heard and who are - who have been persecuted by this government. And he has felt the
consequences of it. They got to one government has gone active him for speaking up.
[11:40:00]
A. KANIMBA: And as you know, in the past any decedents of Rwandan government have been labeled these claims that you just mentioned.
ANDERSON: Ladies, if he is innocent, can he clear his name in court in Rwanda?
C. KANIMBA: We hope he will be able to clear his name in court in Rwanda, and he won't.
ANDERSON: Are you confident?
C. KANIMBA: Yes, absolutely. Our father has done nothing wrong.
A. KANIMBA: He's done nothing wrong. My father has done nothing wrong.
ANDERSON: The Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs says that he wants to see a fair and transparent legal process. Are you confident your
father will be given a fair and transparent legal process?
C. KANIMBA: We hope he's treated fairly, first of all. However, we know how the Rwandan government operates. And we are fear, we are afraid for the way
this will go down. However, we hope that he will be given a fair trial and treated fairly.
A. KANIMBA: Today we heard from the media that he was seen in jail. And so, we are relieved that he is still alive. And we know that he - they're
treating him with kindness and giving him food and allowing him to take his medication, so this is indicating to us that they will cooperate and follow
the process.
ANDERSON: I just want all of our viewers to know what the position is with regard to Dubai, a senior government source in Dubai tell CNN, Mr. Paul
came and left legally. Did he, as far as you are concerned, have any intention of traveling to Rwanda anytime soon?
C. KANIMBA: He did not plan on going to Rwanda, which is why we stand by the fact that he was kidnapped. He has not been to Rwanda in many years.
And he knows because of the attempts that had been made at his life, I think in his life, he knows that being in Rwanda is dangerous for him. So
he wouldn't have gone by his own if you will.
ANDERSON: Ladies, thank you for spending the time with us today. And we will continue to monitor this story, and we will return to it as and when
we hear more for the time being, thank you.
C. KANIMBA: Thank you very much.
A. KANIMBA: Thank you very much.
ANDERSON: Well, across the Europe the arrival of migrants has been a divisive issue, the UK not immune. We'll look at what's being done as a
record number of migrants arrive on British soil, looking for a better life and battling a common enemy, Coronavirus cases are surging across Israel
and Gaza. An update on those stories is coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:45:00]
ANDERSON: Well, the flow of migrants into the UK shows no sign of a slowing; I can't get my words out today, no sign of slowing. In fact on
Wednesday, 409 migrants arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel in small boats. That is a record according to the home office.
The government says it's working with the national crime agency, and French authorities to prevent these crossings. Now the British government is also
working to return migrants to their home countries. As to get some more perspective on all of this Nic Robertson joining us now from London and
Nic, what are the details as we understand them on these arrivals in the UK? And then what happens next as far as the government is concerned?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, 27 different incidents yesterday, as you said record numbers over 400 the day before
there were only about 145 people made it across biggest number previously, a month ago, 235. So it gives you an idea that this is a big number more
than 5600 so far this year. So what happens next?
Well, the government says 98 percent of those who arrived, that's 98 percent of those, 5600 this year will be asking for a asylum, now the
government processes them and any that have claimed asylum anywhere on the journey to the UK inside the European Union, the government tries to send
them back.
The rules and regulations for that, the double enrolls, what they are called. But today, for example, the government was having a home office
affairs meeting and a committee meeting. And a lot of this was getting discussed and put in public for the first time. And the difficulties the
government faces and in some of the migrant's back appears to be a staggeringly huge there are about a thousand waiting to be processes.
The government was in court until about 2:00 am this morning; in turn it has sent 23 migrants back to Spain. It got to send 11 of them back today
about a week ago, it sent 12 before that 14. They go back in dribs and drabs. And the government says it faces massive legal challenges from the
lawyers representing these migrants. Many of the issues that are raised around human rights grounds.
But the government's hands are also tied by the deal that it has with the European Union that it can only process so many and send a limited number
each week back to certain countries. And all this is going to fall apart when Brexit takes place, because there is no deal in place replaced at the
end of this year.
So it's a very fall situation. So the government not able to send back many of those it believes should be sent back to other places in Europe.
ANDERSON: Nic Robertson on the story for us. Nic, thank you. I want just to return to the Coronavirus for you. It's a holiday weekend in the United
States. The unofficial start of autumn and the pandemic shows no sign of slowing down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: So, I really want to use this opportunity, almost we have a plea
to the people in this country to realize that we really still need to get our arms around this and to suppress these types of surges that we have
seen. We can do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, that was Dr. Anthony Fauci, pleading with the American's heed their guard opposed they enter this holiday weekend. Several mid
western states are reporting an alarming spike in cases ahead of the Labor Day weekend. Iowa reporting one of the highest infection rates in the
country, almost three times the national average.
Just yesterday alone, more than 1,000 Americans died from COVID-19. And the timeline for a vaccine might just be lining up with the Presidential
Election. U.S. Centers for Disease Control told public health officials to prepare for a vaccine as soon as late October, just in time for the
election indeed. And the CEO of Pfizer says they should know whether or not their vaccine works by then.
But the Director of the National Institutes of Health disagreed, as did Dr. Fauci, who said, on Election Day, vaccine was unlikely, but not impossible.
Meanwhile, millions of Americans are facing the day-to-day challenges of the pandemic, even as the CDC expands, a nationwide moratorium on
evictions, some are so far behind their rent they are getting kicked out of the their homes. Kyung Lah has the story from Houston in Texas.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello, constable, you need to come to the door.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: From one Houston home to the next. Deputy Benny Gant with the Harris County Constables' office executes judge's
orders to evict.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello, constable.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got nowhere to go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[11:50:00]
LAH: Israel Rodriguez is the tenant at this apartment, but he's not alone. 20-month-old Israel, his brother four year old Fabian and their mother are
some of the estimated 40 million American spacing evictions in the downward spiral of the COVID economy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They need Russians but they will get everything you need.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAH: Rodriguez admits he hasn't been paying rent behind thousands of dollars.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ISRAEL RODRIGUEZ, FAMILY EVICTED FROM APARTMENT: It's my fall in eviction, it was like I am going out there when the Corona - when it hit, I lost my
job, so it took me like a month to get another job. This is my cheque, but I am making it with $300. It's literally $300.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAH: Their stroller now carries their possessions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RODRIGUEZ: It's nearly the kids schools because me and her wear the same clothes almost every day, make sure we got toilet paper and a little bit of
snacks for the kids.
LAH: What you're going to do with all of your stuff?
RODRIGUEZ: That's trash. They get to throw it in the trash and because we don't have a car, we don't have help. We don't have anybody that can come
help us out right now, nobody. We've got ourselves. Me and the kids and her, that's it,
LAH: How does the U.S. law enforcement feel about seeing that family have to go?
DEP. BENNIE GANT, HARRIS COUNTY CONSTABLES, PRECINCT 1: It's a tough situation. I've got six kids, six children. And, you know, the kids - the
mom and dad - their stuff.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAH: Deputy Gant, an officer for 35 years, is just starting his day. Eight evictions are on his list.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GANT: A codefendant is here, two of them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAH: At each stop, people behind on rent are ordered to leave. Possessions pulled out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAH: Where you guys are going to go now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to a hotel.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're going to hotel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAH: As Deputy Gant works through his list, we get word that 200 eviction orders have come through the Harris County court for this week, that's
double what they normally saw for an entire month before COVID.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAH: 200 on Monday, what does that --?
GANT: Well, that's a lot.
LAH: What does that say to you?
GANT: Well, what that means is that, they're ready to start having people removed from properties.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAH: It is a backlog, but it's also just one precinct in one of the America's hardest-hit cities and evictions. The job takes its toll.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GANT: I don't really want to put her out here, but I have to under this judge's order.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAH: At this apartment the tenant is an elderly woman who can no longer afford the rent. The landlord's mover Francisco Munoz works, though he
doesn't want to.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRANCISCO MUNOZ, HELPING MOVE EVICTED TENANT: I have a family, I have a sister, I love my mom, and we never know. Maybe today it's her, tomorrow
it's me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAH: Midway to the eviction, Deputy Gant decides it's too dangerous to evict her in the Houston summer heat.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GANT: I'm not going to put it out here and this heat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAH: And will call social services instead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GANT: Is that today or tomorrow, you are leaving?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAH: A one-day reprieve with an uncertain tomorrow.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GANT: You have a situation where people aren't working; they don't have money in their dustbin.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, that report from CNN's Kyung Lah. Well, Coronavirus cases in Israel are sparking once again as schools reopen there. The country
smashed its daily record with more than 3,000 new cases reported on Wednesday; nearly 1,000 sadly have died there since the pandemic began. The
Health Ministry is warning of possible school closures in certain hotspots.
Next door in Gaza, the numbers of cases are at a record high, there were 98 infections reported in what is a steeply climbing curve. You're watching
"Connect the World. I am Becky Anderson. Still ahead not so much a wing and a prayer as a dream, and a bunch of balloons, David Blaine goes to
extraordinary new heights with his latest stunt more on that after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:55:00]
ANDERSON: When a year as challenging as this one, it can be easy to lose sight of some of the incredible breathtaking moments still happening around
us. And we wanted to end this program on one of them. You are looking at the intersection of a childhood dream and a professional reality.
This is the illusionist and stunned artist David Blaine, soaring above the Arizona Desert with the help of only around 50 helium balloons. I mean, who
ever dreamed about something like this, this is a kid right? We have seen Blaine speak CNN while defying gravity, and even sealed him in a bubble of
water for days.
But in these incredible feet, he ended up floating almost 7.5 kilometers on his own before skydiving and parachuting back to the ground. This is what
he says it was like at the top.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you feeling, you're breathing and you're feeling still coherent?
DAVID BLAINE, ILLUSIONIST & STUNT ARTIST: Coherent, perfect. If I talk to I'm not though.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So when you're up there, and you're jumping and you're starting to pick up ground speed, which is great. But now you look down,
you're probably almost straight over the top of the LZ?
BLAINE: I see it perfectly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I call LZ whatever it is a desert.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Your heart out, Pixar. Also PSA or Public Service Announcement, do not try that at home. Seriously, do not try that at home. Speaking of
home, it's time for my team and I to go up, up and away for the day. Stay safe, stay well, good night, and take care.
END
