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Connect the World
Sudan's Military Dissolves Power-Sharing Government in Coup; "Facebook Papers" May be Company's Biggest Crisis; Filthy, Used Medical Gloves make it into Supply Chain; Anger after Israel Outlaws Palestinian Civil Society Groups; Sudanese Doctor: 2 Killed, 80 Injured in Anti-Coup Protests. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired October 25, 2021 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST: It most certainly is. It is our expanded edition of "Connect the World". I am Becky Anderson live from Abu Dhabi for you.
And getting hate is the easiest way to grow on Facebook.
Those, the words of Facebook whistleblower Francis Haugen, she is testifying right now in front of the UK Parliament which we are monitoring.
The company's former Product Manager also telling lawmakers that the social media giant doesn't devote enough resources to national security and public
safety.
Now her testimony comes just hours after the release of leaked company documents collectively referred to as the Facebook papers. And there are
tens of thousands of them. And they paint a damning picture of the social media giant's role in allowing politicians to lay uses to spread hate
speech and some to engage in human trafficking.
This is a truly global story. More on that just a little later. First of all, I do want to connect you to the latest developments from Sudan today
where a coup has dissolved a fragile power sharing government.
Protesters marching in Khartoum after Sunday's Armed Forces leader announced the current government was ousted. He said to protect the
company's safety and security. The Military leader declaring a state of emergency and saying, "Independent and fair representative government will
serve until elections in 2023".
Well, Sudan's Information Ministry says the prime minister, cabinet members and other government officials are now under arrest. U.N. Secretary General
Antonio Guterres, she is calling for their immediate release, vowing the U.N. will continue to stand with the people of Sudan.
Britain and the U.S. also weighing in UK Africa Minister calling the current unacceptable betrayal of the Sudanese people and the White House
saying it is deeply alarmed and calling for the release of the prime minister and others.
Let me get you to CNN's Nima Elbagir who has spent years doing extensive reporting on him from Sudan. She joins me now from London. And Nima, just
walk us through exactly what has happened here.
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, let's bring everyone up to date as to how we got here and then we can talk off the back
a little bit Becky about what more we're hearing from lawmakers around the world take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELBAGIR (voice over): Sudan once again forced to a crossroads. One month after a failed coup attempt, the Military arrested Prime Minister Abdalla
Hamdok on Monday, along with other civilian members of the transitional government, burying all the hallmarks of military takeover, a coup.
Since the toppling of long serving ruler Omar al-Bashir in 2019 military and civilian groups have been sharing power in the North East African
nation, intending to lead eventually to democratic elections in 2023. The transition has seen Sudan emerge from international isolation, under
Bashir's nearly three decade rule. That democratic experiment now hangs in the balance.
Via a televised address the head of Sudan's armed forces, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who was also the head of the transitional sovereign
Council announced that the Military has dissolved the government and declared a state of emergency.
ABDEL FATTAH AL-BURHAN, SUDANESE GENERAL: The stress here that the Armed Forces intend to complete the democratic transition until the country's
leadership is handed over to an elected civilian government.
ELBAGIR (voice over): Prime Minister Hamdok's homes appeared to be surrounded by armed forces on Monday. According to the information
ministry, apparently still loyal to the country's erstwhile civilian rulers, Hamdok was told to release a statement in support of the takeover,
but instead called on the people to take to the streets in protest.
Tens of thousands demonstrated in Hamdok, burning tires and barricading roads. One eyewitness told CNN three key bridges had been blocked by
protesters in the Capitol. And the crowd could be heard chanting, the people are stronger and going back is impossible.
[11:05:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What the military is doing now is a big betrayal to all the citizens on all levels. Now it is important that every individual
Sudanese citizen acts and takes to the streets to not let any armed vehicle move.
ELBAGIR (voice over): Military Forces storm Sudan state broadcaster in the city of Omdurman and detained staff, according to the information ministry,
which also said live bullets were fired at protesters outside Sudan's Army General Command, it's unclear whether there were any casualties or who was
firing.
The Sudanese Professionals Association in part responsible for the 2019 uprising issued a call to action, saying, "We urge the masses to go out on
the streets and occupy them, close all roads with barricades, stage a general labor strike and not to cooperate with the - and use civil
disobedience to confront them".
Flights from Khartoum International Airport have been suspended, and the Internet and the mobile phone network have been severely disrupted. Sudan
has been in the midst of a deep economic crisis marked by record high inflation and shortages of basic goods.
The United States Embassy in Khartoum issued a statement saying it was gravely concerned saying "We call on all actors who are disrupting Sudan's
transition to stand down, and allow the civilian-led transitional government to continue its important work to achieve the goals of the
revolution".
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ELBAGIR: In addition, Becky, to the statements of alarm and concern that you detailed earlier, we're also now hearing from Senator Chris Coons, who
is a very close ally of U.S. President Joe Biden.
And he also, as he pointed out, sits on the Congressional Committee, the Senate committee that allocates foreign funding, and he is threatening to
withhold that funding a very, very strong message coming out of Congress.
And indeed, probably the strongest message we've heard amongst all these expressions of global concern. He's now saying Congress will not give
assistance and funding to Sudan, unless the civilian leadership is returned into rule, Becky.
ANDERSON: Well, earlier yes, and I want to discuss that. Earlier, we spoke to the Prime Minister's economic advisor. And I started by asking him if he
would categorize what we are seeing today as a coup. Have a listen to part of what he told me Nima.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADAM HIREKA, ECONOMIC ADVISER TO SUDANESE PM: Absolutely, it's so cool. It's nothing else. And it's a cool and since all the institutions that have
been created to facilitate the transition are now dissolved. So it is a coup and unless something happens, unless there is a change in the process
of unfolding now, the synthesis and to transition to a democracy --.
ANDERSON: When was the last time you saw the Prime Minister?
HIREKA: I saw the --prime minister last night around 8:30. He had a meeting with the General - the Chairperson of the Supreme Council then. And I think
they were we thought there was an opening. And there was a way forward. Slow, the mediation led by Mr. Jeffery Friedman over the last few days or
few weeks rather.
And we saw there was a narrowing down of differences between the different parties the way forward, we are possible. But of course, this transition is
very difficult and complicated. And there were concerns, especially on the Military side, related to transitional justice, related to how the country
is run now.
ANDERSON: What do you mean by concerns by the Military on transitional justice? What do you mean by that? Why it is the military have those
concerns?
HIREKA: Well, - searching actions that needed to be undertaken and completed. Because, you know, the sit in that was forcibly removed the
stairs in June 2019 created one of the biggest challenges for agreement between civilian and military parties on the issue of justice. And it has
been an issue of contention. And I think one of the basic factors in what happened to --
[11:10:00]
ANDERSON: Prime Minister Hamdok has called on the people to get out and protest. Do you think the Sudanese people will do that? Well, will they
heed his call?
HIREKA: Unfortunately, this what happened today is a leap in the dark and majority of Sudanese people believe that this is a return to where we were
some years back, and probably civil wars will never start in this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: That see, PMs economic advisor speaking to me earlier. Look in these expressions of concern from the international community in the threat
of withholding aid by the U.S. and as you point out, are important.
I've seen a lot of social media today, imploring the U.S. to act and show support for the Sudanese people. There are lot, lots of talk that there is
the spreading of misinformation and disinformation online, not least, about the role being played by the U.S. and other foreign actors. There are a
myriad involved directly and indirectly, as is sadly always the case in this region. And what what's your sense, Nima of what happens next?
ELBAGIR: Well, there is a sense that the Military rule is that the new Military rulers are going to play chicken with the well; they're going to
see who blinks first. The reality is that, as we've discussed on many, many times, this is a region at the moment in a state of flux.
There are concerns about the situation in Ethiopia, the stability of the broader horn, the fear of contagion, the fear that there could be terrorist
safe havens opening up.
But the broader issue is, the international community watched three years ago in 2019 Sudanese men and women, pretty much young men and women across
the board, standing and taking bullets, for their belief that Sudan deserves democracy.
Now beyond what we've seen from Senator Coons, the rest have been just statements of alarm, which else other than Senator Coons is going to be
willing to step up and say, this is what it's going to cost the military leadership in a country that is already economically teetering on the
brink.
Can the military leadership survive economic pressures, further economic pressure from abroad, and that's what we have to unfortunately wait to see
unfold Becky.
ANDERSON: Nima Elbagir, your analysis and insight is extremely important. Thank you. Well, in the wake of the coup, the Norwegian Refugee Council for
East Africa and Yemen tweeting and I "changes in Sudan's leadership should not change commitments to protect civilians and ensure aid organizations
can still assist people left vulnerable by decades of conflict.
Too much, they say is at stake for more than 13 million people in Sudan who need aid. Will Carter is the NF -- NRC County Director for Sudanese in
Khartoum. And he joins me now via Skype. And sadly, the threat of the withholding of U.S. AID at least is already out there.
Describe what you and your team are witnessing on the ground. And if this situation escalates, how likely is it that we are going to see a
significant deterioration on the ground and a flood of refugees at the border?
WILL CARTER, NORWEGIAN REFUGEE COUNCIL COUNTRY DIRECTOR FOR SUDAN: Thanks, Becky. I mean, the situation in Sudan was already alarming before this,
this, this happened today, we had 30 million people depending on humanitarian aid. With a plan, though, which has only already just a
quarter funded, you know, there are a million refugees also being hosted in this country.
It was dire before. You know, things have generally gotten worse, unfortunately, in the last couple of years. And now we see intense
frustration, you know there's communications blackout, credibly concerning political change, which can, you know, not just take us back to where
everything was two years ago, but much, much further back.
So really, you know, we, we are alarmed at what we're seeing. We were already alarmed before, but the prospects that we can't continue to work in
is, is extremely worrying. We have to keep working to help refugees and other people affected by decades of conflict in this country.
ANDERSON: Your organization, as a change in leadership will not change commitments to support civilians. But in the last 30 years of course Sudan
was controlled by military rule. And in that time we saw record numbers of food insecurity famine shortages in basic necessities.
[11:15:00]
ANDERSON: I mean how concerned are you about the return of that sort of situation because of what looks like a possible Military takeover? And
certainly is a coup as far as the Prime Minister's spokesman is concerned, could easily bring Sudan to yet another depressing fake? Couldn't it?
CARTER: Absolutely, absolutely. I mean, already, this year, almost half a million people internally displaced by conflict. That's more than it was in
year. So things had already started to get worse before then who's to say with this new bout of instability, where things will go.
There was already an economic crisis, the international community, because of some of the positive steps that we're taking on this political
transition on the peace process in the country.
There was beginning to ease up sanctions lifted some financing for the country, if that's all taken away, we don't just go back to square one we
go even further behind. So no, we are worried we need whoever was in power to make sure those Sudanese civilians and refugees being hosted here are
kept safe.
Even if they're protesting, there's no need for loss of life, further loss of life. And we need at least humanitarian aid to continue. I think it's
important that we distinguish a little bit now there's Military aid, there's some of the broader economic packages. But there's a completely
underfunded humanitarian response here. And that has to continue.
ANDERSON: Well, let me ask you this, I mean, that I'm afraid to say that those I've been speaking to today are not surprised by what is come to
pass. And so there was some warning, this could happen.
Are you in touch with Sudan's armed forces, their leader today announcing the current government was ousted to protect the country's safety and
security saying, "independent and fair representative government will serve until elections in 2023".
There seems to be a lot of concern as to whether that will effectively come to pass and I hear your concerns. But I mean we talk often to agencies on
the ground in conflict situations who say they have to work with whoever is running the country.
So are you prepared to work? Is that, is that where you're at, at this point with this new government?
CARTER: --you're ready to saying those, as most phone lines and Internet has been down all day, it's still complete chaos. To be frank as to what
the situation is, we haven't seen the civilian leaders, we don't actually know what the state of play is all the arrangements.
We wouldn't know who to engage with you know, we do have to speak with whoever holds are in control's access to vulnerable people in need, you
know, people affected by you know, years of conflict.
So in time we need to speak that doesn't mean that we legitimize anything, but we will need to engage with whatever the government is or non-state
armed groups. So we will have to engage whether we like it or not personally organization, different topic, but there's not really a choice
as far as millions of people, their lives in the balance here. We will have to talk.
ANDERSON: Will Carter joining us tonight, from Khartoum, we thank you very much indeed for joining us. Difficult, difficult day, difficult times,
thank you.
Up next, some British lawmakers are calling the Facebook whistleblower eloquent and brave her former boss, Mark Zuckerberg may just have a
different view more on what Frances Haugen is telling the UK Parliament about the social media giant.
And performing crucial work or supporting terrorist outrage after Israel designates six Palestinian groups as terror organizations plus tens of
millions of dirty used medical gloves have made it into the healthcare system. An exclusive CNN report is coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:20:00]
ANDERSON: Situations in Ethiopia and Myanmar are "opening chapters of a novel that is going to be horrific to read". Facebook whistleblower Francis
Haugen telling that to a British Parliament Committee a short time ago in London during her testimony.
The former Product Manager for the social media giant also said and I "the failures of Facebook are making it harder to regulate Facebook". Take a
listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRANCES HAUGEN, FACEBOOK WHISTLEBLOWER: I have an understanding of how AI can unintentionally behave Facebook never set out to prioritize polarizing
divisive content. It just happened to be a side effect of choices they did make.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, some of those choices coming under heavy scrutiny after the release of tens of thousands of explosive leaked documents, company
documents known as the Facebook papers.
It's so shaping to be the company's biggest crisis, yet the Facebook papers sir, could be as I say the biggest crisis in the company's history CNN's
Donie O' Sullivan joining me now.
And as we continue to listen in to what how many saying in front of the British parliamentarians today, I want you to step back because I know you
and your team have been sifting through these tens of thousands of documents, Donie.
Just give us a sense of what you are finding and why this story may have come out of an American company based in the States. But this is a massive
international story.
DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely Becky and just to give you a sense of how many vials we have, these are just a small selection of
them. This is actually double sided printed as well. There are tens of thousands of pages part of these documents going back years.
And impressively Haugen to sneak these out of the company, she didn't want to get caught - as such, because she thought maybe Facebook could detect
that. So she was taking photos of these documents from our computer screen onto her phone and then had to get them transferred.
So it was really a long process for her. I mean, the thing that I think stands out to me of Becky with all of this is that, you know, oftentimes we
will do stories. Our colleagues here in the U.S. and also in Europe and around the world are doing stories about the harms of Facebook, whether
it's Russian trolls, or whether it's pushing hate speech in Germany, different parts of the world.
And you know, Facebook will say oh, thank you for letting us know, and they'll remove us. And they'll take it down.
And it's almost as if they don't know about it. But these documents make it very clear that there are a lot of people in Facebook, who are trying to
sound the alarm, and who are trying to say our platform is really, really messed off, messed up in many ways.
But those messages don't just do not seem to make it to the top. I should, of course mention that in Facebook's defense within their own defense, they
will say that they are employing thousands of people to work on these issues, that they're investing billions of dollars in it, that they're
taking it seriously and that they reject the sort of overall premise of Frances Haugen's claims.
But clearly, I mean, anybody can open up their Facebook app and see where the issue is. You know, I think finally, Becky, I think that the one thing
that was really striking with all of this, too was Facebook staff, ran experiments in India where they set up an account, set up an account and
just followed what Facebook was recommending they follow.
And after a few days they were seeing hateful incitement to violence all this - same happened here and United States, person set up a Facebook
employee set up a page in 2019 to look like a conservative U.S. mom.
[11:25:00]
O'SULLIVAN: After a few weeks, she was getting recommended QAnon content. So it's the same problem, the same issue. It's the same algorithm in
different parts of the world, but creating different forms of havoc and chaos everywhere.
ANDERSON: Yes, and the point you're making, thank you, Donie, the point you're making is in Facebook's defense, they say they employ many, many
people to try and keep ahead of, or at least up with this sort of hateful speech, but they do that primarily in the States.
Their biggest market is of course, India, more on this Donie. I know that your team's digging and we will get more from you as you reveal more out of
these papers. These are the Facebook papers Donie, thank you.
Well, ahead on the show a CNN investigation uncovers the tens of millions of dirty used medical gloves are circulating worldwide. Ahead, our
exclusive report looks at how fraudulent companies are preying on desperation during the pandemic.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: To a CNN exclusive for you at this point. Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have been talking about shortages. Hospitals are facing of
personal protective equipment PPE.
Well now we've learned that tens of millions of substandard, sometimes used medical gloves have made their way into the supply chain in the U.S. and
around the world. One expert called them the most dangerous commodity on Earth. That though is just the tip of a huge iceberg, much more from our
Scott McLean.
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Becky, a lot of businessmen have lost a lot of money buying substandard and even used as you say, nitrile medical
gloves from Asia. But the real victims of course, are anyone who may have actually used them.
Now we focused our story on one specific Thai company that shipped well over 100 million gloves to the U.S. but we could have easily focused on any
number of fraudulent companies across Southeast Asia that have no factories.
Instead, they put low quality non-medical gloves into counterfeit boxes or in many cases; they try to make old gloves look new again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCLEAN (voice over): This rundown industrial area on the outskirts of Bangkok is the hub of a new trade. It's making a few people very rich while
putting millions of others at risk. These are bags of discarded medical gloves many filthy dirty confiscated by the Thai Food and Drug
Administration in December.
[11:30:00]
MCLEAN (voice over): It says they're part of a global supply chain aimed at countries worldwide desperate to buy medical grade nitrile gloves. I made a
worldwide shortage that will take years to ease. One of the customers who thought he was buying the real thing was Florida based businessman Tarek
Kirschen.
TAREK KIRSCHEN, CEO, V12 HEALTH: We stopped getting phone calls from clients completely upset and you know, yelling and screaming at us.
MCLEAN (voice over): Kirschen was one of many customers of a Thai company called Paddy the Room Trading Company.
KIRSCHEN: These were reused gloves. They were washed, recycled. We don't know what they were where they came from. Some of them were dirty. Some of
them had blood stains.
MCLEAN (voice over): Kirschen says he sent the gloves to landfill and notified the U.S. FDA in February. But this is just one case. In the middle
of a pandemic, Paddy the Room had plenty of willing buyers. The U.S. continued allowing the shipments into the country according to import
records examined by CNN. Well, Ziskin's company was another looking to cash in on the lucrative business.
MCLEAN (on camera): You guys were seeing dollar signs.
LOUIS ZISKIN, CEO, AIRQUEEN: Yes 100 percent, we saw dollar signs; we also saw we had legitimate medical customers who are literally begging for this
stuff.
MCLEAN (voice over): Ziskin's Company AirQueen paid Paddy the Room more than $2.7 million for 400,000 boxes of medical grade nitrile gloves.
Reassured by glowing inspection reports purportedly carried out by a reputable third party, but that inspection company tells CNN those reports
were forged.
The shipment was independently inspected when it arrived in Los Angeles. Most of the gloves were actually lower quality latex or vinyl packed into
natural boxes. Many others were very clearly soiled and secondhand, not fit for use in a hospital.
ZISKIN: Not fit for use by anybody.
MCLEAN (voice over): Ziskin shipment sat for months in an LA warehouse so we sent an expert and our camera to see for ourselves. Douglas Stein has
been 30 years importing PPE from Asia and has been tracking fraud and scams in the nitrile glove industry since the pandemic began.
DOUGLAS STEIN, PPE BUYER AND EXPERT: But you can see the way it's packed they're just clumps like somebody just took handfuls and stuffed them in
the box. These were washed definitely this one is completely brown just colored. This is nitrile but you can tell it's been through a washer and a
dryer. And it's changed color due to the heat.
MCLEAN (voice over): This can shipment of counterfeit soiled gloves came in fake boxes of the legitimate Thai brand SriTrang, which says it has nothing
to do with Paddy the Room. Kirschen's gloves were branded Skymed Company the Thai FDA says is "for sure fake."
KIRSCHEN: To me the fact that these companies were never blacklisted is shocking.
MCLEAN (voice over): Emails provided to CNN show that back in February his company did inform U.S. Customs and Border Protection, The Paddy, the Room
was sending substandard and used medical gloves to the U.S.
Yet import records show that 28 containers totaling more than 80 million gloves were imported to the U.S. from that same company after Ziskin's
warning was sent. It's unclear where most ended up or if they've been used in a medical setting. The Department of Homeland Security is investigating
Paddy the Room but acknowledges to CNN that fake medical products do reach the U.S.
MIKE ROSE, SPECIAL AGENT, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INVESTIGATIONS: I think all of us would love to get to a point that not a
single counterfeit dangerous good enter the U.S.
MCLEAN (voice over): In March Ziskin's Company also informed the FDA which that same month acknowledged that Paddy the Room was using fake safety
documents for its shipments. The FDA did not alert concerns about Paddy the Room until August, five months after they were tipped off.
It would not comment on the ongoing investigation. But in any case, so desperate was the need for PPE, that some of the normal checks on imported
nitrile gloves had been temporarily waived.
STEIN: There was just no other answer that opened the floodgates for all the nefarious behavior.
MCLEAN (voice over): The FDA told CNN that to help ensure the U.S. has enough gloves during the pandemic.
It does not intend to object to the distribution and use of patient examination gloves that lack full safety paperwork as long as they meet
standards and don't create an undue risk.
In reality, there are no routine checks on gloves arriving into the U.S. unless a company has been flagged. CNN attempted to reach out to Patti the
Room and its partner company but they did not respond to questions. The Thai FDA rated Paddy the Room in December last year, but did not succeed in
shutting it down.
MCLEAN (on camera): How can that happen?
SUPATTRA BOONSERM, DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL, THAI FDA: It just kept moving around and created a new fake company. Once being shut down, they would
move to another location.
MCLEAN (voice over): It's not just Thailand that has a problem. Law enforcement officials say similar scams are common throughout Asia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[11:35:00]
MCLEAN: Now two other companies told CNN they'd also received unusable gloves from Paddy the Room. The truth is we don't know how many fake or
used medical gloves have entered the U.S. during the pandemic. Louis Ziskin went to Thailand to try to get his money back but was charged with assault
and kidnapping after a confrontation with a glove salesman.
When Thai Police though produced no evidence against him he was allowed to leave the country though Thai Police tells CNN the investigation is not
closed. As for all of those gloves in the LA warehouse while they were finally seized by federal authorities, though five months after Ziskin
first raise the alarm.
And just today, Becky, the Thai Minister of Commerce and the Deputy Prime Minister, in response to our investigation, vowed to take action to crack
down on corruption in the nitrile glove industry though, it wasn't specific on what kind of action his government may actually take, Becky.
ANDERSON: Scott, thank you. Well, to Haiti where there is still no word about a group of U.S. based missionaries kidnapped more than a week ago
they are being held as you will be aware by now by a notorious gang, which is threatened to kill them if a ransom isn't paid.
This is a high profile case in a lawless country where such abductions I'm afraid have become almost a way of life. CNN's Joe Johns talked with a
young kidnapping victim about her ordeal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It's as common as the tire fires burning here in the streets of Port-au-Prince. Haiti is one of the
kidnapping capitals of the world. The entire country has fallen victim in some way. Commerce and the economy are suffering. Children fear walking to
school, even to church.
It's a parent's worst nightmare. Everywhere you go; people are worried that could be next. The human toll sinks in talking with the victims. This 15
year old school girl was abducted in early September and released seven days later after an unimaginable ordeal.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: About three men were holding my hands and feet they raped me.
JOHNS (on camera): Did they threaten you while you were there or make you afraid to try to escape?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. They just closed my eyes and they took me somewhere and I entered inside of the house they tore off my clothes. They
blindfolded my eyes and just left enough for me to save.
JOHNS (on camera): She was kidnapped in - the same neighborhood outside Port-au-Prince where the American hostages were taken. Her mother says they
initially demanded $50,000 Ransom and unheard of some for family living in the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.
JOHNS (voice over): Her mother says the family banded together and sold everything they owned to get her back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They told me if I didn't come to get her, they would kill her. I didn't have the money. I called my family from the countryside
to help out.
I negotiated with them for 20,000 Haitian dollars, but they rejected the offer. I then called my family. They sold what they had. And we settled on
30,000 Haitian dollars, and they told me they would release her.
JOHNS (on camera): Though the current ongoing case involving 16 Americans in one Canadian has generated intense international interest, Haitians are
much more likely to be the victims of kidnappings in this country and their families much less likely to be able to come up with the cash initially
demanded.
JOHNS (voice over): And it's women and children who are increasingly being targeted more than 100 abducted so far this year according to UNICEF, which
has been providing victims counseling and relocation for this girl and her mom.
They've been working with a local NGO that caters to women in distress. Before she came here the girl couldn't even speak about her harrowing days
as a captive, the one of Haiti's ruthless gang.
LAMERCIE CHARLES PIERRE, COORDINATOR, ORGANIZATION OF COURAGEOUS WOMEN IN ACTION: Because we have received so many cases of kidnappings, the space
has been reserved for 25 women. Now we have exceeded that number. That's why we have land we will build a bigger center to welcome more women, more
victims.
JOHNS (voice over): Now UNICEF is warning about yet another danger to women and children resulting directly from the kidnapping trends and general
lawlessness in Haiti. A fuel crisis motivated in part by the danger in the streets, jeopardizing patients in hospitals and healthcare delivery with no
end in sight Joe Johns, CNN, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, still to come on "Connect the World" outreach after Israel designate several Palestinian groups' terror organizations. And I am going
to talk with the economist and human rights monitor who says the move sends a chilling message.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:40:00]
ANDERSON: Israel facing a backlash after designating six leading Palestinian civil society groups as terror organizations and Israeli
delegation is headed to the United States this week to explain the decision.
The State Department says it was not told about the designations in advance so Israel says it was. Human rights groups are condemning the move CNN's
Hadas Gold following this for us from Jerusalem. Just explain if you will, who is involved and why as far as the Israelis this decision has been
taken?
HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky while this new Israeli coalition government has made some moves at trying to seen as trying to advance
relations with the Palestinian largely economic moves, this latest designation is being denounced by many as a political decision that seems
to run counter to those advances.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOLD (voice over): In the early hours of July 29, more than a dozen Israeli forces raided the office of defense for children international Palestine in
Ramallah, forcing open the door they confiscated computer's hard drives and client files related to minors detained by Israeli courts.
On Friday, DCIP became one of six Palestinian civil society groups' designated terrorist organizations by Israel's government.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz office saying a month's long investigation found the six groups constitute a network of organizations active
undercover on the international front on behalf of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, saying the six groups helped fund employ and
support PFLP members deemed a terrorist organization by the U.S. and European Union, responsible for a series of high profile hijackings and
attacks from the 1960s on.
Israel blaming the group for 2019 bombing that killed Israeli teenager Reynish Nurb in the West Bank. But these six civil society organizations
represent children, women, agricultural workers and prisoners.
Their work often documenting what they say are human rights abuses caused by the Israeli occupation, but also by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas
Israel's defense and foreign ministry declining CNN's request for an interview.
Among the groups is Al-Haq, one of the longest established human rights organizations in the West Bank. Its Director Shawan Jabarin calling the
action a political decision.
SHAWAN JABARIN, GENERAL DIRECTOR, AL-HAQ: And that then they use this last bullet, you know, just to silence us and to close us down. We will continue
our war.
GOLD (voice over): Condemnation rained down from the Palestinian Authority calling the designations unhinged, fallacious and libelous. Dr. Mustafa
Barghouti, an independent politician and activist said the designations are an attack on Palestinian rights and civil society.
[11:45:00]
DR. MUSTAFA BARGHOUTI, PALESTINIAN INDEPENDENT POLITICIAN ACITIVIST: Parties of the international community take a stand against this violation
because this would be very destructive to Palestinian civil society which has played and continues to play a very vital role in sustaining the basic
life and humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people.
GOLD (voice over): The new labor will present a direct challenge for the organization's donors, many of them European countries, which now was being
accused of funding terrorism. EU Spokesperson Peter Stano said Monday that the EU has safeguards in place to make sure funding is being used in line
with EU legislations.
PETER STANO, EU EXTERNAL AFFAIRS SPOKESPERSON: And - civil society is an important contributor to good governance and sustainable development in the
EU, in Israel, in Palestine and elsewhere in the world. We take the allegations very seriously. We are looking into it and we are seeking
clarifications from the Israeli partners on the lead - on the recent listings, past allegations and past suspicions of misuse of EU funds in
relation to certain Palestinian organizations, where have not been substantiated in the past.
GOLD (voice over): A senior Israeli official telling CNN a delegation is headed to Washington this week to present further evidence supporting the
terrorism label.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLD: And Becky even within the Israeli government there are some -- in the Israeli cabinet there's some questioning of the decision. Health Minister
Nitzan Horowitz, who's the leader of the left wing Meretz party tweeting that Israel must be very, very careful in imposing restrictions on
Palestinian civil society organization thing that has implications in the field of foreign relations and importantly, in the field of human rights.
He's asking the defense minister to present the findings that led to this decision, Becky.
ANDERSON: OK. Well, my next guest - thank you Hadas! Human Rights Activist and Forward Columnist Muhammad Shehada say about Israel's move, "This sends
a chilling message across Palestinian society that empowers hardliners; it gives them more credence and fuel as the list shows everybody is damned
anyway".
Muhammad Shehada joins me now via Skype from Copenhagen. I just want you if you will, just to further expand on what you mean by that, sir?
MUHAMMAD SHEHADA, EURO-MED HUMAN RIGHTS MONITOR: Well, thanks so much, Becky, for having me. I think it's catastrophic in so many levels. So if
you take a look at the list where these organizations are now added, it gives you the impression that almost all Palestinian organizations are
there so terrorist listing is maybe the rule, not the exception.
So Palestinians are guilty until proven otherwise. And this, to an extent is disastrous, not for Palestinians only, but also for Israel as well. So
when Israel says that Palestinian diplomacy is diplomatic terrorism Palestinian, and Palestinians in prison going on hunger strikes are doing
terrorism in prison Palestinian construction area see its construction, terrorism and Palestinian economic boycott, Ben & Jerry's recently is
economic terrorism.
It gives huge and tremendous credence to extremists and hardliners to argue that what's the point? Why should we try non-violence? Why? Why should we
try civil society activism et cetera? If we are damned if we do this or that, then history only understands forced and might and we should go that
way.
And it makes it harder for Palestinians to argue internally, to revise their strategies for resistance; it sends the message that the only form of
Palestinian action acceptable to Israel is just submission and silence. And that is problematic because civil society in Palestine is one of the last
avenues where Palestinian and Israeli human rights groups get to meet together.
And it's one of the last avenues where Palestinian and Israeli activists get to collaborate so now blacklisting and terror listing that and building
the wall between the two peoples is very damaging for coexistence as well.
ANDERSON: And I think you're making a really important point here, because for our viewers who perhaps don't understand quite what these civil society
organizations are doing, you have just explained.
And they are, of course, operating in what is a very congested space, on the one hand, monitoring the actions of Israeli forces in the occupied
territories on the other, also seeking to hold the Palestinian authority and Hamas to account as well. What did you make of the Israeli announcement
designate them as terror organizations associated with the Popular Front the PFLP?
SHEHADA: Well, for these charges, they immediately collapse upon the slightest and most superficial examination. For years Israelis, the Israeli
government and - lobbyists have been trying to spread this information and delegitimize these organizations in the international arena.
But these efforts have had very limited success with European and American donors who visited these groups repeatedly and founded no evidence of
wrongdoing. And Israel is now saying very conveniently that any document that incriminates these organizations is classified evidence is refusing to
share any information that led to this decision.
[11:50:00]
SHEHADA: But again, you pointed out very importantly that, for instance, Al-Haq, they've been one of the most vocal Palestinian organizations on
wrongdoing abusive practices by the Palestinian authority or Hamas. They condemned Hamas very strongly in 2019, when it violently suppressed some of
non-violent demonstrations in Gaza called we want to live.
And now blacklisting those organizations that are doing tremendous work to save lives that are doing tremendous work to reduce human rights abuses and
practices of torture or wrongdoing by a Palestinian or Israeli authorities, it sends the very most wrong message on all fronts.
And it's perceived by Palestinians as an action of just trying to make these organizations radioactive more than anything else. And it presents an
image that Israel cares more about optics, rather than substance. So it thinks that --
ANDERSON: Sorry, I just wonder -- sorry I just wonder what you think then lie behind this announcement? Because, look, the new Israeli Government is
widely seen as wanting to turn over a new leaf with both the Europeans for example, and the United States, these terror designations would seem to run
counter to that.
SHEHADA: Absolutely. And that question is very substantial to ask why now? If you think that these groups are connected to a blacklisted group, why
now why not in Netanyahu's era when the Trump Administration was in office and looking very favorably on any decision made by the Israeli government?
What sort of threat has emerged now that that substantiates and lends credence to this decision? And the answer is none whatsoever. These groups
like the only incriminating things that could be found in the Israeli arguments, for instance, about Al-Haq, is that it has been engaged in
international arenas in steps against history. In other words, Israel's occupation, and it has to do with the International Criminal Courts
investigation.
ANDERSON: Let me just find him very briefly. We've heard the usual calls from few European countries to step up and act in a way that Israel cannot
just shrug off. The European countries hands though slightly tied, aren't they? They just can't be seen to be funding designated terror
organizations. So what do you expect to see happen next?
SHEHADA: Well, unfortunately, what led to this moment is European and American increasing disengagement from the topic and embolden the Israeli
Minister of Defense to take such decision without any care consideration of the consequences, because, quite frankly, it's unlikely that there will be
any substantial consequences to this.
But if a line is not drawn before criminalizing and delegitimizing Palestinian civil society and nonviolent activism, the consequences of that
are going to be extreme and catastrophic. If the goal is to achieve security for Israel, this is going to achieve the very opposite.
It would fuel the conflict more and more, it would empower hardliners, and it would set us ever more distant from ending the conflict. At the same
time of Israel blacklisting these organizations, you can see that it's being deliberately idle towards settler violence in the West Bank, and it
has a growing appetite for settlement expansion.
And it's saying a clear no to the two state solutions. So if Europe and the U.S. do not draw a red line now, it will not stop here and go further and
further and Palestinians are completely silent.
ANDERSON: And we certainly know that there is an Israeli delegation to the U.S. next week and also a promise from the Israelis to provide information
to the Europeans as to why they made this situation? We will continue to follow this story. It's been a pleasure having you on sir, today. Thank
you.
I want to update you on what is going on in Sudan now. News that we are just hearing violence in the wake of today's coup has turned deadly. The
Sudanese Central Doctors Committee says the two people - that two people have been fatally shot and more than 80 injured when live rounds were fired
during protests.
The government blames the military for the shooting. And this is earlier video of protesters marching after the Armed Forces Chief announced the
power sharing government has been dissolved and declared a state of emergency. The Prime Minister and other government officials are under
arrest. We will have more on this story throughout the day on CNN. We are taking a short break back after this.
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[11:55:00]
ANDERSON: Well, just before we go tonight, this is the one where we say good bye. Actor James Michael Tyler has died at the age of 59.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So Rachel I was wondering if you would like to go to a movie with sometime? That was my lover.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, he was best known for this role as the Manager of Central Park for 10 seasons on the hit Sitcom Friends. His representative said he
died peacefully in his home on Sunday after a three year battle with prostate cancer.
Tyler first revealed his diagnosis in June he said the cancer had spread to his bones and he had been unable to walk. He had planned to take part in a
Friend's Reunion earlier this year, but had to appear virtually due to his health. What a fun quirky character he was?
And "One World" is up next from the team working with me here in Abu Dhabi and that working with us around the world it is very good evening.
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