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Iranian-American Executive Arrested; "Parts Unknown" Explores Borneo This Sunday. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired October 30, 2015 - 08:30   ET

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

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[08:33:00] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: OK, reports this morning that an Iranian businessman is being held in Iran. We're hearing that from "The Wall Street Journal." Word of the arrest reported by that paper. CNN working to confirm it. But it comes just as a new round of Syrian peace talks gets underway in Vienna with Iran at the negotiating table for the first time. There's a development there also. Reportedly information that just came in. Let's discuss it with Bobby Ghosh, CNN's global affairs analyst, and the managing editor of "Quartz."

Reuters is reporting that Iran, supposedly ahead of the talks, is saying it would be in favor of a six month transition period in Syria and elections to determine the fate of Bashar al Assad. Now that would be new. But these are also mixed messages going on. They take someone, again, of American extraction and then saying that they, you know, are doing something that's productive on the other side. How do you reconcile this?

BOBBY GHOSH, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, they, in their mind, they don't see the contradiction. Their policy towards Iran is a separate item, separate file from their policy towards the west and towards the United States. But we also have to recognize that the Iranian government does not speak in one voice. It - within the ruling establishment is both the ruling party and the opposition if you like. So you have moderates, like the president and the foreign minister, who are taking this line on Syria, who negotiated the nuclear deal, and then you have hardliners, more conservatives within the organization, they run the security apparatus, they basically run the parliament. They have a completely different agenda. They are very clear, they want no part of any kind of friendship or opening of relations with the United States. And the arrest of an American citizen seems to be much more from their playbook than from the moderates.

CUOMO: Why is it that the U.S. seems to have no leverage with these arrests and prosecutions?

GHOSH: Well, because we - we've had no relations with this country for decades now. We - we have nothing right now that they want. What they did want was the unfreezing of all of those assets of theirs, which is why they came to the nuclear negotiations. Now that they've got the deal they want, there's not a whole lot they want from us. I'm talking about the hardliners. The moderates will say, we want economic relations, we want cultural relations, and logically that makes sense. But the hardliners don't see it that way. They figure, you know what, the technology we need, we'll get from the Russians, we'll get from the Chinese, we'll get from other places. Economic relations, the world is a big place. We can do business with a lot of countries and get rich, or at least get richer than we are now without dealing with the United States. We don't need America.

[08:35:25] CUOMO: Is there a real window offer of opportunity here to change the dynamic in Syria at these Vienna talks?

GHOSH: I don't think so, but that's - that's in part because both the U.S. and Iran have very, very different visions of what an ideal outcome is. And, of course, Russia has a third one. But the main reason is this, you're having these talks about Syria. There are no Syrians there. That's a fundamental problem. No -

CUOMO: Why aren't there any there?

GHOSH: Well, because, five year into this - the fifth year into the conflict, we're still not clear who we should be talking to. Who should represent Syria. That all these different world powers, if you like, each has its own favorites there. So Iran would like Bashar al Assad to represent Syria. We certainly will not tolerate that as the United States and the west. But the west is not clear who exactly in the opposition should represent Syria.

CUOMO: Is that a fair proposition for the United States to reject the existence of Assad as the punitive leader there right now?

GHOSH: Well, I don't think they can reject the - Assad's presence. I mean he's there. He is the person who's responsible for killing, you know, 300,000 of his - most of 300,000 of his civilians. The U.S. can't (INAUDIBLE) -

CUOMO: He wouldn't be the first guy that they dealt with, though, on a - on a person to person level who was accuse of horrible things and doing horrible things.

GHOSH: Yes, that's true, but this is - this is a sort of very high level of atrocity that's taking place across. I think the U.S. is finally coming to the point of view that Assad will be part of any discussion about the future. There's disagreement over whether he can have a future in power. The U.S. says absolute not. The west says absolute not. The Arab states -

CUOMO: So is this a good sign that Iran says we'd be in favor of a six month transition, we'd be in favor of elections? Is that a good sign?

GHOSH: At face value, absolutely. We'll have to see the nitty grit. What the other conditions are for Iran's taking this position because, as with any other country, Iran is not going to change its position without wanting something in exchange. But at face value, yes, it's a - it is a positive sign that Iran is willing to envision (ph) a future of Syria without their puppet, Bashar al Assad, in charge.

CUOMO: The idea that Ash Carter says that the U.S. is going to start taking more direct action on the ground. They say that may not mean boots on the ground. It's hard to understand how it wouldn't mean. Are we starting to go down this slippery slope there in terms of involvement?

GHOSH: Yes, I think we're pretty far down that slippery slope already and it's gotten a lot more complicated. We were - we're no longer the only - well, we were never the only players there, but now you have more players on the ground. The Iranians are sending more actual boots on the ground. The Russians have actual boots on the ground. I think now we are responding to things rather than leading events in Syria, which is the most dangerous thing. It is always going to be dangerous when you have boots on the ground. It's infinitely more dangerous when you also have Russian boots on the ground and Iranian boots on the ground, as well as Russian planes in the sky. That's just raised the level of - the risk of things going wrong, of misunderstanding of friendly fire, unfriendly fire, quasi-friendly fire. All of these things now become real possibilities. And if you're a military planner looking at what you can and can't do in Syria, it's good to - it's good to put out there that you're considering all options. But in reality, your options are actually closing in.

CUOMO: Bobby Ghosh, thank you very much. Appreciate the perspective.

GHOSH: Any time.

CUOMO: Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Chris.

Well, Anthony Bourdain, as you know, has lots of cool adventures, but none quite like his visit to Borneo. He gives a sneak peak of his long awaited return to that island when he joins us live on NEW DAY, next.

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[08:43:02] MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, here we go with the five things to know for you new day on this Thursday - oh, I guess it's Friday. My goodness.

All right, here we go at number one. The NTSB investigating this engine fire on a Dynamic Airways flight at Ft. Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport just before the plane took off. More than a dozen people were injured during the frantic evacuation and they were sent to the hospital.

The six day manhunt for Floyd Ray Cook, the fugitive wanted in the shooting of police officers in Tennessee and Kentucky, is over. Cook was killed in a shootout with police in Kentucky this morning.

Iran reportedly holding a fourth American with dual citizenship. Business executive Siamak Namazi was arrested while visiting his family in Tehran two weeks ago.

Jeb Bush doing a little damage control after his debate performance was panned (ph), reassuring nervous supporters and telling them his campaign is not on life support. The next GOP debate, November 10th. The World Series resuming tonight in New York. Boy, those Mets need a win. The Royals lead the series 2-0. They took the first two games in Kansas City.

For more on the five things to know, be sure to visit newdaycnn.com.

Next up you're going to meet one of this year's top 10 CNN heroes. Ten years ago, Maggie Doyne left her New Jersey hometown to go on a backpacking trip to Nepal. That experience changed her life. She planned to return to help one child in need, but today she's the legal guardian of almost 50 children.

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MAGGIE DOYNE: You know I always said I would stop after 25. And then the cap became 30. And then the cap became 40. And then that kid comes in that you just can't say no to that it's life or death.

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PEREIRA: That's just part of Maggie's story. You can watch it all in its entirety on cnnheroes.com. While you're there, check out all of our top 10 heroes. Be sure to vote. You can do it once a day every day for your favorite as CNN Hero of the Year. Our favorite time of year.

[08:45:00] CAMEROTA: All extraordinary people.

PEREIRA: They really are.

CAMEROTA: So hard to choose.

All right, well, Borneo, it is the third largest island in the world, as I'm sure you know. It is a street food paradise. Anthony Bourdain joins us live to tell us about his long awaited return. That's when we come right back.

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PEREIRA: After ten years Anthony Bourdain travels back to the street food paradise of Borneo, where the food alone looks worth the trip. Let's give you look at look at this Sunday's "PARTS UNKNOWN."

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ANTHONY BOURDAIN, CNN HOST, "ANTHONY BOURDAIN: PARTS UNKNOWN": First order of business, dinner. I've been on a plane for like -- I don't know. It was long. Very long. So like five Mark Wahlberg films.

I can't tell you how excited I am about the prospect of getting some black pepper crab, some (INAUDIBLE) and some pork-related noodles and a regional beverage.

[08:45:02] Reasonably cold.

I don't even know what this is. I love you, noodles. They want to get all heavy and philosophical at this point, like why I'm here. What my mission is. What I expect to find. Basically retracing my steps and all that. We'll talk about that later. Right now, noodles.

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PEREIRA: Right now he wants to grub. Tony is here with us in studio. It was a return for you. Ten years ago you first went but you said you would be back. What was it that you fell in love with?

BOURDAIN: I went to Borneo the first time in a sort of a very emotional time in my life. I'd never been any place like it. I went up river pretty deep into the jungle and stayed with a tribe of Iban people, former head hunters traditionally at a long house, and had an amazing, amazing time. And they had invited me to come back for Gawai, their rice harvest festival, and get a hand-tapped tattoo. And I promised the chiefs, who treated me very, very well and the community that had welcomed me, that I would return. And I did. Hey.

CAMEROTA: Oh, come on. And you did get that hand -

PEREIRA: We need to dwell on this a bit.

CAMEROTA: -- that hand-tapped tattoo that we just saw one little clip of. What were you thinking?

BOURDAIN: I have a lot of tattoos. And I've even had a hand-tapped tattoo before.

CUOMO: Is tapped the right word?

BOURDAIN: Well, more like -

PEREIRA: Hammered.

BOURDAIN: They chiseled it in.

CAMEROTA: They hammer the ink into your skin?

BOURDAIN: In this case, two guys whacking away with sharp objects on the end of bamboo rods. It probably would have worked out okay if they -- They hadn't done it for a while, I gather. They were drunk. It took forever.

PEREIRA: Like how long?

BOURDAIN: Two hours of me trying not to weep in front of the camera. And I foolishly assumed that, you know, there's no really -- there is no meat there so there can't be any nerves. How bad can it hurt? It hurt.

PEREIRA: And you have other tattoos, so you figured comparatively it shouldn't be bad.

BOURDAIN: It was a long two hours.

PEREIRA: It was tortuous.

CAMEROTA: Do you regret it now? I mean there's -- BOURDAIN: No -

CAMEROTA: You're glad you did it?

BOURDAIN: Yeah, it's a cool tattoo. I'm happy for the experience but -

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: What does it mean? What's the symbol?

BOURDAIN: It's a durian - a representation of a durian fruit. A lot of the traditional Iban and (INAUDIBLE) mark various points in your life and the fruits and jungle flowers and things like that.

CUOMO: What did it mean putting it right there in the center?

PEREIRA: He flashed it to me before we sat down.

CUOMO: Of course he did. He's got that Jiu-Jitsu body now. He's always showing it off.

CAMEROTA: Exactly. That's right. But you hadn't returned for ten years. You promised them you'd go back but it took you ten years to go back. Was it as you remembered?

BOURDAIN: Some things are different. Deforestation and lumbering has -- timbering has depleted a lot of the resources. Everybody got a cell phone. They don't necessarily have a signal. But they -- everyone has cell phones. There is something resembling a road to get there now. But no, much the same. A big community all living in one long house with separate rooms. A lot of the same faces. Some of the people I had met earlier had passed.

CAMEROTA: Were they surprised to see you?

BOURDAIN: Yes, I was a curiosity for sure. I think they were surprised to see me.

CUOMO: Were the same guys - Did you run into a lot of the same people?

BOURDAIN: Yeah a lot of the same guys. And family members. And what was weird is that some of -- they had seen the shows. They knew me from TV, which was weird. That is really the first thing. Before you get a road or a working cell signal, you do get a satellite dish apparently.

PEREIRA: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that is the question. When you go back to these places, the first time you are often a curiosity, a bit of an oddity, they want to show you as a welcomed guest, the refinery, etc. But the second time, is there a sense that they want to outdo it and they know that the things you've seen around the world, do you think they pull out all the stops and want to show you the craziest time ever?

BOURDAIN: I arrived at a time when it was literally nonstop drinking for three days of just savage pounding of homemade rice whisky and Malay karaoke. They same five songs over and over for three days -

PEREIRA: Any songs you know?

BOURDAIN: Now I do. They are burned into my soul.

PEREIRA: Much like the tattoo on your chest.

BOURDAIN: This is a place and a country in general (ph) Malaysia with it, the But this is a place where the food is just incredible. Spicy and delicious. It's very, very beautiful. Great history. And a thrill to shoot there. And a pleasure to make the show.

CAMEROTA: Man, you take one for the team.

PEREIRA: You really do.

CAMEROTA: First of all, you have to have three days of drinking. I don't know how you hang like that.

PEREIRA: On top of jetlag. That's the only thing you have to remember. He saw six Mark Wahlberg films in the time it took him to get there. Three days of drinking. You're a mess when you get back.

Well always a pleasure to have you here. Thanks for bringing this and showing me the tattoo, at least I got to see it. Be sure to watch Anthony Bourdain return to Borneo. You can see it this Sunday on "PARTS UNKNOWN," 9:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

[08:55:02] CUOMO: Well if taking a look at bare chest Bourdain wasn't enough for you in this Friday -

PEREIRA: Envious.

CUOMO: (INAUDIBLE) to Halloween, we got some good "Good Stuff" for you. Stay with us.

Is that all right with you, muscles?

(LAUGHTER)

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CUOMO: Tomorrow is Halloween. Today is "The Good Stuff" on this Friday. You have all seen the viral videos that make headlines of interactions between police and citizens, right? They're often painful to watch. We hope they are instructive of things that can change.

Well, here is one that is shattering the mold. A Washington, D.C. police officer and a teen in an all out impressive dance off. But it's the context. The officer was dispersing this crowd of teens that were - you know, it was a little bit of an unstable situation. He was stopping a fight and that is when the challenge arose about the dancing -

PEREIRA: It's a she. CUOMO: You're right - The female cop. I'm sorry. If the cop wins, she

-- the teens would have to leave and vice versa. If the cop loses, then she's got to leave. So they were all winners and everyone left the area.

CAMEROTA: Oh my gosh. This is the answer to community policing.

CUOMO: The cop doesn't want to be named, by the way.

CAMEROTA: Yes, a dance off. Finally we have the answer.

CUOMO: With her quick thinking, lighted up social media. Even President Obama tweeted, "Who knew community policing could involve the Nae Nae. Great example of police having fun while keeping it safe."

PEREIRA: Sometimes a little humor can diffuse a situation that is on the edge of - you know.

CAMEROTA: But you have to be able to deliver. And that cop could. That cop delivered.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: She did.

PEREIRA: I love it.

CUOMO: She got the street cred.

PEREIRA: Why don't we see the Halloween costumes we've got in studio today, because you know this isn't very spooky.

CUOMO: Come on in.

PEREIRA: Come on, quick, guys.

CUOMO: Come on.

PEREIRA: This is Lou. Camera one.

CAMEROTA: Here comes Elvis. Elvis is in the building.

CUOMO: You know, some morning shows go all out for Halloween. We just make the crew do something that could take under a second an a half.

CAMEROTA: Right.

PEREIRA: We got our eye on you. How about that?

CUOMO: What is that exactly? It's just a face that is an eye?