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NEWS STREAM
Democratic Candidates Set For First Debate Tomorrow; Turkey Mourns Protesters Killed in Bomb Attack; Northwest German Town Population Quadruples After Influx of Refugees; Dell Plans Largest Merger in Tech History; London's Ambitious Crossrail Plan. Aired 8:00a-9:00a ET
Aired October 12, 2015 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:18] MANISHA TANK, HOST: Hi, I'm Manisha Tank in Hong Kong. A warm welcome to News Stream
Turkey mourns those killed in two bombings over the weekend as the prime minister says they're looking for a connection with ISIS.
How a town of just over 1,000 people in Germany are coping with an influx of almost 4,000 refugees.
And as Democratic presidential challenges prepared to face off in a debate, we look at the rise of candidate Bernie Sanders.
Hello, we begin with anger and mourning in Turkey. The prime minister there says his country is looking at ISIS in connection with two bombings
over the weekend.
The blasts went off at a peace rally in the capital Ankara, killing at least 97 people and wounding roughly 250 more.
A memorial for the victims was held earlier on Monday. Those attacks happened just weeks before Turkey holds elections.
So, let's head straight to Turkey now. Senior international correspondent Arwa Damon joins us live from the capital Ankara. And the finger being
pointed at ISIS, but what more...
ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Manisha, at this stage, that is the main organization that the government, the prime minister says
they are looking at eluding to the fact that they have gathered some significant information intelligence in the last 48 hours, but exactly what
that not being disclosed at this stage of ISIS yet to take responsibility. No one has.
But this is the scene behind us where more and more people coming, putting down carnations, slogans, a lot of similar instances we have been seeing
throughout at university campus for example where people are struggling and using this as one of the ways to try to come to terms with their emotions.
There has also been a lot of anger throughout the country, anger mostly being directed at the government as people are trying to figure out what
happened and coming to terms with their losses.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAMON: "Why didn't you protect him? You should have protected my baby," the woman softly wails, finding little comfort. She, too distraught to
speak, the pain of a mother who will never see her son again.
He was just 23 years old.
"He came for peace," his cousin says.
Twin bombings on Saturday ripped through a peace rally organized by labor unions and other wanting to see an end to the renewed fighting between the
government and the Kurdistan workers' party, the separatist PKK.
Instead, Turkey is now trying to come to terms with the single deadliest attack in its modern history.
But already the tragedy is playing out in the political arena. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government says it was an attack on the state. The
pro-Kurdish opposition party, the HDP, says the state is responsible and angry crowds demanded accountability.
The pre-existing tensions evident as opposition members of parliament tried to reach the scene of the attack to lay red carnations and were stopped by
riot police.
It's exactly what no one wanted to see happen here. All they wanted to do was lay flowers down at the scene of where the attack took place. Now,
they're being fired on and we're also being pushed back at this stage as well.
This is all unfolding just weeks before the country's November 1 parliamentary elections. A rerun of those held this summer, whose outcome
failed to result in seating a government.
The country now further polarized at a time when many say real unity is the only thing that will save it.
Dilek Gundar witnessed the carnage.
DILEK GUNDAR, BOMBING WITNESS: I realized one more time how important peace is, how important is -- in the world to be together, not be against
each other, just hold hands and just work for democracy.
[08:05:05] DAMON: Many here still in shock, unable to speak of the depths of their pain.
For one, best expressed in a sorrowful song that drifts over the others waiting for the bodies of their loved ones, amid fears that it may not be
the last time the country sees suffering like this.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DAMON: And of course what makes this all the more difficult for the citizens of Turkey is not just the emotional toll that this has taken, it's
the fact that the future of this stage appears to be so unstable from a security standpoint and also, Manisha, from a political one.
TANK: But reassuring, Arwa, to see at least one person in your piece not being put off and still wanting peace in the future.
Arwa Damon, thank you very much for that and for that report.
Now in China, Communist Party leaders meet this month to decide on a plan for the country's economic development over the next five years. And it
comes as there are concerns about slowing growth in the world's second largest economy.
Chinese media report anti-corruption measures will also be a focus.
Now tension is high in Jerusalem, this after fresh violence rocked the city on Monday. Israeli police say they shot and killed a young Palestinian man
who tried to stab an officer. The officer was unharmed, but it follows a wave of violence across the region over the weekend.
For more, then, let's cross to Erin McLaughlin who joins us now from Jerusalem.
Erin, I know you've been there for the last couple of weeks or so and you've been witnessing this gradual escalation. Give us the latest.
ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Manisha.
That's right. We're hearing of conflicting accounts of yet another security incident in Jerusalem. According to Israeli police, it happened
near the police main headquarters. They say a police officer noticed a woman that they thought was suspicious, the officer ordered her to stop,
followed her and that's when they say she turned around and stabbed the officer, lightly wounding him.
They say that the police, then, opened fire. She was evacuated to the hospital, but that is a very different account than what we're getting from
eyewitnesses. One Palestinian eyewitness telling CNN that the suspect in question was a Palestinian student. They say that she was provoked by a
group of right-wing Israelis. And at some point, they say, shots rang out. They're unclear as to who fired them.
It's the latest incident here in Jerusalem. Earlier today, in the old city near the Lion's Gate, Israeli police say that a Palestinian man stabbed --
or tried to stab -- an Israeli officer. He struck his flak jacket. Police then opened fire killing the Palestinian man later identified as 18 year
old Mustafa Katib (ph) of East Jerusalem, from a prominent business family there.
We're also hearing of clashes in the West Bank at a Palestinian refugee camp north of Hebron. So, this wave of violence showing no signs of
stopping.
TANK: And what about the authorities, Erin, on both sides, what have been their reactions to the violence?
MCLAUGHLIN: Well, Israeli and Palestinian leaders continue to blame each other for the violence. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a
cabinet meeting. Out of that cabinet meeting, he announced that he was calling up 1,600 additional border police, reservists. But he also blamed
the Palestinian Authority as well as the Islamic movement in Israel as well as Hamas for inciting violence, for spreading rumors about the status quo,
the holy site known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary.
But the PLO yesterday putting out a statement of their own blaming Israeli leadership for provoking the violence in an attempt to mask efforts to
exert more control over that holy site.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry making two separate phone calls this weekend, one to the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, the
other to Prime Minister Netanyahu. In both, he urged the importance of combating incitement and condemning violence -- Manisha.
TANK: So the tension intensifying. OK, Erin, we'll leave it there for now. Thanks very much for that.
President Putin says Russia' military action in Syria is only paving the way for political change, but the west says Russia is just making things
worse. An update from Moscow next.
And a guilty verdict for an American reporter in Iran, but no details on what sentence he's been given.
Also, Germany's gates of liberty have welcomed thousands of refugees, but now this tiny Germany village says it's at a breaking point and can't take
in any more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TANK: The United States has air dropped 50 tons of ammunition in northern Syria to boost rebel forces there. Meanwhile, Moscow says its airstrikes
hit 53 ISIS targets in the past 24 hours.
The Russian president says the Kremlin's goal is to stabilize the Syrian government to create conditions for political change.
In an interview, Vladimir Putin says it is also for Russia's self-defense.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA (through translator): Of course such dangers exist, but it had existed. I want to stress it. Even without our
active action in Syria. And in case we wouldn't let them, pardon my bad manners, to squirrel away to Syria, all these thousands of people who are
running there now with Kalashnikov rifles, they would end up on our territory and now we are at least helping President Assad to fight them
over there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TANK: Well, the NATO meanwhile has condemned he Kremlin's strategy. Jens Stoltenberg says Moscow's support of Assad is not constructive and is only
prolonging the war.
Senior international correspondent Matthew Chance joins us now from Moscow. Obviously, a lot of people watching that interview with interest to
understand this strategy, Matthew. What more did he say?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think that finally after you know more than a week in airstrikes in Syria, that the
Russian president has set out very clearly what the strategy is for the Russian air forces that are in that country and why they're bombing the
targets they're bombing. You said quite clearly that he wanted to stabilize what he called the legitimate authority in Syria. He's
referring, of course, to the government of Bashar al-Assad.
Assad has been a longstanding ally of the Russians in that country. And he's been suffering some reverses over recent months. And so clearly the
Russians have taken that as their cue to step in and bolster the figure they see who can best protect their interests, which are considerable in
terms of military and economic interests in Syria.
Mr. Putin, President Putin always -- also said that he wanted to create the creations for political compromise in Syria. So this has always been, you
know, one of the stated objectives, at least, of the Kremlin's strategy to get to a situation on the ground in Syria where when you start a peace
process, when you bring all the various parties together, the Syrian government will have a strengthened hand. And that is one way in which the
Kremlin believes it will have its interests protected in any future political settlement to the conflict in Syria.
[08:15:15] TANK: Meanwhile, of course, Matthew, reportedly EU ministers are saying that this action is of deep concern. We've also heard the
comments from NATO about this strategy. How complicated is this now?
CHANCE: Well, potentially it's very complicated. I mean, you've got very crowded skies over Syria. You've got the U.S.-led coalition, which
includes aircraft from 60 countries, apparently, that are taking part in strikes against Islamic State positions inside Syria. On top of that,
you've got the Russian air group, as its called, striking at the targets they're selecting, some of which are Islamic State, but obviously many of
which are the other rebel groups opposed to Bashar al-Assad.
And, you know, without the right level of coordination in those skies, the possibility of an unwanted confrontation is very high and that's why it's
so important, I think -- and both sides, if you like, appreciate this, for military to military talks to take place, to make sure there's a system in
place to make sure they don't shoot each other essentially out of the sky.
But in terms of more broader coordination and cooperation between Russia and the U.S.-led coalition, that's essentially been ruled out not least by
Washington that says that it believes that the Russian strategy in Syria supporting Bashar al-Assad is a mistake. It's not something they want to
go along with. And so, all sides now have effectively ruled out any kind of close cooperation over the future of Syria.
TANK: Yeah, I mean, we heard about these airdrops by the U.S. to these anti-Assad rebels earlier in the program just before we spoke to you, but
of course those positions are also being bombed heavily by the Russians, aren't they?
CHANCE: Yes. I mean, the Russians, the Kremlin, have been drawing very little distinction between Islamic State and the other groups that are
fighting in Syria in opposition to Bashar al-Assad. They lump them all in one pot, essentially, and they're bombing them all.
They have given lip service to the idea that they would be open to discussing with some of the more moderate armed groups the possibility of
bringing them into a political process, but really it is just lip service. They've not really done much in terms of making that happen.
I mean, clearly, as I say, the Russian strategy is to eliminate, or to try and eliminate, as many of the opponents of Bashar al-Assad as they can to
bolster the Syrian government's position. At the moment, that's the non- ISIS rebel groups. And that why they've been hit more than ISIS itself.
I mean, the fact is on the ground, that the Syrian government and ISIS haven't been coming into contact with each other that much. They've not
really been fighting each other that much for territory. It's been non- ISIS groups and the government.
And so destroying the non-ISIS groups will bolster the Syrian government, strengthen Russia's hand in any future negotiations. And it will also, you
know, polarize, I suppose, the conflict into the Syrian government and ISIS once the other rebel groups have been neutralized.
TANK: OK, we'll have to leave it there for now. Matthew, thanks very much for that. Matthew Chance with the latest from the Russian angle in Moscow.
We turn now to Iran where media there report the military has successfully test fired its first precision guided long range missile.
So this missile reportedly has a range of 1,700 kilometers, which would put Israel within reach. The U.S. previously expressed concern about Iran's
missile program. The Pentagon calls it a threat to the region.
Staying with Iran, a Washington Post journalist has been convicted more than a year since he was detained.
Jason Rezaian was accused of spying, but as John Defterios reports, the sentence is not yet known.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN DEFTERIOS, EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Sentenced after nearly 450 days behind bars, on Sunday, Iran's judiciary confirmed a verdict has been
reached in the trial of American journalist Jason Rezaian. But in a process that's been shrouded in secrecy from the start, even the verdict is
not clear.
The judiciary says Rezaian and his attorney have 20 days to appeal what has been handed down.
The U.S. State Department says they are monitoring the situation and continue to call for all charges against Jason to be dropped.
Rezaian began working for The Washington Post in Tehran in 2012. In the spring of 2014, he and his Iranian wife Yeganeh talked with CNN's Anthony
Bourdain about the challenges of reporting from Iran.
JASON REZAIAN, THE WASHINGTON POST: The difficult part is convincing people on the other side of the world that what we're telling you we're
seeing in front of our eyes is actually there. When you walk down the street and you see a different side of things. People are proud, the
culture is vibrant. People have a lot to say.
[08:20:11] DEFTERIOS: Six weeks later, Rezaian and his wife were detained, their home ransacked. Yeganeh was released on bail, but he remained in
prison.
Nearly five months later, he was charged with espionage. He was put on trial in May of this year facing a 20 year sentence if convicted.
The last court proceeding was held in August, and the Washington Post again appealed for his release. Iran's judiciary news service has said his
arrest has nothing to do with his being a journalist with one Iranian official saying last week that Rezaian was linked to, quote, a faction in
the U.S. Senate who planned to bring about regime change in Iran.
Recently, hopes for his release were raised when Iranian President Hassan Rouhani suggested that Rezaian and other Americans in Iranian jails could
be part of an exchange for Iranians convicted in the U.S. on charges related to nuclear technology.
HASSAN ROUHANI, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): If the Americans take the appropriate steps and set them free, certainly the right
environment will be open and the right circumstances will be created for us to do everything within our power and our purview to bring about the
swiftest freedom for the Americans held in Iran as well.
DEFTERIOS: For now, those aspirations have been dashed as a secretive legal process plays out in Tehran.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TANK: John Defterios reporting there on Jason Rezaian.
Democratic presidential candidates prepare to butt heads in the upcoming CNN debate. Coming up, we take a look at one of the top contenders in the
race Bernie Sanders.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:25:28] TANK: Now, Europe's biggest construction project has been taking place right beneath the feet of millions of Londoners, and many
aren't even aware of it, that's how smoothly the expansion of the city's underground rail network is going.
Max Foster takes a walk through the tunnels to see the latest phase of construction.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: For the last six, an army of orange has been hard at work 40 meters underground. They've been building
Crossrail, London's rail network expansion that will connect the outer suburbs to the center at Heathrow Airport, 56 kilometers of new tunnels,
stations and interchanges.
Project Manager Linda Miller is a tunnel specialist. She's currently stationed at the Farringdon site to oversee its transformation into a
transport hub.
LINDA MILLER, PROJECT MANAGER: The building of cavernous, cavernous spaces in the Earth underneath an already really densely packed city like London
with 1,000 years of industrial and building history, tunnels, its not just an underground, obviously, but huge utility corridors and the like
underneath London.
It has been the biggest challenge of my career in construction.
FOSTER: And this is really the center of the project, arguably, isn't it?
MILLER: Yeah, we call ourselves here at Farringdon, the heart of Crossrail and one of those reasons is that, well, Crossrail bought about eight tunnel
boring machines in tunnel. They all set off from different points around the city. And out of those eight, four of them wound up finishing and
crossing the finish line here at Farringdon.
Well, what you're looking at here should look very recognizable as the beginnings of what is going to be an enormous escalator barrel.
FOSTER: I guess it's going to start visually changing quite quickly now.
MILLER: It will. Over the next year, it definitely will. It's going to move from looking like the moon to actually looking like a transportation
system.
FOSTER: Excavations cause soil to shift. To compensate for even a millimeter of movement, grout is pumped through pipes to stabilize
buildings on ground level, a difficult balancing act performed with precision by Crossrail.
There's an ongoing pressure to deliver with minimal disruption to Londoners.
Your budget is more than $20 billion dollars.
BILL TUCKER, CROSSRAIL: That's correct.
FOSTER: So the pressure on you -- you seem very calm and relaxed considering the amount of pressure in terms of money and time you're under.
TUCKER: Well, any time you have a big project like this it's all about how you divide it up and put it in to manageable bits. So in my team, which is
650 Crossrail staff, we manage 22 contractors. Each one of my project managers and each one of their section managers underneath them know
exactly what they need to do and how it fits together.
FOSTER: You think of it in terms of smaller projects, not one big project?
TUCKER: I liken it to an orchestra. So each of the different sites and the different sections of your orchestra, and I'm up there with the sheet
music making sure everybody is on the same note, the same bar at the same tempo.
FOSTER: Canary Warf Station, gateway to the financial district, is the most complete station. For Crossrail, major works don't stop until late
2018. Only then, will these silent halls be filled with noisy commuters.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TANK: Some incredible engineering.
You're watching News Stream. And coming up, a German town says it wants to welcome refugees seeking shelter, but it simply can't. We'll explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:32:41] TANK: Hi, I'm Manisha Tank in Hong Kong. You're watching News Stream. And these are your world headlines.
Turkey's prime minister says the investigation into the bombings that killed at least 97 people in Ankara on Saturday. It's focusing on ISIS.
The attack happened just weeks before Turkey holds elections.
Separately, the Turkish military says 49 members of the Kurdistan Workers Party were killed in airstrikes on PKK camps in northern Iraq over the
weekend.
In Jerusalem, Israeli police say they shot and killed a young Palestinian man who tried to stab an officer. The officer was unharmed.
And in Gaza, a funeral was held for a girl reported killed in Sunday's Israeli airstrikes. The strikes came after Israel intercepted a rocket
that was fired from Gaza.
A Washington Post Journalist has been convicted in Iran, but we don't know what the sentence is. Jason Rezaian has been held in Iran for more than a
year, accused of spying. The U.S. says that is unfounded.
Now refugees continue to stream out of Syria and into Europe. And now many towns are struggling with the massive influx. Atika Shubert visited one
German village with a proud history of helping refugees, but its mayor says it just can't take any more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Seventy years ago, the tiny village of Friedland opened doors to thousands without homes at the end of the second
World War. It had more than 100 emergency barracks to house those streaming back in. It was known as the gates of liberty. Today, Friedland is still
welcoming refugees. Nearly 4,000 at its peak. About four times the capacity this historic camp was designed to hold at any one time. Most are from
Syria and Iraq. But, also, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Eritrea.
The camp manager has worked here nearly a quarter of a century, long enough to see waves of refugees come and go. More than 4 million have passed
through from Vietnamese in the '70s to the Syrians that arrive today. It's open 24 hours, 365 days a year, rain or shine. But, even in this idyllic
setting nestled in the German countryside, there is now a problem. Too many refugees. People queue everywhere, he says, whether in the registration
offices or during meal times, sometimes up to two hours or when refugees get their clothing vouchers. It's a problem.
Privacy is almost nonexistent. There are no private places and the infrastructure of the camp is maxed out, he says. A festival tent has been
pitched on the kids' sports field, now home to 200 refugees who hang their launry on the goal posts. Mattresses line the office hallways of the camp.
Every spare meter devoted to sheltering refugees
Ideally, refugees are here for two weeks before moving on. But the recent surge of refugees and a backlog of asylum requests has turned weeks into
months. In the last two weeks, he said, new arrivals in Friedland are brought to alternative housing facilities within 24 hours. We're seeking to
reduce the number of migrants in Friedland by half, which would still be more than double of what our capacity truly is, he explains. Refugees now
outnumber Friedland's residents 3 to 1. The mayor says the village has gone above and beyond for refugees, but it can't take any more.
We do not have a problem with Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans, says the mayor. They have received a big welcome and the residents want to help. That said,
there is a fine line between wanting to help people and being stretched too thin. Just as it was 70 years ago, Friedland still welcomes those that need
shelter. But, it warns even the gates of liberty has its limits.
Atika Shubert, CNN, Friedland, northwestern Germany.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[08:36:51] TANK: An update on very different matters now. Dell has just announced the biggest technology merger ever. It's buying the data storage
firm EMC for $67 billion. It's all part of Dell's move away from consumer PCs to focus on enterprise solutions for business.
New data from research firm IDC could explain Dell's shift in strategy. It reports PC sales over the last three months are down more than 10 percent
from a year before.
A reminder, you're watching News Stream. Still to come, Hillary Clinton has some strong poll numbers ahead of tomorrow's debate, but that doesn't
she won't face a challenge. We look at who she will be competing with before the spotlight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TANK: We are now just one day away from the first U.S. Democratic presidential debate of the campaign season. The CNN hosted event will take
place in Las Vegas. A new CBS News poll suggests Hillary Clinton has a commanding lead over her opponent with a 46 percent support among
Democratic voters. Bernie Sanders comes in second with 27 percent support followed by Vice President Joe Biden who hasn't yet decided if he'll enter
the race.
Well, Tuesday's debate will be the first time Clinton and Sanders has gone head to head. Sanders is already grabbed much of the spotlight with his
brand of populist politics. CNN's Martin Savidge has a look at the senator's rise in popularity.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This campaign is sending a message to the billionaire class, yes, we have the
guts to take you on.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On the surface, the 70-year old may not look like a political fire brand, he has a history of standing out and
standing up for what he believes in. He calls himself a Democratic socialist and he's the longest serving independent member of Congress in
U.S. history.
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bernie Sanders is really one of the most interesting characters in the Senate because he's one of only two
independents. Historically, he's called himself, a socialist and yet he is been able to work across the aisle in recent years with Republicans to
solve some really major problems.
SAVIDGE: Born in Brooklyn to Jewish parents, he went to James Madison High School. He became a socialist and active in the civil rights movement. In
Vermont, he lost his first runs at political office, then, was elected mayor of Burlington by 10 votes. Next, came the U.S. Congress, but it was
in the Senate where he became nationally known especially for his filibuster against extending Bush Air Tax Cuts.
In April, Sanders decided, what's been good for Vermont would be good for the nation.
[08:40:43] SANDERS: I am proud to announce my candidacy for president of the United States of America.
SAVIDGE: The same issues that have motivated him in the past are now campaign themes of the present -- the gap between rich and poor, education,
immigration, and racial inequality in the justice system.
GARRISON NELSON, UNIV. OF VERMONT, PROFESSOR OF POLITICS: Bernie has not tailoring his speeches to the agenda. The agenda has caught up with Bernie
Sanders.
UNIDENTIFED MALE: Thank you very much.
UNIDENTIFED FEMALE: Thank you.
SAVIDGE: The senator from Vermont maybe a long shot to win it all. The fans say he brings something to the Democratic ticket Hillary Clinton so far has
not -- excitement.
Martin Savidge, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TANK: You don't want to miss the debate. It's happening right here on CNN. Anderson Cooper will moderate with Don Lemon posing questions
submitted via Facebook. Our coverage is live from Las Vegas. It starts at 8:30 a.m. this Wednesday Hong Kong time.
There's also a later showing of the debate in its entirety, 7:00 p.m. in Hong Kong, 8:00 p.m. in Tokyo. It's right here on CNN.
And that's it for News Stream for now. I'm Manisha Tank, but don't go anywhere. Alex Thomas is up next with World Sport.
END
