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Massive Protests Take Place Across Iraq; Indonesian Officials Reverse Plans to Close Komodo Island to Tourism; CNN Hero Robbin Carroll Brings Healing to Chicago`s South Side

Aired October 04, 2019 - 04:00   ET

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

CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Hey. It`s great to have you watching CNN 10 on this Friday, October 4th. I`m Carl Azuz at the CNN Center.

We`ve reported a lot lately on protests in Hong Kong. In the Middle East, there have been a series of demonstrations as well for very different

reasons. Teachers in Jordan have been on the longest strike in the nation`s history. Protesters in Egypt and Lebanon have been calling

attention to difficult economic conditions, government corruption and unemployment.

And those same issues are the reasons for widespread protests in the nation of Iraq. At least 34 people there have been killed in three days of

demonstrations and a human rights official says more than 1,500 have been injured, including over 400 Iraqi security workers. These are the largest

protests Iraq has seen in decades. In addition to corruption and the lack of jobs, people are upset about long power outages.

The demonstrators have stormed governors` offices, setting fires in the buildings. They`ve blocked roads and fought with police. Security forces

have used teargas, water cannons and some live ammunition to break up the crowds, and the government has established a curfew in the capital city of

Baghdad and several other places.

It`s also shut down the Internet in many parts of Iraq. Iraqi leaders say they`re trying to meet the demands of the demonstrators, including working

to find jobs for young Iraqis. The National Security Council also says it`s doing what it can to protect people and property.

But the country continues to struggle from decades of war. Iraq fought with Iran for eight years in the 1980s. It tried to take over neighboring

Kuwait in 1990, but was pushed out by a U.S.-led group in 1991. Its long time dictator Saddam Hussein was overthrown by a U.S.-led coalition in

another war in 2003, and the nation`s democratic government has battled the ISIS terrorist group between 2014 and 2017.

So, Iraq`s struggles, which include high poverty and unemployment, continue to challenge the Middle Eastern nation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ (voice-over): Ten-second trivia:

Which of these countries will you find Komodo Island?

Indonesia, Philippines, Japan, or Mauritius?

Komodo Islands is one of more than 13,000 islands that make up Indonesia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: This spring, we reported on how Indonesia`s government was planning to close Komodo Island in 2020. That report came out after several people

were arrested in March and accused of smuggling Komodo dragons off the island. As many as 41 of the lizards were sold in other countries for

$35,000 each.

Now, the Indonesian government says it plans to keep Komodo Island open but it will put limits on the number of tourists who are allowed to visit.

Last year, 180,000 people made that trip. We don`t know what the new limit will be or how much it will cost to go there. But the Indonesian

government is trying to balance calls for more wildlife protection with concerns that banning tourism will hurt the residents who depend on it for

their income.

Komodo dragons are considered a vulnerable species, meaning they could become endangered unless they`re protected. There are more than 1,700 of

these creatures on Komodo Island.

And if you plan to go there, Komodon`t feed the wildlife. While they don`t often attack people, the lizards are venomous and capable of killing

someone. They can become as long as 10 feet and weigh 150 pounds.

A CNN hero is making headlines for her work to heal a community in Chicago, Illinois. Englewood is a notoriously violent neighborhood there. And on a

particularly violent block, Robbin Carroll, along with about 50 residents has turned an abandoned home in its nearby lot into a peace house. Her

work there started in 2013, and it`s grown over the years, so has its impact on ever-widening circles in the South Side of Chicago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I grew up on this block. From the violence and poverty, we`re still a community.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was worried about my children. If you`re constantly living in fear, it`s not living.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of innocent people had been shot, a lot of innocent people being killed.

ROBBIN CARROLL, CNN HERO: I live downtown and Monday morning, you will start with the amount of people that were killed over the weekend and I

could not fathom my head around that. This was the city that I live in and I wasn`t doing anything about that.

I started coming out to the community. The lots were all empty. The houses were getting boarded up. People were not coming outside.

I stood on the corner and just ask anyone that walked by, are you interested in taking back your community? And everyone said, absolutely

yes.

This is the peace house. This is where we started.

So, the first thing we did was by this house.

Hey, guys.

Then we just hired everyone in the community to start that process of planting and building. We serve everyone in the community.

Your biggest goal right now is ID. We will help with anything that you need, jobs, resume, daycare. We`re going to get there. We will work

through all of what is holding you back to becoming a person that you have to be.

So, we started with this peace house and we outgrow really fast.

This is what I love. So, we got our side lot. We put in the basketball court.

And then immediately we did the garden and farm.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Welcome, welcome, welcome.

CARROLL: We`re in the process of building now a peace campus. We really just listen to what the community says they need.

Put your hands to your heart, press them together.

Communities that have a high level of violence have a high level of trauma. If you don`t feel peace inside, you certainly cannot have peace on the

outside.

We have our police community circles so that we have a better understanding of each other, and where we`re coming from.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I get to see Wald (ph) not just as police officers, I get to see myself and others here as human beings.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I see the world the way it`s supposed when I come here. The power of community through the peace house and how beautifully the

world could be if we are working for one goal.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are the core that keeps everything going.

CARROLL: We developed a wisdom council. We ended up getting an elder from each block. We go them with our problems.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We (INAUDIBLE) sent back to the hospital.

CARROLL: Should we maybe have a training like from mental health here. They share all of their knowledge.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just got to realize that not only they`re being loved but this community needed our help.

CARROLL: The same people that shut up and stole and hurt each other now come together.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. How are you doing?

The organization has helped us to take back our block.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They definitely gave me the support that I needed as a single mother.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is my first (INAUDIBLE) here. (INAUDIBLE)

Robbin saved the community and I know she saved my life. Before, the sounds of the block were a lot of gun shots. The sounds of the

neighborhood now, laughter, birds chirping, trees blowing. We just feel the love.

(INAUDIBLE)

CARROLL: Yes, we got more houses to do, more kids to love.

Our mission is to go from surviving to thriving. My hopes and dreams for this community, whatever they hope and dream comes true.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Well, this looks like a yacht-a fun. It`s a yacht, or at least a computer design of one. And though there aren`t immediate plans to

actually build this, it would be unique and that it would be the world`s first super yacht powered by hydrogen, that could make it more

environmentally friendly. It could also be more expensive to run. But then again, it`s a yacht, so, money.

Its developers say it`d be 367 feet long and capable of sailing as far as 3,750 nautical miles with a top speed of 17 knots. Its name, Aqua.

Other sailors might keel over with envy when they see you hauled in the next hydro generation of boat. They might not sink much of your fuel

source and give you stern looks while saying diesel not work for everyone. Or they might sail it is something of great import, bowing with respect to

your catamaranswer.

I guess whether they jib you about it or helm you roll (ph) its virtues depends on the tact they take, and, of course, whatever floats your boat.

I`m Carl Azuz, your anchor for CNN. And Fridays are awesome!

END