Return to Transcripts main page
Hala Gorani Tonight
Reaction to Greek Deal; Iran Deal Near?; Mexican Drug Lord Escapes from Prison; New Harper Lee Novel Draws Fire;
Aired July 13, 2015 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:12] HALA GORANI, HOST: Tonight Europe avoids the dreaded Grexit but at what cost?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Reaction is coming in fast and strong to Greece's new bailout deal.
Then the world is on the edge of its seat waiting for word on nuclear talks with Iran. We'll tell you why optimism has been dwindling as the minutes
tick by this evening.
Plus an infamous cartel kingpin makes a daring escape from prison. How El Chapo made it out, what is really being done to hunt him down?
And later it's the other Harper Lee novel almost no-one knew existed. Why fans of Atticus Finch are not happy with Go Set a Watchman.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Hello, everyone, I'm Hala Gorani, we're live at CNN London. Lots to talk about that novel, we'll have that and all the top world news
stories because this is the World Right Now.
Well after months of often contentious negotiations and a marathon 17 hour summit in Brussels, it's a record apparently, finally there is a deal.
Europe has offered Greece a bailout worth almost $100 billion. The Greek government has agreed to conditions attached to the deal and they are deep,
and they are hard hitting. Let's take a look at some of them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Tax revenues are to be boosted especially from the Value Added Tax or VAT which is to be streamlined, that's the wording, of the Eurozone
creditors.
Cuts to pensions according to deal a comprehensive pension reform system is to be set up.
And here's the (chess) de resistance; 50 billion euros worth of Greek state assets are to be transferred to a fund to be privatized. Essentially this
is a Greek state asset privatization and it's a sale. There is little time to waste for the Greek parliament, it has to ratify parts of the deal by
Wednesday.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Now it requires Athens to depart significantly from the anti- austerity message that Greek voters resoundingly approved in a referendum just eight days ago. So what has the reaction been on the streets of
Athens? After all they said no to the previous bailout deal. This sounds and looks a lot like the previous bailout deal.
Let's go to Isa Soares, she's in the Greek capital with more reaction.
Hi Isa.
ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Hala. If it - if it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck and then it is a duck and
that's exactly how Greeks are looking at this.
They woke up really dazed and confused Hala as the news of that bailout started trickling in many people telling me they fell humiliated by Germany
as well as the Nordic countries. One person telling me they felt kicked and bullied. I had a chance to speak to many people here in Athens, have a
look what they had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Dazed and confused Greeks woke up to a new reality with even more austerity and tougher reforms.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not good. There's this left system for the people nothing.
SOARES: It's a stark contrast to the celebrations in Athens more than a week ago after a national referendum. Greeks voted no to an EU deal with
even less austerity than today's agreement, and even harder peel to swallow for many who had hoped for a different outcome.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We tried to (inaudible) the same (medicine) two times before and it (inaudible) spectacularly.
SOARES: Even before a deal was finally reached in Brussels there was indignation in Athens and anger towards Germany's hardline. Blaring
headlines monster Bailout, Greece in Auschwitz. For some the latest deal was just too much.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All this reforms could happen five years ago when people had some more money, now we're dry.
SOARES: As the details of the deadline trickled in, the mood went from shock to outrage.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The people of this had already (inaudible) a lot of the rights all that years have passed, now they lose everything.
SOARES: Some Athenians we spoke to are just resigned to it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think this deal was necessary in order to avoid (inaudible) in Greece and to (inaudible) throughout the Eurozone. It was
almost the best possible and (inaudible).
SOARES: Now its leader is racing against time. Alexis Tsipras has only 48 hours to convince Parliament to push these measures through or the banks
will run out of cash.
[15:05:06] ALEXIS TSIPRAS: (As translated) I have the feeling, the confidence and the hope that the 35 billion euro development package which
we managed along with the debt restructuring and secure financing for the next three years will create the feeling among markets and investors that a
Grexit is a thing of the past.
SOARES: No Grexit but banks are still closed at least through Wednesday and no sign of capital controls being lifted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: And Hala, all this is adding pressure on the Greek people who are financially and emotionally drained. They may not like the terms of the
deal. We saw a rally here tonight no to (inaudible) kind of petering out now but it's clear from what Alexis Tsipras said, the man who has fought
very hard to the very end now basically saying this is the best possible outcome for Greece. Hala?
GORANI: Isa Soares in Athens, thanks very much.
The Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, let's remember he was brought to power on a wave of anti-austerity feeling, now he has to sell his bailout deal to
the Greek parliament and to the Greek people. Will he be able to? I'm joined now in the studio by Syriza's Spokeswoman, one of them, Marina
Prentoulis, thanks for being with us.
MARINA PRENTOULIS, SYRIZA SPOKESWOMAN: Hello.
GORANI: So what is this? Just a few days ago a referendum in a landslide the majority of Greeks said no to the previous austerity deal, this is
probably a harsher deal. Are they right to be extremely disappointed in their Government?
PRENTOULIS: Well we are all disappointed and these are not good days for any of us; neither the people of Greece nor anybody else, not even the
European people. Because what we have seen the past few days is a huge threat and blackmail effectively from some of our Eurozone partners.
GORANI: But I've got to ask you, blackmail, but two weeks ago Alexis Tsipras was presented with an austerity deal that was probably less in
terms of - less harsh than the one he had to agree to after a referendum and after two weeks with banks closed and terrible ...
PRENTOULIS: And you are right because until last night I was also believing that we live in a Democratic Europe but now I have my doubts as
well
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRENTOULIS: So we thought that what is happening and when the people voted against austerity and if you have an elected government with a mandate from
the people this would be respected. But what we found last night and it was a huge disappointment I think not only for me, not only for the Greek
people, but for everybody who's a democrat in Europe, we saw that democracy was not ...
GORANI: ... But who did not (inaudible) thanks to the Democrat process in the end? Was it the Prime Minister of Greece? Your Prime Minister Alexis
Tsipras who went to Brussels and accepted what you consider to be a bad deal or is it the creditors?
PRENTOULIS: I think it is the creditors and everybody now can say that very, very clearly. We know about austerity that it has been going on for
Greece for five years, the people have suffered a lot, the debt has increased by one third all this time and nothing has changed, everything
went worse. And we thought that the creditors, these people that we call our partners they would understand what are the wishes of the Greek people
and will try to find a solution. What we saw instead is very little leadership from the European leaders ...
(CROSS-TALK)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: What did the Prime Minister achieve except put his country through two weeks of misery?
PRENTOULIS: Well we already know that austerity doesn't work and what he has achieved is to show to everybody in Europe that the Greek people are
hoping that austerity doesn't work but also and above all that we are dealing with a European union in the Eurozone that it needs very quickly
transformation. If it goes on like that every democratic mandate will be put on the side and something has to happen very fast.
GORANI: Why then accept a deal that you think is so damaging to your country?
PRENTOULIS: Because you have to remember how the situation was in Greece and how big the blackmail was. The banks were closed, the people were
warring and it had actually a very difficult mandate on the one hand to stop austerity but stay within the Eurozone on the other hand. So this was
almost an impossible mandate.
GORANI: OK. Well thanks Marina Prentoulis, one of the spokespeople for Syriza based here in London. Thank you very much for joining us here on
CNN.
Well we're talking about another deal that the world is watching and waiting for. That long anticipated announcement from the Iran nuclear
talks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: But despite word that negotiators are on the verge of agreement, it looks as though things might not be going as well as we thought they
were just a few hours ago.
Let's get the very latest now from Vienna, Nic Robertson joins me now live.
What's the holdup right now Nick?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[15:10:00] NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well the holdup seems to be what would be the wording in the language of a UN
resolution that would follow this agreement here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: The UN resolution would come a couple of days after an agreement, everyone understands that, agrees that, and that's expected.
What Iran has said is it won't sign the deal unless a UN Security Council resolution imposing an arms embargo on Iran is lifted. Now of course that
resolution was put in place to bring Iran to the negotiating table right now. What Iran would be looking for would be language in the deal that
whereby it could expect to have that Arms Embargo lifted and that language would be contained within this new UN Resolution after the deal was signed.
That doesn't appear to be forthcoming. That's been something of a red line for the United States (ground), John Kerry isn't ready to concede.
The other issue that appears to be holding things up possible military dimensions, PMD as it's known here. This is the question that Iran hasn't
fully answered yet, or even particularly partially.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: That is the question of has it used nuclear technology to develop a nuclear weapon. There are 12 questions on that and in recent
years Iran has only really answered one of those and that's something of a litmus test for the state department on how much they believe that they can
trust the deal that they're negotiating with Iran right now. These appear to be the sticking points.
This morning it appeared to be they were close to agreeing on this but at the moment it does seem that the Iranians if you will are sort of out
maneuvering U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry. Last week he would be prepared to walk away from the talks, now the deadline looks like being
extended and of course the more it gets extended the more pressure there is on John Kerry, because in the United States it gives the impression to his
critics that he is conceding issues and ground by staying longer at the talks. So the Iranians at the moment are holding out on this and pushing
through the deadline again it appears, Hala.
GORANI: Thanks Nic Robertson, in Vienna. We'll have a lot more on that Iranian nuclear deal that we're still all waiting for out of Austria later
in the program.
But do stay with us after a quick break.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: The world's most notorious drug kingpin escapes from prison again. We'll tell you how he did it and how a massive manhunt is hoping to track
him down.
Plus the United Arab Emirates carries out a rare execution after an attack just ahead the message analysts say is intended defense. We'll be right
back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(END COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:14:49] GORANI: Welcome back, now to a story out of Syria, one that shows that the ongoing civil war is taking a toll of course on the
country's people but on its history as well. Take a look at this filed footage of the ancient Citadel of Aleppo.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: It's been at the center of the city for well over a thousand years and was made a UNESCO World Heritage site just a few years ago. This is
how one of the Citadel walls looks today after a blast in a tunnel beneath the complex.
Observers say regime forces detonated the tunnel which was being used by rebel factions but Syria state News Agency blamed rebels for the explosion.
Either way, the beating heart of Syria's largest city has taken a hit today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: A massive manhunt is underway for one of the world's most powerful drug bosses.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Joaquin Guzman known as 'El Chapo' escaped from a maximum security prison on Saturday and there's been no sign of him since. He escaped
through a tunnel that was dug beneath the shower inside his cell, I was surprised to hear he had a shower in his cell.
Guzman heads the powerful Sinaloa cartel a multi-billion dollar drug empire. He's got connections, he's got influence even from inside prison.
The Mexican President, Enrique Pena Nieto says Guzman's escape is "an affront to Mexico" certainly also an embarrassment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: For more I'm joined by CNN's Polo Sandoval is outside the prison in Almoloya de Juarez. Tell us, first of all, walk us through how El Chapo
escaped this time because this is not the first time.
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hala, this is incredible keep in mind in 2001 he was able to escape by allegedly jumping into a
laundry cart and then getting wheeled out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANDOVAL: Well this time just so sophisticated. Authorities saying that he actually broke out of the prison that you see behind me actually
breaking out of his jail cell and then climbing down into a tunnel that really was about 1500 kilometers towards freedom. That tunnel which was
ventilated, it was lit, and also equipped with some kind of sophisticated moving equipment, it was motorized possibly. Likely to actually (truck) if
you will the dirt and the soil out of that tunnel. And what's very interesting here is that could potentially be why, or at least you know
raises that question, how would have some potential accomplices been able to (inaudible).
Now you see me behind me there's an actual construction site that circles the perimeter itself and so one of the working theories here is that the
people that may have been helping Guzman could have been blending in with the dump trucks and the (inaudible) that are working on this legitimate
project that you see behind me.
Now we do also know that investigators are speaking to at least 18 guards at this facility here trying to see if Guzman had any inside help as well
as outside. And let me tell you though it is extremely important to track this guy down particularly for the Mexican government as shortly after
(inaudible) was arrested last February back in 2014 they said that it would be extremely unlikely that he would be able to bust out of prison. And yet
sure enough that's what's played out. So as you mentioned a few moments ago this is extremely humiliating for the Federal Government here in - here
in Mexico.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANDOVAL: Clearly they are also under immense pressure from the United States who really want to get their hands on this man who an extradition
process which their concern was that this facility was simply not secure enough. Well know we know that in fact (inaudible).
In the meantime (inaudible) go ahead, go ahead.
GORANI: Right, yes I was going to say. What - I mean he's out now, he's clearly in hiding et cetera. Does he still have any operational control
over this drug empire? I mean what would he be - how would he be hiding? What kind of network does he still have out there?
SANDOVAL: Well you know one of the possible theories here is that he could have fled to his home state of Sinaloa. It's actually well north of here,
it's a place that's very mountainous, it's a place where he could hide.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANDOVAL: But it's also a place where so many people there consider him their Robin Hood if you will, it's a place where he would be welcomed with
open arms. And I will tell you this as well there are so many experts on this ongoing cartel landscape in Mexico that it seems just that he never
really lost power, even behind bars he had tremendous power over this billion dollar enterprise and operation. Simply being behind bars doesn't
necessarily mean that he was stopped. So now that he's out on the run whether he's in Mexico or elsewhere, experts seem to think that he will
still be at the reigns of this major, major operation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: All right, P0lo Sandoval, thanks very much outside that prison that El Chapo was able to escape from.
Terror attacks that plaque its neighbors are rare in the UAE, the United Arab Emirates. So last year's murder of an American teacher in that
country sent shockwaves there.
Today the government set a clear, if controversial message, it swiftly carried out a death sentence. Becky Anderson is in Abu Dhabi.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[15:20:08] BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Convicted terrorist Ala Al-Hashimi was executed Monday in the UAE after her sentence
was approved by the country's ruler, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan. The death sentence reportedly carried out by firing squad, the usual method
of execution in the UAE.
THEODORE KARASIK, SECURITY ANALYST: The sentence was passed two weeks ago and the execution carried out very quickly to show that UAE Counter-
Terrorism laws are robust and are efficient.
ANDERSON: 30 year old Al-Hashimi is the first person to be executed under tough new counter-terrorism laws enacted last year. Dubbed the "Reem
Island Ghost" she was convicted of stabbing to death 47 year old Ibolya Ryan, the American Kindergarten teacher and mother of three as she shopped
in Abu Dhabi back in December, and for planting a homemade bomb outside an American doctor's house.
She was arrested just 48 hours after the killing in what was a dramatic nighttime raid on her family home.
KARASIK: The fact that the Reem Island Ghost was indeed acting on her own shows how self-radicalization can occur over time. This is important in
understanding the pull of radicalization and extremism and the need for counter narratives.
ANDERSON: Ala Al-Hashimi's actions shocked the normally quiet Abu Dhabi suggesting even a safe haven like this is not immune to the terror threat
seen elsewhere in the region.
Her swift execution testament to how serious that threat is perceived here. Becky Anderson, CNN, Abu Dhabi.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well we will be discussing in more detail the Iran nuclear talks happening right now in Vienna.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: There was still hope just a few hours ago that perhaps we'd hear an announcement today after preliminary agreement a few weeks ago in
Lausanne, Switzerland. We were hoping for a permanent deal to be laid out however it appears as though there are still some major differences mainly
regarding the lifting of sanctions and also the lifting of a UN Arms Embargo, how do you word a new Iran resolution there.
We were seeing the Secretary of State John Kerry leaving this coming into us there from Vienna.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: We'll be discussing this a little bit later. Also coming up, the sequel to the classic American novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, hits stores
tomorrow.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: But why are so many people say they don't want to read Go Set A Watchman.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(END COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: There's a look at the markets and we're starting the week out with arrows pointing upwards. +210 points for the Dow Jones, a quick look at
the NASDAQ and the SMP. Also positive days for those two indices in New York.
European markets across the region also up on the day there with certainly some relief from investors after that Greek debt bailout deal was announced
in Brussels.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: For decades the character Atticus Finch from the novel To Kill A Mockingbird has been fondly recalled as the lawyer who stands up against
racial injustice in the American south of the 1930s. For anyone who has watched the film you of course will remember scenes like this from the 1962
film adaptation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[15:25:07] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now gentlemen, in this country our courts are the great levelers. In our courts all men are created equal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: That is the Atticus Finch I remember, that we all remember from having read the novel as teenagers or perhaps later in life or seen the
movie. But now there's another novel featuring Atticus Finch we didn't even know existed. And it's not even out yet but already there's been a
lot of discussion about Go Set A Watchman, American writer Harper Lee's novel that is coming out tomorrow.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Watchman brings back the characters in the Southern U.S. setting of To Kill A Mockingbird but it takes place two decades later and in a
major and here's the rub for many people, the morally upright attorney Atticus Finch, is now an overt racist.
In a review of the book the New York Times says this 'Mockingbird suggested that we should have compassion for outsiders like Boo and Tom Robinson
while Watchman asks us to have understanding for a bigot named Atticus.'
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Some on social media are proclaiming that they're boycotting the book saying they don't want to see their hero in that light. So this new
controversy is heating up at a time when race relations in the U.S. are in such sharp focus. Senior Media Correspondent, Brian Stelter joins us now
from our Los Angeles bureau.
So for decades and decades we kept hearing Harper Lee does not want to put out any other book, that this is her definitive work, this is what defines
her legacy, and now this. How did we get to a second novel about to be published featuring Atticus Finch?
BRIAN STELTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you're right and there's still some speculation and skepticism about whether the
now 90 year old author wants this book to be published. But, people close to her says she does.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STELTER: This was a manuscript that was discovered essentially out of nowhere about a year or two ago. Harper Collins, the publisher announced
you know about six months ago ever since it has been at the top of the pre- order list. This is the biggest book release in a decade by some measures because if you go back to 2007 that's when the last Harry Potter book came
out and that was the last time Amazon.com said a book was doing as well for as long as this book has. But you know because of a scrutiny about whether
she wants it released, and because of the startling different plotline involving Atticus Finch, there's a lot of people who are very curious to
see this book tomorrow.
By the way, it's coming out at midnight, there's actually going to be launch parties here in the U.S. and it will be released in about 70
different countries, that's how big a book this is.
GORANI: So for many people, including myself I have to admit, having read To Kill A Mockingbird as a teen and then later as an adult and this amazing
1962 adaptation which I think is one of the only cases where a movie is as good as a book in this particular case as portrayed by Gregory Peck.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Reading the 20 years later plotline that features a racist Atticus Finch some people are saying, I'm not even going to go there.
STELTER: Yes, I'm seeing quite a bit of that reaction online already.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STELTER: People not wanting to taint their memories of the original book and the original movie by reading this new manuscript. But if people do
pick it up, and I think millions of copies will clearly sell even though some are reluctant. If people do pick it up what we might see is the value
of an editor. There's that old line that everybody needs an editor, and in this case this book that we now know as To Kill A Mockingbird was - evolved
over time, was massaged, was nurtured by a really involved editor who helped Harper Lee get it where it became.
What we're going to see with this new book is an earlier version. And it's really interesting you know from a literary perspective to think about the
evolution in the story.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STELTER: By the way, there was a hint this morning from one of the representatives for Harper Lee that maybe, just maybe, there's a third
manuscript out there somewhere.
GORANI: I know. I saw those reports as well and I'm thinking to myself what is Atticus doing in this third novel if he's an overt racist attending
KKK meetings in the second one, I don't even want to think about it.
Anyway, Brian Stelter, thanks very much. Brian Stelter joining us for more on this story, appreciate it.
BRIAN STELTER: Thank you.
GORANI: The latest world news headlines just ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Plus, tense negotiations but finally a Greek bailout deal. How are other European countries reacting? I'll be speaking to Luxemburg's
Finance Minister, he was in those meetings and he will be joining us next.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(END COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:32:02] GORANI: Welcome back, a look at your headlines now and we start with Greece.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Even though European Leaders have agreed to give Greece a new $96 billion bailout Athens says banks will not be open again until Thursday.
They've now been closed for two full weeks.
The 60 euro per day limit on cash machine withdrawals remains in effect as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: We may have to wait at least another day to an end of a 13 year process over Iran's nuclear program.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: International negotiators in Vienna appear set to miss another deadline although they are reportedly very close to reaching a final
agreement.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: There is a massive manhunt underway in Mexico after the country's most notorious drug boss escaped from prison.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: There's been no sign of El Chapo since he disappeared on Saturday. He escaped through a small opening and then into a tunnel below the shower
in his cell.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: And then Russia; at least 23 people have been killed in a barracks collapse at a military base in Siberia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Russian media reports some 42 service members were trapped beneath the debris. Rescuers pulled out 19 survivors, you see the images there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Back to the Eurozone bailout deal for Greece, it's worth $96 billion U.S. it was pushed through after marathon talks in Brussels. Nina
dos Santos recaps what we're talking about here, take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: After one of the longest Eurozone's summits on record, leaders of the blocks 19 members finally
struck an accord committing $96 billion to Greece for the next three years and safeguarding its place inside the single currency.
DONALD TUSK, EUROPEAN COUNCIL PRESIDENT: Someone can say that we have an agreement. After 17 hours of negotiations we have finally reached it.
SANTOS: Talks were fraught with difficulty. The framework was re-drafted multiple times to ensure that Greece stick to its commitments. Germany was
forced to drop its insistence that the country take a five year break from using the Euro while Greece didn't get all the debt relief it was after.
But in the end all sides acknowledged there was too much to lose.
ANGELA MERKEL, GERMAN CHANCELLOR: The advantages far outweigh the disadvantages and we do find the basic principles here which have always
guided us in saving the Euro.
SANTOS: Greece's third bailout in five years will see $55 billion placed in a special fund set up to privatize state assets. Of that, 27 billion
will go to replenishing the nation's banks.
But before the cash is coughed up, law makers in Athens must ratify the reforms by Wednesday; not an easy task in a country which just said no to
further austerity.
TSIPRAS: (As translated). Today's agreement keeps Greece in a state of financial stability. It gives the possibilities for a recovery. It will
however be an agreement whose implementation will be difficult.
SANTOS: After that the plan must pass through five more parliaments including Germany's Bundestag. The Eurozone's deal for Greece may keep it
in the monetary union for now but as Chancellor Merkel indicated it'll be some time before that other important currency is restored, Trust.
Nina Dos Santos, CNN, London.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[15:35:19] GORANI: Well there was not necessarily unanimous agreement between Eurozone countries during the weekend and one voice pushing for
Greece to stay in the Eurozone was Luxemburg.
Its Foreign Minister told Germany it would have been "a catastrophe for Europe if Greece was pushed out." Now the Finance Minister joins me now,
Pierre Gramegna with more reaction there.
Minister, thanks for being with us. So ...
PIERRE GRAMEGNA, LUXEMBOURG FINANCE MINISTER: Good Evening.
GORANI: Yes were you - are you happy first of all with the deal?
GRAMEGNA: Well I think that it is in the end a good result. I think a Greek exit would have been a lose/lose situation with a very high cost
whilst the deal that we have hammered out here is a win/win deal with a cost that is reasonable.
When you have high debt like Greece has, you cannot expect that it will be something else as a bumpy road but we have found a road, which means we
have found a way out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: But you think it's a fair deal because so many critics say that essentially Greece was brought to its knees that this is even harsher than
the deal that was rejected in a landslide after that referendum in Greece. That it's requiring Greece to make austerity cuts that will punish it for
many years to come and punish ordinary Greeks for many years to come.
GRAMEGNA: Well I think that the tactics of the Greek Government have been very difficult to follow for 18 partners and I think it has damaged its
confidence and trust and reliability towards Greece.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRAMEGNA: But in the end, I think the meeting of yesterday be it of the heads of government, be it in the Euro group has allowed us to get at a
turning point where we want to work together again. So I think it is fair to say that every side has made a part of the road to meet in the middle of
the bridge and that means that there are not only measures that you can describe as austerity but on the other hand they also help restructure the
budget. I mean if you increase taxes and improve the collection of taxes this will be very beneficial for the public finances on one hand but there
are also positive sides for the Greek government I would mention too. One is that there will be a restructuring of the debt, and a second one which
went really unnoticed is that there will be a package of 35 billion of investment that the commission is going to frontload and investment is what
the Greek economy needs to get started again.
GORANI: All right. Now, there are as I was mentioning critics there at the beginning of our conversation, and some critics are saying essentially
that what the creditors are doing is willfully making it very difficult for the Greek Government to keep its promises and therefore that it's a coup.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: And by the way we have a Leftist Politician in France saying for the third time in history a German Government is destroying Europe, this is
Jean-Luc Melenchon in France. So very pointed criticism directed at the group of finance ministers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRAMEGNA: Well I think you always find politicians that would like to make a statement it sounds like to coo what happened here in Brussels is exactly
the opposite. I mean we avoided a scenario where the solidarity and responsibility that ties together the members of the Eurozone would have
been cut into pieces. On the contrary we have built up confidence again and I think when a country is indebted like Greece where there is no other
way out than solidarity and counting on partners, I think we did the right thing.
GORANI: And briefly I've got to ask you this. Will we be having meetings and summits and 17 hour marathon talks about Greece, this time in six
months or this time in a year? Or are we on a path to a solution that is longer lasting?
GRAMEGNA: The only way that we have a longer lasting solution would be, and I hope it's going to happen, that the Greek economy becomes fit again
and starts to grow again. That's the key issue.
The Greek partners must make sure that investment flows in not only through public institutions like the Commission but private investors they must
boost confidence for the private economy. And I think the privatization program which is being boosted by this deal is probably very good news.
And in the end some efforts will be needed to make the country more competitive. I think that's mainly the responsibility of the Greek
Government and of the Greek enterprises and the Greek people. And we know how much they have suffered but I think if there's a good plan for the
future for competitiveness they can make it and then we will avoid to being back to square one in a couple of months or years.
[15:40:28] GORANI: Pierre Gramegna, the Luxembourg Finance Minister joining us from Brussels, he was in all these meetings. Thanks very much
sir for being with us tonight.
It was a weekend of very little sleep for officials negotiating Greece's bailout which meant journalists in Brussels or Athens weren't relaxing
exactly either. As the process unfolded our Richard Quest was in the middle of it all talking to key news makers. And he joins me now he's back
in London and I saw some of your tweets there with collapsed journalists trying to - sleeping under tables and putting chairs together.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Oh there was a - there was a lot of that. I mean but that goes with the territory. I mean
that's just part of it.
GORANI: Yes. Now, let's talk a little bit about what impact because the creditors, and we heard from the Luxembourg Finance Minister of course he's
going to say this is good for Greece, we found a middle ground, we have 35 billion euros earmarked for investment. Is it going to work finally this
deal?
QUEST: We don't know. In theory it should work. All the right pieces, all the right ingredients, but history is against them. Two previous
bailouts have failed. There's been a massive private sector write down of debt, all the - all the previous programs are well and truly off the rails.
So we don't know. And what's slightly worrying about this plan is that it's (nanny). It's (nanny) saying now do this and we'll make sure you
can't do that, and we'll make sure the money is here. And so they're doing everything they possibly can to put a corset around it.
GORANI: But it's 35 billion for investment; surely the country needs more than that. It needs reform that's going to cost money, and it needs to
make very, very difficult choices now when it comes to taxation. It needs to collect its tax revenues is it going to do that?
QUEST: All of that is in the agreement but what it really needs is an environment conducive to investment.
GORANI: Right.
QUEST: You're never going to get...
GORANI: ... You can't scare off foreign direct investment.
QUEST: Exactly. And that's what's happened so far. And that's what it is. Now there is one other point you know that one has to remember in all
of this; what we saw yesterday was political will at its most strong. You saw Merkel and Hollande negotiating for 17 hours when they could have
easily said, turn off the lights, goodnight Greece.
GORANI: As in let Greece go?
QUEST: Yes.
GORANI: Was that ever on the table?
QUEST: No, that's my point. That's my point.
GORANI: I don't think it ever was.
QUEST: That is my point.
GORANI: It was - yes.
QUEST: They said that the beginning Hala, they said we will not allow a Grexit, it's not part of our lexicon. And what we saw last night was
exactly that in operation. They never intended, unless Greece wanted to go, they never intended to let Greece go.
GORANI: Right, well I can imagine you do not want to be the European politician on whose watch the entire monetary union that the political
union essentially rests on collapses.
QUEST: Right. But, Merkel said when she went in we want a deal but it's not a deal at any price. So what they did is they set out the parameters
of their deal and they then said OK, get on and do it. If you don't want this deal here's your hat, where's your hurry.
GORANI: OK.
QUEST: Otherwise they were quite clear about it. But I was quite impressed. When I saw Merkel last night and I saw Hollande and I realized
what they had gone through in the previous 17 hours, it was an impressive sight to see how committed they were to it.
GORANI: All right. Thanks very much. And Richard, you are here in London and we'll see you on Quest Means Business at the top of the hour in 17/16
minutes time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: You will indeed.
GORANI: See you then.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Five years in prison that sentence was handed down today to a former member of the European Parliament, speaking of Europe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: A court found Ashley Mote guilty on 12 charges including fraud and false accounting. Mote claims some, listen to this number, three quarters
of a million dollars essentially, $775,000 worth of false expenses. How do you even make that number up?
During his campaign he vowed to clean up corruption in Brussels. Mote already had a prior conviction for benefits fraud.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Still to come, it's been a long hard road but the final stretch of the Iran nuclear attacks may be the toughest yet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: We'll talk with a veteran, UN Diplomat about the marathon efforts to secure a deal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(END COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:46:48] GORANI: Negotiators at the Iran nuclear talks appear set to miss yet another deadline as they struggle to reach a final agreement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: But they are reportedly on the verge of that historic deal we've all be waiting for. The White House says the talks in Vienna are "making
real progress" but chief sticking points are unresolved. One of those is Iran's demand that a UN Arms Embargo be lifted, something that the United
States strongly opposes.
Let's get some perspective now from Veteran U.S. Diplomat, Nicholas Burns in Washington.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Among his many posts he served as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs and was the lead U.S. negotiator on Iran's nuclear
program. He's now a Harvard Kennedy school professor and a Boston Globe columnist. I got your whole resume in there Nicholas Burns. Thanks for
being with us.
First of all should we be encouraged or discouraged in terms of the latest out of Vienna?
NICHOLAS BURNS, FORMER UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR POLITICAL AFFAIRS: I think we can be consciously encouraged Hala. It looks like the parties are
heading towards an agreement tomorrow. You never know until the final moment. It's not over till it's over as they say. But it looks like they
surmounted the most difficult issues and frankly I think this is going to be a good result for the United States if this agreement, the final
agreement mirrors the interim agreement of early April that was announced.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: OK, now one of the biggest sticking points is the lifting of a UN Arms Embargo in other words how do you word a new UN Resolution regarding
Iran's nuclear program?
BURNS: Right, and these are Chapter 7 UN Security Council resolutions from 2006, 2007, and 2010. They were put there for a reason, Iran has been a
trouble maker in the Middle East. Iran has provided weapons to nefarious actors in the Middle East. Right now, as you know Hala, Iran is supplying
weapons to President Asad in Syria, to the Houthi Rebels in Yeoman, to Hamas in Gaza. So the United States ...
GORANI: Right.
BURNS: ... simply cannot support a lifting of this embargo. Now if Iran signs up to have the embargo lifted perhaps in several years if conditions
are met, that's one thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNS: But I don't think the Iranians can expect that the international community is going to turn aside and just lift the embargo tomorrow, it
won't happen.
GORANI: But you can look at it another way; Iran certainly is helping the Government of Iraq fight against ISIS. You could also argue Gulf countries
that are firm loyal allies of the United States are arming groups considered to be terrorist groups in Syria. So it's not that clear cut is
it?
BURNS: I think it's clear cut. I think Iran is in a league of its own. Originally we put those amendments in place and I helped to work on that in
2006 and 2007 because Iran was supplying weaponry to the Shia militant groups killing American soldiers. So we took this personally and I think a
lot of other people around the Middle East who see Iran making a major show of power in the Sunni world, Syria, Iraq, Yeoman, Lebanon, and Gaza, that's
a pretty comprehensive record of assertiveness and aggression. So there's not going to be any support in the United States in the congress or in the
administration for immediate lifting. I think that's why you've seen Secretary Kerry be so tough minded and appropriate so on this issue.
[15:50:00] GORANI: But if it's not an immediate lifting of the UN Arms Embargo would the U.S. consider a more gradual incremental lifting of the
conventional Arms Embargo against Iran?
BURNS: Well I don't know I'm watching it the way you are Hala, we'll have to find out tomorrow if there's an agreement to see what the - what the
letter of this agreement is. But I think the U.S. has been right not to pay attention to deadlines, to stand tough on this issue. It's important
here in the United States.
GORANI: All right, so what about congress? You mentioned congress. Because in the end this deal has to be approved at home for both countries
with the supreme leaders in Iran and also the congress many people on Capitol Hill very much opposed to any deal with Iran. How will it play out
in Washington do you think?
BURNS: We're going to have a very tough debate in the United States. In fact I'm testifying before a house committee tomorrow morning in the House
of Representatives on a perspective Iran deal. I think you'll have lots of people ask tough questions. But in the end, I believe that President
Obama, and Secretary Kerry, can make a compelling argument that if all the alternatives available to us to stop Iran from becoming a nuclear weapons
power, this is going to be the best one.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BURNS: It freezes their program for 10 years and it has the added advantage Hala, as you know, of having the rest of the world on our side
trying to enforce the agreement by the Iranians. So I think ultimately President Obama's going to succeed in convincing congress to go ahead.
I think the American people are going to support as well. I'd be very surprised if they didn't in public opinion polls.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: All right, Nicholas Burns, always a pleasure, thank you so much for joining us ...
BURNS: Thank you - thank you.
GORANI: ...on this important story. A lot more ahead on the program.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: The gaming world is mourning the loss of a man who brought video games to an unlikely audience. We'll explain after the break. Stay with
us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(END COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: The gaming world has lost the man who gave us the Wii. Nintendo's President Satoru Iwata passed away on Saturday after a long illness. He
was only 55. He's credited with the bold decision that ended up bringing video games to new audiences. Here's Andrew Stevens.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SATORU IWATA: Hello everyone, I'm Satoru Iwata of Nintendo.
ANDREW STEVENS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A CEO with a difference. Satoru Iwata was known for his YouTube broadcasts like this delivering the
news about Nintendo's latest games directly to its fans.
Iwata spoke to gamers because he was a gamer. He started as a programmer at Hal Laboratory working on the Kirby series and other popular titles for
Nintendo. That's where he caught the eye of Nintendo's longtime leader Hiroshi Yamauchi who chose him as his successor in 2002.
Iwata took over a Nintendo in decline, struggling to compete against giants like Sony and Microsoft. But within five years he'd turned the company
around. His plan was to let his rivals fight for hardcore gamers. Instead he corrected the DS and WII. Two consoles designed to attract people who
don't play games. It worked.
Scenes like this became common. Senior citizens bowling on the WII, proof that Nintendo and Iwata had expanded the definition of gamer. But that
success would not continue.
[15:55:08] STEVENS: Nintendo's next console the WII U flopped. And many wondered just how long Nintendo's handhelds could hold out against
smartphone gaming.
These troubled times for Nintendo came at a tough time for Iwata. He didn't attend E3 in June Gaming's biggest annual show. But Iwata had a
typically quirky solution.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IAWATA: We're ready to start filming the Nintendo digital event for E3 2015. OK, thanks you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEVENS: Iwata gave his presentation on YouTube as a Muppet. Speaking to gamers one last time as only he could. Satoru Iwata was 55. Andrew
Stevens, CNN, Hong Kong.
GORANI: Sad, he was so young. Now tomorrow caps off a journey more than nine years and nearly 5 billion km in the making.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: The new Horizon spacecraft will make its closest approach to Pluto just 10,000 km away. It's already beaming back images of Pluto and its
moon.
GORANI: Now that one NASA - sorry that picture I believe we're talking about NASA astronomers call mind blowing he tells CNN that after a brief
scare nine days ago the Spacecraft is performing flawlessly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well, that has been the World Right Now, I'm Hala Gorani. Thanks for watching everybody. I'll see you here, same place, same time tomorrow.
Quest Means Business is coming up next.
END
