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Hala Gorani Tonight
Forty Killed As Migrant Boats Capsize In Aegean Sea; U.S. Capital Prepares For Major Blizzard; Monster Storm Heading Toward Eastern U.S.; NATO Wants More Political Dialogue With Russia; American Held Prisoner In Iran Heading Home; Iranians Look To Future After Sanctions Lifted; Abandoned Boy Starting New Life In America; Monster Storm Hits US East Coast; Fighting Deportation of Refugees in Norway; Flint, MI, Water Woes Examined; Oscar Nominations Controversy. Aired 5-4p ET
Aired January 22, 2016 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Hala Gorani. We are live at CNN London. Thanks for being with us on CNN. This is THE
WORLD RIGHT NOW.
We begin tonight with an all too familiar story from the Mediterranean. It's not always in the headlines, but sometimes the numbers are so high
it's difficult to ignore the extent of the catastrophe.
Stormy weather means for risks for migrants and refugees trying to get to Europe, but still they are coming and still some of them don't make it.
This incident off the coast of Turkey, at least four people have died.
Look at this images, more than 40 were rescued. In this image, you can see three people desperately clinging on to a buoy in the sea. Here a child is
being lifted into a boat from the water.
In this image, people in the water hold on to a rope from a Turkish rescue boat. In two other incidents dozens more were killed, including 17
children, when vessels capsized in the Aegean Sea near the Turkish coast.
CNN's Arwa Damon has been covering this ongoing crisis for months now. She is live in Istanbul. Last year, when we were covering this refugee crisis,
we would hear once the winter weather sets in, you know, fewer people will attempt to cross, but still we're seeing huge numbers, Arwa. Tell us more
about these deadly incidents.
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That was the expectation, Hala, and in fact, it's taken as we've been covering this by
surprise, but also eight organizations who were hoping that perhaps because of the colder weather, the stormier seas, it would perhaps tamper down to
more manageable levels when it comes to the influx of refugees.
But the tragic reality of it, as you highlighted there with those heart breaking images too, is that this has not significantly slowed down and
people do continue to die on a regular basis because they are being crammed into these boats that are not sea worthy to begin with.
In all these instances these were boats that capsized off the coast of Greece managing to make it all the way to Greece, but not to Greek shores,
and the other very close to the shores of Turkey.
And that is exactly one of the main things that so many people are trying to tackle is the conditions that these smugglers are throwing these
refugees into to make this crossing.
GORANI: Right. We've heard reports of factories producing fake life vests, for instance. While this is all happening and people are drowning
in the sea, leaders from Germany and Turkey are meeting today. What are they saying about how this crisis can be addressed here?
DAMON: Well, German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, and the main focus of their conversation was
really centered around this whole refugee crisis.
Both of the countries severely impacted. Turkey home to around 3 million refugees, 2.2 million of them from Syria. Germany in the last year taking
in an unprecedented 1.1 million.
Turkey pledging to try do more to stem this flood that's going. Germany also saying that it is not going to necessarily put a number, a cap on
refugees it's going to be accepting, but how sustainable is the current situation?
It really is not and that is why both these leaders are trying perhaps come up with some sort of solution. European Union member countries have
pledged to give Turkey around 3 billion euros to try to help Turkey deal with living conditions here.
[15:05:09]Health education for refugees perhaps that will prevent more from going to Europe, but at this stage there is no real solution.
GORANI: Yes. And it doesn't solve the problem that people in foreign countries around Syria can't find work, can't send their kids to school in
many cases. You covered the refugee crisis in Europe and we're already seeing so many boarders, even inside Schengen go up.
We are hearing leaders, Manuel Valls, the prime minister of France say, we don't know if this whole passport-free area can survive in its current
state. Can it sort of sustain more of this influx?
DAMON: It's very difficult to fathom how, but at the same time, it's going to somehow have to a certain degree because the influx isn't going to stop
until the Syrian crisis and the various other wars and economic conditions that are forcing people to flee are really going to be addressed.
You have boarders going up in Europe where they didn't use to exist. You have governments of some countries very seemingly deliberately trying to
make their nation refugee unfriendly.
You have Denmark right now that is going to be voting on legislation on Tuesday that is going to allow the authorities to seize valuables or money
that is valued to be above $1,500.
You have other measures being put in place to deter people from coming into these countries. But again, at the end of the day, what it really boils
down to is that even if countries put up boarders, they're not going to stop the refugees from coming.
Eight organizations keep saying this too, Hala. All that these measures are doing is making the situation more difficult for them.
GORANI: Well, we are seeing it with the current influx. Arwa Damon live in Istanbul. Thanks very much. We'll have more on this a bit later in the
program, particularly we'll discuss once again Norway's plans to deport some asylum seekers to Russia. That's coming up a bit later.
But for now, let's turn our attention to that monster storm heading towards some of the biggest cities in the United States. The weather system, you
see it there, it walloped to the south on Friday morning.
Now it is heading north. Washington's mayor warned residents to stay home and off the roads saying the blizzard had, quote, "life and death
implications."
Chris Frates has the latest on preparations. He joins me now live from the National Mall in Washington. I see it's already snowing -- Chris.
CHRIS FRATES, CNN INVESTIGATIONS CORRESPONDENT: It's already snowing. It's been coming down for a couple of hours now, Hala, and as beautiful as
this looks, Washington's officials are telling everybody to stay home. Leave the sleds. They're saying that this is a matter of life and death.
The D.C. mayor, Muriel Bowser, she had a press conference today and here is what she had to say.
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MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER (D), WASHINGTON, D.C.: We see this as a major storm. It has life and death implications and all the residents should treat it
that way. We need the city's full cooperation and we need the media's help too to send a clear message that we want people to hunker down and shelter
in place and stay off the roads.
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FRATES: So there you have the mayor, Muriel Bowser, saying it's a matter of life and death. Her emergency management director went on later to say
that this storm will be deadly and to stay off the roads.
Now Maryland, D.C., Virginia, all in a state of emergency, Hala. That allows them to call on federal aid if they need it including the National
Guard.
Now the city government and the federal government, everybody has gone home. They called it quits about noon time. The school kids head off long
before the snow started to fall.
They had the snow day off and that was largely because they wanted to keep people off the roads today. They wanted to give the salt trucks the
ability to get out there and pretreat the roads.
We were at a salt dome earlier today and they have 39,000 tons of this stuff they're going to put this down to try to keep this area safe, but the
best advice is stay inside. You can come out to play on Sunday.
GORANI: Right. Everybody got a good heads up this time. So we'll see if there is any caucus on the road. Chris Frates, thanks very much. We'll
stay in touch with you.
Meteorologist Karen Maginnis joins me now from the World Weather Center. Karen, how is it looking now?
[15:10:06]KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It looks for dreadful than what we were looking at. Honestly, Hala, they are saying that this is
epic, it's historic, it's a record breaker, and it potentially could be all of those things, but either way it's devastating for people living along
the I-95 corridor.
It's that band, that highway all the way from Washington, D.C. through Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City. Now everybody within these
orange shaded boxes have blizzard warnings from this evening until Sunday morning.
So we're looking at just about 36 hours and we have winter storm warnings out across the Deep South and mid-Atlantic region. In Nashville, they've
seen about half a meter of snowfall already.
In North Carolina there's a big football game coming up on Sunday. They have seen ice and snow. We're not even talking about the winds yet, but
blizzard conditions with wind gusts possibly as high as 105 kilometers per hour.
Look where this is expected, right along that I-85 corridor. Another interstate that runs pretty much from Richmond to Charlotte to Greenville,
South Carolina. Folks here could be slipping and sliding on some of those roads.
Those are the major interstates. The secondary roads, forget about it. The storm system is going to hug the mid-Atlantic coast, move up towards
the north east. How much snow could Washington, D.C. get?
You are looking at between 50 and 75 centimeters. There's a look at Washington, D.C. The snow started coming down about three hours ago. The
visibility has gone down. It looks pretty right now and you're wondering how bad could it be?
It's going to be so bad we could see potentially millions of people without power and this will rival the storm that we saw the blizzard of 1922, Hala,
about a hundred people lost in a movie theater there and they saw just about those same amounts so it's potentially devastating.
GORANI: All right. Let's hope it's not devastating. The thing about snow is it's always lovely when it's nice and fluffy and the snow starts
falling, then it's a nightmare, and problems with traffic and as you mentioned power lines. Karen Maginnis, we will stay also in close touch
with you as the storm progresses. Thanks very much.
MAGINNIS: Thank you.
GORANI: We'll head to snowy Davos, Switzerland in just a moment. The U.S. secretary of state gives a wide ranging speech at the World Economic Forum.
He covered everything from terrorism to Ukraine. Richard Quest has the details next. We'll go live to Tehran where people are looking forward to
life after sanctions.
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[15:15:05]
GORANI: The relationship between Moscow and Washington certainly has been chilly in the last few months, but could they be moving these two out of
the deep freeze?
In a speech from Davos, the American Secretary of State John Kerry said he believed the damaging sanctions against Russia could be removed within
months, but he says there are conditions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KERRY, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I believe that with effort and with bonafide legitimate intent to solve the problem on both sides, it is
possible in these next months to find those agreements implemented and get to a place where sanctions can be appropriately because of the full
implementation are removed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: John Kerry there. Richard Quest is tracking developments from the World Economic Forum in Davos live. So Richard, let's talk a little bit
also about and you spoke with the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. What did you two discuss?
RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": Well, Jens Stoltenberg obviously is here because of the security and the larger issues at play,
particularly when it comes to Russia. You heard Secretary Kerry discussing the lifting of sanctions.
NATO is much more concerned about the continued aggression, if you like, the bellicosity of Russia towards NATO members, whether it be towards
obviously what happened with Ukraine, but also the testing of NATO defenses with ships, submarines, and planes.
So what Jens Stoltenberg wants to do is start some form of negotiation, some form of dialogue, a dialogue that has not existed for some time
officially between NATO and the Russians.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL: We already have political dialogue with Russia, but we want them to develop and also to be more
focused on, for instance, developing and strengthening mechanisms for risk reduction, transparency and predictability, for instance, related to
military activities along our boarders.
We already have some instruments negotiated in the framework on some people that oversee the organization for security and cooperation in Europe and we
would like to modernize those mechanisms to -- how the necessary mechanisms in place to avoid incidence and accidents from happening.
QUEST: That requires you talking?
STOLTENBERG: Absolutely.
QUEST: And you're not at the moment?
STOLTENBERG: We have some political dialogue with Russia, but we would like to --
QUEST: It's bad.
STOLTENBERG: I think the importance of dialogue is even more pressing or more important when the situation is bad and difficult and now tensions are
high so then there's even more need for military contact, but also political dialogue to try to calm tensions and to avoid incidents and
accidents from spiraling out of control.
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QUEST: That's very much, Hala, the way in which NATO sees it. It's a classic case of they want to talk, but they are absolutely determined to
remain on guard.
GORANI: Let's talk about oil because I understand that this week in Davos that was really one of the big topics of discussion. Oil under 30, for a
while, it's bounced back up to around 31 and here we are by the way up 9 percent.
There is a bit of a rebound for oil. Still year-on-year at lower levels. What's been the word on the impact this this might have on the economy?
QUEST: Year-on-year still over 20 percent. Hala, there's no justification for today's rise in the price of oil any more than there was any
justification for the falls yesterday.
This is the market in some turmoil as it's deciding where the bottom of the price is and where the moment of stability can be reached. The same reason
that the Dow Jones is up over 200 points today.
People say it's the prospect of greater stimulus from central banks. Whether it be the ECB or in Japan. Again, I don't buy it. I think that
you're looking at naked, raw volatility predicated on worries and in this new market of program trading, of high frequency trading, this is the sort
of volatility you get.
GORANI: All right, Richard Quest, thanks very much. We'll see you at the top of the hour on "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" and have a good weekend.
QUEST: Thank you.
GORANI: Thanks. The "Washington Post" reporter who spent 18 months as a prisoner in Iran is now on his way home. Jason Rezaian left a military
hospital in Germany early today. Rezaian released a statement saying at some point he will be ready to discuss his ordeal, but that for now he just
wants to express his appreciation for all the support he's received.
[15:20:02]Meanwhile, a big weight has been lifted for Iran with many economic sanctions no longer a burden for that country, Iranians hope to
unleash the full potential of their economy.
Our senior international correspondent, Fred Pleitgen, is live in Tehran. It's good to talk to you in Tehran because you've had an opportunity to
speak to ordinary Iranians yourself. How are they feeling now that sanctions are being lifted on their country?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's interesting because the people that we've spoken to and basically everybody
here in Iran, they really haven't felt anything of these sanctions that have been lifted yet because of course business deals have yet to be made.
You still can't really do any electronic business here. You have to come here with cash. The country is not part of the electronic banking system.
Those are things that are going to take a while, but what you have is optimism.
You have the optimism of a country where 60 percent of the population is below 30 and a lot of them are well educated and now they believe the
shackles are coming off. Let's have a look at how Iranians feel.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRATES (voice-over): On the first Friday since the implementation of the nuclear agreement in Tehran, a toll of optimism, hope, and reconciliation
even towards the U.S.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody hates anybody. We are people. They are people. We love each other. Our governments have some things which they've been
fighting for, for many years. I don't want to get into that, but if this is a bridge for connecting people then let's hope for the best.
PLEITGEN: While many sanctions have officially been lifted, the effects have not yet kicked in. Still many hope their economy will thrive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can hope Iran's economy and also we have a lot of educated engineers inside and outside Iran.
FRATES: With the sanctions reef, Iran says it wants to sell up to 500,000 additional barrels of oil every day. Tehran also expects major foreign
investments in sectors like manufacturing, tourism, and I.T.
But there is still this, death to America chants at the hardliners Friday prayer. Even after the nuclear agreement, they don't trust the United
States and believe America is trying to increase its influence in the Islamic Republic.
Iran supreme leader has endorsed the nuclear agreement, but he says there will be no further cooperation with America, a sentiment echoed by many
conservatives.
Americans have a very oppressive attitude in this region, this cleric says. They must change that. If they do that in the future, maybe there could be
better relations, but right now I don't see that happening.
Despite the recent diplomatic efforts by Washington and Tehran, it will take more time and more trust building to overcome almost 37 years of
animosity.
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PLEITGEN: So as you can see, Hala, there are still a lot of divisions in Iranian society. There is also divisions of course in Iranian politics as
well and there are a lot of things that could derail the process that's been going on with Iran and the west really coming closer to one another
over the past couple of months, of course, the U.S. as well.
But then there is this large potential and I can tell you when you fly into this country, the planes are absolutely packed with businessmen from the
west looking to cash in on a market that they believe will thrive very shortly -- Hala.
GORANI: I think a lot of deals will be signed over the next several years, certainly some money to be made. Fred Pleitgen is in Tehran where it's
almost midnight. Thanks for being with us, Fred.
Coming up, this disabled boy was abandoned by his parents with little hope of ever being adopted. How a CNN report led to a life changing journey,
next.
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[15:25:47]
GORANI: The story you're about to see is an amazing example of love and determination. A young Chinese boy with a debilitating handicap is just
hours away from starting a new life in America.
You may remember a Kansas City family raised enough money to adopt 9-year- old Jiajia after a CNN report led to a flood of donations.
Will Ripley picks up the story five months later as Jiajia meets his new parents.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Wilsons have been waiting almost a year to make the 6,600 mile journey from Kansas City to Beijing.
The boy they're about to meet has been waiting his whole life. We first met Jiajia last summer, the oldest orphan in a Chinese foster home for kids
with disabilities.
(on camera): You've lived here all your life, right?
JIAJIA, ABANDONED BOY: Yes.
RIPLEY: A long time. Nine years.
(voice-over): Another family broke their promise to adopt him.
(on camera): It's OK.
(voice-over): Jiajia, desperate for parents of his own.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's a rock star.
RIPLEY: Brian and Jeri Wilson had been trying for months to adopt him, but they needed $36,000, money they didn't have.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right after the story aired, I think it was 8:00 that night, we've met our goal.
RIPLEY: Donations came in from all over the world. The Wilsons raised almost $50,000 in a matter of hours. Five more months of paperwork and
today they finally meet their son.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As soon as he looked at us, he smiled.
RIPLEY: Within minutes crucial bonding begins. Jiajia's three older sisters back in Missouri, busy preparing his new room.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We can't wait for him to get here.
RIPLEY: The Wilsons, both 50, say their Christian faith led them to make this life changing choice.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's like he's already been a part of our family forever.
RIPLEY: Before they can take him home, they must travel to Jiajia's hometown in Central China, continuing the tedious process of finalizing the
adoption. The identity of Jiajia's birth parents unknown.
(on camera): It's heart breaking to imagine what his biological parents must have been going through. He was only 3-months-old and he desperately
needed lifesaving surgery that his parents most likely couldn't afford so they left him here at this fertility clinic.
(voice-over): A place where people go who want children. Jeri believes Jiajia's mother did not abandon him, she saved him.
JERI WILSON, MOTHER: I pray for her and I thank God for her and I want him to know that she loved him.
RIPLEY: Hundreds of thousands of Chinese kids with disabilities end up in orphanages and many become wards of the state, their lives spent at
institutions hidden from the prying stares of stranges.
For Jiajia, time was running out. In China, the law says kids can no longer be adopted once they turn 14. His future in America about to
unfold. Already he's learning more English, learning what it feels like to be spoiled.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of spoiling.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
RIPLEY: But first Jiajia leaves the only family he's ever known. To the other orphans he was like a big brother. To the volunteers who raised him,
like a son. Many will never see him again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We know he loves you guys and he's going to miss you.
RIPLEY: It's time to say goodbye. These are happy tears. It doesn't make this any easier. Soon Jiajia begins his new life in Kansas City with a new
American name, Jason Jiajia Wilson. As the other orphans wait and hope that someday their parents will come and take them home. Will Ripley, CNN
Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: This is THE WORLD RIGHT NOW. Coming up, the story of a Norwegian woman who is shown that she's willing to break the law, she says, to save
Syrian refugees from deportation. We'll be right back.
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[15:30:00]
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HALA GORANI, HOST: This is "The World Right Now" the story of a woman who has shown that she's willing to break the law she says to save Syrian
refugees from deportation. We'll be right back.
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GORANI: Welcome back. Our top stories this hour, dozens of migrants and refugees have been killed after three separate vessels capsized in the
Aegean Sea.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Many of the victims were children and women. Dozens more are missing. Here are some of the images from today. Authorities say the
deaths in the Mediterranean make this the deadliest January on record.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: A monster storm has some of the biggest cities in the United States in its sights.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: It walloped the south on Friday morning, it's now heading north. Washington's mayor warned residents to stay home and stay off the road
saying the blizzard had, "life and death implications."
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GORANI: An American college student has been arrested in Pyongyang.
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GORANI: North Korea accuses Otto Warmbier of committing a hostile act against the government. He was detained earlier this month while traveling
with a China-based tour company.
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GORANI: Let's return now to our stop story. The migration crisis in Europe. One of the less talked about locations that's been affected in all of this
is Norway's boarder with Russia. You may think of course of the Mediterranean but there is an area there that has been in the headlines
over the last several months.
Some families who fled there are desperately trying to stay in Norway and one woman has gone to great lengths to help them avoid deportation.
Atika Shubert has her story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Refugees in Norway's artic town of Kirkenes are fighting against deportation to Russia and
they're getting some help from (inaudible) a local and volunteer with the group refugees, "Welcome to the Artic."
She says I did not think to myself at the time that what you're doing now (inaudible) is criminal. My only thought she says was to get this poor
family to safety.
On Thursday (inaudible) helped a Syrian family seek asylum in a church. The family was due to be deported to Russia imminently. But when she returned
to the deportation center to get another family, police stopped the car. She took these photos of the encounter.
(Inaudible) was briefly arrested on alleged immigration violations and released with a fine. The refugee family was returned to the center.
The mother was crying. No Russia, no Russia she said. They cried, I cried, the family cried. It was heartbreaking she says.
Hundreds of refugees have taken the so called artic route through Russia and into Norway, but this week Norway's government began to deport any
refugee with a valid Russian visa.
[15:35:05]
In Kirkenes local residents came to support refugees protesting and demanding to stay in Norway. Aid groups have warned that refugees could be
left stranded without shelter in Russia with temperatures reaching -34 degrees. Norway insists the deportations will continue prompting locals
like (inaudible) to take action and she isn't detoured by the police stop.
One local reporter asks was it worth it? She answers, yes, absolutely. Even the Arctic Circle it seems is feeling the effects of the refugee crisis.
Atika Shubert, CNN.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: All right. Let's get more on this story. I'm joined by Petter Dilie he's the spokesman for the group "Refugees, Welcome to the Arctic," he's
with us from Oslo via Skype.
Thanks for being with us. First of all, what's the situation with these asylum seekers who have gone into a church to avoid deportation into
Russia? What's the latest there?
PETTER DILIE, SPOKESMAN, REFUGEES, WELCOME TO THE ARCTIC: Well the Norwegian government has decided to deport everyone who entered Norway over
the Russian boarder and yes, you're right three persons are now in a church asylum in (inaudible). They came there yesterday and, yes, that's the
thing.
GORANI: So they're still there. Now you're saying everyone who entered through Russia will be deported. That's not what the foreign minister told
me yesterday. Listen Petter to what the foreign minister of Norway said about this situation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BERGE BRENDE, NORWEIGIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: We only will return people that have also lived in Russia before. We have to make a priority of those that
really need protection in Norway.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: So he's saying only people who have lived in Russia before will be deported. Is that not your understanding?
DILIE: That's not my understanding, no. The thing is they are deporting all these refugees without actually considering the need for asylum in Norway.
And this is against -- I mean, it's against common sense.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DILIE: It's against the UNHCR which says that this is not the way the Norway should be doing it. Russia is not the best place for refugees to go.
The UNHCR says that this is not a place they recommend Norway to deport refugees to. So this is not about letting all the refugees stay in Norway.
It's just about the fact that we think in "Refugees, Welcome to the Artic" that they're needs for asylum should be considered in Norway because Russia
is not the safe haven here. I mean that's nonsense.
GORANI: I get that, but I'm getting two very different versions of the story from the foreign minister and from you. The foreign minister says of
the 5,500 or so who have come through Russia into Norway, only a handful who have a visa or who have lived there before will be deported. You're
saying all of them will be deported. So I'm having trouble understanding which is the current number here.
DILIE: Well, they're not having their need for asylum considered in Norway, which is what we are alleging through the Human Rights Article No.14
because Russia is not the safe place to go to. And we already -- the first bus with refugees being deported was -- left on Tuesday. Two of the men
that were deported then don't have a visa in Russia anymore and now they most likely will be deported to Yemen. And Yemen is one of these country
that Norway doesn't return refugees to. So - and that's also a reason why we should not be deporting refugees to countries that will deport refugees
to countries we don't deport to.
So I don't agree with the foreign minister on this issue because we need to make sure that everybody that needs an asylum gets one in Norway.
GORANI: What is the -- what is your understanding as to how many have been deported already? And once they are in Russia, what happens to them -- what
happens to them there?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Can they reapply for asylum in Norway or what happens to them?
DILIE: No, because Norway says that this is Russia's responsibility, which wouldn't necessarily be a huge case if we sent them to Sweden or Denmark
which have more or less the same asylum system and we are in the Dublin Agreement and there's a lot of regulations to this.
The thing is that if Norway we are obliged to make sure that we don't deport asylum seekers to countries that don't follow the same rules as we
do.
GORANI: OK. So -- I mean, what is now the pressure you're trying to put -- are you getting traction trying to put pressure on government authorities
to stop these deportations or is it your understanding they will go ahead regardless?
[15:40:03]
DILIE: My main objective and the one goal that we have is that the refugees that came to Norway should not be deported to Russia, but they should have
their need for asylum be considered in Norway and not in Russia.
And we should not be deporting people to Russia. It's minus 25 degrees outside. We're sending women, we're sending children, there and sick
people. We're treating them not like human beings as they are that's the rights - and the rights that they should have.
GORANI: Well far be it from me for correcting a Norwegian on any temperature in your country, but it's actually minus 31 degrees right now
at that border area.
Petter Dilie, thanks very much. A spokesperson for the group, "Refugees, Welcome to the Arctic." Thanks for joining us on CNN on this Friday as we
continue to cover this and other stories in Europe related to this tragic refugee situation.
Don't forget you can get all the latest news, interviews and analysis from the show on my Facebook page. Go to facebook.com/halagoranicnn. Still
ahead.
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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: One day she looked at Gavin and then looked at his twin brother Garrett side by side. The
difference was staggering.
CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta, takes us to Flint, Michigan and meets a child whose mother says he is paying the price for contaminated water.
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GORANI: The city of Flint, Michigan is grabbing headlines for a contaminated water crisis that the American President calls unacceptable.
Hundreds of people say the toxic water there has made them sick, among them countless children.
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GORANI: CNN's chief medical correspondent, Sanjay Gupta filed this powerful report.
GUPTA: Look right at me, look right at me.
When her son Gavin started to become ill it was subtle, so subtle Leanne Waters wouldn't have been blamed for missing it.
OK, look right at me straight, keep your head straight, how about over here? How many fingers?
(GAVIN): One.
GUPTA: OK, good job. Look up. Look down. Do you have any -- do your fingers feel number at all?
But one day she looked at Gavin and then looked at his twin brother, Garrett, side by side, the difference was staggering.
LEEANNE WALTERS, FLINT, MICHIGAN RESIDENT: The size he is right now is pretty much the size he was last February, February 5th of 2015.
GUPTA: So almost a year ago.
WALTERS: Almost a year ago, yes.
GUPTA: How much does he weight versus his twin.
WALTERS: He's 35.8 pounds and his twin is 53 pounds.
GUPTA: For months they have been drinking the same water, but Gavin was showing the effects of being poisoned by lead. And such as the nature of
lead poisoning, it can affect people very differently, even twins.
Do you remember what the number was?
WALTERS: 6.5.
GUPTA: And what is normal?
WALTERS: Nothing. There's no safe exposure to lead.
GUPTA: It's a mantra repeated by doctors all over the world, no lead, not even a little bit is acceptable because we know more than ever what it does
to the body. When lead is ingested or inhaled no organ in the body is spared. Lead even attacks the DNA, affecting not just you but your future
children. All of it essentially irreversible. Equally frustrating, the symptoms could show up now, or years from now.
[15:45:21]
WALTERS: Wait, watch and see. How do you live your life like that?
GUPTA: Right, it's upsetting.
WALTERS: He's four.
GUPTA: The lead was coming from the corroded pipes carrying water. The longer the water was in the pipes, the more hazardous it became.
One of the problems is that the Walters' house is one of the furthest away from the treatment facility. It probably explains why the testing here was
among the highest. 13,000 parts per billion. To give you some context, five parts per billion would be cause for concern. Five thousand parts per
billion is associated with toxic waste. This home, 13,000 parts per billion. But of course it's not just one home. It's an entire community
here in Flint, 100,000 people live here, 10%, 10,000 of whom are under the age of six, and they're the ones who are most at risk.
DR. MONA HANNA-ATTISHA, PEDIATRICIAN: When pediatricians hear anything about lead, we absolutely freak out.
GUPTA: It wasn't a freak out at first, but doctors in Flint started hearing whispers about elevated lead levels in the water in 2014. So Dr. Mona
Hanna-Attisha started looking at lead levels in her young patients and what she found was shocking.
HANNA-ATTISHA: The percentage of children with lead poisoning doubled in the city of Flint and in some neighborhoods it actually tripled.
GUPTA: She sounded the alarm to state officials as loudly as she could, but no one listened. Instead --
HANNA-ATTISHA: So I was called an unfortunately researcher, that I was causing near hysteria and that the state numbers were not consistent with
our findings.
GUPTA: Maybe denial was easy because of this -- Flint a city surrounded by some of the largest fresh water lakes in the world was now delivering some
of the most contaminated water to its citizens.
I mean October of 2014, General Motors you say stopped using the water because it was corroding their parts.
HANNA-ATTISHA: Right.
GUPTA: That seems like a pretty obvious clue.
HANNA-ATTISHA: Yes, so red flags like loud alarms should have been going off in people's brains. If it's corroding engine parts what is it doing to
our plumbing that is predominately lead based?
GUPTA: Water that could corrode engine parts. Just imagine what it was doing to the body and brain of Gavin Walters.
HANNA-ATTISHA: These kids did nothing wrong. They did nothing wrong except being poor.
RICK SNYDER, GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN: In May, Professor Mark Edwards from Virginia Tech and Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha sounded an alarm about lead in
Flint's water.
GUPTA: If the governor says look you can have anything you want, anything Mona?
HANNA-ATTISHA: I want a rewind button to April 2014. That's what I want because you can't undo this. You cannot undo this.
GUPTA: If there's ever been a U.S. city in need of a rewind button, it's Flint, Michigan. More than a third of the people here are living in
poverty. Life expectancy is 10 to 20 years shorter than the rest of the state. There's not a full scale grocery store anywhere in sight.
HANNA-ATTISHA: And then we've got lead. Like if you were to think of something to put in a population to keep them down for this generation and
generations to come, it would be lead. It's just a loss of words.
GUPTA: But they, Dr. Mona, LeeAnne, the hundred thousands of citizens of Flint have to believe that clean water will return one day soon.
Do you know why people have put you on T.V lately?
GAVIN: Yes.
GUPTA: Why?
GAVIN: Because they wanted to put us on T.V. so they can see us.
GUPTA: Because you're handsome.
GAVIN: Yep.
GUPTA: Yep. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Flint, Michigan.
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GORANI: Coming up, red carpet controversy.
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GORANI: Charlotte Rampling is nominated for the first academy award of her long career and many people were happy about it. And she says calls for an
Oscar boycott are racist against white actors. A controversial statement, got a lot of people talking, we'll have the details ahead.
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GORANI: We are just ten days away from the first official step on the road to the White House, the Iowa caucuses.
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GORANI: Among Republicans, a new CNN ORC poll conducted in Iowa shows Donald Trump with a commanding lead. He's polling at 37% of likely caucus
goers. Ted Cruz comes in second with 26% and Rubio is third.
On the Democratic side, the Clinton camp might have cause for concern. Because look, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is now leading in Iowa by
eight points. You can catch all the Democratic Presidential candidates live in a CNN Town Hall Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. in London. If that's too early in
the morning for you or too late at night, watch the replay at noon in London, 1:00 p.m. CET on CNN.
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GORANI: Early this week we told you about the controversy over this year's all white acting Oscar nominees with some celebrities calling for a
boycott. Now Charlotte Rampling is wading into the fray.
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GORANI: But wait till you hear what she said because it's caused a lot of controversy.
Rampling is up for the best actress Oscar for her role in film 45 years. Now she is calling the idea of boycotting the ceremony discriminatory to
whites. Europe1 Radio asked Rampling "This year's Oscar ceremony is shaken by a controversy, no black actor, no black actress are present in the
selection for the second year in a row. Do you understand Spike Lee's anger and his call to boycott the Oscar ceremony?" This was all done in
French.
She replied "no, not at all. I would rather say this is anti-white racism." The interviewer then said really? And Rampling said "yes of course, we can
never be entirely sure, but maybe this time no black actor or actress deserved to make it to the final selection."
Let's bring in CNN'S Brian Stelter, in New York.
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GORANI: All right, so how as this gone down, this statement by Charlotte Rampling.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: There has been a shocking amount of reaction to it. Many people shocked by it. We've seen on twitter
some outrage about this, but at the same time it's not entirely isolated.
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STELTER: We've heard other actors, other academy members make similar comments, maybe not quite so bluntly or starkly, but similar comments about
what it's like to be nominated, how difficult it is to be neo-nominated and to win an award suggesting that of course these awards are about merit and
that not too much should be read into the fact that for the second year in the row none of the nominees in the major categories are minorities. So
we're seeing backlash and we're seeing backlash to the backlash I think when it comes to these nominations this year.
We heard from Michael Caine recently as well talking about how it was for him to get nominated and to get an Oscar after many years suggesting that
you know there were many candidates for nominations this year and that maybe it's the simple fact that the best people were nominated. So there is
this (inaudible) debate now in Hollywood.
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STELTER: And I think away hear it is this sort of sense that it is - it is very hard to get nominated. There are many people out there that are hoping
it's their year every single year. And so there is - there is definitely backlash to the backlash at this point.
GORANI: Yes, and Michael Caine I think - and they're both British actors by the way Michael Caine and Charlotte Rampling but Charlotte Rampling works a
lot in France. Michael Caine saying you can't vote for an actor because he's black. I mean you have these statements, I think a lot of people have
found these uncomfortable. I mean they're coming maybe from an older generation of actors, I'm not sure what the reason is there. But -- now in
response to all this, the Academy is making some promises about diversity. What are they saying?
STELTER: Yes, in the past few minutes actually the Academy is announcing what they call historic changes. We will see how historic these really are.
There is a commitment to double the number of women and the number of minority members to the Academy by 2020. And they're going to take
different steps to change the voting poll.
Because really, fundamentally, this is about who gets to vote and who gets to choose the nominees and choose the winners. Well, it's overwhelming
white and overwhelmingly male currently in the Academy. So the Academy's making a number of changes.
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STELTER: They're going to change the way new members are added. They're also going to reduce the number of lifetime members or make it basically -
you know make sure you have got to remain active in the Academy in order to remain a member every ten years. A number of other steps they're
announcement you know frankly we've got to dig into the details and see how much could actually change as a result of these. But they're trying to say
the right things and now take different actions in order to make the makeup of the voting poll.
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STELTER: Now, some have said this isn't just about the Academy, this is about Hollywood as a whole. It's about the heads of the studios, it's about
what movies are made and what actors are cast in those roles. The Academy is saying, we're not going to wait for the rest of the industry to change,
we're going to make changes now to influence how diverse our pool of voters is.
GORANI: But if they double you know the number of women or double the number of minorities, they are still doubling a very, very low number and
this is by 2020, I understand.
STELTER: Yes, it would still be -- it would still be relatively small and that is a number of years down the road. The reality is that Hollywood is
not the most diverse industry. And as Will Smith has said earlier this week, he believes the industry is moving in the wrong direction. He thinks
things were actually better in some ways and some capacities a decade ago than they are now. Now Will Smith, Jada Pinkett-Smith, they won't be going
to the Oscars, they say they're not calling for a wider boycott though. They say they're just personally skipping the award show.
And I do think it is notable in the light of -- in light of Catherine Rampling's comments that we haven't heard of a wider plan to avoid the
Oscars next month. For the most part there's a few actors, a few directors that aren't going, but it hasn't become widespread.
GORANI: All right, at least the conversation's in full swing in it sure is.
STELTER: It sure is.
GORANI: Thank you very much Brian Stelter.
STELTER: Thank you.
GORANI: It sure is, have a good weekend Brian.
STELTER: You too.
GORANI: And before we go, a very animated wedding reception in New Zealand and one that featured a wedding Haka, that traditional Maori war dance.
Apparently the best man thought it was the perfect way to toast the bride and groom.
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GORANI: The bride was moved to tears by the performance she'll never forget, you never forget your wedding day anyway, but here is all the more
reason not to.
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GORANI: This has been "The World Right Now," I'm Hala Gorani, thanks for watching. I'll see you here Monday same time, same place. Quest Means
Business in Davos is next.
END
