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Hala Gorani Tonight
President Rousseff Suspended From Office; Investigators Order To Close Metro Sent To Wrong Email; Trump, Ryan Talks "Positive Step" Toward GOP Unity; Trump: Call To Ban Muslims "Only A Suggestion"; Zimmerman Tries To Sell Gun That Killed Trayvon Martin; Carney: Pound Could Fall If Britain Leaves E.U.; Brazil Has New Acting President. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired May 12, 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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[15:01:03] HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Hala Gorani. We are live at CNN London. Thanks for being with us this
hour. This is THE WORLD RIGHT NOW.
Brazil's president is clinging to power by the tips of her fingernails, even as lawmakers prepare to kick her out of office. Dilma Rousseff was
suspended today while the trial to impeach her gets under way. She claims to be the victim in all of this. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI (voice-over): The numbers on the Brazilian Senate board Thursday were clear. A majority vote to allow an impeachment trial against
President Dilma Rousseff, accused corruption which she denies. Dilma Rousseff came out swinging after the vote calling the process against her a
coup.
DILMA ROUSSEFF, SUSPENDED BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): When an elected president is brought down under accusation for a crime that she
did not commit, the name we have for this in the democratic world is not impeachment. It is a coup.
GORANI: Soon after her statement, she stepped into a swarm of people outside the presidential offices in Brasilia. What happens next, Rousseff
is now suspended for up to three months, and this man, the current vice president, Michel Temer, is stepping in.
Rousseff will have to vacate the presidential palace, but will be allowed to continue to live in the presidential residence. She'll collect about
half of her $104,000 annual salary.
But she will not be able to attend the Olympic Games, which start on August 5th in any official capacity. A country only a few weeks away from hosting
the Olympics, mired in a major Zika health crisis, Brazil is now facing political uncertainty with no end in sight.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: There you have it. Our Shasta Darlington is in Brasilia with the very latest. OK, so we saw Dilma Rousseff as we mentioned in that report
coming out swinging. She remains defiant. She is going to fight this. What happens now?
SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you heard it from the Senate. They had a very decisive vote. They voted 55-22 in favor of this
impeachment trial. While Rousseff now has six months to defend herself, for many it is already a foregone conclusion.
It will be hard for her to recover from this. So what we'll see is Michel Temer taking over the presidency on an interim basis. He's already
announced his cabinet. This is key because we are stuck in this prolonged recession the second year.
He wants to send the message to markets, investors and companies that he has a new team lined up that's going to really implement those tough
measures that are needed to get the economy back on track.
He also, luckily for him, has much stronger backing in both the Congress and Senate so he has a better chance of getting some of those tough
measures through.
But the fact is Brazil is in a sorry state right now. Its economy is in crisis. We've got the political crisis playing out. And all of this while
there is a massive corruption scandal that is far from over.
Investigators are still revealing new politicians and business leaders who are apparently involved in this as well. So his challenges are really very
similar to those that Dilma Rousseff was facing and that sent millions of people into the streets protesting.
So while he wants to turn things around, he has a short window in which to do it to convince Brazilians that he means business and that he can really
also represent change. So we should see him trying to do that coming days and weeks -- Hala.
GORANI: Now what about the Olympics? Because Dilma Rousseff won't be president anymore, is not president anymore, she is suspended. The
Olympics start on August 5th. If she wants to attend, she essentially has to go as a private citizen? Is that correct?
[15:05:05]DARLINGTON: That's correct, Hala. This is obviously a big embarrassment for Brazil. But it is also a blow to Dilma Rousseff, who was
just here last week lighting the torch as it arrived in Brazil, who's been at the helm as while Brazil gears up for the Olympic Games.
And now she won't be presiding over the country as the games kick off in August. Of course, these are the first games in South America. This was
supposed to be an opportunity for Brazil to showcase its new place on the economic and political stage in the world.
Instead, what it's showing the world is that it's mired in an impeachment trial, that its economy is going nowhere, and at the same time it's
struggling even with this new Zika pandemic, which is causing birth defects.
Brazil is in an embarrassing spot. This isn't where it wanted to be at this time just three months left to the games. However, Dilma Rousseff,
her ouster at this point won't necessarily affect for example the venues, how the games themselves are played out -- Hala.
GORANI: All right, Shasta Darlington in Brasilia, thanks very much. We'll have more later in the program on how this might impact the Olympic games.
Ed Hula is founder from "Around The Rings." He'll be my guest in about half-an-hour to talk about that.
Now it was an e-mail of life and death importance and the committee investigating the Brussels terror attack says it went to the wrong e-mail
address.
Let's take you back to the morning of March 22nd in Brussels. The airport you'll remember rocked by twin blasts at 8:00 a.m. about an hour later
terror strikes at a Maalbeek Metro station.
Between those strikes police sent an alert ordering the Metro to close. Obviously it didn't arrive in time, and why is the question and could lives
have been saved?
Erin McLaughlin is live in Brussels tonight with more. So Erin, talk us through this. An e-mail was sent after the attacks on the Brussels airport
saying close the Metro, we have a credible threat. Yet somehow it didn't make it to the correct recipient. Why not?
ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Hala, Belgian officials that I've been talking to say that while what happened to that e-mail, the fact
that it was sent to the wrong address is unfortunate, certainly a communication failure.
What they're saying is that that e-mail at that point had simply been sent too late. The question they are asking here is why wasn't the Metro
station closed prior to that e-mail even having been sent?
Why wasn't the station closed sooner, especially when you consider that at 8:03 in the morning on that tragic day, military sources informed the chief
police of the Metro station that he believed -- they believed that a terrorist attack had struck the international airport there.
However, at that point in time, the police chief did not have the authority to independently decide to close the subway system in this city. Forty
seven critical minutes would go by, and at 8:50, that is when an official alert went out to close key sites in this city.
Keep in mind, it takes 30 minutes to evacuate the subway system. So lots of questions being asked. Sixteen people died in that Molenbeek Metro
Station. Plenty of people here in Brussels today asking what if.
They've set up an entire parliamentary inquiry to answer those question questions. That inquiry is ongoing. It's happening about once a week
until December -- Hala.
GORANI: We're learning more about a potential police failure, law enforcement failing regarding one of the prime suspects, one of the most
important arrests, Salah Abdelslam (ph), correct?
MCLAUGHLIN: That's right. It's an incident that happened in February 2015. At the time, local police here in Brussels in the area of Molenbeek
actually arrested Salah Abdelslam, as well as his brother, Ibrahim Abdelslam, both allegedly involved in the Paris attacks.
They arrested individuals. They took away their cell phones and took away their computers, and then let them go and referred the matter to the
prosecutor. The prosecutor then referred the matter to the federal police.
The federal police though at the time said they did not have enough resources to dedicate to investigating those cell phones and the computers
that the local police had apprehended. They closed the file and let the men go. It's an example of a lapse in judgment on the part of law
officials.
Belgian officials that I've been speaking to here say they've been noticing real problems in terms of the amount of information being collected, what
information is being shared.
[15:10:03]And how the information that authorities already have is being utilized in going forward considering the nature of the persistent threat
facing this country. We are still at a level three here, which means an attack is possible and likely. This is a real area of concern going
forward -- Hala.
GORANI: All right, Erin McLaughlin in Brussels, thanks.
Didn't end with an official endorsement but a highly anticipated meeting in Washington did at least, it appears, on the surface, bury the hatchet.
Donald Trump finally came face to face with Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan after a very public feud. Ryan said last week that he wasn't ready to
support Trump.
An extraordinary rebuke to his own party's presumptive presidential nominee. Ryan called today's closed-door meeting though a positive step
toward bridging the divide. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL RYAN, U.S. REPUBLICAN HOUSE SPEAKER: I was very encouraged with what I heard from Donald Trump today. I do believe that we are now planting the
seeds to get ourselves unified to bridge the gaps and differences.
And so from here we're going to go deeper into the policy areas to see where that common ground is and how we can make sure that we are operating
off these same core principles. Yes, there is our first meeting.
I was very encouraged with this meeting, but this is a process. It takes a little time. You don't put it together in 45 minutes. So that is why we
had, like I said, a very good start to a process in how we unify.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well, it all sounds very positive. It sounds friendly. Ryan even praised Trump's personality. He called him a, quote, "very warm and
genuine person." This doesn't appear as though it is the beginning of any kind of feud.
Let's get more on their meeting today. We are joined by CNN's senior political reporter, Manu Raju, in Washington. So no official endorsement,
but it appears as though it is heading that way, right?
MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: It really does seem that way. All the positive words that came out of this meeting that things are moving
forward, our party has more in common than not in common.
And Ryan really tried to paper over what are pretty significant differences between Donald Trump and himself and most of his party, namely over
immigration reform, over entitlements like Medicare and Social Security that Paul Ryan wants to rein in and Donald Trump wants to protect. Issues
like that.
Not only that, just the way that Donald Trump has campaigned, which has caused a lot of folks to be alarmed. But in a lot of ways, this is an
acceptance by the Republican establishment saying that, look, Donald Trump may not have been our guy at the beginning of this process.
But he is going to be the party's nominee and the only way to unite is to put aside our differences, paper over our differences and say we have one
goal and one common goal which is to beat Hillary Clinton in the fall. That is why you are seeing those positive words that we saw today.
GORANI: Manu, we also want to tell our viewers about what appears to be at least a pivot in one of Trump's most controversial proposals, one that made
a lot of news abroad, as you can imagine, as well.
Now you'll remember and our viewers will remember he called on a complete and total ban of Muslims entering the United States. Today he was saying,
hey, that was only a suggestion. I'm not saying that's absolutely a firm proposal.
You may remember when he first proposed the idea it was back in December. It wasn't an offhand remark. His wording was so deliberate that he read
off a press release and that press release is in fact still on his website.
It calls for that total and complete shutdown on Muslims. While officials investigate, quote, "the great hatred of many Muslims toward Americans."
Listen to Trump now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Sure, I'd like to back off on it as soon as possible because frankly, I would like to see something happen.
But we have to be vigilant.
(via telephone): We have a serious problem. It is a temporary ban. It hasn't been called for yet. Nobody's done it. This is just a suggestion
until we find out what's going on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: So, Manu, is he starting his shift closer to the center now that he's facing a general election and not primary contests?
RAJU: It certainly does seem that way. I mean, so much about what Donald Trump says is gut reaction to the moment. And the moment right now is
moderation because we're facing a general election where he's going to meet independent voters, swing state voters.
And frankly, a lot of Republicans like Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader who are very critical of that Muslim ban. Lot of
Republicans were worried about that.
So seems to shift away as an effort to get some of those folks back. The more he does things like that the more he will alienate his core base of
supporters. He risks alienating them.
After all, even in primary polls they show a lot of Republican activist voters in particular really, really supported this ban on Muslims. So
we'll see how it impacts him with his core base if he decides to continue to moderate -- Hala.
[15:15:04]GORANI: But it seems as though his core base is passionate about him no matter what he says, right?
RAJU: That's absolutely true. I mean, he's rewritten the rules of American politics and saying, who knows? This may be OK with them. In the
long run because of course a lot of us wrote him off a long time ago and now he is the Republican nominee. How this impacts Donald Trump's I guess
is anyone's guess.
GORANI: Manu Raju in Washington. Thanks very much for joining us.
RAJU: Thank you.
GORANI: Get an inside look at America's remarkable race for the White House starting next week right here on CNN. "State of the Race with Kate
Bolduan" premiers Monday at 7:30 p.m. London, 8:30 p.m. Central European Time on CNN, as we continue to cover U.S. politics like no other network.
Still to come tonight, new controversy surrounding George Zimmerman. The gun he used to kill Trayvon Martin, he was planning on auctioning it off.
We'll explain more on a pretty surprising twist in this story coming up.
And the governor of the Bank of England gives a stark warning ahead of the Brexit referendum. Hear what he has to say about what could happen if the
U.K. decides to exit the E.U. We'll be right back.
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GORANI: It was a case that divided America in 2013, George Zimmerman was acquitted in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed African-
American teenager. Zimmerman who claimed self-defense at that time is now in a strange twist trying to sell the weapon he used to kill the young man.
He told a local television station he was going to auction the gun off, but it was removed at one point from the web site. Zimmerman tells CNN he's
taking the auction to another site because of the amount of traffic.
Let's break this story down and try to understand what is going on. Polo Sandoval is at the CNN Center with more. So Polo, I understand that
initially the gun was to be sold on one web site.
He moved it to a web site called unitedgungroup.com. I'm on it now, but I think you have to be a member to access the auctions. Either way, is it on
there or not?
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ultimately, it is there. We actually have been in contact with George Zimmerman himself throughout the day. In
fact, a short while ago, he actually sent us a link to the web site that does in fact show the weapon that he claims was used in the shooting of
Trayvon Martin.
The reason why it was moved from the initial web site which was gunbroker.com over to this new web site according to Zimmerman was because
that there were issues that this web site would not have been prepared to handle the amount of attention not just from the media but also from the
general public of people simply curious to see that post, not necessarily to bid on it.
However, just a few minutes ago, we did hear from gunbroker.com. They posted a statement on their web site saying that they were never notified
that this gun was actually going to be posted on their web site, which is generally offers not of just guns, but also sporting goods.
[15:20:08]And that their site does maintain that they have the right to refuse service to anyone, and that is what they are doing here in the case
of George Zimmerman -- Hala.
GORANI: All right. So I mean, what is behind this? Regardless of what George Zimmerman has said in the past, we know that he in the end wasn't
prosecuted for killing Trayvon Martin. What is his motivation for selling the weapon he used to kill this young man?
SANDOVAL: That's a good question. Zimmerman maintains that a portion of the proceeds would go to what he fight black lives matters violence against
law enforcement as well as to fight back to what he refers to as this growing anti-gun rhetoric.
He also has said in the description that was posted on the now second web site as well was that he has had several people approach him offering to
purchase that gun from him.
However, he has held back since in his own words he has not felt comfortable in the way that weapon would be used. He even went so far as
to say that even the Smithsonian group, that collection of federally funded museums here in the United States, would actually have interest in
obtaining that gun, even displaying this for the public.
However, we do understand the Smithsonian took to Twitter this morning saying that that was not true, that they have not in fact been interested
in actually obtaining that weapon.
GORANI: All right. Strange, strange development in this story. Thank you, Polo Sandoval, at the CNN Center.
All right, here's a look at what's going on in the business world. Dow Jones, big board for you. There it is. It was in the red for a lot of the
session, but now we're back up about 40 points at 17,748.
And the other major indices, the S&P 500 is up, and the Nasdaq is slightly down.
Now I've got more for you. I've got more. Here are European markets. Can't get enough of these indices. All down for the day as we see, DAX
more than 1 percent lower.
All right, John Kerry has delivered a stark warning about corruption comparing it with the fight against extremism. These are strong words from
the U.S. secretary of state and they came at an anti-corruption summit hosted by the British Prime Minister, David Cameron.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KERRY, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Corruption at large is as much of an enemy because it destroys nation states as some of the extremists we're
fighting or some of the other challenges that we have faced. And some people may say, that's hogwash, how can that be. Corruption tears at the
entire fabric of a society.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: John Kerry there. The president of Nigeria and Afghanistan are also there. Now you may remember a few days ago both countries were
described as, quote, "fantastically corrupt" by the British prime minister and host of the summit, David Cameron.
Little bit awkward. The Nigerian president defended those comments telling CNN Cameron had nothing to apologize for. So he is saying he is not
offended, he didn't take it personally.
Staying in London and another strong warning, this time on the upcoming referendum in this country, it came from the governor of the Bank of
England, Mark Carney (ph), who said the British pound could fall if Britain votes to leave. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK CARNEY, GOVERNOR, BANK OF ENGLAND: The most recent weakness reflects in part the forthcoming referendum on the U.K.'s membership with the
European Union, which has pushed up uncertainty measures to levels not seen since the euro crisis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Let's get more on what Mark Carney's words could mean. Richard Quest joins me from New York. So we've heard that a lot. You know, if the
U.K. votes to exit the E.U., the pound will depreciate. There will be job losses. The economy will suffer. But you still have a sizable percentage
of people in this country, according to polls, who want to leave.
RICHARD QUEST, HOST, CNN "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": And that's because they don't believe that the warnings are either valid or accurate. For example,
the remain campaign says that the Bank of England has been wrong many times on its inflation forecast and therefore, why should you believe them on
this?
The warnings on Brexit come in the inflation forecast and the banker's done its absolute most to avoid getting involved in the, if you like, dirty
political nature of the Brexit debate.
Now though Carney says it is his duty to put before parliament and the people what he called evidence based research in the inflation report. It
talks about, for instance, material outlook uncertainty.
Sterling likely to fall and deteriorate further. Carney himself saying there is every possibility if Brexit is voted for, for there being a
technical recession which as you know is two quarters of negative GDP.
[15:25:00]So what we have here, Hala, is the Bank of England basically being the -- well, they'd like to believe they are the honest broker in
saying these are the potential possible realistic effects for the U.K. economy.
GORANI: But you know, living here, what I'm noticing is for those who are convinced that the U.K. needs to leave the E.U., or would be better off
outside the E.U., no amount of economic evidence is swaying them because it is an emotional decision as much as it is a rational one in this case.
QUEST: It is an emotional decision at one level, you are correct. But they believe the economics will be in their favor if the U.K. votes to
leave. Let's face it, we have had the U.K. Treasury with the report.
We've had the OECD. We've had the IMF with one report, the world economic outlook and tomorrow you'll get the IMF with the U.K.'s article for
"Economic Digest."
Now you have the Bank of England. There is just about unanimity from the official organizations that Brexit will harm the U.K. and wider economies.
But, the leave campaign says these people have been wrong before. They're wrong again, and they're not accounting for the dynamism that would be
grown within a freed-up U.K. economy. But you are right, it is emotion, dressed up as politics, with a healthy --
GORANI: It is emotion. It is older people. Yes. There's also this notion somehow that the U.K. needs to be its own master, that it has to
decide how it will guard its borders, its own monetary policy, why Brussels making decisions for us.
We're British, we want to be a great independent country again without being a member of a wider organization. That's what you hear a lot of and
you see it by the way in many publications who are clearly positioned one way or the other to leave the E.U. in the referendum, who are in favor of
Brexit.
QUEST: What color is my tie?
GORANI: We match. Sort of. Pink?
QUEST: Well, you say pink, but the remain campaign would say salmon and the leave campaign would say slightly off-red. You get my point. We have
one fact. What's the trade deficit with Europe? What the position as relates to a free trade agreement with the United States?
You've got the president of the United States saying the U.K. will be at the back of the line or he said the back of the queue notably.
So the fact is, just as much as honest people will disagree about the color of my tie, the reality is this is not about numbers, it is not about
economics, it is about politics and it is about that gut feeling of what you want for the U.K.
GORANI: That's true. And you know, if anybody who knows anything about economics, now you can make numbers work for you and you can make numbers
work against an argument if you are creative enough.
Thank you. Richard will have much more of his thoughts on Brexit and all the other big stories in the business world. Sign up to the "QUEST MEANS
BUSINESS" newsletter on cnnmoney.com/quest.
Next on THE WORLD RIGHT NOW, are Brazil's Olympic Games in danger of falling apart before they even start? We'll look at the issue with an
insider next.
And CNN speaks with the families of North Koreans who are now in the south. They have defected to the South. The North tells a very different story.
We'll break it down for you coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:30:50]
GORANI: Your top stories -- Brazil has a new acting President.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Michel Temer was Vice President under Dilma Rousseff. She was suspended from office while the trial to impeach her gets underway.
Rousseff says she's been the victim of a coup.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: And minutes before a bomb exploded at a Brussels Metro Station an email ordering the Metro to close was sent to the wrong address, according
to the investigating committee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: 32 people were killed in dual attacks in March. 20 of them at the Maelbeek Metro Station.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: And also among our top stories. In the U.S., the House Speaker, Paul Ryan calls his first meeting with Donald Trump a "very positive step"
toward unifying the Republican Party.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: But he says they still have some differences to iron out. Ryan stopped short of endorsing Trump for President after that closed-door
meeting in D.C.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Let's get back to our top story this hour. That impeachment trial of President Dilma Rousseff. She has been suspended now for 180 days. In
her place steps a man who has mostly kept in the shadows so far, her vice president, Michel Temer. He spoke exclusively to CNN's Shasta Darlington
and acknowledged that he too could become a political target.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A triumphant running mate. Vice President Michel Temer helped ensure support from Brazil's biggest
political force, the PMDB. But it was merely a ceremonious relationship with Temer only rarely appearing in the spotlight to greet visiting
dignitaries, including Pope Francis. In fact, many Brazilians knew him best for his much younger wife, a former beauty contestant. But now the back
room negotiator is grabbing all the headlines. In an exclusive interview ahead of the senate hearings, I asked the man who would be interim
president what to expect.
MICHEL TEMER, BRAZILIAN ACTING PRESIDENT: (As translated) I've listened to a lot of economists and companies, a lot of workers associations. They want
economic recovery, especially the recovery of jobs because we have gotten to a very delicate point with more than 10 million unemployed people in the
country.
DARLINGTON: A majority of Brazilians support the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, and a majority also support your impeachment, the impeachment of
the Vice President, they'd prefer elections. In this context how are you going to govern? How are you going to bring the country together?
TEMER: (As translated) I want to regain the trust of the Brazilian people and all sectors of society if this impeachment happens. Secondly, I am
aware that if i do become the President, I, too, could be processed for any political wrongdoing.
DARLINGTON: Temer will inherit many of the problems that sent millions into the streets to protest against Dilma Rousseff and her party, including a
deep recession and rampant political corruption. While Temer isn't under investigation and hasn't been accused of any wrongdoing, many of his allies
have been accused in the sweeping bribery probe involving the state-run oil company Petrobras. He'll also face the anger of Rousseff supporters who
accuse him and lawmakers of staging an institutional coup d'etat, to remove an unpopular but democratically elected leader.
One thing's for sure, his days for sitting in the shadows are over.
Shasta Darlington, CNN, Brasilia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: President Temer has just named a new sports minister ahead of the Olympic games, Leonardo Picciani is the third person to occupy the post.
Let's talk about how this could impact the games.
I'm joined from CNN Center in Atlanta by Ed Hula, he's the founder and editor of the website "aroundtherings." Ed, thanks for being with us.
So when I was talking -- I was talking with my team about this turmoil ahead of the Olympics and everyone remembers how you had experts saying
Sochi was going to be a disaster, experts before the world cup in Brazil a couple years ago saying nothing is ready. And in the end these games always
end up happening even if there are a few glitches. Do you have any real concerns about these games?
[15:35:06]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ED HULA, FOUNDER AND EDITOR "AROUND THE RINGS": They seem to be on track, really, despite all the problems that have existed over the lead-up to
these Olympic games. The venues are largely completed. But what we do have to worry about perhaps would be the gaps in services from the national
government that might arise as a result of this instability, this change in ministers. As you mentioned at the start, we have the third sports minister
and we don't know much about him at all. The thinking was that the person who held that position prior to him would keep on to provide some
continuity. But that's an example of the sort of gap in knowledge that might arise and cause a problem when the games open up in August.
GORANI: And you have Zika. In fact, a professor at Harvard has recommended that the Olympics should be moved, postponed, or canceled. Those are very
strong words.
HULA: Those are strong words. But I think the medical opinion largely is saying people can be careful about their exposure in Brazil. National
Olympic Committees are stepping away from allowing or saying their athletes should stay home. I think right now Zika, as long as the government
maintains its efforts to control and educate and make sure there's not a problem in August, I don't think Zika is going to be the issue that it's
expected to be.
GORANI: Was it a mistake to award the Olympics to Brazil? Was it too much of a risk, do you think?
HULA: Well, it didn't seem like a risk seven years ago when this all started and that's part of the issue. Brazil was enjoying the fruits of its
economic boom at that time seven years ago when the IOC selected Brazil, South America's -- Rio is South America's first Olympic host city. It was a
great deal of adulation on the part of Brazil as well as the IOC to be taking these games to a new place. But nobody really had that crystal ball
perfected to know that this is the kind of trouble we'd run into when it came time to do the games.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Sorry. Just had to clear my throat there. Let's talk a little bit about the political turmoil. How does that typically - I mean what are the
biggest risks here associated with having so much uncertainty politically and the third sports minister a few weeks before the games? What would your
biggest concern be?
HULA: Right, third sports minister, other ministers that would be involved with security, involved with transportation and other important public
services that the federal government has the task of delivering during the games. There's three levels of government involved here. The city
government, the state government of Rio de Janeiro. But it is the national government I think that has the most to deliver in these final weeks to the
games. And that's where that continuity, the knowledge about what has been planned already and what is supposed to go in to effect in August.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HULA We hope that knowledge doesn't disappear in these transfers of ministries. That is I think the biggest worry that Olympic organizers might
have. On the other hand, the bureaucrats have been working on this for years and years. They are not changing --
GORANI: There is lot of behind the scenes - exactly lower level planning that has been going into this for a very long time, that was going to be my
next point.
HULA: That's right. There's a lot of work that's being -- been done. People will keep their jobs through the Olympics, the ones who are the real worker
bees, the ones who are going to be doing things every day during the Olympic games. I think those people are in good shape. They know what to
do, as long as there is not some big ask that's need at the last minute from the federal government that people just don't know how to respond to.
And that's I guess the big uncertainty we've got here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: All right, Ed Hula, the founder of the website "aroundtherings" in Atlanta. Thanks very much.
HULA: Glad to be here.
GORANI: Now to a dramatic threat by Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He says Turkey is ready to "clean" the Syrian side of the border
to stop, he says, repeated rocket attacks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: The Turkish town of Kilis has come under constant fire from ISIS militants in Syria. Around two dozen people have been killed since January.
Turkey has fired back with artillery strikes but that has not stopped the bombardment coming from inside Syria to across to the Turkish side of the
border.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Meanwhile inside Syria the violence shows no signs of letting up. The country's information minister is criticizing the latest peace talks
claiming terrorists are seated at the table. So if you had low expectations for peace talks before, they might be lower after you listen to this.
Omran al-Zoubi talked with CNN's Fred Pleitgen dismissing calls for President Bashar al-Assad to step down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[15:240:00]
OMRAN AL-ZOUBI, SYRIAN INFORMATION MINISTER: (As translated), We totally reject this. The political transition just means a change from one type of
government to another, and this will require a constitutional process. There will be a new constitution for an expanded national unity government
that everyone can participate in. Any other interpretation is something we reject.
FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: How much leeway is there for the terms that the opposition would like?
AL-ZOUBI: (As translated) We have an idea of an expanded government that includes the opposition. Any compromise should come as part of a dialogue
between Syrians. But the problem is with the Saudi-backed delegation. Some of them are terrorists. Some belong to Islamic Jihad al Islam, (Ahrar ash-
Sham) and Jabhat Al-Nusra. The west is classifying these groups as non- terrorists and this is neither logical nor realistic.
PLEITGEN: The Syrian government has announced that it wants to take back all of Aleppo. Is that still your goal?
AL-ZOUBI: (As translated) The problem is different than this. In Aleppo there are some terrorist organizations like Jaish al-Fatah and Jabhat Al-
Nusra that are supported by Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Their members are getting training, funding and weapons and infiltrating into Syria through
Turkey. Speaking of a cessation of hostilities is important and Syria is committed to a truce. But at the same time, we also need to stop terrorism
and find a political solution. So it is not so much about taking back Aleppo as it is about stopping terrorism.
PLEITGEN: How do you feel about America's role currently in the conflict as far as negotiations are concerned but also as far as fighting against
groups like ISIS is concerned?
AL-ZOUBI: (As translated) America is a great country and has a lot of authority in this region. They could use that authority to influence
Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. If America projected its influence on these countries, terrorism would be reduced in terms of fighters, funds and
weapons. But until now, America is not playing this role.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: That was Fred Pleitgen speaking with the Syrian Information Minister.
This is "The World Right Now."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: An app that should be used to share happy moments of life has been used for the exact opposite. We'll look at reaction to one woman's suicide
streamed live online.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Well South Korea is calling it a mass defection. North Korea - and you won't find this surprising -- is telling a very different story.
Authorities there allowed CNN's Will Ripley to introduce some of the family members of 13 North Korean restaurant workers who the south says defected
to Seoul last month. Here's his report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The final gift from a daughter who disappeared. (Ri Jee Ay) seen here smiling as she left North Korea to work
in China, saved up to buy her newborn nephew a present.
[15:45:08]
RIPLEY: (Ri's) mother says when she got our letter that (Un Song) was born, she sent this coat and shoes. She said she wanted to see him. They don't
have Facebook here. Before they could mail this picture. This one emerged. (Ri) and 12 other restaurant workers in South Korea. The government says
all defected willingly. Abandoning this North Korean state-owned restaurant in China, now closed.
North Korea says agents from the south lied tricking the group into thinking they were going to another state-owned restaurant in Malaysia.
Government officials brought three families to tell their stories in a Pyongyang hotel.
KIM HAE SUN, MOTHER: (As translated) This is an abduction, a kidnapping, says the mother of the waitress, (Ri Bom).
RIPLEY: A lot of people might think it doesn't seem likely that a whole group could be abducted. Is it possible that they left voluntarily?
SUN: How can they say my sister went to South Korea? She says they talked about all the new clothes her sister was buying in China and promised to
bring some home.
"I never want to believe our daughter went there," says the father of waitress (inaudible). Ironically, his job is to train citizens working
abroad. They bring the North Korean government $1 billion to $2 billion a year according to a U.N. report last year. Each believes their daughters in
South Korea are in solitary confinement on hunger strike, nearly dead. They say relevant authorities told them. "Our loving, loving daughter is in a
life or death situation," he says. The South Korean Unification Ministry says the claims that they are in solitary confinement and on hunger strike
are completely untrue. South Korea also says they cannot grant a request from the North Korean families to meet with their daughters, a request the
families also made to the U.N. Human rights commission.
South Korea again saying, "they defected on their own free will." All 13 will stay in South Korean unification ministry custody for several months,
time the government says is needed to adjust. "My loving daughter, let me go to my loving daughter." A heartbreaking plea, made countless times
before on the divided Korean peninsula.
Will Ripley, CNN, Pyongyang.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Now we're about to tell you a personal and painful story that one woman chose to share with the world. And it ends with her suicide which
obviously we won't be showing you but we still must warn you that the story itself is disturbing.
An unnamed French teenager started recording herself on her account before eventually taking her own life live online. Now we're not showing her face.
If you really want to see it, you can probably go on YouTube and find it but we'd rather not do that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: One of her periscope videos goes black eventually, you see it there. Comments continue. Most are confused. Then many become alarmed
because she announced that she was going to do something pretty drastic. One viewer connected to the woman called police. Eventually she makes it to
a train station, though this clip is not long enough to allow for that journey. But police say she jumped in front of a train. At the end of the
video you see a first responder pick up the woman's phone. There it is. And end the transmission.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: There you see one of the people who tried to help the woman but it was too late. Now, Periscope if you've used it is a live stream platform
and it is designed to share life and events in real time. But the companies behind online live streaming can no longer ignore that there are dangers
associated with these apps. And that's where CNN's technology correspondent Samuel Burke can help us out.
So Samuel joins me now live from New York. How -- now twitter owns Periscope. So how is the social network reacting to this story and others
like it?
SAMUEL BURKE, CNN MONEY TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Hala, there's real pause in the tech community today because of this story. So much has been made of
the ability to live stream. So much has been invested by these tech companies in the ability to live stream. And now we see this. Twitter is
quick to point out that they have removed the content. They've removed the video. But as is the nature of social networking, so many parts of it end
up showing up on different social networks. And Twitter also pointed out highlighted parts of their community guidelines for Periscope showing us
the following -- "to maintain a healthy platform, explicit graphic content is not allowed, including bodily harm. Periscope is not for content that is
intended to incite violence or includes a direct and specific threat of violence to others."
Important to note that the French Prosecution Office has opened up an investigation. They say that they've seized the video and the phone of
this young woman and what they're hoping to do with the investigation Hala is research the cause of her death so that hopefully an incident like this
can be prevented.
[15:50:15]
GORANI: But it is hard to - I mean how do you prevent these things from going out? Because I mean the whole point of social media is it's
unfiltered, it's live, it's live streaming. I mean can you police each and every single live stream to make sure you catch the ones that are showing
violence or threatening violence?
BURKE: As these tech companies prepare their live streaming platforms, they're very new but they have prepared for some worse case scenarios.
Though many experts told me I don't think that we were prepared for this. They do have community guidelines in place.
Now it's interesting because the social networks are in a way very passive about looking up this content. They are not seeking it out. They're
depending on their community of users, people like you and I, Hala. They're depending on us to report the information, the video as it's happening.
Periscope highlights that all you have to do is click the report button and then if you see something that's alarming, that's immediately sent to their
team.
But as we see incidents like this happen, I think people are reassessing and thinking maybe they need even more people in those positions. That's
what I heard from experts over and over again and we need to educate people so that they know to do this to hopefully prevent something like this from
happening again. So I think that this is so new that people are just reacting to this really for the first time.
GORANI: And what do you -- you've been speaking to some mental health experts. What are they saying about this?
BURKE: Well, they're very afraid of contagion. That's something that we talked to suicide experts a lot about in the media, on newscasts. We take
real considerations when talking about these type of stories on a platform like CNN. So what they are worried about is an even worse contagion because
it is on social media, it can be replicated and parts of the video can go out other places that may not be censored, that may not be filtered, that
may not have the type of discussion around them that you and I are trying to have right now. So there is a real fear of contagion.
But I think what really stuck out to me the most in speaking with suicide prevention experts and cyber safety experts is the need to educate people.
Social media is the biggest part of so many people's lives now, yet in schools you rarely see people talking about how to use social networks,
even if it's the just the friend to somebody who's doing something on social network.
GORANI: Yes, absolutely, Samuel Burke. It's just about reaching out before doing something drastic and something you can't ever recover from. That's
so important also to get that message out as often as possible. Samuel Burke, thanks very much in New York.
We'll be right back after a quick break.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Well, the U.S. Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton may have some down to earth plans for the country that she's been publicizing. But a tiny
part of the electorate hopes she will also be gazing at the stars and finally reveal the truth out there.
Jeanne Moos reports.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Since the 2016 campaign has seemed a little alien, we might as well discuss the UFO vote. Because UFOs and the
secretive U.S. Air Force base Area 51 keep coming up. For instance, Wednesday's White House briefing.
JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECREATRY: I have to admit I don't have a tab in my briefing book for Area 51 today.
[15:55:05]
MOOS: And Hillary Clinton has been answering UFO questions.
HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There are enough stories out there that I don't think everybody is just sitting you know in
their kitchen making them up.
MOOS: Answering them so well, she's sounding like an expert.
CLINTON: And you know, there is a new name. It is unexplained aerial phenomenon.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unexplained aerial phenomenon.
CLINTON: Yes, UAP.
MOOS: Actually, it's Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon. UAP is meant to better describe and put some discontinues between it and the sometimes ridiculed
UFO. Hillary has said she would try to open government files. She told the Conway New Hampshire Sun, "I think we may have been visited already. We
don't know for sure."
So for many UFO believes worldwide, who is the best candidate from your point of view?
VOICE OF STANTON FRIEDMAN, NUCLEAR PHYSICIST AND UFO RESEARCHER: Well, Hillary is definitely. No question. It's nice that they are making the
subject respectable. But I also know that Presidents don't always gain access to stuff that they're interested in.
MOOS: Many moons ago, the Weekly World News mocked Hillary with its alien baby cover. Her current campaign chairman, John Podesta, is a long-time
proponent of opening government files.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know the American people can handle the truth.
MOOS: Some self-described E.T. hunters oppose Hillary.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My candidate is Donald Trump because he's not a politician.
MOOS: UFO-ologists who prefer Hillary worry.
FRIEDMAN: I'm waiting for Trump to get around to say, oh, Hillary's some kind of a nut, she believes in flying saucers.
MOOS: Maybe the aliens are looking for signs of intelligent life on our campaign trail.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: While some men give flowers or perfume, but a man in China came up with a more unique way to woo the woman he loves.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: He made a giant portrait of her using 840 Rubik's cubes. It cost him hundreds of dollars and took three nights to put the whole thing
together. Now if I were to ask you this question, do you think she was impressed or do you think she was not impressed? What would your guess be?
Unfortunately -- the young lady was not impressed. She rejected him. Now, his puzzle is how to move the whole contraption out of his apartment. He'll
find the right one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: I'm Hala Gorani, "Quest Means Business" is up next.
END
