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Hala Gorani Tonight
Attackers Hit Three Saudi Arabian Cities in 24 Hours; New Explosions Heard to West of Baghdad; Officials: Dhaka Cafe Attackers Educated, Elite; NASA's Juno Aims to Join Jupiter's Orbit; 215 Now Confirmed Dead in Baghdad; Brexit Leader Nigel Farage Steps Down; Chris Evans Leaves "Top Gear". Aired 2:30-4p ET
Aired July 04, 2016 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:30:03] HALA GORANI, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, Saudi Arabia under fire mosques and security services targeted. We have the very latest.
Iraq is reeling too after a terrorist attacked with the staggering death toll. We are live in Baghdad. Then the political after shocks of Brexit
continued. Nigel Farage says he's out as head of his party and the conservatives are still looking for a new leader.
Hello, everyone, I'm Hala Gorani, we're live in London. This is special extended edition of "The World Right Now."
Well what appeared to be terrorist attacks have struck Saudi Arabia just in the last few hours, where three suicide bombers have attacked three
separate cities in less than 24 hours. In the holy city of Medina near Mecca, a suicide bomber killed at least four people. That's according to
local officials
The wave of violence began in the early morning hours when a bomber struck just meters from the U.S. consulate in Jeddah killing only himself.
Hours later to the east in the city of Qatif, a heavily Shia area, another bomber did the same. Apparently hoping to strike a mosque and the second
attacker struck in that city targeting what we believe to be a shopping mall. Still details quite sketchy coming out of Saudi Arabia. We are of
course in the final days of Ramadan right before the holiday of Eid.
And as ISIS losses ground militarily in Iraq and Syria, we have been watching as these attacks occur one after the next.
I'm joined now by our international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson., who travels very often to Saudi Arabia. What are your sources telling you
exactly happens specifically in Medina, appears that there are causalities?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN International Diplomatic Editor: Yeah. Medina is where the casualties are and the target there were Saudis security forces. We've
seen ISIS target Saudi security forces, all their supporters, target Saudi security forces inside the country already this year, last year as well.
So they even called on their own supporters to target their relatives.
So, we don't have a claim of responsibility but if you look at the M.O. of this a suicide bomber attacking what was a security, Saudi security post in
the city of Median, that's where the causalities are. Four dead we're hearing so far at least one injured. Those numbers may change as the
information firms up.
Qatif, the target there ...
GORANI: Yeah.
ROBERTSON: ... was a mosque and it was targeting right around dusk and people would have been going there for the evening.
GORANI: Well it was a clearly calculated and in order to -- I mean these terrorist attacks at mosques with people praying in heavily Shiite area as
well. And this was a Shia mosque.
ROBERTSON: This was a Shia mosque. ISIS of course is a Sunni group. They've targeted Shia mosque in Saudi Arabia before. We haven't seen three
attacks in one day before. There's been a report of a fourth attack in Qatif targeting a shopping mall. We're still trying to rundown information
and firm that at this time. But at least three attacks within the space of 24 hours. Suicide bombers in all of them. It gives the impression that
somebody, somewhere gave a signal that they should go ahead and do. We don't know that.
But if that's the case, it does tend to point towards ISIS.
GORANI: And it's not just Saudi Arabia. Of course, it's also Baghdad, it's also Istanbul, the airport there, it's Dhaka, Bangladesh. All these
attacks that are either attributed to or claimed by ISIS.
ROBERTSON: And ISIS themselves in the weeks before Ramadan said there are supporters around the world should attack during Ramadan. They've called
for this. And it's almost you feel as if towards the end of the Ramadan. This actually been a surge in attacks.
And, you know, Al-Qaeda is jumped on this. Al-Qaeda is criticized ISIS for the Istanbul attacked, for another attacked as well for killing Muslims.
So even the radical group Al-Qaeda is not happy with what ISIS is doing at the moment by killing so many Muslims.
GORANI: All right. Well, interesting that Al-Qaeda they had some sort of moral issue with what ISIS is doing.
Thanks very much Nic Robertson for joining us. We will be speaking later to Nic with the latest on Saudi as well.
Let's turn to Baghdad now and the deadliest single attack to hit the country in over a decade.
A pile of smoking rubble marks the site. Officials now say at least and this is just absolutely staggering. 215 people were killed there. A
blazing inferno tore through early Sunday morning decimating what was once a busy street for shopping. The apparent cause a single truck packed with
explosives. ISIS is claiming responsibility.
Our Ben Wedeman is there in Baghdad, in the Iraqi capital with more on what we know.
So, an extremely deadly attack by ISIS, is it related in any way do authorities there believe to some of the military losses the group is
suffering?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Before I get to that, Hala, let me tell you that within the last hour we heard some very large
explosions coming to the West of Baghdad.
[14:35:03] Apparently, they were fired from a truck mounted with rocket launchers. Those rockets fired in the direction of what's known as camp
liberty, which is right next to Baghdad International Airport. But some of those rockets hitting an adjacent Iraqi village. We have no word at this
point about any fatalities.
We understand that several people have been wounded in that incident. Now, as far as the late Saturday night attack on the neighborhood of Karada,
yes, at this point the death toll is 215. But really the number could go up quite a lot, given the fact that so many of the bodies were simply blown
to smithereens and burned into essentially charcoal. Iraqi police are saying that of those bodies recovered, 81 are completely unrecognizable.
And they'll going to have to conduct DNA tests to find out exactly who they are.
Now, we were at the site of the bombing earlier today. When we saw just one group after another coming up, looking for information, asking for
information, looking for traces of relatives who as far as they know disappeared off the face of the earth late Saturday night. They haven't
heard from them.
One man we saw was sifting through the ashes and found what he believed or he concluded was the worry beads or the prayer beads of his brother. He
concluded he was dead. He had to call his mother and in tears inform her that his brother, her son, was dead. Hala.
GORANI: Absolutely every single story just breaks your heart. But what do ordinary Baghdadis, Iraqis want to see happen. We know they want security.
We know they want to stop to this hell that they've been living for so many years. Is there a government now, the government of Haider al-Abadi in any
position to protect their own citizens a little better than they've been doing?
WEDEMAN: No I think that's the question everybody is asking. They had heard the prime minister and so many others say that Fallujah was the
principle source of car bombs and suicide bombers. They were plaguing Baghdad and then just one week after Iraq, the Iraqi government declared
that Fallujah had fallen to the government, you see this bomb go off and therefore there's anger that the security in Baghdad isn't what they were
told it was.
And there's also anger about the fact that Iraqi security private and government until at least recently continue to use this devices ...
GORANI: Yeah.
WEDEMAN: ... that were sold by a company in the U.K. supposedly and initially to find golf balls and they were sold by the thousands to Iraq
under the pretext that they could detect explosives. But they can't.
They're fake. The man who owned that company is now in jail and Haider al- Abadi, the prime minister ordered that all those devices be discontinued but in a sense it's a symbol of what's wrong with security in Baghdad at a
moment and the opinion of many people here. Hala.
GORANI: Yeah. Absolutely. And I was going to ask you actually about those fake and those bomb detecting ones that for many years now we've
known are complete bogus. But even if they did have bomb detecting technology, I mean, this is a refrigerator truck packed with explosives in
a market street, a little bit passed midnight on a festive occasion, you know what I mean. How do you even protect your citizens against that type
of attack?
WEDEMAN: Well, I mean, at the end of the day, they have a real challenge because in fighting the ISIS, for instance, when it comes to Fallujah, they
were fighting ISIS, the state, the government, an entity that has courts and hospitals that it runs and that sort of thing.
Here in Baghdad, they're fighting the different kind of ISIS. They are fighting sleeper cells, they are fighting people who are probably -- could
very well be Baghdad residence with sympathies for ISIS who were behind to this bombing. So it's a completely different challenge when you're dealing
with urban terrorism and ...
GORANI: Yeah.
WEDEMAN: ... fighting ISIS and Fallujah or Ramadi.
And in that, the Iraq, the Iraqi government has done fairly well in retaking Fallujah, Ramadi, Tikrit, so many other parts of the country they
fail the ISIS. But when it comes to the urban threat, they clearly still have a lot of work to do. Hala.
GORANI: All right. Thank you, Ben Wedeman. He's live in Baghdad and we'll continue to monitor by the way those reports of explosions that you
brought to us at the beginning of your live report. And we'll get back to you very shortly.
[14:40:08] To Bangladesh now, the information minister there says the Dhaka attackers were likely home grown terrorist though ISIS has claimed
responsibility as we now know. That attack on Friday killed 22 people at a popular cafe in the city. Most of the attackers were also killed. The
father of one of the attackers expressed shock and sadness over what his son did and his role in the murder of all these people.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MEER HAYET KABIR, FATHER OF DHAKA ATTACKER: I want to apologize people who have been killed, to their family. And my son is dead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: All right. We'll have much more of this interview and a live update from Bangladesh ahead on the program.
Now two U.K. politics and more of Brexit aftermath, he says he has done his part. Now he wants his life back. That man is Nigel Farage, one of the
prominent faces of the campaign for the U.K. to leave the EU. He's quitting as the leader of his own party, the U.K. Independence Party.
Farage told reporters he did not want to be a career politician. And now that he has achieved his aim, he's off.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NIGEL FARAGE, UK INDEPENDENCE PARTY LEADER: My aim in being in politics was to get Britain out of the European Union. That is what we voted for in
that referendum, the two weeks ago. And that is why, I now feel that I've done my bit, that I couldn't possibly achieve more, that we managed to get
in that referendum and so I feel its right that I should now stand aside as leader of UKIP.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well, Nigel Farage's decision to go is just the latest and the long line of political pasturing since Britain voted to leave. The ruling
conservative party are looking for a new leader. And with it, the countries new prime minister, there are five candidates in the frame and
each one is jockeying for position. Isa Soares explains.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Another week starts here in Westminster with another ambitious contender emerging. From the Leave
campaign Andrea Leadsom set out her intentions today. Her message -- let's get on with this and leave.
ANDREA LEADSOM, CONSERVATIVE PARTY LEADERSHIP CONTENDER: Not everything needs to be negotiated before Article 50 is triggered and the exit process
is concluded.
SOARES: One of her key policies new restrictions in the rights of E.U. nationals to live and work in the U.K. insisting there will not be
bargaining chips in negotiations.
LEADSOM: The United Kingdom will leave the European Union. Freedom of movement will end and the British parliament will decide how many people
enter our country each year to live, work, and contribute to our national life.
SOARES: Meanwhile, her rival frontrunner Theresa May has suggested that those nationals could be used in the bargaining over British trade
agreements with E.U. British foreign secretary Philip Hammond, a May ally unwilling to take a concrete plan of action in a radio interview.
PHILIP HAMMOND, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: When you go into a negotiation all the parts are moving. All the parts are on the table and it would be
absurd to make a unilateral commitment about E.U. nationals living in the U.K. without at the very least getting a similar commitment from the
European Union about British nationals living in the E.U.
SOARES: The U.K. Conservative Party is split due to Brexit with each contender now jockeying for position. Theresa May currently out front is
favorite, Andrea Leadsom running second. Justice Secretary Michael Gove has been licking his wounds bloodied after his battle with former Mayor of
London Boris Johnson. Meanwhile Stephen Crabb and Liam Fox are struggling to build support for their bids.
SOARES: Members of Parliament will vote on Tuesday on who they think should lead the party negotiations in Brussels. And what is becoming
increasingly likely is that Britain could have its second female prime minister sitting at that very table. Isa Soares, CNN, London.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: All right. Still to come tonight. One speaking of quitting, one of the two new hosts of BBCs Top Gear is call it a day. The details ahead
in a live report from London plus hastily tweet puts Donald Trump on the defensive. All that and much more when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:46:39] GORANI: Well, after just one season as co-host of BBC's "Top Gear", Chris Evans says he is leaving the show. The BBC hired Evans and
Matt LeBlanc to take the lead after former host Jeremy Clarkson was sacked in 2015. But the latest news comes amid reports of tension between the two
new co-hosts. Evans tweeted "gave it my best shot but sometimes that's enough."
Let's get more on this now from our Max Foster standing by at the BBC broadcasting house in London. So you know a show, even shows that are
ultimately very successful, it takes more than a month to figure out if it's going to work. Why on Earth would he step down so quickly?
MAX FOSTER, CNN LONDON CORRESPONDENT: I think the ratings have just fallen so quickly and he's under huge amount of pressure in the British
newspapers, and he just doesn't -- in the past, he doesn't respond well to that pressure. He doesn't want to be told his show is a disaster in the
past when ratings were going down. He has left the most successful shows he started in the U.K.
And they've gone, you know, if you watched at the end of the last series with Jeremy Clarkson, the biggest were about 6 million overnight here in
the U.K. And now, last night, going Sunday into Monday, the latest show we had from Chris Evans was down at less than 2 million. So it's gone from 6
million to 2 million in terms of overnight figures and that's been pretty disastrous for him. And it's fed this criticism on -- of him in the
British newspapers.
They think a lot of it is down to the lack of chemistry amongst the presenters. So between Matt LeBlanc and Chris Evans, a generally very good
press with Matt LeBlanc, not so good for Chris Evans, and it's really is a jewel in the crown under the BBC's products. It makes a huge amount of
money around the world, sold in more than 200 territories, at least the previous version one -- was.
This one is in less countries but it was selling in other countries and it was very successful and it bring -- brought in audience the BBC needed. So
that BBC needed it to work, it wasn't working, now the pressure is on Matt LeBlanc who seems is going to stay on as the lead presenter.
GORANI: OK. So, I was going to ask you about that because we know how many of our -- many of our viewers who watched the previous reincarnation
of the show are wondering whether or not they will still get "Top Gear" and whether or not it'll just be hosted by Matt LeBlanc, or will he get a new
co-host, do we know any of those details?
FOSTER: We're not hearing anything more but the suggestion from Chris Evans has been that the presenter team, he thinks it's very good. And then
the BBC came out with a statement later on saying Chris Evans thinks the presenting team is very good. But we haven't heard anything from Matt
LeBlanc. So the suggestion is that he would stay on.
And certainly, his part of the show has been really successful according to the T.V. critics. And Chris Evans is a quite controversial figure in the
U.K. He's not very well-known internationally and Jeremy Clarkson was. But as you say, it does usually take longer for shows to bed in but the
feeling was that it just wasn't gelling for Chris Evans.
And these were very experienced presenter producer. And if he felt it wasn't, then I think there's been some sort of agreement between him and
the BBC that this wasn't going to go anywhere. And it's that important, we need to make this one work.
GORANI: Well, it certainly feels a bit abrupt but anyway that's the end of that role for Chris Evans at "Top Gear". Thanks very much, Max Foster in
London.
[14:50:01] Turning it now to the American campaign trail. Donald Trump and his team are playing some rapid defense, again, for a tweet evoking anti-
Semitic stereotypes. This image appeared and then quickly vanished from Trumps account on Saturday showing Hillary Clinton and a pile of money
behind her all stamped with a six-pointed star.
The same image appeared earlier on an internet message board filled with anti-Semitic and neo-Nazi ideology. And critics say this is not just any
star, it is clearly the Star of David. But Trump is blaming the media for that interpretation. His tweets that it's just a Sheriff's Star or plain
old star, one of his advisers tells CNN, Trump is not anti-Semitic and therefore this was not sort of a Star of David evoking a Jewish Star.
Trump's Twitter account is also fueling rumors about his pick for a vice presidential running mate. Sara Murray is combing through his tweets from
Washington and she joins me now live.
First of all, when I asked about that meme, that -- using that six-pointed star that many said really was clearly the Star of David. Is -- I mean
again, we keep asking this after every Trump fo-pa-gaf (ph) and scandal, is this going to be the one that really hurts?
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I don't think it's going away and for a couple of reasons. I mean one, if they didn't think there
was anything wrong with it, it's kind of perplexing that they deleted it and they replaced it with a different image. But two, I think people are
seizing on the fact that this is now beginning to look like a pattern whether intentional or just sort of sloppiness on behalf of Donald Trump
and his campaign staffers.
But we've seen him the past re-tweet neo-Nazi, apparent neo-Nazi supporters. We've seen him blast out racially-charged crime statistics
that were inaccurate. And this is one of the things the Clinton campaign is seizing on today. Their director of Jewish outreach put out a statement
that sort of highlights the fact that this does appear to be a pattern. And I'm going to read you that same announcing.
Donald Trump's use of a blatantly anti-Semitic image from racist websites to promote his campaign would be disturbing enough, but the fact that it's
a part of a pattern should give voters major cause for concern. Now, not only won't he apologize for it, he's peddling lies and blaming others.
Trump should be condemning hate, not offering more campaign behavior and rhetoric that engages extremist.
And Hala, I've reached out to a number of Donald Trump's campaign advisers, campaign staffers today to try to get a better sense of how an image like
this that appeared on a white supremacist message board that reappeared on Donald Trump's Twitter feed. I've been trying to reach out to them all
day. I have not heard back from them to sort of give you a better understanding how this happened.
But one thing we do know is that even though all this is happening in the campaign trail wages on and Hillary Clinton is not in as great of shape as
she was just a couple of months ago. That's according to a new U.S. Today Suffolk poll. That shows just two months ago Hillary Clinton had a pretty
wide lead over Donald Trump, about 11 points. Now, it's down to a five- point lead. She's at about 45 percent. He's at about 40%.
So even he made all of these kind of unforced errors that he's making, remember, she's still dealing with this e-mail controversy. She's still
dealing with having set her holiday weekend sitting down with the FBI. And I think that that's why we might be seeing this sort of tightening in the
race.
GORANI: Let's talk about potential V.P. picks for Donald Trump. What's the word on who -- on -- is there a short list of names floating around the
most-likely candidates?
MURRAY: Well, he's been tweeting about that today and it's kind of an unusually public way to talk about the process. He met over the weekend
with Indiana governor Mike Pence who is seen by many conservatives as kind of solid pick that would give more of social conservative people, a little
bit for their right in Donald Trump might make him feel more comfortable to them. But he's also supposed to be meeting today with Iowa senator Joni
Ernst.
This would be an interesting fit for Donald Trump. She hasn't had -- especially nice things or especially nice -- or especially critical things
to say about him. But she was -- she wasn't necessarily all the way in his camp but she's sort of played it carefully. And to see them meeting today
I think it's going to sort of further the rumors about whether she really is interested, whether she would accept it if it's given to her, and it's
certainly beneficial to the Trump campaign to have a name like her on their short list.
She's a rising star within the Republican Party. She's very popular among many for appearance. And of course, she's a woman so she would bring that
to the ticket. So it'll be interesting to see how all this ...
GORANI: Right. And he's got issues. Of course, he's got issues with women voters as well, so he might want to pick a female -- on the ticket in
order to perhaps ...
MURRAY: Or at least consider one.
GORANI: Or at least consider one, yeah. We're also seeing quickly Chris Christie, others, Newt Gingrich, what's the probability there?
MURRAY: Well, Chris Christie and Newt Gingrich, of course, came out very early in their support of Donald Trump. I think the knock against them is
they tend to be a little bit free-willing as is Donald Trump himself. They do have a lot of experience, you know, governing and obviously Newt
Gingrich is a former house speaker, so he has a lot of experience in Washington. That's working to their benefit.
I think what's working to their detriment is you already feel like you have a lot of star power at the top of the ticket with Donald Trump. So if you
want someone who is a little bit quieter, a little bit of a safer pick, you're not necessarily going to go the route of Chris Christie or Newt
Gingrich.
[14:55:04] GORANI: All right. Sara Murray thanks very much.
MURRAY: Thank you.
GORANI: Joining us with the very latest on Trump news. From commander in chief to campaigner in chief, U.S. president Barrack Obama plans to make
his campaign trail debut with Hillary Clinton on Tuesday in North Carolina. We'll have full coverage right here on CNN, don't miss it.
For the most part, today is a quiet day on the presidential campaign trail and a busy one for many American families that's because it's a holiday
today. It's July 4th, America's Independence Day better known as the 4th of July. And that means parades, flags, backyard barbeques all decked out
in the colors of red, white and blue. Happy 4th to our viewers in the U.S. and to Americans everywhere.
Far, far away, a NASA spacecraft is wriggling toward Jupiter. With its foot hovering over the breaks, the Juno space probe which has the girth of
a basketball court will perform a tough maneuver in the coming hours. The move will decelerate Juno and allow Jupiter to pull into orbit. Hopefully,
the tiny crew members that are strapped in these are three Lego figures on board meant to inspire children to study math and science. We'll have more
on this story in the next hour of The World Right Now.
Also ahead, we continue to follow our breaking news story after a good break. A suicide bomber carries out the third attack in Saudi Arabia in
just 24 hours. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:00:04] HALA GORANI, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, Saudi Arabia is coming under fire. Multiple attacks with no claim of responsibility so far. We will
discuss the very latest.
And Iraq mourns a massive loss of life after the worst terrorist attack there in more than a decade.
Then the political aftershocks of Brexit continue. Nigel Farage is out as the head of UKIP and the conservatives fight it out to become the next
prime minister.
Plus, Chris Evans resigns as the face of "Top Gear" before you even had a chance to know who he was. What's next for once wildly popular show?
Hello, everyone, I'm Hala Gorani, we're live from CNN, London. And this is THE WORLD RIGHT NOW.
Terror has struck Saudi Arabia. Suicide bombers have attacked three cities in less than 24 hours. And the holy city of Medina, officials say a
suicide bomber killed at least four people, reportedly Saudi security officers. The wave of violence began before dawn. That's when a bomber
struck near the U.S. consulate in Jeddah. Didn't do much damage. But he managed to kill himself only.
Hours later in the city of Qatif, that's a heavily Shia area. Another bomber did the same, she was hoping to strike a mosque. We're also hearing
that a second attacker may have struck in Qatif in a shopping mall. Though no civilians were reported hurt in any of those attacks.
Let's bring in our international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson who travels often to Saudi Arabia. What are your sources telling you about?
It appears as though only the attack in which people other than the attackers were killed was Medina in mecca.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: The sources in Saudi Arabia are describing the failure of these attacks in principle, apart from
the one in Medina. Because take Jeddah, a suicide bomber only kills himself and he doesn't even manage to blow up the explosives in his vehicle
which were very close to the wall of the consulate, could have done damage inside. The one in Qatif, the suicide bomber doesn't get into the mosque,
doesn't get into all the people that are gathered there willing to pray in the early evening hours.
So, they're calling that a failure too. But obviously the attack in Medina, where the security services were hit, it was a security checkpoint,
it appears that it was, again, a suicide bomber. It's not clear if it involved -- if it was a suicide bomber in a vehicle or he had explosives on
him. But certainly in the video that we've seen, it's a car that's on fire. And you can see in some of the video the Saudi security officers
literally thrown by the blast. They have often been the target, it has to be said for ISIS in recent months in the past year or so. No one has
claimed this yet though. But it's looking this whole strings, looking like potentially ISIS.
GORANI: Right. And because coordinated, it's their m.o., three attacks in less than 24 hours, even though at least two of them didn't kill anyone but
the bombers. So, there has to be some concern that ISIS is really stepping up sort of its coordinated attacks on several sites simultaneously in the
country.
ROBERTSON: Saudi Arabia know they got a problem with ISIS. I mean, ISIS using the fight in Yemen, Yemen is completely destabilized at the moment,
they're using the fight in Yemen to multiply. Saudi Arabia has been a source of foreign fighters going to join the fight in Syria, to join ISIS
there in the past few years. Saudi has arrested two-and-a-half thousand ISIS members. So, today is troubling for many reasons. One, it's a
coordinated effort. A number of suicide bombers. They weren't able to see these coming.
But there's a potential here from the one in Jeddah this morning to see a trend that now can move away from targeting just Saudi security forces,
which is typically what's been seen for the most part to now Western interests more aggressively. And the fact that the suicide bombers are out
on the streets and try to get into the mosques again, that's going to be a concern. It's been a year since suicide bombers in Saudi Arabia targeted
Shia mosques.
GORANI: All right. Nic Robertson, thanks very much. It's not just in Saudi Arabia, it's in Iraq, it's in Turkey, it's in Bangladesh. In fact,
let's turn our attention to the outrage in Iraq, after the single deadliest terrorist attack there since the war began. Workers recovered more bodies
today in the side of the suicide truck bombing raising the death toll to 215. Dozens of children as well were killed. The blast ripped through a
busy shopping district over the weekend, triggering a massive inferno. We just received some video that conveys the absolute horror of the attack.
The shouting you'll hear is a man screaming, "Baghdad is burning."
(MAN YELLING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GORANI: Imagine living there. Imagine living in Baghdad where this is your daily reality, where a truck packed with explosives and killed 215
plus people in a busy shopping district. That's what happens there all too often. ISIS is claiming responsibility for the attack. Iraqis are
furious. They say there is a lack of security. They are demanding that their government do more to protect them.
[15:05:13] Just a few minutes ago I spoke with CNN's Ben Wedeman. He is in Baghdad. I began by asking him about the massive death toll.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Before I get to that, Hala, let me tell you that within the last hour we heard some very large
explosions coming to the West of Baghdad. Apparently they were fired from a truck mounted with rocket launchers. Those rockets fired in the
direction of what's known as camp liberty, which is right next to Baghdad International Airport. But some of those rockets hitting an adjacent Iraqi
village. We have no word at this point about any fatalities.
We understand that several people have been wounded in that incident. Now, as far as the late Saturday night attack on the neighborhood of Karada,
yes, at this point the death toll is 215. But really the number could go up quite a lot, given the fact that so many of the bodies were simply blown
to smithereens and burned into essentially charcoal. Iraqi police are saying that of those bodies recovered, 81 are completely unrecognizable.
And they'll going to have to conduct DNA tests to find out exactly who they are. Now, we were at the site of the bombing earlier today.
When we saw one group after another coming up, looking for information, asking for information, looking for traces of relatives who as far as they
know disappeared off the face of the earth late Saturday night. They haven't heard from them. One man we saw was sifting through the ashes and
found what he believed or he concluded was the worry beads or the prayer beads of his brother. He concluded he was dead. He had to call his mother
and in tears inform her that his brother, her son, was dead -- Hala.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Ben Wedeman, thanks very much.
Let's bring in Armand Cucciniello, he is a foreign policy expert, former press spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, and he joins me now
from New York. You were in Baghdad, 2007, 2008 or so. We're talking about eight years ago. I mean, to think back to those days, eight years later,
Baghdad would still be going through the hell that it is going through, with these insurgents' attacks, killing more than 200 people in a single
attack. I mean, it is absolutely a desperate situation.
ARMAND CUCCINIELLO, PUBLIC RELATIONS AND FOREIGN POLICY EXPERT: Absolutely, Hala. Actually I was in Iraq from August 2006 through
September 11, 2010. So, I was there for quite longer. I was there before the surge, during the surge, after the surge. And the story from Iraq
continues to be the same. And what we've seen this weekend in Baghdad, quite frankly, reflects just how unprepared the Iraqi security forces
remain and how desperate if not incompetent the Iraqi government is.
GORANI: Right, but I mean, at the same time, just sort of in defense of security forces everywhere who have to confront attacks on soft targets
like this, it's extremely difficult to protect every street corner against a truck packed with explosives at the same time.
CUCCINIELLO: Absolutely. But Iraq has been experiencing these types of attacks, maybe not in terms of the death toll, but in terms of ISIS
claiming these attacks throughout the spring.
GORANI: Yes. Let's talk a little bit about also the security forces making some substantial gains militarily on the ground. It's a different
type of enemy. We're talking of an organized terrorist fighting force, ISIS in Fallujah, Ramadi, Tikrit, I mean, they have cleared some of those
areas so they are making progress there.
CUCCINIELLO: They're making progress. But as we've seen with recent reports, there are still potential for them to regroup. As the Iraqi
forces move towards Mosul, we're hearing that insurgents and ISIS sympathizes if you will are hiding out possibly in villages in the
surrounding area. So, it's not a done deal. I wouldn't be so quick to say that we've turned a corner of any sort. I would like to think that we are
and that we will and that Iraq becomes safe and secure. But that just does not seem to be the case right now.
And I can tell you, as somebody who is one of the longest serving U.S. officials on the ground continuously in Iraq from 2006 to 2010, since I've
read the newspapers and watched news every day since I left Baghdad, it seems to be the same. I mean, ISIS has a different name, might even have a
different face, but the story just continues to be the same at the bottom.
GORANI: Would it have been different had U.S. troops stayed there, at least part of them?
CUCCINIELLO: Honestly, I don't think so. Would it have made some sort of difference in terms of guidance and direction, quite possibly, I would give
the Iraqis that. However, the level of incompetence I think that is in the Iraqi government, maybe even if not so much in the Iraqi security forces,
the Iraqi government continues to rear its head. Just this morning CNN issued a report saying that the Iraqi government had been allowing the use
of what were magic wand like security devices at checkpoint.
[15:10:23] As late as 2010, we've been telling the Iraqi government these devices do not work. I was there when we were doing that. The U.S.
military issued a report and had told, warned the Iraqi government. Here I am, July 2016, reading that the Iraqi government is still using those
devices which we've warned them do not work.
GORANI: Yes.
CUCCINIELLO: The Iraqis need to step it up.
GORANI: All right. Well, certainly ordinary Iraqi citizens are the ones paying the price.
Thank you very much Armand Cucciniello for joining us. A former spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Iraq. Thanks for being with us from
New York.
CUCCINIELLO: Thank you.
GORANI: Now, to fallout from that Brexit referendum. He says he's done his part, now he wants his life back. Nigel Farage, one of the prominent
faces of the campaign for the UK to leave the EU, is quitting as the leader of his own party UKIP. Farage told reporters he did not want to be a
career politician and now that he's achieved his aim, he says, he is off.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NIGEL FARAGE, LEADER, UK INDEPENDENCE PARTY: My aim in being in politics was to get Britain out of the European Union. That is what we voted for in
that referendum two weeks ago. That is why I now feel that I've done my bit, that but I couldn't possibly achieve more than we managed to get in
that referendum. So I feel it's right that I should now stand aside as leader of UKIP.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Nigel Farage's decision to go is the latest in a long line of political posturing since Britain voted to leave. The ruling conservative
party is now looking for a new leader and with it, of course, the country's new prime minister after David Cameron announced that he was stepping down.
There are five candidates in the fray. We want to introduce them to our international audience. And each one is jockeying for a position.
Isa Soares has our story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Another week starts in Westminster with another ambitious contender emerging.
(APPLAUSE)
From a Leave campaign Andrea Leadsom -- today, her message, let's get on with this and leave.
ANDREA LEADSOM, CONSERVATIVE PARTY LEADERSHIP COMMANDER: Not everything needs to be negotiated before article 50 is triggered and the exit process
is concluded.
SOARES: One of her key policies near restrictions in the rights of EU nationals to leave and work in the UK insisting they were not be bargaining
chips in the negotiations.
LEADSOM: The United Kingdom will leave the European Union. Freedom of movement will end. And the British parliament will decide how many people
enter our country each year to live, work, and contribute to our national life.
SOARES: Meanwhile, her rival, frontrunner Theresa May, has suggested that those nationals could be used in the bargaining of a British trade
agreements with EU. British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and May ally, unwilling to give a concrete plan of action in a radio interview.
PHILIP HAMMOND, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: When you go into a negotiation, all the parts are moving. All the parts are on the table. And it would be
absurd to make a unilateral commitment about EU nationals living in the UK without the very least getting a similar commitment from the European Union
about British nationals living in the EU.
SOARES: The UK conservative party split due to Brexit with each contender now jockeying for position. Therese May currently out-front his favorite,
Andrea Leadsom running second. Justice Secretary Michael Gove has been licking his wounds, bloodied after his battle with former mayor of London
Boris Johnson. Meanwhile, Stephen Crabb and Liam Fox is struggling to build support for their bids. Members of parliament will vote on Tuesday
on who they think should lead the party negotiations with Brussels. And what is becoming increasingly likely is that Britain could have its second
female prime minister sitting at that very table.
Isa Soares, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Let's get more on this conservative leadership contest. I'm joined by William Cash, he has campaigned for decades for the UK to leave
the EU. So, I'm sure he's absolutely delighted this week.
WILLIAM CASH, BRITISH MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT, CONSERVATIVE PARTY: I am. Yes. And it's taken 30 years. But actually it's about who governs
Britain.
GORANI: Yes.
CASH: And it's actually something which Americans will really understand because they wouldn't be governed by anybody else, would they?
GORANI: Right. But, well, America is the world's largest economy, they don't really need to associate themselves with any other economy in order
to former critical mass in order to big important trade and diplomatic views. I mean, that could be the argument.
CASH: It could be. But it's also true that they rebelled against the British back in the 1770s. And today is the Fourth of July.
GORANI: Right.
CASH: So, that's something to bear in mind. And the real point is that Americans would never, ever have a Supreme Court which overrode their own
Supreme Court. They wouldn't understand and wouldn't want ever to be governed by other countries. And that's the essence of our problem. And
that's what we've resolved now, thank heavens we're now out.
[15:15:15] GORANI: But what do you make of the people who say, Britain really has just voted itself into a very difficult situation. Now the
pound is down, the stock market has lost about 40 years of EU weekly payments. These deals have to be renegotiated. There are not enough
technocrats in London to negotiate the number of trade deals in two years. Basically you've put yourself in this terrible position uselessly,
pointlessly.
CASH: Absolutely. We are doing very, very well indeed as an economy. We're the fifth largest economy in the world. Already, Australia, New
Zealand, Malaysia. Kerry said the other day that he thought that we would be doing a deal with them too. So the point is this.
GORANI: No preferential treatment, though.
CASH: Well, maybe people will just be realistic about this. The fact is that we have got an amazing trading opportunity. The weaker pound actually
improves our exports. And if you look at the stock market, it's actually been doing extremely well over the last few days. It is not Armageddon.
Remember that was what we were told. So, the bottom-line is, actually economically we will be able to actually run our own trade policy instead
of the EU doing it on what has turned out to be very unsatisfactory terms. Our global circus for the rest of the world is now 31 billion and it went
up by 10 billion upwards last year alone.
GORANI: But as you know full well, people who oppose Brexit will come up with their own set of numbers in order to support their own tradition. But
let's talk a little bit about the leadership contest. Andrea Leadsom is the woman you are supporting --
CASH: That is true. Yes.
GORANI: For the leadership position. And therefore, she does when she would become the next prime minister.
CASH: Yes.
GORANI: Why? She says that she is not -- everything is on the table. Even the possibility that EU citizens inside the UK could after two or
three years of negotiation be deported unless they could get guarantees for British citizens.
CASH: She actually said she made a speech today, she's made absolutely clear that we will be looking after those people and we will not be engaged
in a policy of just removing them. That is the point. And actually in the meantime, Theresa May --
GORANI: Yes.
CASH: -- who is one of her opponents, got into a real pickle today in the House of Commons because she is arguing that the people who were actually
outside the UK would be at a disadvantage. And I really think at the moment that we've got a very, very fine candidate in Andrea Leadsom.
GORANI: OK. So, we'll see if she in fact gets ahead. She doesn't have the number of MP supporting her that Theresa May does as you know.
CASH: Actually, wait and see. The votes will get redistributed.
GORANI: They will be. Article 50. Now, Theresa May says, no article 50, no triggering of article 50 until next year at the earliest. The candidate
you support says, let's do this quickly.
CASH: Well --
GORANI: Is that not dangerous, though.
CASH: First of all, first of all, what is article 50? Let's get this straight. It actually puts us in the position of having to accept the
consent of the European Parliament. There's going to be trouble there. It's also done by qualified majority vote, trouble there. But the fact is
that the European Council only a few days ago said this wasn't the government that will decide this. So, the government will decide the
issue. Some people are saying it should be done by statute, government I think will be prevented.
GORANI: Some people are saying it should be the parliament.
CASH: But that's the point, some people are saying it should be the parliament.
GORANI: I've got to ask you quickly about all these men who campaigned relentlessly to get the UK out of the EU and then just legged it. David
Cameron was of course for remain, but Boris Johnson, the former mayor of London, then said he's not running for the leadership of the party. Nigel
Farage, the head of UKIP campaign is saying he is resigning as head of his own party. Why are these men going? Why are they leaving? Didn't they
win?
CASH: Well, the answer is, that's a very difficult question to answer. Because actually this is the time to build on the opportunities, which are
huge, for the United Kingdom to be able to get out on the rest of the world. Trade successfully and to keep our democracy. That is the key.
Because under the present European arrangements, they're moving towards political integration. We would have been a second tier of a two day
Europe --
GORANI: But they're leaving. These men that campaigned.
CASH: Well, it is very strange. I was very surprised to hear Nigel Farage say it today. But remember, that although he's done a pretty good job, I
would also say within the conservative party, we're the ones who fought and got the referendum. It goes back to the massive referendum campaign in
1990 and since.
GORANI: William Cash, thank you very much for being with us.
CASH: Nice to see you.
GORANI: We appreciate it.
Coming up next, we're learning new details about the terrorists who attacked a Bangladesh cafe. We'll hear from the father of one of the
suspected attackers, after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:22:13] GORANI: In Bangladesh, details are emerging about the men who carried out the deadly siege, massacre at a popular cafe and they're adding
to the sense of shock, really. Most of them were educated and from elite families. Officials have released the names of five suspected attackers,
all Bangladeshi.
Our Alexandra Field spoke to the father who identified his son as one of the man. She's live in Dhaka with more. What did he tell you, Alexandra?
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Hala, Sameh Mobasheer was one of the youngest attackers. Just 18-years-old, the
attackers were eight, between 18 in their mid-20s. Mobasheer's father says that his son had gone missing at the end of the February, left the house,
never came back, never contacted the family again. The family was searching with the help of law enforcement for this missing son.
But the father says he had no idea where his son was until the morning after the attack, when someone showed him a photo of his son that has been
posted by ISIS on a website affiliated with the terror group, identifying him as one of the attackers in that horrific massacre. The father tells me
this is not the son he knew. He is grieving. And he says he is truly grieving for the families of all of the victims slaughtered that night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MEER HAYET KALBIR, FATHER OF DHAKA ATTACKER: I don't know what to say. I have to apologize to all these families, but I have to say that I don't
believe my son has done it with his own conscience. I don't think it will be any message to those families, but I just want to say that whether they
listen or not, this is not my son. He is only 18, it is not biologically possible. And he's a human boy. He's not abnormal body. He is a family
boy. We have been very close family. Somebody has picked him up. It is not his own mischief.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FIELD: Mobasheer's father says his son didn't have many friends, he had always had interest in religion but didn't show any signs of extremism or
radicalization. He says that he thinks his son's desire to fit in may have left him easily impressionable and subject to possible influence from
Islamist groups. It was a fear that his father had continued to develop during the months that his son was missing. Those worst fears confirmed
when he finally saw his son's picture posted by ISIS.
Hala we know that ISIS claimed responsibility for this attack and that U.S. officials are looking at ISIS as the likely perpetrators of this massacre.
However, right here in Bangladesh, officials say they are still examining the possibility that these are terrorists who were part of a home-grown
local network.
GORANI: OK. Alexandra Field in Dhaka, Bangladesh, thanks very much.
Now to something completely different and hopeful, for a change, on America's Independence Day. NASA is hoping to pull off an intricate
maneuver in space that's been five years in the making. The Juno spacecraft has traveled millions of miles toward Jupiter. Late on Monday,
NASA will put on the brakes. Flight controllers hope to slow the probe down enough for it to be pulled into Jupiter's orbit.
Let's get more on the astonishing mission. Let's bring in CNN's Paul Vercammen. You're live at the NASA's jet propulsion laboratory in
Pasadena, California. Tell us more about the mission and when we will get more details about whether it was a success -- Paul.
PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now it's barreling toward Jupiter. And as you say said, it's being pulled in by massive Jupiter's
orbit. And what's being pulled in? Look at the model spacecraft behind me, Hala. This is completely solar powered. These arrays, they would make
up about the size of a basketball court if you laid them all end to end. And such a sense of anticipation, to go ahead and find out what lies
beneath those clouds on mysterious Jupiter after all, it's the largest planet in our solar system, believed to be the first formed. Let's go
ahead and listen to the mission leader on this great sense of anticipation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT BOLTON, JANE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: It's hard to describe. I'm torn with the incredible excitement and anticipation with, oh, my God,
we're going in. It's really happening. And I know it's challenging. I mean, I know the business. NASA and JPR and the business of taking
challenges.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VERCAMMEN: And among other things, they hope to go back in time, if you will, to explore the early formation of our own solar system, explore
Jupiter's record. Also, radiation a factor. They say 100 million dental x-rays is what this spacecraft will be exposed to. I also want to share
something with you. Denmark playing a role in all of this, Hala. At one point that mission leader decided he wanted to have three hitchhikers
aboard this craft. And he had Lego make, from space grade aluminum, three small figurines.
And they are Jupiter, his wife and sister Juno, explain that in mythology, and also Galileo, the astronomer who discovered Jupiter. They're aboard
that to be very careful that the space grade aluminum didn't compromise anything aboard the spaceship. So, they made it just a speculation.
They're about the most rarest Legos in the galaxy, they're just one spare set -- Hala.
GORANI: All right. The best travel as well. A very cute touch. Thanks very much Paul Vercammen there, in Pasadena with the latest on a very
exciting mission.
After the break we return to one of our top stories, and those horrific scenes in Iraq, as workers recover more bodies from a devastating suicide
bombing. We're live in Baghdad just ahead.
And this Welsh town voted to leave the European Union. CNN traveled there to find out why, even though they get quite a bit of money from the EU.
We'll be right back.
[15:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: A look at our top stories. At least through suicide bombings have rocked Saudi Arabia in just the past 24 hours. The latest blast targeted
security forces in the holy city of Medina, killing four people. Two other bombers hit Jeddah and Qatif but they managed to only kill themselves.
The death toll from a suicide truck bomb in Baghdad has risen to 215. That makes it the single deadliest attack in Iraq since the war began. The
blast ripped through a busy shopping district over the weekend, triggering a massive inferno. You can see some of that drone footage just showing the
devastation.
The leader of the U.K. Independence Party, Nigel Farage, says he's resigning. This comes after Britain voted to leave the European Union,
Farage says he never wanted to be a career politician, just to get Britain out of the E.U.
More now on that devastating suicide bombing in Iraq, nearly two days after the blast, crews are still on the scene, they are searching through the
rubble for bodies. 215 people are now confirmed dead, dozens of children as well. Senior International Correspondent Ben Wedeman is live in Baghdad
with the very latest. Ben?
WEDEMAN: Yes, at this point the official -- tentative, according to officials, death toll is 215. But it is expected to rise, Hala. We were
there for about five hours at the scene of the blast, and they were taking regularly more bodies out and more body parts more than anything else.
This bomb, which we believe was in a refrigerator truck, went off right in the middle of the road, between two very busy shopping centers, and sent a
wall of flame inside.
So it appears more people were injured by the flames and by the blast itself. According to the Iraqi police, of the bodies that were recovered,
81 are simply charred beyond recognition. And therefore, they will only be able to figure out their true identity by conducting DNA tests. And of
course, as we were there today, we saw one group after another coming. Everyone is looking for a missing friend, a brother, families, relatives,
and others who simply, for all intents and purposes, have disappeared off the face of the earth.
There isn't an official list of how many people have been identified as being killed in this bombing. So they're coming to find out what they can.
And we saw one man sifting through the ashes. He found what he believed was the prayer beads of his brother. And when he found them, he started to
sob uncontrollably, only getting a grip of himself when he had to call his mother to say that her son was dead. Hala?
GORANI: All right. Just such misery for the people of Iraq for so many years. About half an hour ago, you were reporting you heard explosions in
Baghdad? Can you tell us what authorities or you believe those were?
WEDEMAN: Yeah, we heard from the Baghdad operations center, which is responsible for security in the capital, that they've found a truck with a
rocket launcher on top that they believe was used to fire a volley of rockets in the direction of Camp Liberty, which is right next to Baghdad
International Airport. Now, some of the rockets apparently landed in an adjacent Iraqi village. We have heard that there were casualties. No word
on fatalities, however. But this just goes to ramp up tensions in the capital even more. Certainly, they've been very high since that late
Saturday night truck bombing. And of course, when ISIS claimed that bombing, they said there was more to come. Hala.
GORANI: All right, thank you, Ben Wedeman, live in Baghdad.
Now, in Ohio, in the United States, police are apologizing to an Emirati man after officers pulled guns on him and slammed him to the ground.
GORANI: ...officers pulled guns on him and slammed him to the ground.
[15:35:05] Take a look at this video. It is shaky but you can make out police charging at Ahmed Al Menhali outside a hotel. He was in fact in the
United States for medical treatment, but a woman called 911, reporting a man in traditional clothing who she believed had pledged allegiance to
ISIS, that he was suspicious because he had two phones. The local police chief later apologized to Al Menhali. The UAE is now advising its citizens
not to wear their national dress in the United States.
We'll be posting some of these stories online. Don't forget, you can get all the latest news and analysis on our Facebook page,
facebook.com/halagoranicnn.
(MUSIC)
Britain's political drama goes on in the wake of the Brexit vote. I'm joined by Peter Whittle, a London assembly member and UKIP's Cultural
Spokesman, for more on this very surprising news today Peter Whittle, that Nigel Farage, the head of your party decides to step down because he says,
"His job is done and he wants his life back." He campaigned for Brexit, essentially his side won, why is he taking off now?
PETER WHITTLE, UKIP CULTURAL SPOKESMAN: Well, I think, you know, he absolutely said it. Job done. You know, Nigel Farage is quite unusual in
British politics, and that he really isn't a career politician. He was never got interested in the ministerial trappings of office. He was never
interested particularly in Westminster. What he came into politics for was simply to do this one thing, which was to get Britain a referendum on its
membership of the E.U., and indeed to see that Britain would come out of the E.U.
GORANI: If he's not interested in politics, why is he remaining a member of the European parliament for the duration? Also, when you campaign for
Brexit, should you not be around to at least contribute to the big discussion that needs to be had about the U.K.'s relationship with the
E.U.? I mean, it really appears as though he is legging it at this stage.
WHITTLE: Oh, no, no, no. Look, the last thing -- Nigel has spent 20 years doing this. He's one of the great examples of like a 20-year overnight
success. And, the fact is, he would be delighted, indeed would love to be part, I think, of the negotiations, because the way it's turning out now in
Britain is that people are getting more and more confused about what they can expect from these negotiations. We've been hugely sidelined, as you
probably know, from all the kind of internal wranglings that's going on with different political parties and their leaderships. But the thing
we've really got to be doing is making sure that out means out. You know, that Brexit ...
GORANI: But why is he still an MEP then? And by the way, he went to the European parliament and insulted every single person sitting in that room,
telling them basically, you probably have never worked a real job in your life. And he's saying that to a man sitting behind him who is an
astrophysicist and another who is a cardiovascular surgeon. Why did he go there and start insulting everybody after essentially he had won. Was he
gloating?
WHITTLE: No, no, no. The fact is, if you had seen the context of that, Nigel is used to being jeered, being treated extremely badly by the
European parliament. And indeed Martin Schulz who was actually moderating at that session, actually had to tell people to be quiet. So, he was
basically reacting to that. And in fact indeed what he said was right, they did laugh at him when he said he was going to get Britain out of the
E.U., and he said, you're not laughing now. And he's absolutely right.
The point is, most political careers, you know, most political careers end in failure. In the case of Nigel, he's absolutely bucking that trend
because he has now decided to step down at the very, very height of his powers when actually the job has been done. And I think it's a brilliant
career.
GORANI: And we spoke before this referendum. Now that it's happened, you've seen the impact on the economy already, you've seen the pound tank,
you've seen the stock market take a giant hit, property prices will probably go down 20 percent. You have people in Wales who didn't realize
what they were voting for, we have that story coming up, when they were told the E.U. was sending them money they wouldn't be receiving anymore.
Do you have any inkling that this was perhaps a hasty decision to exit the E.U.?
WHITTLE: Oh, good lord, no, no, no. Look, this to leave the E.U. last two Thursdays ago was the biggest mandate there's ever been for anything in
Britain, by 17 million people voted for this. They voted on a whole host of issues. Up there was immigration, which is a massive concern in
Britain.
[15:40:03] And of course the fact that that is connected to our member of the E.U. That you see the point. And, we ran a very, very sufficiently
campaign. The other side I would say, without wishing to replay it all, was basically just project fear. It absolutely tried to put the fear of
God into people even down to saying, "Well, look, you know, there would be World War III if we left." World War III hasn't happened. The markets
have actually come back up. So I think that a lot of this is a form of hysteria.
GORANI: All right, well, Peter Whittle, thanks very much for joining us. Have ...
WHITTLE: Happy Independence Day.
GORANI: With your view -- yes, July 4th in the U.S. Thank you very much.
WHITTLE: Thank you.
GORANI: We appreciate your time.
We were talking about that Welsh town where there are conflicting views on the decision to leave the E.U. Well, most voters there chose to exit the
block. Some are concerned now with the benefit of hindsight about the impact on the local economy. We sent Phil Black there and he sent us back
this report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHIL BLACK, INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Ebbw Vale in Southern Wales. A small town in a region known as The Valleys. Here communities were once
built around coal mines. They closed decades ago. So did ever their steel plants and tough times followed. Poverty, unemployment. For many, the
loss of hope. That's why the European Union took an interest. Peering through the gray mist and sideways rain of a Welsh summer's day and you see
the E.U. flag everywhere.
It's often close to new buildings and infrastructure the E.U. has helped pay for, like this huge sport and education center. A new trailer or a
major new road. E.U. money also helps people with job training and apprenticeships. All up, the E.U. has contributed around 145 million
pounds to this local area over the last 15 years. Do you think people here know the E.U. pumped a lot of money into the town?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. They know about it.
BLACK: Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They know about it.
BLACK: But they voted out anyway?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Yeah.
BLACK: It's a contradiction not easily explained. This area voted for Britain to exit the E.U. by a whopping 62 percent despite being a net
beneficiary. It gets back a lot more money than it contributes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is a lot of money that comes here from Europe.
BLACK: A lot of money?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Where is that going to come from?
BLACK: That's the question. Do you think people have shot themselves in the foot?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I voted out. And I've got me doubts now.
BLACK: THE Crossing Cafe, Deborah Jane (ph) and Avril (ph) have been listening to customers talk all things Brexit for months. They know the
E.U. spends big money here but they still want out. You know they've made a difference here.?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah. Yeah.
BLACK: But do you think they have the -- what -- you tell me. What -- do you think it's helped?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, they have but I think a lot of it are being spent on things that we could have done without, could have been spent in
different ways.
BLACK: Deb Phillips (ph), a customer and Brexiter agrees. It's about control.
DEB PHILLIPS, CUSTOMER: I'm sick of being told where the money is going to be spent.
BLACK: Over coffee, Alan Jones (ph), who voted to stay predicts a new obvious problem. He says the E.U. investment won't be replaced equally by
the British government.
ALAN JONES: A stupid thing to do because if you're -- once you go, this money is gone.
BLACK: But here in Wales as with many places across the U.K., money and the economy were not deciding factors in how many people chose to vote.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Out.
BLACK: What was the thinking there?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: About them ruling us instead of ruling ourselves.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Out.
BLACK: Tell me why.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. The immigration I supposed.
BLACK: Change, sovereignty, border control. The referendum showed these things mattered more to people in this struggling town than the E.U.'s
efforts to improve the quality of their lives. Phil Black, CNN, Ebbw Vale, Southern Wales.
GORANI: Well, they'll know soon enough the impact of their decision. This is "The World Right Now." Another resignation in the United Kingdom. This
one though, not from the world of politics. Chris Evans is leaving "Top Gear." we'll have reaction.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Six episodes, one season, and you've gone. Chris Evans has left his role as the head of the BBC's "Top Gear" show. Evans took to Twitter
to say he gave it his best shot but sometimes that is just not enough. His decision to quit follows media reports of tensions with co-host and former
friends' star Matt Leblanc, poor ratings as well certainly must have had something to do with it.
Let's get some context on his resignation. I'm joining by writer, broadcaster and media consultant Steve Hewlett. He is in -- please tell me
where you are.
STEVE HEWLETT, BROADCASTER & MEDIA CONSULTANT: I'm in Hertfordshire.
GORANI: Hertfordshire, I know I'm going to say it wrong. Thank you for picking that. Let's talk about Chris Evans, no pronunciation issues there.
You know, giving up after one season, I mean, Evans shows that ended up being some of the most successful television programs in history, it didn't
necessarily do very well in their first season. Why give up so early? It seems as though he's a quitter here doesn't it?
HEWLETT: Well, you can say that, this is not -- remember it's not a new show. And the way he says, he's done his best and isn't good enough, he
doesn't feel he's good enough, and I think that does rather have the ring of truth about it.
He's never really jelled with this. I mean the BBC found themselves completely see (ph) when they sacked Clarkson. It was a real crisis for
them, but this is a huge show in the U.K. or it has been. And internationally its worth, you know, 50 million to 100 million pounds a
year to the BBC in terms of program sales (inaudible), this is a really big deal.
So when they lost Clarkson, of course they lost the person who's essentially been the architect of the show for nearly (ph) 30 years. So
replacing was always going to be hard. Now, one of the interesting things about what BBC did, which was always -- it's always going to be tough for
Evans, who is an immensely talented guy, and he's (inaudible), what he isn't though is a motoring journalist with 30 years experience.
So, and Clarkson effortlessly talks about cam shafts, compression ratios, liter this, liter that, you know, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, BMW's knew
this and whatever. For Evans, he's petrol head and car nut but he doesn't have this background of experience.
GORANI: Right, but he's an experienced broadcaster, I mean this isn't his first rodeo. And Matt Leblanc isn't also the kind of automotive expert
that you found in Jeremy Clarkson, yet he's seemed to be more successful and get more fan reaction than Chris Evans. So maybe it was just let's say
kind of a charisma thing or how we each one of those host, co-hosts connected with the audience.
HEWLETT: It's partly a chemistry thing, but also, remember, Matt that was not -- Matt Leblanc wasn't being asked to front the show.
GORANI: Yeah.
HEWLETT: So, actually Matt Leblanc has been really good, it doesn't connect with big and rest of it, but as a kind of side kick, he is the kind
of straight man, if you like, he's definitely number two.
He needs someone who knows about motoring to play off. But he's not a motoring expert, he doesn't claim to be, and he actually plays up to that.
I mean he's good, he's a Hollywood actor, he can read a script.
Evans is much more spontaneous than that. He doesn't miss I think, real petrol heads have missed, the kind of petrol head that Clarkson was able to
bring effortlessly, to this kind of sense with humor. The BBC chose to mimic the format of Clarkson's "Top Gear" very precisely, quite a lot of
mistake ...
GORANI: But wasn't that the mistake, though, Steve, to try to mimic something that was very successful but that was completely built around one
guy? I mean, essentially, don't you need to just blow it up and start over again and hope to find someone who is going to be successful but in a
different way?
[15:50:08] HEWLETT: You could argue that with the BBC'S rationale was that the audience is, and there are massive -- millions of them really liked the
show that they have. So they tried to reproduce it. The problem is that invited, in fact it almost required a direct comparison of Evans and
Clarkson.
GORANI: Yeah.
HEWLETT: It was always going to be a tall order. That comparison was never going to work for Evans. So when he now says, "Look, I'll give you
my best shot and it hasn't worked, I think he's probably right. The show has sort of been improving. Its ratings, with the exception of the most
recent week was up against huge European football game, so it got down 1.9 million or something, the previous episode had put on you know 300,000-
400,000 viewers, which in U.K. is quite a lot.
GORANI: Anywhere it's quite a lot. Yeah.
HEWLETT: The show is improving but Evans was simply -- it was like a magnet for bad press, for all sorts of reasons. (Inaudible), he's very
successful, he's very creative, he's very quite rich, one of BBC's top paid performers, et cetera, et cetera. He stepped into Clarkson's shoes, quite
of the press was out for him anyway. So even though the show was improving, all he was getting was -- when he says I've had enough, I think
he's had enough.
GORANI: Well, clearly he has. Steve Hewlett, thanks very much, from Hertfordshire. See I said it right. I hope to speak to you soon.
Coming up, we will meet a woman who makes her own toothpaste and fits four years of trash in a single jar.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Well, now for something a little different, it is CNN's "Going Green" series. First up, a New Yorker who prevents 6,000 pounds of trash
from entering landfills every year by living what's called a zero waste lifestyle. Take a look at this.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
LAUREN SINGER, LIVING A ZERO WASTE LIFESTYLE: How did we get so much stuff in the world? Why are there so many chemicals in everything? When did
this become OK and are they necessary?
Do I have to accept this? What are my options? I'm Lauren Singer and I live a zero waste lifestyle. In this jar is all of the trash that I've
produced over the past four years. I live this lifestyle. I've prevented thousands of pounds of trash from going to landfill.
Actually looking into my fridge, was what made me realize that I need to change my day to day habits. Every single thing I that had in there was
packaged in plastic. And so I made the decision to first go plastic-free. And then eventually I learned about the zero waste lifestyle. And when I
did, it was like this light bulb moment for me.
My fridge every Saturday is completely full with vegetables. But by next Saturday morning it will be completely empty because I only buy the amount
of food that I need, and I buy everything unpackaged from the farmers market. I can just bring my own reusable bag, put food in them and not
have to use any plastic.
[15:55:02] Can I get some eggs as well?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Got you.
SINGER: Even the egg carton, I can give back to the farmer that I buy eggs from and he reuses it for the next customer.
Scientists have estimated that if we keep consuming the way we do, we'll be doomed within 20 years. So, it's so much more than just a packaging or
trash problem. It's a general consumption and pollution problem.
I make all of my products myself, all of my cleaning products and all of my beauty products. I make my own toothpaste because it's cheaper. It
doesn't require the use of a non-recyclable package. The ingredients are a lot more sustainable and it's a lot faster to make my own toothpaste than
it is to go to the store and buy it.
So in my toothpaste I used baking soda, coconut oil a little bit of Stieva to sweeten it and essential oil of peppermint or if I'm in a different
mood, something like cinnamon but that's the cool thing about making your own products, you can make it exactly what you want. You're the boss.
I'll take my toothpaste put it on my brush and then just brush as I normally would. Super simple.
I've heard from people, you know, you're one person, you can't make a difference. Well, for me, living zero waste for four years, I've already
prevented over 6,000 pounds of trash from going to landfills so that's already a very tangible difference right there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well, there you have it. Our Going Green segment. This has been THE WORLD RIGHT NOW. I'm Hala Gorani. Thanks for watching. "QUEST MEANS
BUSINESS" is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
