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Hala Gorani Tonight
Trump Dismisses Backlash over Travel Ban; U.S. Business Leaders React to Travel Ban; Newly Married Couple Locked Out of the U.S.; Poor Families Sell Daughters into Sex Trade; White House: Trump Will Put U.S. Security First; Trump Ban Leaves Travelers Stranded Overseas; Republican Support For Trump's Travel Ban; Jordan's King Holds Talks With Trump Administration; Crowds Protest Trump Outside Downing Street; Suspect Arrested In Deadly Quebec Attack. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired January 30, 2017 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Hala Gorani. We are live at CNN London. Thanks for being with us this Monday. This is
THE WORLD RIGHT NOW.
For its supporters, it's a powerful tool to keep America safe. For its distractors, it's a poorly received order, profiling millions of lawful
people. Today, the White House is standing firmly behind President Donald Trump's travel ban, despite days of protests and confusion worldwide.
Tonight, demonstrators turned out near London's Downing Street to protest the measure. We saw a lot of similar actions across America over the
weekend. This is down the street from where we are and the administration, though, despite all of this, says it is not backing down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEAN SPICER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: -- focus on securing our borders and our homeland is obviously a major part of what the president campaigned
on. And now he's doing exactly what the American -- he's doing exactly what he told the American people he would do. The president will always
put the safety and prosperity of our country first and foremost.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: All right. He's doing exactly what he told his supporters he was going to do. Earlier Trump tweeted, "There is nothing nice about searching
for terrorists before they can enter our country. This was a big part of my campaign. Study the world."
He also said, "If the ban were announced with a one-week notice, the bad would rush into our country during that week, a lot of bad dudes out
there." It's been an extraordinary 72 hours in the United States and around the world.
Let's cross to Washington now. CNN White House correspondent, Stephen Collinson joins us live. It's really only been ten days. Every single day
brings a fresh development that gets -- really, that creates waves and shock waves around the world. And the fallout is still being felt from
that travel ban -- Stephen.
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right, Hala. We just had a very contentious White House briefing, in which Sean Spicer, Donald
Trump's statement, not only defended the rationale behind this ban on travelers from seven Muslim majority nations, he basically said the
implementation went exactly as the White House hoped.
This is, despite the fact you had people on planes coming to the White House, coming to the, United States, who thought they had the correct
papers to get into the country. There were around 130 people, almost, detained over the weekend.
There was confusion among airline staff, border staff, customs staff, whether people with green cards, the right to permanently reside in the
United States, from those countries could be let back into the country.
So it appears there was a lack of coordination at the very least from the White House, from when Donald Trump signed this order, and when it
basically went into effect straight away, causing chaos and confusion.
So, if you take away the moral and national security side of the argument, there was still, I think, a great deal to be desired in the way this was
implemented.
GORANI: Right, the implementation, forget everything else. Certainly, some people are saying, extremely chaotic, should have been announced a
little bit earlier. And by the way, what's -- there's still confusion.
So many people watching us around the world are dual nationals. It might be dual nationals of, let's say the U.K. and one of the seven countries,
dual nationals of the U.S. and one of the seven countries.
I just want to let our viewers know what we can confirm and put up a graphic of who might be affected. Let's take a look at it now. We know,
obviously, if you look at the graphic, green card holders. There was some confusion about that.
It appears they were not affected. Refugees, obviously, yes. There's 120- day suspension of the refugee program and for Syrian refugees, it's indefinite. U.S. dual nationals, a bit of confusion there. I don't know,
maybe you can shed some light on that, Stephen. Other dual nationals, as well.
The U.S. Embassy in the U.K. is saying that U.K. dual nationals are not affected. The German Interior Ministry, though, is saying 180,000 of its
citizens might be affected. So can you talk us through first, U.S. dual nationals? What do we know?
COLLINSON: What we understand from officials in Washington today is that U.S. dual nationals won't be affected by this, because therefore, they are
citizens of the United States, effectively. So they have the same rights as any other U.S. citizen.
On the question of dual nationals from European countries, for example, who are dual nationals of one of the countries affected, one of the seven
countries, European nationals, you're right, there does seem to be some inconsistency.
That's not completely been ironed out here, whatever the White House says. And I think part of the reason is, there's been a very sort of slow process
of consulting with U.S. allies. Basically, what happened was, Donald Trump signed this order on Friday afternoon, no one outside the White House
really knew what was in it.
Whether it be the press, whether it be people elsewhere in the government. This was all done by a very tight circle of Donald Trump's advisers. At
the very start of an administration, when there's not a lot of staffing.
So one of the reason why there's been so much confusion, and I think there is still so much confusion, is that allied governments to the United States
and other governments around the world still don't really understand what exactly the White House sees as the way to implement this.
GORANI: All right, and many don't understand the logic behind it and we'll be putting this to a Republican member of Congress a little bit later, who
supports this particular travel ban. Thanks very much, Stephen Collinson, for joining us in Washington.
I want you all to hear from someone directly affected by the ban. Radwan Ziadeh is a Syrian human rights activist. He is an author who's lived in
the U.S. for the past decade. He was stopped in Istanbul and Frankfort over the weekend and had difficulty getting home to his family.
He comes to us now from CNN Washington. He made it out of Dulles International Airport after a few hours of extra vetting. Radwan Ziadeh,
thanks for being with us. First of all, you have a Syrian passport holder, correct?
RADWAN ZIADEH, PASSENGER AFFECTED BY TRAVEL BAN: Correct, yes.
GORANI: You don't have U.S. nationality, as well?
ZIADEH: No, actually, I've been in the U.S. since 2007 and I have something called TBS, temporary protective status. This is something that
Congress granted to the Syrian who is live in the U.S. and they can go back to Syria. The same thing happened to the Somali nationals, to the Sudani
nationals, and other nationalities.
This is why large number of people included in these seven countries who hold a TBS has been affected, because the TBS give you something like green
card, but not permanent status, like the green card.
GORANI: And the reason is because it would be too dangerous for regime opponents, government opponents, human rights activists to return to their
country of origin. What were you told when you were in Istanbul, first and foremost? You had your ticket in hand. What did they tell you there?
ZIADEH: Yes, what's happened as I traveled into Istanbul for a conference before the executive order, I know that something will be issued soon by
the Trump administration, but I wasn't aware that would be effected?
I asked my lawyer and said, no, it can be, actually, back ordered, you know, you have residency, you've been in the U.S. and all of that. But
when President Trump issued the executive order on Friday, he e-mailed me back, and he said, you have to go back to the U.S. immediately, otherwise
you will be not -- you will not be able to go back to your family because this executive order.
And this is why I was very worried. I contacted different agencies here in the U.S. and I get different and conflicting answers, because nobody knows
exactly what -- what's the answer.
GORANI: Who's affected? To jump in, you then made your way to Germany. In Germany, they told you, we won't let you board this flight. Eventually,
apparently, they allowed you to board the flight and you landed in Washington, Dulles International, and there what happened?
ZIADEH: Yes, exactly. At Dulles International Airport, they questioned me and checking all my bags for two hours. They let me in. But they said, we
cannot actually release you until we get the permission from the DHS headquarter, case by case. This is something mentioned in the statements
of the DHS later on, that we will let in all the green card holders, but approved case by case.
[15:10:03]And this is what happened, that my case takes a little time. It's almost two hours or more until to get the permission from the
headquarters to release me. I feel very sad --
GORANI: No, go ahead. Finish your thoughts. Sorry.
ZIADEH: I feel very sad for the DHS, because actually, they spent all their resources in the wrong location. Every agency has very limited
resources. If they actually focus on the homegrown terrorism, much better, because there is no in the last four years, there is no, any case
associated with the permanent status. So this is what I those agencies actually much better focused, and some officers, actually, who have
questioned me, agree with me totally.
GORANI: Interesting. Radwan Ziadeh, a human rights activist and author and a scholar residing in the U.S. with his story of returning back to his
home and family. Thank you very much for joining us.
There is, of course, another side to this. Daniel Donovan is a U.S. House Republican from New York. He supports the travel ban and joins me from
Capitol Hill. Thanks for being with us. Why do you support this travel ban?
REPRESENTATIVE DANIEL DONOVAN (R), NEW YORK: Well, I think, Hala, the number one priority of any administration and certainly the folks that I
serve within Congress is the protection of our citizens. And I think the hysteria that's been evolving around this is putting things out of
proportion.
This is a temporary ban, until the Homeland Security secretary and the secretary of state are able to come up with a vetting process to assure
that the people entering our country are people who aren't going to be a threat to our citizens.
GORANI: But how is this a threat -- I have to ask you, how is this a threat to America? None of the citizens of any of those seven countries
have committed a terrorist act that resulted in the death of a U.S. citizen on American soil ever. Why those seven countries? I don't follow the
logic, I guess.
DONOVAN: Well, the logic is, if you look what happened in Paris and in Germany, we're not going to allow that to happen here.
GORANI: They were born in Europe, those who committed those attacks.
DONOVAN: We're a compassionate nation and we have sympathy and have done many things for people who are in need of our help. There's a way to
protect the Syrian refugees, keeping them in the region, getting them out of harm's way, and at the same time, make sure that no one is a threat to
our country.
ISIS has told us that they're going to infiltrate the refugee system, put agents of theirs in there. We won't be able to detect who they are and
we've been told by Interpol, 250,000 Syrian passports are missing right now. And when people flee their aggressor, their oppressors --
GORANI: If I can just jump in, you're saying what happened in France, those attackers were born inside of France. It's a two-year vetting
process for a Syrian refugee to make it in the U.S. How many more years would you like those refugees to be vetted before you're comfortable?
DONOVAN: Our secretary -- President Obama's secretary of Homeland Security and the FBI director said, we don't have a vetting process right now that
can assure the safety of Americans. What the president has said, let's put a halt on it, it's a pause. Let us look at what vetting system is in place
now. Let's see how we can improve it, so that the people who deserve to come to our country are able to come here and those that we have to protect
ourselves --
GORANI: But why turn people who have visas, legally obtained. More than a hundred of them were put back on a plane to the point of origin. What is
the logic behind doing that? And by the way, if you want to protect America, what kind include Saudi Arabia on the list of countries that
should be temporarily suspended from being able to immigrate to the United States. Saudi citizens were the ones who committed the atrocities of 9/11.
Not Syrians, not Iranians.
DONOVAN: And the world has changed since then.
GORANI: Why not expand it?
DONOVAN: The countries that are on that list that the president has put together are countries where we know ISIS and some of other enemies have
trained people to come and attack the western world. So all we're doing -- it's a pause. It's an inconvenience, yes.
But I also remember a time when I could get on an airplane without having to get on a line at TSA. These are inconveniences, but these
inconveniences are minor inconveniences compared to the catastrophes we could have in our homeland if we don't take some action.
GORANI: But in a way it sounds like you're saying, just in case, in the eventuality that one of the people that's been vetted for two years to make
it to the U.S. and decides all of a sudden to become a terrorist and kill Americans, just because of that potential, I support the idea of banning
all those people in a blanket way from entering the U.S., whether it's temporary or not? I mean, that's the criticism directed at this ban.
DONOVAN: Well, the criticism --
GORANI: Because they have not historically done this. So you're -- you're just saying they do.
DONOVAN: And historically, we haven't had the threats against our nation that we have today. And so what we're doing is taking a pause. It's not
an indefinite ban. We're taking a pause.
[15:15:13]Ask the people who are in charge. The president's been in the administration -- he's been in office for eight days, you know? So he's
looking at giving his experts, the secretary of state, the secretary of Homeland Security, saying, come up with a plan where we can vet and allow
people to come into our country, but we know that we're doing it safely.
When your enemy has told you, we are going to put ISIS agents in with the refugees and you won't be able to tell who's a deserving refugee and who's
a threat to your country, they've told us they are going to do that.
GORANI: You don't think two years of vetting would catch that? You don't think two years of vetting would catch --
DONOVAN: People who leave their oppressors, when they ran from their homes, they don't take their documents. When you know that 250,000
passports are missing, when you know the Syrian government issues documents to people as a way to generate revenue, you would be foolish and
irresponsible to not take some action to make sure that the citizens in this country are safe from its enemies.
GORANI: All right, Congressman Daniel Donovan, thanks very much for joining us. We appreciate your time this evening on CNN.
DONOVAN: Thank you, Hala. Good to be with you. Thank you.
GORANI: Well, the travel ban outrage comes as Jordan's king visits Washington. He's the first Arab leader to do so under the Trump
administration. Jordan is not one of the countries named in the ban, by the way. U.S. ally, Iraq, though, is.
Our Ben Wedeman is live in Baghdad with reaction from the Iraqi capital. No, he's not in Baghdad, is he? Where are you exactly, Ben?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I am in Baghdad.
GORANI: I'm sorry, you are! I saw the background there and for some reason I didn't recognize it right away. Tell us the reaction in Iraq to
this travel ban, of course, directly affecting Iraqis.
WEDEMAN: Well, what we saw today, in fact, just as I was lining up to get my visa at the airport, that the Iraqi parliament passed a resolution.
They voted in favor of imposing reciprocal visa requirements for U.S. citizens coming to Iraq.
Also, they called on the U.S. administration and the Congress to rescind the executive order. Now it's important to keep in mind that this was not
a binding vote. It's simply a recommendation to the government. The government has not taken action as of yet.
We do know that the American ambassador to Baghdad was summoned by the Iraqi foreign minister, Ibrahim Jafrty (ph), who expressed his disbelief at
this decision. He made the point that Iraq is a victim of terrorism, not only a victim of terrorism, in fact, it's a victim of foreign fighters,
foreign terrorists.
He told the American ambassador that some of the members of ISIS in Iraq come from the United States and other Democratic countries. We also heard
from the former national security adviser to the Iraqi government. He told me that the executive order, in his words is, quote, "disgusting, like
spitting in the face of Iraq."
Speaking to ordinary Iraqis, they're equally taken aback by this executive order. They feel that, look, our country is fighting ISIS, fighting
terrorism. Thousands of Iraqi soldiers have been killed in the war against ISIS.
There are more than 5,000 Iraqi -- American military personnel in Iraq, supporting the Iraqi forces in their effort to drive ISIS out of here. So
why does the American government take a decision that has such a negative impact on the many Iraqis who are traveling to the U.S., would like to get
refugee status in the United States.
Some Iraqis are saying that this executive order is the sort of thing, Hala, that Saddam Hussein would have done.
GORANI: All right. Reaction from the Middle East. Thanks very much. Our senior international correspondent, Ben Wedeman, in Baghdad.
Still to come this evening, much more from the backlash of Donald Trump's travel ban around the world. We'll be live in London as protests gather at
Downing Street.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:21:35]
GORANI: Well, here in the United Kingdom, the backlash against Donald Trump's travel ban has been quite strong. This petition was set up to
prevent the American president from making a state visit, because it would, quote, "cause embarrassment to her majesty, the queen." He would, of
course, be received by the queen, as part of a state visit. That's protocol.
The petition was started weeks ago, but signatures shot up after Trump signed the executive order. It has now reached more than 1.4 million
signatures. But Downing Street says rescinding the offer made by Theresa May in Washington Friday is not on the cards.
Britain's foreign secretary was critical of Trump's executive order, calling it a highly controversial policy, which has caused "unease,"
quote/unquote.
Boris Johnson said, he received clarification, though, on the consequences for British and dual nationals. So if you hold a British passport and a
passport for one of the seven countries on the list, this is what the U.S. Embassy told Boris Johnson.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: The general principle is that all British passport holders remain welcome to travel to the U.S. We have
received assurances from the U.S. Embassy that this executive order will make no difference to any British passport holder, irrespective of their
country of birth or whether they hold another passport.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: British protests against Trump's executive order are not just confined to the keyboard. Thousands of people have taken to the streets
across the U.K. to protest this ban, including near Theresa May's front door on Downing Street.
Let's bring in our Fred Pleitgen. He's at the protest in Westminster. What's going on? I understand it was supposed to end around 8:00 p.m.
local, which is 23 minutes ago. But it looks like something's still going on there behind you.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I would say it's more than just a little something. I can barely hear you, because
the protesters are so loud here. Let's pan across the crowd and you can see there are actually still thousands, if not tens of thousands of people
who are still on hand here at this demonstration. You're absolutely right.
It was supposed to end about 20 minutes ago, and get to us here. It seems that it's actually getting fuller and it's interesting to see, because
there really are people of all ages here. There's people from all different walks of life and the message they're trying to send is really
twofold.
They're highly critical of Donald Trump and I think the motion for that critical sentiment really escalated with that executive order. That was
signed banning people from those seven Muslim majority countries, to enter into the United States.
That certainly has sparked a lot of anger and you can hear that, in a lot of the chants, especially right now, you can hear refugees are welcome
here, some of these folks are saying.
The second message they have is one directed at their own prime minister, at Theresa May. They obviously demand that Theresa May take a harder line,
vis-a-vis Donald Trump. Very angry at some of the things that transpired on their recent visit to Washington.
And obviously, they want to prevent a state visit by Donald Trump. That's something that is very central. Again, if you look at the crowd here, you
can see there really are a big variation of people who came out here, young people, older people, people from all sort of different walks, different
fate faiths, showing their own solidarity with each other.
[15:25:10]And at the same time, obviously, showing their very critical stance towards the new government in Washington, towards the new president
in Washington. And then, also, towards the line that their own prime minister, they believe, has been taking since Donald Trump came into office
-- Hala.
GORANI: All right, Fred Pleitgen, thanks very much, outside of 10 Downing Street, where hundreds or possibly more protesters have gathered to speak
out against this travel ban.
Now to Canada, Canadians there have taken a very different approach when it comes to taking into refugees, and they are reeling after a shooting attack
at a mosque left six people dead. Police have one person in custody.
Earlier reports said two people had been arrested, but now investigators say that one of them was a reasons. So far, police are not saying anything
about the gunmen's motives. He stormed into this mosque outside of Quebec City, and there he basically mowed people down, killing six. Six in
critical condition.
Let's bring in Jean Casarez with more. Police aren't saying anything about the motive, but in this current environment, when someone storms into a
mosque and murders a bunch of people, immediately, your mind jumps to, of course, the motivation, perhaps, that, you know, they were targeting,
obviously, Muslims here.
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And they are calling it a terrorist act. Hala, you're right. There are so many questions here now. Now, witnesses
have said that the gunman appeared to fire randomly, indiscriminately at the families who were reciting evening prayers in the Quebec Islamic
Cultural Center.
But we're now learning that all of the victims are men, between the ages of 39 and 60. As you said, six people are dead, five currently in the
hospital, three in critical condition, two in stable condition.
Now, earlier, police had said that they do have two suspects in custody, one found near the mosque, one along the highway. But midday today, that
all changed when it was announced that only one individual has been arrested in connection with these shootings.
The second person is actually a witness, not a suspect, no names are being released at this time. But officials have been calling it a coordinated
attack, with the gunman in black. Police are saying everyone in Quebec City is safe, although earlier officials were saying, they were
investigating to see if they were accomplices.
Canadian's providence's premiere has called the shootings a terrorist act and law enforcement across the country are monitoring Quebec and also
giving special attention to mass, Hala. Here in New York, the Critical Response Command in New York City with the NYPD has been assigned to
extended coverage at certain mosque locations.
GORANI: And so they're calling it a terrorist act, which obviously means there's a political motive here, but when you say coordinated attack, what
do they mean by that? When I hear coordinated, to me it implies more than one person, but they're saying everyone is safe?
CASAREZ: That's right. But we're not hearing, they're searching for another suspect. They have one in custody, but they also still continue to
refer gunmen were in black, when they started to randomly shoot inside the mosque. I think there are a lot of questions here, and we have to wait for
the next press conference to get the latest information.
GORANI: Jean Casarez, thanks very much there with that horrific attack in Quebec.
Still to come, the tech world reacts to President Trump's travel ban. We'll hear what they have to say and what they plan to do. We'll be right
back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:31:00] HALA GORANI, CNN ANCHOR: Police in Quebec have one suspect in custody after a terrorist attack on a mosque left six worshippers dead.
Investigators now say a second person, initially arrested, was not a suspect, but, in fact, a witness. So far, police are not saying anything
about the gunmen's motives, though they are, as we mentioned, calling it a terror attack.
French Socialist have picked Benoit Hamon as their presidential nominee. Hamon clinched the nomination over former Prime Minister Manuel Valls.
There he is. It happened in Sunday's primary runoff. He will run as the Socialist candidate in the presidential election set for April 23rd.
North Korea seems to be stepping up activity at one of its main nuclear facilities. Satellite images suggest Pyongyang is restarting one of its
reactors. It comes as the U.S. Defense Secretary prepares to visit South Korea. President Trump said on Sunday, it is his ironclad commitment to
defend South Korea.
A Kremlin spokesman says President Putin and U.S. President Trump may meet before the G-20 Summit in July. The Kremlin says the two leaders expressed
respect for one another's countries in a phone call this weekend. He added, there is readiness between the two sides to resolve issues through
dialogue. He also said Mr. Trump and Putin did not discuss sanctions or any specific agreement.
Let's talk more about this executive order banning citizens of seven countries from entering the United States.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: This was happening in London just minutes ago. Backs of heads of many people there, but you see some of the signs, "Compassion is not
complicity," et cetera. Mr. Trump, though, is dismissing the protests that followed in the wake of his action.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I actually had a very good day yesterday, in terms of Homeland Security. And some day, we had to make
the move and we decided to make the move.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: A quick look at some other developments. Iraqi lawmakers are calling on the U.S. to rescind the ban. The Council on American-Islamic
Relations is suing, calling it the Muslim exclusion order, and some business executives are pushing back against the White House. The Apple
CEO, Tim Cook, says that the company, quote, "would not exist without immigration."
Joining me from Washington is CNN Contributor Salena Zito.
Thanks for being with us. So, first of all, let's talk, what do you think all these protests, all of this pushback from major CEOs like Tim Cook? Do
you think it will have any impact on Donald Trump's decision to, for instance, after the 90 days, extend this ban?
SALENA ZITO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Honestly, I don't think -- I mean, other things might have an impact, but I don't think Silicon Valley's reaction is
going to have an impact. And I don't think that the protests are going to have an impact.
But I do think other deciding factors will, as to what kind of screening they believe that they should, you know, maybe heighten, what have they
learned from it, what has the data taught them? But this is not a man and not an administration that is easily persuade by outlying factors.
GORANI: Well, and also, it was a chaotic implementation. I mean, the President blamed a delta outage, computer outage, when, in fact, that
computer outage happened on Sunday, and the actual travel ban was announced on Friday evening. So, I mean, that can't be what caused the chaos. It
seems as though the implementation was a little all over the place.
ZITO: Yes, it was all over the place. You know, people who elected Donald Trump to the presidency are people who wanted someone that was disruptive
and different and a change agent. And they certainly got that with him.
[15:34:59] I mean, he is not one to do things the way Washington always does it. Washington is used to moving at a snail's pace, and he's doing
the opposite of that. I forget how many -- I think it's 14 executive orders that he's --
GORANI: Yes.
ZITO: -- he's done in a week. I mean, he is doing exactly what people that voted for him wanted him to do.
GORANI: Right.
ZITO: And I think if you look at the protests --
GORANI: But --
ZITO: Go ahead.
GORANI: But, Salena, we kept being told, even by his supporters, his close aides, don't take Donald Trump literally, you know. Don't look at his
statements --
ZITO: Yes, but that wasn't a --
GORANI: But he has been literal every step of the way. The wall will be built. The executive orders banning, you know, citizens of a certain
number of countries has been signed. So he's been quite literal, actually.
ZITO: Right, but that wasn't a blanket statement about everything that he said. But, you know, a lot of that had to do with, you know, some of the
sort of goofy ways that he would sometimes present things that wasn't polished, that wasn't politically correct.
You know, that was more what that was about, was his unpolished nature, his not being a traditional politician, his lack of being politically correct.
They overlooked that sort of that slick talk that they've been used to for years, and sort of have gotten tired of.
GORANI: Yes. But so many of his supporters that you reported on so brilliantly would say, I don't think he's going to build the wall.
ZITO: Yes.
GORANI: I don't think he's serious when he says he's going to ban Muslims. You know, we just like his brash thought, and we like that he's mixing
things up, that he's not the traditional politician. But many of his supporters didn't think he would actually implement some of the policies he
promised that he would.
ZITO: Some of them didn't, some of them expect him to. I mean, it's sort of he's built an interesting coalition of people. I mean, I don't think
anybody sort of expected this, you know, sort of broad range of different kind of voters to align, to get behind one person.
You have independent voters. You have typical, you know, conservative Democrats. You have conservative Republicans. You have moderate
Republicans. So, you know, that's sort of the challenge for the Republicans going forward, as to what to do with this sort of broad mix of
people.
So I think everyone had a different expectation of him, you know, based on where they came from.
GORANI: And, Salena, we've, of course, aired all weekend the protests at JFK and Boston, elsewhere. Here in London, just a few blocks away, in
front of 10 Downing Street, people have said they're appalled. They're saying this just goes against basic human decency to turn away refugees, et
cetera. But tell our viewers, internationally, what level of support do you think there is for this ban among Americans?
ZITO: I think it's about 50/50 percent. If you would take away the --
GORANI: You would say 50 percent support banning the nationals of these countries, even those with lawful visas from entering?
ZITO: You know, I mean, it's a little more nuanced than that.
GORANI: Yes.
ZITO: You know, it's a temporary ban. It's re-looking at how people are vetted, and it's not permanent. And, you know, if you look at the latest
Quinnipiac Poll, it was pretty much down the middle about how people felt about this, about vetting refugees and people from other countries in a
more strident way. And, you know, I talked to --
GORANI: But that was a much broader question. It wasn't specifically about this ban. It was about vetting people more thoroughly. I mean, the
question, in other words, wasn't worded to include this particular executive order.
ZITO: Look, I went around and I talked to people from Pennsylvania and Ohio, and I just took a train from Chicago to Washington. There's a lot of
people, people that voted Democrat, who were like, look, I want to feel safer. I don't believe that my country has kept me safe and has not been
as diligent as it should have been in who they let in.
And, you know, this was across the board, the people that I talked to. So, you know, yes, there are the protests, but there are also the people that
are not protesting. Very typical of the people that voted for Trump, that are just stepping back and looking at this, and saying, I'm just going to
wait and see what happens, and see how this works, see if this was a good idea or a bad idea.
It's not permanent. It's temporary. You know, we've had problems. Maybe, we should relook at how -- you know, it's not about not letting people in.
It's about how we vet them, and that's how people are looking at it.
GORANI: All right. Thanks very much for --
ZITO: Thank you.
GORANI: -- for being on this show this evening. Really interesting hearing some of that reporting of yours, talking to just ordinary people in
the U.S. Salena Zito, thanks for joining us.
ZITO: Thank you.
GORANI: Well, tech companies certainly have been reacting. They are getting tough on Trump's stance. They're not supportive of it.
[15:40:02] Many of the biggest names in U.S. business have condemned this travel ban, and some are going further than just speaking out. They're
digging into their pockets. Samuel Burke joins me live in the studio.
First of all, why do they say they want to speak out against this particular action?
SAMUEL BURKE, CNN MONEY BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's interesting because it seems like they're paving the path for other
business leaders. Because the tech companies came out first, and then today, we saw some of the more mainstream non-tech companies come out.
But to answer your question, I've been speaking with these executives all weekend. And they have to say, remember, we are borderless companies by
nature. When Facebook and Google want to expand into a country like Syria, for instance, they don't have to build an office there, they just pull a
switch.
Something else that's interesting to me, and if you look at this list of company that have come out against this travel ban, it's rare to have all
of these tech companies speaking out publicly, on the record, and on the same page. But I've been to the campuses of these Silicon Valley
companies, and they have so many foreign-born talent there.
And so they said, look, we have actual relationships with these people. We need these people, and this is our business. At the end of the day, this
creates uncertainty for these tech companies. And businesses, as you know so well, do not like uncertainty.
GORANI: Certainly not. Which companies -- and we saw some of the logos there, which are actually taking action and how?
BURKE: Well, you have Google, for instance, putting its money where its mouth is, donating $4 million to a legal fund, American Civil Liberties
Union, which has been fighting some of these cases airport by airport.
You see Uber there. You probably saw the hashtag of people boycotting Uber.
GORANI: Yes.
BURKE: Well, that's because there is a strike from some cab drivers in New York, and Uber didn't partake in the strike, so people were calling on Uber
to be deleted on social media from people who don't --
GORANI: But their CEO is also on the Economic Council for --
BURKE: Of Donald Trump.
GORANI: And that's angered some people.
BURKE: That angered some people, though he's never said he's a Donald Trump supporter. And he came out later in the day and said he's completely
against this policy --
GORANI: Yes.
BURKE: -- and has now said they'll donate millions of dollars to a legal fund to help anybody who might be affected by this.
GORANI: All right. And so the London tech community, as well, where we are, because, obviously, tech is borderless.
BURKE: Yes.
GORANI: Here in London, what are they willing to do to protest themselves?
BURKE: Well, this is interesting because I've been reporting on, basically, doom and gloom from the tech community here in the U.K. after
the Brexit, fearing losing immigrant town, which they depend on so much.
But what I've heard from a lot of U.K. companies, as well as U.S. companies that have offices here in the U.K., is people back in the United States
calling and saying, could I move to an office in the U.K.? Maybe Google's office in the U.K. or Facebook's office in the U.K.?
And these tech companies are telling me, listen, let's not overstate this. They're not asking for this yet, but people are thinking about their long-
term futures. And these tech companies are saying, we will do everything we can to support our workers. So we are talking about workers --
GORANI: If you want certainty, I'm not sure post-Brexit Britain is going to provide that for you.
(LAUGHTER)
BURKE: That's true, but for some people --
GORANI: We don't even know here in Britain who will be --
BURKE: Oh, no, of course.
GORANI: -- allowed to stay.
BURKE: But for some people, the idea of not being able to go back to Iran and Syria and visit mom or dad --
GORANI: Right. Of course.
BURKE: -- who, you know, may be having surgery, all of a sudden, Brexit may look more stable than a situation where you don't even know if you can
get back from the airport tonight.
GORANI: Yes, that's difficult as well. Of course, having family in the U.S. means, you know, wanting to have the ability to travel there at short
notice.
Thanks very much, Samuel Burke, for joining us. We'll continue talking about this, of course, in the coming hours.
Now, targeting seven countries and millions of people, the sheer size of Donald Trump's travel ban is hard to wrap your head around, so we want to
bring it down to the scale of just one newly married couple. Becky Anderson listened to their story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SOLMAZ BEHZADPOUR, MARRIED TO U.S. CITIZEN: I have a hole in my heart.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ABU DHABI MANAGING EDITOR (voice-over): Solmaz and Sohail met in Tehran and got married last January. He's Iranian American,
and she's Iranian.
They were in the final stages of getting her U.S. visa approved here in Abu Dhabi when President Donald Trump signed an executive order barring
citizens of seven Muslim majority countries from entering the United States. Solmaz didn't hear about the ban until the very moment she landed
in the UAE.
BEHZADPOUR: I got an e-mail from NVC, that interviewing counsel.
ANDERSON (on camera): Saying what?
BEHZADPOUR: Saying --
SOHAIL SOBANI, U.S. CITIZEN: Sure. That "due to unforeseen circumstances, your interview has been canceled. Sorry for any convenience, and we will
let you know when a time of reschedule is established."
ANDERSON (voice-over): Solmaz and Sohail met through a mutual friend in Iran a year and a half ago.
SOBANI: We went to a coffee place and sat down and we started talking, and I met Solmaz. And I haven't felt these feelings in a very long time, and I
said, I'm going to get that girl. This is it.
So then I got her number and started texting, and we started talking. And she was actually going to London to see her sister. I went and we spent
eight days in London. What a great place to fall in love.
[15:44:58] ANDERSON (on camera): You have been pushed towards a number of websites, which have given you absolutely no information about what happens
next. So you are stuck in limbo, correct, in the UAE?
SOBANI: Yes. That's what we're trying to figure out. We're trying to let some time go by so maybe things can become more clear, or maybe we can hear
back. I did respond to the e-mail I received about the cancellation, about anything that I can do, any help, any guidance.
They're probably flooded. I haven't heard anything back yet. It's been a couple days. So for me, I'm scheduled to fly back Sunday, maybe I'll stay
longer. My company has been -- I work for Hershey -- extremely supportive of whatever they need from me or whatever I need, I can do here.
But for Solmaz, we're trying to figure out what the best thing to do is. I don't see how she can go back to Iran at this point, with her five
suitcases.
ANDERSON (voice-over): A young couple, waiting to start a life together, now having to put their hopes and dreams on hold.
Becky Anderson, CNN, Abu Dhabi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Well, check out our Facebook page, facebook.com/halagoranicnn for more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: All this week, the "FREEDOM PROJECT" uncovers an international sex trafficking network in our special series, "Brides for Sale."
In southern India, some impoverished families are so desperate, they're willing to sell their own daughters. Muhammad Lila has that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MUNEERA BEGUMA, CHILD BRIDE (through translator): That night he took me. He forced himself on me. I was crying. I didn't like it.
He said, I've bought you. I can do whatever I want. I've given your parents money, and I've bought you. I can use you for as long as I like.
Keep your mouth shut.
MUHAMMAD LILA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Muneera Beguma says she was just 12 years old when her parents sold her into a forced marriage to a man
from Oman. She calls the so-called wedding night torture.
BEGUMA (through translator): I wasn't educated, and I couldn't understand anything that was going on. I had a childishness in me.
LILA (through translator): How old was the sheikh?
BEGUMA: Seventy.
LILA: Seventy?
BEGUMA: Seventy, yes.
LILA: And you were 12?
BEGUMA (through translator): Yes, twelve years.
LILA (voice-over): For two months, she says the 70-year-old man kept her locked in a room, using her only for sex.
[15:50:00] LILA (on camera): Did he keep doing this to you over and over again?
BEGUMA (through translator): I couldn't even look outside. He used to lock me from the outside in case I ran away. If I had to go anywhere, he
would lock me from the inside, come back again later, and then the torture would start with me.
LILA (voice-over): Police say there are hundreds of cases like Muneera's in Hyderabad's old city, young girls from poor neighborhoods sold by their
own parents without their consent to elderly tourists who come here looking for sex.
In our investigation, we visited a number of shelters, meeting victim after victim, all with horrific stories of physical and sexual abuse.
LILA (through translator): How many girls?
BEGUMA (through translator): There are a lot of girls like this, no one speaks up.
LILA (voice-over): Thanks to the courage of girls like Muneera, the "CNN FREEDOM PROJECT" uncovered a network of human traffickers -- agents,
brokers, and clerics who are all part of the scheme.
This is how it works. Agents, spread across several countries in the Middle East and Africa, contact brokers in Hyderabad, a city with India's
largest Muslim population. Those brokers convince poor Muslim families to sell their underage daughters to a client, usually an elderly man.
The client then flies to Hyderabad, where a corrupt cleric, who is also part of the international network, produces a fake wedding certificate and
a fake post-dated divorce certificate. When the client gets bored of using the child for sex, he leaves, never to return.
BEGUMA (through translator): I was crying. After seeing the old man, I started crying even more.
LILA (voice-over): In the afternoon, Muneera invited us to her home.
LILA (on camera): So come, walk here with me through this alleyway. This is where Muneera lives, and it's one of the poorest parts of Hyderabad.
It's only here that you can see the extent of their poverty.
TEXT: How many people live here?
LILA (voice-over): Muneera's mother tells us five people all live in this one tiny room. Her husband was an alcoholic, and they had no money.
LILA (on camera): Did you think, by having your daughter married, that she would bring in this money to help the family?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, MUNEERA BEGUMA'S MOTHER: We thought that by doing this, we could afford a small house. Ours and our children's life would
improve. That's what we had in mind when we did this. But this is what happened to us.
LILA (voice-over): As we step outside, we are hit with another reality. This one, precious.
LILA (on camera): This is your daughter?
BEGUMA: Yes.
LILA (on camera): Come. (Speaking in foreign language).
LILA (voice-over): This is Muneera's daughter, born to the same man she was forced to marry. When she became pregnant after just two months, he
divorced her over the phone. She says she was so distraught, she tried killing herself.
Now, Muneera is left with a bittersweet reminder of the abuse that she faced. She filed a police case and authorities arrested the middleman
involved in selling her.
It's taken years to recover, but now with her voice, she's vowing to never let anything like that happen to anyone else.
BEGUMA (through translator): The way I got caught up, I don't want other girls to face the same thing. In my heart, I feel that the pain I faced,
the other/next person shouldn't face that pain.
LILA (voice-over): And that pain is what Muneera is fighting to keep away from her daughter.
Muhammad Lila, CNN, Hyderabad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Well, the statistics are staggering. In the time you were listening to that report, another 20 children were forced into slavery.
That's why we are reaching out to young people across the world for a student-led day of action.
We're launching "My Freedom Day" on March 14th. Driving the day is a simple question, what does freedom mean to you? Send us your answer via
text, photo, or video across social media using the "My freedom day" hashtag.
So we'll have that in a couple of weeks as it culminates into that day, on March 14th. We'll be right back. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:55:58] GORANI: Let's bring you up to date with our top story tonight, the reaction to Donald Trump's travel ban.
He's not backing down from his decision. Earlier he tweeted that, quote, "If the ban were announced with a one-week notice, the bad would rush into
our country during that week," and that there are, quote, "a lot of bad dudes out there."
But that hasn't stopped protests across the United States, and in fact, around the world. Take a look at these scenes from London, just outside
Downing Street. And in the last hour, we've heard from former President Barack Obama, criticizing President Donald Trump's executive order.
Now, Barack Obama said he would speak up if he felt strongly about something. He's doing it. A statement from his spokesman says, quote, "He
fundamentally disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith or religion." That statement from the
office of former President Barack Obama.
Thanks for being with us this Monday. I'll see you same time, same place tomorrow, with the latest news. This has been THE WORLD RIGHT NOW. I'm
Hala Gorani. "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:59:57] RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR: Down day on Wall Street as trading comes to a close. The Dow Jones well off the lows of the session but still
down triple digit gain -- or triple digit losses, more than 120 points.
The bells is ringing. And, yes, sir, come on.
I think we just pulled off --
END
