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Hala Gorani Tonight
Smugglers Warning: "Don`t Struggle If You`re Raped"; Shelling Reported During Humanitarian Pause In Syria; Search Ramped Up For 100 Schoolgirls Kidnapped In Nigeria; Court Rules Cities Can Ban Diesel Cars; Teen Activists Lead Push for Tougher Gun Laws; Apple`s Leading Race to be the First $1 TN Firm; Huawei Uses A.I. Tech in Car Steering Smartphone; Beast from the East, Big Freeze Grips Europe; Sky Shares Soar on Comcast Bid; fans Pay Tribute to Bollywood Icon Sridevi. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired February 27, 2018 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:11]
HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Live from CNN London, I`m Hala Gorani.
Tonight, the horrors and dangers of the refugee trail, CNN goes undercover in Nigeria to expose the shocking treatment some endured to look for a
better life in Europe.
Also, humanitarian pause in Ghouta is interrupted within minutes. It`s the truth that never was. What is the next step and just how powerful is
Russia to stop the carnage?
And the post-millennial impact, how the youngest in our society are leading the way in the gun debate.
Human beings have used by their captors, auctioned like cattle sold for just a few hundred dollars to face a terrifying fate. It`s a despicable
trade in human lives and it`s just one example of the slavery that`s still going on today. The crime of force that shames all of humanity.
CNN`s Freedom Project is committed to helping end it by bringing you exclusive stories that exposed the horrors of human trafficking. You may
remember CNN went undercover in Libya last year and witnessed a heartbreaking auction of African migrants for sale. Here is some of the
video that shocked the world.
(VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: This time, CNN went undercover to one of the departure points for African migrants desperate to reach Libya. Now they are willing, and
you`ll see this to risk everything in hopes of eventually reaching Europe`s shore.
Nima Elbagir, producer, Lillian (inaudible) and (inaudible), and photographer, Nick (inaudible), traveled to Nigeria where Nima was warned
by a smuggler, quote, "Don`t struggle if you`re raped."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An unsavory neighborhood in Edo State. Edo is Nigeria`s main smuggling hub,
where traffickers play their trade openly. We are hoping this man will agree to traffic us to Europe.
(Inaudible) as he calls himself is a broker known locally as (inaudible). He is one of an army of traffickers working with smugglers on the Nigerian
end of the migrant move to Europe.
He tells our producer he can do it for 500,000 Naira that`s just under $1,400 each. The money is due on arrival in Libya. He wants us not to
waste his time. We are told to go back to the hotel. We test our undercover cameras and wait.
Finally, we are told to move to the location, Auchi (ph), in the north of Edo State. The (inaudible) working out of the local hotel (inaudible).
Inside the brothel, we are told to wait. We don`t know what we are waiting for.
Utterly unprepared, but all of a sudden, we are on the move. Our journey to Europe is underway. We moved to the local bus (inaudible) where we are
told we`ll be put on a bus heading north, but first (inaudible) wants to know if I have everything I need.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).
[15:05:03] ELBAGIR: Taking me aside (inaudible) repeats again, condoms, don`t struggle if you`re raped and ultimately, trust in God. With that, we
board the overnight bus to the north. The door is locked behind us.
From here begins the journey into the unknown, a journey that promises a litany of horrors, rape, trafficking, slavery. Once we are sure bus has
moved out of (inaudible) site, we jump off. We, at least, were safe.
(on camera): So, if we had stayed on that bus, we would be on our way to (inaudible) in the north of Nigeria, sometime, middle of the day, 2, 3 in
the afternoon tomorrow. We would be arriving in Cano (ph), from Cano, somebody would have been waiting to take us on the next leg of the journey
to (inaudible) and from (inaudible) to Libya.
And in theory on arrival in Libya that`s when the brokers get paid. It is incredible that it is so public. It`s incredible that so brazen that they
are using public transport to start this leg of the journey.
This is the most traffic through destination in Africa. It is the main departure point for so much of these smuggling routes and yet these brokers
are able to play their trade so openly.
And to think that as a woman they would expect me to be carrying contraception. They expect me to have made my piece with the fact that at
almost every leg of this journey, I would be assaulted and raped and abused. It is unimaginable that people are willing to take these risks to
make to Europe.
(voice-over): In the end, it was easier even than we could possibly have imagined. CNN has passed on the evidence we uncovered to the Nigerian
authorities, what we experienced was just the beginning of the nightmare.
Hopefully, the Nigerian government will be able to stop anymore young women from being lured with the full stream of a new life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: In response to CNN`s investigation, the Edo State attorney general told us, quote, "We are actively involved in investigations and have
commenced several prosecutions. We will actively investigate and prosecute any trafficker trafficking in Edo is neither solely about economic issues
nor underdevelopment, but has deep cultural roots that must be exposed, examined, and pulled out."
Nima is now joining us from New York with more on her incredibly disturbing journey and reporting. Nima, such an eye-opening report there. I want to
ask you first, now the authority at the Edo State are saying it`s not solely linked to poverty or underdevelopment. What`s the root cause of why
so many people especially women are still willing to take these risks to get to Europe?
ELBAGIR: Well, I think what (inaudible), the attorney general was trying to say there is that there is a culture of migration. Edo has always been
a departure point. There are a lot of issues within the community, but you can`t get away from the fact that the underlying issue is the horrific
grinding poverty.
(Inaudible), the young man, who you remember, Hala, we interviewed when he had just been freed from slavery in our first report, we actually followed
up with him when we went to where his mother is living.
He can`t live with his mother because if he is with her then she can`t afford to feed all of them. So, he has come back from this horrifying
experience in Libya and he is now homeless. So, you can`t say that it doesn`t have everything to do with that level of poverty.
GORANI: Yes. It makes sense. I mean, if your life is great and you have a job and you have money, why on earth would you put yourself through this.
But I do wonder can authorities really crackdown on this?
ELBAGIR: No, I think is the simple answer because these organizations are so incredibly intertwined. They are so holistic. The way that that route
goes all the way through West Africa into Libya and we saw it, first, we saw it with the way in which they were charging different figures.
So, $1,400 is what you are told in Nigeria. You get to Libya and they say, no, you own us thousands more and we are going to sell you into slavery.
So, there is clearly coordination on that level.
And then when he was giving me those condoms, it wasn`t for my protection. It is because as we have heard repeatedly from the women who have taken
this route, they are sold into prostitution.
This is for the protection of the customers in the brothels. How you make something so well coordinated.
GORANI: Absolutely. And I guess, I don`t know if you have the answer to this. I don`t mean to put you on the spot, but at what percentage of
people who start their journey in Edo State actually end up in Europe.
[15:10:07] ELBAGIR: That is -- I think that is the question for so many of the families of the missing, for so many of the people who are stuck in
Libya, nobody really knows because there has never been really any investment in trying to count the dead, the missing and figuring out where
these young people end up. And I think that`s part of the tragedy.
GORANI: Nima Elbagir, thanks very much for joining us from New York there with this exclusive CNN reporting.
Now to Syria where the bombs continue to fall in Eastern Ghouta, not even a direct order from Russian President Vladimir Putin could stop it, not even
for five hours, not even to let the sick and wounded escape the war zone.
Mr. Putin commanded a humanitarian pause to the bombing today. Activists say that lasted a few minutes, they say, before regime shelling an
artillery fire killed at least one person, but Russia and Syrian forces accused the rebels of targeting the corridors meant for civilians to flee.
We have the story covered from all angles. Matthew chance is in Moscow. Sam Kiley is in the region in Istanbul. Why didn`t this truce stick even
call it that, Sam, why didn`t it stick?
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was never really going to be anything other than public relations window dressing
really as the International Committee of the Red Cross pointed out this afternoon. It would take all day to organize appropriate humanitarian
efforts to just move, for example, very badly injured and very, very ill of people inside East Ghouta.
So, that`s the one level. The other level is that there is still skirmishing going on between rebels and the government forces along some of
the front lines in East Ghouta. I think the third point is that, yes, whilst the Russians did get Syria to drastically dial down the amount of
air attacks in particular.
It`s much, much harder to get people to the local level to cooperate and of course, this was an edict issued rather from the Kremlin directly to
Damascus and Damascus may not yet fully signed up to.
GORANI: And Matthew Chance in Moscow, the French foreign minister in Moscow apparently and many western countries has to be said seems to
believe that Russia has an on/off switch with the regime in Damascus, right.
That if Vladimir Putin said, stop the bombing that will happen. How much control does the Kremlin really have over the Syrian government`s military
actions in a place like Eastern Ghouta?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you`re right. At least the French government and many other Western states
believe that they do have -- that they can turn this sort of violent (inaudible) that comes from the Syrian regime like water from a tap.
And we had the French foreign minister here today speaking to his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, calling on Russia to put more pressure on the
Bashar al-Assad`s forces to cease their military action in Eastern Ghouta.
Of course, the Russian ambassador to Britain was called in and other countries have spoken to the various diplomatic representatives as well. I
think this perception that Russia controls what Bashar al-Assad does has been promoted somewhat by the fact that the way that Russia issued this
decree.
It was an order from Vladimir Putin, from the Kremlin, issued through the Russian Defense Ministry for there to be this humanitarian pause for five
hours a day. We do need the most cursory reference to the Syrian Armed Forces and the Syrian government.
And so, it`s perpetuated this idea that it`s really the Russians with a puppet masters. The Russians are the ones that are -- well be the case. I
mean, Bashar al-Assad has made two trips outside of Syria since this conflict began.
And they both been to Russia to kind of pay homage to the Russian president. It`s very much the senior partner it seems in this
relationship.
GORANI: Well, it`s hard to understand the scenario in which Vladimir Putin would tell Bashar al-Assad and his government give Eastern Ghouta five
hours without bombing and that that would be completely ignored. I mean, I guess, Sam, what Russia and the Syrian government are saying is that the
rebels started an offensive. So, they must be -- they are also at fault for starting or restarting hostilities. Does that hold up? That version
of events?
KILEY: Well, I mean, the Damascus regime does say that there were a number of rockets and mortars fired from rebel-held territory into the government-
held territory and a dozen people were injured in those attacks.
We have at CNN in the last 24 to 48 interviewed rebels on the ground who are very proud of the casualties that they inflict on the other side. So,
this isn`t quite as simple as it always looks on a day-to-day basis.
[15:15:11] But I think the evidence is that Vladimir Putin can very substantially turn that tap if not often write down because there hasn`t
been anything like the level during that five-hour period of air attacks that had been seen before.
But nonetheless, the further issue of whether or not Russia and Syria are interested actually in a ceasefire actually in humanitarian relief is very
open to question. We are seeing a pattern here exactly the same as we saw in Eastern Aleppo and we all know how that ended.
GORANI: Right, absolutely. And Matthew, to you, I mean, what is Russia`s endgame here? Does it want the complete just obliteration of the rebel
forces in a suburb like Eastern Ghouta and the same way the eastern part of Aleppo was forced into submission?
CHANCE: I think it probably does -- it wouldn`t come out and explicitly say that, but I certainly think this idea of a humanitarian pause provide
some cover for the Syrian forces to continue to pound Eastern Ghouta potentially to seize a large part of it, if not all of it, back under their
control.
That would be something the Russians would very much support because it would be another great victory, of course, for them and for their allies,
and that`s what this is all about for the Russians.
It`s about showing the region that they are a formidable power that when they back someone, that person wins. That they are reliable allies and
able to kind of project their power across the region and across the international stage.
And that`s what the Syrian conflict is all about from Russia saying to the world Moscow is back as a major player in the region and in the world.
GORANI: Thanks so much to both of you. Sam Kiley in Istanbul and Matthew Chance in Moscow.
Still to come this evening, a recurring nightmare for Nigeria, the search ramps up for more than a hundred girls kidnapped by a terrorist group. It
happened again, and we are live with the details.
Also, coming up, a German court ruling could drive change in Europe`s most polluted cities. One of the country`s top industries could take a huge
hit. We`ll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Well, it`s a nightmare in Nigeria hoped it would never see again. The country is desperately searching for dozens of kidnapped schoolgirls.
They were taken last week when armed men stormed their school in the northern village of Dapchi.
You`ll remember almost 300 girls were abducted in Chibok back in 2014 kidnapped right from there dormitories by Boko Haram. Armed militants from
that terrorist group also are suspected to be behind this adduction.
Nigeria`s president has promised the girls` families they`ll be found, but keep in mind, the government still doesn`t know where more than one third
of the Chibok girls are four years after the fact.
[15:20:06] CNN`s David McKenzie is covering the story and he`s live in Cano, Northern Nigeria. Any leads as to where the girls might be? This is
happening again, and people must be, you know, justifiably angry that these girls are still vulnerable four years after the Chibok abductions?
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that`s right. It`s not just being the Chibok girls or these girls, Hala. There have been many
thousands of young women and girls that have been abducted over the years, but this case is really shocking to many Nigerians and should be shocking
to the world.
More than a hundred, a 110 to be exact girls ranging from age of 11 to 19 taken almost exactly a week ago from this village of Northeast Nigeria and
as you said that the nightmares happening all over.
To answer your question, they don`t know where these girls are. The president of Nigeria saying that they will find them and get them out of
the abduction, but, you know, the parents are certainly extremely worried this will just be happening again.
And we`ve spoken a young survivor, 13-year-old (inaudible), she was with her 11-year-old sister, who are both school. They got separated in the
melee as these Boko Haram affiliated attackers we believe descended on that school and took all of these girls into captivity.
Days of confusion from the government and just from ordinary citizens exactly what happened now it`s appearing they are all missing and it`s a
terrible scenario for this part of Nigeria.
GORANI: And of course, I imagine that many parents now are just reluctant to send their daughters to school, which is probably one of the effects
that Boko Haram wants. How much is that hurting girls` education in that part of Nigeria?
MCKENZIE: Well, many millions of people in fact have been affected by Boko Haram and there are, you know, more than a million (inaudible) people in
places like Cano, and other major centers in the Northeast. At that school where they were attacked by these militants, they are too afraid, of
course, to go back to school.
Girls` education has suffered through years of conflict in this part of Nigeria and though the Nigerian government had said it had technically
defeated Boko Haram some years ago, Hala, it really appears that since November there`s been an upsurge of violent attacks in the region.
And now this devastating kidnapping or abduction at the school that is rattling this nation all over again -- Hala.
GORANI: But back to the government response here, it does appear from the outside looking in that they are just not able to protect these girls.
This keeps getting over and over. You mentioned it`s not just Chibok, it`s not just now. This is just that it`s a bigger number so it`s attracting
more attention. What is going on there?
MCKENZIE: Well, there is a huge issue with security in this region, but it`s also the case that there appeared to be military in that village,
Hala, and then at some points pretty soon before that attack, the military left that town and left it undefended as it were.
So. there`s a lot of questions right now about why is that and if there had been a sense that it could be attack as they often are in these regions,
why remove that security? So, the parents are angry.
Nigerians asking questions of what exactly happened and again, it`s so eerily similar to the Chibok situation some four years ago where the
initial reaction appeared confused and clear, and in that lag-time makes it that much more difficult to try and recover these girls in any form of
safety given the porous nature of the border and the insecurity in the scrubland surrounding cities like where I`m standing now.
GORANI: David McKenzie, thanks very much. He is in Cano in Northern Nigeria.
By the way, quick note, March 14th is "My Freedom Day," a daylong global event to raise awareness of modern-day slavery. We asked the Moroccan
musician, RedOne, what freedom means to him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REDONE, MUSICIAN: Freedom is life and it`s very individual to different people, you know, and if we can help people to be free and feel freedom, we
should. I mean, it`s not (inaudible), it`s everybody`s effort to meet someone that you love and is in jail within himself doesn`t have freedom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: So, the question we can turn back to you, what is freedom means you, post a photo or video using the #myfreedomday.
Now for a completely different story, many of you own and drive diesel cars, but imagine if you were banned from driving into certain cities for
that very reason. Across Europe that could become a reality. Some people will welcome it saying finally we can breathe some fresh air.
[15:25:09] Germany`s top court has ruled that Stuttgart and Dusseldorf, which have some of the most polluted air in Europe can implement limited
bans to keep diesel cars off their streets, and that ruling may start a domino effect across the continent.
The European Commission believes that more than 400,000 people die each year in the E.U. because of air pollution and obviously diesel fumes are
terrible for that.
Atika Shubert is in Hamburg, Germany with more. So, potentially what are we talking here in terms of millions of people or vehicles impacted here?
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. I mean, almost every other car here is a diesel car. So, if you have city
Stuttgart to Dusseldorf banning cars from their city center, what you have is drivers not being able to drive through there, but perhaps being able to
go into other cities.
And this is why local mayors have been so reluctant to impose a diesel ban. Not to mention the fact, of course, it is a huge part of the economy, 15
percent of the GDP is the automobile industry here.
So, cities have been very reluctant to impose this ban, but the E.U. has said, listen, you`ve got at least 26 different cities and towns that are
clearly in violation of diesel exhaust laws, limits.
You know, specifically nitrous oxides and fine particles are responsible for those hundreds of thousands of premature deaths as you pointed out.
So, as a as a result, the court has now said at least for Stuttgart and Dusseldorf that it is the city`s responsibility.
And this could very well set as a precedent for Munich, Hamburg and any other city that in violation of E.U. limits.
GORANI: But you talk about what percentage of GDP diesel cars and the diesel car industry represent, and no European country has jobs to spare.
I wonder the way the economic impact versus the environmental benefits of doing this.
SHUBERT: This is the position that mayors and city governments really do not want to be in because they realize that not only is it the economic
factor 800,000 people employed in the automobile industry alone, but the knock-on effects from that.
I mean, when we were in Stuttgart last week, you know, almost everyone we met had some connection to the automobile industry because that`s the
headquarters of Dimler (ph), which makes Mercedes-Benz.
So, it would have a tremendous impact not just that, but of course, people who drive cars here, about 50 percent of the cars here are diesel cars.
So, it would have a dramatic impact and that`s what we are not likely to see diesel cars being pulled off the roads tomorrow.
But if we don`t see some sort of a solution then it could mean, you know, congestion charges increasing, and in some cities, yes, a ban on older
diesel cars from approaching the city center.
GORANI: All right. Atika Shubert, thanks very much live in Hamburg.
Still to come tonight, the fate of change could be very, very young indeed. Teenagers are hoping to succeed where adults have failed so miserably and
get tougher gun laws passed. That`s just ahead. I`ll be speaking to the executive editor of "Teen Vogue."
And we have been freezing. Out here Europe freezing over freakishly warm weather in the artic is sending freezing conditions south and we are all
bundled up. We`ll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:30:47] HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, we`re just getting new information into -- it`s about the school shooting in Parkland,
Florida. And it looks like it could have been, could have been much worst. A law enforcement official tells us the shooter, Nikolas Cruz had about 180
rounds of ammunition left when he stopped shooting. He fired about 150 rounds. So less than half of what he had on him.
Investigators also say Cruz may have tried to break a window. He could have used it as a perch to shoot outside and try to pick off first
responders and students running away. This happened on February 14th, of course, and it`s still making waves. Seventeen people were killed in that
attack and it ignited a new outcry for gun control. This shooting, for some reason, did that, others have not.
But now almost two weeks later, could the push for tougher gun laws be in danger of sputtering out? Stephen Collinson is following this from CNN`s
Washington bureau.
So this push for more gun control, we heard it from the president, we heard it from elected officials, there were rallies, there were marches, people
who want more gun control got all excited. But now it looks like we`re dialing all that back, especially in Washington D.C.
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, Hala. Washington, in many ways, seems indifferent and the battle lines that have always prevailed on
the gun debate don`t seem to have shifted despite that activism you are talking about in the country. Republican leaders in Congress have made
quite clear today that they have no appetite to pushing what those survivors of the massacre in Florida would see as meaningful steps. The
best hope, I think, is a lot of modest measure that would encourage states and government agencies to do more to comply with existing background check
laws, which when you talk about the global scheme of things you could do cut down on gun violence isn`t very much.
And President Trump himself has been all over the map. He`s promising that he`s going to come out with some new measures by the end of the week. He`s
going to be meet lawmakers on Wednesday. But really, the president isn`t shown the kind of concerted -- concentrated leadership that you would need
to give those Republican senators and lawmakers on Capitol Hill the incentive to cast tough votes on this issue.
GORANI: But he talks very enthusiastically about looking into banning bump stocks that allows semiautomatics to be turned into automatic assault
weapons, also about raising the legal age of which you can buy a firearm in the United States. Is all that -- was all that just talk?
COLLINSON: Well, the president says that he has the authority and he`s going to go ahead and ban bump stocks. We don`t know exactly how that it`s
going to happen. There were indications that the White House is backing away from this issue of raising the required age that you need to be to buy
a long gun from 18 to 21 which the president said he was in favor of. Some people think that was because he had lunch with senior members of the NRA
on Sunday. The White House came out today and said that`s not in fact the case, but this is just a symptom of the confusion and the fact that when
the president talks, he comes out with all sorts of ideas, but he doesn`t seem to be on this issue and many other issues able to translate that
conversation and that stream of consciousness way of approaching issues into actually a mechanism for passing legislation now.
One thing I would say though is that despite the inertia in Washington, I don`t think it means -- nothing has changed after the shooting. Those
young people you showed pictures of them who are demonstrating. That`s going to go into the political ecosystem of America. A lot of democrats
are hopeful that will be -- that energy can be translated into turnout of the midterm elections and to make guns, for Democrats the kind of vital
voting issue that they`ve always been for many conservatives in rural areas and that`s the way you eventually create change on this issue.
GORANI: And will there be a voting-ish even for the midterms, some of them -- there are 17, 18 years old now.
Quick last one on the 2020 presidential election. The Trump team already naming a manager who is in charge of the digital strategy in 2016. Is it
early, isn`t it? To start naming people to lead campaign strategies?
[15:35:09] COLLINSON: That`s right. But the president filed for reelection almost as soon as he was inaugurated. I think there`s a couple
of reasons for this. First of all, it keeps his base energized. He`s in very many ways not really changed much since he was on the campaign. One
of the reason for that he`s very good at campaigning and he`d be a lot better campaigning that he is governing. And that`s the way you keep your
people engaged. The president looks for enemies. He seeks political enemies and he`s much more effective in a campaign setting than he is in a
sort of ceremonial conventions of the White House. So he`s going to want to get out of there on the contrary and back to these rallies, as soon as
he possibly can.
GORANI: Yes. And he still holds speeches that look a lot already like campaign rallies which some of his base. Thanks very much, Stephen
Collinson.
Speaking of the NRA, a top ranking official in the U.S. State of Georgia says Delta Airlines better think twice about its decision to cut ties with
the NRA or the state won`t approve an airline tax break worth tens of millions of dollars. This is what the Republican Lieutenant Governor Casey
Cagle -- and this is how he explained his thought process.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CASEY CAGLE, LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF GEORGIA: I`m tired of conservatives being kicked around on our values. And it`s time that we stand up and
fight and show cooperation that conservative values are important.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: So of course, this is an official that would -- that is saying that he would use the power of the state to punish a private company for
expressing a political opinion he disagrees with. And a lot of people have found that shocking online. Atlanta-based Delta has announced it would end
the discounts for NRA members after the Parkland, Florida school shooting. It is Georgia`s biggest employer. Now, and this is what could end up
happening. Other states are offering to take up the slack. Virginia and New York are saying Delta, you are welcome to move here. So we`ll see if
any of that pans out.
This is a sadly familiar ground in the U.S., there`s a mass shooting and a big debate over gun control and the whole thing is forgotten until the next
time it happens. But this time, could be different? Because the push is being led by young people. We`ve seen them protesting all over America.
They`re too young to vote and in some cases, even too young to drive. They are marching in cities and taking to social media to say,
#neveragainafterparkland.
Now these young people are already a force to be reckoned with. I want to talk about this more, some more with Samhita Mukhopadhyay, executive editor
of Teen Vogue. Samhita, thanks for being with us.
SAMHITA MUKHOPADHYAY, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, TEEN VOGUE: Thanks for having me.
GORANI: So I want to start by asking -- so these kids are obviously -- some of them have Emma Gonzalez, among others, more than a million
followers on Twitter. People, adults who want gun control and changes in Gun laws are pending their hopes basically on kids, right? Talk to us
about this new generation and what change they might force on politicians and the older generation.
MUKHOPADHYAY: Absolutely. I do think it`s important to remember that these children, these teens are in a moment right now where they`re seeing
a lot of resistance around the country, right? You have historic turnout after the election of Donald Trump, you have a lot of discontent with the
midterms and leading up to the midterms. A lot of teens are getting involved in kind of local elections. And so right now, people are just a
little bit more politically energized in general. Then you`re talking about a generation of kids that were, what, 11, 12 years old when the
Newtown Massacre happened, right?
And so they are -- these are unspeakable tragedies that they`ve had to grow up with and they`re saying absolutely no more. And unlike -- I think,
older generations that are maybe more setting their waves or maybe more reticent to kind of get off the couch and be active. These kids are
saying, our whole lives are in front of us and this is not the world we want to live in and this is not the world that we want to have families in.
And especially when we`re seeing our classmates being gun downed so brutally.
And so I think there`s a rawness and almost -- I don`t want to say innocence, but almost a freeness to the way that they`re protesting,
because they`re literally like, we have nothing to lose. We just saw our classmates being murdered.
GORANI: They went through a lot of trauma though, they`re probably still processing that, and although they have a very loud voice that`s resonating
in many parts of the country and the world that has to be said. They are, after all, still kids and sometimes they`re getting vilified and attacked
online, as if they are adults. And sometimes I do worry, because everybody flips up online, everybody will say something that -- I do worry for them.
It`s a lot of pressure.
[15:40:54] MUKHOPADHYAY: I absolutely think it is a lot of pressure. But what is optimistic to me is the way the community has come together to
support these students. So teachers are standing out and they`re helping - - Emma Gonzalez saved the teacher because she couldn`t write that speech, had the teacher not helped her. Parents are coming forward. I think the
town hall from last week was really an example of that where parents kept standing up and asking questions over and over that were standing and
support of the students.
And so while it is a tenuous time, I also think these are some of the consequences that we`re going to see for speaking out right now. And I
think really speaks to how courageous these young students are knowing that they`re going to get this kind of backlash and still putting themselves out
there.
GORANI: Right. And, Samhita, I want our viewers to be reminded of it and some of things these students said over the last several weeks since the
Parkland shooting and the change they want to see happen in their country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EMMA GONZALEZ, ACTIVIST AND ADVOCATE FOR GUN CONTROL: Since he was in middle school, it was no surprise to anyone who knew him to hear that he
was the shooter. Those talking about how we should have not ostracized him, you didn`t know this kid. OK, we did. We know that they are claiming
that there are mental health issues, and I am not a psychologist, but we need to pay attention to the fact that this isn`t just a mental health
issue. He would not have harmed that many students with a knife.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: So there`s a lot of cheering there. I wonder your readers at Teen Vogue. How were they -- what are you hearing from them?
MUKHOPADHYAY: They are a variety of reactions. The first is, obviously, standing and support and solidarity with the teens that are speaking out.
I think specifically on this question of mental health. The way that we`ve really thought about this at Teen Vogue and the way that I think our
readers have really responded is how to respond in this type of crisis. What do you do the next day? What do you do in the days ahead? And do you
actually go back to school the week after. And we`re really interested in this link between mental health and access to guns which I think many would
argue as being overplayed, and that this was really an issue of intimate partner violence, kind of potentially toxic masculinity, not necessarily --
and also coupled with mental health.
And so our readers are really interested in kind of de-stigmatizing the idea that mental health is the only issue at play here and that there`s
many other issues that play. They`re very much focused on how are we going to stop this from happening again? And I would say very much resonate with
the teens have been saying.
GORANI: The last couple of generations, I guess, mine, I`d be there parents` generation and the one before, could be blame for letting this
problem get out of hand. They didn`t get gun laws passed that would protect kid, they polluted the environment, they stood by, well, terrible
civil wars unfolded, and did nothing.
In this generation different or is it just the fire that they have in their -- that incredible passion that you have at that age for big issues?
MUKHOPADHYAY: I absolutely think this generation is different and part of it is that they have access to tools and a platform that we`ve never seen
historically possible. And I would say -- I don`t think blaming other generations is productive in any way, right? I think the work that
previous activists have done --
GORANI: But it`s the truth -- but, Samhita, I`m sorry, it`s the truth. You have 17-year-olds basically telling middle aged elected lawmakers how
to protect schools. I mean, in some -- is that their job? Do you know what I mean?
MUKHOPADHYAY: No, absolutely. I completely agree that they`ve had to take matters into their own hands, because prior generations have failed them.
I think that is right, but I also think to your last -- to your last segment, I do think the momentum, it`s strong right now, but when it fades,
what is actually going to be like in a legislative process and how the political will is still not there yet. There is going to be an uphill
battle. And I do think prior generations have felt that. And what I think we have going for us in this moment, what I think these teens have going
for them, is the tremendous viral capabilities here.
I mean, Emma Gonzalez in a week has a million followers. That means there are million young people -- or people of all ages that are interested in
what she has to say. And I think that is different than anything we`ve seen before. And, yes, we are -- these are a group of children that have
watched atrocities happened year after year and they`re not logical, right? Like they look at these and they`re like, these could be stopped. How come
no one stopping them? And it`s such a basic question and it`s so logical and they are brave enough to come out and just say that.
GORANI: Well, you need to ask a question and you deserve an answer, especially when your school has been through this. And I love that Teen
Vogue has now so many political columnists and opinion columnists and you`re so widely read. Samhita Mukhopadhyay, thanks very much, executive
editor of Teen Vogue for joining us.
MUKHOPADHYAY: Thank you.
GORANI: And you could check us out online with facebook.com/halagoranicnn and @HalaGorani on Twitter.
[15:45:00] Still to come tonight, he`s on a mission to take back a company he helped set up. But the owner of NBC Universal now has other plans.
We`ll bring you the latest in the battle over British broadcaster Sky.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Now to a much loved Bollywood icon, Sridevi who died suddenly Saturday in Dubai. Her body arrived home in Mumbai today, just in the past
few hours. And her friends are paying tribute to the 54-year-old actress whose career spanned five decades. Dubai police say the actress drowned in
her hotel bathtub after losing consciousness. It was initially reported that she died of a heart attack. Authorities have now closed the case
ruling out foul play.
Now to something different, almost out of nowhere. Rupert Murdoch has been outbid in a very big way and it`s over something he`s wanted for years.
I`m talking about the British Broadcaster Sky. The U.S. cable giant Comcast, the owner of NBC Universal have made a surprise bid for the
network. The offer is 16 percent higher than the one by Mr. Murdoch`s 21st Century Fox. And it comes as Disney to take over most of Fox including
Sky.
CNN`s Hadas Gold is live in Washington with more details. So, does Comcast have the upper hand here?
HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this deal is definitely, as you said, higher than the Fox deal. And also, you have to keep in mind that this
attempt from Fox to take over the rest of Sky, that they don`t already own, have come into a bunch of regulatory hurdles from the U.K. regulator who
have been really concerned about how this deal would affect media plurality in the U.K.
Now, Comcast likely wouldn`t have those types of hurdles thrown in their way. And that would probably make it seem maybe more attractive to
shareholders and as we saw, the Sky stock really flew up this morning on the news of this surprise bid. But there`s probably going to be a bidding
war, because Disney, which is trying to take over a lot of those 21st Century Fox assets has called Sky the crown jewel of this deal. And you
have to keep in mind that a lot of these American media companies are looking for scale. The American market is a little bit tapped out and if
they can scale into Europe, they get millions more customers what they already have and that`s really important to them, as they have to deal with
these companies like Amazon, and Netflix, and Facebook who are stealing their customers.
GORANI: Right. But it appears as though in the media industry, especially media industry groups that own broadcast news are in the networks, that
there`s a lot of consolidation that the landscape is changing tremendously. How will it affect viewers?
GOLD: I mean, it would obviously affect viewers when you have a different owner. And it affect everything from prices to the content that you see.
This has though a lot of hurdles that it have to get there before any viewers or customers really see a result. And even if the Comcast bid is
the one that ends up being accepted, the U.K. regulators will still have their hands in it.
[15:50:04] GORANI: Hadas Gold, thanks very much reporting live there on the latest media merger news.
Here in London, it is cold. It is very cold. Take a look at the snowy fells falling on the British capitol. Yes, this was London, guys. That
looks -- you can`t even tell who it is, but I look like that a few hours ago. Temperatures plummeted around the UK is actually sticking to the
ground over. And Rome, closing schools as well, as Europe is hit by bitterly cold winds from Siberia. It`s being called the Beast from the
East. Over flurries in France as well. And the big chill is expected to continue sweeping through Europe. So no rest bites ahead.
Now, while this is going on in Western Europe, in the arctic meanwhile, temperatures are rising to above freezing. So we`re below freezing in
London but in the Arctic we`re above freezing. And this is leaving scientists quite puzzled.
More to come including no driver, no problem. A smart phone will do it for you. Samuel Burke buckles up for a wild ride. We`ll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: So imagine riding in a car with no driver and controlling the wheel of the vehicle is a smart phone. It just doesn`t sound like a good
idea. But Samuel Burke has just found out what it`s like. He`s at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
How does it feel to be in a driverless car controlled by a phone?
SAMUEL BURKE, CNN BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Nerve-wracking. And the big trend here in Barcelona this year is A.I., artificial
intelligence packed into a phone. Huawei, the third biggest smartphone maker in the world behind Apple and Samsung, thought that they had so much
power that they would actually power a Porsche. No driver needed, just let the phone do all the work. Hala, you`ve seen me cry, you`ve seen me
scream, you`ve seen me laugh behind -- not the wheel of a driverless car in the passenger side. So take a look at what happened this time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BURKE: Now we can drive. Gunning for a -- whoa. Oh, we took off quickly. Whoa. Is it supposed to stop that hard? I haven`t stopped that fast since
I was 16 studying for my driver`s license.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURKE: I wish I would have been the one filming our cameraman Neil, because he was looking at me and his face just looks like, holy moly, is
this car coming at me? So, look, I think we have good news for human beings. We`re still needed behind the wheels. We`re not quite there yet
where a phone can power a driverless car. But this technology is important, because whenever you`re not connected to the internet, you can`t
get to the cloud. You`re going to want to have a phone that can do all this type of stuff. All this A.I. in the future, we`re just not there yet,
Hala.
GORANI: How does it sense when to stop or where to turn? How does it the phone control the car?
BURKE: It`s using a camera up on top. It`s the phone camera. And so all that information from just one camera was being fed into the phone, it`s
looking and deciding we had a dog in the way, a fake dog, a fake soccer ball, a fake bicycle, and it was trying to avoid all of those. But all of
a sudden it just veered toward our cameraman and you saw that sudden stop there. So I definitely had rides that were more pleasant than this one
without a driver. And with a driver.
[15:55:05] GORANI: Now let`s talk about Apple. Big player obviously in the mobile world. There are reports that they`re leading the race to
become the first one trillion dollar company which obviously is as much as the GDP, more than the GDP of a large majority of countries on the world.
I mean, how big can Apple possibly get?
BURKE: Well, it could pass that trillion dollar mark within about 12 months, according to a new estimate. But even though that number sounds
astronomical, to me, the much more important number, Hala, is the fact that they have $300 billion in cash. Because that trillion dollar market cap
can change. Stock goes up and down, but they`re already got that cash. A lot of that is going to be repatriated probably this year, because of the
Donald Trump tax cuts. So the question now is what are they going to do with that money? City Analysts say that they believe there`s a 40 percent
likelihood that Apple will actually acquire Netflix with all of that cash. So it is interesting because they`ve had iTunes. But people have
gravitated towards streaming. They don`t have a streaming television service. So that could be a hot acquisition for them. It would only cost
them $120 billion and they would still have, a couple hundred billion left over.
I know it`s called HALA GORANI TONIGHT, you`re supposed to ask the question. But I have a question for you. A few weeks ago, I had you
switch from Apple streaming music service, because I thought you were paying for that and you were paying for Amazon streaming music service. I
said, just stick with Amazon music since you have Prime. God advice or bad advice?
GORANI: No, good advice. You were right. I mean, I was double paying, essentially. And it was a question of choosing one or the other. But I
have to say, Amazon Prime also provides me with great movie streaming. I mean, I`m not doing an ad here for either one. But if you`re going to
spend a certain sum of money every month, it makes no sense to double up.
BURKE: But I can`t see you giving up your Netflix or just the Amazon Prime video service.
GORANI: Oh, no. I`m keeping that one. Anyway, the conversation for another time. Samuel Burke. Have fun in Barcelona.
Quick note on country music legend Dolly Parton. She had a very special audience today in the U.S. capitol. She donated her 100 millionth book to
the Library of Congress. It`s when she wrote called "Coat of Many Colors." It`s based on her famous song by the same name. She read the book and sing
part of the song to children and were gathered there. I love Dolly. The books are donated through Parton`s Imagination Library and it`s a charity
that sends free books to kids around the world.
I`m Hala Gorani, I`ll see you same time, same place tomorrow. "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" coming up, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:00:01] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right. That sound, my friend, marks the end of your another trading day on Wall Street. And the big news, the
big news out of Washington was the brand new Fed chair Jerome Powell, testifying on Capitol Hill. The beginning of the day, the markets on the
green, we`ve got some reassuring words from him.
END
