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Norway Mass Killing Trial Ends; "Insane, Hysteric Shelling"; Egyptians Stage Massive Protest; Politics On The Pitch; Refugees Return To Afghanistan; Nigerian Churches Being Bombed; Obama To Speak at Largest Latino Political Convention in the Country; Effects Of Moody's Bank Downgrades; U.N. Earth Summit Star Speaks Out; Chinese Youth Show New Love For Mao

Aired June 22, 2012 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to NEWSROOM International. I'm Suzanne Malveaux. We are taking you around the world in 60 minutes.

We are live from Florida where it is day two of the largest convention of Latino political leaders in the country. President Obama will be speaking here in the next hour. We will bring that to you life.

He is expected to highlight his new immigration policy that allows some young illegal immigrants to stay here in the United States. Mitt Romney addressed the group yesterday and the race for the White House is tight.

Latino voters carry a lot of clout. Some crucial battleground states they actually could swing the election one way or the other. We are talking about here in Florida as well as North Carolina, Virginia, Colorado, and Nevada. Much more ahead on the Latino vote and its impact.

The lawyer for the man who killed 77 people in Norway last year says his client is in fact, sane. He says Anders Brevick should be cleared. Brevick has admitted to the killings. He claims he carried out the attacks to fight multi-culturalism.

Some of the victims were young people attending camp on an island. Prosecutors say Brevick is mentally ill and should be transferred to a mental institution. A judge's verdict is weeks away.

And a Syrian opposition group describes today's shelling of one northern town as insane and hysteric. No one is denying the violence, but there are conflicting reports about who is actually responsible.

One opposition group says Syrian security forces are to blame. But another opposition group says pro-government militia members carried out that attack. Syria's state TV blames armed terrorists.

An Egyptians converged on Tahrir Square in Cairo again. Tens of thousands of people are protesting a power grab by the country's military rulers. They are demanding presidential results be released and military rulers are warning against all the chaos.

Ben Wedeman, he is in Cairo. Ben, I know you have been walking around and talking to folks and the crowd. Give us a sense of how many people have gathered and what they hope to accomplish here.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Suzanne. I would say there are probably 20,000 to 30,000 people here. But what's interesting is sort of a constant people leaving, people coming and it is important to stress that this isn't really a spontaneous demonstration.

Just to the north of here along the Nile there are dozens of buses that have been -- that have brought these Muslim Brotherhood supporters from the Nile Delta, from outside of Cairo, Cairo traditionally not a very friendly city to the Muslim Brotherhood.

But this is all part of this massive tug of war between the military authorities that took over the country after the overthrow Hosni Mubarak and the Muslim Brotherhood.

The authorities, obviously, have sort of the power of the state and the state controlled media behind them, but what the Muslim Brotherhood is trying to show here is that they have the numbers.

They can organize people to come out in the street and to protest. So we are hearing two different messages. The Muslim Brotherhood, they want those results of the elections to be announced.

They want the constitutional court ruling that dissolved the Muslim Brotherhood parliament to be reversed. On the other hand, the government or rather the military is saying that the rule of law and the rulings of the courts must be respected.

Anybody that goes beyond peaceful protests and this is a peaceful protest will face an iron fist -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right, Ben Wedeman, thank you very much for giving us the latest update. Obviously a stand-off between the military as well as the Muslim Brotherhood that people there are supporting it, a candidate that they think won the presidency.

Greece and Germany, they are going head to head in the political arena and also on the playing field. In just a couple of hours, one of soccer's biggest games in the European championships is going to be played.

They call it football over there. It is so important that leaders in Europe move the meeting time of their financial talks just so they could watch the game.

CNN's Pedro Pinto, he is reporting that for many fans and players, a match means more than just a place in the semifinals.

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PEDRO PINTO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Social unrest, economic strife, political uncertainty. This has been the backdrop to the Greek national team's preparations for and participation at Euro 2012.

As the side geared up for a crucial quarterfinal clash, their manager, Fernando Santos, explained to me how the crisis back home has affected everyone here in Poland.

FERNANDO SANTOS, GREECE MANAGER (through translator): Look, the situation affected us the players and families, they have friends. They worry about what is going on.

I would say Greece is going through more than just a political or economic crisis. There is a social crisis with a lot of unemployment. The players are human beings. They feel that.

What I asked them do is try to forget about that when they play and to focus just on the football to show they are real fighters.

PINTO (on camera): So far the Greek players have done their best to put some smiles back on their faces of their compatriots. A dramatic win over Russia in their final group game allowed them to book a place in the quarterfinals.

Up next, a battle with a country every person in Greece wants to beat -- a country many back home blame for their economic and political crisis -- Germany.

SOFOKLIS PILAVIOS, PRESIDENT, GREEK FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION: We are trying to not get involved in this. We are trying to play football, to win, of course. If we win and qualify we will make proud the whole nation.

SANTOS (through translator): Greek fans will be thinking of that as well as the Germans. As far as the players are concerned they can have extra motivation and more passion in this match against Germany. They can't lose focus. We need to think during this game. If we are play with our hearts and emotions we will be in trouble.

GEORGIOS SAMARAS, GREECE PLAYER: We'll for our national team and play for our history and play for the level -- you know, the people back home. We want to give to them a smile.

PINTO (voice-over): So can they beat the Germans and advance to the semifinals of the tournament? Most people would say no. But then again, nobody expected Greece to win the European championship back in 2004 either.

SANTOS (through translator): We are dreaming about it. Sometimes history can repeat itself. I feel that our campaign hasn't ended. If anything, we started a new campaign. It may hold bigger challenges and obstacles, but we have to keep dreaming and believing we can do it again.

PILAVIOS: Sometimes we think that the -- miracles happen once. But we -- nobody can stop us dreaming. Step by step.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Step by step. I want to bring in Frederik Pleitgen. He is in Berlin. And what a does this mean, possibility of a victory for Germany?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Germans are absolutely into this game, Suzanne. As you said, this game, of course, has a lot of sporting implications, but also a lot of political implications.

Not just in Greece as Pedro said but, of course, here in Germany as well. This is already being titled as the debt duel or the battle of the bailout between Germany and Greece as both sides are very emotional about this.

Not just the Greeks, but the Germans as well. I have a lot of Germans telling me they believe there are huge political implications. A lot of them feel misunderstood by the Greeks as well.

Because one of things that very few people mention in Greece, is that Germany has also put up a considerable amount of money for these Greek bailouts. Certainly don't feel that they get enough credit for that.

The German team also believes, Suzanne -- this very interesting. This is something like a track game for them. Everybody knows that the Germans signed at least on paper is better, but of course, there's a lot of emotions going for the Greeks.

The Germans feel as though if they win this game, no one will be surprised. If they lose this game, however, a lot of people in Europe are going to be cheering.

So they do know this is a very dangerous game for the Germans, but the people coming here right now, watching this game in about two and a half hours. Certainly believe that there team is going to be able to pull it off -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right, Fred, thank you. Good to watch you.

Here is more of what we are working on for the hour. NEWSROOM International, we are looking at fighting for Afghanistan's refugees famous for writing the bestselling book "The Kite Runner." Now he is taking on a new cause.

And also can you think of a more unlikely pop icon a communist dictator? We are going to hear why kids in China suddenly think it is cool to wear the face of Chairman Mao on their t-shirts.

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MALVEAUX: Welcome back to NEWSROOM INTERNATIONAL where we take you around the world in 60 minutes. Imagine this. You are forced to pick up and leave your home. That's tough enough.

Nick Paton Walsh shows us many Afghan refugees find returning to their country even worse. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Many have been grateful to leave Afghanistan, but few grateful to come back. Here at the border with Iran we discreetly film how every day Afghanistan's fiery neighbor deports dozens of the tens of thousands of illegal Afghan immigrants struggling to make whatever they can on its streets.

(on camera): Many referred a decade of war across the border to work as illegal immigrants, but now after a crackdown of being pushed back towards a war that still is continuing.

(voice-over): The men simply wander back towards the wall. Some didn't make it back alive. This 22-year-old killed in an accident, but the youngest few return adult in appearance.

Beginning a slow process of aid workers reuniting them with families that can't care for them, who needed the money they were earning in Iran or sometimes send them straight back again.

They come hungry and soon given new clothes and food even age 12 still carrying stories of a yet harder life in Iran.

UNIDENTIFIED KID (through translator): My uncle told me my father was in Iran. So he took me there, but he made me do hard labor, collecting plastic and metal trash to sell to factories. My uncle took the money I earned and disappeared. The Iranian police found me and sent me back here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: One high-profile author is helping the U.N. raise awareness on the issue.

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KHALED HOSSEINI, AUTHOR, UNHCR GOODWILL ENVOY: The people that I met who were displaced in -- met them in Kabul and elsewhere told me the reason they were moving were either because of conflict, because of fear of conflict, because of loss of land or home, shelter, lack of access to basic services or intimidation by local insurgent groups.

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MALVEAUX: Khaled Hosseini, you may remember him from his book, "The Kite Runner," it was made into a movie that focused on an Afghan family's immigrant experience.

Khaled Hosseini is also a doctor and a goodwill envoy for the office of the U.N. High Commission for Refugees. He is joining us live now. Khaled, thank you so much for being with us.

You were born in Afghanistan. You came to the United States when you were just 15 years old. Tell just a little bit about your own experience. HOSSEINI: Well, I remember living in Afghanistan in a really wonderful era. Pre-soviet war when Afghanistan was at peace with itself, with its neighbors.

But coming to the United States after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan was a real shock, I think, to my family. Everything that we owned in Afghanistan we had to abandon.

My parents' identities, they had to establish careers and worked so hard for. Everything was abandoned and we had to essentially restart our lives from the ground up.

That said, you know, I -- we were extremely lucky we were found asylum in the United States. So by standards compared to other refugees we were terribly lucky. Millions of refugees, Afghanistan refugees and otherwise, have not been as fortunate as I have been.

MALVEAUX: What was the hardest thing in your experience?

HOSSEINI: I think the hardest thing for us to was to understand the life that we had previously is now gone. Communities that we had, we had abandoned. Property we had was lost.

And we would have to re-establish a life, reconnect with a new community, restart our lives, re-establish another identity and in an environment that was frankly, quite unfamiliar to us and so the challenge seemed very, very daunting.

MALVEAUX: Tell us a little bit about what is going on inside of Afghanistan now, those who are actually displaced within their own country.

HOSSEINI: Yes. We are seeing rising numbers of Afghans who are displaced inside of the country, largely because of conflict and as well as other reasons, having to do with lack of livelihood and basic services.

We have seen rising numbers. Last year, we saw 185,000 Afghans be displaced, largely because of conflict. That's almost a 50 percent raise over the previous year. We now have over 400,000 Afghans who are displaced inside of the country.

We are seeing a process of displaced people moving to urban centers like Kabul and the population there really exploding out of the of control. Kabul's population has tripled which creates this process of rapid organization, poverty, unemployment, and rising crime because of that.

MALVEAUX: So tell us what can we do here? I mean, this is obviously more than a humanitarian crisis. You talk about the fact you believe it is a national security issue as well.

HOSSEINI: Yes. I mean, you have -- it is a national security threat because you have large numbers of rapidly growing population that's marginalized and poor and endless unemployed with very dim prospects for the future. Those are, I'm afraid, sort of population that is prone to and vulnerable to the call of the insurgents. It is a national security threat. I think -- I'm glad you said that this is more than humanitarian issue because the humanitarian assistance part of it is really necessary.

The conditions inside of Afghanistan are very difficult for those millions who have returned. There are many, many places in Afghanistan where people don't have access to basic services like shelter, water, school, health care.

They have no jobs. So although giving humanitarian assistance absolutely necessary, it is not sufficient. We need development in Afghanistan and that is what we haven't seen so far.

We need infrastructure development. We need to build viable communities at the village level where the returning refugees can rebuild their lives. Bridge that gap between giving humanitarian assistance and economic development.

MALVEAUX: Khaled, quickly here, do you see that mostly falling on the responsibility of the Afghan people, those inside of their own government and that your own country, or the United States and the international community?

HOSSEINI: Well, you know, certainly the Afghan state has to play its part in this. And it is going to be an important player in this hopefully -- in this solution strategy for Afghan refugees.

However, you know, we have to remember that Afghanistan even in its heyday was one of the poorest nations of the world, had an almost 25 percent rise in population over a span of just a handful of years, which is an enormous draconian task to undertake.

So I think that this strategy to build at the rural level, the villages and bring economic developments so that the returning refugees have a chance at restarting their lives is going to have to be a multi-year international effort.

MALVEAUX: All right, Khaled Hosseini, thank you so much for joining us. I appreciate it.

They bomb churches in Nigeria. Well, now, the U.S. State Department is calling them terrorists. We are going to tell you what's driving the violence.

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MALVEAUX: Welcome back to NEWSROOM International. We take you around the world in 60 minutes. Well, would you go to church knowing that it could be a death trap? Well, that is what Christians across Northern Nigeria are actually faced with.

Their churches are being bombed Sunday after Sunday. Now the latest bombings happened just this past weekend. Three churches were hit. The Nigerian Red Cross says 50 people were killed in an attack and violence followed.

The militant Islamist group known as Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for these bombings. I want to bring in Michael Holmes joining us from Atlanta.

Michael, first of all, tell us about this group. Who are they? Are they an offshoot of al Qaeda? How dangerous is this organization?

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNNI ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Extremely dangerous. They came to be in 2002, Suzanne, set up as basically a radical Islamist group who wanted to set up an Islamic state in Northern Nigeria, very, very dangerous group.

They have members from Chad as well and what they do is oppose anything western and anything that doesn't fit in with that your own radical view of Islam. They have also now expanded beyond that.

Criminal elements involved. Are they linked to al Qaeda? Well, yes, a lot of observers think yes, they are talking with al Qaeda. Also with Al Shabaab, which of course, is based in Somalia and in itself an offshoot of al Qaeda so the answer to that is yes.

MALVEAUX: Why are they targeting churches?

HOLMES: Well, you know, you have to look -- Nigeria is mainly Islamic north, Muslim north and a Christian, mainly Christian south. They are targeting the churches who live in the north, they are an obvious target for them.

What's ironic about the group they are so radical they also target Muslims in the north who they don't think fits into their radical view of what Islam should be. They have been criticized by Muslim clerics and then gone on and killed those clerics.

So in terms of the Christians in the north they are being targeted to get them out of the north. So this is one -- could be set up. Then revenge attacks in south against Muslims that live in the south. In the north Muslims are often targeted as well.

MALVEAUX: Michael, I have been to Nigeria with former President Bush. This is a country that's very rich in oil. That's so important to them and to many of the other countries that are dealing with them in trade. Is this about money? Is it about oil? Is it about religion?

HOLMES: You know are mainly about religion, but the economy does play into it. The north is in stark contrast to the south. You are right, they produce -- export I think -- 3 percent of the world's oil.

And the south is quite wealthy, quite well organized. Good infrastructure. The north not so much. That's because the oil is in the south. So there is this economic disparity.

And a lot of people feel you are not going to have that pace in the north until that disparity is made a bit more equitable. It is partly economic. Yes. That's at the root of perhaps the solution to getting rid of Boko Haram.

This is a very dangerous organization. Even the U.S. State Department feels that it poses a risk to western interest. Boko Haram, the words sit self boko is in the local household language. It used to mean fake. Now it means anything anti-western. Haram is Arabic, of course, as you probably know for forbidden, sinful.

MALVEAUX: Forbidden western. All right, thank you very much, Michael. Appreciate your shedding light on this dangerous organization inside of Nigeria.

We are now looking at the fate of the White House. Of course, it could rest in the hands of the Latino voters. I'm live at the National Conference of Latino Officials to hear to what President Obama is about to say to this critical voting group.

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MALVEAUX: Welcome back to NEWSROOM INTERNATIONAL. We take you around the world in 60 minutes. We are live from Florida for day two of the largest Latino political convention in the country. And we are about an hour away from a speech from President Obama. He is expected to highlight his new immigration policy, and the administration will stop deporting some young illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.

Want on bring in Juan Carlos Lopez of CNN en Espanol. And you and I, we had a chance to listen to Mitt Romney yesterday. Some of the things he highlighted was obviously the economic situation. Eleven percent unemployment. Two million Hispanics living in poverty. What are they expecting from President Obama?

JUAN CARLOS LOPEZ, CNN EN ESPANOL CORRESPONDENT: I think a reply to what Governor Romney said. He was very critical of the president, of his relationship with Hispanic community. You mentioned unemployment, you mentioned one aspect of immigration. He promised immigration reform. Immigration reform has not happened. So, I think they want to se when he's going to say now.

This is a nonpartisan organization. But the majority of Latino elected officials are Democrats. So, we will probably have more favorable to the president we had yesterday than Governor Romney.

MALVEUAX: They seemed like they were polite but it was tepid applause at certain times. Some folks they talked to, they were looking for specifics from Mitt Romney. They really didn't hear a lot of the specifics when it came to -- yes, Republicans as well. Immigration policy. Is it enough for a president to address this one issue?

LOPEZ: It is not the one issue but it is interesting. If you look poll after poll, study after study show Latinos aren't different. Those Latinos who vote aren't different than any other American voter. They care about the economy, health care, education.

But immigration is a wedge issue. It moves people. And they want to see something done because someone knows a person who might be affected by immigration reform.

So the president can bring his message but is coming to (INAUDIBLE), a place he hasn't visited for the last three years as president. He came as a candidate. That's one issue.

The other issue is yes, he's bringing this announcement from last week. But it is not immigration reform. But it is an election year and we are going to have a majority Democratic crowd. So, we will probably see a lot of cheering.

MALVEUAX: Do you think -- Senator Rubio said earlier today - he really accused the president of being a no-show the last three years and implying that this is all politics here because have you four months left before people go to the polls. Do you think most people feel that way?

LOPEZ: The - it's an election year, and we are speaking to viewers. People are pretty smart. They know what lies behind these decisions. But they know it is more than they had, so you -- they got the choice. Do they go with the Democrats and with the president and with what he has done? And he has done interesting moves for the Latino community.

Do they go with the Republicans? You have you Senator Marco Rubio looking for a middle ground? Or do you deport 11 million people? Do you grant amnesty to 11 million people? What do you do?

But that's not been the voice of the Republican party. So, this is an important election and important moment to see where both party -- parties go.

MALVEUAX: I want to bring up something that -- diversity of Latino community here. We have figures. First and foremost here, in the country, almost 60 percent of Hispanic eligible voters are Mexican origin. Fourteen percent Puerto Rico. And five percent Cuban. Here in Florida, Cubans are 32 percent, Puerto Ricans 28 percent, Mexicans just nine percent. Why does this make a difference?

LOPEZ: Because of the electoral college. Because you have states that will be key in November. You have Florida, a state where you have Puerto Ricans in this part of Florida. They tend to lean Democrat. Then you have Republicans who tend to be favored by Cuban Americans in the south of Florida.

But you have states like Arizona and Nevada and Colorado, New Mexico where those Latino votes could swing the state and could define who goes to the White House. That's why they are so important. That's why you mentioned an important issue. Latinos are not a one - a one solid, similar group. We're very diverse. But the electoral colleges makes them very important.

MALVEAUX: And the fact you have both candidates here at this conference just underscores how important this will be.

LOPEZ: It is going to be a key issue, and the key now is getting people to come out and vote. According to (INAUDIBLE), their own calculations say that -- there is about -- 20 million Latinos whose are able to vote. Only about 12 million are expected in November. So, that's going to be a key issue. Getting people to come out and vote. To see that it makes a difference to come out and support either Republicans or Democrats.

MALVEAUX: And we know being in Florida, every vote counts. Does make a difference.

LOPEZ: Oh, yes.

MALVEAUX: Okay. Thank you, Juan Carlos.

Spain wants a bailout. So, who is actually going the pay for it? What does it mean for the rest of the world? We are looking at what's happening with the banks and how it is affecting your money right now.

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MALVEAUX: U.S. stocks are bouncing back despite some bad news. We have more bad news for the banks. Going to take a look at the Big Board, up about 50 points. On Thursday, rating agency Moody's downgraded major banks.

To put into perspective, want to bring in Richard Quest from London. And Richard, first of all, let's talk about this bank downgrade for the first moment here because you've got news that the Spanish banks are going to need some help. How much is it going to need? And who is actually going to pay for that?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": Well, the Spanish banks are now looking at $60 billion of assistance needed -- $60 billion euros' worth of assistance. And it is going to come that -- that money will come from the Europeans via the Spanish government.

And the money -- they are probably going to ask for 100 billion. So, they will ask for more than they need. But that is if you like largely baked into the cake now.

The Moody's downgrade on 15 major banks -- look, there are would distinct views on it. The first is that this is significant because investment -- certain investment managers can no longer buy them or the banks will have to pay more for their interest or collateral. So, it will have an effect for Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan and the like.

The other view, Suzanne, is it is irrelevant. Moody's basically blew a horn and told us something that we already knew: that the eurozone crisis was a risk and was likely to have an effect. You (INAUDIBLE) money, you take your choices.

MALVEAUX: So, what's this mean in terms of the U.S. economy? Does it mean anything at all that you have all these banks that are downgraded?

QUEST: Oh, no -- I mean, yes, I can hear some people will disagree with me and they will say that, of course, it now means there's greater risk on the table. But if anybody, Suzanne, does not know by now that U.S. banks, European banks, are all liable and at risk, then, frankly, they are probably not interested in the business world.

Firstly, depositors in the U.S. are insured up to a couple hundred thousand. So, anybody watching that's worried about all of this, in the FDIC scheme can sleep easy at night. You are okay.

Secondly, the -- the downgrades were relatively small except for one or two banks. It will cost the banks more money in collateral. And yes, it will also mean they have to pay a bit more in interest rates.

But please, for goodness sake, Citibank or Citigroup called the downgrades simply wrong and unfair. RBS said the same. I'm just looking at the banks. Some of them call them erroneous. In all, most people believe Moody's is simply correcting -- overcorrecting, be overcautious more than they were because of their mistakes in the past.

MALVEAUX: All right. So, not a crisis situation. The crisis averted. Richard, thank you very much. Good to see you as always.

At 12 years old, she made an impassioned plea to world leaders.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In my life, I have dreamt of seeing the great herds of wild animals, jungles and rain forests full of birds and butterflies. But now I wonder if they will even exist for my children to see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Now, 20 years later, we will hear what she thinks about their progress at the time Rio summit.

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MALVEAUX: One of the biggest U.N. summits ever is wrapping up right now in Brazil. Rio+20 is a global environmental checkup. Held 20 years after the first Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro back in 1992, world leaders promised to take action to protect the planet. Well, one speaker with no high level credentials at all stole the show with her impassioned plea to the world. Shasta Darlington has got the story.

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SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A quick Internet search of the name Severn Suzuki brings back more than 200,000 hits. All because of the speech the 12-year-old gave to a room full of world leaders at the first United Nations Earth Summit.

SEVERN SUZUKI, ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST: In my life, I have dreamt of seeing the great herds of wild animals, jungles and rain forests full of birds and butterflies. But now I wonder if they will even exist for my children to see.

DARLINGTON: Her words had such impact, her name is mentioned at Earth Summits years later.

SUZUKI: Definitely surprised by the notoriety. I mean, who would imagine that people would still be talking about a six-minimum speech that a 12-year-old girl gave so long ago.

DARLINGTON: We met Suzuki at Rio+20 marking the 20th year of Earth Summits and taking place in the same city where Suzuki first gave that iconic speech. The Canadian youth activist is now an environmentalist and mother of two little boys. Still working to keep the youth movement alive.

SUZUKI: Twenty years ago, I went to the world leaders to act as their conscience. To remind them of their children. And now, 20 years later, we're still talking about that event. Why? I think it is because the world is desperate for this message. Children can speak the truth. And that is what we need them to say today.

DARLINGTON: To keep that message going, Suzuki took part in a contest put on by the global TckTckTck campaign, to select someone to follow in her footsteps. Seventeen-year-old New Zealander Brittany Trilford was chosen to speak to more than 130 global leaders. She says she only hopes she can have the same impact as her inspiration.

BRITTANY TRILFORD, YOUTH ACTIVIST: The fact that she did this amazing speech, she placed herself out of her comfort zone and said such power things to such powerful people and seriously made a difference. And in -- she's still making a difference 20 years later.

DARLINGTON: An Internet search of Trilford's name already returns more than 10,000 results. Proof that she may be on her way to setting an example for the next generation.

Shasta Darlington, CNN, Rio de Janeiro.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: It was a communist dictator who ruled China with an iron fist. So, why are so many Chinese teenagers suddenly treating Chairman Mao like a pop culture hero?

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MALVEAUX: We've all heard the throwback, young people are bringing outdated styles back into popular culture. Well, it is now happening in China. Young people there have a new affinity for all things Mao. The communist leader was the founder of the People's Republic of China, but his so-called cultural revolution resulted in the deaths of millions of people. "The New York Times" columnist Anand Giridharadas, he saw the trend firsthand there in his recent trip to Beijing and he report on what he found in an article, "How Mao Became a Hipster Icon."

Anand, great to see. Great article. Very provocative here. Describe for me what you saw in China, this new alternative scene that seems to glorify Mao.

ANAND GIRIDHARADAS, "NEW YORK TIMES" COLUMNIST: So, it's interesting. When you at first walk down the grand boulevards of today's China, the first thing you see is the opposite, which is just senseless copying of western consumption. Berbery (ph) shops, Rolls Royce dealership, Nike and Adidas everywhere.

But I started to see on some of the hutongs (ph), the old Chinese lanes that are perpendicular to those big boulevards, an equal and opposite trend, which is all these vintage shops that were selling the old Maoist past back to a young generation of Chinese who didn't, frankly, live during that period, don't know its horrors and were kind of attracted to these vintage shoes and vintage watches and vintage skin cream even as a way of lashing out against the kind of hollow consumerism of their own moment in modern China.

MALVEAUX: Anand, tell us the significance of this movement here. Is the government concerned? Are they reacting to the young people?

GIRIDHARADAS: I think it's actually a very healthy thing that seems disturbing on the surface. I mean certainly Mao is not the kind of historical figure you'd want to have a beer with and it's -- they must be said that most of these kids who like the shoes and the glasses and the skin creams of his era didn't know much about it from the history books or from firsthand experience.

But I think the deeper thing that's going on here is a generation of people that has so heedlessly rushed in a very western looking future. Some of them actually stepping back and saying, hey, what's our identity? We're this huge country that's now everybody talking about as a superpower. Who are we? What's our soul? What's our identity? And that's, I think, a healthy working out, rather than their becoming a cheap copy of another country.

MALVEAUX: All right. Anand, great to see you. Very provocative article. Sorry, we've run out of time here. But a very good read and very interesting what is taking place in Beijing.

Thank you, Anand.

Still to come, a picture tells --

GIRIDHARADAS: And congrats on this new global show. America owes you a beer.

MALVEAUX: Thank you.

And we're taking a look at news around the world, but also photos around the globe as well. We're going to bring that to you after a quick break.

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