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Family Shot in Car in French Alps; U.S. Hands Over Afghan Prison; Iraqi V.P. Sentenced to Death; Indian Political Cartoonist Arrested; Key Al Qaida Leader Killed; Miners in South Africa on Strike; iPhone 5 Release Announced

Aired September 10, 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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ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Ashleigh Banfield. Thanks for watching, everyone.

NEWSROOM INTERNATIONAL with Suzanne Malveaux starts now.

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

Here's what's going on right now:

The government of Iraq wants its own vice president dead. Well, now, he is on the run.

And in Syria, they called them barrel bombs. They are full of nails, gasoline, and TNT. One just fell on a kindergartner.

Also, we begin in Europe, where a little while ago a girl just woke up after witnessing the unspeakable. It is a murder mystery that stretches from France to Britain. A family was found dead in a car in the French Alps. The body of a cyclist was also discovered nearby.

Now, all the victims were shot in the head, twice. But two little girls survived. One was beaten and shot. The other one hid under her dead mother's legs for hours.

Atika Shubert, she is joining us from Claygate, England, outside the family's home.

And, Atika, this has a lot of people talking. I mean, it's unbelievable when you think about what took place, what happened with this family. Do investigators have any idea of a motive?

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Not at this point. And that's the big question: What was the motive? Why did this happen?

And it is why British police are now inside the family home behind me there, looking for any clues, anything unusual, anything that might indicate why the family was targeted in this way.

Now, earlier in the day, there was a bomb disposal unit that was brought in. There were some items that police were concerned might be hazardous. That has turned out not to be the case, and so, they've brought the cordon close to the home.

But they've also been bringing quite a bit of equipment to really thoroughly comb through the home, trying to find anything that might indicate. But so far, no clue yet as to what the motive might have been, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And, Atika, we know that one of these surviving girls, she was beaten, she was shot, and she came out of a medically induced coma yesterday. Investigators, are they trying to reach her? Are they trying to talk to her?

SHUBERT: They are trying to. However, even though she's been brought out of that coma, she's still under sedation, so it may still be a few days yet before she's really able to speak with investigators. They did have a chance to speak with her younger sister, the 4-year-old that survived by hiding underneath her mother's legs for hours after the attack.

And, unfortunately, they say she was not able to provide any clues as to what happened. That she didn't see anything. She only heard the attack as it happened. So, they are really hoping that perhaps the 7-year-old daughter will be able to provide some clues, but so far no leads yet.

MALVEAUX: Atika, how are those two little girls doing? I mean, when you talk about that one who hid under her mother's legs -- do they have any sense of how she is mentally?

SHUBERT: Well, I mean, as you can imagine, it is an extremely traumatic event. We do know that the 4-year-old girl has been brought here back to the U.K. That she is with her closest relatives now, and that is good. The 7-year-old, as you know, has been brought out of her coma.

But it will be very difficult to, of course, break the news to the 7-year-old girl about the -- what happened to her parents and then to have to question her afterwards will be very difficult.

MALVEAUX: Wow. Just tragic. Difficult, indeed.

Thank you very much, Atika. Appreciate it.

On to Afghanistan now.

You're listening to a ceremony there.

The U.S. military today handed over control of a controversial prison to the Afghan government. The brief ceremony, of course, making it official today. More than 3,000 Taliban fighters and terrorism suspects are held at Parwan Prison. It is at Bagram Air Base, that is near Kabul. And, Anna Coren, she's in Kabul, and she joins us here.

The U.S., of course, explained to us, they are not necessarily giving up all of the prisoners. They're closing the detention center, handing it over to the Afghans. What about those detainees that are still in U.S. custody?

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Suzanne, on the surface, everything might seem OK. But underneath it was a completely different story. There is real tension here between Afghanistan and the United States.

So the U.S. holding on to something like 34 highly valued detainees. These being senior members of the Taliban, of the Haqqani Network, which of course just a couple of days ago was listed as a terrorist organization and of al Qaeda.

So, these are the detainees that the U.S. does not want to hand over to the Afghans just yet. The reason being is they're concerned they'll end up in the criminal justice system and possibly be freed, whether it's through political interference or corruption. That is the major concern, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And where do those prisoners go? Where do they physically take them? Where are they being held by the American officials?

COREN: Well, the Americans actually have a part of Bagram Prison. They have their own section. So, the prisoners are still being held at will.

Now, it's worth noting, Suzanne, that an agreement was signed back in March between President Karzai and the United States about handing over control. But as of March, the U.S. has arrested something, like, 1,600 prisoners. They have been detained, and they are still under the control of the United States as well.

So it's actually a few more than just the 34 that we have mentioned. But, yes, they will still be staying at Bagram Prison.

MALVEAUX: Tell the significance of this particular prison, because I understand it is the same place where you had hundreds of Qurans that were actually burned earlier in the year by U.S. troops, and that really set of a lot of violent protests against the U.S. military inside of Afghanistan.

COREN: Yes, definitely. I mean, this is a prison that has a long history. There were allegations of torture many years ago at the start of the occupation of Afghanistan, but certainly it has -- it has cleaned up its act, if you like, certainly after Abu Ghraib in Iraq, Bagram has cleaned up its act. So, there haven't been allegations of torture, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And how important is this to the Karzai government, to Hamid Karzai, who essentially is trying to get some assurances, some comfort, even some confidence to folks that once U.S. and international forces leave, that he is going to be able to rule his own country.

COREN: Yes. Well, that is a huge problem, Suzanne, trying to convince the Afghan population that he will be able to do just that.

You mentioned the exit in 2014. We're already seeing a drawdown of coalition troops by the end of this month. There will only be 68,000 U.S. forces that are left in Afghanistan.

So, you know, this is a coalition force that is reducing in numbers, and they will be gone by 2014, all foreign combat troops.

But, you know, Suzanne, this was, of course, the safe haven for the Taliban before 2001, before those September 11th attacks. Tomorrow is the 11th anniversary, so I think the United States is really concerned that once those foreign combat troops leave, that this doesn't once again become a safe haven, I should say, for al Qaeda.

MALVEAUX: All right. Anna Coren, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Here's what we're working on for NEWSROOM INTERNATIONAL:

Iraq unraveling. That is right. A wave of bombings just ripping through the country. Now, the Vice President, he's on the run from his own government.

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MALVEAUX: After a day of dozens of attacks, Iraq's Vice President is appealing to people to stay calm. A wave of bombings across Iraq left 94 people dead, more than 300 wounded on Sunday.

This came on the same day a court in Baghdad found Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi guilty of ordering attacks on officials and security forces. Al-Hashimi says that living in self-imposed -- he has now been living in self-imposed exile in Turkey -- and he denies these charges against him, says that the death sentence is now politically motivated.

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TARIQ AL-HASHIMI, IRAQI VICE PRESIDENT: I consider verdict a medal on my chest and a fair cost that I have to pay in return of my absolute dedication, in serving my country, Iraq, and my people, the Iraqis.

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MALVEAUX: I want to bring in our own Michael Holmes to talk a little bit about this. And, of course, you've covered this extensively.

Hashimi, one of the most prominent Sunni in the country, became the vice president back in 2006. Now he is run out of the country. What is going on in Iraq? MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: This all goes back to something we've talked about him before on the program, and that is this concern by Sunnis in Iraq that they have been sidelined, disenfranchised from the political system. Nouri al- Maliki, the prime minister, he's a Shiite, of course.

And part of the deal when the Americans started to draw down is there would be a power-sharing government involving Sunni, Shia, and Kurds, as well as others. This has not happened, and you've had Sunnis claiming that al-Maliki is becoming a dictator of sort. He's being described as Saddam-like, and that the Sunnis are not being named to position that is they were meant to be named in and are being pushed to the sidelines out of key posts.

This is where a lot of this comes from, and al-Hashimi, who was widely supported within the Sunni community, all of a sudden gets wind that he is going to be charged with basically capital crimes. So, he gets up north to Kurdistan and go across into Turkey.

MALVEAUX: Is he powerful? Does he have any sway whatsoever now that he is out of the country? Can he do anything?

HOLMES: He doesn't have any sway, but he has a lot of support among Sunnis, and this is where you are seeing violence ratcheting up. It's the local al Qaeda affiliate, the Islamic State of Iraq, it's called. It's kind of an umbrella group. You have al Qaeda certainly involved, but you also have Sunni Islamist groups and remnants of the old Saddam Ba'ath Party who are behind all this violence, and it's just getting bigger and bigger and bigger.

You know, every month there's been a major coordinated attack.

MALVEAUX: Why is this happening?

HOLMES: In July, there's 350 people were killed.

MALVEAUX: Why is this happening now, Michael, the timing of all this? I mean, obviously, you know, people are looking at the situation. A lot of people see that you went into Iraq thinking that eventually there would be home-building, nation-building -- and this hasn't happened. There is no peace there.

HOLMES: It was a pretty naive notion to go into Iraq and think that would happen, to be honest, and I think a lot of people look back at it now and see it that way. I mean, there was never going to be built a democracy in the Western style in Iraq. There's too many disparate groups, and now between the central government and the Kurds in the north, who are largely autonomous.

They're having their own issues, too -- largely about oil revenues, but about other things as well. It's a country that has a lot of tribal and religious differences. It always has been.

And this goes back to the whole thing of, you know, what is Iraq but lines drawn on a map after World War I where the West basically said that's Iraq, everyone get along, as they did with most of the Middle East, and it was -- you see these old fractions, divisions that just keep coming to the surface.

A lot of people now in Iraq -- talking to a friend of mine in Baghdad this morning -- who say that even now you are hearing Iraqis talking about maybe dividing the country again, which either into autonomous regions usual three separate states.

MALVEAUX: There was a controversial proposal. It was one that Joe Biden was pushing. It was rejected.

HOLMES: Everyone pooh-poohed it, and now, even Iraqis are talking about that.

There is the regional problems too, the Syrian conflict. The Shiite government of Nouri al-Maliki is worried if the rebels win there and they upped with a Sunni-dominate government, they may help sponsor more of the Sunni insurgency within Iraq.

Everything is linked in that part of the world.

MALVEAUX: All right. Michael, thank you. It's sad to see that it's deteriorating and it's headed in that direction now. Appreciate it.

Nails, gasoline, TNT -- those are the ingredients of barrel bombs that the Syrian government is now reportedly dropping on its own people.

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MALVEAUX: Mass killings and torture have become the norm in Syria. That is according to the United Nations. Its human rights chief is calling for an end to supplying ammunition to both sides. Now, she says government and opposition forces are now deploying snipers who target civilians.

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MALVEAUX: What you're watching here, this video was posted online from Aleppo today. A Syrian opposition group says that the day's death toll has already passed 100, including many people killed there in Aleppo.

Our Nick Payton Walsh, he is in that city. He's going to take to us a hospital on the front lines of the fighting. We've got to warn that some of this stuff is pretty disturbing.

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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dar al-Shifa Hospital is where many in Aleppo run when they're caught by the constant shelling.

Even though the hospital and the area around it have also been fired upon.

(on camera): The shells hit this part of the hospital. Still, on this day, we see many civilians flooding here for treatment, some of them very young. Doctors are telling us the children's hospital has been closed by the government.

(voice-over): Some terrified. Some starving. Mohammed (ph), aged 8, was hit by shrapnel fired from Syrian regime mortars. He is quiet, brave, but this hospital isn't equipped for the surgery he needs. His thighbone is shattered.

So the doctors have no choice but to exacerbate his ordeal and send him across the front lines to the government hospital, hoping perversely that those who hurt him can also heal him.

President Bashar al-Assad is history in the minds of locals, but his regime still has the best hospitals where one doctor works during the day before sneaking here to help this rebel hospital in the evening.

He tells me, wanting even his voice hidden, that in the regime hospitals, 50 soldiers are brought in every day, but sometimes doctors mercy kill by injection those they can't treat effectively. And that if they found he was working in the rebel hospital, they'd kill him.

Ahmad's (ph) head has been hit by shrapnel from shelling, his ear almost blown off. They struggle to clean the wound and to find enough anesthetic. At any point, the power could cut.

Still, the doctors carry on. "It hurts," he cries. But he's yet to learn the worst about what the shelling did.

They killed his father, who's mourned just outside the hospital. The dead here, so many the doctors must leave them on the street. His brother arrives. There's no room for privacy or dignity here.

They remove the body before Ahmad (ph) can learn what happened.

The blood remains on the street unnoticed by some. The people of Aleppo are numb, looking to the skies, checking what next may befall them.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Aleppo.

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MALVEAUX: Now, Nick is talking about people looking to the sky for the next attack. That is because the Syrian government has been increasing the number of air strikes that it is now launching against the rebels, and it means that more civilians are also being killed and wounded.

I want to bring in Mohammed Jamjoom. He's in neighboring Lebanon.

And, Mohammed, talk a little bit about what we have heard, and it sounds absolutely horrific -- this idea, this creation of barrel bombs that are being used. MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Suzanne, opposition activists are increasingly worried and telling us about a new form of crude weaponry that they say is being utilized by the Syrian regime to bomb different parts of Syria. They're calling these barrel bombs. They say that they are crudely constructed improvised explosive devices that the Syrian regime effectively are taking barrels and loading them up with everything from nails to TNT, to other types of explosives, to fuel.

We've seen more and more amateur videos posted online purporting to show the aftermath of these types of attacks.

Yesterday in the Hannamu (ph) District of Aleppo, we saw amateur video reporting to show a residential building that had been completely flattened. You saw men scrambling around that building searching frantically for any survivors or others buried in the rubble. And increasingly, these activists are saying that the Syrian regime using these on more neighborhoods and just wreaking so much deconstruction by doing so -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And, Mohammed, tell us why is this happening now? Why have they decided start using this?

JAMJOOM: Well, Suzanne, it's very hard to verify since the Syrian regime is not saying anything about this at this point.

But the opposition activists and the rebel Free Syrian Army members that we've been speaking with say that it's simple. They say, first of all, these very crudely constructed weapons, they are very cheap to make, that they don't cost much. Some in the opposition are speculating that perhaps the funding of the Syrian military is being depleted. They don't have as much money to buy new weaponry, and maybe that's why they're using hem.

But most of all, people are saying this is just maximizing the type of devastation that when this type of bomb impacts the ground, that it creates a lot more devastation than other bombs that were used prior to this -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Mohammed, finally, with the government increasing all he's air strikes and seeing these barrel bombs being used essentially, is the international community any more likely to consider imposing a no fly zone. We haven't even seen that.

JAMJOOM: We haven't, Suzanne. You know, last month it was indicated by the U.S. and Turkey that they were studying various options of what to do, that among those options might be a no fly zone, but it doesn't seem like there's anything close to imminent as far as trying to impose a no fly zone.

There are more and more calls from members of the international community to impose a no fly zone, but where is the willingness of the countries to do so. How are they going to do so, especially when the U.N. Security Council is still deadlocked because Syria -- because Russia and because China are backing the Syrian regime. It's just very difficult, and even though there are more calls, even from the Syrians as well to impose this, it's just not looking like it will happen any time soon -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right. Mohammed, appreciate it.

About a million people turn out in London for a final salute to the Summer Olympics. We're going to take you there live.

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MALVEAUX: Welcome back to NEWSROOM INTERNATIONAL. We'll take you around the world in 60 minutes.

Take a look at what is number one on Bulgarian radios right now, topping the charts.

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MALVEAUX: It's kind of funky, actually. It was Angel-Muisei- Krisko singing their summer hit "Come to the Sea."

And heroes of Olympics and Paralympics Games, they are soaking up the glory today, almost a million folks cheered them in a victory parade through central London.

Richard Quest, he was there.

Richard, wow. How was the ceremony? Who was -- who showed up?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, I think the important thing is this was not just -- I mean, obviously its reason was to honor the medal winners, 700 of them who came through on buses through central London. But it was more than that, besides a (INAUDIBLE) and princess royal and the prime minister, and the mayor of London, Boris Johnson.

I think, Suzanne, what this was really all about was Britain putting sort of the finishing touches to what has been a summer of sport from the Olympics and the Paralympic Games and basically wrapping it all up in one big thought that says the country done good. The athletes done good. All -- and crucially, all those nasty little prognosis of problems with rail and problems with transport, problems with infrastructure, problems with this and problem --

MALVEAUX: All right.

QUEST: It didn't happen.

MALVEAUX: All right. You're a little proud of yourself there.

And London should be proud too. But give us a sense of the flavor. I mean, who was there? The closing ceremony at the Paralympics last night, I understand you had a lot of major hits? A- list people.

QUEST: Yes, Coldplay, Rihanna, loads of people were -- Jay-Z was also there. That was unlike the Olympics, the Paralympics was set up as a celebration in terms of fire. That was the theme of it. It was absolutely dramatic. The fireworks at the end were spectacular, and in many ways those who were there said that the Paralympic closing games was, if you like, more meaningful and had a much stronger content that those -- than the actual Olympics themselves.

Yes, the Olympics themselves had the Spice Girls reforming, but the Paralympics games actually had the athletes in chairs in the stadium for the whole performance, so they were much more part of it than they were for the Olympic Games themselves.

MALVEAUX: All right. Richard, when does London get back to normal? When do they all start leaving?

QUEST: Oh, of course. No, what you really mean is when does the tube (ph) break down, when do things start going wrong? When do things get -- that's what are you really getting at. I can hear you niggling me (inaudible) this. It ain't going to happen.

Listen, one other story to bring to your attention. You will have seen Prince Harry, who is now in Afghanistan. You're familiar with what I'm talking about --

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MALVEAUX: Yes. Go ahead.

QUEST: -- I believe, Suzanne, threats that the Taliban saying that they will do whatever they can to kidnap or kill Prince Harry now that he is on active service duty in Afghanistan.

MALVEAUX: What is the Royal Family doing? Are they responding to that in any way? I mean, that sounds very serious.

QUEST: It is. And when Harry was first deployed to Afghanistan as a ground -- member of the ground troops, he was pulled out when knowledge of him being there came out, so the difference this time and why the Ministry of Defense say he won't be pulled out and they're much more relaxed as they can be about this is because he is a helicopter pilot, and to quote the Ministry of Defense, it's a lot more difficult to kill or kidnap a helicopter pilot.

Let's ignore the fact you have to got to get in first and you have got to get past the British troops, and so it's the Taliban making a lot of noise and hot air about it, but I can tell you the British troops are not concerned.

MALVEAUX: Good. We certainly hope that he is safe. We appreciate that. Richard Quest, good to see you.

QUEST: I am going -- I am going to take you on a tube journey next time you come to this city.

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MALVEAUX: I would like that.

QUEST: Public transport. MALVEAUX: Yes. I have been on the tube before, actually, but, yes, we can do that at post-Olympics and see what that experience is like. Good to see you, Richard. I got to leave it there.

QUEST: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: All right.

In Havana, more than 2 million people spent the night without power.

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MALVEAUX: The arrest of a political cartoonist in India leads to complaints of censorship in the world's largest democracy. Authorities arrested Aseem Trivedi over his cartoons mocking political corruption in India.

At a hearing today Trivedi refused to apply for bail. His lawyer is demanding that authorities drop sedition charges against him. Now, in India sedition is defined as an act of hatred against the government or attempting to stir up government dissatisfaction.

Electricity beginning to return to parts of Cuba now after a major power outage left parts of the country in the dark. Now, a government spokesman says that more than 2 million people in Havana lost electricity. Power outage affected western and central Cuba. Cubans are used to these brief outages because of the country's old electrical grid, but this one is a lot larger.

Yemen's defense ministry said today that Yemeni forces have killed a key Al Qaeda leader. This is big news on Twitter. Here's a tweet that actually caught our eye.

"Yemen has killed Said al-Shehri, a man seen as the second in command of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, seen as its most dangerous wing."

In Argentina it is a real-life resurrection story. A premature baby the doctors had given up for dead is now going home alive today.

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MALVEAUX: How parents in Argentina get to take their baby daughter home from the hospital. This is not an ordinary homecoming. No ordinary baby. Her parents call it a miracle, and they call her a miracle. When you hear the story, you're probably going to agree. Here's our Rafael Romo.

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RAFAEL ROMO, SR. LATIN AFFAIRS EDITOR (voice-over): She weighs only 800 grams, about a pound and three-quarters. She was born premature after only six months of gestation. Her parents are calling her a miracle baby.

When she was born at Verandal (ph) Hospital in northeastern Argentina, she had no vital signs. Neonatal doctors checked her for a second time and, again, found no vital signs of life, according to hospital director, Jose Riz Menino (ph).

"She was observed for a while and declared dead," Fabian Veron, the baby's father says. "Her mother insisted on seeing the baby one last time after she was already inside a coffin."

FABIAN VERON, BABY'S FATHER (through translator): They put the coffin on top of a stretcher, and we looked for a little crowbar to open it, because it was nailed shut. I put the crowbar in there and started prying.

I took a breath and took the lid off. At that moment I saw a white cover over the baby. My wife saw the little body first and she touched her little hand. She then uncovered her face, and that's when we heard the first cry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Wow. That is unbelievable.

Rafael Romo joins us. That's just a beautiful, beautiful story.

She is now 5 months old, and she spent, what, 10 hours inside of this refrigeration morgue? Her parents, you've talked to her parents. What do they think?

ROMO: Well, it just an incredible story, and for the family it has been an emotional roller coaster. First, they get the news that the baby has no vital signs, that she's dead and that she's going to be sent to the morgue, and that's why she was put in a freezer at the morgue and spent 10 hours to 12 hours there, and then they go there and they all of a sudden realize that she's alive.

She's been in the hospital for all this time. She turned five months old a week ago exactly. And the parents are just elated. Many challenges, but let's hear what they have to say about finally being able to bring the baby home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANALIA BOUTET, BABY'S MOTHER (through translator): After suffering from pneumonia, bleeding and everything else, she's finally with us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We waited for her for a long time. When she was in the hospital, we couldn't see her, but finally she's here. We're all now very happy because we can now be together as a family.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMO: And, Suzanne, she's not necessarily out of the woods. She's still in a very fragile state of health. She needs a respirator. She's going to be fed through a feeding tube and, again, she was premature, so she's still very, very small.

MALVEAUX: Yes. It's step by step as they go. Her name, her original name, they had one picked out for her, and then they changed it. Tell us a little bit about that story.

ROMO: That's right. The name that the parents had picked was Lucia. And when all of this happened, they decided to change it to Luz Milagros, the Spanish words for light and miracles, and it is very appropriate. She has become a household name in Argentina, people just praying for her that she gets better.

MALVEAUX: Are there any doctors or officials or anybody who can explain what happened here, why it was that they pronounced this little girl dead and that she was not?

ROMO: Nobody has been really able to explain this. When you think about the human body spending more than an hour in this kind of frigid conditions, you start thinking about hypothermia.

The only possible explanation that I've heard out there is that maybe that kind of temperature, her being a baby and a premature baby, slowed down the metabolism, but in any case, it's just something that is very difficult to explain.

And that's why the family says that it is a miracle that she's getting a second chance at life. The sad thing about it is that doctors say that she might have suffered permanent brain damage; they don't really know to what extent because she's very fragile. She's not wide awake yet. It's only going to take time to know exactly how bad it is (inaudible).

(CROSSTALK)

MALVEAUX: Keep us updated, Rafael.

ROMO: Absolutely.

MALVEAUX: It's a beautiful story. Thank you.

ROMO: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: Tomorrow a lot of people are going to go to the National September 11th Memorial in Lower Manhattan, but they're not going to find the name of one Muslim-American in the section honoring the first responders. His mother says his faith is the reason why. Here's Susan Candiotti.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When 9/11 terrorists attacked the World Trade Center, firefighters and police were quick to respond. So was Mohammad Hamdani, a 23-year-old certified EMT, who had worked as a police cadet. He skipped his job at a university research lab and rushed to the site.

TALAT HAMDANI, MOHAMMAD HAMDANI'S MOTHER: He was a prime example of what it is to be a human being, and he went there to save humanity.

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): And sacrificed his own life in the process. His family posted his photo among thousands of others on a wall of the missing.

A Pakistani-American who grew up in New York and dreamed of becoming a doctor. The following march Hamdani's remains were found in 34 parts.

HAMDANI: They gave us his jeans and his belt. My husband identified that they were his clothes.

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): A police funeral followed with full honors from fellow cadets, the mayor and police commissioner.

COMMISSIONER RAY KELLY, NYPD: I want to speak to all the New York members of the New York City Police Department who responded that day. He was indeed a hero.

HAMDANI: It was a very healing moment, and that was given in honor to me on the first anniversary honoring Salman ph as an NYPD cadet.

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): An NYPD badge that reads cadet, but with all the accolades, all the honors, for them the most important one is missing.

CANDIOTTI: When the 9/11 Memorial was unveiled, the family of Mohammad Hamdani wanted to see his name grouped here among first responders who, like him, lost their lives trying to save others. Instead Hamdani's name is positioned over here in a section among those considered loosely connected to the World Trade Center.

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Hamdani's mother is convinced his Muslim religion has set him apart.

HAMDANI: They are discriminating because of his faith and that is not right.

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): She points to this flyer that circulated days after 9/11, sent to ambulance dispatchers, among others. It has Hamdani's police cadet photo and reads "Has ID, wanted." The NYPD disavows any knowledge of it and says Hamdani is a hero.

The 9/11 Memorial Foundation and police deny discrimination, saying Hamdani was no longer an active cadet and had not received a presidential medal for valor. Therefore, he did not meet the memorial's criteria of first responders.

HAMDANI: This is about my son. He is it not here to speak for himself. I have to speak for him, and I will to the day I die.

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): She doesn't understand why no one will help.

HAMDANI: I want to see it in my lifetime. It's a very -- so intense pain that is indescribable.

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Too painful to revisit the memorial where her son's name remains apart from others who tried to save lives -- Susan Candiotti, CNN, New York.

MALVEAUX: After a shooting that left dozens dead --

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MALVEAUX (voice-over): -- miners in South Africa were supposed to go back to work today, but right now tens of thousands of them are standing up in defiance.

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MALVEAUX: In South Africa, another 15,000 miners are on strike. They walked off the job at KDC (ph) gold mine that is west of Johannesburg last night.

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MALVEAUX (voice-over): Now police were bracing for the possibility of more violence at this mine. That is where 44 people were killed last month. Nkepile Mabuse shows us how today's deadline to go back to work came and went.

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NKEPILE MABUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly a month into this illegal strike, we saw thousands of Lonmin platinum mine workers take to the streets. They marched from shaft to shaft, basically reiterating their call. They want their pay increased to US$1,500 a month.

At the moment, many of them are earning between US$500 and US$600. Some were armed with machetes and clubs, also making, again, the call that they will kill those who dare return to work.

At the same time Lonmin are in discussions with mine unions about the possibility of these wage increases, but the mine -- the Chamber of Mines here in South Africa has said that that demand that the miners are making is totally unreasonable, and Lonmin telling at least CNN that if these miners, if they do end up getting more money, some of them will have to be retrenched -- Nkepile Mabuse, CNN, Marikana, South Africa.

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MALVEAUX: Turning now to some technology news, the iPhone 5 might finally be here. It's widely expected the device is going to be unveiled at an Apple mini-event that will happen on Wednesday. Our Laurie Segall gives us a preview.

LAURIE SEGALL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Big Apple announcement coming up this week. We've all been waiting on it. Now we got this invitation this week. You can see what it says. It says we're almost here, September 12th.

What we're really interested in is the shadow right here that has a five. So got a lot of us speculating that maybe we'll finally get the iPhone 5, we'll finally hear about it, but what's it going to look like? What's it going to feel like? So many questions.

So let's go through some of those rumors. Now, first of all, this is your traditional iPhone you're looking at. Lots of rumors about a bigger screen. The iPhone has had a 3.5 inch screen since 2007. Now, there's speculation that this screen may expand about four inches, so this could be the first time we actually see a taller iPhone since 2007.

People are also talking about the headphone jack. You take a look at this. Usually at the top of your phone. Now that could also move to the bottom of your phone.

And here's a rumor people are really talking about. A smaller dot connector. Now you here, right here, it's how you plug in your phone. It could get smaller, which might mean you might have to get a new plug for other devices, so, you know, the iPhone 5 is also expected to support 4G, and that means it will be faster than previous versions of the device.

Another thing, we're all waiting to hear about NFC capabilities. Lots of Android devices have them already. It's a technology that essentially turns your smartphone into your wallet.

But it's not all about the iPhone. We're also hearing a lot of talk about an iPad Mini. Now we've heard rumors that Apple is going to release a smaller version of its traditional iPad, put it head-to- head with smaller tablets like Kindle Fire and Google's Nexus 7. Price speculation between about 250, 300 bucks, but could it happen? You might actually have to wait a bit.

I have a source who says, expect a smaller iPad, but don't expect it next week. But you never know.

Also, coming up the day before the announcement, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is going to publicly speak for the first time since the company's rocky debut into the public market. So it's definitely going to be a jam-packed week in tech news. Back to you.

MALVEAUX: All right. Laurie, thank you very much.

From the alleys of Hong Kong to the high-end fashion, we're going to show you how an old taxi goes from trash to treasure.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK) MALVEAUX: Clothes designers in Hong Kong spends his days scouring alleys for discarded taxi parts. Kristie Lu Stout, she speaks to the guy who is turning those parts now into handbags.

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KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, where big crowds and brand names dominate.

BILLY POTTS, DESIGNER: It is a part of Hong Kong, but it's certainly not representative of all of Hong Kong.

STOUT: Just a kilometer away, in the neighborhood of Taiheng (ph), the city takes on a decidedly different feel. It's here where Billy Potts found his inspiration.

Is it hard to find beauty in something that is discarded and thrown away?

POTTS: No, actually. I find -- I find many of these things really beautiful. A lot of people would find this kind of environment maybe not very appealing, but I find it incredibly beautiful.

STOUT: (voice-over): In an alleyway of discarded taxi cab parts, the lawyer turned designer saw an opportunity.

POTTS: Actually what we take is the bench seat.

STOUT: (Inaudible).

POTTS: So you see two big bench seats here. Basically that provides you with, like -- because you've got the back, and you have got the seat, so that provides you with two really huge sort of sheets of vinyl.

STOUT (voice-over): Vinyl that Potts and his staff collect, redesign, and transform into handbags and accessories.

So how do you turn garbage like this into something beautiful, that design aspect? How do you put that on top of your products and designs?

POTTS: Well, it's all about storytelling, really. Like you have to -- there's no point hiding what it is. That's the beautiful thing about it. If you think about it, all of it has been designed by somebody. Like, it's really beautiful, ingenious industrial design.

STOUT (voice-over): And while his products, now sold throughout Hong Kong, are no doubt eco-friendly, Potts shies away from the term.

STOUT: So it's not about eco-chic or being green. It's as a designer, you should think about sustainability?

Yes. I don't want sustainability or greenness to be a fad. It's, as a designer, you should think about sustainability? POTTS: Yes. I don't want sustainability or greenness to be a fad. I don't want it to be a gimmick. I want it to be an integral part of design.

STOUT: (voice-over): He says his designs represent more the story he wants to tell is of Hong Kong itself.

POTTS: The whole place is just unapologetically gritty. But, of course, there are areas where it can clean up really nicely and, you know, we do it really well.

STOUT: (voice-over): A city gave hem a confidence to abandon a law career to start again.

POTTS: It's almost as if you tell a Hong Konger you can't do this, then they will do it just to show you that they can.

STOUT: Now determined to give the city's iconic taxis a second life as well.

Kristi Lu Stout, CNN, Hong Kong.