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Marking Anniversary of 9/11 Attacks; Brother of Al Qaeda Commander Offers Deal; Somalia's New President Sworn In; White Soldier Walks Israeli Streets; Ebola Outbreak in the Congo

Aired September 11, 2012 - 12:00   ET

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

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:

Star power and a humanitarian crisis. Angelina Jolie meets with Syrian refugees in Jordan as U.N. ambassador

And a country that has not had a real central government since 1990s, suddenly there is new hope -- and a new president for Somalia.

But today we begin on a day we all promise never to forget.

From Pennsylvania to the Pentagon to Ground Zero, the country marks the 11th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks. At World Trade Center site in New York, family members read the names of 2,753 people who died there. But four times today, that reading stopped.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

MALVEAUX: The sound of the bell followed by the sound of silence marks the moment the two planes hit the towers and the moment each tower fell.

At the Pentagon, President Obama took part in a wreath-laying ceremony. He said the wounds from 9/11 are still painful but the legacy will be unity and strength.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So, as painful as this day is and always will be, it leaves us with a lesson that no single event can ever destroy who we are, no act of terrorism can ever change what we stand for. Instead, we recommit ourselves to the values that we believe in, holding firmly without wavering to the hope that we confess. That's the commitment that we reaffirm today.

And that's why, when the history books are written, the true legacy of 9/11 will not be one of fear or hate or division, it will be a safer world, a stronger nation, and a people more united than ever before.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MALVEAUX: We want to bring in our reporters covering the 9/11 anniversary.

Poppy Harlow is at Ground Zero, Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, and Dana Bash on Capitol Hill.

Poppy, let's start with you. You had a chance to talk with the family of a trader who died at World Trade Center. What do they take away from today? What do they want us to remember, if at all?

POPPY HARLOW, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I did. I spoke with Elaine and Bob Hughes. Their 30-year-old son, Chris, was killed in the South Tower. He worked on the 89th floor and every day for them they say it feels like 9/11.

But they also had a bigger message and, Suzanne, that bigger message was we can never be beaten. Today was very, very important for them. It's a big day for the mother, Elaine Hughes -- hopefully you're seeing video of her right now.

She got to read off names during this memorial ceremony of the victims including her son's name, Chris Hughes, and she told me, "That was a check off my bucket list. I wanted to do that for my son." So, a very big day for her.

But I also talked to them how this year, this anniversary of 9/11, is different than any of the prior anniversaries. Here's what they told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Was today different than the 10th anniversary of 9/11? And if so, how?

ELAINE HUGHES, LOST SON ON 9/11. I think this year, it was, I felt better, mostly because there were no politicians here. There was no big fanfare and it was for the people.

HARLOW: That's what I thought.

HUGHES: Exactly. It was just for the people. And you could feel everyone's presence here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: And that really embodies what I felt here all day, and that is today is not about pomp and circumstance, I not the about the president being down here, it was just about the people and the families and remembering. A lot of the families went over to the memorial site and they etched their names on paper and took that home with them, like they do every year here now.

But 11 years later, it's still incredibly painful for these parents and for every family member but also today, Suzanne, I would be remiss not to mention what a beautiful day it is for them to remember their families. It's a clear, crisp, sunny day, a Tuesday morning, just like it was on 9/11 and that is really sticking with the people here as well.

MALVEAUX: Poppy, thank you very much.

I want to go to Barbara. Barbara, you were at the Pentagon during those attacks 11 years ago. Tell us now, 11 years later the war in Afghanistan winding down, what are your thoughts and the people there at the Pentagon.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, here at the Pentagon, again, the president came the moment of silence. But what you saw was the Pentagon family, family of those killed in the building, those who are on American 77 and many people from the Pentagon. They're going to gather again in about two hours out in the central courtyard for another ceremony to commemorate what happened here.

But here at Pentagon for the military, there is a lot of emphasis on the troops -- 77,000 American forces still fighting in Afghanistan every day, still on the front line, the wounded, the killed in action, coming home to their towns and communities across the country. The emphasis here is on remembering those troops, remembering their sacrifice and their call to duty, even while we remember what happened here 11 years ago.

The war in Afghanistan, whatever the politicians want to say about it, it is still a case where many Americans are out there risking it all -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Thank you, Barbara.

Dana, I want to bring you in. You were there 11 years ago, right where you are. Take us back to that day what you remember and really how we have not seen the kind of bipartisanship that we saw since that time.

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, let's start there, Suzanne. Just moments ago, there was a remembrance ceremony with the leaders of the House and the Senate Republicans and Democrats. They gave brief remarks but they ended by singing "God Bless America", and the reason why that is so poignant is because 11 years ago, I remember it like it was yesterday, that the members of Congress who were dispersed all over the city came together at the end of the day on 9/11 in order to show the strength of the U.S. government and they broke into song, into this song "God Bless America" in an impromptu way it was remarkable.

But it was the end of a day that was something that none of us will forget. But here at Capitol I can paint the picture of what happened. My personal experience, that of many others here -- I was actually coming up here, right now, this is all a visitor's center and you can't park up here but we were able to park 11 years ago before secure changed, drove up here.

I came up here across the plaza, into the Capitol, and the Capitol police officers were trying to help me get in because they realized there was a news story going on, none of us realizes how intense it was.

As soon as I got in there, Suzanne, the Capitol police started to scream run. And I ran out, every other staff somewhere lawmakers here early came out, down the steps to the United States Senate. I remember very clearly seeing senators just streaming down the steps, not knowing where to go, not having a plan.

We all came to here where I'm standing, which is just across the plaza, and we actually over here plugged in a camera that showed up miraculously. We didn't have access to phones, nobody did. All of our cell phones were blocked up. But they were able to plug in, our camera operator was able to plug in, so that we could get a sense of what was happening here as people were so frightened.

And then pretty much as soon, Suzanne, as we were able to plug in, the Capitol police officers heard on their radio that there was a plane, they didn't know where it was, it turned out to be Flight 93, which of course crashed in Pennsylvania and they started to scream, run, run, run for your life, and everybody took off -- press, reporters, staff members, members of Congress.

I want you to see the scene -- people running down this lawn straight across as fast as they could. That's the Supreme Court over there, just to get to the street, and the scene was terrifying, frankly, people were running out of their shoes, on the lawn but also I just remember how there was no plan for some of the most senior members of our government.

Robert C. Byrd, Senator Byrd of West Virginia, he was third in line to be president. I remember seeing him right out there wandering around. I don't think he had a staff member with him, there was no plan in place for him to go anywhere. Obviously, that is quite, quite different now, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Yes. Those memories are so fresh for so many folks. Dana, thank you very much for painting that picture. And, obviously, they've tried to do as much as they can to put plans in place since that tragic day.

And 11 years after September 11th attacks, the brother of al Qaeda's leader is now offering to mediate a peace deal between al Qaeda and the West. Now he explains these terms to our own Nic Robertson in a CNN exclusive interview. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If the man next to me looks familiar, it's because he is. He's the brother of al Qaeda leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri.

We are meeting Mohamed al-Zawahiri because he says he has a plan to end al Qaeda's jihad against the West.

"I only speak as a mediator for the Islamic movement. I don't remember certain groups. My role is a mediator between the West and them," he says. Our people like death the same way others like life. But we don't want to get into this endless cycle of violence. We like for others and us to live peacefully.

Mohamed al-Zawahiri was released from Egyptian jail barely five months ago, after serving 14 years on charges including terrorism, charges he denies.

Before jail, he and his brother were fellow jihadists, still share the same ideology, he says.

"There is no difference between my brother's thinking and mine. The portrayal of my brother's ideologies and mine, that it's bloodthirsty, barbaric or terrorists not true at all," he says. His six-page proposal offers a continue-year truce if -- U.S. and West stop interfering in Muslim lands, U.S. stop interfering in Muslim education, U.S. ends the war on Islam, the U.S. to release all Islamist prisoners.

It also call on Islamists, too -- stop attacks on Western and U.S. interests, protect legitimate Western and U.S. interests in Muslim lands, stop provoking the U.S. and the West.

It is similar to a proposal bin Laden made in 2004.

(on camera): Then came the attack in London in 2005. Is your proposal like this, if it isn't accepted, then there's more attacks?

(voice-over): "I am sorry to say those who caused the London attacks were the West, because the oppression was continuous, either you stop the oppression or accept reconciliation," he says. You have to be logical if you want to live in peace, then you must make others feel that they will live in peace."

So make his point, Zawahiri leads me to a protest outside the U.S. embassy.

(on camera): This is the protest calling for the release of the sheikh Abdel Rahman.

(voice-over): The so-called blind sheikh jailed for his part in the 1993 World Trade Center attack in New York.

We meet the sheikh's son.

(on camera): When you call for prisoners to be released as part of your document, you're talking about Sheikh Abdel Rahman, yes? The first one.

If Sheikh Abdel Rahman is released this can help improve the relationship. How does that work? Why does it change people's minds?

(voice-over): Because he explains, it reduces the impression of U.S. arrogance.

Zawahiri denies niece contact with his brother, but says he could be if the U.S. allows it.

(on camera): Do you think it's realistic that the United States would release somebody like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed the man accused of masterminding September 11th?

(voice-over): "As you see, Sheikh Mohammed's hand is stained in blood of the Americans, he says. We also see the hands of American leaders and soldiers stained in the blood of the Muslims. Those in prison with the Islamic movement would also be released. We want to turn a page and forget the past."

Zawahiri has faith his brother wants to turn the page, too. But it wouldn't be the first time the terms were unimaginable for Western leaders.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Cairo, Egypt.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Here's more of what we're working on for NEWSROOM INTERNATIONAL: a man in Israel so desperate for change he sets himself on fire.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: The last two decades, Somalia has been a country in chaos. Well, with the lack of leadership, clan warlord and militants have basically been battling for control. You might remember it best for the incident Black Hawk down.

Back in 1993, a group of elite U.S. soldiers dropped into Somalia to capture two top lieutenants of the renegade warlord. Well, it resulted in a fight that left 18 U.S. soldiers dead. The incident considered a failure for the Clinton administration.

Well, now, Somalia is ushering in a new era. Yesterday, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was sworn in as president.

Michael Holmes, he joins us to talk a little bit about this.

And, Michael, we know that they had a transitional government for a while, since 2004. This would be something different and new. Explain how.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this guy is -- this is the first time they've had a president that is being elected within the country by the people, if you like, since way, way back. Civil war back in '91, as you said. Interesting thing about this guy, he's a moderate. He's a political activist, he's an academic, but he's never involved in formal politics. And that really is what makes him interesting.

In the religious sense, he's a moderate as well. He's a moderate Islamist. He's a humble man. He comes from one of the biggest clans in the country and importantly represents what could be a different sort of future for the country, because he's not associated with the violence and corruption of the past so that's a good thing.

MALVEAUX: So, what's left in Somalia? When you think about violence and corruption, what kinds of group, what kinds of organizations, even terrorists are still in Somalia that can present a problem to this guy?

HOLMES: I supposed, the first positive news, it's more secure than it used to be, but it is far from secure. You talk about a country that the pirates we hear about all the time are there. It's awash with guns. There are clans, private armies, warlords.

Because after 1991, when basically the warlords got together overthrow a dictator, they turned on each other. And so, you've had a country that isn't unified in any way, not even geographically. It's really a patchwork of semi autonomous entities, if you like, it's no a big unified country.

MALVEAUX: So, the fact this country's been broken for so long, are people optimistic? Is this a real sign of hope or is this symbolic?

HOLMES: You know, it's a starting point. Some hope it could be a turning point. There's both. There's pessimists who say this is just one more attempt since 2004, all of those transitional governments that's led to this, just one more attempt to try to govern the ungovernable.

But there are those who are positive about it, are saying this guy could be able to help, he's got to fix a society that's been ripped, torn apart, by civil strife.

But one thing about Somalia, the economy's has potential. This is a country that has good reserves, potential reserves of oil, uranium, iron ore, cooper, natural gas, if only they could get it together. Time will tell whether this guy is the one to do it.

MALVEAUX: We are going to Somalis about that, because you can only imagine all of those years and years of instability, how they feel about this new leader.

Michael, thank you. As always, good to see you.

HOLMES: Good to see you.

MALVEAUX: The president of France, not just facing a brutal economy. He's also dealing with high profile love triangle involving the mother of his children and his current girlfriend.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Angelina Jolie putting the spotlight on Syrian refugees as the crisis nears epic proportions. More than a quarter million have fled their country in the last 18 months of bloodshed, 85,000 of them have escaped across the border to Jordan.

Jolie has been visiting some of them today at the Zaatari Camp, in her role as a U.N. refugee agency special envoy. Our Sara Sidner says Jolie spoke passionately about the wounded children that she met are who now orphaned because of the civil war.

We're going to bring that to you in a moment.

All right. We got to move in. In France, the life and times of the new president seems more like a reality TV show. There's of course all of the rancor in Paris from the struggling economy.

But the French and the people, well, other folks -- they are consumed with the social life of President Francois Hollande, in office for three months. Now, he was hoping to keep the rivalry between his gal pal and his ex-partner off the front pages, out of the headlines -- having no such luck.

CNN'S Hala Gorani, she's joining us in Washington bureau.

Hala, a lot of people say, wow, how's he going to focus on this economic crisis, his plan, policies when this looks like a telenovela that's just happening in France. That's what people are talking about.

HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: They are talking about, but also talking about something very interesting that happened over the last 48 hours. And that is this big debate in France about taxing people who make a lot of money.

Culturally in France, it's been traditionally, there's been some distaste for people who exhibit their wealth and this has been out there as a matter of bitter and passionate debate in that country. What happened over the last week is that France's richest man was the head of LVMH, that is Louis Vuitton Moet Champagne and the rest of it, said this tax plan by Francois Hollande, the new president, taxing people who earned more than 1 million euros 75 percent of their income is unacceptable, I am seeking Belgian citizenship.

So, what happened, France's left-leaning newspaper, "Liberation" had a title that read "Get Lost You Rich" and then you can fill in the blanks, in French it's -- sorry to the French speakers, it in English translation could be jerk or something a little bit stronger than jerk.

So, this is what's happening with Francois Hollande, this extreme polarization of France between the left and the right. Sound familiar, Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: Of course. It does sound familiar.

I understand, too, that he's having some problems keeping his social life under wraps as well.

GORANI: Right. Well, that's something that's been ongoing since his current partner tweeted in support of the political rival of Francois Hollande's ex. Now, if you can follow my train of thought, that's very good because it does get complicated.

But what's interesting here, too, on a serious note, is that France and Germany and all of the eurozone countries have an impact on how the U.S. economy performs, by the way, are all having to figure out a way to cut their spending without completely stifling growth. And the French President Francois Hollande billed himself the normal president very Nicolas Sarkozy, the bling-bling president, went on TV and said, here's my plan, I'm going to cut spending and I'm going to increase taxes by a couple dozen billion euros.

And so, now, he's going forward and saying things that are unpopular. His popularity ratings are sinking just as eurozone economies are doing everything they can to save the common currency. It's a very important period historically for the region, all as you said against the backdrop of some personal drama in some cases.

MALVEAUX: All right. Hala Gorani -- thank you, Hala.

There's an epic victory for tennis star Andy Murray and for Great Britain kept a lot of the country up late into the night celebrating.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: A lot of burry eyes in Britain this morning after late night watching Andy Murray at the U.S. Open. It was a tense win over defending champ Novak Djokovic. Not only was it Murray's first Grand Slam title but the first major trophy for any British man in 76 years. Richard Quest is joining us. I bet you're pretty proud. You did pretty well with the Olympics first and now you're basking in the glory of, you know, sport and tennis and you guys aren't doing so bad. What's the party like over there?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're a bitter woman, aren't you? Listen, I can hear it. No, what a stunner. First, you know, Bradley Wiggins wins the Tour de France. Then we have the Olympics and we come in third in the medals tables. Then we win -- as part of that, Murray wins the gold. And we do third in the Paralympics and now we win the Grand Slam. This is tonight's evening newspaper in London. It's called "The Evening Standard". As you can see. "Grand Slam Murray Set to Make 100 million mint" -- in other words, 150 odd million.

Now, when I woke up this morning listening to the radio, it was all Murray, Murray, Murray. Everywhere you looked, it was Murray, Murray, Murray because frankly 76 years. Fred Perry was the last -- I don't remember it. I'm sure there must be someone at CNN who remembers it. But anyway, 76 years since the Brit won a Grand Slam.

MALVEAUX: You know, that's pretty cool and I'm not hating on you at all. I actually am really congratulating you. I'm giving you your props, Richard. All right. Thank you. Congratulations again.

QUEST: Thank you very much.

MALVEAUX: All right. See you soon.

The Israelis who are tired of war, tired of the way their country is threatening Iran. We're going to take you into the middle of a new movement in Israel.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: As we mentioned, actress Angelina Jolie putting the spotlight on Syrian refugees and the crisis that is really nearing epic proportions. More than a quarter million Syrians have fled their own country in the last 18 months of bloodshed. Eight-five thousand of them have escaped across the boarder to Jordan. Jolie has been visiting some of them today at the Za'atari camp in her role as U.N. Refugee Agency special envoy. Our Sara Sidner says that Jolie spoke passionately about the wounded children she met who are now orphans from this civil war.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Hollywood A-lister Angelina Jolie came to the Za'atari camp here in Jordan. This is Jordan's largest camp: 30,000-plus people inside of the camp now living in tents who have come over from Syria, Syrian refugees. And we're talking about full families and lots of children. Angelina Jolie particularly talking about one of the experiences she had when she went with the Jordanian military to the border with Syria; she said it was quite an extraordinary experience seeing people come over the border and becoming refugees for the very first time. But what touched her the most were the children and the devastating stories she heard from the children.

ANGELINA JOLIE, ACTOR/U.N. REFUGEE SPECIAL ENVOY: As a mother, certainly, the amount of innocent children that are reported dead, the amount of innocent children I've met here who are wounded and unaccompanied with their parents being killed and now they're on their own. It's impossible to imagine any mother standing by and not stepping up and doing something to prevent this.

SIDNER: Now, of course, one of the reasons she is here and here representing UNHCR is because UNHCR wants to refocus the world's attention on the Syrian refugees. This crisis has been going on for more than a year in the country and you have tens of thousands of people now fleeing Syria in other countries and those countries are having to deal with the strain that puts on their infrastructure.

Jordan already saying, "We are over capacity." They have some 80,000- plus Syrian refugees in the country and many more coming each day. They're saying things like water supply, their energy and their health care system are being hit hard because this is a nation of just 6 million people and they have a huge influx of Syrian refugees. They're saying basically they need help. They need the donations to come in. They need the organizations and the countries to bring forth goods and donations to make sure that people have what they need.

Speaking of which, we were able to talk to several of the families living in the camp. They say that they simply don't have enough cold water to drink. They just left literally with the clothes on their back. There are children there who were born just days ago, brought over the border; they all have lived in such a terrible fear, there are certainly psychological issues going on inside the camp as well. People very happy, though, that they're not having to worry about their lives being lost but certainly dealing with very difficult conditions; it's a very dusty, dry, flat area. The tents that were once white are now covered in dust. They look more red than they do white. There are serious problems: people saying they're having issues with diarrhea. So these refugees really do need help. They do need more. Jordan is saying, "Look, we're at capacity. We need the international community to come forth and help out in this crisis."

Sara Sidner, CNN, Jordan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Started with one young woman pitching a tent in downtown tel aviv and wanted the government to do something about high rents and rising cost of living. More than a year later, Israel's leftist movement is still growing. The journalists at Vice.com are telling that story and of course this is intense because I want you to take a look at what happened at this protest in July. This is the one-year anniversary of the original demonstration.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MILENE LARSSON, VICE.COM REPORTER (voiceover): Minutes later, the celebration was cut short when something unexpected and tragic happened just meters from where we were standing.

(SHOUTING)

LARSSON: A man just set fire to himself. Oh my god.

(HONKING)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: The journalist you heard recording from the scene, Milene Larsson, her three part series called "Israel's Radical Left" is on the online magazine Vice.com and she's joining us from London now.

First of all, just extraordinary reporting there. Can you tell us what happened? How did something like that, a peaceful protest, turn into something where someone set themselves on fire?

LARSSON: Well, what happened was that some protesters are feeling a lot of desperation and Moshe Silman set himself on fire because he felt that he had been abandoned by the social welfare system in Israel. So the situation is very, very bad in Israel. This is why he set himself on fire.

And the government had a very strange reaction to this, as well. Netanyahu went out and said the next day that it was a personal tragedy and instead of, you know, what the protesters felt, that it was -- basically what Moshe Silman did was set himself on fire because he felt abandoned by the government. So when the government goes out and says this is a personal tragedy, it infuriated a lot of the protesters.

MALVEAXU: Can you give me a sense of whether or not this is something that a lot of people are sharing, this sense of desperation, or was this one individual in a small group of people inside Israel who feel that passionate about what is taking place?

LARSSON: Well, there are a lot of problems in Israel and it obviously depends on who you ask. But what we can say is that what the protesters feel is that Israel has grown -- obviously has had a huge financial growth and this growth has not been distributed equally and you can see that Israel ranks as one of the lowest countries when it comes to equality. So there's a lot of inequality in Israel and the growth has been concentrated to a very few. Protesters feel that it's "the rule of the tycoons," yes.

And apparently about 2 million people in Israel are in a situation like Moshe Silman's. They can't -- they don't have enough food for the day and they struggle a lot financially.

MALVEAUX: Milene, one of the other things that was very interesting in your program is that a lot of folks in that part of that movement feel that Iran is not a threat. They don't agree with the prime minister, they feel like there is an Israeli loves Iran movement that is taking place. I want to play a clip for our viewers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just wanted to check with them, the day-to-day people like me, they're feeling the same. They're also are afraid. Do they want war with me? Do they want to kill the Jews? I posted one poster with the message. People started to respond and to send me poster back and then it becomes something.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So what kind of campaign is this? Is this something that is catching on? Why do they feel so different than their government about Iran?

LARSSON: Well, this is a very good example of a citizen initiative. So, "Israel Loves Iran", this Facebook campaign, was started by a couple who are graphic designers and who have children. And they felt when these threats came up in March, they just felt why -- why are we threatening to bomb Iran? We don't want a war and we're sure that the people in Iran don't want a war either. There are families there and we love them as much as much as we love our own people. This is why they started this campaign and it actually became really popular. They have 80,000 Facebook likes, if not more, and people from Iran and from Israel are actually sending each other love messages over the Internet.

MALVEAUX: They obviously done share their -- the view of their government. I want to play a little bit of clip here. This is somebody who is an anti-war protester, has a message on top of his car. I believe it's a missile. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GUY BRILLER, ARTIST: Basically I wander around with this missile for something like three years and I travel.

LARSSON: You drove around with a missile on your car?

BRILLER: Yes. My missile.

Before that, in a time , like three or four months ago, it was really on the news very strongly. We're going to attack Iran. You can't say that we're a society (INAUDIBLE) involved in conflict.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So how do people respond to this guy with this missile on top of his car?

LARSSON: Sorry?

MALVEAUX: How do people respond when they see this missile on top of this guy's car, just driving around?

LARSSON: Well, most of them laugh. The reason Guy Briller, the artist, did this because there's this sense of threat that hangs over everyday life in Israel and his way of dealing with this was to make his own missile, put it on his car and, you know, ease some tension, hopefully make people laugh.

MALVEAUX: There was something else that caught our attention as well. One of the Israeli defense forces from three years ago, he was obviously in the military, makes a total turn here and now is going out dressed as a white soldier. I want to play that clip here. He tells his story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE I don't speak when I'm performing. It baffles people. They don't know to place it. Like, a soldier doesn't apologize for being on his mission, he's just taking orders, he's doing -- executing his mission, so that's the state of mind that I'm in.

Sometimes people are very hostile and say, "You're weakening the Israeli morale" and sometimes people are saying, "You're the soldier for peace. But if you're the soldier for peace, why do you have a gun? Are you with us? Are you against us? Whose side are you on?"

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So, Milene, so clearly these people, they get a lot of attention. They attract a lot of attention. They're trying to bring this message forward. A very diverse group of people here committed to change. How are people responding? Is there a sense that they are accomplishing something by putting this out there in public?

LARSSON: Well, they are accomplishing something because they're working on a grassroots level and engaging people and, you know, they're thinking about things differently. They're not afraid of the government fear mongering about wars. They don't believe in false promises. So -- and they're doing -- they're doing a protest that is, you know, engaging people. It's -- in a way it's more interesting to see a missile or to see somebody walking around painted to toe in white, than only having all the serious matters to do with politics. Because basically what they're doing is that they're using symbols that are politically charged to make people think.

MALVEAUX: Sure. Sure.

LARSSON: Now these artists are, you know, they are out protesting, but they're not the people leading the protest movement in Israel.

MALVEAUX: Right. Right.

LARSSON: But, you know, the -- obviously the average feeling in Israel, the average -- the most -- the majority of the population are not less (INAUDIBLE) or do not necessarily believe in peace. Well, 46 percent of the population do not want a war with Iran, but --

MALVEAUX: All right. Marlene, we're going to have to leave it there. Really interesting series. A very interesting series. And obviously through the different ways that they are using art and protests, bringing to light some of the -- their opinions and how they feel about what's taking place in their country and their government. Appreciate you bringing a very unique perspective. Something that we don't normally see that is coming out of Israel, the far left protest and the movement that they are establishing there. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.

Deadly virus is ripping through central Africa. Might be actually spreading at the victims' own funerals. We're going to explain how.

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MALVEAUX: An outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus is killing people in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is happening here in the eastern part of the African nation. Eighteen people are dead. And with each diseased victim's funeral comes more risk. Want to bring in David McKenzie out of Nairobi, Kenya, to talk about a little bit of what is taking place here. Why is this happening that you now see this spreading?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the reason you see it spreading is because Ebola is a highly contagious disease, Suzanne. And this latest outbreak, which occurred or in fact started earlier in August in the northeastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. No one really know exactly how it started off. It's believed that maybe a hunter got exposed to the blood of a monkey or some other animal they had killed and then got contagious.

The problem is, is that often the way this spreads is that traditional funeral practices in that part of Africa, in fact many parts of the continent, are that the relatives will wash the dead. They have succumbed to the disease. They might not know it's Ebola. And because Ebola is contracted directly by touching or by bodily fluid, that body is still highly contagious after death. And often it's the immediate family that dies because of the funeral practice.

MALVEAUX: So, David, is there anybody who's actually bringing this to folks' attention who are teaching them and making them aware that perhaps this traditional practice maybe should not be done for those in the case who are suffering and dying from Ebola?

MCKENZIE: Well, certainly the World Health Organization, the Center for Disease Control, which is based out of Atlanta, is trying to educate the people in the region to be hyper careful when the news of an outbreak happens. The problem is, these are very remote areas often deep in the forest of a central part of the Congo and people don't necessarily get that message in time.

There's a window between when the first case often dies and when we find out that this is an Ebola outbreak. We were in that outbreak in western Uganda, I think you'll remember, Suzanne, and there was that window. And in that window, health workers, family members and others died because they didn't take the precautions or didn't have access to the protective clothing that prevents you from picking up Ebola. So that window is very dangerous.

MALVEAUX: All right, David McKenzie, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

It is a dangerous job in a dangerous part of the world. The defense minister of Yemen lucky to be alive today after surviving this car bombing.

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MALVEAUX: This was the scene today in Yemen's capital, Sana'a. The country's defense minister survived an apparent assassination attempt. And a car bomb exploded near a building just as he was leaving. A state-run news agency says the bomb killed 11 people, including six of the minister's guards.

Calls for a mass strike are playing out in scenes like this in the West Bank. We're going to tell you what is fueling the fires.

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MALVEAUX: Several stories caught our attention today. Photos too. Take a look at this.

Palestinians in Ramallah burning tires in protest of high gas prices. Some unions across the West Bank have called for mass strikes. And transportation is grounded to a halt because of it.

And, thousands of people took to the streets in Japan. Now they're protesting a special -- against a special U.S. military helicopters that are being shipped there. The helicopters have crashed multiple times and protesters, they're concerned they're not safe.