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Libya Police Arrest Four in Connection with Death of the U.S. Ambassador; U.S. Embassies in Egypt and Lebanon Warned Before Attacks?; Social Media's Role In Protests; Anti-U.S. Protests in Jerusalem; Protests Ignited in Arab World; 2 College Campuses Evacuated; 93 Protesters Arrested in Egypt

Aired September 14, 2012 - 12:00   ET

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

REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: You know, I'm not the only one who has told Mitt that maybe he needs to talk more about himself and his life. It wouldn't hurt if voters knew more about those things that reveal a man's heart and his character.

This is a guy who at the height of his successful business turned the entire company into a search and rescue operation the moment he heard that a college young daughter was missing. He is a man who could have easily contented himself with giving donations to needy causes, but everyone who knows him well will tell you that Mitt has always given himself. He is one of those guys who doesn't just exhort and oversee good works, but shows up and does the work.

Mitt Romney is the type we've all run into in our own communities. the man who is there right away when there's need, but never first in line when praise and credit are being handed out. He is a modest man with a charitable heart, a doer and a promise keeper. He is the kind of person every community could use more of, and he will be the kind of president who brings out the best in our country.

(APPLAUSE)

When he asked me to join the ticket, I told Governor Romney, "Let's get this done."

(APPLAUSE)

That's been my message ever since, and now I'm asking all of you the same. We know what we are up against. We know how desperate our opponents are to cling to power, but we are ready, and I hope you are too because I know that we can do this.

Whatever your political party, let's come together for the sake of our country. Let's put these divisive years behind us. Let's give this effort everything we have. Let's get this done and elect Mitt Romney, the next president of the United States of America.

(APPLAUSE)

Thank you, everybody, and God bless you. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Thank you. (END VIDEO CLIP)

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:

Protests erupting across the Arab world. Anti-American anger is spreading. Since the attack the U.S. consulate in Libya and the anniversary of 9/11, we are now seeing protests spreading across the region.

There are several flash points right now. I want to get right to it. We begin with some breaking news, however. We are learning now that President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be attending what is being called the transfer of remains ceremony. It is marking the return of the remains to the United States of the remains of those four Americans who were killed in Benghazi, Libya. President Obama and Secretary Clinton will be delivering brief remarks.

We're told that the first lady will be at that ceremony. This is supposed to happen about 2:15 this afternoon at Andrew's Air Force Base.

I want to go straight to Tunisia in Northern Africa. Protesters have breached the U.S. embassy, the capital in Tunis. They pulled down the U.S. flag, replaced it with a black flag.

Journalist Zied Mhirsi is joining us on the phone from Tunis, and I understand that we actually lost that connection.

We're going to get back to him and go on to another story, and many of the protests. What we are seeing here. We mention this -- this is the black flag. This is being carried by people in the crowd representing Islam. It is called the Shahada, the first pillar of Islam, written in white letters.

It says, quote, "There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger." Now, flag often used by Islamic radicals. It is not an al Qaeda banner. It is an affirmation of faith.

We want to bring in the crowds of angry Egyptians are fighting with police in Cairo right now. Their anger aimed in part at the United States. You see those pictures. Those people are climbing the walls for four days around the American embassy and Tahrir Square. You've got protesters with rocks and bottles.

You can see the pictures there as they are lobbing them. We are going to get to Ben Wedeman as soon as we can who can give us a live update on that situation there.

Outrage over an anti-Muslim movie made by and produced here in United States. It is now spreading to Turkey.

Ivan Watson is in Istanbul. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A small group of demonstrators have gathered here in Istanbul to chant, "Damn America, no to Islamophobia" and to condemn the anti-Islamic film "The Innocence of Muslim."

(CHANTING)

WATSON: But the protest here says an awful lot about how this film has failed to capture the tension of Turks that are perhaps 500 or at most 1,000 demonstrators in a city of more than 12 million.

Turkey's top Muslim clerics have come out denouncing violence against U.S. diplomatic missions, as has Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan who in a speech on Friday went one step further. He said that freedom of expression in the U.S. shouldn't justify making a film that shows bigotry against Muslims, but he also extended condolences and urged Muslims to take control of their own values rather than allow them to be dictated by fringe groups in the U.S.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Istanbul.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: I want to bring in our journalist Zied Mhirsi. He is joining us by phone from Tunis.

And, Zied, tell what is happening there. There have been reports that they've stormed the U.S. embassy and that there is a lot of confusion and chaos on the ground. What do you know?

ZIED MHIRSI, JOURNALIST (via telephone): Yes. I actually was there on the ground a couple of minutes ago where there were fierce battles on the ground between the Tunisian riot police, the national guard, and some people even from the army who joined to protect the American embassy from the thousands of protesters that came to the area right after the (INAUDIBLE).

You have noted that American embassy in Tunis is located in the remote, compared to downtown. It is a neighborhood that is not served by public transportation, so people immediate to walk, and wave and wave the protesters came throughout the afternoon basically to come and attack the embassy, roadblocks set up by the Tunisian police were in put in the some morning , the helicopter was basically touring the air, and monitoring the protesters to move.

But in the afternoon basically, around 3:30 p.m. local time, the protester got close to the embassy, even if the police push back using tear gas, stick, and basically they shot even live in the air, but they didn't shoot at the protesters. The protester managed -- some of them managed to go inside the embassy garden and they put their flags around the embassy.

They also -- we could se heavy smoke, heavy black smoke coming from the embassy, coming from cars that parked inside the embassy. The Tunisian police is also using hoses trying to control the situation, but they seem that they are somehow losing ground in front of the thousands of protesters.

MALVEAUX: Zied, tell me a little bit about -- was the embassy empty, first of all, and has anybody been hurt or injured?

MHIRSI: Well, I don't think the embassy is empty. We're hearing that embassy staff are inside. They're doing a lockdown inside the embassy. The embassy building itself was not attacked. I mean, we could definitely say that the offices and nothing had been destroyed, but the embassy grounds, the gardens surrounding the embassy, Tunis has a big embassy, has been occupied by protesters.

The Tunis riot police got also inside the embassy to protect it. There were no marines present on the ground inside the embassy, inside two of them who were on the roof monitoring the situation, but the whole situation was managed by the Tunisians.

MALVEAUX: Do you know if anybody has been hurt? Has anybody been taken to the hospital? We see the black smoke --

MHIRSI: We definitely have seen people having minor injuries being carried by the protesters. Also, there were injuries against police forces, but nothing really that we can say is dangerous or life- threatening. There are no deaths reporting.

Although, and this is not confirmed. We're hearing now that right now the embassy, there is the American Cooperative School that has been also under attack with protesters, vandalizing the school, but this is not concerned.

MALVEAUX: What kind of school is this that's next door?

MHIRSI: This is a primary school. Basically that has most of the American, but also international community kids who go there. This is one of the best private schools that we have here in Tunisia, the only one teaching in English. It's right next to the American embassy. It's actually across the streets from the American embassy or across the highway, and basically I'm hearing and according to some eyewitnesses that the building of the school has been destroyed.

MALVEAUX: Do we know if there were any kids inside? Was there school? Was there class today?

MHIRSI: Oh, no, I don't think there are any come as a surprise. There were many people talking yesterday that the staff at the embassy, their families, they were warned and knew that right after there was going to be a big demonstration or that I had to say that we did not expect this level of violence. The protesters managed to go inside the embassy, they vandalized the gate of the embassy.

We could see a lot of rocks thrown at the embassy. Some windows were destroyed, and heavy black smoke coming from the embassy showing cars burning, and it's also a sign of -- a worrisome sign around the security breach that happened around embassy today.

MALVEAUX: And, Zied, what are they saying? What are they chanting, protesting?

MHIRSI: A group of fundamentalists, I can say definitely, from their clothes from their behavior. They are chanting, "Allahu Akbar," they are carrying the flag. We could sign of peace flag. We could see signs praising Osama bin Laden. We can definitely relate to a growing Salafi movement that is taking place right now after the revolution. That's happened in Tunisia in January 11.

All right. Zied, thank you so much for bringing us the situation on the ground. I'm going to take a quick break and be back with this breaking news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: We have a developing story involving two college campuses. The colleges are the University of Texas in Austin and North Dakota State University. Both are being evacuated due to threat.

I just want to bring in our Ed Lavandera who joins from Dallas bureau, with more on both of these universities.

What do we know, Ed?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Suzanne, I want to be real clear off the top that we don't know if these two separate events are related in any way, but students and faculty at the University of Texas in Austin have been told this morning to evacuate because of a bomb threat that was called in to the university. Some 50,000 students and 20,000 faculty work on that campus, so you can imagine what kind of headache this is for that campus this morning.

But what is interesting here is that all of this clearly done out of an abundance of caution. According to authorities, the call came in around 8:30, and -- this morning Central Time, and according to the call, a bomb or an explosive would go off around 10:00 a.m. Central Time. Clearly, that time and that window has passed. There has been nothing that has happened on campus, but those students still told to evacuate.

Right now, the university said it's in the process of how to resume classes and get everyone back on campus, and they will continue to make these updates here in the coming hours. Of course, in Fargo, North Dakota, North Dakota State University, students and faculty told the same thing because of a threat that was called into the campus there. So, you know, simultaneous threats called in. Campuses evacuated. A weird situation, but clearly authorities saying here at this point that all of this done out of an abundance of caution, and no explosive he have devices found on any of the campuses as far as we can tell so far.

MALVEAUX: All right. Ed Lavandera, thank you, Ed. Appreciate the update.

Crowds of angry Egyptians, they are fighting with police in Cairo right now. Their anger were aimed at the United States for four days now, around the American embassy. Here Tahrir Square, you've got protesters with rocks and battles, facing off against policy in riot, with tear gas and armored vehicles.

This is Egypt's reaction to the online movie clip that has lit a fire beneath much of the Arab world.

I want to go live to CNN's Ben Wedeman.

Of course, Ben, this is your home in Cairo. You've been watching this unfold for the last four days. First of all, what does it look like on the ground? We saw you earlier today reacting to some of that smoke, reacting to some of that gas. What is taking place now?

WEDEMAN: Well, what's going on now -- and we are right basically that big building behind me is the American embassy. You've got sort of several hundred basically young men who have been running back and forth, fighting with the police. Thief been throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails and at the police have been firing back with mostly tear gas and throwing rocks themselves.

But as you can see the carnage, the main road on this back of denial is blocked by the protesters are trying to outflank the police around the American embassy. Now, earlier today, Suzanne, the Egyptian security forces put up a barrier on the main road in from of the U.S. embassy them from going that direction. Now they're trying to go from other directions to get there, but so far they have not been able to get through.

I spoke with several of the protesters today clearly they want the producer of this film that appeared on YouTube to be prosecuted. They don't seem to have a real clear understanding that this was an individual, not the United States government. That posted that video clip.

And it seems by and large, these are not young men affiliated with any particular group. In fact, the Muslim Brotherhood canceled its nationwide protests, they say, to avoid an escalation -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Is this taking place just it Tahrir Square? Have people actually ands top that location.

WEDEMAN: Basically, it's only this are which in the grand scheme of things in this city of more than 18 million is a small area, but it is the center of the city. Now, we're also getting reports that there is a protest outside the U.S. consulate in M on the Mediterranean coast, but if you cross the bridge, life does appear to be normal. Many Egyptians who aren't taking part in the protest, are upset about the fact that life has been so severely disrupted by these protests outside the U.S. embassy.

MALVEAUX: And do we know if anybody has been injured or arrested? Has this been a very violent protest? We've seen this back and forth with the police, but how serious is this really?

WEDEMAN: Well, we're told that around 50 people were injured today, and arrests have made. But if you compare with other classes, sort of period of classes that taken place since the revolution. What is the surprising is the fact that nobody has been killed so far in these demonstrations that began on Wednesday evening. It does appear that the police are showing a good deal of restrain compared to what we saw in the past.

But the fact that these -- demonstration, But the fact that this demonstrations, they go on all night long. And they've been doing basically around the clock since Wednesday evening, and the security forces, whether it's because they simply not capable or they haven't received the orders. Having really been able to clamp down on these protests -- Suzanne.

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

I want to bring in Hala Gorani as well, who has been covering this.

And, Hala, you were in the Tahrir Square as the Arab revolution was talking place, the Arab Spring -- we heard a very stern warning from President Obama yesterday, telling the Egyptian government in no uncertain terms that it could be a real big problem if there was a lot of violence that was directed on this day of prayers of Americans. That that was not contained.

It seems as though people are actually heeding the warning here, heading the call by the Egyptian to basically keep this to this one particular area. Does that make sense to you? Does that look like what's happening?

GORANI: Well, certainly what President Obama said, saying, look, we're going to have a big problem initially, if you don't protect missions and facilities of the United States in your country.

Initially, the reaction by the Egyptian president, Suzanne, you'll remember, Mohamed Morsi was to condemn the film and not the violence directed at the embassy in Cairo. But for the first time yesterday, he condemned the violence, and then went on state television and appealed for calm.

Clearly, Mohamed Morsi miscalculated politically the kind of message he needed send his own people and the United States in the initial hours after the embassy attacked and after we saw that U.S. flag being ripped to shreds and the black sort of flag being used by the crowds outside of the perimeter in Cairo a few days ago.

Now, Morsi, Mohamed Morsi, of course, is an inexperienced president. This is the first democratically elected president, the first Islamist president for Egypt. Many have seen the Muslim Brotherhood sort of reaction to what's going on as a bit inept in the first few days.

They are learning on the job, after all, Suzanne. They were elected only a few months ago, and they're making these political calculations as they go along, and they're -- they have felt clearly that today was the time to appeal for calm and reassure the United States which after all is their most important backer to protect the embassy.

MALVEAUX: Right. GORANI: That they are going to protect the embassy.

MALVEAUX: Hala, how important is this for the Egyptian president to show that committee control the situation there, because you are talking about the military, which is, you know, been very, very powerful. You are talking about the police. You are talking about all the tensions that have really risen from the people and the police in the military.

Who does he have to demonstrate and show that he's got this under control?

GORANI: Well, you heard from Ben Wedeman there that ordinary Egyptians, after all, this is a small crowd. We have to put this in perspective. It's concentrated in Tahrir Square, not in other parts of the city.

Perhaps there is a small protest outside the consulate in Alexandria, but Mohamed Morsi has to show his own people beyond being a Islamist president and beyond being a justice and freedom party president that, he is a president of the country, rather than the president of the party or the head of one party or only one wing, one political wing in Egypt.

So this is what he is going to have to do now. Whether he is going to be convincing in the coming days is what's most important. Egypt, after all, putting it in context, is the most important Arab country in terms of its population and also in many ways in terms of its influence.

The question is going to be: will this calm things, and as far as the United States is concerned -- will this be a blip? Will it last a couple of days, or are we looking at something that has legs, so to speak?

MALVEAUX: All right. Hala Gorani, thank you, Hala. Appreciate it.

The Pope, he is in Lebanon to speak out against the violence spilling over the border from Syria now. We're going to look at the tensions between Christians and Muslims throughout the region.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Message of piece past against a back drop of violence. Pope Benedict has arrived in the Lebanese capital of Beirut. The visits come at a time when protests by Muslims are sweeping through the region. In a speech, the Pope appealed for Christians, Jews and Muslims to rout religious fundamentalism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE BENEDICT XV, CATHOLIC CHURCH (through translator): Times which are tense, pressures which are too often partisan or many support of interested parties, and that is where we really have to work together and make great efforts, and the reason for this is to favor the common good of all. (END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Michael Holmes is joining us now.

Michael, talk a little bit about why this is important. Obviously, the Pope's visit here taking on a new meaning in light of all the violence and everything that we've seen against Americans and also the religious tension that we've seen that's developed throughout the Middle East?

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. He has arrived in a country that's got the Syrian conflict next door and Christians fleeing that conflict and a region generally where Christians in a multitude of countries feel either vulnerable or under direct threat. You know, you talk about Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, where Christians have, in some cases, been directly attacked.

I was in Iraq in November last year and did a story on Christians there. Their population in the country prewar was about 1 million, 1.2 million. Now about 500,000. The rest have fled or been killed.

I went to a church service there with enormous security around it because they feared being bombed. You've got -- in Syria they are fearing because they were supporters of the government. They're fearing the hard line Islamists who are now working perhaps with the Free Syrian Army, many of them from outside the country threatening them. A lot of them have fled to Lebanon.

In Egypt have the Christians who have had violence brought upon them in recent months. It made worse by this film which apparently had heavy involvement of at least one Coptic Christian.

MALVEAUX: Right, who was Egyptian?

HOLMES: This was -- that was Egyptian-born.

MALVEAUX: I can imagine security there is pretty tight, they're going to be looking over their shoulders seeing if people are going to try to get revenge against that particular group. The But when the Pope speaks out, do you think there is any kind of impact that he has when it comes to the extremist elements of all of these faiths some.

HOLMES: You know, it's hard to tell. I think extremists are extremists for a reason, and that is because they don't tend to listen to what ear people say when it comes to rationale talk.

You know, Lebanon is in many ways a bright spot in terms of religious coexistence. You've got 18 different religious groupings there from Catholic, Protestant, Christians. You have Jews and Shia and Sunni, and the list goes on, and they co-existed very well. I was there last in February, and I think you and I talked about this once before.

I remember sitting having coffee on a Sunday morning hearing the church bells followed by the call to prayer. The church and the mosque were right next door to each other, and there has been peaceful coexistence there for some time, but it's a place of enormous political and sectarian complexity and it's always just bubbling along under the surface as we have seen in recent months, particularly in the north of the county which is a worry, yes? You see the potential for a powder keg to happen as well. That is what has been seen in the last ten years.

He is going to call for reconciliation, and everyone to just get along, and that's fine. But I think reconciliation is one thing. Coexistence is another, and I think if can you get the coexistence, be happy with it, and in Lebanon its hardening. You do see particularly in Beirut, did you see everyone getting along? It's not a big deal.

What they're worried about is the spillage from Syria, and that sectarian nature becoming part of it in Lebanon. Eastern the Christian parties in Lebanon, they hold great legal power. They're well over one-third of the country, up to 40 percent of the country. They hold great political power. This two main Christian political who support opposite sides of the Syrian debacle. It's such a complicated area. The pope's message will be well heard. He has been well received as well by Muslims.

MALVEAUX: We'll see if it makes a difference. Yes. All right. Thank you, Michael. Really appreciate it.

We're going to go live to Libya next with more on the arrest made in connection with the deadly U.S. Embassy attack.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Now to Libya where police have arrested four people in connection with the violent death of the U.S. Ambassador and three Americans. Now these four are now in custody in Benghazi. They are in directly linked to Tuesday's rocket attack. I want to talk with Arwa Damon, she is on the phone from Benghazi and, Arwa first of all, what do we know about these suspects?

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, what the government is saying is that they do now believe that these attacks were carried out by extremist groups. They're not going so far as to identify which ones, but they are also saying that they believe that these attacks were preplanned and that the intent was to inflict maximum damage on westerns, specifically U.S. interests.

The motive of the attack, to drive apart Libyans and Americans and try to sabotage their relationship, but this attack really goes to underscore just how volatile this country is. These armed groups, and there are many of them operate with near impunity, especially in Benghazi, the eastern part of the country and all the Libyans that we have been talking to first and foremost express their anguish over what took place.

Really want the world, especially Americans, to know that these actions are not supported by the majority of the population, but are also demanding of their government to somehow reign in these various extremist arm groups and set this revolution or the outcome of this revolution back on its proper course.

MALVEAUX: So Arwa, what do we know about these four individuals who are considered suspects, who have been taken into custody?

DAMON: Not a lot of detail. It's specifically who they are. Just that the evidence against them was gathered based on a variety of things to include photographic evidence, video that was taken by a number of different people during the attack in and of itself. The government is saying this is very much an ongoing investigation, a joint investigation. They are still trying to gather any sort of evidence from the sight itself.

We saw the head of Libya's ruling General National Congress at the site and he was saying that at this point in time the government actually cannot control, cannot force, these various groups to lay down their weapons. Again, underscoring just one of many challenges this nation now faces.

MALVEAUX: So I imagine if that's an official who is saying on the ground they can't control these groups that this is a pretty dangerous spot to be in, Benghazi right now, whether or not you are American or Libyan.

DAMON: It's a very volatile place and certainly we must also remember that this is not an isolated incident. There have, in fact, been increasing attacks against western interests, albeit none as devastating and deadly as this last one over the last few months. The convoy of the British Ambassador was attacked, the extremist that operate in this area have solely been gaining strength.

The government is it still to weak to actually implement rule of law at this point in time, but people are certainly intense, incredibly worried about what the future is going to bring, not just from a security standpoint, but also when it comes to Libya's standing as a member of the international community and what the consequences are going to be of this violence.

MALVEAUX: And, Arwa, we're seeing pictures of the aftermath, but what is it like today right now on the streets of Benghazi?

DAMON: It's fairly quiet given that it's Friday and this is a holiday here. We were at the compound earlier in the day, and I have to say it really makes your hair stand on end to be inside some of these buildings. There is just black soot covering everything. The stench still remains. There's debris covering the floor. We went to the room where eye witnesses were telling us the ambassador did, in fact, die of smoke inhalation. We were shown what was said to be the window that his body was then taken out of by Libyans when the fighting actually did die down. There is made ready eat meal wrappers. A lot of it has been weeded, but it is very much an incredible somber and really horrific place to be given all that has transpired.

MALVEAUX: Arwa Damon, thank you very much, out of Benghazi.

So who made this film that caused so much anger across the Arab world? We have new details.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) MALVEAUX: We are getting new information about warnings that were sent to U.S. Embassies in Egypt and Lebanon. This happened before the attacks. Suzanne Kelly, she is joining us live from Washington with more. What do intelligence officials -- what did they know before this actually happened?

SUZANNE KELLY, CNN INTELLIGENCE CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're really pushing back on the notion that they had any warning whatsoever that an attack was being planned and, in fact, putting out word now to sort of clarify exactly what they knew and when they knew it. A U.S. official telling me just within the past 30 minutes or so that a cable was sent to the embassy in Cairo, Egypt, 48 hours before the attack in Benghazi, but the cable warned about the existence of the movie and the fact that intelligence officials had noticed that there was an up tick in the people who are clicking on the links on this movie on the internet.

So it's really sort of a let everybody know what's out there, let them take their measures that they feel like they need to take. It did not warn of any specific attack in Benghazi. As you know, all of these details, Suzanne, have been so sorted and so different, and there's so much nuance in this story that these distinctions, that they feel are really important in making sure that the intelligence information, what they knew and when they knew it is out there.

MALVEAUX: Do we know why it was sent to the embassies in Libya and Egypt and not, say, Afghanistan or some of the other embassies that is are now under siege?

KELLY: I don't even have information that it was sent to the embassy in Libya. It was sent to the embassy in Cairo, which sort of acts like, you know, one of these places in the region where they take the information and they send it out where they feel like it needs to go. So we know that there was a warning that the movie was out there. They knew people had been watching it. There was a seven minute clip or so of the movie that aired on Egyptian TV over the weekend, which obviously highlighted the fact that Egypt might be a place where more people knew about his existence, may protest speculation there. But there was no clear warning in that cable 48 hours before that there was any link to an imminent attack. Or planned attack.

MALVEAUX: Sure. It might be too early to know, too early to tell, but do we know what the intelligence community had any inkling that it was going to spread through social media from being aired on Egyptian television and then spread through social media to other countries so that other communities would actually see this clip?

KELLY: I think it's fair to say that they had a very good inkling, which is why they had sent out a cable sort of telling people, hey, you need to be aware that this is out there. They do track this stuff very carefully in social media, especially after last year, the Arab Spring, seeing what happened there. They do kind of keep their finger on the pulse of these things, and when you start to see an increase in traffic and you're looking at where that traffic is coming from, where those people who are clicking on those links are coming from, it kind of gives you an idea of where there might be trouble. But again, you know, it's a guessing game. Intelligence is obviously imperfect.

MALVEAUX: All right. Suzanne Kelly, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

The protests in the Arab world all started with the video that was posted on YouTube, a website owned by Google. Well, in response YouTube said, "What's OK in one country can be offensive elsewhere. This video, which is widely available on the web, is clearly within our guidelines and so will stay on YouTube." The video has been blocked in both Libya and Egypt.

We want to bring in our social media. Of course, it's had a big role in the protests overseas. I want to bring in our expert here. This is Alexis Ohanian and he co-founded the website Reddit back in 2005. He is now working on a book titled "Without Your Permission." Alexis, thank you so much.

I mean we've seen how social media can make a huge difference. We saw it in the Arab Spring last year in a very positive way. Now we see social media being used to spread misinformation and even rumor. What's your assessment of what we -- of what's taken place over the last 48 hours?

ALEXIS OHANIAN, REDDIT COFOUNDER: Well, you know, the reality is, we have to be good stewards of this technology. Any communication technology can be used either to spread ideas or real information, as well as misinformation and bad ideas. And so this just happens to be a very powerful medium for spreading things faster and further than ever before.

And, you know, given that so many -- so many here don't have the same level of access that we do in the states where we all carry around our smartphones, a significant portion of the population does at least, you have to still look to things that are very low tech. You know, what an imam says can have a tremendous impact. And good old-fashioned word of mouth spreads ideas very quickly still throughout the entire world. So while the Internet can be a jumping off point, we still see so much the organization happening from and by just people using a lot of low tech means.

MALVEAUX: And, Alexis, what do you think about this? I mean this notion from some folks who say, you know what, we're going to cut off access to YouTube, we're going to cut off access to Twitter because we're afraid that there's a rumor, that there's misinformation that's going to lead to violence.

OHANIAN: Well, unfortunately, there's no good way. There's no really effective way to monitor this stuff. There's -- by its own nature, the Internet can't really be effectively censored. And so one of the things that we really need to do is make sure that we have these opportunities for people to be exposed to this to both sides of an issue and to make sure that the best ideas win. Because, unfortunately, you know, sort of as Secretary of State Clinton pointed out, this is reprehensible conduct that got this all started. But the notion of being offended is something that doesn't have to lead to violence. And there are so many Muslims around the world who were offended by this video, but did not resort to violence. And that's the really inexcusable part.

MALVEAUX: And, Alexis, we actually noticed that because there was an outpouring of support for the United States condemning these attacks that were also on social media. And there's also a lot of grief online over the loss of Sean Smith, who was in the consulate in Libya. He was an avid gamer and his friends realized that he was in trouble because he was actually online. He was playing a game at the time this attack happened. Can you tell us a little bit more about it?

OHANIAN: Yes. He was also actually an avid Redditer, a user of Reddit. And this outpouring of support is something not new really to a lot of us who are active in online communities because the relationships people have online are oftentimes just as strong, in some cases even stronger than some of their offline relationships.

But looking at the expressions of support coming from the people of Libya apologizing to the Americans for, you know, our Americans killed, is a sign of what this medium can also do. And the way that we can use it to spread these positive ideas is the kind of thing that we obviously want to see a lot more of. And like I said, you know, whether it was the Arab Spring, something so many of us sort of cheered on, or these sentiments here, we want to try to encourage these things, but know at the end of the day that this is just a technology and it's up to how people use it that really makes the difference.

MALVEAUX: All right, Alexis, good to talk to you. Thank you very much. Really appreciate it.

Protests have now spread to Jerusalem. We're going to get a live report next.

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MALVEAUX: We're watching demonstrations across the Arab world on the Muslim holy day. We're going to turn now to the Palestinian protest. Worshippers leaving the al Aqsa (ph) mosque marched toward the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem. They were prevented from reaching the mission by Israeli riot forces. Sara Sidner, she's there.

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SARA SIDNER, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You are seeing some of the Israeli security that is just outside of the old city. After Friday prayers, hundreds of people gathered to protest. You are still seeing some of them. They've been here for hours. First, they came out of Friday prayers out of al Aqsa mosque. They were chanting things such as "America, you pig," and also saying they would rather die than be humiliated.

The protests, though, have really been locked down. They have been trying to get to the American consulate, but have been unable to do that. You will see some of the signs that they have brought out here. And, of course, this is in reaction to the film that was released that has caused violence and protest across the Middle East. So far here, though, we have not seen much violence. A couple of rocks were thrown. We saw some flash bangs that went into the crowd from the Israeli security forces. But so far there are no reports of injuries or any deaths.

Sara Sidner, CNN, Jerusalem.

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MALVEAUX: The man who is presumed to be the next leader of China is missing, still missing, but a report says he might reappear tomorrow.

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MALVEAUX: Earlier we reported to you about the evacuation at the University of Texas in Austin. Well, a bomb threat had actually prompted that evacuation. Well, officials are now telling us that the school -- that the campus has been given the all-clear. That all the campus buildings are now reopened.

We are hearing today that a key Chinese leader missing for almost two weeks could reappear tomorrow. Xi Jinping is China's Vice President and likely its next leader. Well, he's been out of the public eye since early September, skipping meetings with foreign leaders, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Reuters is reporting today that he might reappear on Saturday. Now, Xi's name was listed in Chinese state media reports yesterday for the first time in almost two weeks.

Two young women died while vacationing in Vietnam. No one knows why. Twenty-seven-year-old American Karin Bowerman and 26-year-old Canadian Cathy Huynh were hospitalized in southeast Vietnam in late July. They were both vomiting, had breathing problems, and were severely dehydrated. Both died within days of going to the hospital. There are several other recent cases of tourists dying under mysterious circumstances in Asia. There is some evidence that at least some of the tourists have been poisoned by pesticides used to kill bed bugs.

Photos from the protest spreading across the Arab world. That's up next.

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