Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Clinton's Global Initiative Starts; Is War with Iran Possible?; Libya Promises Action; Smokey Robinson Uses Twitter for Good; Search for Missing Hikers Called Off; Oil Disputes in Sudan and South Sudan; Brazilians Love Being Obama

Aired September 24, 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. Here's what's going on right now around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX (voice-over): You are listening to war planes pounding neighborhoods across Syria. This is Youtube video from the central city of Homs. In Aleppo to the north, activists say three children were among the eight who were killed. People are digging through rubble right now looking for those buried under those destroyed buildings.

Take a look at this. This is a sign that says "support Israel, defeat jihad." This sign is in New York. The controversial ad is going to appear in ten New York subway stations this week. Refers to jihad as savage. A conservative blogger is behind it. The court ruling forced the transit authority to actually put those up. A spokesman for the Council on American Islamic Relations says the advertisement is designed to offend.

Take a look at this. In India -- nine people died in this stampede at a religious compound in the eastern part of the country. Tens of thousands have gathered for a celebration marking the birth of a revered Hindu leader. Well, police -- a deputy police commissioner tells a local paper that this stampede started when an elderly woman fell and then others fell on top of her. A family member of one victim says it started when people tried to push through the entrance of that gate.

Movers, shakers, they're in business, government, foundations. All meeting in New York right now to tackle some of the world's toughest problems. We're talking about the Clinton Global Initiative bringing together more than 1,000 leaders from around the world. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke earlier today at the event convened by her husband, of course, former president Bill Clinton. She said the U.S. is committed to improving lives and promoting dignity.

HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: We are championing the universal human rights of all people, including the right to worship freely, to assemble and protest peacefully, and, yes, to freedom of expression. These rights are bound together, inseparable not just in our constitution, but in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Threatening one threatens all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: We want to bring in our foreign affairs correspondent to talk about this, Jill Dougherty. Jill, obviously, I think the tone of these meetings is very different this year because it comes on the heels of all these attacks that we've seen on U.S. embassies across the Middle East here and, of course, the death of the U.S. ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens. How does the secretary of state and how does the former president -- how could they move forward on their agenda realizing that there is so much volatility in the region?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Suzanne, I think one of the key issues is the economic side of it because, after all, a lot of these countries -- look at just a minute, for example. They have huge numbers of young people with no jobs. So these -- this poverty and the lack of jobs, lack of opportunity and very large numbers of young people fuels sometimes the problems. These kids basically have nothing to do, and then they could be inspired to do something, you know, demonstrate, or do something else more violent. If you look, Suzanne -- I was just thinking, Secretary Clinton, when she walked into that room, she noted that they have a combined endowment of those groups of $50 billion. That's huge. What they want to do is try to help by getting that money, helping organizations in those countries.

MALVEAUX: And, Jill, one of the things beyond the initiative, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be meeting with world leaders on the side of the United States general assembly meetings that are happening over the next couple of days. I understand that she met with Pakistan's leader later today. We saw some of the most egregious and violent protests out of Pakistan over the weekend. What does she hope to accomplish from that meeting?

DOUGHERTY: Well, that's one of the problems. As these countries now, the Arab spring countries, are going through changes, they can have severe difficulties in moving from a repressive regime that could be 40, 50 years old into what could be democracy or maybe not. That's some of the problem that is we're seeing right now. I would like to play some sound from the secretary because she referred to that dilemma between really not letting these revolutions get hijacked. Let's listen to what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: The people of the Arab world did not set out to trade the tyranny of a dictator for the tyranny of a mob. There is no dignity in that. The people of Benghazi sent this message loudly and clearly on Friday when they forcefully rejected the extremists in their midst and re-claimed the honor and dignity of a courageous city. They mourn the loss of Ambassador Chris Stevens, a friend and champion of a free Libya, and his fallen comrades.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOUGHERTY: Of course, that's one sad example of had you things can go very, very wrong, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Jill, we know that she's also going to be meeting with the Libyan leader as well as the leader of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, in the days to come. We'll be looking to see if there's anything that comes of that as well. Jill Dougherty, thank you.

More than 50 current and former heads of state are participating in this Clinton Global Initiative, and, of course, the GOP presidential nominee, he is also going to have a role. President Obama, is he going to speak tomorrow at noon eastern. Mitt Romney is giving a speech a couple of hours later. Egyptian president Mohamed Morsy will take part in a closing session.

The Clinton Global Initiative coincides, of course, with the start of the UN general assembly. One of the most controversial speakers there, we know, the Iranian president. He is going to speak on Wednesday. Sanctions against Iran may be harsher than ever, but Iran continues to build its nuclear program. It's got some speculating that an all-out attack from Israel could come at any time. Canada even closed its embassy in Tehran earlier this month, calling the country the most significant threat to global security today. Piers Morgan spoke with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and asked him about the inevitability of war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PIERS MORGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Do you fear that war is imminent? Do you fear that there will be military conflict perhaps even before the end of this year between your country and Israel?

MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, PRESIDENT OF IRAN (via translator): Of course, the Zionists are very much -- very adventuresome, very much seeking to fabricate things. I think they see themselves at the end of the line, and I do firmly believe that they seek to create opportunities for themselves and their adventurous behaviors.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: You can see the full interview on Piers Morgan tonight. That is 9:00 Eastern time right here on CNN.

So is war with Iran really inevitable? Is the U.S. going to be forced to get involved? Want to bring in Christopher Hill, the former U.S. ambassador to Iraq and also head of the U.S. delegation on talks with North Korea and its nuclear issue. Now he is the dean of the school of international studies, University of Denver. Good to see you, Chris.

First of all, I want to play a bit of sound from President Ahmadinejad here because he really is setting the stage here for what we think is going to be a conflict, but also I want to talk a little bit about Israel and whether or not they see an attack on Iran as an opportunity. What do we -- what do we make of the language from Ahmadinejad and from Netanyahu, whether or not that is really going to happen?

CHRISTOPHER HILL, FORMER AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ: I'm sorry. Were you going to play the tape?

MALVEAUX: No. Chris, if you could, explain to us -- I know that Ahmadinejad has already made some comments and he is saying here that he believes that potential of war with Iran could be inevitable. Do we think this is just a bunch of bluster? We've heard this from him before.

HILL: Well, there's certainly a lot of bluster. I mean, if there were an Israeli strike, it would not be to change the hearts and minds of the Iranians. It would be a sort of kinetic attack on their capabilities, so I think one of the big questions that needs to be answered is could an Israeli strike really set them back. By set them back I mean years and years. Most experts I'm hearing are saying that, no, it cannot. So if you have a situation where a strike doesn't really set them back more than a few months or one or two years, then you have to ask yourself the question, what's the purpose of this apart from somehow drawing the U.S. into a much tougher and much bigger conflict? So I don't think anyone wants that, and I think we still have to spend some time on diplomacy here and give the sanctions time to work and get I think a broader array of countries behind us on this.

MALVEAUX: Chris, you said in the past you think negotiations of diplomacy, they serve a purpose even if you know they're likely to fail. You've got to show you've done everything that you possibly could. Do you think that we are at that point between Iran and Israel?

HILL: I don't think we're at that point. I think the diplomacy so far has been a few meetings, but they tend to be sort of three and out meetings. They show up on Tuesday and talk on Wednesday and leave on Thursday. I don't think we've seen a sign that the Iranians are really serious about it, but more, we have a lot of cards on the table, so I don't think the diplomacy has really gone too far. I think the problem is that if we go in this kind of slow way, I think we're allowing the Iranians to, you know, use up time as they develop their capabilities, so I think it's very important to quicken the diplomatic pace, but I think it's also very important to be very closely talking to these allies and these potential combatants because I don't think we could walk away from this. I don't think anyone thinks that a nuclear Iran is an acceptable outcome, so I think if it comes to military force, we need to make sure that this is something where we have allies, and I think the idea that Israel could do this, I think it's really quite -- I don't think they have the kind of ordinance they need to make it happen.

MALVEAUX: Should the United States being paying attention to either of those leaders, whether it's Ahmadinejad or Netanyahu? We have heard from Ban Ki-Moon, Ahmadinejad, tone down the rhetoric here. Do we think that either one of these leaders is speaking in a way that is clear and is rational at this point?

HILL: Well, I mean, first of all, the Israelis are allies of the U.S., so absolutely we should be listening to them. We should be listening to Prime Minister Netanyahu even if we don't agree. I'm not sure I like the idea of what he has done with his red lines, which is to create some -- if they pass a certain line, you automatically go to war. That's not really how we fight, not how a democracy fights. I think we need to listen to him, and I think we need to be in close contact with him. As for Ahmadinejad, I think you really have to understand where he sits in the Iranian political system, and he is the kind of front guy who makes a lot of statements on a given day. I wouldn't take him with that kind of utmost seriousness.

MALVEAUX: Chris, you have been in a situation many times as a diplomat, former diplomat, yourself and the tragedy that happened in Libya this past week with the killing of our U.S. ambassador there, Ambassador Stevens. There were mixed reports, of course, over the weekend discovering what actually happened and took place there that this was something that perhaps the State Department could have looked at and had a more robust sense of security around the ambassador and his team. When you see what took place in Libya, do you think that he had enough protection?

HILL: Well, most of us who have looked at it as you have certainly have a number of questions, and that's why I think it is highly appropriate to have an accountability and review board. This will be something led by a very distinguished American diplomat who knows a thing or two about protecting embassies. That is Ambassador Tom Pickering. I think there are a lot of questions that are out there. Perhaps they all have answers. We haven't heard the answers yet. I think it is very important we get to the bottom of this because, unfortunately, this type of incident in Benghazi has happened before and will happen again. I mean, our diplomats are out there in tough circumstances. We cannot wait to be completely buttoned down. We cannot wait for all the security mechanisms to be there. We have to manage risk, and I think we need to be out there. It's a tough situation. We need to get some answers.

MALVEAUX: All right. Chris Hill, thank you. Good to see you, as always.

One of Motown's most famous singers, Smokey Robinson, launches a plan to get clean drinking water to folks around the world. Candidates counts to win elections in brazil. We explore why more than a dozen of them decide to use the U.S. president's name instead of their own.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Libyan militias have until tonight to get out of major cities or feel the force of the military. Libya's army issued the ultimatum as part of the government's promise to take tough action against rogue armed groups, one of which might have been behind the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi that left four Americans dead, including American ambassador Chris Stevens.

For more we bring in Michael Holmes here. Michael, first of all, we know that two of these militia groups, they're coming down real hard on them. Do we think that this is actually going to solve the problem, or there are many, many other groups that are going to make hay?

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, I think it's a good start. You know, we've been talking about this on this show for a long time about these disparate militia groups that remained after the revolution and basically took on law and order in their own little fiefdoms. And this is what the government wants to get rid of.

You've seen a couple since the government spoke out disbanding. You've seen others that have agreed to come in under the umbrella of the government, come into the fold, if you'd like. They've been working as pretty much like localized security contractors, if you'd like, keeping law and order if various towns and cities. In fact, they're in Tripoli; they're in Benghazi. They're all over the country.

But not all militias are created equal. You've got moderates who are willing to play ball with the government. Then you have the more ultra-conservative Islamist groups that we've seen too. And they have their own militias. The question is will they go easily into the night? Will they go underground? And then you have others who really feel more of a loyalty to their local tribes and territories than they do to the national identity.

MALVEAUX: And we're looking at these dramatic pictures here. Obviously, tell us a little bit about the role of the Libyan people? I mean, the fact that there is this uprising that seems to be pushing and cracking down on these militia groups.

HOLMES: This is what the government loves saying, by the way, the government in Libya and also the U.S. government. It was the death of Ambassador Stevens and the other Americans that got these Libyans who like the U.S., we helped them get rid of Gadhafi, they came out on the streets. This one Islamist militia, they blamed for being involved in the killing of Ambassador Stevens, they get out there. They protest. That militia has now left town. They've disbanded.

So it was people power that did that. The government saw that happen. They said, right, now is the time for us to issue this ultimatum. Get on -- piggyback, if you'd like, on the public sentiment, which is against extremism.

MALVEAUX: So we still have not really heard in any definitive way who's responsible for this attack on the U.S. consulate. Do we have any more information? Does the Libyan government have any more information on that point?

HOLMES: Yes. This Islamist group in Benghazi was linked to it by various - and the locals think they were involved. There is no hard evidence at the moment. You know, this is an important mood, though. What we're seeing is something the U.S., for example, will be glad to see. You know, what you have -- the U.S. wants this government to succeed. They're Democratically elected. Importantly, they are secular. The people we want to the polls - free and fair election, did not elect an Islamist government. They elected a secular government. And that government wants to keep a lid on extremism, so that's a good thing.

The U.S. wants this to work and they'd be in favor of what we've just seen happen. The one thing that you always have to mention, though, is that the Libyan officials have said that they felt that after Gadhafi fell, interest from the West waned a little, and they point to Afghanistan and Iraq and say, "Look what you did for them, rebuilding institutions." And they need that support.

MALVEAUX: That's what they are wanting.

HOLMES: Material and financial to rebuild.

MALVEAUX: It will be really interesting to see Secretary Clinton and her meeting with the Libyan president, whether or not they ask for that kind of aid because that is so crucial, too, right now.

HOLMES: I bet they will. It's such a fascinating country, and it is a little bit of a bright light, you know, in terms of some of the other unrest we've seen around the place. We need one of those.

MALVEAUX: Thanks, Michael.

Talk about a Sweet 16 party going terribly wrong.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX (voiceover): Yes, so a teenage girl posted her birthday invitation on Facebook. She forgot to set it to private so what happened? Thousands showed up and showed out. We're going to take to you the Netherlands.

Plus, we're used to his sensual love ballad ballads.

Nice, but now Smokey Robinson's got a new love. It is going viral all over the world. We're going to explain.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Smokey Robinson using Twitter to tackle the world's problems. Three time a year, the singer he's going to sound what he calls a "smoke alarm" to rally celebrities and their followers around his cause. He is starting with clean drinking water. Here's what he said to our Soledad O'Brien.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SMOKEY ROBINSON, SINGER: There's nothing alive on earth that does not need water. So there are many places in the world where people don't have clean water. They drink contaminated water just so they can have water. So we thought that that would be a good starting point to try and get these packets. We teamed up with Procter & Gamble.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: That's amazing, this thing. Tell everybody about it.

ROBINSON: It's absolutely amazing because we teamed up with Procter & Gamble, and this packet right here, you can put this in a jar of dirty contaminated water and stir it for about five minutes. Let it sit for 30 minutes and filter it through a cloth, and it's perfectly pure drinking water. So how many people could use this? And water, like I said, is the source of life. So we figured we would tackle the biggest problems first.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: He is tackling the biggest problems first. Of course, lack of clean water, a big one.

Former president Bill Clinton, he's on board as well. Threw his support behind Smokey at the Clinton Global Initiative. That happened earlier today. You see him there. Find out more: check out their website, smokealarm.org.

The company Foxconn, which assembles iPhones in China, says that a brawl involving 2,000 workers shut down the factory today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SHOUTING)

MALVEAUX (voiceover): A Chinese news agency says that 5,000 police were brought in to stop the violence. Now these pictures, what they're showing, are workers leaving the plant after it was closed. Now, the company described the incident as "a personal dispute between several employees".

But according to Reuters, some workers say the fight began when factory guards started beating workers. They posted their claims on a Twitter-like site. About 40 people were taken to the hospital. Several workers arrested. Foxconn has been criticized recently for alleged harsh working conditions and illegal amounts of overtime for -- after a series of suicides at its factories.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX (on camera): A former Chinese police chief will be spending the next 15 years in prison. Wang Li Jun was found guilty of bribery, abuse of power and defection just a few months ago. He fled a U.S. consulate and revealed details about the murder of a British businessman who was killed by the wife of a prominent politician.

One survivor said when he stopped rolling, he was neck deep in snow. An avalanche sweeps two dozen hikers from one of the highest peaks in the world. We look at the weather conditions that are now complicating the search.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Search has been suspended for three mountain climbers still missing in Nepal after a deadly avalanche happened yesterday near Kathmandu one of the world's highest peaks. Eight people have been confirmed dead. Four of them French citizens, one German, one Italian, one Nepali and one Spanish. It is believed the avalanche might have been triggered when a piece of ice the size of six or seven football fields fell from a melting glacier. Survivors say they managed open to break their tents as ice and snow was piling on and then they rolled hundreds of feet in the snow to get away.

I want to bring in our Chad Myers to talk about what causes this. Does that sound right to you, that it would be a piece of ice that would just fall from a glacier?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It sounded like there was more to it than just hard ice. There was snow with it. Very loose snow. Light snow that came down. Maybe a cornice up on top, which is kind of a -- when the wind blows over the top and you see-- sometimes the roof. When I was living in buffalo, the roof would have a big overhang of snow that eventually would just fall off. We would call it an avalanche, but it wasn't really true then, just falling off the roof. So this snow I believe came from well above them. About 1,000 feet above them. It had a lot of velocity when it hit them and it took them down 300 meters down below. Almost 600 feet or more below from where they started. They tumbled in their bedrolls, in their tents all the way down the mountain. Let me take you to where we're talking about now, and it's a steep mountain. Obviously people wouldn't climb it if it wasn't. It's over 24,000 feet high, everybody wants to climb it. It's one of the eight tallest mountains out there. It is a tough climb. Although not an impossible climb. That's why so many people go up there. There are two seasons. The best season to do this is spring because there's not new snow in spring. It's all hardened, it doesn't snow a lot in the winter time there. The snow is already packed in. Then all of a sudden you get monsoon season, which just happened and is just over, and there's a lot of snow on that mountain. Well eventually that snow can slide down the mountain. When the monsoon stops, there's the post-monsoon season which is now. They think, okay if all the snow is done now we're not going to have to worry about it, but that didn't happen. There was snow last week, so the monsoon was just late ending. That snow was on top of the mountain, and it had to come down. It just does. That's what it - so even though we call it post-monsoon season, it was still avalanche season to that mountain. It hadn't changed the season yet.

MALVEAUX: Sure. How common are they in that region because I know local mountain guides have reported there's more of this ice melting because of global warming on the peaks? Is that true?

MYERS: Yeah, true and not true. Some of the mountains in the Himalayas, unlike all the other glaciers in the world are getting bigger, so not melting like so many of these glaciers are across the country, across the world, and across the globe. The issue today, I think is that this late season snow caused it. It wasn't so much of ice caving off like a glacier that you would see in Antarctica. This was a late season unanticipated snow. They were already 24,000 feet up the mountain. They couldn't get back down even though they knew there was danger up above.

MALVEAUX: All right, Chad. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.

He was arrested a decade ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMED NASIM, EX-PRISONER (through translator): I completely lost my mind. If a person doesn't sleep for seven days hanging from a ceiling, my body aching, what hope do they have?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Powerful allegations of torture and abuse at an Afghan prison once run by the U.S. military.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: U.S. military facing allegations of serious abuse at the Baghram prison in Afghanistan. Public records are out there, but few give details about what exactly went on behind those bars. Early this month, the U.S. military handed over control over the controversial detention center, to the Afghan government. Well now, CNN has exclusive interview with one of the men who was held captive there. Anna Coren has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNA COREN, CN CORRESPONDENT: Mohammed Nasim has come a long way to tell me his story. Traveling more than 300 kilometers from his home near the Pakistani border to Kabul. A story that began almost a decade ago when he was arrested in October 2002.

NASIM: They accused me of being involved with the Taliban, attacking Jalalabad airport 40 kilometers from my home, he says, but I told them how was I involved when you arrested me in my house?

COREN: According to U.S. records, Nasim had possession of rocket mortars and other equipment when he was detained. Nasim denied that. But his troubles were just beginning. He was taken to Baghram prison, at the time run by the U.S. defense department, and says he was soon tortured.

NASIM: They gave me electric shocks on my wrists. I was hung from the ceiling for seven days. Our faces were masked, and we were handcuffed. Our legs were chained as well.

COREN: He says some prisoners committed suicide. He also thought about ending his life.

NASIM: I completely lost my mind. If a person doesn't sleep for seven days hanging from the ceiling, my body aching, what hope do they have? They would hit our head into the wall. I thought I was going to die.

COREN: After five months at Baghram, Nasim was shipped off to Guantanamo Bay detention facility where he was assessed as a medium risk prisoner. Showing me his I.D. band, the 36-year-old describes conditions inside.

NASIM: Guantanamo was not like Baghram, he says. Every prisoner had their own small room, and after three months they took us to camp five where it was very strict. It was difficult to cope, but not as bad as Baghram.

COREN: After four and a half years Nasim was finally released. NASIM: The foreigners said we're sorry, but what to do with their sorry? You take me away from my family, my children. I lost five years of my life.

COREN: There are around 200 prisoners like Mohammed Nasim who have been transferred from Guantanamo Bay back to their homes here in Afghanistan. Some of them were low-level foot soldiers. Others may simply have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Human rights groups say there definitely was a pattern of abuse at Baghram prison. And a U.S. military investigation into the deaths of two prisoners at the prison found that abuse had been widespread in 2002 and 2003. During the same period, Nasim was there. Unrolling the documentation given to him by U.S. authorities, he asked me to read it. This declaration says that Nasim Mohammed, that being you, was detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, during such armed conflict. It then goes on to say that it has agreed that Nasim Mohammed will not be further detained by the United States. There is no written apology, and there was no compensation. Nasim's anger has subsided over the past six years, but he believes it's time for foreign forces to get out of Afghanistan and let Afghans look after their own country. Anna Coren, CNN, Kabul.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: CNN has called and e-mailed the Defense Department to get a comment on Nasim's allegations of torture. So far we have not gotten an answer.

How much did you pay at the pump this weekend? Well, gas prices, if they're on your mind, like they're on ours, of course, you have to turn your attention now to Sudan. That is right. Sudan and South Sudan, they are now arguing over land filled with oil. We're going to take you there and how it actually impacts how much you spend on gas.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Sudan and South Sudan are at serious odds over land as well as demilitarized zones. It started long before the two countries split last year, and now they are under international pressure to come up with an agreement over this land. Why do we care about this? What's going on in South Sudan in the world's newest country and, of course, it's former other half? One word, oil. Oil is on the land that's in dispute, what happens there could impact how much you pay for gas. Our David McKenzie is explaining.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don't let the smiles and hugs fool you at these high-level meetings at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, because the stakes couldn't be higher, and the talks between Sudan and South Sudan's presidents. At the heart of it, oil. South Sudan has most of the reserves. With little infrastructure, it depends on Sudan for exporting the oil. Six months after independence, the south cut off the supply saying that Khartoum was stealing its oil. Investors hope for a quick resolution. Then this. A series of tit for tat battles and air raids in the volatile border region. The countries moved closer to all-out war, and negotiations were in tatters. The African Union and Security Council came down hard. Diplomats could see years of painstaking negotiations evaporating. They demand that the Sudans hammer out their differences, not just on oil, but on a whole host of issues that could ruin any chance of lasting peace. Border demarcations, fate of disputed areas like Abyei, ending rebellions in support for rebels in Sudan and citizenship rights in the recently divorced nations. Both sides face U.N. sanction if they don't resolve these issues. But if they can't get the oil flowing, which in the south accounts for 90 percent of revenues, it will be the Sudanese who suffer the most.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: David McKenzie is joining us from Nairobi, Kenya, and, David, first of all, we know the two leaders are meeting. Do we have any progress?

MCKENZIE: What we do know is they manage, Suzanne, to hammer out some economic issues. The revenue sharing of the oil, which is so crucial for getting a revenue to South Sudan, to Sudan and, in fact, to get the oil out to the rest of the world. There are many go out to those points, but they're still sticking on the security side of things. They are meeting at the palace in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Those meetings could go on well into the night. They have both the threat of sanctions on them, and also obviously, trying to kick start the economies and producing oil for the world supply.

MALVEAUX: And we know Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has weighed in on this. She is saying that both these leaders have to "deliver peace, security, and prosperity for the people of Sudan and South Sudan." Is this really seen as a last chance for these two leaders to get together and resolve this, or could we possibly see a backslide into war?

MCKENZIE: Well, you could see a backslide into war. Not necessarily right at this moment, but that is the great risk. Sudan and South Sudan previously fought a civil war for decades. Many millions killed. Of course, the U.S. government is particularly anxious at this -- these talks are already hammered out in the next few hours. They have the threat of sanctions against them. The U.S. played a very key part in negotiating a peace settlement between north and south. They've also been instrumental in trying to develop South Sudan as a viable country.

There's also proven oil reserves in the south that could be a boon for both the U.S. and other parts of the region as an oil supply. So they need to figure out this and figure it out now. But they're still in those talks. Closed-door talks. We should find out later tonight if they make any real deals which will help develop their countries.

MALVEAUX: All right, David, I know you'll be keeping a close eye on those talks. Let us know if anything comes of it today.

There is a pretty good chance that Barack Obama could win in Brazil. That is because Brazilian candidates use his name, not theirs, all 16 of them. They're going to tell you why. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: This is my favorite segment. When it comes to Belgium's music scene, here is what is top in the charts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NNEKA, MUSICIAN (singing): And I pray my love with give you life, to help you breathe (ph), to keep your smile. My shining star, to take my love and live. Oh, shining star, please look down for me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Singing her hit "Shining Star." She's making a name for herself in Germany, but she is from Nigeria originally. Now, in this video she's trekking through the beautiful Spanish Canary Islands near Africa. She sings in both English and Igbo. That is the Nigerian language. She is proving to be a shining star herself after performing with artists like Cee Lo Green and Lenny Kravitz. Good for her.

As election day nears, looks like Barack Obama has a dead on chance at winning in Brazil. That is because down there he is all over the ballot. It seems as if Brazilian candidates, they like his brand. They can't seem to get enough of him. Shasta Darlington, she is now back in Sao Paulo after hitting the campaign trail, where she even found a Barack Obama look-alike making a run for office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, (singing): Barack Obama, hey. Barack Obama, ho. Barack Obama, hey. Barack Obama, ho.

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If only Barack Obama were running for office in Brazil. He's so popular here that 16 candidates from municipal elections have adopted his name.

And it doesn't stop with the U.S. president. In a bid to stand out, ballots for the October 7 vote are filled with names both heroic and just plain bizarre. Bin Laden says he's going to blow up corruption. For some, a sign of political immaturity. For others, proof that Brazil's democracy is flourishing. After all, this is the country where everyone from footballers to presidents go by their first names or even their nicknames. Candidates were inspired after a TV clown was the most voted for contender in the last congressional elections.

DARLINGTON (on camera): Now we're actually going to hit the campaign trail with one of these candidates. I'm talking about Obama BH from (INAUDIBLE).

DARLINGTON (voice-over): Gerson Januario de Almeida was invited to run for local councilman for the simple reason that he's a dead ringer for the real Obama. His platform, ironically, is health reform.

"I use this name because I think it can bring me votes," he says, but I need to separate just being a body double from being a politician."

This man agrees.

"I'll be open to his proposals," he says, "but politics aren't a joke."

For others, it's all about the looks.

"With that face and appearance," he says, "it will be hard to go wrong."

Obama BH says he's pretty sure no one in this race has adopted the name of the U.S. Republican candidate.

"But who knows for the next elections in two years," he says. "Maybe by then there will be some Mitt Romneys."

We have to hope that the jingles are just as catchy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: All right. Shasta Darlington, she's joining us live from Brazil. You know, I love Brazil. You got to love it. It's -- you know, the color, the culture, all this. And now you've got these Obama look- alikes. Are people really taking these candidates seriously?

DARLINGTON: Well, I know it's really hard to believe. Some of these seem outrageous, but they really do take them seriously. I think that the example of that popular TV clown is perfect. This guy was the most voted candidate for the last congressional elections just because people thought he was funny in some cases. And even once he was elected, had he to take a literacy test to prove that he could do the job.

Of course, others say that there is a bit of a protest vote involved. They're -- they complain about corruption. They say they've had enough of Brazilian politics, so they're going to vote for the clown. But even on the serious side, the most popular president in recent history here in Brazil, President Lula, goes by his nickname. Lula translates as squid. Can you imagine a president named squid. His real name is Luiz Inacio da Silva. He adopted that nickname because so many people already used it, put it on the ballot and, of course, that's what everybody knows him now by, Lula. Even the current president, Dilma Rousseff, she goes by her first name. Everyone just refers to her as Dilma this, Dilma that. So it's a laid back country. Either you like it or you don't.

MALVEAUX: Yes, you know, first name basis, your president. That's not bad.

How do they campaign? Is there anything that they take from American culture in terms of how they're campaigning?

DARLINGTON: I think on the more serious level, definitely. You'll see the top candidates -- right now, of course, it isn't presidential elections, but you'll have -- you do have some important races. The Sao Paulo mayor. Other big cities. They'll do a lot of the -- the sort of interview circuit and especially the debate circuit. They're getting that from the United States and they're copying that part of the model.

But so much of it is these automatic, prepaid, really short little spots. So the only way to stand out is to be this eccentric character, do a dance, wear a costume. They're only on air for a couple of seconds. And so that's the way they try and get noticed.

MALVEAUX: We hope it doesn't devolve into that here. But, you know, you never know. You've got a couple more weeks. All right, Shasta, thank you. Good to see you.

DARLINGTON: Could be more fun.

MALVEAUX: Yes. Absolutely.

A hard lesson to learn about Facebook privacy settings, but this is an invitation that went viral. Riot police actually had to break up the party.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: If you're having a party, you might want to think twice about blasting it on social media at least. Know how to set those privacy settings. A sweet 16 party in a small Dutch town, just about two hours north of Amsterdam, turned into chaos after more than 3,000 people showed up to the party. They came after the girl's invite went viral on FaceBook. A riot broke out. Police arrested 34 people. At least three dozen were injured, including a police officer.

Seasons, they changed on Saturday. The northern hemisphere, it is now the fall. And south, it's spring. So we asked our viewer, send us your photos, your pictures showing us how you spent time as the seasons changed in one of our one-day photo challenge. So we got over 1,000 photos from our i-Reporters. Want you to take a look at this. This is Michael Ingram (ph) submitted this photo of his friends at the bottom of a pool. This is in Bowie, Maryland. He says summer is not over, baby. Here in Georgia, these flannel shirts hanging on a clothesline, reminiscent of cooler temperatures of the fall. They were sent to us by John McCann (ph). And in Melbourne, Australia, Virginia Star (ph), she shares this beautiful view. This is from her balcony. She says she feels lucky to live in that area.

Let's take a look at what is trending across the globe. Might have had the Emmys over here, but down under all the awards glitz was at the Australian Football League's "Night of Nights." The red carpet at the AFL Brownlow Awards always gets the Aussies talking, as do the outfits. Here's socialite Brynne Edelsten, known as the Paris Hilton of Australia. She's even got her own reality TV show coming out. Unsurprisingly, tweets rolled in about the outfit. This one comparing it to a collision between an ostrich and a disco ball. Ouch. One tweeter was a bit nicer saying, I enjoy her.