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Connect the World
Is Gadhafi Losing His Grip on Power?; Islamic Pluralism in Malaysia; Devastation in New Zealand; Mental Health in Kenya; Aid Workers Warn of Mass Exodus of Libyans Into Tunisia; US State Department Charters Ferry to Evacuate US Citizens from Libya; Relationship Between a Country's Stability and its Openness; Wind Power Making Germany Leader in Renewable Energy; Connector of the Day Christopher Bailey; Parting Shots of Wacky Numbers from London's Fashion Week
Aired February 23, 2011 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BECKY ANDERSON, HOST: Gadhafi's supporters in Tripoli, brought to you by Libyan state TV. But our eyewitness tonight tells a very different story.
Gadhafi may have control of the capital, but a growing number of cities in the east are joining the uprising.
Later, CNN reveals a Kenyan hospital you wouldn't imagine in your worst nightmares.
And time is running out for trapped survivors in New Zealand. We're going to head there live for you this hour.
All that and more tonight, as we connect the world.
First up, town by town, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi is losing his grip on power, despite an all-out war on the opposition. But the popular uprising that succeeded in parts of the east has so far been extinguished in the capital.
State TV broadcast these pictures of pro-government demonstrations today, trying to give the appearance that Gadhafi remains popular in Tripoli. The regime isn't allowing any other news coverage, but we are getting reports from residents that tell a very different story. They say protests have left the streets simply because it's too dangerous for them to be there, saying mercenaries are around every corner.
have a listen to this.
You won't hear it anywhere else.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, the phones are still down in Tripoli, but we've been able to get through to our unnamed source. We've spoken to her a number of times now by Skype.
Let's see what she's got to say today.
Hello, there.
What can you tell us, at this point?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All today, all Central Tripoli has been empty. There is no police cars. There is no protesters, no anti-protester -- anti- Gadhafi protesters. There is no one. It's -- it's -- it's empty.
ANDERSON: Why is that?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know. What I do know is that the system is preparing something massive for its public. And Gadhafi's speech had proven that yesterday on his speech.
ANDERSON: So explain to me what life is like in Tripoli at present. I mean have you been out of your house recently?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I haven't been out anywhere. But what's been happening today, since three hours ago, the mobile companies have been texting its customers to encourage them to go out. And I have a reliable source that's been saying that there is an operation room ran by one of the closest people of the Gadhafi and they're trying to make people feel safe enough to go to the streets so they can start shooting again.
ANDERSON: Is anybody you know prepared to go out into the streets at this point?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody is scared. And some of them are losing hope, especially that there are rumors that Gadhafi is cleaning the street for CNN to come in and he's trying to prove -- especially your channel, he's trying to prove that there is nothing happening in Tripoli right now.
ANDERSON: How -- how are you coping as far as food, money, drinking water, is concerned?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Actually, we are relying for what we saved. We're trying to use as less as possible, because nobody knows when they're going to get out. Everybody is having a hard time getting any kind of medication. A lot of people, and I myself, have been sick for the last couple of days and we couldn't get access to any medication.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
ANDERSON: Our unnamed source speaking to me by Skype earlier on today. The phone lines are very, very, very difficult to access in Libya.
So that's the story on the ground in Tripoli. We've had next to no access to the capital, apart from eyewitness accounts like the one that you just heard.
We do, though, have views from key players to bring you this hour. Israel has not been saying very much on the unrest in the Middle East, but their defense minister spoke to CNN earlier today. Ehud Barak, coming up.
And the view from Malaysia -- Prime Minister Najib Razak runs a modern, secular state. He is in Turkey to promote the view that Islam and democracy are absolutely compatible, despite anything that you may hear to the contrary. My interview the him in just a few minutes.
For now, though, let's get more on the situation on the ground in Libya. You saw what's happening in Tripoli.
Let's show you the eastern part of the country now, where people in many towns are celebrating their liberation from the Gadhafi regime.
Our Ben Wedeman reports many soldiers in this region have switched sides to join the revolution, while others appear to be hedging their bets.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "Are you with the regime or with the people's revolution?"
Saif, a Libyan Army officer who defected to the anti-Gadhafi forces, is addressing a group of prisoners.
They respond in unison, "With the people's revolution."
All but one of these men are soldiers captured in the uprising in eastern Libya, now held in a nondescript house. Many were severely beaten by angry crowds after their surrender, saved from a far worse fate by community leaders. The men insist they didn't want to fire upon the anti-Gadhafi protesters and tried to avoid carrying out their officers' orders.
"We were shooting randomly in the air," said this soldier. "All the guys there were firing up."
But the officer, Saif, isn't convinced. "Innocent people died. Innocent people," he says, "your Libyan brothers."
Local activist Shukri al-Hasi suspects they may still be loyal to the regime. "Some units of the army gave themselves up," he says, "but you didn't."
We had come here looking for the much talked about foreign mercenaries used by the regime to suppress anti-government protests. But the only person who might fit that description was Issa Adam (ph), originally from Chad, but a Libyan citizen since the age of five. He tells an unlikely story of being compelled to board a military plane to the east and suddenly finding himself in the middle of a demonstration. He insists no one paid him to fight the protesters.
And as I finish the interview with Issa (ph), Saif, the army officer, turned to the camera, addressing his fellow officers still siding with the regime.
"I appeal to you to join the people's revolt. Join the people's revolt" -- an appeal that might be heeded in an army divided.
Ben Wedeman, CNN, eastern Libya.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, many heads of state are criticizing Gadhafi's brutal crackdown on dissent. But one leader that we haven't heard from yet, on camera, anyway, is U.S. President Barack Obama. He's expected to make his first public remarks on Libya within hours.
Now, the U.S. State Department says that Washington will hold the Libyan government accountable for the bloodshed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
P.J. CROWLEY, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: We're looking at a full range of tools and options that are available to us to achieve our goals of seeing an end to the violence in Libya and respect for the rights of the Libyan people. That certainly includes looking at sanctions that could be op -- imposed, either bilaterally or multilaterally.
We believe it's important to coordinate our efforts with the national community, our European allies, the United Nations and organizations like the Arab League. We will be consulting broadly about these issues in the coming days.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: OK. So that's the view from Washington ahead of Barack Obama making a statement in the next coming hours.
Israel also watching the developments in Libya closely. According to the Israeli media, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned his parliament today that instability in the Middle East could last for years and that Israel must prepare for, quote, "every possible outcome."
Well, CNN's Hala Gorani got more reaction on the regional unrest from the Israeli defense minister, Ehud Barak.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
EHUD BARAK, ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER: I think it's something totally new. It's an earthquake in the Arab world, probably all around the street from Marrakesh, too, Bangladesh. And Egypt is a cornerstone of the Middle East stability for a generation now. The period of Mubarak is over. We are entering into a new era. I hope and believe that the armed forces, which are extremely popular in Egypt, can deliver a coherent and determined delivery of a more open society and that it will not fall as a prey into the hands of the Muslim Brotherhood.
HALA GORANI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And if elections are held and the Muslim Brotherhood registers big gains, then will Israel say that democracy shouldn't have come to Egypt, that Egyptians should have waited for their resol --
BARAK: No, no, no.
GORANI: -- revolution because they're not happy with the outcome?
BARAK: You know, I do not hide. I believe that many of us wouldn't be happy if the Muslim Brotherhood would take over in Egypt. But it's up to the Egyptian people. It's not up to us. It's their constitution. It's their future.
I believe the Egyptian people is a mature people. They -- they -- I hope they will -- they are -- of course, they are a traditional society. Many people feel religion. But it doesn't mean, necessarily, that many will vote for the Muslim Brotherhood. And probably they will get the share which reflects their relative powers in the society.
I don't think that it's our role. But, of course we should be open-eyed and be -- be watching what -- what will follow.
I hope that the -- the civil society in Egypt, the two generations of exposure to the free world, that the role of the armed forces will suffice to balance it according to a mod -- a line of moderation.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
ANDERSON: OK. Well, we've heard very little from Israel, but you've heard it here on CNN, Ehud Barak, the defense minister, addressing the regional unrest.
Well, our next guest says the world shouldn't fear Muslim nations gaining their freedom, saying Islam can work hand in hand with a democratic system of government. Advocates of Islamic pluralism often point to Malaysia.
Well, that government or that country's prime minister, Najib Razak, is in Turkey to promote that very idea. He sees those two countries as being role models for political and economic reform in the Muslim world.
Well, I spoke with him a short time ago, asking him first for his assessment of the situation in Libya, as he sees it today.
This is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NAJIB RAZAK, MALAYSIAN PRIME MINISTER: There's a lot of concern, especially after Moammar Gadhafi's speech last night, that it appears that the two sides are heading toward a major confrontation. This is obviously of great concern to the world. And what we need to do is now to ensure that there is going to be a peaceful transition and reforms that will be based on what the people want for Libya.
And I think that should be through the ballot box, that should be through a system that allows them to decide their own destiny.
ANDERSON: What is your perspective about what is happening across the Middle East region as a whole?
RAZAK: I think the key element is that people want change, people want reform. So it is incumbent upon the governments to ensure that there is a system in place that can lead toward good and effective governance.
At the same time, it is also crucial to be able to feel the pulse of the people, especially the young people. And this is why it's so important that a system that will be put into place as part of the constitutional and political reform in those countries will ensure that the people will participate as stakeholders -- stakeholders in a -- in a very meaningful way.
ANDERSON: The fear for many in the West is that Islam and democracy are incompatible or not compatible. I know that you are making a call for a movement for moderacy.
What do you mean by that?
RAZAK: Being moderate is fundamental to Islam, because in Islam, the Koran talks about being -- choosing the middle path, the concept of wasatiyyah, which is being a moderate and taking the middle road.
What is important about that is to realize that it is not a conflict between Islam and Christian, Islam and the Jews or the Jews and the Christians or Hindus. It is about the moderates and the extremists.
If the moderates speak up, the moderates are willing to reassert themselves and I'm more confident that this will lead to a more harmonious and peaceful world.
ANDERSON: How do you reassure those, then, in the West, who are worried?
RAZAK: Well, I think they have to allow this, you know, process of change to take place. I think the West must insist that it is a peaceful transition. We must try to educate in a way that it is important for the people to accept the good values and -- and for us to try to promote those ideal values and to make the system work, because, clearly, what is in place today, the system and the governance are totally rejected by the people in those countries.
ANDERSON: How has Barack Obama handled this situation, to your mind?
RAZAK: Well, he has, in a sense, given the right signal in the case of Egypt. He has said that there must be -- the will of the people must take precedence, that there must be a peaceful transition and -- and people should not use violence. I think it's -- it's a kind of messaging that must apply to the other countries, as well. I think there's a lot of concern what's happening in Libya. And I think Obama, President Obama and the other leaders around the world must send the same message, perhaps in a more assertive manner.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
ANDERSON: And stand by.
We expect to hear from Barack Obama in the coming hours, a couple of hours from now.
That, the Malaysian prime minister, well versed in running a democracy hand in hand with Islam.
Well, stay with CONNECT THE WORLD for more on the unrest that we are seeing across an entire region, including the scramble to evacuate people from Libya. That coming up.
Plus, pulled out alive after being trapped for 24 hours -- one story of survival as New Zealand mourns its dead.
And --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some of you guys stay at night, somebody died here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Uncovering a horrifying reality which is hard to believe actually is happening today -- Kenya's mentally ill, a powerful report, just ahead here on CNN.
Don't go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: In a collapsed office building surrounded by debris, rescue workers scramble to reach a trapped man in Christchurch, New Zealand. Finally, they manage to haul him out on a stretcher -- a small glimmer of hope for a country that has now lost 75 people in what has been a devastating earthquake.
This video was sent in by one of our iReporters. It shows the commotion as a group of bystanders try to rescue people trapped inside a bus.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on. Come on. Get this (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
ANDERSON: Well, they're trying to find a way to break open the windows. It's a race against time. Our reporter, Patrick Kurbin (ph), said he stopped filming to try to help but they told him to go find safety. He found out later that three people there, sadly, had passed away.
Well, a number of people are still believed to be trapped in buildings around the city. Many residents are thankful to be alive.
But as Anna Coren reports, aftershocks are a terrifying reality.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After 25 hours of tirelessly searching through the rubble, proof of life. Fire crews successfully rescuing Ann Bodkin (ph). She had taken cover under her desk on the third story of the Pyne Gould Corporation building when the devastating earthquake struck.
But this was only one of a handful of lucky stories to come out of the heartache that has gripped the city of Christchurch, just five months after its last major earthquake.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've been trying to text my daughter's phone since I had reception just because I thought the rescuers might hear the ring and dig down and find her.
COREN: For those hoping for some promising news about loved ones trapped in the CTV building, a cruel blow. Initially, it was thought dozens inside were still alive, until police called off the search. It's now feared to be a tomb for more than 100 people.
Malou Silerio knows that this could have been her fate.
(on camera): That is your bed?
MALOU SILERIO, EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR: Yes.
COREN (voice-over): She was due home for lunch in her ground floor apartment of this two-story building. If she had done that, she would have been crushed to death.
SILERIO: This one, we cried and cried because we were for the -- you know, we were grateful -- we were so grateful for that. If we were inside, we can't even run because the shake was so quick, so strong.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You couldn't escape that thing.
COREN (on camera): This church is one of the thousands of buildings that felt the violence and intensity of the earthquake. In fact, it was still being reconstructed from the quake that hit the city last year.
Now, while there were no fatalities here, just blocks away is the city center. And police say the search and rescue operation that is currently underway there is very quickly turning into a recovery mission.
(voice-over): Police have cordoned off seven main sites to continue their search with the help of teams from Australia, the U.S. The U.K. Taiwan, Japan and Singapore. And for those who have lost their homes or live in parts of the city with no power and water, camping in the relief centers is the only option.
And that's where Denise Gali will be spending her 19th birthday, along with her family.
DENISE GALI, EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR: Just anxious, like, I don't think what's going to happen and don't know where to go, what's next. You know, there could be another big one.
COREN: And as dozens of frightening aftershocks terrorize the city, that fear is not far from everyone's minds.
Anna Coren, CNN, Christchurch, New Zealand.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, let's try and address some of those concerns from Anna's report, the situation on the ground, with Carol Ball of the New Zealand Red Cross.
We talked to her this time last night.
She's the area manager in the Canterbury region and is coordinating staff there.
It's a desperate situation.
What can you tell us at this point?
CAROL BALL, NEW ZEALAND RED CROSS: The same, really, as yesterday. They're still searching. They're bringing in a lot of help from the international community for their, a lot of expertise. They're setting up welfare centers. They're having to set up, you know, checks on areas they can go to, collect water. It's -- it is an ongoing situation and unfolding more and more by the minute.
It's fair to say this is recognized as being lost.
ANDERSON: Briefly, what -- what is the -- the biggest challenge that you face at this point?
BALL: Resourcing, the people who are in their homes that are damaged, making sure that we can -- if we can keep people in their homes that have - - don't have the services, if we can provide those services of being able to collect water, being able to serve the sewage through port-o-loads. It actually helps to keep people in at least the comfort of their own armchairs, so to speak.
It -- that's a really big challenge.
ANDERSON: Carol, check back with us as and when you've got more.
Carol Ball is with the New Zealand Red Cross, working the story, as you see it there.
Really a desperate situation.
Carol, we thank you for that.
All right, you've got your headlines coming up in about seven minutes from now here on CNN.
Next, though, we're going to go to Kenya for you and a hospital which not only locks up its patients, but our correspondent, too.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Do you think it's a good thing to be locking them --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- isn't talking. No, we are not locking --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let us open. I want to go out here.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
ANDERSON: It's a disturbing story from David McKenzie and one which highlights the worrying state of Kenya's mental health service.
Sixty seconds away.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: You're back with CONNECT THE WORLD here on CNN.
I am Becky Anderson for you.
Now, imagine a hospital where you are locked up, drugged and very much alone. What's more, you have to pay for the privilege.
Well, that is what CNN discovered at one of Kenya's most feared mental health institutions.
It is a disturbing story and one that David McKenzie witnessed firsthand -- David, I believe -- well, frankly, you experienced the horrors.
Tell us.
MCKENZIE: Well, Becky, we went to Mathari Hospital in part of Nairobi and certainly we were there to try and see the state of Mathari Hospital in Kenya.
What we didn't expect, Becky, was when we got there, that we would be locked away with the patients.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MCKENZIE (voice-over): It started life a century ago as a smallpox isolation unit. Later, it became a lunatic asylum. Mathari Hospital is a place most Kenyans fear.
EDAH MAINA, KENYA SOCIETY FOR MENTALLY HANDICAPPED: They are clocked up. There is no kind of game. It's like all they think about is that they are sick and they don't like to think about anything else.
MCKENZIE: We were given rare access to Mathari Hospital. And what we found was shocking.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And there's somebody who died there at night. Somebody died there.
MCKENZIE: Behind a steel door, a shrouded corpse of a man that patients say died the night before, but next to someone in an isolation cell. Hospital staff denied the body had been left there all night, but demanded we delete the video.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean why -- why are we making such a big deal out of this?
MCKENZIE: When we refused, we were locked in with the patients.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want you to open the gate so we can walk out of here (INAUDIBLE) nine.
MCKENZIE: The patients take the opportunity to tell us their stories -- the powerful tranquilizers they're given, making it nearly impossible to do the simplest tasks, how they're crammed in at night, 12 beds to a dorm. Patients claim they are raped by other patients and that the hospital staff does nothing. The administrators say they have not heard of rape cases.
The patients must pay to be here, but they call themselves inmates. And by this point, so were we.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. Let me in. I've been waiting for them.
MCKENZIE: Do you think it's a good thing to --
(CROSSTALK)
MCKENZIE: -- be locking journalists away?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, we are not locking --
(CROSSTALK)
MCKENZIE: Because you don't --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, we are not locking --
MCKENZIE: -- it's inconvenient to you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let us out there. I want to go out here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you go.
MCKENZIE: Finally, we called the Kenyan prime minister's office, which worked to get us freed. Thank you. Three hours.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three hours, 15 minutes.
MCKENZIE: As if nothing had happened, Altua (ph) continued. We were out, but there's no escaping the harsh reality of Kenya's decaying mental health infrastructure.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
MCKENZIE: Well, Becky, the government told CNN that they are, in fact, trying to rehabilitate Mathari Hospital. But our experiences there -- forget the fact that we were locked up with the patients because we filmed that instance of a dead patient being clearly put with a live patient in an isolation ward.
These patients can stay there for years at a time. And they have to pay to be there. They won't even be released unless they pay their bills to get out. And often, they are committed by a friend or neighbor without any real reason to be there.
It was part of an investigation into Kenya's mental health that really shocked and disturbed us -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Yes, all right, David, out of Nairobi, Kenya for you this evening, David McKenzie.
It's Kenya's terrible secret. Join CNN's David McKenzie as he takes you on a journey into this world of anguish and misunderstanding. That's "World's Untold Stories: Locked Up and Forgotten." It airs several times this weekend. The times locally showed on your screens there, Saturday in London, 21:00, for example. And you'll find -- well, you can work those out for yourself.
All right, you're watching CONNECT THE WORLD.
This is CONNECT THE WORLD.
With no end in sight to the unrest in Libya, many are attempting to get out while they can.
Up next, we're going to take you to the border with Tunisia, where Libyans are fleeing in their thousands.
We're going to speak to a man who believes the uprisings across the region are all part of a political phenomenon.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: You're back with CONNECT THE WORLD here on CNN at just after half past nine in London. I'm Becky Anderson. Coming up, aid workers warn of a catastrophic exodus of Libyans into Tunisia as more and more people flee Moammar Gadhafi's threat to fight a popular uprising to the last drop of blood.
Also ahead, it's good business and good for the environment. We're going to see how wind power is making Germany a leader in renewable energy.
Then later, the designer who brought tartan and the trench coat into the 21st century. Burberry's Christopher Bailey is your Connector of the Day.
Those stories ahead in the next half hour. First, as ever at this point, let's get you a quick check of the headlines.
Libyan state TV broadcast new pictures of pro-government demonstrations in Tripoli earlier today, making it appear that Moammar Gadhafi is -- still has considerable public support. Residents tell CNN the city is essentially being held hostage by militia men. They're roaming the streets, forcing protesters to stay home.
Well, a different scene in eastern Libya, where many towns are now in the control of the opposition. One opposition figure tells CNN two Libyan military pilots reportedly refused orders to bomb Benghazi, instead ejecting from their plane and leaving it to crash.
Survivors are still being pulled from the rubble after a powerful earthquake hit Christchurch in New Zealand on Tuesday. The death toll there stands at 75, but officials sadly warn that it is likely to go higher. Hundreds are still missing.
And Bahrain's king has arrived in Saudi Arabia. He's believed to be holding talks over the unrest in his country with King Abdullah. Now, the Saudi monarch returned home earlier today after undergoing medical treatment in the US and in Morocco.
And US stocks sink for the second day after oil hits $100 a barrel. The Dow closing down about 106-odd points.
Well, as the unrest continues in Libya, governments around the world are racing to get their citizens out. Using planes, ferries, and frigates, anything they can find, they are hoping to provide an escape route for thousands of workers and expatriates.
And yet, it's not just foreigners who are fleeing the fighting in Tunisia (sic). Thousands of Libyans have crossed the border. The UN refugee agency urging Libya's neighbors not to turn them away. CNN's Nic Robertson is in Tunisia close to the border. Nic?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, on the border today, we saw about 5,000 people come across the border. A lot of them Tunisians, Egyptian workers all working in Libya, as long as -- as well as Libyans with them.
But they told us something that gives us an indication into the thinking of the Libyan regime right now. They report on the road between the capital and the border about 20 checkpoints, and at those checkpoints, government officials are systematically destroying video evidence of any atrocities that may have been committed in the country.
What they are doing is they're stopping people, they're searching their bags, and they're removing from their cell phones, removing SIM cards, removing memory cards, which means anything that has been video recorded on those cell phones is now being destroyed. The regime, it appears, covering up what it's doing, not allowing those images to get out of the country.
People we've talked about, as well, were telling us that since Colonel Gadhafi's speech, the situation in the capital has calmed a little, that's why they were fleeing. But it's interesting, because talking to the Libyans as they cross the border, they say that the situation is fine. It really shows the fear that they still have that Colonel Gadhafi is still in control.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTSON (voice-over): By car with bulging bags strapped to the roof, and by foot, they've been coming all day across the border from northwest Libya. By evening, more than 2,000 refugees, according to the Tunisian volunteers handing out free food and rides.
Libyans, too afraid of their leader still clinging to power, to tell the real reasons why they are leaving.
"Nothing is going on there," says this Libyan man. "It's all fine. A hundred percent. A hundred percent."
"There is nothing," this Libyan woman says. "We've just come over for a visit."
The volunteer handing food to the new rivals doesn't believe them. "Of course they're not visiting anyone," he says. "The Libyans are scared."
ROBERTSON (on camera): Away from the camera, there is one man who did speak to us, and when we asked him why he'd left Libya, he said "because it was unsafe." We asked him where he'd come from, he said "Tripoli." We asked him how the situation was there, he said, "Bad, very bad."
ROBERTSON (voice-over): A Tunisian man escaping Libya's capital was also outspoken, saying the situation is scary. "It's not good if you're a foreigner. You can't get out of your house. There's gunfire at night."
ROBERTSON (on camera): The Tunisian military has beefed up security at the border, concerned that trouble may spill over from Libya. Just over there, soldiers are forming a line, a small buffer between the two check posts.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): How many more refugees may come as Gadhafi threatens violence to hold this corner of the country, a growing worry here.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTSON: And a lot of people tell us, coming across the border today, they wanted to fly out of the country. They said there were thousands and thousands of people stuck at the main airport in Tripoli. They just gave up and headed for the border instead. Becky?
ANDERSON: All right, Nic's on the Tunisian side of the border, there. Libya -- thanks, Nic. Libya refusing to allow American planes to land in the country so, instead, the State Department has chartered a ferry to take its citizens from Tripoli to the Mediterranean island of Malta, where we find Diana Magnay. Di?
DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Becky. Well, those -- there were two catamarans, actually, hired. One by the US embassy, and one by a private company from Malta, and they crossed to Tripoli this morning.
But they've been stuck in the port in Tripoli. It's now blowing a terrific gale out there, and they're not going to be able to move anywhere tonight because of bad weather. So, right now, the -- one of those catamarans, the one that's been hired by the US embassy, has 600 people onboard, all of who are going to have to stay put in the harbor.
And it's really only a very short hop over from Libya to Malta. It's an hour on the plane, it's about six hours on the ferry on a good day. So, they are going to have to reassess what the weather conditions are like in the morning. They'll probably be, if all goes according to plan, here in Malta by mid-afternoon tomorrow, Becky.
ANDERSON: Diana Magnay in Malta for you. Di, thank you for that.
All right, let's step back for a moment, shall we? Our next guest says that while the shockwaves across the Middle East might seem chaotic, they are, in fact, he says, only the latest example of a powerful political phenomenon. A phenomenon that he calls "the J curve."
Ian Bremmer is a regular guest on this show, a big thinker, we like to call him. And I spoke to him earlier this week and began by asking him to explain in layman's terms for me and for you just what he means. This is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IAN BREMMER, AUTHOR, "THE J CURVE": There's a relationship between a country's stability and its openness. And broadly speaking, that looks like a "J."
There's some countries that are stable because they're open, France, Great Britain, the United States. There are some countries that are stable because they're closed. Algeria, Libya, North Korea. And when countries that are stable because they're closed get a little open, they have problems. And they become much more unstable much more quickly.
And globalization, social networking, all of that has created a lot of tensions in the Middle East. Put that on top of the fact that you have a significant economic slowdown because of the financial crisis, and food prices going up, you have all of the makings of a very serious political crisis.
ANDERSON: You call this "the J curve" phenomenon. It doesn't necessarily work everywhere, though, does it? China, for example.
BREMMER: Well, the interesting thing about the "J curve" is that economic availability of capital makes a very big difference to how -- where that "J" is in terms of comparative stability. Saudi Arabia, oil prices go up to $200, they have a lot more cash that they can use to buy support of the population outside of a legitimate government, they have a lot more stability at every point of the curve.
In China, there's no question that there's been more instability as individual Chinese have more access to information, NGO's, all the rest. But 30 years of 10 percent plus state directed growth in China has bought an extraordinary amount of comparative support.
And so, they can open up a lot more without threatening the viability of the Chinese government in a way that most Middle Eastern governments, particularly the poorer Middle Eastern governments cannot.
ANDERSON: So, given what you've just said, what should leaders and, indeed, the people of the Middle East region do next?
BREMMER: Well, knowing the dynamics, right? If you are a government that's relatively wealthy and you have some flexibility, you should start the reform process in a more serious way now, before it's demanded upon you, before life gets entirely too difficult.
So, you think about a country like Bahrain. $25,000 per capita, and there is very significant discontent among the Shia majority population. The initial response -- the military response is not the way to go for long- term stability. They have a lot more flexibility in what they can offer that Shia population. Hopefully, they're starting down the path right now.
But many other countries in the region don't seem to be moving in that direction, and here I'm talking about countries like Saudi Arabia, Oman, the Emirates, Qatar, where, frankly, they actually have a fair amount of political stability, given how wealthy those countries are, but the events in other parts of the Middle East have, if anything, made them much more concerned, made them more intractable.
And so, frankly, the lessons of the "J curve" are not easy to learn when some of your brethren in other parts of the region seem to be really teetering.
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ANDERSON: Ian Bremmer with what he calls "the J curve" phenomenon.
Next on CONNECT THE WORLD here on CNN, it's a resource that's got the environmental world buzzing, and one Germany is -- well, one German company, at least, is getting a leg up in the competition on. Stay tuned.
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ANDERSON: All this week, as part of our special focus on Germany, we've taken you underwater to examine one of the world's most stealthy military creations. And we've also introduced you to a young boy whose love of trees has taken on a global momentum.
Well, tonight, we are looking at a German business gaining some serious traction in green energy. Fred Pleitgen shows us a company that is set to become the world's greatest creator of wind turbines.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rodsand, off the Danish coast, is one of the largest wind farms in Europe. The park can provide power for about 200,000 homes. It consists of 90 turbines made by German industrial giant, Siemens, which is looking to become one of the biggest wind energy producers in the world.
The head of the company's renewable energy division sees big growth potential.
RENE UMLAUFT, CEO, SIEMENS RENEWABLE ENERGY: If you look today, we have three percent of the world energy production is coming from renewables. In the future, we believe in the next 20 years it will be 15, 17 percent. It means it's a huge growth area, and saturation, that will take time.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Siemens is one of Germany's and the world's largest industrial companies, manufacturing everything from high-speed trains to power plants. Management says it's investing in the renewable energy sector because it's good business, building new plants in the US, Canada, and Asia.
According to Siemens' annual report, the renewable energy division saw record sales of more than a billion dollars last year. But the head of the renewables division says the products need to become more efficient.
UMLAUFT: Invest in innovation really brings efficiency up and brings the cost down. Come very fast, very close to whole superiority. That means to the same cost of energy production, like we have with fossil fuel.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Four decades the German government has been investing heavily in renewable energy, with large subsidies for wind and solar power. That helped many German companies gain a technological edge.
Now, the government is considering cutting subsidies, even though some experts say renewables can't compete with fossil fuels like lignite coal just yet.
CHRISTOPH BURGER, ESMT BERLIN: If you look at the short term, I would say they are a little bit overrated. We have to face reducing subsidies, and we have the financial burden of the government, so they need the money back. So, there, I see a drawback.
If you look at the long term, I would say the positive trend is in line. If we look at the CO2 question, we only can answer the CO2 question with renewables.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): And so, companies like Siemens are hedging their bets on a bright future for green technology, looking to building more wind parks like Rodsand off the Danish coast. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.
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ANDERSON: All right. And tomorrow on what we call i-List Germany, it's a country known for its football fanatics, you'll know that. But tomorrow, we're going to take a look at a team that's not in the Champions League. We're going to introduce you to the women's football squad. You don't want to miss that, that is tomorrow's i-List.
And for more on this series, if you've missed any of them, including an online quiz, head to our Facebook page at facebook.com/CNNconnect.
Still to come, 155 years old and still setting a trend. How Burberry is breaking down fashion barriers. I'm going to speak to the creative mind behind the iconic label's revolution. He is your Connector of the Day, and that is up next, here on CNN.
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ANDERSON: Well, catwalk shows are usually the exclusive domain of fashionistas and celebrities, but not this week in London. In a first, Burberry has given people on the streets front row seats to its Fashion Week show, beaming the collection live around the world. It is the latest move by your Connector of the Day tonight to ensure an age-old brand stays cutting edge in the 21st century.
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ANDERSON (voice-over): Everywhere you look, whether it's the clothes, the accessories, the beauty products, or even the building, it's all the vision of Christopher Bailey. In the space of just ten years, the British designer has turned an iconic though timeworn UK fashion house into one of the world's hottest labels.
The Yorkshire-born Bailey was still a fashion student when he was famously discovered by Donna Karan in 1994. From there, he flew up the design ladder, spending time with Gucci before taking over the reins at Burberry in 2001, where he's made the old new again.
Bailey has been credited with transforming the label while still staying faithful to its trench and tartan trademark. And he's broken new ground once again at London Fashion Week, beaming the Burberry catwalk show live around the world. An initiative Christopher tells me is just another way to keep the 155-year-old brand out in front.
CHRISTOPHER BAILEY, CREATIVE DIRECTOR, BURBERRY: We had a big show. We had it in Hyde Park. The wonderful thing is we -- we had, I don't know, 1500 people in the space, but we streamed live to every single country in the world via a live webcast.
We were in Piccadilly Circus, so it was -- ends up being this kind of global event based in little Hyde Park.
ANDERSON (on camera): You are in Piccadilly Circus -- don't be modest about this -- on the huge screen --
BAILEY: Yes. That was kind of wild. We had this wonderful opportunity to be able to stream the show live there, an iconic part of London, and so we checked all the technology, it worked, so we did it and we had -- what was wonderful is, these kind of crowds of people in the middle of Piccadilly Circus watching this live show. And I think it's the first time anything like that has happened there. So it was really good fun, as well.
ANDERSON: Your online runway isn't new to Burberry. We spoke in 2009, I think --
BAILEY: Right, yes.
ANDERSON: Just after the first time that you'd done it. But it's a brilliant idea. How are you, though, converting, or working out whether you're converting --
BAILEY: Yes.
ANDERSON: Eyeballs --
BAILEY: Yes.
ANDERSON: To purchase?
BAILEY: I don't even think that it's about converting to sales. It's about touching people. It's about connecting with people. It's about engaging people. It's about allowing people to come on this journey with us. It's about being inclusive.
Because not everybody has to be a part of everything that you do. Some people love what we do on Burberry acoustic, which is, really, celebrating kind of young British music. Other people love our social media website, Out of the Trench. Some people love the live shows.
So, I think a brand is so much more than just converting to sales. It's about engaging people. And then, they become loyal to your brand. They feel your brand. And then, maybe, one day, they'll become a customer. But it's not the objective.
ANDERSON: You've blurred the lines very successfully between a high fashion company and a media content company. In fact, Joanna Shields of Facebook recently suggesting --
BAILEY: Yes.
ANDERSON: That you're perhaps more media content than fashion these days.
BAILEY: Yes.
ANDERSON: Where is the point at which you say, "We're still in the business of fashion," then?
BAILEY: Yes, it think it's a great question, because I think there is the craft of making clothes, bags, glasses, fragrances. That is who we are. We are a -- we were born from trench coat, and that is at the core of everything that we do.
ANDERSON: Last time we spoke, you had 900,000 fans, I believe, on Facebook.
BAILEY: Yes.
ANDERSON: Now, four million.
BAILEY: Yes.
ANDERSON: So, talk me through how that worked?
BAILEY: It's engaging those -- that audience, that Facebook audience that may be had previously never been interested or even knew very much about Burberry. It's about talking to people in their own language, in the way that they can relate to you.
And that kind of Facebook generation, they -- my niece and my nephew, for example, they live online, and there is a whole generation of people coming up that live online, that that is the way they communicate.
So, I think the way that we've always approached it is that you have to respect cultural differences, you have to talk to people in their own language. But you have to have one point of view to everybody, but talk to them in the way that they want to be spoken to.
ANDERSON: Let's do some viewer questions. We've had lots and lots in. Let's start off with one from Eva in Rome. She says, "If you could afford only one Burberry piece, what would it be?"
BAILEY: I think everybody can afford a different piece. My -- my feeling is always a Burberry trench coat is the iconic -- it's a design classic, whether it's one from a recent show or the real classic trench coat. That, for me, is kind of the flag in the ground that will never go out of date. So, a trench coat.
ANDERSON: You've talked about the trench coat a number of times. And as you talk, I see some advertising behind you.
BAILEY: Yes.
ANDERSON: A leather trench coat, effectively.
BAILEY: Yes.
ANDERSON: That's a morph.
BAILEY: The wonderful thing about Burberry is that we have these -- it's like this multifaceted diamond with the history. We have a heritage in sportswear, we have a big heritage in kind of motor sports. Thomas Burberry was a huge -- in aviation. He was somebody that was interested in so many different things. So, the archives actually refer back to so many different types of things, that we can just translate season in, season out.
ANDERSON: Let's get back to this week's fashion show. I know you had the Anna Wintours of this world, Mario Testinos of the world in. Does it get any easier? Does it get any more -- does it get any more boring as the years go on?
BAILEY: No --
ANDERSON: Does it get more exciting?
BAILEY: Boring it never gets. Exciting, yes, because I feel like every show, every time you show something, it has its new challenges. And we push ourselves, and we push the way that we're communicating.
And every show kind of has its own nuances of -- like, this time, it was the first time we could show in Piccadilly Circus. That had its own kind of excitement, challenges.
ANDERSON: What's the snow about this time?
BAILEY: You know, I love celebrating the weather. We're a nation obsessed with the weather. We talk about it fairly often. And I feel like the show is a good opportunity to kind of celebrate there. And for the men's show that we had, then we had rain. And so I felt that I wanted something that still had a kind of sense of romance, but kind celebrated the weather.
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ANDERSON: And just a sense of cold, basically. What a top boy he is. Christopher Bailey, your Connector of the Day, Burberry's creative director.
And tomorrow night, well, we go from super designer to supermodel. Erin O'Connor has been commanding the catwalks around the globe for 16 years and, now, she is a model for change. Tune in tomorrow night to find out where she thinks the industry has, well, got it wrong, to a certain extent.
To learn more about our upcoming Connectors, do head to cnn.com/connect. It's a week of fashion for you, and staying on the catwalk, bright colors, body paint, and bizarre creations in tonight's Parting Shots. Some of the wacky numbers from London Fashion Week as it closes its doors this season.
First up, this model seems to have been dipped in gold. This is part of the Cassette Player Collection. So, too, is this bright, shiny, yellow jacket teamed with multicolored trousers.
Now, to a young lad who doesn't seem too impressed with what he's got on. This was part of the Man Collection. I'm not even sure what that's supposed to be.
Anyway, if you thought it couldn't get any more out there, check this out.
Finally, in tonight's Parting Shots, this model dons a leaf headband. Don't ask me why.
I'm Becky Anderson, that is your world connected. Thank you for watching. We are waiting on US president Barack Obama to address the crisis in Libya. That will happen soon, and when it does, we, of course, will bring it to you here on CNN. You're looking at live pictures from the White House.
The world headlines and "BACK STORY" will follow this short break.
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