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Connect the World
FIFA Reelects Sepp Blatter as President; Libya's Oil Minister Defects; Japanese Seniors Working at Fukushima; Germany to Shut Down Nuclear Plants; Nuclear Power Plants Safe; Migrant Smuggling; New York Widens Smoking Ban to Parks; Debate on Dangers of Secondhand Smoke; Connector of the Day Andrea Petkovic; Parting Shots of Australian Waterspouts
Aired June 01, 2011 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEPP BLATTER, FIFA PRESIDENT (Through Translator): We will put FIFA's ship back on the right course and clear transparent waters.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: The world of football rallies around its captain. Sepp Blatter promises a new era of reform but its critics are still crying foul.
Fukushima of course unprepared for the hand (INAUDIBLE) CONNECT THE WORLD. The disaster won't spell the end for nuclear power.
And slavery in the suburbs. Tonight a horrifying tale in one of the places, the last places you would ever expect.
These stories and more tonight as we CONNECT THE WORLD.
The self-professed captain of FIFA sails onwards. Sepp Blatter decides that his (INAUDIBLE) critics and won a fourth term as FIFA president, today running unopposed.
Blatter was reelected with 186 votes of the 203 cast. He once against shrugged off singing criticism, telling delegates he's the right man to repair FIFA's tarnished image.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLATTER (Through Translator): We will put FIFA's ship back on the right course and clear transparent waters. We will need some time. We cannot do it from one day to the next. But we shall do it.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: And maybe the biggest of the planned reform, all 208 FIFA member nations will select venues for World Cups beyond the 2022 tournament in Qatar. Well, the 24-member executive committee subjected to allegations of scandal, you'll all remember during the last voting rounds in December, will no longer have a say.
Well, earlier efforts by England's FA chairman David Bernstein to postpone today's presidential ballot fell flat. The motion lost by a resounding vote of 172 to 17. England sorted through a sharp rebuke from Argentina's FA president to imply that the English harbor a grudge over losing the FIFA presidential election way back in 1974.
Well, Sepp Blatter, also from his beefed up FIFA's ethics committee albeit internally.
I want to bring in Pedro Pinto who's been there for what's been a wild and whacky week in Zurich.
Pedro, a somewhat different tone from Sepp Blatter today.
PEDRO PINTO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Definitely, Becky. I believe he came out fighting. I believe he finally understood that people were taking this crisis very seriously. And I remember on Monday, he refused to use the word crisis, but he has since changed his rhetoric.
It's a lot more about what he wants to do and about what he wants to change, rather than being defensive and trying to convince people that there's nothing going on.
I was quite shocked on Monday in a press conference when he seemed to be really ignoring the fact that the football world wanted answers. Well, today he started giving some answers by starting with the reform which you mentioned earlier with the World Cup vote being given to the Congress.
He's also promised that a new committee would be set up to examine the FIFA financial and corporate governance. So answers have started to be given from Sepp Blatter. There's no doubt that he's talking a good talk today. He talked a good game. But he and his governance now will be under the microscope. No doubt about that -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Pedro, if I didn't know better I'd think that we'd be witnessing a French (INAUDIBLE). His reelection wasn't in any doubt because there wasn't any competition to talk of transparency in his acceptance speech. We didn't hear it. Can we expect any real change at this point?
PINTO: It's so -- it's so difficult to predict that. The change hasn't been good enough over the last years, there's no doubt about it. Sepp Blatter has been president for 13 years, and all these corruptions or alleged corruptions, all these issues have happened under his watch.
Now it's -- it'll be interesting to see whether he will have the power and he will have the ability and the tools to introduce change because once again he reminded everyone that the executive committee is not picked by him. It's picked up by individual confederations and different regions of the world.
He would like to have more power when it comes to that but he can't pick those people and he can't end the terms of the executive committee, let's face it, Becky, are the main characters in what has been an incredible soap opera.
ANDERSON: Yes. All right. Pedro Pinto there in Zurich.
What are fans have to say all of this? Well, CNN's digital sport producer Ben Wyatt has been in the case for you.
BEN WYATT, CNN DIGITAL SPORT PRODUCER: That's right, Becky. The drama in Zurich has certainly captured the imagination online. We've had comments streaming in to the blogs we have posted on CNN.com.
And the feelings have been rather one-sided. If you look here, 98 percent of the CNN audience have been unsupported of Sepp Blatter and FIFA in recent days.
And here's just some examples of some of the comments that had come in. This is from Ikeanyi, who said, "If this was happening in a country, the government would have sacked the entire board. The U.N. should fire Blatter and co. So that beautiful game will not die."
Juancito wrote and say, "Power to the people. It's the people's game so we ought to take it back. No more suits running it. Boycott their World Cup is another way to make them change."
This from Jack who said, "For those who think Qatar makes no sense, you are mistaken. They've hosted two Asian football finals twice already. But with that said, I think Blatter and the entire Executive Committee should get the boot."
Finally, Zool wrote and say, "FIFA's reputation is worthless. Even my nephew has scratched the logo from his football."
(LAUGHTER)
ANDERSON: Ben Wyatt for you.
Lest we forget why this story matters. Well, football's governing body is awash with cash but its finances are a source of much intrigue. It's a small organization, remember, with just 387 employees in 2010 but it raked in almost $4.2 billion in the past four years alone.
Its biggest expense during that time is of course the World Cup in South Africa, costing nearly $1.5 billion. But look at how much money it brought in from TV broadcast rights alone. Just short of $2.5 billion. That's the sort of sum you'd want to ensure is in safe hands. Wouldn't you?
How big a PR disaster has this been for FIFA? Max Clifford who's got more about public relations than most of us will ever know. He says the problem with FIFA is Blatter. So I asked Max who if anyone he thought might be qualified to clean up the beautiful game. This is what he says.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAX CLIFFORD, PUBLIC RELATIONS EXPERT: You know if there's such a thing as a high-court judge who's retired and is respected and known and that, you know, he has the desire and the strength to investigate and find out all the answers, a Henry Kissinger type person. Someone that's, you know, internationally known and renowned.
You need to have -- because football is such a massive sport worldwide, I mean, in Britain, by far the biggest sport and the public are so closely involved, most families in Britain and many other countries, then if they want to change the perception, there's got to be a thorough open investigation.
And people worldwide have got to see what they bring out is the truth and nothing but the truth.
ANDERSON: Max, I thought --
CLIFFORD: About what's really going on and nothing's going on.
ANDERSON: I've seen in reporting, Max, that you've suggesting, for example, a Bill Clinton or a Tony Blair. Both have been to a certain extent have been damaged goods in the past. You stand by those two suggestions at this point?
CLIFFORD: Yes. I mean I think that, you know, it is very difficult these days to find anybody that isn't damaged in some way or other. But you need people who have got absolutely no advantages from revealing anything but the truth.
And because they care about the perception of world football, and I know that Tony Blair does, maybe Prince William would like to be involved, you know, because he's obviously -- has a role over here in (INAUDIBLE), and has expert his worries and concerns about, you know, what's apparently going on that everybody but Sir Blatter seems to see. But you've got to have that in order to change a perception.
ANDERSON: Isn't it a fact that there's so much money in this game that those brands, those multi-nationals who want to be associated with what is the most popular sport in the world are just going to keep going at the end of the day. So to a certain extent, it doesn't matter what happens at FIFA because the money will just come pouring in.
CLIFFORD: Yes. But I think that the more the public believe the game is tainted and more and more people out there believing that, not just in this country but all over the world, then the more concerns sponsors become. And of course football like every other sport is basically all about money.
And people that are running it care about money possibly more than anything else. So if it's going to affect their deep pockets then possibly they would encourage such an investigation because if they start to miss out and they start to lose out, then that's when possibly things will start to happen.
ANDERSON: Max, have you ever had a client as damaged as FIFA?
CLIFFORD: Well, I've had lots of potential clients that are this damaged. I mean I remember many years ago representatives of General Obasanjo came to me when he was president of Nigeria and had the most horrendous reputation worldwide, especially when it came to human rights, justifiably so, as I believe.
And every time they came to see me, I said, well, I'm not going to get involved if every journalist that's criticized, has revealed terrible things about what he's done and what's going on can go to the country and talk to everyone. Can go to the prisons and go to the hospitals and go anywhere, and report of any kind of censorship.
That's the only way I'm getting involved in the course. That never happened.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Pretty serious analogy there, isn't it? So FIFA's path it seems continues.
You're with CONNECT THE WORLD here on CNN. Becky Anderson in London for you.
Just ahead, some tough call for Japan. The U.N.'s nuclear watchdog criticizes safety issues at the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant. Plus Japan's retirees make a quite remarkable offer.
Then is slavery happening in your backyard? An exclusive look at how victims of slaved labor are often hidden in plain sight.
And you don't need a spoonful of sugar to enjoy our chat with Julie Andrews. The original Mary Poppins is our "Connector of the Day" today.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well, it's taking off some praise and the most extraordinary examples of courage. Japan is told its crippled Fukushima nuclear plant just didn't have the stuff to cope with a natural disaster.
Then the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog offers kudos to Tokyo for its handling of the crisis. And strongest of all, Japan's pensions as they are ready to make the ultimate sacrifice to clean up the contaminated reactors.
Those stories are coming up in about six or seven minutes.
I'm Becky Anderson in London. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD.
Here's a look at the other stories that we are following for you this hour.
And Spain rejects accusations that its cucumbers are responsible for the deadly E. coli outbreak in Germany and in Sweden. The Spanish deputy prime minister says his country would not rule demanding compensation from Germany or the EU for questioning the quality of its produce.
Media reports said 16 people have died since the outbreak began. The specific cause remains unclear.
Joining the fight for a democratic country. Libya's oil minister tells CNN that's why he is defecting from the regime of leader Moammar Gadhafi. Shokri Ghanem is currently in Rome. He says he's considering joining the opposition's Transitional National Council better known as TNC.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHOKRI GHANEM, LIBYAN OIL MINISTER: Well, the continuous war there, you know, and seeing the bloodshed every day and seeing young people got killed, and seeing people are fighting, and seeing people are start to suffer from food shortages and certain commodities, and seeing no end to this fight. I think it makes you feel you should abandon the situation.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, a top U.S. diplomat says that the conflict in Yemen won't end until its president steps down. Chaos is spreading in Yemen after months of anti-government protests. There are clashes between tribesmen and forces loyal to the president intensified today in the capital Sana'a.
Some reports say dozens of people were killed. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said President Ali Abdullah Saleh must allow a democratic transition.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We continue to watch the situation and we are where we've been for weeks in doing everything we can along with the international community to convince President Saleh to step down from power. If it wasn't obvious before, it's certainly should be now that his presence remains a source of great conflict.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Hillary Clinton speaking earlier today.
Well, the Australian Treasury says that floods in December and January caused the biggest contraction in economic activity there for 20 years. Massive flooding brought to life to -- sorry, brought life to a grinding halt for Australians. But the full fiscal expense of the disaster is only emerging.
GDP for the first quarter was down 1.2 percent from the last three months of 2010. Agriculture and key export industries are also hit hard. The estimated loss for the country is $12.8 billion.
Well, a rare overnight landing brought an end to space shuttle Endeavour's final mission.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Made your touchdown.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Endeavour touching down at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 2:34 a.m. local time after 16 days in space. It spent most of that time docked to the International Space Station where the astronauts installed a cosmic ray detector.
Commander Mark Kelly said the retirement of Endeavour and the shuttle fleet won't end the human need to explore. Atlantis will make NASA's final shuttle mission in July.
And some news just coming in to CNN center. Basketball great Shaquille O'Neal says that he is retiring. Shaq used Tout, a video messaging service, to tell the world that he is calling it quits after a 19-year career.
The 39-year-old won four NBA championships, three of them with the Los Angeles Lakers.
My goodness, what a legend.
(LAUGHTER)
ANDERSON: He's a big guy.
You're with CONNECT THE WORLD live from London. I'm Becky Anderson.
Coming up we're going to tell you what age is a plus and courage knows no limit. Japan's retirees gear up for one last job inside the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant.
And Fukushima will be a bump in the road. That is the view of the man who once ran the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog. Hear what else Hans Blix has to say up next just 60 seconds away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Fukushima just wasn't ready. The U.N.'s nuclear watchdog says that Japan underestimated the risks of tsunamis and the danger they create for nuclear power plants.
The Fukushima Daiichi reactors were damaged in the March 11th earthquake and tsunami that devastated northern Japan.
The International Atomic Energy Agency is doing more than criticizing. It's also praising Japan's response to the Fukushima crisis and called it exemplary.
And from the exemplary to the truly courageous, more than 200 pensioners in Japan are coming together to try to end one of the worst nuclear meltdowns in history.
CNN's Kyung Lah takes us inside the so-called suicide corps. Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In this cramped office these seniors are leading the charge to get retirees back on the job for one last and critical call.
(On camera): You want to do this.
YASUTERU YAMADA, RETIREE: Yes. Sure. Why not?
LAH: Why?
YAMADA: I mean (INAUDIBLE) people.
LAH (voice-over): Age, says 72-year-old Yasuteru Yamada, is a plus when the worksite is the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, a place still dangerous, highly contaminated with radiation after the tsunami caused a full meltdown in at least one of the reactors. These workers are the frontline to control the national crisis.
With high risk of exposure and long-term health impacts, the elderly, says this group, don't worry much about anything long term.
"Death becomes familiar as we get older," says 69-year-old Kazuko Sasaki. "We have a feeling death is waiting for us. Not that I want to die, but we're not afraid of it."
She's not the only one. Two hundred and 50 volunteers all over the age of 60 are now compiled in this data base, calling into the group, volunteering to work at the plant. A team calling themselves the Skilled Veterans Corps, an idea that Japan's point man to the nuclear crisis initially brushed off last week, saying, quote, "Our principle is that we should stick to procedures that will not require such a suicide corps." A label these seniors reject saying they prefer doing what's right.
"My generation, the old generation promoted the nuclear plant. If we don't take responsibility, who will?"
(On camera): We called Tepco at their Tokyo headquarters, they would not speak to CNN on camera. A spokesperson had this to say, though, about the elderly volunteers. Thanks but no thanks, we have plenty of employees.
The seniors, though, don't buy it. The government has already told a nuclear regulatory agency that it needs to come up with a system to boost the number of workers. Implying they are concerned about a worker's shortage.
(Voice-over): Workers like Hikaru Tagawa, a temp who once worked at the Fukushima plant.
"Nothing can make me go back to work there," he says. He calls the levels of radiation too dangerous.
Whether concerns of a worker's shortage or the persuasive seniors, just this week, the same government point man who called the seniors a suicide corps appears to be less resistant to the idea of elderly volunteers. He now says --
"I met the leader of the group," says Goshi Hosono. "And we've started a discussion looking for any possible, practical next step.
(On camera): Do you think that the government will let your group working at the plant?
YAMADA: Sure. Sure.
LAH (voice-over): One more chance, say this graying citizen, to truly serve in the twilight of their lives.
Kyung Lah, CNN, Tokyo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, a response to this crisis, Europe today started rolling up stress tests for the region's nuclear power stations, all 143 of them. Now these tests are checking reactor's resilience to natural disasters and to human error.
Germany, though, is taking no chances at all. This week, in a sharp reversal, Berlin announced it is shutting all of its nuclear reactors by 2022. Now the Chancellor Angela Merkel's policy U-turn came in the wake of the Fukushima disaster, as CNN's Fred Pleitgen shows us from Germany's capital.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A sight Angela Merkel has been confronted with ever since the Fukushima disaster in Japan. Protesters in front of the Chancellery in Berlin called for their country to shut down all its nuclear plants.
Germany has already conducted stress test for its 17 nuclear reactors, and after Angela Merkel received the commission's report, she reacted.
"We want to make sure that our power supply is safe," Merkel said. "At the same time it must be reliable."
Germany will shut down eight reactors immediately. The remaining nine will all be shut down by the year 2022, the government says. That will mark the end of nuclear energy in Europe's largest economy.
Germany decided to assess its reactors after the meltdown in Fukushima, following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The opposition Green Party, which has long advocated getting rid of nuclear power says the results of the German stress test were appalling.
"Only two nuclear plants could deal with an earthquake and subsequent flood," the head of the Green Party said. "For two others, the damage and resulting problems might remain confined to just the plant itself."
The German public has long been hostile toward nuclear power. But some power companies say it's essential for energy security in Europe's largest economy. One provider said it will sue the German government over its plan to exit atomic energy.
Experts say getting rid of nuclear energy in Germany is possible but will require a massive investment in renewable as well as more coal and gas fired power plants.
CLAUDIA KEMFERT, GERMAN INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH: We need some kind of reserve to pass a few winds. The wind is not blowing when the sun is not showing and then we need coal fire power plants but also gas fire power plants. And this will of course bring up the emissions to a very large extent.
PLEITGEN: Germany has made a decision. Now it's looking for a strategy to maintain economic growth while giving up a source of energy that until recently supplied the country with about a fifth of its energy.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: And joining us here on CONNECT THE WORLD.
Well, earlier my colleague Max Foster sat down with former weapons inspector Hans Blix. He's also a one-time chief of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, you may remember.
Well, Max asked him about the impact of the Fukushima disaster.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HANS BLIX, FORMER U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: I think on the whole you could say that Fukushima will be a bump in the road for nuclear but it's not going to be the end of the road for nuclear by any means.
MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: But hasn't Germany got a point? Haven't they got a point in effect saying there are huge dangers associated with this? Maybe we should wait until it's fully safe, or there's a better alternative before we rely on it?
BLIX: Well, I've said that for a long time and of course nuclear has developed very much over time. When I started at the IAEA in the beginning of the '80s, the so-called availability figures of the nuclear plants lay around was around 70 percent. Today it's over 90 percent. And I think part to do to better technology. But also part to do to the fact that the operations are better.
They have learned in this long period. And it's a sad thing that we as human beings we learned, particularly, for accidents and disasters, who would be better to have been more farsighted. But the world learned a lot from the Three Mile Island accident and from the Chernobyl accident, and now from Fukushima.
FOSTER: Some other sort of disaster could hit any country in the world, couldn't it? So I'm just wondering how you stress test a nuclear bomb when there are so many potential factors that could damage a plant. It's a very complex thing.
BLIX: Well, it's the same thing in aviation. There are many stress tests in aviation. And nevertheless we have to do that to the best of our knowledge. And you must also see the fact that the nuclear power industry that has operated since the 1970s and has given the world an enormous amount of electricity.
Other industries like the chemical industry who have had terrible accidents like the Bhopal in India and they also -- there are risks. No one claims that you can generate any electricity without some risks. All energy has some risks.
(CROSSTALK)
FOSTER: That's the point --
BLIX: Do we prefer -- do we prefer to do it by coal plants and take the risks of the emissions of the carbon dioxide that threatens us with a global warming in 50 years' time?
FOSTER: What can you say to reassure just the general public around the world that nuclear energy is safe?
BLIX: Well, it's a little too simple as that. It's like saying that cars are safe or airplanes are safe. Yes, they are. We have had three big accidents in the nuclear field since the beginning. And that's a pretty good record. But if you say, absolutely say there cannot be any accident of any kind, well, then we know that's not true.
We can reduce accidents. We can also reduce the impact of the accidents. So there is a greater readiness for dealing with it and giving the public correct information rather than information that has some confusion in it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: And the debate continues.
You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD here on CNN. It's 29 minutes past the hour in London.
After the break, the man accused of committing the most heinous war crimes in Europe since World War II. We're going to bring you the latest developments in The Hague where Ratko Mladic prepares to make his first appearance in court.
That after this short break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: You're back with CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Max Foster in London.
Coming up, CNN's Freedom Project returns with a gripping story of a journey towards freedom that, for some, ended in rape and torture.
Then, New York widens its smoke-free zones to outdoor areas, but can the city really stamp out smoking at a park or a beach? We'll explore.
And later, the tennis star who has created a new dance craze, Connector of the Day Andrea Petkovic tells us about the Petko Dance. But is her trademark victory jig about to retire?
All those stories ahead in the show for you. First, a check of the headlines this hour.
Former Bosnian-Serb general Ratko Mladic has arrived at the Hague, where he faces charges of genocide and crimes against humanity stemming from the Bosnian civil war. Mladic fought his extradition from Serbia on health grounds, but lost that appeal earlier today.
Sponsors of football's word -- world governing body say they are concerned about allegations of widespread corruption, and Britain's football association wants FIFA to postpone Wednesday's presidential vote. Current president Sepp Blatter is currently the only candidate.
Syria's government says it's granting amnesty to arrested protesters. A decree from President Bashar al-Assad says it applies to all charges prior to Tuesday, but a different report says protesters' punishments are just being reduced.
Some disturbing economic numbers from Japan. Unemployment rose to 4.7 percent in March, up one tenth of one percent. It was the first jump in unemployment in six months, and the data did not factor in the three areas hit hardest by the earthquake and the tsunami.
The World Health Organization now says mobile phone use can expose you to higher cancer risks. Today, the WHO added cell phone radiation to the same carcinogenic hazard category as lead, chloroform, and engine exhaust.
Those are the headlines this hour.
This is the fight to end the trade in human life. Over the course of a year, CNN's Freedom Project aims to reveal the dark world of modern-day slavery. From its victims to the perpetrators, we'll bring you some of the most incredible stories from right across the globe.
Tonight, we're investigating the horrors of migrant smuggling, those particularly vulnerable to trafficking. It begins simply with an opportunity to chart a better life, a brighter future. But as Kevin Flower explains, for those braving the journey, it can be a mission made for disaster.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEVIN FLOWER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On a nondescript Tel Aviv street inside a modest one-room apartment, harrowing tales of human depravity.
"We were 17 people going to the Sinai, and I was the only girl among them. It took us 40 days to go from the Sudan to Sinai. The rape happened during the 40 days when I was coming to Sinai. When I said 'no,' they threatened me by knife and with their guns. I had no option. I just had to say OK."
These women asked that their identities be hidden, so we'll call them "Hannah," she's 22, and "Gannette" (ph), who's 25. They are Eritrean migrants who came separately to Israel seeking a better future.
"I thought things would be much different from Africa," Gannette tells us. "I got information from people who already arrived before me in Israel that the lifestyle is much better than Eritrea."
What they didn't know was that the men they paid $2500 to bring them to the Israeli border would repeatedly beat, rape, and starve them.
"When I left my country, I was optimistic, and I thought I would reach my final destination. But at the point where I was with the Bedouin in the Sinai, I just gave up everything and said, 'This is the end.'"
When we spoke to them in a temporary shelter a few months ago, both girls had been left penniless and pregnant from their ordeal.
FLOWER (on camera): And these are not isolated stories. In 2010 alone, more than 14,000 African migrants made their way across Israel's southern border here with Egypt, 170 percent increase from the year before.
And migrant aid organizations tell us that with that surge has come an increase in horrific firsthand accounts of torture, rape, and slavery in the Sinai peninsula.
FLOWER (voice-over): Thirty-two-year-old Umani Tossfim (ph) left his six children in Eritrea to come to Israel, brought into Egypt's Sinai by smugglers. There, he says he was made a slave laborer for two months, digging ditches and moving earth.
He recounts how he had to get friends to pay a $4,000 ransom for his release, but only after repeated torture damaged his legs so badly that he was no longer able to work. Hobbling on one foot, he crossed into Israel.
FLOWER (on camera): With the political uncertainty in Egypt just across the border here, human rights groups are fearful that communications with the Egyptian government over the issue of trafficking will only get more difficult, and that a recent downturn in the number of migrants making this crossing will only be a temporary state of affairs.
WILLIAM TALL, UNHCR: Israel, now, is one of the main migrant roots for African mixed migrations. This is also quite significant, because Israel has received some 35,000 people. The flow to Israel, now, of 1,200 or so a month is one of the more significant refugee flows in the world today.
FLOWER (voice-over): And one not likely to stop anytime soon.
Tossfim, who is without home or job, tells us that despite his hellish ordeal, his decision to come to Israel was the right one. For now, he says, he is just happy to be alive. Kevin Flower, CNN, on the Israeli border with Egypt.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Well, we know it's a problem we can't solve -- or our coverage can't solve alone, but we do hope to put it firmly in the spotlight with the stories and the interviews that you won't see anywhere else.
If you do want to get involved and take a stand to end slavery, do submit a photo or video of yourself on cnn.com/freedom. We've also posted more details about how you can do this on our Facebook page, that's facebook.com/CNNconnect. Just make sure you send in your iReport and you, too, could be on our show later this week.
Now, no smoking, please. First it was bars, now New York's mayor tries to stub out smoking in the city's parks. But will it work?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: Today is World No Tobacco Day marking the World Health Organization's fight against smoking in a year estimates that five million people will die from tobacco-related diseases.
Around the world at a national and local level, government officials are moving to crack down on lighting up in public. New York has just this week, just a week into a ban on smoking at the city's parks and beaches. So, CNN's Richard Roth went to see if residents are actually taking any notice.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR UN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Summer is finally coming to New York. Reading, Tanning, and eating. But another activity is now banned in parks and at beaches. Smoking.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's a great idea.
ROTH (on camera): Why?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We should all be able to breathe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's great. I have asthma, and I can't stand smoke.
ROTH (voice-over): The mayor of New York can't stand smoking, either. He signed the new law, the latest crackdown after smoking was banned in bars and restaurants.
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, MAYOR OF NEW YORK: In this case, it came from the public that said, "We want this stopped."
ROTH: The outdoor smoking debate is now fuming. A protest smoke-in was held Saturday at a Brooklyn beach.
AUDREY SILK, SMOKER RIGHTS ADVOCATE: This is a symbol of freedom. Soon, you're going to be holding on to your hot dogs, your McDonald's, your cotton candy, and saying the same thing, because they're going to ban that next.
SHEELAH FEINBERG, COALTION FOR A SMOKE FREE CITY: Secondhand smoke is a danger. It's a known carcinogen, and any exposure to secondhand smoke, according to the US Surgeon General, is unsafe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody smokes in America. You go to Israel, everybody smokes there. Or you go to France. Here, nobody smokes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For Bloomberg!
ROTH: In a Greenwich Village park, the people were defiantly puffing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The ban is dumb. I think it's ludicrous.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think Bloomberg is a social engineer. I don't like what he's doing, he's telling people how to live.
ROTH: For now, the city may just be blowing smoke. Cards and signs are the first method to encourage smokers to stop and smell something else.
ROTH (on camera): Smokers will not have to worry about the New York City Police Department. A tiny parks department team is supposed to advise people not to smoke. In the end, it's going to come down to public pressure.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not going to enforce it. I just walk away.
ROTH (voice-over): Smokers face an initial $50 fine.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was just told as I lit my cigarette that I'm not allowed to go in the park anymore.
ROTH: Smoking is even banned at public plazas. Non-smokers look forward, at least, to the end of one particular pain in the butt.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When he's in a public park, he'll go, "Mummy, what's this?" and have picked up a dirty cigarette butt.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you stop smoking, everybody's going to get fat, then they're going to be on the Twinkie patrol. You know? Oh, where's the cake at, you're getting to fat! Come on, man! Let us live.
ROTH: Richard Roth, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Let's take a look at some other places with outdoor smoking bans. In January this year, Spain outlawed smoking outside near hospitals and in school playgrounds.
In Australia, cities like Sydney and Queensland have smoking bans on some beaches and outdoor eating and drinking areas.
In Hong Kong, you can't smoke in most public, outdoor recreational areas. The ban is enforced, and violators are fined.
And selected areas in Tokyo, Japan prohibit smoking on the street. Violators are also fined there.
And smoking is banned on all railway platforms in England regardless of whether they are covered or not.
So, are these smoking bans a victory for the health of the masses, or do they encroach on smokers' rights? Joining me to debate this issue is Deborah Arnott from the public health charity ASH. Also with me is David Atherton from the group opposing smoking bans, Freedom to Choose, the group's called, isn't it?
DAVID ATHERTON, FREEDOM TO CHOOSE: Yes.
FOSTER: First of all, I just want to ask you, first of all, Deborah, what evidence is there that secondhand smoking kills?
DEBORAH ARNOTT, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, ASH: Well, there's a lot of evidence from research done over many years, in particular looking at Japanese housewives who tended to spend most of their time in the home.
So, if they weren't smokers and they were suffering as they were from lung cancer and heart disease, then, basically, the reason for that was the exposure from their husband who were smoking.
So, from that, we know, really, what the odds ratios are for being --
FOSTER: It's not the same type of evidence as firsthand smoking, though, is it?
ARNOTT: It is the same kind of evidence, epidemiological research. It took many years to prove that smoking itself killed, and the research more recently has used the same tools to determine what the risks are of getting cancer and heart disease from secondhand smoke.
FOSTER: So, it's causing danger in public areas, so it has to be banned, doesn't it?
ATHERTON: Well, first of all, I want to pick at Deborah on a thing about Japanese ladies smoking and or passive smoking from Japanese households.
In Japan, it's thought to be morally bad if you're a woman who smokes. And generally on average between 10 and 14 percent of Japanese women who were involved in secondhand smoke studies actually suggest -- actually mislead the research on whether they smoke or not, 10 to 14 percent, so that completely skewers the figures.
FOSTER: OK, yes --
ARNOTT: Can I just -- ? I mean, if smoking is as harmful as it is, and it -- half of all smokers die from their addiction, the levels of exposure from secondhand smoke are very similar to light smoking. I mean, why would --
(CROSSTALK)
FOSTER: But what would it take, now, for the evidence --
ARNOTT: -- the logic, if --
FOSTER: No, but you know --
ATHERTON: That's completely wrong.
FOSTER: The scientific evidence isn't the same, that's the problem with this, isn't it?
ARNOTT: No, but actually, the World Health Organization, the World College of Physicians, the chief medical officer here, the Surgeon General, there is evidence over --
(CROSSTALK)
FOSTER: They tend to that view.
ARNOTT: No, not tend to that view.
ATHERTON: Well, with -- sorry, I've got to get --
ARNOTT: Actually, their reports say yes, this is the case. And Dave Atherton, I'm sorry Dave, you're not an expert.
ATHERTON: Well, let me pick up immediately on some points like that. First of all, I've got five papers at home that suggest what the average passive smoker inhales is one 500th of that of an active smoker. One 500th. Not even one percent.
Second point, there are, freely available on the internet, 82 individual studies done on passive smoking. Fifteen percent suggest a raised risk, ten percent actually suggest protection, and 85 percent have got the null hypothesis.
Also as well, if you move on, for example, to smoking bans and heart attacks, there was a matter analysis done by the Rand Corporation in America, it was published last year. It's freely available on the internet now, as well. It covered 217,000 heart attack deaths, two billion heart attacks --
FOSTER: OK. We've got the point that the science -- there's a debate around that, which is almost never --
(CROSSTALK)
ARNOTT: Yes, but why -- why -- why would the World Health Organization, our chief medical officer, the Surgeon General, all these very respectable people and organizations, be saying that it's not harmful --
ATHERTON: Well, first of all, the 19 --
ARNOTT: -- I mean saying that it's harmful if it's not.
ATHERTON: First of all, the 1998 Buffalo paper -- 1998 Buffalo paper World Health Organization, that actually proved that passive smoking was harmless.
FOSTER: OK. So, this debate, anyway, will continue about passive smoking, but apart from anything else David, if you're a non-smoker, it's really unpleasant if you're lying in the park and someone wafts a load of smoke over you. And it's a public area, so it's a bit unfair, isn't it, that for smokers in a good position, but the non-smoker isn't?
ATHERTON: Are we assuming that smoker's in a standing position? No. If you look at somebody sitting on a bench smoking, you can very easily avoid them.
FOSTER: OK, Deborah. In terms of rights, you're saying that the non- smoker should have stronger rights than the smoker.
ARNOTT: I'm saying that smokers have rights and non-smokers have rights. But actually, we're not saying that smokers can't smoke. It's just about where they smoke. So, they're not being stopped from smoking.
ATHERTON: Well, I've got fair smoking in a park. I'm a consenting adult, freedom of assembly, to consume a legal substance on private property. That's outrageous. That is a breach of property rights. No, this is tyranny, this is authoritarianism, no this is like serfdom, it's freedom in the highest state.
ARNOTT: It's actually untrue, not just in this country, but in every country where a smoking ban's been put in place, it's been as the result of public debate and the democratic process. And actually, the smoking ban in this country has 80 percent support and more smokers --
(CROSSTALK)
ATHERTON: That's completely untrue -- completely untrue as well.
ARNOTT: No, more smokers support it than don't support it.
ATHERTON: No, no, no, no. How are you -- how are you skewing --
ARNOTT: And comparatively, when 98 percent complied from day one.
ATHERTON: How you skew the figures, Deborah. The question that was asked the people in this country was, do you agree with Brits not smoking in pubs. And you --
ARNOTT: No, the question is --
ATHERTON: No, no, no, let me --
ARNOTT: -- no, the question now is --
ATHERTON: -- let me finish, if I may.
ARNOTT: Can I finish? The question now is, because you told me what the question was. I'll tell you what the question was. The question was, do you support the smoking ban? Do you support the legislation?
ATHERTON: No, it said -- it said --
ARNOTT: And the answer is, 80 percent --
FOSTER: OK.
ATHERTON: -- restrictions, it said restrictions.
ARNOTT: No, no, you're wrong on that.
FOSTER: OK. We're going to leave off on that, because we're going to get bogged down on that. In terms of enforcing this, we've learned from New York, actually, the police aren't going to go around issuing fines anyway, so it's a bit academic. It's all going to come down to social pressure.
(CROSSTALK)
ARNOTT: But will this -- exactly --
FOSTER: Are you --
ARNOTT: These things don't work --
FOSTER: But as a non-smoker, are we going to see non-smokers going around the park telling smokers off? Is that the answer?
ARNOTT: Well, I don't know whether that's the answer or not. I'm not --
FOSTER: But is it going to work?
ARNOTT: What works, and what worked in this country, we saw 98 percent compliance in pubs and bars from day one, which was the area where everyone said it --
FOSTER: But people understood that better than in an open space.
ARNOTT: -- because people accepted it. Now, one of the interesting things. This is going on in New York. It will be interesting to see if it works. If it doesn't work, if people don't support it, then --
ATHERTON: This is about the denormalization of smokers and treating them as --
ARNOTT: And what's wrong with that?
ATHERTON: -- second-class citizens.
ARNOTT: What's wrong with denormalizing?
ATHERTON: Oh! Oh! Right, so we are a minority to be scoffed out, maybe, like an ethnic minority or somebody who's gay? We are as bad as that, are we?
ARNOTT: What's wrong with -- what's wrong with being gay?
ATHERTON: Absolutely nothing.
ARNOTT: What's wrong with being an ethnic minority?
ATHERTON: And what's wrong with being --
ARNOTT: So, what's wrong with being a smoker?
ATHERTON: And what's wrong with being a smoker?
ARNOTT: Nothing's wrong with being a smoker.
ATHERTON: Well, fine. You just said we're second-class citizens.
ARNOTT: No, I didn't.
FOSTER: We'll let you continue debating that one. It's a big debate, and many people disagree on it, as we can see. We showed that very well, today. Thank you both for joining us today.
Still to come, your Connector of the Day. She's a rising star on the tennis circuit and on YouTube. We talked to charismatic German player Andrea Petkovic as she prepares for the biggest match of her career.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: We are now at the business end of the French -- the French Open with the quarterfinals underway at Roland Garros. Many of the big names are still standing, Federer, Nadal, Murray, Sharapova, and tonight's Connector of the Day as well.
Andrea Petkovic is a rising star of tennis whose fancy footwork and charisma has made her a crowd favorite. Let's get you connected.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER (voice-over): She's soared through the rankings and is now number 12 in the world. Bosnian-born Andrea Petkovic is Germany's top female tennis player.
Age 23, she speaks four languages, and has become famous for this, the so- called Petko Dance. Delighting Grand Slam crowds from the US to Australia.
ANNOUNCER: Here's the dance!
FOSTER: Petkovic's fancy footwork has become such a craze, she's even filmed an instructional video.
ANDREA PETKOVIC, NUMBER 12 RANKED TENNIS PLAYER: It's a little bit like marching, but of course, trust me, it's a little cooler. Right, left, right, left --
FOSTER: Will we see this victory jig at Roland Garros? I asked Andrea Petkovic how confident she's feeling as she prepares for her quarterfinal clash against Maria Sharapova.
PETKOVIC: You know, she already won three Grand Slams, so she knows what she's talking about and she knows where she's been. So, it's going to be a tough one, and I just try to stay calm and concentrate on the next match and don't look too far ahead, because then you can get crazy. So, I'm just trying to stay in the moment right now.
FOSTER (on camera): One of our viewers, Nem, has a question about that match and asks what strategy do you believe will be effective against the in-form Sharapova?
PETKOVIC: Well, I made my coach hit some big strokes at me, and I served, and he tried to return as big as he could. And I tried to prepare, yes, for her speed, because she just has this hard ground strokes, so I tried to prepare a little bit for that.
FOSTER: And how important is it that you represent Germany when you're playing tennis, or are you playing for yourself?
PETKOVIC: For me, it's definitely very important to play also for my country. I love playing Fed Cup and I've just recently been given the Fed Cup Heart Award, which was a big honor for me, so I really enjoy also the team matches. We don't get to play a lot of team matches, so the Fed Cup is a big thing for me.
And also, sometimes it's a little bit hard on us German players, because we have this great Steffi and this great Boris that are always there and that are always some kind of a shadow above us.
But on the other hand, we are so lucky to have these kind of idols and to just been shown the way that it has to go. And I'm really proud to play for Germany.
FOSTER: One of the greatest female tennis stars in the world, Steffi Graf. I gather you recently met up with her. How did that go?
PETKOVIC: Yes, it was great. I met her in Las Vegas and I practiced with her for 45 minutes, which was absolutely amazing. She still hits so well, and she's still playing really well. I believe she could still beat some of us today if she wouldn't get injured that easily now.
But she's a great person. She just has a very warm personality. She knows where she's standing in life, and she's just so balanced. So, it's a great idol to have, and I was so, so happy to be able to meet her.
FOSTER: I'm sure you've had other idols as well, but who is it that inspired you to first go onto the court?
PETKOVIC: Well, my dad was a tennis player, as well. He actually played Davis Cup for back -- Yugoslavia back then. And he just wanted me to do any kind of sports, he didn't really care if it was ballet, American football, or tennis but, obviously, tennis was the closest one, so I picked up a racket and just started hitting some balls.
FOSTER: Jorgen Friis has a question for you. How did the much-talked about Petko Dance come about?
PETKOVIC: Well, it was a bet with my coach, actually. And I was playing really bad. I lost a couple of matches that I shouldn't have lost, and at the US Open he told me, "OK, if you win here, you're going to have to do something crazy."
And the first spontaneous thing that came to my mind was the little jig, and the Petko Dance was born.
FOSTER: Many of our viewers very concerned of your talk about retiring the dance. Can you confirm for us that you're not going to do that?
PETKOVIC: Well, I did retire it, actually, the Petko Dance. I'm having a little moonwalk here on the clay because it's quite fitting for clay, and I'm thinking of something special for Wimbledon, but I haven't found the solution yet, so if there are any suggestions, please let me know.
FOSTER: What sort of dance does that surface lend itself to?
PETKOVIC: Well, I thought about something football-soccer specific, because, obviously, England is -- has a big tradition in football and also the grass is quite fitting. But I'm not sure yet. Or maybe there's a traditional English dance that I could pick up, but I'm not sure yet.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: There I am, asking all the crucial questions of the German tennis star Andrea Petkovic, there on the eve of her quarterfinals clash against Maria Sharapova in the French Open. We'll have details on that for you.
Tomorrow night, we connect you with the man who introduced us to the dark side. Hollywood producer George Lucas tells us all about a new Star Wars adventure, and you can take part. That's tomorrow night at this time as our Connector of the Day.
To find out more about all of this, do head to our website, cnn.com/connect. Remember, this is your part of the show, and it's where you can ask the questions.
In tonight's Parting Shots, amazing pictures from Australia's east coast of one of nature's marvels. Paul Kadak reports on what happens when water and wind are woven together.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL KADAK, SEVEN NETWORK AUSTRALIA CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Our helicopter crew was off the central coast chasing the weather when it found them in spectacular fashion. A waterspout, churning through the ocean, heading for land. Majestic and a monster.
From the cloud down to the water, it's around 600 meters, a funnel of water vapor from the clouds above, brought down to the surface by rapidly rotating winds moving at more than 100 kilometers an hour, sweeping the sea water around it into the air.
And it wasn't alone. A glance further north revealed two more created from the same system, thriving in the wet and wild condition just ripe for waterspouts. Take the warm ocean water, cold air from the changing season, add those storms and twisting winds.
We tracked it for more than 20 minutes as it closed in on the coast. That's Terrigal on the right, Avoca Beach on the left, where people watched in awe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At first, it looks like the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) world's going to end, but no. It was cool.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Again, you can always buy rapids, but that was -- well, there's tornadoes we've seen recently. But it looked pretty impressive. I wouldn't have liked to be in a boat out there.
KADAK: Vince and Tony Bagnato were on a boat out there. Their fishing trawler, battling much rough than forecast seas.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pretty amazing, pretty window and --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A little bit scary, too.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was scary --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have one, like, today, it was about three points or better away.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look, when you see it come like, you think it might come toward you, I don't know what to expect.
KADAK: They've fished off Sydney for more than 20 years and never seen so many.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: About one, two at the most.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But not three.
KADAK: As it neared the coast, it lost power and took just seconds to go from potential menace to memory.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Unbelievable, isn't it? Those stunning pictures were captured off the central coast of the state of New South Wales about an hour north of Sydney.
I'm Max Foster, thank you for watching. The world headlines and "BackStory" will follow this short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
