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Stark Warning from International Monetary Fund; Austerity Protests in Greece; Occupy Wall Street Protests; Social Media Response to Occupy Wall Street; Live Update on Wall Street Protests; Australian Cities Planning Protests Similar to Occupy Wall Street; Retrials for Bahrain Doctors; Six Arrested in Plot to Assassinate Afghan President; Fallout from Veto on UN Security Council Sanctions for Syria; Audio Recording of Drugged Michael Jackson Played at Conrad Murray Trial; India Education Ministry Gives $50 Computers to Students; Legal Loophole Keeps Bonded Labor Victims Stuck in Malaysia; New Device Helps Deaf Hear; Interview With Michael Jackson's Brother About Tribute Concert That's Dividing Their Family
Aired October 05, 2011 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MAX FOSTER, HOST: Anger on the streets of Greece as Europe is warned to get its act together or face another recession.
Live from London, I'm Max Foster. Also tonight --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHANARY, BONDED LABORER (through translator): I feel hurt when my wages are always less. It makes me feel depressed and I want to go back home, but I don't have any money.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: We head to Malaysia to witness the desperate plight faced by thousands worldwide. And --
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can put it down for a second. Just get used to the sound.
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FOSTER: Hearing her voice for the very first time, the true story of a modern-day miracle.
First, though, a stark warning from the International Monetary Fund for Europe to get its financial house in order or risk another recession. The IMF issuing its regional economic outlook today, advising governments not to forget about growth as they pursue austerity measures.
On the streets of Greece, a clear reminder of just how fed up people are with painful budget cuts. Public workers walked off the job and went on strike today, paralyzing transport and shutting down central Athens. Police at one point used teargas to bring the crowds under control.
The protesters are furious that their government has imposed yet another round of taxes and wage cuts as it tries to secure a new installment of international aid. Journalist Elinda Labropoulou hit the streets to hear their grievances.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELINDA LABROPOULOU, JOURNALIST: Thousands of demonstrators are gathered in the streets of Athens today, protesting against austerity measures. There have been dozens of demonstrations in the last year and a half, since Greece undertook an EU-IMF bailout plan to prevent the country from defaulting on its debts.
But what is different now is that the degree of anger that the people are expressing about measures that are just too severe for them to bear and a sense of despair that no matter what the sacrifices, they're just not adding up.
(CROWDS SHOUTING)
Greece on Sunday announced that it will not be able to meet its deficit targets for the year 2012, which means the country will go into a fourth consecutive year of recession.
But protesters are saying that in the time since the crisis hit, they have taken a massive drop in their living standard of up to 50 percent.
What they're saying is that the recession is suffocating the economy. They're asking the government for development. They're asking for plans that will get Greece out of the crisis, and so far, they're feeling that neither the government nor Greece's lenders have done enough to reassure them that this is possible.
Elinda Labropoulou, Athens, Greece, for CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: German chancellor Angela Merkel had some encouraging words for Greece today, though, acknowledging its desire for growth and not just more penalties. Speaking in Brussels, she also said Greece must remain part of the euro zone and signaled her support for a plan to prevent the debt crisis from devastating the banking sector.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANGELA MERKEL, CHANCELLOR OF GERMANY (through translator): Germany is prepared to move to recapitalization. We need criteria. We're under the pressure of time, and I think we need to take a decision quickly. If we need to discuss this at the summit, we're certainly prepared to do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Those remarks on recapitalizing banks gave a boost to investor confidence, helping European stocks bounce back from heavy losses. The markets ended up today across the board.
Countries around the world are watching how this debt crisis plays out, because it has consequences far beyond Europe's borders. CNN's Erin Burnett spoke to -- spoke with US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner asking him if a team of business leaders were correct in saying a recession in the US is not inevitable.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIMOTHY GEITHNER, US TREASURY SECRETARY: I think they're right, but it depends, really, on two things. Depends first on how effective the Europeans are in dealing with their financial crisis, because that's putting a severe burden on growth around the world, and it's a very serious, grave crisis.
And so it depends importantly on what they do in Europe. But it also depends on our ability to get Congress to do something to make growth stronger in the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Well, some Americans unhappy with the economy are taking their complaints to the heart of New York's financial district. But what began as a grassroots protest against corporate greed has now taken on a life of its own.
All kinds of demonstrators are adding their voices to Occupy Wall Street. Today, unions and the activist group Moveon.org are joining the ranks.
Over the past two weeks, protesters have rallied against everything from police brutality to the war in Afghanistan. As Lisa Sylvester reports, the loosely-organized movement is finding backers nationwide.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What started as an organic grassroots protest is blossoming into an almost full-fledged movement.
(CROWD CHANTING)
SYLVESTER: Over the weekend, 700 people were arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge, and across the country, from Boston to Chicago to Los Angeles, similar rallies, though not as large as the ones in New York.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm upset about a lot of things that are going on in this country, and I just want to have my voice heard for once.
SYLVESTER: Grievances are directed at corporations, especially banks. Their slogans, "Tax the wealthy, save the jobs."
"New York Times" columnist Charles Blow says what you are seeing is the anger of young people.
CHARLES BLOW, COLUMNIST, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": They're emerging from colleges realizing there are no jobs. And they're under a mountain of student loans, and yet, you can turn on the TV any day of the week, and you see that corporations are making record profits.
SYLVESTER: Consider that the unemployment rate for people between the ages of 16 and 24 is 17.7 percent. But finding a political funnel for their angst is tricky. In Washington, progressives are holding a conference called "Take Back the American Dream." Their goal is to try to galvanize the unrest and to turn it into political action.
SYLVESTER (on camera): How much of this is an answer to the Tea Party?
VAN JONES, "TAKE BACK THE AMERICAN DREAM": Well, I mean, we're not mad that the Tea Party got so loud, we're mad that the other 80 percent of Americans got so quiet, and we want to give ourselves, now, an opportunity to speak out.
SYLVESTER (voice-over): Speaking out and getting attention, they are doing that. But the question is, does this grassroots effort take hold?
SYLVESTER (on camera): More rallies are scheduled in the coming weeks, one for example on November 3rd, they will be lobbying the White House and Capitol Hill and urging lawmakers to pass a Wall Street financial tax.
But it is getting cold outside, so it's one thing to occupy a park in New York when it's warm, another thing when it starts to get really chilly.
Lisa Sylvester, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Well, the movement may seem to may lack focus in real life, but social media has provided a platform for its members to air their grievances. Here are some of the tweets using the Occupy Wall Street hash tag.
From Pauline McCarthy, "The bank now owns 115 percent of my house even though I have never missed a payment."
From Occupy Wall Street's own Twitter page, "National student walkout day against unforgivable student debt and soaring tuition rates." And later, "We are in solidarity with the Arab Spring."
Mumblinjim wants term limits for Congress. Ryan Grandmaison says "This is America. There is no reason that any child should go to bed un -- go to bed hungry."
And Andrew Felluss says "Occupy Wall Street, not Palestine."
There are also plenty of people on Twitter who are fed up with the protesters themselves, like lorien1973. He wrote, "I'm tweeting about corporate greed from iPhone while searching Google and Facebook for more of the oppressed."
Let's get back to Wall Street now, though, for an update of today's protest. Maggie Lake is right there in the thick of it. Hi, Maggie.
MAGGIE LAKE, CNN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Max. That's right. And today, a very different tenor down here. The numbers have certainly grown from when we were here earlier this week. That is, of course, because we have union members that have come out in support, as well as students from local universities, as well.
We don't have a fix on the number, yet. Some of them are in another part of the city, we just had protesters here leave to join them, they will all come back here soon.
I want to bring in somebody, though, who's been here from the very beginning, Katie Davison. She's a filmmaker who came and was one of the original ones. Katie, thanks so much for joining us.
Talk to me a little bit about what you're hoping to achieve. There are some people who are a little skeptical and say, listen, we sort of sympathize with them, we're frustrated about the economy, but what are they hoping to achieve there? What do you say to those people?
KATIE DAVISON, ORGANIZER, "OCCUPY WALL STREET": Well, I think I -- fist, I would say that this is only the beginning. I mean, I think what we've accomplished so far has surpassed our wildest dream. And it's really something that we hope will grow.
The idea is in New York, we are just a small community of New Yorkers. What we hope to do is start building and branching out and getting in contact with all of the cities where movements are cropping up all over the United States and really build a national discourse that is true participatory democracy so that we can then decide on a list of demands that would represent what we want on a national level.
LAKE: There's been some discussion that when you come down here, you see so many different signs and people have so many different issues or gripes that they're trying to address, and sometimes, especially today, I feel like people are kind of attaching themselves to it because there's some media attention. Do you feel that that dilutes the potential of this?
DAVISON: I think a lot of times, especially on the left, the problem has been that all of our separate issues have sort of divided us. And what we really need right now is solidarity, and what we hope to do is bring people in based on emotion and value systems.
We all agree that basically what's happening now isn't working. We want to build hope and inspiration and a belief in the idea that we can have a better society.
So, this is sort of like creating the foundation for a value system that will incorporate all those demands that everybody else has on their minds.
LAKE: Another thing that seems interesting is that this is a grassroots organization, I guess it's part of how this happens, but there's no leader, everyone's a spokesperson, it's hard to know who's sort of real and who's not, who's just kind of joined in.
How is it possible for this to evolve and become a force that can see change when there's no organization? Those two things seem like they're at odds with each other.
DAVISON: Well, just because it's a leaderless movement does not mean that there's not organization. Right now, we've grown faster than, I think, that we all thought we would. Some people thought that we would grow this fast, but some didn't.
So right now, we're starting to react to sort of the second phase of organization, how do we get in touch with the cities that cropping up like LA, like Boston, like Philadelphia. How do we create better communication between the working groups that are dealing with the different logistics on the ground?
Those are the conversations that we basically have started having in the next week, and I'm really excited to see how those things develop in the weeks to come.
LAKE: All right, Katie Davison, thanks so much.
Max, as you can hear, a little bit of a learning process. This has sort of exceeded some of the early expectations. It's definitely changing. I think this is an important day, to see whether they can take these larger numbers and do something with it.
As you hear and see, the police presence has certainly grown. I think one of the other challenges is going to be to see can they keep what has so far been mostly peaceful, as these numbers grow, can they keep that relationship intact.
Certainly, when you're expecting thousands to turn out, you can feel a little bit more of a tension with the police force. We'll have to see how today plays out. Max?
FOSTER: OK, Maggie, thank you very much, indeed, for joining us from New York, then.
We saw how these protests are spreading across the US, but did you know they could also soon pop up in Australia? Occupy Melbourne is planning to kick off with a protest October the 15th. Other cities could follow suit, including Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide, we're told.
You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. When we come back, a new trial at Bahrain's highest court. We'll find out why the government is now offering a group of convicted doctors and nurses a second chance.
Deal or no deal? American basketball descends into turmoil as talks break down between players and team owners.
And paying tribute to Michael Jackson. We speak to the singer's brothers about performing without him and the impact of the Conrad Murray trial on their family.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: I'm Max Foster in London, you're watching CONNECT THE WORLD, and here's a look at other stories we're following for you this hour.
Bahrain has agreed to give a new trial to 20 doctors convicted of trying to overthrow the government. The medical staff from Salmaniya Medical Complex were given prison sentences ranging from 5 to 15 years. Their conviction has sparked outrage amongst human rights groups and the international community.
Authorities have announced the retrial will be conducted before the highest civil court in Bahrain. The convicted doctors have welcomed the opportunity to have their cases heard again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NADA DHAIF, BAHRAINIAN DOCTOR SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS: In case they want to go with a new trial, we are very much ready to go for that. We want to clear our names. We want to bring those who tortured us, those who conspired against the medics and fabricated this whole case, those who ruined our reputation, we want to bring them to justice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Afghanistan says it has arrested six people suspected of involvement in a plot to assassinate President Hamid Karzai. This comes after a series of assassinations of some of Karzai's key allies, including his brother in July and peace commission leader last month.
Now there's a growing anger after a resolution condemning Syria's crackdown failed to pass the UN Security Council. On Tuesday, China and Russia vetoed the resolution, which would have threatened targeted measures, but not sanctions. US ambassador Susan Rice walked out as Syria's ambassador spoke.
Meanwhile, Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan calls the defeat unfortunate and says Turkey still plans to impose its own sanctions.
Prosecutors have played yet another recording of Michael Jackson's slurred speech during the involuntary manslaughter trial of his personal physician. The audio file was found on Dr. Conrad Murray's phone. It was recorded as the singer was preparing for his "This is It" concert. Here's a clip of Jackson talking about his concern for children.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL JACKSON, SINGER: Children are depressed. The -- in those hospitals, no game room, no movie theater. They're sick because they're depressed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Well, in India, a new tablet is jumping into the market with one feature in mind, and that is affordability. The device sells for less than $50 a pop. Sara Sidner gives us a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA SIDNER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Now, computers are getting cheaper and cheaper, but this is crazy cheap. India's Ministry of Education has announced it has come up with the world's cheapest computer. And this is it.
Now, we got a sneak peak at this little gadget here. It's about seven inches, so it's smaller than an iPad. It has two USB ports here. It also has an HD screen so you can watch videos, for example.
What the ministry has done, because obviously it's the Education Ministry, it has uploaded some applications in here so that you can actually watch, for example, a lecture. Now, this is a lecture from one of India's very prestigious schools, one of their IITs.
And so, students can use it for all sorts of things. Basically, anything that you can do on a computer, typing your notes, sending an e- mail, you can do on this little gadget. The HD screen in nice because you can, again, watch different things, including movies, if you so like, on this computer.
One of the things with this is that basically you have to have wi-fi in order for it to get a signal, in order for you to be able to get online. So, that's one thing that people might have a bit of an issue with.
The other thing is that some of the touchscreen technology is a little bit difficult. You have to be a bit forceful to try and make it work. It's not as sensitive, for example, as an iPad.
However, we're talking about a device that does just about everything you can imagine a computer does, except for the fact that it's only about $50.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Unbelievable, isn't it?
Now, he may not have won a tournament in almost two years, but Tiger Woods can be still be a major force in golf. That's according to his new sponsors, Rolex. They've just signed his first major endorsement deal in the wake of the 2009 scandal over his marital infidelities.
Whilst Tiger Woods prepares for a comeback, the NBA is facing a shaky start to the season. Stay with us for details on the lockout that's putting the game in jeopardy.
And the miracle moment that's become a science sensation as one woman hears her own voice for the very first time.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: The National Basketball Association has canceled its pre- season whilst players and owners continue to wrangle over a new pay deal. The cancellation of all 114 games will cost the NBA around $200 million. The first two weeks of the regular season are also in jeopardy.
The players have asked for a $2 million increase in their average salary, but the NBA has refused, saying it needs to recoup costs from last year's unprofitable season. The lockout is now in its third month with no sign of agreement.
Pedro joins me now. They're pretty far apart, these two sides, it seems.
PEDRO PINTO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: They are. That's what's really worrying a lot of basketball fans, including myself, Max, because I'm a huge NBA fan, and I am worried, because we haven't seen players and owners get any closer.
The main issue -- you mentioned the contract and the salaries. That is an issue. But the main issue right now is the revenue. How are they going to split it?
In the old collective bargaining agreement, players have 57 percent of the revenue, owners 43. The players have conceded that they have to go down on that. They've gone down to 53, but the owners still want 50-50, and that doesn't look like it's going to happen.
The last round of talks broke down after four hours of negotiations in New York, and this is what both sides had to say following the breakdown of that latest round of talks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEREK FISHER, PRESIDENT, NBA PLAYERS ASSOCIATION: Even though we're basketball players, it's not a game to us. We're talking this process seriously. We'll continue to do so.
We want to and have been willing to negotiate, but we find ourselves at a point today where we in some ways anticipated or expected to be, faced with a lockout that may jeopardize portions if not all of our season.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PINTO: And that is the take from the players, Max. I can tell you that as far as the owners are concerned, David Stern, the lead commissioner said that they don't know where they're going from here, and that's really -- the worrying thing is that there are no further talks planned at the moment.
FOSTER: We were talking about a similar story, weren't we, in football recently? So, is there some sort of trend going on? Militancy in sport?
PINTO: Well, there is a trend. It is for different reasons, so it's difficult to find one common thread, here.
But let me take you through some of the leagues that have had similar issues, starting with the National Football League, also in the States, the NFL. And they were in a lockout for a few months, four to be exact.
But they managed to come together, sign a new collective bargaining agreement. This is the most profitable league on the planet, so they managed to keep that in mind and get a deal done in July.
Spain's La Liga, you mentioned football, and the players there were on strike for a few weeks. One round of fixtures was affected, that was postponed.
The issue there was about unpaid wages to many of the players, and many of the clubs also being in debt. So different than the revenue- sharing that's been going on with the NBA and the NFL as far as a negotiating point.
Last but not least, the tennis players on the ATPT tour, that's the men's professional circuit, they have gotten together over the last few weeks, Max. They're really not happy about the number of tournaments, the number of matches they have to play.
They say they're being over-stretched, that physically they're drained, a lot of injuries are occurring and they want the circuit to have a look at this and reschedule the calendar in the future.
FOSTER: Andy Murray certainly looked under some strain in that photo.
PINTO: He was one of the guys. He's one of the guys who's complained a lot about the fact that there are just too many matches and physically, it's too much of a strain to take.
FOSTER: Pedro, thank you very much, indeed.
Coming up on CONNECT THE WORLD, CNN's Dan Rivers on the trail of human trafficking in Southeast Asia, why High Street shoppers may be complicit in the nightmare these women are living.
Then, a medical breakthrough provides what nature did not. How a woman was able to hear her own voice for the very first time, on film.
And later, members of the Jackson 5 on performing without their brother, Michael.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: You're back with CONNECT THE WORLD on CNN, the world's news leader. Let's check the headlines for you this hour.
Protests against austerity measures paralyze much of the Greek capital today. Public sector workers walked off the job to oppose new taxes and furloughs. Greece is facing default if it doesn't get its next European bailout check.
Bahrain says it will grant new trials to 20 medics convicted of trying to overthrow the government. The 20 were detained during protests earlier this year and sentenced to jail time last week.
Afghanistan says it has arrested six people suspected of a plot to assassinate President Hamid Karzai. A security official says the group was very close to an attack. This comes after a series of assassinations of some of Karzai's key allies.
This year's Nobel Prize for chemistry was awarded to an Israeli scientist today. Daniel Shechtman was given the honor for his discovery of a type of crystal that does not have a regular, repeating pattern.
Police in Barcelona in Spain have raided more than a dozen suspected brothels and arrested 39 members of a suspected Chinese mafia. Investigators freed 30 women who they say were forced into prostitution. Police also seized forged documents and weapons during the raids.
CNN is pouring its global resources into investigating the dark world of modern-day slavery, giving the victims a voice, exposing the perpetrators, and fighting to end the trade in human life.
This week, we're bringing you a series of exclusive reports from Southeast Asia, where CNN's Dan Rivers has been trying to unravel a tale of bonded labor that you may be supporting without even knowing it.
On Tuesday, we brought you part one of Dan's report, where he visited an employment agency that allegedly forces people to work as bonded laborers. They wouldn't speak to him, so in part two of this story, he goes in search of the victims themselves.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN RIVERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Our search for the victims of modern-day slavery took us to rural Cambodia. There, I met a mother who showed me a photo of one of her daughters, we're calling "Chanary," who's still trapped in a factory in Malaysia, unable to return until she pays off her debt.
RIVERS (on camera): Can we just take some -- can we just --
RIVERS (voice-over): We visited the agency in Phnom Penh, where we were briefly locked in before an angry exchange with the agency owner hastened our departure.
RIVERS: (on camera): All right, we're going. We're going, we're going, we're going.
RIVERS (voice-over): It was time for us to go to Malaysia, to the northern city of Penang. This is the booming center of Malaysia's high- tech industry. Components built here power millions of computer hard drives around the world.
RIVERS (on camera): This is the end of the night shift at one factory here in Malaysia, and you can see all the buses are lining up to take hundreds of workers home after an exhausting 12-hour shift.
RIVERS (voice-over): The workers appear to be from all over Asia, including many Cambodians.
I suspect one of them is Chanary, the young woman who I'm looking for, and through an intermediary, we finally track her down and make contact.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There, standing on the right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ah, perfect.
RIVERS: After a little persuasion, she agrees to meet us, along with three coworkers, all worried if they're seen talking to us, they'll be punished.
Over breakfast, they tell me they were promised $250 a month by the Ung Rithy agency in Cambodia, but 50 percent of their wage has so far been deducted to cover agency fees. After other deductions, they say they only receive about $100 a month, barely enough to feed themselves.
Their passports have been confiscated by the agency, and they only have a photocopy. Chanary tells us they've already tried to escape once, but were caught by the police trying to cross into Thailand without a passport, a sign of how desperate they are to go home.
CHANARY, BONDED LABORER (through translator): I feel hurt when my wages are always less. It makes me feel depressed and I want to go back home, but I don't have any money.
Sometimes, I feel like running away, like we did before, but I'm afraid that I'll be arrested by the police, tortured, and put in prison.
RIVERS: Her friend says she's just 17 years old and claims she was given a passport by the agency with falsified information showing she was 21. It's illegal for under 18s to work here. All the women say they can't leave until their debt to the agency is paid off.
The women work at this electronics factory, JCY, which makes computer hard drives for major international clients, including Western Digital. But in fact, the women are subcontracted by another company, so legally, JCY is not responsible for them.
So, Chanary and her friends were the first part of a complex chain, recruited by the Ung Rithy Agency, but then employed by a middle man, along with dozens of other workers at this factory, which is owned and operated by JCY.
We decide the best way to help the girls is to hand over their case to a local aid agency, which specializes in helping migrant workers.
Case worker Robin Fernandes says their situation is bleak.
ROBIN FERNANDES, AID WORKER: One of the reasons why this is something it's because of outsourcing. When you outsource, you're not responsible directly for your employee. So you wash -- the company washes its hands off whatever responsibilities, it's the agent who's supplying the workers.
RIVERS (on camera): In theory, workers at factories like JCY are free to go whenever they want. In theory, they're employers are legally obliged to hand over their passports whenever the workers ask for them.
But in practice, it is the employers who sign off the workers' exit visas, and without that signature, they can't leave the country, meaning they're stuck here.
RIVERS (voice-over): JCY refused to do an interview, but told us most workers willingly give their passports to their respective agents for safekeeping and are able to obtain their passports at any time upon their request.
Their statement went on, "All workers in our plants have free access to our human resource department and our management to report any grievance they may have. We try to resolve all grievances in a fair and equitable manner. As far as we are concerned, workers are free to leave their employment in our company at any time."
These women may not have a ball and chain around their feet, but they are saddled with a huge fee that they must pay off before they can leave. And what's amazing is that all this is legal in Malaysia, meaning some people get stuck here for years working 12 hours a day, 7 days a week to pay off their debt.
In the final part of our investigation, why is this allowed to continue in Malaysia?
RIVERS (on camera): Slavery?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can say modern forms of slavery.
RIVERS (voice-over): And the computer accessories you use that are built with debt-bonded labor.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Well, Dan's here. As you say, nothing illegal here. So, where's the failure?
RIVERS: The failure is these people fall between the kind of cracks in the system. The system is designed in such a way that they are stuck in a legal limbo. They're not directly employed by that factory, they're employed by a middle man, so the factory can say, "Well, look, they're not our employees, we're not really responsible for them."
But yet, it is that company that has to sign off their exit visas, so they can't go home until they've paid off this debt to the agency, which also says, "Well, look, we don't employ them."
So, they're stuck there. And as -- I just said then, some of them get stuck there for months or years trying to pay off a debt when they're only taking home perhaps $100 a month. By the time they've taken out all of their food and living costs, they're barely able to save anything.
FOSTER: But the authorities, the government are aware of the problem? As you say, they're falling between the gaps?
RIVERS: This -- I think it is a well-known issue in Malaysia. The government wouldn't talk to us, the Malaysian government wouldn't talk to us about this.
But as we'll hear tomorrow, this is an issue that is known. Political opposition have talked about this. And some people say that this is giving Malaysia and other countries in Southeast Asia a terribly bad name, because effectively, they're turning a blind eye towards it.
FOSTER: And tomorrow, you're going to be giving us in the Western world something to think about.
RIVERS: Yes, we wanted to follow this all the way through back to the High Streets in London and New York and in the West to find out what these people like Chanary are actually making and therefore what consumers like you and I end up buying unwittingly contributing to this awful limbo that they're stuck in.
FOSTER: OK, Dan, thank you very much, indeed. See you tomorrow.
Now, all the details of this story can be found on CNN's Freedom Project website, as well. CNN's -- or Dan's exclusive reports are on there, along with many more facts on forced labor and trafficking. You can also find out what you can do to help. Just head to cnn.com/freedom.
Don't go away, after the break, it's the life-changing treatment that fascinated millions of people around the world. Find out why after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: Welcome back to CONNECT THE WORLD. Now, our next story begins with an incredible private moment which was filmed, posted on YouTube, and watched by some five and a half million people so far. Many more people will watch it, I'm sure.
It features a 29-year-old Sloan (sic) Churman, who was born deaf as she finds out what it's like for the very first time to hear the sound of her own voice. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There you go.
SARAH CHURMAN, IMPLANT RECIPIENT: It's beeping.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So now technically, you're device is on.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you tell?
(CHUMRAN CRIES)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, it's exciting!
You can put it down for a second. Just get used to the sound. What's it sound like?
CHURMAN: I don't want to hear myself cry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: That really is an amazing moment, isn't it? You can almost relate to it. Let's find out, though, how it works with the doctor who's performed around 28 of these surgeries to implant the device. Sam Marzo's with the Loyola University, Chicago.
Sam, just talk us through -- I mean, it's technology at the heart of this. I mean, you see emotion, but technology at the heart of it. Just explained what's happened to this lady.
SAM MARZO, SURGEON, LOYOLA UNIVERSITY, CHICAGO: It's wonderful technology, and basically, through an outpatient surgical procedure, we place the device. We attach a sensor to the hearing bones, primarily the incus, which is the second hearing bone, and then we attach a driver to the stapes, the stirrup, the last hearing bone.
So, we're able to sense the sound through the eardrum by the movement of the stapes, send it to a sound processor and a battery, and then mechanically move the stapes, the last hearing bone faster than and better than the body can. And the battery's implantable.
So, this woman -- go ahead.
FOSTER: Now, it -- feels as if --
(CROSSTALK)
MARZO: This woman can hear --
FOSTER: -- it's completely real. If you look at this response, it looks as though she can hear in a natural way. So, is it as good as the real thing?
MARZO: Yes, it's -- it amplifies the natural hearing, the natural voice.
FOSTER: OK, I just want to bring you some questions. We've had so many questions from viewers on Twitter about this --
MARZO: Sure.
FOSTER: -- because it raises so many questions. And James from Australia wants to know, "How could she talk so well when she'd never heard herself or anyone else talk for her whole life?"
MARZO: She had some residual hearing that -- since birth that a hearing aid could help her get by. So, that's different from somebody that's born deaf that's never heard anything.
If somebody's born totally deaf, then they're going to look at something like a cochlear implant, and that would help them hear.
The key is to identify them early and either put them in a hearing aid or a cochlear implant. In this case, a hearing aid helped her hear some, and now the Esteem helps her hear a lot better.
FOSTER: So, she had this residual hearing, but she's so overcome, isn't she? And it seems as though it's that sense of hearing her own voice. So, just explain to us what it was that really shocked her. What shocks these patients for the first time when they hear themselves?
MARZO: They're able to hear things that they've never heard before. Their own voice, keys, leaves, insects, movement, vary subtle sounds that we're used to hearing all the time that she's never heard, so it's life- changing.
FOSTER: And what does this say to the rest of us with good hearing on what we take for granted?
MARZO: Enjoy it, protect it, be careful around loud noises.
FOSTER: And is the technology at a point now where anyone deaf can get hearing again?
MARZO: We're getting close to that point, and the key is to identify the cause and treat it as soon as you can. Young children six months of age who can't hear are being given hearing through hearing aids and cochlear implants, so the key is to identify the loss and treat it.
FOSTER: What forms of lack of hearing aren't treatable now?
MARZO: I guess the biggest problem we see is patients who could have benefited from some technology when they were a child, but it was never done. So now we see them age 20, 30, 40, and they've been deaf since birth, and for some of those, it's too late.
FOSTER: And what's it -- we saw the emotion of the patient, there, but it must be an incredible moment for you, as well, to almost give this gift. What's it like for you in that moment when you're sitting in the room and they hear for the first time?
MARZO: It's very touching. And it's what keeps us going. Helping people hear is, I think, one of the greatest things that we can do, and I'm fortunate to be able to offer that to my patients.
FOSTER: It's great work. Dr. Sam Marzo, thank you so much for joining us and giving us your insight on that amazing story, that amazing video.
Let's take a look now at some other pioneering procedures that we've seen this year, because technology is moving fast. In Sweden, a team carried out the first -- the world's first synthetic organ transplant. Grown from patients' own stem cells, the synthetic windpipe was implanted into a 36-year-old man.
Professor Paolo Macchiarini from Italy led the surgery, his first performed -- he first performed the operation back in 2008, and as you can see here, but in that case, the patient still required a donor.
In southern Turkey, doctors transplanted a womb from a deceased donor. Derya Sert was born without a uterus like one in every 5,000 women around the world, and this was the first successful operation of its kind, life- changing.
And in America, we saw the country's first full-face transplant. Only a few around the world have ever been performed. Dallas Wiens was left disfigured after a horrific electrical accident.
In a 15-hour procedure, he was given a donor forehead, nose, lips, and facial skin. He also had underlying muscles and nerves transplanted to give him back sensation of movement to his face. Amazing.
When we come back, Michael Jackson's family divided over a tribute concert to be held whilst his accused killer is on trial.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARLON JACKSON, MICHAEL JACKSON'S BROTHER: The way I look at it -- I mean, I respect other people who are not participating, I respect their decision, they have the right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Why three of Jackson's brothers say now is a good time to celebrate his life. That interview, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: The county coroner investigator appearing currently in the trial of Michael Jackson's doctor, currently live, taking place in Los Angeles. It reached another emotional peak on Wednesday as jurors heard Jackson say, using slow and slurred speech, "I hurt, you know. I hurt."
It's a very high-profile trial, and as that Conrad Murray trial continues in LA, a rift has developed within the Jackson family.
A tribute concert has actually threatened to divide the king of pop's siblings. Some of Jackson's family are against the event whilst the trial is still in progress.
Others are in London, though, rehearsing for the concert, and I spoke to Tito, Marlon, and Jackie about their memories performing with their brother and why they believe this is the right time to celebrate Michael's life.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(MUSIC - "I WANT YOU BACK" THE JACKSON 5)
FOSTER (voice-over): For Michael Jackson, fame started out as a family business. Singing with his four older brothers on variety shows like this in the Jackson 5.
JACKIE JACKSON, MICHAEL JACKSON'S BROTHER: He was -- something we all wanted to do, is be professional entertainers, and trying to find our way to Hollywood, that was the whole thing. We had a lot of fun doing it, rehearsing every single day. That was fun for us.
And people used to come to our house and peek in the windows and watch us rehearse. That was our audience.
FOSTER (on camera): You performing all the time?
TITO JACKSON, MICHAEL JACKSON'S BROTHER: All the time.
JACKIE JACKSON: All the time.
FOSTER (voice-over): The Jackson 5 became one of the 70s' biggest boy bands, but a decade later, the biggest star of the group had emerged, and Michael's brothers watched him become a moonwalking megastar.
FOSTER (on camera): Take us through one of your favorite Michael Jackson performance moments when you performed with him or a song or an event. What's your favorite?
JACKIE JACKSON: Well, there's so many.
MARLON JACKSON: Probably each one of us probably has something different.
JACKIE JACKSON: There's so many.
MARLON JACKSON: I'm going to let Jackie lead right here. Sorry.
JACKIE JACKSON: I say, Dodger Stadium. We sold out 60,000 seats seven nights in a row at Dodger Stadium. And that was great to do that with my brother.
FOSTER: And what's your favorite Michael performance moment?
TITO JACKSON: I have two of them. One of them was Motown 25, after that, when he did the whole "Billie Jean" thing. And the second one was Michael's 30th anniversary, it's the last time we preformed together as a group. So that will always stay in my heart.
FOSTER (voice-over): Jackson's death hit the family hard, and now they say they want justice. They've all been present at one time or another at the trial of the man accused of killing him, Dr. Conrad Murray.
FOSTER (on camera): How's it been watching that -- evolve, and how do you think it's been going?
TITO JACKSON: I think it's been going extremely well, but it's been tremendously difficult for the entire family.
MARLON JACKSON: It's almost starting over again, like from day one, and that's painful.
FOSTER: Reliving it.
MARLON JACKSON: Yes.
TITO JACKSON: Yes, reliving it.
FOSTER (voice-over): But whilst the trial has united the family, it now threatens to divide them. Tito, Marlon, and Jackie Jackson are hosting a tribute concert to Michael in Wales this weekend.
And whilst the brothers rehearse in London, Jackson's other siblings, Jermaine, Randy, and Janet, remain in LA. They're against the tribute whilst the trial of Jackson's one-time personal physician continues.
FOSTER (on camera): Is the timing appropriate?
MARLON JACKSON: I think that -- I think there's no such thing if the timing is appropriate for it, because what we're doing is we're remember the brighter side of our brother. And that's the memory that we hold inside of us, a joyful moment for us.
And so, that's the way I look at it. I mean, I respect other people who will not participate, and I respect their decision. They have the right.
TITO JACKSON: Plus, I must add that we were planning this tribute show months and months ago, more than six months ago --
FOSTER: Before you knew when the trial was.
TITO JACKSON: Yes, the trial was moved a few times --
JACKIE JACKSON: They changed the date of the trial.
TITO JACKSON: They changed the dates on us, and once you're locked in contractually or whatever participation you have, it's not that easy just to say adios, but my family is so large, and we only have so many seats in the court, and we have over half the family that wasn't going to see anything.
(CROSSTALK)
JACKIE JACKSON: And also, let me say something. It's good for my mom to get away and to come out here and support the tribute -- the tribute show for Michael, because it's kind of hard for her in the courtroom.
FOSTER (voice-over): The brothers say this is their way of keeping Michael's memory alive.
FOSTER (on camera): How hard is it performing without him? How do you fill the gap in?
TITO JACKSON: It's quite different. I mean, we were so in-tuned with each other, and everything we did or he did, it was always -- we knew it, we felt it. And this just -- you feel sort of naked. It's almost like going out without your trousers or whatever. You just feel something's different about this.
FOSTER: What's going to be going through your mind on the actual night? What are you going to be thinking about in terms of Michael?
MARLON JACKSON: I'm just going to be remember that Michael used to be right on the side right here, whatever, but he's not there. But he'll be there in spirit.
TITO JACKSON: He said it. Although he's not visible there, but you can feel his presence --
JACKIE JACKSON: Yes.
TITO JACKSON: Whenever you're doing a Michael or a Jackson song, you can feel the presence.
JACKIE JACKSON: He will be in the stadium that night, I guarantee you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Saturday night, and the stadium is in Cardiff. And it will be live on Facebook, we're told.
Now, a look at tonight's Parting Shots before we go. This incredible video shows a backdraft explosion at a burning restaurant in Ohio. Happened just moments after three firefighters entered the building.
A large gust of wind caused the fire to expand, apparently, blasting out the front windows, but the scale of it is just unbelievable. Onlooker Kyle Henry captured the explosion on his mobile phone. He didn't know what was coming.
Amazingly, no one was hurt, but the restaurant was destroyed, clearly. It was built in the 1930s and was filled with irreplaceable memorabilia. But lucky more people weren't hurt.
I'm Max Foster, thank you so much for watching. The world headlines and "BackStory" will follow this short break.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go! Go! Go! Go!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is it OK?
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