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Grim Economic News Leading Up to G20 Summit; Outgoing European Central Bank Head Says Founders of EU Not Aware of Flaws in Euro Formation Plan; Mario Draghi New ECB Head; Kicking Off Series on European Youngsters; World Population Reaches 7 Billion; Global Birth Rates; Debate on Impact of Population Growth; Big Interview: Filmmaker John Landis
Aired October 31, 2011 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BECKY ANDERSON, HOST: Tonight, NATO pulls its planes from the skies over Libya. Its secretary-general exclusively tells us it's a mission accomplished. I'll ask the NTC whether it's just too soon.
Live from London, I'm Becky Anderson.
Also this hour,
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just living in Manhattan feels so sort of claustrophobic. I mean these numbers just are massive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: As the seven billionth baby is born, we'll debate whether the world's population is spiraling out of control.
And...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The unknown. We're terrified, as a species. We - - we can't deal with what we don't know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: The tricks of the trade from the master of horror -- it's fright night and we've got a special with film director John Landis.
First up, though, this evening, NATO declares mission accomplished in Libya, saying it has prevented a massacre and has saved countless lives. By the end of our show tonight, midnight in Libya, the seven month bombing campaign that helped change the tide of war will officially come to a close.
Well, NATO began enforcing a no-fly zone and naval blockade back in March, with the stated goal of protecting Libyan civilians. The operation helped ragtag rebel forces gain the upper hand against Moammar Gadhafi's troops, eventually overthrowing his regime.
Well, NATO chief, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, made an unannounced visit to Libya today to mark the end of the mission.
CNN's Matthew Chance traveled with him, getting exclusive access on the plane from Brussels to Tripoli.
And Matthew joins us now live for the details of the interview that you won't see anywhere else tonight -- Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Becky, thanks very much.
Well, we joined Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the secretary-general of -- of the -- of NATO, the Western military alliance, on that flight from NATO headquarters in Brussels here to Tripoli. It's the first time a secretary- general of the -- of NATO has come to Libya. He did it to, you know, declare victory, essentially, to tell the Libyan people it was mission accomplished.
It was also an interesting journey from my point of view, as well, because it was the first time I'd come back to Libya since that episode at the Rixos Hotel, where I and a number of other journalists, were -- were held against our will by Gadhafi gunmen back in August. And, actually, we ended up traveling to the Rixos Hotel, where some of the media facilities with the secretary-general were held.
But take a look now at that fascinating journey from Brussels into Tripoli.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
CHANCE: We're sitting on this Belgian Air Force plane. The secretary-general of NATO, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, is just at the front of the aircraft. I'm going to have a -- a sit-down interview with him in a bit. We're not allowed to report the visit has started until we actually get off the ground for security reasons. But obviously, the secretary- general of NATO is going there to announce the sort of official end of the NATO operations in Libya, which, from their point of view, have been very, very successful, indeed.
And so we've got this really privileged access aboard this plane with these major officials and security guys.
Hello, sir.
How are you?
ANDERS FOGH RASMUSSEN, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: Good to see you.
CHANCE: You're -- you're going to -- to Libya today, the first time that a secretary-general of NATO has done that, obviously. But you're going there, presumably, with the opinion that this was an unmitigated successful for the alliance.
RASMUSSEN: Operation Unify and Protect has been a great success. We have fully implemented the United Nations mandate to protect civilians in Libya. And we have carried our mission without confirmed civilian casualties. And that's really a great success.
CHANCE: Colonel Gadhafi was very unceremoniously lynched. There are reports that apparently many of his troops in Sirte were executed.
Doesn't the fact that these things happened undermine the legitimacy of the intervention?
RASMUSSEN: No, it's not part of NATO's operations. Neither Gadhafi or any other individuals have been targets of our operations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM AUGUST 24)
CHANCE: (INAUDIBLE) because -- because we feel it's safer in numbers. And there was a big thud there. There's obviously something happening in this hotel right now.
And this is the room. It's pretty luxurious, actually. It's like a huge suite, you know, very sumptuous fittings, absolutely incredible. And here's the bedroom where I did all the Skype live shots from. And it's obviously back to hotel now.
This is the -- the corridor where we all kind of lay. We slept -- slept out here at night, all of, I mean 35, 36 people here, because it was close to this room. And this is the -- the men's masiq, the men's mosque. But it became the place where we all decided to corral ourselves in case there was a huge battle in the Rixos. We prepared this as a kind of safe room.
That's the room in which we were all sitting, you know, with our body armor on, with our supplies, with our bottles of water, you know, kind of waiting for what we thought was going to be a, you know, big assault on the hotel. Thankfully, it was an assault that never came.
Here's one of the fridges that we raided when we were out of food. The crew down here was with a film -- with a TV set where state television were broadcasting, you know, all their kind of, you know, anti-NATO propaganda, that kind of stuff. And they were kind of lambasting -- lambasting the -- the journalists for -- for criticizing Libya or for not reporting what they said was the truth, which, of course, would have been lies.
They've obviously turned it back into a conference room now.
But it feels good to be back, actually. I was a bit worried that, you know, it was going to have -- it was going to be a bit stressful, but it's not at all. I feel fine.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
CHANCE: All right, well, so quite a journey back for me there personally. But also, you know, a very interesting journey back for Anders Fogh Rasmussen -- not back. This is the first time he came here. But certainly, as far as NATO is concerned, it is mission accomplished. They've done what they -- they set out to do. And in about just under an hour from now, the -- the mission in the skies over Libya officially comes to an end -- Becky.
ANDERSON: That's right.
Matthew, thank you for that.
Matthew Chance for you out of Tripoli this evening.
Well, as NATO's mission does come to a close, I want to remind you how its involvement began, when and why, of course.
March 31st, NATO took control of all military operations for Libya under United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1970 and 1973. The official aim of the operation was to "protect civilians and civilian- populated areas under attack or threat of attack."
It had three key goals -- an arms embargo, a no-fly zone and actions to protect civilians. Well, that amounted to 26,323 missions, according to NATO, including over 9,500 air strikes, like the one you see here on a pro- Gadhafi military barracks near Bani Walid back in August. You may remember that.
Look at this. As for protecting and helping civilians, well, in terms of humanitarian assistance movements, at least, recorded by NATO, exactly zero ships and just two aircraft have delivered aid since March.
Well, Libya's new rulers aren't thrilled to see NATO leave, not yet, at least -- not least give the news that authorities have discovered some of Moammar Gadhafi's chemical weapons and need help in dealing with them.
Well, let's get more now on the security concerns.
We are, I'm happy to say tonight, joined by the Libyan ambassador to the United States, Ali Suleiman Aujali.
Sir, thank you for joining us.
There are many who believe the remaining supporters of Moammar Gadhafi's regime still pose a threat.
Do you share their concerns this evening?
ALI SULEIMAN AUJALI, NATIONAL TRANSITIONAL COUNCIL: Well, there are still, of course, many of them. But maybe I don't believe that they need to necessarily to stay after the capture of Gadhafi.
The main danger for me, since the beginning of this revolution, is Gadhafi himself. And when Gadhafi was captured by the revolutionaries, I think the danger is over.
But at the same time, I'm really pleased by the statement made there with NATO that they will be around and close wherever we need them again.
ANDERSON: All right, and I'd like to talk to you about what you think...
AUJALI: This is very important...
ANDERSON: -- that mission really should be going forward.
I just, though, want to get your -- a sense from you as to what the extent, at least, of the stash of chemical weapons is now in the country and what's being done to secure that, sir?
AUJALI: Well, the United Kingdom and the United States, they offered their help, their technical help to support the Libyans' offer to maintain these weapons in a secure place and to deal with the rest of them if there are any missiles or missiles around these cities or around the different places.
I think this effort is really important. We -- of course, we need to get rid of the arms in the streets...
ANDERSON: Right.
AUJALI: -- and especially the arms which is a danger, then we have to secure them.
ANDERSON: All right. That I understand. I just want to get back to these chemical weapons, because you're sort of slightly glossing over the idea that there might be some sort of weapons, missiles, somewhere around towns.
Where are these chemical weapons?
Do you know how many there are?
And how are you going to secure them?
AUJALI: Well, I think with the help with the United Kingdom, the United States, other countries, then I think we will find the way, how to secure them, of course. But they've been handling this issue before, when the Libya gave up the weapons of mass destruction last time.
I think this will not be the problem now. The issue is the confidence between Libya and the West and the NATO in particular...
ANDERSON: Sure.
AUJALI: -- it is there, then we -- we will ask them to help us to control these weapons.
ANDERSON: All right. OK.
What is the NATO mission, then, going forward?
The official mission is over.
What do you see as their involvement in the future?
AUJALI: Well, let me first say thank you very much for NATO, thank you very much for the leadership and for the currency of the action they've been involved.
Now, I think Libya is a very, very confident that we build the bridges between Libya and the NATO countries. I think the Libyans need the technical help and need the support. Libya has more than one -- more than 8,000 kilometers of borders. We need, of course, training. We need technology to safe our borders, to guarantee that there is no infiltration from -- especially from the south...
ANDERSON: All right.
AUJALI: -- we need to control the illegal immigrants, also, which is a big issue for the (INAUDIBLE), too.
ANDERSON: All right. Abdurrahim el-Keib was elected earlier today as Libya's interim prime minister. The eyes of the world will be on him in the next six months.
And who is he and what are his qualifications for job, sir?
(AUDIO GAP)
ANDERSON: Can you hear me still?
Evidently not.
We will...
AUJALI: Hello...
ANDERSON: -- endeavor to -- we will endeavor to answer that question at a later date.
Our top story this evening, NATO closing the book on its historic mission in Libya, not necessarily ending all its involvement there, though. On this show, you heard the Libyan ambassador to the USA. He has reassured that NATO will still be around to help if necessary.
Well, experts say NATO advisers could assist in securing stockpiles of weapons or even help build an army.
And the final note for you this evening.
The Pentagon says that the United States may continue monitoring the skies above Libya in what it calls an over watch role. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD here.
Thirteen minutes past nine in London.
Coming up, more bloodshed in Afghanistan. Details on the latest violence, as officials point the finger at the Pakistani-based Haqqani network.
Then reports that an Italian football star may be facing a health crisis.
And trouble -- the voices of a troubled generation -- young Europeans share their views on the debt crisis. A chance to tell your story, up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: I'm Becky Anderson in London for you.
You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD here on CNN.
Sixteen minutes past nine in London.
A look for you at some of the other stories that are making headlines today.
And UNESCO will soon pay the price for voting to grant full membership to the Palestinians. The United Nations agency promoting culture and science approved the highly controversial move earlier today in the first such vote by any U.N. organization. Well, Palestinians call it a victory, a step toward their ultimate goal of world recognition as a Palestinian state.
Israel's top ally, the United States, calls the vote counter- productive and is cutting off funding to
To UNESCO.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VICTORIA NULAND, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESWOMAN: Today's vote by the member states of UNESCO to admit Palestine as a member is regrettable, premature and undermines our shared goal of a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East. The United States remains steadfast in its support for the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state. But such a state can only be realized through direct negotiations between Israelis and the Palestinians.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, 10 people are dead after an explosion in Kandahar, Afghanistan, outside the offices of the International Relief and Development Agency. Well, that comes after the bloodiest weekend in a decade for NATO forces in Kabul. A suicide bomb on Saturday killed 18, including 13 ISAF members.
Let's get more on this.
Nick Paton Walsh is in Kabul -- Nick.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What we've learned today, an interesting development from the Afghan Interior Ministry. Their spokesman has told us that they believe that the Haqqani insurgent network was responsible for this blast. This is according to their, what they refer to as their preliminary evidence -- the vehicle, the contacts that the bomber was making during that particular time.
And this actually was absolutely key, because the Haqqanis have been accused by U.S. officials of having safe havens in Pakistan and Pakistani assistance and have also been blamed for a number of attacks inside Kabul over the past few months.
ISAF do not agree with this assessment and say it's probably the Taliban to blame.
But this increased scrutiny on the Haqqani network and its alleged support from Pakistan will be exceptionally important in the days ahead. A key Afghan-Pakistani meeting happening in Istanbul tomorrow as NATO tries to set the kind of narrative for the forthcoming months to transfer security to the Afghans and the partial withdrawal of American troops -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Nick Paton Walsh for you in Kabul this evening.
Thanks, Nick.
Well, the Arab League is demanding that the Syrian regime end all violence against its people. And it's calling on authorities to remove tanks from the streets and release political prisoners.
Arab officials also proposed talks between the Syrian government and the opposition.
The demands follow a weekend of violence, with at least seven people reported killed on Sunday.
Qantas planes are back in the air after a labor tribunal ordered the Australian airline to end its dispute with its unions. Around 100,000 passengers were affected when Qantas grounded all of its planes on Saturday. The two sides have been given three weeks to reach an agreement over job losses and overseas operations.
You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD here on CNN.
Coming up, a darling comeback from one of Spain's best golfers. You're going to find out how back-to-back victories have put Sergio Garcia near the top of the ranks once more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: All right, well, it's been reported that AC Milan football star, Antonio Cassano, had a stroke at the weekend. He became ill on his way home from Rome early on Sunday morning following the club's win on Saturday.
Now the 29 -year-old was admitted to hospital suffering problems with speech and movement. Italian news agency, Ansa, says that he had a stroke. The club says it can't comment on his diagnosis yet.
"WORLD SPORTS" Patrick Snell joins me from CNN Center.
What do we know of this?
PATRICK SNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we're still trying to piece this one together. It seems, as you detail there, Becky, the chain of events started after he played that game for his club, Milan, against Rome. And they -- they won the game at the Stadio Olimpico in the Eternal City.
And it was reportedly during the flight home, back to Milan, he was seen chatting, laughing, joking away with teammates, and then was just basically taken ill during the flight, reportedly, with -- with vision issues and basically just not feeling well, taken to hospital. He spent the last two nights, Becky, we understand, in hospital.
And then, within the last hour, these reports from Ansa referring to go the mini-stroke.
And that's really all we know. We've had nothing official from Milan right now. We have heard reports that their club are hopeful he's going to be back in action after the forthcoming international break. So that's a good sign in itself.
The team is on a Champions League this week in Belarus. And before the team left to play that game against BATE Borisov, one club official was quoted as saying that Cassano is said to be calm and recovering. So that's a really good sign...
ANDERSON: Sure.
SNELL: -- in terms of the recovery for Cassano -- Becky.
ANDERSON: And, of course, we wish him the best.
Thank you for that, Pat.
Sergio Garcia, meantime, making a comeback in golf over the past two weeks.
What has suddenly sparked him into life again?
SNELL: I think it's a realization, Becky, you know, he's no longer el nino, the -- the child. He's 31 years of age now. He'd fallen way down the world rankings. He's still not won a major. He did once tie for second at the British Open. That was...
ANDERSON: Are you happy?
SNELL: -- he finished outright at second place in 2007. But he's got his best years ahead of him, in theory, if he can make things starting to gel. And, you know, a three year title drought, then two wins in his homeland in the space of seven days. What a boost. It allows him to qualify for events this week in Shanghai, as well.
And he must just be wondering, Becky -- or wishing, I should say, that the season is about to start rather than about to end, because he's in that kind of form. If he was a ma -- if there we are a major up and coming a week or so from now, he would surely be one of the favorites. He's in red hot form right now.
But it certainly bodes well for Garcia with next season just around the corner.
ANDERSON: Sure.
SNELL: The Masters, of course, is in April.
So, again, great to see. He's a popular character. And I know there are certainly a lot of European golfers wishing him all the best, as well - - Becky.
ANDERSON: Yes, absolutely.
All right, thanks for that.
"WORLD SPORT" coming up in just about an hour's time. More from Patrick then here on CNN.
Thanks, Pat.
Well, there is plenty more to come on CONNECT THE WORLD before that.
This hour, calling it a day -- the retiring president of the European Central Bank speaks to my colleague, Richard Quest, about the creation of the euro.
Then, seven billion and counting -- what our new population marker means for you and your kids.
And it is a thriller night -- we're marking Halloween with a big interview with the man who inspired Michael Jackson's most famous music video clip.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: A very warm welcome back. Just before half past nine in London, this is CNN, the world's news leader, and CONNECT THE WORLD, here from London. I'm Becky Anderson. Let's get a check of the main headlines for you this hour.
The final minutes ticking down, NATO's mission in Libya. In about a half hour's time, NATO's military operations there will be officially over. The alliance today declared the mission a great success, saying it saved countless lives.
Washington is pulling funding for UNESCO after the UN's cultural and science agency voted to accept the Palestinians as a full member. Palestinians call it a victory for their rights. The US, though, and Israel say the move hurts the peace process.
Ten people have been killed in a suicide bomb attack outside a UN compound in Afghanistan. Local government authorities say a full truck of explosives blew up near the compound in the city of Kandahar.
A video purportedly from the Anonymous hacker cartel is taking on Mexico's Zetas drug cartel. The video threatens to expose people with links to Zetas. CNN can't confirm the video's authenticity, and a contact within Anonymous was not able to verify it. An analyst, though, says it does appear authentic.
Greek citizens will be asked to vote on whether the country should adopt a new EU aid deal. Prime minister George Papandreou has announced a referendum on the package, which was agreed at a meeting of European leaders last week.
Those are your headlines this hour.
And that funky tune is the music for what will be a week's worth of coverage. Global leaders, of course, this week at the G20 summit already under tremendous pressure to boost world growth. Just days before the meeting gets underway in Cannes, a slew of dire economic news adding to the strain.
The world heading towards a new and deeper jobs recession. That's the big headline from the International Labor Organization, that group warning of further social unrest in dozens of countries around the world unless economic prosperity can be restarted.
Well, that's similar to what the OECD is saying. The leading economic forecaster says global leaders need to rebuild confidence and stability or face a recession that could be as deep as that during the financial crisis.
Adding weight to that prediction, the unemployment line in the euro zone is getting longer. In September, there were 16.2 million people out of work. That is the highest for the euro zone since records began.
Well, the global growth crisis comes at a critical juncture for the European Central Bank. Frenchman Jean-Claude Trichet is retiring after eight years as the ECB's head, president. During that time, Europe has maintained a low inflation rate, and one of Trichet's priorities, in fact, when he began.
But it's also been forced into buying up tens of billions of dollars in sovereign debt trying to cope with the European debt crisis few had anticipated.
Well, the man on the right, of course, is Richard Quest. He asked Trichet whether he realized from the outset that there were flaws in the euro's creation. This is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEAN-CLAUDE TRICHET, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK: Certainly not. Because we were ourselves extremely determined to have a solid framework as regards fiscal policy. And the working assumption was that we have a stability and growth pact.
I have to say, I introduce myself as a representative of my own government. The idea that the three percent limit, not to be over passed, was entirely part of EMU, Economic and Monetary Union.
I said myself -- I'm on record to have said a hundred times, "We have no political federation. We have no federal budget. Therefore, we need very strong fiscal framework, surveillance framework."
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: But at what point in the last ten years did you realize this was going badly wrong?
TRICHET: I would say it was at the moment where in an environment of overwhelmingly dominant, benign neglect on fiscal policies --
QUEST: Overspending by governments, basically.
TRICHET: No. Benign neglect by all. I mean, the market we are making no difference between good behavior and bad behavior. Greece and Germany we are borrowing at the same interest rates.
You had exactly the same benign neglect coming from the economists. The economists, the mainstream of the economists in year 03, 04, were considering that the stability and growth pact was too much -- to tight a jacket. Too tight a jacket.
And we had the major countries in Europe calling for not applying the stability and growth pact to them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: The outgoing president of the European Central Bank speaking to my colleague, Richard Quest.
So, who's the new president? Well, he's Mario Draghi, 64 years old, born and educated in Rome, known by his nickname "Super Mario" in international financial circles, at least.
He's a former economics professor who's taught at Harvard during his time. He's held a string of top finance jobs, as well, including at Goldman Sachs and at the World Bank.
Draghi was named governor of the Bank of Italy in 2005, known for his track record of monetary prudence and commitment to price stability.
Well, we could do with somebody like that in Europe at the moment as Europe's leaders continue their battle to save the region from debt.
A new generation of young people are growing increasingly frustrated, anxious, and angry. Average youth unemployment in the euro zone stands at -- get this -- and astounding 20 percent. In Spain, four out of ten are out of work -- youngsters, that is.
With that in mind, CNN is kicking off a series on Europe's youngsters. We are not telling the stories, you are. Forget global leaders for a moment, this is all about what you think, whether you're in work, unemployed, angry, anxious, however you feel.
If you're in Europe, upload your video to CNN iReport and tell us your story. Head to cnn.com/ireport. You can find out how you sort yourselves out from that page.
We also want you to meet my next guest. CNN's Diana Magnay is traveling through Europe's crisis zone. She joins me, now, live from Berlin, where she is kicking off her trip.
And this is no ordinary trip, of course, Di, is it?
DIANA MAGNAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is no ordinary trip, Becky. It's a social media road trip through Europe to find out, as you say, what the young people feel about the crisis, about sovereign debt, about their future, their job prospects.
Whether they can get a job, whether their governments are betraying them, whether the financial system has betrayed them, and what kind of alternatives they feel there are.
So, we're starting off in Berlin, we're traveling to Munich tomorrow. We'll be going to Milan, Marseilles, and Barcelona ahead of the G20 meeting in Cannes.
We want to hear from you. We want to hear from you young people online or on the road. Join us on the road in those four different cities or send us your tweets, your iReports. Go to Facebook, CONNECT THE WORLD, and "Quest Means Business" and tell us what you think. Tell us how you feel.
Be candid. Tell us how you want the future of Europe to look like. Do you want to be part of the euro zone? Do you believe the euro has a future? Do you believe in your politicians? These are questions that we want answered as we travel through Europe this week, Becky.
ANDERSON: And Diana doesn't want anybody sitting on the fence. Di, thank you for that. We really, really want to know how you feel. And I'm not sure what a youngster is this day, but any of you out there, under the age of 30 or possibly above, if you still think you're a youngster, let us know.
If you want to join Diana in Munich on Tuesday, all you've got to do is visit CONNECT THE WORLD's Facebook page. Head to facebook.com/CNNconnect for all the details.
Remember, this is all about you. If you've got something to say, a story to tell, we really want to meet you this week. Be part of CNN's coverage as global leaders gear up for the G20 summit in Cannes.
And be sure to tune into CONNECT THE WORLD on Thursday, Friday, when I'm going to be there with the show, live, from Cannes, bringing you all the headlines, top interviews, and expert analysis as world leaders gather at a crucial time for the global economy.
But don't just listen to the politicians or, indeed, me this week. We want to hear from you. So get involved in Diana's project.
Up next, our planet is getting more crowded by the second.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What do you think about bringing a child into this world with 7 billion people? When is enough enough?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn't even ever give it a second thought.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: On the day the 7 billionth baby is born, what that number means for our future. That coming up, stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well, if you rode public transport today or got stuck in a traffic jam or made your way down a crowded street, what we are about to report to you may not surprise you. According to the United Nations, the population of our planet has now officially crossed a new threshold. There are 7 billion of us living here.
The UN chose this little girl as the symbolic 7 billionth person. Her name is Danica Camacho. She was born just before midnight on Sunday in the Philippines.
Well, as you might expect, birthrates vary wildly from one country to the next. The Japanese government, for example, is trying to get its citizens to have more kids, while China, famously, limits parents to just one.
Today, CNN's correspondents fanned out across the globe to assess the impact of 7 billion on their parts of the world, and this is what we found.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TEXT: Soweto, South Africa
NKEPILE MABUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're standing right now outside the largest hospital in the southern hemisphere, Chris Hani- Baragwananth here in Soweto, where 70 babies are born every single day, and the maternity unit here sees about 100 pregnant women.
But the future prospects of these babies that are being born in South Africa currently not looking very good.
TEXT: London, England
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're just outside of the hospital where every year about 4,000 babies are born at this hospital. And in fact, it's been a record year for population growth here in the UK.
There hasn't been as much growth in the last year as there has since the 60s. However, only about half that growth is coming from births. The other half is coming from immigration.
TEXT: Beijing, China
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I think China's been making every effort to keep the population under control. As for other countries, it's their own business what kind of policy they adopt. But I believe all countries should be paying attention to the problem.
TEXT: New Delhi, India
SUMNIMA UDAS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right now, I'm in New Delhi in a very posh hospital in New Delhi, but just 30 minutes away is Old Delhi, which is, according to the census bureau in India one of the most dense -- densely populated areas in India.
About 29,000 people live there per square kilometer. That's the size of New York City, roughly, but at least in New York City, you have highrise buildings. But here, the maximum height would be maybe five stories.
TEXT: New York, New York
ROTH: What do you think about bringing a child into this world with 7 billion people? When is enough enough?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn't even ever give it a second thought. Yes. It means nothing to me.
ROTH: The child or the 7 billionth thing? What?
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The child means everything.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you told people in the 1800s to stop having babies, where would we be now? So, I think, keep doing it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: All right. Well, those New Yorkers can rest assured that population growth is continuing. Almost all of it is these days in developing countries.
You can see on this map, for example, the yellow areas have some of the highest birthrates, and you'll see much of Africa included there. For example, the average woman in Niger -- has seven children.
Industrialized countries, well, they tend to have lower birthrates, here seen in red. Bosnia has the lowest at 1.1 babies for every woman. The rest of the world falls, well, somewhere in the middle. So, as we pass that 7 billion mark, what are the implications for the rest of us already here? Well, my next two guests have different views on the matter.
Joseph Chamie is the research director for the Center for Migration Studies. He's optimistic about our booming population, joins us live, tonight, from Portland, Oregon. Sir, thank you for that.
And Alan Weisman is the author of "The World Without Us." He says our planet can't handle it because we're not doing a good job of sustaining the people who are already here. Alan joins us on Skype from Cummington in Massachusetts.
So, gentlemen, let's kick off with you, Alan. Thomas Malthus predicted 200 years ago that population growth would lead to the demise of the human species. At the rate at which we grow, food cannot keep up with birthrates, he said.
That clearly hasn't happened. Our population's still growing, isn't it? Why was he so wrong?
ALAN WEISMAN, AUTHOR, "THE WORLD WITHOUT US": Well, I think he was wrong in his timing. He didn't predict the fact that we would come up with a technological rabbit that we pulled out of a hat.
We learned to force-feed the planet with artificial nitrogen, which wasn't being used in Malthus's time. And we basically created more plant life than had ever existed on Earth before, and that's been able to feed more people.
But we're running out of space to keep doing that.
ANDERSON: We're running out of space, Joe. Do you agree?
JOSEPH CHAMIE, RESEARCH DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR MIGRATION STUDIES: No, I don't. I think the issue is, we're at 7 billion and continuing to -- mention gloom and doom and the world's coming to an end is not a very productive way to proceed.
We have 7 billion, this is double the number we had in 1967. We're moving in the right direction. Birthrates are coming down everywhere, and we're living longer than ever before, so we have to be balanced in our perspective.
Our birthrates are much lower than they were. In 1900, average number per woman around the world was six. It went down to five in 1950, and now it's down to 2.5.
There are 60 countries below two children per woman. We're moving in the right direction, and we have to be careful not to become overly pessimistic and overly gloomy, but look at things realistically and try to deal with these issues as best we can.
ANDERSON: Come on, Alan. You're listening to Joseph, here. We're going in the right direction, surely, aren't we?
WEISMAN: I think Mr. Chamie's absolutely right. We are going in the right direction. The question is, are we doing it quickly enough? We may be slowing, but we're still growing. And frankly, at 7 billion right now, we're starting to see the planet bursting its seams.
The weather is uncontrollable wherever you go. Everybody's complaining about it. I'm sitting in Massachusetts, two days ago, we had 27 inches of snow here. That didn't used to happen.
But everywhere you go, including some of the countries --
ANDERSON: All right.
WEISMAN: -- that you just went for CNN, everyone is complaining that they're either getting too much rain when they don't want it or not enough when they do.
ANDERSON: Joseph, we've got to find innovative ways, haven't we, of surviving and -- do we often enough see the sort of technological advances or other solutions that will help to accommodate everybody? Because it's an awfully big number, 7 billion, isn't it, at the end of the day?
CHAMIE: It's a very big number, of course. It's the largest number we've had. But we have had enormous improvements. As I said, life expectancy is double what it was in 1900. People are living longer. Infant and child maternal deaths are down. And also, the birthrate's coming down.
We've always had problems. With technology assisting us, we'll have problems in the future. Whether it snows or it rains or there's a drought, there'll always be issues we have to deal with.
But our growth rate for the planet now is half the level it was in the 1960s. Our rate is coming down, and we don't need to have draconian measures to affect these changes as long as we can keep developing, using technology --
ANDERSON: Sure.
CHAMIE: -- educating people, providing with them. We'll have some progress.
ANDERSON: Now, I was going to as you that, Alan. Are you suggesting any sort of measures, be them draconian or not, to prevent the ever- expanding -- or the exponential growth rate, if indeed that's what we are seeing? Although I'm not sure that we are at this point.
WEISMAN: Let me be very clear, Becky. I am not proposing any draconian measures. It may have limited growth in China, but we're -- the rest of us aren't Chinese. We might not accept that so easily.
However, there are -- there are countries all over the world that have also been able to control their numbers without -- without enforcing that control, but making it very attractive to people and making it very -- and helping people to make decisions for themselves as to how many kids they want.
That's one of the reasons why the birthrate is coming down. And --
ANDERSON: Joseph, Alan, I'm going to have to take a break on this, but we do thank you for coming in, and I know that you'll however -- or wherever you stand on this issue, be a pessimist or an optimist, will certainly wish those who had their babies last night, and certainly the 7 billionth baby all the best, I'm sure, for the future.
Thank you very much, indeed, for joining us, Joseph and Alan, this evening.
Well, even with 7 billion people, there is still plenty of room on the planet. The entire global population could fit into the Paris metropolitan area. And that's a good thing, because during the segment you just watched, 2400 babies were born. Get that.
You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD here on CNN. Still to come, our frightening Big Interview this evening.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN LANDIS, FILMMAKER: You name the monster, name the metaphor. Because that's what they are. They represent things we're concerned about. And so, the really prevalent monster now is the zombie.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Find out what this ghoulish obsession is all about. That is just two minutes away, 120 seconds, stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Werewolves, zombies, gigantic man-eaters. These are the kinds of monsters that have been terrifying us at the movies for decades.
Well, in tonight's Big Interview this Halloween, we are bringing you a man who has filmed many of the scariest moments and has now captured the worst of them in a new book. Nima Elbagir sat down with filmmaker John Landis to find out why we just can't get enough of these cinematic nightmares.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(MAN SCREAMS)
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The cult classic that terrified audiences in 1981 and inspired one of the most famous video clips of all time.
The mastermind of "Thriller" and "American Werewolf in London" is the same man who brought us "The Blues Brothers" --
(MUSIC - "EVERYBODY NEEDS SOMEBODY TO LOVE" BY THE BLUES BROTHERS)
ELBAGIR: John Landis. The comedy director with a passion for monsters.
LANDIS: The great fantasy horror film was something like "The Exorcist."
MAX VON SYDOW AS FATHER MERRIN, "THE EXORCIST": Damien! The response, please, Damien!
LANDIS: That is really terrifying. That creates what's called suspension of disbelief, which is -- I mean, I saw it, I'm an atheist, and I certainly don't believe in the devil, but while I watched that movie, Yikes! I think the pope should give Bill Friedkin a medal. That was an extraordinary film.
VON SYDOW AS MERRIN: Lord, hear my prayer.
ELBAGIN: Whether it's psychological thrillers like "The Exorcist," slasher franchises such as "Halloween" --
JAMIE LEE CURTIS AS LAURIE STRODE, "HALLOWEEN": Get in there, come on, Tommy! Now, lock the door!
ELBAGIN: Or "Jaws," the horror/fantasy genres enjoy a huge cult following.
(KIDS SCREAMING)
LANDIS: What I've discovered is what people are most afraid of? The unknown. We're terrified as a species. We can't deal with what we don't know.
So, for instance, people are not afraid of the dark. What they're afraid of is what they can't see in the dark. So, if we don't know, you know what we do? We make it up.
That's where religion comes from. Nobody really knows what happens when you're dead, so what happens when you're dead? Well, we invent religion, and we'll invent heaven and hell. And if that's not good enough, then we'll have zombies and then we'll have ghosts and, well, whatever. But we make it up.
ELBAGIN: It's a theory that Landis explores in his new book, "Monsters in the Movies."
LANDIS: Name the monster, name the metaphor. Because that's what they are. They represent things we're concerned about. And so, the really prevalent monster now is the zombie. And so, zombies really clearly represent anarchy and the collapse of social order.
What just happened here in London with the riots and stuff? Zombies are a very good metaphor.
ELBAGIN: He points to how the hit American TV series "The Walking Dead" has transfixed audiences around the world.
ELBAGIN (on camera): Do you feel that each era, the monster of each era, is representative of the subconscious fear?
LANDIS: It's not all -- it's not so subconscious. I mean, we had a huge vampire renaissance when AIDS happened. That's death transferred by blood.
ELBAGIN: You make fantasy films sound like a complete world philosophy.
LANDIS: But they are. They absolutely are. They represent -- whatever they represent -- look at Dracula. I mean, who's Dracula? You have a European aristocracy -- aristocrat sucking the blood of the peasants. I mean, that's a pretty obvious analogy. Every monster is a metaphor.
And then you have -- the other kind of monsters, really -- there's a whole chapter in here on natural monsters, things like sharks, snakes, bees. So, we're afraid of rats, so we make movies about giant rats. We make movies about rats that eat you, we make --
I mean, everything we fear, this is how we deal with it.
ELBAGIN: Tell me about "Thriller."
LANDIS: It was like working with a gifted ten-year-old. He would -- Michael was -- he was wonderful, and I liked him very, very much. But he was a tragic figure. He was -- at that time, he was just full of joy and very professional. But he got wackier and crazier as time went on.
When I -- by the time I made "Black or White" with him, he was pretty out there. Still, I liked him very much, but he was on another planet. Michael lived on another planet.
You know, when people generate that much money, everyone around them, it's like the goose who laid the golden egg.
And it's very difficult for people to remain sane under those circumstances, because they're indulged. They're told whatever they want to be told, they never get in trouble. If you're late, everyone doesn't say anything. You're worth too much.
ELBAGIN: What scares you?
LANDIS: People.
ELBAGIN: Really?
LANDIS: Yes, I'm never scared by monsters or vampires or werewolves. They don't exist. People are capable of terrible things, and they scare me to death. We have movies like "Psycho," Norman Bates or Hannibal Lecter. Movies about psychopaths, and they're real, and they exist.
(MAN SCREAMING)
LANDIS: Monsters come from inside us. That's why Satan or the devil or the concept of demons, I think it's funny, but at the same time, it's the best excuse ever. "It's not me! The devil made me do it!" It's like, "Not me, I get -- "
You know, I think it's incredibly clever, because it's a good way of going like this.
ELBAGIR: It's an abdication.
LANDIS: Exactly. And we tend to make our enemies monsters. Of the other political party, the other tribe, the other race. They're the demonic ones, they're the evil ones. And it's just -- it's about fear. And ultimately, what is the most frightening thing? Ignorance.
So, the way we deal with ignorance is we make up stuff. This person's inferior because of this reason. Or -- we make up stuff. It's very human of us.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Yes. There are much more frightening things than ignorance, like the werewolves and all of those things that John's filmed in the past.
Anyway, in the spirit of Halloween, I'm going to leave you with some Parting Shots this evening, and it's a roundup of the sweet, the spooky, and the downright strange from across the globe. I'm Becky Anderson, thanks for watching. The world news headlines and "BackStory" will follow this short break here on CNN.
END
