Return to Transcripts main page
Connect the World
New York Police Evict Protesters; Solidarity in London and Spain; Interview with Jeffrey Sachs; Jerry Sandusky Says He's innocent; World Reaction to Penn State Sex Scandal; Freedom Project: Update on Abused Gadhafi Domestic Worker; Gateway: Keeping Swiss Train Passengers Fed and Groomed; Ruling on Occupy Wall Street Protesters in Zuccotti Park; Eye on Azerbaijan: Caviar Fishermen Turn to Farming to Keep Delicacy Alive
Aired November 15, 2011 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MONITA RAJPAL, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Ordered out but standing by to return -- New York police evict protesters from the city's main Occupy park. On CONNECT THE WORLD, how the action unfolded live on social media.
Hello. It is 4:00 p.m. in New York. It's 9:00 p.m. here in London.
I'm Monita Rajpal.
Also tonight --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSEPH AMENDOLA, SANDUSKY LAWYER: Anybody who gets in a shower with a kid who's an adult has to -- has to be guilty of something. But bottom line is jocks do that. I mean they kid around. They horse around.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJPAL: Defending the actions of a former American football coach embroiled in a sexual abuse scandal. Jerry Sandusky's lawyer speaks to CNN.
And a happy ending for a shocking story. We get an update on the nanny who says she was abused at the hands of the Gadhafi family.
Wall Street unoccupied -- but perhaps not for long. Protesters may soon be allowed back into the New York park that served as the birthplace of a global movement after it was cleared out by police and sanitation workers overnight.
This was the scene at about 1:00 a.m., as officers in full riot gear cleared out hundreds of demonstrators, sleeping bags, tent and there are reports. Many of them resisted and more than 100 were arrested.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go. Move down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJPAL: At a news conference this morning, the mayor of New York said the clear out was only temporary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP COURTESY NYC TV)
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK MAYOR: We have been obligation to enforce the laws today, to make sure that everybody has access to the park so everybody can protest. That's the First Amendment and it's number one on our minds.
We also have a similar and just as important obligation to protect the health and safety of the people in the park.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJPAL: Well, protesters are hoping to be let back into the park soon. And we are awaiting a ruling from a judge. That could come any time now. But for now, it looks very different than it has for the past two months.
Take a look at the scene yesterday. And here, it is this morning, after being cleared out, swept up and hosed down. for a protest movement born through social media, it is fitting that the events in New York overnight played out mostly on Twitter and YouTube before conventional media showed up.
Here's a look at how it all unfolded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAJPAL (voice-over): Social media sites captured the moment New York police began their evacuation of Zuccotti Park.
(VIDEO CLIP)
RAJPAL: Nine minutes after one of the first Tweets, the New York mayor's office Tweeted --
(ON SCREEN)
Occupants of Zuccotti should temporarily leave and remove tents and tarps. Protesters can return after the park is cleared.
RAJPAL: Many of the protesters began Tweeting and uploading video to YouTube much earlier than some news organizations were able to get to the scene.
(ON SCREEN)
Occupy protesters can't get belongings, police raiding, ordered tents removed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You guys need to back off.
(VIDEO CLIP)
RAJPAL: As New York police began removing tents and making arrests, some Tweeted that protesters were being pushed and tear gas was being used in the process. They uploaded videos of smoke filling the air.
CNN cannot confirm their accounts, as police kept journalists a block- and-a-half away from the park during their raid.
(VIDEO CLIP)
Other videos from YouTube appear to show police arresting some protesters.
(VIDEO CLIP)
RAJPAL: As news spread around the world of the nighttime evacuation, the Occupy Wall Street hash tag quickly became the most popular topic on Twitter, with users sharing their views.
(ON SCREEN)
New York City authorities clearly feel Occupy Wall Street eviction is just an reasonable. That's why they are doing it at 1:00 a.m. and barring all press.
RAJPAL: In Egypt, some even drew comparisons to the Arab uprising.
(ON SCREEN)
Too many sad similarities with Egypt and Tahrir Square in the storming of Occupy Wall Street at Z. Park New York in the night.
RAJPAL: Others weren't so supportive.
(ON SCREEN)
I don't think i am completely stupid, but I don't understand what the end goal is of Occupy Wall Street. What exactly are the demands?
(END VIDEO TAPE)
RAJPAL: Well, we want to show you some live pictures now of Zuccotti Park. And, of course, it's the site that has gained a lot of international attention. You're still seeing there, it's not as many people as what it would have -- has seen in the past, but, of course, people are waiting off the perimeter of the park before they're allowed to go back in. People are just not re--- they are refusing to leave the area right now. And they are waiting to hear from a judge who could decide whether or not they could go back and camp out there again. many are saying this is just the start of a movement that will continue for weeks and months to come.
Now, wherever you are in the world, you can share your thoughts about Occupy Wall Street. Head to CNN's brand new iReport page. We've set up an open story for iReports and they've already come pouring in from Iceland to Tokyo and beyond. Check them out and submit your own at iReport. CNN.com and we'll be using some of them on air in the coming days.
Now, the Occupy Wall Street movement may have started in New York, but it has spread across the world. In just a moment, we'll get the view from Spain.
But first, Phil Black in London, where dozens have been camped out in front of the famed St. Paul's Cathedral for weeks and are standing in solidarity with the protesters overseas.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): While police were dismantling the Occupy Wall Street protests, this spin-off protest group in London was sleeping. They first heard the news when they woke up via social media. And the word spread rapidly through the camp.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hopefully, what's happening they are discussing the behavior that's happening toward them and won't tell them, won't make them give up and if not anything, like it will make them stronger and find somewhere else to occupy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shocked, really, because of the way they are being arrested is very -- it's very -- it's very brutal. It's very forceful. I mean it's in the middle of the night.
BLACK: The protesters here said the New York City camp was the flagship of the global Occupy movement, the inspiration for this camp and others around the world. And some are worried that its closure will have a negative impact on the movement as a whole.
For the moment, the people here say they plan to stay.
Phil Black, CNN, London.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
AL GOODMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Al Goodman in Madrid at the abandoned Hotel Madrid, which has been occupied for the past month by economic and political protesters here. They have been following the events in New York this day, as police remove protesters from the Occupy Wall Street movement from a park there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We send them all the support we can. We continue the fight here and say to them, keep up your spirits. Don't stop.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It is very bad. People are on the streets and the police were wrong to do that.
GOODMAN: This is the central Puerto del Sol Plaza, where Spain's economic protests began last May, six months ago. There was a protest encampment here for weeks, but the Socialist government so badly damaged by the economic crisis in Spain, did not send in the police to remove the protesters.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
RAJPAL: We want to take you now to Zuccotti Park.
And CNN's Maggie Lake joins us there live now -- Maggie, what are you seeing in terms of the numbers that -- of people?
We, of course, waiting for a judge to rule whether or not they can camp back out there again.
But in terms of the perimeter, are there still throngs of people?
MAGGIE LAKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Monita, certainly the numbers of people have been growing throughout the day. Quite a mild day here, although we're starting to get a little bit of rain.
But usually, we've seen people are on the edge of their seats, in this case, they're on the edge of the barricades that have closed off Zuccotti Park since the New York City political cleared it out.
I don't know if you can see behind me, but the protesters are now in a sort of thick ring around the perimeter of the park. The police, in riot gear, are inside, as well as private security. We are waiting for that court decision any moment to determine whether the court says that those protesters should be allowed back in.
Of course, a ruling similar to that came this morning and the police did not take down the barricades, as they appealed. So a little unclear how this is all going to play out.
Throughout the day, there has been, you know, a fair bit of tension between these police inside and the protesters on the outside. A couple of scuffles breaking out. Some people were thrown over the barricades and knocked down. It has been very calm throughout the afternoon, though, as we wait for the ruling.
We have a producer inside and we will, of course, bring that you news as soon as we get it.
RAJPAL: How much support, Maggie, do these protesters or these people who are actually waiting to go back -- and they are -- they have this -- their message that they want to keep that -- that's right there on the front page of the newspapers. And, of course, the top story on television, as well.
How much support do they have?
LAKE: You know, Monita, when I was speaking to one of the sort of early organizers, someone who's been here from day one, he said in some ways this is the best and worst day. It's horrible that this happened to us, we're in shock, we can't believe that the city and the police have done this. But on the other hand, this is the best day for us. It sort of, you know, rejuvenated the movement, got us back on the front page, brought us together in a way where some of the individual, if you will, squabbles over policy were starting to set hold, you know, united us again.
They feel like this is the abuse of power they've been talking about all along, evidence that the message of sort of economic inequality, of the fact that 1 percent rule things for their benefit and the 99 percent are left out, they feel like that's gotten -- this plays to that for them. And according to them, they've gotten a lot of support on social media, on Facebook, on Twitter in support of the message.
I also talked to another one of the organizers who's in Oregon -- Occupy Rio today, saying the message there is one of solidarity, as well.
RAJPAL: All right, Maggie, thank you for that.
Maggie Lake there at Zuccotti Park in New York.
Well, Jeffrey Sachs is an economist and professor at Columbia University in New York.
And he believes the Occupy Wall Street movement signals a new era in American history.
And he's been down to Zuccotti Park today.
He joins us now on the line.
Sir, thank you very much for being with us.
You have been described as a respected economist. Many of those around the world do listen to what you have to say.
What is it about this movement that you believe holds weight that demands change?
JEFFREY SACHS, ECONOMIST: For 30 years, America and many other countries, but especially America, has been becoming more and more unequal. The top 1 percent really has amassed a phenomenal share of the income, now more than 20 percent of the income accruing to just 1 percent of the households, a tremendous share of the wealth and also a tremendous share of the political power. but when Wall Street, which is part of this 1 percent, gambled recklessly, then broke the law, then turned to the taxpayers for bailouts, then used the bailouts to continue to pay themselves billions of dollars in compensation bonuses, the public said wait a minute, now we've really gone too far.
American society has become the remarkably unequal and -- and unjust, because there's a kind of impunity that is part of this equation now, where the powerful feel that they can get away with these bailouts, get away with the -- the -- the lack of regulation, bailout -- get away with the -- the lack of paying taxes, in fact.
And this is what this movement is beginning to address. These are early days. But I do compare it to the Progressive Era in American history, a little more than a century ago, when we also had a Guilded Age of the so-called robber barons. And it took 20 years to bring those robber barons and to bring the Guilded Age back under democratic control. Great leaders like Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson played a huge role in that.
And we're going to need similar era now, a new Progressive movement, to bring the democracy back to the 99 percent.
RAJPAL: But the thing is, as we look at these live pictures there of Zuccotti Park there, what we have seen there is that this is capitalism defined in its utmost in the sense that capitalism is defined as -- with -- between those that have and those that have not. Otherwise, we go into this whole situation of communism, where it's equal for everybody else -- or that's the theory behind communism at the end of the day.
So who do you blame?
Do you blame those who are the -- the high net worth earners, those people that earn a lot of money and who, perhaps, get a lot of tax breaks, or those who are in public policy, government policy, those who are making the rules as we go?
SACHS: Well, first of all, capitalism isn't any more and doesn't have to be this kind of raw struggle of -- of the rich and the poor, like you described. We've learned, over the course of a century, through social market economy, through the social democracies, that it's possible to have a market economy and to have decency. It's possible to have a market economy and not to have large poverty. It's possible to have a market economy and to respect the law and to defend and protect the environment.
Countries like the Netherlands or Sweden or Norway or Denmark or Germany do that. We don't need the raw --
RAJPAL: Yes, but, sir --
SACHS: -- form of --
RAJPAL: -- those countries also have --
SACHS: -- (INAUDIBLE)
RAJPAL: -- very high --
SACHS: And then that's --
RAJPAL: -- tax rates. They also have very high tax rates. And if any -- if any political party in the United States was to in -- introduce or even suggest higher tax rates for incomes, that -- they would probably not get voted in, would they not?
SACHS: Well, but this is the whole point, you know. The American people want to raise taxes on the rich. But the -- the politicians in America don't do it, not because the public is against it, but because the rich pay for their campaigns. That's the corruption of American democracy. That's not intrinsic to capitalism. That's a particular feature of a corrupted political system.
And so what many of us are saying is we need a politics that isn't in the hands of the super rich and isn't in the hands of the corporate lobbyists. That's not too much to dream of. Many, many countries around the world behave more decently, don't have the poverty that America has -- has the -- the top 1 percent paying more.
This isn't utopianism. This isn't communism. This is just normal democracy, which has gone awry in the United States because the rich and the powerful have gained too much power in the United States.
It's just not the way it is in Denmark or -- or the Netherlands or -- or Germany or Sweden. And when a bit of that, a bit of that social responsibility, a bit of that accountability. And once you see the rich not -- and especially the Wall Street leadership -- not only having phenomenal wealth, but breaking the law, committing financial fraud so that Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Citigroup end up paying hundreds of millions of dollars of fines for financial fraud, you know we've gone way too far.
It's time to regain democracy. That's what this is about. It's not an attack on the market economy. It's a call for decency and democracy once again.
RAJPAL: All right, Jeffrey Sachs, thank you so much for your time, sir.
And again, we are continuing to show those live pictures there of Zuccotti Park as the people await any word now from a judge in New York to see if they can actually go back in there and continue their protests and their movement against Wall Street.
Well, coming up next, the Arizona congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords -- well, she find her voice again in her first interview since she was shot in the head last winter. We take a look at her difficult but remarkable recovery.
Speaking out for the first time since being charged with sexual abuse, Jerry Sandusky admits he, quote, "horsed around" with boys but says he's innocent of wrongdoing.
And a former nanny for the Gadhafi family is now reclaiming her life, as she recovers from horrific abuse. An update on Shweyga Mullah ahead on CONNECT THE WORLD.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
RAJPAL: Hello. I'm Monita Rajpal in London.
You are watching CONNECT THE WORLD.
Now, let's also take a look at some of the other stories making headlines this hour.
Syria is sinking deeper into political isolation as the death toll soars from its crackdown on popular dissent. Opposition activists say 10 people were killed across Syria today, including two children. And that's after more than 80 people were reportedly killed in clashes yesterday, making it one of the deadliest day since the uprising began.
Turkey is adding to growing international pressure on the regime of Bashar al-Assad, threatening to cut off power supplies to Syria if it refuses to change course.
The man tasked with leading Italy out of its economic misery says he is close to forming a new administration. After meeting with political party leaders and U.S., Mario Monti will now go to the president on Wednesday. He is putting together a government of technocrats, but it must still have parliament's support to push through tougher austerity measures.
Meanwhile, the bond markets are watching Monti closely. The yields on the Italian 10-year bond rose above 7 percent again today. And that's the threshold above which economists consider an economy in crisis.
Gabby--- a story of courage and hope -- the U.S. congresswoman who defied the odds is now releasing a memoir about her life and her struggle back from a terrible injury. The Arizona politician has made what doctors call a miraculous recovery since being shot in the head during a shooting rampage in January.
In her first television interview, she tells the American network, ABC's denies, about her determination to get better.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "20/20," COURTESY ABC)
DIANE SAWYER, ANCHOR, ABC "WORLD NEWS TONIGHT": And when Mark told you that happened?
GABRIELLE GIFFORDS, U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRAT: I cried. Died.
MARK KELLY: It's sad.
GIFFORDS: Sad. Oh, it's sad. A lot of people died.
SAWYER: It hurts you hard?
GIFFORDS: Yes. Yes, yes, yes.
SAWYER: Do you ever get angry at what happened to you?
GIFFORDS: No. No. No.
SAWYER: No?
GIFFORDS: No. Life. Life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJPAL: You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD.
When we come back, the U.S. football coach accused of molesting boys says some of the details set out in court papers are true, but it's only -- that's only part of the story.
And from baking bread to smoking salmon, we go inside the kitchen keeping Zurich's commuters on the move.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
RAJPAL: A U.S. football coach at the center of a child sex scandal says he's innocent. Jerry Sandusky was charged earlier this month with 40 counts of sexual abuse before being put on $100,000 bail. The former assistant coach at Penn State University told NBC he's been falsely accused of the crimes and he's not a pedophile, but admitted some details in the graphic grand jury report are correct.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JERRY SANDUSKY, FORMER COACH, PENN STATE UNIVERSITY: I could say that, you know, I have done some of those things. I have horsed around with kids. I have showered after workouts. I -- I have hugged them and I -- I have touched their leg, without intent of sexual contact. But -- so if -- if you look at it that way, there are things that -- that wouldn't -- you know, would be accurate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJPAL: Jerry Sandusky says he's facing a huge challenge but will now leave it to his attorney to fight for his innocence.
Well, CNN's Jason Carroll spoke with the attorney about the case.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I spoke to Jerry Sandusky's attorney for more than an hour. He tells me that, yes, his client admits to showering with young boys and yes, he has now come to regret that. But he also says that does not mean Jerry Sandusky sexually assaulted anyone.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: So what do you think really happened then?
What do you think McQueary saw in 2000?
AMENDOLA: I think McQueary saw Jerry in the shower with a kid. And I think like a lot of people, you assume the worst. And he probably was -- was caught off guard when he saw it. He probably didn't stay there very long and he left.
And I think -- and I think the proof that he didn't see anything lies in the fact that what he did afterward and the fact, you know, he was on the football staff. He interfaced with Jerry Sandusky several times a week. He had --
CARROLL: And when you say what he did after, he went to his father --
AMENDOLA: That's right.
CARROLL: -- and told him what he had seen.
AMENDOLA: And -- and now we have another person involved and I know his dad. His dad coached my -- my son in Little League. His dad is a tough cookie. Imagine going to your father as a grownup, at your age, and saying, dad, I just saw Jerry Sandusky having anal sex with a -- with a kid who looked to be 10 years old.
What would be your reaction?
CARROLL: I would tell the police.
AMENDOLA: Go to the police. Exactly. Go to the police. That's exactly the reaction. That -- that would be my reaction. You have to report this. That's not what was done. What I'm hearing, although we haven't had live witnesses yet in court, what I'm hearing is his father said call Joe Paterno, tell Joe.
What I think happened, what I'm being told happened, is that jerry was in the shower with this kid. The kid was messing around, having a good time. You had McQueary come in and see that. He felt uncomfortable. Which is exactly what Curley and Schultz are saying, that it was reported to them by McQueary that he saw Sandusky in the shower with a kid and he felt uncomfortable.
Well, feeling uncomfortable and seeing anal sex are two very different things.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
CARROLL: Sandusky's attorney tells me that he is still in the very beginning stages of trying to gather evidence and interview witnesses. But he says, at the end of the day, he feels confident that he will be able to prove that Jerry Sandusky is innocent.
Reporting from University Park, I'm Jason Carroll for CNN.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
RAJPAL: Well, "WORLD SPORT'S" Don Riddell is here now with some reaction to this.
And I guess we can't stress enough the -- the fact that this is such a huge story not just in the sports pages and sports shows, is the fact that American football -- college football is huge -- is a huge part of American culture.
DON RIDDELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, not only is college football huge in the United States, Monita, but so is Penn State. I mean this was a nationally renowned football program. Joe Paterno, the 84 -year-old coach who was fired last week, he came in, at, what, 50, 60 years ago, and kind of rewrote the rule book. And the motto was success with honor.
And although they didn't win championships every season, far from it, they were always a very good team. And they were always known as the team and the program that did things the right way.
Penn State made something like $70 million through their football program last year.
I mean this is big business for that university, as well as their reputation. And all of it has been destroyed, if not, you know, tarnished, at the very, very least.
RAJPAL: Yes.
RIDDELL: As we said, the team are actually playing really well this season. They'd only lost one game before this weekend. They lost to Nebraska. They're playing Ohio State again this weekend. Heaven only knows how the players are able to focus on this. But, of course, they're trying to. But with all this stuff going on around them, the football really is just irrelevant, isn't it?
RAJPAL: Let's go talk about another kind of football, that's the European football championships. The last four teams being decided tonight, I understand.
RIDDELL: Absolutely. And some of those games are already over. Let -- let's run you through them.
Portugal are taking on Bosnia. That game only kicked off 25 minutes ago. These, Monita, are all two-legged games. Portugal and Bosnia was 0-0 in the first leg. And Portugal, as you can see, are 2-0 up against Bosnia- Herzegovina. Cristiano Reynaldo scored the first goal. I don't know who scored the second, because he's only just gone in. But it would look as though Portugal are on their way to the European championships.
Another game that's still underway, but this one is much closer to finishing, is Ireland versus Estonia. The Irish really have got this one pretty much in the bag, as you can see. That game has won all but many. There you are -- one 4-0 in Estonia last week. So tonight pretty much was a formality for them. A great atmosphere there in Ireland tonight.
Montenegro versus the Czech Republic -- that is all over. The Czech Republic are on their way to Poland and Ukraine next year. The Czech Republic won the first leg 2-0. They scored another goal tonight through Peta Urocheck (ph). So they go through 3-0 in aggregate.
And the final game, Croatia against Turkey, that game finished goalless tonight but Croatia really did all the hard work in the first leg, which they won 3-0.
So not many surprises tonight, because the teams that all won in the first leg have all gone through or look like they're going through. Portugal, Bosnia remains the sort of interesting game. But it looks like they -- they're doing pretty well so far, 2-0 out.
RAJPAL: No -- no real wild cards there to talk about at this point anyway.
RIDDELL: No. But, you know, the -- you know, there were three teams going into these playoffs --
RAJPAL: Yes.
RIDDELL: -- that had never been in the European championships -- Bosnia, Montenegro and Estonia. Sadly, at this point, it looks like none of them are going to make it through.
RAJPAL: All right.
RIDDELL: But, you know, a lot of pressure on some of these big teams, Portugal, Cristiano Reynaldo --
RAJPAL: Yes.
RIDDELL: -- he's one of the best players in the world. You know, they might not make it. But so far, they're doing all right.
RAJPAL: Yes, I heard he doesn't always play well for his own country. But that's another story.
RIDDELL: Yes.
RAJPAL: Don Riddell, thank you very much for that.
Still ahead, they may not be bound by physical chains, but the effect is all the same. All this week, we are focusing on modern-day slavery. And today, we'll revisit the shocking case of a former Libyan nanny courageous enough to share her story with the world.
Then, we're off to Zurich to find out how its train passengers are given a sendoff to remember.
And finally, how Azerbaijan's freshmen returning to farming to keep a luxury delicacy alive.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
RAJPAL: You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD on CNN, the world's news leader. Let's get a check of the headlines this hour.
We are awaiting a court ruling on whether protesters in New York will be allowed back into Zuccotti Park, the home of the Occupy Wall Street movement. These are live pictures that you're seeing, there, of the perimeter of the park where protesters are still waiting outside.
Now, earlier, police said they could -- or a judge said that they could return after police cleared them out overnight, but so far, they are being blocked from bringing back tents and tarps.
Turkey is turning up the pressure on Syria in an attempt to stop the crackdown on protesters. Officials are slapping energy sanctions on Syria and threatened to cut electricity supply. At least ten more people were reported killed across Syria on Tuesday.
Italy's prime minister designate is moving forward with efforts to form a new government. Mario Monti meets with the country's president Wednesday. Monti said he would take a proposed slate of ministers with him.
The man at the center of a child sex scandal at Penn State University in the US says he is innocent. Former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky insists he is not a pedophile, but in an interview with the US network NBC, he admitted he "horsed around" with young kids.
The U.S. president is set to announce an expanded military presence in Australia later this week. In his first trip to the country, Barack Obama will visit a military base in Darwin, which US Marines could begin using for training and war games.
Those are the headlines this hour.
Trapped in terrible conditions and subject to terrifying abuse, they are far from home with no friends or family to help. Millions of people around the world are suffering silently right now.
They're victims of modern-day slavery, and CNN is devoting an entire year to raising awareness of their plight so that one day, this despicable practice might be stopped.
Yesterday, we told you how hard life is for many migrant domestic workers in Lebanon. Some are so desperate to escape enslavement and abusive conditions that they take their own lives.
Today, we are continuing our look at the plight of domestic workers, updating you on a story out of Libya that triggered outrage around the world. You may remember Shweyga Mullah, a former nanny of the Gadhafi family who suffered unimaginable abuse.
Dan Rivers first brought us her story back in August. Here's how he discovered Shweyga. And we do warn you, her injuries are extremely disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN RIVERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This house belongs to Hannibal Gadhafi, and what went on in here was truly horrendous.
RIVERS (voice-over): Meet Shweyga Mullah, a 30-year-old Ethiopian nanny who describes how she was horribly tortured by Hannibal's wife, Aline.
SHWEYGA MULLAH, FORMER GADHAFI DOMESTIC SERVANT (through translator): She took me to a bathroom and she tied my hands behind my back and tied my feet. She taped my mouth.
And she started pouring the boiling water on my head like this.
RIVERS: Her crime, she says she refused to beat Hannibal's toddler, who wouldn't stop crying. Shweyga says she was actually scalded twice. The most episode was three months ago. Her wounds are still raw and weeping. She appears to be in desperate need of medical attention.
MULLAH (through translator): There were maggots coming out of my head because she had hidden me and no one had seen me. And then they found me and put me in the hospital.
RIVERS: But then she was discovered and brought back, and the guard who helped her was threatened with prison if he took her to hospital again. Co-workers backed up her account.
MULLLAH (through translator): I worked for a whole year. They didn't give me one penny. Now I want to go to the hospital, and I have no money. I have nothing.
She said, "No money for you. You just work."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RAJPAL: And a horrific story, but fortunately, there is an encouraging follow-up. Shweyga has been receiving medical treatment in Malta for several months now. Well, Dan Rivers has been following her recovery. He joins us now, live, with an update. Dan, how is she doing?
RIVERS: She's doing really well, actually, Monita. She arrived in Malta -- we were there when she arrived on the 15th of September. She's getting incredible care at the plastic surgery and burns unit of the Mater Dei Hospital there.
She's undergone two different surgical procedures, one on the 27th of September, where they dealt with the burnt area on the front of her torso, which was really bad. They had to do a skin graft there.
And then, on the 15th of October, they started dealing with the wounds on her scalp that you see in that video that we showed you. They're really tough to look at.
They haven't done a skin graft there because they say they want to try and preserve as many of the hair follicles as they can at her request to give her a chance of some of her hair, at least, growing back. And it's a long, slow process of trying to let those wounds heal up before they move on.
But she's also been going -- undergoing physio therapy to try and get movement back into her shoulder, because she'd been so immobile for so long, she'd started to seize up in her shoulder. So, she's getting movement back in her shoulder as well.
And she's also had psychological counseling, which is also an important part of her recovery to try and help her deal with her trauma.
And the fantastic news of all of this is that they think she can actually be discharged from hospital maybe as early as next week to become an outpatient so that she can start to get some normality back in her life.
She's going to be in Malta for a while, though, but at least she'll be out of hospital. They're going to put her in some sort of apartment in Malta and, hopefully, this is the beginning of her recovery and getting back normalcy in her life.
RAJPAL: It's just nice to see that when you see -- show footage there of her now, there's some smiles on her face. It's nice to see that sense of hope that she's feeling of a recovery.
But as you say, she's going to be in Malta for a long time. Does she have family with her, or is she there on her own?
RIVERS: She's there on her own at the moment, and they've been trying to contact her family in Ethiopia. It's difficult. Her family live in a remote village with no phone or internet, we gather, so it's pretty difficult to get a hold of them.
The Maltese government are involved, though. They're trying their best to try and organize her family to come over to Malta, so we'll keep you updated when that happens.
And she's maintained all the way along she wants to go back to Ethiopia eventually. And the great thing is that all of that concern that came out around the world has resulted in some $40,000 being donated for her care and welfare, and that will go a long way to helping her get back on her feet once she gets back into Ethiopia and able to restart her life.
RAJPAL: All right, Dan, thank you very much for that. Dan Rivers, there, reporting to us on an encouraging story there for us here on -- all over the world, as well, but also here at CNN.
Ever since we brought you Shweyga's story, we received a tremendous outpouring of support and offers of help, as Dan was saying. Donors have now given more than $40,000 for her medical care.
And you can contribute, too. Log onto cnn.com/impact. There, you'll find a link to a page set up by Anti-Slavery International specifically to help Shweyga. Again, that's cnn.com/impact.
A hundred and twenty chefs, five hundred kitchen staff, but this isn't a luxury hotel. It's a train station, where you can eat, rest, and pray.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
RAJPAL: Ever wondered how your coffee got from the plant to your cup or how your mobile phone got from the factory to your pocket? Well, chances are it passed through some of the globe's biggest transportation hubs, and each week on the Gateway, we go behind the scenes to show just how they keep the world moving.
Tonight, we head to Zurich, where Becky Anderson shows us the hard work that goes into keeping its train passengers fed and groomed.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At Zurich train station, 120 chefs are cooking up a storm under the watchful eye of the executive chef, Christoph Banz.
Nearly everything can be done in these kitchens. From freshly baking bread every day to smoking salmon, this is one of Europe's largest catering facilities of its kind.
CHRISTOPH BANZ, EXECUTIVE CHEF, CANDRIAN CATERING: We have to use 90 tons of meat only to produce sausages. It's a big business, and we produce every day fresh, so I think nobody can offer every day daily fresh sausages. It's really special.
As we make smoked sausages, veal sausages, hot dogs, we can do everything on our own. And now he's adding the parsley. It's a bit -- it's a veal sausage with lemon flavor.
We start working here about 6:30 in the morning, finish more or less at 3:00, 4:00 in the afternoon.
ANDERSON: Five hundred people work in these kitchens to ensure that over 25 station outlets get their food on time every day.
BANZ: So, here we produce the sandwiches for all the different outlets. It's for the takeaways, and about 15 outlets, it's about 20, 25 kinds of sandwiches we do here. It's about 2,500 or 3,000 pieces a day. There are also three shifts. They're working three times a day to produce.
For the first time, we just go outside, 5:00 in the morning.
ANDERSON: Zurich train station is an important hub within the dense Swiss rail network. This is not just a transport center. It's also a bustling service hub, with 140 shops, including restaurants and takeaways, an important source of revenue for Swiss railways.
DANIELE PALLECCHI, SPOKESMAN, SWISS RAILWAYS: Zurich main station is a city in a city, and we have daily 360,000 passengers. And if you consider that the city of Zurich has 400,000 people living in the city, you see how much important this main station is.
ANDERSON: Feeding shoppers and commuters alike, the station can also offer solace of a different kind to the weary travelers.
ANDERSON (on camera): If you're looking for a bit of peace and quiet, the station also has a multi-faith room.
(CHORAL MUSIC)
ROMAN ANGST, CHAPLAIN, MULTI-FAITH ROOM: We are open for everyone. We have carpet for the Muslims. You can get silence, you can make a prayer, or you can think over your situation. You will get rest in there.
ANDERSON (voice-over): Over 1.5 million people have visited the room of prayer in its ten-year history.
ANGST: We are a community which is pulsating, and we have to be there where people are, and nobody thinks that you can go in a station and have a talk with a pastor.
BANZ: It's about 360,000 people which pass through Zurich main station per day. And if you tell them probably we make the smoked salmon here or the sandwiches, that's three times produced daily on the premises here, or we make the sausages here inside, they would probably not believe you.
ANDERSON: More than 3,000 people are employed around the clock to ensure the efficient running of this railway hub. Andre Joe has been a hairdresser here for over 20 years. He tells me this is prime real estate for a business like his in Zurich.
ANDERSON (on camera): How long have you been here?
ANDRE JOE, HAIRDRESSER, ZURICH TRAIN STATION: I'm here since 22 years.
ANDERSON: My goodness.
JOE: Yes. Since the beginning.
ANDERSON: And are you always this busy? I mean, it's incredible.
JOE: Every day, every hour, we have a rush hour. It's crazy.
ANDERSON (voice-over): Servicing a mobile population for the benefit of the country's economy.
ANDERSON (on camera): The station is such an integral part of Zurich, it's hard to know where the journey ends and the city begins.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RAJPAL: Take you back now to our developing story here on CNN, and the protesters at Zuccotti Park. They may soon be allowed back into New York -- into that New York park that has served as the birthplace of a global movement after it was cleared out by police and sanitation workers overnight.
Now, this was the scene at about 1:00 AM as officers in full riot gear cleared out hundreds of demonstrators, sleeping bags, tents, and tarps. Many of them resisted and more than 100 were arrested.
Now, the mayor of New York said the clear-out in Zuccotti Park was only temporary and protesters would be allowed back in as long as they didn't bring in tents or sleeping bags, but a New York judge said they are allowed to bring those items back in until that's resolved.
Now, we understand there is a resolution, and we understand that the judge has ruled. Let's go now to our Maggie Lake on the phone. Maggie, what did the judge say?
MAGGIE LAKE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Monita, this just coming through, judge Michael Stallman has ruled in favor of Brookfield Properties and the city of New York. The restraining order is denied, which is a ruling against the protesters.
Now, they have not been allowed inside the park all day. From my feeling looking at this, I don't know that most of the protesters have heard this yet. We're not really seeing any reaction in the large crowd that is gathered around Zuccotti Park, now. Remember, Zuccotti Park has been barricaded from this morning, about 2:00 this morning.
New York City had said when they made this action that they would be allowed back in, but that they would have to leave. They instituted a curfew of 10:00 PM each night and that they would not be allowed to sleep here and they would not be allowed to erect tents here.
They were not allowed back in this morning, and this has been going through the courts all day. So it is very unclear right now what this means in terms of the reality on the ground, here. They will not be able to stay here, they won't be able to put tents up.
According to this, it looks like they will have to abide by that New York City curfew of 10:00 PM, but right now, no one is allowed in the park at all. The riot police remain standing in the park along with the private security. Monita?
RAJPAL: And of course I understand, Maggie, you're saying it's very difficult to tell right now what will happen and how this is going to translate on the ground logistically, but is there a sense that these people -- that these protesters will actually be forced out of the area even from the perimeter as they -- because they've been there waiting for this ruling.
LAKE: That's right, and that's a very important question, Monita. New York City has very strict rules about where people are allowed to congregate. The reason that this was allowed to go on for as long as it was was the fact that this was private property, it was cordoned off, they weren't blocking sidewalks, they weren't blocking streets, they weren't blocking traffic.
Unclear now what this will mean. I would presume based on the sort of normal operating activities of New York City Police that this sort of large crowd blocking the sidewalks, blocking the intersections of sidewalks, would not be allowed.
But again, we're going to have to wait and see what's happening. And once again, I want to stress, I don't get the sense that this news has fully circulated through the protesters yet. We'll have to wait to see what kind of response we get from them, Monita.
RAJPAL: Based on what happened overnight, there, Maggie, this could turn into quite a -- it has the potential of turning into quite a heated situation.
LAKE: Well, this is the problem, and this is what critics had said all along, before they were peacefully exercising their first amendment right to free speech here in the US, they felt they were getting their message heard, and they were trying very hard to abide by the rules of the city.
This situation, now, the city's action, now, they say has set up a confrontation and the potential for violence and for incidents.
We certainly saw earlier today when the barricades were up and the protesters felt they had the right to re-enter the park, several of them did try to do that, and that's when we had the scuffles, the minor violence that we saw, and they were isolated.
But that's when a protester was tossed over the barricade, another woman was knocked down that we spoke to earlier today. They want to prevent that kind of thing. So, you're right, this kind of creates, now, a standoff. We don't know the resolution. We don't know what it's going to mean.
I'm sure the protesters are regrouping right now, so this does have the potential to sort of escalate, Monita.
RAJPAL: All right, well, we'll keep a close eye on this. Maggie, thank you so much for that, Maggie Lake on the phone, there, from Zuccotti Park.
Just to reiterate, what has just come out of this courthouse in New York, a judge has ruled that protesters, as you see there, those live pictures, people who are waiting on the perimeter of the park, they had been, I guess, evicted from the park earlier this -- overnight, early hours of New York time, Eastern Time.
They had been forced out of the park where they had been occupying, protesting the Wall Street movement, Occupy Wall Street, as it's been called. They were forced out. Now, they were waiting for a judge to rule whether or not they could go back into that park with their tents and tarps to re-occupy.
And now, what we understand, according to this judge, they are not allowed to go back in. They are ruling with -- siding with New York City as well as the owners of this property that they will not be allowed to go back into this park and occupy it as they have done so for a while now.
So, what happens to these people who are now waiting along the perimeter of this park, whether or not they will move peacefully, leave the area, or whether they'll go somewhere else, or whether or not this will become a confrontation with the riot police.
We understand that they are on standby right now, and of course, as word begins to spread of this ruling, we will watch to see what happens there to Zuccotti Park.
We understand another park in the area was also the scene that they had converged -- Foley Park was an area that they'd converged, as well. We don't know if they'll head over there or what will actually happen in the next few minutes. We'll keep a close eye on that.
For now, we're just taking a short break. We'll be right back here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
RAJPAL: You are watching CONNECT THE WORLD, welcome back. All this week, we are keeping our eye focused on Azerbaijan and what makes its people and products stand out from the crowd.
Situated on the banks of the Caspian Sea, the country has reaped the rewards from one of the world's biggest sources of caviar. But with stocks of sturgeon drying up, Jim Boulden looks at how its fishermen are now setting their sights inland.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM BOULDEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Caviar, a luxury delicacy synonymous with "gourmet." The Caspian Sea is home to the sturgeon fish. Its eggs are the most sought-after and expensive caviar variety in the world. A hundred grams can set you back as much as $500.
This sea has been one of the biggest sources of caviar for the world. Historically, it has been the countries that it borders that have been its biggest producers.
The Caspian Fish Company is Azerbaijan's biggest producer of fish goods, and caviar sales have made up to 50 percent of their income in the past.
But today, this is not the case. The number of sturgeon in the Caspian is at an all-time low due to decades of over-fishing and pollution.
MANUCHER AHADPOUR KHANGAH, CHAIRMAN, CASPIAN FISH COMPANY: Very soon, there will not be any stock whatsoever left in the Caspian Sea. There will be no trace of sturgeon. It is our duty from the Azerbaijan side, and I'm sure it is the duty of other countries sharing the Caspian Sea with us, that we should keep this fish alive and healthy.
BOULDEN: An international wildlife group each year suggests when and how much fishing for caviar should be allowed. The countries which surround the Caspian have agreed to those limits. But in recent years, they've even been unable to collect enough to reach their quota.
That's why companies like this one have set up a fish farm here in Mingachevir in northwest Azerbaijan to make sure that business can continue.
KHANGAH: New projects that we are thinking to build is to really hatch approximately 150 to 200 million fingerlings a year, which out of that we will be using about a million for our own sturgeon growth, producing meat and caviar. About 50 to 60 million we are hoping to release into the Caspian Sea for growth in the future.
The uniqueness of this place is that this leads to the Caspian Sea and the water is very clean. The water is mountain water.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In these cages, the sturgeon that you saw, five, ten kilograms, always have the best conditions. Oxygen saturation, maximum, always, all year long. What a quality of drinking water, OK? And so, if you treat the fish good, it's a perfect environment.
We expect them to be mature for caviar at seven years old, the female, seven years old.
BOULDEN: That's four years to go before the Caspian Fish Company can start producing caviar from their own fish stock. An investment and time well worth the wait, according to their chairman. Not only for the survival of the business, but to help repopulate the Caspian Sea.
Jim Boulden, CNN, Baku, Azerbaijan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RAJPAL: And I'm Monita Rajpal, thank you for watching. We'll bring you the latest from Zuccotti Park right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
