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Connect the World
More Killed In Cairo Clashes; A Year Later, Marikana Hasn't Changed
Aired August 16, 2013 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened today is a massacre.
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FIONNUALA SWEENEY, HOST: Nearly 20 confirmed kills and fresh violence in Egypt as the Muslim Brotherhood calls for protests. This hour, the view from both sides and reaction from the UN human rights council.
Also ahead, director James Cameron on his twin passions.
And the house that turns into a community project with a heart.
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is Connect the World.
SWEENEY: The Muslim Brotherhood is now calling for daily protests across Egypt until the democratically elected president is reinstated. And that could set the stage for more deadly clashes the like we saw once again today.
Supporters of Mohamed Morsy called for a day of rage to condemn a government crackdown. Security forces in Cairo used tear gas at one point amidst the sands of machine gun fire.
State TV says at least 16 people were killed in clashes, but other reports put the total much higher.
The clashes aren't just between Morsy supporters and security forces. A CNN crew saw men in plain clothes next to military tanks firing into crowds. They saw that some in the crowd were armed as well.
As night fell, a curfew went into effect, calming the situation, but a building remains on fire. This video from state TV. And you see in the upper left-hand corner a banner reading Egypt fighting terrorism.
That matches what the interior ministry told CNN today, quote, "Egypt is in a war on terror."
A coalition of Islamists have called now for an end to today's demonstrations.
But let's get the very latest from Frederik Pleitgen who is in Cairo.
Bring us up to date what's happened this evening since night fell and the curfew has been in place.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are still people who are defying the curfew. And of course the action that's going on right now is around Ramsey Square.
We're hearing from Egyptian state TV that apparently the military and police forces are moving into Ramsey Square. That seems to mesh with what we're hearing out here in Cairo. We're hearing more gunfire than we have in the past couple of hours. We're also hearing what appears to be tear gas being fired. And also there's choppers in the air.
So it seems as though there might be some sort of operation underway at this point to try and clear that area around Ramses Square where these clashes have been happening and where there were still Morsy supporters in the area.
That of course has been the area throughout the entire day where these skirmishes have been happening, where all of these deaths occurred as well.
As you say, the government is putting the death toll at 16 or 17. The Muslim Brotherhood, of course, is saying -- and the Morsy supporters are saying that it's much, much more than that. As right now, I'm saying this you can hear a lot more gunfire over my head right now.
The most reporters are saying that the death toll is much higher than that. There's numbers of 27, 30. Apparently there's a makeshift hospital that's been set up there on Ramses Square.
The interesting thing, Fionnuala, about this day of rage as the Morsy supporters call it is that there were supposed to be a lot more people out there in Ramses Square then actually came there. There was a second very large protest march that I covered, that I was close to throughout the day. And that was tens of thousands of people who were marching toward that area, but they never got to Ramses Square, because they were confronted by security forces, and indeed plain clothes civilians who were on the side of the Egyptian interim government and the military.
And finally, I just want to paint this picture of what Cairo is like tonight, you can hear the gunfire coming from the area of Ramsay's square, but otherwise the city is really a very eerie place.
We were coming back to our location here right as the curfew was going into effect, and you could see these sort of -- you could almost call them vigilante groups popping up, civilians who were armed with machetes, who were armed with baseball bats, who were armed with steal batons who were manning makeshift checkpoints, checking cars. They clearly don't have any sort of government mandate to do, though.
But right now on the streets down there, in many places, those are the people who are the law. And they have a very, very threatening posture as we went through there.
So certainly right now, Cairo is not a very nice place to be if you're out on the streets, but then again, of course, the curfew is, indeed, in place. But it certainly isn't advisable to be out there at this point in time anyway, Fionnuala.
SWEENEY: Frederik Pleitgen there bringing us up-to-date with what's happening in Cairo right now.
But let's look at how today's events have played out on the map of the city. Zooming in to the capital here, you can see Ramses Square and the bridges over the river Nile. Many of course crossing from the east to congregate in Ramses Square.
If we zoom out again, you can see where that is in relation to Tahrir Square and to the north. Nasr City and Heliopolis, that's where Fred Pleitgen was reporting from earlier in the day.
A lot of the action, of course, on the bridges. And Reza Sayah witnessed some of the most tense moments around the cornish (ph), that is the roadway which runs along the river Nile.
Well, our reporters in Cairo have been out on the streets all day. As we've said, Reza witnessing some of the violence as well as attempts to help the injured. Take a look.
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REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNAITONAL CORRESPONDENT: Let's go see what's happened here.
OK. OK. This is someone who appears to be injured. I see a hole in his thigh.
Come this way Zidane (ph)? OK. OK. OK.
It looks like -- it looks like he's been shot. And he looks remarkably calm. But I saw what appeared to be a bullet wound in his leg. And as we've seen so often, one of the fellow demonstrators taking him on a motorcycle away. And then -- I think we have another person who is injured.
We have another person who appears to be injured on the ground here.
Let's OK. Let's see if we can -- OK.
This is just an awful, awful scene.
Oftentimes, either security forces or gunmen in plain clothes use buck shot, or bird shot. This is a weapon that fires small pellets. It looked like he was injured with that kind of weapon. But an ugly scene out here.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SWEENEY: A very ugly scene indeed.
UN human rights experts are condemning what they call excessive use of force by the Egyptian security forces. They say those responsible for, quote, "ordering and perpetrating arbitrary killings are accountable for their actions under national and international law."
Let's bring in Chaloka Beyani. He heads a commission appointed by the UN Human Rights Council to study the violence in Egypt.
And what have you found?
CHALOKA BEYANI, UNHRC SPOKESMAN: Well, it's early days yet, but reports clearly indicate that at least on Wednesday more than 600 people were killed, many others arrested. And the killings continue. And the situation has escalated. And it is the reason why the special procedures of the human rights council under the leadership of the coordinating committee have called for an end to the violence and also to bring about means of reconciliation and peace in the country.
SWEENEY: Means of reconciliation, but calling for an end to the violence is clearly not going to be enough at this stage. What other resources do you have in terms of holding anyone accountable or at least stopping the violence?
BEYANI: Well, what the special procedures of the human rights council do is to investigate and fact find and use their expertise to bring responsibility to bear on the part of those that are actually responsible or accountable.
The means of accountability lie elsewhere within the UN system.
SWEENEY: And what would that in all practice entail?
BEYANI: What it does entail is that at least we have called for special procedures to be invited to Egypt to investigate and use their respective mandates to look at respective violations of human rights in particular areas.
SWEENEY: And ultimately, what will happen to those who perpetrated the violence?
BEYANI: (inaudible) happen to perpetrators of the violence is that reports, recommendations will be made to the council. And the human rights council, of course, has got measures at its discretion to attack (ph) in relation to the violations.
We also expect that there's supportive evidence that we've accumulated over a period of time and which both national and international human rights bodies and courts at least can use.
SWEENEY: Are you talking about something along the lines of the international criminal court?
BEYANI: Well, the international criminal court has got its own mandate to investigate violations that border on crimes against humanity, genocide, as well as war crimes. But, you know, whether to investigate and prosecute lies within the discretion of the prosecutor in normal cases. In the abnormal cases, it's up to the security council to actually to request the court to carry out an investigation.
SWEENEY: Sure. And what I'm asking is, could ultimately this process end up at that level?
BEYANI: It may end up at that level, but we as special procedures obviously have no role to play in that other than building supportive evidence and showing responsibility, accountability, and the level of violations and suffering that the world at least should attempt to.
SWEENEY: And before we let you go, I mean, obviously the finger is pointing at the Egyptian authorities for much of the killing, but have you to date heard any evidence that people in the Muslim Brotherhood, people demonstrating on the ground today and on Wednesday have been armed?
BEYANI: Well, it seems quite clear that the killing occurred after the security forces moved to clear out the encampment, so peaceful demonstrators in Cairo.
But our statement also calls upon the protesters to use peaceful methods of protest as well as peaceful assembly and not resort to violence.
SWEENEY: It does seem a very long, obviously necessary process that you're undertaking there at the United Nations. Does it feel as though it is going to be too late for many people?
BEYANI: Well, every (inaudible) starts with a step. And I think this is the necessary step taking part special procedures. And we think that early diplomatic, political intervention is the way to prevent the escalation of violence and also to forestall the situation from descending in conflict.
SWEENEY: Chaloka Beyani, thank you very much indeed for joining us in London.
BEYANI: Thank you.
SWEENEY: Well, Egypt's interim authorities have repeatedly said they want to build an inclusive government. But a senior official with the Muslim Brotherhood's political party asks how do you reconcile with people who are prepared to kill you?
Amr Darrag joins us now on the phone from Cairo.
Thank you for joining us.
You wrote a piece in the New York Times, an op ed piece today in which you stated that. I mean, do you believe that tonight each side is hardening its position?
AMR DARRAG, FREEDOM & JUSTICE PARTY: Well, actually I wrote that piece before today. You know, today I almost got killed. I was part of the protest administration going in the (inaudible) area. And I saw with my own eyes people killed by bullets coming from military helicopters, coming by snipers from tops of buildings. And in addition, of course, (inaudible) tear gas and rubber bullets and stuff like that.
Only in this area we have around 100 bodies already accounted for as being killed, in addition to the wounded. And the numbers are rising.
So what we are having today is another massacre by all means. And feels that the coup leaders are determined to kill everybody in Egypt so that they can run it freely.
SWEENEY: Is there any prospect all of any back channels, even, to try and achieve if not a reconciliation, some kind of calm?
DARRAG: We have actually tried that during the last couple of weeks and there has been some efforts by the U.S. and European mediators. And I was part of that. And I actually refer to that in this op ed in the New York Times.
But it was very clear to those mediators that the coup government is not ready to listen. They are determined to go ahead with massacres no matter what.
We have been trying to reach some sort of confidence building measures, because we cannot start a dialog in a touchy environment. And that was actually before the massacre of...
SWEENEY: Apologies for interrupting you. The confidence building measures would presumably involve the release of political prisoners, people who might also be able to negotiate with the government, that was what you were talking with the authorities last week.
DARRAG: That's true. And also restarting TV channels that were shut down, stop freezing the assets of the political opponents. And of course above all, stop killing in the street. And that was the minimum requirements for an environment for some sort of serious talks to take place.
So we were working to reach that stage, but we -- actually the other side feels sadly and determined to go ahead with the preplanned schemes...
SWEENEY: And where do you go from here, then?
DARRAG: I'm sorry, I didn't...
SWEENEY: Where do you, where does the Muslim Brotherhood, where does the Freedom and Justice Party go from here? What options?
DARRAG: Well, let me clarify very clearly that it is not just the Freedom and Justice Party or the Muslim Brotherhood, it is now a coalition. And which includes more than maybe 30 parties and groups.
In addition to a lot of Egyptians will not organize under any kind of organization or party. So it is not just about the Brotherhood or the Freedom & Justice Party. Actually, the regime, the current coup government is trying to portray (inaudible) some sort of a fight or a conflict between the Muslim Brotherhood and the authorities...
SWEENEY: They're portraying it as a war on terror. They're portraying it as a war on terror saying that you -- and I should point out to our viewers that you are a minister in the government under President Morsy that ended in July. How do you respond to that accusation that's coming from the minister of interior and indeed other commentators that this is now a war on terror as they see it?
DARRAG: Well, this is what they are saying, but not a single evidence to -- has proven that they are right. And actually during the last three or four weeks, actually more than that, we have hundreds of independent reporters and TV channels and media outlets who actually lived with the people in the sit-ins and examined each and every piece of the squares and never found any piece of evidence related to violence.
Actually today, what we had today, are mere killing of protesters with not a single shot was shot at the security forces.
SWEENEY: Amr Darrag, we must leave it there, but we appreciate your time in joining us this evening on Connect the World. Thank you.
DARRAG: Thank you very much.
SWEENEY: And still to come tonight, a day after a deadly car bomb exploded in Beirut, Hezbollah's leader talks tough, but also tries to calm tensions. We have the latest developments.
And a year on from the deadly mine strike in South Africa, the community bands together. We'll have an update on the ongoing recovery there.
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SWEENEY: You're watching CNN. This is Connect the World with me, Fionnuala Sweeney. Welcome back.
Lebanese officials have raised the death toll from yesterday's car bombing in Beirut. They now say at least 22 people were killed. The bomb rocked an area known to be a stronghold of the Shiite militant group Hezbollah.
In a speech earlier, Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah talked about the bombing and also about the situation in Syria.
Arwa Damon has more.
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ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah's speech was already pre-planned, intending to mark what Hezbollah calls a victory over Israel back in 2006, a war that devastated this country.
His speech was both typically fiery, but also at the same time seeming to be a deliberate effort to calm tensions down, at least inside Lebanon when he spoke about the attack that took place in Beirut's southern suburbs on Thursday that killed at least two dozen people he said that this was not carried out by the Sunnis, but rather by people who had no religion. He called for unity and restraint following that act of violence that targeted the civilian population, it seems.
But when it came to the battlefield in Syria, the typical bold statements that Nasrallah is so well known for, where he said that he himself would be willing to go fight if needed and double the number of Hezbollah fighters already taking place in that battlefield.
Now a little known group calling itself the Brigade of Isha, Mother of Believers, took credit for the attack. No way of verifying that. That coming out in a video statement showing three masked men where they called Nasrallah a pig and said that the attack was in retaliation for Hezbollah's involvement in the Syrian battlefield.
Most certainly people here in Lebanon greatly concerned about what is taking place as Lebanon's future, what happens in Lebanon, has always been tied to what is taking place in its larger neighbor Syria. Arwa Damon, CNN, Beirut.
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SWEENEY: In the Philippines, a major rescue effort underway after a ferry boat collided with a cargo ship. At least 17 people are dead, nearly 700 others have been rescued, but that (inaudible) collided on the (inaudible) channel off the island of Cebu. The passenger ferry sank after the collision.
Authorities in India say four bodies have been recovered from the navy submarine which exploded and sank on Wednesday. The bodies so severely burned they were taken to a naval hospital for DNA identification. The government expects no survivors will be found from the 18 personnel who were onboard. An investigation into the cause of the explosion and fire is underway.
Zimbabwe's opposition MDC Party has withdrawn its legal challenge to President Robert Mugabe's reelection. The party said it hadn't received crucial information from the electoral commission and would not get a fair hearing. Morgan Tsvangirai lost last month's elections with 34 percent of the vote. He claims the poll was rigged.
Adding to the woes of the U.S. National Security Agency is an internal audit that's found the spy agency broke privacy rules thousands of times each year since 2008. The Washington Post first reported on the audits, which now has lawmakers irritated that they were left in the dark. And they're promising more hearings to get to the bottom of it. Dan Lothian with more.
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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And a general impression has I think taken hold not only among the American public, but also around the world, that somehow we're out there willy-nilly just sucking in information on everybody and doing what we please with it. That's not the case.
LOTHIAN (voice-over): That was President Obama just days ago assuring the American public that the National Security Agency was not breaching the trust of its citizens. But a new report out today by "The Washington Post" may raise new concerns. After combing through the trove of documents leaked by former NSA analyst Edward Snowden, "The Post" reports that the NSA has broken privacy rules thousands of times each year since 2008.
The Post says most of the incidents involved surveillance of Americans and foreign intelligence targets on U.S. soil in ways that violate the program's rules. Of those incidents, "The Post" report most were "unintended" and many involved "failures of due diligence" or "violations of standard operating procedure," such as when an area code mix-up caused the NSA to intercept a large number of calls from Washington, D.C., instead of from Egypt.
The NSA response was quick. Overnight, the agency released a pointed statement. "NSA's foreign intelligence collection activities are continually audited and overseen internally and externally. When NSA makes a mistake in carrying out its foreign intelligence mission, the agency reports the issue internally and to federal overseers and aggressively gets to the bottom of it."
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SWEENEY: CNN's Dan Lothian reporting there.
The cofounder of the Spanish clothing break Zara has died. Rosalia Mera suffered a stroke while on vacation. She was 69 years of age. A seamstress from the age of 11, Mera was Spain's wealthiest woman. Forbes estimates her net worth at $6 billion. She and her former husband, Amancio Ortega, co-founded Zara in the 70s. It became one of the world's biggest retail shops. They also formed Inditex, a clothing conglomerate which owns other brands like Massimo Dutti and Poland Bear. Mera leaves two children.
Live from CNN Center, this is Connect the World. And coming up, as the death toll rises in Egypt, we hear from a witness to today's violence in Cairo.
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SWEENEY: You're watching Connect the World live from CNN Center. Welcome back. I'm Fionnuala Sweeney.
It's a year to the day that 34 miners were tragically gunned down during a strike at South Africa's Marikana mine. Today, the head of Lonmin mining company came face-to-face with the families of the workers and offered them an apology.
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BEN MAGARA, CEO, LONMIN: We will never replace your loved ones. And I say we are truly sorry for that.
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SWEENEY: Last year's tragedy put the spotlight on the community of Marikana. Despite sitting on the world's largest supply of platinum, the living conditions there are often appalling. The mining companies have promised by changes, but the area is still largely in disrepair.
Nkepile Mabuse brings us this report.
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NKEPILE MABUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The killing fields of Marikana, that's what this area northwest of Johannesburg was dubbed last August.
First, 10 people were killed, many of them hacked to death, during a wildcat strike over wages at Lonmin platinum mine. And then, this, 34 more gunned down in this dramatic confrontation. Police say they acted in self- defense against protesting miners armed with clubs and machetes.
A year later, a commission of inquiry tapped to probe the incident drags on, marred by delays. The community awaits answers while struggling to deal with the trauma.
CHRIS MOLEBATSI, RESIDENT AND RESEARCHER: You can't expect someone ready to be (inaudible) who was there, who witnessed, physically witnessed the situation just to lead a normal life. We have seen, you know, a series of suicides and I think everyone was terrified and traumatized too.
MABUSE (on camera): The Marikana settlement is located in South Africa's platinum gulf. This region contains the world's largest reserves of the metal, yet people here have no proper housing or sanitation. And in the 12 months since the police shootings, we've been told many promises have been made, but nothing has changed.
(voice-over): The appalling living conditions of mining communities across the country remain a source of deep anger and frustration.
Criticism, Lonmin says, it is addressing. It's newly appointed CEO recently announced that the company, which as been mining here for more than two decades, will soon many land available, build houses, infrastructure, and a community center with a library and sports facilities -- pledges people here say they've heard before.
Meanwhile, the killing continues as rivalries between unions take their deadly toll.
The turmoil in the mining sector has led to credit rating downgrades, disinvestment, and thousands of job losses with more cutbacks predicted in the future.
Economic analyst, Moeletsi Mbeki says the underlying reasons that led to the escalation of violence in the first place have not been dealt with.
MOELETSKI MBEKI, ECONOMIC ANALYST: In fact, we are more likely to have more Marikanas more frequently because the workers, the black workers are saying we've had enough of this. We are going to keep demanding more.
MABUSE: In just a few weeks, new wage negotiations resume at Lonmin. And union leaders are predicting a tough road ahead.
Nkepile Mabuse, CNN, Marikana
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SWEENEY: The latest world news headlines just ahead.
Plus, a day of defiance by pro-Morsy supporters leading to more bloodshed. An official from the Egyptian government joins us next on the program.
Plus, how a young piano prodigy from Mexico is living her dream.
And he's already a top Hollywood director, deep sea diver, and tech visionary, James Cameron tells us what's next on his agenda.
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SWEENEY: This is CONNECT THE WORLD, the top stories this hour. The Muslim Brotherhood is calling for daily protests in Egypt until the coup is reversed. Supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsy flooded the streets today for a Day of Anger. Once again, clashes broke out in Cairo and across the country, killing dozens of people.
An ocean rescue is underway off Cebu, Philippines after a ferry boat collided with a cargo ship. The Philippine coast guard tells us at least 17 people have been killed, but hundreds of others have been rescued.
Mine workers in South Africa marked the first anniversary of the killings at Marikana. A year ago, 34 striking miners were shot there during a confrontation with police. Earlier today, the heads of the Lonmin mining company apologized to the families face to face. A government investigation is still not finished.
Zimbabwe's opposition MDC party has withdrawn its legal challenge to President Robert Mugabe's reelection. The party said it hadn't received crucial information from the electoral commission and wouldn't get a fair hearing.
A Friday of Anger, that's what organizers named a mass march in Cairo today in support of the deposed president Mohamed Morsy. And the show of defiance led to more bloodshed as police clashed with demonstrators in running street riots. CNN's Reza Sayah spoke to one of the pro-Morsy protesters taking part in the march.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The police are very brutal. They fire teargas at us, they fire live ammunition, they fire shotguns. The people that stand in front of the demonstrations -- we had too many injures there.
REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Did you see police officers --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
SAYAH: -- fire?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. We saw -- police officers fire, and there are people firing from high buildings. We cannot recognize their faces, but we have live ammunition fired at us from high buildings this way and this way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SWEENEY: We want to show you some video shot in Cairo earlier in the day showing people trying to climb down from a bridge a short distance from Ramses police station. According to social media posts, these were people trying to avoid gunfire. CNN can't verify the claims independently.
According to the Egyptian state broadcaster, Nile TV, 16 people were killed in Alexandria and scores more wounded in clashes on Friday. It adds to the total from Wednesday's crackdown in which at least 580 people were killed, prompting international condemnation and calls for restraint.
The UN high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, has called for an investigation into the violence, saying the number of people killed points to an excessive even extreme use of force against demonstrators.
On Thursday, US president Barack Obama canceled joint military exercises scheduled for next month with Egypt. He stopped short of cutting military aid, but warned that the US may take what he called further steps.
French president Francois Hollande and British prime minister David Cameron have also discussed the crisis and have called for a strong European message, as they put it. To that end, EU foreign ministers will meet next week to coordinate a response to the violence.
Let's speak now to an Egyptian government official, Ambassador Wafaa Bassim is Egypt's permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva. She joins me now, live on the phone. Thank you for joining us.
WAFAA BASSIM, EGYPTIAN PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE TO THE UNITED NATIONS (via telephone): Thank you.
SWEENEY: Where is this going?
BASSIM: Egypt is struggling through very difficult times, but it is going towards the right way. Unfortunately, there is a high cost to be paid, but this is the price of combating terrorists.
Because what has been qualified by the whole world as peaceful sit-ins has become a manifestation of crime, acts of terrorism by the Muslim Brotherhood and others of the same cut that are now going through the streets, shooting arbitrarily to the houses, the individuals, burning down the hospitals, burning the police station, the museums, and the cultural heritage of Egypt.
SWEENEY: You are saying that the Muslim Brotherhood, the demonstrators on the street, have been burning hospitals, burning police stations, and destroying Egypt's cultural heritage. Even so, does that require the response that has been seen from the authorities in recent days?
BASSIM: The response was in the very beginning very peaceful through alerts, through leaflets that were thrown on the demonstrations asking them to end the sit-ins peacefully. Then it went to using the sounds so people can break in the demonstration. Then water canons and teargas.
And then, at the end, when the Muslim Brotherhood and their allies had started shooting live ammunition at the police and the security forces had to reply back and though they were trying to use the restraint except when their life was threatened.
SWEENEY: Now, the Muslim Brotherhood disputes this very, very strongly, and obviously, they would argue about it all evening and beyond. But let me ask you this: they say they're going to continue their marches with a week of protests, and not just the Muslim Brotherhood, a coalition of Islamist parties, they were march every day next week. How will your government respond to that?
BASSIM: Well, the government is very firm on preventing terrorists from propagating through the country --
(CROSSTALK)
SWEENEY: Can they not have the right to demonstrate peacefully?
BASSIM: -- and they have been learning very quickly that permits will be there, the law and order has to be restored, and the sovereignty of the state has to be respected.
SWEENEY: At what cost? I ask because if the Islamist coalition are going to march every single day for a week, how strong is the response going to be from your government?
BASSIM: Our government is trying to have the minimum prize of bloodshed because all of these Egyptians, whether they are police forces, security forces, or Egyptian citizens, no matter their affiliation, they are all Egyptian and we care very much about their safety and their security.
This is why there is a repeated calls and appeals of restraining this to sticking to peaceful demonstrations, peaceful gathering, and not to return to arms. If you have seen all TV, all channels, all media today, you would have seen those people who are shooting live ammunition toward the houses and killing people out of anger.
SWEENEY: But at some point -- and this is my final question -- at some point, the military is going to have the ultimate control over the situation in a physical sense. They are a huge army, they are a hugely armed police force, rather, and they have far more arms than the Muslim Brotherhood.
Do you ever see how a Muslim Brotherhood member or members or the Freedom and Justice party would ever be part or want to be part of an inclusive government again? And if not, what do you do with them?
BASSIM: The government, which by the way, an interim government who has a road map which the people have agreed to and which includes amendments to the constitution that was discriminatory against some parts of the population, and was not respecting the rule of law.
So this would be the amendment of the constitution parallel to a political process, reconciliation that we are strongly sticking to that will be all-inclusive, including Islam parties.
And by the way, the ruling party and some of the groups have declared today that they're insisting on keeping the integrity and strength of the country and are very much waiting for a political dialogue that will be all-inclusive, which is the position of the government.
SWEENEY: All right. But that doesn't appear to be happening at the moment. Wafaa Bassim, Egyptian ambassador to the UN, thanks for joining us.
Live from CNN Center, you're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. A parent's worst nightmare: a rash of suicides by bullied teens. We'll bring you a special report on children being targeted for online abuse just ahead.
And home is where the heart is. One house gives the expression a whole new meaning in one poor American town. More on that story coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SWEENEY: Welcome back. In Canada, teenager Amanda Todd took her own life after enduring a prolonged period of cyber bullying. Ten months on, no one's yet been charged in relation to her death. Paula Newton takes a look, now, at new methods child predators are developing to manipulate and exploit children online.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Amanda Todd could take no more. The Canadian teenager killed herself after being bullied online. This YouTube video she posted is evocative and blunt, her pain obvious.
The kind of pain Rehtaeh Parsons, another Canadian teenager, knew so well. Parsons killed herself in April. Her family says she, too, was tormented by months of bullying after a photo of her alleged sexual assault was distributed online.
NEWTON (on camera): What are we seeing in real time, here?
ARNOLD GUERIN, SERGEANT, ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE: We see here - -
NEWTON: Wow.
GUERIN: Over an amount of time, you're going to see this in any major city, whether that's Toronto, New York City, or London.
NEWTON: This is a snapshot of the online trading of child sexual abuse material and child pornography being spied on by Canadian police, and Sergeant Arnold Guerin takes us through the minefield of predators children can be exposed to online every day, even if they believe they are only sharing with their friends.
GUERIN: They end up on the dirtier and darker parts of the internet, being traded by people who have a sexual interest in the material.
NEWTON: Pedophiles have gotten a hold of it.
GUERIN: They could be people who have an interest in child abuse material. That may not be the teenagers that they thought.
NEWTON (voice-over): Canadian police tell us that this kind of cyber crime is socially and personally destructive to children, and affords pedophiles access to them in an unprecedented way.
BOB RESCH, INSPECTOR, ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE: Well, there's actually three components to the child exploitation unit here.
NEWTON: Inspector Bob Resch from Canada's Child Exploitation Coordination Center takes us through his unit, where officers work with international partners. Their first priority, finding the victims, then the abusers.
NEWTON (on camera): And these people are gathering evidence on real cases of child exploitation right now.
RESCH: That's correct. And their predominate focus here is to find the suspect, find the abuser.
NEWTON (voice-over): Their most sensitive work is in the undercover unit, officers spying on gruesome material of child sexual abuse.
RESCH: They're just beyond comprehension that people would actually want to see or look at or watch these type of things.
NEWTON (on camera): Here, they try and hunt down those child predators and identify child victims to make sure they are safe again. Now, I want you to come with me, I want you to meet someone. I can't tell you his name, but we are going to talk to him. He is working right now to identify child victims on the internet.
NEWTON (voice-over): This officer says he's seen it time and again, kids being abused, manipulated online, blackmailed by predators.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They'll go, "If you don't pose naked again, I'll give it to all your friends." And then, of course the girl or boy are sitting there going, "Oh, my God, I don't want my dad to get this video." So, they'll do it.
NEWTON (on camera): Again and again they will be abused this way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Again and again.
NEWTON (voice-over): It all serves as an explicit warning to children and parents.
JOHN BILINSKI, SUPERINTENDENT, ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE: The experience that we've gained here and by speaking to offenders, we know that there are people out there specifically looking for children that they can abuse. They trade methods of luring children, they speak to each other, they plan amongst themselves, and afterwards, they show their conquests.
NEWTON (on camera): Parents never find out about it in most of these cases?
BILINSKI: Some do. But most of them don't.
NEWTON (voice-over): The death of these Canadian teens serves as a reminder that online predators can emotionally and physically harm children, many spying on the lives of young kids and just waiting to exploit their vulnerabilities online.
Paula Newton, CNN, Ottawa.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SWEENEY: And coming up after this short break on CONNECT THE WORLD, he made the two best-selling films of all time and has no plans to rest on his laurels. An interview with director James Cameron next.
Latest edition. She has won three international competitions and she's only 11. That and much more when CONNECT THE WORLD returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SWEENEY: In this week's CNN Preview, we sit down with Hollywood director James Cameron. He talks us through his twin passions, filmmaking and ocean exploration. And if you're an "Avatar" fan, you don't want to miss what he has to say about the movie's sequel.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, "AVATAR": Are you Jake Sully?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, "AVATAR": I'd like to talk to you about a fresh start on a new world.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The two best-selling films of all time, "Avatar" and "Titanic" are being brought together for a 3D release on Blu-ray this summer.
In this special edition of CNN Preview, we hear from the director of both movies, James Cameron. He tells CNN's Neil Curry about plans for Avatar sequels 2, 3, and 4, and compares the pressure of filmmaking to deep sea diving.
JAMES CAMERON, DIRECTOR: I think 3D is going to be a big part of the future.
NEIL CURRY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Environmental themes loom large in the life of James Cameron, whether it be exploring the depths of the ocean or portraying the battle for the planet Pandora in "Avatar."
ZOE SALDANA AS NEYTIRI, "AVATAR": You knew this would happen?
SAM WORTHINGTON AS JAKE SULLY, "AVATAR": I've completely changed.
DILEEP RAO AS DR. MAX PATEL, "AVATAR": Jake, it's crazy here. Quaritch is rolling and there's no stopping him.
MICHELLE RODRIGUEZ AS TRUDY CHACON, "AVATAR": We're going up against gunships with bows and arrows.
WORTHINGTON AS SCULLY: Then I guess we better stop them.
CAMERON: The primary focus in the immediate future, meaning the next couple of years is "Avatar 2" and "Avatar 3," and that speaks more to my environmental concerns and so on. In terms of the deep exploration, I'll come back to that afterwards.
The first film was kind of unique in that it was a big-budget entertainment tent-pole film that clearly had an environmental agenda, and there really isn't -- it's a very small group of films that you could put that -- put in the same category with it. And I think that spirit of the first film will continue throughout the subsequent ones.
WORTHINGTON AS SCULLY: This is our land!
CAMERON: We're beginning the design process now, still continuing the writing process, and we'll be in active pre-production right around the first of the year. But this is a huge project, this is a multiyear project.
CURRY: Cameron has long been at the cutting edge of movie technology, contributing his own ideas to the development of 3D cameras. While "Avatar" was created in 3D, "Titanic" was shot in 2D and subsequently converted.
LEONARDO DICAPRIO AS JACK DAWSON, "TITANIC": Do not let go of my hand!
CURRY: The director is also considering use of high frame rate technology on future productions.
KATE WINSLET AS ROSE DEWITT, "TITANIC": You have a gift, Jack. You see people.
DICAPTRIO AS DAWSON: I see you.
CAMERON: High frame rate was really an addendum to 3D in my mind, because 3D, I thought, increased your sense of the verisimilitude of the image that you were seeing and a sense of being physically present, except when the camera panned or a subject moved across frame, and strobed because of the native frame rate that we've lived with since the dawn of sound going back to the mid-20s, which is 24 frames a second.
So, the high frame rate was to clean up that artifacting, which was more apparent in 3D. It was never meant to be sort of the next big thing.
CURRY: Cameron plans to continue his twin passions for filmmaking and ocean exploration and thrives on the joy, fear, and pressure they produce.
CAMERON: In diving, you have -- you literally have pressure being the main driver of your engineering. In filmmaking, you have many other drivers, and physical pressure is never one of them, but they're both engineering-intensive processes, and the type of films that I make tend to be on the high-tech end of the spectrum.
But I love that feeling of accomplishment, because to me, that's something that doesn't require the film to be a hit. The second you base your sense of self-worth on something as fickle as critical acclaim or even public acceptance of a film, I feel that you put yourself in peril.
So, I'd much rather deal with the physical threats of deep ocean driving or the potential failures of engineering, let's say, then I would the fickleness of the audience. Now, having said that, I'm an experienced filmmaker. I know that you please an audience. That's your primary goal.
And I love making films, I love the artistic side as well. There's this sort of sense out there that you have to choose. You have to choose, are you a humanistic filmmaker or are you a technical visualist? I'll do both, thank you very much.
Do you have to choose between being an explorer or a movie maker? Thank you, I'll do both. Yes, the answer is yes.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SWEENEY: Well, the latest edition to New York's Park Avenue Chamber Symphony is pianist Daniela Leibman. She's already won three international competitions in Germany, Spain, and the United States. That's pretty impressive, and even more so, given that she is just 11 years old.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANIELA LEIBMAN, PIANIST: Hi, my name is Daniela Leibman.
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATION AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR (voice-over): She's not shy in front of the cameras. She's not shy, either, when she performs in front of large audiences in concert halls around Mexico.
Daniela is only 11 years old, but the Mexican-American musical prodigy has already won international piano competitions in Spain, Germany, and the United States.
(CLASSICAL PIANO MUSIC)
LEIBMAN: How I started was my dad's a violinist, so he started me when I was three learning in general music, like learning the notes, singing, and well then, we started seriously at the age of 5 saying I'm going to be a concert pianist for the rest of my life.
ROMO (on camera): Leibman is getting ready for the biggest opportunity of her young life. This fall, she will perform as a soloist with the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in New York.
ROMO (voice-over): Her father says that when he noticed Daniela had an unusual ability to understand rhythm and music, he sent her to take lessons with a renowned piano teacher.
ROBERT LEIBMAN, DANIELA'S FATHER: When she started to play the piano, she got very quickly the idea that she could express her feeling through her fingers.
D. LEIBMAN: You've got to feel the music. When you feel -- I feel it's part of me and that the piano is playing me instead of I'm playing the piano.
ROMO: Maria Luisa Martinez, her mother, says her daughter is still very much a little girl.
MARIA LUISA MARTINEZ, DANIELA'S MOTHER: She's on -- like right now, she's just rolling on the floor, she plays with the dogs, she doesn't take care of her shoes, is very -- she's a kid. She is a kid and we love her. We don't want to stop seeing her as a kid.
ROMO: The young pianist finds inspiration at the Degollado Theater in her native Guadalajara, the same theater where her hero, Placido Domingo, made his debut, and where she also started a career that has moved as swiftly as her fingers over ebony and ivory.
Rafael Romo, CNN.
(END VIDOETAPE)
SWEENEY: And just 11. Tonight's Parting Shots for you now. In an impoverished town in Alabama, America, there is a pink house with a remarkable secret. Artist Matthew Mazzotta tells us how he transformed a symbol of ruin into a novel way of bringing people together.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW MAZZOTTA, ARTIST, CREATOR OF "OPEN HOUSE": York, Alabama, it's a town in the South, it's about 3,000 people, very poor, and kind of strikingly so. Lot of abandoned houses.
Some towns when they turn over and they lose a lot of their industry, people will leave, and oftentimes the people that own those abandoned houses, they don't live in that community anymore.
It's this pink, dilapidated mess that was right in between the town -- the main grocery store and the post office, so if there was ever a house to clean up, it would be that one.
We took the materials from the abandoned house, all the usable materials, and we built a new house, but this new house was a secret. It physically transforms into an open-seat theater that seats 100 people, and they can have plays and movies and any kind of experience that they're interested in having.
When the theater is not being used, it closes back up into the shape of a house and it actually has the same facade as the original house, so it's kind of like a reminder of this transformation or what was there before.
When we started putting the shows together, the mayor did the ribbon- cutting. There was an invocation prayer by a minister, and then there's some gospel singers and a band.
And the nice thing about it, it really started to feel like a space, and when people started dancing and enjoying themselves and socializing and just smiles, it felt surreal in a way, that this used to be an abandoned house and now people are -- using it in a way that totally feels natural and beautiful.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SWEENEY: Artist Matthew Mazzotta there. I'm Fionnuala Sweeney, that was CONNECT THE WORLD, thank you for watching.
END
