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Connect the World
Ramped Up Security in Thailand; Syrian Refugees Flee to Europe; Saving Syria's History; More Terror Attacks in Turkey; Examining Latest US Election Polls. Aired 11a-Noon ET
Aired August 19, 2015 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[11:00:17] BECKY ANDERSON, HOST: Ramped up security in Thailand as the manhunt intensifies for the Bangkok bomber.
An arrest warrant issued for this man and police say he did not act alone. We're live in Bangkok for news shortly.
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ANDERSON: Also ahead this hour...
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ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Help us, help us, the men cry out as our captain tosses a rope.
ANDERSON: A dramatic dawn rescue, CNN is on the frontlines of the struggle of thousands of Syrians to reach safety in Europe. An exclusive report
coming up.
And
ABDULKARIM: We are saying that also thousand objects like this from Byzantine Syrian Byzantine museum sites.
ANDERSON: Risking it all to save ancient artifacts, a rare look at the dangerous fight to protect Syria's precious history.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is Connect the World with Becky Anderson.
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ANDERSON: A very good evening from the UAE at one minute past 7, we are monitoring two developing stories out of Turkey this hour.
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ANDERSON: The military there says 8 soldiers have been killed by a remote controlled roadside bomb in the southeast.
Now this happened in the province of Siirt. A statement released by the Turkish Armed Forces blames a "separatist terror organization" for the
attack.
Meanwhile in Istanbul two gunmen were arrested near the entrance to the city Dolmabahce Palace according to local media. This was after gunfire
was heard at the scene.
The suspects were said to be carrying automatic weapons. No deaths or injuries have been reported in that incident. Following those stories for
you we will bring you more as we get it.
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ANDERSON: Well information is trickling in about the man police in Thailand say is responsible for Monday's deadly bombing in the heart of
Bangkok.
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ANDERSON: The arrest warrant indicates that police still don't know his name but that the suspect is a "male foreigner."
Meanwhile a taxi driver says he believes he gave the bomber a ride just after the explosion happened.
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ANDERSON: Well CNN's Saima Mohsin is in Bangkok tracking what are these latest developments in this manhunt.
What do we know at this point Saima?
SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORREPSONDENT: Becky a lot coming into us now in the last hour in particular we've been piecing our own perspective
together on what's been going on.
Now you mention those arrest warrants. In Thailand you don't need the identity or name of a person for cause to issue an arrest warrant.
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MOHSIN: They are for pre-meditated murder with intent to kill and for jointly deliberately making explosives or a bomb in this case.
Now of course we know now that police don't just want one main suspect. That man in that yellow t-shirt seen coming in with the backpack leaving
without it. He seems to have planted it underneath a bench inside that Shrine.
They are now also looking for two other men. I've spoken to the National Police Spokesman, he told me that they are - have now zeroed in on two men,
one man wearing a white shirt, the other man wearing a red shirt. They believe these are the accomplices of this main suspect.
Now they've identified them also in the CCTV footage Becky. They stand up just as he comes to sit. They appear to be standing in front of him. Now
of course this is all right now conjecture. They need to find these men, they need to speak to them. But they believe, police believe that they are
acting suspiciously, they are trying to hide this man and as he carries out what they believe is to be planting a bomb. And then they seem to all be
leaving together.
Now we've also managed to piece together Becky the next stage to that.
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MOHSIN: CNN has spoken to the motorbike taxi driver that took the man in the yellow shirt away from the scene.
Apparently he tells us that he did not speak to him. He handed him a note on it was written simply two words, Lumpini Park.
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MOHSIN: That is the equivalent of Central Park of Hyde Park in Bangkok. Now they - this taxi driver took him to Lumpini Park and during that
journey, this man in the yellow t-shirt, the main suspect, was speaking on the phone in a language the taxi driver describes to CNN as not English and
not Thai.
[11:05:00] He is adamant that he wasn't speaking either of those languages. All this the police are now piecing together, they're trying to
zero in on it.
And Becky, Prime Minister (inaudible) speaking to local media saying that he is hoping these men turn themselves in. Why? He's saying that their
lives may be at risk if those people behind the bombing, if they are indeed part of a greater network, might try to as he put it "kill them" before
they're able to give away any more of their identity.
Of course no-one yet has claimed responsibility Becky.
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ANDERSON: Saima Mohsin is in Bangkok for you this evening.
Well the EU Border Agency says the migrant crisis in Europe is reaching unprecedented levels.
Frontex says more than 107,000 migrants arrived in EU member states last month alone. Most came ashore in Greece on island close to Turkey, with
hundreds more migrants arriving every day. Aid workers warn that the situation is reaching breaking point.
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ANDERSON: No we are covering this crisis from both sides of the Aegean and Atika Shubert, is on the Greek Island of Kos.
First though we have a report from Arwa Damon, in Bodrum, in Turkey. She and her crew were filming migrant boats before dawn when the unexpected
happened. The coastguard asked the captain of the boat with these CNN crew on board for help rescuing a dingy packed with Syrian refugees.
ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A rubber dingy packed with migrants takes on the Turkish Coastguard. Ignoring the Coastguard's horn,
glaring spotlights and orders to return to shore. Then lost from view.
Just before dawn we're on the same waters. (Inaudible).
The Turkish Coastguard asks our captain for help towing the migrants to shore. They are Syrian, shouting that they don't have a motor anymore and
want to return to dry land.
Help us, help us, the men cry out as our captain tosses a rope. The Coastguard had chased them for two hours and finally the migrants say
threatened to sink their boat if they did not drop their motor.
Then the Coastguard towed the dingy as close to shore as their ship would allow.
60 migrants cramped together collecting their life vests and inner tubes. Their faces telling a tragedy and dejection. But also the relief of still
being alive when so many have perished.
On shore most disappear into waiting taxis. One young man bitterly says "if death wasn't chasing us we would not be trying this."
All night they had been aiming for the twinkling lights of the Greek Island of Kos in the distance, their gateway to Europe. Now a dream left for
another day.
Arwa Damon, CNN, Bodrum, Turkey.
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ANDERSON: While Greece has seen an almost 400% increase in the number of migrants arriving there year on year. That is according to a U.N. Refugee
Spokesman.
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ANDERSON: Nearly 21,000 migrants reached Greece in just one week from August 8th through the 14th. Well that brings the total number of migrants
who have reached Greece so far this year to almost 160,000.
For comparison the total number of migrants in 2014 was 43,500.
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ANDERSON: A lot of refugees who came ashore on the Greek Island of Kos are now heading for the mainland.
They set sail today on a government chartered cruise ship. Atika Shubert is covering that part of the story and joins us now live from Kos. Atika?
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ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right Becky, you can probably see behind me there that's Turkey, it's just 4km away, a
little bit more than two and a half miles, and it's so close and it's considered by many to be the safest route into Europe that's why so many
people risk their lives that way. It's a surreal scene as you can see. This is a tourist beach and yet every morning that we've been here we have
seen landings here every single morning, up to a thousand a day. And it really is overwhelming for the island of Kos.
It just has 40,000 residents so what they've done is have a temporary solution in which a cruise ship was brought here to dock and bring on up to
2500 refugees to process them and then allow them to get off the island.
There's a new development however today that cruise ship has departed Kos and brought hundreds of those refugees to Thessaloniki. That is in
northern Greece and it's really the biggest city that's close to the border of Macedonia.
[11:10:10] Now that is the most popular route for many of these refugees and migrants to cross illegally into Europe and then get to Serbia,
Hungary, ultimately to countries like Germany and Sweden.
Now it's not clear if this is a new strategy or if this is just a one off but this is the first time we've seen that happen Becky.
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ANDERSON: What's the atmosphere like amongst these migrants? They've had pretty hectic journeys many of them and as you suggest they are only part
way through this journey from poverty, from conflict to where they hope they might find a secure future. What have they been telling you?
SHUBERT: Well many of the Syrian refugees we speak to realize that this is a dangerous journey and it's incredible how many families have come over
here. We've spoken to numerous fathers and mothers who have brought very young children with just those little inflatable wings hoping that will
save them in the open sea.
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SHUBERT: But they make this journey because they feel that they have no place now back home in Syria, that it's simply too dangerous. So they're
willing to take the risk.
Many of the Syrian refugees we spoke to were relieved that a cruise ship had come aboard, that the conditions on board were good, and as far as they
were concerned they were being welcomed by Europe. But the trick now was trying to get to their ultimate destinations of Germany and Sweden, and for
that they were willing to risk walking for hours across the border to Macedonia, and then finding ways to take trains or any other kind of
transportation, bicycles even, to get into Serbia, Hungary, and then hopefully be able to make a home in Germany or Sweden.
Already thousands have successfully made that journey and that's why we're seeing so many now trying to do it again. It's a different story for other
migrants however who feel that the Syrian refugees have that kind of pipeline to go through. But for other migrants from Pakistan to Nigeria
the wait is much, much, longer months and months, and there's a - there is a sense of increasing desperation particularly of those who are still stuck
here on the island of Kos, Becky.
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ANDERSON: Atika Shubert there in Greece for you and do stay (inaudible) and for more of Atika's reporting in just a few hours we'll get the first
look of her latest piece as she follows the migrant's desperate attempt to begin a better life in Europe, that is coming up on The World Right Now,
8pm in London, right here on CNN.
Right we're moving on and South Africa's Justice Minister says that Oscar Pistorius will not be released on house arrest on Friday as had been
expected.
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ANDERSON: The para-olympian was convicted of culpable homicide you'll remember and has spent 10 months in jail for fatally shooting his
girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. That is one sixth of his five year sentence which would make him eligible for early release this week.
But that is now on hold. CNN's David McKenzie joining me now live from Johannesburg.
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ANDERSON: Did the authorities explain why Pistorius' parole is on hold David?
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well yes they did Becky and it's in this media statement from the Justice Ministry, it's pretty
dense language but let me try and explain it to you.
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MCKENZIE: What they are saying or what the Justice and Correctional Services Minister is saying that he received a petition from a woman's
group saying that releasing Oscar Pistorius this Friday on correctional supervision sent the wrong signal during South African woman's month.
But he did admit in the statement that this doesn't have any legal standing. So then they went into the law of South Africa and they say that
in fact the parole board for Oscar Pistorius met too early according to them and that in fact they could only meet to decide on the matter, one-
sixth into the sentence, not several months ago in June when they took this decision.
So clearly the Justice Minister is looking at fitting the law with, if not the politics certainly the pressure, or the climate of South Africa, in
delaying this release of Oscar Pistorius.
ANDERSON: So what happens next David?
MCKENZIE: Well they say they're going to refer this matter back to the Parole Review Board, so that is not going to be instant. This Parole
Review Board will presumably come back and take a decision given the fact that they did this too early according to the Justice Minister.
Now he is in charge of both the Ministry of Justice and the Prison Service, so they say this is well within his remit. But the fact that a minister
level politician, a cabinet minister here in South Africa went in and dealt with a very individual case, you know this would not have happened had it
not been such a high profile case of such a high profile person in Oscar Pistorius. The world's media is here awaiting his imminent release.
So the fact that you know it seems like in this case at least, his fame has caught up to him in terms of politicians getting involved, but they say
it's for completely legal reasons.
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[11:15:17] ANDERSON: David McKenzie is in Johannesburg this evening, thank you David.
Still to come a Palestinian hunger strike.
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ANDERSON: Protesting his detention without charge waits for a court ruling as the controversy over his case grows. We are live in Jerusalem for you
in just a moment.
And we take a look at the people risking their lives to save Syria's history. Taking a very short break, you're watching CNN, this is Connect
The World, with me, Becky Anderson, back after this.
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ANDERSON: In Israel the Supreme Court is deciding whether or not to free a Palestinian lawyer who's been on a hunger strike for more than two months
protesting his detention without charge or trial.
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ANDERSON: Now for many Palestinians it's quite literally made 31 year old Mohammad Allan the symbol of their resistance. Allan regained
consciousness from a medically inducted coma on Tuesday and vowed to press on with his strike.
Well the case is throwing a spotlight on Israel's controversial force feeding law passed by its parliament in July. Let's get you into Jerusalem
now where CNN's Oren Liebermann is standing by for us with more.
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ANDERSON: And Oren a decision by the Supreme Court on Allan's detention is expected imminently. Tell us what you've been hearing.
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well the focus today is no longer on the force feeding law which was the debate over the last few
days and weeks, now it's on Mohammed Allan's medical condition and that's what the Supreme Court is weighing right now, so let's begin there.
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LIEBERMANN: What is his medical condition? The hospital says his medical condition is deteriorating, it's worsening. They say he is out of a - he
is conscious, he is out of that medically induced coma, he's of a respirator but the hospital now says he's confused and having difficulty
interacting with his environment so the hospital ordered an MRI.
That MRI, what it shows, what it reveals about his medical condition is at the center of today's hearings. There was a bit of break as they rushed
the MRI results from the hospital in southern Israel in Ashkelon to the Supreme Court, and that's what's being debated now.
The Prosecutor said at the Supreme Court which is actually just here behind us earlier today. They said if Allan's medical condition requires it, they
would be or could be willing to release him. So that's the debate happening now.
Earlier today Allan's lawyers say there was an offer from prosecutors to release him at the end of his administrative detention in early November if
he was willing to end his hunger strike. That's no longer the focus. Today right now at least that focus in the Supreme court is what is Allan's
medical condition? What does that MRI show. That's what we're waiting for Becky.
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[11:20:00] ANDERSON: Oren Israel's Public Security Minister, Gilad Erdan, wrote this on his Facebook page sometime back in fact "Medical feeding is
carried out on the one hand to save the life of a person and on the other hand to prevent a situation where terrorists have a tool to effectively put
pressure against a state that will lead them being freed from prison." How is this playing out within Israeli society Oren?
LIEBERMANN: Well there's been a very, very active debate here. Gilad Erdan's position, the government position, or at least the coalition
position is that this is a security issue. That to allow these hunger strikers to die would be unethical because they view it as committing
suicide and they can't allow prisoners to end their own lives.
Whereas to release these prisoners from administrative detention because they're hunger striking would be a security threat. That is one position.
Now there's been a very vocal outcry about this law with many including the Israeli Medical Association, to the U.N. and many others including Israeli
and Palestinian Human Rights groups simply saying force feeding is torture, don't do it. And it can be greater risk than - to the hunger striker than
the hunger strike itself.
So this very active debate going on here.
ANDERSON: Israeli Human Rights Group B'Tselem says there are, I think I'm right in saying 370 Palestinians being held in Administrative Detention in
Israeli jails. Under this policy suspects can be held for a renewable period of six months without trial or charge.
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ANDERSON: Now this month the court's issued Administrative Detention Orders are for Jewish extremists accused of attacks on Palestinians.
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ANDERSON: Will this case switch the tide against this practice do you think?
LIEBERMANN: My suspicion there is no because the government here views Administrative Detention as a necessary tool and they say it's necessary
because they don't want to bring somebody to trial if for example bringing them to trial would reveal informants, would reveal security issues, would
reveal a threat in national security. So there is this use of Administrative Detention.
As you mentioned there it's incredibly controversial because of the disproportionate use. It's much more often used against Palestinians. It
was in fact very rare, it was quite a story in and of itself here when it was used against Israeli's against Jewish extremists.
The number we've seen there, you said 370, I've seen 400 in other places but that is the issue. Even B'Tselem says Administrative Detention may be
legal under international law but the government here - their criticism is the government here uses it far too often and far too often against the
Palestinians.
ANDERSON: Oren Liebermann, is in Jerusalem for you this evening. I am in Abu Dhabi, this is Connect The World, with me Becky Anderson and coming up.
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ANDERSON: Another high ranking Democratic U.S. lawmaker comes out against the world power's nuclear deal with Iran. Now can the agreement survive
the U.S. Congress?
And find out how one businessman is cashing in on the growing demand for hotels in Nigeria. That is in African Start Up, and that is next.
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ANDERSON: Nigeria is a major business destination in Africa, small business travellers means more hotel rooms. PricewaterhouseCoopers
projects Nigeria's hospitality market will grow significantly in the next five years.
Online hotel booking portals are benefiting. Among them, Mark Essien's hotels.ng.
[11:25:11] MARK ESSIEN, FOUNDER HOTELS.NG: What really drove this is that I wanted to build a technology company in Nigeria.
ANDERSON: According to Forbes Hotels.ng is Nigeria's leading hotel booking website.
ESSIEN: This business had the technology elements that I wanted and it was something that with my own resources I could also launch. I was studying
in Germany at the time. I said you know I'm going to come back to Nigeria and I'm going to build this.
ANDERSON: After completing his studies, the tech entrepreneur worked in Germany eventually returning to Nigeria in 2013 to start hotels.ng out of
Lagos.
He said he used his own funds to buy the domain name. Next he went to the hotels.
ESSIEN: I went door to door to each of the hotels and told them you know hey I'm going to bring you online traffic. All of them looked at me and
thought you know that's crazy. But they also thought there's no harm in it. So they said sure, go ahead. That's when I got noticed by people that
invest in companies from Lagos. Then they told me you are going to invest some $5,000 in this business, I said yes and it's good.
ANDERSON: Essien says he needed to gain the trust of customers and hotel operators.
ESSIEN: We have to deal with the fear the hotel managers had, you know their lack of understanding they basically had for the business.
We also have to deal with the customers. A lot of customers then, and even 'till now, they still do not trust online services.
We did not make any money for the first six months because we just wanted to demonstrate to people that we are actually creating value for them. And
given until now whenever we sign on any new hotel, we say you know, we want to first of all bring you five customers. If we don't bring you five
customers then we are not going to ask you about anything related to money.
ANDERSON: In Essien's first year he says he signed up about 3,000 hotels and had attracted more than $225,000 in investments.
ESSIEN: At the end of the year we were out of that money but we had been able to transition to become a profitable company. We are doing booking of
over a million dollars and at the start of 2015 we went into talks to raise for that capital.
A few months later we're able to raise $1.2 million.
ANDERSON: Hotels.ng says it now lists 7,000 hotels in Nigeria, and 31 year old Essien is exploring what's next.
ESSIEN: I think the model that we have created here in Nigeria it's something that's viable across the rest of Africa. We are very strong in
Nigeria, we have built a good brand with the hotels, with the customers, and I think we can replicate the same across the rest of Africa.
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[11:30:05] It's just after half past seven in the UAE, this is Connect The World with me, Becky Anderson, with the top stories for you this hour.
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ANDERSON: We're hearing more about the man Thai police say is responsible for Monday's attack in Bangkok.
The arrest warrant issued describes him as an unnamed male foreigner. Meanwhile a taxi driver tells CNN he believes he picked up the suspect
shortly after the explosion.
Turkey's military says 8 soldiers have been killed in a remote controlled roadside bomb in the southeast province of Siirt. This comes as two gunmen
were arrested near the entrance to Istanbul's Dolmabahce Palace according to local media. This was after gunfire was heard at the scene.
Germany's parliament has overwhelmingly approved a bailout for Greece. The plan is worth $95 billion over three years. Germany of course is Greece's
single biggest creditor. The vote was passed in the Bundestag by 454 votes to 113.
South Africa's Justice Minister says Oscar Pistorius will not be released on house arrest on Friday as had been expected.
The Para Olympian is eligible for early release this week after serving 10 months of a prison sentence for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, but
a parole board review has now been ordered.
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ANDERSON: Now we'll shift to U.S. Politics at this point and a remarkable new CNN poll that is just out.
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ANDERSON: In a hypothetical matchup between Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump, she beats him by just 6 points. That is a dramatic change from July
when she held a 16 point lead over the Republican frontrunner.
Clinton's camp has other reasons for concern. The race for the Democratic nomination is narrowing as well. Bernie Sanders is now within 18 points of
Clinton. That is a 10 point jump for him compared to last month.
Let's delve deeper into these numbers. CNN senior political reporter, Nia- Malika Henderson joins us now from Washington.
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ANDERSON: And I guess the big question is this isn't it? Hadn't these poll numbers at this point be draw - could be drawing lines as to where and
whether these would actually affect votes in 16 months' time.
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: You know that's the big question. If you talk to political scientists, or even just political
reporters they say no because if you were to look back at 2011 at this point people like Rick Perry were in the lead, Michelle Bachmann was doing
well at this point in 2011.
Also what happens in the summer, at least the conventional wisdom says, pretty much stays in the summer. And once people start to actually look at
the issues side by side, and look at the candidates side by side in January, February, and March, once votes are starting to be cast that
things could be different.
But listen, the argument about Donald Trump has always been that he isn't electable.
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HENDERSON: You mentioned that poll that showed a 16% gap before. He's within 6 now, he's actually doing better in a hypothetical match up than
Jeb Bush. So that sort of thing I think is troubling for somebody like Jeb Bush and all these other candidates who say well they're the more electable
candidate, that American's are unlikely to nominate and then vote for somebody like Donald Trump, I mean these numbers seem to suggest otherwise.
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ANDERSON: We saw in that hypothetical, I thought it was quite interesting that Joe Biden has some 14%. He hasn't even shown his hand at this point.
Thoughts?
HENDERSON: That's right, he hasn't shown his hand and he's got about 14% points amongst the goers about 17% points.
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HENDERSON: So he is a beloved figure in a Democratic party. I think the question is not only does he or doesn't he run, right, he's said to be
deciding this and in the next couple of weeks will decide. If he doesn't run, then where does that support go? Where does that 14 percentage points
go? Does it go to Clinton who's in the lead over Bernie Sanders, or does it go to Bernie Sanders, who is very much gaining on her.
There is still that gap but he has certainly erased his name I.D. among democrats, among Americans more generally. So yes, some troubling signs
for Clinton there.
But I will say overall if you look at this poll Clinton leads every Republican challenger. She has the highest unfavorability ratings of her
career. She hasn't had them this high since January of 1996. But yet, and still, in every hypothetical matchup against any of these challenges from
Carly Fiorina to Jeb Bus to Donald Trump, she's still in the lead.
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[11:35:10] ANDERSON: There is still a man at the White House, his name is President Barack Obama.
HENDERSON: That's right.
ANDERSON: Of course he's got 16 or so months left. How does where the White House sees its cards as it were affect who might or might not get
support going forward? I mean I read recently for example, correct me if I'm wrong, that it doesn't look as if the White House is particularly
pressing Joe Biden to stand. They are, it seems to me, more behind Hilary Clinton for example, and worried that that might sort of knock things about
a bit.
Does that reflect what you are hearing and seeing at this point?
HENDERSON: Yes, that's right. What I'm hearing, what I'm seeing certainly my conversations are sort of on background conversations with current White
House officials, former White House officials, they all talk about Hilary Clinton, that they - she would be the most likely person to carry on the
legacy of Barack Obama.
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HENDERSON: And in part I mean there was a big cultural shift right with Barack Obama ascending to the President first African American and Hilary
Clinton obviously would embody that same sort of progressive change that Democrats want to see and certainly the White House wants to see.
So yes, not a lot - there's not a real Biden caucus within the White House, and quite frankly there's not a huge Biden caucus either within the
Democratic party. As we saw he's got about 14% of the vote. If he got in he would be in that same lane as Hilary Clinton, but guess what she's so
far out ahead in terms of fundraising, in terms of buzz and momentum, it would be hard for him to find some space in that same lane because Hilary
Clinton fills it up so massively.
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ANDERSON: And Nia-Malika Henderson is in Washington for you this evening, a pleasure having you on. Thank you.
HENDERSON: Thank you.
ANDERSON: Well the Presidential hopefuls have been weighing in on foreign policy too under the microscope of U.S. and Western powers' nuclear
agreement with Iran of course.
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ANDERSON: Hilary Clinton is in favor of the deal and has warned if the agreement is not approved that "all bets are off."
On the other side of the aisle, Republican contenders have slammed the diplomatic (inaudible). At the head of the pack, Donald Trump, has said he
would make a deal but that it would be 100 times better, and I quote him on that. And he has asked why didn't we get our prisoners back?
One of those American's being held in Iran is the Washington Post Tehran Bureau Chief, Jason Rezaian.
He's been jailed for more than a year for alleged spying charges. Both the newspaper and the U.S. government have called absurd.
Iran's judiciary says a verdict in his case will come this week. CNN's Jim Sciutto reports on his ordeal and uncertain fates of three other Americans
in Iran.
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He's spent 391 days in Iran's most notorious prison without being charged for months, tried behind
closed doors. But now a verdict could come this week.
American Jason Rezaian, the Washington Post Tehran Bureau Chief appeared on CNN's Anthony Bourdain, Parts Unknown just before he was detained last
July. Eventually he was accused of spying and collaborating with a hostile government. Charges his family, his employer and the U.S. government call
faceless.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want Jason to have a fair trial and the only fair verdict is to acquit him.
SCUITTO: Along with Amir Hekmati, Saeed Abedini, and Robert Levinson resigned as one of four Americans held or missing in Iran.
President Obama has vowed to win their release.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And certainly we will not rest until we bring him home to his family, safe and sound.
SCUITTO: But the President came under sharp fire for not securing their freedom as part of a landmark nuclear deal with Iran, bristling when
challenged by a reporter.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: The notion that I am content as I celebrate with American citizens languishing in Iranian jails, major that's nonsense.
SCUITTO: His family feels that Jason has become a political part in the challenging U.S. Iran relationship.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He is paying the price of the decision, the animosity, and the paranoia between the two countries for more than 37
years.
SCUITTO: Iran has a history of holding Americans on trumped up charges. From journalist, Roxanne Saberi, to the American hikers captured in Iran,
later releasing them after public trials and before serving out their sentences.
In Washington there is concern with why Iran is detaining him and what they hope to get out of all of this.
ALIREZA NADER, RAND CORPORATION: Because he's a high profile prisoner in Iran that there is a chance that he's being used as a political pawn and
once the Iranian government has no further use for him he will be released.
Jim Scuitto, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[11:40:08] ANDERSON: Well of course we'll keep you updated on Jason's case here on CNN. Let's take a look at the status of the Iran nuclear deal
in the U.S. congress at this point.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Lawmakers have until September 17th to vote on a resolution either approving or disapproving the agreement.
Republicans who control both the house and senate of course say they have enough votes to block the deal. Now if that happens, President Obama has
promised to veto the measure. Congress would then have a chance to override his veto but that takes a two thirds majority vote in both
chambers, something that really happens. And to do that Republicans will need to attract the support of at least 10 of the 44 Democrats in the
senate.
Well Robert Menendez on Tuesday became the second senator for Mr. Obama's party to come out against the agreement.
I am joined now by CNN's Athena Jones, who's following the vote count in D.C. and Athena this is another high ranking Democratic senator who has
now criticized the deal publicly.
Is the White House getting nervous at this point?
ATHENA JONES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi Becky, well if the White House is nervous they're not letting on. But you're right this is the
second senate Democrat, a prominent Democrat to come out against this deal. This is after influential New York Democrat Chuck Schumer announced his
opposition to the Iran deal just a few weeks ago.
Menendez though did this in a big speech in front of a big audience at Seton Hall University yesterday. Schumer did it in a blog post. Let's go
ahead and play what Senator Menendez had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT MENEDEZ, U.S. Senate Democrat: I have looked into my own soul and my devotion to principal maybe once again lead me to an unpopular course.
But Iran is to acquire a nuclear bomb, it will not have my name on it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: It will not have my name on it so the senator using strong words there and echoing a lot of the arguments that his colleague, Chuck Schumer
gave saying that this deal is based on hope. Hope that Iran will not violate this agreement as it has agreement sin the past. And hope when the
deal sunsets in 15 years Iran won't be a bad actor in the region, it won't be a state sponsor of terror and it won't want a nuclear bomb. And he says
look, hope is not a plan.
Even so, since Menendez has been a vocal critic his opposition was not unexpected and the White House says they're confident. A White House
Spokesman saying, I believe we have this to put up on the screen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: "We remain confident that ultimately a majority of Democrats in both the House and the Senate will support the deal."
So they're saying they're not worried. Becky?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Athena, briefly as the congressional vote approaches of course we've seen an increasingly active Iran on the political , sorry on the
Diplomatic front in this region where we are. Is there a link here? Does the U.S. hold out hope that it can work with Iran on an international
crisis not least for example Syria?
JONES: Well I think they certainly hold out hope. I mean you'll remember that the negotiations about their nuclear deal focused only on the nuclear
issue. They didn't bring in for instance those prisoners although they were mentioned frequently they were not part of the deal. The deal did not
require Iran to stop all of its terrorism and actions in the region that the U.S. believes it is sponsoring. And yet they do hope that they can
work with Iran for instance to release those prisoners and in other matters, of course Syria being a big issue.
But central here right now is of course in congress the nuclear agreement and everything else right now is tangential. You have a lot of the people
who are against the agreement saying we should have gotten more out of Iran, we should have made sure, the U.S. should have made sure that Iran
stopped you know sponsoring bad acts in the region, et cetera.
But right now the big question is how things will turn out with this deal. Becky?
ANDERSON: Yes, fascinating, thank you, live from Abu Dhabi this is Connect The World with me, Becky Anderson. Coming up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Find out why this man thinks he has the saddest job in the world. We get exclusive access from people risking it all to save Syria's
history. We're going to take a very short break, back after this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(END COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:46:25] ANDERSON: This is Connect The World with me, Becky Anderson, it is a quarter to eight in the evening here in the UAE. ISIS has reportedly
beheaded a leading antiquities expert in the Syrian city of Palmyra.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Now activists and officials tell us that ISIS then hung the body of 82 year old Khaled al-Assad you see here from a column in the ancient
city. A very tragic end for a man who dedicated 50 years of his life to preserving antiquities in the city.
Well it's been almost three months since ISIS took control of Palmyra. It released these images at the time of evidence of its conquest. Despite the
increasing danger some are risking their lives to protect the 2,000 year old city which is also a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Frederick Pleitgen reports.
FRED PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The ancient castle of Palmyra now under ISIS control with Syrian government forces firing
artillery at the extremist positions trying to win back this area.
Palmyra is only one of many historic and archaeological sites threatened by Syria's ongoing civil war and weighing heavily on Mahmoud Abdulkarim, the
head of Syria's Antiquities and Museums.
MAHMOOD ABDULKARIM, DIRECTOR GENERAL SYRIAN ANTIQUITIES & MUSEUMS: I am saddest director general in the (inaudible). Each day I receive new
(inaudible) message from instruction of the (inaudible) in Syria.
PLEITGEN: But Abdulkarim has vowed to put up a fight, wanting a massive operation to evacuate artifacts from sites under threat and bring them to
Damascus for cataloging and storage in secret locations.
ABDULKARIM: And we are say that also thousand objects like this from Byzantine, Syrian Byzantine museum sites, and it's from the era 2000 BC.
PLEITGEN: From Mesopotamia to the Roman and Byzantine eras to the earliest traces of Christianity and Islam Syria has among the greatest and most
diverse variety of cultural treasures in the world.
Volunteers here have already saved hundreds of thousands of pieces they say and remarkably they get support from both the Syrian government and
opposition forces.
ABDULKARIM: We have 2,500 person in our director general of the deputy. We are public but we are working still now an area under control of the
opposition army also. Because and finally our job is scientific, it's professional, it's for (inaudible).
PLEITGEN: The only ones who don't cooperate and publicly destroy some of the world's greatest historic sites both in Iraq and in Syria are ISIS
militants.
ISIS recently advanced to the ancient roman ruins in Palmyra pushing out government forces. But by then Mahmoud Abdulkarim's workers had already
taken hundreds of pieces to safety.
This photo was taken in Palmyra only days before ISIS arrived. All of these statues that you see here are Roman Syriac and they all come from
Palmyra which is now under ISIS control. They were apparently recovered in Lebanon by the police there after they were smuggled to that country. And
in total the folks here at the Antiquities Ministry have managed to recover and catalog some 400 statutes and busts from Palmyra.
Saving Syria's history comes at a heavy price. 13 employees of the Directorate of Antiquities have been killed. One recently by mortar fire
that hit the ground of the national museum in Damascus.
[11:50:06] It's halls are completely empty, all pieces evacuated to protect them from shelling. And the staff has taken other drastic measure
as well like building concrete shells for ancient sarcophagus' to protect them from bombs.
ABDULKARIM: Really our job is very difficult but finally it is not political but it's concerned about the (inaudible).
PLEITGEN: A battle they hope to win and one day bring back all of Syria's cultural treasures from their secret hiding places and display them
publicly once again.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Damascus
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well as Fred mentioned there are thousands of historical artifacts across Syria.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: For a closer look at the cultural impact of Syria's war then head to CNN.com where you can find this photo gallery showing some of the
historical sites destroyed by ISIS.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Live from Abu Dhabi this is Connect The World with me, Becky Anderson.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Coming up, I want to turn to Turkey to give you a unique view that many people travel across the world to see (inaudible).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(END COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: We continue with Connect The World with me, Becky Anderson, a couple of minutes left before we close out the show.
When Viagra broke on the scene in the late 90s it was said to revolutionized sex for men. Well now there is a similar job to women. The
makers of Addyi say it can improve a woman's sex drive and it's just been given the go ahead by U.S. Regulators.
Elizabeth Cohen has the details on what is being called the "little pink pill."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[Video] This is the age of knowing how to make things happen.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We've heard the pitches and the questions
[Video] So why let erectile dysfunction get in your way.
COHEN: Men have had an answer in pills like Viagra for more than 15 years.
[Video] Ask your doctor if Viagra is right for you.
COHEN: But now the Food and Drug Administration is finally answering a long lingering important question from women.
[Video] What the F*** are we really so far behind that we don't think women have the right to sexual desire?
COHEN: And now the FDA has approved a pill to address female libido for the first time in history.
[Video] There isn't one available medication on the market.
COHEN: Spoof ads like this have become part of a campaign called even the score, sponsored in part by Sprout Pharmaceuticals, the maker of
Flibanseran.
[Video] It works on key chemicals in the brain to increase desire and decrease distress.
COHEN: Some experts say the problem is more psychological than physical for many women who's lack of libido is not due to disease or relationship
problems.
According to a 2002 study up to one third of adult women experience Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder, the technical term for a lack or absence
of sexual desire or a fantasy which causes distress.
[Video] I am pleading for help for an option.
COHEN: FDA committee meetings have acted as a platform for women to address the agency about Flibanseran, most recently in June.
[Video] It's not just about me, it's about the millions of other women I have to represent today who are looking to the FDA for a solution.
COHEN: Many desperate for help.
[Video] I want to want my husband, it is that simple.
11:55:02] COHEN: But it's not that simple. The FDA had previously rejected Flibanseran twice noting that the modest benefit of the drug
wasn't worth potentially risky side effects including depression.
But for some women struggling with desire, the hope for help is greater than the fear of side effects.
AMANDA PATRICK, FLIBANSERAN PATIENT: It's not an easy conversation to have with the man that you love to say hey, I love you, I'm highly attracted to
you, but for some reason I just don't want to cozy up and have sex.
I think women finally are on a level playing ground or heading in the right direction to be on a level playing ground.
COHEN: Elizabeth Cohen, CNN reporting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: What do you think? Is a Viagra like - is a Viagra like drug for women good or bad and would you use it?
Well we are continuing this debate on our Facebook page where you can let us know your thoughts as ever. Facebook.com/cnnconnect. You can get in
touch with me. I'm on Twitter that's @BeckyCnn -- @BeckyCnn.
For your parting shot this evening we want to take you on a hot air balloon wide above a UNESCO World Heritage site, the Cappadocia National Park in
Turkey, is the only place in the world where 100 hot air balloons are allowed to fill the sky all at once.
My CNN, colleague sent us these unique scenes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(INAUDIBLE) The site is from out of this world so exceptional that you immediately notice waking up at 4:30 in the morning is worth this ride.
Up to 3,000 feet above the ground balloons (inaudible) up and down, left to right, and sometimes inches from the (Faroe) chimneys every morning, each
carrying about 20 passengers to show the fairytale like scenery come alive.
This is Cappadocia, a semi-arid national park in Central Turkey and the UNESCO World Heritage site that attracts millions of tourists each year.
Cappadocia is the only hub in the world that allows as many as 100 balloons in the sky at the same time. A big hot volcanic eruption centuries ago
created these limestone formations which several different civilizations lived in and cultivated on.
The ride ends with a glass of champagne honoring a French tradition and an item surely goes off the bucket list.
I'm (Inaudible) and these were my parting shots.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: And I'm Becky Anderson and that was, Connect The World, good evening.
END
