Return to Transcripts main page

Connect the World

A Call to Topple a Prime Minister; Interview with Bernie Sanders. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired August 30, 2015 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN MALE 1: We must remove this prime minister.

JONATHAN MANN, CNN ANCHOR: A call for people power to topple a prime minister. A former leader joins the masses in Malaysia crying foul over

corruption claims. We're live in Kuala Lumpur as the street rallies play out and the embattled prime minister responds.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANN: Also ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERNIE SANDERS, U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This country belongs to all of us. Our government must represent all of us and not just a handful of

billionaires.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANN: We hear from the U.S. presidential candidate who says he's helping make a mass movement for change. Plus saying goodbye, the man who said it

so eloquently himself. Pioneering neurologist and writer, Olivers Sacks has died months after touching so many readers with his writings on

terminal cancer.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN, this is Connect the World.

MANN: Thanks for joining us. One of Malaysia's most influential figures is calling for the people to push Prime Minister Najib Razak out of office.

Former leader, Mahathir Mohamad, joining protests against the very man he helped bring to power. Mr. Najib is entangled in a financial scandal,

accused of taking more than $700 million from a debt-laden state fund. He denies any wrongdoing, but tens of thousands of demonstrators clad in

yellow shirts are gathered in the capitol for the second straight day. Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani is the Malaysia correspondent for Singapore-based

Straits Times. He joins us now from Kuala Lumpur via Skype. Thanks so much for being with us. Mahathir Mohamad has already called for the prime

minister to resign. But this weekend he seems to have gone significantly further, and in a very public way. What can you tell us?

ASRUL HADI ABDULLAH SANI, STRAITS TIMES, MALAYSIA CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think Mohamad has been the most (inaudible) Najib's prime ministership.

And today was a big, big -- a big, big push for, let's say, for the purposes of (inaudible) with Mohamad coming down to ground, written that

people are saying that he wanted to step down. I think it is a big questions to ask for Najib.

MANN: Well, what is the prime minister saying?

ABDULLAH SANI: Well, Najib just had his pre-Modica (ph) speech earlier. And he criticized all the protesters and called them traitors and promised

that he will not allow anyone to steal or destroy the country. So I think Najib is staying put and will not back down from this challenge or from

this latest rhetoric from the former Prime Minister Mehdi.

MANN: So this is a standoff, this is a rivalry. But on the one hand the man who created modern Malaysia is calling on the people to start a popular

uprising, a rebellion, against the prime minister. The prime minister is saying he's not going anywhere. Who wins in this contest?

ABDULLAH SANI: Well, it is difficult. I mean, Mehdi, even though still influential, he no longer has the put in unto itself. He has, although he

has the support of many of the conservatives, but Najib has all the divisional heads, all the key analysts in his pocket, if you might say

that. And it will be very difficult. I mean Mahdi is touting a vote of non-confidence in the October prime minister sitting. And if that has

happened then the shift might go away from Najib, but I don't see it happening, so.

MANN: Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani, of the Straits Times, thanks so much for talking with us.

ABDULLAH SANI: Thank you.

MANN: Germany, France and Britain are calling for an urgent meeting of top EU ministers to work out how to address Europe's growing migrant crisis.

Austrian police say they intercepted a van loaded with 26 people including three children near the German border. The children were taken to hospital

for treatment, but the head of the pediatric department says they recovered well enough to leave. Meanwhile, Hungarian police say that a fifth man has

now been arrested in connection with the discovery of an abandoned truck with 71 decomposing bodies inside. It was found on the side of a highway

in Austria last week. That tragedy highlights the enormous risks many migrants are taking as they make their way across Europe. Many are stuck

in limbo right now in Hungary. CNN's Arwa Damon is there.

ARWA DAMON, CNN REPORTER: Jonathan, we've been here for the last few days, and people just can't take it anymore. They are all running out of money

and, on a number of occasions, we've seen some parents completely break down because mother's say they can't really afford to properly feed their

babies, their children. And at this stage, there is no solution. There is no viable end in sight to their existence like this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAMON: Each person here has a story of misery, most refugees from the wars ravaging Syria and Iraq left it to languish in the heart of Europe. This

is Budapest train station turned refugee way station. Some try to wash off the filth and grime as best they can to restore a bit of dignity after a

journey to get here that has stripped them of it. They exist in limbo, waiting away the hours, hoping that the road ahead to Western Europe will

open.

This 19-year-old asks that we not disclose her identity. She doesn't want her parents to see her like this. She has a nursing degree, two small

children. But Iraq is not a country that she can call home anymore. Her husband, Sam, had worked at the family's hair salon but tragedy struck way

too often.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What made them decide that they couldn't go back to Iraq was another attack on the hair salon. And his uncle, who taught him

everything he knew, was killed and his younger brother was wounded.

DAMON: They tried to board a train here. Bought the tickets but then were told, no, not without a VISA. Cars with drivers willing to bend the rules

that can get them through, priced at 500 euros-plus person. The scam options and desperation leave them vulnerable to criminal gangs. And all

have heard of the fate of the 71 who perished in the cooler truck on the highway to get there.

Pabah (ph) also doesn't want to appear on camera, wiping away her tears as she tells us of her four and six-year-old in Damascus. She, 27 and with a

law degree, is making the journey in hopes her family can join her without having to go through this. People are saying that Syrians smell. The way

we're being treated, without a place to shower, turned us into this, she says. At the camp near the border she says treatment was inhumane. They

throw the water at us, and you have to scramble for it like an animal. She escaped under the barbed wire but went back, unable to keep going alone.

Even in Budapest, she says, the response, whenever she wants to buy something, is this.

PABAH: From Syria? No, no, no. Go.

DAMON: Germany, however, says it will take hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers. So no one here can comprehend why Hungary won't let them go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

People have also been going out and demonstrating at the entrance to the train station, pleading, begging with Germany to do something, begging the

United Nations, the European Union, anyone who is willing to listen to somehow find a solution. They do not want to go and report to the

Hungarian camp. They do not want to be trapped here. And, increasingly, more and more of them are going to begin turning to those smugglers and

those criminal gangs who do not have their best interests at heart. They know it is a great risk to go that route but they're saying the longer

they're forced to stay like this they're going to be left with no choice but to put their lives, the lives of their children in the hands of those

who can even just promise to get them across. Jonathan.

MANN: Arwa Damon. We're keeping a close eye on Europe's refugee crisis with special coverage all through this week as more people reach Italy's

shores. We'll speak to the country's foreign minister Monday to ask him how Brussels is responding to his calls for more support. Right after

that, the UN's rapporteur for migrants will join us too to explain why he says European countries are well able to accommodate all the people

flocking to their shores and why Europe actually needs them. All that, as CNN journalists keep reporting every stage of the treacherous migrant

journey.

A U.S. led coalition hunting ISIS targets in Syria now has a little more fire power. After months of resistance from Ankara, Turkish war planes are

flying sorties against the Islamic militants. The first coalition air strikes were carried out Saturday. Turkey did act on its own, though, when

it bombed ISIS positions in Syria last month, though without entering Syrian air space. Turkey's new willingness to take on ISIS comes only

after a terror attack within its own borders. Nick Paton Walsh joins us now from Beirut, Lebanon with more. Nick, what can you tell us about the

air strikes and the new coordination with the anti-ISIS alliance?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Turkish government wasn't specific about what it was that they actually hit in

these first strikes but they did appear to have happened yesterday. Now we know from activists on the ground that there are a number of towns in what

is normally supposed to be in the months ahead, according to the Turkish government, "the safe zone" which they want to establish in northern Syria.

Now ISIS has been pushing forwards into that area with some success in the past weeks or so, days or so, in fact, leaving a lot of the more moderate

rebels to move back from that particular area. So the question is, what is the Turkish move here in response to that or something else? It's not

entirely clear, Jonathan.

MANN: What will the impact be? What is the impact in general? ISIS has survived and thrived despite thousands of air strikes. What difference do

a few more make from one more set of airplanes?

WALSH: Well, the whole issue about when Turkey could join was about involving them in the rotation the coalition already has, and it, perhaps,

involves not just the U.S. over Syria, others as well. And that was sort of a technical complexity. So you're adding an extra nation to fire power

into that, but I think the broader aspiration for involving Turkey in this is it will, in the words, perhaps, of some of western officials, get them

off the bench, make them much more involved in shoring up their border against northern Syria. That's key because it's been southern Turkey that

ISIS has been allowed to have some degree of a safe haven is or certainly used as a transit route into northern Syria.

So that's absolutely key, I think, in the mind of slowing down the flow of people and material from southern Turkey into northern Syria. That's also

one of the reasons why this safe zone was sought by the Turkish. They wanted to see rebels. They were more comfortable with, moderate ones

running that particular area. And once it had been established that would effectively isolate ISIS from the entire southern Turkish border. They'll

probably still find some kind of way through. But the broader questions really comes down to exactly what level of fire power the Turkish are

willing to deploy here. The key issues being that many have criticized them of using the declaration of being involved now in the U.S. campaign to

also more thoroughly hit the curves rather that try to focus that fire power on ISIS.

So right now they're saying yes, they've begun their strike. But bear in mind that's weeks after many believing Turkey were already involved in

these air strikes, but actually it seemed much that fire power was against their older foe, the Kurd separatists. Jonathan.

MANN: Nick Paton Walsh following two wars, in essence, for us from Beirut. Thanks very much. Live from CNN Center, this is Connect the World. Coming

up, a surge in the polls, but can Democratic presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders, really catch Hillary Clinton? We'll look at what's happening in

the race later this hour. And anger in Lebanon, a look at the turmoil spilling into the streets in Beirut in about 20 minutes' time. This is

Connect the World.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MANN: Welcome back. We turn now to the U.S. presidential campaign. And a new poll from the Des Moines Register and Bloomberg Politics which shows

support eroding for Democratic frontrunner in Iowa, a key state very early in the contest. Rival Bernie Sanders is picking up steam and now you see

just 7 points away. CNN's Jake Tapper spoke with Sanders on his State of the Union a short time again about why he thinks he's gaining ground.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERNIE SANDERS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: People do not understand why the middle class of this country is collapsing at the same time of almost all

of the new income and wealth is going to the top one percent. People do not like that, as a result of Citizens United, our campaign finance system

has become corrupt and politicians are dependent upon Super Packs and billionaires for money. People want us to deal with climate change, make

college affordable. Those are the issues I have been talking about. Those are the issues that are generating enormous enthusiasm from one end of this

country to the other.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: You said this week that the biggest mistake President Obama made was thinking he could negotiate with Speaker Boehner

and Republican leader, Mitch McConnell. How can you get this very ambitious agenda through, which includes -- you didn't mention, an estate

tax on those who inherit more than $3.5 million, a trillion dollars spent on infrastructure. How are you going to do that without dealing with

Congress?

SANDERS: And that infrastructure program, Jake, would create some 13 million jobs. I will tell you how. I have a lot of respect for Barack

Obama. He is a friend of mine. The biggest mistake, I believe, that he made, and I disagree with him on a number of policy issues, but his biggest

political mistake is after his brilliant 2008 political campaign when he rallied millions of people to stand up and fight back. Basically what he

said after he was elected, well, I will take it from here. I will negotiate with Boehner and Mitch McConnell and the Republicans.

Two points. First of all these guys never had any intention of seriously negotiating. I think the president has caught on to that. But, second of

all, the powers that be in Washington, Wall Street, the huge campaign donors, the Koch brothers are so powerful that the only way we bring about

real change in this country, which represents the needs of the middle class and working families, is when millions of people stand up and say enough is

enough. They are organized, and that is what I am talking about when I speak about a political revolution. No president, not Bernie Sanders or

anybody else can do it unless millions of people say, you know what, this country belongs to all of us. Our government must represent all of us and

not just a handful of billionaires. It can't be done within the beltway itself. We need a mass movement and that's what we are trying to create,

and are succeeding in creating right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANN: Bernie Sanders talking with Jake Tapper. Well, joining us now to talk about what this all means, Ryan Lizza, CNN political commentator and

also Washington correspondent for the New Yorker. Thanks so much for being with us.

RYAN LIZZA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah, my pleasure.

MANN: He is gruff. He's not particularly photogenic. He doesn't seem particularly happy most days. But can that man, Bernie Sanders, really

derail that train that seemed to be leading Hillary Clinton to a coronation?

LIZZA: Well, he -- it's going to be hard. It's going to be very difficult. One thing he does not have yet, despite his surge in the polls

and the big crowds he's building and the media interest he's creating, he doesn't have support from the Democratic Party at large. Believe it or

not, the best predictor of who wins the Party's nomination is endorsements from Party leaders. At this stage of the game polls are not very

predictive as to who actually wins the nomination. So I would look for the next stage of Bernie Sanders' campaign. If we start to see democratic

officials who have second doubts about Hillary Clinton saying, you know what? I'm with Bernie Sanders. And we have not seen that yet. And

frankly, he's not actually a democrat. He's an independent. He caucuses with the Democrats in the Senate.

MANN: He's a socialist. That's the key thing.

LIZZA: And he's a socialist, which is very rare in American politics. I mean, very, very rare to have a self-described socialist and someone who's

doing quite well, leading Hillary Clinton in the New Hampshire polls and right on her tail in Iowa. But this is going to be tough. He's not Barack

Obama. Remember, Barack Obama was able to eat into certain constituencies that were very strong with Hillary Clinton. So far --

MANN: Okay, I'm going to jump in.

LIZZA: Yes, go for it.

MANN: I'm going to jump in. Because we're trying to get what? Like 20 different candidates into this program.

LIZZA: That's right.

MANN: Some of them are Republicans. Let's talk about them.

LIZZA: Yes.

MANN: Front runner, Donald Trump, of course. Drawing a lot of controversy for his immigration proposals.

LIZZA: Yes.

MANN: And now his rivals are taking up the subject. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie says, foreigners who enter the U.S. on visas should be

tracked like the Federal Express courier service tracks its boxes and packages. Listen to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR CHRIS CHRISTY: At any moment, FedEx can tell you where that package is. It's on the truck. It's at the station. It's on the

airplane. It's back at another station. It's back on the truck. It's at her doorstep. She just signs for it. Yet, we let people come into this

country with VISAs. And the minute they come in, we lose track of them. We can't - so here's what I'm going to do as president. I'm going to ask

Fred Smith, the founder of FedEx, come work for the government for three months.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANN: So he's comparing people to boxes. Inanimate objects that don't eat or sleep or have any human rights. It's kind of outrageous. But is it the

kind of thing you would do if you were Chris Christie, a man who's way behind in the polls and wants to make headlines and get noticed?

LIZZA: Yes. It's kind of sad. I mean, Christie, at one point when he won re-election in New Jersey in 2013, he was considered the man to beat in the

2016 presidential race. He's really slid from there. He's very desperate right now trying to get into the CNN debate. And he's slipping so far in

the polls that he might not make that cutoff for the debate. And frankly, what we've seen from other candidates is when they reach that point, they

say something outrageous or provocative to try and boost media interest and maybe juice their poll numbers a little bit.

A second thing to say about this is it's clearly what's happening, is Donald Trump and his anti-immigration campaign is having an effect on the

other republican candidates. And you're starting to see each one of them trying to come up with a more outrageous way to talk about this issue.

MANN: Now Trump, for his part, has, you say outrageous and provocative, he is, and he continues to break all the rules. One of them is he's running

for the republican nomination. But he's not ruling out running against the Republican Party, as a third-party candidate. Yesterday he said he'd make

a decision on that very soon. Whether to stick with the republicans or not. But he says the republicans have been treating him very, very fairly

and that's all he can ask.

He does have a deadline. The state of South Carolina says by September 30 you have to decide whose candidate you're going to be. Ryan Lizza, is he

holding a gun to the head of the Republican Party saying, do what I want or I'm essentially, going to take all of my support, leave and insure your

defeat come the general election?

LIZZA: Yes. He's basically -- in New York, the way you would describe this is, you know, a nice little party there. Shame if anything happened

to it, right? He is basically holding all the cards here. Because I think a lot of established republicans still do not believe that he could

actually win the nomination despite the sort of, two months that he's had at the top of the polls. But they are quite sure that with his money he

could get on enough ballots as a third-party candidate and do enough damage to make the republican nominee lose.

So I think you're seeing republicans treat him with kid gloves a little bit until he makes that firm commitment that he will not run as an independent

candidate, which would just elect Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders. If Bernie Sanders wins the democratic nomination.

MANN: Yes, a socialist running for the Democrats, an independent running for the Republicans. It is a whacky election. Ryan Lizza, good to talk to

you once again.

LIZZA: Yes. Good to talk to you. Thank you.

MANN: Still to come tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE SPOKEN)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANN: It's a population finally losing patience. Lebanon's anti- government protest heat up. They ask a former minister, what's behind the country's problems? Plus a new type of marine life invading the Eastern

Mediterranean. What experts say is causing all of the new arrivals.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MANN: Welcome back. You're watching Connect the World live from CNN Center. I'm Jonathan Mann. The waters off the coast of Israel look a

little different these days. Marine biologists say invasive species, sea life that shouldn't be there, has entered the Eastern Mediterranean as a

result of the recent expansion of the Suez Canal. In other words, the invasion is upsetting the ecosystem. Oren Liebermann reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Swarms of stinging jellyfish filling the waters of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. But they're not supposed to

be here. These nomad jellyfish are from the Indian Ocean thousands of miles away. Marine biologist, Bella Galil, says they came here through the

Suez Canal. A symptom of a much larger problem that could get worse with the canal's expansion.

BELLA GALIL, MARINE BIOLOGIST: We have this corridor pushing in all the alien species who just push them out and replace them with the fauna, which

is not the native one.

LIEBERMANN: Take, for example, the rabbit fish. It eats only algae, which sounds innocent enough. But it gets its name because it reproduces like,

well, a rabbit. And enormous schools of rabbit fish eat all the algae in a habitat.

GALIL: The habitat is like a cut forest. Nothing could exist. And those species lose their place in the Mediterranean.

LIEBERMANN: Galil says the enlarged Suez Canal is becoming a highway for invasive species to pass through.

GALIL: It's like a corridor for invasion. A one-way corridor of invasion.

LIEBERMANN: Galil says the invasive species are opportunists disrupting the food chain and changing the underwater environment. There used to be a

natural barrier in the Suez Canal. A barrier of extra salty water that kept marine life from passing from the Red Sea to here in the Mediterranean

Sea. The expanded Suez has done away with that natural barrier making it much easier for marine life to pass.

Some of the invasive species are beautiful. Like the devil fire fish, colorful, but venomous. And this, a slow swimming crab, was one of the

first invasive species that came through the Suez. Documented first in 1898. Hagai Nativ makes a living filming these creatures.

HAGAI NATIV, UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHER: For me, it's more color for -- more colors under the water. And as a photographer -- as an underwater

photographer, for me, it's a present.

LIEBERMANN: But it's no gift to the ecological balance of the Mediterranean Sea, which can't adjust as fast to the changing world around

it. Oren Liebermann, CNN Haifa.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANN: You can find out more about the six most dangerous and disruptive species invading through the Suez Canal by going to our Web site, CNN.com.

We'll tell you what they are and the threat that they pose. Still to come tonight, Egypt's decision to send three Al Jazeera journalists has made

headlines. But what about the thousands of other people Egyptian judges have put behind bars? And anger in Lebanon. We talked to the country's

former communizer about the turmoil that's been spilling into the streets.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MANN: Welcome back. This is Connect the World. The top stories this hour now. Former Malaysian leader, Mahathir Mohamad, is joining thousands of

protesters demanding Prime Minister Najib Razak be removed from office. The courts say around $700 million was transferred from an indebted state

fund to an account in Mr. Najib's name. He denies any wrongdoing.

Germany, France and Britain are calling for a meeting between top EU ministers. They say a comprehensive plan is needed for the continent's

mass influx of migrants and refugees. They want to start registering and fingerprinting people immediately. The EU's border agency says, some

340,000 migrants reached Germany during just the first seven months of this year.

Witnesses in Yemen say a Saudi-like coalition air strike on a factory has left at least 30 people dead. The French news agency, Air Peace, says

about half those killed were Houthis rebel fighters. Reuters cite to witnesses saying they were all civilians.

A video of an Israeli soldier trying to arrest a Palestinian boy with a broken arm has gone viral on social media. Millions of people have watched

the footage captured Friday to protest the newest bank. The soldier struggles first with the 11-year-old. And then with several Palestinian

women who try to free the boy. Israeli army says they suspected the boy had thrown rocks but eventually let him go to calm the situation.

Egypt has summoned the British ambassador over comments he made about the prison sentence for three Al Jazeera journalists, Mohamed Fahmy, Baher

Mohamed and Peter Greste were found guilty in their retrial Saturday and sentenced to three years for helping the band of Muslim brotherhood.

Greste was deported to his native Australia in February and convicted in absentia. The UK ambassador expressed his concern about the verdict, which

Egyptian officials are calling unacceptable interference.

Let's bring in our Ian Lee. He joins us now from Cairo. Ian, we have been following the case of these journalists for months now. The transparently

weak charges, the strange court proceedings. But let's move beyond that case to talk about a great many other people in Egypt who aren't getting

that much attention. Does that case represent the fate that those people, those un-named people are facing, in the court system, behind bars, simply

for trying to speak their mind or exercise their rights?

IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jonathan, right now there are tens of thousands of people who have gone to jail, who have faced courts and have

received prison sentences. Amnesty International puts the number at around 41,000. And these aren't just members of the Muslim brotherhood. These

are also students, journalists, youth activists, revolutionaries, many people who were very active during Egypt's 2011 revolution who remained

active that went up against the current government, have found themselves in jail.

And you look at some of these courts, some of these sentences, these trials that take place here, you'll get mass sentencing after one or two days in a

courtroom. And, you know, talking to lawyer, they say they weren't even allowed to present their cases and present their evidence. So while we do

watch this Al Jazeera trial, and we want to closely, this does somewhat represent what is happening all around the country.

MANN: So just to be clear, none of these journalists, none of the three of them, were members of the Muslim brotherhood. But the Muslim brotherhood

did -- does have a lot of supporters. It did have a lot of members. It's outlawed now. But what is left of it? What is left of political Islam?

What is left of any organized opposition movement at the national level?

LEE: Well the government has systematically dismantled the Muslim brotherhood organization, going after the charitable organizations, going

after the political fronts, the freedom of justice party. They've arrested members, thrown them in jails. Their top leadership, most of them, or a

lot of them, have received death sentences and are still currently undergoing trials.

Listen, there's no question that Egypt also right now is facing a very deadly insurgency. ISIS in the Northern Sinai has carried out devastating

attacks there. Have carried out bombings in and around Cairo. They beheaded a Croatian oilfield -- or oil worker. But there has been a lot of

people criticizing this Egyptian government for not creating the sphere for political Islam to take part in the government where people who do support

the Muslim brotherhood, because this heavy crackdown, and without this political outlet, have chosen to go and join groups like ISIS and other

groups that have committed acts of terrorism. Sometimes criminal acts here in Egypt. And so they say if these groups, like the Muslim brotherhood,

which were moderate, they were not as hard-line as we've seen other groups in this region.

If they were allowed to have some sort of political voice, whatever that would be, you wouldn't see the sort of violence that we're seeing in this

region right now. Where a lot of people believe that, because of these heavy crackdowns, the only outlet to go and join groups like ISIS.

MANN: What about people who aren't activists? People who do the work that you do, that we do, journalists? Three Al Jazeera journalists go to jail.

And they're not the only ones. What has been the impact on just Egypt's ability to air its grievances, speak honestly about its problems and speak

in a way independent of what its leaders want to say?

LEE: Well civil society has taken quite a blow since the 2013 overthrow of President Mohamed Farsi. And a civil society has never really been able to

flourish fully here in Egypt. Every leader Egypt has had has always put a clampdown on civil society. Here NGOs struggle to operate different for

organized labor. They are not allowed to protest in a lot of ways. And protests basically in general. Protesters aren't allowed to go into the

street unless they have clearance from the government. And so a lot of people looking at this. A lot of Egyptians I have talked to, especially

those who were so instrumental in 2011, and even in 2013, or protested against Mohamed Morsi, they're saying it is the worst they've seen it right

now.

MANN: Ian Lee, live in Cairo. Thanks very much. We turn now to Lebanon where tempers are flaring. People fed up with a government they say is

corrupt and ineffective took to the streets of Beirut again Saturday. Clashing with police chanting revolution and demanding change. The

demonstrations are organized by a group called you stink. It started as a peaceful protest about garbage collection. It's now widened to a social

movement in a country crippled by political deadlock.

It is thought to be the biggest gathering of people in Lebanon not called for by traditional parties. For more we bring in Nasser Saidi who was

essentially, as a minister and a cabinet and a central banker, probably the most powerful figure in the government when it comes to Lebanese economy in

the late 90s. He joins us now. Thanks so much for being with us. Let me ask you plainly, are the demonstrator's right? Is the government

dysfunctional? Is it paralyzed? Is it corrupt? Is it ineffective?

NASSER SAIDI, LEBANESE POLITICIAN: Oh, it's very clear that we've been living a totally dysfunctional political system for the past decade in

fact. And the pressure has been accumulating. You've got one and a half million Syrian refugees now. That's pressure on the infrastructure.

There's been little investment in there. Growth is practically nil. Net result is you've got the proverbial stake that broke the camel's back

through their rubbish problems. So, yes, cronyism, corruption, nepotism is rife. And that's why people are in the streets.

MANN: Now you were a cabinet minister 15 years ago. Was it that bad then?

SAIDI: No. Because we were still in the process of rebuilding after our civil war. So you still had job creation. You didn't have problems in the

region as we do today. So what you're seeing now is really an accumulation of all these problems and pressures on Lebanon, political, security and of

course, economic. And it's the economic which is really biting because our young population is facing deep unemployment. Well in excess of 20, 25%

for the youth. They see no prospects of growth. And they see dysfunctional politics. So we've been without a president since May of

2014. Although you could easy get together in parliament and elect a president. So that's the dysfunctional politics that people are

complaining about.

MANN: Is there some simple way to explain why they're so dysfunctional?

SAIDI: Well we have a sectarian system which means that political positions and our constitution is based on sectarian politics. That means

you have to have a president who's a Maronite, a speaker of parliament who's a Shia, a Sunni prime minister and on it goes. If those three or

four political figures don't get along, then you have a stalemate.

The solution, of course, is very clear. You need deep political reform that removes sectarianism and removes it from politics. Whether we will

see that as a result of this movement, we'll have to wait and see. But what is clear, I think, from what we've seen in the streets over the past

few days, in particular, yesterday, is that it is youth. It is widespread. It covers the whole country. And represents all strands of opinion and

communities. So this is really a movement which can grow. And at least one hopes, that as a result of that, you'll see a real political change.

MANN: I just want to ask you about Beirut itself. You don't make your home there now. But you did for an awfully long time. As you alluded to,

that city was disfigured by civil war. When you come back, as you did today just a short time ago from Dubai, and see that city now, what goes

through your mind?

SAIDI: Well it's a city I continue to live in. I have homes in Dubai and Beirut. It's, for most people, they've never lived the destruction of the

city they've lived in. It's a city of one's work and youth, of one's family. What is troubling, I think, is that culture is being destroyed.

Many of our monuments are not being maintained. But I think what hurts the most is the fact that our youth sees no future. I have three of my

children and they tell me they don't want to come back. I think that is what's troubling the most. And that's what really hurts.

MANN: Nasser Saidi, former Lebanese cabinet minister and founder and president of Nasser Saidi and Associates. Thanks so much for talking with

us.

SAIDI: Thank you very much.

MANN: Live from CNN Center, this is Connect the World. Coming up, you may be surprised to learn where these scenes were photographed. We'll show you

a part of the world in a way you don't normally get to see it. Plus dust, paint, even pesticides, some of the ingredients being used in the factory

to package them to make medicines. More on that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MANN: You're watching CNN and this is Connect the World. I'm Jonathan Mann. Welcome back. It's something you take for granted. Going to the

drugstore when you're sick to buy medicine to help you feel better. In Pakistan, a different story. There, it's almost impossible to tell which

medicines are real and which are fake. And making the wrong choice could cost you your life. CNN takes an inside look at Pakistan's international

counterfeit drug trade.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

(SPEAKING IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

(END AUDIO CLIP)

MANN: Shocking figures. Think about it. The World Health Organization estimates that as many as one million people die every year worldwide from

ingesting counterfeit medication. If you want to learn more about it, and other incidents of pharmaceutical crimes, head to CNN.com where you can

find this article by our Gina Salmer (ph) with interactive graphics. All that and more at CNN.com. When a natural disaster strikes, every moment

counts when it comes to saving lives. And high tech is helping. Search and rescue teams rely on several new devices to succeed in their efforts.

Digital correspondent Rachel Crane shows us how it all works.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN MALE 1: Going to walk a little bit.

UNKNOWN FEMALE 1: Okay.

UNKNOWN MALE 1: I think that robots are going to become part of the training program for the people that risk their lives and go into these

situations.

RACHEL CRANE CNN DIGITAL CORRESPONDENT: This ape-like Simian-inspired four-limbed robot, developed at NASA's jet-propulsion laboratory, JPL, is

groundbreaking and built for disaster response.

UNKNOWN MALE 1: So being able to send something like robo-Simian into a disaster environment means that we could go into a situation in which it

was simply too risky to send a human and do something. Things that a human would be able to do, but couldn't because of some sort of risk.

CRANE: Named after an ape from "The Jungle Book," King Louie has seven cameras, or eyes, for all-around vision. Allowing him to generate a 3-D

map. And how many different kinds of, like maneuvers, can this thing make?

UNKNOWN MALE 1: Basically, anything you can imagine.

UNKNOWN FEMALE 2: They need to start recording on the camera if they are not all ready.

CRANE: Disaster robotics are Dr. Robin Murphy's specialty. Particularly unmanned aerial vehicles. Also known as UAVs or drones.

DR. ROBIN MURPHY: Now we're seeing a big focus on UAVs because those are really good for floods and were called wide-area searches. Things like

earthquakes and hurricanes. Hurricane Katrina was a big one. Haiti earthquake, the Thailand flooding.

CRANE: Murphy's team has helped in more than 46 disasters. And UAV technology is advancing. With longer battery power, longer flight time and

better images, drones are playing a huge role in the aftermath of natural disasters. And then there's this.

JAMES LUX, JPL: So this is something that can detect an unconscious victim. One of the interesting cases in Katrina was they had people who

had climbed up into their attics as the floodwaters rose and then there was no way to get out of the attic. FINDER can see people's heartbeats through

the roof. And so if you had a FINDER in a boat outside, you would know which houses have somebody trapped in the attic. You can go and cut

through the roof and rescue them.

CRANE: Jim Lux is the mastermind behind a radar-based technology known as FINDER. Finding individuals for disaster and emergency response. Which

was developed for Homeland Security at JPL.

CRANE: Can we play like a little hide-and-seek so you can detect me?

LUX: Sure, yes.

CRANE: All right. No peeking. Okay. I'm in place.

LUX: It's processing.

CRANE: Was I detected?

LUX: Yes, you were detected.

CRANE: So you guys would come fine me now.

LUX: We would come find you.

CRANE: FINDER isn't just being used in staged scenarios like this. It's actually out there in the field saving lives.

LUX: It's been out in the field as a prototype in Nepal. And it's saved four lives there. We've detected heartbeats from people that are buried 30

feet deep in rubble.

CRANE: Finder can detect heartbeats in about 30 seconds. And recognizes the difference between animals and humans.

LUX: They've got lots and lots of buildings that have collapsed. And they wanted a way to walk down the street and figure out which buildings have

somebody in them to rescue and which ones don't. Natural disasters occur when they're going to occur and you don't have any control over that.

Devices like FINDER are just another tool in the toolbox to respond to them, help save lives, rescue people after the disaster has occurred.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

MANN: Amazing stuff. Life from CNN Center this is Connect the World. Coming up, we'll look at how social media are helping people around the

world see the Middle East in a whole new way, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END