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Connect the World
New Developments in Metrojet Crash in Egypt; Remembering Yitzhak Rabin's Legacy of Peace; Canada's New Prime Minister Sworn In; A Fresh Approach; Rubio Gains, Bush Drops in Latest Opinion Polls; Religious Intolerance in India; U.S. Investors Flock to Cuba Trade Fair; Hopes for Peace Dim on Anniversary of Rabin's Death; Parting Shots. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired November 04, 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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JONATHAN MANN, CNN HOST (voice-over): New clues and lingering questions in the investigation into what brought down a Russian airliner.
What does the wreckage reveal?
We'll have live reports from Egypt and Russia next.
Also ahead:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin tore a hole in the delicate fabric of peace he was weaving that no one has managed to
mend.
MANN (voice-over): Twenty years after the assassination, peace still eludes Israelis and Palestinians. We'll look at Rabin's life and legacy.
And a state of violence in India against Muslims has some in the world's largest democracy concerned about growing religious intolerance.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is the hour we CONNECT THE WORLD.
MANN: Thanks for joining us.
The search for clues in the Egyptian desert, more theories are emerging as to what caused a Russian airliner to crash in the Sinai less than 30
minutes after it took off from a popular tourist resort.
A Russian television channel reports the tail of the plane was found 5 kilometers from the rest of the wreckage. Analysts say it could be a
significant indicator of what went wrong.
The search zone for debris has now been expanded to fully 40 square kilometers. And a Russian newspaper is reporting that some victims had
metal in their bodies, a possible sign of a midair explosion.
To talk us through the latest developments, senior international correspondent Matthew Chance is standing by in Moscow.
CNN's Ian Lee is monitoring developments from the Egyptian capital, Cairo. Let's start there.
Ian, there are more clues from the wreckage.
What can you tell us?
IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there are. And they're looking at this section of the tail that they found, which was 5 kilometers from the
wreckage. Looking at this, there aren't any scorch marks that indicate an explosion, which means this tail could have just fallen off the plane.
We know this plane had an incident in the past in 2001 here in Cairo; when taking off, the tail hit the tarmac. Metrojet, the airline that operates
this plane, says that all the repairs were made. But that's something they're now going to be looking into, is how this tail landed so far away.
Also, they're looking at the bodies for possible clues. As you mentioned, there were metal pieces in some of the bodies, indicating a bomb could have
exploded, sending shrapnel. But also there's other bodies that have trauma and burn marks, which indicates that, when the plane hit the ground, that's
when that trauma occurred.
Really, tonight, there are more questions than answers.
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LEE (voice-over): Catastrophic in-flight event: possibly an on-board bomb is one of the leading theories into what caused Metrojet Flight 9268 to
break apart over Egypt's Sinai Desert.
Investigators are studying a heat flash detected by a U.S. military satellite, suggesting there was a midair explosion at about 30,000 feet,
just 23 minutes into the flight.
And while Egyptian authorities confirm there were no distress calls from the cockpit, a Russian news agency reports that there were unexpected and
uncharacteristic sounds on the cockpit voice recorder the moment before the plane disappeared from radar.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we're going to the bomb theory, it could have been the airplane starting to separate in pieces. We're just talking about a
sound as opposed to a voice.
LEE (voice-over): In addition to examining the debris, authorities are also focusing on the victims' remains. A source close to the investigation
told Russian media, "no signs of explosive impacts on the body of the victims have been found."
ISIS released this new video, showing its fighters and supporters celebrating the terror group claim they brought down the plane, something
Egypt's president dismissed outright.
ABDUL FATTAH AL-SISI, EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT: There is a propaganda that it was crashed because of daish. This is one way to nail the stability and
security of Egypt and the image of Egypt.
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LEE: Really, there are two different theories right now. And one can look at the evidence and really point to either/or. But Egyptian officials have
been urging patience with this. It could take a week, it could take over a month to really determine what exactly happened.
MANN: Ian Lee, live in Cairo, thanks very much.
Now to Matthew Chance in Moscow.
What are they saying there?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Jonathan --
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CHANCE: -- the Russian government is -- I think it's fair to say -- trying to play down the idea that this was a -- some kind of terrorist attack,
concerned about what that would mean in terms of the consequences politically about being seen to be suffering some kind of blowback or
retaliation for its intervention in Syria.
There's no suggestion, they're saying at the moment, that mechanical failure or terrorism could have been to blame. They're saying they're
reserving judgment until the results of the investigation are in or at least until the black box flight recorders have been properly assessed by
Russian and Egyptian officials.
Of course there are Irish officials and representatives of Airbus, the airline manufacturer, who are currently looking at that as well.
There's been a report that's been widely circulated here in Russia as well from a source close to the investigation about the two black boxes coming
from an Egyptian private news agency, saying that one of the engines caught on fire and that could have led to an explosion.
But a terrorist attack has not been excluded, according to that report that is getting wide circulation in the Russian media.
But the fact is, there have been quite a few strands of contradictory evidence or suggestions or reports that have been coming out over the
course of the past 24 hours, quoting unnamed sources often, talking about leaning on the one hand towards a terrorist attack and then, on the other
hand, towards mechanical failure.
At this point, I don't think it's possible for us to say one way or the other which it was that is responsible for this.
MANN: A tragedy and still very much a mystery. Matthew Chance in Moscow, thanks very much.
November 4th, 1995: some say the best Chance for peace between Israelis and Palestinians died 20 years ago when assassin's bullet took the life of
Yitzhak Rabin. Israel has been marking the anniversary of the late prime minister's death with rallies and memorials.
Rabin was killed by a Jewish extremist who wanted to derail his landmark peace efforts. Rabin and PLO chairman Yasser Arafat won the Nobel Peace
Prize after signing the Oslo Accords. There was great hope in their handshake.
But the initiative ultimately unraveled. Let's bring in Oren Liebermann in Jerusalem. He spoke with Rabin's daughter about her father's legacy.
And it really the legacy, I guess, that's on people's minds; they're doing more than mourning just one man.
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Jonathan. It's everything that man, everything Yitzhak Rabin stood for. He truly believed in peace.
He truly believed in negotiations. And he knew it wouldn't be easy, a very poignant point at a time like this when it's difficult here; there are
tensions, there is violence. Rabin, nonetheless, when he was alive, believed you had to forge forward to create peace.
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LIEBERMANN (voice-over): The bullets that killed Yitzhak Rabin tore a hole in the delicate fabric of peace he was weaving that no one has managed to
mend.
Twenty years have passed since Rabin's assassination at the hands of a Jewish extremist. The crowds then look much like the crowd now, the
conflict between Israelis and Palestinians still grinding along. Yet his daughter, Dalia Rabin believes things could have been different.
DALIA RABIN, DAUGHTER OF YITZHAK RABIN: If he stayed alive and was prime minister for a few more years, I think we opened to the world during his
tenure as prime minister. There were a lot of investments. There was a belief in Israel. There was hope.
LIEBERMANN (voice-over): The hope evident in a rally near Rabin Square.
LIEBERMANN: Tens of thousands of people have come here to Rabin Square to remember how much Yitzhak Rabin meant to the peace process and to Israel
and to believe that, even in these difficult times, there is still a chance for peace.
DALIA RABIN: There are supporters of my father's legacy and there is hope.
LIEBERMANN (voice-over): Rabin's funeral brought together Jordanian, Palestinian and American officials in Israel. It's hard to imagine a
similar scene today, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with a very different vision of the region.
"Israel is the very haven of freedom and human rights," he says, "in an area where the sword is in control and only the sword."
In death, Rabin has gained new life, not as a man but as a myth. His followers still look to his words and dreams to this day. And so does his
partner in peace, Shimon Peres.
SHIMON PERES, FORMER PRESIDENT OF ISRAEL: I think basically we may have concluded the peace process with the Palestinians. We started. We didn't
finish. It's remained open.
LIEBERMANN (voice-over): As a soldier turned statesman, Rabin believed the best way to ensure Israel's future as a Jewish democracy was to accept the
Palestinian state.
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LIEBERMANN (voice-over): Rabin knew his vision would involve sacrifice. He was murdered for that belief.
PERES: You have to do things and pay prices. Peace is costly. Only thing is, war costs more.
LIEBERMANN (voice-over): For thousands of Israelis, the 20th anniversary of Rabin's death is another reminder of the effort it will take to make
peace work. Rabin's last campaign was his most important, a fight for lasting peace with the Palestinians.
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LIEBERMANN: And Rabin's famous quote was, "Make peace as if there is no terror, fight terror as if there is no peace."
Jonathan, a very powerful statement. Rabin believed that even in difficult times such as right now, you had to keep working towards peace.
MANN: Oren Liebermann, live in Jerusalem. Thanks very much.
Later in the program, more on Rabin's legacy and the impact of his assassination 20 years on. We'll be joined by his former ambassador to the
United States.
And the new clues in that deadly crash of the Russian passenger plane. We'll talk to a pilot about what might have gone wrong in the sky.
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MANN: You're watching CNN and this is CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Jonathan Mann. Welcome back.
Liberal leader Justin Trudeau has been sworn in as Canada's 23rd prime minister.
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MANN (voice-over): You're watching live pictures from the ceremony at Rideau Hall, the official prime minister's residence in Ottawa, as other
members of his cabinet are sworn in. Trudeau himself, at age 43, pledging to be a faithful and true servant of the Queen. But he's seated now. You
can see his eyes just above that word "live" on your screen as his cabinet is sworn in.
For the first time, it's expected to have an equal number of male and female ministers. He's expected to meet with the full cabinet in the next
few hours. The public has also been invited to witness the swearing-in ceremony.
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MANN (voice-over): That's for the first time ever. Justin Trudeau welcoming one more member of his new government at age 43, the son of one
of Canada's great leaders, Pierre Trudeau, takes office, the first time Canada has ever seen a prime minister's son take the prime minister's
office as well.
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MANN: Let's return to our top story now. New clues about what may have caused a Russian passenger jet to crash in Egypt's Sinai Desert, killing
all 224 people on board.
Russian state television reports the plane's tail was found about 5 kilometers from the rest of the aircraft. Back in 2001, the tail of that
same plane struck a runway on landing and was repaired. But a Metrojet spokesman says the plane was thoroughly checked for cracks in 2013 and that
all inspections were in order.
Joining us now to talk about it is former American Airlines pilot and safety expert, Mark Weiss.
Captain Weiss, thanks so much for being with us. They found the tail 5 kilometers from the fuselage.
What does that tell us?
CAPT. MARK WEISS, PILOT AND SAFETY EXPERT: Well, it tells you that the aircraft more than likely broke up in flight, that it didn't hit the ground
as one -- as one unit. So that -- that's a very telling situation right there.
MANN: Why would the tail, though, break off in flight?
WEISS: Well, let's think of the possibilities. You mentioned just a moment ago that this aircraft had had a tail strike. And I'm just going to
use this small model of an aircraft and tell you what a tail strike is.
If you take an aircraft as it's going down the runway -- and it primarily would happen on a takeoff but could happen on a landing -- when you rotate
the aircraft, instead of rotating at a normal rate, which is about 3 degrees per second, what you would call the (INAUDIBLE), it would have come
up at a greater rate and it would have hit the tail.
Now typically, in the aircraft, this part, the tail of the aircraft, has a pressurized area and a non-pressurized area. And there's usually a
bulkhead separating the two.
If that had cracked and had cracks in the bulkhead, at some point, depending on how good the repair would have been, if the repair, over time,
had cracks generated through it that may not have been noticed, it can blow out that portion of the bulkhead and thus the tail. That's one scenario
and that has happened before. We've seen that a few times.
The other scenario is some type of an explosive device which caused the tail to come apart, something perhaps either a passenger in the lavatory in
an aft something, a worker may have put something in there or perhaps in cargo or baggage. And that has to be checked thoroughly.
MANN: In either case, though, it sounds like the tail separation may be the smoking gun and why the plane went down.
WEISS: Well, yes, that certainly does point in that direction. Now, when you listen to the cockpit voice recorders, first of all, I understand that
there was no distress call made. So what happened happened extremely fast. There was no time to fly the airplane, get it to an alternate airport, get
it down or to declare some type of an emergency. That's going to be very well-defined on the cockpit voice recorder and, on the flight data
recorder, perhaps less so.
The parameters there are going to check the positions of the flight controls, the engines and how everything was performing.
But if you had a catastrophic explosion, whether it from a missile, whether it came from an explosive device or whether it came from a bulkhead blowing
out and causing the tail to depart from the aircraft, you're going to hear certain sounds on that cockpit voice recorder, the ambient sounds.
And you're going to hear what happened. And that's going to tell a lot.
MANN: I want to ask you more, though, about the possibility of a tail strike because most of us who fly, we don't know that these things happen.
How common are tail strikes and how many planes are flying today that, like this one, may have had a tail strike somewhere years ago in their past?
WEISS: Well, tail strikes are not common but they're not uncommon. You probably have one, maybe two a month around the world. But you think of
the number of airplanes flying, the number of takeoffs and landing, it's a very minimal number.
The idea behind it, though, is that that has to be reported. If you've noticed a tail strike -- and you would notice because you would see skid
marks on the back of the aircraft over in this area. There are also sometimes little bungees that are put on the aircraft to absorb a bit of a
strike.
But if you have that, it's more a matter of how well the repair has been made and to make sure that that repair has been checked over and --
[11:20:00]
WEISS: -- over again as aircraft go through normal, periodic, scheduled maintenance checks. So the investigators are going to certainly home in on
that as well as checking the manifest, who was on the aircraft; the crew, who had access to the baggage compartments; fueling, anything -- any hands
that touched that airplane that could have potentially put something on it.
Everybody's going to be checked. You can't rule in or out anything at this time. And if anybody tells you that it's one thing or another, it's really
just speculative response. We just don't know at this point.
MANN: Captain Mark Weiss, thanks so much for talking with us.
Live from CNN Center, this is CONNECT THE WORLD. Coming up, religious tensions boiling over in India. Cows are at the center of what's causing
the trend of violence.
And find out how one man's innovative use of the land is reaping fresh results in Tanzania.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): When his mother couldn't get good quality food and vegetables, Tanzanian Elia Timotheo looked at what he
could do to help.
ELIA TIMATHEO, EAST AFRICA FRUITS: You realize, through my mother's chain of restaurants in Kilimanjaro, that the deficiency in fruits and vegetable
supply in the town. And that's when I came up with the idea that I should launch a company that can itself regenerate profitability at the same time
increasing the income to the farmers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): His idea, loan some of his family's unused land to small farmers, who would, in turn, sell their produce to him
and he'd sell it to clients in Dar es Salaam 80 kilometers from the farm. The idea --
[11:25:00]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): -- worked. And in 2013, he officially launched East Africa Fruits.
TIMATHEO: We tried to build up a small marketing team that could go out to the specific customers, to the hotels and restaurants. And that's when we
started to distribute directly from the farmers to hotels and other final consumers and retailers. In total, we have about 120 customers on board.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): And he works with more than 300 farmers.
TIMATHEO: Last year, we sold over 700 tons of fruits and 300 tons of veggies. We were able to reach out to foreigners in 57,000 USD in
revenues, though we did not realize any loss for the past three years now due to the fact that we have higher operating costs, we need to hire
trucks. We need to hire people. We need to hire cold storage facilities sometimes.
So with all those operating costs, we really cannot get profits.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): One way he thinks he can change the profits picture is by figuring out ways to prolong the life span of his
produce.
TIMATHEO: We're going to increase our logistical issues. That means refrigerated trucks that will keep the produce refrigerated. The long-term
plan is to make sure that we increase our warehouse to become a bigger warehouse with a vision of becoming the largest aggregating producer of
fruits and vegetables in Tanzania. And maybe we can go for export markets at that point.
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MANN: This is CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Jonathan Mann with the top stories this hour.
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MANN (voice-over): New developments in the investigation of the crash of a Russian airliner in Egypt. The tail of the plane was found 5 kilometers
from the rest of the wreckage. Analysts say that could be important.
And militants in the Sinai are once again claiming responsibility for the crash, this time in an audio message said to be from a branch of ISIS.
Governments and experts are skeptical of the claims.
Justin Trudeau has been sworn in as Canada's 23rd prime minister. The political newcomer and Liberal leader won last month's election in a
landslide, ending nine years of Conservative Party rule.
The presidents of China and Taiwan are to meet Saturday in Singapore. It's the first summit since the Communist Revolution 66 years ago. Analysts say
it's a significant turning point after years of military tensions.
Germany's transport minister says 98,000 petrol vehicles are now part of Volkswagen's emissions scandal. The world's largest carmaker admits it
understated fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions for almost 800,00 vehicles. Shares in VW plunged more than 8 percent Wednesday.
Donald Trump has become the first Republican to register for the New Hampshire primary. He arrived at the State House to file his papers a
short time ago. Other U.S. presidential contenders are expected to follow.
The New Hampshire primary is the first in the nation and it can make or break a campaign. Trump is registering the same day new polls are out in
New Hampshire and nationally, showing him in a statistical dead heat with Ben Carson.
CNN politics correspondent MJ Lee joins us now from New York.
And I guess today it's not Washington; New Hampshire is the political capital of the country.
What can you tell us?
MJ LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. New Hampshire is the place to be if you are a candidate running for president here in the United States.
This week, Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, they're all spending time in the Granite State.
Now Trump was there this morning to officially file papers to be a candidate for president in this state. This is more of just a formal way
of ensuring that you're on the ballot. It's only signing a piece of paper, paying a $1,000 fee.
But it was also a moment for him to really work the crowd and show his supporters that he's still in the game even though nationally his numbers
have fallen a little bit.
In the state of New Hampshire, too, we have seen Trump's numbers fall a little bit. He and Ben Carson, the retired neurosurgeon, both outsider
candidates. They're still in the lead.
But it's worth pointing out that Marco Rubio, who had an incredibly strong debate performance last week, we've seen his number go up significantly
since the last time a poll was taken in this state. Definitely something to watch.
Obviously the way that presidential elections are conducted in the United States, state-by-state standings really matter. How a candidate does in a
state like Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina is really important for sort of setting the tone for how strong a candidacy is going into the general --
into the primary race into the months of March, April and May.
And this is why we see so many politicians spending so much time, days on end, campaigning in states like New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina.
MANN: You say so many politicians. There are a lot of candidates in this race.
With the new polls, with the weeks that go by, is the race narrowing at all?
Is it getting clearer how this is all going to end up?
LEE: The big headline from the last week or so has been that Donald Trump is no longer the invincible front-runner. For so many months he was in the
top in national polls. In just the last week or two, Donald Trump has seen that first place standing give way to Ben Carson, as I mentioned, another
outsider candidate.
So really for the first time in a while, we're seeing that the polls are starting to give a little bit of wiggle room, that there might be an
opportunity for some of these mid-tier, lower tier candidates to break through a little bit.
That's why we're paying so much attention to Marco Rubio, whose poll numbers have really been on the upswing.
And unfortunately, for someone like Jeb Bush, his numbers have really been stuck in the single digits. That's why we're also seeing him really try to
do a reboot of his campaign, taking a new sort of message, promising to show a different and more fiery side of himself.
I sat in on an interview with him with CNN's Jamie Gangel in New Hampshire yesterday. And you could really see that he was trying to sort of go after
his rivals a little bit more than he has in the past, going after Trump, taking issues with Marco Rubio and, you know, his work in the Senate.
So these are all dynamics that we're watching as we're seeing --
[11:35:00]
LEE: -- a little bit more fluctuations in the polls than we have seen in the last couple months.
MANN: MJ Lee, following the race for us, thanks very much.
LEE: Thanks.
MANN: And join me this weekend for the return of "POLITICAL MANN," the program that brings you the latest on the U.S. presidential race from the
candidates' platforms to their pratfalls. "POLITICAL MANN" returns with a new look, a new set and, of course, some new stories. Don't miss the
premiere weekend, "POLITICAL MANN," Saturday, November 7th. If you're watching from London, that's 0430; get up for breakfast. It's worth it.
And if you're in the mood for brunch, how about watching at 11:30 am from Hong Kong.
And we're looking for your questions about the U.S. political race. Send them to us on Twitter @PoliticalMann or use the #AnswerMann and we'll
answer Mann some of them on the program.
India is seeing what some say is a growing religious intolerance with deadly consequences. It pits the country's majority Hindu population
against its 175 million Muslims and people are casting blame on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu Nationalist Party.
Now he's under pressure to do more to stop the violence. CNN's Sumnima Udas reports.
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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Every person has the right to practice their faith how they choose --
SUMNIMA UDAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's something even President Barack Obama alluded to during his India visit early this year.
OBAMA: India will succeed so long as it is not splintered along the lines of religious faith.
UDAS (voice-over): But today, religious divisions are dominating headlines.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Even if it was beef, do we live in a country where a man should be killed?
UDAS (voice-over): On September 28th, a Muslim man is lynched after rumors that he ate beef.
October 9th: one young Muslim is set ablaze by a mob on rumors that he was transporting beef.
On October 15th, yet another Muslim man was killed for smuggling cows.
Hindus believe cows are sacred. Slaughtering them has been banned throughout much of India for decades. But enforcement was lax. Now
hardcore Hindu groups appear to be turning to vigilantism to enforce laws.
Concerning to many, who say they've seen growing intolerance and it goes beyond religion.
This man was smeared in black ink last month by allies of Modi's Hindu Nationalist Party for organizing a book launch with a Pakistani politician
turned author.
ASHOK VAJPEYI, POET: What outrages us that there seems to be a back turn. It seemed there is a design to subvert the pluralistic idea of India.
UDAS (voice-over): Ashok Vajpeyi is one of more than 40 writers, who recently returned their most prestigious literary awards in protest of what
they call an assault on India's diversity.
VAJPEYI: In the great Indian tradition, there has always been space and respect for dissent, space for debate and discussion.
UDAS: What's at stake here?
VAJPEYI: The entire concept of India.
UDAS: Violence along religious lines is not new to India. But the recent attacks on Muslims have sparked renewed debate over whether Prime Minister
Modi's rise to power has emboldened his extremist Hindu supporters looking to push a Hindu or a religious agenda and whether his government is doing
enough to stop it.
UDAS (voice-over): But Modi rejects that criticism, saying that he has condemned religious violence. His spokesman says the criticism is, quote,
"orchestrated and manufactured" by opposition parties and other opponents.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The propaganda has happened and everybody falls for the propaganda. To say one or two incidents here and there are reflecting as
intolerance of communal harmony being broken and that is very, very unfair.
UDAS (voice-over): Propaganda or real, protests in the world's biggest democracy with the second largest Muslim population, some worry that the
perception of growing intolerance may overshadow Modi's mandate for development and economic growth -- Sumnima Udas, CNN, New Delhi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MANN: Live from CNN Center, this is CONNECT THE WORLD.
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MANN (voice-over): Coming up, investing in Cuba. American companies line up to cash in now that U.S.-Cuba relations are on the mend.
But first, remembering a soldier turned statesman who gave his life for the pursuit of peace. The legacy of Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin 20
years after his assassination.
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MANN: Welcome back. You're watching CNN. This is CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Jonathan Mann.
As the United States and Cuba shake off decades of frosty relations, the Communist island is looking to open up for business. And American
investors are ready to jump in. They flocked to Cuba's international trade fair. CNN's Patrick Oppmann was there.
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PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At Cuba's yearly foreign investment fair officials declare the island is open for business.
Cutting the red tape that surrounds trade with the Communist-run island will be more difficult. But as relations improve with the United States,
many international investors are racing to get their foot in the door. Ahead of the pack for the moment is Sprint, whose CEO came to the fair to
sign the first agreement between the Cuban government and a U.S. phone company that allows roaming on the island.
MARCELO, CEO, SPRINT: I'm a big believer that eventually Cuba will open up. And once Cuba opens up, this will be the hottest place in the world
and every single American I think is going to want to come see Cuba.
OPPMANN (voice-over): The sense of, well, greed, is palpable at the trade fair, with companies from the 70 countries trying to break into the tightly
controlled Cuban market.
For six days at the fair, the Cuban government peddles an alternate version of the island, where shelves are fully stocked and wireless Internet is
everywhere.
At the area for U.S. companies, American brands once banned in Cuba are on full display. There's plenty of excitement over the loosening of some
(INAUDIBLE) restrictions on trade with Cuba.
Changes authorized by President Obama allow more investment by U.S. telecom, agriculture and medical companies. But major obstacles still
loom.
OPPMANN: Many of the American companies here can't fully invest in Cuba until U.S. trade embargo is lifted. But for at least the moment, it's an
opportunity to make contacts, strategize and get ready for the big day.
OPPMANN (voice-over): The U.S. Secretary of Commerce told CNN during a visit to Havana last month that American companies need to decipher the
mysteries of doing business with their former Cold War enemy.
PENNY PRITZKER, U.S. SECRETARY OF COMMERCE: How does the free trade zone work? How does the port work? How can we do more business there?
[11:45:00]
PRITZKER: Can I lease land there?
These are all the things that we, as the government, are trying to understand so we can help our U.S. businesses so they don't come here
completely blind.
OPPMANN (voice-over): Back at the trade show, Cuban American business man Saul Berenthal (ph) shows off a tractor he hopes to soon manufacture and
sell in Cuba.
SAUL BERENTHAL (PH), CUBAN AMERICAN BUSINESS MAN: Having been born in Cuba, this is the opportunity to come back to the country where I was born.
And it is the opportunity, given that they are allowing us to do business here, is to perhaps recoup some of the losses that we had when we had to
leave because of the revolution.
OPPMANN (voice-over): How much of that optimism will prove true is anyone's guess. But many potential investors in the emerging Cuban market
say they are ready to take the risk -- Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana.
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MANN: The Israeli-Palestinian peace process was already in a deep freeze when the latest round of violence erupted. Now hopes for ending the
conflict seem dimmer than ever.
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MANN (voice-over): Israelis are contemplating how things might have been different had Yitzhak Rabin lived. They're marking the 20th anniversary of
the prime minister's assassination by a Jewish extremist. A recent poll of Israeli citizens, both Jewish and Arab, finds a great deal of
disillusionment. A majority of both groups do not believe that negotiations can achieve peace in the years to come.
Some perspective now from a man who knew Rabin well. Itamar Rabinovich served as his ambassador to the United States and a peace negotiator. He's
currently president of The Israel Institute and a professor at Tel Aviv University.
MANN: Thanks so much for being with us.
Let me ask you, what goes through your head today 20 years later?
ITAMAR RABINOVICH, FORMER RABIN AMBASSADOR: First of all, personal grief. I worked closely with Rabin. I knew him well. I was friendly. I could
appreciate his greatness and human qualities. And first and foremost, I miss him personally.
But trying to look at the bigger picture, Israel and the Middle East and in a way the global system misses greatly somebody who could make a difference
in today's Middle East.
MANN: Would things be any different if had lived, do you think?
Are there specific, concrete examples you could say he would have done this or he would not have done that?
RABINOVICH: Yes, he had the rare combination of somebody who wanted to make a deal, to move forward in the peace process, and the ability to take
the Israeli public along with him because he inspired confidence.
And this combination of willingness to move and the ability to lead your own people and garner support for your policy is quite rare.
So specifically, if he had not been killed in November '95 and final status negotiations would have begun in 1996, it could have happened, it could
have been that they would have succeeded.
And had crises occurred, he would have navigated them. He was experienced, he was authoritative and, first and foremost, he believed, as a military
man, that the only road forward would be a peaceful road.
MANN: How different would the Middle East be today, if you're right, the occupation had ended and the Palestinian state was by now a fully
functioning member of the community of nations?
RABINOVICH: It would have been different but not that much, because other very powerful forces have developed in the Middle East that have little to
do with Israeli-Palestinian relations: the rise of Iran, the rise of the Islamic State, what happens in Turkey. The Middle Eastern issue is far
more complex than just the Israeli-Palestinian.
But having an island of stability in our area and enabling Arab states to work more closely and more openly with Israel because the Palestinian issue
would not be on the table would have made a difference.
MANN: Well, one example comes to mind and it's something you know very well. You worked for years trying to make peace with Syria. That would
have been an extraordinary achievement, though, in the light of what's been happening in the last few years. Obviously, you kind of wonder how many
dreams have ended.
RABINOVICH: I'm often asked how do you feel now that Syria is undergoing what is happening in Syria?
How would Israel be without the Golan Heights?
And my answer to that is, if the Syrians had made peace with us at the time, there would be no revolution; there would be no civil war in Syria
because this would have meant opening Syria up.
The pressure inside the pressure cooker would have been released in better ways and Syria and the world would have been saved of this terrible civil
war.
MANN: Now, Israel is in a strange position. It is a strong and prosperous nation. It exports products and ideas --
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MANN: -- to the world. But it is still threatened every day by violence. And the signal that's sent out on days like today is that hope is gone and
there's just a resignation that much will change but relationships with the Palestinians, relationships with the Arab nations will not.
RABINOVICH: This is true. We live in a sort of paradoxical state of affairs. I would say, in order to make a real difference in the Israeli-
Palestinian issue, there have to be three partners: Israel itself, its leadership, the Palestinian leadership and an America that is willing and
able to invest in the Middle East.
The absence of the United States from the kind of engagement it used to have in the Middle East and the role it played in Middle Eastern
peacemaking is very painfully felt today.
MANN: Let me ask you another question and I hate to bring it up on a day like today. But I must. Yitzhak Rabin was killed by an extremist from
within the settler movement. He was a criminal. He was unconnected to a great many people who are making their lives in Israel.
But how many people in Israel, on this day even, are grateful that Yitzhak Rabin is gone?
RABINOVICH: Some are. You know, every nation has a radical fringe and we have our own.
But if you look at what is happening today, I'm going later in the day to a grand opening of the major new movie on Rabin's death. There have been
four or five of these, many documentaries, many rallies.
The country on the 20th anniversary is feeling the absence of Rabin much more than it did in earlier years. So my sense is that Yigal Amir and the
people who supported him or somehow don't have a negative view of what he did, that's a tiny minority or at least a minority in Israel.
The majority, as polls show, if there is a done deal on the table, 70 percent of the Jewish public in Israel will support it.
MANN: Do you think that will still happen in your lifetime?
RABINOVICH: I hope I'm young enough. But the answer is yes.
MANN: Let's hope with you. Itamar Rabinovich, president of The Israel Institute. Thanks so much for talking with us.
RABINOVICH: Thank you very much.
MANN: Live from CNN Center, you're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. Coming up, the water flowing again at one of Rome's most famous tourist sites but the
money isn't, not from the government at least. We'll explain ahead.
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MANN: Welcome back.
When you think of Rome, a couple of things may come to mind. Rich history from the ancient world as well as exclusive fashions from today's world.
Well, in our "Parting Shots," we want to show you how the two are coming together in The Eternal City.
Water is once again flowing through the Trevi Fountain after a 17-month renovation. Look at it, the 250-year-old landmark back to its former
glory, the 2.5 million euro paid for by the Italian fashion house, Fendi.
A short walk away, reports say luxury shoemaker Tod's helped restore perhaps the best known landmark of all, the Colosseum, putting a $27
million bill.
In exchange, "The Wall Street Journal" reports the company's founder got the rights to use the amphitheater's iconic shape for corporate events, a
deal that ignited a firestorm of criticism.
Less contentious, perhaps, tourists are happy to step away from the limestone and marble Spanish steps for the time being, as the jeweler
Bulgari splashes $1.6 million to repair them.
I'm Jonathan Mann with an urge to travel but feeling a little underdressed. You've been watching CONNECT THE WORLD. Thanks for joining us.
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