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U.S. Secretary of State Set to Make Speech Outlining Vision for Middle East Peace; Remembering Carrie Fisher; China Remaking Tibet into Tourist Destination; Forgery of Classic: Spotting Art Fakes. 10:00a-11:00a ET
Aired December 28, 2016 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:13] BECKY ANDERSON, HOST: This hour, America's top diplomat has a vision of peace for the Middle East, but relations are tense between
Washington and one of its closest friends there. So what of it all? We're live in Jerusalem and in Istanbul to break it down for you.
And...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARRIE FISHER, ACTRESS: Half-witted, scruffy-looking nerf herder (ph).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: An actress who became the princess. We remember Carrie Fisher's remarkable career.
Plus, could this be the Switzerland of the east? We give you an extraordinary look inside Tibet and China's hopes for tourism in the
region.
A very warm welcome out of London. This is Connect the World. I'm Becky Anderson. Just after 3:00 here. And just an hour from now, the United
States will make a last-ditch effort to lay the foundations, at least, for Middle East peace before President Barack Obama leaves office.
Now, his Secretary of State John Kerry will outline a broad framework for a final accord
between the Israelis and Palestinians. He may not find a receptive audience in Israel, however, after the U.S. cleared the way for a UN
Security Council resolution that condemns Israeli settlements as a barrier to peace. Israel did step back from a controversial vote scheduled for
today postponing an expected decision to green-light new construction in East Jerusalem.
Right, let's get to the bottom of all of this shall we. CNN's Oren Lieberman is in Jerusalem for you. Muhammad Lila is with us today covering
the wider regional implications from I Istanbul. Let's start with you, Oren. Received wisdom, at least, is that Kerry will deliver a withering
critique of why his vision of Middle East peace hasn't come to pass during this administration, likely blaming the Israelis for his vision's failure.
These are rocky times, but given Kerry has less than a month in office, what's the likely fallout where you are?
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I don't think the Israelis are likely to be any more accepting of whatever it is that
Secretary of State Kerry sees as his and President Barack Obama's vision of plans for a two-state solution. I think as we saw Samantha Power speak at
the UN, she's the U.S. ambassador to the UN, she was also critical of the Palestinian side. I suspect Kerry will be as well, because they've been
very careful to try to be balanced here. And yet that's not likely to win them any more friends in Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly criticized Kerry and Obama for what he calls this, quote, anti-Israel resolution, this, quote,
shameful resolution. So the question is why do it? What is Kerry trying to achieve?
Well, he wants to lay out his vision. The Security Council resolution is nonbinding and doesn't
actually contain any specific language about what the difference is, what the concessions should be. So, this will be Kerry laying out his
parameters and trying to explain to both sides what they need to do.
Is it likely to be taken seriously? Well, possibly. It was Bill Clinton who did this same thing when he left office in 2000. He laid out what's
known as the Clinton parameters, how he thought all of this should shake out. Notably, Becky, just a couple weeks after Clinton left office and
President George W. Bush came in, his Department of State said they're rejecting the Clinton parameters.
We may very well see the same thing under President-elect Donald Trump when he takes office. So we'll see.
History will decide what lasting effect the Kerry parameters will have.
ANDERSON: All right. Thank you, Oren. Oren is in Jerusalem for you.
Let's get to Istanbul. There's been a sharp rebuke of U.S. policy in Syria from the Turkish
president, Mr. Erdogan, accusing the outgoing Obama administration of supporting terrorists in Syria.
Now the Obama administration has knocked that back. But as you stand there, and as you listen to what is being said in Ankara and what's being
said in Moscow about the complexities on the ground and the possibility of a cease-fire in Syria, how do you gauge the wider implications here?
MUHAMMAD LILA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, there seems to have been a very pronounced shift in the last few weeks and last few months where
Turkey has become much more aligned with Russia. And this is a change that's actually drastically changed the fighting on the ground in Syria.
I mean, for a long time Russia has accused the United States of supporting terror groups, or what it calls terror groups in Syria, including ISIS and
al Qaeda and a host of other groups. Well, Turkey has never sort of promoted that line until very recently. Just yesterday, President Erdogan
came out and said, very conclusively mind you, that he has photo and video evidence that the United States has been supporting the PKK, a Kurdish
separatist group as well as ISIS specifically. And he mentioned those two groups specifically.
Now, of course, the State Department rejects those allegations calling them ludicrous and baseless, but this is this all part of this shift where
Turkey and Russia seem to be increasingly more on the same page. And that's why we've seen them both come out with cease-fire plans. We know
that Turkey took a step today in announcing it had a cease-fire plan to solve the problem in Syria.
The only complication is none of the other stakeholders on the ground have said anything about it let alone confirmed it. So, Russia, Iran and Syria
have really been quiet on this Turkey plan. So, we don't know if there's a cease-fire plan in place but what we do know is clearly, based the comments
that President Erdogan has been making, his position is much more aligned with Russia than it ever has been in the past.
ANDERSON: And behind the scenes, it seems certainly out of Ankara we are hearing noises, positive noises about the incoming Trump administration.
To you first, Muhammad and then to Oou Oren in Jerusalem, what are the consequences of a very different U.S. policy in Syria and then for Middle
East peace going forward, do you think?
Starting with you, Muhammad.
LILA: Well, Becky, we're starting to see those consequences now. I mean, normally you'd have to wait until the new president comes in, but we're
seeing the ground shift very drastically in Syria where the fighting has been raging for so many years and suddenly now it
seems as though Iran, Russia and Turkey and possibly Syria, although we don't know yet, they may be all on the same page. And there's been a lot
of talk about why they are getting on the same page now. Why, for example, the evacuation of Aleppo took place and the Assad regime was basically now
in control of all of Syria's main cities.
The talk behind this was that it was all being done before President-elect Trump comes into
power because in theory, that would give Russia a much more stronger bargaining point to take to the table with Trump and say, look, Assad is
already in power of the four major cities. Let Russia and Iran and possibly Turkey go in and finish off the rest of the rebel groups.
So, there has been a move to get this operation done certainly now or within the next few days. So we're seeing some of that fallback taking
place right now.
ANDERSON: Oren, an incoming Trump administration means what, so far as Israel is concerned?
LIEBERMANN: Depends on how many of his campaign promises he follows through on.
President-elect Donald Trump repeatedly promised he would move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, recognize Jerusalem as the capital of
Israel. The Palestinians have made it clear if he does either of those, the two-state solution is dead. The PLO
may revoke its recognition of Israel and they would encourage other Arab states to close their U.S. embassies.
But Trump has also said he'd like to be the one to pursue an Israeli/Palestinian peace deal. He's called it in the past the ultimate
deal. At that, Palestinians say if he sticks to those words there may be some progress here. Israelis and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in
particular have made it clear they're very excited to work with President- elect Donald Trump. So I think it just depends on which of those statements he follows through on. It's one or the other, he can pursue
peace or move the embassy. Palestinians have made it clear it's one or the other, not both.
Thank you, chaps, out of Jerusalem and Istanbul for you today at the top of the hour.
German police deploying about 2,000 officers to keep the city of Cologne safe on New Year's Eve. The move it follows the deadly attack on Christmas
market in Berlin.
But police in Cologn, They're also trying to avoid a repeat of the violence that overshatdoed last year's celebrations when hundreds of women reported
sexual assaults.
France also on high alert in the aftermath of the attack on Berlin. Paris correspondent Melissa Bell joining me live.
Melissa, as we close out a year of terror attacks and have once again shaken Europe to its core, how is France coping?
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In a nutshell, Becky with a sense that it mustn't get complacent. I spent the day yesterday at the interior ministry
and the watch word is very much that vigilance needs to be kept at its highest level.
Of course, it's been several months now since the last major attack on French soil. It was on July 14th. Then, as we saw in Germany last week,
one man attacking a crowd of people.
And so here in France, they've been watching very closely places like the Christmas market
on the Champs Elysees, which you can see just behind me. Once again, the sun will be down soon. And here in Paris and the crowds have been growing.
There are many people down there this evening preparing to celebrate the end of the Christmas period and looking ahead to New Year's Eve. And of
course, by Saturday night, the Champs Elysees, Becky, will have hundreds of thousands of people on it.
How do you protect them in the face of this ever-evolving but still determined terrorist threat? That's what French authorities have been
worrying about these last few days, ensuring as they look towards Berlin that their security was as high as it could be.
We went down to that Christmas market to have a closer look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[10:10:15] BELL: As in Germany, the end of the year in France means colorful and crowded Christmas markets. Even before last week's attack in
Berlin, security here on the Champs- Elysees was tight ensured by regular police patrols, 200 cameras and 60 concrete blocks.
PIERRE-HENRY BRANDET, SPOKESPERSON FRENCH INTERIOR MINISTRY, (through translator): Large crowds mean strong security measures with controls,
searches, protected perimeters. And all of that was taken into account well before what happened in Germany. Although, of course, the Berlin attack
reminds us of the need for vigilance.
BELL: Vigilance that will mean 10,000 soldiers on the streets of France over the holiday period reinforcing a police presence that's 91,000 strong.
Extra security measures announced earlier this month by this man. He visited the Champ-Elysees on the very week of his appointment as interior
minister. He called on Parisians to show thanks.
BRUNO LEROUX, FRENCH INTERIOR MINISTER, (through translator): They pay a heavy price. I ask that in this holiday period there be demonstrations of
friendship and solidarity to those who ensure the security of the French people in this difficult period. BELL: For more than a year France has been
living under a state of emergency. Bernard Cazeneuve the incoming prime minister told the parliament why it was both necessary and working.
BERNARD CAZENEUVE, INCOMING PRIME MINISTER, FRANCE, (through translator): Since the beginning of the year 2016, 420 people with links to radical
Islamism were arrested and 17 attacks planned on French soil were foiled.
BELL: After the speech MPs voted to extend the state of emergency until July of next year. For those involved in policing the streets of Paris, the
extra measures are beginning to take their toll.
LUC POIGNANT, POLICE UNION REPRESENTATIVE, (through translator): Obviously, we have the means to ensure Paris' security during the holiday period.
Extra riot police will be deployed and also extra mobile units. If I may ask, at what cost? I mean there is a human cost for the security forces in
general, whether policeman, we are giving of ourselves and our time at a cost to us and our families.
BELL: For now, the interior ministry insists that such sacrifices are necessary.
POIGNANT: We have to maintain the high level of vigilance in the face of a threat that remains high even as we continue to live freely and peacefully.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BELL: Now, Becky, those extra security measures will be tested once again in a few days time here on the Champs Elysees and elsewhere in Paris when
people come out to see in the new year with in their minds what's going on in the course of the last week.
Of course, what happened in Berlin, this new method that we've seen on the part of the terrorists over the course of the last few months, based in
Nice and in Berlin, what they had in common was large that crowds were attacked by a single person and of course these last few days, the
realization that the Anis Amri, the man responsible had crossed the French border not once, but twice, Becky.
Melissa Bell is in Paris. Melissa, thank you.
Let's get you some of the other stories on our radar today, shall we. German police detained a
Tunisian man who may be tied to Berlin Christmas market attacker Anis Amri.
Federal prosecutors say his phone number was found on a phone belonging to Amri. The truck attack killed 12 people at the market. Amri he later died
in a shootout with police in Italy.
And the Kremlin denying reports in The New York Times which says some Russian officials have admitted to, quote, institutional doping of
athletes. The head of the anti-doping program says she was misquoted. Russia has denied high-level involvement.
And in the biggest ever drugs bust in The Philippines, authorities seized 900 kilos of meth and 1100 liters of liquid meth worth $120 million.
Police arrested three Chinese nationals and seven Filipinos. The raid part of the country's war on drugs that's left nearly 6,000 people dead.
Well, we normally bring you the latest headlines here on Connect the World, but I want to begin our next story by taking you back 60 years. This was
the front page of the L.A. Times announcing the imminent arrival of a baby born of actress Debbie Reynolds and singer Eddie
Fisher. They were huge stars at the time, but little did they know their daughter would go on to be enormously famous in her own right.
Well, now the galaxy just a little darker as it bids farewell to Carrie Fisher who played Princess Leia in the Star Wars series. She passed away
on Tuesday, four days after she suffered a heart attack on a flight from London to Los Angeles.
Well, Paul Vercammen joins me from Los Angeles where he is seeing some of the tributes coming in. And from cradle to grave, Paul, doesn't even begin
to describe the extent to which Carrie Fisher lived her entire life in the spotlight, correct?
PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is absolutely correct. As you highlighted, Becky she's got her father is Eddie Fisher, her mother Debbie
Reynolds. AT one point, Eddie Fisher remarries, and so her stepmother becomes Elizabeth Taylor. And we can go on and on. She was married to
single Paul Simon for a time. She used all of this, this immersion into showbiz life, this being part of Hollywood royalty as fodder for a lot of
her brilliant writings.
And it all started off well after Star Wars when she went into the author business and wrote
"Postcards from the Edge." And then that became a movie. And it just seemed to spiral into more and more greatness. She was absolutely
unvarnished in interviews. And Carrie Fisher just inspired so many people here in Hollywood.
I was speaking with a young woman on the Walk of Fame yesterday, and she talked about this Carrie Fisher inspiration on so many levels.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's devastating. She was an amazing woman, an amazing actress and she was an advocate for so many with mental
disabilities, addiction. And for actresses in Hollywood who are always, you know, with the ageism and the weight gain, it's just been great that
she's been able to speak out about that and how it means so much to her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VERCAMMEN: And other fans on Hollywood also remembering Carrie Fisher.
One man dressed in a Darth Vader outfit said that this was really his first crush and endured for a lifetime, Becky.
ANDERSON: I heard somebody earlier on saying that she's of an era, or was of an era, where if you were born into a family like that and Hollywood
played such a significant role in your life that to all intents and purposes you took it on and you just believe that your life would be played
out in the public sphere. Perhaps we don't necessarily see as much of that, or perhaps we do with reality TV these days. But does that sort of
make sense?
She was a very honest person, wasn't she, but life was really in that public sphere.
VERCAMMEN: It really was. And as I said, she was able to use that instead of completely
becoming an introvert or even a hermit, if you will, and she would use that to write and think and she had, you know, of course, this one-act play at
one point called "Wishful Drinking." And then she would be an inspiration to so many others because she was not reluctant to talk about the
following: that she was bipolar and that she had an enormous addiction issue, particularly to what she called legal drugs. She said many times
she liked what was legal in the United States, that was prescription medicine. And she had a real problem with it, because it gave her a sense
of euphoria at times which she just couldn't shake it.
So many others found the courage to deal with their demons because Carrie Fisher was unafraid to talk about hers.
ANDERSON: Paul, a pleasure. Thank you.
Well, Fisher's death caused a deep disturbance in the force, one particularly painful for her
Star Wars family. Director George Lucas said in Star Wars she was our great and powerful princess, feisty, wise and full of hope in a role that
was more difficult than most people might think.
Her co-star Harrison Ford said Carrie was a one of a kind, brilliant, original, funny and emotionally fearless. She lived her life bravely and
we will all miss her.
And the world will remember her fondly. We will be right back after this quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:21:10] ANDERSON: You're with CNN and Connect the World. I'm Becky Anderson in London for you today at 20 past 3:00 in the afternoon here.
I we want to get you back to the Obama administration's last-minute push for Middle East peace. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will outline a
broad framework less than an hour from now. Do stick with CNN for that. We'll take it for you. But what sticking power will any vision for Middle East peace have with Donald Trump
just weeks away from taking office?
Well, if you have any doubt on where the next U.S. president stands, well, just look at his new
tweets. He wrote just minutes ago, we cannot continue to let Israel be treated with such total disdain and disrespect. They used to have a great
friend in the U.S., but not anymore. The beginning of the end was the horrible Iran deal and now this UN. Stay strong, Israel. January 20th is
fast approaching.
Well, this is quite a departure from what Trump said as a presidential candidate, you may remember at an MSNBC townhall back in February, he
promised to be a neutral guy in trying to broker Middle East peace. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT: I don't want to get into it for a different reason, Joe, because if I do win, you know, there has to be a certain
amount of surprise, unpredictability. Our country has no unpredictability.
If I win, I don't want to be in a position where I'm saying to you and the other side now saying, we don't want Trump involved. Let me be sort of a
neutral guy. Let's see what -- I'm going to give it a shot. It would be so great. I would be so proud if I could do that.
I don't know if it's doable. I have friends of mine that are tremendous business people that are really great negotiators. They say it's not
doable. You understand a lot of people have gone down in flames trying to make that deal.
So, I don't want to say whose fault it is. I don't think it helps.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: All right, let's get some help from Edward Djerejian former ambassador to Israel and
to Syria who is now director of the Baker Institute at Rice University.
You served, sir, under eight U.S. presidents. If you were serving under a ninth come the 20th of January, do you think you would be surprised by an
unpredictable new President Trump when it comes to Israel and Middle East peace?
EDWARD DJEREJIAN, FRM. U.S. AMBASSADOR TO ISRAEL AND SYRIA: Well, Becky, I think that what you have just put on your screen, the various comments he's
made during the campaign and now his tweets, I do think he is keeping his options open, despite his strong criticism of
the Obama administration's decision on the latest UN Security Council resolution on Israeli settlements this week.
He has stated that this is a deal, he called it the ultimate deal that he would like to try to achieve, but we have to see what happens. He's
putting his team together. Once he gets into the White House, he'll seek perhaps a different perspective.
ANDERSON: all right.
Let's just interrogate a little further what he has said because I understand where you are coming from. You are not surprised by the
following tweet, "we cannot continue to let Israel to be treated with such total disdain and disrespect. They used to have a great friend in the
U.S., but not anymore," alluding as you pointed out to the UN resolution on settlements last week that the U.S. abstained from.
You're not surprised by that, but you say despite that tweet, you think he may just surprise us all. So how about his pick for Israeli ambassador?
What does that tell you about where U.S.-Israeli policy might go going forward?
DJEREJIAN: Well, I think the statement that his nominee for ambassador to Israel, the statements that he made really, in many ways, are contrary to
establish the U.S. policy going way back since 1967 and UN council resolutions 242 and 338, and the basic concept of land for peace which has
really dominated the whole negotiating process since '67 with international support.
Now this -- what happened at the UN Security Council last week, frankly, is not new. If you go back to 1980, Becky, resolution -- UN Security Council
resolution 471 was a strong condemnation of settlement policy. Every administration, Democratic and Republican since,
has supported Israel strongly as a key United States ally, its security -- look what Obama has done in terms of the military support that we are
giving Israel, this ten-year package. But at the same time, has been advocating a two-state solution in which Israeli settlements have been
considered to be an obstacle to peace and illegal.
And I hear what you are saying. The Israelis are certainly giving the impression that this was a unique positioning from the U.S. last week at
the UN. They are furious about it. They say they have evidence to suggest this was cooked up between the U.S. and the Palestinians. And they say
they will offer that evidence to President Trump.
Let's step back for a moment. With less than an hour to go before this speech by the outgoing secretary of state, what is he likely to say today?
How might it affect relations offer the next three weeks with the U.S., and will it have any stickability at all with this incoming Trump
administration?
I guess what I'm asking you is, what's the point?
DJEREJIAN: Well, basically, Becky, if we really do step back, let's not forget that the Obama
administration came into office in 2009 and one of the first major foreign policy priorities the president put forward was Israeli/Palestinian peace
and a very strong statement against Israeli settlements.
I think it's very noteworthy that the administration, the Obama administration, is now leaving office with the same issue being prioritized
-- both settlements and an Israeli/Palestinian peace settlement. That's interesting.
Aand I think that the Obama administration has been so frustrated because of the major effort -- and I commend their efforts for trying to make
Israeli/Palestinian peace. I don't chide any administration for not making the effort. But it hasn't led to any successful outcome.
So basically what happened is that because the Israelis were going forward to -- even in Israel to legislate a law that would make illegal outposts
regularized, the impetus in the international community to make a statement against settlements occurred. The United States abstained. Again, that's
not new, the United States has abstained in the past on such resolutions.
But here -- the last point I want to make is that what Kerry is doing, and I thought maybe Obama would do it before he left, is to lay out the
parameters of the -- an Israeli/Palestinian peace settlement that they have been trying to get to for the last eight years.
ANDERSON: The parameters which you have called interesting so far as a vision is concerned, others will have called an outright failure. As this
administration leaves office, has the prospect of peace in the Middle East gotten better or worse under eight years of President Obama and the U.S.?
DJEREJIAN: I think it's been a stalemate, to tell you the truth. I can't say better or worse, it's a stalemate. But here is the major factor,
Israel has two choices, the Palestinians have two choices. Either a two- state solution in which an independent Israel can live in peace and security next to an independent Palestinian state where the two sides
separate under a peace agreement, or under continuing occupation and settlement activity, Israel will be going toward a one-state solution which
may be a real threat to Israel's democratic and Jewish nature.
ANDERSON: With that, we're going to leave it there. And I'm just looking at a tweet from
Netanyahu. Thank you for your clear-cut support, alluding to President Trump. President-elect Trump, thank you for your warm friendship and your
clear-cut support for Israel.
We are just minutes away from what is a speech on Middle East peace being given by John Kerry, the outgoing secretary of state.
The latest world news headlines are just ahead before that.
Plus, a North Korean defector reveals his country's big nuclear ambitions for 2017. We'll have the details. You're watching Connect the World.
We're live from London for you today. It's half past 3:00. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(HEADLINES)
[10:34:22] ANDERSON: Well, as we prepare to turn the calendar into 2017, the world
faces the prospect of increased nuclear tensions. Both U.S. President- elect Donald Trump and the Russian leader Vladimir Putin have signaled that they are looking to extend their countries nuclear capabilities. And now
brand-new revelations that North Korea is determined to complete its development of nuclear weapons by the end of next year.
CNN's Saima Mohsin with this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As long as Kim Jong-un is in power, North Korea will never, ever give up its nuclear weapons, even if
it's offered $1 trillion or $10 trillion, that's according to this high- level diplomatic defector Thae Yong-ho.
Now he used to be deputy ambassador at North Korea's embassy in London. So he would have been privy to a lot of information.
Now he has confirmed what a lot of people have speculated previously, but not really had insight to.
Now speaking to South Korean media here in Seoul, he said that Kim Jong-un is determined to progress and forge forward with his nuclear ambitions and
to complete his nuclear plan by the end of 2017.
Now 2017 is not just some date he's plucked out of the air. This has been carefully calculated, according to Thae Yong-ho. He says that Kim Jong-un
believes that because there are going to be two transition of power in 2017, crucially in Washington, D.C., President Donald Trump will be in the
White House, and here in Seoul, we will have a new president -- there have been ongoing protests against Park Geun-hye, she will either be impeached
or forced to step down and there will be an election next year.
So Kim Jong-un is relying on the fact that with two new administrations, they won't be able to take any kind of action, military action in
particular, against North Korea. He will continue with his nuclear test and military provocations. This coming from Thae Yong-ho who
is now in South Korean protection here and he's brought his family here, he says, because he is determined to dismantle Kim Jong-un's regime and save
his people from approaching nuclear disaster.
Saima Mohsin, CNN, Seoul, South Korea.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[10:36:47] ANDERSON: Well, I want to stay in Asia for you now and get you somewhere rarely seen by western journalists at least. And that is Tibet.
In September, for the first time in ten years, CNN was granted access. And as we discovered, China looking to turn Tibet into a tourist destination.
But as CNN's Matt Rivers now explains, the cost of that transformation is more than just financial. Have a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: 10,000 feet up, surrounded by stunning beauty, we stand in one of the most restricted places on Earth.
This is Tibet, a region the Chinese government rarely allows foreign journalists to see. For CNN, it's
been ten years since our last visit.
Back then tourists were just trickling in. Today, the flood gates are opening.
This year some 24 million tourists will come to the Tibetan Autonomous Region, though some question if the number can really be that high. By
2020, authorities expect upwards of 35 million, including foreigners who still need a special entry permit.
They'll stay in the dozens of hotels like this one, five stars, international brands. Not long ago, though, most western companies shunned
this place.
After a failed revolt against Chinese rule in 1959, the 14th Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, fled overseas and has been speaking out against
what he calls Beijing's religious and cultural suppression ever since. But controversy aside, companies are lining up to come here as China's economic
appeal keeps growing.
We were invited here to cover an international tourism expo in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital. It was a government-organized trip, where minders
followed us everywhere we went, determined to show a peaceful and happy Tibet, things like painting, dancing, and opera.
Then there was construction, so much construction.
"There are infrastructure needs that are being gradually constructed and improved," says Wang Song Ping (ph), a tourism official. We are building a
world class tourist destination. Rome was not built within a day.
Since leaving Lhasa, we've been traveling on dirt roads like these for hours, for miles, but eventually that will change because of giant
construction projects like that one right there. Eventually, that will become a modern highway, stretching for hundreds of miles. You can only
imagine how much this remote part of Tibet, some 14,000 feet up, will change once it's finished.
This woman lives at the end of that new highway. She was the only Tibetan we were allowed to speak with, hand picked by Chinese officials. She got
subsidies to turn her home into an inn for tourists. There's even a picture of Chinese President Xi Jinping on her wall.
Do you ever worry part of the Tibetan culture is being lost here?
Despite being surrounded by Chinese officials, she only offers an uneasy smile and says she's not sure.
Critics say locals are being marginalized as the Chinese make money hand over fist using
Tibetan culture as a selling point. This brand new village, with faux Tibetan elements, will open in a few weeks, ready for business.
In order to build this village, the government had to forcibly remove many Tibetan families who
were living and working here. Chinese officials tell us that those families will now be allowed to move back in and perhaps reopen some
businesses, but these ground floor buildings are big, the spaces are large, rent might be high, and these families are poor.
We asked what kind of businesses those people could reopen, the government said perhaps they
could sell biscuits and tea.
Perhaps questions like these are why the government won't let us roam freely here, but to any
criticism, Chinese officials argue all these changes have been good for the Tibetan people. Household incomes are way up, and so are education levels.
More tourists mean more paved roads, cell towers, and good internet. But at what cost?
The answer from many both inside and outside Tibet appears to be one the Chinese government
doesn't want to hear.
Matt Rivers, CNN, Tibet.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[10:41:05] ANDERSON: You're watching Connect the World. Coming up, CNN's Freedom
Project.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): But the past always follows you. The memories always haunt you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: we hear one girl's heartbreaking story of exploitation. Meet the woman who has made it a mission to help people just like her. That's
coming up. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: All this week, we are exploring the link between migration and human trafficking in Central America. This is part of CNN's Freedom
Project to help try to put an end to the scourge, the horrible scourge that is modern day slavery.
Well, on the streets of Costa Rica's capital, there are women who are promised a bright future but instead ending up as victims of sex
trafficking.
CNN's Shasta Darlington reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's Saturday night in downtown San Jose, Costa Rica. A vibrant nightlife keeps the streets full and the clubs
crowded well into the early morning hours.
But away from the bright lights in the shadows you can find sex for sale on nearly every corner. Some are not here of their own free will. Victims of
sex trafficking. Marilia Morales says she was called by God to pull as many off the streets as she can.
MARILIA MORALES, FOUNDER, RAHAB FOUNDATION (through translator): We go out on the streets to look for them, night after night, week after week. We
talk to them.
DARLINTON: Morales runs Rahab Foundation a non-profit she founded nearly 20 years ago that rescues, rehabilitates, and supports survivors of sexual
exploitation.
[10:45:18] MORALES (through translator): These men and women who come here come to build a new dignified life so they can live in peace.
DALINGTON: Like Karina who spent her childhood begging in the streets. By 15 she was selling sex for money and drugs. She wanted out but didn't have
anywhere to go until she met a woman who offered her a good job in Mexico. Karina says she made it sound so easy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): She told me they got you a passport and gave you money for your family and if you didn't like the
place you could go back. So I asked her what type of work was available there and she said there was work as a waitress or at an office, nothing to
do with prostitution. It was all good.
DARLINGTON: It was all a lie. When she arrived in Mexico, Karina says she was immediately forced into sex slavery. Held against her will, forced to
have sex with as many as five men at a time and paid nothing. She managed to escape and made her way back to Costa Rica and eventually to Rahab
Foundation. She says this place changed her life.
How do you feel about your future now? How do you feel?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I feel it's more promising. I have higher expectations about the future. But the past always follows you.
The memories always haunt you. Sometimes I'm fine but then other times I remember and I cry. It's not easy. Even though it was many years ago, for
me it feels like it was yesterday.
DARLINTON: Although Karina was trafficked out of Costa Rica, Morales says many are trafficked into the country.
MORALES (through translator): We have a lot of undocumented victims, especially from neighboring countries. Migrants are so vulnerable that
whoever offers a good job they believe it. They are trusting and want to believe that human beings are still good.
DARLINGTON: Yurerika (ph) says that's what happened to her. She was struggling to support her family in the Dominican Republic when she heard
about a good job as a house maid in Costa Rica.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): They told us that you can earn $500 a month, working family homes, but when you arrive here what they want
you to do is prostitute yourself. They keep your passport and they told us we couldn't leave. You are a prisoner there because you have debts to pay.
They want you to work hour after hour in the bed.
DARLINGTON: Yurerika (ph) says she was stuck in slavery for six months, unable to contact her family back home until she was rescued by Rahab
Foundation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): My future is good. Things are going well. Above all they help me with self-esteem. I've learned a lot
here because I tell you, they helped a lot.
MORALES (through translator): She has succeeded in overcoming. She has succeeded in restoring her life. But it's still a process.
DARLINGTON: A process that Morales cherishes. And she says this isn't just her mission in life, it will be her legacy.
MORALES (through translator): I am leaving something for my grandchildren. For future generations so they can live in peace. When I'm gone, when this
is gone, I left something, a contribution.
DARLINGTON: Shasta Darlington, CNN, San Jose, Costa Rica.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: And tomorrow, Shasta's reporting continues. You'll hear how some border towns in Latin America are using education to combat human
trafficking.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We have heard from students in the education center who live side by side with the migrants. With
regards to people being trafficked, we have heard horrible stories.
DARLINGTON: The goal is to teach students how to identify risky situations, how to care for victims of trafficking and how to protect
potential victims from falling prey.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: And that's part of CNN's Freedom Project special series Perilous Journey tomorrow this time on CNN, or at times shown on your screen there.
We'll be right back after this very short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:51:04] ANDERSON: Right, you've got us for another five or six minutes. You're with Connect the World. I'm Becky Anderson. Welcome back.
Now, if you've ever been flirting with somebody and not really getting anywhere, then you'll know how the Dow feels. One of America's largest
markets has been almost touching 20,000 points now for days, but it seems it just can't clinch it. Well, the Dow is huge. It's worth trillions of
dollars. And breaking through that barrier would be a really, really big deal for investors, at least those who are betting that the market will go
higher. Why? Well, CNN Money correspondent Christina Alesci is in the house to explain.
The floor is yours. Why is this number so important?
CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN MONEY: Well, it's important psychological number. And it may be a time when investors kind of step back and examine just what
has taken place over the last several years. We've seen a steady rise in the markets really since the recession mainly on good, strong but
steady economic growth, not as strong as some would like to see it, but economic growth nonetheless in the U.S. And then, we did get a bump after
the election because investors got clarity on who the next president would be with Donald Trump. And then the market realized his policies in the
short-term would be very pro-growth -- lowering taxes, reducing regulation, infrastructure spending. All of those things would provide a short-term
boost to the economy and it added a narrative that the U.S. would be chugging along and providing pretty steady economic growth.
20,000, however, may be sort of a reset point for the market and an opportunity to question whether or not all the good news about the U.S. has
already been baked in to a lot of these prices. And from here on out, we're going to have to see the President-elect Trump deliver on those
policy changes in order for the Dow to maintain this level or go up from here, Becky.
ANDERSON: All right. Well, thank you for that. Well explained. The 20,000 number. We'll keep it with you.
Right, picture a daring art heist, if you will, a robber tip-toeing through a dark gallery then vanishing into the night with his loot. It doesn't
very often go like that, does it? Art robberies can happen right under your nose because it's so hard to tell the classic from the counterfeit.
CNN's Nina Dos Santos investigates for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN MONEY: Old masters and iconic art from Italy, pictures like these have always been coveted by collectors, but in today's
$63 billion art market, they've also become a lucrative target for forgers.
To highlight the increasing incidents of fakery, curators at this London gallery once replaced one of their works with a $100 copy made in China.
IAN DEJARDIN, DURWICH PICTURE GALLERY: The idea was we commissioned a copy by simple means. You can order them over the internet. We took the
replica, put it in this frame. This beautiful painting by Fraganau (ph) went into store temporarily. And we hung it on the walls and put the usual
label on it.
DOS SANTOS: And they challenged visitors to spot it. Ticket sales doubled. And only 11 percent of viewers got it right.
DEJARDIN: The art world has always, always been plagued with forgers. It's not new. It's always there. And that's because of the art market.
The value of paintings is so astronomical these days, I mean, it's kind of shot. And so, obviously, where there's big money involved, criminals,
which is what it is, criminals will follow.
[10:55:02] DOS SANTOS: But the value of fine art doubling over the past decade, the threat of forgery has also risen, netting some of the biggest
names in the business like Sotheby's which had to reimburse a client $10 million after it sold a Franz Haus (ph) which wasn't what it first seemed.
So, while buyers used to rely on the eye of the expert, the eye of the x- ray now offers the ultimate guarantee. And that means big business for this authentification lab in South London.
FRANCIS EASTAUGH, GENERAL MANAGER, ART ANALYSIS & RESEARCH: What we do here using science and forensics to uncover these painting forgeries is not
common in the art market, but it's becoming more so. And that just means inevitably, a little more is coming out, you're finding these cases of
forgeries. We're really looking at the material that makes up these paintings. So the paint, the stretcher, the canvas, all of the different
constituent parts.
DOS SANTOS: Take or fortune when it comes to buying the age-old rules still apply.
DEJARDIN: Think twice. If you can't trace it back, think twice. Caveat emptor, buyer beware.
DOS SANTOS: Nina Dos Santos, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Nina's report got me thinking, maybe that piece I picked up the other day isn't an original Picasso, after all, better look into that.
Hey, well there is one place where everything is always totally artistic and extremely genuine, Facebook.com/cnnconnect.
I'm Becky Anderson, just before we go, a reminder for you that Secretary of State John
Kerry will deliver a speech on the Obama administration's vision for the Middle East peace at the State Department, that is the podium. We will be
getting to that after this short break with our colleagues in the states.
From us here, good evening.
END
