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Zimbabwe In Turmoil After Apparent Coup; CNN Team Investigates Migrant Slave Trade In Libya; Inside Louvre Abu Dhabi. Aired at 10-11a ET
Aired November 15, 2017 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:00:17] LYNDA KINKADE, CONNECT THE WORLD, CNN: Hello and welcome to "Connect the World." I am Lynda Kinkade we begin with breaking news this
hour in Zimbabwe. The situation there is very fluid we can tell you definitely the military has carried out an apparent coup against President
Robert Mugabe. Mugabe is the only ruler in Zimbabwe has known since declaring independence 37 years ago. It's not clear what's next for the
93-year-old President, although the military says he and his family are safe. David McKenzie joins me now on the phone from Zimbabwe's capital.
And David, the military says this is not a takeover, but it certainly has all the hallmarks of a coup.
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is right. When you drive-thru the streets, (inaudible) the military. You see heavily armed soldiers at key
strategic points like the airport, like the Presidential palace and parliament. The office of Robert Mugabe where he would go for his daily
work has been blocked off. What appears to us is this a de facto military coup despite what was said that in that live announcement on state TV
earlier this morning. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Abundantly clear that this is not a military takeover of government. What the defense forces is doing is to pacify a
degenerating political, social and economic situation in our country. Which if not address may result in a violent conflict.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCKENZIE: Basically the military is saying that are targeting people who are instability in the country and Grace Mugabe, the first lady, and her
followers who it appears in recent days and weeks have been trying to angle their way in. Robert Mugabe, himself has left. Lynda.
KINKADE: No doubt, David, that is backing his Vice President to clear the way for his wife was never going to go smoothly. Give us a sense of how
leaders in the region are responding to this.
MCKENZIE: Leaders in the region are scrambling figuring out what to do about the situation here in Zimbabwe. The President of South Africa, the
statements have said that Mugabe. He said that the President of Zimbabwe is in detention and he is safe. There's been, you know, wild speculation
and rumors here on the ground and on social media about what is exactly going on in Zimbabwe. It does appear the city is calm but under the
control of military despite what the military is saying they're in a tricky position right now, because if it is indeed a coup, then they would
generally have to respond as a member of that regional block. One reason that Zimbabwe military is trying to say everything that can they this isn't
a coup. But they are clearly in power and not really in power is Robert Mugabe at the moment in terms of who holds the power in the country.
KINKADE: He is hoping things remain calm, David McKenzie on the ground for us. Donald Trump is waking up in Washington this morning after five nation
tour of Asia. The U.S. President was gone nearly two weeks, but he says the fruits of his long trip will be evident for years to come. Mr. Trump
was given red carpet treatment, as he traveled around Asia, but now that he is back home, he could face some tough questions on a number of issues from
tax reform to a controversial senate candidate to his own campaign ties to Russia. Well, first, we learned that Mr. Trump's son Donald Jr.
communicated directly with WikiLeaks during the campaign. Then Attorney General Jeff Sessions went before a house committee and was forced to
correct the record about a key meeting he previously had failed to disclose. CNN's Joe Johns has more.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have done a really fantastic job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Trump touting the success of his Asia trip but offering no details about the major announcement he teased
this week on North Korea and trade.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The countries were taking advantage of the United States and those day are over.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[10:05:03] JOHNS: The president touching down hours after Attorney General Jeff Sessions heeded five hour testimony before the house judiciary
committee. Sessions insisting he never lied under oath about his knowledge of contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian officials with an
important caveat.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFF SESSIONS, ATTORNEY GENERAL: I've always told the truth. I have answered every question as I understood them to the best of my
recollection.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: Sessions was repeatedly pressed on a number discrepancies in his past testimonies including this exchange from last month.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN AL FRANKEN, (R) MINNESOTA: You don't tell believe that surrogates from the Trump campaign had communications with the Russians? Is that what
you're saying?
SESSIONS: I did not and I'm not aware of anyone else that did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: The Attorney General now explaining that media reports jogged his memory about this 2016 meeting with former Trump campaign aide George
Papadopoulos. Where Papadopoulos proposed setting up a meeting between Trump and Vladimir Putin. As later revealed to special counsel Robert
Mueller.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SESSIONS: I did not recall this event which occurred 18 months before my testimony of a few weeks ago. And I would gladly had have reporter it.
Had I remember it, because I pushed back against his suggestion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: Sessions repeating this line more than 20 times throughout the hearing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SESSIONS: I don't recall it. I don't recall it. I don't recall.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: Citing the chaos of the Trump campaign for his lack of recollection.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SESSIONS: We travel on some places in one day, sleep with in short supply.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: Despite revealing in a letter Monday the department of justice is considering appointing a special counsel to look into alleged ties between
the Clinton foundation and the sale of a uranium company, Sessions appeared unconvinced that a probe is necessary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SESSIONS: It would take a factual basis to meet the standards of a special appointment of counsel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: The Attorney General rejecting the idea that DOJ is being influenced by the White House to go after the President's former opponent
Hillary Clinton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SESSIONS: The Department of Justice can never be used to retaliate politically against opponents and that would be wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(END VIDEO)
KINKADE: Well, Joe Johns joins us from Washington and we also have Fred Pleitgen for us live from Moscow. First to John, Sessions seemed to point
out yesterday that he is free of any sort of political influence, but the President seems to be exerting some pressure to encourage an investigation
of Hillary Clinton. The Uranium sales to Moscow. How is that all playing out?
JOHNS: Well, it's interesting. One thing is clear from the testimony of the Attorney General yesterday. He appears skeptical about the need for
special counsel, going all the way to the point that member of congress, a Republican member ticking off a number of questions about uranium sales, as
well as about Hillary Clinton pointing out what all of this looks like. Session responding looks like is not a standard for the naming of a special
counsel. So it's not clear at all that the Department of Justice is headed in that direction. On other hand, this is the kind of thing that would
make the President furious, because he is been highly critical of the Attorney General and the Justice Department for not going into some of
these areas. The problem of course is pretty simple. That if you name a special counsel to investigate the President's opponent in the last
election, it looks like something that would be done in a more unstable political environment. A banana republic, if you will, not a more stable
democracy like the United States.
KINKADE: Just stand by for us. We want to get some perspective from Fred in Moscow. Fred fascinating testimony. Very fiery questions and answers
yesterday. How is the reaction in Moscow?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: There's not very much in the way of reactions coming here from Moscow and that
shouldn't come as a surprise. What the Russians appear to be trying to do right now is they want to be a point of discussion between the U.S. and
Russia. The whole idea of Russia meddling possibly in the U.S. Election, all of the talk around it in Washington that is something that the Russians
say they want to move on from. They are quite angry about the fact that it's still a big debate in Washington. I think one of the things they look
to quite frankly was the summit in Vietnam where you had those informal meeting between President Presidents Trump and the Russian President
Vladimir Putin and where they both said yes, we want to move on, we want relations between Russia and the United States to improve.
One of the things obviously that is getting in the way is an event like the one we saw last night with Attorney General Sessions having to testify
there with a lot of things that have been said about Russia about Russia's alleged meddling in the election coming back to light. That is certainly
something the Russians don't want to see heated up again.
[10:10:12] You can really see that in the media here which has been largely silent on the Sessions testimony and you can also see that here in the
frustration of some government officials who say we want to move from this. Obviously not really taking into account the fact that Washington, is by no
means willing to move on from this at this point in time as there are still so many open questions that they would like to see answered.
KINKADE: No doubt they are sick of hearing about this. Thank you very much, Fred, for that reporting. I want to go back to Joe. President
Trump's tax policy which is now being linked to his health policy. Essentially 13 million Americans could lose health insurance that corporate
me and the top 1 percent could get a tax cut.
JOHNS: That is exactly right. This is bold gambit they're trying. They've tried repeatedly to get rid of Obamacare and replace it with
something else. And it's possible it could work but also possible it might not the problem, of course, with it is that it fully plays into arguments
by opponents of the president's suggesting the only reason he wanted to get rid of the Obamacare health care plan was in order to pay for tax cuts.
Frankly, though there's no other way to raise enough money to institute this tax cut and what they're trying to do on Capitol Hill. On the other
hand, for millions of Americans, that tax would only temporary anyway. It would stop in 2025 and then they'd get a tax increase. Meanwhile, as you
said 13 million Americans could lose their health care as a result of this. So it still could be quite a challenge to get through the congress.
KINKADE: Certainly sounds like a big gamble. Joe Johns in Washington, Fred Pleitgen in Moscow. Thank you both very much.
Still to come tonight, two exclusives this hour. Clarissa Ward will wave in to a river between Myanmar and Bangladesh. Where people make a
dangerous journey to safety. Plus a modern day slave auction. The horror facing some migrants in Libya those CNN exclusive reports this hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:15:00] KINKADE: Hello and welcome back to "Connect the World." I'm Lynda Kinkade. Well just hours ago, the top U.S. diplomat on the ground in
Myanmar addressing the humanitarian crisis that is driving Rohingya out of the country. Rex Tillerson, met with leader on Aung Suu Kyi. She is
facing intense pressure to end the violence against the Muslim minority. He stopped short of joining the U.N. in labeling the crisis ethnic
cleansing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REX TILLERSON, SECRETARY OF STATE: We're deeply concerned about reports of widespread atrocities committed by Myanmar security forces and by
vigilantes who unrestrained by the security forces during the recent violence. We see also distressed by the fact that hundreds of thousands of
men, women, and children have forced to flee to Bangladesh.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: More than 600,000 Rohingya refugees have left Myanmar since August, that is what we are hearing from eight agencies and most of the
violence had taken place in Myanmar Rakhine State. CNN Clarissa Ward shows us what this mass exodus in the Bangladesh I like. This is her exclusive
report.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At first light you can see them dotted along the coastal road, homeless, stateless, huddled in the cool dawn.
They are known as the most persecuted minority in the world. The distance they have come is not far, but the journey is long. For many it begins on
this river. That is Myanmar on the other side. Every day hundreds of Rohingya Muslims try to cross it to safety.
We can see now coming towards one, two, three, four, five, six different rafts, all of them have at least 20 to 30 people on them. Crudely made of
plastic and bamboo and laden with whatever belongings could be salvaged. You are not welcome on this shore, coastguard's waves them further on. So
we wade out to talk to them.
How are you? How many hours have you been on the boat? Speaking
Since early in the morning. Do you know how to swim? No one does. Rafts is full of children. Of course we are worried. Look, she has two babies,
this woman tells us. The kid were practically slipping off the raft. The U.N. says that scores of Rohingya have died making this crossing, but that
hasn't stopped them from trying. We can't follow them any further. So they drift on down the river unsure what unsure of what awaits them. Their
best hope is that they end up in one of these camps that aid workers have called a massive slum in the jungle.
Bangladesh is struggling to cope another 200,000 refugees are expected in the coming weeks. For the Rohingya like here is a like a constant battle.
This are refugees with no refuge. As dusk approaches, we happen upon a group who made it to shore they tell us they crossed at 2:00 a.m. To use
the cover of night.
Where will you go from here? We will go wherever they will take us, she says. Whatever happen we won't go back. Dependent on the mercy of a world
that has so far shown them none. Clarissa Ward CNN on the Bangladesh Myanmar border.
(END VIDEO)
KINKADE: With U.N. agencies, the children are just one of the groups trying to take on this humanitarian crisis. Justin Forsyth, UNICEF Deputy
executive director, he joins us now from New York. Thanks for being with us.
JUSTIN FORSYTH, UNICEF DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Thank you.
KINKADE: Our correspondents have been bringing us these horrific accounts of babies being throw fires and children being murdered in front of their
parents, how has this been able to go on for so long?
FORSYTH: It's a desperate situation on both sides of the border as you've been reporting. Parents are risking their children's lives by taking them
on these rickety rafts to get to safety. What must they be fleeing?
[10:20:00] We're hearing first hand as UNICEF, some of the stories from children who have it into Bangladesh. As you say, children who have
witnessed their mothers being raped, one little girl talked about her brother and sister being burnt alive in a house. And what we've seen in
Northern Rakhine in the state of Myanmar is ethnic cleansing on a very big scale, I mean this used to be 80 percent Rohingya in the north of Rakhine.
I've been there on the ground. 600,000 people have fled. The violence and brutality is shocking. We also know in Bangladesh even after people have
reached safety the situation is very, very serious.
I got a report today from the UNICEF staff on the ground about doubling the number of children with acute diarrhea under five. This life threatening,
we have an outbreak of measles, I mean we have very high levels of malnutrition. Desperate on both sides of the border.
KINKADE: Absolutely desperate. Let's just hear from one of the children caught up in this humanitarian crisis. UNICEF talked to a young girl who
is carrying her 10 month old sister. Here's what she had to say about the violence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (Translator): They were killing, burning house, plowing the people, abusing, that is why we fled here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Torturing and beating. As you mention, more than 600,000 people have fled. More than half of those are children. What needs to happen to
help this children? This generation that is traumatized by what they seen.
FORSYTH: First thing we've got to stop the violence in Rakhine. That it's still going on and 2,000 people crossing the border often in the rickety
rafts. Once they're in Bangladesh, we need to do much more. Water, sanitation, education, health, helping vaccinate with the Bangladesh
authorities. Over 900,000 local people with cholera in the last few weeks alone. We should help children overcome the trauma and we are running this
child friendly spaces. We get children to draw, to play, to be children again. To try overcome what they've seen and witnessed but it takes a long
time. The trauma is very deep in these children. Children do have the ability to bounce back and an expert UNICEF staffer helping them in the
ground.
KINKADE: It is great you and your team on the ground there. I just want to go back to the comments by the U.S. Secretary of State. Others have
come out like the E.U. and the U.K. and the U.N. and have called this out right ethnic cleansing, but Mr. Tillerson that. He says that the Rohingya
crisis shows signs of crimes against humanity, that he wants an investigation. What are the implications of not calling it out?
FORSYTH: Well, it's very important, they are meeting Aung Suu Kyi also hope a peace meeting, the head of the military for the whole country, and I
met him too, when I was out. He is the man even more than her. She has real power over the situation. That even though she a state counselor, she
doesn't actually control the military and what they're doing on the ground even though she might have influence. We need both of them to put halt to
the violence. The Secretary of State being sending a strong message. We do need to know what happens specifically on the ground and these
violations against human rights, but we also need humanitarian access. We're working in the state, but we're not able to go to the very north.
Even though we got the teams in the middle of the state. We need to get access now to help people that still haven't crossed over, to help them
with water and food and also to provide protection.
KINKADE: You mentioned Aung Suu Kyi. She is a Nobel peace prize winner. Has a lot of influence on the region, but has essentially sat on her hands.
What should she be doing?
FORSYTH: She should be using every bit of influence she has to press the military to stop the violence in Rakhine and also get an agreement for U.N.
agents, not just UNICEF, but the world food program to get access on the grounds, to help the Rohingya and others in Rakhine state. She doesn't
have huge amounts of power. We have to recognize it's still the military who call a lot of the shots in Myanmar. We need to engage them.
KINKADE: Great to see UNICEF doing some great work on the ground. Great to have you with us. Thanks so much for your time.
FORSYTH: Thank you.
KINKADE: We'll see whose helping those caught up in this crisis. Like UNICEF head to CNN.com/impact let's not forget Justin's charity.UNICEF
helping and they are expecting donations at support.unicef.org.
[10:25:07] We're, going to return to breaking news from Zimbabwe next. The country's economy is a mess and now military takeover. So what happens
next? Correspondents tracking all angles of this apparent group from across the region. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KINKADE: Welcome back to "Connect the World." I'm Lynda Kinkade. Let's get back to Zimbabwe. The details at this point are limited. Remember,
this is a country where the economy has been in a shambles for a long time. CNN's money Africa correspondent (inaudible) joins us now from, as well as
Faria Sevenzo reporting from Nairobi Kenya. Those who want to go (inaudible) 93 years old. He has been running the country for 37 years.
Didn't seem to have any succession plan in place. What will the people of Zimbabwe make at this apparent coup?
FARAI SEVENZO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know Lynda, there is a sense of relief. I' not there yet. As you said I am in Nairobi, but heading there
soon. But the sense of relief that somehow this has come to a head. That the situation has somehow been forced to reach this kind of conclusion.
Zimbabweans in general have been very long suffering, very patient with the man who claims that he was made to rule them. That there was no one else
in place to take over with his experience. But of course we know, that the young Zimbabweans are eager to lead and draw all of that and rather chose
to place his trust and his faith in the future of the country in his past. Ms. Grace Mugabe and that is where the problem really hurts the army that
is what they really took great exception to.
This woman with no -- absolutely no liberation credentials. She was bit (Inaudible) when I got with the vice president was first arrested for
political activism in 1960, so at the moment, that was for the continuing including family members, feel like somehow, things are coming to head and
this may well force and propel the change that is desired for so long.
LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: And, Farai, an election was dues to happen next year, is the military essentially in control right now and how do you see
this playing out?
SEVENZO: You know, everyday -- all day we have been talking about the military saying this is not a coup, don't call it a coup but we're seeing
what had happened. They have taken over the state broadcast it and that would broadcast in corporation.
They have made a very fort right address to the nation in the military fatigues. We are seeing tanks and armored personnel carriers on the
streets of Harare. But any other name, this is a coup.
And how are things playing out, I would suspect that within the next few hours or the next few days, either President Mugabe is going to go to his
retirement or that former Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa will play some part.
Remember, he was the man who was in-charge to the joint operation command, which is an automation of the state intelligence of the army of the police,
and when he was fired, it makes sense for the army source, sort to do what they did because they he was the man they trust him and they certainly did
not cannot trust the woman who was about to be made Vice President Grace Mugabe.
KINKADE: Just stand by for us, Farai. I just want to go to, Eleni, Zimbabwe's economy of course was already teetering on the brink of collapse
before this us unraveled, what sort of impact is this apparent coup having on the banks there, the airports>=, the shops?
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I mean, it's an interesting question, and just making some calls to shop owners, business owners, and the banks on
the ground, it seems that we have got business as usual right now.
And as, Farai, said that they taken control of the airport who can't get it and out. But lost equations post on entry, when we look at the main border
post between South Africa and Zimbabwe.
There isn't a flow of people in or out of the country and we're seeing no more kind of cargo being going through that trading post. Importantly,
businesses are also open.
Now in the banks, we know the banks stop operating and there's genuinely a collapse in the economy, but we're speaking to people saying that
transactions are going through as normal.
Now, Lynda, if you wanted to get out of Zimbabwe it was too late. I mean it's been too late for over a year now because of the capital controls that
have been installed in that country. If you wanted to go withdraw $10,000 or $1,000, it was very difficult to do so.
In fact, they had it cuff that every single day. We are also hearing that inflation started to rise within the black market of later which of course
exacerbated the situation on the ground, the former economy coming under pressure because of the dollar shortage.
So this is of course something that's been escalating for a while now. It's come to a head. The military has said that this is part of the reason
that they've intervened. It's because of the economy as well and as, Farai, Zimbabweans have been long suffering for a long time.
Where you had high paying inflation, food shortages and of course a much needed change also coming too before. The question is, how is this going
to of course impact the entire region. And then I think everyone's got that question on their mind.
KINKADE: And an uncertainty of course is never good for the market. Just give us a sense of what impact this instability having on the region.
GIOKOS: Well, I mean, we know Zimbabwe for a very long time has been the weak link, the weak point on the continent in South Africa.
It was very different, you know, in the 1990s where it was viewed as the great basket of the continent, where it was the main exporter of soft
commodities. And of course it was the sort of shining star and the bright star.
Of course, that changed quite dramatically right now. We know that if anything escalates to a more tense situation, if we see any kind of
violence breaking out, that is going to be a massive impact on overall markets on the continent and of course South Africa's role in mediating the
process.
Jacob Zuma has of course sent an envoy to Zimbabwe to try and negotiate with the military to try and see Robert Mugabe and of course a way forward.
Again, it all depends on how things play out.
[10:35:00] Is it going to be a smooth transition or are we going to see anything kind of breaking out on the ground? And that will have an overall
impact on the investors' perception and the way investors are going to be operating with not only Zimbabwe but the region as well.
KINKADE: Yes, the region watching it closely as are we. Eleni Giokos and Farai Sevenzo, good to have you both with us. Thank you. Well, this is
Connect the World. Up next, we continue our journey inside the Middle East.
New cultural game changer, stay with us for that. Plus CNN goes inside a horrifying slave trade, where migrants are being auctioned off, serving
that exclusive report next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KINKADE: Welcome back. Well, for years migrants crossing the Mediterranean have brought with them stories of horror beatings, kidnap,
even enslavement. Many of them making harrowing journeys from West African countries, those migrants who do make it here were often too terrified to
go on the record about their ordeal.
Well, for the last year, CNN has been working to bring these stories to light and CNN team, comprising of Nima Elbagir, producer Raja Razek and
photo journalist Alex Platt. We able to travel to Libya to witness the true inhumanity for themselves. We have got access to a migrant slave
auction where men were sold like commodities. Here's Nima Elbagir.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A man addressing an unseen terror. Big strong voice to work, he says. Four hundred, 700 -- 700? Eight hundred --
the numbers roll in. These men are sold for 1,200 Libyan pounds, $400 a piece.
You are watching an auction of human beings. Another man claiming to be a buyer. Off camera, someone asked, what happened to the ones from Niger?
Sold-off, he told us.
CNN withstand this by contact, after months of working, we were able to verify the authenticity of what you see here. We decided to travel to
Libya to try and see for ourselves.
We are now in Tripoli and we're starting to get a little bit more of a sense of how this all works. Our contacts were telling us that there are
one to two of these auctions every month and that there is one happening in the next few hours.
[10:40:00] so we're going to head out of town and see if we can get some sort of access to it. For the safety of our contacts, we have agreed not
to diverse the location of this auction but the town we're driving to isn't the ugly part. Night falls -- we traveled to nondescripts suburban
neighborhoods, pretending to look for a missing person.
Eventually, we still got in front of a house like any another. And just out secret cameras and wait. Finally, it's time to move. We're ushered in
to one of two auctions happening on the same night.
Couch at the back of the aisle. A flood light is cuing much of the scene. One by one, men are brought out and the bidding begins. Four hundred.
Five hundred. Five-fifty. Six hundred. Six-fifty. Seven hundred. Very quickly, it's over.
We asked if we can speak to the man -- the auctioneer, seeing him, he refuses. We ask again if we can speak to them, we can help them. No, he
says. The auction is over. And we are asked to leave.
That was over very quickly. We walked in and as soon as we walked in, the men started covering their faces but they clearly wanted to finish what
they were doing and they kept bringing out what they kept referring to in Arabic as (Inaudible), the merchandize.
All in all, they admitted to us that there were 12 Nigerian that were sold in front of us. And I honestly don't know what to say. That was probably
one of the most unbelievable things I have ever seen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language)
ELBAGIR: These men are migrants with dreams of being smuggled here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language)
ELBAGIR: They come in their thousands from Niger, Mali, Nigeria, and Ghana. It's hard to believe that these are the lucky ones, rescued from
warehouses like the one in which we witnessed the auction.
They are sold if those warehouses have become over crowded or if they wanted money to pay their smugglers. These rescued men, so many here say
they were held against their will. It doesn't take us long to find victory.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language)
ELBAGIR: Victory was a slave. We know that some people are being sold.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
ELBAGIR: Some people are being sold, is this something you have heard about? Can you tell us about it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sure.
ELBAGIR: Tell us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was sold.
ELBAGIR: What happened?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On our way I was sold. (Speaking Foreign Language) (Inaudible) So the money was not even much.
ELBAGIR: As migrants now start to come forward with their stories.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language)
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language)
ELBAGIR: Anas Alazabi is the supervisor here. With no international support, it's his job to look after the captured migrants until they can be
deported. He says everyday brings fresh heartbreak.
ANAS ALAZABI, SUPERVISOR, ANTI-ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION AGENCY: I'm suffering for them. I am suffering for them. What they have seen here, they really
believe me and make me really praying for them. They come and every story is a special case. They were abusing, use them, and they stole their
money.
[10:45:00] ELBAGIR: Have you heard about little being auctioned off about migrants being sold?
ALAZABI: Honestly, we hear the rumors but there is nothing that's obvious in fronts of us. We don't have evidence.
ELBAGIR: But we know do. CNN had delivered this evidence to the Libyan authorities who promised to launch an investigation. They said that scenes
like this are returned to the past.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Well in addition to alerting the Libyan authorities about we uncover, CNN also pass on our evident to the office of the prosecutor at
the International Criminal Court. Well, our Nima Elbagir joins me live from London with more on this exclusive report.
And, Nima, it just takes my breath away incredible of reporting by you and the team. Just give us a sense of the logistics. What it took to track
down these people that could take you to these auctions?
ELBAGIR: Well, this is a story we are actually started looking into that three years ago. We were hearing these horrible descriptions from migrants
landing down in Sicily and that other European shorelines, have the conditions that they were being held at the smuggler warehouses.
But also of being forced into labor, of being essentially auctioned off to the highest bidder, and at the time, they were all too terrified to speak
on record. So it took so long for us to begin to unpick these threads and try and verify those stories.
And eventually about a year ago, we made contact with someone who had actually seen one of these auctions that number locations and from there,
we were able to verify several of these auctions, just something like 40 kilometers outside of Tripoli in (Inaudible) known as (Inaudible).
There is an auction. This really gives you a sense of what almost an oasis of authority Tripoli and everything outside of it. We here such a kind of
an unknown quantity in terms of the security and so it was through these networks that we are finally able to bear down on the one that would be
most accessible to us.
And even then, Lynda, it really does speak to the brazenness of the people carrying out these auctions that we were able to access them at all.
They really didn't care that we were there. They really didn't feel that there was anything that could be done to stop them. And so for them, we
were at best an annoyance.
KINKADE: Well, certainly a risky assignment for you and the team. And for the person that passed on that vision. I would love to talk to you more
about it. We're going to leave it there for now, Nima. But thank you so much to you and your team.
ELBAGIR: Thanks, Lynda.
KINKADE: There's so much more of CNN's exclusive report on the migrants for sale in Libya on CNN.com. Their situation is beyond imagination for
most of us. And as we've seen refugees turned into slaves and sold to the highest bidder.
CNN was told of auctions in nine different locations in Libya, but there are believed to be many more. You can find all the details at CNN.com.
Some truly incredible reporting there. CNN at its very best. We are going to take a quick break now. We'll see you in just a moment.
[10:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KINKADE: Well, what you see here is Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi, a painting of Jesus Christ. It has now made it's first journey to the
America and is about to go under the hammer at a New York auction house.
Almost 60 years ago, it sold for less than $100. Now today it's expected to sell for no less than $100 million. You've got some spare cash. And
speaking of da Vinci, I hope you haven't gotten that all this week, Connect the World us connecting you to a universal and cultural landmark in show's
hometown, the Louvre in Abu Dhabi.
And right now, another da Vinci painting is on an overseas voyage there that until now all of this publicity or all of his publicly viewable works
rather have been hanging on European walls, London, Paris, Milan. Well, in the Louvre Abu Dhabi, da Vinci's brush is reaching further than ever.
Here's our Becky Anderson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: Mona Lisa's smile draws millions of visitors to the Louvre each year. There's another portrait of a woman by Leonardo
da Vinci just down the corridor every bit as seductive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody knows that the Mona Lisa, (Inaudible), is really one of his masterpieces. And we will meet tomorrow.
ANDERSON: There's some debate about the woman's identity. Most agree the detailing of her expression and extraordinary brush work makes this a
masterpiece or Renaissance art.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's one of his better portraits because it's really one of his portraits where he tried to paint the movement -- the movement
of the body, but also the movement of the mind.
ANDERSON: Now the painting itself is moving, heading on a journey to her new home for the next two years, some 5,000 kilometers away, the Louvre Abu
Dhabi. (Inaudible) will be one of more than 600 art works on display at the museum. All of it they hope will tell the tale of humanity over the
ages.
HISSA AL DHAHERI, PROJECT MANAGER, LOUVRE ABU DHABI: It's the story of what makes us who we are today. It's a story of humans. Where we were,
how we developed and where we got to.
ANDERSON: Jean-Francois Charnier's job is to tell that story through the art. He's a curator here over seeing installations in 23 galleries.
Objects positioned to show moments of universal dialogue between civilizations.
JEAN-FRANCOIS CHARNIER, SCIENTIFIC DIRECTOR, LOUVRE ABU DHABI: The question of the new cities are very important to question. It's very
courageous to open a museum talking about the different city and the beauty of the rest of the world through here in the region.
ANDERSON: The Louvre Abu Dhabi has an extensive permanent collection from all over the world, many pieces going back thousands of years. And have a
look at this. This is one of the oldest art works.
This is the back through a princess from Central Asia. They've also got a number of loans from French museums, everything from Monet to Van Gogh.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Most of the collection that the Louvre Abu Dhabi has to this point in the amount of time that they have is remarkable.
ANDERSON: The cultural partnership between France and the UAE have created the Louvre Abu Dhabi provides for long term loans from French museums for a
decade. Loans like (Inaudible), while they're not happy to see her go, they know she'll attract visitors to this new universal museum.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's a wonderful lady and I'm sure everybody will fall in love with her.
ANDERSON: Becky Anderson, CNN, Abu Dhabi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Well, up for you tomorrow, some more fascinating masterpieces. We'll show you the project's global creativity drawing together the history
of humanity.
[10:55:00] That will be the fourth piece in our week long series only here on Connect the World. But if you're tingling with excitement and can't
wait until tomorrow, don't worry.
There is much more online at CNN.com. I'm Lynda Kinkade. That was Connect the World. Thank you for joining us. We'll leave you with what we call
100 million (Inaudible).
END
