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Trump Fires Off Tweets Alleging Multiple Conspiracies; Advance Preps Underway for Historic U.S./North Korean Summit; Suspect and Three Victims Dead in Possible Terror Attack in Brussels; Experimental Vaccine Helps Stop Ebola Virus from Spreading; Israel Launches Air Strikes in Response to Gaza Rocket Fire; Interim Italian Prime Minister Unlikely to Win Confidence Vote; Search for MH370 Stops After Four Years. Aired 11-12n ET
Aired May 29, 2018 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome, you are watching CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. It's just after 7:00 in the
evening here.
The diplomatic scramble is on. Advanced preparations are under way on multiple fronts this hour for what is a historic summit between the U.S.
and North Korea. Yes, Donald Trump, himself, now confirms that one of Kim Jong-un's right-hand men is traveling to the United States. Kim Yong-chol
would be the most senior North Korean official to visit in nearly 2 decades. His choice as emissary is a sign of how far relations have come
as he has been hit by sanctions by the U.S. and South Korea multiple times.
Let's get more from White House reporter Stephen Collinson. We aren't going to do North Korea. But I do want to start today with even the summit
looming, Mr. Trump is still fixated on this Russia investigation, even though he says he's not. These are his tweets he's been firing off this
morning. Warning that special counsel, Robert Mueller investigators will be meddling in the upcoming U.S. midterm elections. He calls them the 13
angry Democrats. Suggesting the probe headed by a Republican and overseen by a Republican, is biased against him.
He also asks why the 13 angry Democrats, as he calls them, aren't investigating quote, the totally crooked campaign of totally crooked
Hillary Clinton?
Then he tweets, sorry, I've got to start focusing my energy on North Korea and other issues instead of what he calls, the rigged Russia witch hunt.
Only to change his mind a short time later, Stephen, accusing the media of waging an unprecedented disinformation campaign against him. Look, what
does this all indicate? A President who is pushing towards a massive foreign policy win, which he will love, still touting conspiracy theories
and making wild accusations against alleged political opponents on social media.
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: I think it probably shows us that the President, although he said that he has to concentrate on the
North Korea summit spent quite a lot of time watching Fox news this morning. The claims that the investigation by Robert Mueller are
illegitimate, are a staple of conservative media. It's this ecosystem. The President tweets something, the conservative media picks it up. And
then it all gets inflamed and the aim, of course, is to discredit the Mueller probe and to solidify Trump's face and convince them that there's
nothing to answer here. Even if Mueller eventually does come up with serious charges. So, this has been happening for a while.
But what I think is quite significant is that tweet this morning where the President suggested that Mueller would be meddling in the upcoming midterm
elections in November. So, we have a President of the United States arguing that the democratic process of his own country, the one that made
him President is illegitimate. And that is sort of hedging against the Democratic win in the House of Representatives or the Senate. 42 percent
of Trump's voters are now going to believe that any Democratic victory is illegitimate. And I think that's something that is dangerous and something
to consider as we go forward here.
ANDERSON: Concerted disinformation, I think you and I will agree is against the basic tenets of democracy. Each incremental lie should be
called out by a president. He uses Twitter as a PSA -- a public service announcement -- or a decree to all intents and purposes. How much should
our viewers believe of what is being said at present by a U.S. President. How much of this is conspiracy? Can you pick this apart for us, please?
COLLINSON: You know, it's exhausting. Every single day the President says things or tweets things that are clearly untrue. And I think the aim of
that, of course, is for this sort of tidal wave of misinformation to make people think that this is normal. And for those who support the President
to give them a narrative to cling on to. But in any other time, under any other presidency if this was happening somewhere in the developing world
for example, if this kind of demagogic leader was doing this kind of thing, the United States would be the first country to call it out and say that
it's contrary to American values, liberal international values of truth, freedom of expression and democracy.
[11:05:00] So, to see it happening every day in the United States is quite amazing. Now, Trump supporters accuse the media of getting hot under the
collar every time he tweets something, of taking his bait and of over reacting. But a President saying that the midterm elections are going to
be rigged is a pretty serious accusation and obviously, deserves to be called out. Even though it's exhausting to have to do it constantly day
after day.
ANDERSON: I want to bring in Matt Rivers who's live for us in Seoul. I want to get on to North Korea, Matt's joining us from Seoul. Standby,
Matt. Stephen, given where we are at with this meeting it seems back on for the U.S. and North Korea and given what we have been talking about,
these attempts to delegitimize the truth. Is this a case of a U.S. president stealing defeat as it were from the just as of where, from the
jaws of victory?
COLLINSON: I mean, he would be stealing defeat from the jaws of victory if we could be sure that he was going to sort of continue on this stable path
of going towards the summit as he seems to be. After all, this was, let's face it, less than a week ago President Trump called off the summit. Now
we've got whiplash. The head of a spy agency from North Korea, who is the subject of U.S. sanctions is winging his way to New York.
I think it tells us a few things. It tells us clearly how much Donald Trump really wants this summit to go ahead. Whether he was advised last
week by his advisors to call it off and have second thoughts, it's not clear. But that seems to be the case. I guess it also suggests the fact
that Kim Jong-un is sending such a close aide to New York suggests he also wants it to go ahead. Then I think we need to ask questions about whether
the rush to the summit risks you know having a summit that's not prepared properly that could go wrong. Or whether the rewards are so great of
getting Kim and Trump together, that this is something that should be applauded. I think those questions are very much up in the air.
ANDERSON: Well the rewards of getting Kim and the U.S. President together clearly outweighed this rush as the South Korea, Matt, is concerned.
Remind us how important this meeting is for the stake holders in Seoul and why.
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean, you could make a very coherent argument, Becky, that this Summit would not be happening were it
not for the leadership of South Korean President, Moon Jae-in. I mean, it feels like a long time ago. But going back to last summer and into the
fall and into the winter, the amount of nuclear war rhetoric that was being lobbed back and forth between the United States and North Korea, you know,
people here in South Korea are very used to threats from North Korea. Right?
This isn't something they've dealt with for a long time. And yet even then, that level of rhetoric that we saw last year reached a level that
even people here in Seoul who are battle hardy over that kind of stuff, hadn't seen before. And you saw the South Koreans say this is
unacceptable. We need to push this summit forward. We need to get both these sides to the table. So, yes, maybe the summit isn't planned out all
that great. Maybe the Trump negotiating tactic of canceling the summit. You know, we don't really know the effect that it had on North Korea.
But what we do know is that proponents of this summit are going to say you have to start somewhere. And simply that it doesn't match up from summits
past or that is not planned out all that well, or that something could go wrong. Those are not big enough excuses to say we're not going to do it
overall. That's what proponents here in South Korea would say, that the stakes are too high to simply look at past summits and say, well, this one
isn't going in the same way that those have, so we shouldn't do it at all - - Becky.
ANDERSON: Tangentially but not altogether unrelated given that this is a Beijing issue as well. U.S. tariffs against China are back on. The Trump
administration has just announced that it will impose 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese goods. Earlier the administration had declared that
the trade war with China was, quote, on hold. There is no response yet from China. Matt, much talk that Donald Trump had been rolled over by
Beijing in the first iteration of this spat. How are they likely to react to this news?
RIVERS: Well, they're not going to be happy about it. We're not going to get an official response from China until the morning here. But they're
not going to be happy about that.
[11:10:00] Especially, I mean, you heard Steve Mnuchin, the Treasury Secretary, say the trade war was put on hold. And so, it seemed like
things were going to stall out until the Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross, comes to Beijing. He scheduled to come to Beijing on June 2 for the next
round of negotiations.
So, this is without question the United States playing tough with the Chinese. These $50 billion in tariffs specifically related to accusations
by the United States over things like intellectual property theft. Things that China hawks in the U.S. would say that China routinely steals
intellectual property from the United States in order to profit or have its own company's profit. This is a bit unexpected. We don't know exactly the
products that are going to get tariffed. That'll come out June 15th according to the administration. But make no mistake about this. This is
the Trump administration playing hardball just a couple days away from the next round of trade negotiations that will take place in Beijing.
ANDERSON: Matt Rivers, normally based in Beijing, today in Seoul. Thank you, sir. And Stephen Collinson, a regular guest on this show, out of
Washington for you picking apart the machinations there. Both of you gentlemen, thank you.
A triple murder in Liege in Belgium is being investigated as a terror attack. Officials say the killer attacked two policewomen with a knife.
Then grabbed one of their handguns and shot them they say he also shot and killed a man who was sitting in a nearby parked car. Then went to a high
school where he took a woman hostage. A gun battle followed, and several police officers were wounded before the suspect was killed. Nick Payton
Walsh has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PAYTON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Becky the scene of what unfolded at 10:30 this morning in Liege is one that is deeply
troubling but also sadly familiar unfortunately, to Belgium, Liege, it's third largest city. Now, it was it 10:30, as I say, that a man approach to
police officers and stabbed them both in the back from behind. He appears to have used the period after that stabbing to grab their service weapons
and shoot them both dead. He then opened fire upon a passerby driving in a car and then ran into a nearby school, where he took a woman. Some reports
suggesting, she may have been a cleaner hostage. Then special intervention forces Belgium police intervened, and that man was shot dead.
We know little else about him at this stage. But we do know that unfortunately many in Belgium will see similarities between this and what
happened in August of last year in Brussels. Where two soldiers were stabbed from behind. Attacked by a man who shouted "Allahu Akbar" -- God
is great in Arabic -- before that stabbing. He was a Belgian citizen of Somalia, age 29.
But this sadly forms part of the now troubling familiar pattern of sort of terror-ish attacks. I should say, Belgian prosecutors here investigating
this as terrorism. There is no claim of who was necessarily behind it. As I say, it does potentially have similarities to and ISIS it seems inspired
attack of August last year. But now that ISIS caliphate no longer really exists territorially. It's so much more an idea online. That idea is so
much more diffused, given so many of their leaders are no longer around. People often look to mental health as perhaps the cause for attacks like
this. Of course, investigators trying to establish any ideological framework. Any personal history that may have inspired this attacker. To
this point devastating and cowardly crime and still Belgium I think realizing that the threat of terrorism or indiscriminate attacks like this
are still very much in its midst -- Becky.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Let's get you up to speed on some of the other stories that we are following for you on our radar right now. In Saudi Arabia slamming
French President Macron for saying, the kingdom held Lebanese Prime Minister, Saad Hariri, for several weeks. A Saudi official says that Mr.
Macron's claims are untrue. Speculation soared that Mr. Hariri was being held against his will when he announced his resignation from the Saudi
capital in November. He later left the kingdom and rescinded that resignation.
At a meeting in Paris today, rival Libyan groups agreed to hold U.N. backed elections this December. The nation split after the 2011 revolt that
ousted Muammar Qaddafi. And since 2014 has been divide between factions. The United Nations is leading the effort to reunify Libya.
High profile Russian oligarch, Roman Abramovich, is being granted Israeli citizenship, according to the countries media. The Chelsea football club
owner has faced delays in renewing his U.K. visa. However, an Israeli citizen can visit the U.K. for up to six months without one? CNN's Fred
Pleitgen is live for us in Moscow. Is this confirmed at this point? What's going on?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we still have it from Israeli media. We do know, however, Becky, that Roman
Abramovich was in Israel. That's something that has been confirmed.
[11:15:00] Apparently, he landed there on Monday and the Israeli media is reporting that apparently, he immediately got his Israeli passport. Now it
might be the case that he's already left Israel again. But it certainly does seem to be the case that he did get Israeli citizenship. Now the
reason for that, obviously, is that he is Jewish and therefore has the right to get an Israeli passport. He's also invested very heavily in
Israeli in the past both to charitable organizations and to businesses as well. As you were mentioning, Becky, that he can stay in the United
Kingdom for up to I think it's about six months. However, the big question is what about his right to work there? That, of course, is a whole
different question.
That seems to be one of the reasons why he's still following up and trying to get his UK visa renewed. We don't know what the holdup there is.
Nothing has been said by U.K. authorities yet, also spoke to before. Roman Abramovich, himself haven't said anything but of course, Becky, all of this
coming against the backdrop of the poisoning of the Skripals, the new tension or increased tension between Russia and the United Kingdom. Of
course, the U.K. government saying it wants to look more closely at Russian oligarchs who come to the United Kingdom, who bring their money to the
United Kingdom and see where that money comes from.
Now we always have to point out there's nothing to indicate that there was any sort of wrongdoing on the part of Roman Abramovich. But of course, all
of this with these political tensions certainly is something that won't decrease those tensions between Russia and the U.K.
It was interesting, we were on a conference today with a spokesman for Vladimir Putin. And he said, essentially said that the Russian government
does not care. This was simply a Russian businessman who got citizenship in Israel and that was his right -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Briefly, when was he last in the U.K. out of interest?
PLEITGEN: That's a good question. I'm not really sure. I can tell you when the last time he was apparently in Russia. Which apparently was over
the weekend. He was seen or at least tweeted about being at a venue where the Champion League's final was washed between Liverpool and Real Madrid.
That's when he was in Russia. Apparently, then he traveled to Israeli to then get his citizenship there. I'm not really sure when the last time
that he was in the United Kingdom. Of course, we do know, however, that it several months overdue that is visa would have to have been renewed. We do
know that it is something that apparently has been in the works. And there are apparently these delays again, unsure and unclear where these delays
are coming from -- Becky.
ANDERSON: He's famously the owner of Chelsea football club. Really miss is a big match. They haven't had a lot of big matches recently. He missed
-- as you well know -- he missed the FA cup finals recently, which they won. So, we know he hasn't been in the U.K. at least since then. Thank
you, sir.
Still to come tonight, is a shot the key to saving lives? Next. I'm going to speak to the World Health Organization about how to stop or fight to
stop the spread of Ebola and how that is going?
[11:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ALHASSANE TOURE, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (through translator): At first, they started very well. The teams work, the community understood.
So, for the moment we are confident.
The objective is to stop the chain of transmission. The doctors are deploying and carrying out ring vaccination. We're going ahead with ring
vaccination in the community and also for frontline workers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: That doctor there on the front lines of the fight against an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. An experimental
vaccine is being administered to stop the deadly virus' spread. But since Ebola resurfaced less than a month ago, 54 cases have been identified, 25
of them have been fatal. That doctor and those vaccines, both from the World Health Organization.
That group's deputy director general for emergency preparedness and response joins me now to talk about just how the response to the newest
outbreak is going. Welcome to the show, Dr. Peter Salama. Thank you for joining us. This is the ninth outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic
of Congo since the virus was discovered near the country's Ebola river. The response, it seems, is strong today. What is being done about
prevention, sir?
DR. PETER SALAMA, WHO DEPUTY DIRECTOR GENERAL FOR EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE: Well, yes, I think the response can be categorized as strong
so far. But this is a very concerning outbreak because it's so close to the Congo River and it has affected the major urban center of Mbandaka.
So, part of prevention of course, is the vaccination program itself. And that's been a really new element to our response where we are using this
investigational vaccine, and we've seen in that city of Mbandaka a very good uptake from the community. The other part of the response there on
prevention is, of course, ensuring that communities bury their loved ones in a safe way. And that's a very difficult issue because it means going
against the traditional practices sometimes.
ANDERSON: Yes, the experimental vaccine, of course, was developed by the pharmaceutical company, Merck. It hasn't been fully licensed but has
proven safe and effective in trials. As you rightly point out, this is a vaccine intended to prevent the virus. Where are we with treatments? And
just explain a little bit more about these preventative measures which can be as cultural as they are medical as it were.
SALAMA: Yes, so, we know that Ebola is spread through very close contact with people that are sick or indeed, even deceased from Ebola. And that
sometimes clashes with cultural law, where people want to embrace the dead, kiss and wash the dead and their loved ones. So, it's a very, very
difficult message where we say to communities, we know that this is how you bury your dead and you honor them. At the same time, it imposes a very
high risk on you. So, that's the difficulty in changing that behavior. And again, in an emergency situation, it needs to change quickly. Now, of
course, in the context of DRC, it's not the first Ebola outbreak. So, communities have seen it before and have practices what we call social
distancing to help protect themselves.
ANDERSON: The last big Ebola outbreak -- let's remind ourselves -- started in March of 2014. Your organization counted more than 28,000 confirmed or
suspected case of Ebola and there may have been many more than that. More than 11,000 of those people died. Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone were
the country's then hardest hit by the virus. The response back then of governments and agencies and the overall management by the WHO was
described by many as catastrophically complacent and competent. Are you absolutely convinced that the lessons have been learned and we won't see a
repeat of that this time?
SALAMA: I think we're already seeing a real difference in this response not only from the WHO. but the government of the DRC and from all the
responding partners which include, UNICEF, the World Food Program and the Red Cross. This has been very quick and very robust response. WHO alone
has 150 people now on the ground supporting this response.
[11:25:00] At the same time, we should not underestimate Ebola. This is a very, very dangerous virus and every outbreak of this disease is very
different with very different factors. So, there is no boiler plate. There is no template to this response. We have to react to the data and
epidemiology and how this outbreak pans out over time.
ANDERSON: Sir, briefly you were quite quick to call this an outbreak, an epidemic on a knife edge a week or so ago. I mean, clearly, there have
been some lessons learned. And that is great to see. Do you stand by those words? Are you concerned that this is still on a knife edge or are
we over that?
SALAMA: No, I'm still extremely concerned. Remember, we've had four cases in a major city which is on the Congo River and has links with the city of
Kinshasa with 10 million people. And also has links with countries such as Central African Republic, which are devastated by their own internal
conflicts. So, it only takes one sick person to travel down that river and to infect a whole series of contacts, as we call them. And of course, if
100 people go to a funeral or church ceremony, that puts people at risk on a very large scale.
The other factor that's quite worrying, Becky, is that we've had five health workers infected. And that's a tragedy in its own right. But it's
also a real risk for further amplification, because we know in past outbreaks health workers have been a major source of infection. The other
reason why it's so difficult is this is one of the most logistically difficult places on earth. We're talking hundreds of kilometers of densely
forested areas with no paved roads and little power. And were having to trace each and every contact of the case throughout the whole area.
ANDERSON: You are making some very good points and explaining well the difficulties involved. Dr. Peter Salama, the World Health Organization's
deputy director general for emergency preparedness and response, we appreciate your time, sir, thank you.
While doctors work on solving Ebola, there is another mystery that experts just can't get a handle on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not searching for a needle in the haystack. We're still trying to define where the haystack is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The loss of MH370 the most bizarre mystery ever in aviation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: If your mother, father, brother, sister, son, daughter, anyone you know, got on a flight and were never seen again, you would want the
world to look forever, wouldn't you? But it's not going to. Details ahead.
[11:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well, this just into CNN. We are learning the new details about the visit from North Korea's former spy chief to the United States. Vice
chairman Kim Yong-chol will meet with Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, in New York this week. They will help lay the groundwork for Donald Trump's
summit with Kim Jong-un. Kim Yong-chol will be the most senior North Korean official to visit the U.S. in nearly two decades.
Well, to a serious escalation of cross-border violence now between Israel and militants in Gaza. Israel has launched dozens of airstrikes
retaliating for what it calls, the biggest barrage of rocket and mortar fire from Gaza since 2014. The IDF release this video showing an attack on
a tunnel in Gaza. It says the strikes were aimed at Hamas and Islamic jihad targets. Israel says most rockets and mortars fired by Gaza
militants towards Israel were intercepted by defense systems. But one shell landed on the grounds of a kindergarten before school began. No
injuries reported.
Well, the new violence happening just weeks after the deadliest day in Gaza in years. Israeli soldiers used force to quell protest at the border which
Israel says, were organized by Hamas. But which Palestinians say, were a protest against their living conditions and the continuing lack of right to
return to the land their families fled or were expelled from during Israel's founding. For years, they had been calling for an end to Israel's
blockade of Gaza putting in place after Hamas took control of the territory more than 10 years ago. The Israeli government says it's designed to stop
arms smuggling into Gaza but it's the center of a blood he confrontation. CNN's Sam Kiley with this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A good shot they say, by Israeli soldiers they hobble on defiant. The poster boys
for the latest attempt to break Israel's blockade of Gaza seized on by militant groups scrambling to exploit the propaganda advantage of Israel's
killing of dozens of civilians, who activists say were unharmed.
KHALED AL BATSH, ISLAMIC JIHAD LEADER (through translator): We will continue our marches despite the huge differences in the balances of power.
One thing that the Zionist enemy does not have, and we have, is determination, will and sacrifice, he says.
KILEY: That sacrifice meant that on May 14th, 62 people were killed and more than 2,700 injured when demonstrations erupted over the opening of the
U.S. embassy in Jerusalem. By attempting to break out of Gaza, with what are billed as non-violent protests. The U.S. blamed the deaths not on
Israel but on Hamas the militant group which rules the 2 million residents of the besieged Gaza strip. Agreeing that Israel the protesters were
trying to storm the border fence. Israel also claimed that Hamas was inciting demonstrators to break through and conduct terrorist attacks. But
after years of violent struggle, does non-violence as a tactic to take on Israel threaten Hamas as much as Israel, itself.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now the current situation in the Middle East doesn't allow Hamas to use violence. It's better for it to adopt this for ideology
because it will gain more international support and also gain support from Gaza people.
KILEY: Hamas, which the U.S. and Europe designate a terrorist group, agrees that Israel's bloody reaction to the Gaza demonstrations has been a
propaganda coup.
MAHMOUD AL-ZAHAR, HAMAS LEADER: We are very sorry about our victims. This is a very important point. But I think it is good for the people who
believe that Israel is a peaceful system.
[11:35:00] And only the aggressive side is Hamas on the element, again it's the occupation.
KILEY (on camera): Do you think you could get rid of it through non- violence? Because violence hasn't worked.
AL-ZAHAR: People are understanding that by all means the first-time or the first steps by peaceful means. If they fail, naturally, they are going
defend itself. By all means, including their understanding.
KILEY (voice-over): But support for this extreme position is waning in Gaza, even among the parents of victims of Israeli bullets like Ibrahim.
He was shot in the head, age of 17.
AHMAD AL ZARQA, FATHER OF IBRAHIM, WHO WAS KILLED MAY 14: He said, there must be two states living peacefully in the 1967 borders, which are
recognized by the whole world. But as long as there is pressure on Gaza, there must be problems in Israel.
(on camera): Hamas has only embraced the doctrine of nonviolence in the short term, and it certainly wasn't their idea in the first place. But it
has served to expose the idea the Israeli Defense Forces who were responsible for imposing the siege on Gaza have no idea what to do when
confronted by it.
(voice-over): On Israel's side, there is a growing recognition that non- violence poses a danger.
YAAKOV PERRY, FORMER ISRAELI DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE CHIEF: Non-violence steps, easy to end by Hamas or by a terrorist organization. And almost
impossible to handle from our side, from Israel's side. If a million for half a million will decides to walk from Gaza to Jerusalem, it's a very,
very complicated almost impossible to tackle or to handle.
KILEY: But Hamas' long-term agenda is not freedom for Gaza, it is the destruction of the Jewish state. And it remains committed to using
violence to achieve that aim. Sam Kiley, CNN, Gaza.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: European markets slumping under the weight of Italy's deepening political crisis. The Italian President nominated an economist, not a
politician, as interim prime minister after rejecting the winning populist party's candidate. But Carlo Cottarelli is unlikely to win a confidence
vote in Parliament. Meaning Italy could be heading towards new elections as early as this fall. We've seen this script before, haven't we?
My next guest has this to say, Italy is only the clearest example of the catch 22 haunting. Most European democracies, the EU, he says, needs
profound immediate reform, a reckless political establishment is intent on keeping everything as it is come what may.
Those are strong words from the writer and philosopher what Lorenzo Marsili, who joins me now from Berlin. And sir, you may be absolutely
right. The EU may be in desperate need of reform. Nothing will change in the short term. Meantime, all this uncertainty is weighing on investor
confidence not just in Milan -- where you can see the market is down -- but across Europe. Do you think there is a real fear of contagion here?
LORENZO MARSILI, WRITER AND PHILOSOPHER (via Skype): Hi, what was interesting is that Mattarella has vetoed the finance minister in order to
send an assuring message to financial markets and avoid the risk of an Italian exit from the Eurozone. And that is precisely what he might be
getting no as a result of his action. The immediate impact is a polarization of political debate and increase in the polls of nationalist
populist parties such as the Northern League and we might be heading to an early election where the nationalist will carry on a landslide on a
directly anti-euro political message. So, Mattarella's attempt has really backfired in that sense.
ANDERSON: Well, whatever you think of the EU we can have that discussion. A familiar voice on Europe's left, the former Greek finance minister, Yanis
Varoufakis, says the Italian President's moves are playing into the hands of Italian far right leader, Matteo Salvini. He writes, Salvini is
secretly salivating at the thought of another election -- one he will fight not as the misanthropic, divisive populist that he is, by as a defender of
democracy against the deep establishment.
If Varoufakis is right, it does time seem that the President has chosen the very opposite path of what the Italian people voted for.
MARSILI: Well, Yanis Varoufakis is very correct in this. The next election, a few months from now, will be run on a ticket of liberty and
sovereignty for the Italian people against the foreign agents and the foreign invaders.
[11:40:00] This is the stuff that authoritarian regimes from Russia to Hungary are made of. And the actions of the President have indeed created
a fantastic highway for those forces ahead.
But if you allow me to say, this is nothing unusual nor is it peculiar to Italy. What we have globally is a polarization of debate between an
establishment that tries to keep business as usual when that business can no longer really be sustained. And the nationalist international that uses
the poverty, the equality and injustice caused by the current economic model, to try and wreck the whole boat.
Remember Hillary Clinton during the campaign, I am the only thing that separates you from you the apocalypse, she says. And this is what we see
again in Italy. A reckless establishment against a reckless nationalist international. Unless were able to break this dichotomy, I think we are
heading towards some very dark times.
ANDERSON: It's been a very busy hour, Lorenzo. So, I'm going to have to take a break. But I'm going to have you back on. Because I think we've
got a lot to chat about. And this story is not going away. Lorenzo Marsili, for the time being, thank you.
ANDERSON: Up next --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOWER: Malaysian 370 contact Ho Chi Minh 120 decimal 9, good night.
PLANE: Good night Malaysian 370.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Good night, the last words ever heard from MH370. Now it is perhaps less likely than ever to be found. I'm going to tell you why. Up
next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: And tonight, we bring you breaking news on the missing Malaysia Airlines jet as new developments suggest that the plane was transmitting
data hours after previously thought. Well that was four years ago. Now after burning through millions of dollars, scouring massive areas of ocean
and enduring endless agony, there are no answers. Still right now, the search for flight MH370 coming to an end. The massive search starting back
in March 2014 now come and gone. You'll remember when -- like so many of us have done -- 239 people got on board the flight and then never arrived,
simply vanishing. CNN's Anna Coren takes us through it all. Because even as the search ends, the mystery won't.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A routine Malaysian Airlines flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing would rock the
aviation industry.
[11:45:00] And shatter the lives of the families of the 239 people on board. Flight MH370 vanished on the 8th of March 2014 less than an hour
after takeoff. These were the last communications we had with air traffic control.
TOWER: Malaysian 370 contact Ho Chi Minh 120 decimal 9, good night.
PLANE: Good night Malaysian 370.
COREN: Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah was flying the Boeing 777 when it vanished from radar, mounting speculation the disappearance of this ill-
fated flight was in fact a deliberate act. A massive search immediately focused on the South China Sea. But a week later tracking data release by
Malaysian authorities revealed the plane had flown up to eight hours in the opposite direction before crashing in the southern Indian Ocean off the
coast of western Australia. One of the most challenges and exhaustive search in history began with the initial search zone roughly half the size
of the United States.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are not searching for a needle in a haystack we're still trying to define where the haystack is.
GEOFFREY THOMAS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, AIRLINERATINGS.COM: The loss of MH 370 is the most bizarre mystery ever in aviation. And arguably probably one of
the most bizarre mysteries in any field at all.
COREN: In an Australian-led search, experts homed in on 60,000 square kilometers of seabed, 2,000 kilometers off the coast of Perth.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If there is a plane down there, you know, we will see it.
COREN: Using sonar equipment and autonomous underwater vehicles, they navigated trenches, volcanoes and underwater mountains, searching for a
debris field up to 6 kilometers below the surface.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're looking for a small fissure similar to something like this pixel.
COREN: But more than a year into the search, thousands of kilometers away, debris from MH370 began washing up on the coast of Africa, an island of the
Indian Ocean. As the underwater search dragged on, the Australian, Malaysia and Chinese governments funding the $150 million operation decided
it had gone on long enough. Officially ending the search in January 2017, devastating families all over again.
Earlier this year, a private U.S. company took up the search on a no find, no fee basis. But after five months, it, too, has failed to produce any
results and is ending its operation.
JIANG HUI, MOTHER WAS ON MH370: If the Malaysian government decides to end this search and there's no further search, then I would be very angry, says
Jiang Hui, who lost his mother. We cannot accept this kind of outcome.
COREN: For K.S. Narendran, whose beloved wife was aboard MH370, he is also pleading for the Malaysians to keep searching.
K.S. NARENDRAN, WIFE WAS ON BOARD MH370: Do not give up the search. Stay focused on finding what really happened, finding the claim and finding the
truth.
COREN: Anna Coren, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, nobody knows more about all of this than CNN's very own, Richard Quest. He literally wrote the book on the mystery, discovering the
facts and interrogating the conspiracies. And in a bizarre coincidence, flew with flights co-pilot weeks before the plane went missing. Richard,
the search zone in this last iteration, this last time around, 112,000 square kilometers. For some perspective on that, that is 0.16 percent of
the size of the entire Indian Ocean. Obviously, the calculation and zones, the whole ocean isn't under consideration. But just as obviously to you,
Richard, they are wrong. Did this search ever stand a hope, this no find no fee private search?
RICHARD QUEST, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: It did because they were searching in the area that subsequent research had suggested was better and
more likely than that first search back in 2015. So, they were actually in the hot spot, if you like. It was further north. They had better
intelligence. There was a general view that they were in the right place.
And that means that the disappointment in not finding something, assuming that their search was valid and had it had integrity, then they really
don't know what to do next. Because frankly, you just keep extending, and extending, and extending. But it is a vast area. And I think what this is
coming back to, Becky, is the actual data from the aircraft. The performance of the plane on the night. It only has to be a couple degrees
off in any direction and you're talking about hundreds of miles to search.
ANDERSON: Richard, I want to give our viewers just a schematic -- as we call it -- of the plane, Boeing 777, so far only seven pieces of it have
been found. And right now, we're only sure that three of them are definitely from the flight. And they've been washed up. They have been
found. Do you think we will ever find the plane, itself, and even then, that anybody will be able to work out what happened?
[11:50:05] QUEST: I've always said, yes, we will find the plane. Because we have to find the plane. We need to know what happened. The reality is,
yes, those pieces that you showed, there highly likely they came from the aircraft. We know quite a lot now from the way they were compressed, the
way they were damaged, the way they were not damaged. About how the plane probably went into the water.
But in terms of when they find -- and as note I say when not if -- when they find that debris, they will have discovered the black boxes. If
technology holds true, those black boxes should still be good. They should still be good for many years to come, even at great depths. They've been
built to withstand those sorts of pressures. The reality, though, Becky, I will leave with you one thought. The reality is anybody who tells you they
know what happened to this plane, nefarious or mechanical, it's simply not the case. We do not know.
ANDERSON: So briefly, God forbid, this happens again, have we learned anything?
QUEST: Yes. We've learned that we need to track planes when they're oceanic. And as a result, sophisticated systems are now in place. The
regulations, the international regulations require planes to be tracked, and whether it's at a 10-minute interval or an eight-minute interval, it
doesn't matter, because 90 -- well, most airlines, and the airlines that most of us will be flying are tracking their aircraft in minute increments,
three-minute increments. It is inconceivable that a plane oceanically could go missing in this way ever. Because if we had better intelligence
about where that plane was, the resources would have been there quicker, the debris could have been identified and they would have found it.
ANDERSON: Richard Quest in the house for you. In just a few hours from now, Richard will bring on the boss of the private company that just ended
it search. Thank you, Richard. You'll want to hear what he has to say. That is 9 p.m. London, midnight here in Abu Dhabi. You'll work out
whatever the time is wherever you are watching
I've given you two pop quiz for you, wherever you are. Coming up from refugee to a hero celebrated the world over, we meet the man behind what is
this -- this is called an incredible, incredible rescue. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: We have parting shots tonight. More on a story of amazing courage that we brought to you yesterday at this time. The stunning video
of a man scaling a building to rescue a child. CNN's Melissa Bell, my colleague, just met with the hero that everybody is simply calling
"Spiderman".
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It took Mamoudou Gassama just 30 seconds to climb four stories on Saturday. 30 seconds that
saved a child's life and transform his own.
By Monday, he was received by the French President, who offered the Malian migrant citizenship. By Tuesday, he was offered a job with Paris' fire
brigade and shown around his new workplace. The emotion and the exhaustion clearly invisible after the visit.
MAMOUDOU GASSAMA, HERO WHO SAVED CHILD (through translator): Good, really, really good. I've seen things that really interest me.
BELL: Mostly, Gassama, clearly overwhelmed, let his brother speak for him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The last two days I have been with Mamoudou, and we haven't slept more than three hours a night. Were very tired, but we are
here.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, that was Melissa Bell reporting there in Paris on a very good news story. It has to be said and from all of that and all the
stories that we are building for you here on CONNECT THE WORLD and the team on social media. We'd like to hear from you. Tweet me and my team at
CNNConnect, again that is, CNNConnect. I'm Becky Anderson, that was CONNECT THE WORLD. From the team working with me here in the brilliant
producers around the world and technical staff, thank you for watching. We'll see you next time.
END