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Leaked Documents Reveal China's Mass Detention Of Muslims; Idlib Citizens Run For Their Lives; U.S. Cruise Ship Evacuees Forced Back Into Quarantine. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired February 17, 2020 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[11:00:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- cover this up from getting out.
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Growing along beard, making an international phone call, having a passport. These are all
reasons that can land you in what U.S. officials call concentration camps in China.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: We are straight back into the news view this hour as we watch a mass exodus in Syria, kids are freezing
to death there, as almost a million people flee to avoid being stuck between the hammer of Russia and Syria and bombs and the anvil of a sealed
Turkish border.
And we zoom in on China's authoritarianism as half of its population stuck on the travel restrictions. We're learning fresh details about exactly how
much President Xi Jinping knew about the outbreak in its early days while the government was playing it down. And a CNN investigation takes you
inside the country's intolerance for dissent. We do dive inside a new data leak uncovering details on secretive camps inside the country that America
calls detention centers.
And that is where we begin this hour because over the past four years, China says it's been trying to root out Islamic extremism and terrorism in
the western region of Xinjiang through what it called a massive "vocational training program." But critics and survivors describe it to CNN as anything
but they say it is actually a mass internment policy targeting members of the country's Muslim minority.
My colleague CNN's Ivan Watson has obtained read leaked documents from inside Xinjiang. Evidence that reveals an extraordinary level of
surveillance and showing that the Chinese government appears to be rounding up and detaining citizens for the most arbitrary of reasons. Well, here is
Ivan's exclusive report.
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WATSON: Growing a long beard, making an international Phone call having a passport. These are all reasons that can land you in what U.S. officials
call concentration camps in China. Chilling revelations detailed in what appears to be a Chinese government surveillance report on its citizens
leaked from Xinjiang. That's a region in Western China where a mass in tournament policy has forced up to two million Muslims, mostly from the
country's ethnic Uyghur minority into detention.
The documents are spreadsheets of data on more than 300 families living in one neighborhood of Karakax County. They provide highly-detailed personal
information including national I.D. numbers, home addresses, history of foreign travel, religious practices and whether or not they are a threat.
The authors believed to be Chinese government officials then decide whether to keep individuals in what the Chinese government calls vocational
training centers.
Beijing wants the world to believe this mass job training program is routing out violent extremism. But several survivors tell CNN the reality
is these camps were crowded, prison like facilities where inmates were subjected to torture. Due to China's crackdown and heavy curtain of
censorship, independently confirming anything in Xinjiang is incredibly difficult.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why you are? Tell me, why you are here?
WATSON: On a recent visit to the region Chinese security forces harassed and blocked CNN's Matt Rivers from visiting the internment camps. However,
a CNN investigation tracked down Uyghurs living in exile, who verified the identities of at least eight of the families profiled in the leaked report.
Investigation takes us to Istanbul, Turkey. Here I meet Rozinsa Mamattohti, a mother of three from Xinjiang whose name is on the document.
Rozinsa Mamattohti, that is you. That's your name. Her name appeared under case number 358, which also revealed that her younger sister Patem was sent
to a camp in March of 2018. For supposedly violating China's family planning policy that is having too many children.
ROZINSA MAMATTOHTI, RELATIVE OF DETAINEE (through translator): When I saw the document and learned that my yonder sister was in prison for the past
two years I couldn't sleep or eat for days.
WATSON: Rozinsa says this is the first information she's had about her family in Xinjiang since 2016. Many Uyghurs living overseas say
communication with their family back home was completely cut off when China intensified its crackdown in Xinjiang.
[11:05:06]
WATSON: But some Uyghurs are risking their lives to expose this sensitive information.
This is the first time you're speaking publicly about these documents.
TAHIRJAN ANWAR, UYGHUR ACTIVIST: Yes, this is the first time.
WATSON: Tahirjan Anwar is a Uyghur activist living in exile in the Netherlands. Last summer, he received this trove of documents from a source
in Xinjiang. He won't identify for their safety.
ANWAR: That was my birthday. And I got the attachment document and we're very surprised.
WATSON: And it is Anwar along with a patchwork of other Uighurs living in exile who are sharing this information with the outside world.
ADRIAN ZENZ, SENIOR FELLOW, VICTIMS OF COMMUNISM MEMORIAL FOUNDATION: This document is like a microcosm of what's happening all over Xinjiang.
WATSON: Adrian Zens is a U.S.-based academic who's been studying what he is convinced our internal Chinese government documents.
ZENZ: This is the future authoritarianism. This is the future of changing populations who don't agree with the main regime in terms of ideology,
spirituality, political identity or other criteria. CNN's data analysis reveals among at least 484 people sent too camps. Five were detained
because they communicated with people overseas. 25 were detained for holding a passport without visiting a foreign country and the most 114
people were labeled a threat for simply having too many children.
Those Uyghurs were sent to four different camps, all apparently located within the same community. Using other open source Chinese government
documents, we were able to find the locations of the four facilities including the number two training center located near the Karakax train
station.
WATSON: And this is where Rozinsa Mamattohti's second older sister Rozniyaz was sent. According to case number 597, her offense, having a passport and
giving birth to too many children. Rozinsa fears her family could be punished further because she's going public. Why are you showing your face
to the outside world?
MAMATTOHTI: Because I love and miss my parents and my family so much. Because I want to know what's happened to them. I want to know if they are
alive and well. But if they are dead, I need to know that as well.
WATSON: CNN reached out to the Chinese Foreign Ministry and Xinjiang Regional Government in writing with detailed questions, but Chinese
officials did not respond. In the past, Beijing has strenuously denied allegations of mistreatment and arbitrary detention.
WANG YI, FOREIGN MINISTER, THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA (through translator): That so called concentration camps with one million people are
100 percent rumors. It is completely fake news.
WATSON: As for Tahirjan Anwar, he hopes that sharing these documents will force Beijing to ease its crackdown in Xinjiang and lead to information
about his own missing loved ones.
ANWAR: This is my father. He is now in the jail. I don't know what exactly crime
of him. Chinese government, let's free my father immediately. And let's free all Uyghurs immediately.
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ANDERSON: (INAUDIBLE) he is based. How was -- how was China responded to CNN's reporting?
WATSON: Well, we submitted detailed questions again to the Chinese Foreign Ministry and the regional government in Xinjiang about the allegations in
this report. The specific allegations of the disappearances of some of these individuals, we have not received any response. The Chinese Foreign
Minister did last week on a trip to Europe, assert, and insist that all ethnic groups are living harmoniously in Xinjiang.
He invited all journalists to come and visit but when CNN's Matt Rivers went there, he was harassed and stopped and followed by plainclothes
security forces nearly everywhere he went. And it's because of that police state atmosphere and the heavy curtain of censorship, that we have to
really rely on Uyghurs and other members of minorities in the diaspora, telling us what they fear is happening to their families that they
completely lose contact with.
ANDERSON: And what is -- what is it like for these families not being able to talk to their relatives back home for years amid this crackdown?
[13:10:07]
WATSON: Well, imagine in the 21st century, Becky, when I could -- I could call you on video phone right now for free basically. And these people who
are very ardent, they could be students, they could be people who are engaged in international trade or just living overseas. They gradually
noticed starting a couple of years ago that they couldn't call through to their family members or that their family members were erasing them from
communications.
And then they start hearing through rumors and secondhand messages from acquaintances that loved ones are disappearing. And this is a story that
I've heard again and again, from dozens of people from Xinjiang that I've interviewed over the course of the last two years, and it directly
contradicts the account coming out of Beijing about there not being any detention policy whatsoever.
And when you look at the statistics in these details that have come out, where in this spreadsheet which lists the names of some 2,802 adults, 23
percent of them are sent to reeducation camps, sent to internment camps out of this population of 2,802. If this is indeed a snapshot, it suggests that
perhaps a quarter of the population in this region was interned, which is industrial -- an industrial level, systematic rounding up of people based
on their identity religion. Becky.
WATSON: Ivan, your reporting is extremely important and there is more on this story in CNN special digital interactive report@CNN.com. Ivan, thank
you.
Well, ahead on the show, 10 percent, 10 percent of the world's population is now under travel restrictions of the novel coronavirus and with millions
in China headed back to work, we may not yet know the true scale of this outbreak. More on that coming up and --
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At 6:37 the children woke me up screaming. I touched him
and he was icy. The doctors told them he froze to death.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: CNN takes you inside Northern Syria to witness the biggest humanitarian disaster. You quite frankly just may have missed. That is just
ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Almost 800 million people who are now living under travel restrictions in China. The infection rates of the novel coronavirus is
slowing. But there are new fears of global transmission. A short time ago the World Health Organization warned and I quote, "Every scenario is still
on the table." The group says 94 percent of cases continue to come from a province Hubei province in China this week.
Tens of millions across the country are returning to work after the extended Lunar New Year and we may have yet to see the full impact of this
outbreak. Well, U.S. citizens rescued from cruise ship in Japan are back on American soil to U.S. charter planes, dropped them off at military bases.
This was the scene as they were exiting the plane in California. The entire cruise liner has been under quarantine for nearly two weeks already. And
now the U.S. evacuees are facing another two weeks back at home in quarantine.
Well, meanwhile, officials scrambling to figure out how many passengers on another cruise ship were exposed. This ship, the Westerdam is docked in
Cambodia. Several other ports had turned it away. Everyone got off the ship. And then after the fact and 83-year-old American women tested
positive. The cruise liner was thought to be virus free and now those passengers have dispersed and headed back to their home countries
underlying the risks that continue here.
CNN teams on the ground across the region, Will Ripley is in Yokohama, Japan where thousands of people -- as I said, are still under quarantine on
that cruise ship. But first, I want to get to David Culver who is in Shanghai where things are anything. But back to normal. Let's start with
these new figures. We are talking and, you know, towards a billion people, 800 million people now under travel restrictions, these numbers are
remarkable, David.
DAVID CULVER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's incredible, Becky. And what you have to realize it's not just the extreme containment effort
that's happening at the epicenter of all of this within the city of Wuhan or even just outside of that in the province of who Hubei. Those
restrictions are happening here too. In the Metropolis, the financial hub, the vibrant city, that is Shanghai, which today is subdued.
I mean, you go through some of the more popular tourist areas and just off the side, they're often some of the residential areas too. And generally,
you can actually go through some of those. But over the past couple of weeks, they've actually started shutting them down and more recently, they
shut down the entrances for these residential communities so that folks then have to funnel through just one entrance.
And when they go through, imagine having to go to your house, Becky, and -- in order to get into the complex, you have to give your health and travel
history in order to get into your own home. That's the reality here.
ANDERSON: Yes. And I was just speaking to friends in China who have reflected exactly that. I mean, this isolation, this quarantine is quite
remarkable. Let me just get to Will. Will, you have been there in Yokohama now for a number of days, some U.S. passengers are now off that ship and
have been expatriated back home. There are still thousands though on that cruise line. And what's the state of play there?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's a state of confusion for -- certainly it was for the -- more than 300 Americans who
got off that boat, Becky, because they -- I'm not entirely sure knew exactly what they were getting the themselves into when they first heard
that the United States government was sending in these charter flights. Really, it turned into its own separate ordeal aside from what they've gone
through for nearly two weeks on the ship.
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RIPLEY: Daybreak in Yokohama, Japan, the final day on the Diamond Princess for more than 300 Americans evacuated by the U.S. government.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a converted cargo 747. So there is less insulation than a regular passenger jet. So bring extra layers to swim.
RIPLEY: American health officials try to prepare passengers for a long, uncomfortable journey. A journey Karey Maniscalco from Utah is reluctant to
take. She and her husband already endured nearly two weeks of quarantine on the cruise ship.
KAREY MANISCALCO, CRUISE SHIP PASSENGER: I didn't like that answer.
RIPLY: Now, they're about to do it all over again at a California Military Base.
MANISCALCO: They have sent over a dozen e-mails assuring us that there would not be additional quarantine.
[11:20:02]
MANISCALCO: And agents told us that we'd re-quarantined for 14 more days. They've just (INAUDIBLE) the whole month of my life.
RIPLEY: She's angry at the U.S. government, angry they waited so long to evacuate the American passengers. Others like a Gaye Quarter from Florida
are grateful.
GAYE QUARTER, DIAMOND PRINCESS PASSENGER: And I want to go somewhere where I can feel safe. And I just want to thank President Trump and the U.S.
government. There's been a lot of silence on this, and now we know the silence has been putting together a brilliant plan.
RIPLEY: Executing that plan will take nearly 10 hours, even though the airport is just a 20-minute drive from the ship.
MANISCALCO: The buses are starting to line up.
RIPLEY: Once they get on, there's no getting off, not even to go to the bathroom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The best I can do is go find out where a bathroom is.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go find out.
RIPLEY: As the hours drag on, this health worker tries to break the tension.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you call a witch on the beach? A sandwich.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you go.
RIPLEY: Passengers are beginning to feel like the joke is on them.
MANISCALCO: We're just waiting. I don't really know what we're waiting for, but we are waiting indefinitely.
RIPLEY: Finally, they're allowed off the bus --
MANISCALCO: Woohoo.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes.
MANISCALCO: Yes.
RIPLEY: -- and onto the tarmac, boarding two converted 747 cargo planes. The cabin best described as bare bones, no windows, makeshift toilets,
temporary seats.
MANISCALCO: This is first class, baby. First class.
RIPLEY: Lack of luxury aside, Maniscalco feels anxious.
MANISCALCO: It's not good conditions. No one on here has had their temperature taken by the federal government or any government, for that
matter. So we're all in really closed, tight quarters. Everybody's sitting next to each other. I have a girl sitting here in just a minute. It seems
dangerous and not safe.
RIPLEY: The U.S. government says they are safe, even though 14 passengers who tested positive for coronavirus are allowed on the flight, all showing
no symptoms. They're put in a specialized containment area, isolated from the other passengers.
Just after daybreak, both planes finally take off. A long, sleepless night followed by a 10-hour flight.
Now they've arrived in California and Texas. One ordeal ends, another begins.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RIPLEY: As uncomfortable as that, obviously was Becky, I think a lot of those Americans now that they're on dry land back in their home countries
are probably pretty glad that they made that decision because there are these numbers of confirmed cases that just keep jumping and look at the
last three days 67 cases on Saturday, 70 on Sunday and then 99 today, the largest single day jump that we've seen thus far.
We're not sure if these are new cases of if these are infections that were already existing on the boat that they're just now finding out about
because Japanese health officials are starting to test everybody but either way, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the data is
clear, people who remain on the Diamond Princess which is still docked here in Yokohama do face a higher risk of becoming infected. Becky?
ANDERSON: Will Ripley is there in Yokohama. Let me get you back to David Culver, some confusion as to what Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader knew about
the coronavirus and perhaps even more importantly, when?
CULVER: This quite caused quite a stir on social media over this past weekend, Becky, and has since quieted down mostly because a lot of it has
been censored out. And the concern was, how early did President Xi Jinping know about the outbreak and the potential dangers it posed? Well, it seems
according to one internal speech from the Communist Party, even that was release, goes back to January 7th, which was 13 days before the January 20
announcement, and speech and public acknowledgement that came from the president.
And so in that nearly two-week time, the concern is what was being done to potentially stop this containment, if anything. And so you -- it raises a
lot of questions, because what we have seen from the state media in particular is this narrative that it was the local government that fell
short, it was the city of Wuhan. It was who Hubei province that didn't do enough, it was their mess that then the central government and President Xi
had to step in to clean up.
But if he knew about it back then, does that contradict that narrative? Remains to be seen how much he actually knew back in January 7th.
Nonetheless, a lot of folks are talking about it.
ANDERSON: David, thank you for that. And it could be a sign of the times, folks let's talk about -- we'll just pause for a moment and talk about an
unusual robbery. In Hong Kong, police are investigating after thieves it seems, stole rolls of toilet paper and a delivery man had placed outside a
supermarket.
[11:25:10]
ANDERSON: Some talk that people have been stocking up on the bathroom staple there. Why they would have to resort to robbery is an unanswered
question. Well coming up on CONNECT THE WORLD. U.S. Attorney General Bill Bar under fire with hundreds of former colleagues who are calling for his
resignation. More on the bar backlash is just ahead.
Plus, I want to tell you what Portuguese football fans were doing, the lead one star player to walk off the pitch in the middle of the match. That is
coming up and --
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Dima and Betoule clutch their stuffed animals for the last time, for theirs is a world where toys
are not considered
ANDERSON: Well, that journey for survival in Syria's northwest is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK LOWCOCK, UNITED NATIONS UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS: If this goes on, what we're going to see is Idlib, that part of
Northwestern Syria, turned into the world's biggest pile of rubble strewn with the corpses of a million children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, that is how one of the U.N.'s top humanitarian officials describes the situation in Idlib, in Syria right now. Mark Lowcock told me
we are seeing the world's biggest humanitarian horror story of the 21st century unfold right in front of his and yet the world is quite frankly,
turning a blind eye. Well the numbers are horrific. Now edging close to one million displaced Syrians.
[11:30:08]
ANDERSON: That is since the regime offensive began in early December. That is one million women, children, fathers all desperately running for their
lives. And the worst parts while they are doing it in excruciating temperatures, walking for hours in the cold, sleeping in open fields, and
some freezing to death. And for what? Well because an old two vengeful Syrian regime, backed by all two powerful Russian force is launching a
massive raise in the country's Northwest.
Squeezing citizens there from one side wireless sealed Turkish border traps them from the other. Well, CNN's Arwa Damon is the only western journalists
reporting from inside the country. And she joins me now live from just across the border in Hatay and Turkey. And Arwa, you have been covering
this conflict now for a near decade. I know that you feel -- that what you have witnessed in the past couple of days is as bad as it's been, correct?
DAMON: It is, Becky. I mean, each time we go in Idlib, we think it can't get any worse. And then it does. And this last trip was really excruciating
in the sense that we were watching these families trying to flee but the parents are all asking, where do we go because there's nowhere left for us
to run to. How are we supposed to stay safe? Now we should warn our viewers that the report they're about to see some of the images in the stories are
going to hear, they may find disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAMON: There is barely enough light to see as we head towards Samia's (ph) tent, in one of Idlib's sprawling camps. A couple nights ago, temperatures
dropped well below zero and the family didn't have enough to burn.
I fed my baby and he went to sleep, Samia tells us, still in shock. At 6:36, the children woke me up screaming. I touched him and he was icy. The
doctors told them he froze to death.
Her husband walks out before he breaks down. She doesn't have a photograph of Abdel Wahab (ph) alive, just this image as they said their final
goodbyes.
She can't forgive herself. She can't understand how life can be so cruel. Few people here can.
We have made multiple trips into Idlib province. None like this. Roads throughout the province are clogged with the traffic of those on the run.
Unending waves. any have been displaced multiple times before, but this time it's different. They feel like no matter what they do, they won't be
able to outrun the war.
These children walked for seven hours in the middle of the night to get away from the bombing near their village. But it's not far enough.
They want to leave from here, but they need to try to figure out transport or something, because if they try to go walk, it would just be impossible.
Down the road, Dima and Betoule clutch their stuffed animal for the last time. For theirs is a world where toys are not considered essential.
Survival is. They don't cry or complain as they are loaded into the truck.
There is a sense of finality, claustrophobia, compounded by the collective misery of those trapped here, with their regime rapidly closing in and
emptying out entire areas.
One village settled down among these third century ruins two weeks ago. A little boy shows us a picture in his father's phone of the bombing
overnight.
This is Muhanmed and he's 10 and he said that he was very scared the last night because this entire area, the hillsides, all around it were being
bombed.
They almost took off walking in the dark.
I would rather die than not be able to protect my children, Safed Dem (ph) vows.
He used to be the village's elementary school director. His tent is considered a palace by this wretched existence's standards.
Two of his kids have fallen over into the stove. Her face -- her face was burned.
His children are too young to know anything but war and hardship.
Let Trump get a bit angry and send a couple tomahawks, Safed Dem says, half joking. For those here know too well that in the world's view they are
dispensable.
[11:35:01]
DAMON: The last nine years have taught them that. Obet's tent is perched on a hilltop away from the countless other makeshift camps.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Warning! Russian fighter jets in the air.
DAMON: Our conversation is broken up by warnings from an app he has on his phone about where the planes are flying and bombing.
His elderly mother lies in the corner. She's been that way ever since they found out that his brother died in a regime prison. And the regime is
getting closer.
DAMON: Yes, you can hear that.
This is his brother who was detained in 2012 when he was part of the protests. And then, in 2015, they got notification that he was dead.
This is the photograph they got of him dead in prison.
All I have is this photo. Just this memory, he says, haunted by his pain. Even if the regime tried to reconcile, it's impossible, he swears. You
can't trust them.
Nothing in this forsaken place in guaranteed. Gone is the schoolyard laughter and crowded classrooms. They have been converted into shelters and
smoke-filled living spaces. But even as new families arrive, some of those here are getting ready to flee again.
Safed Dem, who we met at the camp in the ruins, sends me a distressing voice message.
He's saying that the bombing was all around them overnight and that the aircraft are flying over the camps.
When we arrive, the sounds of the violence closing in echo through the hills. Safed Dem's children are playing in the mud, seemingly oblivious to
the encroaching danger, or just used to it.
DAMON: They've called for a truck but they're being told that there's no one who can come here that quickly because it's so -- the roads are so
crowded and clogged up with other people fleeing.
Those who manage to get transport are packing up. They still cling to a hope that someone, something will save them. That the world will realize it
can no longer turn away. That they won't be abandoned to desperately search for a lifeline that doesn't exist.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DAMON: And Becky, those being replaced every day or jumping by the tens of thousands. And remember this adds on to the already one million people who
were living as internally displaced persons inside Idlib province. You have a more than three million people that are being crushed into the shrinking
space.
ANDERSON: There is a lot of politics at play here. Less we forget the people involved in your report has, you know, underscores just how awful
the situation is on the ground, but I do want to do the politics. Russia warning Turkey to back off saying it shouldn't make provocative comments
that could undermine what they described as constructive dialogue. Turkey on its part says the situation won't be solved until Syrian forces
withdraw.
Officials from both Turkey and Russia are -- as we understand it set to meet in Moscow to discuss the situation today. Arwa, the bottom line here,
those talks in Moscow are thousands of miles away. They are -- one assumes talks about carving up a country whose citizens in the north are quite
simply running out of choices. What's the endgame here?
DAMON: Well, it depends on who you ask really, Becky. I mean, all parties want to somehow see this resolved at this stage. But the problem is that
resolution is differently defined. The Turks want to see the fighting end, but they also, to a certain degree, want to ensure that the regime does not
necessarily remain in power, but at the very least doesn't keep posing a threat to the civilian population inside these rebel-held areas because
Turkey is worried about the growing refugee crisis at its own border.
The Syrian regime backed by the Russians and the Iranians they want to somehow -- and using any means possible exert full control over the country
and trapped in all of this is the civilian population. President Ergoan has said that regime forces need to withdraw to the previously and negotiate
demilitarized zones, borders or else we don't know exactly how Turkey will enforce that.
[11:40:07]
DAMON: Or else Erdogan has also said that there will no longer be or Turkey will no longer allow for the targeting of the civilian population by air,
that that is still happening. Not entirely clear how Turkey plans on enforcing that and. A lot of people you talk to inside it right now say
that it really is up to Turkey to decide if it's going to take even bigger military action to try to stop this bloodshed or at the very least push the
regime back out of the areas that it has recently gained control over.
Turkey, though militarily speaking, has already lost 14 soldiers inside the province and yes, is taking more of an offensive posture at this stage. But
how far are the Turks actually willing to go?
ANDERSON: But we will see. Thank you, Arwa. It is unimaginable to think how as a parent, you would go about trying to explain away what is going on to
kids, or what's going on around children and as they flee Idlib. This father forced to flee with his daughter, Salwa (ph) made a game to ease the
toddler's fear prompting her to laugh rather than cry at the sound of each explosion. Have a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: The U.N. -- let me says that again. The U.N. Humanitarian Chief Mark Lowcpck says the world needs to step up and stop the carnage in Syria.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LOWOCK: The world is going to regret not dealing better with this problem and the, you know, there rationale is provided that the government of Syria
trying to deal with a terrorist problem is not an acceptable response. There are 100 civilians, most of them babies and little boys and girls for
every terrorist there. So, wiping out slaughtering huge numbers of people cannot be a proportionate or acceptable response to this problem. The
world needs to wake up and do something different and stop the carnage.
ANDERSON: Who wants to fill in for you, head to my Twitter page at Twitter.com/CNNConnect. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM BARR, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: I will make those decisions based on what I think is the right thing to do. And I'm not going to be bullied or
influenced by anybody and I said whether it's Congress, newspaper, editorial boards or the President.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[11:45:02]
ANDERSON: The U.S. Attorney General verbally standing his ground but many argue his actions say otherwise. This as accusations of political
interference in the U.S. Justice Department are intensifying. In a public statement more than 1100 former DOJ officials are now calling on Attorney
General Bill Bar to resign in an open letter posted online yesterday they say "Mr. Barr's actions in doing the President's personal bidding,
unfortunately speak louder than his words.
So his actions and the damage they have done to the Department of Justice's reputation for integrity and the rule of law require Mr. Barr to resign.
Well, former assistant U.S. Attorney Elie Honig is one of many who signed that letter. He joins me now from New York. Why did you sign this letter?
Why do you feel that Barr needs to go?
ELIE HONIG, FORMER ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY: So Becky, I don't sign a letter like this lightly and I spent 8-1/2 years working for the Justice
Department. And really the two most important things that the Justice Department has are its credibility, meaning its ability to tell the truth
and its independence. The Justice Department needs to be entirely outside of beyond. I would even say above politics.
And I think over his entire first year in office culminating last week with his interference in the Roger Stone case, Bill Barr has really turned the
Justice Department into a political arm bent on protecting Donald Trump. And to me that goes too far.
ANDERSON: Assuming that he does not resign, what does he need to do to ensure that the Justice Department does retain or get back its credibility?
How can he boost morale in the DOJ?
HONIG: So I don't think Bill Barr will read our letter and resign. I still think it's worth putting out there because I think the public needs to
understand what's happening here. And I think the people who work within the Justice Department need to know that they're being supported and that
they should continue to do their jobs in a non-partisan, nonpolitical way. Now, what can Bill Barr do?
Well, he took a small step in the right direction late last week, when he said in the interview that we just saw a clip of that the President can't
keep on tweeting, he's making the job impossible to do. Now, if the President does that, again, will Bill Barr stand up for the independence of
the Justice Department again or will he sort of just do nothing? And I think, look, it's going to take time.
I mean, Bill bar has from the start of his term for when he distorted Robert Mueller's findings in a way that helped the President to when he
tried to keep the Ukraine whistleblowers report from going to Congress, which would have helped the president to now interfering in the cases of
two have Donald Trump's closest political allies. First, Michael Flynn a couple weeks ago now Roger Stone, we have a long pattern of conduct here.
It's going to take quite a bit of work to fix that.
ANDERSON: Well, this open letter in part reads, and I quote, "Governments that use the enormous power of law enforcement to punish their enemies and
reward their allies are not constitutional republics. They are autocracies." And, Elie, is that going to far?
HONIG: No, I -- look, I don't think we're saying we are at the stage of an autocracy. I think the concern is that we're starting to head down that
road. DOJ, the Department of Justice here has always stood apart in our system. Now, look, there's no law saying the President should keep itself
out of criminal cases that the Justice Department brings, but it's a norm. It's a -- it's a -- it's a standard of conduct that presidents have
observed for decades, from Republican Party presidents to Democratic Party presidents, and we're really seeing that change.
Clearly. Donald Trump has no hesitation about tweeting angrily about certain cases involving his own associates who've been convicted of crimes
Michael Flynn, Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, and Bill Barr seems to be encouraging and enabling and enacting that and to me, I think we are taking
the first steps away from an independent Justice Department.
ANDERSON: Well, counselor to the U.S. President, Kellyanne Conway defended the working relationship between the President and his attorney general.
Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KELLYANNE CONWAY, COUNSELOR TO THE PRESIDENT: The President of the United States has not asked or directed his attorney general privately to do
anything in any criminal matter, including Roger Stone. Number two, he works hand and glove with the Attorney General as we all are privileged to
do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: OK. That's what Kellyanne Conway has been suggesting in response to this furor. Do you though believe that this is the beginning of the end
of what has been a very unique relationship between Donald Trump and A.G. Barr?
HONIG: Well, we're seeing the first signs of stress in what has been a very hand in hand relationship. But Kelly Conway there, she snuck in a word
really quickly, she said privately, she said something like the President has not privately spoken with William Barr about any case. Maybe I'll take
her at her word, but he's spoken publicly. He's out there, tweeting on and on about what should happen to Roger Stone, what should happen to Michael
Flynn, what should happen to Paul Manafort. How these prosecutions by Bill Barr's justice department are unjust.
[11:50:01]
HONIG: And they should be sentenced to no time and the other side whoever the other side may be, should really be the ones being investigated. So it
doesn't matter if they spoke privately. They're doing it out in the open.
ANDERSON: Elie Honig, it was a pleasure, sir. Thank you.
HONIG: Thanks, Becky.
ANDERSON: You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Becky Anderson. Let me take a very quick break but do stay with us. We had European football pitch
where racism I'm afraid is again rearing its ugly head. The latest incident is after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: (INAUDIBLE) becoming an all too common story. European football dealing with another incident of racism in the stands. Moussa Marega walked
off the pitch over the weekend after he was subjected to racial abuse during a match in Portugal. Now his teammates tried to convince the striker
from Mali to stay, but he refused to keep playing before fans who were taunting him with monkey chants.
Before leaving the match, Marega scored what would be the winning goal. Well, it's just the latest example of European fans attacking players for
the color of their skin. CNN's World Sports Christina Macfarlane with the details.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINA MCFARLANE, CNN INTERNATIONAL SPORTS AND NEWS ANCHOR: This was the moment Moussa Marega has had enough. The Porto striker from Mali the target of racist and monkey chants after scoring their winning goal.
Pointing to the color of his skin and raising middle fingers to the crowd, Marega attempted to walk off the pitch after being punished by the referee
with a yellow card for his reaction.
His teammates attempting to stop him, while the club manager reacted angrily to the fans attacking his player.
SERGIO CONCEICAO, MANAGER, FC PORTO (through translator): We are enraged by what happened. I know the passion that exists here in Victoria for the
clubs. But I'm sure most fans don't identify with the attitude of some people who sit on the stands tonight, insulting Marega since the warm up,
PEDRO PINTO, FROMER CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: They are taking it very seriously here in Portugal. It's a country that has not seen that many
episodes like this one yesterday. This is very rare here. And people are not even beginning to trying to accept it. They're condemning it and they
want to punish those who are -- who are guilty.
MACFARLANE: The 28-year-old later took to Instagram calling the racist fans idiots and accusing the referee of giving him a yellow card for merely
defending the color of his skin.
PIARA POWAR, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THE FARE NETWORK: We are seeing players who are hearing this sort of abuse, they want to walk off and then there is
other individual teammates who want to stop them or the club who disapproves (INAUDIBLE) of action. This is not new. It is something the
players are facing every week in international competitions across Europe.
[11:55:06]
MACFARLANE: Police have now opened an investigation to identify the fans responsible. Even Portugal's President issued a strong condemnation on
Monday. And the club have called it one of the low moments in the recent history of Portuguese Football. Christina Macfarlane, CNN, London.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, for more on the stories that we've been working on, you can head to our Facebook page, including my recent interview with Jane Goodall
who is the conservationists and activist. And do let us know what you think about Christina's report. Racism in football must just be stamped out and
as CNN has been doing a lot on trying to help support that initiative. I'm Becky Anderson, that was CONNECT THE WORLD. Thank you for watching.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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