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AROUND THE WORLD

Controversial Remarks by Oscar Pistorius's Father; Objections Expressed to 12 Cardinals for Handling of Sex Abuse Cases; Chinese Outrage over Child's Murder; African Forest Elephants Face Extinction; U.S. Wants Limits on U.N. Drinking

Aired March 6, 2013 - 12:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


ERROL BARNETT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Many saw that as essentially saying that white South Africans need to arm themselves because the government and the local police force will not protect them.

Now, the ruling party here, the African National Congress, responded to that comment quite sternly saying, quote, "Not only is this statement devoid of truth, it is also racist."

Now, I should also mention that the p.r. agency representing the Pistorius family says that the rest of the family distances itself from Henke's comments, that they are a cause for concern.

But it's really struck a nerve in this country, people wondering, you know, is this really valid?

Studies show that white South Africans, generally speaking, are more fearful of being the victims of crime than their black South African counterparts.

However, other statistics show that crime, violent crime, rapes and murders are more common in the poor parts of South Africa, the townships, which are predominantly populated by black South Africans.

The Medical Research Council even found that black South Africans, statistically speaking, are more likely to be the victims of violent crime.

So, many are wondering, what was Henke Pistorius basing these comments on?

BRIANNA KEILAR, ANCHOR, "CNN AROUND THE WORLD": And, also, something coming out of this story today, Errol, is that the family of Reeva Steenkamp has broken its silence. This is the first time since Pistorius was released.

What are they saying?

BARNETT: Yeah, you've got the Pistorius clan dealing with a controversy and the Steenkamp clan continuing to grieve. She is also still appearing weekly in a reality show here.

But they are breaking their silence to CNN. Drew Griffin was able to interview Reeva Steenkamp's uncle and simply asked him what he wants. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would like to be face to face with him and forgive him, forgive him what he's done.

And that way I can find what's probably more peace with the situation.

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: And you would forgive him, Mike (ph), whether this was a tragic accident or whether this was ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whatever, whatever the outcome, I feel that my belief -- and if Christ would forgive when he died on the cross, why can't I? Who am I not to forgive him?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: You can see the entire interview tonight on "AC 360," Brianna, but we won't know anything definitive about what happened on Valentine's Day until Oscar Pistorius heads back to court on June 4th.

KEILAR: He would forgive him, almost unbelievable, I'm sure, to some people.

Errol Barnett for us there in Johannesburg, thank you for that.

And you don't want to miss "Anderson Cooper 360" tonight. There will be more from Reeva Steenkamp's family speaking for the first time since Pistorius' release.

You can see that at 8:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

One day after hitting an all-time high, the Dow is marching even higher. Right now, up about 23 points.

The rally has been driven by improved economic numbers and Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange to break this all down for us.

Why are we seeing this, Alison?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Dow is a bit hire, but it was a lot higher earlier when investors bought in after a positive report on private-sector job growth in February.

We are seeing those gains fall back a bit, but still, the Dow is in the plus column. What that private-sector report showed was that employers added 198,000 jobs last month and, Brianna, that's a good sign because this report is considered an appetizer to the main course that's coming on Friday and that's the official government jobs report.

The expectation there is to see a gain of 175,000 positions for February, but you know what the big question everybody's asking today? Everybody's asking, can stocks maintain these eye-popping levels?

And many analysts that we talked to say, actually, stocks are pretty right for a correction. These are skeptics who say this kind of momentum, it can't last forever, especially if you look at history as our guide. If you look at how the Dow did after its last two peaks, it fell 40-to-50 percent.

Now, the anticipation is not to see that kind of pullback, but if that jobs report, Brianna, misses expectations, we could see investors take some profits off the table.

Brianna?

KEILAR: All right, and you said this is an appetizer, these numbers are an appetizer to the main course. I think we all -- we need a little dessert to be honest when you think of the way that some Americans are feeling despite ..

KOSIK: I'm up for that.

KEILAR: ... despite ...

KOSIK: What report would that be?

KEILAR: I don't know, but we could sure use it.

KOSIK: (INAUDIBLE) dessert, yeah.

KEILAR: Yes, definitely.

Alison Kosik for us there at the New York Stock Exchange, thank you.

They're being called "The Dirty Dozen." A priest abused victims group is blacklisting 12 candidates to be pope and one is a cardinal from the U.S.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: An international group that supports people sexually abused by priests is sending a blunt message to the Vatican. It is naming 12 cardinals who it says should not be elected pope because of the way that they've handled past sex-abuse claims.

The group is calling those cardinals "The Dirty Dozen," and Ben Wedeman is in Rome with this story.

So, what exactly is the group's complaint here, Ben?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the group's complaint is that these 12 cardinals, three of whom are from the United States, did not do enough to root out priests and other members of the church who abused children.

What they would like to see is they want to make sure that these 12 cardinals who are quite prominent and, as they're called here in Rome, "papabile" -- potential pope candidates, they don't want them to be elected pope, first of all.

But they're also calling for all those members of the church who were involved in the abuse of children to be immediately defrocked.

They're saying that now when the Vatican is preparing to elect a new pope is the time to speak out on this issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARBARA DORRIS, VICTIM'S OUTREACH DIRECTOR, SNAP: We tried silence. Silence didn't work, so we have to speak out.

We have to do everything we can to get this information out there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WEDEMAN: Brianna, we did reach out to representatives of some of those cardinals. They did decline to comment on the accusations.

A spokesman for the Vatican added that SNAP, the name of that network, has no say in the selection of the next pope.

Brianna?

KEILAR: So, maybe they say that there's no say, Ben, but do you think that this could have an impact? Even if not sort of officially?

WEDEMAN: Well, there's no question that the whole matter, the whole burning issue of abuse of children of priests by members of the clergy looms very largely over the current congregation that's meeting, the cardinals who are meeting, and will no doubt loom heavily, largely, over the conclave as well.

But what's interesting is it appears a gag order has come out from the Vatican. Today, there was supposed to be a press conference by American cardinals. It was canceled 15 minutes beforehand.

What is clear is that the Vatican finds that there's a little too much talk about the issues in the lead-up to the conclave, of course, a date of which has not been set and it appears that they want to lower a "cone of silence," so to speak, over the current deliberations.

Brianna?

KEILAR: Ben Wedeman for us there in Rome, following this story, thank you.

A baby's brutal death is sparking outrage in China. A man confessed to strangling an infant he found in a car he stole.

David McKenzie tells us the case has led to an outpouring of shock and grief online.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It started with on online outcry, which led to a massive manhunt and ended in tragedy.

It all happened here in China when this child, Haobo, was in a car with his father when his father on Monday went to turn on the heat in his supermarket.

When he came back outside because he'd left the child in the car, the car was missing.

He went to the local authorities who alerted citizens on Weibo, the Twitter-like service here in China, and they went to it in droves, starting a manhunt online, which ended with a manhunt on the ground, but no sign of the child.

Thirty-six hours later, after China was on tenterhooks, this happened. A man came into a local police station. He said that he had strangled the child after he had heard about the outcry and buried Haobo in the snow.

The incident has led to real soul-searching here in China, many people taking to Weibo to vent their opinions.

One person saying, "Compared to the criminal, I'm more irritated by the parents. What kind of people will leave their babies alone in cars?"

Another one saying, "I'm going to stay something different. I think it's the media and people's fault. Everyone is posting information about the baby and it irritated the killer."

In a very ill-advised p.r. move, a Buick dealership in China seemed to want to get in on the discussion about trying to find Haobo and posted this advert, saying that Buick had GPS and you could find your car if you lost it.

Also, Hyundai on its official Chinese website put out that they have central locking and gave hints on how to lock a car if you leave your child in it.

The attempt to tap into the tragedy has led to outrage on Weibo and other sites. In China, many people are wondering the worth of social media as a tool when it ultimately comes down to the life of this child.

Authorities now say that the parents have been able to find Haobo in the snow and identified his body.

David McKenzie, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: African forest elephants are heading for extinction, beautiful animals that could be gone in the next decade.

We'll be talking with Philippe Cousteau, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to AROUND THE WORLD. Here are the top stories. Right now, despite mounting criticism, the former president of Poland says he will not apologize for anti gay comments. Lech Walesa told a report Friday night that as a minority, gays have no right to a prominent position in politics. He said they should sit in back of parliament or even behind a wall. If you remember, Walesa led Poland out of the Cold War struggle with the Soviet bloc and is a Nobel Peace Prize winner.

A shocking new study has found African forest elephants, beautiful, beautiful animals, could become extinct within 10 years. Some 25,000 African elephants have been killed annually in the last decade. Many of them are hunted down by poachers in central Africa looking to sell their ivory tusks. The population has declined a whopping 65 percent in just 10 years. That's two-thirds of the population.

Let's get now to CNN's special correspondent, Philippe Cousteau. He's joining me now from Los Angeles.

Philippe, you look at the pictures of these elephants and it just seems so sad. They're these kind of big, beautiful beasts and we've covered these stories of their slaughter in recent months with you, where hundreds are killed at a time. What is the main reason for this fast track to extinction? It seems like it's poaching, but why can't this be prevented?

PHILIPPE COUSTEAU, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is, Brianna, indeed very, very tragic news coming out. I mean 65 percent of these elephants killed in the last 10 years. So, you know, the real issue, of course, is that this is happening in central Africa around the Democratic Republic of Congo and those types of areas, Cameroon, et cetera. And those are areas that, in many cases, are essentially lawless. Areas where there's a lot of resource extraction, a lot of logging.

And, of course, traditionally, these elephants were largely protected by the fact that they live in very dense forest areas. But logging and mining causes roads to be built, which then allows the poachers to come in. And, fundamentally, this is still an issue about ivory in the same way that the ivory trade is threatening Savannah, the larger Savannah elephant so many people are familiar with further south in Africa. The demand for ivory in China and the far east has skyrocketed over the last 10 years and really contributed to the fact that these incredible animals are facing extinction within the next decade. I mean, just a staggering development.

KEILAR: Yes, it's unbelievable, Philippe. And when you say that they're building these roads and the poachers have access, I mean, realistically, what can be done? Can anything be done here to prevent this?

COUSTEAU: Well, there's -- you know, there's a couple of things that's really important to remember, Brianna. It's a great question. And one of those certainly is consumer demand. Believe it or not, last summer there was a major bust in New York City (INAUDIBLE) stores that were selling ivory illegally. So there is a demand issue here. Buyer beware. Do not consume, do not buy these types of products. There are websites that advertise ivory as well.

And, of course, we need to continue to put pressure on international governments. You know, Prime Minister Shinawatra (ph) in Thailand recently just stated that she is supportive of banning the ivory trade in Thailand. But, unfortunately, didn't give a timeline for that. So that's a positive development, but we need to keep pressure on the international community to actually do something about this.

Because remember, and this is really important. This isn't just, you know, back in the day, people would assume that these were poachers that would go out, individuals trying to feed their families. This is -- a lot of this is very organized. A lot of it is organized crime. It's very cheap money for these syndicates of organized crime to make by going in with attack helicopters and AK-47s to get this ivory and sell it.

And a lot of these are organized crime institutions that use that money to support human trafficking, drugs, et cetera. So it's a national security, it's a global security issue. It's, of course, an issue for all of us to see these majestic creatures disappear. And it's important for us to remember that we, as citizens, need to continue to put pressure on our elected leaders and also make better choices as consumers.

KEILAR: Philippe Cousteau, thank you for informing us about this new information.

COUSTEAU: Thanks, Brianna.

KEILAR: Thank you.

Well, sometimes the best wheeling and dealing happens, of course, over maybe a beer, a glass of wine. Yes, even at the United Nations. But a U.S. delegate says it needs to stop. That there shouldn't be any more drinking on the job.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: People who buy "Playboy" magazine, what do they say? I buy it for the articles. Uh-huh. Well, they can now read them in Hebrew. For the first time ever, the magazine launched a Hebrew language edition of the magazine. It hits newsstands in Israel this week. Publishers say the local edition will feature Israeli writers and models. "Playboy" has been available in Israel for many years, but never with original content in Hebrew. The magazine has been around since the early '50s.

A few drinks to celebrate a job well done at the U.N. It isn't that rare. But did you know that drinking is going on even during some negotiations? Richard Roth reports that a U.S. delegates wants to put an end to all of that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Put 193 countries who all want something from each other in one place and you're bound to have some drinking. It could ease some tensions and perhaps lower barriers to agreement. In a rare rebuke to the world, a U.S. diplomat Monday, in public, scolded fellow diplomats for drinking on the job.

JOSEPH TORSELLA, U.S. AMB. TO U.N. FOR MGMT. AND REFORM: As for the conduct of negotiations, Mr. Chairman, we make the modest proposal that the negotiating rooms should in future be an inebriation free zone.

ROTH: There are stories told of delegates even bringing in liquor to closed door negotiations on Christmastime U.N. budget talks, which usually drag on way past midnight. The most famous U.N. drinking incident occurred more than two years ago overseas when a United Nations Chinese undersecretary general for economic affairs went on a drunken rampage, telling his boss, the U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon, "I know you never liked me, Mr. Secretary-General. Well, I never liked you either." He later apologized.

ROTH (on camera): There are just a handful of establishments where diplomats can eat or drink, especially during years of renovation here at U.N. headquarters. So in those late night negotiations, diplomats have had to look elsewhere for those special beverages.

COLUM LYNCH, "WASHINGTON POST" REPORTER: In the past, you know, the French have brought wine, the Canadians have brought Canadian whisky, you know, the Russians -- and this is sort of current practice -- they kind of crack open a bottle of vodka. There's a sort of dispute as to whether they crack it open before the negotiations or whether they do it afterwards. But there's -- you know, there's the sort of tradition of drinking.

ROTH (voice-over): Several diplomats denied seeing excessive drinking on the grounds.

MARK LYALL GRANT, BRITISH AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: Of course, in diplomacy, there are a lot of receptions, there is a lot of dinners, there are a lot of lunches that take place and people may have a drink on those occasions. But in my experience, drink has never come into question of negotiations.

ROTH: Behind the drinking is frustration that non-western countries are not interested in reforming the organization at those late night meetings.

TORSELLA: Let's save the champagne for toasting a successful end to the session.

ROTH: Richard Roth, CNN, the United Nations.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: It is the world's largest mall with an amusement park even inside. But where are the shoppers?

And, she touched hearts and inspired the world, but now some are questioning Mother Teresa's reputation. We'll explain why. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)