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Obama Orders Additional Troops to Syria; Cruz and Kasich Team Up to Stop Trump; Penetrating Boko Haram's Sambisa Forest Stronghold; World Leaders Condemn North Korean Missile Test; Bangladesh Student Detained in Professor's Murder; Mexico Stonewalled Probe into Missing Students; Photographer Captures Migrants' Journeys. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired April 25, 2016 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ROBYN CURNOW, CNN HOST (voice-over): Ahead, at the INTERNATIONAL DESK, President Obama will send more U.S. Special Forces into Syria.
Donald Trump's rivals team up to stop the Republican frontrunner.
And stores run out of Prince George's regal robe.
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CURNOW: Hi, there, welcome. I'm Robyn Curnow. And we begin with the U.S. sending more special operations forces to Syria in the fight against ISIS.
Now it's the largest troop increase there since the Syrian civil war began five years ago.
U.S. President Barack Obama made the announcement during his visit to Hanover, Germany. Just last week, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said
over 200 special operations troops and Apache attack helicopters will be deployed to Iraq. Here's a portion of today's announcement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: A small number of American special operations forces are already on the ground in Syria and their
expertise has been critical as local forces have driven ISIL out of key areas.
So given the success, I've approved the deployment up to 250 additional U.S. personnel in Syria, including Special Forces, to keep up this
momentum. They're not going to be leading the fight on the ground. But they will be essential in providing the training and assisting local force
as they continue to drive ISIL back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: CNN's Athena Jones joins us now live from Azen (ph), Germany.
You've been traveling with the president.
How big a difference will this make?
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Robyn, the White House hopes it will make a big difference. These up to additional 250 Special Forces,
that's six times the number of forces that are right now operating in Syria; for the last several months there have been 50 special operations
forces there on the ground providing help, advising and assisting local forces.
We know the president has talked a lot lately about the need to intensify and accelerate the campaign against ISIS in Iraq and in Syria. In Iraq,
the hope is for the local forces to eventually retake the city of Mosul.
And the hope here in Syria is that these Special Forces can help local forces eventually grow strong enough to be able to retake Raqqah, which is
the ISIS stronghold there in Syria, their base of operations.
The White House says we've looked at what's been working. They believe those 50 Special Forces that have been in Syria are operating for a few
months now have been helpful in helping the local forces make some important advances in Northern Syria and in Eastern Syria.
They won't specify exactly where these additional forces will be deployed but the idea is to augment what's already going on and so they say the
reason they're sending more forces because having the forces there is helpful. They provide critical expertise. We'll have to see how many more
gains come with the addition of these forces -- Robyn.
CURNOW: Athena, also in conjunction with Ash Carter's announcement last week, this all points to increasing U.S. engagement in the region?
JONES: Absolutely. As you mentioned, these additional -- it's a little over 200 special operations forces heading to Iraq and also those Apache
attack helicopters, all of this part of the idea of intensifying the fight against ISIS.
Of course, it was -- the fall of Mosul was a big loss and the hope is that that city can be retaken in a matter of months with the help of these
additional forces. This is, of course, the fight in Syria, the fight against ISIS, that has helped stem this flow of refugees that's created a
migration crisis here in Europe.
And so this is all of a piece of the same thing, trying to end the conflict in Syria, trying to give the chances for there to be a political resolution
there in the hopes of also helping stem the flow of refugees and creating just a more stable Middle East -- Robyn.
CURNOW: Yes. Thanks so much.
Athena Jones reporting there.
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CURNOW: And Donald Trump is lashing out after a late-night maneuver by his Republican presidential rivals. CNN's Phil Mattingly has more on what
Trump is calling "a horrible act of desperation."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: I want to ask each and every one of you to come out and vote for me 10 times.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ted Cruz betting big on Indiana, announcing he's joining forces with John Kasich in an
unprecedented last-ditch effort to stop Donald Trump.
The divide and conquer agreement: Cruz's campaign will, quote, "focus its time and resources in Indiana" --
[10:05:00]
MATTINGLY (voice-over): -- and, quote, "clear the path" for Kasich in Oregon and New Mexico.
Kasich confirming the campaign collusion in a statement, writing that, quote, "Keeping Trump from a plurality in Indiana is critical to keeping
him from the nomination."
Recent polling shows Cruz trailing Trump by single digits in the Hoosier State. The strategy shift coming despite the fact that Kasich and Cruz
continue to attack each other on the campaign trail.
GOV. JOHN KASICH (R), OHIO, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: A vote for Cruz or Trump, frankly, is a vote for Hillary Clinton.
CRUZ: John Kasich has no path whatsoever to the nomination.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Trump lashing out on Twitter and issuing a lengthy statement, writing, "Collusion is often illegal in many other industries.
And yet these two Washington insiders have had to revert to collusion in order to stay alive.
"They are mathematically dead and this act only shows, as puppets of donors and special interests, how truly weak they and their campaigns are."
The latest GOP bombshell coming ahead of Tuesday's primaries in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, states
where Trump appears poised to perform well, the Republican front-runner continuing his own attack dog strategy on the trail this weekend.
DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Cruz is working really hard to, I don't want to use the word bribe, but to bribe the delegates.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Accusing Cruz of illegal activity and rejecting calls to appear more presidential.
TRUMP: It's so much easier to be presidential, because I don't have to use any energy. You know, I can just walk out -- so much easier.
You think this is easy?
Ranting and raving, I got to entertain 18,000, whatever the hell number of people we have here.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: CNN's Phil Mattingly reporting there.
I want to talk more about those comments and this extraordinary move. Chris Frates joins me now from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Hi, there, Chris.
How did this happen, as Phil was saying in his piece, these two candidates have been taking potshots at each other for a while now.
CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Maggie (sic). But this has been in the works for weeks now, the Kasich people have been
trying to convince the Cruz of doing this deal.
And when you start to look at the math, you can understand why. Let's break it down a little bit.
If you look at Indiana, John Kasich has now agreed to cede Indiana to Ted Cruz and the numbers there show you why. Donald Trump beating both Ted
Cruz and John Kasich there by double digits. But if you take John Kasich out of the mix here, then the head-to-head matchup, Cruz has a chance at
beating Donald Trump, getting all 57 of those delegates in a winner-take- all situation there.
That goes a long way to stopping Donald Trump from getting to that magic number of 1,237 and clinching that nomination.
Now similarly, Ted Cruz agreeing not to compete against John Kasich in New Mexico and Oregon; 52 delegates up for grabs there. John Kasich hoping he
can take a bigger share and taking that share away from Donald Trump because, mathematically, both John Kasich and Ted Cruz, it's virtually
impossible for them to get to that magic number of 1,237 and clinch the nomination on their own.
Their only hope really is to stop Donald Trump. Go to Cleveland, get a contested convention and hope that, in the balloting there, they come out
the party's nominee -- Maggie (sic).
CURNOW: It's Robyn here but no worries.
I do want to ask you, though, what do voters think of all this?
How do you coordinate this?
What message does it send to voters, even if you have got a great divide- and-conquer strategy?
FRATES: Right. Well, certainly that remains to be seen.
Do voters get behind their candidate's strategy?
For instance, do Kasich voters in Indiana give their votes to Cruz?
And do Cruz supporters in New Mexico and Oregon get behind Kasich?
We will see that. But, you know, of course, Donald Trump is going to continue to fire up his supporters and his voters by making the case that
this is collusion, that this is just part of that rigged system that he's been railing against for the last few days.
In fact, I want to show you a tweet here, Maggie (sic), that he put out just today, railing against this deal.
He said, quote, "Shows how weak and desperate Lyin' Ted is when he has to team up with a guy who openly can't stand him and is only one win and 38
losses."
So you know, you have Donald Trump continuing to rail against this deal. You know, he's been on the campaign trail. So this will fire up his voters
as well. We'll see if they get excited and we'll see if the Kasich and Cruz voters kind of get behind this strategy and vote for the other guy in
some of these key states -- Maggie (sic).
CURNOW: It's Robyn, Chris. I might have to start calling you Phil Mattingly.
But anyway, we'll talk again. Thanks so much for your perspective.
The Nigerian military says it's closing in on Boko Haram's stronghold in the Sambisa Forest. Our Nima Elbagir went with them for an exclusive look
as they search for nearly 300 school girls kidnapped by the Islamist militants two years ago. And Nima joins us now --
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CURNOW: -- live from London.
Tell us about your journey.
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Robyn.
It's been two years and a pretty disjointed effort. You had President Goodluck Jonathan very slow to pick up the trail. But now this new
operation for the last year has been attempting to push Boko Haram out of their territorial footprint and we went along to see how it's working out.
Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELBAGIR (voice-over): Monday market in Maiduguri.
Two men showing absolute panic, both suspected terrorists, quickly, they say, subdued. Normality returned; but it gives you a sense of the tension
here, as Boko Haram have lost their territorial footprint or much of it. They're growing increasingly reliant on unleashing waves of suicide bombers
into the heart of Maiduguri and beyond.
ELBAGIR (voice-over): In a city on edge, no one is above suspicion. Maiduguri is at the heart of the Nigerian army's campaign to retake Boko
Haram territory. Under Operation Lafiya Dole, peace by any means, spread out across the country's vast northeast.
The road to the Sambisa Forest or what's been cleared so far. Relentless heat bears down on our heavily armored convoy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking foreign language).
ELBAGIR (voice-over): Soft sand, ideal hiding holes for IEDs. The scout in the lead car directing our convoy on and off the track.
ELBAGIR: Two years ago when we visited Chibok after the mass abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls, parents described to us how they followed the trail
of their daughters to the front gate, to the entry point of the Sambisa Forest and were unable to move any further.
This is the Sambisa. The Nigerian government has been able to start clawing back territory here from Boko Haram.
But the Sambisa fortress, the territory right in the center, that is still where they're moving towards.
ELBAGIR (voice-over): And this is where some of the Chibok girls are believed to be still held.
ELBAGIR: Let's say you're out on a patrol like this.
What are your scouts looking for?
Are they looking for tracks?
Do they specifically know that this area will have had heat signals?
Are you using thermal imaging?
What techniques are you using to get you closer?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I would say we have a possibility of the necessary most players, like thermal imaging. (INAUDIBLE) rely a lot on
the Americans, that have provided (INAUDIBLE), planes, give some form of information. As to cluster of groups of persons, we try to search out for
footprints. And sometimes we see children, children, their footprints on the ground.
ELBAGIR (voice-over): As if on cue, a surveillance plane flies overhead, one of the eyes in the sky.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here, here and then --
ELBAGIR (voice-over): Back in Maiduguri, the operation's theater commander, Major General Leo Erbud (ph) tells us he's proud of his men, but
they are in need of more international support.
ELBAGIR: Why do you think it's taking so long to find the girls?
MAJ. GEN. LEO ERBUD (PH): Well, the (INAUDIBLE) of Chibok girls remains a sore point in our history. We think that, from the intelligence available
to us, that the remaining areas that we're working to move into, we want to see if we can rescue the Chibok girls.
ELBAGIR (voice-over): Erbud (ph) is tasked with both following the girls' two-year-old trail and waging war against Boko Haram's brutal insurgency in
the face of heightening frustration.
ERBUD (PH): This is a huge challenge and the mandate is enormous. Currently, we've come very far in achieving that mandate.
ELBAGIR: But the threat remains?
ERBUD (PH): The threat remains, of course, just like in all other areas.
ELBAGIR (voice-over): The commander allowed us to join his men moving east towards the Boko Haram front lines to see for ourselves.
Boko Haram do indeed appear to have been pushed back but their presence lingers. Everywhere you look, scenes of devastation.
ELBAGIR: All the way through our journey across country, we've seen village after abandoned village, devastated, destroyed. What Boko Haram
couldn't loot, they attempted to burn to the ground. And people are still too afraid to come back to their homes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ELBAGIR: Given how much international attention has been focused on that abduction, it was just extraordinary, Robyn, to see how little the men on
the ground are actually working with. The U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Samantha Power --
[10:15:00]
ELBAGIR: -- has just finished a tour of the region and she is promising more aid. But the reality is, it's two years on and already that trail is
two years cold. And for the families, it's been just an extraordinarily painful wait -- Robyn.
CURNOW: OK. Thanks so much, Nima.
Up next at the INTERNATIONAL DESK, North Korea hails its latest missile launch as a great success. But to the world, it's another sign of
increasing danger.
And the disappearance of 43 students has haunted Mexico. Coming up, we'll tell you why some experts are criticizing the government. Stay with us.
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CURNOW: Welcome. I'm Robyn Curnow. You're watching CNN.
Now to a new round of condemnation for North Korea over its launch of a ballistic missile from a submarine. Pyongyang says it was a great success
despite the short distance it traveled.
But the U.S. and others are also warning it shows that North Korea's military is becoming more dangerous. Our Will Ripley was in Pyongyang
recently; he joins me now from CNN Tokyo.
Hi, there, Will. You've just returned, as we said, from North Korea. Tell us about this latest launch.
What does it mean?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's been remarkable to watch what's been unfolding during now three visits so far this year to North Korea, Robyn.
There was the purported H-bomb test in January, the satellite launch in February, the U.S. and South Korean military exercises were underway and
North Korea was launching a lot of projectiles during that time.
I was in last week for an attempted Musudan mid-range missile launch that failed, according to the U.S. and South Korea. And now over the weekend
this satellite launch, yes, it only flew 0.1 of the distance that the South Korean military says it needed to be a success, 30 kilometers versus 300
kilometers.
But this is a tremendously rapid advancement when you consider the state of North Korea's submarine missile technology less than a year ago.
And so what this shows is that the supreme leader, Kim Jong-un, more aggressively than his father, more aggressively than his grandfather, the
president and founder of North Korea, is really trying to develop quickly this nation's military capability.
The nuclear capability and this missile test, these are the kinds of missiles that could someday carry the miniaturized nuclear warheads North
Korea claims to have in its possession --Robyn.
CURNOW: What you're pointing to is this expanding arsenal and these capabilities, really ushering in an new era of strategic instability in the
region.
RIPLEY: The timing of this is important as well, because we are now less than two weeks away from one of the most important political gatherings in
North Korea in 35 years, the Workers Party Congress. They haven't called one since 1980. The last time around, the president and founder, Kim Il-
sung appointed his son, Kim Jong-il, as his successor.
Now his grandson, Kim Jong-un, is --
[10:20:00]
RIPLEY: -- in control and is expected to reshuffle the party leadership, consolidate his power, make himself more powerful. There is even a lot of
speculation from the South Korean government and other analysts that North Korea could be planning a fifth nuclear test ahead of this Workers Party
Congress, which is scheduled less than two weeks from now. We don't know the exact date yet but we believe either the first or second week of May.
So clearly this message being sent within North Korea, that Kim Jong-un projecting strength, projecting power to his own people but also sending a
message to the international community, in spite of the increased sanctions, even if they haven't taken full effect yet, North Korea saying
they're going to continue to push forward, in spite of sanctions, in spite of international pressure.
And they're going try to develop their weapons aggressively as they've been doing.
CURNOW: And what is also clear here it that it seems that North Korea's weapons program is outpacing diplomacy.
RIPLEY: Absolutely. The diplomacy, for the most part, has been nonexistent. North Korea remains one of the isolated countries in the
world.
I sat down last weekend with a former North Korean ambassador, a long-time diplomat, and I asked him what it would take to get North Korea to stop
testing these missiles, to stop developing nuclear weapons, to get back to the bargaining table, if you will, with the international community.
And his answer, put it simply, was North Korea wants the United States to end what they believe is a hostile policy. They don't want to see military
exercises in South Korea and they want to be treated as a full nuclear power. Those two sides, so far apart right now, it's hard to see a
diplomatic resolution at this point without some major compromise on both sides.
CURNOW: Yes, indeed. Thanks so much for your perspective and your analysis.
Will Ripley there.
Police in Bangladesh have detained a student after the brutal killing of a university professor. But questions remain about why the teacher was
hacked to death and whether it's related to a string of killings of bloggers. Ivan Watson has more. A warning, some of what you're about to
see is disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A body lies face down on a road in Bangladesh, the very public aftermath of a
brutal murder.
Rezaul Karin Siddique was waiting for a bus to take him back to campus when assailants approached him from behind, stabbing him in the neck. An
English professor at a university, his students described him as a generous teacher and an enthusiastic musician.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If we have any problem with our academic course or any other thing, he (INAUDIBLE) helped us in every possible way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When a very simple person like him can be murdered, it's a very terrifying concept for all of us. If it is true that he was
murdered by these (INAUDIBLE) extremists, then it could be a very terrifying fact.
WATSON (voice-over): Police detained at least one student in connection with the killing, which they say was similar in style to the machete
murders of at least six of Bangladesh's atheist bloggers and secular publishers in 14 months.
This deadly violence provoking concerns that freedom of speech is under attack in the country. An ISIS website claimed responsibility for
Siddique's death. Bangladesh's government insists neither that Al Qaeda nor ISIS are at work in the country and that they're doing all they can to
crack down on homegrown extremism.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The government is seriously investigating and pursuing every lead that they get to solve these killings or bring the real culprits
to justice.
WATSON (voice-over): Friends of Professor Siddique say they don't understand why he was targeted. Unlike other victims, he never publicly
discussed religious issues.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): He wasn't an active member of any political party. He played music and organized cultural events.
WATSON (voice-over): Outraged students and teachers at his university staged protests over the weekend, demanding immediate justice for their
slain colleague and mentor -- Ivan Watson, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: We'll continue to bring you any updates on that story.
In the U.S. state of Ohio, new information in the chilling murders of eight family members, their bodies were found in several homes Friday, all
apparently shot in the head execution style. An official says extensive marijuana growing operations were found at some of the murder sites.
Authorities tonight don't know if this is linked to the killings and they continue to hunt for the killer or killers.
And in Mexico, experts say the Mexican government is stonewalling their investigation into the disappearance of 43 college students. The case has
haunted Mexico and shocked the human rights community. We're joined now by Rafael Romo, he's CNN's senior Latin American affairs editor.
We've been talking about this for a year and a half now.
Are we any closer to understanding what happened and why?
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SR. LATIN AFFAIRS EDITOR: The short answer is no. And to understand this very convoluted case, it is important to look at it from
the --
[10:25:00]
ROMO: -- perspective of a parent.
It has been 19 months -- and, as a matter of fact, it will be 19 months tomorrow since these 43 students from a rural teachers' college in Southern
Mexico went missing and we're not still closer to the truth.
Now the latest development in this investigation is that the latest panel to investigate the case has said that their job is over in Mexico, without
fully achieving all of their goals that they had at the beginning.
And they said that Mexican government, they're making all kinds of accusations, saying that they stonewalled the investigators, that they were
not given access to key information and that the lines of investigation that they suggested the Mexican government followed were ignored.
And so they leave, not necessarily empty-handed but with very little information to go on. And it's important to point out, too, that there's
been three separate investigations into this case and we still don't really know what happened to these 43 students.
CURNOW: But we do know that this seemed to be -- one report talked about a clinical, coordinated harvest by Mexican law enforcement officials and
other gunmen.
There was a collusion between drug gangs and local officials?
ROMO: That's the one point where all three investigations seem to coincide, the fact that there were corrupt police officers, who attacked
the students; they were shooting at them. They were abducted and handed over to a drug gang that operated in the area.
But what happened next is not clear. The Mexican government originally said that they had been burned to ashes in a landfill. And then the two
commissions said it is scientifically impossible for that to have happened. And so we go back to the beginning of the investigation, not knowing where
they are.
CURNOW: OK. Heartwrenching for the parents. Thanks so much, Rafael Romo, appreciate it.
ROMO: Thank you.
CURNOW: Still ahead here at the INTERNATIONAL DESK, it can be difficult to wrap your mind around the scope of the migrant crisis. We talk to a
photographer whose photos of the migrants' perilous journey bring the story down to a human scale. And he's just won a Pulitzer Prize. Join us.
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CURNOW: Welcome to the INTERNATIONAL DESK. I'm Robyn Curnow. Thanks so much for joining me. Here's a check of the headlines.
(HEADLINES)
[10:30:00]
CURNOW: Many of those refugees come from Syria. Thousands have crossed into Turkey to find safety from the civil war. But as CNN's Nick Paton
Walsh reports, the violence is following them across the border.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This was day 55 of Syria's cessation of hostilities for those who live in Aleppo. No
military target here, activists said. An inferno, many of the 12 dead burned alive.
"Zahir (ph) is dead," he says.
It was much of the same on day 56, another building in Aleppo hit. U.S. officials troubled the Russian heavy weapons are amassing near the city and
that, whatever the cease-fire was, is crumbling.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I am deeply concerned about the cessation of hostilities framed and whether it's sustainable.
WALSH (voice-over): But Syria's world is slowly crossing the border to one town in Southern Turkey, Kilis. Hit by rockets almost daily in the past
weeks, five from Syria, probably by ISIS, who were never part of the cease- fire.
This woman sat here when the rockets tore through her roof. A Syrian family scrabbling out a life on the floor below. This used to be their
shelter, their respite.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): The Syrians fled. They took refuge here. But bombs are also raining on their heads. The government
keeps saying, shelter in your house.
But didn't it fall on our house, on our roof now?
So where are we supposed to go?
WALSH: It is staggering that, during this supposed cessation of hostilities, across the border there in Syria, that the war is spreading,
even to a peaceful Turkish town like this, a haven for refugees that now finds itself pretty much every other day hit by rocket fire.
WALSH (voice-over): Fresh rockets have just whizzed over this, the funeral of a local plumber, Atullah Kasham (ph), killed Friday, also by a rocket.
Rage is against the government.
Where are they?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Bombs are falling on everyone's homes.
Where are you, President Erdogan?
Where are you?
A bomb fell on our house.
Is this what you promised?
WALSH (voice-over): Another rocket strike here. Five Syrian children injured, the shattered places where they once slept. The dust, the rubble
were what they fled but now it has followed them here -- Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Kilis.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: What a tragedy.
Doctors without Borders is sending its boats back into the Mediterranean to save migrants. The decision comes days after reports that nearly 500
people drowned en route to Europe. Now the tragedy on such a scale can be difficult to grasp.
But photographer Yannis Behrakis shows it on a human level and his team has just won a Pulitzer. He joins me from Athens via Skype.
Congratulations. Well done. It was you and a group of "New York Times" reporters collectively winning this Pulitzer. But I understand seven of
the 18 winning photos were yours. And I want you to take us through them.
In particular, the first one, it shows an image of a man and a child walking.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW (voice-over): There it is there. For me, it looks like a superhero, Batman leaving Gotham.
YANNIS BEHRAKIS, PULITZER PRIZE WINNING PHOTOGRAPHER: Well, I tell you what, Robyn, I -- actually, when I saw that picture on the 10th of
September last year, this guy walking, you know, holding his daughter, I thought it was Superman. If you look behind him, he has this plastic
garbage bag open, it looks like he's, you know, like Superman.
CURNOW: Looks like a cape.
BEHRAKIS: Yes. He's kissing his daughter, he's Syrian. And for me, the feeling was like, you know --
[10:35:00]
BEHRAKIS: -- any father who protects his daughter, his child and walks through, you know, the rain, rainstorm, in order to reach, you know, his
dream. It was an amazing day at the Greek border with fire on (ph) Macedonia.
CURNOW: So that's the journey on foot. And we know that it has been an arduous journey for tens of thousands of people but there's also the
journey at sea that prefaces this journey. And that in itself, I want to bring up the next image, also very, very powerful. Hopefully our font can
be removed and you can see this tiny little boat at the bottom.
There it is on full screen, giving us the sense of just how small, just how insignificant these migratory boats are compared to the awesome power of
nature.
BEHRAKIS: Right. Yes, this was last August on the island of Kos and, you know, a lot of boats were coming. It was a beautiful Greek summer morning.
And it was kind of safe. No wind, no high seas.
But this small raft, the engine stalled. So it was kind of drifting out of control. And I called the coast guard and they said, yes, we're going to
be there soon. We're helping some other people.
And, you know, I had this long lens and I saw this picture. And the sun came out and it was red and beautiful. It was a tragedy but it was also a
sense of beautiful day.
The good news is that the coast guard arrived within 10 minutes and they helped these guys restart the engine. And 15 minutes later, the raft was
out on the beach. People were happy. They were jumping up and down, high fives, selfies. It was a good day.
CURNOW: So this was a sun rising, a new beginning. Tell us, though, about that trip, even that short trip from those little boats to the shore. I
want to bring up the next photograph, which also gives us an indication.
CURNOW (voice-over): Look at that. That to me feels like the Pieta as well. It's very structural, this picture, even though they're in quite
shallow water.
BEHRAKIS: Yes.
It shows the reality because, you know, as you said, the picture before is the beauty of the nature and all this. And then these poor people, again,
it's a father but he is struggling because the coast was not very hospitable. It was rocky and it's always -- there's always a danger of
somebody hurting themselves.
So the father hold on to his children; even though he was falling, he didn't try to, you know, reach with his hands and protect himself but he
holds onto his children. And that was another, you know, another indication of how much these people want to protect their family and their,
you know, they're doing trip this to a new home, a new hope.
CURNOW: Another one of your images, again, the sort of Renaissance quality of some of your images, the human tragedy but also the sort of powerful
nature of the composition.
Is the one here where you see a lot of migrants begging a member of an authority, it seems like a soldier, what was happening here?
BEHRAKIS: Yes. This was, again, in September. It's of the Greek Order with FYRO (ph) Macedonia, where it's raining for almost one day, 24 hours.
And everybody is stuck in the mud and the authorities have started filtering the flow of the refugees.
So there are like 7,000 refugees, waiting under appalling, you know, situation. And it's raining. And these poor guys, mostly Syrians and
Iraqis, they are begging this -- like military police from FYRO (ph) Macedonia to let them go through. And the good thing is that, a few hours
later, finally everybody got through.
CURNOW: Yannis, I wish we could talk about your pictures all day. It was an extraordinary grouping of photographs on this migrant crisis, in a way,
many of your photos telling the story better than we can sometimes. Those images so powerful. Congratulation on your Pulitzer. Thank you.
BEHRAKIS: Thank you very much.
CURNOW: You're watching CNN. I'm Robyn Curnow. Much more news after the break.
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CURNOW: If you were left slack-jawed by the season premiere of "Game of Thrones," you're not alone.
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CURNOW (voice-over): The night was dark and full of teases for upcoming episodes. Millions of fans ventured back into the Seven Kingdoms on Sunday
without a map.
The series, of course, is based on author George R.R. Martin's books. But he hasn't finished writing future stories. So for the first time viewers
have no hints about what will happen to their favorite characters.
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CURNOW (voice-over): Beyonce's new album, "Lemonade," is now available on iTunes after debuting exclusively on the streaming service Tidal over the
weekend. The much-anticipated album features lyrics about infidelity, leading some fans to speculate about the state of Beyonce's marriage to
rapper Jay Z.
The visual album is also expected to be available on Amazon in the coming days.
England's Prince George is proving to be quite the fashion icon after the toddler greeted U.S. President Barack Obama in his PJs on Friday. The
photographs quickly went viral. Now the $39 white monogrammed robe that Prince George wore has sold out.
How cute was that?
The Obamas were at Kensington Palace to have dinner with George's parents, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and his uncle, Prince Harry.
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CURNOW: Now to what may be the ancient equivalent of "Don't Worry, Be Happy," this mosaic of a skeleton with bread and wine bears the
inscription, "Be cheerful, enjoy your life."
The message seems lighthearted enough. But the skeleton seems to carry a darker message to the modern eye. Archeologists say the 2,400-year-old
artwork was probably the floor of an upscale dining room. It was found in Southern Turkey in the ruins of ancient Antioch.
That's it for me here at the INTERNATIONAL DESK. Thanks for joining us. I'm Robyn Curnow. "WORLD SPORT" is next.
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