CNN Investigation Revealed Startling Rise in Anti-Semitism; Russia Downplays Trump's Threat to Cancel Talks with Putin
HALA GORANI, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone. Live from CNN London, I'm Hala Gorani. Tonight, shocking statistics from Germany, a CNN investigation continues showing just how big a problem anti-Semitism is there. We have the full story. Also, tonight, coming to Brexit it seems even the best-case scenario is terrible. That's the word today from the British government. And the Bank of England. We go through the numbers. We hear details of a futile tug of war with the plane's automatic systems in the minutes before Lion Air flight 610 plunged into the ocean. We begin in Germany, a country that once swore it would never forget the holocaust or the actions of its Nazi leaders. But it didn't mean like this. You're looking at pictures of far-right German demonstrators. These were taken just in month. As you can see, they're using Nazi-style symbols. Now a CNN investigation revealing that this feeling is dangerously on the rise in more ways than one. Clarissa Ward explains.</s>CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a sight you don't expect to see in Germany in 2018. Hundreds of right-wing extremists, many neo-Nazis, marching through the nation's capital. Close the border, they shout. Resistance, resistance. The far right is enjoying a major comeback here, bringing with it a troubling rise in anti-Semitism. According to government figures, anti-Semitic attacks increased by 20 percent in the last 5 years, the number of violent right-wing extremists gone up by nearly a third. This man tells us a shadowy cabal of globalists controls the world.</s>WARD: When you talk about the elites and finance, is that another way of saying Jewish people?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.</s>WARD: Yes?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.</s>WARD: It is? Let me say it this way. The banking system, for sure. Banks, finance, the economy. Mainly Jews. He says. We had more questions but our conversation was cut short by one of the march's organizers. I think we have someone following us. Making anti-Semitic statements can be punishable under German law but Christian Weissberger explains that neo- Nazis are finding new ways to express the same old hatred. And he should know. Weissberger used to be a right-wing extremism, himself.</s>CHRISTIAN WEISSBERGER, FORMER NEO-NAZI: I would say it is a form of anti- Semitism that disguises themselves so they don't talk about the Jew anymore. They talk about the Zionists or the globalist or the bankers.</s>WARD: And they are growing more brazen. One man flashes a quick but unmistakable Nazi salute right in front of us. A crime in Germany. It's important to remember this isn't any country. This is Germany. Just a few hundred yards from the march is a memorial for the millions of Jews murdered here in the second world war. More than 70 years after the holocaust, Germany is still haunted by its past. And yet, remarkably, anti-Semitism is once again a growing problem here with 50 percent of Germans agreeing that Jewish people are now at risk of racist violence. The statistic comes from a CNN poll that also found half of Germans believe Jews are at risk of hate speech. At Feinberg's Israeli restaurant, the owner says he gets threats every day.</s>YORAI FEINBERG, RESTAURANT OWNER: From murder to I'll break your knees, arms, teeth. They're very creative in everything. You know? All the options they want to break.</s>WARD: He was recently accosted by a man who told him Jews will end up in the gas chamber. It's only about the money for you. You will pay, the man says to him. Nobody wants you here. He told you to go to the gas chambers or that you will go back to the gas chambers?</s>FEINBERG: Yes.</s>WARD: You have heard things like that before?</s>FEINBERG: Very often.</s>WARD: Germany has acknowledged it has a problem. Recently appointing its first anti-Semitism czar. Felix Klein is focused on creating a nationwide system for reporting anti-Semitic crimes and improving integration of Germany's different communities.</s>FELIX KLEIN, ANTI-SEMITISM CZAR, GERMANY: Anti-Semitism has always existed in Germany, also after 1945 and now, though, it is showing its ugly face more openly. Things that people would never have dared to say in a bar, in a restaurant, in a private surrounding do it so now using social media or the net.</s>WARD: Germany has seen upticks in neo-Nazi activity before. Most notably in the 1990s. While official statistics show that more than 90 percent of anti-Semitic attacks nationwide are from the far right there's a new element of concern for the Jewish community. The arrival of 1.4 million Muslim refugees in the last 3 years. Doron Ruben is the leader of Germany's small, orthodox Jewish community.</s>DORON RUBEN, HEAD OF BERLIN'S KAHAL ADASS JISROEL CONGREGATION: A lot of coming -- coming of a lot of immigrants of a different history and a different background and especially obviously coming from the Middle East have also because of Islam, different attitude toward Jews.</s>KLEIN: When we talk about Muslim originated anti-Semitism, we can only win that battle with the help of the moderate Muslims. Without them, it's -- this wouldn't be a successful fight.</s>WARD: Overall, the Jewish community remains anxious.</s>RUBEN: I think much more Jews now are think again like, can you call Germany our home and is it possible to live in this society? You can notice the question that might not have been asked five years ago is popping up again.</s>WARD: It's question few in this country ever imagined would have to be asked again.</s>GORANI: Clarissa is here. And by the way for our viewers we'll be speaking with Felix Klein, the anti-Semitism czar of Germany. I was struck by that restaurant owner who said that on a daily basis he's harassed, threatened and insulted. How do you live every day with that type of abuse?</s>WARD: And you saw the almost nonchalance with which he talks about this kind of constant tide of verbal abuse that he gets. I mean, obviously, because he owns an Israeli restaurant the public -- you know, the phone number is publicly listed, the address is publicly known. So, in a sense, it's natural that anti-Semitic activity to gravitate toward a known Israeli target or place. He has a sort of positive attitude, as well, though. He says the vast majority of Berliners are welcoming. He said it is a problem around the world. A lot of Jews feel that there's nowhere really safe for them and that's why the idea of the state of Israel is so important to them.</s>GORANI: Despite the fact there's a lot of criticism, of course, about how it manages the Palestinian politician and Muslims in the piece but a vast majority of the attacks from the far right?</s>WARD: Yes. This is interesting because what I would ask the various Jewish communities we talked to in Germany specifically, is hold on a second. If the government is saying 90 percent of attacks from the far right, why are you so concerned about this threat or perceived threat if the Muslim population? What they would say is we know that the neo-Nazis are the enemy. The far right hates us. We have known that and understood that for many, many decades. They're used to that, comfortable with it, believe the state has enough of control over that situation. For them, in their own words, they would say that the Muslim population is much more of an unknown commodity, an unknown quantity. Coming from the Middle East. They have a different idea about Jewish people. They conflate them closely with the Israeli/Palestinian crisis and they see the new anti-Semitism from the Muslim community and the far left so critically -- so critical of the Israeli state and this is something, Hala, to be talking about more tomorrow looking at France where most Jewish people talking about the new anti-Semitism.</s>GORANI: That's a perfect segue. We have a clip from tomorrow's report, and we'll be continuing the special coverage all week and culminate in a special program in this hour on Friday. Take a look at a bit of Clarissa's report for tomorrow.</s>WARD: Miriam and her family have considered moving from France. Joining the more than 55,000 Jews who have left since the year 2000. In the sanctuary of their home, they celebrate Shabat, a ritual ushered in every Friday night lighting candles and reciting a blessing.</s>MIRIAM: I'm scared for the future of my baby here. I hope that he will have a future here. And, you know, Jewish communities are a part of history of France, really. And so, I think France without any Jew is not France.</s>GORANI: Well, we will have that report tomorrow on the program. Let's turn attention now to Russia. It is turning up the pressure on Ukraine. Officials in Russian controlled Crimea announced that 24 sailors will be held for at least two months while they await trial for entering Russian territorial waters. That's the allegation of Russia. They were captured after Russia seized three Ukrainian boats in the Kerch Strait. Russia is down playing Donald Trump's warning to cancel up coming talks with Vladimir Putin over this whole thing and supposed to meet with Russia's President on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Argentina. But yesterday suggested he's having second thoughts because of what he calls Russia's aggression. Today the Kremlin said it expects the meeting to go ahead adding that it's equally needed by both sides. Let's get the latest of Washington, joined by correspondent Elise Labott. Washington and Donald Trump saying he may cancel the meeting. What happens if, indeed, that meeting is scrapped?</s>ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: I think it's just going to escalate the rhetoric, escalate tensions and then I think you might see a little bit more of a robust U.S. policy, Hala, in terms of coordinating with the Ukrainian government, possibly talking about more military assistance. I don't think anything is in the offing but, you know, there was a lot of U.S. military assistance that was supposed to be going to the Ukrainian military. Our understanding is that is kind of a long track and maybe even being sped up. It's not any new type of assistance. Secretary of State Pompeo spoke to President Poroshenko the other day. Obviously, the U.S. taking a very tough line, leading up until this meeting. The President wants to, we understand from officials, preserve his space, not talk about it beforehand really. Before he sits down with President Putin. So as of now, that meeting is going ahead. Those briefings took place last night. And over the last couple of days, so the President has a pretty good idea at this point of what happened and now unless we hear anything else it looks like the meeting will probably go ahead.</s>GORANI: What I find interesting is the U.S. is telling Russia release those sailors. You know? You need to de-escalate the tension right now. We don't need another war breaking out between the sides. And instead of doing that, they essentially do the exact opinion sit an they say, well, those 24 sailors we're holding, we'll keep them two months. Not only not releasing them but jail them longer. This doesn't sound like a President Putin who cares much what the White House has to say.</s>LABOTT: Clearly, he doesn't think that President Trump will do anything about it. I mean, I think he's maybe even testing President Trump and certainly advisers, Secretary Pompeo, Defense Secretary Mattis, National Security Adviser Bolton, may, you know, encourage him to take a tougher position. But you know, when I talked to officials they say, look. This latest escalation is illegal. It's aggressive. Unjustified. All of those things. But it's nothing that wasn't expected because it comes from something that everyone already knows. Which is, the illegal seizure of Crimea by Russia, that's finally coming home. Before it was more of a, you know, kind of a theoretical seizure because nothing was really happening on the ground. But this is really I think the first real world example of how those tensions can escalate.</s>GORANI: Speaking of not holding a country to account, critics of Saudi Arabia are saying it is getting away with bad behavior. Donald Trump is hoping that this whole Jamal Khashoggi thing goes away. Secretary of State Pompeo testified on capitol hill today essentially saying there's no proof it went higher than the people --</s>LABOTT: No smoking gun. Mo smoking gun.</s>GORANI: But this is all basically repeating the lines from the President saying, listen. What we want is the status quo. Don't think anything's going to change.</s>LABOTT: That's right. Look. President Trump gave an interview to "The Washington Post" yesterday and he said something very interesting about there was a lot of talk about this CIA assessment and how President Trump said, you know, there's no proof, there's no proof. He said I never said that the CIA didn't say he did it. So, what he's essentially saying is, yes, he saw the CIA assessment. Because there's no smoking gun he doesn't have to do anything and he's being pretty, you know, blunt and pretty, you know, clear-eyed about the fact that he thinks that the relationship is more important than going after the crown prince for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. And secretary Pompeo in this remarkable editorial, op-ed, that he put this morning about the relationship with Saudi Arabia, essentially saying, yes, this was a horrible act. We don't condone it. We're punishing those who had a physical hand in doing it. But, you know, that's pretty much it.</s>GORANI: All right. And but although we have top congressional Republicans including graham who are saying they want to hear from the CIA, they want more information. We'll see where that goes. Elise, thank you so much. Still to come tonight, Britain's central bank given the forecast for a worst-case scenario Brexit. It is not pretty. We'll give you details. Authorities in Indonesia release findings on the quick and terrifying Lion Air crash last month. We will have an update on what happened. What the pilots we believe desperately tried to do to right the plane before it plunged.