Ukrainian Troops Gain Control Of Donetsk Airport; Low Turnout For Egyptian Presidential Elections?; Egyptian Prime Minister Declares Tuesday National Holiday; One Square Meter: Varosha, Cyprus
JIM CLANCY, HOST: A bonafide election or a foregone conclusion? Egyptians going to the polls choosing a president, but critics argue there's little choice on offer. We'll take you live to Cairo. Also ahead, deadlock in Donetsk, any hope that the weekend's election could bring unity to Ukraine are shot down in a hail of gunfire. And we break down the data that lead experts to the search zone for missing flight MH370. Stay with us as we bring you exclusive access to the nerve center.</s>ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center. This is Connect the World.</s>CLANCY: Good evening and welcome everyone. Egyptians have just about four more hours to vote for their new president. Now the prime minister declared Tuesday a public holiday, apparently a move to try to improve the turnout. The vote has been relatively peaceful thus far. One activist was killed on Monday, but Egypt's interior ministry says that was unrelated to the election. It looks increasingly likely that the ex-army chief Abdel Fatah al- Sisi will win this vote. CNN's Reza Sayah has been following the election. He joins us now from the capital Cairo. How is the turnout today?</s>REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the story that seems to be steadily emerging here in Egypt on the second and final day of elections here in this country is low voter turnout. We should point out that we obviously haven't been able to visit every polling station. We don't know what's happening everywhere. But based on our observations in visiting about a few dozen polling stations here in downtown Cairo and nearby areas, voter turnout appears to be low and polling stations look like what they do here at this one in downtown Cairo behind us. There's no wait here, no lines, no crowds. There's literally more police officers, more soldiers than voters outside this particular polling station. And yesterday it was pretty much the same story. No lines, no crowds, no waitings. And this is why you start to get the sense that the interim government authorities and the Sisi campaign are starting to worry about low voter turnout, something that they didn't want to see. Last night, for example, the interim government came out and suddenly said today would be a national holiday. They extended voting hours another hour. These moves suggest that they're worried about voter turnout. Then you had Egyptian television hosts coming out and openly criticizing voters for not coming out, urging them to come out to polling stations. And then he had other television hosts saying that a law here in Egypt that's rarely in force that would fine people for not coming out to vote, that that would be enforced, perhaps their way of nudging people to come out to vote, Jim. Remember, Mr. Sisi doesn't just want to win, he wants to win emphatically. He wants a large voter turnout to show Egypt and the world that this is legitimate process, it's a credible process. At this point, Jim, it doesn't seem like he's going to get that huge voter turnout.</s>CLANCY: Reza Sayah at the polls in Cairo this day giving us a live update. Thanks, Reza. All right, we've got more to come on this election a little bit later in our report. Remember that the vote is happening because of a coup in 2013, that's when al-Sisi deposed Egypt's first democratically elected President Mohamed Morsy. Mr. Morsy was a leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood, that's an organization that is once again banned in Egypt. We're going to bring you what the Brotherhood thinks about this vote as well. Also, we'll discuss whether this is a true election or a mere formality. That's still to come here on Connect the World. After fierce fighting in eastern Ukraine, city officials say at least 40 people were killed in clashes that began after pro-Russian separatists stormed the airport. That was Monday. The Ukrainian military responded with attacks by air and on the ground. Meantime, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe says it has lost contact with one of its teams in Donetsk. Nick Paton Walsh joins us now from Donetsk. He has the latest on the fighting and these missing western observers -- Nick.</s>NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, we know little about what happened with this OSCE team. Remember, the OSCE monitoring organization are pretty much have been charged by everybody -- Washington, Kiev, Brussels, even Moscow, to keep tabs on what's happening here in order to try and de-escalate the situation. Four of them, monitors, not heard of since 6:00 yesterday evening when they were traveling on their routine duties east of Donetsk. Now this is particularly significant, because if you recall the last time some OSCE observers went missing, they turned up as, quote, prisoners of war of the separatists in the pro-Russian stronghold of Slavyansk, a town north of where I'm standing. No indication that's happened here. And communications are spotty across this region because of the violence that's been ongoing, but so many concerned enough to make that statement. But it comes on a day in which really the full toll of yesterday's violence, the back and forth between Ukrainian army and separatists to hold Donetsk main international airport here becomes realized. We understand that really it began to move back and forth during the night and evening, changing hands, certain parts of the territory. Separatists claim they hold bits of it. We didn't see any of that. They seemed quite far away from it down a road when we went there earlier on today. The Ukrainian army saying they control the main infrastructure itself. And even the separatists are accepting there are national guard, Ukrainian military, on the territory of that airport. But now we're getting the death toll figures, 35 dead, militants say, a spokeswoman for the separatists. The local governor here, pro-Kiev, says about 40 dead including two civilians. At a morgue, I saw a large pile undignified of certainly separatist militant bodies and one civilian female who had a substantial fateful head injury. And it's clear today that Donetsk is taking the toll, really, of this remarkable violence. Fears still in the air, Jim, because the separatists claim somehow in line they got an offer of a truce, a window of between 1:00 and 4:00 local time in which they could leave the city, after which they would face bombardment, they say. No sign of that at all being ratified by Ukrainian officials, could be misinformation here. But it's certainly being used I think to ratchet up a sense of tension here to get the local population worried -- Jim.</s>CLANCY: The newly elected president of Ukraine says he wants to reach out to people there in eastern Ukraine. How complicated is that going to be?</s>WALSH: Well, who would you reach out to, first of all? Of course you could talk to Dennis Pushilon (ph), the head of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic, but does he speak for everyone in Luhansk? Possibly not. He's on bad terms, as far as we understand, with the self-declared mayor of Slovyansk, the hotbed of the militancy behind the separatist movement here. So they're a fractured bunch already. And of course the violence making things more difficult as well. One little vignette that gives you an idea of how messy inter- separatist relations are getting, the kind of key commander of the militants in Slovyansk, a man called Igor Strakov (ph), according to Russian media, issued an order to have executed two of his own commanders for theft and general lawlessness, I think, are the exact terms. So there clearly are issues between their own personnel here. That makes it harder for the president-elect of Ukraine to find the right person to speak to. I think he believes talking to Moscow is more effective. The question no one can really answer, despite the incontrovertible signs we've seen here that Russia has a hand in assisting some of this activity here of the separatists. It's not clear if Moscow has complete rote over all the gunmen in this area whether or not the conversation between Moscow and Kiev can slow the violence here can put the insurgency back in its box so to speak. It's getting more violent day by day. And I have to say, Jim, you know, two or three weeks ago we were talking about this, we never talked about daily heavy weapons, artillery strikes. Now it's just hourly it seems to happen in this region now -- Jim.</s>CLANCY: Some reality check, if you will, from the ground in Donetsk from Nick Paton Walsh. As always, Nick, thank you. Well, new hope and new frustrations for the families of more than 200 kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls. A top military official says they have pinpointed the location of the girls who were kidnapped by Boko Haram more than six weeks ago. But he's refusing to reveal where the schoolgirls are or how the government plans to get them back. Some Nigerians say the military needs to take action now.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (inaudible). They are doing a good job. They are trying their best. But I must say, (inaudible) the issue of life and death. It's not -- it's beyond the issue of simply the location of the girls. With what we (inaudible) what we need now is we need action. (inaudible). There needs to apply principle of diplomacy. There needs to be (inaudible) and the military, there needs to be diplomatic in their approach to get those girls out of the activities.</s>CLANCY: A voice from the streets. Now let's go to our senior international correspondent Arwa Damon and get more reaction. She joins us now. She's on the ground in the capital Abuja. Arwa, what is the perspective on this latest announcement by Nigeria's military?</s>ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's being received with a certain dose of skepticism. This was a statement that was made at a protest. The defense chief saying they weren't disclosing the specific location, that is understandable given operational security; also saying that they would not be using military force, that also to a certain degree does make sense, because any sort of military operation, even if it was undertaken by the best trained military to try to rescue these girls would be near impossible. Great concerns that they could be killed if such an operation were underway. Also, according to Boko Haram informants that we spoke to, this organization will not hesitate at all to use them as human shields. A lot of conversations, too, as to whether or not there could be a negotiated solution. Well, that also is problematic, Jim, because this is not a top-down organization. These girls are believed to be divided over various different cells. And so with whom do you negotiate at the end of the day? So, while there is perhaps some hope that they could have them located, key issue how to actually rescue them alive, that is going to be the real challenge, Jim.</s>CLANCY: You know, people there from the streets calling on the government to do something, to act, the government is pretty sensitive about that. But it has had an opportunity to show action in other areas, security in the north, schools in the north, what can you report on that front?</s>DAMON: And that's been the big issue here. You know, the story of the 200 plus abducted schoolgirls has thrown Boko Haram and the terror challenge Nigeria faces because of it into the spotlight, but Boko Haram is really an insurgency that this country has been dealing with for quite some time. And they've managed to control a fair amount of territory in three key northeastern states. And they are impacting people's lives, Jim, every day.</s>DAMON: Children still play in the yard, but the classrooms are hauntingly empty. Boko Haram wants to end western education. Here, it seems, they've succeeded. For the last six weeks, all public schools in Borno state have been ordered shut down. 64-year-old Kondidi Boka (ph) has been a guard at this school for three decades, experiencing nothing as horrifying as the day five gunmen drove through the gate. He describes how a group of teachers were sitting under a tree. The gunmen opened fire. One teacher was shot, dragging himself into a classroom. He died before help could arrive. This was one of three schools attacked by Boko Haram on the same day around a year ago. Mollam Yusuf is the principal of one of the others.</s>MOLLAM YUSUF, PRINCIPAL: Yeah, actually, classes were in session, students were around, teachers were teaching in the class.</s>DAMON: Suddenly, the gunmen arrived. This is the school's examination room. And there were four women in here at the time of the attack. The gunmen just storming in and opening fire indiscriminately. Here, we were just told, are some of the holes left by the bullets. Three of the women were killed almost instantaneously, the fourth managed to escape with some wounds. It's a sickening tactic, made worse by the frequency of attacks. The Nigerian Union of Teachers says more than 170 state educators and staff have been killed by Boko Haram in Borno State alone, punctuated by the terrorist group's kidnapping of nearly 300 schoolgirls in the town of Chibok more than a month ago.</s>YUSUF: As of now, we cannot say Boko Haram has won.</s>DAMON: Yufus is undeterred. He says with each attack it's even more important that education doesn't end.</s>YUSUF: So as teachers, we take it upon ourselves to continue going to our schools to educate our young ones so that they should not partake in this issue of insurgents.</s>DAMON: Back outside, children crowd around our camera. Are you upset that school is closed? The response? A resounding yes. "I want to read," one says. Another adds, "I want to get educated and enjoy life." For now, a future stolen by Boko Haram.</s>DAMON: And Jim, for kids like the ones you just saw there to be able to go to school safely, the government really needs to begin implementing a long-term political and military strategy, one that is going to require the cooperation of its neighbors, and also a significant level of support from the international community, Jim.</s>CLANCY: Arwa Damon live with us there from Abuja. Thank you. Well, still to come, the search for Malaysian Airlines flight 370, crucial satellite data is finally released months after the plane vanished. We're going to show you how it lead investigators to conclude Flight 370 ended up in the Indian Ocean. Also ahead, the handshake seen around the world. Leaders of India and Pakistan send a message of peace between those two nations, but will it lead to real progress?