Train Derailment Outside Paris Kills At Least 6; Edward Snowden Reapplies For Asylum In Russia
BECKY ANDERSON, HOST: Tonight, train tragedy in France. We are live at the scene in the southern Paris suburb of Bretigny-sur-Orge for the latest and we speak to a passenger who was on that train. Also ahead, U.S. intelligence leaker Edward Snowden reappears in a Moscow airport. We're going to speak to one of the human rights activists there who met with him. And...</s>MALALA YOUSAFZAI, PAKISTANI EDUCATION ACTIVIST: Now it's time to speak up.</s>ANDERSON: Standing up for education, Malala Yousafzai tells the United Nations books and pens are the tools to defeat extremism.</s>ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN London, this is Connect the World with Becky Anderson.</s>ANDERSON: All right, first to Paris and the very latest details for you this hour. At least six people have been killed and dozens more injured after a train derailed just south of Paris. The regional train came off the tracks in Bretigny-sur-Orge, a commuter town 15 miles outside of the capital. The French interior minister says there are about 370 people on board that train, which was traveling south from the French capital to the city of Limoges. Well, emergency teams and experts are on the scene. This was about four or so hours ago that the accident happened. French President Francois Hollande has also arrived. I'm joined now on the phone by Ariane Mole who was on board the train and in that compartment that derailed. The pictures are absolutely shocking. You were with three friends, Arienne. Tell me what happened.</s>ARIANE MOLE, PASSENGER: Yes, exactly. Hi, I was with three friends. I was with my husband and two friends. And we were in two different cars. My friends were at the end of the train. And we were in the front. And, well, there was a -- you know, a big shock and for three seconds we heard a lot of noise and the brakes. And there was also a lot of smoke and the luggage were, you know, flying around. So when the train stopped, we saw that just behind us, a car was turned over and when we looked the other way, we showed that on the end of the train the well on the cars were crashed. So, I called my friends immediately and they were OK, but they said that there were some dead people with them and injured, a lot of injured people.</s>ANDERSON: And we're looking at pictures Ariane. As you speak to me, we're looking at pictures of survivors being taken from that train and new pictures just coming in to us here at CNN. How would you describe how people reacted. Did they panic?</s>MOLE: Well -- you know, some people were really injured, but a lot of us could not see what was happening. So, I think it really depended on the car where people were standing. But I don't think there was a panic. I think there was pain, but no panic, I don't think so.</s>ANDERSON: And what sort of injuries did you witness?</s>MOLE: Well, I didn't not witness injury personally, because I was not on that side, but my friend said that they saw corpses and people who got, you know, electrocuted so -- who were burned. So that's what they saw. And I really -- well, really we were very lucky to -- well, to be OK, but I'm very -- I'm still very, very sorry for all the injured people and the people who got killed.</s>ANDERSON: This was a packed train. This was late in the afternoon on a Friday.</s>MOLE: Yes, exactly. So a lot of people going on holidays, of course.</s>ANDERSON: And can you describe the scene as you got off the train for me? We, again, we're looking at some of the shots that we had from Twitter and some of the film that's coming in. Describe the scene at the station?</s>MOLE: Well, one -- one side of the train, there was this car just behind us that was upside down. And then when we looked we saw that there was nothing, I mean, no cars after that. The cars were long away from us. All the other cars were crushed and they were like 50 meters ahead, which was really like a bit apocalyptic. I can't tell. Because that's what I saw. I didn't see the dead people, but my friends saw them. And afterwards we saw some -- we saw other people who came who were rescued. And, you know, they were, yes, injured. So, it's a big accident, yes.</s>ANDERSON: Very, very distressing. We thank you very much. Ariane, we are so pleased that you're OK and your friends are OK. But shocking scenes as we look at the live pictures from the suburb of Paris Bretigny-sur-Orge 15 miles out of the capital where a deadly accident today, a train coming off the rails you can see. This was a train that was, as we understand, on its way from Paris to Limoges, not expected to stop at this station. Unclear at present exactly what happened. I believe that we have got a reporter on the scene. Am I right in saying that? No, OK. We're going to go to a reporter on the scene for you to find out the very latest on what will be an early investigation into this. But live pictures, as I say, from Bretigny-sur-Orge tonight, the scene of a devastating and deadly train accident. All right, well his leaked information exposed widespread domestic surveillance in the United States. And he has been on the run ever since.</s>EDWARD SNOWDEN, NSA LEAKER: A little over a month ago, I had family, a home in paradise, and I lived in great comfort.</s>ANDERSON: On Friday, Edward Snowden made his first public appearance in weeks. He faced the world for the first time since he outed the United States' Prism program, as its known. And tonight, we're live at the airport in Moscow and at the U.S. State Department in Washington. First, to Phil Black. And what did Snowden have to say today as he reappeared?</s>PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Becky, he announced a change of plans. He no longer hopes to make the jump straight across to one of the Latin American countries that have offered him permanent asylum. Instead, he's reapplied asylum here. And he wants to stay here in Russia, at least temporarily. Now he's applied for asylum here before, but withdrew that application because the Russian government set a condition. It said he would have to stop all work aimed at harming the United States. Snowden withdrew that application because he said he wasn't prepared to do that. The people who met with him here today say, however, he's had a change of heart. He is now prepared to live up to that condition if Russia lets him stay, Becky.</s>ANDERSON: All right. That's the latest from the airport. Edward Snowden in response to a question on the Russian condition that he stops harming the USA said I've said I knew and I will not harm the United States in the future. All right, let's get you to Washington, then, because reaction from both the White House and the State Department today. Elise Labott standing by with that part of the story -- Elise.</s>ELISE LABOTT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Becky, well the Obama administration is saying that they're very disappointed, they're angry, in fact, with the Russians for what they say providing Edward Snowden what they call propaganda platform, to be able to speak to this. President Obama scheduled to call President Putin a little bit later this evening basically to ask him to hand -- once again, to hand Edward Snowden over. They say he's not a whistle-blower, he's not a criminal. And they hope that Russia can still do the right thing. Now Becky, I think what the United States is really upset with is that they're already in fact treating the Russia -- Mr. Snowden as if -- the Russians are already treating him as if he's someone who is seeking asylum. They're offering him access to human rights groups. They're helping facilitate this. These human rights groups could have never gotten to the airport without the Russians facilitating that. So they see what's happening right now, Becky, is that the Russians are already taking steps to help Edward Snowden. What they're really concerned about is ultimately that they're moving to accept his asylum petition.</s>ANDERSON: Elise Labott with the U.S. side of this story. So Snowden looking for asylum in what some might say is an unlikely place. We're going to do move on this story. In fact, Elise let me bring you back, because we are waiting on a guest out of Russia who was actually at the news conference in Moscow today. You say, though, that Washington will speak with Moscow in the hours to come. Have they, in any way, changed their stance? Or is this -- visa -- passports revoked, we want him back at this point?</s>LABOTT: Well, publicly Becky, of course that's what they're saying. They're saying he's a criminal. He's charged with three felonies. And he doesn't have travel documents. And he should be extradited to the United States. Whether they're talking to the Russians about some secret deal that they could send him through some third country where, in fact, we know he'll come back to the United States, we don't know. But I think there's a perception that President Putin has kind of boxed himself in. This has been going on for a long time. He was kind of in effect screwed by the Chinese when they sent him over to Russia on documents that they don't believe were legitimate. And now he really -- if he had sent him back to China at the time, if he had sent Mr. Snowden through another country -- either to a third country for asylum or to the United States, maybe that there was a chance that Russia could get out of this unscathed. But now President Putin has a choice between domestically showing that he's powerful to the all-mighty United States and not bowing to U.S. pressure. But at the same time, he wants to preserve his relationship with the United States, President Obama. He's expected to have a meeting with President Obama later in September. I'm told that no decision will be made on that until they see how this plays out. So the Russians now a little bit in a box about what to do next.</s>ANDERSON: Elise, thank you. So, Snowden looking for asylum, as I said, in what some might say is an unlikely place. I'm joined now by Sergei Nikitin of Amnesty International who was at the news conference in Moscow today. Why does Snowden want asylum in Russia at this point? You were there. You spoke to him. Tell us why.</s>SERGEI NIKITIN, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: Yes, I was there. And I did speak to him. I think that it was predictable, at least at the moment I received an email signed by Edward Snowden, I realized that if we, Amnesty International together with Human Rights Watch representative, are invited to such a meeting that means he's going to be important -- something important is going to happen there. So my expectation would be that he would announce that he is willing to ask for political asylum in Russian Federation. So I was...</s>ANDERSON: Sergei, how was he? How would you describe him? How would you describe him today?</s>NIKITIN: Well, the guy I saw today, he looks quite witty and clever lad, neat and tidy, seemed to be not very much depressed, which I would expect in his condition. He made jokes. So absolutely adequate. And it was -- well, personally very nice to see him. You know, feeling well and preparing to answer the questions. So when we had this meeting, the first thing he did that was his statement, like 10, 15 minutes long. And then there was an option for questions from the audience. There were not too many people there, just two representatives as I said Human Rights Watch and myself. And the rest were the people from the official sources.</s>ANDERSON: All right, let me put this to you. The U.S. is very clear about this. He is not a whistle-blower. He is not a human rights activist. He is wanted on a series of serious criminal charges, that is what Washington says. What is Amnesty doing to help him and why?</s>NIKITIN: We totally disagree with the position of the White House. And we issued a number of statements. And we've been watching what is happening for Snowden for quite a long time since he, you know, appeared in Hong Kong and then when he moved to London. We keep on saying and still say that no country should extradite Mr. Snowden to the United States and there are a number of reasons why. We are talking about the -- you know, the fact that some high officials in the United States already called him as a traitor. We know that the conditions in the American prisons are not perfect at all. There are examples like Guantanamo or Pelican Bay. We know what is happening to Bradley Manning in the United States. So all this makes us absolutely sure that there is no way he should be sent to the United States. And we think he's a whistle-blower. We think that he did not violate anything. He just followed the thing called human rights, which is universal. So what he did was absolutely perfectly acceptable.</s>ANDERSON: Sergei Nikitin of Amnesty International, we appreciate your time on what is a very big story today out of Moscow for you. I'm going to get you back to our top story this evening. The latest on the derailed train in France at this point. At least six people are dead and many more are injured after a train came off the tracks just south of Paris. BFM TV reporter Julia Delage is in Bretigny-sur-Orge. And she joins us now. What is the latest from emergency crews there?</s>JULIA DELAGE, BFM-TV REPORTER: Well, the chief of the French train company spoke about the worst train catastrophe in France. The statement is six person dead, a dozen very, very injured, and a 100 less injured. But it's not the end of the statement, because some people may be still in the train. Here, all the people we met describe an apocalyptic scene like children cached into the train. Here, a dozen and dozen rescue trucks are still there now in the evening. In the crisis center, many persons are trying to organize the rescue and it's very difficult because the train is totally dislocked in the station. One of the rescuers told us that he couldn't say if there's still people in the station, because everything is crushed. The President Francois Hollande went here to express the solidarity of the government and to try to understand how the rescuers work, beside police have begun investigation to try to understand what happened today. What...</s>ANDERSON: Can I stop you there? Sorry, yeah, OK. Tell me -- sorry, I interrupted -- tell me, what do we know at this point?</s>DELAGE: What we know, the first point the train was going to Limoges in the center of France. And here in Bretigny-sur-Orge, two wagons derailed and then four other wagons derailed too. But for the moment, nobody knows why policemen are at work now trying to understand what happened really in Bretigny.</s>ANDERSON: At this point, let's just be clear, this was a train going from Paris to Limoges. And Julia, it wasn't expected to stop at this station. Do we know how fast it was going?</s>DELAGE: Yes, quite fast, because the train wasn't supposed to stop here in the station of Bretigny-sur-Orge, because it's quite a speed train from Paris to Limoges. And you know today for French people, it's big holidays and many, many persons were in this train, 370 people -- persons - - were in the train this afternoon which derailed around 5:30 here in Bretigny. So, many, many explications come -- explain the fact that the train derailed. But for the moment, policemen can't say anything about the origins of the problem this afternoon.</s>ANDERSON: All right, Julia, thank you very much indeed for joining us. Just updating us on a story that broke 5:30 French local time. 370 people on a packed train from Paris to Limoges. The train for some reason derailing at a station on route 15 miles -- or 15 kilometers out of Paris. Six dead, sadly, a dozen injured. The possibility that people are still trapped. And as your reporter there relaying, apocalyptic scenes witnessed by those on board and those at the station. As we get more on this story, of course, and on the investigation as to why this happened, we will of course bring it to you here on CNN. I'm Becky Anderson, this is Connect the World. Coming up, happy birthday Malala. The 16-year-old Pakistani school girl celebrates with a powerful speech at the United Nations. First, though, the tragic story of a young photographer who may have filmed his own death during the upheaval in Egypt. We will be back in about a minute-and-a-half stay with us.