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Connect the World
BEA Releases Air France Flight 447 Final Report; Japanese Report Blames Culture For Fukushima Disaster; FIFA To Approve Goal Line Technology; French Investigators Blame Human Error and Technical Failures for Air France Flight 447 Crash; The Modern Aircraft; Man Fights to End UK`s Euthanasia Ban; Assisted Euthanasia Debate; Eye on Ukraine: Military Tourism in Crimea; Parting Shots: Sneak Peak of London`s First Skyscraper
Aired July 05, 2012 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JIM CLANCY, HOST: Tonight on Connect the World, a disaster made in Japan. You may have thought this is what was to blame for the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe, but a new reports faults the Japanese mindset that it says allows the nightmare to get a whole lot worse.
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is Connect the World.
CLANCY: As Japan digests the criticism, we`re going to ask if the country`s culture is really to blame.
Also coming up, locked in. But should he be allowed to end his own life? That is a question for the British high court to answer. Tonight, we debate the right to die.
And kicking out the confusion: goal line technology finally getting the green light.
The world`s worst nuclear disaster in a quarter center could have been avoided: that is according to a new Japanese investigation. The tsunami that hit Japan in 2011 killed more than 15,000 people. Shortly after it hit, the cooling system at one of the Fukushima Daiichi reactors failed. The ensuing fallout was categorized as bad as Chernobyl. And it saw 200,000 people being forced to evacuate. The estimated clean-up costs anything up to 250 billion US dollars.
Well, today, a damning independent report did not blame individuals for the Fukushima meltdown, it had blamed an entire culture.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: The Fukushima nuclear disaster was caused not just by the 9.0 earthquake or the massive tsunami that followed, but also by a cultural aversion to questioning authority. According to the findings of an independent commission set up by the Japanese parliament it was man-made. And that view is shared by others.
KATSUHISA TANIGUCHI, RESEARCHER (through translator): It`s Japanese character to be obedient and try to be the same as others. It`s good and bad. The culture might be blamed for this man-made disaster, but it`s the same Japanese culture that helped to earn the respect from the world. So I don`t think it`s all bad.
CLANCY: But for months it was all bad as three crippled reactors spewed radiation and displaced tens of thousands of people. That all got underway in March of 2011. The new report blames errors and negligence before the crisis and a flawed response afterwards.
And on the issue of Japanese culture, the report summary lays it out saying this, "what must be admitted very painfully is that this was a disaster made in Japan." And the report points a finger in several places, ingrained conventions of Japanese culture: reflexive obedience, reluctance to question authority, devotion to sticking wit the program, groupism. That describes a cultural protocol many Japanese see in their own lives, and some are reluctant to blame.
MIHO ETOH, ADVERTISEMENT PLANNER (through translator): Sounds like they`re saying the people in charge of the crisis were not wrong, but that all Japanese are to blame. I do not agree with that. We might not be able to deny that Japanese culture, which is usually positive, worked negatively in the crisis. But I am not happy to hear that the culture was singled out as the cause of the accident, because it`s not the only cause.
CLANCY: The 641 page report was extremely critical of the facilities operator TEPCO, the government, and the regulators for the failed response that followed in the hours, days, and weeks after the tsunami. It pointedly noted that the government officials in charge of regulating the plant were the very same leaders who were promoting nuclear energy.
The independent panel held more than 900 hours of hearings and interviewed more than 1,000 people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: All right. So just how much is Japanese culture really to blame? Can it change its own course? I`m joined now by Michio Kaku. He`s a theoretical physicist at City University of New York.
What is your take? When you look at this report pointing a finger to Japanese culture, is that fair? How do you think it will be accepted by the Japanese people?
MICHIO KAKU, PROFESSOR OF PHYSICS: Well, the main thrust of the report is still a blistering criticism of the collusion between the government and the utilities. However, in all fairness, as you point out, it also singles out the defect in the Japanese cultural character. In the United States, if something goes wrong we say throw the bums out, throw the bums out. In Japan, we say (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE) that is it can`t be helped. That`s just the way it is. This is a leftover from Confucianism, this idea that we have deference to your authorities.
So in Japan we have the expression that nail that sticks out gets hammered down. While in the west we have the opposite expression, the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
CLANCY: I`m going to ask you to stand right there, because I want to pose a question. Looking at current events, because you know we want -- has anything changed? Did the government learn any lessons from this? Well, today a reactor at I think I`m saying this right, the Ohi nuclear plant in (inaudible) Japan is due to start producing electricity.
On Friday tens of thousands of people came out before there protesting this plant being switched back on. It`s the first reactor to reach what`s called critical mass. A second reactor is due to go back online by the end of this month. And then in May, we reported that on that scandal in the Japanese building industry where we should you how tons of contaminated cement from a factory that was just next door to Fukushima had been transported all across the country. That`s now part of walls, part of floors in schools, homes, and hospitals.
Has anything really changed? Do we expect it to?
KAKU: Well, let`s hope that things change. You see culture takes centuries to change. However, it`s possible to set up an independent regulatory body to oversee, to be a watch dog to the industry.
The same thing happened in the United States. We once had the Atomic Energy Commission in the U.S. that, quote, regulated and promoted nuclear power. After Three Mile Island the government split the Atomic Energy Commission in half. The Department of Energy then began to promote nuclear energy, while the Nuclear Regulatory Commission was supposed to regulate and be the watch dog agency.
So in Japan, let`s keep our fingers crossed and hope that this independent watch dog agency will begin to make reactors safer or in some sense close some of them down.
CLANCY: Isn`t this all telling us question authority? After all, as you rightly point out, there are proponents of nuclear power that are actually the ones who are regulating it in some cases as was the case according to this report in Japan. There`s not even any firm way of how to store the nuclear waste.
KAKU: That`s right. In the United States after Three Mile Island, the nuclear priesthood was exposed. The nuclear priesthood is a rotating body of scientists and government officials that go back and forth between government and utility, the government and the utilities. They are the same people simply masquerading like musical chairs.
That`s why the government split the Atomic Energy Commission right down the middle to create a regulatory body. In Japan we still have a nuclear priesthood that plays musical chairs with all the different commissions. These are the same people. And there has to be a house cleaning.
In some sense, we do have to throw the bums out.
CLANCY: Have the Japanese learned that lesson? Because I think the relationship which we -- the relationship of trust with the Japanese government, and particularly TEPCO, has certainly been altered forever by what happened at Fukushima.
KAKU: I think there`s been a sea change, a paradigm shift. Before Fukushima people would simply say the government knows best, the government will always protect us. Now it`s coming out, the government officials were secretly evacuating their own relatives. Told the people don`t worry. Everything is OK. What a bunch of hypocrites. It why now the Japanese people are beginning to think more like Americans thinking that perhaps there is room for change if only we dare to reach out and grab it.
CLANCY: Dr. Michio Kaku, a face who has brought some common sense and common understanding of nuclear physics to all of us on our television screens around the world. A great privilege to have you with us making some comments about this latest independent report to come out of Japan. Thank you, sir.
KAKU: Thank you.
CLANCY: Well, still to come tonight, locked in with only one way out. Why this man is fighting for his right to die.
And French investigators releasing their long awaited report on what caused the deadliest crash in the history of Air France.
And out on the pitch, the goal line technology debate finally coming to an end as football bosses give it the green light. All that, much more as Connect the World continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CLANCY: You`re with CNN. And this is Connect the World. I`m Jim Clancy. Welcome back everyone.
Human error and technical failure were both to blame for the loss of an Air France plane over the Atlantic in 2009, that according to French investigators and today released their final report into that crash, the crash that claimed the lives of 228: everyone on board.
It concluded the pilots lost control of the aircraft after failing to respond correctly to a problem with the plane`s speed censor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALAIN BOUILLARD, INVESTIGATOR-IN-CHARGE (through translator): The crew never understood that it had stalled. The commander then approached and heard the stall alarm and noticed strong vibrations. They did not give a good diagnosis of the situation.
At this stage of the event, only an extremely determined crew having really understood the situation could have attempted to bring the plane back into its correct flight. Thus, the crew was in a state of virtually total loss of management of the situation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CLANCY: And stay with us, because a little bit later in our report Richard Quest heading to a simulator to look at whether cockpits are just too darned complicated.
I want to share with you a look at some of the other stories that are connecting our world tonight. The European Central Bank reducing its key interest rate to an all-time low. The bank`s president Mario Draghi says its members have reached a unanimous decision to cut that rate to three- quarters of a percent. There were no extra measures to stimulate growth but Draghi said he still had plenty of tools at his disposal.
The UN security council passing a resolution calling for sanctions against al Qaeda linked militants in Mali, but it did not give a mandate to West African states that want to use force to help Mali`s government reclaim territory. The militants have now taken over a huge part of Northern Mali and say they want to spread Shariah law. They`ve already begun destroying priceless cultural treasures in Timbuktu. Militants say Islamic shrines there, UNESCO world heritage sites amount to idol worship.
A huge cash of documents could provide new insight in the Syrian regime and some of its opponents. Whistleblower website WikiLeaks says it has begun releasing millions of emails from Syrian officials, some of the ministries and international companies doing business with Syria. These date from March 2006, or rather from 2006 to March of this year after the - - well after the crackdown began. The first batch of emails includes one that suggests there was an Italian firm that was trying whatever it could to skirt U.S. sanctions on Syria, sending in engineers and equipment to the regime as little as a few months ago.
Well, the wait could soon be over in Mexico as election officials there near the end of at least a partial recount. Preliminary results show Enrique Pena Nieto won Sunday`s presidential vote. The challenger Lopez Obrador refused to concede and has demanded a recount accusing his opponent`s campaign of buying votes.
Christiane Amanpour asked Pena Nieto about the allegations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ENRIQUE PENA NIETO, PRI PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (through translator): There is no grounds for much of it. Let`s give the electoral tribunal to weigh the evidence presented regarding these statements which as I repeat have no grounds. I`m the first one to condemn any practice of any political party, including mine, that resorts to vote buying through coercion to condition the participation of Mexicans the voting process.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CLANCY: You can see Christiane`s entire interview with Pena Nieto in about 45 minutes time right here on CNN that`s at 10:00 pm in London, 11:00 in Berlin.
All right. We`ve got to take a short break now, but when we come back, goal line technology. We`ve got the pros. We`ve got the cons. We`ve got the latest developments in what has been a long running debate.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CLANCY: You`re watching Connect the World and tonight we`re live from CNN Center. Welcome back everyone wherever you around around the world. I`m Jim Clancy.
Well, after decades of debate, literally, football bosses have given goal line technology the go ahead. The long awaited decision was made by the sport`s lawmaking body IFAB which says the technology will be used for the very first time in Japan come December. Alex Thomas gives us a look at how the issue has played out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX THOMAS, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: You could trace the call for technology in football back to this famously controversial goal at the 1966 World Cup Final. It was awarded to England even though some dispute to this day whether or not the ball crossed the line.
Fast forward to the 2010 World Cup and this time England didn`t get the decision even though modern television coverage showed Frank Lampard`s shot was in.
FRANK LAMPARD, ENGLISH NATIONAL TEAM: It`s a no-brainer it went. Goal line technology I can say that more than anyone in the World Cup.
THOMAS: The outrage that followed Lampard`s disallowed goal was a major factor in FIFA president Sepp Blatter`s decision to reverse his stance on the issue. Shortly after the Lampard incident, testing the goal line technology began with two systems emerging as the leading candidates one based on cameras the other on magnetic fields.
RICHARD SCUDAMORE, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, PREMIER LEAGUE: Is it`s specialized cameras that are fixed in I think seven different position for each half, so 14 cameras that is part of what we`re looking at. And it`s a system that effectively simulates what`s going on and then that creates an absolute certain image of where that ball is or isn`t at any given time.
THOMAS: Cricket umpires have been referring their decisions to technology for more than a decade. Tennis, baseball, American football, Aussie rules, and hockey all review decisions using some form of simulated or instant replays.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The puck has really crossed the line, the camera inside the net we have a good goal.
GRAHAM POLL, FORMER FOOTBALL REFEREE: All referees welcome goal line technology. There`s nothing worse than driving home from a game, which is all about scoring a goal and a goal has been scored and generally through no fault of your own you haven`t seen it.
THOMAS: Still, the debate in association football has endured with UEFA president Michel Platini remaining a staunch opponent.
MICHEL PLATINI, UEFA PRESIDENT: I would like for FIFA will try one day to prove to everyone referee in the center and four assistant referees around. Because we need to help the referee to make the decision. But it`s not through technology.
THOMAS: Some sports that have introduced technology end up using it for more and more decisions. In cricket, it was initially used only to determine if a batsman had been run out. But it`s now used to review any uncertain dismissal in front of the wicket.
Football bosses say that won`t happen in this case.
NEALE BARRY, IFAB TECHNICAL COMMITTEE: Currently we`re only talking about goal line technology. And the reason we talk about goal line technology is because it`s a matter of fact. The ball either crosses the goal line or it doesn`t. All the video technologies then come to a matter of opinion -- was it a penalty or wasn`t it a penalty; should somebody have been sent off, should somebody not have been sent off.
THOMAS: While most fans may welcome football`s embrace of technology, it`s unlikely to stop the friendly arguments. There are many more decisions to debate in the sport than whether or not the ball has crossed the line.
Alex Thomas, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: All right. Well, a lot of people are cheering, there`s not doubt about that. A lot of people are not cheering tonight. And nobody can put it into perspective like Don Riddell who joins me now.
Last worst case scenario.
DON RIDDELL, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: What do you mean?
CLANCY: In terms of what we saw in abuse because there`s wasn`t goal line technology.
RIDDELL: Yeah, well you know it happened in the European championships just a couple of weeks ago when England played Ukraine, Ukraine scored what they were sure was a goal. John Terry hooked it off of the line. There is an image of him doing exactly that. And that really did I think that really was the last straw. I think FIFA had already decided that they wanted to go ahead with this after what happened in the World Cup two years previously, but I think this was the last straw.
But here`s where it gets really interesting. This is a UEFA tournament. They`re really against this technology. They`re not going to be introducing it into their competitions, because they say it`s the tip of the iceberg. And that goal that we saw disallowed there, the technology was in place then, the goal would have been allowed. But it was an offside goal. The ref hadn`t blown for offside so you`d have kind of justice for one team, but not for the other. And that`s what UEFA are concerned about. They say if we introduce it for this, you`re going to end up having it for everything else as well.
CLANCY: And you come to my favorite sport, U.S. football. You know, the hard hitting and everything. But it`s a game that is noticeably and sometimes unbearably been slowed down just by one challenge after another and then the officials look at the video and...
RIDDELL: And I tell you what, and you don`t notice it as much if you watch it on television, because there`s lots of other distractions at home. You can go to the fridge and get a beer or put the kettle on, or you can do a bit of channel hopping, but when you are there in the stadium it is painfully drawn out. It really is an incredibly long game.
CLANCY: And you can argue everything. That`s what sport is.
RIDDELL: That`s it. That`s it. And in soccer, you know, hand balls, offsides, fouls, you know I mean goals change the momentum of games. Obviously if that`s how games are decided -- but what about a sending off. If you have a player that`s sent off and he shouldn`t have been and your team is down to 10 men you are hugely disadvantaged, maybe that should be reviewed to.
So where does it end?
CLANCY: What about Alex Thomas brought in, you know a voice there that told us, just add a couple of more referees at either end of the field, put them around and have somebody dedicated to that.
RIDDELL: It doesn`t work. Because this is what UEFA want. And they`ve been trialing it. They`ve had these two extra goal line referees whose only job is to stand there and just look at the goal line. They were working at Euro 2012 and they got it wrong. So we`re human, though.
CLANCY: We`re human and machines have come in. We shall see for better or for worse.
Don Riddell, great to have you with us as always.
RIDDELL: Sure. Good to see you.
CLANCY: All right. Good to see you.
Still to come on Connect the World, now that investigators know what it was that caused that deadly Air France crash what can be done or is this going to happen again? We`re going to get a closer look of details of today`s long awaited report.
And they call it the Shard and it looms large over London`s landscape, western Europe`s tallest building opened tonight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JIM CLANCY, HOST: Just coming up on 10:30 in the evening in London -- or rather, in Europe, I should say -- a warm welcome, now, to our viewers across the continent and around the world. I`m Jim Clancy, and here are the latest world headlines from CNN.
Human and technical errors. Investigators say that combination led to the deadliest crash in Air France`s history. They released their final report today on flight 447, which crashed three years ago above the Atlantic.
A new report says a manmade disaster contributed to last year`s crisis at Japan`s Fukushima nuclear plant. The report points the finger at Japan`s culture of obedience and says that government colluded with regulators and the owner of the plant.
A Syrian opposition group says that during the 16-month conflict, more than 16,700 people have been killed. That`s the highest death toll that has been announced yet. CNN, of course, cannot independently confirm that figure.
After years of debate, football`s governing body approving the use of goal line technology. Two systems will be used to help referees determine if the shot is a goal. Technology will be used for the first time in Japan in December.
Well, let`s return to that long-awaited report on the crash of the Air France flight 447. All 228 people onboard that plane lost their lives. The plane crashed into the Atlantic on its way from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. That was in 2009.
Today, French investigators pointed a finger at human error and -- and -- technical failures. They said the plane stalled after its speed sensors froze, that the pilots received faulty data and did not make the necessary corrections. They also failed to address repeated stall warnings.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALAIN BOUILLARD, CHIEF INVESTIGATOR, BEA (through translator): The crew never referred to either the alarm, which they must have heard, or the buffet, which they would have noticed. The aircraft then went into stall, pronounced stall, announced by the stall warning, and very strong vibration. The crew never understood that they were stalling.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CLANCY: But the report goes on to say the pilots were not properly trained to handle such a crisis. Our Richard Quest visited a flight simulator to give us a better idea of what might have gone wrong.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFED MALE: V-1.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This Airbus A330 leaves the runway. But this isn`t a real airport, and I`m not in a real plane. It`s a simulator, the sort that`s used to train today`s pilots. It`s an exact replica of the cockpit, right down to the noises it makes.
At the heart of the Airbus cockpit philosophy is the side stick. When it was introduced, it was a radical departure from conventional flying. Now, the pilot uses it to control the pitch and the roll of the aircraft. It uses technology called fly by wire.
QUEST (voice-over): Fly by wire sends signals to computers, which then command the movements. Today, both Boeing and Airbus planes have fly by wire technology. Airbus`s chief operational advisor, Harry Nelson, has been flying for 50 years.
HARRY NELSON, CHIEF OPERATIONAL ADVISOR, AIRBUS: Fly by wire is here to stay, and I can confidently say to you that fly by wire with envelope protection has reduced the accident statistics by 50 percent. 50 percent. So, I`m talking now, we`re achieving an accident rate of one accident per 10 million flight hours.
QUEST: On an Airbus, the side sticks operated by the captain on the left and the first officer on the right work independently of each other. One pilot cannot feel the side stick movements made by the other. This asynchronicity is one reason why the pilots on Air 447 didn`t realize each pilot was commanding the plane to do different things.
Airbus planes also have envelope protection, which in normal conditions, prevents the plane from being flown dangerously. When there`s a serious fault, the protections are designed to go away, and the pilots receive detailed information from the computers.
QUEST (on camera): There is a logic to the way the Airbus plane tells the pilot that something`s gone wrong. It starts with a warning sound --
(DING)
QUEST: -- which has to be acknowledged.
(TRILLING SOUND)
QUEST: That draws attention to the ECAM messages, which then come up in order of priority.
QUEST (voice-over): On the Qantas A330, where the engine exploded after leaving Singapore, the ECAM computer generated more than 50 messages that took the crew almost an hour to clear before the plane landed safely.
So, the question becomes, are pilots overwhelmed? The increasing demand for pilots today mean planes are designed for a trained flight crew at all levels of experience. Now, the human factor is being looked at more closely. Why pilots behave in certain ways in a crisis, which seems to contradict everything they`ve been taught.
COMPUTER VOICE: Stall. Stall. Stall. Stall.
NELSON: There are industry trends, which are now -- which need to be looked at. We have an even perhaps a younger set of pilots coming into the industry, perhaps even with less experience. Less military pilots coming into the industry.
QUEST (on camera): Is the cockpit too complicated?
NELSON: We design for the whole range, if you like, to cover those pilots who, perhaps, were at the lower end of the scale who may need that kind of protection. The better pilots never need it.
QUEST (voice-over): Closing the training gap between the different level of pilots is paramount.
QUEST (on camera): While flying is without doubt the safest form of travel, the industry is considering the lessons to be learned. Airlines, manufacturers, regulators, and pilots -- everybody is looking to see what needs to change to improve the way we fly.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: Well, you`re watching CONNECT THE WORLD. And coming up straight ahead, he will not quit until it`s over. We`re discussing why one man`s death wish is part of a much larger issue. That and more ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CLANCY: Welcome back, everyone, to CONNECT THE WORLD. A severely disabled man who took on the UK`s high court in a bid to amend the ban on euthanasia is going to receive a verdict as early as next month now.
Tony Nicholson`s -- Nicklinson, I should say -- suffers from locked-in syndrome. He can`t speak, he can`t move or eat. And because euthanasia is illegal in the UK, he also can`t choose to end his own life. CNN`s Nima Elbagir visited Tony to learn about the life he says has become intolerable.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JANE NICKLINSON, TONY NICKLINSON`S WIFE: Letter O. Letter U.
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Seven years ago, Tony Nicklinson was a healthy 51-year-old man.
J. NICKLINSON: He was the life and soul of the party. He was a big bloke, ex rugby player. He worked hard, but he played hard. He was full of life, great sense of humor. Loved the sound of his own voice.
Hot, aren`t you?
ELBAGIR: Then, he suffered a stroke. Today, the man who loved life is fighting for the right to end it.
TONY NICKLINSON, STROKE VICTIM (through computer communication device): My name is Tony Nicklinson and I have locked-in syndrome. This means that most of my body is paralyzed, but my mind is as it was before the stroke.
All I can move is my head and the stroke took away my power of speech. Now, I talk to people with a prospect spelling board or a computer operated by my eye blinks.
My day typically begins at 5:00 AM. I need only four or five hours sleep, because I lead a very sedentary life. I watch television until 8:30 when the first of the carers come. During this time, my wife checks on me at 7:30, and between then and 8:00, she gives me my drugs and juice for breakfast.
These drugs are only to make my life more comfortable, as I have refused all drugs that are designed to prolong my life since 2007. Unfortunately for me, tomorrow will be exactly the same. And the next, and the next, ad infinitum, until the day I die.
ELBAGIR (on camera): If you were given the right to make that decision, would you chose to do so?
T. NICKLINSON (through computer communication device): Yes.
ELBAGIR (voice-over): But under British law, Tony doesn`t have that right. He`s physically incapable of committing suicide, and it`s illegal for anyone to help him. At present, so-called voluntary active euthanasia, when assistance is required to end a life, constitutes murder, and the sentence is life imprisonment.
Tony has taken his case to the high court in Britain, saying he`s not looking for a new law allowing euthanasia. He simply wants a remedy to the current legislation, which he calls discriminatory.
T. NICKLINSON (through computer communication device): Some people have in the past spoken to me in a loud, slow, and deliberate terms normally reserved for the deaf or daft. I am neither.
All too often, well-meaning able-bodied people just assume that if a person is so severely disabled that he needs assistance to commit suicide, he must automatically be unable to deal with such a choice. I say that where a person has the mental ability, he should have the choice of his own life or death. The only difference between you and me is my inability to take my own life without assistance.
ELBAGIR: Tony`s condition hasn`t changed for seven years, and he and his wife say the longer the court takes to rule on his appeal, the longer his only hope for relief is postponed.
J. NICKLINSON: I think the injustice of it all, you or I can go out and take our lives anytime we want, whereas Tony, being the one that really needs that right, can`t do this. And he`s only asking for what everyone else has got, really, to -- his right to take his own life. He wants that given back to him.
ELBAGIR: The high court is expected to issue its judgment in Tony`s case after the end of July. As difficult as things are for them, Jane says she and Tony have never had any doubts that assisted suicide is the right choice for them.
J. NICKLINSON: It`s taken so long to get to this point, and he`s never, ever wavered, and it is what he wants, it`s what he wants desperately. So, if it`s what he wants, it`s what we want.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: I don`t think I have tell anyone who`s watching here that a person`s right to die is a hugely controversial issue. It not only raises moral and ethical questions, but it`s really difficult to define because each case varies so widely.
Euthanasia and assisted suicide are legal in only a handful of countries. Most prosecute it as an act of murder or manslaughter.
Joining me to try to discuss this and sort out some of the issues is Dr. Rosalie Guttman from the Final Exit Network. She is in favor of assisted euthanasia. And John Kelly, who`s the director of the Second Thoughts organization.
Welcome to both of you. And Rosalie, if I can begin with you, in the case of Tony, do you think that it really defines part of what people face today?
ROSALIE GUTTMAN, DOCTOR, FINAL EXIT NETWORK: Yes, I do. I think that he -- he expresses what many people in his condition would really want, and that is the means to end their life on their own terms, when they think it`s time to go, and when they feel that there`s no quality of life left for them.
CLANCY: John Kelly, you yourself are disabled, and I want to ask you, does Tony`s case define it, or does it -- this case has gotten a huge amount of attention. Does it distract from the debate?
JOHN KELLY, DIRECTOR, SECOND THOUGHTS: Well, I think what`s going on here is this one person, Tony Nicklinson, wants his own preferred method of dying when he has the absolute right to die and the doctor assisted organization in the United States, Compassion and Choices, promotes this voluntarily stopping eating and drinking as a peaceful and dignified way to die.
So, he already has the right to die. Anyone who is conscious and has a body has the full right to refuse any treatment, including food and water.
CLANCY: Rosalie, do you agree? That option is there.
GUTTMAN: I -- Yes, the option is there, but I do not agree that it is a dignified, painless way. Stopping water and food can be very painful, and it has to be managed medically in order for it not to be a very, very uncomfortable, drawn-out way of dying.
CLANCY: All right, let me move our discussion on a little bit. And this comes to a point where some people say, as governments try to cut back, they`re already ushering out the elderly and the disabled in an effort to save cash. John?
KELLY: Well, I`ll speak to that, Jim. We`ve already had that happen out in Oregon. We`ve had people on Oregon Medicaid receive letters denying them life-extending treatment, but offering them the cheapness of assisted suicide.
And what we need here is, rather than encouragement and assistance in dying, we need assistance in living. The cuts in Britain have been devastating. That`s why so many hundreds of disabled people have taken to the streets.
We`re facing similar cuts here, and what we need are the supports and the way that we can live fine in the community. Many people would talk about Mr. Nicklinson -- would talk about me in the same way they talk about Mr. Nicklinson. And this is just an incremental step strategy of bringing us closer to euthanizing people whose lives are already devalued.
CLANCY: Dr. Guttman, do you think there is the -- is that risk a concern to you?
GUTTMAN: No. No, it`s not.
CLANCY: Why?
GUTTMAN: Well, disabled people need to be -- they need to be campaigning for services that they need to provide for their comfort and dignity in living. And they have the same choice and the same right as everybody else.
We in Final Exit Network, we do not believe that disabled people should be put to death. We only believe that human beings have the right to choose when and where and under what circumstances they end their life.
And in fact, people have been doing that all along. Many people commit suicide by using guns and jumping off bridges and by violent means, and even these people --
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CLANCY: But some of those people -- some of those people are not, many would argue, teenagers upset over a lost love, not seeing their whole life in front of them. What they need is an alternative. They need some counseling. They don`t need a gun in their hand to end it all. Mr. Kelly?
KELLY: Yes. Why is it that people who are not disabled receive suicide prevention services, but once someone comes up with a disability that captures the public attention, they`re offered encouragement in dying?
What we get here is that people who have had a history of depression, of suicidal attempts, are just handed the pills because once they`re deemed terminally ill, which of course is just a guesswork, they`re handed these pills in order to allow them to die.
And again, Mr. Nicklinson has the same right as everyone has who`s conscious and has a body, he can figure out a way to kill himself without involving the courts and the law and changing a policy that will take us across the bright, clear line of not intentionally killing people.
CLANCY: All right, we`re going to have to leave it there. But I want to thank Dr. Rosalie Guttman and John Kelly for joining us here on CONNECT THE WORLD and sharing some of your thoughts. Important thoughts. And I`m sure there`s many people who can find agreement with both of you. Thank you.
Well, you`re watching CONNECT THE WORLD, and when we come back, making money from the military. Our Eye on Ukraine series continues with a look at the opportunities to turn Crimean history into the tourist trade.
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CLANCY: Welcome back everyone. All this week, our Eye On series has focused on Ukraine. Tonight, we`re going to visit Crimea. It`s called by some the Tuscany of Eastern Europe. CNN`s Jim Boulden discovers an area that literally turns the pages of history while it turns its eyes to tourism.
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JIM BOULDEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Russians love coming to Crimea. The beaches on the Black Sea coast are a favorite. Though more of them are now heading further south to Turkey and to Cypress. That`s just one reason there are calls for the region to modernize and bolster its tourism credentials.
Not far from the beaches, the landscape all over southern Crimea is dotted with reminders of who have come through here. The Turks, the Genovese, the ancient Greeks and their wineries.
BOULDEN: Given all the vineyards and the hills, if you didn`t know you were in Crimea, you could be forgiven for thinking this is Tuscany or Northern California.
BOULDEN (voice-over): This small part of Balaklava has certainly changed since the Crimean War. There are now luxury hotels, villas, and yachts, many belonging to Russian ex-pats.
And a big tourist attraction. This once secret Soviet nuclear submarine base reminds visitors Balaklava was once a closed city.
BOULDEN (on camera): You can just imagine the Soviet-era submarine slowly making its way in here and through the mountain. It`s all very James Bond-like.
BOULDEN (voice-over): Soviet subs were repaired here until the early 1990s. Tourists now take boats along part of the same route.
Norry Hughes showed me around. The former British soldier moved to Crimea about ten years ago. He wants to see more military attractions in the area, modernized for tourists.
NORRY HUGHES, HISTORIAN: We can see the submarine bases being put to good use. All of a sudden, it`s making money. People are enjoying coming here. And if they enjoy coming here, they eat in the local restaurants, they get onboard the local boats.
BOULDEN: Hughes used to take tourists around Crimean War battlefields. He took me through the vineyards up to the original monument, placed here in 1856.
BOULDEN (on camera): Now, it was a bit of a trek for us to get here. Is that an example of what it`s like to do tourism in this region if you`re here to do military tourism?
HUGHES: It`s a problem in as much as it`s a problem that could be dealt with the same way as it was not dealt with during the 2004 150th here, when the locals were once again left to get on with it for the sake of the British.
BOULDEN (voice-over): 2004 was the 150th anniversary of the Crimean War. Since then, Hughes says, fewer tourists come here. So, he wants investment poured into the region, given its important military history.
HUGHES: This plaque is dedicated to the glorious memory of those officers --
BOULDEN: And as moved as Hughes is by the words, he feels passionately that others should make glorious memories of their own here in Crimea.
Jim Boulden, CNN, Balaklava, Ukraine.
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CLANCY: Fascinating place.
Well, in tonight`s Parting Shots, it`s up, up and away as Europe`s tallest building, the Shard, opens up in London. CNN`s Erin McLaughlin reports from the 68th floor. What does that look like?
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ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It`ll be months before the public will be able to access the viewing platform at the top of the Shard. But we`ve been given a sneak peak of the 68th floor which, for right now, is as close to the top as they`ll let us go.
I don`t know which lift. To the left? OK.
There`s two lifts.
It is spectacular.
Check out that view. You can see some 40 miles into the distance, and they have these public viewing stations that allow you to explore different parts of the city in depth.
It took 12 years to get to this point, and there`s still much more work that needs to be done. The Shard will eventually be home to a restaurant, a five-star hotel, office spaces, residential spaces.
Today marks the day that the exteriors of this building have been completed, and it`s comprised of some 11,000 panels of glass, 95 percent of the materials that went into the Shard, they say, were recycled. The architect of the Shard says that it was designed to blend into the London skyline. It is, after all, London`s first skyscraper.
Erin McLaughlin, CNN, London.
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CLANCY: Ah, some great views, there. I`m Jim Clancy. That was CONNECT THE WORLD for tonight. Thanks for being with us. Headlines are straight ahead.
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