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CONNECT THE WORLD
Republicans Fail to Agree on Health Bill; U.S. Imposes Fresh Sanctions on Iran; Six Second Clip of Woman Wearing Miniskirt Sparks Uproar; Turkish President to Visit Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia; World Powers Look to Help Work Out a Solution; Family of Woman Killed by Police Demands Answer; Republicans Shift Strategy On Health Care Reform; Meet the Lost Men of Syria Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired July 18, 2017 - 11:00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST: An ailing U.S. health care bill collapses in what is a massive blow for the White House. Can the American president's
headlining promise to get rid of Obamacare be resuscitated? An explanation from Washington is just ahead.
Also, claims and counter-claims over high level hacking in the Persian Gulf. The new cyber front line and what it all means for all involved.
Plus, the toll the war in Syria has taken on its men. A new exhibit puts them in the spotlight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Very good evening. It's just after 7:00 here in the UAE. This is Connect the World. I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi for you.
And it was one of Donald Trump's signature campaign promises. And he told the American people it would be so easy for him to get it done and fast.
But the effort to repeal and -- sorry, replace and repeal Obamacare has collapsed yet again.
Two more Republican senators suddenly defected from their party's latest health care bill, effectively sealing its fate. Republican leaders will
now focus on repeal with replace to come later.
Mr. Trump lashing out at Democrats and the few Republican who won't sign on, but he's also suggesting that he planned it this way all along, this
morning tweeting, as I have always said, let Obamacare fail and then come together and do a great health care plan. Stay tuned.
Behind the scenes, though we are hearing that President Trump was annoyed in inverted comments by the defections which apparently caught him off
guard, CNN's Suzanne Malveaux has more on how it all came crashing down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN U.S. CORRESPONDENT: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell giving up on Republican's seven-year effort now pushing to repeal
Obamacare without a replacement plan in place.
The latest effort collapsing after two more Republican senators announced their opposition to the bill simultaneously on Monday night, ensuring that
the plan would fail.
McConnell is still planning to hold a vote in the coming days on a 2015 measure that would repeal Obamacare but delay it taking effect for two
years while a replacement bill is crafted.
President Trump responding to the set back on Twitter, tweeting Republicans should just repeal failing Obamacare now and work on a new health care plan
that will start from a clean slate. Dems will join in.
This despite the fact that a straight repeal has little to no chance of passing and it could leave millions uninsured and the insurance marketed in
turmoil. The president's proposal starkly different from the promise he made on the campaign trail.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Obamacare is a disaster. Repeal it and replace it. Repeal and replace. Repeal and replace.
Obamacare, we're going to repeal, we're going to replace it. We're going to get something new.
MALVEAUX: President Trump was trying to drum up support for health care, hosting a handful of senators at a White House dinner Monday night, as
Senators Lee and Moran announced their opposition. The president expressing optimism earlier in the day.
TRUMP: The Republican senators are great people, but they have a lot of different states. Some states need this, some states need that. But we're
getting it together and it's -- it's going to happen, right, Mike?
SEN. MIKE LEE (R), UTAH: Yes, sir.
TRUMP: I think.
MALVEAUX: Democratic minority leader Chuck Schumer immediately celebrating the defeat, tweeting this second failure of Trump care is proof positive
that the core of this bill is unworkable.
As Republicans continue to the split about the path forward, with conservatives pushing the clean repeal effort and moderates like Senator
John McCain calling for bipartisan ship, McCain stressing that Republican should receive input from member of both parties as they work to produce
future legislation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Suzanne, joining us now from Capitol Hill with more facts, President Trump just tweeted contradictory solutions to this health care
collapse, repeal and replace one, then Obamacare fail, two.
He also said, if Republicans who at present run both the upper and lower House can't get a bill like this through, this is terrible for the
Republican Party. Put this into context. He alludes to how bad this is for the Republicans.
[11:05:00] How much of a blow is this to Donald Trump himself?
MALVEAUX: Well, Becky, I have to say this is really devastating for the president. And one of the reasons why is because that there has been so
much focus as you know on the various investigations regarding the campaign and Russia's role, and whether or not there was collusion.
And so what Republicans have been dying to do is put forward something on the legislative agenda, something that they can check the box and say,
look, we are able to accomplish something out of Washington now that Republicans control the House and Senate.
And the White House here, that is something that they can't say. It has been denied. And now there -- there really is not a clear path forward
here. This has failed multiple times on multiple levels. We hear the frustration from the president. Initially he talked about he would be very
angry if this was not passed.
And then also tweeting this morning of -- you know, putting the blame on the Democrats, the Vice President Mike Pence on camera this morning still
trying to express some resolve, if you will, that there is something that this White House can actually do that is productive.
But you can hear really the level of frustration in the tone in which they speak. I want you to just take a listen to what the vice president said
earlier this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Last night, we learned that the Senate still doesn't have consensus on a bill to repeal and
replace Obamacare at the same time.
President Trump and I fully support the majority leader's decision to move forward with a bill that just repeals Obamacare and gives Congress time, as
the president said, to work on a new health care plan that will start with a clean slate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: And, Becky, one of the problems that I spoke with a number of Republican senators who did vote back in the 2015 legislation to repeal
first and delay that for two years while they work out a replacement plan.
And that's essentially very confusing for people because they -- if you delay it for two years, it looks like they're not doing anything while they
try to come up with a replacement. And he said well -- you know, they've tried to do some things, tinker around the edges to shore up these markets
that are leaving the Obamacare program.
And so there's a real decision here that lawmakers have to make -- Republican lawmakers have to make having said that Obamacare is now on the
verge of collapsing. Do they work with the Democrats in any real way to fix those problems or do they stand by and -- with fellow Republicans and
simply let this continue to spin?
And I think a lot of people are feeling very frustrated with the way that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell initially laid this out in a very
super secret way.
Putting this forward for the members. He has put them in a really precarious situation when it comes to their constituents. And there's very
little appetite here that this -- for this legislation when you look at the polls.
ANDERSON: A bad day for the office and for the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and on it seems a very bad day at the office for the U.S.
president as well. All right, Suzanne, thank you for that.
Well, to that mysterious meeting that Donald Trump Jr. held with a Russian attorney last year, we are starting to piece together what happened and who
all was there. Sources tell CNN that eight people attended, twice as many as first disclosed.
The only publicly unidentified people remaining are a translator and someone said to be a representative of the Agalorov family. Spoke -- CNN
has now spoken to the attorney of that eight persons.
He says, Special Counsel investigates is one information from their client and they are fully cooperating. He also describes his client as a long
time U.S. citizen who has never had and I quote, any engagement with the Russian government, a lot more on the political twists and turns of recent
weeks and how they're impacting the White House later in the show.
But now just in the last few hours, the Trump administration has announced new sanctions on Iran over its ballistic missile program in support of
terrorist groups. These sanctions come a day after the president grudgingly agreed to certify that Iran was complying with the terms of the
nuclear deal.
A deal Mr. Trump once described as the worst deal ever and pledged to rip up during the campaign. Lots of these campaign promises back in the
headlines today, all day.
Well let's dig a little deeper on this about how U.S. relations with Iran are involving under President Trump. I'm joined from Washington by Reza
Marashi.
He's the Research Director for the National Iranian American Council. Reza, as you look at what has happened on U.S.-Iran relations over the past
twenty-four hours and you reflect, your thoughts?
[11:10:00] REZA MARASHI, RESEARCH DIRECTOR, NATIONAL IRANIAN AMERICAN COUNCIL: Well, the trajectory doesn't look good, Becky, for a variety of
reasons. On the one hand, you have a recertification of Iran's compliance with these obligations under this nuclear deal.
But the Trump administration itself is not complying with these obligations under the deal. And then beyond that, the Trump administration had every
opportunity to pick up where the Obama administration left off and continue diplomacy, and dialogue to try and resolve conflicts -- points of conflict
between U.S. and Iran.
And thus far, there has been no discernible dialogue between the Trump administration and Iran, no discernible out reach. So we're really in a
precarious position and we're not even a full year in.
ANDERSON: Well, is that Monday, if we think back and it was only twenty- four hours ago. That's a long time in news, of course. Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said he'd had no contact with U.S. Secretary of State
Rex Tillerson.
And said he was getting mixed messages from Washington, saying and I quote, we received the same signals you see in the press. The point is we receive
contradictory signals, so we don't know what to interpret what way.
And let me tell you, this is not the first foreign minister in this region who has said similar things about the contradictory nature of policy
between the White House these days and that of the State Department.
Let's just consider where Zarif was just a year ago with the former secretary of state John Kerry and how that has gone awry and what impact
that might have going forward.
MARASHI: Well, John Kerry and Foreign Minister Zarif were very forthcoming in saying that they met with each other more than any other foreign
minister or foreign official in the world. And we've gone from a point where the U.S. and Iran were talking with each other more than anyone else
to a point where there's been no dialogue whatsoever.
Now, the U.S. and Iran don't have to be best of friends in order to communicate with one another. And Foreign Minister Zarif is in New York
City right now taking meetings with the U.N. and with other various stake holders outside of the U.S. government.
So it would be the height of diplomatic malpractice for the Trump administration to not privately send a cabinet level official to go and
just talk to the man and figure out if there's any room, any space, any grounds for dialogue. Most people in Washington would argue that there is.
ANDERSON: How damaging is all of this, do you think, going forward?
MARASHI: I'm sorry. I didn't hear that last bit.
ANDERSON: How damaging do you think this sort of current impasse is, this sense that it wasn't by volition that President Trump signed off on the
Iran deal that he has to do every -- what he has to do every ninety days but slaps on these new sanctions? How damaging is this to relations going
forward?
MARASHI: Well, it's extremely damaging. Relations we're great to begin with. They haven't been for decades. The Obama administration had moved
us off a trajectory to at least create fertile ground for which additional dialogue outside of the nuclear issue could grow.
And now, there's barely any dialogue on the nuclear issue and there's no dialogue on any other issues. So again, it's not too late for the Trump
administration to pivot at it has on a variety of other issues over the past seven or eight months that he's been in office. And really give it a
go.
Give diplomacy a chance. Give it a try. See if there's any common ground or basis for continued dialogue before rendering a decision that is
pointless and useless. Looking ahead, I think that the likelihood of that is low.
But I'm not going to rule out the possibility because there's a variety of stake holders inside the U.S. government that are career government
officials that don't cycle in and out according to which political party is in power.
And they understand the value of dialogue with Iran even if there are contentious differences. And so for that reason alone, even though I think
the likelihood is low, I would never rule it out one hundred percent.
For that, we're going to leave it there. We thank you very much indeed for joining us, Reza.
Getting you fix is Connect The World from Abu Dhabi this evening. Folks up next, a video, everybody is talking about it. It is a one six seconds
video. It is causing now a huge storm in Saudi Arabia. In fact, here's a preview of it. We're getting picked up after this break.
[11:15:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Welcome back. We are out of Abu Dhabi for you tonight, our programming hub connecting your world. All right, a brief six seconds,
that is all it took to excite a huge uproar in Saudi Arabia -- Arabia. One six-second video, that is it.
This one as the video shows a young woman wearing a short skirt and a cropped shirt, pretty normal to most people in many parts of the world,
right? Well not in the Kingdom, a lot of people are calling for this young woman's arrest. And the police agreed.
They detained here, although as of now, we're not sure if she has actually been released or not. Put simply then, a woman visited a village in a
skirt. The police detained her. Let's not wrap our head around this. Let's bring in a Saudi Journalist, Najah Alotaibi. Najah, thank you for
joining us.
You're out of London, I know this evening. Let's be clear here. At this point we don't know whether this woman is Saudi or not. That is important.
Because Saudi adheres to a strict interpretation of Islamic law where women are expected to wear loose fitting clothing and Saudi women are required to
cover their hair. If this woman was Saudi, she would have known that and would have known that effectively, she was breaking at least cultural norms
if not the law, correct?
NAJAH ALOTAIBI, SAUDI JOURNALIST: Yes, that's correct. Actually, this is not the first time a Saudi woman tried to challenge the -- the rules and
the regulation in Saudi Arabia. I mean, in the last few months, we have seen another woman.
Malak al-Shehri, she is also a young Saudi woman. She pictured herself entering a shopping mall without her hibaya. I think also other women,
they try to defy their driving ban and challenge their name guardianship. Women now are strong. They feel more empowered.
They feel that, you know, they want to voice their demands. They want to take actions. And I think this is because they feel that the new
government and the new leadership is inspiring them, because in the last few years, the government -- they made a progressive steps to empower
women.
And I think this is a reflection of what is the government is trying to do and to help women. But again, a lot of these women, they haven't been
physically punished. Usually when they are arrested, they just --they just go to the police and write a statement that they will not do it again.
ANDERSON: Can we, just for our viewer's sake, bring up a statement from the Saudi police? I hope we've got this. I'm having one of my pages (ph).
Well we have to bring this up. The Saudi police statement on this case said the following.
She admitted to visiting the site in question, which is an important -- an important historical site in Saudi Arabia, with a male guardian and that
the viral videos were published by an account attributed to her without her knowledge.
[11:20:00] The statement goes on to say that she is now in custody, but it's not clear if she's behind bars or what charges she might face.
It doesn't sound in this case necessarily that this was a young woman, Saudi or not, who's actually necessarily trying to make a point. It sounds
as if she's certainly saying to the police at this point, it seems, that she had nothing to do with these images making it onto her social media.
ALOTAIBI: I think the girl -- she has been arrested like a few hours ago, so maybe we should wait for the investigation. But I think she -- what we
have now information is that she's a model and she's been snapchatting and putting her pictures online.
So -- but I don't have really like information about what she is doing now, whether she is arrested or not. But again, this is not the first time.
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: OK, do you think there is a -- let me ask you this. Do you think there's a disconnect between the pace of change which is part and
parcel of what is known as Vision 2030 under the auspices of the new young Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman and what is actually acceptable still to
many people in what is a conservative Kingdom.
ALOTAIBI: Like I said, a lot of women, they feel inspired by this Vision 2030 and the new leadership, because even the officials, they talk about
reform openly. So a lot of women, they feel empowered to make an action and to help themselves.
But of course, I think also the government, they have to be consistent if they want to make a change, if they want to make reform, they have also to
make it clear that whether they want to help women to be liberated and support them, because like I said, there is -- there is some
contradictions.
The government, for example, in the last ten years, they have empowered women through educating them abroad. So a lot of women, they have been --
they have seen the liberal lifestyle and they've been living independently.
They saw how the west live. And then when they come back to the Kingdom, they feel restricted. The government, they didn't relax their regulations
back home. And this is why a lot of women, they feel confused.
ANDERSON: Sure. Let me know no mistake -- in just for our viewers' sake, for those of you who haven't been to this region or haven't spend a lot of
time in this region, social media hugely popular in the Middle East.
So of course the wildly different views of course are playing out on it, one Twitter user writing and I quote, people who don't respect the
Kingdom's rules don't deserve to live in it. Whereas others wondered with all that's going on in the world, how anyone could make such a big fuss
about clothing.
It is important also to point out that many of those using social media are talking about, making comparisons to Donald Trump's trip to the Kingdom
recently where his wife and his daughter weren't dressed in what was traditional Saudi dress.
And there have been people transposing the head of Ivanka Trump for example on the body of this young lady who's walking through this historic site.
Realistically, where do you think the barometer is on this, in the Saudi street?
You're talking about many people -- Saudi women from outside who go home or lots of commentators speaking about this from outside of Saudi. Where do
you think the measure is on the streets of Saudi itself?
ALOTAIBI: Well, I think the Saudis, they expect to see a Saudi woman hearing the hibaya because they -- because she's a Muslim and she represent
a Muslim country.
But I don't think they mind that if they -- if they receive a guest, a foreign guest like whether Michelle Obama or any other foreign guest to
come to the Kingdom without the hijab. But again, the public opinion is always divided over the situation of women, whether the dress code or any
of her issues.
But I was surprised to see that a lot of people, they oppose what this model did, walking around with without the hibaya. But also, many others -
- they supported her.
May other, they feel that -- you know, women, they should have the right to decide what they have to wear. I mean this is -- I didn't see that ten
years ago. So I think the Saudi society is changing and they try to accept women and their choices more than before.
[11:25:00] ANDERSON: With that, we'll live it there. Out of London for you today and it's 7:25 there. We appreciate your thoughts.
It is 7:25 here in the UAE. Our world is in many ways stranger than ever and we are seeing critical events fire up in of all places Twitter of
course.
Once a place to share silly thoughts, it has become a new battlefield of sorts like with (Inaudible) full on all out diplomatic emergency where it's
spread like crazy just hours ago across the gulf in Iran.
A government news service claimed it was hacked from Saudi Arabia, fake news about an Iranian base in Qatar and a Saudi flag hoisted over the page.
Let's bring in Jomana Karadsheh.
Now Jomana, we'll talk about hacking in a moment. First Turkey's president is going to quite literally step into what is this Qatar quagmire as it
were. What's he opening to achieve?
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, we don't have a schedule or agenda from the Turkish presidency but it is assumed at this point that
he's going to try and help mediate with this crisis.
But keeping in mind, Turkey has not been the most neutral country when it comes to the Qatar crisis. From the beginning, President Erdogan has
spoken out in support of Qatar. He's spoken out against the measures that were put in place and that list of 13 demands, he called that unacceptable.
Of course as you know very well, one of the 13 demands is to scrap the plans for the creation of that Turkish base in Doha. And if you look at
what's been doing on since the start of the crisis, Turkey has pretty much pushed forward that legislation to a parliament to deploy troops -- rushed
troops to Doha.
You've had contingents of those troops that are there to set-up that base already in the country. Then you had tons of food supplies that were
shipped by Turkey to Qatar to help them get around the embargo that was placed on it by the Saudi led alliance. That's all not a surprise, Becky.
Of course, the two countries have very close not only military ties but also economic ties. And reports of this, President Erdogan and
(Inaudible), Qatar have close ties.
But we'll have to wait and see what comes out of the visit, especially the Saudi leg. Keep in mind, the U.S. secretary of state, who just had his own
round of shuttle diplomacy in the region, said it's going to take time to resolve this crisis, Becky.
ANDERSON: Yeah. This is very, very combat, very, very briefly. Back to those hacking claims and counter claims, what do we know at this point?
KARADSHEH: Well, Becky, it all goes back to May 24th when you had, you know, the Qatari state news agency, we had quotes that were attributed to
their Emir coming out, quite surprising ones, you know, praising Iran, praising Israel, criticizing neighboring countries, saying that President
Trump was not going to last long in office.
Of course the Qataris came out very quickly after that saying that those were not from the Emir, that their state news agency was hacked. And it
was a few day after that that we saw the Saudi led alliance receiver ties with Qatar.
U.S. official at that time told CNN that the state news agency had indeed been hacked and they believed it was Russian hackers who were behind this
and they sent an FBI team that was investigating.
Then of course you had that Washington Post report that came out quoting U.S. Intelligence Officials, saying that it was senior UAE officials
according to information they analyzed a day before the hack happened discussing the plot and its implementation.
Of course the UAE completely denied this, dismissing this story as completely false. You had the Qataris coming out and saying, that this
proves what they have been saying all along and accusing the UAE of cyber terrorism.
But of course, we need to keep in mind, Becky, that those hacks may have triggered a crisis but they're not really the cause of something that has
been simmering with the tensions between those countries for a very long time.
ANDERSON: Sure. All right. Jomana who has been (Inaudible), the weeks of this Qatar crisis has been on back in among presidents. Jomana, thank you.
For the latest of these headline that just ahead us. Plus, President Trump's agenda hits a new set back. And later we look at what's next in
his push to over haul the U.S. health care system. That's, after this.
[11:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Welcome back. This is Connect the World. I'm Becky Anderson. We are out of the UAE where it's just after half past 7:00 in the east are
the news headline. The U.S. Republican leaders are regrouping after efforts to overhaul health care collapse again.
Two Republican senators defected suddenly late night, making passage impossible. Party leaders now say they will focus on repealing Obamacare
as it's known first and replacing it later on.
Well, the Trump administration has announced new sanctions on Iran over its ballistic missile program and support of terrorist groups. The sanctions
come a day after the president reluctantly agreed to certify that Iran was actually complying with the terms of the nuclear deal.
Police in the United States have identified both officers involved in the shooting death of a woman in Minnesota. Officer Mohamed Noor has been
named through his attorney as the one who shot Justine Ruszczyk, another office Matthew Harrity, who driving the police car. Ruszczyk had called
police to report a possible sexual assault near her home.
It's the second day of the latest round of Brexit talks in Brussels. Back home, Prime minister Theresa May have some strong words for her cabinet.
She said it was time to show strength and unity. That came after reports that cabinet members leaked updates to the press, saying there was
infighting over Brexit.
We are on day 43 meantime of Qatar's crisis. More than ever, it's not just about Qatar going up against its neighbors but instead about finding a fix.
At the start, Kuwait did all the leg work on that front and America picked up, and then France, leave the European Union and soon even Turkey all
throwing their hats into the ring to try and find a fix.
It seems there's no end in sight to this story. My next guest on, friend of the show, Fawaz Gerges, generally after taking a look through the
crystal ball as it were in seeing much further the most onto his read on.
We're going to find from what he things of these claims -- counter claims, allegations of hacking at the very highest level. What is next, Fawaz?
FAWAZ GERGES, PROFESSOR, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMIC: I mean, my take on it is that there is no resolution in sight for the Qatari crisis.
[11:35:00] I feel, Becky, that a rapture has taken place between Qatar and its neighbors, particularly Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab
Emirates and Egypt. And the longer the crisis continues, the more difficult it will be for Qatar to rejoin the gulf family.
Both sides are hunkering for the long-term. I don't expect any escalation. Obviously the four states have decided not to impose other sanctions. But
the reality is -- I mean the crisis will be with us not only for many months but probably for a year or two, according to the players themselves.
ANDERSON: The moment that to all intents and purposes it seems that this crisis kicked off, of course, came when an article appeared on Qatar's
state news agency quoting the emir of Qatar praising Iran as an Islamic power and saying that relations with Israel were good.
Now Qatar insists that hackers inserted those quotes, the Washington Post reporting U.S. Intelligence sources told them that the UAE was behind this
hacking. Well, the UAE as Jomana rightly pointed out in her last report, says that is flat-out false. Let's hear it from the horse's mouth as well.
Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANWAR GARGASH, UAE STATE MINISTER, FOREIGN AFFAIRS: the Washington story post is not true, purely not true. That's what I will say and I think you
will see in the next few days that the Washington story -- story will die.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, we'll see. And you know, I'm not sure the crisis will die. Maybe that story -- that part of it will die. I wonder whether it
isn't worth just stepping back and perhaps providing some context for all of this, as we are want to do here on Connect the World.
Like I said, it felt like this crisis kicked off of after what was an alleged hack of the QNA -- the Qatar News Agency. But rivers run a lot
deeper on this story, don't they?
GERGES: Absolutely.
ANDERSON: This has been an ongoing issue now for some time. Just explain how and why.
GERGES: I mean, first of all, with regardless of the allegations and counter allegations, the Emiratis have denied the allegations, as you know.
They have repeatedly said it's false.
U.S. officials have told you -- have told CNN, Becky, in June that the Russians were the real hackers. So we have two basically allegations but
the story itself regardless of the veracity of the story or not.
The crisis, Becky -- and this is the big point, has been simmering for almost seven years -- seven years, since 2010 between Qatar and its
neighbors.
Qatar's neighbors have many grievances against Qatar, whether Qatar's support for the radical Islamists or the mainstream Islamists or the
accusation that Qatar basically provides sanctuary and refuge for opposition figures.
We're trying to basically do incitement in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and other countries. So the crisis even -- even the emir of Qatar, ever he,
has not -- even he had not said what it was allegedly abide in the story a few weeks ago, the reality is the crisis exploded in 2013-2014.
It was a matter of time. What the emir of Qatar allegedly said was a spark. The reality is now there is a huge cleavage between Qatar and its
neighbors.
And this particular crisis, even though the Americans have tried, even though the French have tried, even though the Turkish president will try,
the four states has said, and this is really the big point, unless Qatar accepts their demands, basically the crisis will continue.
And here is the big point, in fact the Emiratis and the Saudis, and the Egyptians, and the Bahrainians, they are talking about separation, they're
talking about divorce between Qatar and its neighbors if Qatar does not really respond to their demands.
ANDERSON: So I was sitting just across the Persian Gulf, of curse Iran on this and a government news service there claiming it was hacked from Saudi
Arabia. Now they say with fake news about an Iranian base in Qatar and a Saudi flag hoisted over that page.
As we to show of you is what the alleged hack here. When you heard that story today, how did it fit in to the wider picture here?
GERGES: Well, I think what you have is that you have -- first of all, you have a fierce regional struggle taking place.
[11:40:00] One between Iran and Saudi Arabia. You also have multiple cleavages within. So people talk -- Becky, think about it. How much ink,
how much time and space we have spent on the so-called Sunni-Shia divide.
Becky, we're talking about Qatar and its neighbors. They're all Sunni states. So it's not about the Shia and the Sunnis. It's not about Iran
and its Sunni-Arab neighbors who are competing.
You're talking about cleavages within the Sunni camp, you're talking about cleavages within the Shia camp. I mean the Shiites are deeply divided.
Look at Iraq itself. So the reality is you have multiple cleavages. You have multiple rivalries taking place in the Middle East.
And the reality is what the Gulf States are trying to do, the four states are telling Qatar, look, you're either part of the Gulf Cooperation
Council.
You're either part of the security architecture, you have to accept the common values and interests of the Gulf Cooperation Council or good-bye as
the -- as the Emirati foreign minister said. But we -- this is about the complexity of the crisis. We should not simplify as we usually do a great
deal, Becky.
ANDERSON: Fawaz Gerges in the house for you viewers on a story which continues to evolve. Fawaz, thank you for that. Now we get you back,
viewers to that fatal police shooting of a bride to be in the United States.
The family of the Australian woman killed is desperately searching for answers, suggesting that Ruszczyk called 911 to report a possible sexual
assault.
She was shot by one of the police officers who had responded to the call. Police are saying very little. The two officers involved have now been
identified.
Let's get more from CNN's Scott McLean who is in Minneapolis in Minnesota. Scott, is there any more clarity on the circumstances of what actually
happened with the shooting?
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Becky, there is precious little new information in this case. And that is why it is so frustrating for the
people in this community who knew Justine Ruszczyk and for family here and in Australia as well.
Well, what we do know is that late Saturday night, Justine Ruszczyk called 911 because she believed that a sexual assault was taking place in this
ally behind her home. Two officers responded. We now know that their names are Matthew Harrity and Mohamed Noor.
Harrity was driving, Noor was in the passenger side. According to the Minneapolis start to view in local paper here, Noor shot Ruszczyk through -
- from the passenger seat through the driver's side window, hitting her in the abdomen. An autopsy confirms that is how she died.
Now we know that the ACLU is slamming these police officers because they did not have their body worn cameras actually turned on. Police say that
they declined to comment directly on it but they did point us toward their policy.
And their policy says that police should have their cameras turned on prior to the use of force. And if they can't do it prior to force, they should
turn it on immediately afterwards. In this case, they did neither.
And that's why this case is getting so much attention because we still don't have any answers on what exactly happened. Justine Ruszczyk is being
remembered in this community. You can Secretary, Becky, people are leaving notes and flowers. Neighbors are coming to pay their respects to her.
She's also being mourned in Australia as well. And some of her colleagues at the place where she worked as a yoga instructor and as a meditation
leader called her a gifted speaker and someone who carried a message of love, peace and nonviolence. Becky.
ANDERSON: Very sad. All right, thank you for that, Scott. All that from Abu Dhabi. You're watching Connect the World. I'm Becky Anderson.
Coming up, he said it will be easy but now, President Donald Trump finding out the hard way working with Congress is anything but. Next, the
prognosis on the president's effort to repeal and replace Obamacare is in and it is not good.
[11:45:00] (COMMERICIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: You're watching CNN. This is Connect the World with me Becky Anderson. Welcome back, 46 and this pass 7:00 here in the UAE.
Returning to what is our top story this hour, a Republican shift in strategy on U.S. health care reform, Vice President Mike Pence says the
White House fully supports a Congressional effort to focus solely on repealing Obamacare, as it's known now, while leaving new details of how to
replace it.
For later, a Republican bill that would do both has failed to gain enough support in the Senate. It was one of President Trump's signature campaign
promises.
And that is why it is important to those of us who don't live in the U.S. Those of you viewers around the world who are watching what is a collapse,
which has dealt him, it seems, a major blow. The Senate Democratic leader issued a strong warning just a short time ago. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHUCK SCHUMER, U.S. SENATE DEMOCRATIC LEADER: Make no mistake about it, passing repeal without a replacement would be a disaster. Our health care
system would implode.
Millions would lose coverage. Coverage for millions more would be diminished. Our health care system would be in such a deep hole that
repair would be nearly impossible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, joining me from Washington is CNN political analyst, Jackie Kucinich also Washington bureau chief for the Daily Beast.
Donald Trump said it would be easy and then he said he would be annoyed if it wasn't successful. Well, the health care bill failed, which can't be
good for the president's blood pressure. But how bad is it for his credibility and his legitimacy, I guess, given that this was one of the
campaign promises?
JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I wouldn't -- I wouldn't put a fork in this quite yet. The current effort failed in the Senate. They
weren't going to be able to even get it to the Senate floor.
There's a whole mess of procedures that need to take place before they vote and they weren't even -- they weren't even going to be able to do that.
Now, what Mitch McConnell has done at this point is he's called the bluff of Republicans that are in the Senate, who's already -- many of whom have
already voted for the bill that he wants to bring forward in 2015, which would have been a full repeal of Obamacare.
Now, we're not even sure he's going to be able to get that to the Senate floor. But as far as the president himself, the president just wants a win
on this. He said it would be easy. It's not easy. It wasn't easy when he said he thought it was going to be easy.
He just wasn't informed on that particular process. That said, he has not -- he hasn't really been helping. Usually when a president has a
legislative agenda, he -- or something that he wants done, he goes on the campaign trail, he goes and sells this, because he is the salesman in chief
essentially for his priorities.
This president has not done a good job of doing this. We saw President Obama doing this the first time when Obamacare went through. He was on the
road constantly pushing this bill. President Trump hasn't done that.
He has tried threatening. He has tried cajoling members. He has tried a bunch of things and nothing has worked at this point. So this will be --
should they fail at this, the Senate, it will be a very tough thing for the president.
[11:50:00] ANDERSON: Sure. And the difference between Donald Trump's presidency and that of President Obama is this, since the election -- and
Donald Trump himself has pointed this out just in the past few hours.
Republicans have controlled not only the White House, but also both Houses of Congress. And still they can't get this key campaign promise done.
KUCINICH: It's very true. It's very true. And you know, President Obama ran into this occasionally, too, because while you do -- in order to hold
the House and the Senate for either party, there is a diverse coalition of members usually.
And they come from different parts of the country, they have different priorities. And they're -- they fall various places on the ideological
scale. And usually, what they do, is they try to find compromise. And sometimes they can pull Democrats over to vote for them too. That's not
what's happening right now.
It's a very partisan environment. And right now, the conservatives, the most -- the most right wing are winning. That's who wants a full repeal...
ANDERSON: Right.
KUCINICH: ... of Obamacare. But when do they that -- when they pull one way, others fall off. And they don't have enough of a majority at this
point to push that through.
ANDERSON: Got it. Good speaking with you.
KUCINICH: Thank you.
ANDERSON: Interesting times.
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: Out of Washington for you, the analysis from us, of course in Abu Dhabi, we are connecting the world for you. Coming up, the plight of
the lost men of Syria, often forgotten as the war drags on. That is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: All right, regular viewers of this show know that we bring you in-depth coverage of what life is like inside Syria on what seems like a
weekly basis.
The footage we see from the war torn country is often of kids and women, shaken, crying and traumatized. Our parting shots tonight, we see how one
artist is shedding a light on the plight of the forgotten men of Syria. Have a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EDWARD JONKLER, PHOTOGRAPHER: The lost men of Syria is a -- is a concept that I started developing at the beginning of the year. I was working in
Jordan and Lebanon. Primarily of refuges who have cost over in 2012-2013, so they have settled to some extent in the countries where they are.
And I notice that the men were really struggling a lot. So I need to need to know why that was and it seemed that they haven't -- they had greater
problems integrating than the women and children.
You see that in depression, inability to get out of bed. And this is something I wanted to document and show, because I think this is something
not just in these countries, the sort of first countries to receive people, but also along the route.
One of the big parts about is them trying to find a purpose again and trying to rebuild. Never mind what they've been through, the trauma in
leaving the country, but actually, you know, the destruction of what they need to continue. They need is support when they arrive in countries and
charitable organizations.
As much as they need it, it's also destructive to them as well. The men are used to going out and working long hours. And the concept of having a
handout seems pretty painful to a lot of these men. Almost everyone I've spoken to has lost relatives. People have lost limbs.
When you get out of that situation, the first thing you're going to feel is a need to rebuild and to move forward. My biggest wish for the people I've
spent time with is that they're able to break out of the state of impermanence.
Almost everybody I spoke to is a valuable worker who has something to offer. If they can be allowed to do what they want to do, then they will
be much better off psychologically and start to benefit also.
[11:55:00] I think portraits like this will humanize people. The first step is to see people's faces and to see that these are real people. These
are fathers, husbands, sons. Photography is a great medium to show that and to show people are human beings just like us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: You can catch Edward Jonkler's exhibition as it opens tomorrow in London's Saatchi Gallery, whether you are an artist or a realist. We
got you cover. Just check our Facebook page. Facebook.com/CNNconnect if you are a regular viewer. I hope you are. You know that and I'm sure you
do.
I'm Becky Anderson. That was Connect the World. From the team around the globe in Abu Dhabi and Afghans (ph), and in London, we thank you for
watching. CNN, though, continues after this. Quest Express is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
