Return to Transcripts main page

Connect the World

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict; Investigation Continues Into Attack On Apartments In Baghdad; Bold Project In Manhattan Seeks To Transform New York Skyline

Aired July 14, 2014 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

BECKY ANDERSON, HOST: In just one week 1,000 rockets have been fired from Gaza into Israel. The air strikes Israel launched in response have

left 172 Palestinians dead with 17,000 people in Gaza forced from their homes.

I'm Becky Anderson, and this is Connect the World live from Jerusalem taking you behind the numbers to the very heart of what is this escalating

conflict.

Also this hour, massacre in Baghdad. I'm going to get you the full story behind the attack in the Iraqi capital that saw 28 women killed.

Reintegrating Iran: we'll tell you what John Kerry and Mohammed Javid Zarif need to iron out if they are to strike a nuclear deal.

And dominant Deutschland: we look back on a memorable night for German football and its fans.

A very good evening. It is 6:00 here in Jerusalem. The death toll soars in Gaza as Israel and Hamas refuse to end their relentless aerial

attacks.

Palestinian health authorities say Israeli air strikes have killed at least 172 people and have wounded more than 1,200. According to the United

Nations, more than 70 percent of those killed were civilians.

Well, so far no Israelis have been killed in Hamas rocket attacks, but now the Israeli military accuses Hamas of sending drones into Israel. The

IDF says it shot down this one along the coastline near Ashdod. CNN cannot confirm the authenticity of this video.

We're covering the conflict from both sides of the border of course. CNN's Diana Magnay is near Kibbutz Saad (ph) Isarel and our Ben Wedeman is

inside.

Ben, let's start with you, what's happening in Gaza right now?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well we've seen, Becky, today sort of steady airstrikes in various parts of the Gaza Strip. We're

in the north. This is the main road leading toward the Israeli border. This are very quiet. It seems a lot of people have left.

We were earlier in Beit Lahia, one of those areas where the Israelis had dropped leaflets ordering people to leave for their own safety. 17,000

have left according to the United Nations, but we saw there were still a lot of people there. They said, look, we're just going to hang on. We

want to protect our property, protect our agricultural lands, which there's a lot of up in that area.

But also in this area, particularly in the area of Jebalia (ph) town and refugee camp, we were witness to a variety of air strikes. We drove

down one street. We saw a group of people gathering around one house that had been hit just five minutes before that. We went, had a look, spoke to

people there, went back, drove up the street, saw a group of children running in the opposite direction. Came back and we were told -- we heard

a sort of a large bang, which seems to be one of those warning rockets. And just about five minutes later, the ground shook and there was a huge

pillar of black smoke coming up where this strike took place.

So it's steady strikes, we're hearing the Israelis are saying as often as every five minutes. That seems to make -- that seems to jive with

reality. Indeed the only time there's been any quiet was overnight during that game between Germany and Argentina. Other than that, it's been pretty

steady air strikes here in Gaza -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Ben Wedeman in Gaza for you.

Let me get you to the other side of the border where Diana Magnay is standing by. And Di, we've been warning of the potential for a ground

assault from the Israelis into Gaza now for some days. No clear indication, I don't think, as of yet that that has or is about to start.

But I know that you've witnessed a significant buildup of military -- Israeli military on the border there. And certainly again witness to

rockets out of Gaza into Israel at this time last night. Is that continuing?

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. The flow of rockets doesn't really end. There seem to be phases where it

escalates in the morning and then, you know, towards Dusk presumably when you have more civilians out on the street and children, you know, getting

ready in the mornings and then after work finishes in the evenings tends to be when these rockets volleys pick up.

But we've just been here for a little over an hour now and we've already seen four rockets overhead, one of which we hear was intercepted

over Tel Aviv.

Iron Dome continuing to do a very efficient job, really, of protecting civilian areas.

And you're right we've been driving along the area that borders the Gaza Strip behind me. And we've seen quite a buildup of Israeli defense

forces. We've seen a tank regiment in one spot, about 30 tanks what seems like a command and control center, various army tanks, people sitting

around, drones up in the air. And then, we were quite surprised to see also an artillery battery.

Surprised, Becky, because artillery is clearly far less accurate than air strikes have been. And the majority of what we've been seeing in terms

of Israeli ordinance has been coming from the sky. But we did see these M -- 155 millimeter howitzers firing at Gaza. So they clearly are using

artillery, too.

And last night when we were standing here as the dusk fell, we saw a - - what looked like a precision guided missile flying really quite slowly in a very, you know, slowly and targeted fashion until it reached it target.

So an extraordinary thing to see.

And one more thing, Beck, Ben mentioned the game. Well, just as the 90 minutes were up, before we went into the 30 minutes of extra time

between Germany and Argentina in the World Cup final, at exactly that point, there was another volley of rockets out of Gaza. So it seems as

though really everybody was watching, Beck.

ANDERSON: Yeah. All right. Diana Magnay on the border.

And more from our correspondents in the hours ahead, of course. Keeping you bang up to date on exactly what is going on on the ground.

In just a few moments, we're going to take an in depth look at the human costs of the human crisis. First, he's being called the most hated

man in Israel or the most heroic: we're going to talk to the Israeli journalist Gideon Levy about the rising death toll in Gaza and his view of

why it's happening.

And later, thousands have already been caught in the crossfire between Israel and Hamas. Ben Wedeman showing us one family's struggle to escape

the violence.

Well, moving on, tensions in Baghdad are rising are rising as militants inch closer to the city. The insurgents now just some 80

kilometers, or 50 miles north of the city after they launched an attack on the town of Dhululyah. Meantime, the Iraqi parliament is expected to meet

again on Tuesday. Its big priority, of course, is choosing a new speaker. Attempts to do that failed on Sunday.

Well, let's bring in our senior international correspondent Arwa Damon for more on this joining us from Baghdad -- Arwa.

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Becky. And it is critical that during tomorrow's session, parliament at the very least get

the process started by electing a speaker, because this fight that's happening against ISIS does also have a political component to it. And the

longer the country finds itself in this situation the more lawless the streets are becoming.

We do have to warn our viewers, at this stage that the report they are about to see contains some very, very disturbing images.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAMON: Few will talk about what happened here Saturday night in these residential flats in a middle class Baghdad neighborhood long believed to

also house brothels.

CNN obtained exclusive photographs of the interior of the crime scene. The person who took these chilling images says it was shocking, the stench

of blood overwhelming. As he moved through each room he just saw more and more blood, but the worst was in the tiny bathroom -- on the floor,

covering the wall.

He says it felt like death was everywhere.

Police officials tell CNN that a Shia militia was responsible.

This is the back end of the apartment blocks where the killings took place. It's not the first time that gunmen, believed to be affiliated with

religious Shia militias have entered into this neighborhood and carried out killings against individuals whom they accuse of being involved in

activities in the various brothels that residents tell us do, in fact, exist here.

But it is the first time that the death toll has been this high.

Morgue officials tell CNN that 28 women, ages 16-33 and six men ages 27-45, were brought in. All the men shot in the head.

The bodies were brought here to Baghdad's central morgue. We're not being given access. But a staff member at the morgue told us that family

members arrived in the morning trying to identify their loved ones. The bodies not being handed over to them at this stage, because it is still an

ongoing investigation.

A police station is within sight of the crime scene. There's only one entrance to the neighborhood, manned by police. Witnesses tell CNN there

was a party in the apartment and that they did not hear a single gunshot, believing the assailants used silencers. The authorities clearly unable or

unwilling to stop the massacre.

There is no way to verify what was happening here before the killings took place, or who is responsible. Iraq has been through the era of

religious militia justice before. This is yet another sign of the collapse of government authority and another indication that the days when militias

ruled the streets are returning.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DAMON: And, Becky, also over the weekend the bodies of 17 Sunni men were brought into the morgue seeming to have been executed. And earlier

today in Baghdad, two car bombs that went off in two mostly Shia neighborhoods, Becky.

ANDERSON: Pretty shocking stuff. Arwa, thank you for that.

Well, Iran and six world powers are in their final round of negotiations on Tehran's nuclear program ahead of Sunday's deadline. The

U.S. Secretary of State held a second meeting with his Iranian counterpart on Monday.

Now the U.S. and Israel are concerned that Iran plans to develop nuclear weapons, of course. But Tehran insists, and always has done, that

its ambitions are peaceful.

With more on this, CNN's world affair reporter Elise Labott joining us now from Washington.

And these talks in Vienna slated as effectively the 11th hour discussions. How close to any agreement are they at this point, Elise?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not very close, Becky. There still remain significant gaps. And Secretary Kerry said that when he arrived in

Vienna on what the Iranians want and what the international community is willing to accept.

You know, the P5+1, President Obama even has pretty much accepted that the Iranians would be able to have some limited nuclear enrichment program,

which the Iranians say would be for medical research, peaceful purposes, that type of thing.

But the Iranians are looking for a much more extensive infrastructure of their enrichment capability to remain in place. In fact, the supreme

leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, has said in recent days that Iran for its -- to have even a peaceful nuclear program would need this larger infrastructure.

So it really seems that while the Iranian negotiators in Vienna are serious in their negotiations, they are having some issues back home about

what the clerics and the more conservative aspects of the regime are willing to accept -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Yeah. And John Kerry, of course, with any concessions would have to sell those back home in the States as well.

Listen, aside from P5+1, one assumes that there have been discussions in and around what is roiling here. What did John Kerry have to say, if

anything, to the Iranian foreign minister about the Israeli-Hamas conflict and concerns by the U.S. and others about Iran's involvement in the supply

of weapons to the militant group?

LABOTT: Well, I don't think that was really an extensive part of the conversation, although it kind of -- these type of things, Becky, are

happening in passing, as sort of a side of the conversation.

You know, the U.S. has been really careful not to link any discussions of this nuclear talks with what's going on in Syria, what's going on in

Israel, what's going on in Iraq right now. They really want to narrow down on these nuclear talks. So listen, Secretary Kerry is saying to the

foreign minister listen we really need you to stop with these supplying rockets to Hamas. But they are definitely clear that they do not want any

discussions on any other issues about all these Mideast crises to color the negotiations that are going on in Vienna. That's really the main priority

for the U.S. Becky.

ANDERSON: Interesting. Good luck, I say. All right.

Elise Labott is in Washington for you this evening. Still to come this hour on Connect the World with Becky Anderson. Down to the wire as

the deadline looms, Iran and six world powers do try to hammer out a deal. But will they manage to break that impasse? We'll do more on that story in

the next hour.

And a fourth World Cup for Germany. We're going to look back at what was a big win over Argentina and head to the heroes welcome that awaits in

Berlin.

First, though, back to our top story, which is the crisis between Israel and Hamas. That coming up after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: This is CNN and Connect the World with me, Becky Anderson out of Jerusalem for you today. Welcome back.

Now let's get you back to this conflict in the Middle East. It is very uneven when it comes casualties, more than 170 killed in Gaza, the UN

says 70 percent of those are civilians. No confirmed deaths in Israel. The Israeli defense forces say they are sending messages to civilians to

warn them of impending bombings, but even now some Israelis wonder whether the IDF tactics are the right ones to use.

Well, I want to bring in Israeli journalist Gideon Levy at this point who has been very critical of the Israeli military, air force pilots in

particular. He's gone so far as to suggest the IDF's purpose in this conflict is simply to kill Arabs.

Well, Gideon Levy joins us now live from Tel Aviv.

You are by no means a popular man in Israel at present. Why are you as out spoken as you have been of late?

GIDEON LEVY, JOURNALIST: I watching the scenes from Gaza, I see that atrocities, I see the bodies, I see the fear, I see hundreds of thousands

of people who are living now really under terrible conditions, inhumane conditions. And I think that things went out of proportion. It's not that

Israel does not have the right to protect itself, it surely has. It's not that the rockets that the Qassamis launching at Israel are not criminal,

they are. But by the end of the day, we have to remember that Gaza is a huge cage where people have nowhere to run to and the Israeli air force,

one of the best air forces in the world, is bombing them and bombing them in an unproportional way.

ANDERSON: Well, the IDF earlier released a video, Gideon, purporting to show just how often they abort attacks if, indeed, the pilot through his

sights see civilians or see women and children around. Certainly at least in the very least scenario -- or to the worst scenario, the Israelis

understand that this -- if this were a propaganda war, they are not winning with the casualties that they are creating on the ground.

But in the best possible scenario, they're clearly trying to indicate that they do as much as possible -- now there are very fine lines, aren't

there, between in a war between war and war crimes, of course.

LEVY: Maybe they are doing as much as they can. I think they can much more. And you know by the end of the day it's about the results. And

the results are really horrifying, really horrifying. I didn't see such scenes in Gaza for many, many years. And you know you can claim that you

do anything possible, but when you see the scenes from there, you cannot keep silent and you cannot remain indifferent, you cannot because Gaza is

screaming for help and Gaza is helpless.

ANDERSON: And we are seeing some of that video that I was eluding to released from the IDF today and so our viewers as you are speaking will see

that video and the translation, the conversation between the pilot and whoever is running their mission on the right hand side of our screens.

I also want our viewers to have a look at what you wrote in Harretz, the Israeli newspaper earlier on today, because I know that this has been

gone down very badly with many Israelis. You have been accused of being a traitor, of lowlife. Let's bring some of the quotes up that Gideon wrote

today. And I will read those off the screen when I see them.

You are eluding Israeli pilots.

These are, by the way -- and let's be clear here -- oft times men who have been called up. These are reservists oft time, but you've call them

evil. And let's just ready part of what you said, "they really are the best of the best, brother. The best for aviation, the best pilots we have. And

they are now doing the worst deeds," you say. And you go on to call them despicable.

And you also go on to suggest that they are only seeing this war through the sights of their planes and not looking to the images that are

across certainly Arab TV here in Israel and elsewhere.

Does it bother you that you've been accused of being a traitor, lowlife here in Israel?

LEVY: You can imagine yourself that it's not a big honor or big fun to be treated like this. I just come back now from the city of Ashkalon

where people prevented me of giving an interview to an Israeli TV really in a violent way.

But, you know, history with all the modesty, history is full with examples of few individuals who were right and masses who were wrong. The

masses are brainwashed. The masses, in many cases, are wrong.

And, you know, I can't help it. I see the photos -- footage from Gaza and I can't remain silent even if it costs me personally some fear, some

accusations. But finally I asked myself why are the Israelis so furious at me? Would they be so confident about their justice they wouldn't bother

one journalist who says the opposite. I think many Israelis feel that the ground is burning under their legs and therefore they become so furious.

ANDERSON: And Gideon, just briefly, then, you said you think there are many Israelis who agree with your sentiments here. We are not hearing

or seeing an awful lot of Israelis speaking out against what is going on. We are hearing an awful lot of defense from the Israeli defense forces who

say they are only targeting facilities where they believe or know Hamas operatives to be.

What do you say to those who are working in support of the Israeli defense forces today?

LEVY: First of all it is natural in any nation, including yours and including ours, that in times of war there is a nationalistic and

militaristic sentiment. And in Israel much more so. And I'm totally not surprised. Don't forget that we are now after many years of lack of hope

of peace of really systematic brainwash of many fears and hatreds, which are very deeply rooted in the Israeli society, including some racist

sentiment.

In this context, I didn't expect Israel to hug views like mine. But still I must remind my fellow Israelis that the moral profile of Israel is

not less an asset than its military power. And I must also remind ourselves that democracy is exactly at stake in those times, not in times

when everything goes well, not vis a vis views that everyone shares. The real test of a real democracy is to be tolerant to voices which are

alternative, yeah, to voices which are many times not pleasant to hear.

ANDERSON: Gideon, with that, we thank you for joining us. We will move on. Gideon Levy there from -- certainly writer for Harretz on a

regular basis.

You can get much more on this if you visit .com -- the CNN.com site. We've got a latest developments and expert analysis, including this opinion

piece from the former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren. He argues that the current crisis offers an opportunity for diplomacy that

would end the Hamas rocket threat and ease Israel's blockade of Gaza.

Opinions from all sides of the divide here on CNN.

Live from Jerusalem, this is Connect the World with me, Becky Anderson. Coming up thousands of Palestinians are desperate to escape the

air strikes in Gaza, but without being able to get to Israel or Egypt, they have very few places to run.

And there's not much empty space in Manhattan, but what's there is about to be transformed apparently. We're going to explore a new

construction site that could reinvent the New York skyline. That, after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Whether you're looking up or ahead, New York lets you know you're not alone in the city of more

than 8 million people. But on Manhattan's West Side along the Hudson River, there's something rare here -- space.

STEPHEN ROSS, CHAIRMAN, RELATED COMPANIES: It's kind of been like an empty hole in the middle of the doughnut if you will.

COREN: The hole is the westside yard, an active railway bringing people into Penn Station.

Now being constructed carefully on top of this is a new 28 acre $20 billion mixed use development called Hudson Yards.

ROSS: Well, from a developer standpoint, you know, it's kind of a dream. You have such a large, you know, tract of land that you can really

develop something that would really be transformational.

COREN: With more than 1.5 million square meters of high-rises full of shops, restaurants, businesses, apartments, Hudson Yards is an ambitious

project.

ROSS: New York is proud of their skyline. You know, it's a city of tall buildings. And I think -- but also people want open space. So on

this -- the planners -- and I think they had a lot of foresight, that they wanted to require a large amount of -- in fact 50 percent of the land stay

as open space.

COREN: There's also the added benefit of having the already popular Highline, a park built on an old elevated railway track, run straight to

the site.

ROSS: This is where the young people want to be by choice right now without Hudson Yards. And the High Line has become something that's very

unusual for having an elevated old rail line become so popular and people walking on it and the activity it's brought to the area. And so, this is

just kind of the extension of that.

CURNOW: Hudson Yards has already had several large companies, including Time-Warner, CNN's parent company, buy into the vision, with

plans to move in once the project is complete.

In a city already full of amazing sights and competing skyscrapers, Stephen Ross hopes it will be a new city center.

ROSS: It's really kind of reinventing New York, creating a city within a city and reality creating a new heart place, a new heart of New

York. And that's been what we've looked at it as and what we feel our responsibility and obligation to the city to really do it, and do it first

class.

CURNOW: With one of the buildings being completed as early as next year, and the overall project being finished in 2024, New York will see if

it's ready to welcome Hudson Yards.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: This is CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky Anderson, live from Jerusalem for you this hour. The top stories here on CNN.

In Vienna, America's top diplomat is meeting with Iran's foreign minister for a second straight day. The US and five other world powers are

holding what they hope will be a final round of talks ahead of Sunday's deadline for a permanent deal on Iran's nuclear program.

Salvage crews in Italy have raised the Costa Concordia. The wrecked cruise ship has been sitting just off Giglio Island since 2012. Officials

say they hope to locate the remains of the only victim that hasn't been found. The ship will eventually be towed to Genoa to be dismantled.

CitiGroup is writing a $7 billion check to settle claims that it sold bad mortgage-backed securities that tanked when the financial crisis hit.

It's a deal that's been months in the making and means CitiGroup will avoid a civil lawsuit from the US Department of Justice.

Palestinian authorities say at least 172 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes, and more than 1200 wounded. According to the UN, 70

percent -- nearly three quarters -- of those killed were civilians, and a fifth of those, they say, were kids.

Israel says its forces have hit more than 1400 targets across Gaza and says it shot down a drone along the Israeli coast.

Thousands of Palestinians are trying to escape Israel's bombing campaign. One UN official estimates that 17,000 have taken shelter inside

20 schools, for example. Our Ben Wedeman spoke to one Palestinian family forced to leave their home.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The clock is ticking, it's time to go. Israel ordered the inhabitants of this

area in northern Gaza to leave by 2:00 PM Sunday. Hamas told them to stay put.

"I don't answer to them," says Ahmed. "I do what's best for us." He's sending his family to safer ground in Gaza city -- relatively safer,

that is. Although he'll stay behind. Luckily, he caught a taxi to take them away, and not a moment too soon.

(BOMBS EXPLODING)

(PEOPLE SPEAKING ARABIC)

WEDEMAN: These children have heard the crash of shelling and airstrikes for days now.

(CHILD SCREAMING)

WEDEMAN: But it still terrifies them. This is the third time in the last five years Ahmed's family has had to flee their home.

WEDEMAN (on camera): Like almost everybody in this area, we're leaving, too. It's dangerous, there's shelling there, there's some people

staying behind, basically to guard their houses, but as the man back there told me, 80 percent of the people in this area have already left, and at

this time, the deadline to leave ends in 35 minutes.

WEDEMAN (voice-over): On the drive into Gaza City, empty streets and rubble from the Israeli airstrikes. By taxi or mostly by foot, the people

fleeing the north are heading to United Nations schools. More than a thousand in this school alone. Food has yet to be provided. The only

source of sustenance, a water tanker.

Um Juma (ph) and her family of 15 fled their home at 2:00 in the morning. "We told the kids, 'Get up! Get up!'" she tells me. "We walked

all the way here. This baby needs milk, but we don't have any. We have nothing, not even safety."

There's little to do here but wait until the fighting stops and they can go back to their homes -- if they're still there.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Gaza City.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Let's get you back to those high-stakes nuclear talks underway in Vienna, now. Iran and world leaders have -- or world powers,

at least -- have less than a week to agree on a comprehensive deal or to extend negotiations another six months. Here's a look at some of the big

hurdles, then, that the two sides face.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON (voice-over): Obstacle number one: enrichment. One of the main goals of any final deal is to determine the size of Iran's nuclear

program, central to which is Iran's uranium enrichment program. World powers want to limit Iran's enrichment to research scale, extending the

breakout time it would need if it ever decided to make a bomb.

Iran says it has a right under international law to produce fuel for its own reactors and claims it has no plans to pursue a bomb. Last week,

the Supreme Leader said the country would need a much higher enrichment capacity than being discussed, albeit not in the short term.

Obstacle number two: sanctions. The world powers' main bargaining chip in the talks is sanctions relief, but removing a complex web of

punitive steps that the West took years to put in place is quite hard.

The Europeans must all be on the same page to lift the painful oil embargo, and the situation gets even more complicated with the US, since

only the Congress can permanently remove sanctions.

Obstacle three: domestic political. That takes us to another big obstacle, domestic pressure groups that might oppose any comprehensive

deal. The Iranian negotiators know they're going to have to sell any deal back home to a conservative establishment that for years has refused to

budge in talks. The US administration must convince divided members of Congress about the merits of any final deal.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: So, can these hurdles be overcome in the next couple of days? To discuss that, I'm joined by the political analyst Mohammad Ali

Shabani from the location of the talks in Vienna, and Daniel Levy, director of the Middle East and North Africa Program for the European Council on

Foreign Relations from London.

Daniel, I'll come to you shortly. Mohammad, firstly, you are there in Vienna. What is the atmosphere like? Does it feel as if there is progress

being made, given this is now the 11th hour?

MOHAMMAD ALI SHABANI, POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I just came from Vienna's Coburg Palace, where most of the negotiations are taking place.

Secretary Kerry left the Coburg Palace about half an hour ago. Reportedly, he's on the way here to the Vienna Center, where he's going to hold a press

conference at 6:00.

So far, the two sides have been quite tight-lipped, but yesterday and the day before, some US officials off the record said that Iran has to make

tough choices, starting a kind of blame game.

But on the other side, Iran has been quite silent on its front. Yesterday, Foreign Minster Zarif tweeted that he will not engage in any

blame game or any kind of spin. So, the Iranians have held back. We're just going to have to see what Secretary Kerry has to say in about half an

hour.

ANDERSON: And what sort of blame game do you think, Daniel, John Kerry has come within his briefcase, as it were?

DANIEL LEVY, EUROPEAN COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: I'm not sure we're there yet, Becky. I think that both sides have an awful lot invested

in this effort. If you look around the world, there are not many situations that the Obama administration can look at and say, we could get

a breakthrough here. This would be a very significant breakthrough.

If you look at the region, whether it's Ben Wedeman's report from the tragic losses in Gaza or Syria, Iraq, there are very good reasons for

wanting to be able to get past this nuclear hurdle in order to engage with Iran on other regional conflict situations. I hope --

(CROSSTALK)

ANDERSON: Now --

LEVY: -- that we're more likely to enter the territory of no deal ready yet, but we keep negotiating rather than having a crisis later today

or in the coming few days.

ANDERSON: Mohammad, I thought it was enlightening -- and Daniel picking up on this -- I thought it was enlightening that Elise Labott from

DC today, our reporter there, had made a point that, as she believes, John Kerry has gone to Vienna not wanting to talk about any of the other

machinations of this roiling region at present, and is trying to keep the focus purely on these P5+1 talks about the nuclear program and sanctions.

Is that possible? Is that feasible, given what is going on in this region and the wider picture, not least the Arab foreign ministers, for

example, who are, to say the least, angry about being frozen out of these talks. They have real concerns, some of them -- Saudi, for example --

about where Iran is and what happens next.

SHABANI: Well, I think the framework of the talks has been quite stable. It's set -- the P5+1 is not going to be expanded. That's not even

on the agenda here, especially as we're coming so close to a final deal.

In regards to nuclear -- I mean, non-nuclear issues, for example, regional matters being discussed -- I think that's very much dependent on

the outcome of the nuclear negotiations. Having said that, the first time Iran and the US held direct talks at a senior level was actually in Iraq in

2007, at a time when the nuclear negotiations between Iran and the EU3 at the time had broken down.

So, regardless of what happens here in the coming days in Vienna, I think we can have dialogue on issues such as Iraq, such as Syria --

ANDERSON: Right.

SHABANI: -- but that's very much going to be affected by the outcome of the nuclear negotiations.

ANDERSON: Daniel, ahead of coming to you two, I laid out where I believe that there were three obstacles in all of this. Number one,

enrichment. Number two, sanctions. And number three, domestic politics. Which do you think are the most challenging of those three, or which at

this point?

LEVY: The reverse order to the way you listed them, Becky. Undoubtedly there are real issues here to do not just with the areas you

outlined that are to do with the nuclear program, the level of stockpiles, the intensity of inspections that would come subsequent to any deal.

But I think that -- I think you can find a zone of agreement between the negotiating parties. We're not there yet, but I think it's possible.

The question is, when we look over their respective shoulders to Congress, in the case of the US, to the Majilis and to the Supreme Leader in the case

of the Iranian teams, do they think that they can come home with a package that they can sell.

If that is to be the case, first of all, I think both sides are going to have to move a little further from the positions they're in now. But I

also think the Iranians are going to have to be convinced that genuinely, sanctions can be lifted. And I think this is a crucial point right now.

ANDERSON: With that, we're going to have to leave it there, because I'm going to have to take an advertising break at this point, pay for the

show. We'll have you two back, though. Great analysis. And this continues, of course, with July the 20th, the most recent of these

deadlines. Thank you, chaps.

Live from Jerusalem, you're watching CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky Anderson. German football fans are waiting for their players to come home

after what was their triumphant victory in the World Cup. That after this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CAR HORNS HONKING)

(CROWDS CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Well, Germany preparing to welcome its players home who won the World Cup on Sunday. They needed extra time to beat Argentina 1-nil at

the legendary Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. In the end, it was the substitute who scored the winner in the 113th minute. It's Germany's first

World Cup title since 1990, and their fourth overall.

What I suspect is a very happy Fred Pleitgen joining us from Rio. You'll know him as our Berlin correspondent generally, but for something

like 142 million days, you seem to have been in Brazil, where you have had the pleasure of reporting on this World Cup, you lucky thing you. Go on,

wind us up, tell us what the evening was like last night and how you feel.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Ah. Well, I'm actually feeling a little sore this morning, at least my throat is. But it

was just from screaming when that one goal happened. We were sitting in the stadium, it was absolutely amazing, Becky.

I think all the Germans there felt like they had about a ton of lead on their shoulders -- I know that I did -- while that game was going on.

And then it took until way late for the Germans finally to score, and it did look for a long time as though the Argentinians had the better chances

in that game.

One thing I have to say, though, was that all the Brazilians in the stadium were on Germany's side. It was sort of like going to a bar fight

with your really big friend standing behind you. Every time the Argentinians started screaming something against Germany, all the

Brazilians chimed in and booed them down.

So, it was really an electric atmosphere there at the Maracana, it's such a great venue. And then after the game ended, of course, there were

those huge celebrations. It's a huge and very historic moment, the Germans have said, of course, for their country.

And the Argentinians, I have to say quite frankly, really were very good in defeat. They said they were very proud of their team, very proud

that the team made it that far.

ANDERSON: Sure.

PLEITGEN: So, in total, it really was a very, very good evening here in Rio after that amazing, amazing game. Which was also a great World Cup

final, too.

ANDERSON: Yes. We were watching here in both East and West Jerusalem, actually. We went to West Jerusalem and saw the first half,

full of -- the Jewish population here, supporting the Argentinians.

We went over to East Jerusalem into the Arab neighborhood, and these guys were supporting the Germans. And we saw the support from both sides

last night, and I think I'd suggest -- and I think you're probably suggesting the same thing -- it was the best game of football you'll ever

see, and I think probably the Argentinians had the better half in the first half, certainly.

But what a win. Just give me a sense of the atmosphere now and over the past month or so. Because this really has been what was promised,

which was a festival of football.

PLEITGEN: It was a festival of football. And you know what? There's something very special about holding a World Cup in a country that loves

football this much.

When we came out here, my team was actually sent out here to cover possible riots that might happen, because so many people thought that all

of this could go badly wrong, that the venues wouldn't be finished, that people would go out protesting in the streets.

But I think the Brazilians have done something which was amazing, is that they were very welcoming to the people coming here, while still not

losing sight of all the social issues that were going wrong. People are still very angry about certain things, but they did separate that from the

football, absolutely love football. Colorful, very welcoming, an amazing atmosphere.

And then of course, you also had the football itself. It seemed as though the teams respond by how good everything was. Becky?

ANDERSON: Fantastic. Fred, it's been an absolutely pleasure having you on across the month. And I know you've had fun doing it, so well done.

Thank you very much, indeed.

Coming up next after what is a very short break on CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky Anderson, two halves of the World Cup final in two different

parts of Jerusalem. I've talked about it, and I'll show you how Israelis and Palestinians enjoyed football despite what is going on here in the

region. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: It's time for your Parting Shots, and among the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians here, one thing that many people

have in common is a love of football. Well, I went to a pub in West Jerusalem to join Israelis watching the World Cup final, and even though

their country did not play, there was a lot of excitement during the game.

I moved to East Jerusalem for the second half. The atmosphere among Palestinian, well, was understandably more subdued. They're in the middle

of Ramadan as well. A reminder, though, that no matter where you are and what your circumstances, the beautiful game, well, it's a very powerful

thing.

I'm Becky Anderson, that was CONNECT THE WORLD, live from Jerusalem tonight. Thank you for watching. Your headlines follow this, stay with

me.

END